It was hot.

Hotter than usual.

Disgustingly hot. The kind of hot that makes your skin itch for no reason, as if scratching it off your body would remove another layer and somehow cool you down. I still felt weak from earlier. Perhaps I was still ill. I was lucky, really, to have a friend like George watching my every move to make sure that I was alright. It was lovely of him, but it was also tiresome.

Thankfully, once the ceremony had started it was easy enough to distract him from worrying about me. As he was called up, I watched him hesitate and I smiled reassuringly at him. "George," I laughed, taking his arm. "You sweet, sweet man, I'm alright."

"You-"

"I had a bad dream," I told him. "Not a horrific accident, not a life-threatening illness. I wasn't caught in a burning building or kidnapped by pirates. I had a fever and a bad dream. I am fine."

He smiled, looking as if he felt much, much better and walked away to join the ranks of Redcoats who were here to salute James in his promotion. Elizabeth stood beside me as we watched James walk between the lines of his men to where Governor Swann was waiting to hand him the sword that I had been shown earlier. Everyone murmured and gasped in astonishment when James showed off with it, but I'd seen him practicing it at home. I'd also seen him drop it. Nonetheless I clapped louder than everyone else when he was finished.

There were speeches from everyone of importance- praising my brother and his work in the Navy, talking about his responsibilities now and then. They mentioned our parents briefly. Or rather, they mentioned our father and the work that he had done. I don't think James was expecting it and for a moment I saw him freeze up. Then I smiled at him in a way that I hoped showed the pride our father would have felt if he had been able to be there with us. He smiled back and carried on. When the celebrations began I saw James take Elizabeth to one side. I felt nervous for him and excused myself from the inane conversation I was having in order to try and slyly pay attention to what was going on. I saw him take her to the top of the Fort and stand looking out to sea. She almost fell a few minutes in to the conversation, but he caught her and they walked off arm in arm. Although the conversation they had been having seemed to have gone well, something felt wrong.

I walked to where they had been standing and looked out too. The sea was flat, beautiful. I looked down. The waters below were rocky and far away, but I was drawn to them. What would it be like, I wondered, if I were to fall in to them? Once the thought had entered my mind it became almost impossible to ignore. It grew louder and louder from a low hum all the way to a shout that reverberated through my entire body. I stepped up and stood with my toes balancing on the very edge. There was a rush inside me. I could feel the edge of the stone underneath the balls of my feet before a short drop. To what? Nothing? Everything? Something new? This was madness, senseless, completely insane, but it was right. It was the start of something. It was an adventure. I took a deep breath. The wind picked up and for the first time that day I felt alive.

"Isabelle!" I turned to find George standing behind me. He was looking worried again and I felt bad. "Are you alright?"

God.

What the hell was I doing up here?

What on Earth was I thinking?

"Yes," I nodded, stepping away from the sea. The powerful shout I had hear before was silenced now, as if it had never spoken. "Just getting some air. It's terribly hot." I jumped down and took his arm before he could over-think why I was standing on that ledge. I had to fight to keep my hands from shaking. "Let's get some food." I smiled to distract us both. I couldn't give George a real answer. I wasn't even sure why I had been standing there myself. I felt a chill run through me.

If George had anything more to say about my increasingly strange behaviour he never got the chance to. "Sorry," my brother stopped in front of us, red-faced and beaming. "Do you mind if I borrow my sister for a moment, please, George?"

George bowed his head. "Not at all, Commodore."

James's smile grew a little at being addressed as 'Commodore', so did mine. It was lovely to see him so happy. George walked away from us and James pulled me to one side. He glanced around to make sure that nobody was listening to us. "Izzy," he said quietly, but with a smile on his face and a glimmer in his eyes. "Well. Nothing's officially sorted yet, but… she said yes!"

