Chapter 7: Father and Son

Will's POV:

After Henry's encounter with the witch we were quick to purchase some food and supplies then quickly headed off to find Jack. I wasn't sure exactly how I felt about intentionally going out to look for the "great" Captain Jack Sparrow. The last time I had intentionally sought him out after finding him he'd sent me off to Davy Jones' ship in exchange for his own soul. He had also kissed Elizabeth before and it wasn't just a quick peck either. I didn't like that.

He had apparently helped Henry a lot though on the journey to Poseidon's trident to free me from my curse. In a sense I supposed he was in part the reason why I was free. He also had helped me find Elizabeth all those years ago when she'd been taken by Barbossa, though technically that turned out to be for his own benefit so he could get the Pearl back. One could argue however, that had we never gone on that adventure together I never would have had the courage to speak up and tell Elizabeth how I truly felt about her. Whether I liked it or not, Jack was a big part of my history. I just couldn't decide how I felt about that.

We boarded our ship and left the dock relatively quickly. Henry had stated we had no time to loose, but I think the reason we were so fast had little to do with that—at least for myself it hadn't. I wanted to hear what Henry had learned at the witches, but he was insistent that until we had left port there was no time to talk.

As soon as we had left the dock and were out at sea, the land far behind us, Henry was ready to speak. Elizabeth was at the helm, heading the way Henry had directed her, straight ahead for the time being. I sat on the left side of railing by the helm again, as I often did whenever Elizabeth was steering, with my legs dangling over the edge once more. Carina leaned against the right side of the same railing.

Henry walked towards us, fiddling with something in his hand. It seemed to perhaps be a necklace, the chain dangling down while his palm was wrapped around whatever the jewel or item on the end of it was, hiding it.

"Are you going to tell us what's going on now?" Elizabeth asked. There was no doubt we were all thinking the same thing.

Henry stopped fiddling with whatever was in his hand for a moment and sighed. He walked a little closer until he was merely a foot in front of Elizabeth—Carina and I at either side of her. He sighed again as he finally began to speak. "Jones is alive," he said, fiddling with the item in his palm once more.

I looked at Elizabeth to judge her reaction. She was gritting her teeth and her eyes were flaring with rage. Carina on the other hand simply looked confused. Henry was busy still fiddling with whatever was in his hand.

"I still don't understand what exactly makes this Jones so scary," Carina admitted, "I mean you're King of the pirates and the former Captain of the Dutchman. Shouldn't he be scared of us?"

"Davy Jones was Captain of the Dutchman before my father ever was," Henry answered clenching his jaw, "He's also the man who murdered my father."

Carina's eyes widened. "I suppose we do have something to be afraid of then, don't we?"

Henry nodded.

"Did the witch say how Jones could be defeated?" Elizabeth asked. "Can he be killed again? Does he have his heart still in his body?"

"No," Henry shook his head. "He's not really alive, though not really dead. He's more like a ghost, I think."

"How?" Elizabeth asked again, her voice more angry that it already had been before.

Henry sighed. "It's because of the trident. When we broke all the curses at sea, Jones' ghost was no longer bound to where he died. He can roam free now."

"Does that mean he can hurt us?" Elizabeth asked, her voice shaking slightly.

"Yes," Henry admitted, "But that's why we have to find Jack and the Pearl! The Pearl is the fastest ship in the Caribbean. It's made journeys previously that no other ship has survived. With it we can outrun Jones and find a way to defeat him."

"So the witch didn't tell you how to defeat him?" I questioned.

Henry shook his head. "No, but she told me there was a way and how to find out. We need to find the Dutchman and for that we'll need the Pearl."

"The Dutchman!?" I asked, astonished. I'd finally rid myself of that ship after years of being a part of it. I was not eager to return to it.

"Yes, apparently the current Captain of the Flying Dutchman," Henry explained, "The man who took over captaining from you, dad, he'll know how to defeat Jones."

I nodded, still trying to piece together everything Henry had just told us.

"Will?" Elizabeth asked, "Who is the Captain of the Dutchman now? Do you know who took your place?"

I nodded. "Barbossa," I answered, then turned to Carina, "Willingly though. He wasn't forced into it or anything. I asked him. He was dying anyway, but he had accepted it was his time. Said his blood was owed anyway to some witch. Maybe that witch was even Shansa, I'm not sure."

