Title: An officer and a maid.
Rating: PG
Pairing: Groves/Estrella, E/W, E/N
Warnings: none
Disclaimer: Disney owns them, I do not.

An officer and a maid

Chapter 14

"Jack Sparrow, be it known that…" Elizabeth listened numbly as the very long list of Jack Sparrow's crimes began. She was distracted, hoping against hope that this was not the way of things, that this pirate, who was a good man, would not hang, though his accomplishments dictated he should. "This is wrong." She murmured.

"Commodore Norrington is bound by the law. As are we all." Her father reminded her, rather harshly.

"There is something to be said for not following the rules all the time." Elizabeth said, boldly.

"Elizabeth! How could you-"

"I can't breathe!" Elizabeth had caught sight of a darkly colored man working his way through the crowd. Will. Will had always been willing to take a chance. Even her maid took more chances then she, flirting with and winning over an officer. Elizabeth fainted backwards, hoping to draw the attention of her father and fiancé away from Jack. She heard the drums stop and jolted upright to see Jack standing on the sword's edge and Will jumping onto the gallows. She looked up at her father.

"I cannot believe that he would do such a thing." The governor turned to the commodore and the two men walked toward Norrington's pre-arranged trap. Estrella came running up to her mistress from her place along the wall.

"Mistress, are you alright? I must have laced your corset too tightly, I am sorry." Estrella spoke quickly as though she were out of breath. Elizabeth turned to her sharply.

"No. I must get to them, I cannot let him die. Either of them."

"Mistress?" Estrella questioned as her mistress tried to stand.

"Help me up, Es! I have to reach them!" Estrella grabbed Elizabeth's outstretched hands and helped her to her feet. Elizabeth pushed past her and ran toward the edge of the fort. Estrella followed, and the two women reached the small crowd around the cornered Turner and Sparrow. The governor had condemned Turner for his escape attempt, and, much to Estrella's surprise, Will simply through down his sword and defended the pirate.

"You forget your place." Norrington growled at Turner.

"It's right here. Between you and Jack." Will looked at Norrington levelly, resigned.

"As is mine." Elizabeth pushed her way forward to stand next to Will. The rigidity went out of his body, his eyes beginning to fill with tears against his will. Behind him, Jack Sparrow smiled: a full, deep, roguish smile that radiated from every fiber of his being.

"Elizabeth!" the governor cried. "Lower your weapons! For God's sake, put them down!" The soldiers obeyed, though Estrella noticed that the pirate felt far more in control, staring down the soldiers. He was biding his time, and everyone knew it.

"So this is where your heart truly lies, then?" Norrington's voice cracked only a little, betraying the depth of his emotion.

"It is." Elizabeth said with simple conviction, though there was a hint of sadness. She glanced away from Norrington, unable to maintain eye contact. She caught Estrella's eye and gave a tight lipped smile. Estrella nodded approvingly, and began to wend her way back through the fort.

Estrella emerged from the fort and began to walk through the town. It was rare for the town to be quiet during the day, but most people were at the hanging, and so Estrella was able to hear herself think as she walked toward her cramped apartment.

'I wonder that Miss Swann even had the courage to do that. I did feel bad for the poor Commodore. Even if he did know, it couldn't have been the easiest thing to see his fiancée demonstrate it in front of all of his subordinates and the entire town too!' She sighed. 'So my mistress gets her happy ending. Well and good, but she shall hardly need a maid if she is keep house for a blacksmith, governor's daughter or no. Though he did have a fine fighting form, it seemed. Maybe he could become a soldier, maybe they could still live in the mansion!' She shook her head, silently berating herself. She knew better: Elizabeth would live the life of a poor maid, not unlike herself. She certainly had no need of a maid; neither would Elizabeth.

By this time, Estrella had wandered well past her destination and found herself standing at the edge of town. In front of her, the road curved out of sight, down toward the harbor, then up into the hills that protected the town. The pride of Port Royal's navy was no longer moored there, the Dauntless laying limply at the dock and the Interceptor never to be moored there again. Estrella wrapped her arms around her waist, hugging herself against the slightly chilling ocean breeze.

Estrella sighed. "It seems like just yesterday." She murmered. "It does, doesn't it?" a voice said, just as low, from behind her. Estrella turned quickly to see the lieutenant strolling up the path toward her. She turned quickly out toward the sea. "Yes, yes it does." She stammered.

Groves looked down at Estrella. She seemed much smaller then he remembered. She seemed more quiet, reserved in person then she had in her letters. "I'm sorry, I must have surprised you. I know I wouldn't expect to be followed, but…" Groves took a deep breath. "I thought we might be able to continue the, ah, companionship, no, what I mean to say is, the, ah, rather agreeable state of relation that we find ourselves in. I, ah, mean-"

"It would be… lovely, lieutenant." Estrella rescued him from his hesitation with a soft smile.

"Yes, well, wonderful." Groves turned to her with a smile of his own. "Shall I escort you home, then? I would not want you to walk alone."

"That would be lovely, lieutenant." Estrella turned away from the brilliance of the setting sun toward the young man by her side. "Perhaps you could tell me one of your stories as we walk?"

A/N: Well, that's all folks. I came back too it so long after I had written the rest that I forgot where I was going and decided that it was in a good position to end it. I'm thinking about writing new drabbles in my own little AU world of Groves/Estrella love that takes place between CotPB and DMC, but we'll see. Thank you to everyone who reviewd or read or both. I really appreciate it, and I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.