Author's note: Here it is, mates, the final chapter of "The Ties That Bind". Thank you for the wonderful reviews!!! Pirate Cat tips her tricorn and raises her mug of rum. "Fair winds in yer sails, mates!'
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Jack came back to reality with yet another soft nudge from Gibbs. As William gently stroked his wife's hair, Elizabeth swallowed hard, hugged her baby to her, and looked at Jack, "... Jones tried to ruin all of our lives, and wrenched one away from us...but we would not let that one stay away from us...nor would we let anyone break any of us in any way..." Jack's eyes turned away for a fleeting moment.
Elizabeth noticed, but continued, "... in putting our hands upon these things which are a part of those tried to conquer us, we are the conquerors..." Jack gazed back at all of them, seeing in his straying mind the brave young woman who had urged the Brethren forward to be victorious against the enemy... the enemy that he and William had vanquished, together. His eyes fell to the objects upon the table, and the significance was not lost upon him.
Mr. Cotton, Pintel and Ragetti and Marty crowded forward to examine these pieces with great awe... their captain, Jack Sparrow, had fashioned such objects of love from the very beast that had killed him, and their first mate, William Turner the Second, had repaired the sword that had kept his own life from escaping him forever, but sent him to the ghost ship for what might have been many years, had his friend not stepped in. They were all awed, not only at the beauty of these things... but at the courage that it took for these two men to even lay their hands upon them after what they had been through, because of them.
William slipped an arm around his wife and child, as he said, "We are all here today in spite of all of the adversity. These material things are reminders of what was... but not what will be... just as Captain Sparrow presented us with our cherished wedding rings, made from the hinge of the Dead Man's Chest, we also wish to present to him... and to Joshamee Gibbs... a gift that is not as tangible.'
'...It is tradition in Elizabeth's family, the Swann family, to give a child a first name and two middle names... it might have been that we should have named our child after both our fathers, or after another person that might be gone that our child will never know... but we chose, instead, to name him after the two men who made it possible for our child to even be born...two men who our son will grow up knowing that they cared about him and his parents. "
William and Elizabeth came around the table, to an quiet Joshamee Gibbs. Elizabeth stood directly in front of her old friend... the man who had braced himself against a rocking, tossing ship to bring her baby into the world with his knowledge and strong, steady calmness...
"Mr. Gibbs... you overcame the grief that you still felt over the loss of your own dear wife and baby to come to my aid when our son was about to be born during a raging storm at sea," Elizabeth said, looking up into Gibbs' emotional eyes... eyes that were swiftly beginning to brim with tears, over ruddy cheeks that were beginning to show color. Elizabeth reached over and patted his hand, leaning over to kiss his grizzled cheek..."Thank you, Joshamee, for helping our family. We consider you family..."
The young couple turned to the captain... this odd, eccentric man... the man who they had come to love, and who had proved to them that one should never judge from what one sees upon the surface...
"Captain Jack Sparrow," William looked deeply into Jack's soul, now bared in his brown eyes..."... you are our best friend... you hung on to the Pearl and kept her from foundering, you danced with your dark lady on heavy, wild seas while our son came into the world in that very cabin behind us... keeping alive the Teague tradition of being born aboard a pirate captain's ship." Timbers of the Pearl's hull creaked, as if in approval.
Jack gazed down upon the sleeping baby... he would have had them safely in Tortuga, but had done the best that he could with what was thrown at him... as he had all of his life. William swallowed hard, as his mind was flooded with all that they had been through, together...he looked back up at this man, this pirate, who'd had no real family until now. "Captain Sparrow...I'm glad that you're my cousin...'half-cousin, once removed'..."
William reached out to grasp the captain's hand, and Jack hesitantly reached back... warm smiles were exchanged between them.. words were barely necessary between them ... as they did in a cave on Isla de Muerta so long ago, they could read each other's minds. William placed his other hand over Jack's as they gripped hands, and William said, emotionally, "Thanks, mate... for everything...we're all here because you cared, Jack... thank you..." Jack shrugged a little, and found himself swallowing a bit hard. "Anytime, whelp..."
The young couple turned back to the crew, who looked on in respect...William took a deep breath, and finally said, "My wife and I would like to officially announce, since our terrible loss of Governor Swann, that we have selected an honorary grandfather for our son...Mr. Joshamee Joseph Gibbs." Gibbs nodded in gratitude, as the crew nodded and murmered their approval.
"... and we would also like to officially announce that we have another honor to bestow... Elizabeth and I want our son to have a mentor... the same man that mentored me... who showed both my wife and I what a man can do... and what a man can't do. Whether he realizes it or not, he taught us everything that we ever need to know about life... the rest is not important. We want him to look after our son the same way... we have decided that our son must have a godfather... and his godfather shall be his cousin, Captain Jack Sparrow..."
