~~~
"Turn your ship back Captain, you seek what you cannot have!" a woman's voice yelled menacingly at him. But Jack paid no heed to the warning, and as the Black Pearl pulled up to the Renegade, he jumped from the deck of one ship to the other. Swaggering up to the helm where Julianne stood with her sword drawn, Jack flashed a gold and white smile.
"And who's to stop me from having what I seek?" he asked confidently giving her a wink.
Captain Amaris stared at Jack with contempt but after a backwards glance toward her crew, her look changed to one of pain and pleading. "Please don't do this Jack", she said softly, her gaze shifting towards the ground. "It's already 'ard enough."
The confident smile on Jack's face began to fade into a look of concern. "Just tell me why, why did you do it?"
Her mind reeled as pain tugged at her heart, and she stood silent for several minutes. Finally, raising her head, she looked straight into Jack's eyes and answered. "Because I was falling in love with you."
Captain Jack Sparrow could remember every occasion in his life where he had been left speechless, and this time definitely topped them all. At once he was over come by almost a hundred emotions which he could make no sense of at all. He opened his mouth attempting to piece together something intelligible or even slightly charming to say but was too overwhelmed. Hurt, shocked, and confused, Jack put his hands together, gave Julianne a little bow, turned on his heel and headed back for the Pearl.
The crew of the Renegade stood bewildered as they watched at the receding ship sail away. Still standing at the helm, Captain J. Amaris gripped the wheel as she stared off at the Pearl, and felt her heart breaking.
~~~
That had been almost 12 years ago, but as Tortuga became visible on the horizon, Captain J. could not help but recall it. So much had changed since then, and so much had occurred between her and the Captain of the Black Pearl even before that fateful day out at sea. She remembered the day she left home to become a pirate, and saying good-bye to the father whom had given up his life at sea to raise her after her mother had died. She remembered the first time she met Captain Jack Sparrow on the very same island for which they now sailed, and the many occasions on which they met again after that. She remembered Jack's reaction when he learned whom she was, a crew member of the Renegade, daughter of Ash Amaris the infamous pirate who had sailed on her ship as first mate before her, and surrogate daughter to her father's best friend, one of the greatest captains to date. She remembered the day when that same man, Captain Mendoza, announced that he was throwing in the towel, and named her captain in his place. And most of all, she remembered the morning she left Jack, with naught but a name and note, and sailed away from him with no intentions of ever returning. He had followed her then, and a hundred times after. And though she always went back, commitment was not part of the pirate lifestyle, especially for captains. Whatever their mix of friendship and fornication really was, in time, Julianne simply came to accept it as a part of everyday life.
Now, as the Renegade began making ready to pull into port, Julianne turned all these thoughts over in her head, and felt that she was finally ready to face what the last 15 years had amounted to.
***
It was late into the hot and humid night when the Renegade pulled into the harbor at Tortuga. Captain Amaris smiled to herself surveying the other ships docked in the harbor. As the anchor splashed into the dark waters, the ship's crew gathered round the helm for their Captain's final words before docking.
"Welcome 'ome mates. I know it's been a long time, but try not to get yourselves into too much trouble while we're 'ere." She had never really been one for drawn out speeches and they hadn't expected much more. The crew next turned their attention to Dipst, the first mate, who quickly called out the guard duty assignments before releasing them. But rather than going crazy when Dipst was finished speaking, the entire crew of the Renegade, including the first mate himself watched in wonder as their captain walked off the ship alone.
Despite the fact that it was traditional for a ship's captain to go ashore before anyone else, Captain Amaris had never followed the protocol. Yet another by-product of being the only woman captain of a pirate ship in the Caribbean, she had always changed into unnoticeable clothing and exited the ship among the crew to avoid being known. It all added to the mystery of the Renegade, one of the most fearsome ships to sail the seas. So tonight, when Julianne Amaris made her solitary walk down onto the dock fully adorned in her long coat and hat, not a one could believe their eyes. After the initial shock of the whole incident had passed, Dipst ran after Julianne.
"What's the occasion?" he asked curiously.
