Lord Knows I Can't Change
Chapter Eighteen
"William. You can't put it off any longer… -You have for twenty years."
Bootstrap had been almost grateful when the familiar shores of Port Royale gradually began to show themselves in the distance. The entire voyage had consisted of nothing more than the mocking yesterdays and the deafening silence. He had lost battle after battle with his mind and wouldn't be surprised in the least bit if his mind's raging ego had driven him insane.
"I can't talk to him, Jack… What if I hurt him?"
"You're already hurting him by ignoring him."
Almost. He had almost been grateful. Part of him dreaded and even feared what was yet to come. He was going by nothing and trusted that nothing that what he was going to do was the right choice. There was no guiding light and, if there was, he hadn't seen it.
"Two years ago I asked Will if I had ever given him reason not to trust me, and I hadn't. Its two years later, and I still haven't… I told him you were a good man, William, with a good heart… Don't make me have given Will reason to no longer trust me."
"Jack told me that you were a good man with a good heart, clearly not even your best friend really truly knows you."
Bootstrap had given his son reason to no longer trust Jack. Perhaps that was why the blacksmith had pulled away from the pirate captain's embrace and had avoided both him and Bootstrap for virtually the entire rest of the voyage. Will had stayed with Elizabeth and Elizabeth with Will. Bootstrap had stayed with Jack and Jack with Bootstrap. The tension had been so thick that at some point, whether it had occurred at night or at day or while they were alone or with the other three, each one had felt as if they were about to fall unconscious. Physically, no one had. Emotionally, each one did.
"I don't even know why I came out here looking for you; it's obvious that you don't give a damn about me! You have Jack, the bloody ocean, and your fucking freedom, why the blazes would you want your son?!"
It wasn't fair to Elizabeth, nor Jack. The governors' daughter and the pirate captain had been thrown into the middle of Bootstrap and Will's quarrel and had been held in place by the jaws of life. Bootstrap had seen how Will deliberately put on a crestfallen expression each time Elizabeth even thought about talking to him. He had heard Will and Jack's conversation and knew without a doubt that the pirate captain, as in control as he might have appeared to be, was torn between two vital people in his life. They had forced Elizabeth and Jack into the middle and both had taken the hardest of the many blows and hits. Bootstrap wasn't even entirely certain that both had regained consciousness.
"He was back from the dead, Jack, it's like he was back from the dead…I had him, Jack, I had him… He was back from the dead; he was in my life…"
The blood from wounds that could not heal had been seeping from Bootstrap's veins in small painful drops as his son's broken voice told his best friend that his father had chosen Jack over him. Bootstrap had dimly wondered why the wounds still bled. Barbossa had been the reason for their continuous ache, and now that Barbossa was dead, shouldn't the blood have stopped flowing?
"I know that I have hurt you and I want to make up for it… I don't want you to feel pain anymore."
"Pain doesn't hurt when it's all you've ever felt."
"Pain and hurt coincide, Will. Don't you dare sit there and tell me that you are numb to them, because you aren't. To feel them is a part of life, Will, it means that you are alive… If you don't feel them, then you are dead… And you don't appear dead to me."
"Appearances can be deceiving. You of all people should know this."
"So you're dead?"
"You killed me."
Dead men do not bleed, and both Bootstrap and Will had. Bootstrap through the veins and Will through the eyes. So neither could have been dead nor could they have been numb. The wounds should have been gone, though, Barbossa was dead. What was left? Why did they still bleed?
"I'll be there now if you will let me. You're my son, Will, and I love you."
Bootstrap frowned as the Pearl sailed past the three dangling pirates.
"He barely survived you leaving him once, William; he won't survive a second time. You know what you have to do. Blood is thicker than water, William, it's about time that you proved that to your son."
Each other. Bootstrap and Will were left.
Barbossa had not been the reason for the bleeding wounds.
Bootstrap and Will were.
Bootstrap was.
"I'll tie her up same place as last," Jack announced. "Once I find me crew, I'm out of here. Don't want the pleasure of meeting Norrington today." Elizabeth frowned and turned around to look at the pirate.
"I hadn't even thought about that…" Her voice held uncertainty and Jack met her eyes and grinned.
"No need to fret, love… I'm Captain Jack Sparrow." Elizabeth smiled softly and turned away as Bootstrap rested his eyes on Will. Blood was thicker than water and his love for his son was vaster than the Caribbean Sea. Captain Jack Sparrow was right. After twenty years, it was time that Bootstrap proved this to his son, and he would.
* * *
Jack had almost immediately located Anamaria and, after hugging him for returning safely and then slapping him for leaving in the first place, she set out to
locate the rest of Jack's crew while the four people remained hidden close to the Pearl in the dense patch of trees. Within minutes, the crew was reunited with their captain and was hauling supplies and various other goods onto the Pearl as they prepared to take sail for the first time in days.
