Hello guys, and welcome to my story! I worked really hard on it so far, and I hope you like it. No one has read it yet but me, so I have absolutely no idea of what people will think of it. If you like it, I'll continue – if you don't like it, I'll leave it at the few chapters I've already written.

English is not my native language, and I did not live in the 17th century, so there may be lots of mistakes. Ignore them, if you like, or let me know so I can correct them. Thanks!

Anyway, enjoy!

Oh, by the way, I'm uploading the first three chapters at a time, so there won't be any comments to chapter two and three.

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Chapter One

Jack Clarence lifted up the two trunks that contained most of his and his mother's belongings. With one last, melancholy look at the ship, which had carried them to Port Royal, he followed his mother, Belle Clarence, down the gangway to their new life.

Jack had recently had a letter from the good blacksmith, William Turner, requesting him to come to work for him, as the latter's old master had died, and Will Turner needed someone to help him. The departure from Jacob Town had been rather rushed, as Will Turner wanted Jack to come in time for him to get to know the smithy before he would marry his fiancée and have a couple of days off with her.

And so Jack went to Port Royal with his mother, hoping that their lives would improve there. They had never had much of an income, though Belle worked as a waitress and Jack as a blacksmith, but they had still managed to live decently, at least after Jack had grown old enough to work as well. His father had been gone since sometime before Jack's birth, and he had a feeling that his mother had never really known his father. He kept it to himself, but though her mother had never told him this, he knew that she had earned some of her money by keeping men company, and he had a feeling that he had come into the world that way. He loved Belle all the same, and no one in Jacob Town had ever mentioned her former profession, after Jack had grown old and strong enough to defend her and himself.

"Mr. Clarence?" A male voice shouted through the noise from the crowd leaving the ship. Jack saw a young man with a big hat and nicer clothes that Jack had ever had, fight his way towards him.

"Mr. Turner?" Jack asked, surprised that his new employer was so young.

"Mr. Clarence!" Will said again. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Come, let me take your bags."

He gave Jack a rather odd look before taking one of the bags from his hand.

"Thank you." Jack said and took his mother's back in the now free hand. "This is my mother, Belle Clarence." He said introducing the two of them.

"Nice to meet you, Madam." Will said with a bow. "I'm sorry I had to make you give up what you came from to come here, but I have just the perfect place for you to stay, and I'm sure you'll love your new house."

Jack already liked this young, agreeable man, who cared about both his and his mother's well-being. They had never had a house before, and though it was probably just some ramshackle, little cottage in the worst slum of the town (if there was any slum in Port Royal at all), their new home would undoubtedly be better than the last. And he had even thought he'd have to go search for a place to stay at once, but that wouldn't be necessary now. Thanks to Will Turner.

After a short walk they arrived at the smithy and to Jack and his mother's big surprise, Will showed them into the house that was supposed to belong to the owner of the smithy. From outside the house looked small and cosy. It was a half-timbered house with thatched roof, and the light pink hollyhocks under the small windows made it look very homely. It was not big inside either, but it was clean and light and in good repair. Apart from some furniture – quite a lot, actually – it was empty and ready for them to move into.

"But wouldn't this be your house, Mr. Turner?" Jack asked taking a look around. It was definitely too nice to be their new home.

"It was, yes, but Elizabeth… Miss Swann, my fiancée, and I will be moving into our own house after our wedding, and I have already moved there in order to have this to give to you, as long as you work for me."

"Well, but thank you, Mr. Turner." Belle said beamingly. "But are you sure it will be okay?"

"Yes, I'm sure." Will answered. "Now if you'd please excuse me. I'll call back in an hour. In the meantime I'll be in the smithy, if there's anything you need. Please make yourself at home."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Turner." Jack replied. "It is very kind of you."

"It is the least I can do now that I made you leave your home in a rush like that. I hope and believe that you will feel at home soon."

With a nod at Jack and a bow at Belle Will left the house to the two of them to get settled, and soon they were absorbed in inspecting the house.

It was, as they had expected, in perfect repair, and it was quite unbelievable to both of them that this was to be their home from now on. However, when Will came back one hour later, they had stuffed their belongings into their new, rightful places, and they had reached to freshen up a bit after the journey.

Will had changed clothes when he arrived again, and apparently he had been working.

