۞
"Will?"
"Aye, Elizabeth, I'm on my way down to the deck, now!"
Will clambered down from the rigging, his tall, lanky, muscular frame lowering himself to the open arms of his beautiful wife. Elizabeth smiled warmly at the picture of her brown eyed husband - young, tanned and handsome beyond words. He had always been the picture of physical strength as much as Jack was slender and almost delicate looking, and Elizabeth certainly appreciated the muscles that Will had strengthened while working on the Pearl as a member of the crew.
"What is it, my love?"
"Nothing…. I just wanted to feel your arms around me." She ran her fingers through his curly brown hair, then laid her cheek across his strong, broad shoulder.
Will wrapped his long arms around his bride's waist; reveling in the glow that the months on the sea had given to her creamy face… her hazel eyes gazed up at him with utter happiness - her pirate husband. He reached down and kissed her, then laughed when he heard someone making a disgusting smooching sound above their heads.
They both looked up to see Jack's grinning face looking straight down at them from the rail of the quarterdeck, hair blowing wildly in his face, strands of beads threatening to knock out another tooth.
"Mr. Gibbs, I find this public display of affection t' be highly distasteful, don't you? What form o' punishment should be mete out to young Mr. Turner an' his bonny lass for offendin' th' captain and th' first mate of th' Black Pearl, eh?"
Joshamee Gibbs appeared at the railing and peered over at the laughing young couple, his grizzled face screwed into a mock frown. "Cap'n, I might recommend that they be tied together an' forced to kiss each other f' eternity." Gibbs took a pull from his ever present flask of rum, passing it to his younger captain for a drink - much to his chagrin, Jack nearly drained it in three large, loud swallows.
The captain swiveled his head around to look at his first mate to hand back the flask, his face smiling even more madly, and his eyes dancing, "Aye! Eternal damnation o' th' married! Ewww…. Marri-aaaage! Blah!" Jack screwed his face up in distaste, "And to think, Izzy, that I actually offered to perform said marri-age betwixt th' two of us on these very steps, here! Wot was I thinkin'????"
"You were quite drunk at the time that you offered to perform that marri-aaaage, Jack, and I happen to know that a captain can not marry himself to someone on his ship! You never fooled me for a moment! You just wanted to see what I'd say. It was just a case of… of… curiosity!" countered a laughing Elizabeth, while being hugged tightly by her husband.
"Aye, Jack! I don't know what I will do with the two of you, bantering like you do… I have to admit that it can be quite entertaining, though." smiled Will.
"Ye got t' be careful banterin' wif tha' one, William," sniffed the captain, pointing at Elizabeth, whose eyes got rather large. "She's got wits as sharp as her tongue, eh? Almost as sharp o' wits as Captain Jack Sparrow."
By now, Jack had turned the helm over to Mr. Gibbs, and had joined Will and Elizabeth on the lower deck. It was no secret that he was fond of the Turners. He regarded the happy couple for a moment, then tentatively put his arms around their shoulders in a happy embrace - very unusual for Jack, who had a habit of not touching others - when he did, it was with great delicacy.
He said nothing, but the look in his eyes toward the young couple said everything - he was not accustomed to being open with his real feelings, but since the recovery of Will's heart and the reuniting of the three of them in deep friendship, it was very obvious that the captain had forever changed. The younger couple put their arms around his slender waist and embraced him back. There was no need for words. Adversity had bonded the three of them forever.
Darkness had fallen upon the sea when the trio pulled up seats on the warm deck and relaxed together with a bottle of rum. It had been a good day sailing - they were coming into the Indian Ocean and the weather was pleasant.
They regarded the lovely star filled sky with quiet conversation - they had eaten a fine meal for supper; curried chicken and rice, which the captain, particularly, had enjoyed. He had extended his compliments to the cook, Mr. Ragetti, which made the young man blush with pleasure. It had amazed all of them that the one eyed pirate was a fair cook; learning rudimentary skills at a stove in his mother's brothel. After she had died, he and his uncle, Mr. Pintel, had been press ganged into the Royal Navy, where Rags had learned more about cooking in traveling around the world.
