Disclaimer: I own nothing. Woo-hoo!

Author's Note: Longest chapter ever! w00t! Okay, I definitely said I was going to take a break, but I am so in love with this story right now that I couldn't. I love this chapter to pieces, and I hope you all do, too...

Yes, I will admit that I sort of obsess over the idea that Johnny's eyes are identical to Will's eyes, but I thought that if I was separated from the man that I love for ten years, and had this constant reminder of him (i.e. my son's eyes) then I would sort of obsess over it too. Well, that's just my crazy, insane, completely-out-there reasoning, but at least I admit it. ;)

Once more, thanks for reviewing, and enjoy!

One Day at a Time

By: MJ

Chapter Four: Differences Among Us

"…and that was how your Uncle Jack was saved from an unfortunate fate," she said softly, finishing the story as Johnny's eyes began to close. "All thanks to the wonderful pirate who ended up with the princess," she said, knowing in her heart she should tell him the truth, but figuring he was still a bit young to know.

"Mama," he said quietly, his voice not above a whisper.

"Yes, Johnny?" She replied, tucking his covers in. She moved to blow out the candle next to his bed.

"…How come I don't have a papa?"

She stopped before she could even cause the flame to flicker, her breath caught in her throat. It tightened and she snapped back to her sitting position, looking at her child with a frightful gaze. She had expected this; she had planned for this, but… not now—not when he was still so young! She sighed, with a smile on your face. "Why do you ask?" She said, attempting to avoid the conversation entirely.

"Mary and Katie have Mr. Henry… and I have an Uncle Jack, but no papa," he said sadly, looking as if he was about to cry. Elizabeth moved closer to him, picking up her three-year-old son and holding him in her arms.

"You have a papa," she said quietly.

"Really?" Johnny asked, excited.

"Yes, you have the most wonderful papa in the world," she said, her voice breaking slightly.

"Where is he?" Johnny asked, looking around naïvely as if his father was hiding somewhere in his room.

"He's very far away, Johnny," Elizabeth said sadly. "You won't see him for another six years…"

"Six years!" Johnny repeated, incredulous. Elizabeth nodded. "How come?"

"Because," Elizabeth started, biting her lip as she glanced out the window. "Because of your Uncle Jack."

"What did Unca Jack do?" Johnny asked, looking even more like he was going to cry. "Did Unca Jack take him away--? Tell Unca Jack to bring him back!" Johnny said, beginning to cry slightly. Elizabeth quickly moved her hands, her dainty fingers brushing the tears off of his cheeks.

"No, no… sweetie, your Uncle Jack saved your papa's life."

"He did?" Johnny asked, in a bit of a whining sort of tone. Elizabeth nodded.

"Yes… would you like to hear the story?"

"Yes!" Johnny said excitedly, jumping off of her lap. He teetered towards the door. "Can we have warm milk and cookies, Mama, oh, can we, please?" Elizabeth smiled.

"Sure… this is a very long story," Elizabeth said, getting up off the bed. Johnny grinned.

"I love long stories!" He squealed excitedly before he opened the door and took off down the hall. Elizabeth sighed, taking an extra moment to look outside the bedroom window. His window wasn't as nice as hers; it didn't have that constant view of the horizon, but he did have quite a nice view of the town. She had told Ana and Henry, and she had written it down in a diary. She relived it so many times in her dreams; how hard could it possibly be to tell her son?

She sighed, moving swiftly across the room, down the stairs, and into the kitchen. Johnny had already gotten the cookies from the jar, the chair pushed up to the counter being evidence enough on how the small boy had succeeded. He was about to get the milk when Elizabeth stopped him. "Johnny," she said softly, and he turned to look at her. "Go into the parlor, and I'll bring everything in, okay?"

"Okay, Mama," he said, smiling softly as he darted into the other room excitedly.

Elizabeth sighed once more, pouring the milk into the pot and placing it over the dying embers of the evening's fire. It would be just enough heat to slightly warm the milk, which was all she needed. She placed the cookies on the plate, all the while figuring out how to phrase it. "I'll just… tell him the cold, hard truth," she said softly, balancing the two mugs of milk and the full plate of cookies in her hands. She moved into the parlor, and she saw that Johnny had taken his favorite seat. He had curled up under a blanket and his bright brown eyes were looking at her excitedly.

Will's eyes… Her heart skipped a beat. She smiled nervously at him, handing the young boy his mug. She placed the plate on the table.

"Mama… what does papa look like?" Johnny asked as Elizabeth took her seat in the plush sofa next to his armchair. She breathed a sigh of relief; what an easy question.

"He has your eyes," she said softly, and Johnny grinned. "Or, rather, you have his eyes. Dark brown and mysterious," she said and he giggled. She smiled wider, "he has a very sculpted face," she said. "Like… you remember Uncle Jack?"

"Yeah!"

