۞

Shore leave was ending; three days had passed and the crew began to straggle back aboard the Black Pearl after their wild merrymaking... the voyage back from retreiving Elizabeth after the release of William's curse had taken nearly a year, since they had taken extra time in several ports of call to see the sights, and their progress had slowed a bit during the time that the mizzen mast had collapsed during the trip, the fallen mizzen mast that had nearly killed Jack while they sailed through the Indian Ocean. They had all learned to accept so much about each other since the day that Cutler Beckett had so rudely ruined the Turners' planned wedding in Port Royal... in a time that seemed like a century ago... and now Little Will had been born, a true ray of sunshine in lives that had been thought ruined or ended at one time.

Jack Sparrow was sitting at the large mahogany table in his cabin, his beloved charts spread out before him, carefully measuring and charting the path that the Pearl was to take through the Caribbean, his compass laying upon the table, closed, with its leather strap curled around it in almost a perfect circle. The captain looked over at the baldric laying upon the table's other end, with his treasured sword sheathed in it's beaten up leather scabbard. He smiled with pleasure, and got up out of his chair to admire it.

His kohl lined eyes closed halfway as he tilted his head to one side... pulling the sword from the scabbard with a pleasant and intoxicating zhing!, he sighed with happiness as he put the sword back into the scabbard with a flick of his hand. He did not know that he was being watched from the doorway by his grinning first mate.

Jack jumped with a start, as William said, "You had better be careful, Jack. You are not accustomed to a sword so sharp, or that comes from the scabbard so easily! I should hate to have to see you hurt yourself..."

"Ah, well, William, we have had Izzy stitch me head up, an' she helped t' pull one o' me teeth, once... so I expect tha' she can reattach fingers, savvy?" Jack smiled, as he walked over to William, pulling the sword from the scabbard once again so that the whelp could admire his handiwork for only the hundredth time. William had the sword in his hands, as Elizabeth called out to them from outside.

"... Jack... Will..." came Elizabeth's voice from the main deck, "Can you come out here for a moment, please?" was the request, above the sounds of cargo and barrels of supplies being rolled about upon the deck and lowered into the hold below.

"... Wot does Izzy want, I wonder?" Jack muttered to himself, turning toward the door. He swayed to a stop for a moment, hands raised in the air, as William nearly ran into the back of him... Jack looked at one shoulder for a moment, as if to listen to a voice, then muttered even more, "... yer crazy, mate..."

William wondered, for a moment, what Jack had heard from his little invisible friend who supposedly hid among his dark dreadlocks, then decided not to ask. William knew exactly what Elizabeth wanted, and he smiled mysteriously as Jack looked back at him and said, "Let's go see wot Izzy needs..."

As the both made their way out to the main deck, Jack frowned slightly to see all of the work had come to a halt, as the crewmembers were gathering about the table that was made of several planks fastened together and laid on top of a barrel. Elizabeth was beckoning everyone to hear what was about to be said, as Bootstrap Bill Turner went into the small cabin that was the young couple's home. William went to Elizabeth's side, as he laid the newly repaired sword upon the table. Jack frowned.

"Why did ye bring me sword out? It needs t' be in..." Jack started, as he reached out to take the sword back to his cabin protectively. William reached out and put his hand upon the sword, and said, "We need to say something, Jack..."

The captain looked at William in puzzlement... "Oi! My sword!" he said, almost plaintively.

Just then, Bill came out of the Turners' cabin, with two small objects in his large hands. By this time, Jack was completely mystified, as a murmer rose among the crewmen, who were equally mystified as to what was taking place. Jack's mustache quirked nervously, as Elizabeth smilingly went to the cabin, herself, and came back out with Little Will, who was yawning and hiccuping.

Jack grinned at him... the lad hiccuped with great talent, he decided to himself. Perhaps that was passed down from the Teagues, too, he thought, smugly.

Elizabeth had pulled her hair back into her hand carved comb, and she was wearing a cotton dress that William had bought for her during one of the stops upon the west coast of Africa prior to their last crossing... a dress that she could not wear for long due to her advancing pregnancy. With the smile upon her face on this sunny morning, she was radiant.

William looked at the crew that were gathered, as Bill took his place next to his family, and beckoned Joshamee Gibbs forward, "Josh, I would like for you to take a place next to Captain Sparrow, please..."

