Prolepsis - Part 3

[kittysorceress]

Prolepsis, Part Three

Rating: PG-13 
Relationships: Gillington, Gillette/OC
Setting: Around 12 years after DMC
Summary: Admiral Norrington and Commodore Gillette meet again after nearly 13 years apart - but many things have changed, and their lives promise not to be the same. Especially if Gillette's daughters have anything to do with it.
Notes: Again I thank galadhir for her wonderful beta-ing work. I also want to thank sweetphaex for giving me the ending of the chapter in a roundabout sort of way. The title of this chapter is taken from a lesson we did in English Extension 1. 
Part one can be found here, part two here.

Apoligies for taking so long with this chapter, but school just has to come first... if I could stay home all day and write fanfiction, I would. And I also apologise for my German  -  it is only that of a Year 11 student.

*~*~*~*

Part Three - Anxieties, Rebellions and Mermaids

*~*~*~*

‘Admiral James Norrington, you can close that door right now,’ smirked Andrew, ‘I’m not leaving you again. I made that mistake once, years ago. Did you not just listen to me? You are part of my family. You’ve always been there for me, long before Sarah or the girls were.’

 

James didn’t close the door, therefore Andrew moved over to where his friend was standing and closed the door himself. To put emphasis on the closed state of the door, he then proceeded to push the other man backwards into it, kissing him soundly.

 

When they finally broke apart, James was thoroughly convinced that Andrew would not go back on his word, and he was quite prepared to be part of the clan.

 

‘Commodore, I would very much like to meet the rest of our family,’ he said, his green eyes sparkling.

 

‘That can be arranged,’ grinned Andrew, as he tidied James’s wig and replaced his own. ‘They’re still my girls, you realise, but you may take them on picnics and buy them pretty dresses should you feel the need. Come by tomorrow, when we’re settled in.’

 

 He gave his lover a chaste kiss, and opened the door again. ‘I have a ship to see to now, if I have your permission, sir,’ at James’s nod he continued. ‘Until tomorrow…’

 

‘Until tomorrow,’ James softly repeated to himself often that afternoon.

 

*~*~*~*

 

Andrew’s house was a charming place in the opinion of James. It was not too big and not too small. It had a nice view and was in a nice area.

 

‘It’s not much, that’s for sure,’ Andrew said, ‘but it’ll make do.’ James just rolled his eyes at that - it was so much like Andrew to be dissatisfied.

 

‘Ami, können Sie Mary und Claudia für mich finden, bitte?’ Andrew asked the maid, as the butler took the Admiral’s overcoat and hat.

‘Ja, Sir. Sie sind im Garten.’ The maid then curtsied and made her way to the door.

‘Oh, und Ami? Der Admiral und ich will unseren Tee im vorderen Raum trinken.’

 

‘German too now!’ marveled James, as he and Andrew made their way into the front room. ‘That makes it, what, four languages?’

‘Five,’ stated Andrew simply, ‘I studied Italian and German after arriving back in England.’

 

There was a brief silence, as Andrew sat down, and James went over to the bookcase, to inspect a few volumes.

 

‘They must value your services highly back in England, Andrew,’ James said, suddenly, replacing Virtue Rewarded to the shelf. ‘Why ever did they send you here? You could be translating for the Admiralty, interrogating spies!’

‘That isn’t what I wanted. I missed the Caribbean. I missed you,’ was the blunt reply.

 

James was slightly shocked at those words, but not in a bad way. He was suddenly filled with a deep sense of complacency and affection. He went and sat by Andrew and clasped his shoulders, pulling the younger officer towards him. ‘I missed you too.’

 

They began to kiss, but rapidly broke apart as voices could be heard approaching the room. With lightly flushed cheeks, they both stood as the girls entered the room. Andrew motioned for the girls to move a little closer.

 

‘Girls, I would like to introduce you properly to Admiral James Norrington. Not only is he an Admiral, he is an old friend of mine, and I would like you to treat him accordingly. James, I would like you to meet Miss Claudia Inglis and my daughter Miss Mary.’

 

Claudia nodded her head at her name, and curtsied.

‘How do you do sir?’ inquired Mary, also curtsying.

‘Very well, I should say, Miss Gillette,’ was the reply from James, a reply he had never once in his life envisioned making. He was now studying Andrew’s wards intently.

 

The younger one, Mary was dressed in the strangest assortment of clothing. Over her dress, she had innumerable coloured silks and trinkets. In her hand she held a wooden sword. She also wore a fabulous grin on her face, and it reminded James of the one Commodore Gillette himself had worn himself many a time. Mary was every inch her father’s daughter, now that James thought about it, from her red hair to her lightly freckled face.

 

The elder one, Claudia, was much more presentably dressed, but she had such a sour expression on her face that it was almost comical. Her dark hair and darker eyes were a stark contrast to her pale skin, also freckled from time at sea.

 

‘We were playing Pirates, Papa!’ said Mary enthusiastically, brandishing her wooden sword.

‘She was playing Pirates, I was merely humouring her,’ Claudia said dryly, and with a ridiculous air of decorum. ‘I don’t find pirates nearly as interesting as she does.’

