Disclaimer: No, they are not mine... oh, but if they were...

Author's Note: As always, William is released from his curse, with conditions, and he and Elizabeth are a part of Jack's crew aboard the Pearl. That's how it is in Pirate Cat's lovely universe.

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Elizabeth Swann Turner looked out over the velvety nighttime sea, as the soft salt winds off of the waters blew her golden hair back from her face. The stars were out tonight, and the moon was a fingernail sliver, skirting in and out of wispy clouds. The weather had been fair, but the mood aboard the ship upon this day had been rather quiet. Captain Jack Sparrow had experienced one of his worst days since being rescued from the Locker... and had not moved from his place clear out upon the bowsprit all day long. His lanky legs were curled around the sprit... the only appendages keeping him from falling headlong into the sea.

It was more than a bit frightening for the crew when Jack fought the shadows in his damaged mind on days such as this... he would lapse into an unusual state... eyes vague and distant.. long silences except for soft talking to himself, now and again... and the most telling sign of all when he was suffering from his bouts of mild madness was a slow weaving of his head, to and fro, to and fro... often he would stand at the railing and look out to sea, his eyes unfocused or closed completely, his hands outstretched at his sides, long, slender fingers moving ever so lightly in the wind, as if he were listening to something in the wind... the constant wind at sea.

Elizabeth and her husband, First Mate William Turner the Second, had made it one of their priorities to watch their friend very closely after joining the crew of the Pearl. They had sadly realized after his rescue from the Locker that Jack was their true friend, but the damaging cracks hammered into Jack's sanity by Davy Jones were to haunt their captain's mind forever... He had very long stretches of time when he was perfectly normal... or as normal as Jack Sparrow ever was... but it was days like this one that worried the Turners and the other crewmembers deeply...

... and as she watched Jack's back from the foredeck upon this evening, Elizabeth knew that William would soon climb out upon the bowsprit himself, and guide the captain back to safety, to rum and his own bunk... all the while, the captain would not utter a word, and Elizabeth could not help but wonder just what it was that the captain seemed to hear, upon the everpresent wind...

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"How is he?" Elizabeth had waited for William as he emerged from Jack's cabin... the tall, handsome young first mate had finally gotten the captain to settle into the safety of his bunk, a bottle of rum nestled into his thin elbow and a blanket pulled up over him. William smiled at his wife, as he admired her loveliness by the lanternlight. She was holding Little Will to her breast, a sight that was a common one to the other crewmembers since the littlest pirate had been born upon the Black Pearl only two months before. William sat down next to her, putting his arm around her shoulder and pulling his small family close to him. His time as captain of the Flying Dutchman, and the seperation from his loved ones made him truly appreciate his world, now... the man who was the most responsible for this world was finally snoring softly in the cabin behind them.

"He is fine... he had one bad day, like this, when he was upon the Dutchman after we found him sailing along in his little wooden dinghy... we simply have to keep an eye upon him and let him fight his way back to us when the shadows in his mind finally let go for a while..." William sighed, breathing in the scent of lavender from Elizabeth's hair... "Jack seemed to try to come around just before I finally convinced him to get some sleep. He said something rather odd, even for him..."

Elizabeth turned to her husband as she placed Little Will upon her shoulder, patting his tiny back to try to bring up a bubble. The young couple chuckled a bit as the wee baby obliged, burping ever so slightly. "I worry about Jack so much when he is like this... what did he say?"

William frowned slightly..."He said that we will make a strike tomorrow. He said that we are in a shipping lane, and that there will be a good raid in store for us... " He looked deeply into his wife's eyes, as she also frowned slightly..." ... he said that the wind told him..."

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With Giles Mullroy at the wheel and Mr. Cotton being assigned to take Jack's turn at midnight, the young couple sat quietly upon the main deck for while, prior to retiring for the night. Keeping watch upon their captain for the entire day had taken a toll upon all of them... Jack Sparrow was the finest captain that any of them had ever sailed with, and his crew was genuinely fond of him. Joshamee Gibbs had known him longer than anyone, and before he, himself, retired to his hammock for the night, he poured drinks for himself and the Turners in order to finally relax them all, knowing that Jack was no longer threatening to drop into watery oblivion from the bowsprit. Gibbs stretched a bit in his chair, his grizzled face finally softening from the worried lines of only a few hours ago. "... Leave it to Jack to say something as odd as he did, Will. I will always wonder what turns his mind makes when he can't shake off the shadows..."

Elizabeth was looking up at the vast and deep expanse of stars, and she leaned into William's muscled side, nestling their baby in her arms. Suddenly, she said, "Will, where did you take all of the souls who died at sea...?"

William turned his head and stared at his wife. This had never, ever been addressed since William and Elizabeth had been reunited. Gibbs' eyes grew wide as he raised his mug of rum to his lips. William thought long and hard before he answered her, and he answered her much like Jack would... "Different places."

Elizabeth continued to stare at the stars... "I wonder..." she said, softly, as her hand softly caressed the soft brown curls upon her baby's head, "... I wonder if my father knows that he has a beautiful grandson... when I was little, he would always show me the pocket watch that he carried. It was made of gold, with a face made of elephant tusk ivory... it was presented to him by the King when he was appointed to the office of Governor of Jamaica... he always had promised it to my first child... his first grandchild... I wish that I could tell him that he has a grandson... I wonder if he knows..."

As the trio sat quietly thinking this over, the captain's soft snoring could be heard through his slightly open cabin door...

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Jack had been right... at dawn of the following morning, a ship was spotted upon the farthest horizen ... a galleon of unknown origin to the naked eye. But the well developed pirate eyes of William Turner and Jack Sparrow knew, by one glance through a spyglass, some good honest pirating was at hand. Jack was his old self upon this morning, and was grinning widely as he handed the spyglass to Elizabeth. Peering at their quarry, her face broke into a wicked smile, as she said, with relish, "... ahhhh... a vessel of the East India Trading Company... and she is unaccompanied by a naval ship... what nerve!"

Jack chuckled softly, as William said, "... it seems that she is heading east... toward England, no doubt, filled with a hold of the spoils of the Caribbean. Hmmmm," he grinned at Jack, who regarded him with a sidelong look, his eyes sparkling. William tapped his light blue bandana as if he were thinking, and smiled, "I wonder if she is carrying any good Caribbean rum?"

"Among other things, mate..." Jack replied, his mouth nearly watering at the thought of the wondrous things that might be contained in the distant hold, "... I think that we should see about putting yet another little dent in th' East India Trading Company's profit ledger, eh?"

And as she thought bitterly about her father's murder, Elizabeth Swann Turner said, softly, "The East India Trading Company is responsible for nearly ruining all of our lives, starting with yours, Jack..." she slipped an arm around the captain's back, running a hand over his shoulder blades that bore the deep scars of an EITC flogging.

With a hard edge to her voice, and a hard glint in her eyes, she murmured, "I shall never see the colours of the East India Trading Company that I will not see my father's blood, as well as our own... my father was denied his right of seeing his beautiful grandson..."

Turning to look at both of the proud faces regarding her as she spoke, the former captain of the Empress almost spat our her words, "Let's take them."

To be concluded with chapter 2...

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