"Shansa," Elizabeth repeated, frowning. "But if he's dead after owing blood to the witch, that means Henry's blood will be collected in time as well."

"No! Not quite!" Henry protested, "Well maybe… I'm not sure."

"What?" Carina said, clearly in disbelief. "The witch made it very clear that the cost of crossing into her cell was blood. How exactly do you plan on overcoming that?"

Henry sighed. He was shaking a bit as he continued. "She gave me this," he explained, dangling what was indeed a necklace, that he had been holding on to after all from his hand. "I can use it to postpone my payment."

"How?" Elizabeth asked. "We need to do that then. Forget about finding Jack. What do you need from us to use it?"

Henry sighed, still shaking a little. "All I need to do is put it on."

"Then put it on!" Elizabeth demanded.

"It's not that simple," he said, sighing again. "She cursed it before giving it to me. If I put it on my life is immediately attached to it. I won't be able to remove it ever again and if it ever is removed I die, instantly."

"But if you don't wear it," Carina argued, "You die eventually anyway."

Henry shrugged. "I just… I can't figure out what the catch must be… these curses… anytime… there… it just could be something else to it," he rambled.

"Well if your choices are that you can either die soon or stay alive as long as the necklace is on," Carina yelled, "I don't really see the problem!"

Henry shrugged.

"Henry, put the necklace on," Elizabeth ordered in a motherly tone.

I don't know what made me think it, but it seemed as though there was something else Henry wasn't exactly saying, something else that perhaps the witch had told him about the necklace that he didn't want to tell us yet. A part of me wanted to just come out and ask him about it, but if he was going to tell us he probably already would of, I figured. I decided right then and there that this was something I needed to discuss with Henry one-on-one.

"Why don't you take time to contemplate this necklace, son," I suggested, "Maybe wait until we meet up with Jack? Perhaps he'll know what this catch could be that you were mentioning."

Henry nodded. "Yeah, I probably wouldn't die tonight anyway, I mean, nothing's really happening. We're just at sea, no bad guys or anything," he rambled on.

"Right," I agreed, "Exactly."

"Are we really sure that's in his best interest?" Elizabeth questioned. "What if..."

I stopped her. "Nothing is going to happen tonight, Elizabeth, and if by some off chance we happen to get attacked by pirates in the night or something, he can throw the necklace on then."

She gave me a bit of a dirty look, but didn't fight me on it anymore.

A moment of silence passed between the four of us while I assuming we were all contemplating everything we had just learned. I couldn't believe Jones was still out there and possibly trying to come after my family. I hated that man. He'd destroyed everything for me. A part of me would have loved to kill him again, only this time I wanted to be conscious to see his demise. But if I were to be totally honest, another part of me feared him and wanted to stay as far away as possible. I would never let him know it though, nor would I ever show it.

"So my father's Captain of the Flying Dutchman now," Carina said, breaking the silence.

Henry nodded as did I.

"He was my last stop on the Dutchman before I was freed," I explained.

"Did he… did he seem happy?" she asked.

I nodded again. "He did. He accepted it was his time to die and had always wanted to sail the seas forever, now he can."

She smiled. "Once a pirate, always a pirate," she grinned.

"So how do we find Captain Jack Sparrow?" Elizabeth asked.

"Simple. He's following the stars," Henry explained, "More specifically the one called, Carina."

"Why is he doing that?" Carina asked, shocked.

Henry shook his head. "Now that'd be something the witch didn't answer."

~0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0~

When Carina later went to bed under deck, I pulled Henry aside before he too could sleep. I needed to talk to him. I don't know how I knew exactly, whether it was parental intuition or whether I was just good at telling when people were keeping secrets, but I knew there was something my son wasn't saying. I didn't want Elizabeth overhearing though. Whatever it was that he knew, there was a reason he wasn't telling anyone about it yet and it might be something very not good. There was no need to cause Elizabeth to be more afraid than she probably was already. Plus, I hoped he might be more likely to open up to me if there were less people around.

"We need to talk," I said to my son as he began to make his way down the stairs to below deck.

He nodded.

"Come with me," I said as I turned around. I made my way to the front hull of the ship, stopping just before the edge railing. Henry followed. I put my hands on the railing, leaning against it and sighed. I turned to face my son and make eye contact with him.

