"Not All Treasure is Silver and Gold"
Chapter 31
Jack and Will were unconscious. Very, very unconscious. It was difficult to say why, though. Maybe it was smoke inhalation. Maybe they were smashed in the head with something. But whatever the reason, it was scaring both Dani and Elizabeth.
And all of them were lucky that the children couldn't grasp the idea that their fathers might never wake up.
Elizabeth was past being consolable and refused to leave their cabin. This left Bella with the care of their children most of the time. Dani, however, was trying to care for her child and watch over Jack. She was now curled up in the chair opposite the bed that Jack was asleep in and right next to Rosemary's bed.
Danielle had fallen asleep watching Jack. It was not at all interesting but was very important.
Jack could sense her presence without even opening his eyes. He could only hear a soft breathing and the occasional snore, but he knew it was Danielle.
He was, however, very sure that he was dead. But if he were dead, was Dani dead, too? This could be very bad and Jack was unsure of wanting to open his eyes.
But the sound of a child stirring made him do it. And he was greeted with the sight of his daughter laughing at him.
"What are you laughing at, child?" he asked as he stood shakily and walked over to her. He was trying to be as careful as he could so as not to wake his wife.
"Daddy!" the child screamed.
"Shhh! Since when could you speak?" he said as he picked her up.
"Daddy!" she shouted again.
"What else can you say?"
"I was trying to teach her 'mommy', but all she wants to say is 'daddy'," Dani said from the other side of the room.
"I'm sorry to wake you," Jack said without sounding apologetic at all.
She ignored the non-sentiment and rushed to his arms. He had set Rosemary back in her crib and held his wife.
"Jack," was all she said as she sobbed into his shoulder.
"What, love?"
"What happened out on that ship?"
"Well," he started but was cut off by little Jack running into the room and shouting at the top of his lungs.
"My dad is awake!"
And he ran back out of the room.
"Well, I suppose young William is awake now," Jack laughed.
Dani picked up Rosemary and they walked out of the cabin.
The whole lot of them found each other on the top deck.
It was an impressive sight: the whole group back together.
That night they decided to celebrate the reuniting of the whole group and a lot of rum was had. Drunkenly, they all slept that night, each in the arms of their lovers. They would rest up because tomorrow they would all leave for Port Royal.
And the next day, that is exactly what they did.
Bella elected to sail with James on his ship and the rest stayed behind on The Adventurer. But Jack couldn't shake the feeling of disappointment.
He was extremely disappointed that he couldn't take care of Singapore Steve himself. He was upset that he couldn't recover the Heart of India. Jack wasn't sure what he would do once he had it, but he wanted to see it anyway.
And most of all, he didn't want to speak to Norrington alone, like the man had suggested. Actually, he insisted that Jack meet with him. It couldn't be good and he was sure he was going to be lectured on the importance of not running away from your family, however independent the woman was.
James, however, wanted to give the man something. He absolutely hated what Jack did when he left Dani alone, but he was going to be cordial to the man anyway.
"What is this all about, Norrington? We have to be on our way," Jack said disinterestedly.
"Hold on, Sparrow. I'm going to give you something," James answered him back.
"What are you talking about?" Jack said, backing up towards the door.
"Something I suppose you deserve," James said, turning around.
"I hope you don't mean what I think you mean, because that would be…mean… I don't swing that way, mate. I didn't think you did either."
"Shut up. I wanted you to have this," James said, turning around with a large ruby in his hand.
"Is that the…?" Jack said.
"Yes. And you should have it to do something with. I think you'll do the right thing."
"I never do the right thing," Jack answered.
"I know the reason why you came all the way out here. You wanted to return the stone to the rightful owner. You wanted to do something…good. And I know you despise the thought, but I am leaving it to you to do it. So, I suppose you can do what you want with it, but I hope you decide to do the right thing and return it."
"We will never, ever speak of this again, savvy?"
"Aye," James said as he smiled. "I already don't remember what we spoke about."
"Funnily enough, I don't either," Jack said.
James left the cabin and prepared to board his ship. He was going to take Arabella home and marry her. It was going to be a good life for him from now on. He wasn't going to ever thing about kissing Elizabeth again, which was for William to do. James waved good-bye to his friends and prepared to leave for Port Royal.
Jack, however, turned the ship around and they were heading for India once again.
"Jack," Will said. "Where the hell are we going?"
"India," Jack answered and turned to ignore the man.
"Is there a reason?"
"If I told you, I'd have to kill you," Jack said and walked away from Will.
Jack retreated to his shared cabin and sat himself at his desk. He needed to formulate a plan to return the Heart of India without anyone knowing what he had done. He didn't want to get a reputation for doing the right thing. And furthermore, he needed to find the Fountain of Youth. It was so important, more so now, because he was feeling older and older as this trip went on. He wanted to be around forever, so he could enjoy his family and his friends forever.
A/N: There's chapter 31. Hope everyone enjoyed it. And I really hope that people's questions were answered and if they aren't, let me know. Send me a PM and I'll answer them to the best of my abilities. And above all, please review. I life without reviews is terrible.