Where Her Heart Truly Lied

Author's Note: (This chapter is very short, I know, but you have no idea how difficult it was to write). Thanks again for the reviews. About the "why is Norrington such an asshole?" comment. There are a few answers to that. If you are referring to him making Elizabeth marry him, he had to do that or else I'd have no story. ^_^ If you are referring to chapter 2, he was crushed to discover Elizabeth with another man- Will Turner no less- when she made him believe that she was in love with him. He had been so sensitive to her needs and left her alone as she requested, only to discover that she was secretly seeing someone else. So he was feeling hurt, betrayed and definitely angry. After all, in that day and age a woman simply did not disrespect her husband and it turned into a disciplinary action in the end. Elizabeth was after all, making him look back both direct and indirectly. Thanks again so much for your reviews (please keep giving them) and your patience.

Disclaimer: I still do not own Pirates of the Caribbean.

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But Will was perfectly fine. As soon as the Commodore and Elizabeth had left, Norrington’s men backed down, having received no orders to do harm to the boy; they had mainly been there as a scare tactic. While Norrington could not legally harm Will, he knew his reputation would be severely wounded once the news of the morning’s events reached the ears of the townspeople.

All afternoon Will had received dirty looks and whispers followed him wherever he went. Like most gossip the story of what had really happened had been greatly exaggerated. At noon he had merely been caught kissing Elizabeth Norrington; by four o’clock he had supposedly been making passionate love to her on his workbench and had laughed at Norrington when he arrived claiming that the man was a fool for even thinking he had a chance with her. Of course all of this would have repercussions on Elizabeth as well, not to mention her father. The Governor had not yet paid a visit to the young man, but he was certain that an unscheduled appointment would be made and he winced at the thought.

Mr Brown would suffer as well as Will’s actions reflected on the business. The shop was unusually quiet today and two orders were cancelled because the clients did not want someone like him working on their possessions. Most of the people who did venture in were the ones bold enough to actually come inside to hiss and tsk at him. The others simply peered in at him through the window like he was some carnival attraction and shook their heads in shame when he happened to glance up. Mr Brown had been the only kind person to him. Kind in the sense that he left Will alone and sloshed around the shop trying to get rid of the nasty hangover he had concocted. In fact Will was not entirely sure Mr Brown was aware of what had actually transpired hours before. But this was just fine with him because he hardly paid any attention to his work as his thoughts were consumed with Elizabeth.

He had not stopped worrying about her from the moment he realised the soldiers were in the shop. He had seen the hate and anger that burned in Norrington’s emerald eyes as he stared down at the pair of them. He had witnessed the whisper between him and the soldier and while Will had strained to hear what was going on, he was unable to make it out. There was no question in his mind that he was going to be shot and when Mr Brown was dragged into it, he was sure of it. So naturally he was quite surprised when the rifles were lowered and the soldiers just simply walked out. It was only after Mr Brown had finally arrived for work and chased him out of the hay he was still laying in that Will decided the soldiers had simply been there for effect. And what a show they had put on. The most memorable moment for Will, and was one that he could still see quite vividly in his mind, was the glimmer of fear in Elizabeth’s eyes. It had only been there for a moment as she had demanded through her brave exterior that Norrington’s man release her, but it was there.

What had Norrington done to her when they returned to his home? He had been livid with her when he was in front of Will and the soldiers, but behind closed door with no one to see them... Will shuddered involuntarily. He could not bear to think on it, because the thought of that man touching Elizabeth, harming her, defiling her, made him sick to his stomach. Will knew now that could be idle no longer, that time was up. He would escape Port Royal with Elizabeth and free her from the clutches of a life she never wanted. As soon as Mr Brown had let him go home from the evening, Will left to make preparations, for he knew where he had to go.

