"They made me look awful!" Jack bemoaned, the back of his hand hitting the wanted sign. "My bone structure is much more striking in actuality. Isn't it?" Jack angled his face to Elizabeth and didn't allow an answer before scoffing and crossing his arms in front of his chest. "They're out to ruin me."
Elizabeth drew a hand up Jack's chest from behind and leaned on his shoulder. He raised the page once more for her to get a proper look at the illustration.
"Oh, you look great." Elizabeth waived off the worry then narrowed her eyes at the print beneath her own sketch. "'Wanted: Jack Sparrow and his pirate bride?' 'And his pirate bride?'" Elizabeth repeated, snatching the page from Jack's hand. "I don't even deserve a name now? Get tied up with an infamous pirate and suddenly your King title? Means nothing. Individual personhood? Nothing."
"Don't get your feathers ruffled, Swann. You know I see you as entirely whole as you are. We could each manage well enough alone," Jack assured, tipping up her chin. "But life's much more better with you in it," he whispered against her lips, using the poor grammar in an attempt to make her smile to which he, as usual, succeeded.
Jack turned Elizabeth's face to the side, studying her, then looked to the page.
"They got your mouth all wrong," he said, his eyes falling back to her lips. "Yes," Jack decided, his voice softening, "much more irresistible in the flesh."
.
Elizabeth was pulled from her dream by the sound of people praying, sunlight pooling into the tower, and Jack's fingers playing through her hair. She scrubbed at her eyes then turned on her side, sighing some from a splitting headache. She ought to stop drinking so much, she reasoned. Then again, she told herself that every following morning.
Jack smoothed a hand along Elizabeth's hair again then ruffled it into her eyes and she screamed out, frustrated at him as he surely just made the nest worse.
"And you claim you're the early riser," Jack murmured, then sat up, resting his elbows on his knees and shaking a hand through his own hair. "Things are changing, Swann." He shot her a small smile. "I feel it."
"Well, I was exhausted," Elizabeth retorted defensively. She turned to the window, taking in the strong light from high noon sun. Half of the day was nearly gone. "You were rather," she paused, a flush coloring her cheeks, "thorough last night."
The pair slipped off in the middle of the night, Jack scavenging bottles of drink and Elizabeth samosas. She noticed Jack allowed himself a deeper drunken state than she saw him in a while, seemingly celebrating something. Perhaps nearly getting caught, the rush of blood that comes with the feeling, experiencing the height of being alive when the breath of life could easily be cut out. That or he was dulling the anxiety of it, but Elizabeth was sure he would only ever claim the first. Jack was so effectively drunk that he didn't seem to remember in such a blissed-out state shuddering and spilling inside of her, not thinking of any repercussions to follow.
Jack looked to Elizabeth and raised his eyebrows. "Would you rather I not be? 'Thorough?'"
"Oh, I think we both know I prefer it. Only, it does have a way of stealing away mornings."
Elizabeth stared at the open window while plaiting her hair, the sound of women singing pouring in, welcoming and soothing. She started when, tying at the end of her braid, a pile of fine, sleek fabric fell into her lap. She blinked up at Jack who seemingly foraged clothes of his own, thrown carelessly over his shoulder.
"Might as well see what we can while we're here," he explained, tugging off his shirt.
"What are they singing about? Can you understand it?" Elizabeth asked, peeling out of her former outfit to draw on the new one.
Jack neared the window, just barely peering out of it and Elizabeth thought it unfair that anyone should look so effortlessly alluring after rising, painted in sunlight.
"Dreams."
Elizabeth was in the middle of adjusting the new garment to rest over one shoulder when Jack's hands cradled her hips then pulled her forward by them. She would never get over how his palms fit so well there as if they always belonged, were always intended to hold her.
"Fitting as ever since we reunited, you just won't stay out of mine." Jack's eyes raked over Elizabeth appraisingly, his eyes lingering upon the small expanse of skin left showing. The deep purple fabric trimmed and patterned with gold, not quite a dress to Elizabeth's understanding but similar, was asymmetrical and floor-length, revealing a sliver of skin on one side just below her breast like an inviting slightly parted curtain.
Elizabeth took Jack by the chin, forcing his gaze to meet her own although her insides fluttered some at his hand's appreciative movements, gathering the fabric at her lower back absentmindedly.
"Oh, yes, that's entirely my fault," she said, slipping her arms around Jack's neck.
"Entirely."
Elizabeth rolled her eyes fondly, pressed a short kiss to Jack's lips, then reached down to throw the bundle of clothes Jack stole for himself into his chest.
"You've had your turn gawking. I would rather like mine," Elizabeth said, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
Jack smiled widely at her, his hands lowering to his waistband. "Always one for a show."
Elizabeth pulled her lower lip into her mouth then smiled around it, unsure if they could manage not wasting more of the day.
.
Elizabeth couldn't be too mad at a half-wasted day when perusing the market with Jack, properly disguised and at ease. She sat cross-legged next to him in a street alley, a bowl of vegetable chettinad in her lap. The last time they were in India, they were more so just passing through. Elizabeth let herself appreciate a rare moment of stillness with Jack, the need to finally give in and eat the only thing that seemed to slow him down. Otherwise, he was always onto the next matter, always searching for the new, barely able to keep up with his imaginings—a new heading, a new plan, a new rush.