I let out a high-pitched squeal that took me so by surprise that for a second I didn't realise that it was me who had made that noise. James immediately started laughing. I hugged him. "James, that's amazing!" I gushed. "I can't believe it. There's so much we need to do. You should re-"

"Izzy! Calm down," he said, still laughing. "There's still a lot to be finalized, so don't get ahead of yourself. And don't tell anyone, there has to be an official announcement and…"

"Fine," I sighed. "I'm really happy for you, James."

"Thank you," he grinned. There was a moment during which we both just smiled at each other, a silent and pure bliss passed between us because now everything seemed to be going well. Finally, things were falling in to place. "Hey, have you seen my sword?"

He pulled it out of his sheath and stared at it in a way that hugely reminded me of the way he had stared at toy ships as a child. Excited and overly-proud of something new that was his. This was even better because he felt as if he'd earned it. "I have, actually," I told him.

"Look at the handle," he said because he clearly hadn't heard me, or hadn't wanted to.

"Yes, I know. I-"

"Commodore!" There were shouts from far away, but they were enough to snap him out of his happy mood. Something was wrong. Again. Gillette ran round the corner with a look of panicked urgency that relaxed a little when he saw James. "Commodore!"

"Gillette," James stood up straight. "What is it?"

"Someone's trying to steal the Dauntless."

The panic and fear in the air was contagious and it seeped in to me. "The Dauntless?" he repeated. "How many of them are there?"

"One," Gillette replied. James was taken aback.

"Just one?" he repeated. Gillette nodded.

"As far as we know, there's just one pirate."

Pirate.

Pirate.

I was almost sick. James sprang in to action immediately. "Isabelle stay here. Stay safe," he ordered. "He can't be working alone. Nobody's stupid enough for that."

The thought sent blind fear coursing through me. How many of them were there? And where exactly were they? Was the first pirate just a distraction for the others that were to follow? The Navy were ready instantly and as suddenly as my fear had flared up, it was gone again. Hysteria spread among our guests, but I could see that we were well guarded. I surprised myself by how quickly I could calm myself. I was still nervous; obviously, a sighting of a pirate in Port Royal was a rare and terrifying thing. Perhaps I just felt safe knowing that my big brother was the one looking after us all. I became annoyed more than anything, annoyed that James's special day had been interrupted by something so ridiculous.

I tried to help re-assure people and calm them down. Elizabeth and her father had been moved to somewhere even more secure. Mothers clutched their children and husbands held on to their wives. In the crowds I saw a young girl alone, crying quietly. She had light brown hair and dark eyes that were so familiar that I had to stop and talk to her. I crouched down. I thought a situation like this must be terrifying for such a young girl, especially one who was alone. She didn't look scared. She looked sad. "It's okay, sweetheart," I said, looking in to her oddly familiar eyes. "You're safe."

"Help," was all she said. "Help."

"What's wrong, darling?"

"My mummy and daddy are lost," she said. "Help." I glanced up for anyone who might be looking for her. "Find my daddy."

"What's your name?" I asked her calmly.

"Rebecca," she replied.

Rebecca.

I felt a jolt of panic.

"Rebecca," I repeated and my heart beat faster and faster.

Rebecca. Rebecca. I stood up and scanned the crowd for anyone who looked like her, or who looked like they might be looking for her. She grabbed my hand suddenly and I looked back down at her. "Find him," she told me.

"I will," I said and she let go. I carried on scanning the crowds. Everyone was in groups. Nobody belonged to her. Nobody was looking. "Rebecca I-"

"Time to go," George's smiling face cut in front of my desperate searching.

"Not just yet, George," I told him. "I need to help this little girl find her-"

I looked down. She was gone. I spun around on the spot, but there was no sign of her. "Are you alright?" George asked me. I nodded.

"Yes," I replied. "There was a girl."

"A girl?"

"She'd lost her parents and… and…"

George shrugged. "I guess they must've found her," he said.

"Yes," I frowned. "Yes I suppose they must."

I kept an eye out for her as the Fort emptied, but she was gone.

It was late when James got back, but I had waited up for him. It had long been established that Port Royal was safe enough for us to return from the Fort to our own homes, but it had meant the ceremony had been cut short and James had stayed to work.

