Will stared in shock at his father while Elizabeth clung to his side. "…Governor Swann?"

"Yes."

"I'm sure he didn't have anything to do with-"

Turner grabbed his son by the arm and yanked him away from Elizabeth, growling urgently into his startled face. "Do you want to see her die the way your mother did? Or have the curse rest on you the way it did on Barbossa's crew?"

"But that curse was on the gold… it's all been returned."

"You don't understand, boy. Do you think they'd get off that easy?"

The boy frowned. "You're right. I don't understand."

"It keeps on. Through their children's children. A legacy of revenge in the blood as long as there's a debt to be paid."

Will saw the expression on Elizabeth's face and looked desperately towards Jack, whose dark eyes were deep with concern. Slowly the pirate shook his head.

Elizabeth caught the look between them and edged closer to the pirate. She looked at him imploringly, and he reached out to put a hand on her shoulder.

"Jack. What's going on? What's he talking about?"

"Easy, love." His voice was quiet as his hand moved softly on her back. "We'll figure it out." Raising his voice, he looked at Turner. "William. Why don't we go back to the Pearl, instead of arguing about killing the man in his own backyard."

The older Turner's expression was so intense he was nearly trembling. Something in Jack's composed delivery, as usual, seemed to get through to him, and he slowly calmed himself. "Alright, Captain." He looked at his son. "I'll tell you when we're alone. This is Turner business now."

Jack only glared for a moment before he spun back toward the shore, taking a few swaggering steps and lifting his arms. "Wonderful. Back to the ship. And the rum." He widened his eyes in disbelief when no one could see his face, muttering under his breath. "Everything looks clearer through rum."

Will, in his distraction, stopped suddenly. "Jack-" The pirate continued his gracefully erratic spin until he was facing Will again. "The provisions. I have three crates of fruit and vegetables back in the clearing." He shrugged a grin in spite of the tension of the situation. "Bananas, too."

"Ah, yes. Well, we'll send Gibbs and a few-"

"No. Will and I will get them. You go on. We'll take the other dinghy."

Jack looked thoughtfully at his old friend, and stole a glance at Will as well. Leaving the boy alone with his seemingly unstable father might not be the best course. Setting aside his usual stealth, he shook his head. "We can wait here."

"No." William's voice was hard, but he softened it as he continued. "It'll give us a chance to talk, Captain. You wouldn't begrudge a man time with his son after all these years." There was a wheedling quality by the time he finished.

The dark eyes of Captain Sparrow stared into Turner's clear blue-green, as years of knowing each other well crashed into the suspicions brought on by a week of dealing with a stranger. It was young Will who broke the moment.

"I'll go with him, Jack." The pirate shifted his look to the younger man, feeling the odd sensation that he was looking at a more real version of his old friend. The boy's jaw was set, the determination that Jack had come to know so well shining in his eyes. "It'll be alright." Then his eyes narrowed, and he looked more intensely than before. "Take care of Elizabeth."

Jack raised an eyebrow. Elizabeth watched in worried fascination as her fiancé seemed to have a silent conversation with the pirate. She was more worried when Will walked over to her and kissed her, gently, in front of them all.

"I may be a while," he whispered.

"Will…"

He smiled at her, reassuringly. "Stick with Jack." For some reason the tension in her chest blossomed into tears that pricked at her eyelids. She took his face in her hands, pulled him close and kissed him passionately.

After a minute she whispered, "I'll be waiting."

Jack cleared his throat. "Not too long, lads. We need to put Port Royal to our backs before dawn. They'd be a little too happy to give us a party."


Candlelight gave the mahogany wood of the captain's table a red sheen as Jack, Elizabeth, Gibbs, and Anamaria sat around it, sharing the captain's best. Crewmen came and went as the night went on, reporting in with their Captain or just sharing a cup of rum. They told Elizabeth the tale of sailing back to the Isla De Muerta, of taking enough of the swag there to finish refitting the Pearl. As the rum flowed, she shared the stories of the reputation she and Will had attained in Port Royal, of her father's dismay and Norrington's fond support.

"I suppose I only saw how much he really cared by that… how willing he was to do anything for my happiness." She looked into her cup and sighed prettily. "He's been sending Will customers ever since."

"Don't tell me the whelp's gone and become friends with that stick."

Elizabeth laughed, the rum seeming to ease any worries she had about Will and his father. "I wouldn't say 'friends'… but it appears they have a code." Stretching, she watched with sleepy curiosity as Jack refilled her cup. "He's a fine man."

"Maybe you're wanting to be with the Commodore now, eh?" Elizabeth turned on Anamaria indignantly, ready with a sharp retort until she caught the sparkle in the beautiful pilot's eye. Clearly she was being teased, as if she were any one of the crew. Elizabeth pursed her lips thoughtfully.

"No, not really." She picked up her cup again and looked over it, nearly spilling. "He's all yours, if you want him."

