After the coldness had passed, Elizabeth checked Jack's extensive injuries; he'd had a hard time with this cold spell, and he seemed to finally be restful. She gently traced the scar over his right eye. Inflicted by a slave master. It must have been terribly frightening and painful for a confused little boy, and a bad cut to leave a scar that still showed so much. She shuddered.

The Turners agreed that they should assemble the other crewmembers, who had been respectfully giving them privacy since the storm of the night before and their captain's injury and illness, and tell them of Jack's predicament as honestly as it could be explained. Pintel, Ragetti, Mr. Cotton, Gibbs and Marty had all gone through all of the horrifying events that took them to the far side of the world, and had celebrated victory and loyal kinship with Captain Sparrow and the Turners after the battle at World's End. They had thought that they would have a time of peace in which to recover, and they had, up until the events of the past few days.

They gathered in Jack's cabin, to witness him in this state, and Will gently explained what had happened to him - that this was the result of the terrible event that they had all watched in horror from the long boat, that day that seemed like it was an eternity ago, seeing the Pearl dragged to the cold depths, along with her captain. No charm could protect him, now, and he was suffering the consequences of his heart's action to deal with the devil and raise his burned ship, injuries inflicted when he chose to defend his crew and ship against the Kraken, even after he knew all was lost. William promised them all that the captain would heal from all of the physical injuries that afflicted him, but it would take time. No magical spells would be helping him any more. They understood, and questioned nothing that had to do with Davy Jones, the Kraken, and most of all, Calypso. They had noticed that Will and Jack seemed to become much closer in the last week or so, and they thought it was simply because of the deep friendship that had been forged during what Will solemnly called the Dark Times. The crewmembers were all surprised and pleased to hear in Will's own words that he and their captain had found out that they were related. They all liked and respected Will, especially his courage.

Mr. Gibbs stepped forward to address the rest of the crew as Jack's first mate, "Men, you can see what has befallen our cap'n because he loves his ship. It's his home, an' 'e went through hell to bring 'er back more 'n' once. Mr. Will is 'is blood kin t' Cap'n Sparrow - news that I, m'self, put akin t' destiny. As first mate, I am orderin' all of ye t' obey him an' Miss Elizabeth as ye would me or th' Cap'n. As ye all know, Mr. Will is th' former cap'n o' th' Flyin' Dutchman, an' Miss Elizabeth served well as the cap'n o' th' Empress after Sao Feng, who made her th' Pirate Lord of Singapore. Even they have both stepped down from their cap'n'cies, respect them as ye would me or Jack. Respect them outta respect for Jack."

Shyly, Mr. Ragetti shuffled forward and murmered, "May I say a word, Mr. Gibbs?" Gibbs nodded, and stepped aside for Mr. Ragetti to speak. Surprisingly, Ragetti approached the unconscious, battered captain in his bunk, his head lowered and wringing his hands. Captain Sparrow had always intimidated him. Rags spoke, almost reverently.

"Cap'n Jack, sir... I'm sorry that ye are so sick, an' I knows ye will be up an' 'round soon. Ye helped me gets me glass eye befo' we lef' th' Orient, an' it fits so fine that I sometimes forgets tha' I haves it. It don't pop out s' much as th' wooden one did. I knows that Mr. Will an' Miss Elizabeth be takin' good care o' ye... I saw ye saves them an' Mr. Gibbs wi' me own eyes... eye... las' night. We'll take good care o' th' Pearl fo' ye, 'til ye stands at the helm again, sir. I know tha' th' Pearl is your lass. Ye'll be back at th' wheel in no time. We knows ye... nuffin' kin take down Cap'n Jack Sparrow... not even th' Kraken." Mr. Ragetti nodded once, then rejoined his mates, his head lowered. Mr. Pintel patted him on his shoulder, and the others nodded in agreement.

"Thank you, Mr. Ragetti. I know that the captain would appreciate your kind words. Elizabeth and I appreciate your loyalty; I know that I speak for my cousin, also," Will smiled, warmly. Each crewman shook Will's strong hand, and the young man knew that the things that they were told were completely accepted by these men of the sea, who had all seen just about everything. Elizabeth thought that they were all very kind, and they would be as loyal to Will, as Jack's cousin, as they were to their captain

Elizabeth would also help Gibbs to assess what they needed to do in order to repair the damaged mizzen, and report back to Will. She was reluctant to leave Jack, but Will flatly refused to leave his cousin's side, and he promised he would summon her if there was any change in his condition. Elizabeth understood her husband's feelings completely, and wanted to make sure that the important problems were addressed before she and Will attempted to sit down with Joshamee Gibbs. They had something important that they wished to discuss with him. Something that would affect them all.

