~*~ Ten Years later ~*~

Grace stepped out of the little house her father owned by the sea. Port Royale. She hated here. The solid ground mostly. Her mother would often scold her for walking along the beach where the drunken men lie. Little did her mother know that those drunken men had the most wonderful stories of the sea where the water was clear and blue, and filled to the brim with treasures of silver and gold.

Grace pulled her raven locks out of her face, her dreams overcoming her common sense. Being swept off her feet by a scruffy pirate off to distance lands, where the air smelled of mangos, and the sand was soft and warm. "If only." She murmured to herself as she turned away from the ocean making her way to the little blacksmith shop in which her father worked long and hard.

"Father?" she asked as she walked into the small shop.

He turned away from his work and took it from the fire. "My Gracie." He greeted her smiling. "Is there something you wanted?"

She shook her head. Everyone considered her a daddy's girl. It was known to almost all of Port Royale. Her father nodded and went back to work. His heart was in his work, everyone could tell that. "Tell me about The Black Pearl Father."

Will sighed. "Grace, you know the story better than I do now. You could probably tell it better than I ever could. Besides you stopped believing in my stories years ago."

Grace shook her head. "Never. I believe every story you tell."

Will scoffed. "Pirates turning into skeletons in the moonlight, a certain type of blood to stop the spell; you're a teenager now, you don't believe in such things now."

Grace sighed. "But it's the way you tell it. As if you were there! Wouldn't that be amazing? Drinking with actual pirates, saving ladies, breaking the spell! Oh come on Father! Believe!"

He shook his head. "Your mother would be so angry if she heard you speaking of such things."

"What about Captain Jack Sparrow! What about him! He's real! I know he is. They still have that warrant for his arrest and hanging! I wish I could meet him; he must have the most amazing stories."

"That he must." Will smiled.

Gracie rolled her eyes. "You're just humoring me. Where do you think he would be?"

"Tortuga I suppose."

Gracie jumped. "Pardon?"

Will's eyes widened. "Nothing, nothing at all."

"No! I asked where he might be and you said, Tortuga!" Gracie yelped. "You know him!"

Will shook his head. "I most certainly don't and your mother would have a fit that you were accusing me that I did."

Gracie frowned. "Father, please stop protecting me! I'm a big girl! I'm fifteen!"

Will shook his head. "You're still a girl. You have no idea what the world is like beyond Port Royale."

"And I would have a better idea if you told me the truth about everything! You knew Jack Sparrow! I know you did!" Gracie said pointing her finger at him. "Please tell me Father!"

Will sighed and bit his lip. He walked to the door and locked it. "Ok, Gracie, I'll tell you the truth but after that, no more! You promise me, no more pirates. No more questions and most of all, everything I say will not leave this room. Never."

Gracie's eyes lit up. "I promise. Nothing will leave this room I swear."

Will swallowed nervously. "And no looking for trouble either. I mean it. No looking for pirates."

"Father I promise! Tell me please!" Gracie said moving over to the chair her father sat in and sat near his feet like she did when she was a child. She smoothed her dress around her.

He smiled and leaned down to look her in the eyes. "The stories are true."

Gracie's face softened. "The stories of the curse and the Black Pearl! Oh Father!"

He smiled. "Your mother was the fiancée of the Commodore."

"You mean mother was a . . ."

"She is Elizabeth Swan." Will nodded smiling, remembering the days of adventure some eighteen years ago. "I was a blacksmith's assistant."

Gracie frowned. "But in the story you said the man was a guard at the jail, to help Captain Jack Sparrow out of the jail!"

Will laughed. "I had to change a few things or of course you would guess it was me and your mother!"

Gracie smiled. "But the rest, it's true? Oh! Father I must meet him!" She got up and dusted off her dress.

"You must meet who?" Will replied getting up off of her chair and grabbing his daughter's arm.

"Captain Jack Sparrow! I must!"

"No! You promised! You can't!" Will sputtered staring at his daughter.

Gracie smiled. "Don't worry father. It what you said is true, then I have the blood of a pirate in my veins. I belong on the ocean! You do too! I can tell Thomas doesn't. He's terrified of the sea. I will never belong in Port Royale."

Will jumped in front of the door Gracie had turned to unlock. "You can't just run off and try to find one certain pirate! You have no idea where you are going!"

Gracie threw her head up. "Of course I do thanks to you! Tortuga. Jack is bound to be there!"

"Well you can't just leave! You're a little girl and there are plenty of strong men willing to take advantage of that!"

Gracie smiled. "I don't have to worry, you'll be there."

"I. . . I. . . What!"

Gracie sighed pushing her father aside and unlocking the door. "We will find a Captain who is going on a voyage and perhaps he would drop us off there."

Will shook his head as he followed his daughter onto the streets. "A Captain couldn't just drop us off on an island! It's not like borrowing a horse or something."

Gracie rolled her eyes. "That is where I come in."

Will's eyes widened. "No daughter of mine will. . ."

"No!" She shook her head. "I have already befriended a Captain. He was drunk as 'ell down on the beach and I brought him back to his ship. Now, if you excuse me father, I must go make preparations. You should tell mother."

Will slumped on a wall covering his face in his hands. "I knew telling her those God-awful stories were going to get me into trouble."