He had considered changing his clothes, but that would look suspicious and draw unwanted attention. So instead Will had gone down to the docks dressed as he was and attempted to make it look as if he were merely there for leisure. He chatted with sailors endlessly all evening, learning who they were, how long they were here for and where they were planning on going next. At last he found someone who had given him hope.

“You’re leaving tomorrow?” Will said to a grubby looking man who smelled something awful. He had to do his best to keep from cringing.

“Aye,” the sailor replied. “I jus’ come by here for a few supplies. Nuthin’ more. My business is elsewhere.” He sniffed, bringing a gob of snot, back up into his nose.
“Where do you plan on going next?” Will asked doing his best to sound interested.

“Tortuga.” The answer was short and the man looked away, scuffing his boot against the ground, clearly bored with the conversation.

Will’s eyes widened. Tortuga! At last the answer he was looking for. But he checked his excitement.

“Tortuga? Why would you go there? Aren’t you afraid of pirates?”

The man smiled a secret smile, revealing that three teeth of his were missing. He stared at Will a moment as if he were mentally sharing this secret with him. At last he spoke.

“It’s a cheap port,” he said with a shrug. “And I ain’t afeared o’ pirates. Now I best be on my way.” He turned to leave.

“Would you consider taking passengers?” Will asked.

The sailor stopped and looked back. “Why?” His tone suggested that he was curious.

Will walked up close to him and spoke in a low voice. He pulled out a small pouch from his trouser pocket. “There are six shillings in here,” he said shaking the bag. “If you agree to take myself and one other to Tortuga with you, it’s yours.”

The man raised a brow. “Do you have a preferred time you wished to leave?”

“Tomorrow night. Midnight.”

“Agreed.” The man held out his hand, but Will drew the bag back.

“You get the money before we leave,” Will said. “I will meet you at this exact spot tomorrow night with my companion. Tell no one.”

Will stuffed the bag back into his pocket and left.

At eleven o’clock the next night, Will Turner approached the west side of Norrington’s small estate. He peered through the black iron bars that surrounded the place and stared up at the windows; there were two facing out and Elizabeth had told him once that hers was the one on the left looking towards the property. Climbing up a tree, Will crawled out on to a branch and swung down over the fence. He remained hidden in the shadow that was cast by the tree in a crouched position for a couple of minutes in case someone had heard him.

Will had changed his clothes for his grand rescue. To blend in more with his nighttime surroundings he now wore dark coloured trousers, black boots and a long, dark, leather jacket. He also had a black satchel with him. Will darted across the grass and pressed his back up against the side of the house. He was directly under Elizabeth’s window and glancing up he could see that there was no access to it from where he was. He shuffled along the wall and peered cautiously around the corner. There was nobody there. The one thing Will had feared was that Norrington might have some sort of security guarding the place since discovering Elizabeth had been leaving.

A bunch of clematis was growing up the side of the house at the far end of the south wall, when Will rounded the corner. They were attached to a lattice and he realised he had just found his access to Elizabeth. With a yank, both the lattice and flowers came free of the wall and Will hurried round to the other side. He set his make-shift ladder up and began his climb up. It was a bit tricky as there were not that many useful footholds, not to mention he was concerned his ladder would snap underneath his weight. Never-the-less, Will managed to make it to the top in one piece. He tapped on the glass. At first nothing happened and Will began to wonder if she were even inside or if perhaps he had the wrong window. But a moment later lamp light filled the room and Elizabeth’s face appeared before him. She looked completely taken aback upon seeing him.

Let me in, Will mouthed to her.

Elizabeth shook her head. It’s locked, she mouthed back.

Will dug into his satchel and pulled out a small pin. He fit it into the outside lock and fiddled with it until he heard it click. A second later the windows were pushed open and Elizabeth had cupped his face in her hands and was kissing him. Will pushed his fingers through her hair, his own lips responding against hers.

“What are you doing here?” Elizabeth whispered when they broke a part.

“Get your things,” Will said. “We’re leaving.”

“Where?” she asked.

“Tortuga,” he replied.