"I apologize for my clothes, Mrs. Clarence, but I've been doing some work." Will said apologetically, but Belle shook her head.

"Nonsense, Mr. Turner. Don't apologize to me because of your clothes!" She said with a smile at him.

They rarely met anyone as polite as Will, and Jack couldn't help smiling. He had called his mother 'Mrs. Clarence', though she had never been married. But Will, of course, didn't know that.

They went to the smithy so Jack could see where he was to spend most of his time in the future. It was a rather big place, bigger than what Jack had been used to, and the equipment there looked newer and smarter done. He already looked forward to beginning his work. There were lots and lots of swords and cutlasses, and they were all very nicely made and shaped. It seemed as if Will had a kind of passion for swords.

"You like swords?" Jack asked raising an eyebrow. He himself was quite good at fighting with them, though he never did so. He only practiced fighting. There had never been any need to fight, only once, when a man had threatened his mother in the tavern she worked in. Then he had drawn hi sword and made the man fight him in the street. Nothing had happened, though, as the man had chickened out and run away. Jack was glad he had done so, because he wouldn't have liked to hurt – or worse – to kill the man.

"Yes, I admit I do so." Will answered and took down one of his swords. "And I like fighting with them, though I do not want you to think that I am a barbarian."

"So does my Jack." Belle said. "And he is no barbarian either."

"Is that so?" Will asked with new interest. "Well, I hope then, Mr. Clarence, that you will practice with me some time."

"Ah, most certainly!" Jack replied. "I would like that very much."

He had feared there would be no time for pleasure in this new job of his, but Will Turner didn't appear to be the kind of guy who wouldn't allow his worker time for that. And with this suggestion of his, there would already be taken care of at least one of Jack's hobbies.

~

During the next few days Jack learned a lot about Port Royal and the villagers of it. He met Will's fiancée, Elizabeth Swann, who turned out to be the daughter of the governor. It surprised him that a high-class-lady like her would marry a blacksmith, but apparently their story went years back, and contained more than one almost fatal incident. Just what had happened he didn't find out. No one had time to tell him because of the upcoming wedding, but Elizabeth promised to tell him once everything was back to normal. She was a very sweet and beautiful lady, and she spoke no hard words to him, though he was very far from her league. There was no snobbery about her at all, and after a few days Jack almost felt that she and Will, in spite of the latter's status as his employer, had become very good friends of his.

He met the governor as well as he some times paid a visit to the smithy. He was, after all, Will's future father-in-law. He never seemed to like his visits there, though.

Jack's impression of him was far from the impression he had of Elizabeth. Father and daughter, no matter how much they still loved each other, were as different from each other as the day is from the night. Jack soon learned that Governor Swann did not approve of this marriage between his only daughter and the blacksmith, but he, of course, didn't say anything about it directly.

Commodore Norrington was another one of the villagers that Jack met soon after his arrival at Port Royal. He came to the smithy quite often to talk to Will about new swords to his men. However, Jack had a feeling that he disliked Will, in spite of his very polite ways. It wasn't anything he said, it was more the way he said things. For some odd reason Jack thought that Commodore Norrington didn't like him either, though they had never met before, and Jack had been polite from the very start. Most of the time it seemed that Elizabeth was the only one that the Commodore really wanted to talk to, but it was probably just because she was a lady and the Governor's daughter, he figured.

One day, as Commodore Norrington had called on Will, but not found him present, he looked at Jack for a long while before he spoke.

"Tell me, Mr. Clarence, who was your father?"

Jack, who was mending a sword with a hammer, accidentally hit his fingers, surprised as he was at this straight forward question.

"My father?" He asked not sure if what he had heard was what the Commodore had said.

"Yes, your father!" Commodore Norrington sighed.

"I've never had a father." Jack said not continuing his work. He didn't like talking about it.

"Yes, I thought so." The Commodore said rather coolly. "I wouldn't believe that churl to actually stick to one woman, even though she had his son!"

"What do you mean, sir?" Jack said perplexed. "Did you know my father?"

"No, one can hardly say I knew him!" The Commodore said on his way towards the exit.

"But you knew who he was?" Jack said raising his voice, but the Commodore just walked out the door with no further look at him. "Wait!" Jack shouted, but when he reached the door, Norrington had gone.

