The first time the idea occurred to her, she had just entered her room, her focus entirely on taking her clothes off and getting herself cleaned. James was supposed to be home shortly and she wanted to be ready for dinner before he returned.

After trekking down from the mountain she felt absolutely grimy and soaking on a warmth bath was almost too attractive of an option, but she needed to be prompt, otherwise she risked being discovered.

Going up the mountain by foot and then retracing her step back home, was not as fun as she first thought it would. Even so, shooting within hearing distance from the state was not an option. Not after the incident that occurred the first time she tried.

The liberties she enjoyed now that she lived as the lady of the house were almost intoxicating to her. She never would have guessed that it would be like that, but unlike the time when she lived with her father in the Mansion -where nannies and maids would scold her all day long- living with James as his wife came to mean that no one dared to correct her on anything she did around the state, so she might have gotten too careless that day.

But it really had not been her intention for that to happen. However, when one of the horses had lost its patience with the stable boy -with unfortunate good timing- the strong neigh startled her enough to deviate her aim a few inches as she pulled the trigger. The shot hit the steel fence instead of the target she had gone thru serious pains to make, and then as if to add to the insult, it decided to bounce back in the direction of the house.

The thundering crash of the sitting room´s window came immediately after. Even from her place outside she was able to heard the loud, frightened squeals of the maids clearly.

Things left her control after that. The horses became even more altered, the butler and the cook came rushing out to make sure she was alright. And before she could even attempt to reassure anyone, a pair of soldier that had been patrolling nearby charged into her home as well. Apparently alerted by the loud tumult everyone decided to make.

It was at that moment that she belatedly realized she should probably had alerted the servants of her plans for the afternoon.

The truly unfortunate part of it all was that the shot had ripped thru her new curtains and lodged itself in one of the paintings, and just her luck, it had been the one she really loved. She had been very upset about that.

And then James had come rushing back as soon as the news reached him, with even more soldiers tailing after him.

The entire thing had been extremely embarrassing, and he had been less than amused when she tried to explain what had happened, which resulted in a fight; that she eventually lost when even her Father found out and arrived on their doorstep looking all concerned. They had mobbed her until she promised to be more careful.

Also, James had threatened to take her pistol hostage if she did not agree to not do it again. A frankly low manoeuvre, in her opinion.

So now she saw herself forced to hike her way into the forest whenever she felt like shooting.

She hadn´t really told her husband that was what she was doing now. The spot she chose was nowhere near the old caves that pirates used to frequent, there had been no reports of criminals in town for months, and she was armed. It was perfectly safe, but she was convinced he would not agree to that either, and she didn´t want to have another fight because of his overprotectiveness.

But as she rushed to hide all the evidence of her previous activities, she caught a glance of herself on the mirror.

Making her attention to drift to her appearance. She observed as the expression of the face reflected at her morphed into one of vexation. She was messy, sweaty, her clothes were covered in dirt and her hair had leaves stuck in it.

As she moved to wrestle the hair stuck to her face away from her eyes and into a ponytail, her mind helpfully supplied the unkind thought that she looked much more like a stable boy at the moment than like the lady of the house.

The thought provoked a disobedient smile to appeared on the dishevelled face. It was always amusing to remember the look on the maids' faces when they had first seen her walk around dressed with nothing but a shirt and trousers. Old Martha had looked ready to have a heart attack.

Then her mind caught up with the thought she had before.

Like a boy…

Excitement filled her body as she abandoned what she was doing in favour of running to the adjacent door that led to the room where James´ room. Even if they usually referred to it as such, he scarcely used that room aside from changing and bathing.

Besides, the bed in his room was almost sad compared to the one in hers, she had only asked to sleep there once and it had been enough to put her curiosity to rest. He would only use it on the rare occasion they had a bad fight, or if he came home really late and didn´t want to wake her up, but he mostly slept in her bed. Their bed really.

As she entered the room she remembered the other reasons why she preferred the room he had gifted her: This one was exactly like all the other spaces he spent a significant amount of time in -before she intervened to fix them- frugal and overly orderly. Not a thing was out of place and every object was strategically placed so he had the fastest access to it.

He had told her she could do whatever she wanted to this room as well, but she decided this one could stay as it was, it was his and she didn't come inside that often anyways. Even stranger to her, she found that part of him as frustrating as it was fascinating.

