Title: Through Hell For You [ 3/3 ]
Rating: PG? I'm not good with this whole rating thing. xP
Pairing: James Norrington [ Commodore ] / OC [ Odette Beaumont ] With the addition of another OC [ Evie 'Cricket' Beaumont ].
Warnings: Umm. I'd guess another failed attempt at Norrington? I don't have many warnings unless you don't see Norrie as a father. xD
Summary: Fourteen years. A title reclaimed. A new world. Going back to Tortuga for strictly business, one can't help but be sidetracked.
Notes: O: I thank Fannie for the entire idea for this here one part. If she hadn't of mentioned it, there would have just been three parts. c: So yeah. Hearts to her. Eheh. O: This is the end for this fragment of "Through Hell For You." I will continue it in another ficlet though. xD I made promises about Beckett and a wedding - yeah. I have to pull through with that. THANK YOU FOR READING.
- "Commodore, orders from Beckett. Says he'll be arriving in a week or so. Check up on the progress of shutting down Tortuga."
Looking up from the papers on his desk and over toward the Lieutenant that stood, hands folded behind his back and a face sculpted like stone, James nodded his head. Straightening his posture, an audible pop coming from his back, he waved the Lieutenant away. Word of Beckett arriving wasn't exactly thrilling. Beckett arriving meant problems.
"I have enough as it is."
Just two days after Odette had spilled some more-than-important news, and he was still a mess. Two nights without much sleep. Constant tossing and turning along with thoughts that drove him mad. Holding his head between his hands, James stood, boot-clad feet moving him towards the comfort of the small bunk at the corner of his cabin.
Removing his coat, hat, and wig - first draping his coat across the small bedsie table then resting his hat and wig a top - the Commodore dropped down onto his bed, hugging the meek pillow to his head. And like the last couple of nights, his mind flooded with the recollection of what had happened before.
"My ... daughter?" He choked.
"Yes. Your daughter." She was already choking back tears.
The two were still oblivious to their onlookers.
He couldn't find the words. It was as if time stood still as his mind tried to process everything. Evie did have a resemblance to him now that he thought about it. For crying out loud, she was a spitting image of him in ways.
As she moved away from him, he was quick to grab her wrist before she completely moved off of the bed.
"Why, why didn't you say anything before!? Why didn't you tell me before I left, Odette?!"
Yanking her wrist out of his grasp and at the quick loss of balance, she fell backwards. Her right palm coming down on the broken glass that still laid scattered across the hardwood floor. A yelp of pain, she cradled her hand close to her chest, crimson falling onto her cream-white night gown. Broken eyes fixed on her injured hand, she spoke.
"I'm not in the wrong here, James! Don't you dare put the blame on me. It's your own fault. You're the reason I'm even in this mess. By god! You're the one who started acting weird when I got sick. You're the one who found your comfort in a bottle again. You're the one who made a fool out of yourself yet again. You're the one that sought help in another woman and left with bloody pirates. You're the one that left without so much as a simple goodbye, Commodore! And you waited fourteen damned years to come back ..."
Now standing, he looked down at her. Never before had he felt such guilt.
Hearing small footsteps, he glanced over, seeing Evie make her way over, kneeling beside her mother and wrapping small arms around her. Tears even passing her bright eyes.
He was the reason this family was broken.
Shutting his eyes tightly, hands in fists, he picked up his hat and wig, placing both on his head haphazardly before he moved passed his men and out of the room.
With his men's footsteps behind him, a terrible flinch came from him as he heard her last words.
"Leaving us again? You've changed, James. You're not the man I loved!"
Brow furrowing, a groan passed his lips as he released his pillow, turning onto his back to stare at the ceiling. There was no way he'd be able to sleep. At least, not until everything was resolved.
Without a hesitation, James slid off of his bed, standing up and grabbing a sleeve of his coat. Yanking it off of the night table, letting his wig and hat fall to the floor, he left.
Though his men gave him confused glances, he gave no answer. He'd have to hurry if he had hopes of getting to the Banshee before nightfall.
---
"Mommy ... how's your hand?"
Looking up from her small sketches, Cricket watched as her mother rebandaged her right hand. It looked difficult, but she had already been told before that her mother didn't want help.
"It's better. Bleeding has stopped. Should be fine in a couple of da--"
Knocking.
The two Beaumont's looked towards the door. Everyone in Tortuga knew that the Banshee was out of business - just an oversized house - but Odette knew one person who would still come and it wasn't her father. He was passed out in his room upstairs.
