Chapter Four

Will stared out into the vast blue ocean around them and clenched his fist in frustration. Damn woman. She'd sworn they would reach Haven by midday this day, and here they were, midday with nothing but cursed blue as far as the eye could see in all directions. Not even the hint of the tiniest island anywhere on the horizon. Damn it all, he needed to get off this boat and away from that spitfire of a redhead before he either plundered her body, or pushed her overboard. Never in all his days had he met a human being so impossible to get along with. Even Jack was considered felicitous company compared to Ruby.

He could not close his eyes without seeing her naked, feeling her body against him and her breath on his neck. And he could not see her without the confounded woman starting a fight for one thing or another. She seemed to hate him, and yet refused to allow him to find other sleeping arrangements. He had not slept in days, which was certainly not helping his own mood, or his ability to shrug off her snide comments to thereby avoid the fights that seemed to ignite his desire nearly as much as waking to her in his arms. He knew not what was wrong with him, but he could not wait to be in his bed, alone at night so that he could escape it.

Ruby stood on the railing, scope glued to her eyes, steadily ignoring Will, whom she could sense just behind her. The man was insufferable, every move she made he judged, usually not saying a word. He had a very expressive face. It didn't help matters that he'd made a commotion upon waking the morning before last to her naked. She'd been so tired she'd forgotten her guest and in the terrors the night held for her had managed to wrap herself around him complete. The ensuing furore had her cursing I The Sea Maiden /I 's lack of guest quarters. "We be nearly home lads." She called to her crew. "I'll buy tha drink o' tha first ta see the call home."

Will bit his tongue but found the words slipping from his lips anyway. "There is nothing within a two day sail of here from the looks of the horizon."

Ruby shot the blacksmith an amused look. "Whatever ye say Mr. Turner. Ye've sailed this way before ta know?"

"No, but I know an empty ocean when I see one."

Lorelei exchanged a glance with Jonas and the man laughed. "Keep yer eyes open men. We be home soon."

Will ground his teeth together and clenched his fists again, saying nothing more. Whatever game they were at, if he found that she lied about his father being alive, woman or not this Pirate would have met her match, and he would fall for no more tricks. He stared out in the direction that the crew had all turned to look and sighed when there was not so much as a seagull to break the silence or vast expanse of emptiness.

Lorelei held her breath in anticipation and scanned the vast expanse of ocean, waiting, watching. She swallowed as the moments wandered by. The crew watched, frozen, waiting for the signal even as she. Will felt his pulse jump and shook his head vehemently. No, he hadn't seen anything. He couldn't have. They were in the middle of the ocean, but he could swear he had just seen what he'd heard described as a mirage. But those only happened in the desert when one was dying of thirst. He was neither hungry nor thirsty. It was simply his overactive imagination. He could feel his hopes at truly finding his father slipping away, but then he saw it again. A distinct shimmer in the near distance, and this time it was enough to make him gasp.

Lorelei looked over at him. "What is it Mr. Turner?" Her heart was thudding with excitement. Could he have seen what the Pirates who made their berth on Haven called the Welcome home?

"It was nothing. I just thought I saw a shimmer in the distance. It was only my over-active imagination I have no doubt."

Lorelei jumped down her face shining. "Where Will? Where'd ye see it?" She ran towards him, skidding to a halt next to him and her eyes searched the horizon frantically.

Will pointed to where he had seen it, amazed when it shimmered even more clearly this time. What in the world was happening? Apparently he had seen what she was looking for however, if the smile on her face was any indication. Ruby raised her scope, grinning all the while and then called out orders to bring the ship about and head towards the co ordinates Will had seen the shimmer. She clapped him on the back happily. "And ye say ye not be a Pirate."

Will felt his heart drop and bit back the angry retort on his lips. Why did everyone want him to be something he was not? "I'm not." He answered simply and continued to stare out into the distance.