His captain pondered his question for a minute before answering. "I think maybe its time to put a rest to the mystery of just exactly who captains the Renegade don't you?'
"If you say so", he shrugged unsurely.
"Well I do say so, so that settles it", and she walked away leaving Dipst standing alone on the dock. The first mate was pretty sure there was something more behind this curt answer but knew his captain and friend well enough not to push the issue. Alone again, Captain J. made a quick stop at the Faithful Bride grabbing herself a jug of grog, and headed up the hill for her house. She tried the door just to be sure, but found it locked. Pulling out the blackened skeleton key, she turned it once, heard the latch click, and stepped inside.
Inside, everything was exactly how she'd left several months before. Pausing for a minute to enjoy the familiarity of home, her eyes settled on one spot in particular.
"I thought I'd find you 'ere," Julianne smiled slyly at the figure who was sprawled comfortably across the kitchen counter top.
"Well someone has to be welcoming you 'ome", Captain Jack Sparrow answered jumping up with an equally mischievous grin.
Julianne's smile grew slightly as she shook her head and began removing her gun and sword from her sides. "I see you got the Pearl back", she began again, hanging her hat on the rack next to the door as Jack moved towards her. "I bet that was a grand adventure", she continued looking up at him again.
"Oh it was luv, it was" he replied, sliding her long coat off her shoulders, letting it fall to the floor, and wrapping his arms around her waist.
"I'll be wanting to hear all about it.sometime", she laughed putting her own arms around his neck. The two shared a long, passionate kiss as they stood embracing one another.
"It's been a long time", Jack whispered under his breath between kisses.
"Aye."
"I've missed you Jules".
"Oh the hell you did", she said breaking away from him abruptly. "Between all your other whores I don't see 'ow you'd have 'ad any time to" she added sharply.
"Ouch luv", he replied pulling his face far enough away from her's to look right into her eyes. "Like I always say, they might share my bed but only you have me 'eart."
Julianne raised her eyebrows at him skeptically, taking notice of the hurt her comment seemed to inflict, and pulled him back to her to kiss him again. Slowly, the two of them made their way into Julianne's bedroom, and Jack shut the door behind them.
***
The next morning Julianne lay awake in bed thinking to herself. Light streamed into the bedroom from the windows revealing two bodies tangled in the bed sheets. It was apparent that at some point in the night Jack had traded his feather pillow for her stomach, where his head now rested. Julianne looked up at the ceiling, her head resting on her left hand and her other hand running absently through Jack's mess of brown hair. After a few minutes of quiet contemplation, Julianne felt Jack begin to stir. Looking down she found that he was now wide awake and watching her.
"Mornin' luv", he said pulling himself back up towards the top of the bed and propping his head against his fist.
Rolling on her side to face him, Julianne smiled, "now I remember why I used to make you sleep in the extra bedroom. Your snoring is absolutely unbearable."
"Mmm, so you're saying you want me to remind you why you changed your mind", he grinned, and put a hand to her face as he leaned in and kissed her.
"Nice try", she replied rolling over and getting out of bed, sheet wrapped around her. Walking to her closet where she always kept extra clothes, Julianne opened the doors and pulled out something to wear for herself, then threw a pile of clothes at Jack as well. Proceeding to the bathroom, she washed her face, brushed her hair, got dressed, and headed out to the kitchen to start a pot of tea. It was about the time the Julianne added a bit of rum to the pot that Jack shuffled out of the bedroom, grabbed two plates and a loaf of bread out of the cabinet, and plopped himself into a chair. Julianne poured two mugs of "tea" (or "trum" as she liked to call it), and grabbed a jar of jelly before sitting down.
"So", she began after taking a sip and passing Jack his cup, "'ow bout this story of yours."
A gleam suddenly appeared in Jack's eye, and Julianne knew that he had been bursting to tell her all about his adventure and getting the Pearl back. He finished the sip he was working on, set his cup down, twirled it around a few times and began.
"Well, let's see. Was 'bout a year ago, I think, maybe a bit more. Not too long after you and I hit up that merchant fleet on its way from England actually. Anyway, a little bit after you left Tortuga I decided to umm, go on the market for a ship. Not a permanent one mind you, but just something to get me about for a time. Naturally, I wasn't about to buy one."
