The Dream
Disclaimer: I don't own POTC.
Author: jedipati aka immortal_jedi
Characters: Will, Bootstrap Bill, Elizabeth, William III
Rating: PG
Summary: The first time Will slept on the Dutchman, he had a Dream. A Dream of what would happen eleven years from that date (mid-DMC and Ten Years Post AWE)
Author's Note: So, I wanted to write a happy ten years later story. But, being who I am, I couldn't do a normal one, oh no. Thus, you get this.
"So, do you think it'll happen?" Clanker asked Maccus quietly.
"He's not part of the crew," the first mate responded.
"No, but it is his first night here- or his first chance to sleep. And we've had mortals on board before. It happened to Jack Sparrow," Clanker reminded him.
"True," Maccus admitted.
"I hope not. I don't want to know if he's going to become crew," Bootstrap whispered from where he sat next to the mortal.
"You wouldn't. He's your son. But I think it will happen. If not now, then when he becomes crew."
Bill cursed at Clanker's remark. "He won't become crew," he proclaimed. "If nothing else, I don't think he'd accept the offer."
"He might not have a choice."
"Stow it, Clanker."
"You've been in a bad mood all day, Bootstrap."
"I've just had the worst possible reunion with my son, unless he had already become crew."
"…You may have a point."
"Now hush, he's asleep. I want to see what happens," Maccus said.
"If anything."
Captain Will Turner closed his eyes as the Green Flash surrounded the entire ship. Ten years. It had been ten years. He was finally going to step on land again. His son would get to see him on land for the first time.
William James Turner had confessed last year that he wanted to see his father on land. Will had simply sighed and promised that next year they would be able to walk the shoreline together.
He looked up as he felt the air of the living world on his skin. There, up on the cliffs of the nearby island, two figures waited.
Elizabeth and William. Will smiled.
"It's happening. I knew it!"
"But… he's smiling," Bootstrap said, puzzled.
"What?"
"That's not happened for a while."
Will silently wished the
Finally, finally, the ship stopped, and Will slid down to the deck. "Go, Captain. We can handle it from here."
Will didn't need any further encouragement. With a thought, he was standing just in the water, watching as Elizabeth and William ran toward him. He stepped forward to meet them on dry land.
Elizabeth reached him first, and threw herself at him. He caught her and spun her around. "Elizabeth!"
"Elizabeth!"the lad exclaimed. Like everything said during the Dream, it was quiet, but the strength of the emotions behind it did shine through.
"Who's that?" Clanker asked.
Everyone was silent, but Bootstrap refused to look up.
"Bootstrap, don't you know?" Maccus asked.
"Aye."
"Well? And don't scowl at me. I'm the first mate."
"Fine. His fiancée," Bootstrap said. "And I'm not saying anything else."
"What's she doin' there?"
"Maybe it's an ordinary dream?"
"Thank God you're here."
"If it was, I doubt he'd be talkin'."
"Anyway, if he doesn't become crew, it'll be a dream about something else," Bootstrap said hopefully.
"Oh, Will. Of course I'd be here. I'll always be here for you."
"Always and always," Will said.
"For eternity, if necessary."
Will gasped at the sudden pain in his chest. He stumbled and fell to his knees. "Will?"
"I'm… it… I can feel…"
"Your heart… it worked!" Elizabeth said, as she placed her hand on his chest. "We did it!"
Will looked up at her. Suddenly, he shouted and surged up. Then he and Elizabeth were dancing along the beach. They probably looked absolutely ridiculous, but Will didn't care.
"We did it; oh thank God we did it!"
"What'd they do?" Clanker asked.
"Quiet."
Their celebration was cut short when William barreled into them and knocked them all to the ground.
Will just started laughing as he grabbed his son.
"Da! What'd you do?"
"I'm free, William! I'm free!"
Will buried his face in his son's hair and started to cry. He was free. Free to live with his family. He didn't have to leave them if he didn't want to.
