This has to be my longest chapter to date.

Jack carefully set up one last firework in a clearing near a river near his home; the sound of the river would drown out the worst of the noise. He wanted one last test run before making the rest for Beck's birthday next week. He had figured how to add color to the flour and gunpowder mix to have a better effect, he was about to light it when he heard a voice calling out.

"Hey Jack…you actually got tha' idea of yours to work?" Bill's voice asked.

"I 'elped 'im ya know," Hector's voice cut across.

Jack looked up and sat Bill and Hector walking towards him, "Hey guys, this is the last one before I make the rest fer Beck's birthday."

"You haven' been killed makin' those yet?" Bill said as Jack lit the fuse; both Bill and Hector stepped back a bit and covering their ears.

Jack glared at Bill but the glare melted away into panic as he heard his mother's voice coming from some distance behind him, "Jack, it's time for lunch!"

Jack turned partially away from the firework, his left arm still stretched out from lighting the fuse and he didn't notice how short it was. The firework went off, burning the side of his left arm and singing off some of his hair. He jumped back in surprise and paused a moment before realizing the damage done to his arm and started yelling in pain. Bill rushed over to his friend while Hector stood to the side.

At the same time Bill reached Jack, Neela burst through the brush and almost instantly saw Jack on the ground, clutching his arm to his chest. She tried to pry Jack's arm away, to look at what had happened, "Jack, let me see!"
Jack heard the stern tone in his mother's voice and relented, letting her see the burn that covered the inside of his forearm. He winced as she gave him a harsh look.

Neela opened her mouth to ask how he got burned when the firework exploded above their heads in a burst of color. She looked up before looking back down at Jack, "Did that have anything to do with you getting burned?"

Jack laughed nervously and scratched his head slightly when he felt that some of his hair and most of his left eyebrow had singed off. "That would explain why Hector is tryin' not to laugh."

"You are not allowed to leave the house, except for school, for five days," Neela said firmly, pulling Jack to his feet. She glanced over at Bill and Hector before adding, "No visitors either." She then dragged Jack home.

"Wot an idiot," Hector said before Bill elbowed him in the leg, since Hector was about a foot taller than he was.

"Jack, what is in th' world were ya doin'?!" Neela yelled, as she applied some salve to Jack's burn before wrapping it in a bandage.

"I was tryin' to make somethin' for Beck's birthday…" Jack, who was sitting on the table, responded before digging into his ear, "…is it a bad thin' if all I'm hearing out of my left ear is an odd ringing?"

Neela turned Jack's head sideways and glanced in his ear, "I think you've made yourself temporally deaf…and where in the world did you learn to make those things?!"

"…out of a book," Jack said quietly.

Neela rolled her eyes and glanced towards the door when she heard someone knocking, "Go get cleaned up, you're covered in…what ever you were working with."

"Yes mum," Jack said as he hopped of the table.

Neela opened the door a crack before slamming it closed. She took a deep breath before opening the door, "Teague get in your thick head, leave us alone!"

Teague smiled sheepishly before holding up a satchel, "Brought th' two of ya gifts!"

"First Jack gets burned, and now you show up…I don't need anymore distractions or stress at the moment!" Neela yelled.

A look of concerned crossed Teague's face, "How'd Jack git burned?"

"He was tryin' to make something for a friend of his. Beck, Jack calls him…apparently it was supposed to be a birthday present," Neela explained, "Why do you care?"

"He's ma son, isn't 'e?" Teague said, as if it explained everything. Neela paused a moment before opening the door a bit wider and letting Teague inside.

"You still mad that you can't have visitors?" Bill asked as he walked up to Jack, who was sitting under a tree in the schoolyard. It had only been a few days after the firework burn incident.

"No…my degenerate of a father has shown up again," Jack scowled before adding, "don't stand on my left side, I'm having trouble hearing out of that ear…remember?"

"Sorry," Bill said as he moved to Jack's right side, "Your dad finally showed up? Shouldn't that be a good thing though?"

Jack growled softly, "No, because of what he is?"

"What who is?" Cutler asked, walking up to the two of them, "Who are you two talking about?"

"Jack's dad," Bill answered before Jack could stop him.

"Who is he?" Cutler asked.

Jack looked down at the ground before looking up at his friends, "The two of you promise not to tell anyone?"

Bill nodded; Cutler did too before asking, "Why are you being so secretive?"

"My dad…is a pirate…a Pirate Lord, as contradictory as that sounds," Jack admitted, "But listen and listen good, mates, I never intend to be a pirate…remember that."

"I'll keep yer promise Jack," Bill smiled.

"Same here," Cutler said, "Now if you'll answer another one of my questions, why is your arm bandaged and why are you missing part of your hair and your left eyebrow?" Bill and Jack hastily put together an explanation where Jack had been burned while attempting to learn some cooking from his mother, Cutler pretended to believe them only because the way they tripped over each others' words was hysterical.

"Bill, you're going to pull my arm off if you keep dragging me!" Cutler said as Bill dragged him through the woods near his house.

"Yeah, but Jack wants to give you his present!" Bill explained, finally letting go of Cutler's arm and the two of them started walking side by side.

"Why couldn't he give it to me at the party?" Cutler asked.

"Because, my gift can't exactly come in a box!" Jack yelled as the two of them entered a clearing where he had set up several rows of his fireworks, he quickly lit one and motioned for the other two to cover their ears as he did as the firework shot up into the sky and exploded in a shower of color, "Happy Birthday, Cutler Beckett!"

Cutler watched the colors fade away when he realized that Jack hadn't called him by his nickname, "It's one of the best gifts I've ever gotten, thanks."

Jack smiled before he handed a candle to Bill and Cutler, "Don't forget to cover your ears and stand a bit away from the fireworks…or you'll end up like me."

"That's the real story of how he's missing an eyebrow and is bandaged," Bill laughed before Jack hit him. Cutler smiled to himself before the three of them started lighting more fireworks; watching them fly up and exploding into a multitude of colors before fading. Jack brought out one last firework, bigger than the others, when the smaller ones were all gone. Cutler noticed that it had three fuses connected to it and asked Jack.

"Let's make this a 'Wish Firework'. There's a fuse for each of us, we say what our hopes or wishes for the future are and when everyone has done so and we light it!"

"Sound like a great idea Jack…you first," Bill spoke.

Jack smiled before turning towards the firework, "I wish to be an honest and good person, a sailor maybe, and to never to follow in the footsteps of my…pirate father."

Bill stood next to Jack and spoke next, "I promise never to be a pirate too and one day be a Navy man or a merchant sailor…and honest one!"

Cutler thought a moment before finally speaking, "Like the two of you, I vow to never be a pirate, I will be a good person and I hope that all three of us will remain good friends and allies until the very end!" The three of them shared a smile before lighting their respective fuses and running off into the forest, watching from a safe distance away as the firework went up and exploded into several different colors.