‘Yes you do!’ cried Mary, poking her sister with the sword.

‘I do not!’ Claudia pushed Mary away, and Mary pushed her back.

 

‘CHILDREN!’ yelled Andrew, red in the face, and the girls stopped abruptly. ‘That is not proper behaviour, especially in front of the Admiral. I had expected better from the both of you. I want you to go and contemplate the consequences of your actions.’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Yes, Papa.’

 

They left the room quickly, and their father turned to face James as the both of them sat down.

 

‘I’m sorry about that; they’re usually such sweet little girls. But, now Mary is into all that pirate business – and its all Sparrow’ fault!’ He sat and placed his face in his hands.

 

‘Sparrow?’ said James incredulously. The happiness that had been surrounding Andrew since they had been reunited seemed to have melted clean away, and James knew that he would once again have to get used to his lover’s quick moods.

 

Andrew looked at him bleakly.

 

‘We met him about a week back. We were short on some supplies, and the Captain of the Prolepsis suggested we hail the merchant ship we had all spotted to barter for water and some fresh meat. So we did, and just my luck, it was the Constellation, Sparrow’s sloop. I still can't believe that he's a priavteer... I digress... We dropped anchor and while the men did the bartering, Sparrow was surprised to learn of my daughters.’

 

‘He wasn’t the only one,’ mumbled James, but Andrew didn’t notice.

 

‘I managed to keep Claudia away, but somehow Mary managed to introduce herself before I could stop it. She thought Sparrow was wonderful! He told her stories of our adventures with cursed treasure. She was fascinated, but would she have believed the stories had I told them? I know the answer, and it is no. I had tried to tell her, but somehow she doesn’t believe anything I say, it has to come from the mouth of someone else.’

 

James was startled at the bitterness in his lover’s voice. It was a side of Andrew he had rarely seen before.

 

‘I seem to lose my loved ones to Sparrow, one way or another. They become obsessed…’ Andrew smiled sadly.

‘But they come back,’ sighed James, not wanting this conversation again.

‘Eventually.’

 

The door opened and Ami arrived with the tea, as well as a plate of scones with a pot of jam and fresh cream, and placed them on the table in front of the officers. As the maid left, Andrew leant forward, spread toppings on a scone and began to eat, his mood lightening again. By the time he was finished the first scone and preparing himself another, he was grinning at James as he did so.

 

‘What?’ asked James, rather worriedly, putting a hand to his head ‘Is my wig on crooked? I knew I should have picked one that fit better.’ James just looked more confused when Andrew burst into great peals of laughter.

 

‘I just realized that I had never told you…’ Andrew leant forward again and placed his hands on his knees. James recognised this as his friend’s “storytelling pose”. ‘That night when we defeated those undead or whatever-they-were pirates, remember you ordered me to keep Miss Swann safe? Well, Elizabeth Swann didn’t want to be safe, she wanted to be in the action. It took two marines to – um – convince her that safety was a key. As we saw to her safety, she tried to feed me what I thought was a load of rubbish about pirates that couldn’t be killed.’

 

‘What did you say?’ James knew very well Andrew’s feelings towards the Governor’s daughter at that time, and was a little anxious as to the number of stupid responses Andrew could have given.

 

‘Oh, I simply said you already knew, that a mermaid had told you.’ Andrew smirked.

 

*~*~*~*

 

Claudia was walking from the kitchen towards the washroom; her hair sticky with what Mary had deemed unnecessary strawberry jam. As she passed the closed door of the front room, a loud deep laugh erupted from it. She shook her head.

 

Her stepfather needed new friends; this Admiral must have a poor sense of humour to find anything his host said to be funny.

 

Comments

[cassiopaya.livejournal.com]

Whee! Good one, good one. More soon, pwease? @_@

[kittysorceress.livejournal.com]

I'm on school holidays now... so we'll see.

[sweetphaex.livejournal.com]

Horray!

"Her stepfather needed new friends; this Admiral must have a poor sense of humour to find anything his host said to be funny."

Truly adorable!

[galadhir.livejournal.com]

Yay! I love the idea that Gillette's daughter is fascinated with pirates, poor man no wonder he's upset! :) Great chapter! So funny and cute. I can't wait for more!

[hms-dauntless.livejournal.com]

I'm enjoying this a lot. LOL for Gillette's daughter. Very cute :)

[vintage--cherry.livejournal.com]

*snort*
'What?’ asked James, rather worriedly, putting a hand to his head ‘Is my wig on crooked? bwahahaha marvelous truly marvelous.
One question what happened to Jack's Pearl?
'The Constellation, Sparrow’s sloop' I'm slightly confused now background info please?

[kittysorceress.livejournal.com]

Okay, this stuff about Jack comes in later, but I can tell you now. He is a privateer, much to his chargrin, and without his beloved Pearl - but it is this or the gallows. The idea is that the Pearl is in the safe hands of Jack's friends until his retirement.

[vintage--cherry.livejournal.com]

ok curiosity quenched thanks for the info :)

[allelopathy.livejournal.com]

Oh, that is so sweet. The characters are spot on.
‘What?’ asked James, rather worriedly, putting a hand to his head ‘Is my wig on crooked?'
heehee! i love it!