Author's note: This chapter is a long one, as I couldn't break it up without ruining it. Almost as long as the movies. Thanks! Pirate Cat
Two days after the incident with the Athena, Jack solemnly promised himself that he would do his best to lighten the mood. He had been the cause of a great deal of concern and worry for Will and Elizabeth, and he was determined to show them that he, as Captain Jack Sparrow, had great powers of healing and fortitude... not to mention stubbornness. He impishly made good on his promise to Elizabeth to be just as annoying as he always was, and his mischievious sense of humor taxed Izzy's patience dreadfully.
Jack ventured, now, to slowly walk further unassisted, although Will or Elizabeth stayed close to him, since his walking was wobbly, even without the lasting effects of a concussion. The captain's bronzed skin was losing its sickly pallor, and the bandages were slowly disappearing from view. He was still plagued by the mysterious, crippling cold spells, but was trying to handle them without aid, much to the young couples' worry. He would shiver uncontrollably, his mouth set, his eyes closed and his hands growing clammy, but he wanted no help. His face was still badly purpled with bruising, but that, also was healing. Even the Kraken would soon be a dreadful memory... and they could all move on with their lives. Jack was definitely on the mend.
Jack had Mr. Ragetti surprise the young couple with a fine breakfast of biscuits, fresh fried eggs provided by Jack's two beloved hens, and an exotic African fruit, the name of which none of them could pronounce. They were out of coffee, but they had the luxury of some fresh butter for their biscuits since leaving their last port, and Jack seemed content with things on this day. Elizabeth drank a cup of tea, which she had nearly lost a taste for, after getting used to coffee...she would be glad when she and Gibbs would be able to procure more coffee beans. Will and Jack drank rum slowly, Will not liking tea very much, and Jack hating tea, as a matter of principal. Jack considered tea one of the scourges of mankind, since the trade of tea and spices was one of the cargo mainstays of the EITC... one of many cargo mainstays, he thought, bitterly.
On this morning, Elizabeth had now even removed the bandages from Jack's head, since the stitches were itching terribly, and she thought that some air should get to them to speed healing. Jack was bareheaded in the sun, with his hair blowing freely about, and the sight of it definitely took getting used to. Elizabeth had not removed the beads and coins when she was caring for him, but seeing Jack with no bandages, braids, hat or red bandana on his head was a something that no one was used to. He looked even odder than usual to everyone. Outside of the jingling trinkets in his hair and beard, he looked strangely like a normal person, if that was possible. Elizabeth thought, in fact, that he looked quite handsome this way, and she told him so. The captain reacted with a dazzling smile and a wink.
Jack freshened his and Will's rum, and sat back gingerly. He turned his head carefully, and absently touched the itchy, stitched area of his injured head with his fingertips.
"… I have to ask the two o' ye somethin', if ye don' mind," he said, suddenly.
Will and Elizabeth both looked at Jack with curiosity.
"I had strange dreams whilst I was incapacitated an' not functionin'. Did I talk a lot whilst I was sick …? William… did ye somehow… get into me head … p'raps?" Jack was not upset, he was not angry. He simply knew that they had all touched upon unexplained things many times in their adventures together, and was extremely uncomfortable with many of the new shadows playing out in his mind. He had enough shadows in his mind, these days, without entertaining more of them.
"How would I... get into your head, Jack?" Will asked, warily. He tilted his head back and looked at Jack in exactly the way that Jack tended to look at him, sometimes. Jack regarded him, then smiled a bit. Will grinned.
"I just had very strange dreams, an' you are th' one wif a touch o' destiny, according t' Calypso, or Tia Dalma, or whoever she was... or is... or will be..." the captain looked confused for a moment, "... anyways, we all bloody saw her up there on th' bloody yardarm, did we not? Is that not enough t' make one think that ye might have got int' me head...somehow?," Jack joked, then continued, "…did I talk in m' sleep?"
