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 Ten: There's complications in the system…

"It's you…" Her voice was just above a whisper and she turned around… her backed face both Will Turner and the sobbing pirate that he held. She felt as though all of her breath had been sucked from her and she began to pant softly…

"Elizabeth, it's not like you think!" Will called to her, his hand was still on Jack's face and he was still trying to hide Jack from her.

"You're harboring a fugitive…" She raised her volume a little and shook her head. "You're… doing something against the law!"

"It's not as bad as you think, Elizabeth!"

"It is exactly as bad as I think, Will!"

By now, Jack had fallen silent, but his tears still streamed down his face.

"No, Elizabeth just list…" He was cut off by her voice, which raised dramatically in volume so much that she was nearly yelling at William.

"You could go to the gallows for this!" Her eyes widened at the thought and suddenly a look of utter horror washed over her face like a sudden downpour. "You and Jack could go to the gallows if they caught you!"

"Eliza-"

"I can't loose you to the noose, Will!"

"What do you want me to do, then, Huh?"

"Send him back! No one will ever know he was here!"

"Send him back? To where!"

"Wherever it was that he came from!"

Jack slipped away from the arguing couple… he felt guilty, knowing that it was him that they were arguing about. Jack slowly turned a corner and hid under the table in the kitchen… His body shook as though he were standing in the cold, and the tears continued to stream down his face as he cried silently…

"He'll leave me…" Jack whispered to himself. "He'll leave me for that strumpet." The word melted from Jack's tongue with a heated, passionate hatred.

"Ah! That jus' ain't true, Jackie!"

"…wha?"

Jack saw his old imaginary friend, a replica of himself, squatting down in front of him with a playful smile on his face. "I said that jus' ain't true! You know it ain't, Jackie!"

"What ar' ye doing here…?" Jack asked the doppelganger. The copy grinned and he gestured for Jack to come from under the table. Jack was hesitant at first, but he eventually crawled out and squatted beside his ghostly counterpart.

"Ah've seen how he treats ye, Jackie. Hell, ye hardly ever play with me anymore now that he's here."

"Ye're a terrible playmate, Aye."

"Ah'm not!"

"Ar' too and ye know it! Ye're not anymore fun than a jar of dirt!"

"Aye, but we all know ye love dirt, Jackie."

"That's why I love ye." Jack smirked, his sentence was oozing with sarcasm and his counterpart only responded with a loud, sarcastic laugh. They both sat in silence for a while, but they could both still, very clearly, hear Elizabeth and Will arguing in the other room… Apparently, they haven't even noticed that Jack was absent. "Ye hear that?" Jack asked his doppelganger…

"Nah. I don't hear a thing."

"Ye never were the sharpest knife in the drawer…"

"Hey now! Don't go insulting me like that, Mate. Not after all I've done for ye."

Jack changed the subject. "They don't even notice that ah'm gone, mate…"

"Once they're done fightin' they'll notice ye've gone missing."

"Ah'm done with you…" Jack mumbled.

"Wha? But I haven't even done anythin'."

"Ye're just annoying… "

"Ah'm not!"

"Ye ar' too and ye know it!"

The fighting stopped and both Jack and his copy fell silent when they heard Will's voice calling for him.

"Ah'm a leave now, Mate."

"T'was nice seein' ye."

"Ye too."

The doppelganger faded off into the light that shone through the open window, and to too long before that, Elizabeth came bursting through the kitchen door, her hair that was so nicely, neatly done when she first came in, was now halfway to her back and it frizzed out in all directions… Jack could even see a little glistening of sweat running from her forehead. She panted and turned her head the opposite direction.

"I found him, Will!" She yelled. "He's here…"

"Now Jack…" Will was the only one speaking and the three of them all sat down together in Jack's room. Elizabeth sat quietly in the wooden chair with her hands folded and her head bowed slightly. She never fixed her bun, and her hair still stuck to her face and frizzed. Will, however, sat on Jack's bedside next to Jack himself and he continued to speak… "Elizabeth is going to help me care for you now, okay?"

"Why, Will…?" Jack mumbled softly, not wanting Elizabeth to hear what he said.