"This necklace," I said, getting straight to the point, "What's really stopping you from wearing it?"

He sighed then bit his lip. "How did you know?"

I shrugged. "Father's intuition." I wasn't entirely sure if that was exactly true or not, but it seemed plausible. Anyway, how wasn't important. What mattered was what he was trying to hide as well as why.

Henry pulled the necklace from his pocket and began to fiddle with it in his hand once again. He sighed again. "You won't tell mum or Carina?"

"It'll be a need-to-know basis."

He sighed again. "There's a lot of things I learned at the witches today that I didn't say."

I'll admit I was surprised to hear that. I had expected he'd lied a bit about the necklace, but I didn't expect he'd hidden more than that.

Henry starred at the necklace in his hand, fiddling with it still, and refusing to make eye contact with me at all costs.

"I… you… I… Why didn't you ferry Jones to the locker when you had the chance? When you were suppose to?" he asked, finally looking up at me. His nostril were flared, his jaw was clenched, his eyes were wide, and his free hand was in the form of a fist.

I was ashamed. I didn't think the witch would have told him my secret, the secret I'd kept to myself for years. I didn't even think my own crew on the Dutchman had known what I'd done.

It had been years ago, decades even. I was new to the Dutchman, recently dead, and basically was simply cleaning up all the souls that Jones had just left wondering around when he decided not to do his duty for years upon end. I was guiding them all to the locker.

Among the lost souls were some people I knew from Port Royal. Elizabeth's father, for example, was there. I helped him reach the locker. That was a difficult day. He'd been so disappointed to hear his daughter had lost her husband. I didn't even know what to say in response to him. I felt bad for Elizabeth as well.

There were so many lost souls that Jones had left that we didn't feel the "call of the Dutchman" for them all so no one would notice if a single soul wasn't brought to the locker. We only felt "the call" for the recently dead and dying. We spent years wondering the seas, finding all the lost souls Jones had abandoned.

One day on our journey I ran into many lost souls that I'd known in my former life. It was time to guide the lost souls from the battle that I had died in. Technically, those lost souls should have ncluded Davy Jones himself. I'd left him there though. I didn't want to face him. I didn't know how to face him.

Our ship didn't feel "the call" for him because he'd technically died before I was made Captain of the Dutchman. I figured no one would realize or care if I left him there, so I did.

I grew my facial barnacles after that. Up until that point the Dutchman had been barnacle-free ever since I'd become the Captain. The crew figured it was probably just because the Dutchman was such a cursed ship and it was only a matter of time before it grew barnacles and whatever else again as it had formerly. I just went along with it, but I knew better. If the Captain didn't do his duty the ship would have barnacles. I had left one soul behind and because of it, I would forever have a reminder of it on my face.

As time passed and I continued to leave Jones' soul behind I grew some more barnacles slowly, on my back and such. The crew still thought it was part of the curse and I let them believe that. I knew truthfully it was because I had left one soul and in part neglected my duty. I was not going back for him though. I couldn't, not for Jones.

How could I possibly explain all this to my son though?

"You could have stopped this from happening altogether," Henry argued, "Jones wouldn't be coming after us now if he was in the locker. I wouldn't even have this necklace then because I wouldn't be cursed because Jones would be in the locker instead of running after my parents who not only killed him, but apparently just left him there and..."

"Henry!" I cut him off. "It's not that simple. Jones is..."

"After us!" Henry argued, "Because of you. Because you didn't do your duty and bring him to the locker!"

He was right. I couldn't really argue with him if he was right. In a way this entire thing was my fault. If I'd brought Jones to the locker when I was suppose to Elizabeth and I wouldn't have envisioned him in our room. We wouldn't have gone to see the witch. Henry wouldn't be cursed and we'd still be on the island, at our home, living happily-ever-after. This entire thing was my fault. My son was right.

I blinked back tears. "You're right," I frowned, turning from him to face the sea. I sighed and placed my hands on the railing again. Everything, everything was my fault.

I heard Henry sigh deeper than he had all night then I slowly heard him walk up towards me. He placed his hand on the railing as well to the right of mine.

"Dad, I… I didn't mean… I...," he stammered.

