Chapter Fifteen
"Let go the anchor!" Jack ordered after they had been sailing in relative silence for a couple of hours. Will hastened to obey and as Jack watched him a reluctant grin came over his features. "Ye'd have made a fine pirate mate," he told him lightly, trying to brighten the mood, if only for a moment.
"Yes, you've told me the like of it before Jack," Will replied. "You told me I was well on my way to becoming a pirate," he remembered as Jack winked roguishly.
"Aye, and I stand by that, ye learn quickly after all," Jack said. "Ye should consider it mate," he smirked.
"Yes well…" Will said, trailing off as his mind fell back on the task at hand. "Is this where we are going to do it?" he asked, looking around at the spot Jack had selected.
"It's as good a place as any," Jack said, also surveying his chosen spot.
"So shall we go get his… body?" Will asked nervously.
With a quick nod of his head Jack turned and led the way, Will following close behind. Once they entered the cabin where Bootstrap's body still lay Jack grabbed his shoulders and motioned for Will to grab his feet, which the younger Turner did, feeling a little sick as he hoisted them up. Slowly, laboriously, they lugged Bill's body out onto the deck.
With a sick feeling of dread Will noted that Bootstrap was heavier now than he had been in life, dead weight, he thought numbly. Jack's face was inscrutable and distant and Will could not help but wonder what the older man was thinking, after all, he had known this man between them now a lot longer than he himself had.
How strange that he was able to keep that unreadable countenance and seemingly unaffected state of mind. The only difference Will could detect in him and the Captain Jack Sparrow that he normally knew was he was much more quiet and a little withdrawn, which Will supposed was probably the only way that he was able to keep his outward appearance of calm. He had to be torn up inside though, Will reflected. After all, how could you see the death of such a close friend in such an up close and personal way and not be affected by it?
Will was grateful though, that the pirate captain wasn't showing it much. Selfish as it may seem, to see Jack in such grief would somehow make it that much worse for him. He couldn't help but wonder if Jack somehow knew this and it was why he was keeping such a tight reign on his emotions. He would probably never know, after all, it was not something you just up and asked a person.
Somehow, without Will quite remembering how it happened, they were on deck, near the edge of the ship at the starboard side with Bootstrap's wrapped body at their feet. Jack stared impassively at the water and Will stared at the covered body of his now dead father. Elizabeth stood uncomfortably between them, not wanting to intrude in either's personal grief and not quite sure where to look or what to do. She hadn't known Bill Turner nearly as long as Jack or even Will, but after a time, when neither man made an attempt to get on with things she decided to try to help them along. "Are you going to say a few words, Jack?" she asked gently, after a long pause.
Jack started slightly, and, tearing his gaze from the mesmerizing blue of the ocean, and turned, his eyes lingering for a moment on Elizabeth before resting on his friend's body. What do you say about the person who was your friend for so many years? He sighed, this was even harder than he had imagined it would be. Well, he would just have to start. So he took a deep breath, and, once again pushing the pain aside, he started talking.
"Dearly departed, we gather here today to lay to rest William Turner Sr., beloved friend and father," he began in the traditional way of funerals. "Many people would ask just who he was really. Was he a husband, a father, a merchant sailor, or a pirate? Was he a good respectable man who obeyed the law, or was he a scalawag? The answer is, that at one point or another he was all of these things. Most importantly, however, he was an honest, good man, who was very strongly devoted to his family and his friends, even if he, himself, often despaired that he wasn't devoted enough, or that he could have done more for them. The truth though, is that he did, at all times, what he thought was best for those he cared about.
"He was a courageous sailor, and he loved every moment of his time at sea. He once said the smell of the salt water in the ocean was the most invigorating and lively scent that God had ever created. Yet he respected the eternal danger that walks hand in hand with the sea, and which is the reason ye can bask in the sunlight one moment and fight for yer life in the middle of a raging storm the next.
