۞

Jack staggered to his feet, once again, looking around, shaking his head and rubbing his eyes. Will and Elizabeth had been thrown against the outside wall of Jack's cabin - they were in each other's arms.

Will looked up and shouted, "JACK! Are you alright?"

Jack stared at Will wordlessly, his delicate hands fluttering wildly at the couple, his mouth opening and closing several times. "Wot th' bloody hell just happened????"

To their shock, Mr. Gibbs was standing at the wheel, looking down at the group as though they had lost their minds. "Are you three all right? Nothing happened, Cap'n! It's a beautiful evenin'."

Jack wobbled slowly over to the Turners and stared at them for several seconds. Will looked at him, and said softly, "…cousins…?"

Jack was silent. Elizabeth looked at both of them, taking it all in. They were all in shock. Will merely stared at the captain and repeated, "We're…cousins…?"

Jack looked at the younger man, his eyes suddenly hopeful… then that hope started to fade as Will continued to stare at Jack in utter silence. Jack's eyes looked hurt, and suddenly turned downward to the deck; his hands stopped in midair as if they, also, did not know what to say. Suddenly, Will became aware that Jack comprehended his silence as rejection.

"Will…" Jack started, slowly, "….I…you…."

"No, Jack, wait…" Will finally found his voice.

"…no, you wait, lad." Jack raised his eyes to Will's, now filled with sadness. One hand rubbed his chest. He swayed slightly, "… you don't have to acknowledge any o' this, ye know… I would understand… ye might not be proud t' be cousin to Captain Jack Sparrow…even half cousins, as it were..." Jack's roughed edged voice trailed off. "… after all o' the things that I have done as a pirate… not good…".

"… why would I not wish to acknowledge having blood kin? I was orphaned when I was eleven…" Will was genuinely puzzled, and searched the captain's face.

But it's me, lad… it's me you're related to… I'm a disgustin', awful, despicable, filthy pirate… I've done bad things…" Jack's eyes looked everywhere except at William.

"Recently, so have I, Jack, so have I. We have both done bad things, but for the right reasons in the end. I would like to think that we both turned out to be good men and best friends. I should be very proud that I am blood relation to Captain Jack Sparrow. I want to be your cousin."

"…you w'….you do???" Jack looked up at the young blacksmith-turned-pirate in surprise. "William…you WANT t' be cousins wif me?"

Will laughed a little, "Yes, Jack…I want to be your cousin."

Now it was Jack's turn to stare in silence. He blinked hard at Will, looking like a dreadlocked owl.

Elizabeth smiled at Jack and said, "That would make me your cousin-in-law, would it not?"

"…aye…"

Jack looked from one to the other and back again in the darkness, fighting back what Elizabeth thought were tears. His head tilted from side to side… he looked down at the deck, then back up at Will, his hands held up before him appealingly… "…I never had a real family… I should be very proud t' call William Turner an' his bonny lass… my family…if they'd have me." Jack had a small, tentative smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Will smiled, nodded and put his hands onto Jack's bony shoulders.

Jack breathed hard for a few moments, then suddenly threw his arms out, looked up, and shouted, "MR. GIBBS! RUM!!!" He waved his arms so hard that every trinket in his hair jingled. He had turned so quickly to Gibbs that he lost his balance, and nearly toppled over in his exuberance. They all laughed and caught Jack in his unbalanced state, before he capsized like a small, bobbling boat. After recovering from their captain's outburst, the crew stared at the trio, as if they had all gone utterly and completely daft. There was no doubt about Jack, but Will and Elizabeth, too?

For all of their surprised happiness and ensuing celebrating, the Turners could not forget Calypso's warning - they were both thinking the same thing as they all let this wondrous news sink in. It was a relief to let go of all of the unhappiness that had befallen them all in recent months, it was exciting to them all to welcome good news, no matter how surprising.

It was not without worry, however. Will and Elizabeth wondered if, and when, their best friend… and new found cousin… would be stricken down, again, by the affects of the mighty Kraken. Perhaps the dark times were not over, after all...

Several days passed and the trio wondered if Calypso's prediction would not come true. Jack never felt better in his life, and he dismissed Calypso's prophecy with a flippant wave of his hand as so much bilge water.

