Okay, so you've reached the final chapter. Impressing!

Thanks to anyone who's reviewed my story, and please take your time for a final review. And now… I'll leave you with the last chapter!

~ Miss Sofie.

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Chapter Ten

Everyone felt with Catherine. The whole town seemed to feel with her. They felt with her because her husband-to-be had died from her, and they felt with her because his last "I love you" had been to another woman.

Catherine's parents were less strict on her than they had ever been, and her father suddenly seemed to have disliked the Commodore all of his life.

Catherine didn't feel that way. She was, of course, sad because he had died. He had been a good man, and she had known him forever. She was also relieved. Not because of his death, but because he hadn't loved her. She didn't despise him for the fact that he hadn't. She hadn't loved him either. She didn't tell her parents this, though. They seemed to despise him for not having loved her after all, so she kept her feelings about it to herself and put on her black dress in the morning. She also wore a black veil, though her mother said that she didn't need to. They hadn't been married yet and the whole town knew that the Commodore's heart had belonged to Elizabeth. There was no need for Catherine to mourn the usual way.

She insisted, though, on showing him the respect she still thought he deserved. It was not his fault that he couldn't love her. She was sure he had tried, but no matter what she said, her parents kept despising the late James Norrington. She chose not to care about it. And she had to admit that she enjoyed that they let her do almost anything she wanted, just because they felt sorry for her.

~

Jack frowned at the open door to his and his mother's house. She wasn't supposed to be at home now, and the door was not supposed to be open.

His hand went down to where his sword would have been, if it had been there, but he had left it at the smithy. He hadn't thought he would need it today. Now he wished he had brought it.

He walked softly as he went inside. Every inch of his body was tense with excitement more than fright. It loosened up, though, as he saw his mother inside, stuffing some clothes into a trunk.

"Where are you going, Mama?" He asked with a puzzled look at his mother. She didn't seem to be in a hurry, but she did seem to be going away.

"Jack! Sweetheart!" She said with a big smile. "We were just about to go see you!"

"We?" Jack asked still puzzled.

"Your father and I."

Jack looked behind his mother and saw the – by now – familiar person that was his father. The hair on the left side of his head was somewhat shorter than on the right. He had a gray bandage around his neck, which was slightly orange on the left side, where Commodore Norrington's blade had cut him.

"But where are you going?" Jack asked again. He wondered if his father was okay. The cut had been rather deep, according to his mother.

"The business I had to do in Port Royal is done." Captain Sparrow said and moved a little closer to Jack.

"What was your business? To kill the Commodore?" Jack asked in disbelief. His father had seemed frank when he said the Commodore didn't deserve to die.

"No, to fetch your mother!" Captain Sparrow said. He tipped his head a little to the right as he looked at his son. Then his face contracted in pain as the wound was stretched, and he straightened up his head again.

"What?" Jack asked still not getting it.

"I promised her I'd bring back the Pearl for her, and that I have done!"

"Are you leaving, Mama?"

"Yes, but only for a short while. We'll be back for you soon. That is, if you want to come, of course." Belle replied pleadingly.

"But I've only just found out you're still alive, and now you're leaving?" Jack complained with a frustrated look at his father. What was he supposed to do? His parents left him, and the girl he had hoped to share his life with wouldn't talk to him because he had been a fool and said things he shouldn't have.

"But son!" Captain Sparrow said and laid his hand on Jack's shoulder. "You're a grown man, and you won't need us here anymore."

"I've always needed you, but you weren't there." Jack replied quietly.

Captain Sparrow sighed. Then he laid his free hand on Jack's free shoulder and looked him in the eyes.

"I promise you that we will be back soon." He said with a small frown. Then the frown disappeared from his face. "Now that I've found you, I won't let the same thing happen to you as I let happen to your mother!"

"Okay." Jack replied and for some reason he believed him. It relieved him, and he began to feel happy about his parents being back together again. His mother did deserve a little happiness in her life. He wouldn't be the one to deny her that after all the years she had spent on him.

There was a knock on the door and Belle left to go open it. When she came back she was followed by Catherine, clad in a black dress with a black veil hiding her face. She removed it, though, when she entered the room.

"Miss Winston!" Jack exclaimed at the sight of her. Even with the black veil she looked pretty and very, very beautiful. Her eyes looked a little sadder than Jack remembered, but she looked better than he had expected.

"Mr. Clarence." She replied and nodded courteously at him.

"It's good to see you looking so good, Miss Winston." Jack said nervously. He hadn't seen her since the Commodore had died, and now he didn't know what to say.

"Thank you." Catherine replied quietly not looking at him.

"Maybe the lass will move in with ye now that you've got no one to take care of ye!" Captain Sparrow said cheerfully with a nudge at Jack's shoulder.

Belle sent him a warning stare, but he didn't notice, as he was still laughing at his own remark.

"Shut up, Papa!" Jack hissed embarrassedly. Then he noticed his father's wide smile turn into a smaller, but more content smile.

"Anything for you, my son!" He said and dragged Belle with him out of the room. "I'll talk to ye soon!" He shouted before the two of them left Jack and Catherine alone.

"Is that the first time you've called him that?" Catherine asked after a moment of silence.

"Yes." Jack said. His face was pink and he had no idea where to look. In the end he looked at Catherine. She obviously didn't know where to look, either.

"Apparently he liked it." She said and looked at Jack. For a short moment they looked into each other's eyes. Then Jack looked away.

"I hope he did. So, how are you?"

"What did he mean by "You've got no one to take care of you"?" Catherine ignored his question.

"Mama's leaving with him. They still love each other, after all those years. Isn't it amazing?"