"Well… sort of like Uncle Jack's face, except wider… Papa has a few more scars, and he's a bit more tan," she said thinking about it seriously. "And he has the most wonderful smile."

"Is he tall?"

"Very tall," she nodded. "Just like you will be one day."

"Mama," Johnny said after taking a sip of his milk. "Is Papa a pirate?" Elizabeth nodded, and Johnny squealed. "Is that why he's not here with us--? Is he on Unca Jack's ship, finding buried treasure and killing the evil pirates?"

"Shh," Elizabeth shushed him, and he quieted down, looking at her expectantly. She smiled at his eagerness, something that reminded him of her, but those eyes… She shook her head slightly before once more looking at her son. "I suppose I should start at the beginning, shouldn't I?"

"How long is the beginining—can't you just jump to the good parts?" Johnny whined, and Elizabeth laughed.

"Do you remember the story of the prince and the princess?"

"Do I!" Johnny said, looking at her in such a way that Elizabeth couldn't help but think of Will and his ever-persistent sarcasm and over-the-top sense of humor. Something, she mused, no one else got to see but her… it was a bit of their private courtship that she absolutely missed; the way he was so free with her was absolutely refreshing.

"Well, what if I told you that I was the princess, and your father was the prince?"

"I don't believe you!"

"It's true!" Elizabeth laughed, and Johnny looked at her skeptically (in a way that only a three-year-old could manage), which only caused her to laugh harder. She took a sip of her milk to calm down before she looked at Johnny. "Your father was the apprentice to Mr. Brown, the local Blacksmith. I was the Governor's daughter, and therefore we were bound by society to never join together in holy matrimony."

"Boring," Johnny yawned.

"Hold on," Elizabeth scolded lightly. "Just a minute… Remember when I told you of the princess stealing the prince's medallion?"

"Of course! And then—the pirates came and stole the princess!"

"Right!"

"And then the prince came to the rescoo with Unca Jack!" Johnny's eyes gleamed. "Papa came with Unca Jack?"

"Yes!"

"And he fought the skelitin pirates?"

"Yes!"

Johnny's inward gasp and the look of euphoria on his face was enough to make Elizabeth feel warm inside, despite the cold March evening. Two months more and it would only be five more years until Will could come back—she was in her fourth year of him missing, and it was tearing her apart. It was Johnny's face, and his pure, innocent love that kept her going. She continued, "When we returned from our adventure, after Papa saved Uncle Jack, your father proposed."

"Ew… are you going to get all gross with the mushy stuff again?"

"No, Johnny, I promise," Elizabeth put her hand over her heart for good measure. "So, on the day of our wedding, your father was arrested."

"What did he do?"

"Nothing, Johnny, that's the point," Elizabeth sighed. "We were unfairly arrested for doing something that was absolutely right. There's a point to this, Johnny, you must always fight for what you believe in… do you hear me? You never, ever let anyone take away your dreams… You can do whatever you want, but you must know that you must fight for it."

"I'm a fighter, Mama, I'm a pirate!"

Elizabeth smiled, "Good." She nodded, continuing, "Your father had to go off in search of Uncle Jack and his magical compass."

"Magical compass?"

"Yes, this compass points to whatever you want most in the world."

"Whatever I want?"

"Whatever you want," Elizabeth affirmed. "Beckett wanted it because he wanted to have the Dead Man's chest."

"Dead Man's chest?"

And so Elizabeth went into explaining the whole Davy Jones ordeal, leaving out select details, such as her kissing "Uncle" Jack so as to kill him, thus leaving out all the intricate, minor details of her not talking to Will for close to three months. Three long, horrible, miserable months… She left out Uncle Jack's hallucinations (and the fact that he still suffers from them, although his new immortality has kept them at bay)… She never once, however, left out how much she and Will loved each other, a fact that made Johnny's eyes light up and his lips curve into a smile.

"So, your father and I were married in the rain by our once-enemy," Elizabeth said, her story drawing to a close. A faint amount of light was coming through the windows; how late had they stayed up? She shook the thoughts away and looked at her son; hours later, and he was still as attentative and curious as ever. "Suddenly, though, shortly after this, your father noticed that Uncle Jack was in trouble."

"No!"

"Yes! Uncle Jack and Davy Jones were in this horrible sword fight over the chest. Uncle Jack had the chest, but Davy Jones had the key! They were on the highest part of the tallest mast, and Uncle Jack was very close to losing! Your father, being the wonderful swordsman and friend that he is, swung over to the Flying Dutchman, and stole the chest when it had fallen. He ran to the stern of the ship, towards the helm. Just as he was about to fly back over, he got into a horrible swordfight with his father."

"Grandpapa?"

"Yes, Johnny, do you remember that he was a part of Jones's crew?" At Johnny's yawn, she continued. "Well, he was a bit of a lost cause… he didn't even remember that your father was his son!"