Lorelei raised an eyebrow. "I meant no offence but nae but one of tha blood kin find tha Island, yet ye did."

Will shrugged and still said nothing. It seemed he would never be good enough. Before he'd had to endure Mr. Brown taking all the credit from his creations, being seen as only an apprentice, and then when he'd finally become free to show them as his own, Elizabeth had left him because that wasn't enough. He would never be enough, no matter what he did or how hard he worked. What would he do if he found that his father too wanted him to be a Pirate? Could he bear it? To find his father and then find himself a disappointment. Lorelei clenched her fist in frustration and stalked back to the fore deck, every overture she offered the man was rejected with a slap in the face. She needed to stop trying with him; it was obvious that he just did not want to know her, or her kind.

Will watched her go and shook his head. He never said the right thing either. He had not meant to dampen her excitement, had not meant to take out his pain at Elizabeth's betrayal on her. Before he could think twice he moved up to her side and lifted a hand to her elbow. "I am sorry Lorelei. I suppose it is the prospect of seeing my father that has me so nervous."

Lorelei nodded but said nothing; instead she pointed to the beautiful Island that was suddenly in front of them. Will's eyes widened and he found his breath caught in his throat. Never had he imagined anything of this beauty, even with a name such as Haven. He had expected Tartuga, and instead, he found an island paradise. Lush and colourful, with rolling hills and cliffs the likes of which he hadn't seen since he'd visited Scotland as a child.

"It's beautiful." He whispered in awe.

'That be Haven, me home." Lorelei smiled, as her mood rose with the first sight.

Will's heart was a bit lighter at the thought of his father spending his exile here, rather than in the conditions he'd feared when she first told him he lived. His pulse raced faster as he began to finally hope that it might be true. That he might truly be mere moments from seeing his father again. The smile crept to his own face until he could no longer contain it. "I cannot believe we are actually here."

"Did you think I be a liar?" Lorelei's voice was curt as she left him with that question.

Will sighed in exasperation. "Forgive me but I held out judgement until I had reason to believe it. If a pirate that you knew nothing of, were to come to you after 10 years and tell you that your father, a man everyone that knew him claimed dead, was in fact alive and well, can you tell me that you would not also be hesitant to believe it?"

Ruby glared. "Jack Sparrow knew he be alive. If he did nae he'd nae have left me with here."

Will stared right back at her and his eyes narrowed murderously at that revelation. How could Jack have kept that from him? "If Jack Sparrow knew, then he did not tell me."

"Then he had his reasons." Ruby snapped right back at him.

Will clenched his teeth together until his jaw ached. He would kill Jack when he got his hands on him. Lorelei turned from the angry young man. It was the last time she would make any overture and she would definitely not be staying with Bill while he was on the Island. She would beg Jack to make a place aboard I The Black Pearl /I for Will to return to Port Royal. If Will decided to stay on at Haven then Ruby would find herself at sea more often, no doubt. They loomed closer to the dock and Ruby joined her men in bringing the ship in. He face lit up when she saw the pair standing on the dock, one with a wooden leg, the other with a bottle of gin raised to his lips. With a shout she ran for the dock, and launched herself into their arms.

Will watched her move toward them on the shore, saw her being enfolded in hugs from first Jack, and then... his father. There was no longer a doubt in his mind. The years had not aged him overmuch, though the lines of sadness and grief were evident on his face. He looked like Will himself. He'd heard it spoken often enough, but he'd been so young when he'd last seen his father, it was hard to believe before now. His eyes filled with tears as he watched the tender way his father held Lorelei, his love so apparent, and he lost himself in memories of when his father had held him as well. He felt his mother's presence with him, and he could not help but wish that she had lived long enough to be with him in this moment. Though, it was possible that his father had found another woman in this time with thinking them dead. Lorelei had never mentioned a woman, but it was possible. He could not seem to find his feet, rooted to the spot as he took in the most welcome sight he'd ever seen.

