"Not All Treasure is Silver and Gold"

Chapter 19

Rosemary was keeping Danielle busy, but she still had time to start Arabella's wedding dress. It seemed as though James and Bella would beat Elizabeth and poor Will to the altar. Elizabeth was still dragging her dainty little feet and picking at each little thing. Or so everyone had thought.

The announcement came late that afternoon. Dani couldn't help but laugh out loud when she opened the envelope. The wedding was tomorrow and their presence was demanded, not requested.

Jack wandered into the kitchen and watched from behind (one of his favorite views) as he laughed.

"What is so funny?" he asked, scaring her out of her hilarity.

She screamed a little and grabbed her chest. "You scared me."

"I can tell. What's so funny?" He asked again.

"This," she said as she handed him the gold announcement.

"Oh," he laughed. "This is funny."

"Isn't that what I just said?"

"So," he leaned on the counter in front of her. "Are we going?"

"Are we going?" she asked back. "Of course we're going."

"Bugger, I mean, great," he said sarcastically.

"Jack Sparrow, Will is your friend. And, well, Lizzie is sort of…anyway…we have to go to support them."

"Dani, when are we leaving?" Jack asked abruptly.

"What?"

"When are we leaving?" he asked again, only slower.

"After James and Bella get married. I do have to finish her dress."

"That's extremely selfish."

"What?"

"It's selfish."

"You're being selfish, Jack. I'm being kind, making a dress for Bella. We can't leave, anyway. Rosemary is only a month old. We need to wait a few more weeks anyway, it wouldn't be fair to her otherwise."

"We leave in two months, whether Norrington and Bella are married or not, savvy?" he said, not looking her eyes.

"Savvy," she answered back in barely more than a whisper. "What's the matter, Jack?"

"What do you mean?" Jack asked back angrily.

"Something is wrong, what is it?"

"I'm fine, nothing is wrong."

"Fine," she said, exiting the kitchen leaving Jack still leaning on the counter.

In fact, there was something wrong. Jack was feeling old. He was an excellent pirate, with years of conditioning and many outstanding abilities, but none of these would help him be a father. Getting up in the middle of the night was not Jack's favorite thing and it was starting to wear on his body and mind. (And it wasn't necessarily a sound mind to begin with.) He figured that if he were back out on the water, things would work themselves out naturally and become clear to him. And most of all, he wanted to find that fountain. He was a few years older than Danielle and a hell of a lot older than his daughter so his age was starting to worry him. It never seemed to be a problem for Dani, but it was bothering him. He was too embarrassed to tell Dani any of this. He didn't even want to think about it himself. Jack very much wanted what was best for his wife and his daughter, but what about his best interests?

He realized that he was still standing alone in the kitchen and saw his confused expression in the glass cabinet door. People already thought he was crazy and muttering in the kitchen was not helping his case.

Jack decided he would take Will out a drink. He strolled out to the front hall and called out to Dani, "I'm going out! If I don't come back, avenge my death!" and without waiting for a response, he slammed the door behind him.

Dani continued to rock Rosemary, even though she knew Jack had left. She didn't know where he was going, but he was worrying her and she was too scared to run after him. Perhaps Elizabeth was right about Jack.

Elizabeth was running around like a madwoman. She was tired of feeling like a horrible person because she was unwed and Will wasn't helping anything by completely ignoring the wedding.

She wished her mother could have been there. But if her mother hadn't passed away, they would never have moved to Port Royal from England and Will wouldn't have been part of her life. She desperately needed a woman to help her and she had no one…except Dani. But it was starting to get late and for once in her life, Elizabeth didn't want to bother her.

Besides, Elizabeth had been through all of this before. She had a wedding planned but Beckett had to ruin it. Thank goodness he was hanged so it couldn't happen again.

She went over her list once more. The dress was all set. The cake would be delivered in the morning. All of the china had been washed up and her staff would be ready to set up tables and lay everything out first thing in the morning as well. Everything seemed to be going as planned.

Jack and Will had escaped to the Dancing Donkey and were on their third tankard of rum each. It hadn't really made a dent in Jack's sobriety, but Will was visibly drunk. And it wasn't Jack's complete intention to get Will drunk, it just sort of happened.

And so did the swordfight that Will caused. Jack must have blinked and missed the man who trod on Will's foot because when Jack set his tankard down, Will was standing with his cutlass in hand cursing out another drunken bar-goer.

Both Will and the man started to drunkenly swing their cutlasses at one another. Jack knew that he was going to be in trouble for taking Will out to get drunk; but he knew that his own head would be on the chopping block if Will was returned to Lizzie missing parts. Jack then drew his own cutlass and started to defend Will and himself.

It started to become a full-out bar brawl and that is exactly what Jack had been waiting for. And in pure Jack-style, he fought his way out (not an easy feat because he was being chased and he was trying to drag Will by the wrist). They ran out of the tavern and locked themselves in a familiar place: the blacksmith shop. Will and Jack were breathing hard as they leaned against the door, even though they had bolted it. And in classic Will-style, he promptly passed out face down on the dirt floor. He was out cold.

Jack dared not to go outside yet, the other drunks were still running around madly, so Jack sat down in the chair and decided to take a nap.

The next morning Danielle knew something was wrong, even before she opened her eyes and scanned the room. She stood and walked over to Rosemary's crib. The two of them walked to the kitchen and through the rest of the house and didn't find Jack. She couldn't help but remember his last words when he left, "If I don't come back, avenge my death." She shuddered and moved her thoughts to something nicer. Her new thought was far-fetched, but maybe he went to go help Will with the wedding.

So Dani bathed and dressed Rosemary and herself and set out for Elizabeth and Will's wedding ceremony.

But of course, Jack wasn't there either. And neither was Will. Dani was holding Rosemary on her hip as she tried to calm Elizabeth.

"I'm sure he'll be here. It is his wedding. Will is very responsible and has proven himself a good man. He'll be here."

"But why didn't he come home last night?" she sobbed.

"Jack didn't…"

"Jack didn't what?"

"Jack went out, too, and never came back. I thought he might be here."

"Oh, dear God. Is The Adventurer still in port?" Elizabeth asked as they rushed out onto the balcony. Both breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the Jolly Roger flying at full mast.

"You stay here with the children. I'll go look for them."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," Dani said, kissing Rosemary's forehead and patting Elizabeth's hand.

She had a desperate need to find these men.

A/N: That was a very long chapter that I worked hard on. I hope everyone liked it and are not too mad at me for the cliffhanger. Dun dun dun….

I'm done being stupid.

Peace out.