That could be answered honestly. "Yes, Jack. But much of it was in a language other than English", Elizabeth replied.
Jack became quiet and twiddled his long hair around a finger. He looked up at the sky for a moment. He cleared his throat harshly, winced, and finally said, "It was more'n likely Gaelic… Irish Gaelic. I'm Irish, one hundred percent, Will, an' ye would be a quarter Irish, y'self, since we share a grandmother. Me father once told me, when he took me back t' Ireland for educatin', that we were Irish through an' through, an' that no English sovereign would ever rule over us…" Jack's voice trailed off, as it was prone to do these days, and his eyes became distant.
Will and Elizabeth smiled at each other at Jack's sudden openness. Jack blinked, then looked from one to the other, back and forth, carefully leaning back in his chair and holding his mug against his thin chest with both hands.
Elizabeth smiled sadly at Jack and said, "Jack, you spoke of your father just now…I remember my mother, and I miss my father so much since his murder by Beckett. I never thanked you for your part in helping me to face his loss. I still will never forgive myself for what I did to you - you are very dear to me, you know that, don't you? How do you say ' thank you for being my dear friend' in Gaelic?" She looked at Jack, and tears started to well up in her eyes.
Jack's kohl rimmed eyes grew wide, and he leaned forward and took her petite hands into his slender ones, patting them delicately, "Darling, don't cry! Now, now. Th' mornin' is too pretty fo' tears..." He looked over at Will, who put his arm across Elizabeth's shoulders, lovingly. "Izzy, please… It's alright, love… ol' Jack loves th' two o' ye, an'…" His mouth snapped shut so hard that his teeth clicked together. He winced with pain. Captain Jack Sparrow had betrayed his feelings, right out loud! Bugger. The whelp and his lass really were making him slip up badly these days. His eyes grew even wider, making the blackened one look even stranger than usual. He patted her hands furiously, and she started to laugh through her tears. Jack tilted his head, and smiled, "Ye can borrow my father, if ye'd like. I'll loan 'im t' ye!"
"Oh, no, thank you!" Laughter burst out between the trio, as Elizabeth dried her eyes and sniffled.
"… do you remember your mother, Jack? What was her name?" Will asked, gently.
Jack nodded slowly, and grew silent for a long moment...his eyes looked up and stared out to sea...for a fleeting moment, his mind's eye saw the craggy coast of Eire... then he shook it off and said, "She woulda been your aunt, wouldn' she?" He stared down into the mug in his hands, "I was only six when she died. She was very beautiful with black hair and dark eyes… her name was... her name… she was jus' Mama… wait, now… I think that her name was… it was Maggie… I think her given name was Magdalena. Magdalena Sparrow... Magdalena Sparrow... my father did not marry me mother ," he looked at the pair, his voice trailing off, and paused, not sure if he should continue, then hesitantly, the words started to form...
"She was an Irish gypsy lass. She bore me when she was very young... I look like her... When she found out tha' she was wif child, she was abandoned by her tribe. It was expected, y'see, as me father did not marry her, an' her tribe prized virgin brides, an' couldn't support any woman tha' was wif child, wif no husband… ye can't blame 'em… sort of like The Pirate's Code, really," Jack's voice was soft, his eyes were distant, "... she fell behind... was lef' behind...like the Pirate's Code..."
"…well, me father took 'er aboard 'is ship to ensure tha' she was looked after whilst she was expectin' me, but once I was born, he dumped us back in Ireland, an' he would send swag now an' then to help make ends meet. She was a seamstress, an' could make lace, for th' ones that was better off, t' trim their fine collars wif… but we were poor, what wif her bein' a gypsy… an' all…" Jack's voice was almost a whisper, and his eyes were again cast down into the mug in his hands, "I guess that by bein' a bastard son of a pirate an' a gypsy woman, an' a pirate, m'self, I'm truly th' scum o' polite English society, am I not?"