After spooning up the last of his curry, Elizabeth was proven right. As expected, Jack pulled Elizabeth to her feet but insisted they make one more stop before sailing again.
Once reaching the destination Jack led her to, Elizabeth realized why he was so adamant on showing her it, stalling searching for the miniature copy of the Code. Standing before the flower valley, she had the same thought she did each time Jack showed her a new land: She never saw a place so breathtaking. The valley was vibrant, the expanse of rich fuchsia and lavender spotting the horizon joyful and bright, and the flowers swayed ever so slightly in the breeze.
Turning to Jack, Elizabeth drew her scarf down from her face and met his mouth with her own. As she felt a pull inside of her, deep in her middle, Elizabeth wondered if circling the lectern had worked, causing Jack's carelessness. She stared wordlessly at him, experiencing a moment of full realization that stole her breath. If it had worked, their dynamic as they knew it would soon alter forever. They would have less than a year's time to go on as they were. Even less, her mind corrected, considering her body would need consistency, stability, and rest to grow a child. Elizabeth would undergo the welcomed change and accept the responsibility of parenthood enthusiastically, but she wondered how Jack would react to the idea when presented as an irreversible fact instead of a mere persistent wish from her.
Elizabeth smoothed her thumbs over the edge of Jack's unbuttoned vest, orange and ornate, then she pressed in close to his bare chest, hiding her face into his neck, wanting to dull her thoughts for a moment.
"What's on the Swann's mind?" Jack asked in the way he always did when she let her mind race ahead of her. "Elizabeth," he prompted in an utterance of her name that was nearly swept away by the wind, unheard, it was so soft.
Elizabeth drew back and offered a closed-mouth smile.
"How many more adventures we're bound to have together," she replied simply. "Onto the next."
.
Back in her usual clothing, pant legs bunched up due to the heat, Elizabeth closed her eyes as the sea misted across her legs. Normally, she would feel elated by the past few weeks: They sailed for a moon cycle's time through mostly fair weather, Jack was in good spirits, only growing momentarily surly about halfway, and according to the charts they were nearly to Africa. Although, Elizabeth thought she ought to check when yet another wave of nausea flooded through her. She stripped off as much as she could as the heat didn't help and concealed her sickness well since that morning, performing as if she wasn't lightheaded, as if she didn't as feel like she needed to sleep through the remainder of the year. She was always good at fighting from showing any kind of internal struggle, but Elizabeth only had so much fight left in her regarding her latest predicament. It was starting to feel near-unbearable for her to go on as she was, keeping the news from Jack. She hadn't expected to feel such matters so soon. However, under-eating and barely sleeping wouldn't help much, she supposed.
"Nearly there?" Elizabeth asked, sounding breathless although she was sitting entirely still, her arms wrapped around her middle.
Jack looked to her from the helm and his smile fell when his eyes fully took her in.
"Nearly. Alright, Swann?"
"Yes. I'm just worried. What if," Elizabeth started and failed to find the proper words. There were so many 'what if's on her mind, but she couldn't share a single one with Jack. "What if the Code isn't here either," she settled on.
"Oh, it is." Jack nodded. "I feel it."
With Jack's tender assurance, Elizabeth pulled her knees closer to her chest, feeling her guilt about keeping her undisclosed truth increase further.
When they reached land and ported, Elizabeth stood too fast and had to grab onto Jack's arms to steady herself.
"Easy there." Jack's hand found her chin, tilting it up and meeting her eyes, silently searching. "Now I'm the one who's worried."
"Everything will be fine once we find the Code and return to the Cove."
"What's wrong to start with?" Jack asked, but the way the question came out, strong and rushed, demanded an answer.
"Nothing!" she insisted, her voice coming out high and sounding uncertain even to her own ears as she turned and started for the jungle.
"Elizabeth." Jack muttered something under his breath then followed after her, but she was so determined to find the Code as soon as possible that she paid him no mind.
Elizabeth forced back plant life and ducked under branches, feeling well on her way, no matter that she had no idea where she was off to. She drew her sword from her waist, cutting through any limbs or tangling leaves that got in her way while searching for any sign of life.
"You can't change years of my life with a book, you know."
"Not just your life," Elizabeth shot back.
She planned to bestow the book before the painting of Jack's grandfather, sure the act was bound to do something, right matters in a way. It had to. Even if there was no jolting moment, no fanfare—even the sea journal returned to Teague was a moment of quietly righting the past. Elizabeth had no reason to believe her desperation to find the copy of the Code with which Teague betrayed his father would alter their world outside of her gut feeling, her faith in herself and the moon, and the belief Jack's child was growing inside her, but those amounted to more than enough sound reason to believe.
"You took Teague's words for truth? That you can right a generational curse?" Jack followed the question with a mumbled a string of curse words. Elizabeth turned to find Jack kicking, his legs tangled in plant life. She sliced through the tangle of vines with her smallsword then treaded on.
