"You can't just keep a child!" James exclaimed, looking at me as if I had just brought home an elephant to keep in my bathroom. I slammed the door shut behind us so that Rebecca couldn't hear him from where she was perched on a chair in our drawing room. James had been fine with me bringing her back for one night, but now that I was suggesting she stayed here for more I was in for a fight. Luckily, I wasn't afraid of one.

"Well why not?" I challenged him.

"You can't just keep a child," he repeated. "She needs looking after. She's not a stray dog that you can just 'take in'."

I ignored his attempts to trivialise what I was doing and refrained from pointing out that dogs needed looking after too. "James, she has nowhere to go!" I protested. "What else am I supposed to do?"

He shook his head. "She must have somewhere. She must have parents. She can't have just grown from nothing and arrived from nowhere."

I sighed, "Does it matter where she came from, James? What matters is that she's here now and she has nobody and we can't just let her wander the streets of Port Royal. Anything could happen to that little girl."

"Isabelle…" James sighed, but I could tell he was cracking.

"What if that had been me, James?" I said. "Imagine if I hadn't had you when mother and father died. Wouldn't you have wanted someone to take me in?"

There was a silence while James tried to think of anything that might mean he wouldn't have to admit defeat. I held his gaze, afraid that even so much as blinking would lose me the upper-hand. "Fine," he sighed and it took all of my self-control not to punch the air in victory. "But this isn't permanent. We will distribute posters calling her parents to come forward and when they come for her you will say goodbye. It will be a few days at most, I'm sure. Don't get attached."

"Yes James," I agreed, already at the door.

"I mean it, Isabelle," he called after me, trying desperately to cling to some vain illusion of authority.

"Yeah," I said, pulling the door shut behind me and picking a smiling Rebecca.

"Thank you, Belle," she said and something stirred inside me. I looked in to her happy, familiar eyes.

"What did you just call me?" I asked, but she just gave me a smile that was older than her years and hugged me a little tighter. The feeling of inexplicable unease that had been ebbing and flowing at my soul for the past few days had returned. 'Belle'… Where had she got that from? I had no problem with Rebecca having a nickname for me, but… why Belle? I was either Isabelle or Izzy, nobody called me Belle… and yet, it had stirred something in me I couldn't quite explain. It was like the warmth of a childhood memory, but without an actual memory to put it to. It was good. It was happy. But it made me miss something I couldn't remember. And that unsettled me.

"Isabelle," I turned at the sound of George's voice and smiled. Rebecca stiffened in my arms. He smiled at me. "Is James here? I need a word with him."

"Yes," I nodded to the door I had just come out of. A second later it opened and James emerged, having overheard our conversation.

"Hello, James," Rebecca said, sounding happy to see him. I smiled at his look of confusion.

"Er… yes…" he cleared his throat, obviously unsure whether he should let it be or force her to call him something else like 'Commodore' or 'Mr Norrington'. It would be proper, after all, but I knew James had a soft spot for children and Rebecca was so adorable that I was sure she would get away with calling him by his first name. Sure enough, after a moment's hesitation, he said, "Hello there, Rebecca."

She giggled and rested her head on my shoulder.

"How long will she be with you?" George addressed the question to my brother, but I took it upon myself to answer.

"As long as she needs to be."

There was a slightly uncomfortable silence. George looked more worried than he needed to be and it started to annoy me. Why was he so concerned and wrapped up in something that had nothing to do with him? What business was it of his whether Rebecca stayed with us or not?

"Hopefully we can get her returned to her real parents soon," James said optimistically to escape the awkwardness of the silence.

"Hmm," George nodded but didn't smile. I looked away from him because he was frustrating me so much.

"Did you come here for anything in particular, George?" I snapped and then felt guiltier than I should have. I looked back at him and saw him shift uncomfortably under my gaze. An apology tickled my tongue.

"Er… yes," he said and looked at my brother. "It's about those prisoners. The ones who escaped yesterday."

