Little Sparrow
Summary: "Now up is down," was the last thing any of them heard before the rush of water drowned everything else out. Later, waking up on a random, deserted island, they almost immediately notice that something was not right with their Captain. Sparrington, Salazak, Willabeth, maybe others mentioned.
There was an outright party on every pirate vessel as soon as the Endeavor all but exploded before their eyes and long before all the Navy ships turned tail and fled. Even without music or grog or whatever else pirates usually used to make a party, just throwing hats, hugging, back thudding, cheering and whistling was enough to create the right atmosphere and the crew aboard the Black Pearl was livelier than on any other pirate ship in the Brethren's fleet. There was even some kissing involved from couples and that, most of all, included Will and Elizabeth. They were sucking each other's faces off and got their own round of cat calls for their efforts.
Philip Gillete and Theodore Groves had been dragged into some silly group dance, holding hands with pirates they had been hunting not much more than a month ago, clapping and laughing and cheering with the lively men. Mr Murtogg and Mr Mullroy, who believed themselves quite clever - and were a bit cleverer than the men they had entered the fight with - dressed as pirates as they were could be seen celebrating with their equals - in stupidity - Ragetti and Pintel. Jack and James, standing by the helm as they were, shuddered at the idiocy those four could get up to all together. They could both already feel insufferable headaches coming on and they hadn't even heard the four idiots interacting yet. Probably for the best. Elizabeth had dragged Will into the dances, twirling and laughing and just generally having fun while Barbossa and Gibbs, surprise of all surprises, were toasting each other for at any point suffering the responsibilities of being Jack Sparrow's first mate. Gary, Ahmed and Lee were cheering and firing some of their left over shots in celebration to match the noise of fireworks coming from the Far East ships or the drumming that came from the African ones. Someone had taken the initiative and had fetched the bug music box they had 'found' during their journey and so even the Black Pearl was washed with a cheery melody. Mr Cotton and his parrot were keeping company with Marty and Jack the monkey while the rest of the crew were just celebrating that they had made it out of this alive.
Jack let his eyes roam the decks of his beloved ship and tried not to show his reaction to how much less people were present. They had lost a good thirty five men in this bloody battle and Jack's anger at Jones and at Beckett returned full force, but his lady love grounded him with her own singing and James' hand on his hip helped distract him. The shorter man looked at the once again younger one, considering all they had been through, both when he had been de-aged and before that. And as lovely as their coupling had been, Jack still felt his cheeks warming more when he recalled all their quiet nights when they couldn't sleep and just spent hours talking up on the deck or even higher in the crow's nest. James Norrington had been the first person Jack had ever told about his relationship with Armando and he will never forget that. Armando had been the Capitán of his heart for so long that Jack had simply hidden him away over the years but still had him right there. He now had a Commodore contending for that very same heart and it filled Sparrow with warmth and fuzziness, making him lean closer to his new lover.
A part of him will always belong to Armando but James was the only one to snatch that other part for himself. And while Jack Sparrow can never really belong to anyone, for he is a creature of freedom, perhaps even freedom itself bound in human flesh, these two men had wedged into Jack's heart and have staken claim to it, never letting anyone else try and take it. It was Jack's but they protected it, kept it safe. Perhaps they were its keepers. The new Pirate King - fancy that! - didn't know how to describe it but he knew both of them were very very special to him and he will never deny it.
"Jamie?" He called even as he watched Gibbs go in search for his hat - what had he been expecting when Jack allowed him to throw his precious hat like that? It was a tribute from his first crew! It was as precious to Jack as any of his other trinkets. Speaking of which, he had some beads to braid back into place. His bloody teenage self didn't have a bloody beard - leaning against the taller as he was. James' own green eyes were locked on his friends acting with such childish glee, a truly special sight with Philip. He was more rigid that James at his most Commodorial.
"Yes?" He answered distractedly and Jack bit his lip, hesitating for only a second before he said what needed to be said. After all, if even Armando could see it ...