"But you're right, son," I said, finally getting the courage to look at him again. "This is all my fault. You and your mother were probably better off without me."

"NO!" he yelled, "Never! Don't say that! I just… I'm just confused and curses and witches and creepy necklaces and … Dad, I didn't know Jones. I don't know how it feels to have to deal with dead people all day and for one of those dead people to be the man responsible for your own death. Dad, I … I never meant… I just… WE WERE NEVER BETTER OFF WITHOUT YOU!"

I didn't even know what to say and so a moment of silence passed between us until Henry spoke again. "I love you, dad," he said for the first time in his adult life, crying as I felt his arms wrap around me into a hug.

Without any hesitation, I hugged him back. "I love you, too."

We stood there for a moment hugging before Henry broke away.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you," Henry apologized, now standing beside me.

I sighed. "I know why you did. And in a sense you were right. I could have stopped this long ago. If I'd known then what leaving Jones would have meant, I never would have left him," I admitted, turning towards the railing again and punching it with my fist as I spoke.

"I know," Henry said, joining me at the railing again. The two of us both starred out to the sea lost in our own thoughts for a while.

I had never meant to put my family in danger. I'd meant what I said to Henry. If I'd known the consequences of not ferrying Jones to the locker I never would have done it.

"Once we find Jack," Henry explained, breaking the silence, "His ship can outrun any Jones can find. Then we can use the Pearl to find Triton, Poseidon's son. Shansa told me he's still alive and out of all Poseidon's children he would be the most likely to help us."

"Help us defeat Jones?" I asked.

"Help us right everything," he answered, "The curses of the sea were created for a reason. They were never meant to be broken so easily. There will be many consequences to breaking the curses, many of which haven't quite begun yet."

"You didn't mention that earlier."

"I didn't want to scare mum and Carina," he sighed again, playing with the necklace once more.

I sighed and moved back from the ship's railing, turning to look directly at my son again. "What about that necklace?" I asked.

He clenched his jaw as his eyes widened. "What about it?" he asked, turning to face me.

"Well something makes me think this catch you're apparently worried about their being to this necklace is a catch you're already well aware of."

He closed his eyes for a quick second then opened them again taking a deep breathe and exhaling. "It's about Carina," he admitted, clenching the necklace between his palm again.

"Carina?"

He nodded. "I was only given the necklace because Shansa took favor on me after seeing that I only crossed her doorway as what she called "an act of love." I saved Carina from an awful fate by instead throwing that fate upon myself. That's why I was given the necklace. If I put it on, my life becomes tied to it. As long as I'm wearing it I'll stay alive and my blood won't be owed.

It doesn't mean I can't die, I asked about that. I can still die, but I won't die just because my blood is owed and my time is up. But, the instant someone removes the necklace whether by my own doing or someone else's, I die—my time is up and my blood must be paid. Otherwise, as long as I wear it I can survive… as long… as long as…"

"As long as what, son?" I asked, cutting him off.

He swallowed and started shaking just a little bit as he continued to speak. "It was born out of an act of love, or so the witch called it anyway, but that means the necklace is also tied to that love. It means I have to love Carina fully in everything I do and if I should ever put myself first, before her, the necklace will fall off it's chain and… and my blood is owed again. I'll die."

"So putting on the necklace is like a full commitment to Carina?" I questioned.

"Yes," he nodded, "It's… it's not that I don't like her… of course I like her… but… but to put her first always… what if I fail? … What if… What if she meets someone else… what if she's happier with someone else… then putting her first means letting her go, doesn't it? … I won't even be able to fight the other guy..."

"Henry," I laughed, "Why would she leave you for someone else?"

He frowned. "I don't know. I just… we've… we've never really said how we felt about each other… I mean… I've kissed her… but… but that's it really..."

I nodded. "Necklace or no necklace, you really need to tell her how you feel."

"How do I know how I feel?" he asked just above a whisper.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean. I… I think I love her, but… but how do I know?"

"Well, when you pushed her out of the way and cursed yourself instead, why did you do that?" I asked.

"Because I didn't want to see her blood paid."

"And why not?"

"Because… Oh," he said, my point clearly being made. He smiled. "Because I care about her. Because I don't want anything bad to ever happen to her or for her to ever feel any pain. Because… Because I love her."

I nodded, smiling.