Gypsies were looked upon as the lowest of the low by most of English society, no matter what social class one belonged to. Will, Elizabeth and Jack all knew this without saying it. Jack suddenly tilted his head back proudly, as was his customary fashion, and waited for someone to say something. Being the governor's daughter, Elizabeth shook her head and was going to say something about the absurdity of it all, but suddenly, Will smiled widely.
"Jack… teach me Gaelic."
"Wot?" Jack's head popped forward and he looked at Will. He scowled. "Ow. Me head."
"Teach me Gaelic."
"It ain't any easy language t' learn, whelp, but if ye like, I'll give it a shot, savvy? Hmmmm." The captain stroked his mustache and smiled at his cousin, relieved that Will made his mind jump to something else, "Can't think o' anyone better than Captain Jack Sparrow to take on th' task. I will agree only if Izzy helps me braid me hair back proper th' way it belongs. Disgustin' thought, touchin' ol' Jack's filthy ol' hair, eh, lass? Lackin' in good personal hygiene, an' what not?" Jack narrowed his eyes and smirked wickedly, and considered the subject closed for now. He welcomed the change in mood. He sipped his rum carefully, screwing his face up at Elizabeth, petulantly.
Elizabeth smiled and chirped, "Only if we can use the hair oil with coconut essence that we found under your bunk, along with the wash basin and cakes of soap. We'll have to keep the hair oil away from where your stitches are - it would sting. I was wrong, Jack...your hygiene is actually very good... I helped bathe you, myself, recently."
Jack sputtered, coughed hard and stared at her, wide eyed and indignant. Will thought he had better change the subject, again, while Elizabeth was ahead.
"Jack, Elizabeth and I have something that we want to discuss with you. Once you are done choking. You know, you might not have taken so much sea water into your lungs when the Kraken took you down, if you weren't so scrawny", yawned Will, stretching in the sun.
"Scrawny, yerself, whelp! Are ye' callin' me out, cuz I could take ye down wif one hand tied behind me back and standin' on one graceful foot, eh?" Jack growled good naturedly, then paled in pain as he demonstrated. Will leaned over in concern... it was obvious that Jack had caused himself some discomfort.
After making sure that Jack's arm was alright, Will continued, this time seriously, "Jack, I need to pour us more rum for what I am going to ask you. We respectfully invoke the rite of parlay?"
Jack swiveled his head around to regard him, "Parlay???" Will and Elizabeth both saw a momentary look of sadness and worry in Jack's eyes. Did he think that they were finally making the decision to leave the Pearl - and him? Just as quickly, the captain averted his eyes, covered his concern, and poured more rum, this time some for Elizabeth, also.
"I'm all ears, William…"
"We have nothing to return to Jamaica for, Jack. We still have prices on our heads, and for all the Royal Navy knows, I've disappeared with the Flying Dutchman. Elizabeth's father is dead, and most of their belongings were claimed by the crown." Elizabeth cast her eyes down to her hands… she fingered her gold wedding band. She didn't care about their old belongings. Her father was gone, and none of it meant anything to her. It never had.
Will looked straight into Jack's eyes and said, earnestly, "I can not return to being a blacksmith, Jack, no matter where we were to end up. We've turned pirate, and there is no going back. We wish to stay on the Pearl… with you."
Jack blinked at the pair and his mustache twitched, as it always did when he was taken by surprise. He thought about this quietly, one hand waving, absentmindedly. Will continued.
"We have spoken to Mr. Gibbs, and he wishes to return to his duties fully as the Pearl's quartermaster, and wishes to give up the responsibility of first mate. No reflection on you, Jack. I want you to know that there is nothing that I would like more than to be first mate of the Black Pearl, to Captain Jack Sparrow. You have mentored me ever since we met… everything that I have learned about the sea, and my pirate blood, I have learned from you... and you then encouraged me to learn on my own with the tools of knowledge that you gave me. I'm a good sailor, now, Jack, and I could offer you much. I wish to join you, cousin. Elizabeth can join the crew in whatever capacity that you would deem suitable and fair, but we want to sail with you." Elizabeth looked on with soft eyes and a smile, nodding in agreement.