"Yes. I can do more than moon over you, Jack. I think I've had my fill of that anyway."
Her dream from India was still niggling at the back of her mind as well. She was more than a 'pirate bride.'
"Oh, married for a wink and you already have your fill, I see." Jack let out a sigh before continuing, his voice raising. "I gave you an out. I asked you if this is what you truly wanted."
Elizabeth's chest tightened, hearing the implied "I" in the statement.
"That's not what I mean."
"Then what is it you mean?"
"I ought to do more in life than thief, shag, and lose my wits with you is all."
"Right smart marrying a pirate then, Swann."
"Oh! You are so," Elizabeth trailed off then turned to face her husband, balling up her fists at her side and giving him the nastiest look that she could manage. She took a deep breath and jutted her chin forward. "Not used to your treasure talking back at you are you, Sparrow?"
"I suppose not. She's not usually so moody without reason."
"So, you agree I'm nothing more to you than that? Another treasure you stole away?" she challenged.
"You called yourself that," Jack defended. "Rather conceited if you ask me," he muttered, sounding every bit like a child.
"I don't know why I try," Elizabeth said, exasperated, laughing hollowly. "I'll stop trying, that's it. It's on you to hold bitterness in your heart. It's on you to not want to go on well with Teague, to feel like a proper family. It's on you to deny the fullest possible life."
"You're my fullest life!" Jack exclaimed, sounding helpless enough that Elizabeth stilled and faced him.
She caught the end of his arms gesturing, searching to make sense of all she wasn't sharing—realizing she lost sense of her own desires, finding herself constantly centering Jack, along with circling the lectern in a rare moment of claiming her own desire by completely disregarding Jack's request she not due to his uncertainty to become a father, and how all of this fit into her mess of passion to right generations of broken familial ties on his end. Jack pinched the bridge of his nose and he muttered numbers under his breath. At this, Elizabeth felt a smile pull at her mouth that she swallowed down, witnessing Jack using a technique she offered to ease him when his blood stirred in frustration.
A moment later, Jack stepped forward and placed his hands firmly Elizabeth's shoulders then gently rested his forehead against hers.
"You're my fullest life," he repeated in a lighter voice, barely there. Jack stepped back to gage if Elizabeth was feeling steadier as well then brushed the back of his hand along her cheek when he ascertained she wouldn't shove him away. "Some matters can never be righted," he told her with a certain quality to his voice that only fueled Elizabeth's determination to prove him wrong.
"I don't believe that, Jack." She took his hand in hers and looked up to him with a small smile. "I mean, look at us. Against everything, we're together."
Jack couldn't help but give Elizabeth a lopsided smile and his eyes fell away into the trees, seemingly unable to handle the unwavering adoration in hers.
"You have me there, Swann."
Jack's smile fell in the next instant and Elizabeth turned, drawing her sword. She immediately lowered her weapon when she registered a row of people, bows and arrows drawn. She craned her neck, finding them effectively circled with no means for escape. Elizabeth sheathed her sword and drew her hands up, her back brushing against Jack's. She looked over her shoulder, finding him doing the same.
"Should we be worried?"
"If they're Jocard's crew, no, as he and I have an accord. If they aren't, yes." Jack looked over his shoulder and offered Elizabeth a near-manic smile. His voice drew high and unconvincing with his next words. "But that's the fun of the draw, aye?"
.
Elizabeth felt the air knocked from her lungs when she was pushed onto her knees and Jack followed beside her soon after. They raised their heads and Jack made a relieved sound.
"Jocard!"
"The man they call 'Sparrow.'" The Pirate Lord, all strong frame and deep brown skin, looked from Jack to Elizabeth. "And the 'Swann' he calls 'wife.'"
"Ah, news still spreads like wildfire with pirates even with so little left." Jack held forward his bonds and nodded his head towards them. "Be a mate and cut us free?"
Jocard gestured for his crew to fall back and, as they dispersed, Elizabeth felt empowered seeing so many women amongst them, appearing as equals with the men. She squared her jaw, refusing to flinch when one of the women who lingered stepped forward and sliced through the ropes at her wrists then Jack's with a dagger.
"Wouldn't say we're much of pirates anymore." Jocard gestured towards a village in the distance with dwelling places and shops and further signs of civilization.
Elizabeth was somewhat surprised by this as well as by Jocard's demeanor, still radiating power but less surly. It was as if something changed him, healed him. Regardless of the reason, she was relieved he no one's tongue was cut out by his demand. Yet.
"But doing well for yourselves." Jack crossed his arms in front of his chest. "And still willing to make trade, I hope."
Jocard raised his eyebrows. "For?"
Elizabeth gestured for Jocard's man who confiscated the satchel upon their capture to open it. He revealed the crown Jack stole for her then offered it to Jocard who inspected it closely, his expression schooled, unchanged.
"You have a copy of the Code we seek, or so we hear. All we ask is the Code and enough provisions to get us back to familiar tides. A more than generous trade."