For some reason, the calmness that I had felt during the day seemed to have evaporated as the night drew in. The sea was dark and empty. There was no threat there, and yet I half-expected to see a ship. Perhaps the pirate from earlier had friends who would attack us if we killed him. Was that what was upsetting me? I could picture the attack as clearly as if it had actually happened to me. The night's shadows twisted themselves on the water in to the shape of a dark ship. In my mind's eye I could see the flash of cannon fire and the flicker of the flames they brought to Port Royal. I could almost smell the gunpowder. I could hear the blood-curdling cries of pirates ransacking the city. I shuddered and felt sick.

I heard the bang of the front door and rushed to meet James. He would bring me good news. He would make me feel better.

"We got him." James's triumphant smile as he hung up his hat and coat made me smile in return. I was proud of him, instantly.

"You always do!" I grinned.

"It wasn't difficult," he said. I fought the urge to role my eyes at his slight arrogance. "Although he was aboard the Interceptor when we found him."

"The Interceptor?" I repeated. "But I thought that Gillette said he was after the Dauntless?"

James shook his head. "That was what we thought too, but his real goal was the Interceptor. And it seems as if he was working alone. Stupid man."

"Really?" I asked incredulously. "Alone?"

James nodded looking as baffled as I felt. "Yes. Completely alone. I don't know how he thought he could get away with it."

That sounded all wrong to me. "Can you crew a ship with just one person?" I asked.

"Of course not," James laughed and sat down on the stairs to take off his boots. "He would have needed help. Two or three of them at the very least."

"So… why?" I asked. "Why would he even try?"

James shrugged. "I don't know, Izzy. Coming here with a mind to steal a ship from the King's Navy with a crew is risky enough, but… alone? It's practically a suicide mission."

I felt sick again.

"Why?" I asked again, my voice barely a whisper. Something in my voice made James look up.

"Does it matter?" he asked me.

"No," I said thoughtfully. "I suppose not, but… why go through that? Why bother? How desperate does a man have to be to risk his life against such high odds for a ship?"

"Pirate," James said.

"What?"

"Pirate," he repeated. "Not 'man'. You should learn the difference, Isabelle. They are not rational or clever creatures. They do not possess the same intelligence as other men."

"But-"

"And even if they did," he said firmly. "It would not matter. His levels of desperation or loneliness or insanity or whatever kind of emotion you are trying to put on that depthless creature do not matter to people like us."

"I…"

He stood up and took my hand. "Isabelle," he smiled. "My darling sister. Try not to worry. We've caught him. We have no reason to believe that he was here with anyone else or that anyone else either knows or cares that he is here. Nobody is looking for him. Nobody else is going to come here and hurt you or anyone we know. Why he was here or what he wanted to do is not important."

I nodded. "You're right."

James kissed my cheek. "Sleep well, Izzy."

"You too, James," I turned to walk up stairs, feeling suddenly exhausted by the day's events.

"Oh and Isabelle!" he called to me. I turned at the top of the stairs.

"You should come tomorrow," he said. "If that will make you feel better?"

"Tomorrow?"

"To the pirate's execution," he clarified. "I'm sure seeing Jack Sparrow hanging on the gallows will put your mind at ease. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," I replied and turned along the corridor to my bedchamber. The house was silent again. I blew out my lights and sank in to bed. I felt my worries and stress slowly seep out of me. I was safe. I knew I was. There was no point to all the uneasiness I was feeling. I'd had a stressful day… that was all it was. My mind emptied of everything slowly until all I was left with was two words. A name.

Jack Sparrow.

Tomorrow, I would see him die.

Thanks for reading! Please review if you can :)

Review Replies:

horsiepirate- That's okay, thank you for reviewing it! I hope if it doesn't make sense now, it will start making sense soon :)

thEcrEAtOr23- You could try screaming at her. I'm not sure she'd hear, but it might make you feel better to get it off your chest haha.