Norrington's Darling

Return To Port Royal

POV: Zuri Norrington

I found Jack giving orders on the deck of the Pearl, Barbossa tossing him a few glares. But when I tapped his shoulder, my brother grinned and let me drank him into Reef Bar so we could talk. 

"You leave in two days, yes?" he asked.

I nodded. "Back to Port Royal with Elizabeth and my crew to give James a proper burial."

"Then back to Shipwreck Cove? I think I can convince the crew to stay a bit if you're planning on coming with us. I'd like you with me when we go after the Fountain of Youth."

I raised my eyebrows. "That's your new venture?" He nodded. "I would take you up on the offer, but...I'm staying in Port Royal for a bit. Six, seven months at the very least."

Jack's jaw dropped open. "What? You're not sailing for half of a year at least? But Zuri, surely you don't need to have a funeral that lasts six months? You won't be alone in Port Royal, mourning, for six months?"

I laughed, the sound soft. "No. That's not why I'm staying in Port Royal."

"Then...why are you saying?"

"Jack... You know there've been three months since James and I got married now, right? And you were dead for at least a month and a half during that time of us being married."

"Aye."

I gripped my cup of tea tightly, nervous for my brother's reaction. "Well...I told James the night he died what I'm going to tell you now." I took a deep breath. "I'm...I'm pregnant." Warily, I glanced at my brother to gauge his reactions.

His jaw hung open. Jack struggled to find words for a bit before he gasped out, "How long?"

I shrugged. "Judging by...by the times James and I were, uh, together, I'd guess about three months, maybe a bit less depending on which...which day after our wedding the child was actually conceived. It's hard to tell. James and I couldn't take our hands off each other. Still, three months is reasonable enough."

Jack's gaze had drifted to my stomach. "You're carrying. You've been carrying for three months. You went to war pregnant!" A shocked and maybe paranoid laugh slipped from his mouth, to breathy for him to be completely alright. "James...James knew, right? You'd said you told him, right? Or am I imagining things?"

I nodded. "He knew. He wants—wanted me to name them either Cedric or Briar. And raise them pirate."

"Raise them pirate! Then why stay at Port Royal?"

"My plan is to give birth there, live in James' townhouse. Once the child is old enough—maybe eight months? I'm not sure yet. But once they're old enough, I'm bringing them onto the Rose and then I'll come back to Shipwreck Cove."

Jack scowled. "Eight months... I don't think I can keep them away from the Fountain for that long."

I laid a hand on his arm. "Then don't. Go on without me."

"But eternal life, Zu! Think of what you're missing!"

My smile was thin. "Had you brought it up to me before James, I might've been interested. But now that he's gone, I can't bring myself to live forever. I'd like to see him again one day, when I'm finally...finally gone."

"You'd have to die at sea to get into the Locker, Zu," Jack reminded me.

"I know. I'll...I'll work it out. At some point."

"Well!" Jack said, lifting his bottle of rum. He clinked it against my cup of tea. "To the health of my sister and her unborn child!"

I clinked our glasses again. "To James' child."

Jack grinned. "To James!" He threw his glass back and I drank my tea to the dregs. Together, we went back to our crews and spent the night laughing, dancing, singing, playing various instruments, and being one big crew again. 

Parting was a bittersweet pain that I still felt even weeks into the voyage. It took us two months with storms and detours to avoid them to reach Port Royal. Being pregnant while being a captain was not fun. I hardly slept, struggling to find a comfortable sleeping position, morning sickness began to take its toll, and nose bleeds were constant. I did my best to avoid the food stores, especially see as the trip had taken longer than we'd anticipated, but Liam, who was acting cook on the ship, made sure I got plenty of food. When fatigue hit, Charles would take over captaining the ship for the time being, as he was actually a captain with plenty of experience. 

When we finally reached Port Royal, it wasn't the same. Even before we could see it clearly, we all felt the difference. Governor Swann was dead. Beckett was dead. Many marines were dead. James was dead. 

Change was going to be necessary. 

Once we got closer, however, we could see the town was still bustling with activity. Lights were on in the governor's estate, so clearly someone had taken up residence. I suspected a civilian had—there was no way word of Weatherby Swann's death had traveled fast enough for a replacement governor to arrive.

But Port Royal wasn't entirely devoid of familiar faces. Waiting at the docks was a young woman—Anamaria.

The instant I had the chance, I hurried from the ship and into Anamaria's arms. We laughed and cried at the same time.

"He's gone, isn't he?" she whispered. I nodded. "But you bear his child, I see." I beamed.

We spent the next days weeks catching up; she explained to me what life in Port Royal was like—a young man had stepped into Governor Swann's place when he did not return at the time he had claimed he would. He seemed to be a kind man. She also explained that she and Theodore were in a bit of a relationship, similar to what James and I had had early on.

In turn, I explained what had happened since we had last seen each other in Singapore. Oh, Singapore—it felt like decades had passed since. 

So much had happened in that time. Enough for a lifetime. Still, I wouldn't trade it for anything. Except getting James back. And no longer being pregnant. Being pregnant was rough.