It was late at night.
Normally, Jack wouldn't wake for anything less than the cracking sound of cannon fire, but the soft whisper of the ship around him called him from the deep sleep that rum always gave to him.
He sat up and looked about, trying to place why she had woken him up. The cabin was empty, the door still firmly closed.
He got up and listened, laying one hand on the wall. Whispers of something, and he realised with a shock that she wasn't talking to him.
He padded out of his room and out onto the deck. She was louder here, the rustle of the drawn up sails and the creak of the wood telling him more in those few seconds than he could have known from a year of study.
She lilted slightly and he followed the tilt up to the steps. She righted herself and he gazed upwards to the wheel.
A figure stood, caught in the moonlight. His hands brushed over the rails, he seemed to be deliberately avoiding touching the wheel, as though that would be a trespass.
It would have been to Jack, to touch without invitation. Though how Will Turner knew that he wasn't sure.
Will moved about the desk like a wraith, all pale skin and cloth in the moonlight. His hands ghosted touches and his eyes were closed, lashes dark against his cheeks. Jack laid his hand on the rails and listened to them talk to each other.
He was listening to her. The blacksmith had managed to hear what no other man had ever heard. Only Jack had heard her talking, guiding him in the worst times and now, apparently, Will did too.
Jack opened his eyes again and continued watching. The solemnity of the moment would have shocked most who knew him, his head held high, eyes keen in the darkness, body still and breath caught.
Will moved back and forth, and it was hard to say if he was actually awake or not. His lips moved, he sank to his knees, his head resting against the wood. Jack felt the Pearl reply to his whispers, comforting him and consoling him through whatever was plaguing him.
He had picked Will up a few days ago at Port Royal. The boy had asked for passage to Tortuga and back, he wanted to offload some swords that were not fancy enough for the upper classes of Port Royal but were too well made to be melted down and reforged.
Jack hadn't asked why he needed to go himself, why he didn't just sell the swords to a merchant and be done with it. He suspected why Will felt the need to come and now he knew it.
Will relaxed further in the Pearl's embrace of railings and wooden boards, his hands curled loosely about one of the rails. Jack moved closer, silent on the boards. Pearl had called him here to witness this, she wouldn't give him away. She was sharing her moment with the boy, but she wasn't willing to give it over to Jack yet.
He trod up her stairs and watched as Will's face feel still, his lips parted and his hand slackened in its grip. The Pearl sighed and rocked softly, lulling the young man into deeper sleep.
Jack waited until the Pearl gave her consent before moving to the boy. He knelt down and gently uncurled the hand from the railing, rousing Will slightly. "C'mon, lad, I think you best be gettin' back ter yer bed."
Sleepy brown eyes blinked up at him. "Jack?"
"Aye, Jack." He pulled the boy up and wrapped an arm around his waist. "C'mon, bed time."
Will didn't say anything more, just yawned into his fist and let his eyes sink closed again. Jack smiled slightly and threw Will's arm over his own shoulders. Will stumbled slightly, Jack felt the ship shift to compensate. "C'mon, lad, yer gotta wake enough fer me to get yer down stairs."
"I won't fall." Will whispered, almost to himself. "She promised."
Jack thought he'd feel jealous when Will said that but instead he smiled and took the young man down to his own cabin. It was far closer and he got the feeling that Pearl wanted the boy close at the moment. He didn't say anything, just lay Will down on the bed and pulled the still warm covers back over the lean form. Will smiled slightly and buried himself deeper, his hand curling around Jack's wrist as it had the rail of the ship.
The pirate sat there, his hand loosely gripping Will's wrist, Will's loosely holding his own and the Pearl held them both in the cabin until sunrise.