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"I feel the beating of your heart,
I see the shadows of your face."
Will closed his eyes, feeling the wind caress his face. Even after nine years aboard the Dutchman, Will still loved the feeling. It helped remind him that, even though he was heartless, he was still alive. He gently touched a hand to the scar on his left side, where his heart once was. One year and his heart would be back in its place, leaving the scar to be only a painful reminder of the ten years spent without Elizabeth.
Will sighed and leaned against the side of the ship, looking out into the water. Although the last nine years had been hard, he knew that the next one would be the hardest.
He thought of her everyday, wondering what she was doing, if she still looked the same, if her feelings towards him had changed. Will worried that in his absence, her love towards him would diminish. He couldn't blame her if it did. Ten years is a long time to be apart, almost too long.
"Captain?" a small voice penetrated his thoughts.
He turned around to see the young boy they had rescued standing behind him.
"William," he said, smiling. "You don't have to call me captain. You can just call me Will."
The boy nodded, and slowly came over to stand beside Will. He leaned up to peer over the edge of the ship.
"What were you looking at?" the boy asked.
Will smiled, sadly.
"Nothing. I was just thinking," Will responded.
"About what?" William asked, nonchalantly.
Will sighed again, pondering his response. He could talk to the boy, knowing that the information would more than likely not be remembered, or he could keep it inside, as he had for the past nine years.
"My wife," he whispered after a moment.
"You're married?" William asked, the shock apparent in his voice. "Does she live on this ship too?"
"No, she lives on land. I haven't seen her in a long time," he added softly.
"Why not?" William asked, his naivety apparent in his questions.
"Because I have a job that requires me to stay on the sea at all times. I'm not allowed to see her, at least not yet," Will explained.
"Oh," William replied. Will looked at him and could tell that he was thinking hard about the information he had just been told.
A comfortable silence fell between the two as they both continued to stare out into the ocean.
"Do you still love her?" William asked quietly after a few moments.
"Very much," Will replied, his voice thick with emotion.
"I'm sure she loves you too," William replied optimistically.
"Yeah?" Will asked, cocking his head to the side to look at William.
He nodded. "Even though my daddy isn't around, my mom still loves him. She told me that she'd wait forever for him if she had too."
"Your mom must be a very strong woman."
William nodded. "She is, but I can tell she still misses him. That's why I came to look for him," William added.
Will smiled softly. His brows furrowed together after a second, processing the information William had just revealed.
"Wait, you what?"
"I came to look for him. That's why I was on that ship," William said softly.
"Did your mother know?"
William shook his head.
Will thought for a moment, going over every piece of information that he had learned.
"William, do you think your mother would come looking for you?"
He nodded slowly.
Will smiled. It felt like the first genuine smile he had worn in years.
He finally had a direction. They weren't looking for a place, but another ship.
