Summary: When Jack and his crew find a young princess's tomb, they do not realize the danger they are in until Jack suddenly begins to think he is a child again… As the crew panics and searches for a way to return the gold and break the curse, Will Turner becomes the official caretaker of "Child Jack". As Will keeps Jack out of harms way and teaches the "young" Jack about piracy, he learns new things about Jack... and about himself.

Takes place between CoTBP and DMC

Chapter Six: That gross sickness you have…

"Will Turn Er!" Jack called… "Lookit."

"What?" Will was busy cooking, and he didn't feel like being bothered anymore this afternoon…

"Lookit!"

"I can't see right now, Jack, I'm busy…" Will continued stirring with a wooden spoon and Jack came up behind him to look at the soup in the kettle.

"Can ye see now?"

"No, Jack." Will groaned. A couple of seconds passed…

"How about now?"

"No, Jack!"

"Now?"

"No!" Will gritted his teeth and took a deep breath, calming himself down. "Jack, go upstairs and I'll call you when I'm ready to see…" Jack pouted childishly, but he slumped up the steps and went into his room obediently. There, Jack waited…

It was only ten minutes or so afterwards when Will called up to Jack, "Jack! Supper is ready! And I can finally see whatever it was…!"

Jack raced down the steps and he proudly held out what it was that he wanted Will to see. Will stared at it… it looked like … a pie.

"A pie?" Will was shocked. "Did you make it?" Jack nodded proudly and he held it out for Will to take a taste.

"Try it! Try it!" Jack urged. Will was cautious… but he poked at it with his finger. He grimaced at the texture, and when he pulled out his finger from it, he was even more disgusted at the thick, creamy brown substance that dripped from his finger… Reluctantly, he tasted it.

He spat it out onto the floor and gagged. "God! What the hell kind of pie is that?"

"It's a mud pie!" Jack cried. Will smacked the offending food out of Jack's hand and the pie went flying and landed smack on the floor, almost exploding on contact… Thick, bubbling brown gobs of mud were splattered across the floor in every direction and Jack's eyes began to water.

"Don't give me that face! Mud is not for eating, Jack!" Will huffed and he stared at the mud mess for a few seconds before turning to pick up a mop. "Here, help me clean this up…"

Together they cleaned the spots of mud off and once it was completely cleaned, they went to the table and ate supper. Jack was improving on his eating skills and he was getting better and better at using a fork each day.

"Will Turn Er?" Jack mumbled…

"Hm?"

"… Did ye like me pie even just a little bit?" Will shook his head.

"Not even a little bit." He noticed Jack's head lower and the pirate fell silent. "But, Jack… how about tomorrow, I teach you how to make a real pie?"

Jack smiled. "Okay!"

––––

As they pounded the dough together, Will took this as an opportunity to discover even more about Jack's childhood.

"Jack…"

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever decided on what you want to be when you grow up?"

"Yes!" Jack smiled and he stood up from his chair and pounded his chest. "I'm going to be a sailor…"

"A sailor?" Will was confused. "Why not a pirate?"

"Because!" Jack roared. "Pirates go around with women, and they leave their children behind…" Jack's face seemed to covered in shadow from his long dreadlocks and his voice lowered in volume… "Ah'm not going to be like me father… I won't ever abandon me children."

In that moment, Will began to wonder what kind of strange game fate was playing with Jack Sparrow… He shook his head slowly, not understanding what it was that caused Jack to become such an amazing pirate later in life if he did not want to be a pirate when he was a child.

Jack shook himself from his momentary pause and he went back to pounding on the dough violently. Will sighed. He had had enough conversation with the pirate for today…

. . .

"Now Jack…" Will began. "I don't have enough rum for the two of us. We're going to split our cup." He set a small wooden mug in front of Jack and watched as Jacks eyes grew large. The pirate licked his lips and giggled softly. Will sighed, "Go ahead and drink your half."

Jack looked at Will, and then looked at the cup, then his eyes darted back towards Will again and he grinned. He took the cup in his hands and held it to his lips. Will turned away and left to get their finished pie from the oven. Jack's grin grew and he tipped the cup and began to sip down the sugary liquid.

When Will returned, Jack had finally set down the cup and he gave exaggerated efforts to make a fake cough. He covered his mouth with his hands and pushed the cup away. Will looked into the cup, and gritted his teeth when he saw the cup was completely emptied.

"Jack!" He yelled. The pirate looked at him innocently and fluttered his eyelashes… "I told you to only drink your half!"

"I couldn't help it!" Jack cried out. "My half was on the bottom!" Will groaned miserably and he set down the pie in front of them. Jack only stared at it absently… and his childish enthusiasm suddenly dispersed. Will cut a small slice for Jack and a small slice for himself. He set each slice on a fresh, white china plate and he set one in front of Jack.

"Look, I forgive you for drinking the rum…" Will spoke after they both sat in silence for a few long minutes. Jack just looked up at Will and he nodded slowly before he continued to pick at the piecrust with his fork. "Come now…" Will huffed. "Why are you doing this?"

