Disclaimer: Same old, don't own PotC…

Authors Notes: This is a co-authorship of bobo3 and rythmteck. A continuation of Caught by the Past. You should read that before you start this. And…perhaps bobo3's FourSided Eyes too. To get the proper feel for Kendra and such. Since it's under my (bobo3) account, if you want to send comments directly to rythmteck, you can do so by: e-mailing her at [email protected].

Prologue:

Alex woke with a start, bedsheets tangled around his body, his skin covered in a cold sweat, and his heart pounding. Ye gods, he thought, flopping back down in his bed. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had an honest to goodness nightmare. And while the specific details of this one were already fading, what he did remember was enough to make him run his hands through his hair in bewilderment. Now that he was awake, he couldn't even remember why he should be this upset over a dream.

Shaking his head, he tried to get back to sleep, but couldn't. He looked out his window and noticed that while the sun was well on its way to being high in the sky, the hour was still earlier than he was used to waking up. Smuggler's hours. His business required him to keep late nights and later mornings. And yet, for the years he'd spent making 'deliveries' at two in the morning, he found that sleep was proving elusive at the moment. There was simply too much on his mind that was demanding his attention now that he was awake. Nebulous things that he didn't want to think about, because that would give them a form and some sort of importance.

He levered himself out of bed, well aware that the fact that those 'things' were coming out in his dreams was a clear indication that he needed to think about them, but now was not the time for that. And it wasn't something he necessarily wanted to come to terms with by himself either. Or while sober, but he didn't suppose there was any help for that. It was incredibly unseemly to be drunk this early in the day, and Winn would lambaste him for sure if he showed up at her house drunk. She didn't even let Jack show up at their house drunk.

He grinned, thinking about his old friend and her husband. It seemed impossible, but it appeared that marriage and motherhood had done something that not even time had seemed able to accomplish – she'd mellowed. That wasn't to say that Winn didn't have a temper anymore, but he couldn't remember the last time he'd seen any indication of it . . . since her pregnancy. She'd been a nightmare during her pregnancy.

And speaking of pregnancy, he'd picked up something for his goddaughter. As the reasons for visiting Winn started piling higher and higher, Alex gave up on staying in his room in his parent's inn – his home when not aboard ship – and got ready to start his day.

- - - - -

Winifred Morgan-Sparrow was not the most gentle woman on the planet. She could be tactful when she wished to, but more often she found the being blunt worked to her advantage. At the moment, after nearly an hour had passed without a word from Alex – who loved to talk – she knew something was wrong. And seeing as how Alex was one of her oldest friends, she felt it was within her rights to ask what was on his mind. "Alex, I know you think you're doing a good job of acting normal, but you're not."

Alex didn't look up as he carefully placed another nondescript stone in the low wall he was helping Winn build. In theory, this would provide her with a terraced garden in front of her house – in application, it was a good way to keep himself distracted. A little too distracted, apparently. Although he knew Winn would possibly sympathize with his current situation, the amount of explanation that would have to go in to explaining that situation was not something he particularly wanted to deal with. Especially since he got the feeling that it would make her mad. "Perhaps I just didn't want to wake Meredith."

Winn looked over at her daughter. Her wide awake daughter. "Try another excuse."

Alex tried to change the subject. "Where's Kit?"

"He's playing with his new clan of cousins." For a moment, Winn let herself be distracted, thinking about the orphan she'd taken in three months before. In the beginning he'd been a quiet waif who stayed close to her and on the periphery of everything else that went on at the main house. That didn't last long. Her nieces and nephews were too used to welcoming new family members that they'd set up a quiet siege to get the boy to join in their games. She looked down at the cove beneath her house – there they all were, gamboling about on the sands.

Alex watched the sweet smile that overcame his friend's face. Motherhood suited her. "You know, you never did tell me who else shares the honor of being Mere's godparents."

Winn shook her head, brought back to the present. "Who else do you think? Who do I know, who I'm not related to, who I could possibly invite to have that much of a connection with my daughter?" Winn shook her head and petted the head of her large dog. Pigeon had rarely left her side in the past months. "Well, I asked Will and Elizabeth – of course – and you, but then I was stuck for another godmother. I really didn't want to leave things lopsided like that, so I asked Kendra." Winn smiled at the memory. "I think she was thrilled to have a valid reason to be able to carry Mere around . . ." she trailed off at the strange look on Alex's face. "Alexander Thompson, I knew something was wrong. Tell me what's going on."

He looked extremely uncomfortable. "Freddy . . . it's nothing. Don't push it."

