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 Eleven: Where did they come up with those old sayings…?

"Evening, Commodore."

"Good evening, Governor." Commodore Norrington smiled and he peered over the old man's shoulder to see if he could catch even the slightest glimpse of Elizabeth. "Is… Elizabeth home?" He asked.

"No, not yet…" The Governor shook his head and sighed. "She's been spending most of her time with new fiancé."He sighed again, seeming… lost. "Elizabeth has always wanted to get married… why, I remember back to when she was just a little girl…" The Commodore stared blankly, trying to be polite as the old man rambled on and on about Elizabeth's childhood. "- and by the time she was about sixteen she said to me, 'Father…' and then I listened to her and I began to feel-"

"Governor, I am so sorry to interrupt you…" Norrington didn't usually mean to cut into the Governor's oh so fascinating stories… but he really did not feel like wasting him time listening to the old man talk. "… But do you know where Elizabeth is right now? I have something I would like to give to her."

"I thought I told you already, she's with her fiancé, you know, the blacksmith…" Governor Swann snapped his fingers a few times and closed his eyes as he tried to search for the name… "…eh.. Will! Will Turner."

"A name I could never forget." The Commodore mumbled softly. "Well, thank you so much. I best be on my way."

"Take care, Commodore." The door closed and left Norrington still standing outside. The Commodore left Elizabeth's residence and he wandered through the busy streets and made his way towards the blacksmith's house… thankfully for him, it was located right next to the shop. As Norrington made his way through crowds of busy people, he began to wonder to himself…

"Why, with all of the people here, surely there must be something for Elizabeth to do other than talk to Will all day and night… That's not like her. Even if she loves him… she wouldn't normally spend all hours of all day with him out of wedlock." The Commodore stopped talking to himself as he reached to door to the blacksmith's house. He lifted his hand to knock on the wood of the door, but paused when he heard a strangely familiar, drunken voice coming from the other side…

"Will! Hurry and take the princess! I will destroy this asteroid!"

Norrington's eyes widened at the sound of the voice… He could not quite match name to voice, but he knew it was a very familiar voice that he knew all too well… The name was at the tip of his tongue, but he could not seem to remember who it was. He grumbled softly, it did not matter anymore who it was that was in there with them… All that mattered was that Elizabeth was in a man's house with two men there. She and Will were not alone… and that bothered Norrington to no end.

He finally built up the courage to knock on the door and his suspicions grew as he heard the laughter from behind the door fall completely silent. His forehead furrowed and he curiously pressed his ear against the wood of the door. He heard Will's soft whisper…

"Go to your room, Jack."

Norrington's eyes widened and his heart raced. "Jack!" He whispered loudly, and as soon as the word escaped his lips, the door opened and Norrington fell headfirst.

"Oh! Are you alright, Commodore?" He asked as he knelt down beside James, who had at this point, stood up very quickly and dusted himself off.

"Where's Elizabeth?" James asked without even responding to the blacksmith's question.

"She's in the kitchen." Will gave Norrington a look, but the Commodore only shook his head in slight recovery from the fall.

"I need to speak with her now…"

"Uhm… alright." Will reached out to take Norrington's coat, but the Commodore only shoved himself away from the blacksmith and pushed his way through the doorframe and into the house. He led himself in the direction of the kitchen and his cold expression softened when he saw Elizabeth. She was standing over the table; her hair was put up in a usual bun. It was still very neat, and every hair on her head was perfectly in place. Her dress; a beautiful shade of lavender with a gorgeous hooked bodice that showed off her curves perfectly. Norrington almost melted at the sight. She stood over the table with her sleeves rolled up and a wet towel in her hand.

"Ah, Elizabeth… surely you aren't getting used to actually cleaning the table yourself!"

"James Norrington." Elizabeth tried to give a weak smile… but it only lasted a few seconds as she could not hold it that long. She really liked Norrington. He made a wonderful friend sometimes, of course, he was always overprotective of her, but still… she had a soft spot in her heart for him, but at this time… she wanted nothing more than to get him out of the house as soon as was possible. "What a pleasant surprise."

"I brought you a wedding gift. I know, it is early… but this one is special. From friend to friend." Norrington held out a small, brown box for Elizabeth, who in return picked it up and held it as though it were fragile. She smiled at him politely.

"Thank you."

"I heard you have some company over today…" Norrington inquired. He completely ignored Will, who was leaning against the doorframe that entered into the kitchen. Will ignored him in return, so between the two of them there was no ill will.

"Company…?" Elizabeth tried to make an exaggerated face of confusion. "No, its just me and Will today."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure! Other than you, we haven't had any visitors."