"I love you." He tried to make it as mumbled as possible, wondering perhaps if he could just say it out loud to himself and it would be enough to calm his thudding heart but James, somehow, heard him over all that noise and his head whipped around to stare wide eyed at the tanned man, who refused to look at him. "I ain't repeatin' it, love, so if ye heard, ye heard. If not-"
"I heard." Norrington replied in just as quiet and gentle a voice, wondering why such a defensive reaction should appear so endearing. Probably leftover notions from Jack's little teenage visit. Still, that unexpected admission left him with those so called butterflies in his stomach and a warm feeling filling his chest. "I love you as well."
That worked miracles on Jack's thudding heart and he looked up with a grin at his new lover, giving him a quick peck before stepping away but still staying within arm's reach when none other than Armando appeared in front of them, arms behind his back in what Jack by now knew was a common military commander gesture, studying Norrington from head to toe as he was. James returned Salazar's stare with one of his own and both men had to admit their lover had good taste, although neither found the other quite his type. After all, they had both fallen for the eccentric pirate.
"Armando," Jack said brightly with relief and a little sadness as he knew that the man was now forever cursed as the new Captain of the ... what used to be the Flying Dutchman. Stepping on shore only once in every ten years ... Or would he even have that? He was, after all, first cursed by the Devil's Triangle.
"Little Sparrow." The Spaniard's whole face changed when he greeted his once lover. He studied the changes, drinking in the sight of him like a desperate, thirsty man would gulp down fresh, cool water. "You grew up well, I see."
"And you got yourself a new ship," Sparrow observed unneedingly with a grin, looking out at the concoction that the sea had spit out. The Flying Dutchman looked much, much better than it ever had before, no signs of sea life on it at all, even as it's previous crew was still cleaning up some of it off of their person. But the cursed plague ship, which no longer looked like a thing of nightmares, was now nestled in the middle of what used to be the much bigger Silent Mary's main deck. The Spanish galleon was now like a frame for a picture but she was back to her own former glory and they made an interesting combination, especially since there were more masts than on any other ship before. Jack wondered just how well those will be catching wind. His Pearl still stayed the fastest ship in the world, that would hardly ever change. "An interesting one, at that. What is it, twice, trice cursed? Needs a new name is what it is."
Salazar snorted, shaking his head at the man's antics. A lot bolder than the fifteen year old he had met and a lot sillier than the eighteen year old that had led him to his demise. "I am afraid I don't have the slightest idea what I could call her. I do not possess your way with words, my little Sparrow."
"Flattery will get you nowhere." Jack told him with a dismissive flap of a hand, distracted with thinking up a name as he studied the ship and searched for a certain Turner. As it was, he didn't see the sly smirk that crossed Armando's face. James did and braced himself for whatever this was going to be.
"It sure did get me somewhere south that I rather liked."
"Armando!" The scandalized pirate snapped, face going straight to cherry red as he gawked at the Capitán, who was laughing at both him and James, who was possibly even redder, knowing what the older man had meant. Jack pouted at the laughing Spaniard and turned away with arms crossed over his chest petulantly, deciding to ignore him as he once again focused on the ship. "Hm, I think the Dutchman's Mary ain't bad. What do you think, Jamie?"
"That you should stop using that infernal butchery of my Christian name." Jack just waved him off dismissively and Norrington sighed, knowing it was a futile battle. "A fitting way to mash up their two names."
"Si, I agree." Armando commented with a hum, eyes going between the two new lovers and finding it strange that he felt no true jealousy. Don't get him wrong, he still loved Jack more than mere words could describe, but he would never stand in the way of the younger man's happiness. He only regrets never having become so open-minded as this 'Jamie' was so he could keep his little Sparrow. Yes, he would never turn to piracy but he would not have hunted them so brutally if he could have held his lover every once in a while in his arms. He would have gone after only those who did the most despicable things and maybe, just maybe, none of the tragedies and sorrows of Jack's life would have happened. Salazar knew he was being foolishly selfish, wishing that it could have been a little different. Jack would have never left his ship forever, he loved the Wicked Wench too much for that. To the point that he had sold his soul to Davy Jones just to save her. Salazar had been arrogant to think he can keep his little Sparrow and for the boy to still be happy without this ship under his feet. "I believe this will have to be another goodbye, Jack Sparrow."
Said man's eyes immediately narrowed and he marched up to the newly named Dutchman's Mary's Captain. "Don't. You. Dare. Salazar. I've said goodbye to you three times this day. You're not getting away so easily this time." He said with authority, staring the taller man down while James just watched the proceedings with interest.
