"Yes!" Elizabeth replied, tears welling in her eyes. "Oh, Captain Jack Sparrow, I love you so much!" She tore herself from her father and crashed into Jack, sending the ring flying. She found his lips and snatched them in a passionate kiss.
Will smiled. He wasn´t in the least bit jealous. Not at all. When Jack finally scrambled to slide the ring onto Elizabeth´s milky white finger, he said, "Will, yer my best man, an´ I´m not takin´ a no fer an answer, savvy?"
"Oh, yes, Will, be Jack´s best man!" Elizabeth cried, and also body-slammed Will in a hug. She kissed his cheek and drew away, tears running sloppily down her face.
"Well, I suppose I´ll have to accept, God knows what would happen if I didn´t!" said Will, becoming a little teary-eyed himself. He hugged Jack and Elizabeth at once.
When they broke apart, Elizabeth looked over at her father, who was looking very pale. "Father?" she asked tentatively. "Does Jack have your blessing?"
Bloody hell, Jack thought. Forgot about him.
Governor Swann said, "Elizabeth, a little more than a year ago you got a proposal from Commodore Norrington, may he rest in peace." Here all five bowed their heads. "You did not give him a definitive answer until your then beloved was in peril. William Turner was rescued as a wedding gift from the commodore to you, and then after Turner rescued Captain Sparrow from his hanging, you denied the commodore of marriage and then started courting with Mr. Turner. A year later, you escape with William again and Captain Sparrow to go to Cuba without any notice besides a letter on your pillow." He paused here and sighed. Elizabeth took Jack´s hand and clutched it tightly.
"Where is this leading, Father?" she asked.
"Patience, Elizabeth. While you were gone, I did all I could to try to get you back. Nothing worked because of the bumbling Navy officers. I slipped into depression and one particular day I was feeling most distressed. I am told I fell off the Fort Charles bell tower, and was rescued by Admiral Gillette- that´s why he was promoted, you know. I then was bedridden and when I finally got well, you show up wearing nothing but your petticoat and holding the hand of Captain Sparrow. A pirate."
Elizabeth was hurting Jack´s hand. "Father, a simple yes or no would suffice."
The governor held up a hand. "And Captain Sparrow proposes. You accept without a moment´s hesitation. . . how could I not give Sparrow my blessing?"
"Oh, Father!" Elizabeth squealed, fresh tears spilling over. She threw her arms round her dad and pressed against him, totally uninhibited. "Thank you so much."
"Yes, thank you very much, Guv´ner," Jack said, offering a handshake once more. Governor Swann accepted with a wry smile.
"When shall this joyous occasion take place?" Will asked, trying not to notice that Lily was practically breathing down his collar.
"Soon," Elizabeth cried. "Oh, Jack. . . I want it to be on the Black Pearl, with all the crew. Even Gibbs."
"O´ course, darling! And rum?" Jack asked hopefully.
Elizabeth responded, "Jack, m´dear, I believe you were the one who said, ´A wedding? I love weddings! Drinks all around!´ And I will certainly not be the one to deprive you of that."
Will, Jack, and Lily burst out laughing. Jack lifted Elizabeth up and twirled her around. "Darling, ya made me th´ happiest man alive."
"And you made me the happiest woman alive, Jack," Elizabeth said, and kissed him on the nose. "C´mon, let´s alert the crew! We´ve a wedding to plan!"
"I´m coming with you," Governor Swann told her.
"Meet the crew, Father, why not?" Elizabeth grinned. Nothing could get her down.
They set off down to the docks, and into their little boat. Lily said she´d start preparing for wedding food, and stayed behind.
Elizabeth skipped the whole way down to the docks, feeling giddy and very girlish. She talked of her dream wedding, and how she never would expected, that at 21, she would end up the wife of the most fearsome pirate of the Spanish Main.