"Life wasn't always kind to him, and more than once he was lost in stormy waters, even when he was on dry land. He always knew what he wanted though, and he never, not even for a moment, forgot those that he cared about. Even when they were nowhere near him, they were still in his thoughts and prayers.
"Even in death he still placed himself second to the ones he loved," Jack paused here and turned his gaze at Will, who was raptly hanging onto his every word. "Will, Jack said softly, "He wanted me to tell ye not to be too upset. That to grieve is natural but he didn't want it to rule ye. He said ye had to concentrate on the present, and that above all that you must always live."
Tears filled Will's eyes and he gave a wavering smile and nodded his head. "Thank you," he managed to murmur.
Jack nodded briefly and put a comforting hand on Will's shoulder for a moment, before removing it and continuing with his speech. "Outside of his loved ones, Bootstrap's passion for the sea was unsurpassed. He was one of those true sailors, and nothing thrilled him more than the sight of that endless water in front of him and the horizon in the distance." Jack smiled briefly here, "Perhaps that's why we got along so well. He understood, as I do, the true freedom of a ship in the middle of all that endless blue.
"Ol' Bootstrap loved the sea, and if his family life and adventures at sea could have ever coexisted peacefully he would have been the happiest man on Earth. In life he was a true Child of the Ocean, so it is only fitting, that in death, we give him back to her. Back to that which he truly loved, and since he was her child, we can find comfort in the fact that she will keep him safe in the afterlife, and he will be with her, and be part of her, for the rest of time."
Jack was quiet again and there were sniffling sounds from Will and Elizabeth as Jack again gazed out at the water before turning back to the body at his feet and saying, "I know it's what ye would have wanted William. Don't ye worry about Will, he's young, and he has his whole life ahead of him and a wonderful bride to share it with. He'll be just fine mate. Rest in peace, my old friend."
"That was beautiful Jack," Elizabeth choked out tearfully and Will nodded as Jack's eyes fell on him again.
"Any last words ye want to say Will?" he asked softly.
Will turned slowly and looked at his father's wrapped body again. "We didn't get to be in each other's lives nearly as much as we may have liked," he said slowly, "But I will always cherish the time we did spend. You were always my hero, for years; the one person who I knew in my heart was always good. I thank God for the day you showed up in my life again. I will never be the same without you, but I want you to know that I'll always remember you and what you said and that I will go on with my life and live."
"Good job mate," Jack said softly, and after a moment of respectful silence he turned to Elizabeth and said, "Ye want to say anything luv?"
Elizabeth hesitated a moment and then took a deep breath before beginning. "We didn't know each other very well or very long but I had grown quite fond of you and am honored to have had you in my life. I hope you are happy wherever you are now and that you are finally at rest."
"Very good, both of ye," Jack said, "Alright then," he added, motioning for Will to help him lift the body. Once again, Jack took the shoulders while Will held the feet, and they began to gently swing him, getting ready for the toss that would put him in the sea for the last time.
"May ye rest in eternal peace William. We will see each other again mate, in the meantime though, I'll miss ye, my friend," Jack murmured softly, and a moment later they heaved him into the water. "Take care of him, make him one with you and give him the freedom he deserves." Jack said the last bit very quietly, addressing it to the ocean that they had just given Bootstrap's body to.
The three of them stood on deck in silence, watching the wrapped and lifeless form sinking ever deeper in the fathomless depths of the ever deepening blue of the Caribbean. For how long they stood there after his body disappeared, none of them knew for certain. Eventually it penetrated Jack's mind that it was finished, he had done what he'd promised, and now it was truly over. Still he made no attempt to move, just standing here between Will and Elizabeth was enough for now.
After awhile though, Elizabeth stirred and said, "We should return to Port Royal."
Will nodded, "People will be wanting to know where we are," he murmured softly.
"I'll just drop ye both off and be on me way," Jack said, moving toward the helm. "Wouldn't want to push me luck and over stay my welcome. This extended pardon deal's not gonna last forever." Once at the helm Jack put his hat on and seemed to slip into his 'captain mode.' "Hoist the sails and pull up the anchor," he ordered.