"It cannot even be a 'see you later', Jack." It was extremely rare for Armando to use his given name so Jack stayed quiet and listened. "We cannot step on land. At all. You have nothing to wait for even if you did not already have a new lover."
"I don't really recall a time I've stayed on land longer than a week, so I fail to see why you can't pay us a visit. I'm Calypso's favorite human in the entire world. She'll let you take a few days off every now and then for a visit." With a conspirational wink at James, who just arched an eyebrow and watched, Jack leaned in closer to the Spaniard until his breath was caressing the taller man's ear. "Quiero beber contigo toda la noche, mi Capitán."
Armando went stiff as a board, in more ways than one, old habits never dying. He was sure he heard familiar snickers of his crew, including Frederico who had went to greet Lesaro and the other Lieutenants when they had also stepped on board. The pirates were all nervously twitchy and silent as the grave, not daring to make a sound for fear of angering the Butcher of the Sea. Said man looked down to the Pirate King, whose eyes were twinkling mischievously but with a knowing glint that said Jack knew he had won with that one single sentence. Like all the other times. "That will not work this time, little Sparrow."
Judging from how breathy and rough his voice had become, James thought it had more than worked and shook his head. Truth be told, he wondered how this strange love triangle - there was irony in there somewhere, the Englishman was sure - was going to work. He couldn't begrudge the two lovers still have some semblance of feelings for each other. He was actually a bit glad for them. And he had no reason to be jealous. Jack had just told him he loved him and James had nothing against sharing his lover occasionally. Call him selfish for being glad Salazar's visits will be few and far in between but Norrington rather liked the idea of Jack being his more often. Even if Salazar visited once a month, that was only twelve days a year while James had Jack all to himself for the rest of it.
"It won't?" Norrington thought Jack fluttering his eyelashes was a bit to much and had to stop himself from snorting. He hoped he never ended up so whipped. It was embarrassing.
"Give it up, Capitán! You're helpless at his feet!"
"Shut up, Moss, or I will string you up by your toes from the mainmast!" The El Matador Del Mar snapped at said man, who was grinning lecherously and making rude, lewd hand gestures that finally broke the tension among the pirates and they snickered. Jack himself was somewhere between snickering and a giggling fit as his undead lover glowered at his crew. James let himself chuckle as well and just shook his head.
"Capitán," Frederico greeted as he and the Lieutenants of the Silent Mary finally climbed up to the quarterdeck, giving his superior officer a salute. "Permission to stay with the crew of the Black Pearl until my last breath allows me to join yours?"
"Frederico, you look well." Armando returned the greeting before giving a nod. "Of course. I would appreciate it if you kept my little Sparrow out of trouble. Although seeing as he will be searching for immortality-"
"Wait just one bloody second! I never said anythin' 'bout findin' th' Fountain of Youth!" Jack protested and everyone fell silent, very interested in the prospect of immortality. Armando snorted.
"You needn't say it. Besides, you will need it." He turned around and took something from Lesaro before facing Jack again. Both the Pirate King and his new British-born lover were flabbergasted to see none other than the Dead Man's Chest held out towards the former, a faint thud-thu-thud sound coming from within. At the incredulous stare he got from the dreadlocked male, Armando just smiled lovingly. "It was always yours. No one else can have it." No one bothered to ponder how a solid ghost had a now beating, living heart when just an hour ago he didn't. Curses were strange like that.
"Armando," Jack breathed in disbelief as it was all but shoved into his arms. "I can't-"
"Your debt to the Dutchman has been repaid. Your ship is yours, Captain Sparrow." The Spaniard said formally but with pride and affection in his eyes. "You have indeed become the worthy opponent I had thought you to become one day. Never change, Pirate King Jack Sparrow." With that, Salazar turned to leave but Will called out for him to wait. A little uneasy when stared at by those almost black eyes, the young blacksmith still held his ground.
"What about my father?"
"Which one is he?" Armando asked with a nonchalant sweep of the deck on his new ship. He spotted one man that greatly resembled the young man he was speaking with, the only true difference between them the man's slouched form and blue eyes.