"You went to Commodore Norrington for help?" Jack's tone was dripping with pleasure as he grinned at the female pirate. His eyes, though, held gratitude, and Elizabeth couldn't help but wonder if the two were more than just captain and first mate.
Anamaria crossed her arms. "Yes, Jack, I did." She rolled her eyes and couldn't help but smile as Jack laughed and waved his hand in the air.
"Now, love, what have I told you about not doing stupid things?" She shrugged and Jack laughed quietly before turning his head to peer at Gibbs when the older man shouted something or another to him.
"We're ready to take sail, Cap'n." Jack nodded and turned his eyes back to Elizabeth, Will and Bootstrap. Anamaria remained by Jack's side as Gibbs and the remaining crew members that were still on land made their way onto the Pearl.
"I'm not going to fall off of a ledge this time." Will and Elizabeth grinned as Bootstrap frowned in confusion.
"You fell off of a ledge?" He looked at Jack with a raised eyebrow. "When and how?"
"After your whelp rescued me from the gallows… I sort of slipped off of the ledge and fell into the sea," Jack shrugged. "The Pearl came back for me, though." Bootstrap shook his head in amusement and sighed dramatically.
"Captain Jack Sparrow, whatever am I to do with you?"
Jack grinned. "Say goodbye so I may return to my ship." Will frowned and looked back and forth between the two older men before sighing and shaking his head. He looked at jack and wondered faintly why the man was smiling.
"He doesn't need to say goodbye, Jack, he's coming with you, remember? I told you." Jack shook his head and Will narrowed his eyes in bewilderment and turned to look at his father.
"Aren't you?...-"
Bootstrap smiled at his son. "You're going to let me be there, Will, why would I not be? Blood is thicker than water," he glanced briefly over at Jack, "and it's about time that I show you that." Bootstrap stumbled back as Will jumped and wrapped his arms around him and held him closely in an embrace for several seconds before finally pulling away and smiling at him as an excited child would.
"You can live with Elizabeth and me… -If that's alright with her, I mean."
Elizabeth laughed. "Of course! That would be nice." She smiled at Bootstrap. "I mean, I owe him my life." The three turned with a start when Jack noisily cleared his throat. He rose an eyebrow at them and crossed his arms.
"Yes, while this is all very endearing, I'd better be going because I have a feeling that Norrington will show up soon."
"Jack?" Jack looked at Bootstrap. "Don't wreck my ship."
"You gave me her. She's my ship." Bootstrap rolled his eyes and pulled the younger man into a hug. Jack pulled back a few seconds later and smiled at Elizabeth. "Don't let them drive you crazy, love."
Elizabeth laughed quietly. "I'll manage, Jack." Jack nodded at her and shifted his eyes to Will.
"You don't have a hat on." Will smirked at his friend and shook his head.
"No, I don't. Jack? Don't wait another two years to visit, savvy?" Jack grinned and opened his mouth to respond and unexpectedly shut it as the blacksmith pulled him into a firm hug. He released the pirate and stood beside Bootstrap once more. Elizabeth got on Will's other side and Jack grinned at the three of them.
"Ta." It was a simple farewell and with one final characteristic gold-toothed grin, Jack turned on his heel and started to hobble back to the Pearl. Anamaria caught up easily with the man and wrapped her arm around her captain and the two were soon bickering over Jack's pride and how he could not swallow it long enough to allow someone to aid him. Jack and Anamaria were both onboard a few minutes later and soon Jack was spraying commands at his crew. The sounds of stomping feet and eager shouts drowned out the silence as the Pearl's sails were hoisted and Jack contentedly took the wheel and started to lead his freedom away from Port Royale and away from the three people watching and towards that bright, shimmering line that was outlined with freedom.
Bootstrap wrapped his arm around Will and the three of them watched the Pearl sail away until she was lost amongst the sparkling clear blue water of the Caribbean.
The End… For now
Everybody please read the AN below!!
AN: Okay, well… there's the ending! I still can't believe this story is over, it seems like I just started it. Ah well, there's always sequels. Anyway, down to business…
Chapter Nineteen will consist of the following: Credits, thank you's, shout out's, explanations and a sneak preview into the sequel, which is called Do I Have To Cry For You? This is your last chance to let me know of any questions that you would like to see answered in nineteen. The explanation behind the title, how I found out Jack's age, and a few other questions that readers have asked since August and chapter one will be answered. Have a question about the sequel? Ask. Have a question on why I named a certain chapter what I named it? Ask. Now is your time to ask me anything about this story or its upcoming sequel!
I do not know when chapter one of Do I Have To Cry For You? will be up, but I'm hoping sometime this month!
I want to thank every body that has read this story and stuck with it. It means a lot.
Okay, now, everyone, and I mean everyone that has read this story, please review and tell me what you thought! Like favorite scenes, least favorite scenes, favorite lines, least favorite lines, favorite characters, and yada yada. Let me know if anyone was out of character so that I can correct it for the sequel.
Please, please, please review!!!
See ya'll in first in nineteen and then in Do I Have To Cry For You?!