A/N: Despite what I wrote on my last note, I have decided to continue both series if I can. The other chapter might not come out until July because I am going on a trip, though. I would appreciate some more reviews, please! PLEASE!

Disclaimer: I do not own POTC. I do not own William Turner, son of Bootstrap Bill Turner. I do not own Elizabeth Swan. And I do not own Captain Jack Sparrow. I have a poster of him, does that count? Oh, I see. sigh Well, one can dream, can't they?

Chapter 4 – "Must I really go through this again?"

Heavily laden with the supplies he had purchased from Mr. Badesly, Will balanced a hammer – one of the many tools in his arms – unsteadily at the top of his load. For a moment, he stood before the shop he had recently gained from Mr. Brown. The old drunkard still slept there fore a reason that Will could still not determine, but as long as he did not cause any disturbances, all that mattered to Will was that he was now master of his own domain. King of the Castle. Or of the forgery, rather, he thought to himself. He was a better Blacksmith anyway, no point in being modest there. This brought him to the current matter at hand – the Smithy. Yes. He was a blacksmith, standing before his very own Blacksmith's shop, and so overloaded with tools that he had not a spare hand with which to open the door. With further inspection, Will sighed in relief as he found a solution to his minor dilemma, a drop of sweat wetting his brow. Luckily, in his absence Emma had failed to close the door quite as securely as she usually did during their fencing lessons. But, then again, she was not there to parry with him.

"My goodness! Emma!"

Will had almost forgotten his unusual friend – unusual as her temperament and actions were more than often unpredictable and dangerous as gale-force winds on the high seas. Amusingly enough, Emma's swift change of moods – not to mention her ranting – often times reminded him of Jack.

The strain in his arms almost at once brought him back to the present. Wasting no more time, Will balanced on his left leg and kicked open the door with his right.

"Emma, I'm back," he called loudly, struggling to keep his tools, and himself, in balance as he entered the Smithy.

"I am terribly sorry Emma, I got caught up and lost track of time, I honestly thought…"

With a clang, the once carefully carried tools dropped and scattered on the earthen floor as William Turner stood in stupefied confusion. It couldn't be…could it?

Amidst the wails of Emma's misfortunes, a loud, booming crack sounded as the door to the Blacksmith's shop swung open with a snap. Reflexively, Emma sprung back from Jack Sparrow, the notorious sea captain and pirate. Her friend Will Turner's voice came next (though what he was saying she could not be sure of), followed by several heavy clangs as he viewed the spectacle before him, and dropped his tools on the dirty floors of the Smithy. Caught by surprise as well, seeing as he was rather enjoying the warmth of Emma's body, Jack Sparrow paused for a moment, wondering what vile interruption had occurred to strip her bountiful frame from his arms. Then realizing whom the contemptible perpetrator was, Jack outstretched his arms and smiled.

"William! Good t'see ye!"

"Good Lord…J-Jack?" he managed to stutter.

Will's eyes become two circular disks, all suspicions having been confirmed. His mouth began to crease into an excited smile until his gaze shifted and fell upon Emma's anxious frame. She had noticeably been crying. Selfless as he was, Will could not help but be concerned.

"Emma?" he asked softly. "What happened? What's wrong?" Will's voice rose to an almost panicky pitch, one that made him sound like an over-protective older brother.

Will's concern making her feel even more stupid, Emma fled to the back of the smithy where she could take refuge in a small storage room. All her life she had been a bit tough, independent – she should not have to worry other people with her problems, but learn to fix them herself. Now she had made a fool of herself, and therefore hated herself all the more. If she had not been crying at that instant, she would have certainly blushed a deep crimson for being caught in so intimate a position with Captain Sparrow, innocent though it was. Luckily, it had only been Will and not her mother or Commodore Norrington. The Commodore…the mere thought of him forced a choked sob from Emma that sounded throughout the whole of the Blacksmith's shop, echoing clearly off the fine-crafted silver blades that hung from their posts.

Having been given no explanation by the victim, Will turned to the only other reason that could be to blame for Emma's breakdown. It had not registered in his mind until now, but, given the man's nature and reputation, it seemed more than logical.

"What the hell did you do to her, Jack!" Will exclaimed furiously. Whether Jack and Emma knew each other from before, he did not know, but he knew the power that Jack seemed to have over women, which led to the belief that he was behind the mayhem.

Jack, who had turned to follow Emma's fleeing, rather attractive figure, turned back to his comrade.

"Well, nice to see ye too." His usual, yet unusual, rolling gate, and a rolling of his eyes accentuated the sarcasm of his words. Jack was a pirate and a dishonest man, he knew, which would of course leave reasonable doubt for his credibility, but even so, he did not appreciate being accused of things he had not even done, especially when such crime was hurting the feelings of a poor, innocent, beautiful woman such as Emma! Not intentionally, anyway, he noted.

Shooting Jack an evil glare, Will's temperament grew. Unlike Emma's, which was virtually unpredictable, Will's was notable, and occurred after a while of simmering. He could be mad, but it took enough time for him to completely lash out.