Henry stopped smiling though as his eyes once again widened and his mouth gaped opened. "So… what do I do now? What if she doesn't feel the same? What... How do I… oh I'm in trouble."

I chuckled to myself a little. If as a younger man I'd had a father to talk to about these things I imagined I'd have said a lot of the same things as he was saying. I know I certainly thought a lot of them.

"Well now you have to tell her," I stated.

"Well that's… that's petrifying."

I nodded. I remembered that feeling all too well.

Henry stood there for a moment silently then I watched as his panic turned into happiness. He smiled again. "I'm… I'm in love, dad," he stammered.

I nodded, smiling as well.

"I guess..." Henry continued, "I guess there's really no reason for me not to put on the necklace then."

I shrugged.

"And if," he continued, his smile vanishing, "If she doesn't love me back then… then I guess I'll still love her anyway… and the necklace will be proof of it."

"I have a feeling you won't have to worry about that," I replied.

He sighed. "I hope you're right."

I watched as he undid the clasp from his necklace and put it around his neck. He tucked it under his shirt. It did bulge a bit where he'd hid it though. As far as size was concerned it wasn't the most conventional necklace to be hiding.

"Dad?" he asked.

I loved hearing that word. It was a word I hadn't heard often enough. I nodded for him to go on.

"Why does Calypso favor you so? Was it because you ferried the souls to the locker so well?"

I shrugged, remembering back to my last encounter with Calypso right before she'd been released from her human prison when I'd told her that Davy Jones was the man who'd betrayed her by telling the original Brethren Court how to imprison her in the first place. Maybe that was why she favored me or maybe Henry was right and it was because I had done my duty as Captain of the Flying Dutchman for so many years with only one missed soul, a missed soul Calypso herself probably didn't even care about since he'd betrayed her. Then again, who was to say she even favored me in the first place? I hadn't had anything to do with her for years.

"Who says she does?" I asked Henry.

"Shansa did," he explained, "She said that's why you and mum saw Jones in the night. He wasn't really there. It was vision, a warning, sent from Calypso herself."

I shrugged. That was news to me. "I'm not sure," I admitted.

"I always heard in the legend that Calypso and Jones were lovers. It seems odd that she'd betray him by warning you."

"Now that is a story that is a lot more complex that it seems. I'll tell it to you one day, or what I know of it anyway. But for now son… I think you need to get some rest. Morning will be here before you know it and you and Carina will be in charge of steering then."

He nodded.

"Plus," I continued, "I believe there's something you ought to be telling her in the morning, now isn't there?"

Henry smiled. "Goodnight, dad," he said as he began to walk away to head under deck.

I stopped him and hugged him one last time before letting him go. "I love you, son," I said as I hugged him.

"I love you too, dad," he said returning my hug. I let him go so he could head under deck to get some sleep. He began to walk away, but then stopped and turned to face me one more time that night.

"Dad," he said, "It's really nice to have you back."

I nodded. "It's good to be back. I owe it all to you, son."

He smiled. "I'd do it again for you in an instance, even if it meant cursing myself again. I mean that."

"My hope is we can still find a way to free you from that necklace eventually."

"First things first, dad. We need to find Jack."

"Aye," I agreed, although to be honest I wasn't so sure whether I was looking forward to that part or not.

"Goodnight, dad," Henry said, leaving to go under deck for real this time.

"Goodnight, my son."

I smiled watching him leave. I was thankful to have had some time alone to talk to him. I may have still barely known him, but I loved him more and more the more time I spent with him. He was a little quirky, especially when it came to girls, but he was perfect. He was my son and I loved him wholeheartedly just the way he was.


A/N:

okay this was one of my favorite chapters to write so far so i really hope you guys liked it. Anyway, while everything isn't totally perfect for our favorite Turners, I'm hoping this one will bring a little relief after the craziness of last chapter. Happy 4th of July to all my American readers tomorrow! R&R guys thank you!

Smithy- I did report that as spam but yeah it's still there and i cant do anything about it. ive seen the same message pop up on a lot of stories lately though... Happy independence day though! thanks for your review!

HenryXcarina - glad your enjoying it so far, thanks for reviewing! hope you liked this chapter too.

She-elf- lol thanks for reviewing again. i hope your wait was worth it :)