"Naturally", Julianne agreed nodding.
"So, I had this lovely little shuttle all picked out and just as I'm pulling out of the harbor who do you supposed shows up. Anamaria."
"Oh Jack, you didn't?"
"Aye, I did. And of all people it just had to be her boat that I picked out. But I went ahead and took it anyway. Which did end up coming back to bite me in the arse later on, as you'll see."
Julianne shook her head and chuckled as Jack continued on with his story. She listened as he told her about Anamaria's leaky boat which barely made it to Port Royale, and how he attempted to commandeer the Interceptor but was almost caught when he saved the governor's daughter from drowning, and how he actually was caught after dueling it out with a young blacksmith. He told her about how Elizabeth had been wearing one of the medallions from Cortez's treasure, how the Pearl pulled into harbor and began attacking the fort while he was in prison, and Barbossa took Elizabeth hostage after invoking the right of parler'. He made it all the way up to the part about Will coming to save him without a single interruption, when Julianne practically spit out her drink and exclaimed, "BOOTSTRAP'S SON?"
"The very same."
"It can't be!"
"That's what I thought at first, but I guarantee you the boy was the spittin' image of old Bootstrap himself. They couldn't have looked anymore alike even if one 'ad been looking in the mirror."
Julianne's look was one of total amazement, and all at once her mind began reeling with all sorts of confusion. She listened in silence to the rest of Jack's story, occasionally finding her attention drifting away from the captain.
"Well, what do ye think?" Jack asked with a cocky grin upon finishing his entire and very long story.
"To be honest, I'm amazed you even made it out alive luv."
"Hey now. O' course I made it out alive. After all, I am Cap."
"tain Jack Sparrow. I know, I know", Julianne laughed finishing his sentence for him. Jack laughed along with her until she asked, "So, you mean to tell me that William's son is alive and well?"
"He is."
"And you know where he is?"
"I do. Just saw him a few weeks ago as a matter o' fact. Why? What's in yer 'ead Jules?"
For a second or two, Julianne did not respond but instead stared into her empty cup.
"Jules?" Jack asked again.
Julianne sighed but finally looked up at him. "Right before the mutiny, when we were both in Carsa after Cordei's little tirade, Bill came and found me and wanted to talk about some things. He said he had a favor to ask that was very important to him. Naturally I obliged, him being such a good friend an' all. Anyway, he told me that over the years he had spent on the Pearl he had saved a lot of the booty he had accumulated. Saved most of it in fact, cept for what he needed to survive and what he sent to Will's mother, and kept it all down in a little 'ouse he owned in the Sinkhole. The thing was, this was right when Bill was startin' te get worried about things on the Pearl. You know how he kept feelin' that something bad was about to happen?"
Jack nodded, still not sure where this was going.
"So the favor was, well Bill, he asked if the next time I sailed into Tortuga I would go to his place and pick up all of his loot and take it to Santa Croix with me. He wanted it somewhere we he knew it would be safe if anything happened to him, and he asked that in the event that something did that I would see to it that the treasure would get passed onto Will."
Julianne paused to for Jack's reaction, who now seemed to catch on. "So now you've got to get the loot to Will is what you're saying?" Julianne nodded.
"I gave Bill my word that I would do as he asked, but having never come across any Will Jr. it never occurred to me to actually do anything with Bill's treasure. Now that I know e's alive it's a bit of a different story. I mean 'ow do you tell someone 'Hey I don't know you, but here's a shitload of treasure your dad wanted me to give you if he died'?"
"Well that's no problem really. I mean I know Will so we'll just take care of it together."
Julianne pondered this proposition for a moment and then agreed. "Alright, so then we'll just go pick it up and drop it off at Port Royale for him?"
"Actually luv, I was having a thought. Why don't we go to Port Royale and have the Turners come along with us?"
Julianne looked at him questioningly.
