Authors Note:

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Chapter 45:

Names and Letters

"Will, just promise me that Jack won't find out". Elizabeth muttered in front of the fireplace in her blue, silk, almost see through nightgown. Will pressed his lips to her neck and softly whispered "Jack, who"? Elizabeth's eyes slowly closed and a smirk flickered across her lips. Will reached for the silver buttons on the night gown and began to unbutton them while whispering coldly "Jack doesn't exist…It's Jacob now".

Elizabeth's eyes flew open to find herself lying down on the hard wooden floor in Jack's old cabin. She placed her hand to her forehead and cautiously wiped the sweat away from her brows. The dream had frightened her terribly. And not only because of the fact that Will had almost made love to her, but also because Jack was still Jacob. Previous nights, she had dreamed that Jack was her beloved pirate lover as he had once been.

Suddenly, tears formed in her eyes and for the first time in a long time, she just let the tears fall down her cheeks. A few moments later she realized that a candle was burning on the other side of the cabin and abruptly a voice from the other side of the cabin scared her "Lizzie…. my Lizzie" it said.

Elizabeth turned around to see me reading off a paper that I had just found in the Captains desk. I could see her eyes fill up with hope; to be honest I was seeing that very often with her. Every time I said something, something as easy as calling her Lizzie, or pirate even, she flinched or cried and sometimes, on horrible days, she just sat frozen for hours upon hours. This time she continuously cried so I had to do something to distract her, so I began "Elizabeth…. or Lizzie, as he called you…ugh…were you previously married to your brother"?

Elizabeth's eyes stopped forming tears immediately to her surprise and then she took the papers from my hand while saying "No, of course not! Why"? I chuckled for a second at her reaction and then replied puzzled "Because… because on that marriage certificate thing, it says Mr. and Mrs. Sparrow, and your single now and your last name is Sparrow… Miss. Sparrow". Elizabeth couldn't stop herself from giggling as he spoke so she finally covered her mouth with her hand to help shut out the echo.

And then her eyes widened rapidly, she removed her hand and asked frantically "Marriage certificates"? She opened the papers she held with her other hand and began to read, "I take thee Elizabeth to be my future Mrs. Sparrow… for I've finally found the one woman that has been able to steal my heart away from the sea. For you, luv, I'd do anything, never forget that, and never ever stop believing in us. No matter how far we will be from each other or how close, just know that I give my life to you on this day, and this promise will stay strong until the end of time, until the end of love and until the end of us. I love you Lizzie, don't ever be shy to recognize that. This is to you, my love, my Lizzie, my wife…. my everything".

Elizabeth put the paper down on the desk in front of her and I just watched her stand still, she was probably thinking about what the letter had just said. A few minutes later she finally spoke "He wrote his wedding vows". I cleared my throat and spoke "Yes, it appears that way…he seems like a good man, from the way he wrote". I could see the hurt in her eyes as she took my statement in. She snapped angrily "He was a good man! For a pirate anyway". Elizabeth shook her head and corrected herself "No! He was a good man, not even for a pirate, for a male. For a person"! Elizabeth rolled her eyes at her statement because she realized that Jack was a good man, but not entirely good. Not like Will Turner…. He was a good man all around.

Elizabeth's mouth dried and her lips quivered at the thought of marriage with Jack. She sighed and whispered, "A marriage interrupted by fate". I watched her delicate hands clench the papers tightly in her hands and then she whispered, "We should have stayed in the land of the dead, what is the point of going on living anymore"? I cleared my throat and asked puzzled "Is that why our ship was upside down last night"? Elizabeth completely ignored my question as she threw the papers down on the desk in front of her.

For a few more seconds she let her eyes wander at the papers. A few seconds later, something caught her eye and I felt the need to ask, "Did he draw this"? Elizabeth examined the portrait only to find her reflection. The portrait was beautifully drawn and Jack captured every feature of her face perfectly. I saw a small smile fill up Elizabeth's lips as she examined the picture with her delicate fingers.

