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Author's Note: Thank you to all of my new mates that read my story, and to all that left reviews. You have no idea how much it meant to me to have so many positive things said about my very first effort. Here it is, the final chapter. I hope that you like it. Cheers, mates... Pirate Cat

Elizabeth returned a few minutes later with a small pouch in her hands. She motioned for them to all sit down at the table, and sat quietly, gathering what she was about to tell them. They looked at her expectantly.

"… Jack, do you know what day this is?"

"… I dunno… wot day is it? Wot month is it?" He seriously looked to the parrot for help. He hiccupped again.

"… it's October 20... It's the anniversary of the day of your birth, or so you thought …"

Jack fell silent. His eyes flicked from one of the Turners to the other, again, not certain where this conversational exchange was going.

"Well, when we were provisioning the Pearl in the marketplace, Joshamee and I came upon a woman that was making these over a fire. It was fascinating...they were beautiful, and I wanted to get one for you for your birthday. I had these made especially for each of us."

Jack said nothing… he looked down at the cloth pouch that Elizabeth had laid on the table.

".. now…I decided, in light of all that has happened to us, and in light of what we now all know about each other, that I would get one made for each of us. We can all choose one…" and she unwrapped three of the most beautiful, handcrafted beads that any of them had ever seen. Lovely, large, glass African trading beads. She offered the beads to the captain first.

"Choose one, Jack. In honor of your birthday!"

Jack's face lit up with a huge smile... a birthday gift. Oh, how he loved beads. He looked at them with great care, finally daintily picking one that was bright faceted emerald green, with flecks of gold and black. It was very colorful and glittered like real swag - he eyes shone with pure pleasure. He didn't have one like that. He examined it so closely that his eyes crossed a little.

Elizabeth offered the two remaining beads in her small palm to her husband, "…Will…"

Will pursed his lips, and chose one that was a beautiful clear iridescent blue, with red swirls and silver flecks. He had never seen anything like it. He rolled it between his fingers, and grinned at Elizabeth. That left a red bead with copper and gold flecks for her. She smiled triumphantly.

"You both chose just the ones that I thought you would. I picked these colors with the three of us in mind." She turned to the captain with glowing eyes, " Jack," she began, "I chose those colors for you... the green represents the land of Eire, to the Gaelic gypsy people that bore you... both you and Ireland are embraced by the sea... the gold is for your teasing golden smile.. and the black glass represents the ship that is a part of you, as much as your dark, dancing gypsy eyes..."

Jack stared at her. The very thought that anyone should give him a gift for being born completely stunned him. Once it sank in, he bit his lip hard. He tried valiantly not to hiccup.

"Will, I chose these colors for you," Elizabeth continued, softly, "because the clear blue and red glass represents your true, brave heart and the ocean waves that mingle with the pirate blood that you were born with, and should be...must be... proud of... and the silver, like moonlight, is the love that I see shining in your eyes when I look into them…you are my love, as constant as the moon..."

Will leaned over and tenderly took Elizabeth's small hand into his own strong one. His brown eyes glowed as he said, "Elizabeth, my love, the bead that you chose for yourself… the red represents the burning, insatiable fire in your spirit... a fire that burned so brightly at World's End; the copper is the color of the courage of a governor's daughter, willing to leave all riches behind to marry a lowly blacksmith who dared to turn pirate, himself... and the gold? You are my treasure... A very, very wise man once told me that 'not all treasure is silver and gold'... ".

Jack mused to the bead in his hand, "Tha's a good sayin'... I'll have t' remember tha' one." Will looked at Jack, and shook his head, almost sadly.

Elizabeth threaded her and Will's beads onto a slender leather strings, and she placed Will's around his neck. It was beautiful... a small iridescent work of art against his tanned skin. Will placed the fiery red bead around Elizabeth's neck, slender like a swan's... and after he ran his fingers through her hair, he lovingly turned her around to look into her eyes... then suddenly pulled her to him, and kissed her with a hot, fiery passion, the same passion that she felt that day, so long ago, on the rampart above Port Royal Bay, and the same passion that she felt as Will kissed her in the heat of battle at World's End, their own heat cooled only by the driving rain that was pelting their bodies.

Watching the Turners, Captain Jack Sparrow wrinkled up his nose at them, muttering, "...marri-aaaage...blah." as he braided the handcrafted bead into his hair. The young couple smiled at him, as they watched him happily dangle the glittering, faceted bead to catch the light from the sun that was streaming in the cabin's windows. It shone like emeralds and gold against the rich, dark ebony of his hair. "Look, Mr. Cotton's Parrot... I migh' even be prettier than you, now!" he proclaimed, "Ye don' have t' worry about yer feather, mate, I don't need it, now."

Smugly, Jack turned to the Turners and filled their mugs, again, handing them to the couple. "William! Let us raise our mugs in a toast, an' another lesson in Irish Gaelic!" Jack grinned, "Alright…tá deoch agat?"

"What?"

"Just say 'Aye', Will."

"Aye!"

"Izzy, tá deoch agat?" Jack swiveled his head and looked at Elizabeth, eyes wide.

"Aye, Cap'n. What did you just ask?"

"I asked ye, 'd'ye have yer drink wif ye, in hand, ready t' raise a toast t' th' finest pirate crew in maritime history?' Well, it wasn't really all o' that, but tha's wha' I meant..." he leaned confidentially toward Elizabeth, and whispered, "It really means, 'ye have a drink???'" Elizabeth nodded and said, "I see! Aye, I have a drink!" she giggled.

