A/N: Here I am again with another chapter, I would have had it up much sooner but it wouldn't let me upload it. I literally tried for four days in a row, today is the fith day and it finally let me! Yay! I want to thank everyone who reviewed for the last chapter, reviews really do make it easier to keep writing! Thank you so much, and I hope everyone enjoys this chapter and please, please, don't forget to review! On we go with chapter ten…
Chapter Ten
Once Bill and Jack were out of sight of the blacksmith shop Bill's strength seemed to leave him and he staggered, coughing weakly and almost falling to the ground. Jack wasn't at all surprised, he knew that Bill had been desperately clinging to what strength he had so that he didn't show any sign of his sickness to his son. Jack was rather impressed at how well he had succeed, with the exception of a couple coughing attacks you would think there wasn't much wrong.
Now though, Bill was physically and mentally drained and he could no longer hide his failing health. Jack also knew that if they hadn't left the shop when they had Bill would have collapsed right there, whether it was in front of Bill and Elizabeth or not. Jack knew that Bill was aware of all this as well but he didn't say anything and when Bill staggered again he quickly slipped under his arm to support him and guide him back to the Pearl.
"Just made it," Bill muttered between coughs.
"Yes ye did," Jack agreed quietly.
The next morning was the wedding rehearsal, which, like the wedding, was taking place on the Governor's expansive yard in front of his mansion. Bill had slept very fitfully the previous night, constantly tossing and turning, and because he and Jack slept in the same room the pirate captain was also short on sleep. As a result they had both gotten up early and arrived at the rehearsal before they were expected to. Bill didn't really need to attend the rehearsal as he didn't actually have an active role in the wedding but he wanted to take any chance he could to see his son and so he attended.
Will and Jack had agreed that Bootstrap could share Jack's best man duties if he wished but he had declined, saying that as best man, or co-best man as the case may be, he'd have to stand for the ceremony, but as a simple viewer he could sit and relax and just watch. Jack had seen the relief in his friend's eyes when Will had excepted this but he had also seen the grief, the excuse had passed off just as good natured laziness and polite consideration since all the plans had already been made, but Jack knew that it was also the truth and that Bill truly couldn't stand for that long anymore, and that Bill hated it.
Since Bill and Jack were early to the rehearsal there were only a few people milling around, Will and Elizabeth among them. However, they were busy talking with Governor Swann and could only wave when they spotted the two pirates. Commodore Norrington, however, who was not engaged in conversation, could do more than wave and upon spotting them he headed right for them.
"You're about to meet the Commodore," Jack whispered in Bill's ear when he saw Norrington coming toward them.
"Hello gentlemen," Norrington said, standing before them, and from his expression as he regarded Bill, Jack knew he had been right in assuming Governor Swann had told him of Bootstrap's presence.
"Commodore," Jack greeted, nodding his head and Bill followed his lead. The Commodore glanced at Bill significantly and then back to Jack, clearly wanting to be introduced. "Commodore James Norrington, Bill Turner, Bill, this is the esteemed Commodore Norrington," Jack said formally, taking the Commodore's hint for an introduction.
"Turner?" the Commodore said immediately. "Any relation to our young groom?"
Bill glanced questioningly at Jack, who nodded almost imperceptibly. Norrington, however, saw this and he raised his eyebrows ever so slightly. "He's my son," Bill said in answer to the Commodore's question.
Norrington's eyebrows were raised even further as he said, "Well, I can't pretend this doesn't come as a bit of a shock. I was not aware you were going to be in attendance. For that matter I did not know you were in contact with Will or that you were on familiar terms with Captain Sparrow here."
Bill glanced uneasily at Jack again before reluctantly saying, "Well I wasn't in contact with Will until recently."
"Indeed," Norrington said softly, his eyes flicking to Jack's face, and Jack could tell that it hadn't escaped the Commodore's notice that Bill hadn't given an explanation for how he knew him.
"May I have a word Jack?" the Commodore asked, indicating a spot a little distance away.
Jack glanced at Bill who nodded slightly before he headed off with the Commodore. Bill, who was already tired and feeling weak, gratefully sat in one of the chairs arranged for the ceremony.
