A/N: Quick note! This is going down the path of an AU! If you don't like AU stories, go to the one-shot! Okay, otherwise, enjoy!

XXXIV.
Oceans Apart

"Get the hell of me!" Anne was screaming. Mary couldn't pay her much mind because she was struggling with the guard who was trying to pin down her own arms. She thrashed and kicked as hard as she could, making it as difficult as possible for his fingers to wander up her skirt.

That was the danger of being a woman in a prison. Their bellies weren't swelling yet and the guards thought they could have 'fun' with them until that happened. They had been making crude comments for two weeks now but this was the first time they acted on it. Mary and Anne had been asleep, but they had woken up to these bastards trying to peel their clothes off them.

"Hold still, bitch!" The guard slapped her so hard she saw stars and he managed to roll her skirt up to her hips with one hand and grab both her wrists in the other. She kicked and kneed, trying to get him in the groin or stomach. Finally she got her leg in front of him and she kicked him, hard, in the stomach. He fell off of her cursing. She was up in a second, grabbing his head in her hands and twisting. His neck snapped and he fell to the ground dead. She grabbed his pistol and sword and ran out of the cell. She could still hear Anne screaming and fighting.

She used the sword to kill the solider on Anne and helped her up. She grabbed a pistol and sword and ran. Both of them had blood staining their dresses, but they ran anyway. Mary's heart was thudding hard and fast in her chest. They ran, hiding when they could. They were so close to the outside, Mary could see the door. If only they could get there…! Mary knew for a fact that if they could get outside, they could get away.

They made a run for it, their bare feet slapping against the stone floor. Suddenly two guards appeared in the doorway. They had their guns drawn. Four more were behind the two women. No! They had been so close. They stood there and they had to drop their weapons. With the weapons, went their hope.

They were led back to their cages and Mary sat, leaning against the wall. There was a small hole in it where she and Anne could talk to each other without being overheard by the guards. Since there weren't many around, she took her charm out too. She hid it under some loose stones in her cell but when they were alone; she would draw it out and just hold it. It helped her keep a little hope.

She sat there, thinking of all the mistakes she had made up to this point. If only she had gone with Edward…perhaps he would not be in prison and nor would she. Anne…would she have been better off if Mary had not returned to Nassau? She couldn't say. She sighed, feeling a single tear run down her face. She needed to escape so badly. The child in her belly deserved to know her mother – deserved to be raised in safety. Not this…They'd hang her and do what with her baby?

"Mary…" Anne's voice stirred her. "What are we going to do now?" Her voice was desperate.

"I don't know Anne." She whispered back. "I really don't know."

Time passed and the guards kept on harassing the ladies, until their stomachs began to swell. As they did, Mary and Anne lost hope. There was no way they could escape. Mary had never felt so uncomfortable. She had energy now, so she paced restlessly often. She knew Anne was feeling the same. At least it was cool in the jail, out of the oppressive heat of the sun. She didn't know how some women carried children when it was so hot out. She couldn't imagine the heat when she already seemed so warm. Was it the baby in her belly making her feel warm? Or was it because of something else? She couldn't say.

She and Anne sometimes spoke of their lovers. Anne told Mary of her husband before – James Bonny. He came one day, having been contacted because is 'wife' was in jail. He looked at Anne and Mary with ill contempt and then left, saying he and Anne were divorced. He could have bought them both, gotten them out of jail. Anne told Mary not to worry so, as her father was also rich and powerful. When he heard of what happened to her, he would surely save them both.

Mary didn't have much hope for that.

So they sat in prison, drinking barely clean water and prayed it didn't make them ill. They ate scrapes of food, thanking their stars that they didn't have to pick maggots out of it. Because of their condition, they were treated slightly better than the average prisoner. Mary wondered often after Edward, hoping he didn't find himself ill either.

That was one thing Mary didn't speak of at first, Edward and her relationship with him. But Anne prodded and poked until Mary told her everything. She admitted that she loved Edward and if she could see him again before she hung, that would make her at least happy. Anne wondered if she shouldn't have watched Jack's hanging. She felt now what she did was cruel. Mary had to agree with that, but she never said as much.