"Bootstrap Bill Turner." Jack and Will said as one, the Captain waving at his old friend with a grin. William Turner Senior laughed as he waved back, Armando watching the exchange with interest. "An old friend of mine." The Caribbean Pirate Lord explained before another face caught his eyes. "Is that-? Governor Martinez!?" Jack ran over to the railing and frowned mournfully at the obviously dead man who was smiling at him affectionately. "No."
"Lopez got him killed." Salazar said, his face contorting in disgust at the mere mention of the traitor's name. "You needn't worry yourself about that scum. He's fish food for the sharks of the Devil's Triangle. Governor Martinez chose to stay as part of the crew, since he was killed on a ship and, as such, out at sea."
"Should have just let Frederico run him through," Sparrow shook his head. "I'm surprised he wasn't so surprised that I acted like 'Jaquelin' again. I kind of told him the truth a few months after ... the battle." He hesitated for a second. "He told me he loved me too much to see me hanged or hunted and as such gave me a safe harbor in San Angelica. Please don't be angry with him?"
"For keeping you safe and alive? Never." Armando replied while gesturing for Bill to get over to the Black Pearl. "You may have your father back, señor Turner. Seeing as he had never died, he is free to go." He didn't turn around to listen to Will's thank yous, instead focusing on his once and maybe again, you never know, lover. "If you need me, call me. The heart is all you need." He kissed Jack's cheek before he marched back like a true military man onto his ship. "Now, if you excuse me, I do believe that scum Davy Jones has left a lot for me to do. James Norrington," he called over his shoulder. "You better treat my little Sparrow right or not even immortality and staying on land will keep you safe. My little Sparrow-"
"Don't call me that in front of everyone!"
"I will treat your mermaid friends well. Do go to the Fountain soon, ¿si? Frederico, you know what to do."
"Capitán," the man acknowledged even as he waved goodbye to his old crew mates. On the Dutchman's Mary, the rest of the crew were also waving to him and Sparrow with cheerful expressions even as Santos pushed Jones' old quartermaster down to the brig.
"Señor Gorrion," Lesaro tipped his hat as he passed Jack. "I do hope you still remember how to dance."
"¡Vete a la mierda!" That response only sent the Spaniards all into peals of laughter even as they said their farewells to their two friends. The pirates all watched as the Dutchman's Mary sailed off towards the horizon, disappearing with a flash of green light as though it had never been there before. Jack sighed and looked down at the chest. "Where the bloody hell am I to put this, then? We get attacked way too often to keep it with me. But I can't go and bury it like Jones did. Right disrespectful, that." He mused. His chambers in his family home at Shipwreck Cove were out of the question. As secure as they were, what with the place originally being the home of the first ever Pirate King and his family of Pirate Lords that followed, even the Code had once been stolen out of that place. He'd rather not think on that event. And he'd even less want to think about the heart being stolen. "And I can't let the merfolk take it, either. They're his servants now. Bugger. I'll actually have to keep it with me."
"You are not keeping it in the great cabin." James crossed his arms, indicating he was putting his foot down on this. Jack cocked an eyebrow at him.
"Would you prefer it in the captain's cabin?" At the silence, Jack huffed. "Didn't think so." He grinned over at the happy family reunion between father and son. "Welcome back, Bootstrap!" He left them to it and instead marched off towards his cabin, hips sashaying as they always do with James going after him and Gibbs falling in step with him.
"Capt'n, do we have a headin'?" The first mate asked. Jack paused and looked over his extended crew and then at the still present and still celebrating other pirates. The Misty Lady stood out in all her glory and he tried imagining his father's expression. They had quite a few things to talk about, especially with Jack's new position. Then there was the matter of Sao Feng, who was being carefully kept between two of the many ships that sailed under a black flag with crossed cutlasses, and his treachery. They'll need to look over candidates for a new South China Sea Pirate Lord. And Jack had no doubt his father wanted a word or none with Barbossa regarding the marooning. Good thing he didn't know about him and James. His Da was a tad overprotective. Not to mention he can't keep all these men on board. It will slow the Black Pearl down and he rather liked the crew he had picked up as a teenager. They seemed like a good lot.
