Title: Freedom from the Curse
Author: SailorNeo
Summary: It's been six months since Will and Elizabeth were forced to separate. When Elizabeth finds out that there's a way to free Will that doesn't involve his death, she and the crew of The Black Pearl—including both captains—make their way to the Fountain of Youth. What happens when they find out that Calypso is the least of their worries? Post AWE, so spoilers ahead.
Chapter Four: Family
"What is The Black Pearl doing here?" Will asked. The ship drew closer and Will could see that many people were above deck.
"AHOY!" someone shouted loudly. "AHOY THERE YOUR QUEENLIENESS!"
"What?" Will said.
The two ships drew up next to each other and Will was surprised to see that all the crew he knew was on deck as well as some he didn't know.
"Care to come aboard your Queenliness?" a young woman asked.
"What?" Will asked.
"Well, your wife is the King of the Pirates," she said.
"Which in her eyes," Ana Maria said, pointing to the young woman, "makes you the Queen of the Pirates."
"Well, it's true," the young woman said. She turned back to Will. "Care to come aboard?"
"I can't," Will said.
"Actually, lad, you can," Jack said.
"Seems there's a loophole none of us thought of," Barbossa said. "Ye can come and go as ye please on the waters, just not on land."
"And if your bonny lass just happened to be on this ship, you could just come over here and see her—theoretically of course," Jack said.
"Elizabeth's there?" Will asked. Barbossa nodded and Will looked to his father.
"Go on, lad," Bootstrap said. "Just don't be too long. These souls need to be ferried to the other side."
Will swung over to the Pearl and was confused to find Elizabeth wasn't on deck.
"Where did she go?" the young woman said, looking around. "Elizabeth Turner!" she yelled. "Your husband is patiently waiting for your appearance!"
"Who are you?" Will asked.
The young woman turned to him and grinned. "The question is not 'who am I?' but rather is 'who are you?'" she said.
Will raised an eyebrow and was about to retort when a distant memory surfaced. But what he was thinking wasn't possible. She had died years ago. But still, Will found himself saying in response, "The question is not 'who am I?" but rather 'are you a pirate?'"
The young woman grinned widely and said, "The question is not 'am I a pirate?' but rather 'are you a pirate hunter?'"
The crews of both ships were looking on in confusion and were startled as Will and the young woman whipped out their swords and began to fight each other. It took a moment, but the crews realized the two weren't trying to kill each other, but rather were attempting to gauge the other's skill.
Their swords locked and both pushed against the other, trying to gain the upper hand. As neither gave up, the young woman began to giggle. She and Will sheathed their swords. "I thought you died," Will said.
"Obviously I'm not dead," the young woman said. She launched herself at Will and hugged him hard. "I missed you so much. And I thought you were dead too, that is, until I realized that Barbossa, Ragetti, and Pintel weren't the undead anymore."
"I'm confused," Jack said. "But then again, I'm not drunk enough to not be confused."
"Oh," the woman said. "I'm Will's younger sister."
As soon as Elizabeth had realized The Flying Dutchman was nearby she hastily scurried off to her room without drawing any attention. Then she began to pace. "How is Will going to take this? I hope he takes it well. I don't know what I'll do if he doesn't! Oh, this is very stressful." She sat down and then leapt up and paced some more. "For all I know he won't even come on the ship," she said to herself.
Then she heard, "Elizabeth Turner! Your husband is patiently waiting for your appearance!"
"Oh dear," Elizabeth said, her heart both rising and falling. Will was here, on the same ship she was on. And she could see him and touch him, thanks to that little loophole that Barbossa had found. Oh, but how would he take the news of his impending fatherhood?
She sat down again, but sprang up when she heard the unmistakable ring of sword on sword. She dashed to the door and peered out. "What is she doing?" she asked, utterly horrified by the scene unfolding in front of her.
Then, to her relief, Will and Angelina stopped fighting.
"I thought you died," Will told Angelina.
"Obviously I'm not dead," Angelina told him. Elizabeth watched in surprise as Angelina began hugging Will. "I missed you so much. And I thought you were dead too, that is, until I realized that Barbossa, Ragetti, and Pintel weren't the undead anymore."
"I'm confused," Jack said. "But then again, I'm not drunk enough to not be confused yet."
"Oh," Angelina said, turning to face the crew of the Pearl. "I'm Will's younger sister."
Elizabeth's jaw—and the majority of the crew of both vessels' jaws—dropped. "What?" she asked, storming out. "You're his sister and you failed to tell any of this that?"
Angelina looked in surprise at Elizabeth. "I though Barbossa did. That's why he took me from the ship when it sunk. I'm a Turner. Only he needed Will because Will had the medallion. So he dumped me at Shipwreck Cove and was going to come get me if he needed me."
"Elizabeth," Will said softly and reverently.
Elizabeth looked at her husband and saw the love shining forth from his eyes. "Oh, Will," she said, all thoughts and worries of his reaction to her pregnancy gone. She moved towards him and held her hand out over his face, afraid to touch him. Then she did touch his face and felt that he was real, that he was there. "Oh, Will," she said just before his lips claimed hers in a kiss.
The kiss the two shared made some of the pirates of the Pearl hoot at them, but the two paid them no mind. They'd been separated by worlds and the ocean for six months, and from the first moment they met, they'd never been further apart than the width of Port Royale until Captain Jack Sparrow drunkenly waltzed into their lives.
