Disclaimer: Disney owns all, except my original characters. Title inspired by Biffy Clyro - 'Bubbles'.

James checked that the level of alcohol in the bottle had depleted any further since he put the glass down. Still the same as before. With his lips slightly parted, Norrington returned his gaze to the woman. He was either dreaming or she was genuinely stood before him. She had not spoken again and James was hesitant; he had no idea what his first words should be. Having kept eye contact in a tense silence for the past few seconds, James finally concluded that he should initiate the conversation.

'Please, madam, tell me simply, are you real or a manifestation of my intoxicated mind?' He desperately wanted her to be the former.

She took a small step closer, recognising how James flinched backwards. 'I am real, James,' she said, her voice carrying a hurt undertone. Again her body shivered from the watery chill and she wrapped her arms about herself. The Admiral appeared to be put at ease by her confession. He suddenly realised his manners had escaped him.

'You will catch your death if you stay in those wet clothes.' He had nothing to offer her as a substitute except his coat nor was there a place for her to change privately. He had seen her naked before though and not just in his dreams; he remembered waking up beside her in a bed which was not his own. This time it felt uncouth to watch her undress. Norrington removed his Admiral's coat and handed it to her. 'Here, put this on. You have my word that I will not look.'

'T'ank you,' she said, relieving him of the garment. James turned his back on her, focusing his attention on the papers which were laid across his desk; tedious requisitions and execution orders he needed to sign. He could hear the friction of fabric against fabric as she unlaced her dress behind him, followed by a muted thump as the water-logged material pooled on the floor. Even without looking James could remember her body; it was so very tempting to catch a glimpse. That would make you a cad. 'Ye can look now.' His coat had kept her modesty intact and she had laid her dress out on the floor near the fire.

'Please, sit.' He motioned towards the arm chairs that were angled towards the fire.

A curious smile came to her face, but she sat down all the same. She made sure the coat was still drawn across her breasts and crossed her legs. James passed a fleeting glance over the smooth, brown limbs. 'Ye d' not 'ave t' be so prop-ah,' she assured him as he took up the space opposite her. Norrington appeared lost in his own thoughts. He was. There were questions that needed to be answered, but how could he ask them without conducting himself inappropriately?

'Madam, memories of you have plagued me for the past seven months,' he began cautiously, focusing on her eyes. They were practically glowing in the light of the flames, deep shades of red in a black abyss. 'Yet all my recollections where you are involved are broken up, as if someone has removed pieces of a jigsaw.'

She cocked her head, causing her dreadlocks to sway in the same direction. Her collar bones were highlighted by shadows. Her fingers were tracing the embroidery on the arm of the chair. Her digits moved carefully. As they had done the first time she stroked your hand. James quickly shook the thought from his mind.

'What d' ye remember?'

'A shack by a river, where you lived alone,' Norrington recalled, imagining all in his mind's eye. 'You saved me from the hands of death and cared for me until I was completely healed. It was you who brought about my salvation, internally and physically.' He furrowed his brow and clenched his eyes shut, as he yet again he hit the mental wall that hid everything else from him. It was infuriating. When he finally looked at the woman again her eyes had turned watery.

'Nuttin' more? Not even my name?' She suppressed the emotion which had caused her throat to constrict. James shook his head forlornly. I want to remember.

'Who were you – are you to me?'

The young woman let out a heavy sigh. 'I should not 'ave come,' she murmured, staring at the dancing flames. Her eyes no longer reflected the fire; her pupils had turned grey and cloudy. 'I t'ought ye would remember me.' She moved to rise from her seat, but his sudden interjection paused her movements.

'I want to remember. I need to know what happened between us.' He was leaning forward in his seat now, desperately hoping that she would not abandon him. 'Something did happen, I am certain of that fact.' Silence hung between them, with the exception of their paced breathing. The woman sucked in her bottom lip to lick it, as she prepared to speak.