As she walked to his wardrobe, opened it and immediately located what she was aiming for, she did have to admit to herself that it was very practical quality.

His tricorn hats were neatly placed in the uppermost bracket, his shirts perfectly folded, even the boots he sparsely used were polished to a shine... This much order and discipline in his life could not be normal. Then again, from all the ladies available he had wanted to marry her, so he could never have been considered that normal to begin with, she supposed.

For someone who always used the same one, James had a considerable variety of hats. Her eye caught the one that was adorned with feathers on top, recognizing it as the one he had used during his promotion ceremony. It looked so pompous that she had to resist the temptation to grab it and play with it, instead she forced herself to concentrate on the task at hand.

Grabbing the one that looked like it would be the least likely to be noticed missing, and then one of his old blue coats. Closing back the wardrobe and ran out of the room. Not that she feared there would be any repercussion at being found inside, but her plans would be completely ruined if he caught her with the garments.

Sitting in front of her mirror, she bunched all her hair on top of her head before forcing it under the tricorn.

Without any makeup and half her face covered by her hair… she could plausibly be mistaken for a boy. If she made some adjustment...

While she pondered her options with calculation, a light knock at the door almost scared her out of her skin.

"Yes?" she answered, gathering as much composure as she could while she hurried around the room to find a place to hide her load.

"We have brought everything to prepare your bath, Madam"

In the end she tossed them inside the trunk at the feet of the bed. She would find a better place later.

"Enter" she ordered a little out of breath while she continued shedding her clothes.

As she waited for the maids to filling the tub with water, she asked casually "Has my husband returned yet?"

"No, Madam"

Perfect.

The opportunity presented sooner than she would have expected. She had been daydreaming about her plans for just a couple of days when James informed her he would be taking The Dauntless on a short patrol that he could not postpone.

James' eyes had narrowed minutely when instead of her usual disgruntled expression, she had offered him a smile and wished him safe travels, but he refrained from making any comments about it.

She had waited until he left the house to put her plan into action. It was not unusual for her to go visit her father whenever James left for more than a couple of days. So she merely had to inform Martha that she would be staying with her Father until her husband returned and no one would be looking for her this time.

Then it became a matter of ordering the coachman to take her to port so she could say goodbye to her husband and letting him think she would send a soldier to fetch a carriage from the Mansion instead. Finding a place to change and hide her dress had been a lot more complicated, in the end she had to settle for shoving it under a couple of bushes

The tremble of anticipation had not ceased from the moment she climbed the gangplank of the sloop until she finally set foot on the deck of The Dauntless.

The entire time from the sloop to The Dauntless her heart had been pounding with excitement, but nobody had paid attention to her until one of the officers shoved a sack of something heavy into her hands and ordered her into action. Taking advantage of the so kindly provided front, she sneaked below deck while avoiding any eye contact with everyone she passed by.

Her disguise allowed her to explore the insides of the ship without any obtrusion. Unlike The Interceptor, or even The Black Pearl, The Dauntless' insides were immense. Even as a mischievous child filled with the determination of her first adventure, there had been so many parts she had not been able to fully explore thanks to the efforts of one young Lieutenant.

Now, there was no one to stop her, no one who would know to stop her and it was exceedingly satisfying. She spent the next few hours roaming around all the levels, getting familiar with it all until she got bored of it, finally deciding to go up to the deck again.

The colder weather was ever present by the grey clouds above and the choppy waves below. At least there was no fog. The thick fog of winter sometimes brought with it memories of burning wood and black sails, and that was not something she wished to remember anymore.

When she saw Gillette and the rest of the officials leave the Captain's cabin, she rushed inside before anyone could see her, closing the door behind her.

She found him leaning over the central table, fiddling with the divider over the map.

When he heard the door close behind her, he asked in an indifferent -albeit slightly impatient- tone "What is it now?" James was so concentrated on his map that he didn´t even lift his eyes to look at the person he was talking to.

"Fancy meeting you here, Commodore Norrington, Sir" Elizabeth greeted him, feeling a cheeky grin spread on her face the moment his shoulders jumped up slightly and his frame froze as he registered her presence.

His head dropped even further down with a heavy sigh, lifting his gaze to the hers a second later. "...this again?" his gruff tone complimented the displeased frown that set in his lips.