Jack's eyes popped, and his mouth dropped open a bit, his hands flying up to his chest and pointing to himself. "Wot? Godfather? Me?" His mouth dropped open even more as the Turners looked at him and smiled widely.
The captain blinked hard at them, and closed his mouth quickly...as Joshamee Gibbs blew his nose into a handkerchief that Elizabeth had kept in her sleeve, just in case it was needed. Jack stared at William, who cleared his throat to indicate that he was not yet finished.
"In honor of my father William Turner, Mr. Gibbs, Captain Sparrow, and myself, and in the Swann tradition of two middle names, may we present to all of you our son, 'William Joshamee Jack Turner'." William grinned, waved his hand to barrel and several mugs, and cried out, "Drinks all around, gentlemen!!! Help yourselves..." And with that, William turned to his beautiful wife, pulled her close, and bent to kiss her softly, stroking his son's soft brown hair.
As the crew broke out into several loud shouts of "Huzzah!"and opened the barrel of fine Tortugan rum, the Turners turned back to an emotional Joshamee Gibbs, and an now utterly speechless Jack Sparrow, whose mouth had popped open again. As Gibbs once again blew his nose, trying to compose himself, Bill and William clapped him upon the back.
Then they all approached the captain, whose face had now softened and who had a small smile dancing at the corners of his mustache. Elizabeth straightened up, threw back her shoulders and said, trying not to laugh, "As the former captain of the Empress, and as the Pirate King... at least I think I still am...I hereby order you, Captain Jack Sparrow, to extend your arms to receive... your godson."
The captain looked into the bonnie lass' dancing hazel eyes, and then into the intense brown eyes of the young man that he, the captain, had grown to care about so much. He could almost physically feel the warmth that the young couple was feeling toward him, and it was at this time... for the first time... that he felt that he belonged to them as much as he had yearned to, for so long... he finally, truly, had a family...he broke into a huge, impish grin... he wasn't going to doubt it any longer... he finally belonged to someone, whether they deserved him or not...
Elizabeth smiled warmly, as Jack stared down at the beautiful bundle in her arms, this curly haired, perfect cherub that now bore his name. As Bootstrap Bill Turner and Gibbs looked on, and William put an arm across Jack's bony, dreadlocked shoulders, the most legendary pirate captain in the Caribbean... at least in the minds of those who sailed with him... hesitantly and slowly held out his hands... and, just like a few days ago, at feeling the unborn child move against his palm, Jack almost visibly melted as Elizabeth placed little William Joshamee Jack Turner into his nervous arms.
The wee babe opened his sleepy brown eyes for the slightest moment, to see his loved ones all around him, and promptly went back to sleep. William said, "... as his godfather, I will need to have you look after my son during those times when I am away on the Dutchman, Jack...I want you to be his father figure when I'm not here..."
Jack's eyes looked doubtful for a moment, and William looked at him, emotion welling into his handsome face, "Jack... I trust you. You have taught us so much...especially since we rescued you from the Other Side... Just as we trusted you to restore my living heart by bringing the Dead Man's Chest back to the Pearl, we trust you with the very life of our son."
The two cousins looked at each other for a long moment, then they both looked down at the small, content bundle nestled in the captain's arms...
Elizabeth finally stepped forward... she had let her two men have a moment to themselves...and she put a light hand upon Jack's arm as she said, "We know that you can do it, Jack... I will need help when Will is away upon the Dutchman helping James. As Little Will gets older, as his godfather that means that you have permission to discipline and..." she stopped when he saw that Jack drew himself up with indignance.
He held the child close to his thin chest and he finally found his muted tongue. The captain frowned at her darkly, and said, "Izzy! Discipline is for scurvy bilgerat deckhands, not me godson!"
Stifling a laugh, Elizabeth put her hands up in resignation and looked at William, who shrugged and grinned.
And as a golden smile spread across his dark face, Jack smirked, "Bloody hell, just fancy this! I've never even held a baby before...an' I didn't even make 'im cry!" Everyone grinned, as Bill rejoined them all with brimming mugs. Jack had obviously regained his famous power of speech... Bill's sparkling blue eyes danced, as he leaned toward his old friend, his nephew, and said, "Who would of thought it, Jack? I would think that a fierce pirate captain like yerself woulda scared th' bejesus outta the poor laddie!" He reached down and lightly stroked the babe's rosy pink cheek with his finger.
Gibbs drained his mug, and said to Jack, with a smile, "O' course ye didn't make 'im cry! He's courageous! He's William Joshamee Jack Turner o' th' Black Pearl, an he's ours!" and went back to refill his mug with a flourish. "Drink up, men! Drink t' our newest crewman!"
Jack, in the meantime, was savoring this moment... enjoying the innocent, yawning little sprite nestled against his own scarred and tattooed chest, and he muttered, "... An' I was jus' gettin' used t' havin' cousins! Now I have me a godson!"