"Oh, no!" Elizabeth had to admit; Johnny had very good timing with his gasps, sighs, and moans. She smiled before continuing.

"While they were swordfighting, Davy Jones came down from the mast, and attempted to steal the chest again, but Uncle Jack stopped him!" Johnny clapped at this. "They got into another bad swordfight, and I saw that both your father and Uncle Jack were in trouble, so I swung over," she said, his heart beat rising as she came to the climax of her story. "Jones and I got into a duel, and I am not the skilled fighter your father or Uncle Jack are, and I began losing. Jones hit me, and I fell—my sword was a few feet away from me—I couldn't reach it!" Johnny looked on the verge of tears, but Elizabeth continued, "Right as Jones was about to kill me, your father stopped him."

Johnny gasped.

"He stabbed Jones in the chest—but he has no heart," Elizabeth said sadly. "And therefore, he didn't die."

"What… happened?" He asked quietly.

"Jones kicked your father, knocking him to the ground. Jones saw that even though he was threatening your father's life, Will was still looking at me—worried about me," Elizabeth's eyes began to fill with tears. She rubbed them away, determined to finish. "He realized that we were in love, and because he was separated from his lover, so should we. He raised his sword to kill your father when all of a sudden, Uncle Jack told him to stop. Jones looked towards him—Uncle Jack had his heart! Uncle Jack said how ironic it was that he was holding life and death in the palm of his hand, and Jones told Uncle Jack he was cruel."

"What did Uncle Jack say?"

"Uncle Jack said, 'Cruel is in the eye of the beholder', or something along those lines." Johnny laughed at Elizabeth's dead-on impersonation.

"What happened next?"

Elizabeth took a deep breath and sighed, her eyes moving towards her still full cup of milk. That's when the tears began to fall, and her chest ached as her heart cried as well for Will. She sat there sobbing quietly for a few moments, not noticing the light footsteps on the ground. Suddenly, a tiny hand was on her knee, and she looked up into those eyes. Those beautiful eyes full of worry and concern, and they only made her cry harder.

Will's eyes…

"Mama… don't cry, Mama… you don't have to tell me, Mama," he apologized over and over. Elizabeth set down her mug and pulled the boy into her arms, sitting him on her lap. "I'm sorry, Mama… please, you don't have to tell me anymore—just don't cry, Mama… Please don't cry…"

She kissed his curls, before she wiped the tears away. "No, Johnny… you need to know."

"What… happened, Mama?" He asked quietly. She took a deep breath.
"Jones… laughed," she said bitterly, her back stiffening in anger. "And then… he stabbed your father."

It was dead silent after she made that revelation; she couldn't even hear Johnny's breathing. Suddenly, however, he let out a long sigh and then a tight sniff. She rubbed his back soothingly.

"Your father died that day," she said softly, mumbling the words into the deep brown curls of his hair; his father's son, he would always be. "But Uncle Jack saved him from death."

"How, Mama?" His voice was so tiny, now.

"Uncle Jack helped your father stab Jones's heart while Bootstrap distracted him."

"…So… he killed Jones?"

"Yes, Johnny, he killed Jones." The room fell silent again, before Johnny's quiet voice broke the tension.

"What happened next, Mama?"

"The ship went under, and Uncle Jack and I barely made it out of there…" She said just as softly. "We were about to go against Beckett entirely alone, when suddenly, out of nowhere, the ship resurfaced." Johnny gasped again, clapping his hands excitedly. "Will was alive again, as the immortal Captain of the Flying Dutchman," she said breathlessly. "With our two ships combined, we defeated Beckett, and the rest of his armada fell apart just as quickly, admitting defeat to our forces."

"Pirates always win," Johnny nodded, affirmatively. Elizabeth ruffled his hair.

"But, there was a cost to pay," Elizabeth said gravely. She felt Johnny stiffen.

"Cost?"

"Your father only had one day on land before he left for World's End again," she said quietly. "We spent that one day here, together, on this very island." She sighed, her mind momentarily reliving that last day again. She shook her head and kissed her son. "He left me here at sunset," she said quietly, and Johnny understood.

"Ten years at sea."

"One day at land," Elizabeth finished. Johnny sighed, leaning back into her chest.

"Mama," he said quietly after a while.

"Yes, baby?"

"Does Unca Jack still have that magical compass?"

"Yes, yes he does… Why?"

"Does it still show whatever you want most in the world?"

She understood. With a smile, she asked slyly, "What do you want, Johnny?" He turned to look at her, his eyes piercing through hers as she watched him think about it for a long time. The quietness seemed like an eternity of silence before his shaky voice came through loud and clear, piercing Elizabeth's heart with his sincerity.

"I want Papa."

She bit her lip and looked into his eyes—Will's eyes—and said just as quietly back, "Me too."

Let me know what you think in a review!

Next Chapter: Johnny gets the adventure he's always wanted aboard Uncle Jack's ship...