"That´s no way of greeting your beloved wife" she chided him playfully as she walked to him, still feeling very pleased with herself.

He carelessly tossed the divider in his hand on top the table, moving around it so he could stand in front of her, only to sit back and stare at her with his arms crossed. "Elizabeth, you have to stop stowing your way into this ship whenever you feel like it, especially not without my knowledge"

"Well, now you know I´m here" she said, still smiling.

His frown deepened at that. "I do not appreciate you taking me for an idiot, Elizabeth. I might not be as smart as you are, but I'm not dim-witted either."

The severeness of his expression let her know his words were serious, and so, her smile fell with a pang of regret.

"I´m sorry," she told him honestly, grabbing onto his forearms. "That was never my intention" it really had never crossed her mind that he could think she was trying to belittle him "but I knew you wouldn´t have left me come if I had asked you."

His arms relaxed and his eyes softened, but he still appeared vexed. "This is a war vessel and we could end up needing to engage in battle at any given moment. Of course I wouldn´t have let you."

"I get bored and sad whenever you leave for long" she told him honestly, forcing his arms to uncross so she could step between his legs and reach for his cheek to stroke it gently "How can you expect me to restrain myself and stay ashore by myself when I could accompany you instead?"

"You´re trying to convince me"

"Yes" she nodded, easily admitting that was what she was doing "but I´m also telling you the truth." She truly did miss him whenever he left her behind "I wanted to come"

"Clearly" he responded, unamused.

She sighed softly, burying closer against his body "I wanted to come be with you" she clarified.

One of his hands moved to rest on her lower back to trace small circles in an attempt to comfort her as he let his face relax against her palm "Love, please. I truly can´t take you along"

"Why not?"

"You know patrols are meant for actively look for pirates, Elizabeth"

She felt her mood sour a little at his poor excuse to sound reasonable. "There´s no one even remotely remarkable that dares come near Port Royal anymore, James. It´s not dangerous"

"We don´t know that for certain, the ones responsible for the attack we found that day have not been caught yet"

"They likely ran off a long time ago, James. There´s been no sightings of any pirate ships for months!" she persisted, feeling frustrated "and I can defend myself, you know I can" she repeated stubbornly "I´m good. Remember?"

"Was this your plan all along?" he asked suddenly, looking at her with such even expression that she had trouble guessing what he was thinking.

It had not been, but instead of answering she couldn't help asking him "Would that anger you?" feeling anxiety starting to build at the pit of her stomach at the possibility of him getting truly mad at her for it.

Both his eyebrows raised but thankfully the intensity of his gaze diminished as his lips pulled to one side "Only slightly. The possibility certainly passed thru my head when you requested my assistance" he confessed with the firsts hints of amusement.

His words caught her by surprise, but made her anxiety instantly disappear. Was that what he had been worried about when she first asked him to train her? It certainly made his troubled reaction at the time a lot more understandable for her.

When he made no effort to stop or interrupt her she continued "I'll protect you, and we can spend more time together" It was a completely advantageous arrangement, she couldn't understand how he was not seeing it.

"Yes, under the sole condition that you would be careful" he emphasized the word with mild exasperation.

"I am being careful"

One unimpressed eyebrow raised at her "How so?"

At that, she stopped in front of him, signalling to her entire body with both hands as if to prove her point "That's why I'm disguised like this" she appealed to him, extending both her arms and looking quite proud of herself.

James looked at her from her boots to her hat, looking like it was the first time he noticed her choice of garments, but frowning in confusion as if he wasn´t clear on what she was talking about "Like what exactly?"

"Like a man James!" she exclaimed with exasperation.

He moved away from the table and grabbed her flailing arms. "Don´t be so loud, Elizabeth. My men are outside" he warned her.

Making sure to lower her tone she assured him with certainty "Nobody will recognize me while I look like this" pointing once more at the uniform she donned.

He seemed to realize something when his eyes narrowed with curiosity and he reached to take the collar of the coat between his thumb and forefinger "Where did you get these?"

She flinched on the inside a little "I... found them"

His stern mien finally relaxed, looking at her with real amusement as his hand moved to capture her chin "You mean you stole them from me. Such transgression. I could have you arrested."

