Will and Carina stood together on the steps of the old ruin, looking out to the sea. They could see the black sails of the world's fastest ship coming towards them at an amazing rate. Will so longed to be on that ship. He had made up his mind. He was gong to ask Uncle Jack to take him on as a cabin boy. Carina looked sad. She spoke quietly.

"You're going to leave with them, aren't you? You're going to get a job from Uncle Jack and leave."

Will sighed. Knowing someone with the ability to read your thoughts could be a troublesome thing.

"Yes Cary. If Pop is willing to let me go, and Uncle Jack has something for me to do, I'm going to leave. But I'll be back soon enough. Jack and Elizabeth never stay away for more than two years. Usually less. Hey, don't cry. I haven't even got permission yet. Uncle Jack isn't even here yet! You can cry when and if I leave."

He wiped away the tear that had been rolling down her face. Her pretty red lips were pouted slightly, and he knew any of the village boys would have taken that opportunity to kiss her. He was glad he was here and not one of them. She looked up at him, and for a split second, he forgot he was looking at his sister. For a split second, he leaned towards her, acting on instinct, wanting to kiss her. Suddenly, Troy and Tony bounded up the hill, yelling and pointing eagerly at the approaching Black Pearl. Will blinked and felt horror wash over him. He saw the same expression on Carina's face. They had almost kissed, sister and brother! That was an abomination, a horrible thing! She fled down the hill after whispering something about telling their parents the ship was coming in. He just stood there, like a statue, terrified by the emotion of that one split second.

After a moment, he recovered. He hadn't actually kissed her. The near kiss had just been an instinct, a reaction to their closeness and her beauty. He hadn't been thinking, and had reacted as if she was not his sister. He hadn't done anything wrong. It was natural for a young man to be attracted to someone as lovely as Carina, and he often forgot she was his sister, thinking of her more as a friend. However, he remained troubled despite all his mental self-assurances. He suddenly felt a longing to tell somebody about that horrible instinct. As he stared out to the approaching ship, he suddenly smiled. Uncle Jack.

When the ship docked, and its passengers stepped onto land, the Torrance dwelling erupted into madness. Screaming and laughing children shot in every direction. Captain Jack Sparrow entered the room with a bottle of rum in one hand and a squalling baby in the other. Everyone looked in surprise at the infant. Had the Sparrow's had another child? No, Aunt Elizabeth had always let Mum know things like that. Timothy and Sara-Lee were already engaged in a wrestling match with Troy and Tony, and, after trying to get them to stop and be silent for several long moments, Uncle Jack poured his rum on them. They sat up, spluttering and coughing, and assumed the requested silence. The other children had already sat down. Now Jack turned back to the adults, who were trying hard not to laugh. His long sailor's coat swished out behind him, and he held the baby as if it were a prize, handing it to Mum with a graceful bow.

"Jack, whose baby is this? Not yours, is it?"

"No, it's not ours. Elizabeth happened upon a, umm, well, for the sake of childish ears, a woman of questionable morals, giving birth in Tortuga. She helped her birth the baby, but the mother had some problems and, well, she passed on. Elizabeth brought the baby back. We decided to keep him. We named him Phillip, that's what 'is mother wanted."

Mum looked down at the baby with a smile. Will sometimes wondered how Mum could still love babies after having so many, but he supposed she was just designed to be motherly. Suddenly, they all realized something. Mum asked the question first.

"Jack, where is Elizabeth?"

Uncle Jack looked around in puzzlement. Obviously he had thought his wife had followed him. He swore under his breath, and then apologized.

"She must ha' got sick again."

With no explanation, he scurried back out the door. He returned in a few moments with a rather pale wife in tow. The idea of Aunt Elizabeth being sick was a slightly ridiculous one. Mum didn't look overly surprised however. Elizabeth hugged Mum, and then grinned.

"First time in nine years, Katrina. I'm sicker than I ever was before. Seems my body's forgotten how to do it."

Will suddenly realized what was the matter with his aunt. Another baby on the way! He thought Aunt Elizabeth was around thirty-eight, not the best time to have a baby, for most women. But then again, Elizabeth's eternal youth would probably allow her to have children at eighty. Will wondered how that eternal youth thing worked. Could Jack and Elizabeth die? Wouldn't they eventually be sick of living, when all their friends and even their children had gotten old and died? He would have to ask Uncle Jack sometime. For the moment, however, congratulations were being offered. Discussions flew in various directions.

