Oh no, I've really got to get back to seriously writing this story. I'm running out of pre-written chapters. I've only got to Elizabeth's escape from the Dauntless. Excuse me while I write a bunch. Sorry if there's a delay in chapters.
Birds of a Feather
The Curse of the Black Pearl
Chapter Twenty-Two
The Gift of a Name
"Well," The Mermaid crossed her arms, "that was unnecessary. Why did you torment the poor boy with that nonsense of him being a pirate?"
"Because whether you, he, or anyone else believes it, I know the signs," Barbossa said. "He may be religious, but that boy is a Pirate through and through."
"Nonsense."
"He is a Pirate and you are a Siren. Nothing we ever say or do will ever change that."
"I am a mermaid, not a Siren. I am no monster."
Barbossa lifted an eyebrow, "Oh really? And that chunk of Koehler's arm sitting in the corner?"
The Mermaid glanced over at the chunk of flesh she had spat out, "I did not say I was not dangerous."
"Oh, get your head on straight, Girl! You are what Calypso made you, and that is the end of the story!"
"Do not speak of the Mother Goddess with such glib!"
"You're deflecting," Barbossa shot. "Stop fighting the truth; I know what's going on here."
"Nothing is going on!" The Mermaid snapped.
"You think after I walked into the room and found him lying his entire body over yours to protect you that I'm going to feign ignorance? He was literally risking every inch of his flesh to protect you, and I'm not going to pretend that wasn't a sentiment shared. You need to stop. Give up this folly right now!"
"There is no folly!"
"You are falling in love with the boy! This is not your path!"
"And how do you know it isn't?" The words flew out of The Mermaid's mouth before she could stop them. However, once they were out, she did not regret them. "I have crossed paths with him many times in my life. Fate is bringing us together. Maybe he is my destiny."
"Your destiny is whatever Tia Dalma chose for you!" Barbossa snapped. "She saved your life and brought you to me. Not to Will Turner. Not Jack Sparrow. Not to Philip Swift. Me! I will not let this happen. I will not let you lose yourself to this folly, get your heart broken, and watch as my daugh-"
He stopped.
The Mermaid's eyes went dark, threatening to be fully black as she glared at him.
"Say it," she dared him.
Barbossa took a deep breath and repeated slower, "I will not let you lose yourself to this folly, get your heart broken, and watch as my pet avoids the truth of her nature and her destiny."
Silence filled the room.
"Your… pet?"
Barbossa swallowed.
For a long time, The Mermaid said nothing. Even Jack the Monkey was nervous, running across one of Barbossa's shoulder to the opposite, putting himself away from swiping reach of her claws.
As he watched the tempest rage in The Mermaid, Barbossa knew not in his mind or gut that he had made the wrong choice, but from the very bottom of his nearly black heart.
"Your pet?" The Mermaid tried to slowly stride over to him with grace, power, and confidence, but it was hard as she stumbled on her unfamiliar legs. "Your pet? That is what I am to you, is it?"
"Yes, you are my-"
"Lies!" she snapped. "I am not your pet. I am not your monster. I am not your lackey! Say it. Say what you were going to call me! Say that I am your daughter!"
"You are not!"
"But I am!" The Mermaid stopped so there was less than an inch between them. "I am the closest thing you will ever have to a daughter. You don't want to say it? Then I will say it for you. Yes, the origins of our story are drowned in darkness, but that has changed! I am your daughter, you are my father. That is the end of it!"
"That is not the end of it!"
"Deny it all you want, but I know the truth. Please… Please, Father."
Barbossa flinched.
The Mermaid paused, taking a deep breath to collect herself.
"Father," she softly touched his arm, her voice low and submissive, "please… All I have ever truly wanted is a name. You do not have to call me anything in front of the crew. It could be our secret. Please, just give me a name… anything. Let me bear your surname and give me the gift of a name of my own."
For a very long time, Barbossa said nothing.
"Our deal is off." Gently he moved her hand from his arm, "When the curse is broken you don't have to stay an extra year with me. You're free to do what you wish."
She closed her eyes and took a small step back. If she had been a human, she would have found tears falling down her cheek.
"What of Philip?" she asked.
"Don't worry about the boy," Barbossa dismissed.
"What. Of. Philip?"