Lorelei held Bill tightly and then stepped back. "Well I brought him." She tried to hide her exasperated and annoyed tone, but she knew Jack caught it by the mischievous smile that graced his face. "And don't ye say anything ye old miscreant."

Jack laughed even harder at the look on her face. She'd fallen for the boy. He never thought he'd live to see the day that Lorelei fell for any man, but she had. "Aye, I'll not say a word, but go aboard and become reacquainted with my person'l patron saint." He stepped forward and aboard the ship and clapped the fish-faced boy on the shoulder. "Well now Will, I didn't figure you'd sail all th' way ta Haven just ta stand on the deck and stare at yer father."

Will stared hard at Jack and finally found himself free of being frozen. "Aye, and I didn't figure you'd have th' guts ta come within a league a me after keepin' from me th' fact that me father still lived."

Jack just grinned, "The choice to disrupt yer life be yer father's. The knowledge of his living was dangerous information at th' time of our adventure."

"Not once it was over." Will shook his head. Now was not the time to be angry with Jack, that could wait, now was the time to summon the courage to move to his father and accept whatever welcome might wait.

Jack slapped Will on the back. "It completely slipped my mind.....Drink?" He held up the bottle guilelessly.

Will walked past Jack, intentionally ignoring him, and stepped unsurely onto the shore. He looked nervously first at Lorelei, and then finally settled his gaze on his father, his own eyes shining back at him and as watery as his own were once again.

"Father." Will whispered; his voice weak with emotion.

Lorelei swallowed, a sharp pain coming to her heart as Bill looked up and into Will's eyes. She heard hi murmur. "His mother's eyes." Just before stepping forward and collecting the youth in a bear hug. In that moment Lorelei felt lost and she knew the same pain as she had the night she'd heard the news that Barbossa had stabbed her father. She backed away, slowly and completely un-noticed by her adopted father or his son and ran for the beach and the house. Once she was there she began stuffing the remainder of her gear into a bag.

Will watched Lorelei's reaction, feeling a sting of pain as he realised what she must be feeling, and yet unable to feel guilty when she'd had his father for ten years, and he'd had no one. Only the occasional visit to the governor's house when Mr. Brown would agree to it. He felt the tear slip down his cheek and he buried his face in his father's neck as he held him tightly again. "I never thought... You can't know how much... Oh father I have missed you so much." He looked up at his father again and felt another pain pierce his heart as Lorelei ran off to the house in the distance. "Father? Can we take this to your home? I am weary from the journey and my legs would appreciate a safe place to sit while they readjust."

Bill hugged his son tightly, stepped back and looked at him for a long time. "Will, when they told me you lived....it was..." Words failed him as emotion overwhelmed him and he hugged his son again. "Come lad, I'll take ye home and ye can settle in. I've a room ready for ye. "

Will smiled at him and wrapped his arm around his father's shoulders as they made their way to the house, he just saw Jack stepping into the door and he was a bit surprised. Until he had seen the hug between the two, he'd assumed from her words that she hated Jack, but it had been obvious that the two were very close. Perhaps Jack could keep her from leaving until they could get there. He was fairly certain that she would not be able to leave once her father was there.

Lorelei slung the bag over her shoulder and headed towards the door. She looked up to see Jack standing in the doorway, she dodged around him. Jack stepped into the house and shook his head at her, biting back the amused smile he felt playing at his lips. He reached out and caught her easily.

"Now where be you going little Ruby?"

"To tha tavern or maybe even tha Maiden." Lorelei raised an eyebrow; it should have been obvious what she was doing.

"I'd think that be a bit presumptuous Ruby dear. I believe yer father would be objectin to that."

"He can object all he likes. But I be a fifth wheel round here now. He and Will need time ta get ta know each other without an outsider present."

"Ye be his family too Ruby. Ye have as much place here as Will does. Why don't ye be truthful Ruby dear? This be Jack yer speakin to."