When she came back, he found an exhausted Will sound asleep, leaning over forward in his chair, his arms crossed on the edge of Jack's bunk, and his head laid across them. As Elizabeth approached, she was surprised to hear a scratchy, croaking voice say, "William…."

Jack cracked his eyes open slightly and smiled as much as his cracked lips would let him, as Will groggily sat up in his chair, taking Jack's arm in his hands. "Jack… can you hear me? Can you understand me?"

Elizabeth hurried across the cabin and smiled widely, "Jack?"

"Oi…. Drink?"

The both scrambled for the water jug and the cup so fast that Will knocked the cup to the floor with a clatter. Jack smiled a bit more, "Clumsy, ain't ya, lad?" he rasped.

"Jack!" Will laughed, "You're speaking English! Thank God, you're speaking English! You recognize me!"

Elizabeth gently sat on the edge of the bunk and helped Jack struggle to sip the water slowly, "Not so fast, Jack…" she urged, "You have been very, very sick and we don't want it to come back up, again." She laid his head back into the pillows.

Jack closed his eyes and swallowed the water carefully, then whispered, "Wot th' bloody hell happened t' me?"

"You became very ill at the helm last night, and when we came to help you, we were hit by a gale as we were trying to help you. The mizzen fell and took you down… but you saved me, Will and Gibbs from being crushed."

"… an' me ship? Are we on th' Pearl?"

"Yes, Jack, you are in your own bunk. The mizzen is snapped in two - we will need to put in somewhere to make repairs, but that is all - the sails were not damaged." Elizabeth reported.

"The part of the ship that sustained the most damage was you, mate." Will grinned.

Jack tried to raise his bandaged hand to his face, but was stopped by Elizabeth, "You have a serious head injury, Jack. Your head was split open and your face hit the deck hard. You bled heavily, sustained a concussion, and only made your other mysterious illness and injuries worse. You started to go into shock because of blood loss. You have a black eye, a badly swollen face on the right side and 12 stitches up here in your hair." He winced. "You have been fevered, vomiting blood and sea water; you also have several wounds all over you that can not really be explained…it was as Calypso said, " Her voice trailed off, "… injuries from the Kraken… we thought for a while that we were going to lose you, again…"

Jack was quiet for a moment, trying to gather strength to keep talking, "Ah…now tell me th' bad news, love," he smiled. Elizabeth made a fist and playfully tapped his bearded chin with it.

"Are all of ye alright? Really alright?"

"… we're fine, Jack. All of the crew is fine, and have been scared to death for you."

"This would be a hell of an endin' for ol' Jack after bein' to th' Locker an' back, eh? His head bashed in by 'is own ship? She didn't mean to, ye know."

There was a momentary silence between them as Jack stopped to give his raw throat a rest from speaking. Will patted Jack's arm absently, then asked quietly, "Jack… cousin… was it cold… inside the beast…?"

Jack cracked his eyes open again, and looked at the young pirate. "Interestin' question….aye. Cold. Dark. Slimy. It smelled bad, 'til I started takin' in sea water… don't 'member much except th' cold, an' th' water… an' th' darkness. Then there was nothing. Glad tha' th' beastie swallowed me whole, or ye might have had a lot more to stitch together, eh? Jus' a lot o' freezin', cold sea water…choking… darkness…cold." The captain fell silent for a moment.

"...William?"

"Yes, Jack... I'm right here with you..."

"...I feel awful...I'm not goin' t' die... am I? Ye won't let me die..."

Elizabeth was horrified, and Will reached over and stroked Jack's hair.

"...no, Jack. I absolutely forbid it. I am not about to lose my best friend and cousin now. If you die, I'll kill you..." there was a smile in Will's voice.

Jack smiled a little, "Thank ye, lad..." his voice became quieter, "Izzy?"

"I'm right here, Jack... you are not going to die," Elizabeth took up Jack's hand in hers, "You did before, and we wouldn't let you stay that way, remember?"

"...then, if I live, I promise t' be most annoyin' t' ye ..." Jack nodded, ever so slightly.

Elizabeth squeezed Jack's hand and smiled, "... You already are annoying...I might take up slapping you..."

Jack suddenly shivered, and coughed, "...I'm cold...maybe ye should jus' slap me t' warm me up... don' leave me, William..." a hint of fear crept into his voice.

"...Rest, Jack, that's an order from a former captain..." Will tucked the blankets around Jack's slight form, "There... you'll warm up, now...just rest... I will not leave you..."

Jack finally lost his voice and his strength, and fell back to sleep, with Will still stroking his cousin's dark hair. Cold...he could not help but wonder if Jack would always feel the coldness, in one way or another, whether it was memories from cold, hard hands tearing him away from his dead mother... from too many unforgiving iron shackles... from icy, dark, sea water...from dark, damp jail cells... from the clammy wind at the top step of the gallows...or from falling behind, and being left behind...