"What did Will want to talk to you about?" Lila looked over at Saph who was staring sadly down at her empty rum bottle. Lila rolled her eyes and said, "Nothing." The she walked up the stairs. Lila groaned inwardly when she heard Saph step up on the stair behind her. She whirled around to stare down into Saph's dark, sparkling eyes. The two girls just stood there, staring at each other for a long time before Lila gave in and said, "Fine." She turned back around and walked up the stairs, Saph close at her heels.
Once they got into the bedroom, Saph sat patiently down on the bed and waited for Lila to talk. Lila sighed and walked into the room, locking the door as Will had done earlier. She turned around to meet Saphira's eyes, and took a deep breath as she said, "I think..." She groaned and sank down on the floor.
"Lila, darling. Just say it. Come on. I've seen you fight the likes of Barbossa, and you didn't look as scared and worried as you do now." Lila looked up to see that Saph was laying on her bed, playing with her curls. Behind that cute, innoccent attitude was someone that Lila knew she could always confide in, "Saph, I think I'm...I think I'm..." She closed her eyes and tried to imagine how Will would announce this. She groaned at that image, knowing that he would say 'with child' which, to Lila, sounded completely weird. Saph was just watching her as Lila did, what seemed to her, to be a Jack impression. A rather good one at that.
"OH MY...LILA!" Lila lunged across the room and almost knocked Saphira off of her bed. She covered her mouth, hoping that Saph's outburst was over, and reluctantly took her hand off of it. She didn't have to wait long, "You're with child? Will's child?"
"What? Where you expecting it to be Jack's?" Lila asked, sarcastically as she plopped down on the chair that was in front of the fire place. She felt Saphira's gaze on her as she stared into the dancing flames. 21, not married and now she's having her courter's baby. Which doesn't sound that bad. I mean, it wasn't unusual. Things like this happened a lot of times. She knew that her mother would have frowned apon it, and she couldn't bear to think what their fathers were going to say. Or Jack...
But now? In the middle of a war? This was awful. Bloody awful. Of all the times for anything to happen, something like this had to happen now. NOW. Of all the bloody times! Lila groaned as she sank lower into the seat, feeling tears in her eyes. Saph pulled her over on to the bed, and let her cry. "Lila, tell me what happened." Saph said, soothingly as she stroked Lila's now tear-soaked curls.
One Month Ago
The Queen Anne's Revenge Bar
Tortuga
"Lila..." She had decided that Will had never looked any more handsome than he had at that moment. She felt his strong, sword-wielding arms move around her waist, bringing her closer to him. Her own arms went around his neck as she deepened the kiss. Her hands went down his shirt, feeling that hard wall of muscle. That someone had a sort of sobering affect on Will. A temporary one, but a sobering affect all the same, "Li, stop...we can't..."
"Why ever not?" Lila asked, pouting. She had no control over what she was doing. The affect on Will had apparently ran it's course, because now he was the one kissing her. She pushed him up against the wall, as her hands found his scar again. In one swift motion, Will turned around so that she was the one up against the wall. "Captain Turner?"
"Hmmm?" He mumbled against her neck.
"Are we a bit mad for control?" She asked with a laugh, sounding like her normal self (though of course she was far from it). He pulled away from her momentarily to look into her piercing green eyes as he said, "Sorry, love. Comes with the title 'Captain'." She smiled as he leaned back down and kissed her again, pushing her gently against the wall.
"I won yours and Jack's bloody bet on who'd get drunk the quickest-" Will said between kisses. "-what's my prize?"
She flashed him a smirk as she said, "You already have it..."
"Oh, Lila..." Saphira said as she held on to a crying Lila. She had no idea even in the slightest of what Lila was going thru. "Darling..." She didn't know what to say, only to let Lila cry on her shoulder and to be there for her. "At least you love him, right?"
"Why does everyone keep saying that to me?" Lila asked between sobs as she wiped her eyes. She was trying not to cry again, but failed when she said the next sentence, "It doesn't make it any easier, Saph. It really doesn't."
Saph sighed and pulled Lila back into her arms again and let her cry. Will wasn't the man back at that bar. She knew bloody well that that wasn't him. Will was a gentleman. He always put her and what was best for her above everything else. After the bar, he couldn't look at her without saying he was sorry hundreds of times. He wasn't himself for a long time after that incident. It was killing him. But what everyone has always told her was true. Rum was a vile drink that turns respectable men into people that they aren't. Look at Will. That fact only made Lila cry harder. Will wasn't like that. He wasn't...he wasn't...that wasn't Will back in the bar. Not really him.
"You remember when my mother thought that she was..." Saphira trailed off before she finished her sentence, as if 'pregnant' was the most horrible curse word in the English language. "...and that trick Calypso told her to use to see if she was or not? Lila, my mum still has it here. She has that potion that will let you know. All you have to do is put if over your stomach and if it changes color-"
"I don't want to know, Saphie. I've been pushing it out of my mind for weeks now." Lila said, wiping the tears from her eyes. Saphira put a hand over Lila's and said, "Lala-" Lila laughed at Jack's old nickname for her, "-you're going to have to know sometime. There's a war going on, Lila. Wouldn't it be best to know now? To know if you should be in hiding where you're both safe? Then to..."
Lila nodded, causing Saphira to give her knee a reasurring pat, before saying, "I'll go get it." When she left the room, Lila fell back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling...