Once Jack and Norrington were out of earshot, Norrington said, "So that is Will's father?"
"Sure is," Jack said affirmatively.
Norrington nodded, his shrewd eyes studying Jack, who met the Commodore gaze unflinchingly, keeping his face in a carefully neutral expression. "I'm going to be honest with you Jack," Norrington said finally. "As you know I have to do my duty at all times, whether it is hard or not. You understand me, right?"
"Course mate," Jack said. "I'm not entirely sure what this has to do with Bill though," he lied.
The Commodore sighed and said, "I don't expect you to tell me if your friend shares the same profession as you or not, and frankly I would rather not know. However, if any evidence of piracy on his part presents itself, I will have no choice but to arrest him. Now between you and I, I'm not looking very hard for said evidence, so I suggest, if my suspicions have any basis at all, that you warn him not to give me any reason to know it as a fact." Norrington paused here, considering his words carefully, and then said, "I want to be very clear that I am not accusing him of anything. I am simply expressing my desire to have a wedding and not an arrest and a hanging. Do I make myself clear?"
"Inescapably clear," Jack said, staring into the Commodore's eyes, both of them remembering a past conversation.
"Good," the Commodore said after a moment, tearing his eyes away from the pirate captain and pushing the image of Jack with chains around his wrists and a disappointed expression on his face out of his mind. Instead he turned his gaze to Bill a little distance away. "Is he alright?" he asked as Bill leaned over in his chair, coughing violently, his whole body trembling. Before Jack could answer, it became apparent even from their distance that Bill was coughing up blood again. "My God!" Norrington exclaimed in dismay, "That man needs a doctor!" he said, hurrying toward him.
"No Commodore," Jack said, quickly stepping in front of him and catching him by the arm. "That won't be necessary, I'm sure he'll appreciate the thought though."
"What do you mean it's not necessary? The man is coughing up blood!" Norrington said in surprise.
"Bill doesn't want a doctor mate. He's already right where he wants to be," Jack said quietly, but forcefully.
"Well I suppose that is his prerogative," Norrington said slowly. "Is he going to be alright though?"
"That depends on yer definition of 'alright'," Jack said evasively, not wanting to say his friend was dying.
The Commodore seemed to get it though but he made no further comment. "Where are you going to after the wedding? He asked conversationally, changing the subject.
"No offense Commodore," Jack said with a grin, "but you were just a moment ago talking of how you must always do yer duty and I think to know where I am after me pardon ends would be to much for ye to handle and duty would compel ye to come after me, so maybe we should avoid this kind of small talk, savvy?"
"Touché," Norrington murmured, "I understand of course. Well, I should go over and pay my respects to the Governor and give Mr. Turner and Miss Swann a chance to mingle with the other guests and pay their respects before the rehearsal begins. Give my regards to your friend and I'm sure I'll see you later Captain." With that he headed over to Governor Swann and the happy couple and Jack went back to Bootstrap, who stood up once Jack reached him.
"What did he want?" Bill asked curiously.
"He suspects ye of piracy," Jack informed him.
"What?" Bill asked in alarm.
"Hang on, ye didn't let me finish," Jack told him. "He suspects, but like I said, he doesn't have anything to base it on so he can't do anything."
"And he just told you this straight up?" Bill asked in surprise and Jack grinned. "He wants me to warn ye not to give him a reason to arrest ye."
"Do you think he'll dig for evidence?" Bill asked uneasily.
"No, he just wants to have a wedding, so we'll have to be careful not to give him a reason to turn it into anything else, savvy?" Jack said.
"Can it really be that easy?" Bill wondered in surprise.
Just then Will and Elizabeth appeared. "Can what be that easy?" Will asked curiously.
"Oh, nothing," Bill said lightly, quickly changing the subject.'
Elizabeth gave him a strange look but apparently decided to let him drop it and she turned to Jack and said, "We saw you talking to the Commodore, is everything okay? James didn't say when he came over to us, he just congratulated us and then started talking to my father."
"Everything's fine luv, we were just talking," Jack said calmly.