"More than," Jack agreed in a mutter, seemingly dissatisfied with the proposition, especially after all they went through in London for the crown. "Throw in a cask of wine, two sharp and stabbies, and some fine and shinies for the lady, will you?"
Elizabeth was about to make a smart comment about Jack probably keeping some "fine and shinies" for himself as well but swallowed it down with a sudden lightheadedness which led her to add on one last request in desperation. "And a place to stay for the night, please."
Jack looked to her inquisitively, but Elizabeth ignored him, awaiting an answer. Jocard palmed at his chin for a moment then nodded in agreement.
"A fair trade."
"What has you tied to land now, anyway?" Jack asked, tilting his head to the side thoughtfully. "Thought you swore to conquer the very seas which used to plague you and your people ruthlessly for the remainder of your life. No judgment, just curiosity," Jack explained, holding his hands up in conciliation at Jocard's narrowed eyes.
"What eventually ties down many a man," Jocard answered.
As if on cue, a woman approached his side, tall and curving with rich dark skin. She was dressed in a teal and yellow patterned fabric and bathed in enough self-assurance with fine garment looked even finer with a matching crown fashioned on her head and hanger at her hip. She whispered into Jocard's ear, looking upon Jack and Elizabeth warily. Jocard shook his head and spoke one word twice in an assuring tone: "marafiki." Jack offered a grin and small wave then bounced on the balls of his feet with his hands clasped behind his back, trying to fill the silence. Elizabeth's eyes danced from Jack to Jocard to the woman she assumed was his wife, thinking the word must mean something good, fully convinced of such when she was enveloped in a sudden tight embrace. The woman spoke high greeting words Elizabeth didn't understand, hugging her and Jack like old friends and kissing at their cheeks.
"She thanks you, Jack. Says anyone who helped me lead a way to this life is a friend of hers as well," Jocard explained, and Elizabeth recalled the pirate legend of Jack playing a role in assisting a ship of enslaved people to fight for their freedom. "As you can see, Mesi has a way about her. She could soften anyone."
"Anyone." Elizabeth agreed.
The woman who stood before her, Mesi, was stunning and soft and welcoming, but the hanger at her waist wordlessly told Elizabeth she could hold her own, sure to turn as strong as her husband when the moment called for it. Elizabeth smiled, feeling a restored sense of confidence in the balance of her own softness and her own strength.
"Lovely women," Jack agreed, meeting Elizabeth's eyes with tenderness and taking her hand. "They have their ways of doing just that."
"And then having a knife at your throat a moment later."
Jack and Elizabeth shared a laugh at Jocard's comment and a grin pulled at Jack's mouth.
"Yes. Familiar with that as well, all too well," he murmured, catching Elizabeth's eyes once more for a wink.
.
In the hut Jocard offered for the night, Mesi was humming while cleansing the space with sage, making it new for Elizabeth and Jack. Behind a partition, Elizabeth peeled off her sweat-soaked clothes and smoothed the cloth over her body, sighing at the brush of cool water against her skin. After drying, she massaged her neck with jasmine oil, rubbing away the tension from carrying a concealed truth. Elizabeth heard Mesi leave just as she slipped into the roomy, ankle-length white tunic left for her. Elizabeth curled up on the floor, thankful for the earth beneath her, thankful a moment of stillness. Her body thanked her as well, feeling at rest instead of pushed to the limit, dizzy and nauseous.
There was a rap on the door and Elizabeth leaned forward, raising a hand in silent greeting at Mesi's return. Elizabeth took an offered plate of saltfish, yams, and callaloo from Mesi who smiled close-lipped at her. She returned the smile and dipped her head forward, wishing she knew their language, Elizabeth thought, to thank Mesi properly, not only for the meal but for the unmistakable kindness in her eyes.
Mesi blinked her dark eyes closed for a moment then drew her hands to her lips, whispering words foreign to Elizabeth's ears in a slow cadence. Elizabeth silently studied her, trying to slow her eating respectfully, but she was well on her way to clearing the plate. She glanced over to the entrance of the hut, hearing Jack's laugh carry, entering before he did. In that same moment, Mesi opened her eyes and reached forward, her palm finding Elizabeth's stomach.
"Heri." The word was exhaled more than spoken, a tender smile drawing up the corner of her full lips. Elizabeth softened further at the sight of tears forming in Mesi's eyes. "Heri, heri, heri."
When Jack ducked into the entrance, Elizabeth cleared her throat and forced a smile before Mesi hugged her. Before slipping away, Mesi took Jack's hands into her own and repeated the word one last time. He grinned in her face but turned to Elizabeth with a raised eyebrow once she left, a wooden chalice in one hand and plate of food in the other. He and Jocard broke into that cask of wine early, Elizabeth reasoned.
"What was all that about?"
"I'm not sure." Elizabeth didn't meet Jack's eyes. "I'm not sure what it means." However, she had an inkling, and she felt a pull deep in her belly and then a lightness of joy. She swallowed down a smile, properly sure now that she was carrying Jack's child.