"Captain? Since when do you call me 'Captain', William?" Jack was becoming a bit more nervous... he was not sure what was going on, and he was sincerely hoping with all of his black heart that it whatever it was, the word "mutiny" would not be involved... his eyes looked from Bill, to William, to Elizabeth, to Little Will, and back again, as they all smiled at him and an equally puzzled Joshamee Gibbs. Things seemed to be a bit too congenial for a mutiny, Jack thought to himself. The captain and Gibbs both glanced at each other, still not without a bit of trepidation. "Do ye think I should go an' get me hat?" Jack whispered to Gibbs, who was not certain, so he did not answer.

William cleared his throat and addressed the group gathered about him, as Bill stood by, "Gentlemen, we wished to gather all of you upon this fine morning to conduct a little bit of a ceremony, since my father is about to leave the Pearl to rejoin Captain Norrington upon the Flying Dutchman."

Everyone nodded to Bill, and he acknowledged them with a smile; Jack felt a little twinge of sadness to think that his old friend... his half-uncle... was leaving them.

"Just as Captain Sparrow and my father presented my bride, Elizabeth Swann Turner, and myselfwith our wedding rings before we left the China Sea, Elizabeth and I wanted to do something that means a great deal to us... to our son... not only did he present us with rings," William turned and looked at Jack, running a hand over the large scar upon his chest, and said, softly, "...the night before that, Captain Sparrow presented us with our very lives together, by helping to restore my very heart..." Jack gazed back at the young man, then over at his loyal crew, his head tilted back and his hands resting lightly upon the tabletop... his thoughts went back briefly to that night... a flash of green...

William nodded to his father, who laid out upon the table, next to Jack's sword, two of the beautiful gifts that the captain had taken such pains to create... his heartfelt gift to Little Will of the creamy white Kraken tooth whale... etched with the images of the ships that had touched all of their lives. Alongside it was the rich and highly polished whale carved of rare teakwood... the gift that Jack had made for his newfound cousin William, upon learning that the whale made so long ago had been treasured by a young boy, a boy who had lost his parents and the life that he knew back in England... a teakwood whale that went to the depths upon the day that William was plucked from the sea by the Dauntless. Jack and Gibbs grew increasingly somber, knowing that something important to the Turners was taking place.

William looked at Joshamee, who was momentarily smiling at the sleepy and stretching Little William, and then over at the uncharacteristically quiet Jack, who was standing with his hands even more uncharacteristically still. His dark eyes gazed back into William's, searching. William cleared his throat, again, not accustomed to speaking what was in his heart so openly.

"Not long ago... we were all tested to the limits... our strength was tested. Our resolve was tested. Most of all, our love for each other was tested," As William said this, Jack closed his eyes, suddenly... No... not now... Kraken... Locker... oh, God... William... no...no...stab the heart, William...I'm hallucinating...no...not now...not real... The captain clenched his fists, as Gibbs put a hand upon his shoulder. Jack took a deep breath, and opened his eyes, again. He had beaten it all back deep within himself without as much trouble this time... he smiled, a little. "Oh, good!" he muttered to himself. William, Bill and Elizabeth watched him closely, then William continued.

William picked up the lovely pieces of art that the captain had created, as Elizabeth removed the comb from her hair, "These were created by the hands of Captain Sparrow, upon learning that our son was to be born," William said, quietly. The crew murmered low as they looked upon the gifts... they had been aware that the captain could carve, but were surprised at the intricacy of the designs... they were even more shocked when William added, "... except for this little teakwood whale, the other gifts are carved from a tooth of the Kraken..." A louder murmer broke out.

Elizabeth finally spoke, softly, also to show the crew another piece of art that held great meaning..."... as you can all see, the sword laying here next to these lovely gifts is Captain Sparrow's sword... the sword that lost it's blade to the claw of Davy Jones during the Battle of the Maelstrom... the sword that was reborn from the hands of a former blacksmith who was exiled by the action of that broken sword as it stabbed the heart of the monster that ruined all of our lives..." she broke off for a moment, her eyes and voice filled with sadness, as Bill comfortingly put a hand upon her shoulder, as Jack felt guilt..his eyes closed, again... it was my fault that Jones had nearly killed all of them... but I tried to redeem myself... I tried... did I succeed?...did I?... can someone please tell me?...

To be continued...