"Who woulda thought tha' Rags could cook some? I never knew it until we left Singapore of late, an' he brought along all them spices from th' marketplaces. I can cook rice fairly, but chicken wif curry would vex me thoroughly. Funny ol' world, innit? … Oi, did anyone think to make sure that he didn't get 'is grubby hands on one o' me hens?" Jack mused.
"No, the hens are fine, Jack, I looked in the hold, and Scarlet and Gisele and are unharmed, snug in their nesting boxes," Elizabeth replied. "I thought the same thing. The birds that we had for supper were those ill-tempered fighting roosters that Mr. Gibbs won gambling. I should hope that he gambles for better stakes next time, although the meal was delicious!"
"I'm glad that it was the roosters!" Will frowned. "Had it been on of the hens, I should miss the eggs as much as Jack would." He had found the entire concept of cockfighting to be vulgar; interesting, considering where they had all been in the recent past that he would consider something such as that to be vulgar, after the atrocities that they had witnessed. He looked over at Jack in the moonlight, who had tilted his head clear back so that Will could only see the bottom of his whiskered chin. Jack was peacefully staring up at the stars. The captain yawned.
"… I keep reflectin' on things… and it is still hard t' believe that I am here…" Jack's left hand idly traced random circles in the air as he spoke.
"… quite an experience, wasn't it, Jack?"
"Aye, lad, I was cold an' dead not long back, me body and soul trapped on The Other Side, all by it's miserable onesies… an' now here I am, alive and well … oh, physically, that is…mental health is still very much in question," he smiled, "but I digress..." He raised his head back up and regarded the pair in great seriousness; something that he did a great deal with the Turners these days.
"I am sitting here, on th' deck of me ship… warm t' th' touch, an' breathin"…both hands wavered in front of them airily for a moment before he reached up and lightly touched the small Kraken tooth that now adorned his bandana…"I wouldn't be here if it were not for th' two of you… granted, ye both had different reasons for savin' me, then..." he said quietly, "… but ye saved me, nonetheless…" There was no sound for a moment, save the flapping of the sails in the wind and the rippling of wood against water.
Will leaned forward and tapped Jack's knee. "Jack… we are past all of the dark times… you proved yourself, and where your heart lies… you are a part of us, now, just as we hope that Elizabeth and I have proved ourselves to you, and are a part of you, as well."
"…I missed th' two of ye when I left ye on the rampart th' day ye saved me from hangin' in Port Royal." Jack said. He hesitated, and quietly asked, "I know that I asked if anyone missed me when I was rescued from the Locker… an' no one wanted to answer. Have ye ever missed me?… befo' all o' the trouble wif Jones?" The captain didn't look at them; he turned his face into the darkness. "…I know that we are mates, now, but after all of th' things we been through, I didn't ever really know if... well... oh, never mind, it isn't important..." he grumbled.
"Yes, Jack. We missed you. More than you know. We are past the dark times, Jack." Will repeated, leaning forward to look make Jack look straight him in the eye. "Like I said, you are a part us."
"…but… do ye… like me…?" Jack's question was almost childlike. He pouted a bit.
"Yes, Jack. You're our friend. We like you." It seemed to Will to be a strange question, as he and Jack had been fighting side by side for so long.. for the same causes, for each other's lives... for each other's deep friendship.
Elizabeth looked at her two men exchanging looks - Will with his open, honest face, and Jack with his deep brown eyes, devoid of their usual hard edge, regarding the son of the man who for so long was his father figure, when his own father had ignored him. The corners of Jack's mouth turned up in a small smile… sometimes it was just good to hear something such as this exchange.
"I like both o' you, too, eh?" The captain said, brightly.
Elizabeth's eyes shone. It was like having a family, again. She tried not to think of her father. "Please pass the rum."
Jack and Will looked at her, then silently passed the rum.