Jack pressed his fingertips together, then took a long, slow drink of his rum. He was stone silent for several minutes.
"Jack?" The captain jumped a little, and looked at the pair as though he had forgotten where he was. He looked at the pair, frowned, and said, stubbornly, "Ye know how I am, savvy?"
"Yes, we know…"
"Ye can't change me…"
"Why would we want to change you, Jack? We accept you the way that you are. We love you. We don't want you to change," Elizabeth said, quietly.
Jack regarded both of them for a long, long moment. "Think o' wot your sayin'... Th' two of ye... love me... love me?" Jack stared at the pair, his emotions now showing plainly on his dark face. It was strange to hear it and have it said with such truth - it had been foreign to him. The captain rubbed his chest with his hand, as if pained ...he shook his head as if to clear it, stared at them again, then tilted his head and shook it again, as had become his habit. He had not heard those words with such feeling since his mother died. The beads in his hair jingled like small chimes.
The captain fidgeted, then blundered forward, "I pillage, an'I plunder, an' I loot. An' lie, an' cheat. I'm crude, I drink a lot, an' I sing loud, and badly. An' I like to chase women." He narrowed his eyes and nodded solemnly, as if to punctuate what he had just said.
"We have noticed that you prefer to drink yourself into a stupor, gamble, and sing loudly and badly, almost more than you like chasing the women, Jack. You'd rather sit on your arse and let them come to you. But if you find yourself a girlfriend for the night, we won't stop you," Will replied.
"Ah." Jack said, lightly, and he then slowly and painfully stood up. "Well. Ye wish t' sail wif me."
He carefully perched his hat on his tender head - the hat almost fell over his eyes without all of his braids to hold it up. When Will and Elizabeth just stared at him, the captain fluttered his hands wildly to make them stand, also. Will saw where this was going... he remembered a long ago morning, just like this one, on a dock in Tortuga.
Jack sternly looked down his nose at the two of them, a good feat since Will was taller than Jack, and the pair smilingly stood at attention.
"Do you have the courage and fortitide to follow orders and stay true in the face of danger and almost certain death???" Jack leaned forward, coughed into his sleeve, grumbling, "Damned bloody beastie seawater, " then croaked hoarsely, "Wot say you?"
"Aye!" the Turners shouted in unison, laughing.
"Well, then, we have an accord," Jack said, simply. He delicately held out his hand and shook with both of the Turners to make it official. Jack then smiled his golden smile, "Let us introduce th' rest o' th' crew to the new First Mate Turner an' Quartermaster Second Mate Turner. I made tha' second one up. It means you will assist Mr. Gibbs, Izzy, " the captain said, helpfully.
"Oh! Aye, Captain!" Elizabeth saluted, smartly. Will laughed.
Jack looked at them both and added, quietly, "Ye wish t' join me... ye wish t' stay wif me... may I wish ye 'cead mile failte' t' th' Black Pearl? That would be your first lesson in Gaelic - its a Gaelic sayin' meanin' 'a hundred thousand welcomes'." Jack removed his hat, and placed if over his heart... he was not his usual joking, mocking, self. He was smiling with true and complete joy.
Will said softly, "Aye…" and put his hand on Jack's shoulder.
Elizabeth smiled warmly; it was the same way that Will had said the same word, when he agreed to search for Jack and bring him back to the living world, an eternity ago in Tia Dalma's shack… this time, they were joining Jack. They all had finally found a home, with each other.
They went to tell the rest of the crew, with the captain slowly, painfully and proudly leading the way. The Turners could assume their new duties, and ready the dark ship for the long trip across the Atlantic...