"Mmm-hmm, that's why you blanched when I started talking about Kendra." Winn sat down on the half-completed wall. "Spill it, Thompson, or I start getting mean."

"Start?" She glared at him. Bloody woman. "You have to promise you won't get angry. I don't feel like taking you on today." Winn merely pursed her lips and folded her hands, waiting in not-so-quiet expectation. "I . . . um . . ." Funny. This was harder to admit than he'd thought. "I had a dream last night."

Winn nodded. "Ah, yes. I can see why that would have you acting so uncharacteristically." She barely refrained from rolling her eyes, reminding herself that this was one of her best friends she was talking to. "What was it about this dream that has you so upset? What happened in it?"

Alex sighed. "Remember that time, when we were young, that you tried to fix me up with the miller's sister?"

This time Winn did roll her eyes. "That's not something I'm likely to ever forget. It's not every day you find out that one of your best friends have such . . . set preferences for what they look for in a partner . . . ." Again Winn trailed off; the look that came over Alex's face could only be described as guilt. "What is it?" she asked, somewhat alarmed.

Deciding that the only way to say what he needed to say was to open his mouth and say it, Alex muttered, "I lied."

Winn blinked several times, trying to decide what that statement meant. Alex had lied. About what? Why? "Excuse me?"

"I said –"

"Yes, I heard that part," Winn interrupted. "What did you lie about?" Alex just looked at her, as if she should be able to figure out the answer for herself. "You mean . . . oh . . . oh."

Alex finally had to laugh at Winn's reaction – it was rare that she was struck speechless, and he found that this reaction was much more to his liking than the anger he'd been anticipating.

Unfortunately, his laughter struck Winn from her stupor. Her eyebrows snapped down as she frowned, but it didn't last long, she was still trying to accustom herself to the new vista of possibilities that had just been opened for her. But most important was the question of why he had lied about such a thing . . . and for so long. "Why in the name of all that is holy and seafaring, would you lie about not liking girls?"

This was the question that he'd been dreading. It was funny how, nearly thirteen years after meeting Winn, all the old feelings came back. They were no more than mere shadows of how he'd once felt, muted by time and friendship, but they were there all the same. "It seemed like a good idea to say that at the time. Better than the reason why I had no interest in the miller's daughter." Funny how he couldn't even remember her name now.

Winn let that sink in before asking, "So, what was the reason you didn't want me to foist Fiona on you?" Again Alex stared at her as if she should already know the answer to that question. She blushed and turned away, thinking how . . . appreciative . . . she was to him for keeping that secret to himself. It'd taken her years to see herself as someone worthy of a man's attention, and if Alex had said anything all those years ago, she would have broken off their friendship. But still . . . "Why –"

"You know why, Freddy."

Winn nodded in acknowledgement. Before the conversation could resume, Meredith decided that she'd been ignored for long enough. She crowed as she reached for her toes, drawing attention to her. Winn smiled, and fetched her daughter, picking her up with gentle hands. The happy baby waved her hands towards the ocean, letting out a squeal of delight before switching her attention to the complacent Pige. When she looked up from her cheerful daughter, Winn was struck by the look on Alex's face. It was cheery, but somewhat roguish. "What?" she asked cautiously.

"Oh, just thinking about my favorite play by Shakespeare." Winn's eyes narrowed, but a smile played at her lips.

"And what play would that be?"

"The Taming of the Shrew." His friend stuck out her tongue, but came to sit by him again anyway. As she bounced her baby in her arms, he continued with a bit more thoughtfulness. "I don't know if I ever told you, but this," he gestured to the child in her arms, the small house, and the open cove, "this suits you. It's good for you."

Winn blushed and looked away from him, but nodded. "I know," she whispered.

For several moments there was silence in the half completed garden as the two old friends sat and pondered the new information that'd entered their lives.

Finally, Winn, being the more impatient of the two, was the one to break the silence. "You never did tell me why Kendra's name upset you." Alex muttered something that sounded like, I was hoping to avoid that, making Winn smile. "You know me. I've been told that I've got the tenacity of a bulldog when I wish."

"Your husband needs to be around more to keep you from being such a nag, Freddy."

"My husband needs to be on the sea where he belongs before he irritates me into unpleasantly seeing him off." Winn handed Meredith to the smuggler. "Tell auntie Winn all about it." When no tale was forthcoming, she reminded him, "I told you about my romantic woes. Surely anything you've got on your mind couldn't have progressed to that stage yet. Just tell me about the dream you had."