" How do I tell Bill, that I dislike the pompous ass he be calling his son?" Lorelei asked in disgust.

"Ahh... so ye DISlike him huh?" Jack's eyebrows rose until they reached his bandana. "Too fresh and pure fer yer likin?"

"Ta irritatin, ta smug. Beside he be dislikin me, he made tha clear. It be best for Bill if I left while he was here so Bill not havin ta witness tha tension."

"I think Bill'd thrive on it. And I think ye be wrong about Will not likin ya. He certainly didn't look at ye like a man that disliked ye. He knows a good person when he sees one Ruby, even if that person be a pirate. He was willin ta give his life fer me, don't be discountin that."

"Tis not pirates he has a problem with, it be me...the fact I be a woman. He blame all of us for what tha bint did ta him. He could nae even bear to look at me."

Jack looked at her curiously. "What Elizabeth did ta him?"

"She left him, fer ye apparently. Not tha' he said it directly, but I be not stupid."

Will stepped up behind Jack just in time to hear Lorelei's words and hear Jack's curse. "No, you are not stupid Lorelei, and yes, she left me for you Jack. She sailed last week to find you in Tartuga. The day Lorelei arrived for me was to have been my wedding day. She wanted a Pirate, and had only agreed to marry me because she thought I was. When she found out that I wasn't what she wanted, she left to find someone that was."

Ruby nodded and shook Jack's hand off of her arm. She spun on her heel and headed for the door quickly. She felt superfluous. Will grasped her arm and captured her gaze.

"Stay Lorelei. Please." He turned to his father and nodded. "If you'll just tell me where my room is, I'll lay down for a short nap, I am feeling rather tired at the moment."

"Ye can have mine. I'll be at tha tavern."

"No ye won't." Bill looked at her pointedly. "I want me family here, ALL of me family. I have made up my den as is room. Yer room will stay yer own. I am a happy man now that I have both of my children with me."

Lorelei glared up at Bill, who was just a fraction taller then Will. " I'll not be where I'm not wanted. Will's made it clear that I annoy him. He was glad ta be gettin off tha ship ta get away from me. Ye need time with him Da."

Will stared at her and started laughing. "You don't annoy me any more than I annoy you Lorelei."

Lorelei placed her hands on her hips and glared at him. "Don't think I not be hearing what ye bin saying bout me."

Will placed his hands on his hips as well. "And don't ye be thinkin I not be hearin what ye ben sayin bout me with yer first mate either."

Lorelei muttered a vile curse that shocked even Jack before pushing past them all. She did not want to be around that man anymore, pure and simple. Bootstrap Bill bit his lip hard wondering just what was going on. Lorelei was always cantankerous, but she was in a fine fit today. Seemed they had a bit of a tiff going, and it hurt his heart to think of his children not getting along. Surely she knew that just because Will was back that did not mean her place in his life was in any way changed. She was his daughter and he loved her as much as anyone could love a child of their own blood. He had to try to get them to work this out; he had to make sure she knew she was wanted here. "Ruby Lorelei? I expect ye to be home fer dinner tonight. I want me family here. And that is not a request. I may not ask much of ye, but tonight I want ye here."

Lorelei ignored the request, muttering to herself as she marched towards the local Tavern. She'd see about that she really would, if she had to pass out drunk to stay as far away as possible as from that prudish land lubber Will Turner, she would. Twice he had rejected her, twice he had made it abundantly clear that she was just some dirty little pirate girl that he wanted nothing to do with. Even her Da couldn't make her ignore the hurt to her pride and confidence.

Will shook his head and growled low in his throat. "That woman is impossible!" He turned to his father and tried to summon up a smile, his voice softening considerably. "Where is my room?"

Bill rested a hand on his son's shoulder. "Right this way....Jack would ye be so good as to go after Lorelei. Make sure she don't cause too much of a ruckus down at the Tavern. Ye remember what happened last time....Please...do me a favour and don't join in this time."

