The Pirate of Port Royal

Chapter 6 - The Seaside Town

There it was. Port Royal, lying in the depts of the Caribbean for all to see. With its powerful mountains and crystal waters, it almost hadn't changed at all. But it had. The once shining town was now desolate in it's waters, with no ships in it's bay. They were expecting an uproar, soldiers marching up the docks with guns at the ready. But nothing. No one cared, no one battered an eye as the Pearl gracefully loaded into the docks. Like a person in a moving picture, everyone just went about their business, just a glance at the ship before turning away. This wasn't Port Royal.

Jack and Lydia walked down onto the dock, Lydia grasping Jack's hand quickly at how gray the town was. Not in colour or appearance, but feeling. There were it's usual fishers and merchants, but they continued their business with no soul, faces pale and lonely. Boats bobbed up and down in the soft waves like dead bodies, unused and unaware of their fate. Buildings ahead of them still held life, but it was different, so so different. Where once kids ran up and down the beaches, singing joyful songs, there now was mounds of old sand castles and bits of rubbish left by trees and bushes. Lydia's breath staggered, Jack catching her and holding her close. Her heart ached at the sight, her home was gone.

"What happened here?" She asked.

"They left us. The Navy left us," A lonely sailor said "Beckett left for the war and didn't come back, neither did Governor Swann. We're waiting for the ships to come and take us back to England. Everyone is packed ready."

Gazing up at Jack, his face faded to a apologetic smile. Rubbing her arms he pushed her along, her face gone. Her head was spinning. They were leaving. Deserting it.

"I should say goodbye then," She whimpered, tilting her head to the beach.

The first thing she opened her eyes to was James Norrington, wishing it was something more like the sky of sand. Everytime she looked to that beach it reminded her of him, how he cared for her like a brother. The only sibling she's ever had, and ever needed. She could still picture herself there, the eyes on her as James sat her up. The feeling of sand in her hair that took weeks to get out. How she couldn't step foot on the beach for months because she was scared of the water. As the tears were in her eyes so were the memories, if only she could do something to stop this. But there was nothing left in Port Royal for anyone anymore. With all that's happened what good would it be.

Into the town itself it was cold and alone, buildings boarded up and suitcases and bags outside houses waiting to leave. People were taking down their signs, dumping all their old furniture in a pile which looked ready to burn. The town was being stripped bare and Lydia was unrecognizable to any resident she walked past.

Because she had changed so much. Her walk had changed, her demeanor had changed, everyone that gazed to her saw her as someone new. Not the girl she once was. They didn't see her as the painter girl who ran up and down the town asking for things to paint on, the girl with a constant smile as she layed flowers in people's gardens. No. Now they saw her as only one thing. A pirate, hand in hand with another pirate. Like all those types of people do. It didn't matter if they knew her or once knew her, they just didn't care for what she'd become. They didn't have time to care about the Caribbean any longer.

As Jack and Lydia strolled through the town, they came across Will's old blacksmith. Just like the rest it was boarded up, the sign leaning next to the door where it had been taken down. Smiling faintly, Jack put his hand to the door, reminiscing on the first time he was here. How he was still shocked by Will's swordsmanship, and how he refused to not play by the rules. Perhaps he missed him, missed him and his lover too, but that would not be something he ever would admit.

Lydia beside him pushed on the door too, finding it locked. Sighing she placed her head on the door, fingers squeezing into Jack's. Will was her brother too. Although their ups and downs she cared for him almost more than any man she had ever met. If only he wasn't gone to the soon. She would surely see him soon, if not at sea then in a long time. Too long for her. Yet thinking about Will brought Lydia to Elizabeth. Some might say she loved her more than a friend or sister, and Lydia wouldn't deny that. Elizabeth was a beautiful woman, and someone Lydia always looked up to. She was perfect in her eyes and if she wasn't with Jack she would have gone to her, even if Will would be there too.