Legal Note: I do not own any of the characters associated with Pirates of the Caribbean. I do not have any legal right to use them or any other proprietary words originating from these movies. This story was done just for the fun of it. Not for profit. If you like it please tell me. If you don't like it please tell me why with particulars but not excessive detail.

Author's Note: In September of 2009 I expressed to my friend Pirate-on-fleet-street an interest in writing a few oneshots with unusual pairings (ones that are not Sparrabeth or Willabeth). We decided that it would be fun to cooperate on such an undertaking. This story and eleven others are the products of that venture. We hope you will enjoy them.

Summary: Elizabeth Turner watches over an old shipmate.

Goodbye

Elizabeth sat holding his hand as the old man's breath came harshly. He'd been sick for weeks now. His fever had come and then broken but he had been too weak to do more than prop his head up while she spooned soup into his mouth. These last few days he had mostly slept, though, somehow he had found the strength to tell one more tale of adventures long past to her son. William had sat rapt with wonder but still concerned for the old man in the bed.

Elizabeth remembered the day two years ago when this man had come stumping his way up the street on his crutch, his grizzled beard and unkempt hair afly, streaming out from under a battered, broad brimmed hat that had seen better days. She had had to take a second look at him before she recognized the old man in front of her. It had been eight years since the last time they'd spoken. Life had been hard on him. A musket ball in the leg had been the final straw. He'd given up his life at sea. He'd failed as a tavern keeper. Had no education for much of anything aside from his trade aboard ship. For a time he'd worked mending sails but the rheumatism in his hands had gotten so bad that he could hardly hold a needle. He'd tried his hand at a dozen different trades but had not done very well at any of them. Out of pity more than anything else she had taken him in for a night and then a week and now it was two years gone by.

He had taken to her son almost as if William were his own. The boy had, at first, been leery of the old seaman but it wasn't long before the two had become inseparable. The old man had taught William his knots and how to sail a light boat. He'd taught him the sailor's names for the stars and how to navigate by them. He had told stories of the old days when they had sailed beyond the edges of the map, fought sea monsters and the East India Company. There had been more stories of friends now gone and eventually stories of her husband, William's father. It was as though the old man had finally found something he was good at besides sailing. He was good at being a father figure, which didn't really surprise Elizabeth anymore. She had grown quite fond of the old pirate and that did surprise her. They had not met under the best of circumstances all those years ago.

Elizabeth felt his fingers tighten on hers and she looked into his face. His eyes fluttered a little but did not open.

"You've been very kind to me, miss," he rasped. "These last couple o' years 'ave been good for an old sailor like meself. Thank you."

"Not at all," Elizabeth said gently. "You've been good company."

"'Ave I? I'm glad." His breathing was more labored now. "I'll say 'ello to yer 'usband if I 'appen to see 'im. Tell 'im 'ow you and the lad 'ave been doin'."

"I'm sure I'll see him again before you do," Elizabeth lied her voice bubbling with the sob she choked back.

"Goodbye, Poppet," the old man said with the hint of a smile and then fell silent. His breath stopped and his hand relaxed. Elizabeth wept.

"Goodbye, Master Pintel."

Additional Note: If you enjoyed this story and wish to read the other stories in this challenge you can find them on my profile and on Pirate-on-fleet-street's profile: www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/u/1931701/