Jack bowed regally and let out a short laugh. He would have more fun sober today he had a feeling. "Agreed! I will see her home this evening, and no dancing on the bar and shattering the barman's nose when he tries to pull her down. Have a good nap Will, welcome home." This was going to be fun indeed.

Bill Turner watched his friend leave and shook his head fondly. "C'mon Will, yer looking tired."

Will nodded and then let go long enough to embrace his father tightly again. "It's been a week since I had much sleep needless to say. Oh tell me you are real father?"

Bill ran a hand over Will's hair. "I be real William. An' I've been dreamin o' this moment everyday for ten years, grievin cause I thought ye dead and that it would never be more then a taunt."

"And I never had any hope to dream of it. I had lost you and mum both. When Lorelei showed up... I couldn't bring myself to actually believe it was true until the moment I saw the shimmer of Haven."

Bill steered Will into a small but cosy room. "Ye saw the shimmer?"

Will nodded. "What was it? Lorelei never explained it. I still am not sure how we even got here. I just know there was nothing, then there was the island."

"We call it the Welcome Home. Only those that be looking for this Island with no trouble in their heart will find it. They say it was once the hide out of a man favoured by the ancient gods. I dun't know if that be true but it has been a sanctuary for many Pirates over tha years. The shimmer lets those that seek it know that they've found it. For those that be unworthy, with only a mind fer trouble, ye see nothin. On this Island there be no plundering, cheating or stealing."

Will shook his head softly. Had he not seen it with his own eyes, it would be hard to believe even after battling the undead. "And only a pirate can see the shimmer." He unconsciously winced and clenched his jaw at the thought.

"Only those of the blood. Ye be of me blood William, but being a Pirate is a choice. Ye aren't born ta being one anymore then yer children will be born ta being blacksmiths."

Will nodded and finally found the will to ask the question he'd longed to ask since meeting Jack. "Why father? Why did you and mother lie to me? Why did you raise me to believe one thing, and one way, and live your life so differently? Why did you let me live my life not really even having known my father?"

"Ye knew me Will. I am what I am. There have ben no real lies. Yer Ma and I wanted you to grow up with more choices then what we had. Yer a master of yer trade, I never had that opportunity. I wanted ye to choose the life that be right fer you. As ta ye not knowing. When I knew that we'd never met again, I etched the skull and cross bones on the medallion so ye'd at least guess, and hoped ye'd forgive me."

Will shook his head. "Even mum... never told me a thing. As for forgiving you... I loved you dad. I wouldn't have cared what you did, and there is no need to forgive you, I just can't help feeling a bit like I have lived a lie, because the man I thought you were, wasn't who you were. To realise that a total stranger knew more about you than your own son did... that hurt more than I can say."

"It was the only way ta keep ye safe in the end. I never wanted ye to follow in me footsteps. Yer Ma made me promise ta keep it ta meself what I be, or give it up. I tried fer a few years. But it was in me blood."

And his father's "blood" had deprived him of a father for ten years. Will could not keep the hint of bitterness from his voice. "And it was too dangerous for you to even get word to your son and wife that you yet lived? Word that would have spared us the wondering, the nights of mum pacing the widow's walk praying that this would be the day that you came home?"

" I did what I thought be right. It is yer right to hold that against me or naught. Barbossa would've found ye sooner if I'd contacted ye. I have enough on me conscience Will."

Will sighed and reached out to grasp his father's hand. "I know father. It just hurts when I think of all the time I lost with you. All the time that others were allowed to know you, but I wasn't." He swallowed again and closed his eyes against the threatening tears. His mother's face as she lay dying swam before him. "Mum told me as she died, that when I found you I was to tell you that she loved you every minute, for all of eternity."

Bill's face settled into lines of grief and he held his son tightly. "I loved yer mother more then life itself. If I could've gone back and changed things I would've. I miss her every minute of every day."

