Okay, so this is just a little drabble that came to me shortly after my second viewing of Dead Man's Chest. I've always been curious about Bootstrap Bill, so I loved his scenes in the new movie. This is just an expansion on his last scene with Will. Please be gentle, this is the first fic that I've ever actually shared with anyone.
Disclaimer: All characters, plotlines, and quotes belong to Ted Elliot, Terry Rossio, and Disney. This was done purely for my own amusement, and I claim no ownership, nor am I making any money.
"I won't abandon you. I promise."
Unspoken, it hovered in the air between them. Like you did me. It hurt. He deserved it, he knew, but that didn't stop his heart from wrenching painfully, a tingling tentacle twisting within itself deep in his chest.
It had been his choice. It hadn't been difficult. He had wanted it, had needed it. She had called to him; a soft, haunting, familiar siren's song, pulling him. From his family, but back home. He'd gone in the night, not wanting to see the betrayal transform her face, his other her, nor form itself on her lips. He'd loved her, but not like he'd loved her, the sea. Uncaring, unmerciful, brutal, the sea had been his mistress, and he had loved her well. Too well, and those he should have loved had paid the price.
He hadn't expected it, hadn't deserved it, but somehow, deep in what remained of his soul, Bill had hoped for his son's forgiveness. Now, as he slowly lowered William into the inky blackness of that same sea that had claimed his heart years ago, he hoped that he would never get it. This was to be his fate. He had accepted that long ago. But it wouldn't be Will's. He'd make sure of that. And if that meant never laying eyes on his boy again, if that meant never knowing what it was that made him smile, if that meant never again seeing emotions play so clearly through deep brown eyes, then he would accept that. He had to. He wasn't sorry. He hadn't been when he had abandoned Will then, and he wouldn't be now.
Looking down, he could see nothing but the untamable black abyss of the sea. Will was gone.
-Fin-