- - - - -

In his dream, Alex had revisited the day he'd realized that he might be falling in love with his best friend. She had indeed tried to fix him up with Fiona, the miller's daughter, but that had happened much later in the day. What had happened earlier had been what'd uncovered his discovery. It hadn't been a pleasant realization, because he'd known just how Winn had felt about men in general – she wanted nothing to do with them.

They'd been out riding one morning – he'd managed to convince her how to learn how to ride a horse by saying that it might be useful one day. They'd been following the coast-line from cove to cove, when they'd come across a group of six or so boys their own age who'd been torturing a stranded seal. Winn hadn't given thought to the fact that they were outnumbered or taken her own safety into consideration before throwing herself headlong from her horse, only dash into their midst. Alex had followed resignedly, admiring her courage, but not too eager to get involved in a fight. He was a rather easy-going person, but he couldn't let Winn take on the entire group by herself.

To his relief, the skirmish hadn't lasted long. Winn, having been raised amongst three much older brothers, knew many quick and painful ways to discourage people who were head and shoulders above her. The boys had fled – holding onto injured limbs and other assorted body parts – leaving their victim to return to the ocean and its two defenders to catch their breath.

Winn had been crouch on the sand, curled over her stomach, her head hanging down and her hair veiling her face. Alex had been afraid for a split second that she was seriously hurt, but then she'd looked up and . . . grinned at him. It wasn't often that she showed that much emotion, and to see her face lit up with triumph even while one eye was blackening and she was holding a finger that had turned out to be broken . . . it was amazing, and he'd felt a jolt go through him. That was how she'd earned her nickname of 'Spitfire.'

Later that day she'd tried to fix him up with Fiona Palmer – who was apparently attracted to people sporting bruises – and he'd panicked. He didn't even remotely like Fiona, but he couldn't say why. So he'd made up the story of preferring men over women, knowing that Winn had been raised in a seagoing family and that she wouldn't shun him because of it. And not once in the intervening years had he found it possible to correct the misconception, even when the crush had ended some months after its conception.

But the dream hadn't gone that far.

This time it'd ended on the beach, after the fight.

He'd been looking down at a short person who was crouched on the sand, dark head bowed, and assumed it had been Winn. He'd called her name, but had gotten no reaction. There was no triumphant grin, so confident smirk. He'd knelt and touched the woman's shoulder, surprised when the face that had finally lifted to meet his eyes wasn't Winn's . . . but Kendra's. And furthermore, it wasn't joyful, but filled with pain. The hand that had been laden with broken fingers lifted to show blood spilling from a knife wound in her stomach. At the sight of crimson blood on tan skin, Alex had felt a mixture of panic, desperation, and extreme loss shoot through him, a hundred times more powerful than anything he'd ever felt for Winn.

He'd had just enough time to catch the wounded woman in his arms as she'd collapsed and to see the ring on her finger before waking, covered in sweat and with a pounding heart.

- - - - -

"Well," Winn commented, somewhat at a loss for words. She'd never been the best at managing affairs of the heart, and while she'd come a long way, she still was unsure how to help a friend. "I suppose I wasn't imagining the . . . umm . . . the tension between the two of you before she left, then, did I?"

Alex grinned wryly. "That 'tension' was a prime example of her not being able to stand me, which is not a good sign for pursuing the girl, even if I was sure that's what I wanted to do."

Winn understood that feeling very well. "Well, you've got time to think about it. I got a letter from her the other day and she mentioned that she'd be stopping by in another month or two – depending on how things were going with her crew. She figured they could use some shore-leave, and she doesn't have to worry about other ships making off with her crew if she stops here. Apparently Tortuga has been beset by pirates looking for the easy way to get workers . . ."

The conversation went on for some time before the two adults were interrupted by a horde of young children. "Aunt Winn!" "Auntie Winn!" "Mama Winn!" The cries filled the air, startling Meredith out of her light sleep and making the two adults smile.

Laughing, Winn wrapped one arm around four-year-old Kit who came to stand by her side, and asked above the mayhem, "What's got you all excited?"

"The Black Pearl, Auntie! Avery, and Daniel, and Michael saw it in their boat, and they said you would want to know."

Winn smiled and thanked them all, still smiling as they all scampered off. Once the small glade was quiet again, she stood and stretched, looking around for Mere's carry basket.

"I guess I should leave you to greeting your pirateous spouse, then." Alex stood as well.

"You don't have to leave, Alex –"

"Yes, but your husband will be sending me evil glares otherwise." He grinned. "Not that I mind them, but I have the feeling you'll be foisting the kids on Cat at your first opportunity." Winn blushed. "Look, thanks for letting me talk to you. I really should get to work. I've got a series of runs to prepare for." And with that, he left.