Jack tilted his head aside, and then shouted, "Captain Jack Sparrow, tá deoch agat? .. Aye, Captain, I have rum!!!" He answered himself, raising his mug high and swaying slightly, almost falling back down into his chair.

Elizabeth shouted, enthusiastically, "Our toast! To the Black Pearl! To us! Bring us that horizon!"

Will joined in the merriment, by narrowing his eyes, "We will be the most feared and fearless crew on the Spanish Main, no, the entire ocean! No, all the way to WORLD'S END! Long live the Black Pearl and her crew! Take all ye can!"

Jack's eyes glittered with excitement, as he snarled, "Aye, cousin! To th' Black Pearl an' her pirate family! Give nothin' back!" And the three of slammed their mugs together merrily, drained them of the rum, then slammed them onto the table in unison. And as he had one sunny day on the main deck of the Pearl, Captain Jack Sparrow stood and wrapped his arms around the young ones' shoulders in a firm embrace. They embraced him back, as they did on that fine morning not long passed.

His mood softening, the captain murmered, in his husky voice, "… no one's ever given me a birthday gift 'til now...thank you…." Jack closed his eyes, and was finally able to say what had been in his heart for so long, "... I care about ye both... 'I love ye' in Gaelic is Tá grá agam duit' ... An' I'm tryin' not t' let it scare th' bloody hell outta me…", and he shook his head; he would not look into their eyes.

"We care about you, too, Jack… don't be ever be afraid to love...I was afraid to love at one time, and it nearly ended my mortal life, if it weren't for Elizabeth's true love for me... if one is afraid to love, it is like putting shackles on one's heart...or cutting it out...," William said, quietly, forcing Jack to look at him, "You've had enough shackles in your life, Jack... it's time that you set your own heart free...I did..." Will searched Jack's eyes for a moment.

The captain looked at his young cousin with hope; these wondrous words were coming from a young man that he thought hated him at one time, something that the captain would have truly mourned like death, itself. A young man who seemed so much wiser now... and who mysteriously seemed to understand so much about him... since Calypso's appearance, it seemed like William Turner the Second could read the captain's mind, and his heart. Jack could not understand it, but had no desire to question it.

He cast his eyes back down. For once, he could not speak. There was the slightest of blushes on the high cheekbones. Jack cleared his throat a little... he was getting hoarse, again... or maybe it was a bit of a lump in his throat. He gave Will's shoulder a small, but meaningful hug, and Will patted his shoulder softly. The captain's face was still purpled with dark bruising, and it only reminded the Turners of what they had all been through, and like all of the recent events of their lives, they lived through it... and loved stronger because of it.

Elizabeth drew both of them closer to her, then playfully tugged at the long dreadlocks that trailed down Jack's back, nearly to his waist. "You are a treasure, Jack... you, Will, me...our family is our most valuable swag, now." Elizabeth gave Jack an extra squeeze around his waist, and buried her face in his shoulder for a moment. She then looked straight into Jack's dark eyes, and whispered, smiling,"... I smell spiced rum, coconut essence, the wind off of the sea..." She then embraced both of them, tightly..."and I think it is the fragrance of freedom!"

...it was late at night...the ship and her crew were now far out in the autumn Atlantic...there were lightning bolts etching designs on the horizon in the distance, and the low rumble of thunder came in soft waves across the surface of the water... standing at the bow of the Black Pearl, leaning forward against the railing, with his arms slightly outspread and his fingertips playing the wind as if it were an Irish harp, her captain looked up at the sky, and smiled. He closed his eyes, and his head was swaying back and forth with the rocking of the waves ... a lace handkerchief was fluttering from his wrist, like a tiny, wee ghost...

"Mama?..." a flash of lightning warmed his face, "... Mama, can ye hear me? ...at last...someone thinks I have worth... someone cares about me... I have a cousin... his name is Will...his girl is Elizabeth...they are my best friends...they are glad tha' I was born, Mama, like you were... ye lef' me, but ye couldn't help it...they are not goin' t' abandon me...they love me, an' I'm tryin' not t' be afraid ... I don't want t' be afraid...I need them too much... I love both of them... I have a cousin, Mama...an' his name is Will..."

He heard the lilt of music coming from the wind harp, and the captain kept playing the wind with his fingers, eyes still closed, smile still golden warm.

From the shadows, the young first mate watched his cousin, silhouetted against the lightning in the sky, and he also smiled. He did not hear the music that the captain was hearing, but he had no doubt that it was there, even if the captain was the only one who could hear it. He hoped that perhaps the gift that he was granted for only a few hours, the gift of truly seeing into his cousin's heart, would return someday, even if only for a moment or two, so that he, too, might also hear the music that the wind harp played.

The first mate protectively put a hand on the captain's shoulder, and spoke to him with a boyish grin, in the broken Irish Gaelic that he was just beginning to learn. They slowly walked back to the helm, to join the first mate's bonnie lass. As a family, they would sail the mighty Black Pearl into the velvety, comfortable blackness that was their home, the ever changing, stormy and immortal sea...With the rest of their incredible lives ahead of them, indeed, they were just getting started... they were all shedding the confining, enslaving shackles of their past lives ... they were truly free, yet bound, by their hearts, to each other...

THE END

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