Summary: When Jack and his crew find a young princess's tomb, they do not realize the danger they are in until Jack suddenly begins to think he is a child again… As the crew panics and searches for a way to return the gold and break the curse, Will Turner becomes the official caretaker of "Child Jack". As Will keeps Jack out of harms way and teaches the "young" Jack about piracy, he learns new things about Jack... and about himself.

Takes place between CoTBP and DMC.


Chapter Nine: Still Concerning the "Little" One…

To Will's surprise and utter joy, Jack had began speaking again, though he was still very heavily attacked by that uncontrollable coughing.

"Will Turn Er!" Jack called with a harsh, gruffly voice. Will was busy rubbing Jack's back down with soap and hot water… The steam from Jack's bath rose up and clouded above them.

"Yeah, Jack?" Will rubbed a bar of soap under the pirate's arm and Jack giggled a little, making Will crack a smile.

"I feel better, Will Turn Er." Jack took in a deep breathe, then let it out very slowly… "I can breathe, ye know!"

"I see that, Jack."

"Will Turn Er?"

"Stand up for a minute, Jack." Jack stood and Will began to wash away at the pirate's legs.

"Will…"

"Yeah, Jack?"

"I realized something today…"

"What was that?"

"I really like being here with ye."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I like you being here, Jack."

"Will?"

"Yeah, Jack?"

"Can I ask ye something…?"

"You've been asking me something for the past couple of minutes."

Jack fell silent and he allowed the blacksmith to form fluffy puffs of soap bubbles all over his wet body… Will sighed.

"Yeah, you can ask me a question."

"Good," Jack grinned. "Can I stay here with ye?"

The soap suddenly became too slippery and Will dropped it into the bath water with his jaw hanging open. He was dumbstruck… and he did not know how to answer the pirate.

"Uhm…" Will could not even string together a sentence… "Uh… so…" He did not want it to be so obvious that he was avoiding the question. "You can stay for now."

"Can I stay forever?"

"Let's just finish your bath now, okay?"

"Okay."

The rest of bath time was done in complete silence, except for the occasional coughing fit that Jack went into. Again, this afternoon seemed completely dead… there wasn't any time for play time and Jack was still very sick, though improving a lot in the past few days.

––––

"Will Turn Er!" Jack called to William from the staircase.

"What?"

"Lookit me!" Jack squealed and he waved to Will to make sure that he was looking, and then barrel-rolled down the stairs, falling slowly until his rear hit the wood of the floor beneath him. Jack sat up and grinned, though it was obvious that the pirate was very dizzy… "See?"

"Wow…" Will was not enthused at all. He wasn't even trying to make it seem like he was. He just sat the table, sipping tea and covering his ears tightly when he heard Jack coughing and wheezing again. Will felt disconnected… but he soon became reconnected when Jack's loud voice rang through his ears…

"Will! Wanna see me do it again?"

"No, Jack… I think that's all I want to see for now." Jack gave a very faint, mumbling 'okay' and he jumped over to where Will was sitting at the table with his fingertips massaging his temples.

"Will Turn Er?"

"Yeah, Jack?"

"Do ye think ye could be my father…?" Jack grinned, "Er, brother? Whichever ye like the most?"

Will's immediate answer would have been 'no'. Jack was too much of a handful. One minute he was lying in bed, sick as an old man in the cold and now he was so hyperactive that Will could barely keep up with him. The blacksmith shook his head slowly, not in a response to Jack's question, but just out of habit.

"I'm tired, Jack." Will croaked out softly.

"I promise I'll be good to ye…" Jack begged. "I won't ever do ye no harm. I swears it."

Will tucked Jack into bed tightly, folding each sheet into the sides of the bed frame with delicate care. He looked at the pirate with and gave a soft smile.

"I know you would, Jack…" He leaned over to kiss the pirate's forehead. Jack, however, continued to ramble on, though he already knew well by now, that a kiss on his forehead with Will's way of saying 'goodnight'.

"And I'd do everythin' for ye!" Jack called to Will as the blacksmith was leaving the house. "I swears it! I won't be any problem to ye at all, Mate!"