"Really?" Catherine said and lifted her gaze to Jack's. She smiled and sounded genuinely happy for them. "That's good news. The best I've had for a long time. They're so sweet together. Your father goes so soft whenever she's around!"

"Yes." Jack said and felt relieved. At least Catherine was over the thing with his father. "Won't you tell me how you're doing?" He then asked moving a little closer to her.

"I…" She said and looked away.

Oh no, was she going to cry? That hadn't been his intention.

"If you don't want to talk about it…"

"I'm so ashamed!" She finally said looking back into Jack's eyes.

"Ashamed? Why? You have nothing to be ashamed of!"

"I have. I haven't treated you very well, that's one thing. And the other thing is that I ought to feel sorry. I ought to be mourning, but the only thing I feel is relief!" She looked away again.

"You're not sorry for what happened to your…to the Commodore?"

"Yes, of course I feel sorry about that. He's always been very nice to me. I just don't feel like I'm mourning properly. I ought to."

"It's nothing to be ashamed of. It's not your fault."

"Oh, and I'm sorry for telling you all this." Catherine said and began walking towards the door. "I shouldn't…"

"Miss Winston, please don't leave. I don't mind you talking about it." Jack said and grabbed her arm softly.

"Won't you, please, call me Catherine?" Catherine pleaded with eyes that were blank from tears. They didn't roll down her cheeks, though. They stayed in her eyes.

"There's nothing I'd rather do, Catherine." He said with a sigh of adrenaline. "Now, tell me what's on your mind."

"You see, though I'm sorry it had to end this way…" Catherine began looking into Jack's eyes. He was still holding her arm. "…I'm relieved that the Commodore said he loved Elizabeth. I know it's wrong, but people think it's okay for me not to mourn over him because of his last words to her. And it relieves me so much, because then people won't despise me if I don't dress like this for so long and if I see my friends and have fun and…" The tears had finally started tracing down her cheeks, and Jack dried a few of them off with his thumb.

"It's okay, Cathy." He said and pulled her near. She hid her face in his shirt, and the feeling of her head resting on his chest was more than enough to make his heart beat faster and take his breath away.

"I'm sorry, Jack!" She cried. He kept holding her close, caressing her back with his free hand to comfort her.

After a while her sobbing ceased and she looked up at him. He wanted so much to take her head in his hands and reach down to kiss her. He didn't. Though she didn't mourn as much as she felt she ought to, she was still wearing black. He had no right to soil her reputation by showing his emotions. He'd wait till she stopped wearing black, no matter how long it'd take. He'd wait forever for her, if necessary!

"Are you mad at me?" She asked after looking at him for a moment.

"What? Mad at you? Why would I…?"

"Do you despise me now?"

"What? Why are you asking me that?" Jack said holding her a little away from him, though only to take a better look at her.

"Because I love you!" She sighed almost despairingly. "And I can't live if I know you despise me!"

Jack could tell from the blankness of her eyes that she was about to start crying again. Then, to his own surprise, he derided his own recent thoughts and gave in to his emotions. He took her head in his hands and made her look him in the eyes while moving closer. She didn't look away, but she closed her eyes as he moved so close that they could feel the warmth of each other's breaths. Then their lips met in a soft, gentle kiss that turned into a kind of explosion as their tongues met and played with each other. Butterflies seemed to be everywhere. Inside, outside and everywhere around them.

As the long and passionate kiss had to come to and end, Catherine no longer had any doubts. This was what a kiss was supposed to be like. This was the real thing!

Jack couldn't have agreed more!

~

"Now take good care of my mother!" Jack said and reached out his hand to his father. Belle and Captain Sparrow were about to board the Black Pearl, and Jack, Catherine, Will, and Elizabeth had come to say goodbye.

"Of course I'll take good care of her!" Captain Sparrow replied pretending to be offended. "What d'ye think I'd do?" Then he stepped a little closer to whisper something to Jack. "And if I didn't take care of her… I tell ye, she can take care of herself, if ye know what I mean!"

Jack gave a little laugh. Then he tugged his father in, giving him a big hug. The pirate clearly hadn't expected this, but after a few seconds the stiffness of his body loosened and he hugged Jack back.

"Alright, son. That'll do." He said and backed a little away. "We won't be gone for a very long time."

"Okay." Jack said with an amused smile. Then he let his father go and gave his mother a big hug. She obviously didn't want to start crying, but she did anyway.

"Oh, I'm not supposed to be doing this!" She said and dried away her tears with a handkerchief.

"Don't worry, Mama. I won't tell Papa!" Jack smiled and looked at the pirate who was already on his way towards the ship.

"Be a good boy and take care of Catherine, okay? And make sure not to let anyone know yet."

"I won't." Jack couldn't help but smile. He had never felt this happy before, though his parents were leaving.

Belle hurried after Captain Sparrow. Jack knew she hated goodbyes.

He took Catherine's hand and she squeezed his a bit when they watched The Black Pearl leave the port. Will and Elizabeth knew about the two of them, though it was not official yet. It wouldn't be official until Catherine didn't mourn officially anymore. It would take a while, but Jack was content. She was his, no matter what other people thought, and that was enough for him.

For the first time in his life he had a mother, a father and a girlfriend, whom he loved, and who loved him back. Could anyone ask for more?

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So that's it. Hope you liked it. I'm not gonna change it. Feels sooo good to finally get to write about something else than PotC. See you all soon, if you like Don Juan DeMarco stories! ;)

Oh, and please remember to review. Thanx! And thanks for reading this story to the end! I love you guys for that!

~ Miss Sofie.