Elizabeth felt the baby kick directly in the middle of her stomach. Will jerked back. "Elizabeth?" he asked. It was then that he noticed Elizabeth's stomach. "Elizabeth, what is…what's going on?"
Elizabeth looked up at her husband through her lashes and bit her lip. "Will…Will, you're going to be a father."
Whatever response she was expecting was not for him to whoop and swing her into his arms and spin her about and kiss her.
"Will!" she giggled between his kisses. "Will! Put me down!"
He complied and kissed her again. Then he pulled back. "But…"
"You're wondering how it happened," Jack said. "See, lad, you're a eunuch—"
Will continued on as if Jack had never spoken, "But I'll be on the Dutchman…And you'll be on land."
"Willy, she's the King of the Pirates," Angelina said. "She won't be on land for long."
"But I won't be there to help," Will said.
"Just knowing you're happy will help," Elizabeth said. "And about you being on the ship…"
"Elizabeth, you know that the Dutchman needs a Captain."
"But there's this nice little planned plan that I have," Angelina said.
"You can be freed," Ana Maria said. "But only if you drink from the Water of Life exactly when someone stabs your heart."
"But who would do that?" Bootstrap asked from the other ship.
"I have someone who'll do it," Angelina said, "so no worries."
"There's a way that I can be with you?" Will asked. "Forever?"
"Indeed dere is," a voice that many recognized said. From the side of the Pearl rose a watery figure of Tia Dalma. "Ye can be freed. But only if one take yer place as de Captain of de Dutchman. Wasn't s'posed to be ye who became Capitain. Was meant for 'nother. But obstacles be in yer way. Dere is a force at de guards de Water. Ye'll have to be careful."
With that, she fell back into the water with a splash.
"That was a might creepy," Gibbs said.
"Yeah," Angelina said. "But now I have proof. You'll be freed."
"But what about this 'force' stuff?" Jack asked. "Sounds bad. Maybe we should reconnoiter."
"What?" Elizabeth asked.
"That's not the word, is it?" Jack said. "Reconnoiter, recon…Reconsider! That's the one!"
"You're not runnin' away, Cap'n Sparrow," Ana Maria said.
"Not unless ye want to be marooned again," Barbossa said.
"Marooning is not good," Jack said. "But rum is!"
Will turned back to Elizabeth. "I would want nothing more than to be with you and raise our child," he told her, tracing her jaw.
Elizabeth grasped his hand and smiled up at him. "I missed you so much," she whispered.
Will kissed her again, but with none of the urgency from before. They ignored the commotion around them and focused on each other, not knowing when the next time they'd meet would be.
"Okay, so we go to the Water of Life and then we get to make my brother a free man again," Angelina said.
"But I think we should reconsider this whole thing if something's guarding it," Jack said.
"We're goin' to do this, and that's final," Angelina said.
"I'm with the lass on this one," Gibbs said. "We've got to try to save Will."
"Thank you Mr. Gibbs," Will said, his hands clasped in Elizabeth's. "But now I must go to take the souls we picked up here to the other side," he said, looking into Elizabeth's eyes.
Elizabeth nodded, sad, but resigned. "I love you," she said with a sad smile.
"I love you too, more than you could imagine," Will told her, leaning forward.
Elizabeth, expecting a kiss, leaned forward too, but Will quickly swung back to The Flying Dutchman.
"Why does he always do that?" Elizabeth grumbled as the Dutchman vanished beneath the seas.
"He's a tease," Jack said knowingly.
"How drunk are you?" Ana Maria asked.
"Not drunk enough," Jack said, going off in search of more rum.
"Well now you know Will's glad to be a father," Angelina said. "And I swear I thought that Barbossa told you about me bein' a Turner."
"It's all right," Elizabeth said, staring out at the spot she had last seen Will. "I'm just glad Will's glad."
Calypso smiled at the sight of Elizabeth Turner staring out at the ocean. "Dere must be somethin' I can do," she muttered to herself. The being guarding the Water of Life was something to reckon with, and the Pearl and her crew would be unable to make it to the Water unaided. But she was forbidden to interfere too much with the lives of mortals.
With that Calypso grinned an evil grin. "But William Turner not be a mortal," she said. She looked around her and began to create a storm that would cause all ships in open water to head for port and stay there.
"Witty Jack be having company on dis journey of his," Calypso said on a laugh.
Thanks to A Forgotten Fairy, ClumsyElf, Steel Scale, orlysluv, and wolfbait for putting me in your favorite stories list!
Thanks to A Forgotten Fairy, ClumsyElf, EternalSleep, HSMxPiratesoftheCaribbeanxHSM, Rokhal, Tortall Tribe Freak, Whiteangel-2003, alymartinos, drak goddess tenten, ladyjr16, Cold Ember, hippiehappy, sissybear, orlysluv, DestinyAiden, GreenCowsGoMoooo, Faithful Cherry Blossom, and treehuggersanonymous for putting me on your story alert list!
Thanks to orlysluv for putting me on your favorite authors list!
Thanks to A Forgotten Fairy, alymartinos, ClumsyElf, nikkitan89, Legolas-gurl88, orlysluv, Girlz-Rule, wolfbait, hippiehappy, javajunkiechick, Holli, and larissa for reviewing!
Oh, and thanks to the 149 people who read chapter two, and the 167 people who read chapter three!
(See, we do know you're out there!!!)