/I don't own anything you recognize in this story. /

Chapter Twenty Four

The next morning, I woke up with Will's arms coiled around me. Moving my head ever so slightly, I could see that Will was still deep in sleep. I smiled softly. There was something so completely and utterly right about waking up in his arms. There wasn't any doubt that Will was my true love and soul mate.

But there was still one person who tickled the back of my mind and that was Jack. The man could make a person feel guilty even though something wasn't meant to be. I would have to talk to him later this morning.

Slowly, Will's eyes fluttered open, his eyes still showing tiredness from our excursion from last night. I smiled at the sight of him and kissed him gently on the lips. Will was utterly irresistible.

"Good morning, Will," I said, brushing Will's hair out of his eyes.

"Good morning, Elizabeth," he said, yawning. I couldn't help but laugh softly.

I snuggled closer to Will, enjoying the warmth of his body. "Last night was crazy."

"But it was worth it, wouldn't you say?" Will asked.

"I wouldn't change a thing in the world," I hesitated, "I think Jack is jealous of us."

Will looked at me curiously. "Why would you say that?"

"I was up on deck a little while after you fell asleep and Jack was up there. He saw us up there last night and I think he took it personally that I am in love with you."

"And why should that matter to us?" Will asked before sitting up and stretching his arms behind his head.

I toyed with the edge of the blanket. "Because I think he's in love with me and I think secretly he was hoping that someday I would feel the same and we would get married."

"But you aren't, are you?" Will said and in his eyes, I could see the panic rising in his eyes.

I shook my head. "No, of course not. I could never be in love with Jack like that. That love belongs to only you."

Will sighed with relief. "Well, thank goodness for that. I don't know what would have happened if I had found out differently."

"Don't worry about it, Will," I reassured him, "I could never love anyone else but you."

The two of us fell into a comfortable silence. I couldn't help but think that this is what my father felt for my mother. Before my mother had died, I had always admired the love that my parents had for each other. They were truly meant for each other. I wanted the same thing to happen between Will and me.

Finally, Will got out of bed and began putting his clothes back on. I watched him silently, admiring the meticulous and gentle way he put them back on. Will was truly a blacksmith, with a love and care for everything he loved.

"You know what, I think you would make a really great father," I stated.

Will glanced at me, cocking an eyebrow. "Is that so, Miss Elizabeth? Are you thinking about babies already when we haven't even finished our adventures?"

I giggled. "No, I don't want to have any right now. It was just a thought."

"Well, I'll give you just a thought," Will said and without another word, he dived onto the bed, smothering me with kisses.

I laughed. "Ok, enough, you had your revenge."

Will laughed and tumbled to the foot of the bed before sitting up. "You better get up; my father might be coming in any second with the orders to get up on deck."

"Yes, sir," I exclaimed, still giggling.

Just then, the door swung open and Bootstrap Bill stepped into the room. I gasped and pulled the covers over my shoulders, as I was still in my nightgown. Will looked at me as if he knew that was going to happen.

Bootstrap Bill looked at the both of us curiously. "Am I intruding on something here?"

Will stood and cleared his throat. "No, of course not, father. I was just coming in to see if Elizabeth was awake yet. Today's going to be a long day, of course."

"You had to see if Elizabeth was awake by taking your shoes off? That is a new strategy that I didn't know before," Bootstrap Bill exclaimed.

Will's face was turning bright red and I could feel my own face heating from my own embarrassment. How we to tell were Will's father that his only son had been in my room all night and half the morning?

"Well, I was in such a hurry to see if she was alright that I didn't have time to put my shoes on," Will exclaimed. "So I carried them with me. I knew she had a trying time for the past couple of days and I wanted to make sure she wasn't traumatized."

From looking at him, I could tell Bootstrap Bill didn't believe a word his son said. But thankfully, he didn't push the matter further. Maybe he didn't want to push any further and get too many pieces of information that he didn't really want to know.

"In any case, I will need the two of you to report to the top deck as soon as you can. We will need all the help that we can get to get back to Port Royal," Bootstrap Bill said curtly.

Will nodded. "I will go now with you, father."

Bootstrap Bill put a hand on Will's shoulder. "Not until you put your boots on, son. Nothing is more important than your boots."

Walking toward the doorway, Bootstrap Bill turned to face us. "And you could practice in making things a little less obvious. You don't know who could come in and start asking questions."

As he left, Will turned back to me, his face as red as it could be. I wanted to laugh at him but for the embarrassment that I also felt. Who knew things could go so wrong?

Will cleared his throat. "I suppose I better head up on deck and help Jack and my father. I'll see you in a while, yeah?"

"Yes, I suppose so," I sighed, unwilling for our short time together to end so quickly.

Will bent down and kissed me gently on the lips. "I promise things will work out. Once we get all this sorted out, we'll have the most perfect wedding you could ever dream of."

I smiled. "Anywhere with you in it is perfect, Will Turner. I couldn't ask for anything less."

Will trailed his finger gently down my cheek before putting his boots back on. Without another word, he left the room, allowing me get dressed in private.

I sighed before throwing back the covers and getting up to get dressed. As much as I wanted it to last, I knew that reality had to come back into focus. There were people to save and others to defeat. And they weren't going to wait for anyone else.

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Author's Note: Chapter Twenty Four for everyone. I hope you like it so far. Thanks to Smithy for reviewing the last chapter, I really appreciate it. I'll update as soon as I can and in the meantime, don't forget to review!