Before too long at all, the pirate captain had them sailing back toward the town. Not much went on during the return trip, and with the exception of the occasional order from Jack all three were quiet and contemplative, each quietly wondering just how life was going to be now, what would change and what would stay the same.
"Here we are," Jack announced after a couple hours once he had positioned the Black Pearl at the docks and lowered the gangplank for the Turners.
"Thank you for everything Jack," Will said, shaking the pirate captain's hand. "I know I've said it before but you really are a good man."
"As are you Will. Ye take after yer father, more than ye'll ever know mate," Jack told him.
"Will we ever see you again Jack?" Elizabeth asked as she hugged him.
"Some day luv, some day. I'm sure of it," Jack said, an uncharacteristic warmth and sincereness in his voice.
"Where will you go now?" Will asked.
"Continuing me never ending chase o' the horizon" Jack said, an adventurous glint returning to his dark eyes. "And o' course I'll be stopping for treasure along the way at the cursed Dutchman's Island!" Jack couldn't help but grin at the horrified looks on the faces of his young friends.
"Cursed?" Elizabeth asked faintly. "How so?"
"Ah, the legends vary," Jack said, waving it off, the glint of adventure still visible in his face. "It's what Bootstrap would've wanted," he added now, a little more quietly. "Life does go on, and he understood that. He wanted us to move on." Jack didn't say that moving on was much harder than just starting another task, but he didn't need to, it was understood.
"You're right," Will sighed.
"I never tire o' hearing that," Jack grinned, wanting to see the two of them smile before he had to leave them, and it worked because Will couldn't help but chuckle a little at his antics.
"You just be careful, we don't want to lose you too," Will added to Jack.
"Yes, and try to remember that you don't need to go after every cursed island that you hear of," Elizabeth admonished.
"I'm always careful," Jack protested, receiving dubious looks from the other two. "Well I'm alive and have got me Pearl haven't I?" Jack demanded. "'Sides, I'm Captain Jack Sparrow, savvy?"
"Well I suppose we all have to move on and live our lives somehow," Will muttered, but he smiled at the pirate captain, knowing that Jack would do as he pleased, it was in his nature and it was useless to try and stop him.
"Yes, and we're going to try our best to move on," Elizabeth said, hugging Will tightly.
"Yes," Will agreed, hugging her back. "I want to honor my father's last wishes and live our lives to the fullest."
"Hear, hear," Jack said, taking his flask from his pocket and lifting it before taking a drink and passing it around. "To living."
Elizabeth was last and she wrinkled her nose when the rum entered her mouth and Jack looked at her warningly before quickly snatching it back as soon as she was finished. Elizabeth rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless, and saying their final goodbyes, the Turners walked down the gangplank of the Pearl and to the docks below, leaving the pirate captain to sail away.
Will and Elizabeth stood arm in arm on the docks, watching the Black Pearl sail into the horizon and eventually Will thoughtfully said, "You know, I think they are both right, my father and Jack. It may hurt but life does go on and you and I will spend it together."
"I think so too," Elizabeth agreed, resting her head on her husband's shoulder. "I think so too."
Captain Jack Sparrow sighed, glancing one last time back to the docks that were shrinking into the distance, and where he could just see the silhouettes of Will and Elizabeth Turner walking away with their arms wrapped around each other in a comforting embrace. "They're going to be just fine," Jack murmured aloud to himself. "Life does indeed go on."
As Jack stared out at the water and the elusive horizon forever in the distance memories flooded him, and he couldn't help but think of his friend's last words, reminding them all to go on with their lives. "Live," he murmured quietly as he steered the Black Pearl toward Tortuga to pick up his crew and go after the treasure of Dutchman's Island.
See, painful as it was, life was already moving forward and he would be just fine too. The pirate captain smiled as the thought echoed through his mind, live.
The End
Author's Note: Well that's all folks; hope everyone enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing. I want to thank you all for coming along for the ride, and I'd especially like to thank those who took the time to review! You were all very inspiring; I love you all:)
