The Return of an Old Friend

"I heard her dress is imported from Italy!"

"It's going to be SUCH a wonderful day!"

"Oh she's going to look so BEAUTIFUL!"

"So is it true about the affair?"

"Of course not! He loves her to pieces, I thought EVERYONE knew that!"

"I'm going to climb up the wall of the fort to watch it!"

"The Commodore is taking it surprisingly well!"

"Well he can't really do anything about it now can he?"

"Gosh that pirate isn't going to turn up out of the blue is he?"

"And ruin their big day? I do hope not"

As Captain Jack Sparrow skulked through the town of Port Royal, all he could hear was people talking about "The Wedding". Well, to be fair, it was tomorrow. Maybe he had left it too late to turn up. Maybe they would not want him there. No. No. No! Technically, he was the one who brought them together! If anything, they should be grateful to him. Yes. They would definitely want him there.

Jack strolled along the deserted street, checking for any danger, picking up odd pieces of food and change discarded on the side of the street, and finally, he reached the Governor's Mansion. Jack took a deep breath, adjusted his battered hat, and sat himself down behind a small bush, keeping watch for any sign of either Will or Elizabeth.

It took only around 10 minutes before Will appeared from the house, which was lucky, because Jack was hungry again. As Will walked out of the wrought iron gates, Jack reached out his grubby hand, and grabbed at his buckled shoe. Will tripped, not expecting the arm to be there, and fell flat on his face. This is what Jack liked to call the "opportune moment". He picked the kid up and, brushing him down, said, "Had to be done mate." Will stared at him, not believing that Captain Jack Sparrow was standing in front of him once again.

"Jack!" Will said, immediately frowning at the stupidity of that statement.

"Yep. Couldn't miss your big day now could I?" Jack grinned wryly, taking in everything about Will- he had changed. Not massively, but he had. He seemed just as happy as when Jack had last seen him, but he seemed older, even though it had only been four months. He was wearing similar clothes to usual, although he looked less effortless- now, there was not a hair out of place. Probably because he was visiting his future wife and father-in-law. Sweet. The kid wanted to make an effort.

"So I'm really lookin' forward to my best man duties!" Jack said, looking straight at will with a huge smile on his face.

"Oh…er…"

"I knew you'd pick me- seeing as I'm the one who got you two together…" Aha! Jack had adopted his old ways again, and was gesticulating widely, almost boastful of this fact. Will smiled, realising that he was joking. Much to Jack's embarrassment, Will hugged him briefly, then drew back and shook his hand more formally.

"So….how's life?" Will asked, keen to know if Jack had had any more adventures on the high seas- he was pretty sure that was affirmative.

"Mmm, not bad, not bad…" Jack knew Will was eager to hear what he had been up to, and decided to play on this fact.

"So, any…… news?" Will did not want to sound too keen but was dying to know what Jack had done for the last few months.

"Not really no. Nothing to report." Will's face faltered slightly, so Jack said, "Well, apart from the thing in Tortuga." Will's face brightened again, so Jack quickly told the kid how he and the crew of the Black Pearl had sailed back to Tortuga for a while, and how Jack managed to win the entire island in a card game "That's right, a card game!" he laughed. So now Jack had the Black Pearl AND an island to his name!

"Wow. That makes what I've been doing sound really…."

"Bloody boring?" Jack suggested. Will frowned for approximately one nanosecond, then grinned. Jack hadn't changed a bit. Well, apart from the fact that he now owned Tortuga that is.

"Well, most of it has been parties in honour of the engagement, making plans for the wedding, that sort of thing. I'm still a blacksmith though"

"After getting engaged to the governor's daughter, you're in the money, and yet you're STILL playing about with metal?" Jack said, only partly joking.

"I like it! Call it a hobby."

"You're one weird kid, you know that? Weird. So, you gettin' me some food then or what? Lead on!" Jack spun Will round to face the house, and pushed him up the path, following quickly behind.