Elizabeth could not believe that Jack had drawn this of her and for her. She felt curious to see if he had actually drawn this so she turned the paper over to see some kind of artist's signature. But all she found was a message saying "A beauty that will forever be mine" and suddenly the paper dropped to the desk as Elizabeth fell silent. I watched her cry feverishly as she whispered "Stupid, stupid Elizabeth".

Just then she sat down on the bed near her and began to think out loud "Stupid dream, stupid Will, stupid thoughts of skepticism. Jack, I need you back. I need my beautiful, strong, brave pirate back". Elizabeth then wiped away some of her tears and looked over at me and whispered "Jacob, you will help me find Jack won't you"? I nodded at her question, trying to comfort her.

Elizabeth needed to find a way to find her Jack Sparrow and get rid of this Jacob Smith. Elizabeth's eyes widened unexpectedly and then she thought 'Wait just a tic. Jack Sparrow, Jacob Smith, Jack Sparrow, Jacob Smith. They have the same initials… shouldn't that mean something?' Just then another thought occurred to Elizabeth 'J A C, all three letters appear in the first name. That must be a clue…right?' Her heart fluttered at the realization and she quickly walked towards Jacob and asked "What does your name mean"?

Jacob smiled and replied "Well, my mother was Roman Catholic and she named me after the son of Isaac, but Jacob, in the Roman Catholic definition means he who supplants. Supplants is another word for substitute. So I believe my name means he who substitutes". Elizabeth's eyes widened at that realization but then she asked rapidly "What does Jack mean"?

Jacob smiled and replied, "It's funny that you ask, because my name is Jack. Well, Jacob is my French name, but my real name is Jack. You see, I was born in the south of France, and my mother named me Jacques but I hated that name because it was too French, so I changed it to Jacob which is the more English name for Jacques. But co-incidentally it still means Jack...that the name Jack, actually means, the Lord of the Gracious or the Lord of the Kind".

Elizabeth smiled and whispered, "He was a kind man… gracious… not so much". Elizabeth chuckled but then Jacob asked, "Well, was he sociable? Did he have a way with words? Because gracious also means to be sociable, it just depends which part of the world you come from". Elizabeth nodded and replied, "He was very sociable. He defiantly had a way with words".

Elizabeth sat down on the bed while she continued, "He was very witty, and very clever. He could get away with anything, there was just something about him that I couldn't resist". I watched her look down at the floor sadly so I grabbed her hand and held it in comfort.

She looked into my eyes and smiled gracefully while I whispered "He must have loved you very much…I mean, those vows that he wrote were very…very caring". Elizabeth chuckled at the adjective I had used and I too suddenly had began to chuckle. She then looked over at the portrait and whispered, "I wish that he would come back…Jacob, do you think he will come back"? I looked at her sadly and replied this time truthfully "I don't know, Elizabeth. If it's meant to be, he will". Elizabeth sighed and thought about the meanings of their names and the letters J A C, and J S and what they could possibly mean.

- - -

"Darlin' ye know that being out here on the sea just makes ye even more beautiful then already are". Captain Morgan whispered to Helena as he held her in his arms on the main deck. She giggled as he kissed her ear and then she asked, "How did I find someone like you Frank? Perhaps luck"? Frank smiled at her and kissed her cheek while replying "Yer not as lucky as ye are goin' to be in a minute". Helena chuckled as Frank took something out his pocket. It was a beautiful pearl necklace.

He held it up and said "I bought this for ye back in Port, but I just never was given a chance to give it to ye". Helena smiled and asked, "Did you really buy it"? There was a pause and she smiled and continued, "You stole it didn't you? Well, it's the thought that counts". She then reached for it but he pulled it back and this process repeated for about a minute. But then by accident Frank let go of the necklace and it flew over the side of the ship and into the ocean. He screamed and ran over to the side to see it land in a hat that was floating on the waters. He sighed and whispered "What a chance that the hat be there".

He smiled, grabbed one of the ropes and lowered himself down to grab the hat. Once he got back on the ship, he smiled and turned the hat over for the necklace to fall out. Once it did, he picked it up and then something shiner caught his eyes. He bent down and picked it up and then shouted "Tia….ye might want to come here to see this"!

Authors Note:

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