Well Hello again!

I don't have much to say …I have the next chapter written, I'm just polishing. And yes, Jack will make his entrance soon, and so will Elizabeth and Norrington (Boo!), although they really don't have big parts.

Oh, and in case you didn't figure it out // // means somebody's thinking.

And please R&R criticism is very welcome!!

"Boy?" Was the answer to Will's tentative knock on the door.

"Yes, Sir. I was told that you wanted to see me."

"Come in, boy."

Will opened the door a tiny crack and poked his head inside. There was no one there but the captain.

// Good // Thought Will

// No audience this time //

He stepped inside cautiously, his eyes focused on the ground in a gesture of respect learned long ago, but he took in everything about his surroundings.

Barbossa was slumped in a plush chair. He held no whip in his hands, no stick, no belt, nothing. There weren't even any restraints on the bed. How was Will supposed to learn this time?

"Come here, Will."

The sixteen year old stepped into the room, and moved gracefully to his captain of five years, his feet elegantly placed carefully in front of him, moving in the way he has been taught to move in front of Barbossa.

Kneeling next to the pirate, he stretched his neck out and laid his head in the elder's lap.

"What would you have me do, captain?"

Barbossa's gnarled hands wove through Will's long curly locks.

"I don't know, Will. I don't know how to make you understand. You come to me now so sweetly, like I'm the most important thing in the world to you, and yet, when your blood races and you feel you need to, you try to leave me."

Will sighed.

"I need you Will. I need you to break the curse. I need the medallion you wear so proudly on your neck" Will's left hand caressed his father's keepsake through the light fabric of his shirt. "And when, with a drop of your sweet blood, we break the curse, I'll need you to remind me of what it is to feel. Because your hair which surely feels like threads of silk, and your skin, that must feel like velvet, and the pleasure that you can surely give to me, mean nothing now. I want so badly to feel you, Will, you know, and all you seem to want to do is leave me. Why?"

Will's brow furrowed with his own confusion. Why did he want to leave Barbossa? He was his teacher, his master..and maybe his lover when the curse was ended.

"Captain, Sir…I.When a storm is coming and the wind is blowing and everything is so calm… It's so..Overwhelming. So very strong I can't ignore. It's impossible not to want.."

Will's hands gripped Barbossa's legs, trying to show his point, though his words were mangled with his own confusion.

"To want?" The pirate prompted

"To want out. To want more. I feel like there's more out there, Barbossa.  And I feel that I need it. And when the feeling ends, I wonder what I was thinking before, when I was frantic for release."

Barbossa exhaled loudly.

"I know I've hurt you Will. Maybe that's why you want to leave. Maybe I've made you yearn for it with my whips and belt and the scars I've marked you with." Barbossa grasped Will's hand and turned it over, rubbing the angry red marks there with his thumb. "But you know why I do it, right Will?"

Will gazed adoringly up at his captain.

"To teach me."

"To teach you what?"

"To teach me that the world is harsh, and that I can never trust anyone. Not even those that care about me most."

Barbossa smiled, leaned over, and pressed a kiss to Will's forehead.

"I wish I could taste you, Will."

The boy stood and made his way to Barbossa's bed.

"You'll be able to soon enough. I won't try to leave you anymore."

Barbossa joined him on the bed and kissed him fully.

"I can't wait."

Will wrapped his arms around his captain's neck as Barbossa plundered his mouth with an unfeeling tongue.

"Sleep, lad."

And Will obeyed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When the captain returned to his cabin, Will was curled up tightly in the blood red satin of his sheets. Though he had no sense of touch, Barbossa had always indulged in his sheets. He liked satin especially since the curse took hold, the fabric slid and whispered when he shifted. Placing the tray he carried gently down on a table he climbed into the familiar image.

  Will awoke to the feel of a corpse's clammy skin against his. He remembered the first time he had woken up like this, he had been young, bleeding and frightened. He had screamed in boyish terror, thinking, hoping, that the night before had been a dream.

He had upset Barbossa greatly. That was before he knew that his captain had been helping him to learn.

Will leaned over and kissed the other man's shoulder. "Captain?"

He rolled over and opened his eyes groggily. "Mm?"

"Can I get up sir? I need to go."

"You can't go, Will" Groaned Barbossa "We discussed this, remember?"

"No sir. I mean I have to GO."

"Ah, the curse of living men. Off you go. Come back when yer done."