True Love: Forever Reunited
Chapter 8: An Escape
The Turners, the Rileys, and now the former Commodore Groves ran like the wind in the direction of the Riley home. Thankfully there appeared to be no one on their trail; at least, not yet. Upon reaching Andrew and Amelia's home they roughly pushed open the door and were greeted by the Riley's nanny and the three children, each of whom looked terribly frightened. The nanny strangely enough, had a large case packed.
"What's that for?" questioned Amelia, who was now completely out of breath.
"I had a feeling something had gone wrong," answered the nanny kindly, "And I thought you lot might have to make a run for it."
"Oh bless you!!" exclaimed Amelia. "We do have to make a run for it, "now the lot of you should go to my father's home and tell him what has happened, and if the Company asks you any questions tell them you know nothing. And don't worry; you shall be well taken care off at my father's house."
The nanny nodded and beckoned to the other servants to make their way to said location. Elizabeth's former maid Estrella, however, didn't follow them.
"Estrella what are you doing?" questioned Elizabeth worriedly, "Why aren't you going?"
"Because I'm coming with you," she said without hesitation.
"But Estrella," argued Elizabeth to her former maid and friend, who was just her age, "It's dangerous."
"Yes," admitted Estrella, her eyes flitting over to Groves, who looked back at her, "But I want to go with Commodore Groves."
"We've been secretly courting for a few months," said Groves shyly.
Most in the group were shocked at this newly revealed information, but seeing as they needed to get away, they decided the questions would be asked once they were safe upon the Empress and far away from Port Royal.
"Mama?" asked Willy in a shaky voice as he tugged on her shirt, "What's going on?"
"I'll explain later darling," she answered in a soothing voice as she picked him up in her arms, "Right now we must leave Port Royal, as quickly and quietly as possible. Can you do that for me?"
Willy nodded, and put on his best brave face, still holding on tightly to his mother. Amelia proceeded to pick up Anna, and Andrew picked up Charles and the suitcase full of the family's belongings. Charles and Anna said nothing through all of this, obviously frightened. Estrella followed behind them, and Will led the group, sword drawn, and Groves was at the tail end, making sure no one was following them. It was a clear and cloudless night in Port Royal, and the moon shone brightly above them, lighting their path.
Strangely though, there appeared to be no one on their path, and the escape seemed a little too easy. They reached the shore where they had left their dinghy only days before and somehow managed to pile everyone in, with the children in the front. They rowed with utmost speed through the warm water and towards the Empress, whose red sails fluttered ominously in the wind. After a few minutes they reached the ship and climbed aboard, sending the children below deck in the care of Andrew and Amelia just in case anything went wrong. They had just started the business of pulling up the anchor when they heard shots from shore. The faces of Gillette, Lord Clinton, and a large gaggle of soldiers greeted them, each armed with weaponry.
"We've got to get this anchor up!!!" yelled Will to Elizabeth and Groves all three pulled it up faster. He knew that if they didn't get sailing soon, the navy would get on their ships and soon be after them, and that was something Will wasn't willing to risk with the children on the ship.
After another few minutes and several missed shots on the part of the soldiers, the Empress set sail with a favorable wind that helped them get away from Port Royal ever the faster.
"That," said Elizabeth as she wiped the sweat from her brow, "was a close call."
"Indeed it was," said Will, as the Riley family and Willy appeared above deck again. "Well Elizabeth," Will continued, trying to bring a more lighthearted sense to the dark situation, "It looks like our crew problem has been solved."
This drew a slow laugh from everyone, and brought down some of the tension that had gathered over the last few hours. After a few minutes the group decided to leave the long discussion that needed to be had until in the morning, when Will, Elizabeth, and Groves would also teach Estrella, Andrew, and Amelia the basics of sailing. Elizabeth showed everyone below deck to their rooms while Will took the wheel; Sao Feng had built an abnormal amount of rooms in his prized ship, and for this everyone was most grateful. Will and Elizabeth would share one room, Andrew and Amelia another, Groves a third, Estrella a fourth, and the children the fifth room. The rooms were small to be sure, but still comfortable enough. After Elizabeth had shown everyone where they were to sleep and had made sure that everything was all right, she came back up the stairs and onto the deck.
She came up behind her husband, wrapping her arms around his middle and resting her chin atop his strong shoulder. She could feel him smiling as he steered.
"I'm awfully glad that we got out of there relatively unscathed," she said with a pronounced yawn, "I was worried. After ten years of near complete peace, save a few squabbles between a few of the pirate lords that I had to settle, I haven't had quite that much of a ruckus in my life for quite some time."
"Well you know how it is," said Will with a chuckle, "I come around and trouble always seems to follow me."
"I'd much rather have you and the trouble," responded Elizabeth as she kissed the side of his head, "Than no you at all."
"Is that so?" questioned Will slyly as he turned from the wheel.
"Yes Captain Turner," answered Elizabeth with a playful smirk, "It is."