His face became a bit vexed, as he looked up at the young Turners and said, "How am I supposed t' drink rum an' hold a baby?"
They laughed at his question, and Elizabeth tried to take Little William from him. He pulled away from her with his eyes narrowed, and Elizabeth's eyes widened... she finally let go with a laugh, as the thought was rather absurd. Jack Sparrow wanted no part of holding a baby before, and now he was not willing to give said baby back... to the point that holding said baby and drinking rum simaltaneously was physically beyond his normally swaying and wobbly ability, at this point.
Jack turned to William and looked pitiful... "Rum?" he pouted, asWilliam finally rolled his eyes, shook his head and raised Jack's mug to his lips for him... as the captain slurped clumsily at the mug while holding Little Will firmly in both arms, William said, "Ye worthless scalawag... you had better get the hang of using one hand independent of the other while holding my son... don't expect this all of the time!"
Jack retorted, after a good loud hiccup, "Listen, I just want t' join in drinkin' t' all of us... especially drinkin' t' me!"
As everyone looked on, they all shook their heads at a sight that they thought that they would never see... Captain Jack Sparrow sat down in a chair, leaned it back, propped his feet upon a barrel, held the tiny, sleepy babe close, and started to hum, softly..."Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me...we're devils, an' black sheep...", as the tiny baby curled his fingers around one finger of a rough, tanned, elegant hand that was identical to his own..."... an' really... bad eggs..." He paused; Little Will was sound asleep. Jack smiled with a great deal of godfatherly pride.
"Awww... bloody look a' that, will ye, Pearl?" the captain grinned, looking up at the sails that were being unfurled above his head. Now that he was sitting down, he could delicately put a mug of rum to his own lips without William's grudging help. "Not every pirate captain can say they had a little whelpie born on their ship... an' a godson, at that. Funny ol' world, innit? How long do ye s'pose it'll be 'til we can braid beads into 'is hair? William Joshamee Jack Turner... sure beats th' hell outta 'Weatherby' fer a name, eh, Pearl?"
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Glad to be able to be a part of the crew again, Elizabeth was tired after helping the rest get the ship under way, and was getting ready for bed upon this evening. The Pearl had set sail from Tortuga, and the comforting sound and motion of the restless sea slipping beneath them would certainly lull her to sleep soon. She paused, as she often did, to stretch at the doorway of the cabin, and as she combed her hair, she smiled up at her three men, who were standing up at the nighttime railing of the ship ... one was tall, and strong, with long curly hair blowing almost halfway down his back. His cousin, slender as a reed and swaying gracefully with the dipping motion of the ship, was standing next to him, his hat perched crookedly upon his head... and in her husband's arms was her other little man... her newborn baby son, born of pirate blood upon the most famous and swiftest pirate ship in history.
She had no doubt at all that her two most loved men in the universe would soon be teaching her son to tie knots, climb rigging and read sea charts... and they would also tell him stories about pirates, Krakens, Port Royal and Singapore...
As she gazed out upon them, she saw the future... she looked up at the twinkling stars above, the very stars that the captain was already explaining to his tiny godson, and she saw infinity... the captain and his first mate had already charted the course to the Spanish Territory of Florida with the captain's famous compass... and they were upon the first leg of the journey to find Aqua de Vida... the legendary Fountain of Youth.
Secretly, and as daft as it sounded, she truly hoped that they would really find this wondrous treasure of immortality... she smiled to herself, as she affectionately watched the captain talk to his cousins, fluttering his hands skyward, leaning toward the baby and pointing out the stars used for navigating at night, and she saw her husband laugh out loud at his best friend's antics, as he held his child so that he might gaze at the sky with them... as the Pirate King, married to the former captain of the legendary Flying Dutchman, and cousin of the mad, eccentric Pirate Lord of the Caribbean, Elizabeth wanted her life with her beloved and odd pirate family, tied by heartstrings to the wee little Pirate Prince, to truly go on and on...
... they had family ties that bind... family ties that would be unbroken, and that would last forever, if they found the Aqua de Vida... She took one last look up at the stars, herself, and smiled...and whispered good night to the deep shadows and dark sails that were their home, the mighty and legendary Black Pearl...
Elizabeth closed the door behind her... and she knew that this ship, the captain's true lady love, would always steadfastly and comfortingly rock the handmade cradle in their cabin... the cradle with a little handcarved lamb upon the polished headboard... The Black Pearl was a member of the family, also, lovingly rocking them all to sleep upon the boundless, beautiful sea...
And as she finally crawled into the snug bunk that she and her husband shared, she sent up an apology to her father... she thought that he would understand that William... Joshamee... Jack...Turner... was a much better name for the littlest pirate of them all... the littlest of all of the ties that bind...
THE END