Jack listened with enthusiasm, totally ecstatic that the girl of his dreams was going to be marrying him. "Liz, what´s gonna be fer food? Ya know I´m no good with these sorta things." "Ssh," Elizabeth chided him, pressing a finger against his lips. "Let´s celebrate ´fore we start planning."
They climbed over the edge of the Black Pearl, and Marcella, Annamaria, Gibbs, Mick, and Layla stood expecting.
"Governor Swann?" Gibbs and Annamaria gasped. Annamaria stepped back, Jack and Will did, but the other couple looked bemused. Gibbs strode forward and took the GovernorÕs hand.
"We meet again, Governor Swann," he said, smiling guiltily.
Elizabeth smiled back at him, he was forgiven. Moving right along, she said, "Father, meet my dear friends Annamaria, Mick Carothers, and his wife Layla." Annamaria nodded, Mick stuck his hand out, and Layla curtsied. Governor Swann gingerly took MickÕs hand and let go as quickly as possible, discreetly wiping his hand on his kerchief.
"Well, the rest of the crew is below deck, shall we call them up?" Will asked, taking Annamaria by the hand. Annamaria had to smile.
"Hey, Guv´ner Swann, wanna meet my mother, Captain Castilla? The Queen of Cuba?" she asked cockily.
The governor smiled wryly. "The only pirate to pillage Port-au-Prince in an hour, only to disappear without a trace with several hundred valuable jewel necklaces of the governor´s mistress?"
"The very same," said Marcella, coming up the stairs, followed by Cotton, Marty, and the rest. "What´s all this ballyhoo?"
Jack stepped forward, cleared his throat, and announced, "Elizabeth and I are engaged to be wed."
"Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!" squawked Cotton´s parrot.
"Cotton says congratulations," Gibbs said, smiling broadly. "And so do I." He quickly outstretched his arms, and embraced Jack wordlessly.
Jack, slightly taken aback, smiled resignedly, and gently pushed him off. "Yer all invited to our wedding, naturally it´ll take place on this here deck. Will´s my best man, can´ think of anyone better fer th´ job."
Everyone applauded, eyeing the governor warily.
"Oh yes," Elizabeth said, "this is my father, Governor of Port Royal."
"Very pleased to make all of your acquaintances," he said, somewhat stiffly. "Oh, Elizabeth, I must be carrying on. I have to start preparing for the wedding, and sending out invitations, and-"
"Father, this is my wedding- leave it to me," Elizabeth said. "I´ll help you back to shore, you can have a nice rest." She stage-whispered, "While we go out an´ get drunk!" to Jack, Will, Annamaria, and all the others. They chuckled.
"Well, all right, Elizabeth, I´ll talk to you later," he said, as the rowboat was lowered into the water. "Be careful, all right?"
"Yes Father," Elizabeth giggled, suppressing the hysterical feeling growing inside her. The governor and one of the lesser crew members rowed back to shore. Elizabeth waited. As soon as she strained to see the sillhouette of her father, she turned round, and hooted with happiness. "Let´s celebrate!" she howled.
Everyone cheered and bottles of rum were passed to many grubby hands.
"A toast!" Jack exclaimed, waving his jug in the air. He turned to Elizabeth, wrapped his arm round her, and said, "Ta m´dear love."
"To MY dear love," Elizabeth repeated. She smiled.
"To that chick and our cap´n," Marty said, his appropriate-to-his-size bottle of rum overflowing with suds.
"To Elizabeth and Jack, my best friends," Will said, struggling to hold back his emotions. "And to Annamaria, MY love." Annamaria grinned at this.
"To Cap´n Jack and Liz, because I knew they´d end up together in the end," she whooped.
"To Jack, ´cause even when I led ya astray, ya stayed true ta Elizabeth," Marcella said, still slightly shamed.
"To Jack Sparrow and his lady," said Mick, and slipped a bottle of rum out of his sash. He popped the cork, took a swig, and smothered Layla in a monstrous kiss.
"To Jack and Elizabeth!" everyone hollered, and the hearties drank up, yo ho.