She made a face at him "I borrowed them"

James snorted loudly at that. "Elizabeth, Love, you do not look like a man. You are going to get discovered as soon as you go out to the deck"

Making sure he could clearly see her smug smile, she assured him "I got on the boat and climbed the ladder to the deck like everyone else did, nobody noticed anything"

He was still staring at her with an expression that clearly conveyed he did not know what to do.

Her hands moved to hold his face gently as she smiled sincerely at him "You can trust me"

"That is not the issue"

"Then what is?"

"You´re not a member of the Royal Navy" he tried to argue half-heartedly.

"But I'm better than most of them"

"And not a member of the Navy"

"You´re running out of excuses, Dear"

An even hum was his only response, pulling away from her to sit down on a chair and stare with calculation; she stared right back as she waited for him.

"What sort of rumours do you think will spread all through Port Royal if my crew was ever to catch a young midshipman repeatedly entering my private quarters at night?"

Elizabeth´s brain halted instantly at the question, staring at him in befuddlement, until an immense grin took over her face, followed by an explosion of uncontrollable laughter that she struggled to hide under her hands. James had looked so completely serious as he asked the question, that she couldn´t do more than laugh.

"I do not see how that could possibly be humorous to you in any way" he scolded her while frowning with annoyance.

"Then you are not seeing very clearly, because I certainly think it is" she laughed, whipping the wetness that gathered at the corner of her eyes. "You? having an affair with a scrawny kid?" she snorted again before she could even finish talking.

James did smile at her question, obviously seeing the ridiculousness of it.

"I would have to be completely daft to commit such a crime"

"Then it's a fortunate thing that you're not" She looked at fondly at him, ordering him gently "Stop fighting me and do this for me. Please"

"You're going to continue stowing away even if I were to refuse, aren't you?" he asked as resignation settled in his eyes.

She offered him a light nod "...most likely"

There was no point in lying when they both knew she would insist stubbornly.

"I would hope you were aware it´s a crime"

She stared at him impatiently, waiting for his answer.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, he turned his head to the side, rested his elbow on the armchair and then leaned his cheek down on his fist as he stared at the map with concentration. She knew that look, it was the look he got whenever he was deliberating on the best course of action.

Elizabeth fought her instinct to grin wide when she realized he was close to agreeing. Instead, choosing to entertain herself by brushing her fingers along the thick fabric of his coat. Somehow, she was starting to develop some appreciation for the blue and gold that he always wore, the smooth sensation as her pads moved was something that she could only associate with James. Even if he did look ridiculously stuffy in all the unnecessary layers.

Although she had to admit she liked it best when he wore nothing at all.

His fist opened and the heel of his hand dug into the side of his temple. Breaking the silence that had settled between them, he asked gruffly "And how exactly are you planning to pass your time here?"

Their position was making her neck tire so she held onto his shoulders for balance as she placed her knees on the outside of his thighs, dropping her full weight harshly on his lap and making him grunt at the added weight.

"...What do you mean?"

Her hesitation made him realize that he had the advantage, because his eyes instantly narrowed cunningly "I´m asking if you are going to spend your time locked inside my cabin?"

Why would she want to do something that silly?

"Of course not. I want to be up on the deck"

He gazed at her as if he was aware of a secret that she had no knowledge about, and his stalling was making her impatient. "As a man?"

"Stop being smart with me. What are you trying to say?"

He smiled at her annoyance "That this is a military ship, you´ll have to work and actually follow commands if you´re planning to go about pretending to be a midshipman. You can´t do whatever you want"

"Alright, I´ll do it" she assured him readily.

"Will you?"

The scepticism might have been partially earned, but still...

"Yes!"

"You can't expect to be treated as my wife, or even as a lady"

She already knew that.

"Or I could simply stay by your side like your officers do" she challenged him.

That just morphed his features into a semblance of pure arrogance "Oh, so your plan is to be promoted to a deck officer, is that it?"

"Why are you being difficult?" she complained, feeling truly displeased by his ongoing interrogation.

"I'm being difficult?" he repeated with thinly veiled sarcasm that made her eyebrows twitch. "If you´re asking me to break all possible manners of rules and regulations, you should at least be able to explain to me your plan. If Gillette, Groves or anyone else were to recognize you, I'll be court-martialled" he threatened, pointing at himself before using that same hand to grab onto her wrist and bring her closer "and you´ll end up a widow."

