----
Will and Gibbs pushed past a crowd of men and women in the heart of Jack's island. Will stopped a few of them.
"Have you seen Jack Sparrow?"
The drunk man he stopped was too out of it to understand. The woman wasn't.
"Jack Sparrow? He's a newcomer to these parts. Doesn't quite get it yet."
"Do you know where he is?"
"He's in there." She pointed to a building named "The White Swann" and then walked off. Will led the way and opened the creaky doors to it. Gibbs swallowed as he looked around. The building was full of cobwebs and dust and had only one person in it. Jack sat in a dark corner with a bottle of rum on the table. He wasn't drinking it.
"Jack," Will said as he coughed from the dust.
Jack didn't look up. "Leave me alone. Don't bother a man who's lost everything important to him."
Will came closer. "Jack, we came to get you."
Jack still didn't look up. "Go away. I don't want to play your island games."
Will reached Jack and put his hand on Jack's shoulder. "Jack, it's me. Will."
Jack looked up and smiled a smile that Will had never seen on him. It was a mix of relief and happiness.
"Will." Jack smile grew and tears came from his eyes. "You came to get me?"
"Yes, Jack. Everyone's waiting. Come on. Let's go."
Jack put on his contemplative face. "Everyone's waiting, eh?" He put his hat on with a grin that Will knew well. "Well, we mustn't keep them waiting." He picked up the rum.
Gibbs was happy to leave the creepy room. "Let's get the bloody hell out of here."
Jack stopped walking and looked at Gibbs, completely serious. "Heck. The bloody heck out of here." He continued his pirate swagger out the door. "Don't mention hell if you know nothing about it."
----
Wordlessly, Jack led the way back to The Pride Wynn. Will took comfort in the knowledge that Jack didn't know that The Pride Wynn was Amanda's ship. One less thing to give away that she was hiding onboard.
Jack climbed up the side after Will and Gibbs had already done so and was helped over the side by Barbossa. I watched the scene from my hiding place by the helm.
Barbossa smiled as his old rival. "Jack! It's good to see you, mate!"
Jack smiled back, but wasn't thinking about Barbossa. "Where is she?"
Barbossa's face didn't change. "Elizabeth's right here, Jack."
Jack's face was stone. "No, not her. You know who I'm talking about."
Gibbs tried. "You're daft, Jack. There's no other woman on board."
Jack looked annoyed. "Don't give me that, mate. I know she's here." He walked over to where the crew was and looked them over. "No other person alive could've found me, except her. She's here." Everyone was silent as he lifted a short pirate's hat. Unbeknownst to him, it was his son, Peter. "This pirate has my eyes," he said to himself. Before anyone could react, he picked Peter up and jumped on top of the railing of the ship. "Would the person in question please show herself before I am forced to toss this pirate overboard?"
I jumped out of my hiding place, which was behind Jack's view, and put a hand on the helm. My vest, shirt and hair blew in the wind.
"Put him down, Jack."
Jack turned to me with a grin. "It's been a while, Amanda."
I didn't smile. "It will be more if you don't put your son down."
Jack still held Peter in his arms. He pointed to Peter's head, while still looking at me. "This is my son?" He looked down at Peter and set him on the deck. "Sorry about that, mate. It's a good thing first impressions are always wrong." He smiled proudly at Peter as he touched the boy's hair. "You have my hair." I couldn't see Jack's face, but I knew that he was holding back tears. "Excuse me while I have a little parley with your esteemed mother." He started walking towards me, so I walked down the stairs and stood in front of the Captain's cabin.
When he reached me, I looked at the crew. "As you were, men." I turned, opened the door and walked in. Jack entered and shut the door behind him. He leaned against it and looked me over.
"You're still as beautiful as the day I met you." His gaze made me tremble, so I sat down at my table. "Where's Sarah?" I didn't answer. "You know, Peter's twin? Blonde hair like me mother?"
I poured myself a cup of tea. "She's with Kimmi."
Jack sat down across from me. "Who's Kimmi? A present from your rich husband?"
I put two sugar cubes into my tea and stirred it. "No, a present from my pirate husband."
Jack grinned. "You made off with more of me goods than I thought." I sipped my tea. "But you did get re-married, of course."
I set my tea down. "No." I looked at the table and ran my finger over my tea cup's rim. "No, I didn't." Jack liked my answer. He knew why I hadn't gotten re-married.
He stood up. "You still love me." I didn't answer, so he started a slow walk towards me. "I know you do."
I got up to get away from him. "It was never a question of if I still loved you, it was if you still loved me."
He followed me. "I do love you, Amanda."
I looked out my windows and crossed my arms. "Then why did you betray me? Why were you with those other women?"
He stood beside me. "Do you want the truth?" I said nothing. "Okay, here it is." He put his back against the windows. "I went to get some rum because you wouldn't let me have any. I intended to bring it back to where we were staying, but I met an old friend at the bar. We sat down, got to talking, and soon I was drunk. You know how I get when I'm drunk."
Of course I knew. "Go on," I said before my throat caught.
"I don't remember anything up 'til you came into the bar and found me. Then I woke up and there were women all over me. Even if you hadn't been there, I would've gotten the snot out of there as soon as I realized that the women were there."
I swallowed and blinked some tears away. "And that's the truth?"
"Every word, Amanda." He pushed some of my hair behind my ear. "Am I forgiven?"
I looked at him. "My trust is easily thrust aside, but it is not as easily won back. Consider that next time you want to sneak out in the middle of the night to drink rum." He didn't answer, but I knew that he was hurt by my words. I looked back at the window. "Get out, Jack."
----
Jack swaggered out of the Captain's cabin and stopped Gibbs from his work.
"Mr. Gibbs."
"Aye, Captain?"
"Are you familiar with the play 'The Taming of the Shrew' by William Shakespeare?"
"Aye, Captain. I learned about it in school."
"Yes, good man." He put his arm around Gibbs' shoulders. "Obviously, Mr. Shakespeare didn't know my wife."
----
Bwaha ha ha! Yeah, I couldn't get the wording right on that last part, so hopefully it's still funny.