"Goodnight, Jack!" Will closed the door, and Jack became silent. However, his coughing rang out throughout the house all night long.

. . .

"Wake-" Jack was taken over by a powerful coughing fit and he wheezed a moment then two and then after a few minutes, he continued… "Up!"

Will laughed whole-heartedly and he threw his arms around Jack, who was kneeling at his bedside with wide, bright eyes.

"It's great to have you feeling better now, Jack."

Jack hugged Will back, almost refusing to let go… but he slowly parted from the blacksmith after a few seconds. Jack smiled and lowered his head to stare at his feet… he then opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again, rethinking his decision to say anything. He only ended up opening his mouth again anyway…

"Will Turn Er?"

"Yeah, Jack?"

"Can I please stay with ye? I don't want to go back to me father…"

"You're staying with me now."

"No, nononono! I want to stay with ye forever. I like ye so much better than I like me father, and I want to live here with ye!" As soon as the volume in Jack's voice heightened a little, he suddenly found himself under another coughing attack… this was another bad one.

They both paused a minute to let Jack cough, and Will stretched out his hand for Jack to grab and clutch if he needed to. The pirate coughed, coughed and then the telltale "whooping" gasp followed before he coughed again. The pirate was running out of air and his loud yelps grew louder and his coughs, harsher. Jack has had some pretty bad episodes previous… but this one was the worse, and Jack coughed so harshly that long strings of saliva began to drip from his mouth and his face was turning red.

William readied his handkerchief. Jack squeezed Will's hand in such a tight grip that the blacksmith was afraid he might break something. The pirate continued to cough, and tears were glistening as they slid down his deep, red cheeks. Mucus and saliva also appeared on Jack's face and they mixed to create a clear slime that dropped from the pirate's mouth and slid to his throat…

For five long minutes of non-stop coughing, Will held on to Jack's hand and patted the pirate's back in an attempt to comfort Jack… After the fit had passed Jack's lips curled to create a frown and he sniffed.

"Shh…" Will whispered. "It's okay now." Will gently placed the handkerchief over Jack's swollen lips and he began to wipe away Jack's tears, mucus and saliva. It no longer bothered William to wipe off the pirate's gooey face… it felt like second nature now, and he was not grossed out anymore. Jack's eyes were now as red as his face and the pirate whined deeply in his throat.

Then Jack did something that Will hasn't seen him do in quite a while… The pirate threw back his head and cried aloud. He completely bawled, and tears streamed so freely down his cheeks that he looked soaked with rain. Will turned and he rubbed Jack's back softly. The pirate only cried even harder… again, Will had gotten used to the wailing, and he no longer cared if his neighbors could hear Jack crying. He had told them all the same lie, that he was babysitting his baby brother, he suspected that they already felt his pain.

Will pulled Jack onto the bed and led the pirate into a warm embrace. "Shh…" He slowly petted the man's head and rocked Jack back and forth… Though, Jack continued to sob, coughing a little here and there, he was getting a little more relaxed, and after a while he went completely limp in Will's arms. Will hummed softly as he continued to rock Jack long after he had stopped crying. "How are you now…?"

"Me th-throat hurts, W-Will Turn Er."

"I can imagine." Will rubbed Jack's back and Jack moaned softly. "After all that coughing you did! Come now, Ill make you some warm broth to sooth that…" Will helped Jack to his feet and he held Jack's hand tightly in his. Will led the pirate downstairs and into the kitchen, where Jack sat down at the table and remained silent.

They ate broth for breakfast and saved whatever else they had for lunch. This was another lazy day… Will had no customers and no commissions. Elizabeth did not visit and so, he and Jack read books, and they played together… but their adventures were not as fun as before. They had to drop anchor every thirty minutes because Jack would be overcome by a heavy coughing fit and Will had to wipe the pirate's face afterwards and clean him up again. After a few hours of playtime, Jack had asked Will to read to him the story of the 'Three Little Pigs'. Jack enjoyed it.