'Der was a time when ye wanted nuttin' more dan t' link yer fingers wid mine.' She rolled her lips together again, speaking warily. Her hand fit perfectly into mine, as I had hoped. 'An' de time ye argued wid me, ye follow me t' apologize.' She continued with a questioning tone, perhaps waiting for a response from him. James found himself nodding in agreement, although he was not entirely sure why. She was obviously being careful with him; there would be no use in bombarding him with information. 'Ye care enough t' ask 'ow I feel when I was upset. An' wen ye kiss me…'

James suddenly rose from his seat. Not in anger. Not in surprise. In frustration that how ever familiar all of this felt he still felt as though he was merely a spectator to someone else's story. He was never the man who was lucky in love. Never. Why should now be any different with this woman? He could not even remember her name for goodness sake. Then, as though the wall in his mind had begun to crumble an encounter with her came to mind. 'My name?' The woman started twirling the cord of one of her necklaces about her finger, eyeing him up under the curtain of her lashes. She had a teasing look, like a child who was trying to keep a secret although they knew it would eventually burst out. 'I am known as…'

'Teuta,' Norrington breathed. He spun on his heel, to discover the young woman gazing with features as surprised as his. 'Teuta,' he repeated with more conviction. James crouched down in front of her, his hands moving up to cup her jaw. Finally, a smile came to his face, one which lit up his green eyes. 'My gracious Teuta.' The young woman laughed quietly, in joy and relief, before leaning down to catch his lips with hers. James eagerly pulled her from the chair and the pair stumbled to the floor.

Bit by bit they reacquainted themselves with the lines and curves of the other's body, until they were both naked before the fire. The lost pieces had finally been fixed in place. As James gazed up the woman who was straddling his lap he could not comprehend how his luck had changed. Maybe Destiny finally saw fit to grant him some courtesy in life.

'What is it?' Teuta asked, realising Norrington was staring at her.

'Nothing,' he smirked, wrapping his arms tighter about her. He loved the feel of her skin under his touch; she was just so warm. James kissed her forcefully. 'Marry me,' he whispered unexpectedly as they broke apart. Teuta's tender mouth was agape, but her eyes were sparkling with excitement. James' face proved he was not mocking her.

'Marry you?' she questioned in surprise.

The Admiral kissed her again, his right hand moving up to the back of her neck. 'I understand this is not conventional' –nothing has been conventional since I met her – 'but I cannot risk losing you again. Hang what I said all those months ago.' Teuta found his conviction endearing, but there were still flaws in his plan. She stroked a hand through a ruffled, and now short, natural hair.

'Ye said so yerself, dat we 'ave no place in society,' she reminded him. 'An' ye need t' stay 'ere.'

His left hand stroked its way down her spine to small of her back, causing Teuta to arch against him. 'I would gladly give this life up. It has given me little more than grief, heartache and stress over the past years.' He thought for a moment on the other issue, while his right fingers teased the nape of her neck. 'We could move away from Port Royal. There is nothing – no one – left for me here. I understand you as free-willed as the sea but…please, Teuta, marry me.'

The seconds of quiet passed, with Teuta staring down at James with a deliberating gaze. The beam which came to her face set the Admiral's mind at ease. She gave him a minute nod in response, wrapping her arms about his neck. Her lips brushed against his. 'Yes,' she said almost inaudibly. Norrington's heart sang; he could not prevent himself from kissing her repeatedly. He quickly shifted her on his lap, with Teuta clutching at his back when she felt him inside her.

'I love you,' he said quietly, albeit virtuously. She was not just the girl by the river, she was his.

x

A frantic sailor ran up to the new governor of Port Royal as he made his way of the ship that had just transported him and his family from England. The governor was a stout man, with a figure that suggested he had enjoyed his food too much in his younger years but his face was kind all the same. The young lad approached him with red cheeks and heavy breath, but stood to attention all the same.

'I suppose you are the one who is supposed to introduce me to Admiral Norrington,' the older man asked, looking the boy up and down. Just behind him, a middle aged woman and a teenage boy and girl began making their way down the gangplank to the dock.

The sailor shook his head with a look a worry. 'That's what I was sent here to tell you, sir,' he began, praying that he would not be punished unjustly for the message he was about to deliver. 'Admiral Norrington resigned two days ago with no word of where he was heading.'

'Resigned?' The governor exclaimed, in genuine surprise rather than anger. 'What on earth for?'

'No one really knows, sir,' the sailor replied. 'But as far as anyone knows is that he left Port Royal with a young woman on his arm. A native woman, sir, with thick, black hair and eyes the colour of stormy waters.'

Thank you to all those who read it to the end! Your patience with me should be commended!