Author's Note: Well here I am again 2 days later than I planned, but what can you do? Thank you again to everyone who reviewed and I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Chapter Three

"Jack, how've you been?" Will asked, spotting Jack and shaking his hand.

"Not bad, not bad," Jack answered, "And how are ye doin?"

"I'm good, thanks for asking. I actually came to give you the good news," Will said.

"Good news about what?" Jack asked curiously.

"The Commodore managed to convince the Elizabeth's father to give you a temporary pardon so that you can attend the wedding without worrying about getting arrested. The pardon starts two days before the wedding, and ends the day after. Giving you sufficient time to visit with us, enjoy the ceremony, and then escape before the pardon ends," Will explained. "So will you come?"

"Aye, of course I will, I already told ye that! How did ye manage the four day pardon though, that's even more than I expected when the Commodore said he was sure you guys could work something out," Jack marveled.

Will smiled and said, "Well it was not without a bit of a push, I'll tell you that, but we managed it."

Jack grinned and said, "So how long will ye be staying in Tortuga then?"

"Staying here?" Will asked in surprise, "Not long, I promised Elizabeth I'd get back as soon as possible. There's only a month to the wedding and still a lot of planning to do. I'll probably just find a room to crash in tonight and leave in the morning."

"Find a room?" Jack repeated, a slightly mocking tone in his voice, "What kind of room do ye think ye'll find? This is Tortuga boy! Nah, ye'd do better on the Pearl."

"The Pearl?" Will said in surprise, glancing around him uneasily. "No Jack I couldn't."

"Sure ye could," Jack said with a grin.

"Are you sure?" Will asked nervously.

"Aye, there's an extra cot in Gibbs' room. It's where the good Commodore stayed. That is, after his hangover and the worst of his injuries were gone," Jack told him.

"Ah yes, I believe I heard him mention it," Will remembered suddenly. "He said the snoring was so loud that several times he woke in the middle of the night believing himself to be in the middle of an earthquake, before remembering he was on a ship and it was only Gibbs."

"Well that's the Commodore for ye," Jack said, his eyes sparkling with humor. "Anyway, the room will do in a pinch, 'sides, it's better'n what ye'd get in Tortuga."

"Alright, you win," Will said, resigning himself to a night on the infamous pirate ship.

"Good," Jack said enthusiastically, "I enjoy winning," he said as Will rolled his eyes exasperatedly. "Gibbs!" Jack hollered.

"Sir?" Gibbs asked, appearing out of the galley.

"Young Mr. Turner is to sleep in your room tonight, so if you'll kindly show him to it, we're both ready to crash," Jack instructed.

"Aye sir," Gibbs said and motioned for Will to follow him.

"Good night Jack," Will said, "Thanks for letting me stay, I guess I'll see you in the morning."

"Night," Jack responded as he headed in the opposite direction and toward his cabin. Once he reached it and opened the door he almost ran straight into the dark haired man, who was hovering near the door waiting for him to come back. Jack cursed and quickly back stepped to avoid crashing into him. "Hello there," he said once he was sure he wasn't going to hit him.

"How is he?" the dark haired man asked anxiously.

"Good, what did ye expect?" Jack asked, eying his friend. "He just came to tell me I have a temporary pardon for his wedding," Jack explained as he stepped into the cabin, nudging the dark haired man out of the way.

"Yeah," he murmured, "I can't see him yet," he said anxiously.

"Ye don't have to," Jack told him, "Our plan can still go the way we intended, only now it's a little easier because of my temporary pardon."

The dark haired man nodded nervously and went over to lie down on his cot. Jack watched him through narrowed eyes as he to settled down for the night.


In Gibbs' cabin Will was also settling down. As he lay there in the extra cot his thoughts strayed to Elizabeth as they so often did. He pictured her in his mind and thought of how she would soon be his. The wedding was going to be a fancier than was necessary, especially for him, but the Governor had insisted on no less for his only daughter. Elizabeth herself had said she didn't need all the finery, but it didn't really bother Will so long as he finally got to marry Elizabeth after all these years of loving her. He wondered what Elizabeth was thinking of and doing.