Jack shrugged, downed the rest of his wine, then dropped the satchel by the pallet. He sat with Elizabeth so they could finish their dinner together. After, Jack wrapped around Elizabeth, resting close to her chest when she started threading her hands through her hair soothingly, and she couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to have a little one nestled in between them. Her heart poured over at the thought.
"Jocard softened by a woman as well. Who knew?" Jack pondered, soon after followed by, "If that's all it took, a lot of men would still have their tongues."
Elizabeth smiled and nestled down, fully melting into the feeling of Jack's arms.
"I'm sure he's just as fearsome, only he allows himself rest from the charade." She laid in a comfortable silence for a while, turning over in her mind if she should share the news with Jack, turning over in her mind if he would perceive it as "good" or "bad." "It would be nice to slow down some," she offered, a leading optimistic quality lacing her voice.
"Never," Jack answered in an instant. He raised his head to look at her and the corners of his mouth turned up in a boyish smile. "There's so much world to see."
Elizabeth framed Jack's face with her hands and searched his eyes before whispering, "You're my world, Jack."
He bore his eyes into hers for a moment longer, planted a kiss on her lips, then reached for the bag he made trade with. He took Elizabeth by the hand to pull her up then slip bright bangles onto each of her wrists and, as he did so, she noticed he word a few new rings, made a show of displaying two hangers, then reached back inside the satchel one last time to reveal with miniature copy of the Code. Jack gave it to her tenderly, knowing it meant a great deal to her, although unsure of the true reason why. She allowed herself a moment to marvel at the book, small enough to rest in her palm.
Elizabeth traced her fingers over the ornate cover then opened the Code. Her breath was stolen away as her eyes searched a young Teague's careful, swirling penmanship. She tucked the book in close to her chest and closed her eyes in a silent wish matters would all come together, fully righted under the power of the moon and, furthermore, that she would expand her sense of family instead of losing it in the end.
.
The next morning, Jack and Elizabeth shared kind goodbyes with Jocard and Mesi, and although Elizabeth knew it was a risk to ask, she couldn't shake the need to know the answer to the question playing in the back of her mind for hours.
"Your wife shared a word with me. 'Heri,'" Elizabeth told Jocard, her hands still in his. "What does it mean?"
"'Blessed.'"
Elizabeth looked to Mesi, taken aback that the woman could speak English all along.
"I had to be sure of your hearts," she explained. "I don't speak to your kind unless I am sure of your hearts." Mesi's accent colored her words in a pleasant, near-hypnotizing manner. She took Elizabeth by the shoulders and met her eyes then Jack's. "You both are good." She looked back to Elizabeth. "And blessed."
"Thank you. I," Elizabeth paused, glancing to Jack then returned her attention to Mesi. "I have matters to right. I am returning the book we traded for to its original owner."
"Ah." Mesi held up a hand, gesturing for Elizabeth to speak no further, then held forward a candle and a bundle of sage. "I thought you might need it. A great time in your life to make things new."
"Thank you," Elizabeth repeated, overwhelmed by Mesi's generosity and the opportunity to connect with another woman.
Mesi embraced Elizabeth just as a woman stepped forward holding an infant in her arms. Mesi's face broke into a loving expression then she reached her arms out to take the child. She rocked it and cooed at it, further softening.
"Yours?" Elizabeth asked and Mesi nodded and nuzzled her face against the child's.
"Heri, heri, heri," she whispered.
In the corner of Elizabeth's eye, she noticed Jack turn to her. Elizabeth pulled her lower lip into her mouth and placed Mesi's offering in her bag, sure her and Jack would have much to discuss on the sail back to the Cove.
.
"So, we're blessed, aye?" Jack asked, sitting after adjusting the sails, watching Jocard's village disappear into the horizon. He looked to Elizabeth and narrowed his eyes. "How blessed?"
"I don't know what you mean."
"Elizabeth."
She sighed and played with the pendant around her neck then met Jack's eyes.
"Do you remember, after you found me, I shared that a beggar woman told me I was to bear a child before I lost it? The beggar woman was Esmeralda."
Jack frowned. "No way."
"Way," Elizabeth answered, smiling some, remembering sharing the same words with Teague not long ago, although she was on the other side of the coin this time. "Esmeralda told me as much herself before she fell to her own undoing. She was the one who told me I would bear, 'A boy with deep brown eyes, a love for adventure, and a crowing laugh that could stretch towns away.'" Elizabeth swallowed down the last of her anxiousness as well as more nausea before speaking her next words. "I know she was wrong about several things, but I think she was right about this."
"You're with child?" Jack appeared as if he were the sick one, drawing a hand to his head but he lowered it a moment later to wave her off. "Wishful thinking, love. No matter how far gone I am, I—"
"Jack," Elizabeth interrupted, her grip on her sides tightening, willing herself not be sick. "In the tower. In India," she trailed off and noticed an unmistakable distressed recognition color his features.
Jack rose to his feet, pacing and muttering "not good" under his breath repeatedly. Elizabeth focused on keeping her breathing steady and pulled her knees closer to her chest, raising her head back up to Jack only when he stilled, staring at her pointedly.
"You circled that lectern, didn't you?" Jack narrowed his eyes. "Well?"
