CHAPTER FOUR

Amber's head throbbed and pounding against her temples. And she had that overall I'm-going-to-throw-up-all-over-the-place feeling in her stomach. Her tongue tasted like salt water and she gagged a bit.

It was the gag that woke her up. When she opened her eyes to see an elegant –though rather old-fashioned- room; complete with lace curtains and a four-poster bed, she sat up straight.

Mistake.

The fast movement caused her stomach to churn and her head to throb painfully in her ears and eyes. Tentatively, she raised a hand to her temples and sat like this, until it stopped hurting.

It was just about that time that the maid –or at least that was what Amber assumed her to be- walked into the room.

"Ah, you're awake. I was beginning to wonder if you would ever wake up." The maid looked oddly familiar to Amber, dressed in her maid's dress, red apron, and white lace bonnet, but she couldn't place her.

"Uh…" Amber sat up straighter on the bed she was lying on. It was when she did this when she noticed what she was wearing. It wasn't her jeans and T-shirt, as she remembered being dressed in. Instead she wore an off-white dress, made up of more cloth than all of Amber's clothes put together.

Amber furrowed her brows. What was going on? "Um, can you tell me where I am? And what happened?"

While the maid walked around the room, straightening things here or there, she answered Amber, "You were found by one of the Governor's men, lying on the beach. You were alone, and that was unusual for someone of your age. He brought you –unconscious- here, where we dressed you in that." She gestured with her head to the dress Amber was wearing. "It wasn't appropriate to run around in your underclothing, as you were."

Underclothing? What was this lady talking about? She had been dressed in her usual jeans and T-shirt, not her underwear.

Amber shook her head, confused. She was relieved when she felt no jab of pain in her head when she did this. But then she realized what the maid had just said. "And where is 'here', exactly?"

"Governor Swann's household. Where else would we take you?"

Governor Swann's? Amber wondered if her jaw dropped in disbelief. She must have bumped her head on a rock or something when she fell in the water. There was no way that she was at Governor Swann's house.

"Estrella?" A feminine voice came from somewhere across the hall.

Estrella. Suddenly Amber remembered where she'd seen the maid before. Estrella was Elizabeth Swann's maid in Pirates of the Caribbean. But if the woman in front of her was Estrella, then that must mean…

"Estrella? Can you come here a moment?" The same feminine voice from before called again.

"If you'll excuse me, miss, but Miss Swann requests my presence." Estrella gave a tiny curtsey in Amber's direction before heading out the door.

Amber's eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open slightly. Miss Swann? Maybe she really had lost it. She'd finally gone insane, just like Jessie always said she would one day.

Jessie. Amber wondered what had become of her friend, since Estrella had said she was brought in here alone. But she couldn't ponder for long, because Estrella returned to the room.

"Come along, miss, you're to be fitted for a proper dress."

"Proper dress?" Amber asked, climbing off the bed and following Estrella into the hallway.

"For Captain Norrington's promotion ceremony. You'll be attending as the Governor's honorary guest. And to attend the ceremony, you'll have to be dressed in a better dress than the one you're wearing now." Estrella looked Amber over from head to foot. "You'll probably fit into one of Elizabeth's old dresses –oh, and corset too. You'll need one of those."

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"Oh…" Gasping in pain, Amber shot a death glare over her shoulder when Estrella tightened the corset with an especially mighty yank. Now she knew how Elizabeth felt…

"No wonder Elizabeth fainted…" Amber grumbled just low enough so Estrella couldn't hear. "Oh…" Amber brought her hand up to her chest as some of the breath she was holding was forced out of her when Estrella pulled the strings tighter still.

"This is probably…" Estrella began with a grunt and another yank on the strings. "…as tight as it's going to get."

"Thank the Lord." Amber muttered as Estrella tied the strings of the awful garment together.

Elizabeth, dressed only in a corset and shift, stuck her head into the room. When she saw Amber was fitted into the corset, she came into the room the rest of the way. "I trust all is going well?" She asked.

You mean minus the fact that I can't breath? Amber grumbled mentally. But aloud she said, "Oh, yes."

Elizabeth smiled brightly. "Good. I'm Elizabeth Swann, but please call me Elizabeth, as I hope we can be friends."

Do not remember Dead Man's Chest. Amber ordered her brain. Do not remember it. In this movie, you like her. Do not remember Dead Man's Chest.

"Then you must call me Amber." Amber returned Elizabeth's smile. She had nothing against Elizabeth… nothing she couldn't get past, anyway.

"Well, Amber, I'll see you downstairs when you're ready." Elizabeth left the room to finish getting ready herself.

Just then the other maid, whose name was unknown to Amber, brought the dress Amber was to be wearing into the room.

"This will do quite nicely," The maid said, holding the dress up for Amber to see.

Amber knew a little less than nothing about dresses, so the only thing she could tell about this one was that it was of creamed-colored, almost tan, color.

Estrella and the other maid helped Amber into the dress before putting her blond hair up in curls, much like the ones she recalled Elizabeth wearing to the ceremony.

"Finished." Estrella exclaimed proudly as she and her helper stepped back to admire Amber. "And you look beautiful, miss."

Amber nodded her head in thanks, causing her hair to bounce, and grinned politely. Estrella was such a kind person, that Amber almost felt guilty about the thinking the not-so-kind thoughts that had been running through her head while Estrella was fitting her into a corset. Almost.