Many miles away, in Port Royal, Elizabeth was also settling down for bed and when her maid left the room her thoughts wandered to her fiancé in Tortuga. He had undoubtedly found Jack by now and had told him of the good news. Elizabeth figured Will would probably spend the night in Tortuga to get some rest before heading back to Port Royal the next morning. That would mean, assuming she was right and he had found Jack by now, he would very likely be back in her arms in two days tops. Elizabeth smiled; she missed him even more than she had expected to miss him. Time apart was very hard, she wondered if he felt the same way. In a month he would be hers forever, and they need never be separated again. She sighed; the wedding was going to be fancier than she really wanted it to be. She was worried Will would feel out of place at his own wedding, but he didn't seem to mind. He said as long as he had her nothing else mattered. He said it was to be expected with the Governor's daughter. He really was the sweetest man in the world. She had never been happier than she was at the thought of a life with him, and she could hardly wait to see him again and to get on with their lives together.


The next morning aboard the Black Pearl Will stretched out his muscles as he woke. When he opened his eyes he noticed Gibbs was already putting a hat on and about to exit the cabin. "Ah, yer awake," he said as he spotted Will's open eyes. "Why don't ye come into the galley for a spot of breakfast afore ye go."

"That's not a half bad idea," Will said as he struggled out of the small cot, "I think I will.

When he and Gibbs entered into the galley Will spotted a tall dark haired man exiting out of the opposite end. "Who was that?" Will asked Gibbs curiously.

"Ah, just a new crewmember," Gibbs muttered, a slightly nervous expression in his eyes. "Oh look! There's Jack!" he exclaimed, a little to suddenly, "I believe the Cap'n would like it if ye had breakfast with him."

"Alright then," Will said, eyeing Gibbs suspiciously. As he sat down with Jack, Gibbs hurried to the other side of the galley and sat with Cotton and the parrot, who chose that exact moment to shout out something about rum in the morning being a great way to start a pirate's day.

"Hear, hear!" Jack said enthusiastically, raising a mug.

"A little early for that, don't you think?" Will murmured with a grin.

"Pirate," Jack answered easily.

"Right, so anyway, who was the guy that left just as I came in?" Will asked.

"Just an old friend," Jack said evasively.

"Gibbs said he was a new crewmember," Will told him.

"Aye, in a manner o' speakin'," Jack said. "What's with all the questions?"

"Nothing, just Gibbs seemed a little strange when I asked about him," Will explained.

"Well Gibbs is a strange man," Jack pointed out, taking a swig out of his mug. "Speakin' o' Gibbs, did ye sleep well?" Jack asked.

"Well now I can say I understand perfectly well what the Commodore meant when he said he thought he was in an earthquake," Will said wryly.

Jack chuckled and they spent the rest of the meal in a comfortable silence. "Well I should be on my way back to Port Royal," Will said once they were finished. "Thanks for letting me stay here."

"No problem mate," Jack told him. "Any time."

"So I'll see you two days before the wedding, and you'll attend the rehearsals right?" Will asked.

"Aye," Jack said, "Count on it mate, I wouldn't miss it."

"We will count on it," Will said, shaking Jack's hand. Once he had nodded to the crew he took his leave of the Pearl and got back into his little rental boat and headed back to Port Royal.

Jack stood on the deck of his beloved ship and watching Will disappear into the darkness until the dark haired man came out and stood beside him. "So he's gone then?" he asked.

Jack nodded and said, "He saw ye leaving the galley and he asked about ye."

"Did he? What did ye tell him?" the man asked anxiously.

"Relax mate, he just thinks yer an old friend o' mine, which ye are, and a new member o' me crew."

The man snorted and said, "A new member huh? Well in a manner o' speaking I guess."

Jack grinned and said, "That's exactly what I said."

"What am I going to do Jack?" the man asked. "How will I make him understand?"

"Ye'll figure out a way," Jack told him, "Besides, ye've had good reasons for everything ye've done."

"I suppose, but will he understand those reasons? I remember what I was like at his age, and I dunno if I'd have understood, I mean truly understood," the dark haired man said uneasily.

"Ye don't give him enough credit mate," Jack said quietly. "At his age ye were impetuous and took everyday as a grand adventure, and there's nothing wrong with that, but he had to grow up much faster. His childhood was cut short by the death of his mother, and his father was missing. From what I can tell he grew up fast."

"Aye, I guess so," the man sighed, "He has been through a lot, I'm just glad he's found the person who is a comfort to him in this world and who makes him happy."

A/N: Well that's all for now, I hope everyone enjoyed it, but that it was sufficiently frustrating in that I still made no definite move to explain who the dark haired man is! LOL, I did give you more clues though! For those of you who already guessed or at least suspected (yes that means you Blackmagic!) did your guess stay the same? I do intend on telling you for sure in the next chapter though. I hope you all noticed I made this chapter a little longer than the last, and I'll try to update the next one soon! Till then, cheers!