We Never Found That Land
Title: We Never Found That Land
Author: commodore_lydia
Word Count: 455
Rating: G
Characters: James Norrington, Elizabeth Swann
Pairings: Norribeth
Disclaimer: If I owned PotC, James and Elizabeth would have at least 10 children by now, Will would have married Estrella, Jack run off with whomever caught his fancy and wasn't married or otherwise engaged at the moment. And I would have James's drool-worthy uniforms. And the Dauntless. And maybe Gillette ... only because James is taken.
Summary: AU post CotBP; Weatherby Swann dies and Elizabeth, bereft of family, is leaving the Caribbean.
Warnings: OneShot, fairly angsty, bring your own subtext and ever-after. Inspired partly by North & South.
Before you stone me to my well-deserved death for not updating anything in ages, I will add, simply, that I've lost my muse for Helen, and am desperately trying to get her back, but no promises of anything anytime soon. I am, still, working on Music Box Waltzes - the end is giving me no end of trouble.
She was saying something, but he knew not what. There was but one thought in his mind, that could occupy his mind at such a time, and it was that she was going, and would never come back.
He would never see her again.
“-James.”
Elizabeth’s invocation of his Christian name brought him swiftly back to attention.
“You are going,” he managed to whisper, half of an uncertain statement, and half of a certain question.
“I have family in London - they shall take me in. I cannot stay in Port Royal. I cannot.”
Diamond tears sparkled from reddened eyes.
She was going. She was leaving him, and he should never see her again.
“I’m sorry, Miss Swann.”
Somehow her proper address seemed right for the occasion.
“I come as a friend, James. You were his closest friend for years, and he thought very, very highly of you. Here is his Locke - my father knew how fond you were of his philosophies, and the debates and discussions you and he so often had. I would - that is, I am certain he would wish you to have it.”
James took the volume into his hands and paged through, smiling at the stately scrawl with which the late Governor had used to annotate the text.
“I shall treasure it.”
Would she give him nothing to remember him by?
He looked away quickly, collecting himself.
“James,” she began hesitantly, “let us part friends. We were in our youths - the young Captain Norrington and his impish shadow - the untamed, disgraceful monkey of a girl, Elizabeth Swann. I blame myself for moving away from the best friend I ever had, and could not bear it if we parted on such terms as we have been recently. Shake hands, James, and let us be friends again.”
She held a black-gloved hand forward, and he shook it - far too eagerly, he thought, but she smiled with something of a degree near true happiness.
“Goodbye, James.”
“Goodbye, Elizabeth.”
Her smile faded, and the melancholy returned, as she remembered her present - the horses pawing the gravel drive eagerly and the pennants of the Ariadne waving in the bright summer’s breeze.
“I leave on the tide,” she said hastily, withdrawing her hand.
“Of course,” he replied, without truly conscious of speaking.
She looked at him - stiffly frozen, hand falling slowly to his side. His wonderful green eyes were devoid of everything except the void.
“I’m sorry, James,” she whispered, “We never found that land of might have been.”
In a swift gesture, she pressed forward and kissed his cheek through her veil - then dashed down the steps.
His cheek would burn for years, but the fact remained that Elizabeth Swann was gone, and would never return.
Author: commodore_lydia
Word Count: 455
Rating: G
Characters: James Norrington, Elizabeth Swann
Pairings: Norribeth
Disclaimer: If I owned PotC, James and Elizabeth would have at least 10 children by now, Will would have married Estrella, Jack run off with whomever caught his fancy and wasn't married or otherwise engaged at the moment. And I would have James's drool-worthy uniforms. And the Dauntless. And maybe Gillette ... only because James is taken.
Summary: AU post CotBP; Weatherby Swann dies and Elizabeth, bereft of family, is leaving the Caribbean.
Warnings: OneShot, fairly angsty, bring your own subtext and ever-after. Inspired partly by North & South.
Before you stone me to my well-deserved death for not updating anything in ages, I will add, simply, that I've lost my muse for Helen, and am desperately trying to get her back, but no promises of anything anytime soon. I am, still, working on Music Box Waltzes - the end is giving me no end of trouble.
She was saying something, but he knew not what. There was but one thought in his mind, that could occupy his mind at such a time, and it was that she was going, and would never come back.
He would never see her again.
“-James.”
Elizabeth’s invocation of his Christian name brought him swiftly back to attention.
“You are going,” he managed to whisper, half of an uncertain statement, and half of a certain question.
“I have family in London - they shall take me in. I cannot stay in Port Royal. I cannot.”
Diamond tears sparkled from reddened eyes.
She was going. She was leaving him, and he should never see her again.
“I’m sorry, Miss Swann.”
Somehow her proper address seemed right for the occasion.
“I come as a friend, James. You were his closest friend for years, and he thought very, very highly of you. Here is his Locke - my father knew how fond you were of his philosophies, and the debates and discussions you and he so often had. I would - that is, I am certain he would wish you to have it.”
James took the volume into his hands and paged through, smiling at the stately scrawl with which the late Governor had used to annotate the text.
“I shall treasure it.”
Would she give him nothing to remember him by?
He looked away quickly, collecting himself.
“James,” she began hesitantly, “let us part friends. We were in our youths - the young Captain Norrington and his impish shadow - the untamed, disgraceful monkey of a girl, Elizabeth Swann. I blame myself for moving away from the best friend I ever had, and could not bear it if we parted on such terms as we have been recently. Shake hands, James, and let us be friends again.”
She held a black-gloved hand forward, and he shook it - far too eagerly, he thought, but she smiled with something of a degree near true happiness.
“Goodbye, James.”
“Goodbye, Elizabeth.”
Her smile faded, and the melancholy returned, as she remembered her present - the horses pawing the gravel drive eagerly and the pennants of the Ariadne waving in the bright summer’s breeze.
“I leave on the tide,” she said hastily, withdrawing her hand.
“Of course,” he replied, without truly conscious of speaking.
She looked at him - stiffly frozen, hand falling slowly to his side. His wonderful green eyes were devoid of everything except the void.
“I’m sorry, James,” she whispered, “We never found that land of might have been.”
In a swift gesture, she pressed forward and kissed his cheek through her veil - then dashed down the steps.
His cheek would burn for years, but the fact remained that Elizabeth Swann was gone, and would never return.