"What did you do, Jack?" It was easy to see that Will was attempting to stay calm, as the loudness of his voice was at a more neutral level, though the aggravation in his voice was intelligible.

"Relax mate," Jack waved assuringly, "I was only offering the lass some consolation."

"Oh I'll show you some consolation!"

He had reached his breaking point. With masterful skill, young William Turner drew his sword as he had done many times before in practice.

"Not again," Jack grunted. Why do bad things always seem to happen in this room?

The familiar sound of a sword being unsheathed reached Emma's ears in the back room for a second time that day. Once again, William was back to his rash actions – the only thing she and the Commodore could agree on. Grimacing, Emma picked up her common practice sword that was stored in the small room, and dashed out to meet the two men in the other room.

It was with a practiced ease that Captain Jack Sparrow drew his sword from its sheath. It was also quick enough, for his sake, to deflect his opponent's weapon before it could strike him.

"Must we really go through this again?"

True, Jack enjoyed a good, challenging swordfight now and again, but when matched with as skillful an adversary as William Turner, it began to get annoying when he could not get his way immediately. Still, Jack's pride was insuperable.

"You know, why don't you just give it up – it's not worth getting beat a second time," he said with a smirk while meeting Will's parry.

"You didn't beat me," Will insisted, throwing a combination of high and low blows at the pirate captain, "you cheated!"

"Pirate!" Jack never lost the opportunity to remind him of that.

Just as Jack thought he was beginning to gain an advantage in the fight, he and Will were abruptly disrupted by the most unlikely person – it seemed so to Jack, anyway.

" Stop Will! Just bloody stop it!"

Jack's eyes widened in astonishment. To his surprise, Emma had run between Will and himself, and managed to intercept one of the blows that Will had dealt for him. The startled William Turner had then to regain his sense while blocking the shockingly forceful blows that Emma was putting out. It was evident that, though she wasn't any happier about her current situation, Emma had formed a newfound strength from her distress.

Panting furiously, Emma stopped jabbing at Will, tossing her sword violently across the room and glaring at him.

"That's just like you, Will."

The tears on her face had dried, leaving stain-like evidence that they had once run their trial down to her chin.

"Wha--" Poor, confused William Turner stood panting, drenched in sweat. He had been caught off guard by his female friend, almost even forgetting that she was there. For the second time today, he added. But he had been fighting because of her. Why had she asked him to stop in such a hostile manner? Had he made a mistake? What had he done wrong?

"It is exactly like you," Emma said whilst shaking her head. "He did absolutely nothing of what you accused him, and there you go overreacting as always!"

"But wait! You – I thought…"

"Maybe you thought wrong, Will, maybe if you would have been persistent in asking me what was wrong instead of jumping to conclusions, you might know by now what it is that was wrong and therefore would not have had to act out in such a USELESS, IDIOTIC MANNER!"

"Now, now, love, no need for name callin'. Sure he might've overreacted, but ye don't need to point't out." Though he had not known her for very long, Jack was already weary of her temperament, and tried to carefully calm her down without getting beat to a bloody pulp. By the look on Will's face, he could tell that she would not hesitate to bruise his ego, as well as other parts of his body.

"Shut it, Sparrow!" Emma snapped.

Cocking an eyebrow, Jack again looked at his friend – a pitiful sight, I may add – and bit his tongue in order to keep his own temper in check. I will not hit a woman. Just think it, Jack.

"Besides Will, you know I can take care of myself!" Turning, Emma walked to a nearby haystack that was used to feed the shop's mule, and sat down with a sigh.

Finally, though Jack, She's beginning to cool off. Damn hellcat…

"I-I'm sorry Emma," spoke Will, "I just thought--"

"Well you thought wrong, didn't you?" Having stated the blunt rhetoric, Emma placed her head in her hands heaving another sigh.

Or not.Jack considered the thought carefully. So it was not over, although, this little mind game he was playing with himself was becoming amusing.

"Well then, what is wrong?" A frown creased William's brow, and a slight look of hurt crossed his features as he made his inquiry. Not one of the two other people noticed however – Emma sulking in her own misery, and Jack caught up in his own thoughts. If only there were someway that he could get closer to her, Jack guessed that maybe he could steal another glimpse down Emma's dress…

'Not NOW!' Jack's masculine urges were getting the best of him and this was not the right time. Maybe later he could try seducing her.

Looking up from her palms, Emma's voice quavered.

"I-I don't think that I can…"

"It's alright, love," Jack interrupted with a frantic waving of his arms. Anything to make him stop thinking of her in other ways different than she was, sitting before him. Turning to Will, he continued.

"It's like this, ye see…"

"So, ye see, it's really not my fault." Jack had made this point several times during his presentation. An odd silence ensued the end of Emma's story as told by Jack, until finally, Will broke it.

"When does she want you to go see Norrington?" he asked disdainfully.

Glad that the frigid moment had passed, Emma let out the deep breath she had been holding. "Tomorrow! How will I go through with it, Will? I just cannot stand him! He's so…so…"

"Repulsive?" Jack offered with a pensive look.