"Aye, we do. Set course fer Shipwreck Cove. I've some unfinished business t' attend to." He replied before walking into his cabin and telling James to close the doors behind them. He put the chest down on the map table, right next to an unexpected gift. Jack picked up the little music boy locket Tia Dalma always kept close and fingered it, feeling something akin to a warm breeze brush over his very soul. He smiled at the locket and placed it into one of his hidden pockets, along with the little stone head figurine, hiding them from sight. He might pick up wearing it in the memory of the sea goddess and the man she loved, whom she in the end reclaimed as her own for eternity. It will just be another memento, another memory he kept close to him, like the completely black pearl that now hung from one of his dreadlocks. He brushed a finger over it before looking at his James, who was looking at the Dead Man's Cheat with a half haunted look on his face. "I don't begrudge you for taking it, you know. I just pity you for thinking it would be for the best to hand it over to Beckett." He commented as he took off his effects and lay them next to the chest. He won't be needing them for a while.
"I caused all of this. So much death could have been avoided, including yours." Norrington said with a shake of his head as he sat down heavily in the very same chair he had occupied just the night before. It seemed like forever ago and it had not even been.a full day. "I'm sorry, Jack. I messed up."
"'Tis okay, love." Jack said as he sashayed his way over and plopped down in the younger man's lap. Deft fingers started playing with one of the ex Commodore's buttons, even as he kissed his cheek in reassurance. "It's only human to make mistakes. Just ... try to learn something from all of this, savvy?"
"I think I learned quite enough, thank you." James said even as he wound his arms around the tanned man's waist. "Although I have no doubt there is a lot more to learn still." He added with a pointed look to all the mementos Jack wore but his teenage self had not known anything about, a hand teasingly traveling upwards to brush at some of his tattoos.
"Always more, love." Jack agreed and made a small triumphant sound when the button he'd been playing with came free. "Ah ha!"
"What are you doing?" The confused Englishman asked as he watched Jack weave it into his hair, not sure whether he should try to take back the button or just let it be.
"Need somethin' of ye wiff me, savvy?" The pirate Captain replied with a small grin. "An' ye, love? Wot will ye be doin'? If ya want t' leave, Shipwreck Cove will be yer last chance fer a while. I'll be chasin' th' horizon fer a while now that I'm free as a bird."
"While I have been press ganged by your friends-"
"Oh dear." Jack interrupted him with a wince. That went against some of the rules of the Code and he would have been better off not knowing so he could remain oblivious rather than turn a blind eye to it. He can't. Kind of ingrained into him as the Keeper's Heir. "I guess it'll be bilge duty for them for a month. Can't be more merciful than that."
James also winced, more so for Elizabeth as a lady - however former that may be now - and Marty, whose short legs will leave him neck deep in the water that usually seemed in through there. "Isn't that worse than death?" It tended to reek, no matter what ship it might be.
Jack looked offended, probably on the behalf of his ship because he knew what James was thinking. "I'll have you know my lady's bilge is the same as it had been when she was built, sir." He sounded almost like that time he had asked Gibbs why there was a lack of discipline on his ship, back when they had just found him in the Locker. "We don't even have any rats, or have you not noticed."
Norrington just shook his head. Of course, he should have expected such a response. Jack was possibly the most attentive Captain in the world, for he loved his precious Black Pearl above all else. Of course the only punishment from bilge duty would be that those punished would just not get to see the light of day for a while. "Anyway, even though I hadn't exactly come on this trip of my own choosing, I wasn't exactly complaining, either. And I don't regret it. I don't see why I would want to leave. I'll have with Philip and ... Well, not Theo. He'll be staying. He might annoy you for more stories now that you have all your memories back." A hand came to caress where his button rested now, on a braid right next to the black pearl. "I might want to hear some of those stories myself."
Jack smiled warmly at him with gentle eyes. "I might share a tale or two." He then grinned wickedly and leaned in to lick James' ear, setting off a fire in his belly in an instant. "For a price."
"I think we can arrange something," he replied, voice fairly a growl as he pulled Jack closer and drew him into a deep kiss. Needless to say, no one disturbed them until Jack was needed at the helm for the Crossing.
