Disclaimer: Will, Elizabeth, and Jack all belong to Disney and T&T. This is also loosely inspired by an X-Files episode.
This takes place during and after CotBP.
A/N: Sorry for the mix-up earlier, I had trouble with my computer and it didn't save my changes. I didn't mean to confuse people, I just made a mistake. Anyway, the newer version should be better.
Right to Fatherhood
Will Turner turned over in his hammock on the Dauntless, trying to find a comfortable position for his sore limbs. He shut his eyes and tried to sleep, but it was no use. He kept reliving the events of the day, recalling the specifics in vivid detail.
Jack and Elizabeth had come to rescue him from Barbossa and his evil undead crew, and there had been a spectacular fight to follow. Will had been about to be gutted by a skeletal pirate when Elizabeth knocked the man unconscious with a heavy golden scepter. Working in tandem, Will and Elizabeth used the weapon to defend themselves against the vicious undead pirates. Then when Will and Jack's blood lifted the curse, Jack was finally able to kill Barbossa.
Once the fight was won, however, Will had to square with reality; he just wasn't good enough for the beautiful Miss Swann. Even though he'd risked his life and engaged in piracy to save her, she apparently did not return his feelings. Will thought that there had been a moment when something had flared between them in the hold of the Interceptor, but he'd been wrong. Will wished that things had turned out differently for them, but it was his own fault that they had not. His insecurities combined with a fear of rejection had ruined his chance for happiness with Elizabeth perhaps forever. Elizabeth's last words to him after the fight still rang in his ears.
"We should return to the Dauntless," Elizabeth said, her stunning brown eyes locking with Will's.
"Your fiancé will want to know you're safe," he said with a hint of bitterness. Elizabeth's tearful glare confirmed what Will already knew; she had accepted Commodore Norrington's proposal. She stalked out of the treasure cave, and Will did not have the heart to go after her.
"If you were looking for the opportune moment, that was it," Jack pointed out, rather unhelpfully.
Sighing, Will tried to put Elizabeth out of his mind, even though he knew that was impossible. He didn't want to think about what would happen when they returned to Port Royal. He would return to work at the smithy, and Elizabeth would marry Norrington and be lost to him forever. Even though she had crushed his hopes for a future with her, Will would continue to love Elizabeth Swann until the day he died. How he regretted that he hadn't confessed his true feelings for her! Will closed his eyes, but taunting visions of the lovely Elizabeth still danced in his mind. Lulled by the gentle rocking of the waves, he eventually fell asleep.
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Will dreamed that he was visiting Port Royal's beach at sunset. It was deserted for as far as the eye could see, except for a lone figure in the distance. Curious, the blacksmith walked closer and came upon a young boy painstakingly constructing a sand castle. He guessed that the boy could be no more than nine. Smiling at the boy, Will noticed that the boy's brooding dark eyes reminded him of himself when he was that age. The boy just stared at Will, his expression unreadable.
When he took a closer look, Will recognized the startling physical resemblance between himself and the boy. The boy looked just like Will looked when he was young, only with deliberate mistakes. The child's hair color was a shade lighter, and his jaw was not quite as strong. These small differences assured Will he was not facing a younger manifestation of himself. However, Will didn't doubt that the boy was related to him somehow. He knew that this couldn't possibly be his father as Bootstrap had blue eyes. Perhaps the boy was his grandfather or another one of his ancestors? Once thing Will was certain of; this child screamed pure Turner.
Will kneeled down in the sand, and decided to give the boy a hand with his project. However, for all of his good intentions, he just ended up causing one of the sand turrets to crumble and fall. Will apologized to the boy and offered to help him repair his creation. The boy said nothing in reply; he just gazed up at the blacksmith with haunted eyes. The look rather unnerved Will, and he woke with a start. Try as he might, Will couldn't decipher the meaning of the strange dream.
Every night that week, Will had the same dream about the boy on the beach. It never failed that whenever he went to help him with his sandcastle, Will would end up accidentally wrecking some part of it. And every night, the boy would grace Will with another unflinching disappointed look.