As time went on, Anne's pregnancy got harder and harder on her. It was clear to see she wasn't doing so well, though Mary couldn't guess why as she was so young. Mary was doing well enough. She could still get up and pace, while Anne mostly kept on the floor or on her bed, only getting up when she had to use the privy in the corner of her cell or when she was moving to the hole in the wall or to her bed. Mary encouraged her to get up and move though, hope that maybe walking would help her deal with it. She often cursed the soldiers and the drunken crew that got them here. She missed Daniel something terrible, but the fates had spared him a hanging. At least he had died in her arms. Though she felt terrible as he had died thinking she was carrying his child.

No, no…She might be. She didn't know. Not yet. She wouldn't know until the child was born.

So she paced and waited, her days filled with anxiety and fear, sadness and heartache. She only hope that something changed and soon…she wasn't sure how much longer she and Anne could last.

July 1720

Anne gave birth to a son. She spent almost sixteen hours in labor. She nearly died giving birth. Mary watched from her cell as they took Anne's son away and as they cleaned her and her cell up and she heard them drop her in her cell again. She tried to talk to Anne through the hole in the wall, urge her to get up. She clutched her charm in her hand, as if luck might be given to Anne through it. But it had been almost a full day since she had given birth and Anne was…well Mary was sure she was dying. She couldn't die though! Mary didn't want to lose the only friend she had left! She couldn't lose her, she was so young. She had to make it through this, she just had to.

"Help!" She called out of the cell now. "Somebody…Please…Please! Anne, my friend Anne had a child and she's…she's poorly! Please! Someone!"

A guard came, a sour look on his face, and kicked at her cell, causing Mary to fall back less he break her fingers. Mary glared up at him. "Quiet! Shut your bleeding trap or I'll fill it in my own way!"

"Fuck off! You cowardly bastard! Murders! Someone help Anne! Please!" She called again, as if there were someone to hear her. They were alone though. Anne was going to die and Mary was sure to follow soon after. The guard kicked her cell door again. They turned to Anne's, standing and looking in at her. "You bloody English cur! Standing over a dying woman like she was a piece of meat!"

"A dying pirate! There's your difference. You'll be much the same soon enough by the looks of it!" He was glancing now at her full belly. True, she was fit to burst soon, her belly swollen and it made her clumsy. She was kneeled at the front of her cell now, unsure if she could get up and walk. She waddled more than she walked now and standing and sitting were troublesome for her.

"Aye, she's dying from childbirth. God carries out her sentence and our hands are clean of it." The other solider sounded proud of that, as if it were God's plan all along. Mary spat at his feet and he jumped back into the other man, nearly sending both of them onto their arses.

"Bloody fucking English scum! Open my cell and I'll cut your throats!" She shouted at them, hoping they would open her cell. She wasn't kidding. She'd kill them if she were given the chance.

"Fucking pirate whore! I'm going to fill your mouth!" The one guard started towards her cell, but the other grabbed his shoulder, shaking his head. She was still with child so hurting her and risking hurting the child was off limits.

"Help! Somebody! Please! Anne has taken ill! Please!" She rattled on her door again, shouting even louder now. Someone had to hear her. Someone would come and help them. She so valiantly hoped so. She needed them to. She had never prayed before, she had never been a religious woman but she prayed now. She prayed someone would save her and Anne. She prayed Anne would survive this. "Please help her!"

Just as that left her lips someone jumped from the rafters, landing on the two guards and shoving hidden blades deep into their necks. She looked at the man in shock. He was shaggy, unshaved, much too thin and his skin was sunburnt badly but she knew him. She felt the tears in her eyes.

"Edward!" Her voice broke when she cried his name. Ah Tabai jumped down afterwards and hurried to Anne's cell. She heard the door open to Anne's cell. Edward was raiding the guards for another key.