"Yes," Elizabeth admitted in a whisper, finding it useless to lie at this point.
"Swann!" Jack balked and ran both hands over his head before starting off in his evident spiral once again.
"Even if I hadn't, I'm sure eventually," she trailed off, watching her husband slip further into near-hysteria, his voice rising although he remained addressing only himself. "It was bound to happen someday!"
Elizabeth swallowed down emotion and, in flashes behind her eyes, she remembered languid, tangled kisses ashore then kneeling before Jack in a grotto, palming him hurriedly at the thought of her back pressed against cool stone, impatient for welcomed heat working into her and the scalding burn from the pendant around her neck. It could have happened anywhere, anytime, but yes, she had made a point to rush them into it. Elizabeth breathed deeply through her nose, willing her racing heart to calm, already wondering if she would regret losing a full sense of freedom, no obligations or expectations. Motherhood was an entirely different beast.
Leaning against the edge of the sloop, Jack was now repeatedly whispering "think" to himself while pressing his palm into his forehead and Elizabeth felt herself grow further uneasy with each tap. Eventually, he stopped in his tracks and turned his entire body to her, alight with an idea.
"We can go to Calypso! Plead her to take the spirit back to the sea," Jack offered. "Yes, that's it. We'll set off now."
Elizabeth slowly shook her head and instantly regretted the motion as it only encouraged her escalating nausea. "Jack, I—"
"The soul will return to the water like that!" Jack snapped his fingers and smiled at his own cleverness. "A perfect plan."
Elizabeth pressed her crossed arms further into her middle and shut her eyes tight. "Jack—"
"Don't you see, Lizzie? We can go on as we are—"
Unable to contain the feeling any longer, Elizabeth reached for the edge of the sloop and wretched over the side. She hadn't thought sickness would take her on only about one moon cycle in. Then again, she didn't have much to go off of what to expect.
When Elizabeth turned, Jack placed a water canister in her hands and she drank then sat and patted a spot next to her on the sloop. Jack leaned down the wall of the vessel and looked to Elizabeth with wide eyes.
"I have no doubt Calypso would return the spirit safely to her waters, and if I felt any uncertainty about this, I would second your plan." She rested a hand on his. "But I want this child, Jack. I always thought motherhood would suit me one day. In fact, the very thought held me together for months spent on that countryside. So, a mother I will be." Elizabeth squared her jaw and spoke the next words in a shaking voice, her eyes unwavering from Jack's. "With or without you."
Jack's hand worried at the back of his neck and his mouth pulled into a straight line.
"I didn't know you had such a," he stilled, looking out at the sea, "maternal calling."
"I miss having a sense of family," Elizabeth said softly, and when Jack faced her, his expression was nearly that of when she witnessed her father in a longboat on dark tides, destined to sail into the afterlife. He understood.
Jack took Elizabeth's hands into his own and his mouth worked around words that wouldn't come. He locked eyes with her and tried again.
"A lot of things are sure to change."
"Yes."
"We would need to make changes to the boat even."
"Probably."
"Someone will call me 'Dad,'" he mumbled in disbelief.
Elizabeth couldn't help but quietly laugh and smile at Jack. "I would imagine so."
Filling the silence, Jack ran the back of his hand along her cheek and there was that admiration in his eyes that made her heart swell in her chest without fail.
"You will make a perfect mother." Then there was another distinct emotion swimming in his dark irises. Fear. "And I, well." Jack returned his gaze to the sea and his hands fidgeted in his lap. "I'll do my best."
"Your best is sure to prove more than enough."
Jack laughed, rushed and humorless. "You must see something I don't."
"I see a man who has seen it all and lived through it all. Who has crossed nearly every land and holds onto the pieces from them he favors." Elizabeth leaned in close to whisper in Jack's ear, wistful and heartfelt, "I'm glad you held onto me."
Jack tipped up Elizabeth's chin and she smiled, glad to know he could still make her feel every bit girlish even when about to become a mother. A mother, she repeated in her mind, turning the word over, weighing it. She felt a fleeting moment of fear as well but let it roll off her shoulders.
"We have come out on the other side of every challenge. What more is a child?"
"You remember that when it's crying bloody murder, Swann," he teased, crossing his legs and palming at his chin. "You know, I think Esmeralda was wrong." Jack turned in close to Elizabeth, his hand resting against her stomach. She felt breathless for a moment, bright inside from the tender gesture of acceptance and, dare she say, excitement. "A little Lizzie you'll have," he said against her neck, sounding so sure of himself before pressing one kiss there and then another into her hair.
"A girl?" Elizabeth faced him with a furrowed brow. "But Jack, Esmeralda said—"
"And I said, a girl." Jack smiled tenderly, his eyes shining at the thought. "All darling and soft. A girl." He nodded. "Sure to have your everything."
"Well then, we'll see about that." Elizabeth pushed hair from her face and her chest tightened from the sheer amount of feeling at imagining Jack holding their child. "I just want to be sure to have it," she sighed then studied the endless sea. She turned over a troubled thought in her mind before relenting, voicing it. "Jack, if you need to leave me behind while—"
"And miss out on seeing the little one give you hell every step of the way? Unlikely, Swann. Misses Sparrow," he corrected.