She drank deeply as Jack laughed out loud. "Now there would be a couple. Norrington and our Miss Ana." Anamaria's eyes narrowed dangerously as she turned to her captain.

"And you think I'm not good enough for him?"

The captain froze, wide-eyed, his eyes darting as if looking for possible escape routes from his own quarters. Abruptly his body seemed to collapse on itself as he relaxed, leaned toward her. "Quite the contrary, love. My point is that he couldn't keep up with you." This seemed to appease her somewhat, but not entirely. He went for broke, slurring over his words as he added what he knew to be her favorite compliment. "And you'd most certainly have beautiful children together." He looked around the table for support.

Gibbs shrugged thoughtfully and nodded, and Elizabeth giggled.

"You think it's funny?"

Miss Swann laid on the sophistication of a lifetime. "Miss Ana. I would happily dance at your wedding."

That seemed to do the trick, and the conversation eased off comfortably. Elizabeth rested her head for a minute on the table, turning it toward Jack. "Is Mr. Turner alright, Jack? I mean, he doesn't really want to kill my father, does he?"

"Dunno, love, but we'll keep a weather eye out." Jack stretched back from the table and put his boots up on the edge. "There's something not quite right there. But then, I don't know how right I would be if I was under a curse for ten years."

"You were under a curse, Jack. You didn't have the Pearl." Elizabeth smiled sleepily, her eyes closing. Jack stared at her in surprise for a moment, opened his mouth to reply - and she began to snore softly. Gibbs chuckled as Ana saved her drink from spilling.

"She holds her rum pretty well for a high-born wench. Not the best, but not bad."

"Indeed." Captain Sparrow, his eyes still on their sleeping guest. "But she's a perceptive little thing."

"Aye." Anamaria shifted her belt and pulled out a small leather book. "I've been taking a look at this, Jack. Did Bootstrap tell ye where he was last?"

"Only that they didn't speak English. And they thought he was…" he gestured randomly. "A demon in the end. Why?"

She shook her head, opened the book on the table between them. "You know I don't have much call for readin'… but this drawing he did looks familiar."

Jack grinned at the book, glinting gold in the candlelight. "He always was drawing things. Must run in the family."

"I suppose." She turned the book to face him. "Have you ever seen the like of these?"

The page said Some kind of temple, near village. Under the neat draftsman's lettering was a detailed picture of a vaguely human figure under crosshatched lines. It could have represented a net, or some kind of mosaic. The figure, however, had a look of tortured terror on its face.

"S'lovely. Never seen one before." He pushed the book back to her and noticed a look in her eyes that he rarely saw from Anamaria without anger to back it up. Fear. "What's it mean, love?"

She shook her head, touched her hand briefly to her forehead with her fingers in some kind of symbol before picking up the book again. "If this is the island I think it is, Bootstrap may be under a curse after all." She looked at Gibbs and pointed to the picture. "The caged man. The island is called Kraji."

Gibbs muttered under his breath. Jack turned to him. "You know it?"

The older man shook his head, until Ana caught his eye with a solid stare. Then he downed his rum in one go. "Aye, I've heard of it. But you won't find a crew that'll choose to sail there. The natives are a bit unforgiving, if you know what I mean. And there's nothing worth taking."

Jack frowned at the book. "Really."


Elizabeth awoke to the sounds of sailors calling back and forth to each other up on deck. She frowned sleepily, but suddenly bolted upright as she realized the soft rocking motion was the Pearl at sea. Looking around in panic, she saw by the dim light filtering through the heavy glass windows of the captain's quarters that she was alone laying on top of Jack's bed, a sheet of bright red China silk pulled over her still dressed body. "Will?" Nothing. "Jack!" When no answer came to her call, she darted from the bed, pulled on her boots and headed up to the main deck.

Captain Jack Sparrow was at the helm, his face set in a more openly angry expression than she had yet seen.

"Jack? What's going on?"

He turned to give her a calculating look. "Your dear William didn't return last night. Nor did his father." She frowned, her mouth opening to question him. "I waited as long as I could, sent some men ashore. They followed the trail as far as Port Royal, where they got news that a ship has been commandeered by pirates. The merchant frigate Esperance."

"What does that have to do with Will?"

He exhaled heavily. "There was other news as well. Evidently the Governor of Port Royal has been kidnapped."

Elizabeth's hand flew to her mouth. "Father?" Slowly her eyes widened as realization hit. "Turner? And Will? But…" Tears came to her eyes as she searched the horizon in increasing panic.

"We're not done yet, love. We'll catch them."

"How? How do you even know where they're going?"

Jack looked at her, considered, and took a deep breath. "They're not all that's gone, lass."

"What do you mean?"

Reaching into the pocket of his coat he pulled out a fine chain that ended with a broken link. When he spoke, the words fell into the space between them like stones into water. "He took my compass."