Reunion (a.k.a. the end of the end of the end of the end) © Emily Mason 2007
Immediately after the clip after the credits in POTC 3: AWE
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or anything else that the people at Disney thought up themselves.
As Will stepped onto dry land for the first time in 10 years, he could barely hold himself together. He had yet to regain his land legs and his desire to be with Elizabeth was nigh unbearable. Will knew instantly that the boy with his wife was none other than his own son. When Elizabeth flew into his arms and a long-awaited kiss, neither held back. After a few long moments, a strange feeling racked Will's body and caused him to break from the passionate embrace.
"Will?" Elizabeth frowned, sensing a preternatural interference. She gasped as Will opened his shirt to expose his chest. To the shock of both of them, his scar was gone, his heart restored. Elizabeth, hardly able to believe the phenomenon, gently touched the place where the mark had been, overjoyed to feel the beating of a loving and faithful heart.
Suddenly, a gentle gale struck up and William Turner the third sucked in a deep gasp. His parents followed his gaze to the Flying Dutchman a few yards away from where they stood.
Clearly visible to the crowd on the beach, Bootstrap Bill stood at the front of the bow. He clutched the chest in his hands, his shirt blowing open in the wind to reveal a scar on his chest identical to that which rested on Will for the past ten years. Bill smiled proudly as the ship began to sail away.
"Thank you, Will! I'm so proud of you!" Bootstrap called out. "Take care of Elizabeth and – William Turner the third, is it?" The small boy nodded, as did Will, so Bootstrap continued. "Elizabeth, keep an eye on Will!" His daughter-in-law nodded in submission. "William Turner the third, make us proud!" The child raised his head and saluted his grandfather, to the joy of the aging man. To all three, and barely audible to them, Bill reminded them, "I love you!"
A tear slipped down Will's face, but Elizabeth brushed it tenderly away. While her son watched the departure of Bootstrap Bill's ship, she addressed her husband. "Is it over?" she asked diffidently.
Will sighed. "I have done my duty. You've done your part, and the Dutchman has a new and eager captain. If your desire is the same as mine, it's over." He stared into Elizabeth's wild, blue eyes as she responded.
"It is," she smiled with a thankful chuckle in her voice. She fell into Will's arms with a peace she had never known. He held her tightly until the Flying Dutchman had evanesced from sight and his son stood beside him.
"Father!?" the young boy exclaimed weakly. "Are you really here – to stay?"
Will gently released Elizabeth and knelt down to look into his son's eyes. "If you'll have me," he grinned. The young boy's face lit up with a smile all but identical to the one on the man before him. For the first time, Will drew the child to himself in a timeless embrace. Then, having planted a kiss on his precious son's head, Will took the boy's hand in his right and Elizabeth's in his left.
With that, the family headed back to Port Royal, wondering if and when they would meet again with Captain Jack Sparrow and the other Pirates of the Caribbean.
Elaboration on the kiss
Ten years apart and our love is unchanged, Elizabeth thought as she lost herself in the longest kiss she had ever known. She poured all her passion into the sacred exchange, trying in vain to make up for the time she had lost with her husband. That anything could be better, more utopian than this, was unfathomable to the woman. "I love you," she gasped softly when she got the chance.
Will rejoiced at this heartfelt admission. At the next opportunity, he whispered, "I love you, too!" Despite the chance that somebody may see them, Will did not hold back. It was all he could do to abstain from anything more than kissing. It was indescribably exhilarating to once again hold his living, faithful wife and feel her touch, her company, her passion again. It was then that he realized that all he wanted was to be with Elizabeth and his son, no matter where or doing what. For now, though, not even Heaven could be more perfect.