Night time came before they knew it, but before it was time to blow out the ights, Will turned to Jack and kissed the pirate o the forehead. Jack rubbed his forehead and he pouted.

"Don't do that, Will Turn Er." Jack continued to rub at his forehead where Will had kissed him and he poked out his lower lip, still pouting as he usually did.

"You keep asking about staying here with me…" Jack's eyes widened and he smiled, he almost seemed to beam with hope and it broke Will's heart to have to tell him something so cruel.

"Will Turn Er.." Jack interrupted. "Before ye continue… I jus' wanted to tell ye that ye've been the best brother ah've ever had and I really like being with ye, mate!" Jack paused a minute, thinking of something else to say before he added, "Ye don't have to keep me if ye don't want to… Me father didn't keep me. I understand."

Jack certainly knew how to tug on Will's heartstrings… whether it be on purpose or on accident, it didn't matter.

"Jack…"

"N'yeah?"

"… never mind."

"Okay, Will Turn Er!" And Jack left to go on with his own business.

––––

Elizabeth showed up at the door the next day, her hair put up in a large, neat bun and her best evening gown on. In her hands, she held a basket full of new toys. Will automatically knew what she was doing.

"Aren't you going to ask me to come in?" Elizabeth grinned and Will realized that he had, in fact, not asked her to come inside and he did, closing the door behind her as she entered. "Where's your baby brother? I have these new toys for him…"

"Oh. He's asleep right now…"

"Will Turn er!" Jack's voice echoed throughout the house and Will could have sworn that the pirate's voice had gotten louder since Elizabeth stepped through the door.

"Hullo, Dear!" Elizabeth called back to the faceless voice. Jack fell silent… wherever he was, he knew better than to let himself be seen by Elizabeth. He turned and hid behind a wide open door. Elizabeth followed the direction that Jacks voice originally came from.

"Hey, why don't you just leave that here and I'll get it to him." Will tried to take the basket from Elizabeth's hands, but she tugged on it tightly and jerked it away. She gave Will a nasty look and shook her head.

"I want to meet him. After all, he is my going to be my brother-in-law." Elizabeth raised her noise and turned her back to Will to continue looking for Jack. "What's your brother's name, Dear…?" Will gave up, and he wasn't going to try to hide Jack any longer.

"His name is Jack."

"Jack!" Elizabeth called. "Where are you, Sweetie?" She set down the basket and continued to tiptoe softly, as to not frighten Jack again like the last time. "Jack! Come out and meet Auntie Elizabeth." Jack panicked and he tried to hide himself in the shadow of the door… He felt like a fox surrounded by dogs during hunting season and he didn't know what to do.

Will followed Elizabeth very close by and he kept his eyes sharp, as he was looking for Jack too. Jack continued to hide behind the open door and he waited until he could see Will to come out again.

"Yoo Hoo!" Elizabeth called in a sing-song voice. "Where are you, Sweetie?" Jack poked his head out from behind the door and peered around the room, Will's back was facing him as well as Elizabeth's, but still, Jack ran out from behind the door, crying. He ran to William and clutched the blacksmith's waist tightly and he cried, feeling threatened by Elizabeth's presence.

Elizabeth heard his crying and she turned and began to say, "Oh there you a…" She fell silent and suddenly, she recognized his tan skin, his long dreadlocks… but most importantly the black kohl that covered his eyelids. "It's you…"

"No, it's not what you think it is!" Will grabbed Jack's face and tried to hide it from Elizabeth's view, but it was much too late by now… as she had already seen enough of him that she needed to.

"Jack Sparrow!"


Author's Notes:

I'm so sorry for any sloppiness previous to this!
I have no idea how it happened, but I had a little (actually, it was huge.) typo earlier.

Some of my Chapter 9 content leaked onto the Chapter 8 submission.

It's fixed now, so if you were confused, it should all make some sense now!
Again, sorry for the inconvenience! It's a nuisance to me too, to have to go into the HTML codes and fix everything up!

Again, I always re-read my work a bagillion of times over... but there is always one or two things that I miss.

If you catch anything, please be a good sport and let me know!

Thanks!