"Hm." Norrington paused a minute, he could tell when Elizabeth was lying… he knew her well enough by now. "I wonder whatever happened to that rogue pirate… what was his name?" He paused. "Oh yes… Sparrow. Jack Sparrow." He noted mentally that Elizabeth did not correct him and say 'captain'.

"I don't know." Elizabeth was getting quiet… He knew she wouldn't be able to continue with lying much longer…

"You don't know, or you won't tell me?"

"You think I'm lying!"

"I know you're lying!"

Will suddenly knew that Norrington had somehow found out about Jack and without warning, he turned around and left the kitchen to go up the stairs and into Jack's room.

When Will entered, the pirate was safely hidden under the bed, his face was swallowed completely by shadows and nothing could be seen of him except for the beaming light that glowed in his eye.

"Is he gone…?" Jack whispered.

Will pressed his finger to his lips, signally to Jack to stay quiet. Everything went silent for a few long, tortuous moments. Then, Norrington burst through the door and demanded to see Jack Sparrow. When Jack caught a glimpse of the man, it was all he could do but to keep from laughing. After all, the bright, white powered wig and the deep, blue navy vest made him resemble an ice cream cone and Jack could not help but crack a smile at that.

"Where are you hiding him, Will!" This was no longer a question… but an order. Will shook his head and continued to repeat himself, saying that he did not know what the Commodore was talking about. Elizabeth followed behind James Norrington, who began to ransack the room completely. He tore the sheets from the bed and opened drawers, slamming them shut afterwards when they were empty. He dug through the closet and when he found nothing he pointed his finger in Will's face, just about to threaten the blacksmith… when…

Jack coughed. James' eyes flew towards the shadows from under the bed and he grinned wickedly. He pushed Will away and he began to approach the bed, ever so slowly…

"So there you are, Jack Sparrow!"

Jack only continued to scoot away, still trying to hide himself in shadow though it was long too late. James Norrington squatted in front of the bed and reached underneath, trying to grab Jack somewhere. As expected, he immediately felt the soft tickle of Jack's dreadlocks and he grabbed onto them tightly… causing the pirate to release a long, strident scream. Norrington smiled and he pulled Jack from under the bed by a large lock of hair.

"I knew it!" He shouted. He pulled Jack to his feet and grabbed him tightly by the waist so that the pirate would not attempt an escape. Jack stayed perfectly still and allowed himself to be moved like a puppet. Jack immediately knew that Norrington was, in fact, much bigger than Jack was… and Jack was not ready to take any chances.

"James!" Elizabeth screamed. "Please, let him go!" Will held Elizabeth back from lunging at him… Both of them knew it would not do anyone any good… and it would be putting Jack's life at even more risk. Norrington actually paused to think about it…

The Commodore began to loosen his grip on Jack and the pirate took in a sharp breath.

"Turner…" Norrington called. "Come with me, I'd like to speak with you privately…"

"Will you let Jack go for now, then?"

Norrington thought about it, and then he looked Jack, who was staring at his feet with a blank expression on his face. He shrugged and let go of Jack. Once Jack realized that he was released, he ran to Elizabeth and clutched her tightly.

"If he's not here when I get back…" He warned Elizabeth, "Your fiancé will suffer the consequences." Elizabeth did not respond, she only wrapped her arms around Jack's shoulders and snarled at James. He only shrugged and went with Will to the other room to talk.

Jack sat with his head on Elizabeth's shoulder and he did not say a single word since he was dragged from under the bed. Elizabeth rocked him gently and rubbed his back as she hummed the melody to that old song they were all familiar with.

––––

It felt like hours before Will finally returned to the room where Jack and Elizabeth sat on the bed. They both smiled at first… but then the feelings turned grey when they noticed Will's solemn face.

"Norrington and I made a deal." Will spoke. Elizabeth nodded for him to continue. "Jack and I can avoid being hanged… if… we postpone the wedding."

Elizabeth's jaw dropped and she stared… for a long time, not really knowing what to say.

"Oh."

"I'm sorry…"

Author's Notes:

Again, I'm so grateful for all of your wonderful reviews!

I had to look up the heights of the actual actors to make sure that I was getting their information correctly.

In case anyone of you were wondering, Jack Sparrow is the "shortest" character in this story.

Johnny Depp (Jack Sparrow) - 5'10" (175 cm)

Jack Davenport (James Norrington) - 6' 2" (185 cm)

Orlando Bloom (Will Turner) - 5' 11" - (179 cm)

So, in case you wee inquiring about the whole "Is Norrington bigger than Jack?" The answer is yes. Yes, he is and I'm not making it up.

Review Replies, Anyone? :

Cerisa: Wah! I always look forward to reading your reviews because they always make me smile. (: No joke!

bigtimePOTCfan: Woo! Another new reader. C: Thank you for your review. And to answer your question, no, Jack is still the size of a regular man.