"Will?" Will turned away from the view of the ocean as he leaned against the baclony's railing. A moment later, she appeared beside him. She somehow looked different. Her curls were hanging freely as oppossed to being tied up and the white night gown she was wearing was blowing gently in the wind. "I guess Jack told you-"
"-that you wanted to talk to me. Yes, he did." Will found himself playing with the green bandana that held his dark ringlets back. He took his hand down and waited for Lila to respond. He knew what this was about. Sort of, but he didn't even think to imagine where it was going to end up. "What...what's been going on, Li?"
"It was bothering me." She whispered, not looking at him. He didn't have to ask her what she meant by that. They both knew. Will suddenly felt sick as he stood beside her, afraid of what she was going to say next. Was this it? Surely not. "And then, about a week ago...I..." She turned around to face him, her face was white. "...I didn't want to say anything because of William."
"William?" Will asked, slightly taken back. This wasn't where he thought this conversation was going. He collapsed on the chair and stared up at the girl he had loved since he was only a child. He couldn't read her expression, and he really didn't want to. "What does William have to do with any of this? Oh, goodness Li, what..." He was about to faint, Lila could tell by the way his face was getting whiter with each passing second.
"Lila, just bloody say something!" Will said, unaware of how loud his voice was. He truly felt sick. And he knew had his heart actually been inside his chest, it would have been pounding. "Li, Li, Li...just say something... I honestly don't care what you say just please say something..." He for the first time in a few minutes, looked up into the now scared face of Lila who looked about as pale as he did.
Which, of course. That didn't help him at all.
"William..." Will repeated. "My son...I...Li, what are you...oh..."
"Will, I thought I was..." She paused for a moment, trying to figure out what she was going to say next. She couldn't say it. Something about those words she just couldn't find them. "I mean, I know...we wanted to wait until we were married and...it didn't work out that way...now I'm being like you and pointing out the obvious...but, we aren't married. And I know we aren't. And I can't help that-"
"Oh, bloody hell, Li." Will said, annoyed and wanting to know what she was about to say. He pushed himself out of his chair, which surprised both of them since his legs didn't look like they could support him. Lila watched him in horror as if he was going to take out his sword or something. He put his hand on the railing and said, "Please, Lila. I can't die. That's a torture for me at the moment because had I not been immortal-"
"-I'm pregnant-"
"-my heart would have given out by now. So, please just-"
"-you're going to be a dad again-"
"-tell me what you were going to say before I...wait, what did you just say?" Lila, for the first time, actually smiled as she walked over to Will and took his hands in her as she said, "I said, you're going to be a dad again." If Will's face had any color left in it, Lila was sure that at the moment it would have been drained out. But it was already gone. All gone. "Will? Say something..."
"What...really? Are you..." Will fell back into the seat again. Lila was unsure i fshe should be happy, or start crying since Will's face was completely unreadable. It really was. No hint of anything on his face. "What did you just say? I just can't...what did you say?"
"Ok, well. I'm sorry." She said, with a slight laugh as she came to stand beside him."I sat there and thought about how you would say it. And I'm sorry, Willy, but 'with child' just sounds so...it's just rather funny sounding...so, I settled for what I really am...surprise!"
"Are you serious?" He asked her, just wanting to make sure that she wasn't trying to joke with him. She stared at him for a moment, as if she was scared as to what he was about to say. She reluctantly nodded and said, "Please don't faint."
"I'm not going to faint, darling." Will said, getting out of his chair and pulling her to him. She looked a little taken off guard, but relaxed when Will said, "I'm sorry. You just...shocked me is all...you weren't drinking rum, I should have known something." The two of them were silent for a minute. Lila wasn't really sure whether this was a good thing, or a bd thing. Whether he was truly happy or not.
"Is this...I know it's not like we wanted, but..." Lila paused for a moment, struggling to find her words. "Are you happy?"
"No." Will said, shaking his head. "I'll be honest with you, Li-" He pulled himself away from her, leaving her standing shocked in the middle of the balcony as he walked backwards to the door. He cleared his throat, nothing happened...he cleared his throat again...still nothing...and again...
"Oh, sorry, mate." Jack said with a laugh as he managed to pull himself out of the conversation he was having with Saphira. He grabbed the ring, and quickily ran over to Will and handed it to him. Lila was in shock, so she didn't bother to look behind him when Jack crawled thru the room to give it to him. He closed his hand over the ring, and said to her, "-I'm not happy at all."
"Will." Lila said to him in a toneless voice as he walked back over to her. She wasn't sure what to say. Half of her wasn't really shocked, but the other half was hurt. Will walked back over to her and said, "Why would I be happy?" He tried to hide his smile in when he saw Lila's face make a weird expression. He wasn't sure if it was the best idea putting a woman in her postion thru this much stress, but it sure was funny.
"Well, I would hope you would have said because the girl that you love is going to be your child's mother..." Lila offered hopefully, still with that confused look on her pretty face. Will nodded, and brought his hands out in front of him, still clutching the ring so she couldn't see it, "Yes, the girl I love. Not the wife I love."
It hit her. Yes, it did take her a minute. But it hit her. About the time that Will got down on one knee and took her left hand in his and said, "If you do remember, I think that you promised that you would marry me, Miss Parrish." He looked up at Lila who could only nod. That made him smile, as he said, "I promised that I would marry you. And I intend to keep that promise." He smiled at her again, just staring at her, before he said, "Princess, will you marry me?"
"Bloody hell!" She said, smacking his arm. "You bloody scared me, Will! But did you really have to ask?" He smiled at her as he slipped the ring on her finger and brought her in for a kiss. She smiled and wrapped her arms around him, kissing him back. She smiled as she pulled back and asked, "Are you happy now, Captain?"
"Why wouldn't I be?"