"Well, Jack, because I need some help and Elizabeth volunteered to help." Jack slowly peered over Will's shoulder to glare daggers at the woman. Elizabeth snarled back and poked her tongue out playfully. Jack began to shake and he shook Will's shoulders urgently.

"Look, Will! She poked her tongue at me… Why tha' little whore."

Will instinctively smacked the pirate upside the head, causing Jack to groan.

"Hey! We don't use that kind of language here."

"Will… I don't think he'll be comfortable with me here." Elizabeth intervened. Will looked back at her, shaking his head.

"He'll learn."

"Will… he's …" She paused, hating how awkward and strange it sounded… "he's just… a kid."

"That's no excuse!" Will grabbed Jack by the nape of his neck and shook Jack harshly, but gently enough to not cause any physical damage. "He'll learn." Jack only continued to pout. "I have business that I need to take care of… and I can't drag Jack along with me."

Elizabeth sighed. "Hurry back, Will."

"Will Turn Er!" Jack cried. "Don't go!"

Will Turner left anyway… and Jack sobbed. Elizabeth pulled her hair into a bun and prepared herself for any difficulty that this pirate could dish out.

––––

When Will returned he hovered his hand over the doorknob, but stopped when he heard an ear-splitting scream coming from Elizabeth on the other side.

Panicked, he threw open the door and yelled, "Elizabeth!"

"I'll protect ye, Princess!" Jack jumped onto the couch where Elizabeth was lying and he held up his wooden sword and whacked at the open air in front of them. "I won't let tha' evil dragon get at ye!" Will nearly drowned in his relief and he smiled.

"Welcome back, Will!" Elizabeth smiled. "We're just playing Sleeping Beauty…"

"Oh hey! I remember that game…" Will chuckled, finally glad that they had an actual girl to play the part of Sleeping Beauty. Jack roared in triumph when he determined that the 'dragon' was dead and he pulled Elizabeth from the couch and led her to his favorite spot on the stairs. He claimed that they were not on the stairs, but they were in a mystical castle, safe from all of the other beasts.

"Aren't you going to kiss me now, Jack?" Elizabeth fluttered her eyes. Inwardly, she tried to stop laughing… it felt great for the first time, she was the one asking Jack for a kiss and the pirate completely refused to even look at her strange. "But Jack! The Prince is always supposed to kiss the Princess."

"Not this one!" Jack huffed proudly and turned his head when Elizabeth leaned in to kiss his cheek. She just then noticed the absence of beard and mustache on the pirate.

"Oh, Jack! What's that over there?" She pointed to a random spot on the wall and immediately Jack turned his head in her direction.

"What?"

She placed a soft kiss on his cheek. The pirate had a very minor spasm and he wiped at his cheek where she kissed him. His face showed an expression of complete disgust and it made Elizabeth want to laugh over him.

Will soon joined in on their playtime, and he played Jack's sidekick. Elizabeth played the runaway princess who sailed with them on their boat… even though it was bad luck to have a woman onboard, Jack decided that for the game, it would be okay… Together, the three of them sailed again across the world from Asia to Africa, collecting all kinds of exotic treasures and fighting off demons and creatures of all sorts.

When night fell, after they had eaten their supper, Will tucked Jack into bed and came slumping down the steps to bid Elizabeth for a farewell for now.

"Will…" Elizabeth stopped before she was about to leave. "I never knew that Jack was so imaginative!"

"Yeah, I know." Will was almost surprised at the size of Elizabeth's eyes.

"I have the most fun tonight with you and Jack than I've had in a very long time…" She leaned in and kissed him passionately. Will returned the kiss and they stood there, their faces mashed up against each other's for a long time before they slowly broke apart to take deep, heavy breaths.

"Ah… I'll miss you so much tonight." He leaned his forehead against hers and Elizabeth giggled softly.

"I'll be back tomorrow." She pecked him on the lips softly. "I'll be here bright and early. You won't even notice I'm gone."

With that, she left and Will stood for a long time in the doorway, watching Elizabeth as she walked back to own house.

Author's Notes:

I don't have any.

R & R. Thanks.