Disclaimers: I don't own POTC nor its characters, although there are some I wouldn't mind to have for my own...

Thanks a lot to my readers, you are golden. Thank you!

Tortuga hadn't changed a bit since the last time she had been there; the population was as wild and undisciplined as ever, if not even more. As she walked down the streets with Jack and Mr. Gibbs, she smiled fondly at the memory of the evening she had spent there in James' company; it seemed such a long time ago.

Jack decided that they would spend most of their day in the tavern he liked best in order to recruit as many people as he could, disregarding their qualities as sailors. Lawrence didn't like the idea of him tricking people to their death, but it was either them or her friends, so the choice wasn't that difficult to make in the end. The Empty Thrown was as usual overcrowded with rascals and prostitutes; there were drunk men at every corner, some playing dice, others fighting, some plotting, some sleeping over the table. She shook her head in despair when she saw the back of man wearing a tattered Navy uniform, getting busy with one of the wenches of the tavern.

'How the mighty have fallen…' she sighed.

Wearing clothes completely different from the ones she wore the last time she had been there, she got more attention than wanted from the male customers. Of course, Jack didn't do anything to shoo them off; he was rather enjoying seeing her getting rid of those parasites either by cursing them or threatening them with her sword; but as long as it worked, she didn't mind Jack not doing anything.

It was all fun and laughter, but in a few hours, only four men had enlisted; they would never reach even a tenth of their objective at this rhythm, Lawrence started to worry.

'Tell you what, sweet heart' Jack said, putting his hand on her shoulder, 'why don't you try to win the heart of some of those poor souls and get them to enrol for me, eh? I'm sure it won't be too difficult for you, considering your looks and your pretty pretty face!' he said, pinching her cheeks as if she were a child. She wriggled out of his embrace and punched his shoulder.

'You're despicable!'

'Aye, but you still love me!'

She rolled her eyes and started towards the tables.

'If any trouble happens to me because of your plan, I swear on the all mighty's head, you're gonna pay!'

'Tut tut, manners!' he laughed before waving her to go and sitting back behind a potted plan he used as a hideout.

While she was trying to win over some drunkards, she noticed from the corner of her eye that the man wearing the Navy uniform had gone to see Gibbs; she was curious to know what his story was but right at the moment, she accorded him barely a glance.

'…my story? It's exactly the same as your st-'

Lawrence turned her head quickly in the direction of the voice; she could have sworn this voice belonged to the man she loved. Before she could think a moment longer about how silly this idea was, because it simply was impossible, one of the men at the table she was grabbed her by her waist and tried to kiss her forcefully. She punched his face and pushed him to the ground, which knocked the pint of ale his comrade was having and the whole situation turned a fight which took considerable proportions as the man that had come to Gibbs had also started one. Soon after, the whole tavern had turned into a battleground where chairs and hats and blows flew alike. Lawrence looked at the scene with consternation and saw that Jack was running away by the upstairs door.

'Why does everything turn into a fight around here?' she said to herself. She shook her head and tried to find a way through to go out into the streets where, she hoped, the mood would be less belligerent.

As she was walking down the streets in the direction of the harbour, she saw a couple of men from the tavern carrying face down the man in the Navy uniform.

'Maybe throwing him into the sea will show him back to his senses' she concluded, watching them going away, but she didn't realise they were not going in the direction of any source of water.

After losing her way in the maze of obscure streets, she finally found her way back to the harbour and noticed that she kept crossing path with this same man in the Navy uniform. She walked faster to reach him and touched his arm.

'Are you alright, mate?' she worried and instantly wrinkled her nose. 'My God, this man reeks!'

The man shook her hand off and slowly turned round to see who was annoying him now.

Lawrence froze, her eyes growing wide and her mouth hanging open in shock.

The man frowned and narrowed his eyes.

'James!' 'Elizabeth?' they said at the same time.

Lawrence felt a sharp pain in the pit of her stomach, her heart skipping a beat.

'Wh-what is happening? Was the water that I drunk poisoned or was it rum? This-this can't be happening, first finding him here in such a state, then having him mistake me for Elizabeth? No no no no no. Please God, tell me it's a bad dream!' She was unconsciously reaching out for his arm. He looked awful; his eyes looked vacant, his face and the beard he had grown were covered in mud and excrements, his wig was impossibly dirty and dishevelled, and barely covered his unruly long hair.

'Oh James… what has the world done to you?' Hearing this very sentence twice in less than ten minutes brought him back to his senses.

'L-Lawrence?' He blinked a few times then stared at her, swallowing hard.

Lawrence didn't know what to do now, time was standing still; of all the possible scenarios, she would never have thought of that one. Despite everything, she managed to give him a small smile.

'I-I thought you wer-' He never finished his sentence; he turned round and bend over to throw up in the sea.

Lawrence sighed and helped him up, putting an arm under his arms and helping him towards the Pearl. Maybe out of shame or due to the shock, James didn't say a word, nor looked at her.

'…meaning William Turner, Captain Sparrow' said another voice that sounded familiar to Lawrence. 'Now what? What has this young lad got to do with Will?
'Elizabeth? You know these clothes do not flat-'

'Elizabeth?' Lawrence gasped out loud. 'By the seven Hells, won't this crazy evening ever end?' she swore out loud. James looked at her in shock, his Lawrence would never swear in such a way…

'Jack, I know Will came to find you, where is he?'
'Darling, I am truly unhappy to have to tell you this, but through an unfortunate and entirely unforeseeable series of circumstances that had nothing whatsoever to do with me, poor Will has been press-ganged into Davy Jones's crew.'