Puzzled, Jack went back to his work. He wanted more than ever to go ask his mother about his father, but he didn't. There was work to be taken care of, and he was a conscientious man. He would have to ask later. Then he could also ask Will or Elizabeth about the Commodore's strange behaviour. However, he forgot to do so, as there was so much to be done the next couple of days.

~

On the day of Will and Elizabeth's wedding, Jack did all the work in the smithy himself. He started very early, so he would be able to escort his mother to the church later. Not because she needed it, but he, too, wanted to see the couple, when they had been wed. He knew they probably wouldn't see him in the crowd, as the whole of Port Royal – and probably people from outside the town as well – would be there. The Governor's daughter would only get married once, and everybody wanted to watch. Jack just wanted to congratulate them, as he counted them among his friends now. He knew that his status was still very much below theirs, but they never let him feel so. He was sure they wouldn't mind him being there to congratulate them, if they'd notice him at all.

He was lost in his thoughts as a deep voice snatched him back to reality.

"You're not Will Turner!" It said giving Jack a start. He hadn't heard anyone come into the smithy.

When he turned around he saw an odd-looking fellow almost his own height watching him. The man had long, black hair with beads in different colours dangling from braids in it, and from his beard there hung two braids, though not with beads. The beard and his moustache were almost as dark as the lines around his eyes. It looked as if he had painted his eyes with kohl, and he wore a kind of angry expression on his face.

"Who are you?" Jack asked demandingly but also slightly frightened. The man didn't look too friendly. He looked like a pirate.

"Who am I? No, who are you? You sure look familiar."

"If you would be so kind as to answer my question…" Jack didn't finish. The man was right. There was something familiar about him, too. They must've met before.

The man chuckled, but he didn't reply.

"Now, what are you doing in Will Turner's smithy? And where is the good man?"

"William Turner is to marry his fiancée, Miss Swann, today, and he won't be…"

"Yes, yes, I know the names." The man sighed and rolled his eyes. "But where is he?"

"I shall not tell you unless you give me your name."

"Well, then you can call me…Smithy!"

"I warn you…!" Jack said and threatened the man with the sword he was forging.

He shouldn't have.

The man drew his own sword before Jack had a chance to do anything, and within a second he pointed it towards Jack's throat. The latter put down his own sword.

"Now, if you'd please be so kind as to tell me," The man mocked, "where to find Will Turner and the fair Miss Swann!" His frown made his eyebrows point towards his nose, just like Jack's always did, whenever something wouldn't go his way.

"I don't know." Jack replied feeling his palms and forehead get sweaty. "Miss Swann is probably getting ready at the Governor's residence and Will…Mr. Turner…I suppose, is at his own home, getting ready. But that is only a guess."

The man didn't reach to reply, as a female voice interrupted them.

"Jack!" Belle exclaimed in something that sounded more like surprise than fear.

The man turned around without withdrawing his sword, and Jack turned his head slightly to look at his mother.

"Belle!" the man exclaimed, obviously surprised.

"You know him?" Jack asked his mother in disbelief.

"What? You know each other?" The man said looking puzzled back at Jack.

"Would you please put down that sword?!" Belle said harshly, apparently not afraid of the pirate. To Jack's big surprise he obeyed and lowered his sword.

"Why, thank you!" Jack said sarcastically, then he continued in a frustrated voice: "By all means, how do you know this…man, mother?"

"I knew him once, though it was a long time ago." She said tiredly. "But he left…"

"Belle, luv!" The man said walking towards her with open arms. He swayed slightly as he did so. "Ye know I'd come back!"

In stead of accepting his open arms, she slapped his face as he reached her. He stopped dead, frowning at this unexpected action of hers.

"I didn't deserve that." He mumbled rubbing his cheek.

"Hell you did!" Belle shouted angrily. Jack never heard her use any such expression, so he knew she really meant it. "Is this what you call 'come back'? After 21 years? You left me when I was pregnant, 21 years ago, and all you have to say is 'You knew I'd come back'?! You're right! You didn't deserve a slap in the face! You deserved more than one. You deserved…"

"Alright!" The man interrupted her and moved a little away, as she and her hand had come closer again. "So I did go away, but I had every intention of coming back. And I never knew you were pregnant. So, where's the kid?"

Like all of a sudden, Jack felt like he was the one who had been slapped in the face. This man – this pirate – was his father!