Eventually, after several hours of exhausting noise, most of the children went to bed. Will, Carina, Brent, Nicole, Nicholas, and Terina were allowed to stay up. Terina was Anamaria's oldest. They played board games quietly while the adults talked. Aunt Elizabeth spoke to them all, but, as usual, she continually looked at Will. He was her favorite of the Torrance children. She always spoke to him very directly, asking how his life was going, and things like that. He sometimes wondered at the wistful look on her face as she watched him. It was as if she had lost something, and he was a bittersweet reminder of it. For the moment, however, he was not thinking much about Jack and Elizabeth. He was thinking about Carina.

Carina sat across the game board, smiling and laughing with the others, but she would not look at Will. Once, she looked up at him, met his eyes, and looked down again. He saw her blush. Hurt washed over him. Was it possible that one mistake could ruin their friendship? He was going to speak to her, say something casual, try to put her at ease, but was interrupted by Nicholas, who had been speaking to Brent.

"You know, Nicole and I were conceived on a checker board."

Nicole nodded emphatically.

"Yep, it's true."

Jack marched into the room and grabbed his oldest son by the ears.

"Why do you think that?"

Nicholas grimaced. He was going to have to confess now.

"I heard you and Ma talking. You said that we were conceived on a checker board, the other twins in the rum room, and Clara in the bed. You were saying that's why she's more normal than the rest of us."

Will could see that Uncle Jack was fighting back laughter, but he cuffed Nicholas' ears mildly and scolded him for eavesdropping. Then he went back into the kitchen, where the adults were talking. A moment later they heard all their parents laughing.

Carina laughed softly, and when she met Will's eyes again, she didn't look away, she grinned in her usual way. Immense relief flooded Will's heart. But fear was there too. When she smiled at him, his heart beat fast and his mind whirled. It was not a new feeling, but always before he had passed it up, ignored it. It had always bothered him, but he had assumed it couldn't possibly be what he would otherwise call it. Attraction. Then today, he had almost kissed her, and he was forced into the realization that he was, and had been for some time, attracted to his sister. He felt that he had done something horribly wrong, but it was out of his control. He tried not to be interested in her, but she was the most perfect girl he had ever met.

Carina was back to normal, and Will pretended he was as well. Time passed. Around midnight, almost everyone faded off to bed. Uncle Jack, much to Will's relief, asked Will to take a late night walk with him. That would be a good opportunity to talk about his problem.

They walked up the hill and sat on the steps. Jack looked around and looked as if he felt he should recognize this place. Then, he got a look on his face that suggested whatever he had tried to remember had come back to mind. He turned to Will.

"So lad, how's life? Got yourself a girl yet?"

"Sort of. Cherry. We've gone a few places together, but we're mostly friends. Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something."

Jack swigged rum and motioned Will to continue with a sweep of a bejeweled hand.

"I almost kissed Carina today."

Jack choked and sprayed rum. Wiping his mouth, he turned to Will.

"Come again? You almost kissed your sister?"

Will nodded, ashamed and frightened. Jack looked out to sea. After long moments, he spoke.

"Will, there are things you don't know about yourself, but it's not my place to tell you them. But if this is more than just a moment, just a near kiss; if you're actually attracted to her in general, I think it's time you come away. I could use another set of strong arms on the Pearl. What d'ya say mate? Want to go to sea?"

Will found himself fighting back tears. He didn't understand what Jack meant about there being things about himself he didn't know. All he knew was that he felt more for his sister than he felt for any other girl, and it was wrong. He had to leave.

"Yes Uncle Jack, I wanted to go with you anyway. Will Pop let me? You won't tell him, how I feel about Carina, will you?"

"No, I won't. Brent'll let you go if I ask. We leave in a week."

That night, Will dreamt of Carina. He dreamed of kissing her. He didn't dream of anything that would have been improper had it not been his sister he dreamt of, but he awoke horrified and ashamed of the clarity with which he had felt her lips in dreaming. And as he sat in the darkness with tears streaming down his face, he knew again with terrible certainty that he must leave.