"Just here me out. I know Will and Elizabeth. They both love adventure and I think they would really enjoy a break from their everyday lives. I mean, it's just going to be a relaxing little cruise so it wouldn't be any 'arm. Besides, I'd love the chance to sail with Will again. Visiting him at 'ome isn't all that convenient for me if ya catch my meaning."
At once Julianne understood exactly what Jack was getting at. Since their adventure together the year before he and Will had become great friends, Jack almost serving as a sort of fatherly figure for the younger man. When it came to bringing he and his wife along on the trip, Julianne knew that it was solely for the purpose of Jack getting to spend some time with one of the few people in his life that meant anything to him. She also knew that his seemingly simply request was his way of begging her to do this for him.
"Alright my little Sparrow, we will go to Port Royale and pick up your dear Turners. Besides, there are some things I could use for the ship that I'd much rather get there anyway." Jack smiled, not one of his cheesy or charming grins, just a genuine smile of appreciation. Getting up to clear away what was left of their breakfast, he gave her a kiss on the top of her head to show his thanks. From where she sat, Julianne watched him move around the kitchen and thought to herself. *I know you better than you know yourself Jack Sparrow.* But even as the thought flashed across her mind, deep down she knew that he knew her just as well.
Later on it was decided that the two of them would sail into Port Royale together on the Pearl. They would not bother rounding the crew up for such a trivial mission, but would go alone.
"You know Jules, maybe taking the Pearl isn't the best idea. With Commodore Norrington's opinion about me and all, I can't think they'll just let us sail right in."
"Nonsense, it will be fine. We'll just trade your typical colors and sail in under a flag of truce. You just leave the Commodore to me."
At this, Jack knew there was no sense in further argument, and promptly dropped the topic. "Fine then, we'll leave first thing tomorrow morning. Give me enough time to make sure those lazy dogs have gotten everything ready since we've been back."
The rest of the day was spent searching out crew members from both ships and informing them of what would be happening within the next few days. Dipst and Anamaria were of course put in charge of keeping everything under control until their captains returned, although for Anamaria this didn't entail much being that the Pearl wouldn't even be there. They finished off the night with dinner down at the Faithful Bride and turned in for the night early so as to get a good start the next morning.
"Turn your ship back Captain, you seek what you cannot have!" a woman's voice yelled menacingly at him. But Jack paid no heed to the warning, and as the Black Pearl pulled up to the Renegade, he jumped from the deck of one ship to the other. Swaggering up to the helm where Julianne stood with her sword drawn, Jack flashed a gold and white smile.
"And who's to stop me from having what I seek?" he asked confidently giving her a wink.
Captain Amaris stared at Jack with contempt but after a backwards glance toward her crew, her look changed to one of pain and pleading. "Please don't do this Jack", she said softly, her gaze shifting towards the ground. "It's already 'ard enough."
The confident smile on Jack's face began to fade into a look of concern. "Just tell me why, why did you do it?"
Her mind reeled as pain tugged at her heart, and she stood silent for several minutes. Finally, raising her head, she looked straight into Jack's eyes and answered. "Because I was falling in love with you."
Captain Jack Sparrow could remember every occasion in his life where he had been left speechless, and this time definitely topped them all. At once he was over come by almost a hundred emotions which he could make no sense of at all. He opened his mouth attempting to piece together something intelligible or even slightly charming to say but was too overwhelmed. Hurt, shocked, and confused, Jack put his hands together, gave Julianne a little bow, turned on his heel and headed back for the Pearl.
The crew of the Renegade stood bewildered as they watched at the receding ship sail away. Still standing at the helm, Captain J. Amaris gripped the wheel as she stared off at the Pearl, and felt her heart breaking.
~~~
That had been almost 12 years ago, but as Tortuga became visible on the horizon, Captain J. could not help but recall it. So much had changed since then, and so much had occurred between her and the Captain of the Black Pearl even before that fateful day out at sea. She remembered the day she left home to become a pirate, and saying good-bye to the father whom had given up his life at sea to raise her after her mother had died. She remembered the first time she met Captain Jack Sparrow on the very same island for which they now sailed, and the many occasions on which they met again after that. She remembered Jack's reaction when he learned whom she was, a crew member of the Renegade, daughter of Ash Amaris the infamous pirate who had sailed on her ship as first mate before her, and surrogate daughter to her father's best friend, one of the greatest captains to date. She remembered the day when that same man, Captain Mendoza, announced that he was throwing in the towel, and named her captain in his place. And most of all, she remembered the morning she left Jack, with naught but a name and note, and sailed away from him with no intentions of ever returning. He had followed her then, and a hundred times after. And though she always went back, commitment was not part of the pirate lifestyle, especially for captains. Whatever their mix of friendship and fornication really was, in time, Julianne simply came to accept it as a part of everyday life.