Will clung to his father for long moments. "The love between the two of you was the one thing I have never doubted for a second." He still could not imagine how his father could have chosen the life of a pirate, over his family, but he didn't have to. It was enough to have his father back, and to know that his father had truly loved them, whatever mistakes he might have made. "I love you father."

Bill stepped back and clapped Will on the shoulder. "It tore me apart when word that Barbossa had hit the ship ye were making yer crossing with, reached me. It were then that I began doubting the choices o' me life. Yet it be hard to explain what drove me unless ye felt it to. Yer vehemence against pirates tells me ye haven't. It was the life o' freedom that only tha sea can provide, that called me. No rules to fetter me spirit, yer Ma understood me, she'd felt it to."

Will heard his words and they felt as if he were being once again called less of a man because he didn't want to be a pirate. His voice was harsh and low as he spoke. "I spent EIGHT YEARS hating pirates because they killed my father. Forgive me that I do not live up to your expectations any better than I lived up to Elizabeth's"

"Calm down Will." Bill barked. "I made no reference that ye should or are expected to be a pirate. I don't want ye to be a pirate. I want yet to live to a grand old age and live ta see yer grandkiddies. A pirate's life tend ta be a short one. I made no judgement, not every one experiences tha call o' the sea. If ye don't that not be right or wrong, it just is."

Will sighed and sat heavily on the bed. "Forgive me. I have just had more people in the last week look down on me for not being a pirate, than I care to think about."

"Sleep Will. Ye'll feel better in a couple o' hours. Nobody looks down on ye here. Not me, not Lorelei."

"I believe that you don't father." Will said softly.

Bill lowered himself down next to his son. He'd caught the inference. "Lorelei would nae judge ye cause ye not be a pirate. Look I don't understand what tension there is between ye two, but Lorelei is a good girl. She's had a lot o' pain in her life. Both her parent brutally murdered in front o' her eyes an all. I don't want ye running her off Will."

Will winced at that. "So that is what her dreams are about. Who murdered them?"

"Barbossa. After he murdered her father, he set fire to their ship. Her mother grabbed her and threw her over the side. Jack rescued Lorelei but could nae get in to save Liriel. ...she was seven, nearing eight. Jack brought her ta me cause he knew I could nae leave Haven. I ye picture Jack bringing up a lil girl?"

Will laughed at that, but nodded anyway. "Actually, I somehow think it would not be so farfetched as it might seem. It was clear from their greeting that he adores her."

"That he does. An' she him. But the man is not fit to be raising children, especially not such a sensitive one as Lorelei. He would've led her astray. Tha man taught her how ta play blackjack at the age of nine." Bill rubbed his head slowly. "Ye say she be still having the dreams then?"

Will nodded. "Every night we were aboard the ship. We shared her quarters."

Bill's eyebrows rose into his hairline. "She won't mention what she dreams of but it isn't hard to guess. Jack said that when he pulled Lorelei out of the water that her mother had already started to burn and Lorelei struggled to go back to her. He said it be the most heart wrenching thing he heard, Lorelei cryin for her Ma."

Will's heart ached as her cries and whimpers echoed again in his mind, and he had a clear vision of her as a young girl, clawing at Jack until he bled as she tried to go back for her mother. He had an overwhelming urge to pull her into his arms and comfort her again, but reality came back to him swiftly and he realised that was the last thing she wanted, and he couldn't imagine why he did either. "I'm thankful she found you then. Thankful that you were able to comfort one another."

"A first I looked after her to repay tha debt I owed her Da, but then she charmed me and I grew ta love her as me own. Such a precocious child, very quick ta learn. The first time she saw me with tha curse upon me she picked up a sword and went at me for all she was worth. It was then I decided ta teach her tha blade" Bill sighed, remembering the trials of that time. It had taken Lorelei along time to trust him again. the little girl had seen his skeletal self and thought that he'd been one of the pirates that had burned her ship.