Jack kneeled over Elizabeth and took her jaw in his hands, kissing her deeply. Elizabeth pulled Jack closer by the neck and when his hand found her stomach again, she smiled so wide she had to turn away for a moment, breaking the kiss. She met his mouth again, gently, and her index finger found the compass at his waist, circling it slowly. Jack seemed to want to see her become a mother but he still seemed uncertain about becoming a father. He would get there, eventually, Elizabeth thought, studying him.
"Soon to be landlocked again, Mister Sparrow," she whispered.
"With you?" Jack kissed Elizabeth again, his hands finding her waist. "I would say, 'Then throw away the key,' but I know you'll be positively itching for the sea as much as me once we can return."
Elizabeth nodded and allowed herself to fully rest against the side of the sloop. She felt more at ease than she had in the past few days.
"Oh, absolutely," she agreed, "love," she finished, muddling the word in an imitation of him. Jack's mouth dropped open in a scoff and he rolled off of her and crossed his arms in front of his chest, shaking his head. However, Elizabeth noticed a hidden smile resting just in the corner of his mouth.
"Is this what happens when you marry?" Jack muttered the same words from India, but his voice betrayed him, light and joyful. He turned to her, his head resting against the wall of the sloop. "You live out the rest of your days a woman's joke?"
Elizabeth's hand found the side of Jack's face. "You're my favorite one to tell."
.
Once again at Shipwreck Cove, Elizabeth lit the sage Mesi gifted her and cleansed the copy of the Code. She lit the other portion of Mesi's gift, the candle, at the floor of the cavern just before the painting of Jack's grandfather. With her hands pressed together at her chest and her head lowered in the same manner Mesi had, almost prayer-like, Elizabeth turned over the word "heri" in her mind. When her heart felt full, her thoughts recalling the blessing of her and Jack's forthcoming parenthood, Elizabeth rested the copy of the Code next to the candle.
"Do you have it?" Elizabeth asked, looking over her shoulder.
Jack pulled a face but kneeled next to Elizabeth and handed her a piece of parchment. Elizabeth asked Jack to write to Teague, including all of his resentment, all of his forgiveness, an all else he hoped to share, even if he never intended to speak a word of it to him.
"Please don't make me read it again."
"No need," she murmured.
Elizabeth recalled sitting cross-legged before Jack, their knees brushing on the sloop on their way to the Cove. She had to coax him to begin, resting a hand on his forearm, tense from his grip on the parchment, and speaking his name in a caring whisper. The exchange ended with Jack in her arms, seemingly trying to hide himself from the release of years of a burdening weight and an unwavering reassurance that becoming tearful over such a thing was not a sign of weakness but strength.
Elizabeth reached forward to burn the letter with the candle from Africa but paused, thinking better of her action, returning it to Jack. He ought to be the one to do it. Jack drew his hand forward, watching the flicker of the flame lap up the page until the parchment curled in on itself and denigrated.
As the scent of jasmine further filled the air, Jack stood, followed soon after by Elizabeth. One of her hands found his chest and she felt his strong grip at her waist. She bore her eyes into the eyes in the painting, finding an emptiness there she hadn't noticed before under thick, poised eyebrows. Elizabeth played with her pendant and started some when Jack's palm pressed gently to her stomach, causing the pendant to glow. She was just over six weeks in, still unnoticeably pregnant in appearance, but she felt that familiar flutter inside and the pendant burned brighter.
Elizabeth grasped at Jack's forearms when she swore she felt the earth shake. They met eyes and Jack took her hand, about to lead them out of the cavern but Elizabeth made for the lectern to grab the Code and clutched it to her chest. Only then did she make a run for it, reaching for Jack with her free hand. They rushed forward, in time with each other, Jack swiping Teague's guitar on the way out. They stepped out of the archway just as the ceiling started to fully cave in. Shipwreck Cove continued to fall in on itself and Jack and Elizabeth watched in silence as it crumbled. Jack removed his tricorn hat and held it to his chest for a moment then turned away, refusing to watch the wreckage any further, perhaps unable to, Elizabeth reasoned.
"The Pirate Lords are a people, not a place," she reminded, resting a hand at his arm.
"And all dwindling away."
"Hey," she murmured. "We're still here. We will always find a way to go on. As you said, news between pirates still spreads like wildfire. We are connected, all of us. Still."
Elizabeth breathed in deep to calm her own racing thoughts and, at the tell-tale scent of strong tobacco, turned to find Teague tying his boat to port. Her father by marriage wordlessly neared them and took of his own hat, looking upon the structure as it fell. Elizabeth's hand slipped from Jack's arm when he took a long stride forward, facing the Cove again. Elizabeth stepped on the other side of Teague, watching on as well.
"When I was a boy, sometimes I dreamt he would never come back, immured in here somehow, boarded in the cavern walls," Jack told her on their wedding night.
Elizabeth looked upon Teague, and although his eyes were dry, she saw years of memories alight there. He seemed to be burying the memories, making peace with them as Shipwreck Cove fell. He would now know true freedom.