Now, as the Renegade began making ready to pull into port, Julianne turned all these thoughts over in her head, and felt that she was finally ready to face what the last 15 years had amounted to.
***
It was late into the hot and humid night when the Renegade pulled into the harbor at Tortuga. Captain Amaris smiled to herself surveying the other ships docked in the harbor. As the anchor splashed into the dark waters, the ship's crew gathered round the helm for their Captain's final words before docking.
"Welcome 'ome mates. I know it's been a long time, but try not to get yourselves into too much trouble while we're 'ere." She had never really been one for drawn out speeches and they hadn't expected much more. The crew next turned their attention to Dipst, the first mate, who quickly called out the guard duty assignments before releasing them. But rather than going crazy when Dipst was finished speaking, the entire crew of the Renegade, including the first mate himself watched in wonder as their captain walked off the ship alone.
Despite the fact that it was traditional for a ship's captain to go ashore before anyone else, Captain Amaris had never followed the protocol. Yet another by-product of being the only woman captain of a pirate ship in the Caribbean, she had always changed into unnoticeable clothing and exited the ship among the crew to avoid being known. It all added to the mystery of the Renegade, one of the most fearsome ships to sail the seas. So tonight, when Julianne Amaris made her solitary walk down onto the dock fully adorned in her long coat and hat, not a one could believe their eyes. After the initial shock of the whole incident had passed, Dipst ran after Julianne.
"What's the occasion?" he asked curiously.
His captain pondered his question for a minute before answering. "I think maybe its time to put a rest to the mystery of just exactly who captains the Renegade don't you?'
"If you say so", he shrugged unsurely.
"Well I do say so, so that settles it", and she walked away leaving Dipst standing alone on the dock. The first mate was pretty sure there was something more behind this curt answer but knew his captain and friend well enough not to push the issue. Alone again, Captain J. made a quick stop at the Faithful Bride grabbing herself a jug of grog, and headed up the hill for her house. She tried the door just to be sure, but found it locked. Pulling out the blackened skeleton key, she turned it once, heard the latch click, and stepped inside.
Inside, everything was exactly how she'd left several months before. Pausing for a minute to enjoy the familiarity of home, her eyes settled on one spot in particular.
"I thought I'd find you 'ere," Julianne smiled slyly at the figure who was sprawled comfortably across the kitchen counter top.
"Well someone has to be welcoming you 'ome", Captain Jack Sparrow answered jumping up with an equally mischievous grin.
Julianne's smile grew slightly as she shook her head and began removing her gun and sword from her sides. "I see you got the Pearl back", she began again, hanging her hat on the rack next to the door as Jack moved towards her. "I bet that was a grand adventure", she continued looking up at him again.
"Oh it was luv, it was" he replied, sliding her long coat off her shoulders, letting it fall to the floor, and wrapping his arms around her waist.
"I'll be wanting to hear all about it.sometime", she laughed putting her own arms around his neck. The two shared a long, passionate kiss as they stood embracing one another.
"It's been a long time", Jack whispered under his breath between kisses.
"Aye."
"I've missed you Jules".
"Oh the hell you did", she said breaking away from him abruptly. "Between all your other whores I don't see 'ow you'd have 'ad any time to" she added sharply.
"Ouch luv", he replied pulling his face far enough away from her's to look right into her eyes. "Like I always say, they might share my bed but only you have me 'eart."
Julianne raised her eyebrows at him skeptically, taking notice of the hurt her comment seemed to inflict, and pulled him back to her to kiss him again. Slowly, the two of them made their way into Julianne's bedroom, and Jack shut the door behind them.