"Ah'm not doing anything!" Jack yelled suddenly… "I just… Ah'm not hungry." Jack sighed and continued to pick at his pie. He poked out a little piece of red goop that slid from the slides and he scrunched his face… utterly disgusted. "… and I don't like strawberries."

Will hated picky eaters. "Why didn't you say that before we actually made the pie?"

"Because I was having fun making it!" Jack's bottom lip began to quiver again. "I di'nt know we was actually going to eat it!"

"What do you think people do with pies, Jack! Huh?" Will was genuinely upset. He shook his head and leaned against the table, rubbing his temples and letting in long, deep breaths. He stood up and picked up Jack's plate and his own and set them away. Jack was feeling miserable.

"What do you want to do now..?" Will asked. Jack shrugged and began to fidget with his fingers. His head bowed and he stared at his feet. "You want to play, Jack?" Jack shrugged again, then shook his head. He wobbled a little and slowly slid out of the wooden chair he was sitting in…

"I think Ah'm tired, Will Turn Er."

"You want to have a nap time right now?"

"N'yeah."

Will nodded and Jack wobbled to the stairs and went up the stairs and into his room.

After a couple of hours, Jack didn't come downstairs from his room… Will wasn't sure if he should be worried or not. After all, it was a little later than usual and they did have a long day. Will decided against being worried, after all… Jack's probably just tired. Will finished cleaning up the kitchen before he, too, went upstairs to sleep.

––––

Jack didn't wake Will up the next morning… and Will was just now getting used to waking up hear Jack's voice calling, "Wake up!" But today, there was none of that, and so, Will crept into Jack's room and he looked Jack.

Jack was lying in bed, his eyes were wide open.

"Jack…?" Will asked. Jack did not respond, instead he was overtaken by a very harsh coughing fit. Jack coughed violently into his mouth and just as it was over, he took in a loud, deep breath. Will noticed Jack's face began to turn a deep shade of red and the pirate's eyes widened as he struggled to breath before he was taken over again by an uncontrollable coughing fit. When it had passed, he turned his head towards Will and gazed at him sorrowfully, still not saying a word. His nose was runny, and his eyes were a deep, red color. Will leaned against the doorframe and swore under his breath… "Whooping cough?" He groaned. "You've got to be kidding me!"

Jack coughed again and his coughing fit was followed by that loud breath intake. Will came to sit on Jack's bedside and he rubbed the pirate's forehead gently. He paused for minute… "Jack! You have a fever." The pirate did not say anything; he just continued to stare at Will with an expression full of misery. Jack sniffed. Will reached into one of the pockets of his robe and he pulled out a handkerchief that he kept with him at all times. He moved to cover Jack's nose with it. "Okay, blow."

Jack blew noisily and Will turned his head… He was beginning to feel sullied once Jack had finished and the handkerchief was now cold and wet. Will just scrunched his nose at it and he held it delicately with the tips of his index finger and thumb. Ew. "Okay Jack, I'll be back.. I'm going to make you some soup…"

Will moved the handkerchief, still pinching it between his finger and thumb, and he ran down the stairs and into the kitchen, throwing the dirtied handkerchief in the sink to clean it later… He busied himself right away and hurried to make a bowl of soup for Jack, who was still groaning in bed.

When the soup was ready, he poured it in a small bowl and walked it up to Jack's room. Jack had not moved an inch since Will had left him… He stayed perfectly still in the exact same position, he was in earlier that morning. "Jack…" Will knocked on the doorframe, hoping that was stir up some movement in the pirate. To his surprise, Jack did not even twitch…

Will sat on the corner of Jack's bed and he held out a wooden spoon full of soup. Jack wiggled underneath the sheets and pushed himself to sit up. He then opened his mouth to receive the incoming spoonful of soup. Will gently pressed it into Jack's mouth and the pirate swallowed eagerly. He did not speak, but Will could tell that Jack wanted more…

He spoon-fed Jack every drop of soup in the bowl and when Jack finished eating, the pirate laid back down on the sheets and succumbed to the sleep that had been tugging at his eyes for hours. Will smiled when he saw the pirate's eyes drop shut and he leaned over to place a soft kiss on Jack's forehead. At first, he did not think he would be able to handle a sick Jack… but he thought after a while, a sick Jack was more mellow and easier to look after than a Jack that was feeling good. Either way, he would rather take a healthy, happy Jack any day.

Author's Notes:

I had to do some extensive research about the "Whooping cough" before I posted this...

(Of course, I had to twist the symptoms a little to fit in the story the way I wanted it to... x.x.)

I'm not a doctor or anything, and I'll bet half of the people in aren't doctors, so it really doesn't matter if I get the prognosis right or not...

But I'm just... a perfectionist like that. x.x I wanted it to make sense. Somewhat... at least.

R & R.

Thank you so much. (:

- Rawiyah

And by the way... tell me if you catch some typos!
I always re-read my work about five or six times over... but there's always one or two typos that get missed!
If you see any, please be a good sport and tell me about it! Thanks!