It was a new start in the world of piracy. A new Golden Age of Piracy, so to say. The Flying Dutchman's captain's story was retold a thousand times in every port as did spread the rumors of the new ferrying ship, the Dutchman's Mary and her new crew, all ghosts and undead men. El Matador Del Mar's faked demise at the hands of mother nature was changed by the man himself, striking up quite a stir among those in Spain. Shipwreck Cove, thankfully, emptied of unwanted company within the month and Sao Feng was stripped of his status and marooned with Tai Huang and his men on some godforsaken island no one visited. Sao Feng was thankful, in the end, that it had been Jack Sparrow who punished him, loath as he was to admit it. Seeing as Captain Teague had wanted to leave him on one of the islands with cannibals, Jack had been merciful. Barbossa was sent all the way to the Caspian Sea and forbidden from leaving it unless the Brethren Court is to convene again. Jack had given him a ship and a loyal crew as a thanks for fetching him back from the Locker and they parted on amiable enough terms to not try to kill each other if they ever crossed paths again. The three Turners stayed on the Black Pearl and nine months later, when Armando finally had a chance to come visit again - Jones had left him a lot of work to do - it was to the sight that sent him straight into a faint, Jack Sparrow holding little newborn William Henry Turner while James tended to the tired Elizabeth and Frederico helped Gibbs in trying to rouse the proud father and grandfather. Jack had just rolled his eyes at him and continued to rock his honorary nephew. Perverted Spaniard.
Armando kept visiting every few months for the next couple of years, sometimes his visits lasting only for a single drink with his little Sparrow, other times the Pirate King would join him in his cabin and they would renew what they always had feared was lost. Norrington and Salazar got on surprisingly well but they still resisted that threesome Jack's been trying to get them to agree to. No worries, he was Captain Jack Sparrow! He'll manage it one of these days. By the time Elizabeth fell pregnant again when little Willy was five, Jack finally set course for the Fountain of Youth. They had, miraculously, not lost any of the crew Jack the teen had picked up and so the entire crew of the Black Pearl, save Frederico - who was still set on one day joining Salazar's crew again - drank from its life giving waters, agreeing to come here again if any new friends or loved ones were to join Turner kids were to be the first on the list. And while they were docked in Whitecap Bay, his crew enjoying themselves with lusty mermaids in need of a mate, Jack had sat with Lucia and Regina and they sang to the music of Calypso's locket that now never left Jack's neck. Lucia never did fall out of love with Jack, but she did mate one day, for a young mermaid had accompanied her on one of her meetings with Jack, called Jaquelin and insisting she will one day marry Jack just like her mother had at her age, much to said mother's amusement and Jack's fond exasperation. James and Armando certainly hoped this one would turn out to be an ordinary crush.
Speaking of James, he did learn about the other tattoos and the trinkets in Jack's hair. Some of the stories surprised him, others he had half expected but he was grateful to learn them all the same. His father died not ten years after Beckett's war against piracy, thinking his son dead, and everything went to Flitzwiliam P. Dalton III, James' cousin and Jack's first betraying friend. They actually visited him once, when Jack and Captain Teague went to Europe to hunt for the infamous Blackbeard and his ship, Queen Ann's Revenge. Flitzwiliam had nearly had a hear attack when he saw his supposedly dead cousin and the friend he had once long ago betrayed. They hadn't stayed long, just long enough to get chased all around London for a few days before Jack finally got bored of stealing from all those stiffs and they sailed away. They caught Blackbeard trying to make his way through Whitecap Bay and left him to the mermaids to deal with. Armando was not amused to have to deal with so many dead when he came but Blackbeard put him in even a fouler mood as he sailed away with this new batch of souls.
Jack never did ask if he ever got rid of the Locker.
As the years went, the Pearl got a few more passengers and lost Frederico to old age. They gave him a honorable burial at sea and saw him again, two months later in the company of Martinez and Lesaro as the Dutchman's Mary surfaced beside the Black Pearl for one of Salazar's visits. There were still nights when Jack or James couldn't sleep and they both somehow ended up in the crow's nest again, talking, kissing or just snuggling until morning light. And there were some days when James would find Jack listening to Calypso's music box locket on his own but smiling out at the horizon as waves teasingly splashed higher, as though to caress his face like Tia Dalma used to. James always wondered if the sea goddess had visited him but left when someone else approached. Jack never talked about it and James didn't prod so no one ever learned the truth. Other times, while at the helm, Jack would be found conversing with seemingly himself but after having drank the waters of the Fountain of Youth, his crew could now hear the Black Pearl's humming answers. None could ever hear her as clearly as Jack could, not even that one shaman they once transported from the Caribbean to India. But, then again, he didn't have the soul deep connection to the black ship like the Pirate King had.
