Okay, a few notes here: If you saw the scene after the credits, note that Elizabeth and her son have not seen Will yet in my story, I'm kind of ignoring that scene. Another thing, some of you may already know, but Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End was originally about three hours. However, they cut twenty minutes or so out of it. Those twenty minutes explained that if Elizabeth stayed faithful to Will, he could stay on land after ten years of captaining the Dutchman. I'm ignoring that fact, too. Elizabeth can only see him once every ten years. Anyway, carry on. Read and review, that would be lovely. :-)

Another thing, sorry for taking almost a full week to add a second chapter, I was editing obsessively. I'll update faster after this chapter, and perhaps some reviews would encourage me to update even faster. Haha. :-)

And since everyone else has a disclaimer, I'll put one, too: Elizabeth, Jack, Will, William, etc. belong to Disney, but Lynette is a character I created.


Chapter 2

The beach. Where they had shared their last day. Where he sailed away. Where she watched her everything sail away. He didn't look back. He couldn't look back. So he didn't see her collapse on the sand in tears when he arrived at his ship. He didn't see her approached by the tan girl with the tangled mess of braids. He didn't see her taken by the hand back to a home, her home, not many miles away from the shore. Port Royal. He didn't see her try to take care of the ten-year-old orphan, who could easily take care of herself, and his wife. He didn't see the bond they shared. He didn't see how close they grew, when she told her of him. When she laughed and wept with her. When she was completely confused by her. He didn't see the joy on his wife's face when she discovered she would soon have a child. He didn't see his newborn son. He didn't see his child grow. He couldn't. He left. He had to leave. So he did. And they were to be separated for ten years.


"'Maelstrom!' Mr. Gibbs yells out in a panic. The entire crew stares out into the stormy water to see a huge swirling whirlpool both of the ships are sailing straight into," Lynette drew a swirl with her finger in the white sand as she spoke.

"They were sailing into it? Why? That's completely foolish." William interrupted.

"Not foolish," she shook her head, searching for the right word, "Risky, I'll admit, but they didn't have a choice. They had to fight. Anyway, the Dutchman-"

"Is this a true story?" William inquired, skeptically.

"Of course, I promise!" She smiled.

Lynette continued her story. She lay on her stomach, just out of reach of the waves that touched farthest up on the shore. She propped up her head with her left hand and doodled in the sand with the other. The wind blew steadily, making the autumn air a bit chilly on the beach just a few miles from Port Royal. William's eyes widened as he listened attentively to the legend. They had been at the beach for hours telling stories. She always had a new tale to tell him; most were about pirates. Whenever Lynette would say, "This one is about your mother" or "Here's a story about your father" William was skeptic. He could scarcely imagine his mother being a pirate. But the stories of his father always intrigued him, since he'd never met his father.

Elizabeth approached the two storytellers soundlessly, smiling at the expressions on her son's face. As silent as she was, Lynette noticed her presence. She sat up.

"Ah, have you come to listen to a tale of Elizabeth the Pirate King?" Lynette asked, smiling. Elizabeth gave a half grin.

"Actually, I came to get William. I'm guessing you're quite hungry after being out here all afternoon?" She asked him.

"A little," He said, rubbing his stomach, "But Lynette had made some cake, and I ate some." He grinned.

"Would you care to join us, Lynette?" She asked.

"That would be lovely, if you don't mind." She smiled. William stood up and dusted off his pants. Lynette tucked a lock of dark brown hair behind her ear before finally managing to get up.

William skipped ahead of his mother and Lynette, singing the songs Elizabeth had taught him years before. It was about half a mile to get to the Turners' dwelling in Port Royal from the beach, and for the first few minutes they walked in silence.

Lynette stared down at her bare feet making shallow impressions in the sand. She looked over her shoulder to realize that they disappeared almost as soon as they formed. Each wave that crashed into the shore took back into the ocean not only sand, but also any trace of her walking along the shoreline. She walked slowly, feeling the cool water and sand stick between her toes. The sleeves of her tatter mahogany shirt ruffled in the cool breeze. Elizabeth's heavy dress fluttered faintly in the dying wind.

She finally turned to Elizabeth, who was staring out into the dark blue water and the setting sun. The combination of sorrow and grief on her face was enough to make Lynette look away.

"Only a few months..." she said, breaking the silence with a phrase that didn't provoke much conversation. Elizabeth blinked, parting from her trance.

"Hm?" She said, returning to reality.

"Only a few months? Until Will can return to this very beach..." She repeated.

"Oh." She said, quietly. Then she turned Lynette, smiling, "Yes, I know... And I'm extremely glad..." she trailed off, her smile fading. She looked ahead at William, whom was still a good thirty paces ahead. She began speaking in a hushed, fragile voice, "But then he'll leave again. I won't see him again for ten years, Lynette. That's it. And the decade I've waited to see him was agonizing, and I can't even begin to imagine starting it over. William will only spend a handful of days with him, and I'll have even less." Lynette saw the tears welling up in Elizabeth's eyes that began running down her face, although she tried hard to keep them from emerging. She stopped walking and untied the faded purple cloth from around her wrist, then wiped the tears from Elizabeth's saddened expression.

"I'm sorry," Were the only words Lynette could find, "But cherish the days you do have, and the days with your son, everything will be all right."

"I can only hope."


They sat in silence, chewing the meat that wasn't quite tender enough. Each of them was trying to think of something to say, but William had already seen that his mother wasn't feeling her best today. William knew her mother had these days, when she was so completely drenched in sorrow that William was afraid to talk to her, afraid to ask what was wrong. Although he rightly knew what was wrong. His father wasn't there. His father wasn't here. And there was nothing he could do about it.

"Do you still wish you were a pirate, mum?" William asked. He instantly regretted it. Why on earth did I say that, he asked himself, bloody idiot.

Elizabeth took a sip from her drink, seeming unaffected, but inside she was filled with fear, terror, sorrow, shame... and it scared her that mixed with these negative emotions was longing. She filled with a throbbing panic when she realized she longed for adventure. Settling down wasn't quite what she had expected. But she'd met Lynette, and she was a nice girl. Keeping William engrossed for hours with those pirate tales-

That must have been where the question cam from, she thought, of course. She cast a meaningful glance over at Lynette, who looked down guiltily down at her plate, up at Elizabeth, then back down at her plate again, blushing.

"Oh, I don't know, not really. My pirate adventures are over," Elizabeth sighed.

As much as William regretted asking the first question, he couldn't restrain himself from asking, "Why?"

"I have you, now," Elizabeth smiled, a bit sadly, which made the comment sound different than she had intended.

"If I wasn't here, would you still be a pirate?" William looked gloomy and somewhat guilty, like he was the cause of his mother no longer being a pirate.

There was silence, and Lynette grimaced involuntarily at the miscommunication as Elizabeth mindlessly pushed meat around her plate, debating what would be appropriate to say, to prevent any further misunderstandings.

"Never, much too dangerous." She replied. That was a lie. Liar, she thought, you are a liar, but you're quite good at lying, aren't you? Elizabeth herself knew the answer to that question, and she felt terrible. Much too dangerous, please! It's thrilling!

She thought about how she really felt. She loved her son and would never trade him for anything, but I do miss the adventure, the excitement... no I don't. I like it here, she thought, I like it here.