"Well then Captain Turner," said Will in a low voice as he captured her lips in a gentle but passionate kiss, "I'm afraid that you're stuck with me now." With that he kissed her again, and she smiled into it, having missed this so very much while he had been gone.
"Papa!!" exclaimed a boyish voice from the stairs, that both Will and Elizabeth recognized as that of their son, "Aren't you supposed to be steering the ship?"
Will and Elizabeth quickly broke apart and Will turned back towards the helm. "Yes son," he said, with an embarrassed smile, "I am supposed to be steering the ship."
Willy laughed and went to stand next to his mother, his little arm wrapped around her waist. She pulled him close and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "I was worried when you didn't come back," he said, his dark brown eyes wide, his little pirate hat askew, "I missed you both."
"I know darling," said Elizabeth in a soothing voice, "Those people just disagree with us, you see. We don't get along well. But we're here now, and we're all safe." She planted a kiss on the top of his head.
"They were from the East India Trading Company weren't they?" asked Willy seriously, "Those people that were after you?"
"How did you know that?" asked Will, surprised.
"I heard Uncle Jack talking to Mama about them once," answered Willy, "They aren't very nice people are they?'
"No," responded Elizabeth, "they aren't. Will, where exactly are we headed? We must alert the other pirate lords, so the song must be sung. First I think we need to alert Jack; he's harder to get a hold of and is much more stubborn about this sort of thing."
"Exactly," said Will, "So I think Tortuga would be the best place to start. Do you agree?"
"Yes," said Elizabeth, a small grin on her face, "To Tortuga we go."
88888888888888888888888888888888888
It took the Empress a few days to reach the island of Tortuga, and in the passing days Will and Elizabeth, with the assistance of Groves, helped Estrella, Andrew and Amelia learn the ropes of sailing. Being intelligent people, they caught on quickly, although it did take a lot out of them on the first days. When they reached Tortuga on the fourth night of sailing, they were relived not to have any ships on their tail.
"I never thought I'd see the day," said Groves with a laugh, "that I would be setting foot in Tortuga."
"I expressed that very same sentiment when I first came here all those years ago with Jack," answered Will, "And now look what happened."
"I shall never forget the first time I came here," responded Elizabeth, "There was a rather large fight in the tavern and I ended up right in the middle of it."
Once they docked the Empress they left the ship in the care of the Riley family. It was a pirate port after all, and leaving the ship alone, just ready for the stealing, wasn't the brightest idea. Groves and Estrella came ashore in order to purchase a few needed items, seeing as they had no opportunity to retrieve any of their belongings in the rush to escape from Port Royal. Willy was terribly excited at the prospect of being in an actual pirate port, and pleaded to be allowed to accompany his parents to shore. This was agreed upon by Will and Elizabeth on the condition that he would never leave their sight, and he promised with all his heart that he would do as he was told.
Once ashore, Elizabeth and Will directed Groves and Estrella to the least threatening clothing shop, and then the Turner family went on their way towards the Faithful Bride to see if perhaps Jack was there; they had seen the Pearl docked just down from the Empress, just as they had hoped. The family walked into the tavern, Elizabeth leading the way and tightly grasping her son's hand, and Will following close behind. The place was full of intoxicated pirates ready to get into a brawl at any given moment, as per usual. A merry jig was playing in the background, and it was so crowded that it was hard to spot anyone. After nearly ten minutes of searching, Elizabeth finally spotted a very familiar head of black dreadlocks with the incredibly old red bandanna still tied around them.
"Uncle Jack!!!" cried out Willy from his mother's side.
The infamous pirate captain whipped around, his mug of rum in hand. The woman beside him turned around also, and Elizabeth and Will were surprised to see that it was none other than Ana Maria, the female pirate who had once been a part of Jack's crew.
"Young William!!" exclaimed Jack, his arms wide open, a grin on his face, "Ah and Elizabeth too!"
Jack Sparrow stood up enthusiastically to greet Willy and Elizabeth, but he stopped short when his eyes landed on Will, his mug of rum falling from his hand and crashing to the floor.
"Will Turner?" he questioned, clearly still shocked, "Have I gone mad or are you really here?"
"I'm afraid I can't answer to whether or not you've gone mad Jack," said Will with a smile, "But yes, I am actually here."
Jack turned around, carefully to avoid stepping on the pieces of his shattered mug. "Ana Maria," he said slowly, a slight slur in his voice, "can you see William as well?"
"Of course I can!" snapped back Ana Maria, amusement in her voice, "He's here, in the flesh. He isn't a figment of your imagination."
"He's really here Uncle Jack!!" exclaimed Willy excitedly, "Papa is home forever!!"
Jack smiled at the boy, but both Elizabeth and Will could tell that this had taken him by surprise. For one of the few times throughout their friendship with Jack, there was something besides laughter and amusement in his eyes; there was raw emotion.