His eyes slid back over to me and I got the impression that the part of the conversation I was invited to was now over. This was official business and not mine. Although… it was kind of my business, seeing as I was the one who had freed them, but they didn't know that. Hopefully they never would. My stomach twisted and my hands felt clammy, but I tried not to let it show on my face. "Ah yes," James said and I could already hear his emotionless business voice that I had always detested. "We've managed to round up a few…"

I started to turn away from them both, forcing myself to be disinterested in something that was supposed to be none of my business, but Rebecca squirmed suddenly in my arms. I stopped where I was and set her down. She took hold of my hand and looked back. "You've caught them all?" she looked worried. I held on to her hand a little tighter, I'd have been afraid of those pirates too at her age. The thought of them still gave me an odd flutter in the pit of my stomach if I was honest. It was probably fear.

"Er…" James frowned at her. "Not all of them. Yet."

I gave Rebecca's hand a squeeze. George took a few steps towards us. "Don't worry," he said and crouched down to her level. "We will get all of them. Every single one. And they will be hung, as they were supposed to be, okay?" He glanced up at me and then back down at Rebecca. He put a hand on her hair and gave it a comforting ruffle. I felt bad for having snapped at him earlier, now that he was doing his best to re-assure Rebecca that they would catch everyone who had been in the jail. "So don't you worry. We'll keep you and Isabelle safe from all of those nasty pirates." He straightened up.

"Thank you," I mouthed to him, with a smile and he smiled back.

"Perhaps it would be best if you two went elsewhere?" he suggested. "And I will visit you later, if you like."

"It would be lovely to see you later, George," I said and then nodded to him and my brother. "I'll leave you both to it."

I led Rebecca over to the door. "Come in here, George," I heard my brother say as he pushed open his study door.

"It's about that pirate, Sparrow," George's voice began to fade as we moved further away. I wished they'd wait until we were fully out of earshot before they started speaking about pirates like that. Poor Rebecca. "I think I know where he's headed, so…"

The door finally shut behind them and I looked down at Rebecca. She looked incredibly worried. I gave her my brightest smile to cheer her up and picked up our pace. "Let's get you settled in, eh?"

Rebecca's "few days" with us turned in to a few more, which turned in to a few weeks and pretty soon even James stopped pretending that her stay with us was temporary. She seemed happy and comfortable with us, which surprised me because I thought that she might miss her real family. She never mentioned them unless prompted to and most of the time I didn't want to ask. True to his word, James sent out the news that Rebecca was with us over and over again, but his calls were never answered. If she didn't seem to miss them and they weren't looking for her then perhaps they weren't good parents at all. What kind of parent wouldn't look for their child when they went missing?

There was a great deal of mystery surrounding that little girl, but for some reason I was the only one who wasn't fazed by it. When I spent time with her, I often forgot about it completely. She was just so easy to love. I adored her. So did James, although he would never admit to it. Our neighbours and friends asked about her constantly, intrigued by the mysterious young girl and her new place in our household. It annoyed me a little, how nosy they were, and I was constantly worried that they would upset her by asking the wrong things about her family. I can't have been easy to be so lost so young, but she dealt with it incredibly well.

The incident at the jail seemed to have had a profound effect on George. I had never seen him give himself over to his work so completely or passionately. It made me oddly proud of him. It was nice to see him so happy with his job. So determined. In a strange turn of events, it was James who seemed to be more distracted from the job than he had ever been before. He had a lot of eyes on him as the new Commodore, but there were even more eyes on him as the soon-to-be-husband of Elizabeth Swann. I had to keep reminding myself that the wedding was going to be taking place. It didn't feel real to me. Maybe because it was my brother and my best friend, I was used to thinking of them in that capacity and not as man and wife. Elizabeth would be my sister in law. How strange.