"Attention everyone, we're about to begin," came the Governor's voice abruptly. "We need the groom and best man to stand up here at the altar where they will be tomorrow for the real wedding while the bride and her bridesmaids stand behind the chairs ready to make their entrance. The spectators will please sit in the seats." The last bit he had of course said for Bill, who was the only one who came to watch the rehearsal itself, everyone else would wait for the actual wedding.
"Here we go," Will murmured, quickly kissing his fiancé as he and Jack headed over to their places.
"I do hope you will dress more appropriately tomorrow," Governor Swann said, eyeing Jack's clothes.
Bill, who was sitting in the front row heard this and snickered quietly. "Don't worry Governor," Jack answered as Will rolled his eyes exasperatedly. "I do have other clothes you know."
"No, I'm sorry to say I did not know that," the Governor said before moving away to make sure Elizabeth was positioned correctly.
"Sorry about that," Will whispered to Jack, grimacing as he glanced at the Governor.
"No worries mate, he's right, I'm not dressed for a wedding right now," Jack said unconcernedly.
"Well you don't need to be yet," Will muttered, eyeing Elizabeth's father. "Elizabeth and I aren't dressed for the wedding yet either, it's only the rehearsal.
After that the day went off without a hitch with the exception of one little incident where one of Elizabeth's bridesmaids, Alice Jackson, was too afraid to stand with the rest of the wedding party because of Jack.
"What do you think he is going to do?" Elizabeth had demanded, rolling her eyes in annoyance.
"He's a pirate, what do you think he's going to do?" Alice had whimpered.
"I'm a gentle pirate, luv," Jack interjected with a playful grin which unfortunately seemed to be mistaken as menacing because the poor girl gave a cry and hid behind Elizabeth. "I promise I won't bite ye," Jack said, trying to soothe her fears. "I only bite every other week."
Regretfully, this did not seem to reassure her at all and she burst into tears. "Why do you have a pirate at your wedding anyway?" she wailed miserably.
Finally Elizabeth, who was losing her patience, said, "If you do not get up there and stand with the rest of us then I will take back my invitation for you to be a bridesmaid, we can do just fine without you, thanks! Besides, you don't even have to stand next to him, Janet, Will, and myself will be between you and him!" she had finished furiously. Janet was another bridesmaid, who to Elizabeth's great relief was much less faint of heart and didn't at all mind standing near Jack.
The Commodore, next decided to try and help, so he walked forward and said in his quiet, gentle way, "Miss Jackson, do you really think the Governor and myself would allow Jack to attend the wedding freely if he were in any way dangerous to the wedding party or the guests?"
Bill, of course, had found all of this to be wildly amusing and had sat in the first row, trying desperately to suppress his laughter. Jack had glanced at him and winked, a roughish grin on his face that had done nothing to dispel Alice's fears. However, in the end it was a combination of Elizabeth saying she couldn't be a bridesmaid unless she stood with the rest of them and the Commodore's assurance that Jack was safe before she consented and the rehearsal proceeded normally.
"I'm sorry about that Jack," Will said once the rehearsal had been completed to everyone's satisfaction. Like his father, Will was trying to hide his amusement.
Jack, however, made no attempt to hide the humor in his voice as he remarked that it was the most entertaining rehearsal he had ever been to, and that most of them were supremely dull affairs, at which it was all you could do to stay awake. "With the exception o' yer father's o' course," he added, glancing at his friend.
"You were a part of my parents wedding rehearsal? I thought you had only went to have dinner with us a couple of times and when I was alive?" Will asked in confusion, glancing between the two of them.
"Yeah, I was at sea a lot, but I did know yer father before he even met yer mother and I was his best man too and made a special trip to land for the wedding, savvy?" Jack explained. "Afterwards I went back to sea, yer father didn't come then but a couple months after he went off with me for the first time since the wedding and even when he wasn't with me and my crew I did see him fairly often. I didn't see yer mother for a few years though and by the time I saw her next ye were born."
Will nodded in understanding, "Okay then," he said, "So what happened at your rehearsal that was so entertaining?" he said to his father.
"Well none of it was entertaining to me or Carol Anne at the time ye know," Bill said, glaring at Jack, but there was humor in his gaze now.
"Aye, but everything's funny with hindsight," Jack pointed out and Bill grinned reminiscently.