She rolled her eyes at his dramatics.

"Nothing you say will scare me into changing my mind"

"That would be unthinkable"

He continued to let her play with the golden brocade absentmindedly, before finally breaking his silence when he asked "What happens if you get found out?" his tone denoted he was now attempting to strategize a way to make her idea work.

As eyes stared at his form underneath, her attention fixed on the many gold accents on his clothes, and she couldn't help asking herself: who exactly would anyone tell anyway?

Not only was her husband the commander of the military, but her Father was the Governor of the town, she was sure they would be fine. Even if anyone were to recognize her, nobody would tattle on her, same way nobody had said anything about her presence on the ship after their wedding. James simply incapable of realize his soldiers actually respected his authority.

"I won´t," she assured persuasively "and I happen to know the Captain of The Dauntless rather intimately, it´ll be fine" she said happily, dipping her hands under his cravat and shifting a little in his lap so she could give his neck a kiss, feeling the way his Adam's apple bobbed under her lips.

"Now I truly understand why your father lamented so often about being unable to stop you"

Lifting her face back to his their lips were so close that she felt them brush when she spoke again "You would do well in remembering that"

"You will become a problem" he blurted, looking as startled by his own words as she was.

The assessment was so unexpected that she couldn't mask the wounded frown that appeared on her face as she retreated a little from him "What do you mean by that?"

"You are a distraction" he rasped out with a slight strain in his voice.

"I won´t do anything to deliberately keep you from your duties"

He looked at her pointedly before stopping the trail of her hands down his stomach without losing eye contact "And what about at night Elizabeth? or have you forgotten about what happened on the night of our wedding?"

Ahhh. The pleased smile quickly returned to her face as the memory of that particular night completely took over her thoughts.

Her face approached his until their noses brushed each other´s, feeling the intense desire to kiss him. But if she were to continue, it would be proving him correct, and she could not have that.

Instead she gave his soft cheek a loving kiss and promised with honesty "I´ll be nice."

"That's what concerns me most, dear wife"

Lifting her hands away from the button of his breeches and grabbing the sides of his jaw instead she offered playfully "I´ll sleep in the crew quarters like the others if you tell me to"

His body stiffened as his hand took firm hold of the back of her head. "You better keep away from there" he growled right in her face. It almost sounded like a threat, but the intensity of his eyes made her tingle with anticipation.

Flashing her teeth at him, she teased him "See? You´re being difficult" completely delighted by his silly jealousy.

His frown remained in place.

"Fine then, I´ll do as you want and work on deck" her head lit with possibilities "How about I man the helm? or maybe the sails, or..." she started excitedly.

"You have no experience working on a ship" he pointed out to her, and when she opened her mouth to argue he added "I´m not going to let you do the work if you don't know how. If you want to stay you´re on cleaning duty"

Her mouth dropped at the indignance.

"I´m the Captain here, Love" he was back in control of their negotiations and she was not liking it "You want to play sailor and be free to wander around? Alright, I´ll allow it. But you will be on cleaning duty"

Her jaw set stubbornly.

"That is my only offer" He stared at her expectantly "Yes?"

"Yes" she eventually agreed reluctantly, still looking at him with defiance.

"Sir" he added, giving her a mischievous grin that was so attractive it was almost worth the annoyance.

"Yes, sir"

She had managed to infiltrate two more short trips before an inconvenience occurred.

Both of them were in a bit of a foul mood as James tended to her injured hands. Her because of the throbbing pain in her palms, and him because she had injured herself doing something she wasn´t supposed to be doing.

"I asked you to stay away from the ropes" he scolded her irritably, again, without pausing bandaging her.

Even her anger did nothing to affect the delicate, measured movements of his fingers.

"Cleaning the deck was boring and dirty" she complained, scowling with distaste as she leaned back into the chair.

Which provoked his own mouth to scowl in mild offense "The Dauntless is a first-rate, very well maintained ship. It's not dirty"

"But cleaning it, is" she said with conviction "I found spiders and insects in the hold, and I think there might be rats as well" she informed him with a shudder "I rather not touch any of it" she added, trying not to flinch when one of his fingers accidentally brushed a skinned part on the base of her finger.