Bringing up her hand and using her teeth to tighten the gauze around her hand. "Cricket, go check on grandpa. Make sure he's still breathing, okay?"
The teen watched as Odette got up from a stool and started towards the front door as another knock was heard.
"It's dad isn't it?"
"Evie. Upstairs. Now."
Dropping her head, Evie jumped up from her seat and hurried up the stairs without so much as a peep.
Watching to make sure Evie went all the way up, Odette looked at the door, another knock. Why did he come back? Shaking her head, she scolded herself mentally. She had been waiting for him to come back.
Taking the last few steps, she held the doorknob with her left hand, giving it a twist and pulling the door open halfway. Looking out, her eyes meant haunting ones - ones she had looked into so many times and that had plagued her dreams ever since he left. These were the eyes where she could see the stained glass in them, not the eye's of a Commodore.
"Hi." A nervous smile.
"Hello." A voice that was shakey.
Looking down at his boots, James sighed. "May I-"
"Yes, yes. Come in ..." Opening the door all the way, Odette stepped aside, staying a bit behind the door as he walked in. Moving forward to now close the door with James now inside, Odette slowly turned only to be caught by those intense emerald eyes.
Her own eyes widening, she stepped back until she was pressed up against the door. In that instant, James was on her. Arms secure around her middle and head bowed, nestled against her own. Not pushing away nor going as stiff as a board, Odette melted in his arms, resting her head on his shoulder and her hands pressed up against his chest.
"I'm sorry."
That was all she had wanted to hear. Those two small words. It was all she needed.
"Dammit James." With a soft laugh, she found herself crying again as she picked up her head and looked him in the eye. "I'm the one who needs to be sorry."
Bringing his hands onto her shoulders, he stepped back, a smile still on his lips. "We're both sorry. I should have at least said goodbye to you back then if anything. I was just ... it was just Jack Sparrow. I've been--"
Putting a finger to his lips, Odette laughed once again. "I know the story James. I know it like the back of my hand."
Nodding, he pressed his lips against her fingers in a small kiss. "You do, hm? How is your hand by the way ..."
"Don't worry about it. There are bigger things that need to be taken care of James and it starts with an E."
---
A smile crept upon his face in the middle of the night. The woman he had grown so fond of was at his side, while the soft-snoring teen that was his daughter, was in the room across the hall. Then there was the possible to-be-father-in-law that was down the hall.
A soft yawn, a slight turn, and he had his arms around Odette. The knot in stomach he had gotten when first meeting her was still there, but now was more of a warm, overwhelming feeling. The little smile that tugged at her lips as she snuggled closer to him deepened the feeling.
He was at home.
"What could have been ..." he said through a yawn, his eyes shutting as he drifted back off to sleep.
"It hurts." Tears trickled down the child's cheeks and her bottom lip stuck out in an overdramatic pout.
"What did your mother tell you? Not to play around there. Did you listen?" Cleaning his daughter's scraped knee, James gave a gentle smile.
"N-no ..." Crocodile tears lingered at the corner's of green eyes she shared with both her mother and father.
"Then what does that tell you, Cricket?" Wrapping a small bandage around her knee, once finished, he picked her up from under her arms and brought her off of the counter. Holding her in his arms, he walked out of the kitchen and out into the open area of the pub. There, Odette was taking orders of what the costumer's had wanted to drink.
For once, the Banshee had a decent amount of people within it's walls.
"Always listen to you and mommy." The six year old replied, hugging at her father's neck.
Laughing, James placed a kiss a top her head before he went moved over towards Odette who was walking their way.
Her brow quirked at seeing the bandage around Evie's knee. "What happened here?" She questioned, a smirk playing on her lips.
Evie and James both gave eachother mischievious smiles.
"Well, dear, there were these pirates and Cricket here, fought them all off, single-handedly. Saved her father, she did, but made it out with just a small scrape."
Bobbing her head up and down, Evie laughed. "Yep mommy. That's what happened."
With a roll of her eyes, Odette kissed Evie on the cheek. "Aren't you just daddy's little girl?"
Another giggle from Evie and she began to squirm in her father's arms, wanting to be put down.
Doing so, James watched as she ran over towards her grandfather.
"And where's said daddy's kiss?" He cooed into Odette's ear as he pulled her close to him.
Odette bringing in her own bright laughter, placed a chaste kiss to his forehead before her eyes caught sight of what her father was doing.
"Dad! Evie can't drink that!" In a hurry, she moved away from James and over towards her father's assigned table.
Shaking his head, James stood, a pleased smile being kept.
the end
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