"Oh everything seemed to go wrong that day," Bill remembered. "Yer mother's little niece, Claire, was supposed to be the flower girl and right in the middle of everything she threw up all over your mother's feet."
"Oh no!" exclaimed Elizabeth, "I hope that doesn't happen to me."
Bill grinned, "Yes, well thankfully it was just the rehearsal. If bad things are going to happen ye better hope they happen then and not he actual wedding. Carol Anne was very good about it though; she took it right in stride. She was remarkable like that.
"Then, as though that weren't enough," he said, continuing, "Later, after we had gotten everything cleaned up again, the little girl's brother, Johnny, who was our ring bearer, tripped and fell right into the table holding the wedding cake and it smashed all over me."
"Mother never told me all this," Will said in wonder, laughing at his father's story.
"Well I think she had blocked it out," Bill said with a grin at the memory.
"Why did you have the cake out at the rehearsal anyway?" Elizabeth asked curiously.
"That's a good question," Bill said, nodding at her. "And it has a simple answer. It was Carol Anne's mother's idea. She seemed to think it would add to the mood of the rehearsal and help everyone get into there respective roles if we had the cake and other decorations 'out and in the open.' She was a strange woman. However, she was impossible to argue with, as anyone who was in her acquaintance for even five minutes quickly figured out."
Jack sniggered, "Aye, she was at that. I only met her once, for the wedding, but that's all it took. 'Out and in the open,' well it sure was when it was all over ye mate," Jack chuckled. "He was covered in it from head to foot."
Bill sighed and shook his head at this memory. "So did you go without a cake at the wedding?" Will asked.
"We were going to," Bill said, "Yer mother and I were in agreement that no cake was not the end of the world, but again, yer grandmother was stubborn and she insisted we needed a cake. The woman had the poor baker up all night long so it would be ready in time making an even bigger and grander cake."
"I don't remember Gran," Will remarked. "She died when I was just five years old.
"I remember," Bill said, nodding. "Yer mother and I stayed up the whole night trying to explain to ye where she had gone."
"You did?" Will asked in surprise.
"Aye, ye were a right curious little fellow," Bill remembered fondly. "Anyway, Jack of course, found the whole rehearsal disaster very amusing," Bill said, returning to the original subject.
So they spent the rest of the evening, laughing about all the things that happened to Will parents as they had planned their wedding, so many years ago. "There were times I was so frustrated that I became so sure our wedding was not meant to be, but then I would look at Carol Anne's face and I'd forget all my worries. God, I loved her so much," he murmured, more to himself now then the others.
After they'd talked a little longer Elizabeth announced that Bill and Jack had been invited to a dinner party at the Governor's mansion. "Who else will be there?" Jack asked curiously.
"Well, my father of course, Commodore Norrington, Will, and myself," Elizabeth told him.
"What do ye say William?" Jack asked, turning to Bootstrap.
"It'd be rude to refuse," Bill commented, "Besides I'd like to see where me son's fiancé grew up."
"Oh, it's nothing overly remarkable," Elizabeth said, blushing a little as she waved it aside. "I much prefer the house Will and I picked to live in once we're married. For now though, I need to head home and get dressed for dinner, I'll see you all in an hour right?"
"Oh aye," Jack said.
"Wouldn't miss it," Bill assured her.
"You know I'll be there," Will told her.
"So we have to dress up for this dinner, huh?" Bill asked once Elizabeth had left.
"Yeah, the Governor is a real stickler for propriety and etiquette," Will explained. "We have to at least look presentable. Here Will cast an apprehensive look over Jack's long hair and the beads dangling in his locks, then to his bandana and long black coat.
"No worries mate," Jack said, catching the look, "I'll clean myself up."
Bill snickered and Will grinned apologetically. "Sorry Jack," he said. "It's just that the Governor is already worried about how you're going to look at the wedding. Anyway," he added, glancing to his father, "I think I should warn you that Elizabeth suspects this invitation is just an excuse for the Governor to try to find out more about you."
"Don't worry about it son," Bill said calmly, "I know how to watch me mouth. I won't give him any reason to suspect me of anything."
A/N: Please, please, please don't forget to review and tell me what you think!