Will laughed lightly. "That sounds like Ruby."

Bill's eyebrows rose again. "Ruby is it?"

Will winced again and cursed himself a fool. "Not intentionally. It just keeps slipping from my lips."

Bill shrugged. "It be her name. Just no one usually uses Ruby."

"So knowing what the cost of being a pirate can be, why did you not steer her away from that life?"

Bill shrugged again. "Her formative years be spent on a ship. I think revenge be likely as to why she chose tha life. I educated her same as I had ye educated. I tried to find somethin' else to interest her but Lorelei knew the call o' tha sea. She'd sailed with her Da, rightly or wrongly, since she be born."

"Her revenge is complete, whether or not she was able to be there. Barbossa is dead, as are all the others now. I watched them all hang myself. She could sail the sea as a merchant rather than a pirate." His blood curdled at the thought of her suffering the same fate as her parents. She might drive a man to drink, but he did not want her to die.

"Lorelei has nae had much chance to be a pirate, she'd not got any crimes against her name. Who knows where her heart with truly turn. She is a wild thing Will, her spirit needs freedom. The life o' a lady would kill her."

Will smiled and chuckled at that. "Aye, she is a free spirit that is certain. As to the call of the sea father, I feel it to, only not as a pirate."

"Then maybe ye can show Lorelei the other side o' life."

Will laughed even harder. "If you wish her to i not /i be a pirate, then the fastest way to achieve it would be for me to say that I thought it the life she should lead. She despises me even as she drives me insane."

" I let me children choose their own life regardless of how I feel about it. Do ye truly dislike Lori then?"

"No. She is a strong, beautiful, and determined woman, and she brought me to my father whom it is obvious that she loves as much as I do. She wears my patience thin, but I do not dislike her at all. It is her that dislikes me. I am too much of a pr... too boring for her."

Bill sighed, so that was it. Lorelei's outgoing personality clashing with Will's more introverted personality. It was nothing that anyone could do, they would have to work out a compromise as they learned to live with each other. He patted Will's hand, " I doubt she dislikes ye, not understand ye maybe but I doubt she hates ye. Yer so much like yer mother in that regards."

Will laughed heartily as a sudden thought came to him. "Too bad she didn't see me when we went after El... Barbossa. She'd have taken a bit of a shock at the change in me."

"Ye did what needed to be done, I was so proud o' ye. Ye did what I could not."

Will's heart filled at those words. He'd waited so long to hear them. "Don't tell Ruby, but I must admit, it was almost... fun... at times."

"Will me boy, there is nothing wrong with letting a lil adventure inta yer soul. It is nae a crime to have fun, in that situation."

"I know. I just didn't want to shatter all Lorelei's glorious assumptions about me."

"And what made her have those assumptions Will, she knew nothing o' ye when I asked her ta retrieve ye."

Will hardly felt it appropriate to explain to his father. "She apparently did know something, because no matter what I say she refuses to believe that Jack was wrong about my hating pirates. And let's just say that I didn't do what she wanted me to a few times."

"That would be enough to invite her ire Will, but give it a few days and it will blow over now that ye aren't confined to each other's presence on ship."

Will shook his head, somehow knowing that wasn't going to happen, but willing to let his father believe it. "If you say so father." He reached up and rubbed his now stinging eyes. He did not want to sleep, he wanted to continue talking to his father until he'd exhausted every question he'd ever longed to ask him, but his body had other ideas it seemed.

Bill saw the motion and stood. He gently pushed Will to the bed and threw a blanket over his son. "Sleep Will, I not be going anywhere and I'm hoping ye'll stay awhile."

Will nodded sleepily. "That is certainly my plan. I am in no hurry to leave. There is too much to be said, too much to catch up on, and nothing to return to anyway."

Bill tucked the blanket around Will and drew the drapes before turning on his heels and leaving the room. He shut the door quietly and shook his head. He hoped the differences between his children would sort itself out quickly.