Chuckling, Emma nodded, at which point Jack grinned. She was beginning to think Jack was a very interesting person. She was also finding that she quite liked his dry humor and intellectual quips, no matter how confusing they might be to her. She was finding that she just liked him, but then again, what she liked was not a matter of importance to her mother. Sighing, she felt desperately like giving up. She needed to get out.

"Don't worry, Emma," Will assured her, "We are going to figure something out."

After a few minutes, Jack finally spoke up with a snap of his fingers.

"Got it! Brings me back to why I'm here."

"Why are you here anyway, Jack?"

"Well, I 'ave a proposition for ye, mate! Will, me lad, I have a treasure I've been meanin' to go after, an adventure for ye if you're willing to come along."

For a quick second Will's eyes glinted, and then just as quickly turned to a suspicious gaze. Was Jack being dishonest as he claimed to be, or could Will trust him – should he trust him, rather. What was Jack up to now?

"What is it? The treasure, I mean."

"That, dear William, you will find out in due time. Right now yer either in, or yer out."

"Well, if I were to go, what would happen to Emma? And Elizabeth! What am I expected to tell her?"

"This brings me to my next point. I was thinkin' Miss Whibley here," Jack stated as he pointed out Emma, smiling briefly at her, "Might join us in our short excursion. As for your lady friend…" jack cracked a wide smile. "I hear you're engaged. We all know you're a good lad – I'm sure Lizzy could stand to be a few weeks without ye. And even if she's not, you're a big boy right? Make your own decisions. So," Jack asked with the same captain's pride as Will had seen him do to the mute in Tortuga, "what will it be?"

"Well…" As Jack stared him down, Will hesitated, contemplating the consequences he might have to face, were he to join Jack on this endeavor to retrieve gold. He had been looking forward to seeing Jack again with the possibility of going on another trip, but dealing secretly with pirates was risky business. Letting out a deep breath, he continued with piece of mind.

"I am a big boy, right?"

Will's boyish grin was enough to make Emma want to laugh, but when Jack grinned and turned to her, it was a different story.

"What's it for you, then, love? Do we have an accord?"

Jack was deeply hoping so. It had been a while since he had a woman on board, with the exception of Anna-Maria – but she was not a real woman. Not in the sense that he meant, anyway. Even if he could just have her on the Pearl to look pretty for him, he would be satisfied. Although he may not get her to partake in any scandalous escapades with him as swiftly as the other girls he had seduced – which he now believed would be a difficult task – the possibility was there, because, after all, he was the one and only Captain Jack Sparrow.

Thinking for quite some time, Emma contemplated, as Will had, the consequences her actions would have if she were to run off with this maniacal man – Weighing the pros and cons. Her first option would be to stay. In doing so, she would eventually be forced to court the commodore and marry him, or just as involuntarily marry someone else, condemned to live the dull life of a homemaker. Her second option was to leave with the possibility of never seeing any of her friends again, or her town, or her mother, not to mention getting in trouble with law enforcement. Still, her friends were never true friends anyway.

Finally, Emma lifted her head to stare defiantly at the exotic man standing before her, having a set mind.

"Mr. Sparrow, I am terribly sorry, but I must inform you that, whether or not you agree, I am getting on that ship!"

Jack's dark, sun-kissed complexion lit up as he smiled wildly.

"Then it's set, then!"

It had been difficult for Emma to keep a straight face, and so she began laughing hysterically, ensued shortly by her two companions.

"So, when do we leave?"

Emma had managed to control her joyous laughter enough so she could breathe again, both for the sake of her sanity and for the sake of her physical health. Before Emma's inquiry could be answered, however, there came a loud pounding at the door, followed by a voice that made her blood run cold.

"Open up! This is the Royal Navy! We have reason to believe that you are currently harboring a potentially dangerous pirate, whether you are aware of it, or not! If you do not comply with our demands immediately, we will not hesitate to knock down this very door where it stands!" came the voice of Port Royal's very own Commodore James Norrington.

The banging continued for not very long, but to Emma it seemed like an eternity. Her hopes, her plans to escape her wretched life, were foiled. Fate was delivering her into the very hands of the man she despised the most. He had never done anything to harm or embarrass her, yet she hated him all the same. Time sifted slowly as sand through an hourglass, and this was all Emma was aware of. So involved was she in this, that she barely noticed when Jack called to her.

"Emma, now!" whispered Jack.

"W-what?" Emma asked in a gentle, frail voice. She had not understood him, and Jack needed to go at that instant. There would be no opportune moment, and he was getting tired of springing himself out of jail so much. There was only one choice left for him. IN one quick flash, Jack ducked, picking up Emma and swinging her over his shoulder.

"I'll meet you later," mouthed will as he headed for the front entrance.

Before Emma could utter a protest, Jack bounded out the back door, just in time to evade the Royal Navy as they bustled in through the front door of the Blacksmith's shop.

Thanks for everything people! Don't forget: R/R!