hi everyone! this takes place about five years before Will was found floating in the ocean by Elizabeth, and it's when Bootstrap Bill sent Will the Cortez's gold medallion after the mutiny. hope you all like it, and as always, constructive criticism and reviews are welcome! enjoy! :)

"Come here Will! I have a letter from your father!" Anna called to her son.

Nine-year-old William Turner was playing pirates in the hot, summer sun with his two best friends, Scott Hemingway and George Lanser, when he heard his mother calling him. "Sorry, I have to go. But I'll be back soon so I can defeat you all. I'll be the most ruthless pirate in the seas!" he yelled as he flung his wooden sword one last time at George.

Will raced in the sweltering heat to his home where his mother waited for him. He could see her waiting on the porch that overlooked the sea, sitting on the rocking chair that his father had made for her. She could usually be found there, waiting for her husband to come home from his merchant trip. He stumbled on a rock lying in his path and fell to the ground. His pants were ripped, and a little stream of blood started to run down his legs. However, he ignored the pain and ran right up to Anna, asking for the letter.

"Here it is, Will," she said as she gave it to him.

Will grabbed it out of her hands and started to rip the envelope open. It was his first letter in two years!

"It looks like he gave you something too. It felt quite heavy," she said as she smiled at her son. She looked down at Will's legs and exclaimed, "Will! What happened to you?"

Will looked down at his tattered pants and injured knees. "I tripped over a rock and fell down while I was coming here and I scraped my knees."

"Oh Will, will you ever stop getting hurt?" Anna asked, shaking her head. "Come in the house and I will clean up the scrapes."

The two walked inside the small, clean house and headed towards the bathroom. Once they got there, Anna picked up Will and put him on the counter next to the water basin. She grabbed a washcloth, placed it in the water in the basin, and put soap on it after she took it out of the water. Carefully, she dabbed at Will's cuts and started to clean them up.

Will sat their patiently as his mother cleaned his knees, but then remembered the letter and finished ripping it open. A large, golden medallion fell out of the envelope as Will pulled out the letter. It landed on the floor with a large thud, and scared Will's mother.

"Don't scare me like Will!" she exclaimed.

"Sorry, Mother. Do you mind picking up the necklace that dropped?"

Anna picked up the necklace and examined it. It had a large pirate skull in the center, with an intricate design surrounding it. It hung on a large chain that looked like it was made out of real gold. "Your father must have had a fight with a pirate ship and won. Look at this necklace," she said, handing it to Will. "It's magnificent. Your father's a brave man, Will. Fighting pirates, and even winning against them!" she exclaimed with a smile on her face.

Will looked at the necklace, and a smile crept upon his face as well. "He must be the best sailor ever!" His mother helped him put the necklace on, and it shone brightly in the light.

"Now I'll have a story to tell to all my friends! They'll be amazed!" Will said as he fingered the necklace.

"It will be a great story to hear. I can't wait until you father comes home and tells us all about it," Anna said as she continued to clean up her son's knees. "Now read the letter. Maybe it has something about how he got the necklace in it."

Will grabbed the letter that was lying next to him on the counter and started to read it out loud.

Dear Will,

I hope that you and your mother are doing well. I miss you all terribly, and I wish that I could come home soon, but we just got another shipment of supplies that needs to be sold, so I don't know when I will be coming home. Hopefully it will be in the next few months though. The necklace that I sent you came from a encounter that we had with pirates. We beat them, but barely. Most of our supplies were destroyed, so we had to get the other shipment, which is why our trip will be longer. This came from the captain, and I thought you would like it. I'll tell you and your mother more of the story when I get home.

I don't have much time to write this letter, because we are leaving port in the next few minutes and I still have to find a place to send it to you. But just know that I love you and mother so much, and I hate that I am so far away from you, but this is my job. I'll see you soon, and I'll send more letters as soon as I can. I love you!

You Father

"I told you, Will! He won against a pirate ship. Not many men can say that they have been able to do that!" Anna exclaimed. "And he'll be home in the next few months! A much shorter trip than last time."

Anna, now done with cleaning up Will's knees, walked out of the bathroom and returned to her chair on the the front porch. Will got down from the counter and walked to his room. It had been his father's room when he was younger, and Will was happy that he had gotten this room as his own. He walked over to his desk and placed the letter inside of a drawer. This drawer contained all of his father's letters, and he cherished everyone of them. He knew that his father was a respectable man, but he did wish that he wasn't gone so often.

He glanced at the wooden ship that his father carved for him right before he left. His father had placed black sails on it, and Will wondered why. When Will asked his father about it, he said it was because he thought that too many sails were white. His father had also said to look out to the sea when he missed him, and he would always be right there.

He felt extremely happy now. His father still loved him! And he still missed him and wanted to be with him! Maybe, he thought, I'll go looking for him, or I'll join him on his trips. That would be so much fun!

Will left his room and ran out into the sweltering heat to go play with Scott and George again. He ran through the green grass and as he got closer to his friends, he saw that they were playing pirates again. He fingered his medallion once again, and joined his friends to play.

Once Will got his sword and started to fight with Scott, Scott noticed the shining necklace that Will had. "Hey Will. Where'd you get the necklace?"

Will looked down, but continued to fight. "It's a necklace that my father sent me. He got it off of a pirate captain when he won a battle against them!"

"Cool!" George exclaimed. "Now you can really be a pirate!"

"Arg! Surrender maties!" Will yelled, stabbing his sword at George.

The three boys fought with their wooden swords as the sun started to set. Little did Will know, his father was doing the same thing.