'Davy Jones?'

James moved away from Lawrence and threw up once more.

'Oh, please' he said, his voice really just how much he had drunk. 'The Captain of the Flying Dutchman?'

'You look bloody awful, what are you doing here?' Jack asked

'You hired me! I can't help it, if your standards are lax…'

'You smell funny. Oh and look, Lawrence is here too! I'm glad you've finally found your significant other sweet heart, not at his best though…'

'Jack!' interjected Elizabeth. 'All I want is to find Will.'

Lawrence was still wondering what to do; Tia Dalma had warned her about James, she had said that his heart was corrupt and that only her love could save him; but would she find a trace of her James, of the man he used to be? She wasn't sure, but she would try. In any case, at the moment he was a man in need of help, and help she would provide him.

She helped him climb the boarding plank of the Black Pearl, beginning to get accustomed to his stink.

'Hey, look who Rush has found!' Ragetti said, pointing the newcomers.

'Welcome to the crew, former Commodore' Pintel mock-bowed.

James was about to strike him when Lawrence lowered his hand and took it in hers. She glared at Pintel.

'Now really isn't the time! Come on James, let's put you somewhere until you sober up…'

She sat him on a chest on the main desk, making sure his back was against the mizzen mast so that he didn't fall down.

She let him alone to fetch a pail of water; on her way, she saw Elizabeth and went to see her.

'I'm glad to have another woman on board. I was beginning to feel a bit lonely!' she laughed.

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes, looking her up and down.

'Charlotte? Charlotte Reynolds?' she exclaimed, bewildered. 'What are you doing here? Are you a pirate now?'

'Actually, it's Lawrence... And yes, I guess I am.'

'My goodness, I never thought I'd see you here!' she said, hugging her friend.

'Me neither. I was awfully worried about you, first the abduction, and then Will told me about your wedding and your arrest…'

'Will? You-You know Will?'

'Yes. He was with us on the Pearl for quite some time, and he saved my life from cannibals! Long story, but yes, I do know him. I was there when he went to see Davy Jones.'

'You even saw Davy Jones? Oh you have to tell me everything!'

'And you too will have plenty of things to tell me, but first I need to see to James!' she squeezed her hand and left with her fresh water.

'Charlotte, wait! You also know James?' Elizabeth asked, but her friend was already away.

'Charlotte?' said Pintel who was passing by, laughing. 'You know, you can just call her Rush if you don't remember her name, that's shorter!'

Lawrence wet a rag and proceeded to clean James' face the best she could. He still hadn't said a word to her since he had first thrown up in the harbour, but she didn't mind for the moment; she too had plenty of things to think about.

'Put him in the brig until he's sober, early in the morning…'

She absentmindedly hummed a song as she took care of him, throwing away into the sea his hideous wig on the same occasion.

'You even sing pirate songs…' James finally said, with a tint of disgust in his voice.

Lawrence imperceptibly moved back, looking at him with reproach.

'Now, I don't think you're in the best position to judge anybody considering the state you're in.'

James glared at her with tired eyes. Lawrence shook her head.

'I don't even have the heart to fight with you… Come on, a good night's sleep and tomorrow you'll be right as rain!' She led him to her quarters and tried to take off his dirty coat.

'I can do it myself, thank you!' he said, moving away from her.

She raised her hands in sign of surrender.

'Fine, do as you want, but don't put dirt on my sheets, or I'll have your hide!' she said before slamming the door shut and going on the main deck.

'You two are already having a little domestic?' Jack smiled, nagging her ribs with his elbow.

'For your sake, don't even start, Jack!'

'I'll leave you with Lizzie then, you'll talk female stuff…' and off he went to the helm.

Lawrence went to see her friend who was on the other side of the deck, looking at the dark sea.

'I must say, you make a fine looking sailor, Elizabeth!'

Her friend smiled.

'And you a dashing pirate! I never thought I'd seen you wearing anything else but a dress.'

'Then you should have seen me in my Navy uniform then!'

'I beg your pardon? A Navy uniform?'

'Ah yes, I never told you that… Before we met you and I, back in Port-Royal, I had been an Ensign in the Navy for almost a year.'

'What?' Elizabeth couldn't believe her ears.

'Yes… Long story short, I took my dead brother's identity, hid from everyone that I was a woman, travelled on sea for a couple of months, became an officer under James' commands, one day he found out, shipped me to my nearest family without his knowing so, and then you saw me for the first time, as the very proper Charlotte Reynolds.'

'Oh Dear… So that's why you know James! You knew him from before! And after all this time you found him here…'

'Well, technically, yes and no… You see, after your abduction, I went into the Navy once again, and after a few months, was assigned back on his ship; because you know, we were close friends before, so he eventually forgave me he asked his superiors to have me back on board. Then we travelled together and ironically, as we were chasing down Jack to arrest him, we got caught in a terrible hurricane; the ship wrecked, I got rescued by Jack and became little by little a pirate. As for James, I don't know any more what happened to him… Our friends in the Navy told me he had arrived safely to Port-Royal but here I find him; bitter and drunk…'

'I knew there was something I liked in you! But I would never have guessed you went this far, I'm impressed!'

'Enough about me, Lizzie, tell me all that happened to you!'

And so the two friends shared their stories through the night, neither of them feeling the need to sleep; one because she was too excited to be on her to her fiancé, the other because she had too many things to process and also because her bed was presently occupied by the man she'd had been looking for for months.