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 Thirteen: The sky looks like a road…
Jack had not slept a single blink that night… He cried so much to the point where he had run out of tears. That night was cold, and lonely, and Jack wished more than anything to be sleeping beside Will Turn Er, where it was warm and he felt safe.
"Jackie…" His Doppelganger returned, and was sitting beside him with an arm around the sobbing pirate's shoulders. "Come on, Jackie…Don't do this…"
"He lied to me!" Jack yelled at his replica. The other Jack fell silent and only stared. "He lied te' the both o' us!"
"Ye ever thought that maybe he lied to ye for a reason? To protect ye or somethin'?"
"No."
"No?" The replica echoed. "No, ye don't think he's protectin' ye, or 'No' ye didn't think about it?"
"No!" Jack was very sort of turning around and hitting his imaginary friend, but the pirate restrained himself.. "Just no! Go away!"
"Jackie… Did ye know that Will Turn Er is missin' ye?"
"He doesn't care about me…" Jack whispered softly and sniffed again. His replica saw the thin, clear trails of mucus that led from Jack's nostrils all the way to his chin. The replica sighed and wiped the snot off with his bare hand.
"O' course he cares about ye! When ye were sick, who sat at yer bedside and read ye stories?"
Jack paused a minute, then gave a reluctant answer, "Will Turn Er."
"And when ye were hungry, who slaved all day in the kitchen t'e bring ye somethin' to eat?"
"Will Turn Er."
"And when ye were nearly hit by that asteroid, an' when the dragon broke loose from it's cage and almost ate the princess… who came by yer side to help ye slay the dragon?"
"Will Turn Er."
"Tell me, Mate…." The replica paused. "Did yer father ever do half of that stuff?"
"No…" Jack replied.
"Did yer father care about ye?"
"No."
"But Will does… and if ye asked me, I'd say that what ye did just then, runnin' away an' all, was very selfish of ye!"
"But he-"
"Forget about what he did! So he did ONE bad thing, but he's done so many other good things for ye! Jus' forgive him and move on, mate…"
"Ye think so?"
"I know so!"
Jack gave a weak smile. "… thanks, Jack." The replica smiled and faded off into the shadows, leaving Jack alone in the darkness of the forest greenery.
There was a beautiful smell in the air… smelled of something cooking, like meat. Jack's mouth watered and he pulled himself off the dirt forest floor and he followed the scent back to the hut where Will was already outside, standing over a large fire and roasting a few pieces of raw meat that he had brought with him from Port Royale.
Will, at first, did not noticed Jack as the pirate ran up to him, but when Jack began to yell,
"Will Turn Er!" Will had turned around, the blacksmith's jaw dropped to the floor, and he smiled, running to Jack and grabbing the pirate into his arms. Jack, being as light as he was… had been picked up very easily, and the blacksmith swung Jack around in a 360° circle. Jack giggled that entire time.
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"I was so worried Jack!" Will exclaimed, but Jack was not paying attention. The pirate was so busy shoving food into his mouth that he only heard maybe two or three words that Will had actually said. "I hardly slept last night!"
"Ye missed me that much, Will Turn Er?"
"I missed you so much more than I could ever explain, Jack!"
That made Jack's face warm with blush, and Jack hid his face under his long dreadlocks, which have now been so beaten and ratted that they looked more like locks of yarn than hair.
They ate together without speaking…but this was a good one, filled with smiled and random fits of laughter. They haven't been separated for so long since Anamaria had dragged a sleeping Jack through Will's house and begged Will to take care of him.
Once they had finished eating, Will put out the fire and they began to pack everything back into the dinghy.
"Will Turn Er?"
"Yeah, Jack?"
"What's in Tortuga?"
Will chewed his bottom lip as he tried to think of something that Jack could understand… "Uhm. Nothing really… Tortuga's a really boring place, you know."
"Oh." Jack did not ask any more questions, and he continued to help pack things into the dinghy with Will. Once everything was packed up and tied down, both Will and Jack hopped into the small boat and the lifted the anchor and shoved off.
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As Will had predicted, the sail was not that long, and they made it safely to Tortuga by nightfall, and they dropped the anchor near the docks and hopped out of their dinghy.
"Hold my hand, Jack… This is not a good place for me to loose you…"
Jack reached out and clutched Will's hand. The place wasn't anything like Will Turner had explained… Tortuga was loud, and it smelled terrible. Jack was beginning to wonder if he and Will were standing near an open trench. (A/N: Haha, Sweeney Todd reference.) They walked together and stood so close next to each other that they looked as though they were glued.
Everyone in Tortuga was drunk. Not a single man, woman or animal was not. Thankfully, for them, not a single person remembered Jack Sparrow's face, and thankfully, too, no one noticed Will and Jack holding hands. Surely, the last thing Will wanted was for people to think he was a pansy
"Come on, Jack…" He tugged at the pirate's hand and motioned for him to keep up. Will hadn't noticed that Jack's face reflected utter horror as they walked through the filthy town. Will was getting concerned, so as he led the pirate to one of the nearest taverns that Mr. Gibbs used to go to, he asked Jack… "Woah. Why do you look so scared?"