He could stay with them for longer then a few days. He wouldn't have to leave them to ferry souls. He wouldn't have to leave.
"I'm free…"
"He's not said anything for a while," Clanker noticed.
"Maybe it's over."
"I'm free…"
"Or not. He's wakin' up!"
Will Turner sat up, breathing hard.
"Easy, Will, settle down," Bootstrap said as he grabbed his son's shoulders. Will stared at him blankly for a moment before shuddering and shaking his head.
"What… what the bloody hell was that!?" Will asked. He looked around and paled. He was surrounded by crewmen, most of them watching him.
"Do you remember anything?" Bootstrap asked.
Will blinked and thought for a moment. "No… I don't. Just… 'We did it' whatever it is. What is going on?"
"Ah. Well, lad, it's a long story."
"I believe I have the time, Father. I'm not going to get back to sleep that easily."
Will shifted slightly.
"No, I suspect not," Bootstrap said. "It's an unsettling experience."
Will snorted. "You don't say," he muttered.
"Its part of the magic of the Dutchman," Maccus said. Will turned his attention to the first mate. "Everyone who comes aboard- crew or not- dreams the first time they sleep on board."
Will eyed him for a moment. "I would imagine that a person would dream for more then one night."
"Not like this, Turner," Maccus said. "This is… a dream of what will come. Sometime in the next ten or fifteen years, your dream will happen."
"Eleven years… and a few months," Will said absently. He blinked and shook his head.
"Aye, it's like that," Bootstrap said. "We all know when it will happen- or has happened, since most o' the crew have been here longer then that."
Will nodded once.
Bootstrap sighed and caught Maccus' gaze. The first mate nodded. "Alright, story time's over!" He barked out. "Clanker…"
"Aye, I'll go get it."
Most of the crew scattered, and Will relaxed slightly. Bootstrap was the only one who stayed behind. "When did yours happen?"
"It hasn't yet," Bootstrap said. "Soon, though. In a few days, I think. I don't think it was a pleasant Dream, though I hope it's not what I think it might be."
"Are they always important?"
"Almost always," Bootstrap said. "But no one ever remembers the dream until the events actually happen. Yours seems t' be a good one."
Will nodded once. "Aye," he said. "'We'll do it.' I don't know what "it" is, or even who "we" are. But we'll do it. In eleven years or so."
Clanker approached them. Bootstrap grinned at the other crewman- he was carrying a bottle. "Here, ye need this, lad."
Will glanced at the bottle and sighed. "Rum," he muttered. "I can't say that I'm surprised." But he took a long drink anyway.
"Best way to relax after The Dream, Will," Bootstrap said.
Will passed the bottle over to him. Bootstrap chuckled and pressed it back. "Don't bother, lad. You are going t' drink that until you are relaxed enough t' go back t' sleep. Unlike the rest of us, you still need it."
Eleven Years Later
"It's going to happen soon," Captain Turner said absently as he glanced up at Bootstrap and Maccus. They'd been planning their course when he spoke up.
"Captain?" Maccus asked.
"My Dream," Will said. "It'll happen, very soon." He swallowed.
Bootstrap gasped. "You think it'll be the One Day."
"I hope so," Will said. "Oh I hope…"
"We'd miss you, Captain," Maccus said. "But if you can break the curse, that'd be for the best."
Will glanced at him. "Don't you know? Maccus, if it works- and Elizabeth and I aren't sure that it's not a false hope that Calypso has given me- then the Dutchman becomes a normal ship again. The Duty would be returned to Charon. The crew would be free to return to their own lives, if they wished." Will shook his head. "If it works," he whispered.
"Will- I never told you. Just before you woke up, you whispered, 'I'm free'. I think it'll work," Bootstrap reassured his son.
The Captain nodded and returned his attention to the charts.
And that, my friends, is what happens when I try to write a normal story. It very quickly becomes… not normal.
I guess there's nothing I can do about it. Unusual stories seem to be my specialty.