The captain took the opportunity to finally open up some and share small, careful bits about himself. He cautiously entertained Will and Elizabeth with an uncharacteristic openness, telling them that he had been born on the very waters that they were traversing. He explained that he came into the world on Captain Jonathan Teague's ship off of the coast of Colonial India during a typhoon. The couple were not sure if the last part about the typhoon was true, but of course it was always a good embellishment to the story. He did not elaborate further about his parentage, but Will thought that it was a good start at getting to know his mysterious cousin better. Such fortuitous news Calypso had gifted them with!

Elizabeth had even been bold enough to ask the captain when his date of birth was. He thought about it at great length, with a graceful finger poised at his chin, but said that he was not sure. October 20, he thought, but he did not mention a year. Elizabeth made a note of the date, anyway. Even if it was not truly correct, she was guessing that Jack might have never received a gift to commemorate the day honoring his birth, and she wanted to make sure that he did.

Jack seemed to be most curious about their lives as children. Jack Sparrow had never seemed interested in such things in the past; he seemed to only be interested in the present. But he had changed a great deal since his terrible ordeal on The Other Side - everyone seemed to notice that Jack's emotions, both good and bad, were much closer to the surface, as was his pleasant oddness. His trust in others had been thoroughly shaken during his lifetime, but he finally seemed to be feeling a strong connection to the young pair that he had grown so fond of; he was genuinely interested in their stories about growing up. Some of their stories were merry, many of them were very sad, but the captain listened to each intently, and without interruption.

He even seemed curious about Elizabeth's stories of growing up as the privileged daughter of the governor of Jamaica, which rather surprised her. She knew he was listening to her, even though his head would tilt to one side a bit - his eyes would get a distant look as she would talk, and his hands would grow still. He would take in the words and think about them, as if his jaded mind was simply learning how to learn, again. He would sometimes be seen later on, high up in the crow's nest, dangling his feet over the edge of the platform, or straddling the Pearl's bowsprit like a child on a tree limb, serenely staring at the surging water below him, very deep in thought. This always scared the Turners to death; one rogue wave and they could lose Jack forever to the sea...

Elizabeth would talk about memories of boring dinners with the upper class; she knew that Jack considered social class separation to be the epitome of foolishness, invented by the upper class to make themselves feel that much more superior. He never could understand why, in the past, Will had been embarrassed by his background as a blacksmith. Jack considered that trade "much more better" than being the Governor of Jamaica, and right up there with being a pirate as far as being a good occupation was concerned, even though governors had a lot more money. Will had since grown much more confident and proud as a pirate; Jack was quite proud of the younger man, himself.

Will thought that Jack might have had origins in what might be thought of as an even lower social class than himself, but he could seem to catch an opportune moment to ask Jack anything about himself that he would hear anything to be considered truthful. He thought that he might wait… Jack seemed to be having thoughts of being more forthcoming with his past, especially when in his cups, and Will thought he would try to be patient with his newfound cousin. Cousins… still so hard to believe, yet completely and easily acceptable, given the fact that he and Jack were very much alike, at times, whether Will had wanted to admit it in the past, or not. They were even more alike nowadays… Will had learned much more about the ways of the world - what a man can do, and what a man can't do; words that Jack Sparrow had blessed him with during their first voyage.

Will told Jack about the times that his father, Bootstrap Bill would come home to visit. Jack was particularly interested hearing about the gifts that Bill brought home to his son, and Will suspected, from Jack's sparkling eyes, that he might have helped Bill choose them. Will was careful to make sure that Jack knew that he no longer resented the time that Bill had spent away, especially in light of his father telling him that he had chosen the life of pirating with no influence from anyone. Will had tried to make peace with that part of his life, knowing that his father did love him. Will suspected that his mother had been ashamed of his father; but Will now knew the truth, and was no longer ashamed of his own pirate blood.

Jack even honestly admitted to Will that he had been a bit jealous of Bill's love for his son. "But Jack, I was just a babe. Why were you so jealous of me?" "Because he was your father… and not mine. I was jealous because your father loved ye, an' showed it. I don't know that my father loved me." Jack grew very quiet after that, and the two men fell into silence, feet propped up on a barrel on the deck; sipping their rum and watching the wind rippling the sails. The subject was dropped.