My days were a lot less lonely now that I had Rebecca to fill them. I took her out to buy clothes so that she had more than just that one dress to wear, I started teaching her to read and sew. It was comfortable and lovely until we left the house. Whispers followed us wherever we went. It seemed strange to everyone that it was me who was looking after her and not someone who worked for James and I. For that reason, I tried to avoid everyone else as much as possible, with James and Elizabeth's engagement and me taking an abandoned child in to our family, I hadn't felt so much outside pressure and judgement on our family since our parents had died. I think we dealt with it well. Like we always had.

I read to Rebecca every night before she went to bed. I didn't know what to read to her at first, but she liked all of my own favourites, which made me incredibly happy. She liked stories about adventure and love and life. No matter how sleepy she was, she always managed to stay away till the end of the Chapter.

"Could you tell me a story?" she said one night as I closed the book and she rested her head down on to the pillow.

"I just did," I laughed, setting the book down on a table. "Don't push your luck."

"No," she said with a sleepy smile. "I mean one that you make up yourself. Tell me a story."

I almost said no immediately, but thoughts of her biological mother having done a similar thing silenced me. Perhaps it was a home comfort. I wanted to give her as many of those as possible. "About what?"

"About Pirates," she said with closed eyes and a small smile. "And a girl who falls in love with one."

Her innocence made me smile. I bent down to pull the bedcovers over her and tuck her in. "Now, that would be a story," I chuckled and blew out the candle by her bed. Maybe I'd think about making up a story for her, but not one so lacking in morals. Romanticizing pirates would never work. I left her room quietly to maintain the calm and serene atmosphere that would hopefully carry her wild imagination swiftly to sleep. I almost shattered the quiet instantly when I ran in to James on the other side of the door so suddenly that I had to choke back a scream.

"Don't get attached," he warned me in a whisper. I pulled him sharply down the corridor and away from Rebecca's door just in case she had somehow managed to hear him.

"James," I scolded in a whisper. "Be quiet."

"Isabelle-"

"I will not have that girl feeling unwelcome in this house!" I snapped.

James took a deep breath. "I'm sorry," he said. I was a little taken aback. "It's just… people have been asking questions about her and nobody seems to have any solid answers. There are some pretty nasty rumours flying around though."

I narrowed my eyes and studied his expression. He usually shielded me from such things, so for him to be bringing it up meant that it must be serious. "What…?" I asked warily.

He looked uncomfortable. "Well…" he started. "Port Royale isn't exactly a big place- not like London anyway- and our call to Rebecca's biological parents has been fairly extensive and nobody has come forward. Nobody has even come forward to say that they know the girl or her parents…"

"James," I interrupted him, feeling a flare of defensiveness and frustration ignite inside me. "How important is this?!"

"There is something strange about her family, Isabelle, whoever they are," he continued trying to keep his cool. "Even you must be able to admit that and other people can see it too. And… well… I've heard whispers… that she could be an illegitimate child who can never be claimed, or that she's been born out of wedlock and the couple are finally rid of their shame, or- worse of all- her parents might be pirates who've abandoned her here."

"James," I sucked in some air to calm down the queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. "She should not be punished for whatever mistake her parents may or may not have made. Their crimes are not hers. Their circumstances are not her fault."

"But… but…" he protested and for the first time in my life I saw my brother as weak. "What would we tell everyone…?"

I straightened my spine and stood taller than I had known was possible of myself. I felt taller, stronger. There was a strength inside me that I had never known existed. I felt like I could fight anything. "You will tell them the truth. That there is a little girl, who is not from here and who has been left behind by her parents- whoever they are, wherever they come from or whatever their crimes may be. Unless these parents come forward to claim their child, no questions will be asked about this girl's background. She is being given a second chance. We are giving her that second chance because it is the honourable thing to do. The right thing to do. And if people can't see the nobility in that James, I frankly do not care what they have to say about us."