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After a week's voyage, the Dauntless docked at Port Royal and the passengers were able to disembark. Now that he was home again, Will hoped that the disturbing dreams would stop. He especially wanted a goodnight's sleep this night, for he was planning on saving Jack Sparrow from the gallows in the morning. He knew that it was the right thing to do, even if his chances were slim to none of succeeding. Will wasn't afraid of going to jail, or even afraid of dying. He didn't have much left to live for anyway. Wanting to be well-rested for the hanging, Will made sure to go to bed just before dark.
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But once again, that night, Will continued to have his reoccurring dream about the mysterious boy. However, tonight's dream was somewhat different. When he went to help the boy, Will barely touched the sand castle before the entire structure crumbled into a pathetic heap. But before the blacksmith could apologize, the boy broke his silence and spoke to Will.
"Tell her," the boy urged, his brown eyes pleading as they locked with Will's. "If you don't, I won't exist... Father." Will gasped at the revelation, but before he could say anything the boy vanished, and he was left alone on the beach with naught but the crashing waves for company. Will awoke in a cold sweat, reeling from the boy's shocking words.
Father. Will had always thought it odd that the boy in the dream had resembled him, but before this dream he figured that the boy was his ancestor. But now the dream-child had just informed him that he was Will's son. Was the dream just a jumble of his subconscious yearnings or was it a message sent from the world beyond this one?
Will wracked his brain, trying his best to interpret the boy's insistent message. Tell her, he'd said. Tell who? Will assumed the boy must've meant his mother. After all, the boy couldn't exist without his mother marrying Will. The blacksmith was rather confused; he thought he was a long way off from getting married and starting a family. The only girl he'd ever considered having a family with, wouldn't have him, unless… No, that's impossible, Will thought. The boy's mother couldn't be Elizabeth – could it?
Then Will recalled his son's pleading stare, and he finally understood why it had unnerved him so. It was the exact same expression that graced Elizabeth's soft features when she begged Will to call her by her real name, or when she wanted to persuade Will to do something for her. There was no getting around it; unknowingly, Will had dreamed about a child that he had created with Elizabeth. Will wasn't going to ignore his son's warning, even if it was delivered in a dream. I have to tell her that I love her, he realized, suddenly filled with determination. Even if Elizabeth didn't love him back, at least then she would know how the depth of Will's feelings. Will vowed that he would express his true feelings to Elizabeth tomorrow at the hanging just before he attempted to rescue Jack.
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As it turns out, Will accomplished both tasks that he set out to do. He saved Jack Sparrow from the noose and he won the heart of his bonny lass, as Jack called her. It was like something out of a dream – just when Will thought he was going to jail for sure, Elizabeth declared her love for him! During all of the confusion, Jack was able to escape. Governor Swann as good as gave them his blessing, and then after the Royal Navy departed, Will kissed Elizabeth for the very first time.
Afterwards, when he had Elizabeth smiling and breathless before him, Will asked her what all of this meant for them. She said that she hoped that he'd ask to court her, which Will did, eagerly. But even then, when he held Elizabeth safe in his arms, Will wasn't sure of her intentions. He didn't want to risk rushing things too quickly, not when Elizabeth had just agreed to court him, but he couldn't help asking Elizabeth if she saw herself with him in the future.
"I do," she replied with a grin. Will kissed her again in response.
For now, that was all Will needed to hear. The blacksmith spent the rest of the day with the woman he loved, taking off from work for the first time in his life. Will couldn't believe that he was actually courting Elizabeth Swann, but he was! Will had never been so grateful for the nudge in the right direction. As he held Elizabeth for one final time that evening, he thanked the powers above that he'd been given another chance at true love.
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That night, Will dreamed of the boy one last time. Only this time, Will didn't destroy his son's sandcastle. Together, father and son created a masterpiece.
The End
A/N: This is a bit different than my usual fare, especially because there is hardly any dialogue! Please review and let me know what you think.
I also want to thank An Unknown Writer for betaing for me. Thanks, love!
P.S. Hey Disney, Will has a right to fatherhood after ten years, darnit!