"When did you get back?" questioned Jack with an exuberant wave of his hands, "from well, you know," he trailed off, not able to find the words to describe where Will had been over the past decade.
"I got back just over a week ago," said Will, "and only had a few days of peace before we once again got caught up in some trouble."
"Bloody hell," said Jack, rubbing his jaw, "What have you two gotten yourselves into now?"
"Not just us Jack," said Elizabeth, "you as well as all other pirates; Beckett's nephew has taken over the East India Company."
"Bugger," said Jack with a serious expression. "We don't need to be talking about this in this wild tavern; let's go back to the Pearl where we might have some quiet. Ana, would ya mind telling the rest of the crew where I've gone, love?"
"Aye, I'll do that," answered Ana with a nod.
With that the group made their way to the Pearl, and once they reached it Jack led them down to the captain's quarters, where they all took a seat. Even all the way at the dock the loud and raucous noises of Tortuga could be heard.
"So Captain Barbossa hasn't tried to take your ship back yet Uncle Jack?" asked Willy, who was sitting between his mother and father
"Of course he's tried," said Jack, the familiar grin slipping back onto his tanned face, "He just hasn't succeeded as well this time. We've gone back and forth with the Pearl for ten years, but now it's mine, and I don't intend on letting it go again. Last I heard, dear old Hector had nicked a ship from right under the navy's nose," he said, reaching across the table and ruffling Willy's hair. "Nice hat mate, is that new?"
"Mama bought it for me right before Papa came home," answered Willy proudly, "it's my pirate hat."
"Well I must say that you have much better taste in hats than your father does," said Jack, mischief in his tone, "I remember your father once had a hat with a rather large feather in it that got in everyone's face."
"I still have that hat Jack," said Will in annoyance, "And I quite like it too."
"Well if you want my opinion on the subject," said Jack, leaning back in his chair and putting his dirty boots on the table, "the bandanna looks much better. It says to everyone that you are in fact captain of a ship."
"Anyhow enough talk of pirate fashion statements," said Elizabeth with a chuckle, "we need to talk about what to do about this new threat. This Lord Clinton is not someone to be trifled with."
"Wait a moment," said Jack as he stood up and reached around for the rum bottles the rested behind him, "it sounds like I'm going to need quite a bit of rum before I can hear this story."
"Well," began Elizabeth, "once Will had returned home we decided to venture to Port Royal in order to visit our friends and Willy's godparents, Andrew and Amelia, and to see if it was possible to regain any of our belongings. We succeeded in doing both, but when we tried to break into the Company's storage units to attempt to get back some more of our belongings, we were caught by none other than Gillette, who has, regretfully enough, been promoted to Admiral."
"He threw us in jail, along with Andrew, Amelia, and Commodore Groves, who had been caught assisting us," continued Will, "to make a long story short we escaped, and the Riley's along with their children, Groves, and Elizabeth's former maid Estrella are on the Empress with us. The Company wishes to capture the nine pirate lords, and bind Calypso, so that they may once again have a better chance of controlling the seas."
"Well they are bloody well out of luck," responded Jack, taking a long swig of his rum, "no one knows how to bind her since Jones was killed." As he said this, one could almost see the memories of that fateful day dancing in his eyes, and he couldn't seem to look at Will.
"She told me how to bind her," said Will softly, "and Lord Clinton seems to assume that I know. I fear that this man may be even more lethal than his uncle, and he seems to be out to avenge Beckett's death."
"We must summon the Brethren Court," said Elizabeth, her voice firm. She knew that Jack was not keen on the idea. "There is not a way to get out of this Jack, so do not argue with me."
"Yes your majesty," said Jack with good natured sarcasm. "Remind me why I assisted in you being elected the Pirate King?"
"Because, Captain Sparrow, you knew it was the only way to actually get a king elected, seeing as everyone else opted to vote for themselves," answered Elizabeth. "We must sing the song."
"All right, all right!" exclaimed Jack, "we'll gather our crews together in an hour or so to do it. It takes a good number of pirates for the song to take effect you know. In the meantime I suggest you put young Willy to bed."
Elizabeth glanced down at her son, who had fallen asleep against his father's shoulder. Will had put his arm gently around his boy's shoulders, supporting him. She wasn't surprised he had fallen asleep; it was after all, past midnight. Will made a move as though he was going to get up and take Willy back to the Empress, but Elizabeth stopped him with a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"I'll take him Will," she said as she picked Willy up in her arms, "I need to check on the Rileys and see if Groves and Estrella got back safely. I imagine you two have a good deal to catch up on anyway."
With that she gave her husband a swift kiss on the lips and walked out of the room, leaving Jack and Will to talk.
8888888888888888888
AN: Sorry for the odd ending, but if I included anything else in this chapter it would be too long. I hope this one is okay, I don't really know how I feel about it, but I'm just trying to get everything rolling. Thanks for all the review so far!!!!