***
The next morning Julianne lay awake in bed thinking to herself. Light streamed into the bedroom from the windows revealing two bodies tangled in the bed sheets. It was apparent that at some point in the night Jack had traded his feather pillow for her stomach, where his head now rested. Julianne looked up at the ceiling, her head resting on her left hand and her other hand running absently through Jack's mess of brown hair. After a few minutes of quiet contemplation, Julianne felt Jack begin to stir. Looking down she found that he was now wide awake and watching her.
"Mornin' luv", he said pulling himself back up towards the top of the bed and propping his head against his fist.
Rolling on her side to face him, Julianne smiled, "now I remember why I used to make you sleep in the extra bedroom. Your snoring is absolutely unbearable."
"Mmm, so you're saying you want me to remind you why you changed your mind", he grinned, and put a hand to her face as he leaned in and kissed her.
"Nice try", she replied rolling over and getting out of bed, sheet wrapped around her. Walking to her closet where she always kept extra clothes, Julianne opened the doors and pulled out something to wear for herself, then threw a pile of clothes at Jack as well. Proceeding to the bathroom, she washed her face, brushed her hair, got dressed, and headed out to the kitchen to start a pot of tea. It was about the time the Julianne added a bit of rum to the pot that Jack shuffled out of the bedroom, grabbed two plates and a loaf of bread out of the cabinet, and plopped himself into a chair. Julianne poured two mugs of "tea" (or "trum" as she liked to call it), and grabbed a jar of jelly before sitting down.
"So", she began after taking a sip and passing Jack his cup, "'ow bout this story of yours."
A gleam suddenly appeared in Jack's eye, and Julianne knew that he had been bursting to tell her all about his adventure and getting the Pearl back. He finished the sip he was working on, set his cup down, twirled it around a few times and began.
"Well, let's see. Was 'bout a year ago, I think, maybe a bit more. Not too long after you and I hit up that merchant fleet on its way from England actually. Anyway, a little bit after you left Tortuga I decided to umm, go on the market for a ship. Not a permanent one mind you, but just something to get me about for a time. Naturally, I wasn't about to buy one."
"Naturally", Julianne agreed nodding.
"So, I had this lovely little shuttle all picked out and just as I'm pulling out of the harbor who do you supposed shows up. Anamaria."
"Oh Jack, you didn't?"
"Aye, I did. And of all people it just had to be her boat that I picked out. But I went ahead and took it anyway. Which did end up coming back to bite me in the arse later on, as you'll see."
Julianne shook her head and chuckled as Jack continued on with his story. She listened as he told her about Anamaria's leaky boat which barely made it to Port Royale, and how he attempted to commandeer the Interceptor but was almost caught when he saved the governor's daughter from drowning, and how he actually was caught after dueling it out with a young blacksmith. He told her about how Elizabeth had been wearing one of the medallions from Cortez's treasure, how the Pearl pulled into harbor and began attacking the fort while he was in prison, and Barbossa took Elizabeth hostage after invoking the right of parler'. He made it all the way up to the part about Will coming to save him without a single interruption, when Julianne practically spit out her drink and exclaimed, "BOOTSTRAP'S SON?"
"The very same."
"It can't be!"
"That's what I thought at first, but I guarantee you the boy was the spittin' image of old Bootstrap himself. They couldn't have looked anymore alike even if one 'ad been looking in the mirror."
Julianne's look was one of total amazement, and all at once her mind began reeling with all sorts of confusion. She listened in silence to the rest of Jack's story, occasionally finding her attention drifting away from the captain.
"Well, what do ye think?" Jack asked with a cocky grin upon finishing his entire and very long story.
"To be honest, I'm amazed you even made it out alive luv."
"Hey now. O' course I made it out alive. After all, I am Cap."
"tain Jack Sparrow. I know, I know", Julianne laughed finishing his sentence for him. Jack laughed along with her until she asked, "So, you mean to tell me that William's son is alive and well?"
"He is."
"And you know where he is?"
"I do. Just saw him a few weeks ago as a matter o' fact. Why? What's in yer 'ead Jules?"