Teague reached into his jacket to hold Jack's sea journal to his chest, surely thinking of Jack's mother through all this.
"My son. My son." Teague shook his head, at a loss for words. "I'm—"
Jack rested a hand Teague's shoulder, stopping him. "Me too."
Teague wrapped his son up in his arms and gripped tighter onto what must be the last existing copy of the Code. At the sight, Elizabeth exhaled, satisfied with the outcome of their latest travels. It was a start. She was sure there was many a conversation for Jack and Teague to have to fully make matters right. But it was a start.
"Things are changing, Swann," Jack told her in the tower in India. "I feel it."
Things were changing, she agreed in her mind, turning over all of the recent changes, and they must accept those changes.
Elizabeth was overcome by a similar uncertainty she was sure Jack and Teague felt, but when Jack pulled her in to share the embrace, she remembered that she was never one to shy away from a new beginning or a challenge. In that same moment, she realized that although her child was sure to go by the surname Sparrow, it would still be every bit a Teague.
Once the time felt right, the trio stepped back and looked about, unsure how to proceed. Elizabeth cleared her throat and took on the role of the pirate to step up and set matters in motion, as she often did.
"Now is a better time than any to tell you, if you can stomach further shock," Elizabeth started, meeting Teague's eyes, "you will soon become grandfather."
Teague looked to her, his mouth agape, and he appeared as if he would question her judgement but swallowed down what was surely a sour comment and schooled his expression.
"You waste no time."
"A congratulations would suffice, thanks," Jack echoed the same words from when Elizabeth announced their married, although lighter this time, teasing, and wrapped an arm around his wife's shoulders.
Teague smiled, and Elizabeth thought to herself it was the first time she ever witnessed his true smile, teeth and all.
.
In the aftermath of the wreckage, Jack and Elizabeth planned to sail to a little nowhere island. Only, on the way there, Elizabeth's mouth dropped when she realized it was not just any nowhere island Jack was steering them to but their nowhere island—the one where she first felt the rush of his touch by the fireside which seemed so long ago, before the curse of the Black Pearl was lifted.
Elizabeth grabbed Jack's face with both hands and met his mouth desperately at his thoughtfulness. When she drew back, Jack's gaze returned to the sea and she noticed him spinning his ring on his right hand absentmindedly, a nervous tick, and the action made the pendant and ring emit a dull, faint light.
"Jack." Elizabeth rested her hand on his.
"Didn't really create a legacy for a child to look up to," Jack muttered. "Didn't think I would get this far." He offered her an apologetic smile and Elizabeth shook her head, dismissing his words.
"You will be a fine father. You'll see."
Jack's expression remained unchanged, seemingly assailed with doubts, but Elizabeth was determined to have him assured before stepping ashore. She nestled into his chest and toyed at the pendant around her neck then looked up to him.
"You want to be one?" Elizabeth checked, unsure she wanted the truth.
"Want and can are different matters," he murmured.
"I have enough faith in you for the both of us."
"I'll need it," he sighed then, fully registering the words once self-doubt dulled slightly, he offered her a tender smile. "Thanks, Swann. Your faith should serve us well."
"However," Elizabeth continued, "I hope you manage to find it on your own someday."
"Someday," Jack agreed with a single nod, and the resonance in his voice, rich and steady like sap dripping from a tree, convinced her that he believed it. "It still feels unreal now," he explained further. "I'll have to face it when I have to help you stand, see your growing belly."
"It feels unreal for me too," Elizabeth agreed, her voice distant. She turned in his lap. "Starting a family with the eminent Captain Jack Sparrow," she spoke against his lips and Jack laughed hollowly after her kiss.
"Infamous," he corrected.
"Eminent," she reiterated, her hands playing in delicate circles at the back of his neck.
Jack looked at Elizabeth in his way, his way that was sure to make her knees buckle if she weren't kneeling on a solid surface, her legs parted on either side of him.
"I love you, you know," he said, and she wasn't sure she would ever feel accustomed to hearing those words directed at her, not an ounce of irony laced in them but open and honest and true, not even when the day would come when he spoke them in his last breath.
"I know, but I should never tire of hearing it," Elizabeth decided in a whisper, meeting his lips and tangling her hands in his hair. The corners of her mouth pulled up when Jack drew her in closer.
"I'll have to be gentle with you," he mumbled against her mouth.
"It's only nine months." Elizabeth laughed and kissed away Jack's mournful expression. "Not too gentle," she amended.
Jack hummed and looked over the edge of the sloop and Elizabeth followed suit, nature's mirror reflecting the pair back on themselves in an ever-moving, ever-changing image due to the waves. Elizabeth always marveled at the sight of them together, and she never could pin down if they were the most unlikely or likeliest pair of all the seas. No matter, she thought, as it only mattered that they were together, soon to make a family.
Jack's hand found Elizabeth's stomach and he leaned forward to whisper into her neck, "Blessed."
Elizabeth looked upon the moon then rested her hand atop Jack's, the ring on his finger and pendant around her neck aglow. "Indeed."