Jack, just when young Henry got married to Carina Barbossa of all people, finally insisted his own father go to the Fountain of Youth. Neither Keeper nor Keeper's Heir had taken up a pupil to pass on the care of the Code to and Jack could not do it as Pirate King. So Jack's entire family save his Grandmama, who wished to join her husband in the afterlife, traveled on the Black Pearl and the Misty Lady. Unfortunately, due to a freak storm which was followed by an attack by the British Royal Navy, only Jack, his Da and uncle made it to the Fountain. Valerie went down protecting Jack and his Aunt McFlaming was crushed under a fallen beam on the Misty Lady. His other uncle, Captain "Ace" Brannigan, aunt Hazel and his twice removed cousin Mabeltrude were shot to death. Teague didn't seem much bothered by Patriarch's death, as that meant all the loot was now his, Jack's and his younger brother's, which he believed to be more than fair as he and Grandmama had brought in most of it anyway, as did hs father and his grandfather before him. "Quickdraw" McFlaming's kids were not very sad about their mother's passing when the three Teagues came home and told them what had happened although Grandmama was sad to see them go. She died a few months later in her sleep.
Over the years, some of the Turner kids decided they don't want to live forever and left the Black Pearl to live on land. They got visits for the holidays by their relatives and some times, they went out to sea. As the decades and then centuries passed, Elizabeth, Will and Henry and Carin retired to Shipwreck Cove while some of their descendants still sailed with Jack all over the world, occasionally visited by Armando. Jack and James actually tied the knot, in a manner of speaking, cementing their bond in front of Teague himself, which had been rather interesting with how many threats the overprotective father could place in a single 'you can kiss your partner'. Piracy as it was started dying out, ships with sails slowly being replaced by ships with motors, old sea tales being forgotten more and more with each day, many 'wild' tribes being whipped out. Some of the sea's treasures were lost, others were protected by Jack and the Turners back in the Cove. Mermaids rarely ever swam out of Whitecap Bay these days and most of the world didn't even know it existed. Calypso protected Shipwreck Island from new, modern mechanic ways of detection in the two great big World Wars, in which the Black Pearl acted as a ferrying service for the survivors of all sorts of attacks until the nuclear bomb incident. Ten years they spent in the Cove, waiting for the waters to calm and by the time the Black Pearl sailed again, all that was left of piracy was a form of terrorism and slave trafficking.
The Code was forgotten. Wooden ships were gone, rare few boats were left. No more Pirate Lords and no more Brethren Court. The mystical sea creatures hid from men and the myths were thrown away for hard facts and science. The entrance towards World's End was destroyed as the ice started melting due to the global warming problems. Humans started polluting the sea and politicians pushed their noses where it isn't their place. Cruses were replaced by quicker air travel and pirate stories and songs may as well have never existed for how little was known of pirates in this modern age.
But if you look towards the horizon at sunset, you can still see the green flash. If you watch it long enough on some days, perhaps you will see a black ship out in the distance. If you listen hard enough, the waves will sing songs to you that will break your heart. And if you search long enough, perhaps you will find an adventure. If you see a strangely dressed man, with kohl lined eyes, tanned from the sun with all sorts of trinkets in his hair, a silver crab-heart shaped locket around his neck and a Compass that doesn't point north at his hip, then you will know you have seen a legend. If a tall man with green eyes and a military bearing walks by his side, you will know the legends are true. And if a ship with black sails sails in the corner of your eye before disappearing from sight, you will know where to find the truth. For the Pirate King still lives somewhere out there, still sails the seas and chases the horizon. His crew still sing the same old songs and drink the good ol' rum. The sea gods still smile upon them and they still see the legendary ferry boat to the other side.
Piracy may be long gone but their story still lives on, all thanks to a boy once named Jack (little, by a chosen few) Sparrow that became a legend. So don't mourn a long gone age for the spirit of their freedom still echoes in our day.
Savvy?
THE END