When Estrella said she was free to go downstairs, Amber walked toward the door slowly, using lady-like steps. Not because she wanted to, but because the dress didn't allow for her to stretch her legs very far, nor would the corset allow her to breath much more deeply than the shallow, quick, breaths she was taking now.

When she reached the top of the stairs, what little breath she had left in her left immediately when she saw a certain young man waiting down in the foyer, holding what Amber knew was a sword case.

Maybe she really was back in time. Or she was dreaming. Worse yet, she could be crazy. But the reason that caused her to see Will Turner standing in the foyer didn't matter to Amber. The fact that she did see him remained.

"No way…No way…No way."

Amber rushed down the spiraling staircase as fast as she could. Which wasn't very fast, considering she wore the corset. As Amber reached the bottom of the stairs, she found her voice, "I have to be dreaming…."

At the sound of her voice, Will –whose had a hand on the candleholder- turned. When he rotated, the candleholder broke off in his hand.

Amber stifled a giggle as Will looked down at the holder and then around him desperately.

"Umbrella stand." Amber whispered just loud enough for Will to hear.

After taking Amber's advice and hiding the candleholder in the umbrella stand, Will turned to face her again. "Good day," He said politely.

Amber swooned mentally. He spoke to me! Will Turner spoke to me! Me!

Amber was grinning crazily and her eyes were glazed and unfocused. Will, a bit intimidated, backed up a step. "Are you alright, Miss…?" Will trailed off, since her name was unknown to him.

Amber shook her head. But still the only thing she could do was sit there and think: Will Turner is less than three feet in front of me. And we are talking. We're actually having a con-ver-sation.

When she still couldn't speak, she shook her head again. It worked this time and she found her tongue. "Amber." She supplied. "Amber Reece."

"Will Turner."

"I…" Amber trailed off. She had been about to say 'I know,' but then decided that doing so would ensure a bunch of unexplainable questions. Especially since she wasn't sure what was going on herself. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Turner," Amber said instead, deciding that calling him 'Will' after just "meeting" him, would be inappropriate for this time period.

Before Will could respond, Governor Swann came down the stairs, "Mr. Turner, it's good to see you again."

Will stepped past Amber as to better address Governor Swann. "Good day, sir." He placed the case he had been holding on the table. "I have your order." Popping the case open, Will removed the handcrafted sword.

"The blade is folded steel," He continued as the Governor unsheathed the sword and inspected his work. "That's gold filigree laid into the handle." He reached for the sword, "If I may?"

Amber watched as Governor Swann handed to sword over to Will. She still wasn't entirely sure all this was real, but the more she listened and watched, the more she was beginning to doubt her sanity.

"Perfectly balanced." Will said, balancing the sword on his fingertips. "The tang is nearly the full width of the blade." He flipped the sword in the air, causing both Governor Swann and Amber –even though she stood behind Will- to lean back.

"Impressive. Very impressive." Amber said, walking past Will to stand by the Governor. It was her not-so-subtle way of reminding them she was still here. Besides, Governor Swann didn't know who she was yet.

The Governor looked at her a moment before taking the sword from Will and putting it back in it's sheath. "Commodore Norrington is going to be very pleased with this." He handed the sword back to Will. " Do pass my compliments on to your Master."

While placing the sword back in its case, Will answered, "I shall. A craftsman is always pleased to hear his work is appreciated."

Turning away from Will, Governor Swann addressed Amber. "Am I to assume you're the young lady that will accompany Elizabeth to Commodore Norrington's ceremony?"

Amber nodded and said, "I'm Amber Reece."

The Governor nodded. "Elizabeth should be down any minute…"

As if on cue, Elizabeth appeared in the hallway.

"Elizabeth," Governor Swann smiled. "You look absolutely stunning."

Amber watched Will and felt a small surge of jealousy at the look that flashed across his face when he saw Elizabeth.

"Will." Elizabeth said as a greeting as she hurried down the steps. "It's so good to see you."

"I had a dream abut you last night." Amber mouthed when Elizabeth said it. She wasn't lying, she dreamed about Will Turner every night. Which was why she was certain this was all a dream.

Except, this couldn't be a dream, because the feel of the corset pinching her waist and shortening her air supply was very real.

"About William?" Will asked, unnerved.

"Elizabeth, is this entirely proper…" Governor Swann began.

"It was about the day we met; do you remember?" Elizabeth went on, ignoring her father.

"How could I forget, Miss Swann?" Will asked..

"Will, how many times must I ask you to call me Elizabeth?" Elizabeth asked, the smile on her face never wavering.

"At least once more, Miss Swann, as always," Will said. When Will said this, the smile on Elizabeth's face finally melted.

"There, at least the boy has a sense of propriety," Governor Swann said. "Elizabeth, Miss Reece, we must be going."

"Good day, Mr. Turner," Elizabeth said coldly. She followed her father out the door.

"Are you coming, Miss Reece?" Governor Swann's voice cut into Amber's thoughts. "The carriage is waiting."

"Oh," Amber said. She'd been to busy staring at Will to notice the fact that it was time to go. "Yes." With one last, lingering look at Will, she stepped out the door after Elizabeth.