James looked at me as if seeing me for the first time. I felt as if I was meeting myself for the first time too. I felt more comfortable than I had done in a long time. For once, I felt powerful. There was something about Rebecca that brought out a fiercely protective side of me and I'd be damned if I was going to let her go without a fight. James nodded. "You're right," he said quietly and I nearly fainted with the shock of hearing him utter those words. "It is the honourable thing to do."

I knew that I had one now. James put honour- his honour, my honour, my family's honour- above nearly everything else. Spinning Rebecca's mysterious past in to something that could be pitied and sympathised with would mean she was accepted. It would remove the suspicion around her and make us taking her in something that was honourable and selfless. People are so quick to be suspicious of the kindness of others.

"Come on," James said, changing the subject. "I have a wedding to plan and I need your help.

"You do?" I fell in to step with him.

"Well," he smiled and for the first time I noticed how different his smile was around this particular subject. It was shy and quiet, but it was full of hope. "You know Elizabeth better than anyone, I'm sure you'll know what she likes. You know… flowers and food and other such things… I'm not very good with those."

I wanted to hug him and squeeze him, but instead I just beamed at him and said, "Yes! Of course!"

I was excited because talk of wedding plans had begun picking up a lot of pace in the last few days and now I was being asked for my opinion. "It's just…" James began. "I'll be going to sea a week from now and I'd quite like to have the wedding before I go…"

"Before you go?" I nearly shrieked his ear off. He started to laugh. "A week from now?"

It didn't feel real. I wasn't sure that I would ever actually accept this wedding until it took place. I wouldn't believe it was happening, even though I knew it was, until I saw it with my own eyes. And it sounded as if I would get to see it within the next few days. My head spun for a second and then it was filled with flower arrangements and dresses and guests that James may have forgotten. I knew that the arrangements of these kinds of celebrations were usually down to the men and that was why James had waited until this evening to ask me. Nobody would ever really know I had and hand in things. But I could make Elizabeth and James's wedding a little more special for both of them and that was important. James would never say it out loud, but it was important to him too. We talked and planned well in to the night and for the first time in my life James listened very intently to what I had to say.

When I finally went to bead my thoughts were still buzzing and I was so sure that I would dream of cakes and veils and rings, but my dreams were far darker. In them I felt lost and unable to grasp on to anything. The things that flashed before my eyes didn't seem linked- they were just random snapshots of something that had nothing to do with me. First I could see a gold medallion resting in my palm, with an intricate skull and crossbones etched in to it, so vivid was the dream that I could almost feel its weight in my hand. I turned it over and found the back to be covered in blood. I dropped it on to sand. Looking up, I saw an empty beach with a crackling fire and the echo of the words of a song I thought I knew, 'We pillage and plunder and rifle and loot, drink up me hearties yo ho…'I spun around to see who was singing and came to find myself standing in silence beside the body of a giant sea monster. I tried to scream, but couldn't. A monkey chased an apple by my feet. I watched it roll towards a chest where something lay thumping inside. Or perhaps I was just hearing my own heartbeat. I backed away from the sea monster's corpse and looked to find the horizon. On the calm seas rested a ship with black sails, shrouded in mist. Pirates. I turned and ran in to the jungle behind me, desperate to get away from this place. I stopped in a clearing where the grass turned to marble flooring and a fountain rose up. I saw myself lying beside it. A figure I didn't recognise leant over me, sobbing. Was I dreaming that I was dead? I kept running, running past what could have been my corpse and deeper in to the jungle. Suddenly there was stone and hard pavement and other people and I was back in the Fort of Port Royale. I stood at the edge and looked out to sea, but I still did not feel calm. I slipped and fell towards the waters below. The fall from the Fort felt so real, as falls often do in dreams, and I knew it would be enough to wake me up. In the moment of blackness between landing from the fall in my dream and waking up in my bed I heard Rebecca's voice;

Tell me a story.

About what?

About pirates… and a girl who falls in love with one.