For a second or two, Julianne did not respond but instead stared into her empty cup.
"Jules?" Jack asked again.
Julianne sighed but finally looked up at him. "Right before the mutiny, when we were both in Carsa after Cordei's little tirade, Bill came and found me and wanted to talk about some things. He said he had a favor to ask that was very important to him. Naturally I obliged, him being such a good friend an' all. Anyway, he told me that over the years he had spent on the Pearl he had saved a lot of the booty he had accumulated. Saved most of it in fact, cept for what he needed to survive and what he sent to Will's mother, and kept it all down in a little 'ouse he owned in the Sinkhole. The thing was, this was right when Bill was startin' te get worried about things on the Pearl. You know how he kept feelin' that something bad was about to happen?"
Jack nodded, still not sure where this was going.
"So the favor was, well Bill, he asked if the next time I sailed into Tortuga I would go to his place and pick up all of his loot and take it to Santa Croix with me. He wanted it somewhere we he knew it would be safe if anything happened to him, and he asked that in the event that something did that I would see to it that the treasure would get passed onto Will."
Julianne paused to for Jack's reaction, who now seemed to catch on. "So now you've got to get the loot to Will is what you're saying?" Julianne nodded.
"I gave Bill my word that I would do as he asked, but having never come across any Will Jr. it never occurred to me to actually do anything with Bill's treasure. Now that I know e's alive it's a bit of a different story. I mean 'ow do you tell someone 'Hey I don't know you, but here's a shitload of treasure your dad wanted me to give you if he died'?"
"Well that's no problem really. I mean I know Will so we'll just take care of it together."
Julianne pondered this proposition for a moment and then agreed. "Alright, so then we'll just go pick it up and drop it off at Port Royale for him?"
"Actually luv, I was having a thought. Why don't we go to Port Royale and have the Turners come along with us?"
Julianne looked at him questioningly.
"Just here me out. I know Will and Elizabeth. They both love adventure and I think they would really enjoy a break from their everyday lives. I mean, it's just going to be a relaxing little cruise so it wouldn't be any 'arm. Besides, I'd love the chance to sail with Will again. Visiting him at 'ome isn't all that convenient for me if ya catch my meaning."
At once Julianne understood exactly what Jack was getting at. Since their adventure together the year before he and Will had become great friends, Jack almost serving as a sort of fatherly figure for the younger man. When it came to bringing he and his wife along on the trip, Julianne knew that it was solely for the purpose of Jack getting to spend some time with one of the few people in his life that meant anything to him. She also knew that his seemingly simply request was his way of begging her to do this for him.
"Alright my little Sparrow, we will go to Port Royale and pick up your dear Turners. Besides, there are some things I could use for the ship that I'd much rather get there anyway." Jack smiled, not one of his cheesy or charming grins, just a genuine smile of appreciation. Getting up to clear away what was left of their breakfast, he gave her a kiss on the top of her head to show his thanks. From where she sat, Julianne watched him move around the kitchen and thought to herself. *I know you better than you know yourself Jack Sparrow.* But even as the thought flashed across her mind, deep down she knew that he knew her just as well.
Later on it was decided that the two of them would sail into Port Royale together on the Pearl. They would not bother rounding the crew up for such a trivial mission, but would go alone.
"You know Jules, maybe taking the Pearl isn't the best idea. With Commodore Norrington's opinion about me and all, I can't think they'll just let us sail right in."
"Nonsense, it will be fine. We'll just trade your typical colors and sail in under a flag of truce. You just leave the Commodore to me."
At this, Jack knew there was no sense in further argument, and promptly dropped the topic. "Fine then, we'll leave first thing tomorrow morning. Give me enough time to make sure those lazy dogs have gotten everything ready since we've been back."
The rest of the day was spent searching out crew members from both ships and informing them of what would be happening within the next few days. Dipst and Anamaria were of course put in charge of keeping everything under control until their captains returned, although for Anamaria this didn't entail much being that the Pearl wouldn't even be there. They finished off the night with dinner down at the Faithful Bride and turned in for the night early so as to get a good start the next morning.