"Mary…" She heard Anne whisper. "Mary…whose this here?" She saw Ah Tabai exiting her cell, holding a pale and sickly looking Anne. He tossed something to Edward's feet. A key to unlock her cell. He snatched it off the ground quickly.

"He's a friend of mine, Anne. Anne! Edward is here!" She pulled herself to her feet, using the wall to help her in her struggle, and Edward unlocked her cell, taking her into his arms. He looked down at her stomach, seeming to want to make a comment, but he glanced behind him as he heard guards shouting.

"Shit. We have to go. Can you walk?" He asked. Ah Tabai was already hurrying away, turning the corner and disappearing from sight.

"Not well." She replied. He pulled one of her arms over his shoulder and put his other arm around her waist and began to help her get out of there. It was hard to hurry with her stomach so big she couldn't even see her feet. She could see Edward straining to help her though. She stumbled a lot, her ankles were swollen, but Edward only waited for her, kept her on her feet. She did note how his one hand kept going to his side, clearly indicating that he was hurt. She wanted to ask but, now was not the time.

Soon they were leaving the building and in a courtyard of sorts. It was the middle of the night and for that she was thankful. The sun's bright light would have blinded them after being in the dim jail house. She hurried as fast as she could, Edward leading her around guards, keeping her safe. She regretted not being able to fight anymore. She felt like she was a problem being so heavily pregnant, she was practically defenseless. They found Ah Tabai standing over a rowboat. She didn't see Anne until she got closer. She was lying in the boat, eyes closed, her hands placed gently on her stomach.

Mary broke away from Edward, hurrying as fast as she could to the edge of the rowboat, falling to her knees at the edge. Edward stayed rooted to the spot, watching as if from a very faraway place.

"Anne! Anne!" Mary barely knew her own voice. She touched Anne's cheek but quickly realized the young woman was already gone. "Oh god…!" She felt a deep pain in her heart. This was all her fault! Anne was so young; she didn't deserve to die so young! If she hadn't led her to escape Nassau, she'd still be with her dick of a husband but at least she'd be alive.

"Come, Mary" Ah Tabai was helping her onto her feet and then into the boat. She looked at him and then Edward who staring down at Anne with tears in his eyes. Ah Tabai reached into the rowboat and removed some robes – robes that Mary knew so well as they were Edward's. He hesitated in front of Edward. "What will you do now?"

Edward blinked, realizing he was being spoken to. He looked at Ah Tabai and took a deep breath and then sighed. Mary looked at him with wide, tear-filled eyes. She wanted him to say he was coming with them. That he was coming with her. That he'd be there for her, she needed him. She needed him more than she had ever needed anyone else. She begged him with her eyes, hoping that he'd make the right choice but her heart already knew he wouldn't. He swallowed hard, pushing back the tears and he finally spoke.

"Nothing sensible"

Ah Tabai offered him the robes. "You haven't earned these, but they suit you" Edward took them and looked at Mary. When she had first seen those robes on him, she had told him that they didn't suit him. They hadn't at the time. Now…now she couldn't imagine him in anything else. "Good fortune to you, Edward Kenway"

"Edward! Wait!" Mary tried to stand but Ah Tabai caught her shoulders. "Edward! Please!"

"Hush, Mary. You shouldn't get yourself so worked up in your condition" He helped her settle back into the rowboat and Mary did try to calm herself, only because of the baby.

And then Ah Tabai began to push the rowboat into the water. Mary watched Edward and he watched her. They were oceans apart, the two of them. She just wished they could find a way but it was clear from the look in his eyes what path he had chosen. He palmed some tears off his cheeks and then turned away. She looked down herself, a sob escaping her chest. It was clear what he had chosen and he had not chosen her.

A/N: So...Mary is alive. I'm trying to keep it somewhat along the game's storyline but we'll see what happens next eventually. I know I'm on "vacation" and probably shouldn't be publishing more than one chapter but I couldn't help but throw you guys a bone. I probably won't be back again until next week though. Anyway, hope you enjoyed and I hope you're all happy as I am that Mary is able to have one more shot at happiness.