*Frenchhornfreak comes out of the ground like a zombie* Hello! I'm not dead! I was just taken captive by this thing called Real Life. Unfortunately, it's been too long. I promised my little pirate sis Taylor I'd have a fic for her before the end of the summer, and I think she's already started school. Oh noes! So I kinda cheated... I've had this for a while, but I added a new chapter to it! So now I have three chapters, which is good enough to go ahead and post the first one. I hope that this will just be a short story about Will's journey to Port Royal. It was a challenge on HTR a while ago (I hope HTR will emerge from the ground like a zombie as well...) but I don't have the exact one anymore, so I'll try to be close. I hope my writing hasn't gotten worse over the year and a half I've been gone. We'll see. I plan on just playing it by ear. I started college, so I'll use this story as procrastination. YAY! Anyway, enough rambling. Enjoy! PS happy birthday Taylor! :)

Chapter One: Goodbye

Goodbye. Such a strong meaning for such a simple word. There are lots of different versions of goodbye. There's the, "Goodbye! I'll see you tomorrow": the easiest. Then there's the somewhat melancholy, "Goodbye, I may see you in a year or two." Gloomier than the first two, there's also the goodbye I gave to my father years ago: "Goodbye, there's a chance I may see you again, but then again a chance that I won't." This goodbye, however, is the worst.

The waves broke onshore at my feet as I sat on the white, sandy beach. The glowing sun set in my dark brown eyes as I said my goodbye to the sun, knowing that I would see it again in the morning, even if it was not on the sandy beach I had grown up on. I was confident that the sun would start a new day and my new life. A new life away from everything I knew, everything I held dear in my heart. Everything I loved.

Except my father. Although I hated to admit it, it was hard to say I loved the man, as I have hardly even met him. Mother said that he had been a merchant sailor since before I was born. She told me that he used to visit at least once a year when I was younger and write whenever he could, sending at least a letter a month. The last time we had heard from him was about a year and a half ago; the last time we saw him about three. He usually sent us a note telling us how much he missed us and how he longed to be with us along with some money to last us until the next letter, but these letters started to dwindle down and eventually stopped altogether. The last letter we got, however, was different from the rest. Not only was it the only one specifically addressed to me and not my mother, it was also the shortest. On the paper were only three words: Happy Birthday Son. Inside the envelope was my belated birthday gift: a golden pirate medallion. Mother, with shaky hands, had strung the medallion on a chain, telling me to wear it always and think of my father.

I fingered the medallion, running my fingers over the ridges and valleys, memories flooding back of all the experiences I should have shared with my father. He wasn't there to encourage me as I said my first words. He wasn't there to catch me as I took my first step. He wasn't there to congratulate me as I reeled in my first fish. And, most importantly, he wasn't there to comfort me as I watched my mother die. Mother… I thought, closing my eyes and fingering the chain. It had been hers, but she insisted that I use it for the medallion. Just months after I received the medallion, she became ill. I tried my best to help her while she was resting, finding small jobs to do around town to pay for the doctor's treatments. Mother tried to hide it, but I knew that money was tight. On the few days she was well, she would sew clothing for the local seamstress, but it was not enough. These last couple of months we did well to put a meal on the table once a day, which made Mother weaker than she ought to have been. Often, I would give her my meal, telling her that I wasn't hungry or that I had already eaten. Still, she grew weaker and weaker by the day, until she had no strength left to live. I closed my eyes, remembering that sorrowful day.

A lone tear ran down my face as I gazed upon my once full-of-life mother. Her face was ghostly pale and her hair disheveled. She slowly raised a thin hand to my cheek, stroking it softly. My lower lip trembled, a flood of sobs threatening to emerge. "Mama…" I cried.

"My dear Will," she whispered weakly. I looked into her light brown eyes that were slowly losing intensity. "Will, you will grow up to be a fine man. I want you to know…" she stopped, her breathing erratic. I grabbed her hand, willing her to stay with me. She closed her eyes momentarily, then continued with labored effort. "I want you to know…your father loves you very much." I finally broke, my sobs echoing in the dark room. "William, you are a strong and brave boy. I'm so proud of you," she gazed admiringly at me, brushing a stray strand of my hair off of my forehead.

"Mama…no…please…" I begged. I buried my tear-streaked face into her arm. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Will," were her last words. I stared at her lifeless body, wishing, hoping, praying that it was all just a bad dream. The doctor placed a hand on my shoulder, but I shrugged it off.

"William," I heard faintly. I looked up into the caring face of the doctor, his aged eyes telling me that it was over. I lowered my eyes back to my mother, saying the goodbye that no one ever wanted to say: goodbye forever.

I stared at the nearby docks, wiping a stray tear from my sun-kissed cheek. Harbored at the docks was the ship that would carry me to my new life. "Your father loves you very much," my mother's voice echoed in my head. I decided shortly after her passing that I was going to find my father. It was my only choice. I had no other family and hardly any money left. It wasn't something I really wanted to do, because I felt like my father had abandoned me, but I needed a guardian. My neighbors, the Flemings, had arranged for me to join a passage to the New World, as my mother had told them that was where my father was. A New World and a New Life. A New Life with my father, I thought, my face brightening a little. Only if I can find him.

I sighed, looking back to the sunset, finding it hard to muster some courage for this new trip. I just felt so hopeless. If Mother was still alive, she would be kissing my cheek and sending me off to bed now, I realized. Lightly fingering my cheek, I remembered the feeling of her warm lips pressed to the skin, her hand on top of my curly brown hair. Sitting on the sand, I could almost feel her warm embrace, the embrace that always told me that everything was all right. I longed for that reassurance, for the love behind it. I longed to feel loved in my now empty world. I longed for someone to be there, someone to feel my pain, someone to comfort me.

I longed for my father, I suddenly realized. I needed him with me; he loved and cared about Mother. He would understand my pain. He would comfort me and tell me that everything would be all right.

Finding my bravery, I stood up and brushed the sand off of me, motivated and actually excited to find my father. I walked up the beach to where I had left my shoes, leaving footprints in the almost unblemished shoreline. Pulling on my shoes, I watched the last sliver of the sun sink below the horizon, shooting rays of sunlight on to the beach, my footprints in the sand puddles of gold and orange. I felt warm even though the sun was nearly gone from the vast sky. Even though I had known all along I was going to the new world to find my father, I felt like it was my purpose to do it, that it would make everything better. I no longer felt lost. I felt a need to do something. I would find my father. I didn't know how long it would take, but I would find him. I knew it would be hard, but as I looked back on the darkened outlines of my footprints on the sand, I knew exactly how I would manage to do it. I would find my father, and I would take everything one step at a time.

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed. I'll update as soon as I can.

Also, the title was just something random. If anyone has any other suggestions, I'd be happy to hear them. :)