Last chapter!
In Dreams
Chapter 4: I Know You
Nine Years Later
"Don't you ever let go. Not ever," Elizabeth whispered forcefully, her voice slightly muffled because of how tightly she was pressed against her husband.
Will laughed. "I wasn't planning on it, love." He looked down at Elizabeth, gently tilted her face until her gaze met his. "I missed you so much," he said quietly, his voice thick with tears. "And I love you. More than anything."
Tears swam in her eyes. "I love you," she answered softly. "More than anything."
And then a small voice broke into their reverie. "What about me?"
Elizabeth felt Will stiffen suddenly as his eyes widened.
"Was – was that…?" he asked so quietly she could barely hear him.
She smiled. "Why don't you turn around and see?"
Will hadn't even realized that his heart was once again ensconced in his chest until he felt it racing as he turned slowly on the spot to face the nine-year-old boy behind him. He dropped to his knees in order to be at eye level with him.
"It's been a long time since I saw you last."
William was staring at his father in something close to shock. "I – I know you!"
Elizabeth moved forward to stand next to Will. "What do you mean?" She sounded as confused as Will felt.
William looked excitedly back and forth between the two of them. "I've seen you before! I dream about you all the time! You're just sitting there talking to me… you always tell me that you want me to take care of Mama because you can't be here to, and you always say I should make sure she always has something to smile about. But… I was just dreaming. Wasn't I?"
Will suddenly found that he couldn't stop laughing. "That can't be possible. It shouldn't be possible, but… I wasn't dreaming. And you weren't dreaming. I think – I think I really was here that night."
William smiled ecstatically. "So that really was you? You really said all those things to me?"
"Yeah," Will whispered, still completely amazed. "Yeah, I sure did."
It was the middle of the night when Will woke up and realized that he couldn't fall back asleep. There was no rocking motion, none of the gentle swaying that was ever-present on a ship, and it bothered him. On the Dutchman, his cure for insomnia had been going out on the deck and watching the stars. Deciding that going out on the beach had to be the next best thing, he slipped silently out of bed and crept out of the small house, pausing only to look in on his peacefully sleeping son for a brief moment.
Outside, he waded out into the water until the surf was splashing around his knees and closed his eyes, enjoying the breeze on his face.
"Captain Turner."
He didn't even need to turn to know that it was Calypso. As a matter of fact, he wasn't even startled.
"I did the job you gave me," he said quietly. "I ferried the souls of the dead for ten years. What more can you possibly want from me?"
"Nothing more. I was simply curious to know if you had discovered my… gift."
Will slowly turned to face her, instinctively knowing exactly what she was referring to. "I really did meet my son all those years ago. I fell asleep on the Dutchman, woke up here, met my son, and then I was on the Dutchman again. And on top of that… he remembers it. He was only a baby, but he remembers me. You did that, didn't you?"
Calypso smiled silently.
Will hadn't expected an answer, but he had to ask just one more question. "Why would you do that for me?"
Again, Calypso didn't answer, simply smiling again in silence. "Goodbye, Captain Turner." She immediately began to fade from sight.
"Calypso!" Will said suddenly, just before she vanished. Her image wavered, solidified briefly, watching him expectantly. He fumbled for words for a moment, before deciding at last that there was only one thing he could say.
"Thank you."
And then he was alone. Standing on the shore in the silvery moonlight, he looked up at the small house nestled among the trees above him. In that house were the woman he had loved for nineteen years, and the son he had fallen in love with at first sight nine years before. And that was when he knew that, in fact, he wasn't alone at all.
And there's the end of my first multi-chapter fanfic! Okay, granted it was only four chapters and they were pretty short, but I'm proud. I feel so accomplished. Don't forget to tell me what you thought about it!
Update 6/16/12: Huge thanks to Smithy for pointing out that it's nine years later, not nine years and three months. I always mess up stuff like that. Numbers and I don't exactly see eye-to-eye.