"That doesn´t mean you should be playing with the ropes"

That comment did manage to aggravate her. "I wasn't playing, I was manning them. Properly" she remarked with a grumble "And I was doing a most excellent job! You didn't even noticed I was there until that accident happened!"

His eyes finally left his task so he could look at her, she wasn´t sure what he saw in her face but he stood up from the chair and kneeled at her feet, bringing one of her bandaged hands to his mouth "I didn't mean it like that. I´m just concerned, it´s fortunate that the burns are not severe, but you could have skinned your palms completely, or go flying into the air"

"I'm not an idiot, James" she told him stubbornly.

He shook his head firmly at her words "Not once have I thought of you in that manner" he promised, staring at her as the intensity in his eyes softened with warmth, letting go of her hands and resting his head on her lap.

Her own anger receded as her hands moved to carefully card through his hair without her permission.

A soft groan escape his lips, but he remained in place.

After a while, he spoke again "You don't have to prove your usefulness and you don't have to do any of it if you don't want to" sounding mildly uncertain.

"But…"

James lifted his head from her lap as he continued without allowing her to interrupt "I promise, I'm not going to throw you off the ship even if you don't work as my men do. In fact, you don´t even need to work at all if you don´t enjoy doing it"

She became slightly speechless that he knew that much. "You´re going to let me neglect my task? That doesn't seem like you at all, Commodore" she pointed out, feeling a little confused.

He snorted a small, mirthless laugh at that "It was simply my stupid attempt to discourage you. I promise you it will never happen again." his voice was regretful and his hold was so very gentle as he let his thumbs brushed over her knuckles delicately "You´re my wife, Elizabeth, my very dear wife. So stop thinking you need to act as if you were like everyone else just so you can prove me wrong"

Guilt set on her chest.

As it turned out, she had discovered rather quickly that doing the arduous manual labour that came along with being part of the crew was not that enjoyable. And she had been incredibly irritated when she realized that he noticed her disgruntlement first.

"It wasn´t on purpose" she denied.

"Love, don't expect me to remain silent when you do things that injure you, just so you can prove me wrong. I loath that you bled over something like this"

Maybe she had been trying to prove him wrong by working hard at everything she could.

When he had made no comment about it, she had guessed it was because he would not let her slack at all.

The corner of his lip pulled into a sad smirk as he offered her "Think about it as one benefit of being married to me"

"It is a very appealing benefit" she responded agreeably, caressing his cheek softly.

"I was being careful" she assured him, feeling a little bad that she had put that worried frown of his face. Still, she refused to apologize completely. It hadn't truly not been her fault. "Some bloody idiot didn't tie the halyard properly. I was only trying to secure it after I noticed it, but the stupid thing came loose before I could" she explained, going back to being grumpy after remembering what happened.

After assessing the truthfulness of her words, he nodded in understanding, letting his head go back to its place in her lap and closing his eyes.

Her hands went back to his hair.

The comfortable silence prolonged for a moment before she clarified again "And I did it because I knew I was capable of doing it"

With his eyes still closed and his face relaxed he repeated confidently "You did it to prove me wrong"

"You are too rigid" she quipped him defiantly.

"Am I? I would like to know what other man collaborates with his impetuous wife when she decides she's going to dress like a sailor so she can board a warship and pose as a sailor"

"Impetuous?" she asked, feeling just the tiniest bit indignant. It was annoying that she couldn't argue back when he phrased it that way.

James ignored her question and continued talking "Your father would probably be angrier with me if he found out that I´m assisting you in this, than if he were to suspect I took you before marriage"

"You didn't do that" she reminded with a short laugh.

His eyes opened, lit with mischief "I almost did. I certainly wanted to." he reminded her, brushing the side of her leg with his palm "Definitely did more than what I was supposed to"

She hummed her agreement.

"If your father finds out that that I´ve been taking you along on patrols, he would certainly have me flogged, and I would have nothing to argue in my defence"

The prospect, even if theoretical, was entirely displeasing to her. "He would do no such a thing"

"And why are you so certain?"

She used her hand to get a firm hold of his chin and lift his face to hers "I won't stand for it. You're mine. I won´t allow anyone to hurt you" she assured him dismissively.

He appeared at a loss of words for a second at her candidness but then amused surprise took over "You have my gratitude, Love. You really are as courageous as the mightiest of soldiers." His eyes were playful but his words were completely sincere.