Jack's bottom lip quivered and he only glanced up at Will with hooded eyes. "Me father used to come here… and he'd take me with 'im." Jack shook his head violently and held a clenched fist over his mouth. "Ah've never liked it here you know. Ah'm terribly frightened… this place has always been too crowded."
Will did not ask any more questions… but from what he gathered, Jack must have got lost here on numerous occasions. He made a personal vow to himself from that moment, that he would not loose Jack. Will felt himself clutching the pirate's hand even tighter than before, and he pulled Jack closer to him.
They entered the tavern, and the chimes on the door rang. AS Jack had said… the place was crowded. Too crowded. There were people standing on tables, drinking from other people's mugs and some were passed out on the ground… they were being stepped on by everyone else who was dancing and moving about.
"Excuse me!" Will called to the bartender. It was a woman, she was not exactly beautiful, but she was not hideous. Jack would have said that she looked like the "Fair Princess" but in reality, she was not as beautiful as Elizabeth was. At least, that is what Will would have said. She turned around, and he long, dark red braid swung around and fell in front of her right shoulder.
"Can I help ye, laddies?" She had a very thick, Scottish accent. Jack smiled at her and he leaned over the table and spoke,
"I really like yer hair."
The woman chuckled a loud, long, deep laugh and she twisted one of her red, curly locks. "Why thank ye, me lad. Inherit'd from me ol' mother did I. Ev'ry bligh'r that be cahllin' 'erself a woman has hair jus' me ol' tressies."
Will cleared his throat, signaling to Jack to shut up… He then cut in and spoke to her in a nonchalant voice.
"Have you heard any news of the Black Pearl?"
"Aye! I 'ave 'eard news of t'at boat with those black sails, ye mean?"
"Yes! Do you know where it's harbored?"
"No, Sir. Last I 'eard, it be makin' i's way to that naval port."
Will's heart skipped a beat… "Port Royale?"
"S'at what they call i't?" She picked up a glass mug, spat in it and began to clean it out with a dirty, worn out cloth. "I 'eard it's headed there pickin' up an ol' crewmate… E'ither that, or it be the Cap'n they was lookin' far. Ye know, I only 'ear i't from scuttlebutt 'bout the tavern. Don't listen' to lil' ol' me."
"Thank you." Will nodded and she gave a curt wave in respond. From there, Will yanked Jack out of the tavern and they nearly sprinted back to the dinghy.
"Where is the crew then, Will Turn Er?"
Will was too busy trying to shove Jack into the boat that he spat out whatever answers came to his head… "They're already headed to Port Royale!" Jack stared at Will with wide eyes, despite the fact that he did not understand what it meant, when he saw his guardian's reaction, he knew that that was not a good thing.
Will hopped into the dinghy and they shoved off together…
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"Will Turn Er!"
Will ignored him.
"Will!"
"…"
"Will Turn Er!"
"What, Jack?"
"Hungry."
"Jack! You just ate…"
"No I didn't!"
"Yes you did! No less then an hour ago…"
"Ah'm hungry again!"
"No you're not!"
"Yes'a'hm.!"
"Fine then… Here." Will went through one of their bags and he pulled out a piece of leftover bread from their breakfast and handed it to Jack, who accepted the bread with eager hands.
"So Jack…" Will began. "Since we're just sitting here…" Jack looked up at Will, breadcrumbs fell from his mouth and he chewed loudly with my mouth open. Will ignored this and continued talking, "What should we talk about…?"
"I miss the Princess." Jack called out. Will sighed, and he did not want to think about it…
"I miss Elizabeth too, Jack."
"Am I really a pirate like ye say, Will Turn Er?"
"Yes! A famous pirate, see…" Will took Jack's arm and pulled up his sleeve to reveal a lovely tattoo of a bird flying over a sunset. Below this picture, there was Jack's name. "You're Captain Jack Sparrow!"
Jack's eyes lit up and he smiled. However, he happiness and pride was almost immediately replaced by a sorrowful frown.
"Do I have any kids, Will Turn Er?"
Not that I know of… Will's mind spoke, but he did not want to make Jack feel guilty. "Nope. None."
"Were ye me friend, Will Turn Er?"
Not really…. "Of course I was!"
Jack gave another wide, toothy grin and he giggled softly. "Ye're the best friend ah've ever had, Will Turn Er… I'll try to remember to tell ye that when this curse lifts an' all." Jack took another vicious bite of bread and chewed it sloppily again. Will smiled…
In his heart, however, he knew that Jack would not accept him as a brother once the curse was lifted… he knew that Jack probably would not even remember all of the things they have been through together since this curse was first brought one. Yet, he would always remember it, and he engraved these events into his mind that he would not forget the friendship he shared with Jack… even if it didn't last that long.
Author's Notes:
I'm so sorry for these really slow updates...
I've just recently joined (under the same pen name), and I'm reviving some old, original stories that I've started, but stopped because I didn't have anything to do with them once they were finished...
So yep. I'm working on this and another story at the same time.
I plan to finish this first. I just might take a little longer. Sorry for the inconvenience!
Anyway, to my new readers... (If I have any?) Please R & R.
:B Thanks.
- Rawiyah