Barbossa sighed, "Does the boy really mean that much to you?"
The Mermaid just looked at him, "Do you know what it's like to have nothing? To truly have nothing? To have every person in your life only in it due to a condition? To have no one, no one truly care about you… and then have someone look at you with eyes so pure, so honest… so different. To have someone look at you and not see what the Mother Goddess made, but to see what is truly inside of you. To have someone look at you… and make you want to be different than the monster the world has made you be?"
Barbossa couldn't help but think of that little girl lying bloody and broken on the rocks of Isla de Muerta, waiting to die.
"Philip Swift is no pirate," The Mermaid said. "Philip Swift is different. He is loyal, he is honest, he is true, his is a protector, and he does not deserve whatever fate you have in store for him."
"I will not haggle for his fate again."
"You made me a promise! One year for his safety! Why do you go back our deal now?"
"Because I want you to stay of your own volition!" Barbossa roared. "I don't want you to stay with me because you want to save the boy. I want you to be with me because you want to be with me! Not as a romantic partner, but as a far greater treasure than any that sit on this island."
The Mermaid scoffed, "And why would I want to stay with you? You don't care about me. I am a material possession to you: a treasure to be displayed and horded. I mean truly nothing to you."
"You mean a great deal to me," Barbossa refused to look her in the eye. "Everything I have done for you – everything I have given to you – is because you mean that much to me."
"Ragetti, Pintel, tanks, fish, and fresh water mean nothing to me," she said coldly. "Not compared to what you have denied me. Ragetti and Pintel do not care for me because you let them, they do it because I mean something to them. Philip does not protect me for selfish motivation, he does it because… I must mean something to him… the way he means something to me."
Barbossa sighed.
"But you?" The Mermaid said. "The man I see as my father… How can you say that I mean anything to you when you deny me the one basic right everyone on his ship has? Even your monkey has a name!"
Jack the Monkey shrieked.
"Just gave me a name," The Mermaid whispered. "Show me that I mean something to you… Show me you love me the way a father loves his daughter. Prove to me that I am yours. Please, Hector… Name me."
It was a very long time before he spoke.
"I… can't."
That moment was the closest The Mermaid had ever come to crying in her tragic life.
"I will not stay with you," she whispered. "I will not do this anymore. I will not be your pet, your slave, your girl, your creature, or your monster. When this curse is broken, I will leave, and you will never ever see me again."
Barbossa winced, "Listen-"
"No," The Mermaid shook her head. "I am done listening to you. I was a fool to ever give you a second chance. I am leaving, Hector. That is the end of this story. Now you will tell me what you plan to do with Philip Swift."
He knew there was no point to argue with her, "Fine. I don't know what I'm going to do with Philip."
"What? How do you not know?"
"Our bargains keep changing. Honestly, after having the curse broken, I'm not too keen on ransoming the boy and risking a fight to the death with the British. Maybe take a month or two enjoying life again before the crew faces dying. That would just be cruel to die right after getting our freedom, to never get to enjoy life after this cure. So I'm not going to ransom him. Beyond that… I don't really know what to do with the boy. I don't think it would be simple to convince him to defect to pirate, so who knows what I'll do?"
"Then give him to me."
Barbossa raised an eyebrow but would be lying if he said he was surprised at the request, "I'm not giving something that valuable for nothing."
"He'll be part of my share of the treasure," The Mermaid insisted. "I'll give up half my gold for him."
"No."
"Then I'll give it all up!"
"And how are you to make your way in the world with nothing?"
"I'll find a way. If the Mother Goddess truly does have a grand destiny for me, I'll find some avenue of survival. Don't you worry about me."
"But I will worry," Barbossa said bluntly.
"Not enough to name me," The Mermaid shot.
"Enough of that! I cannot name you! It will destroy my credibility with the crew!"
The Mermaid just scoffed, "We're going in circles."
"Indeed we are," Barbossa snapped. "So stop bringing up names; it's not going to happen. You want one so badly? Then give yourself one."
"I cannot and will not."
"Then drop the subject. As for Swift, I'm not sure if I can just give him up to you. How would you even leave Isla de Muerta with him?"
"That is my problem is solve," The Mermaid wouldn't admit she had no clue. "I think the hardest part will be convincing him to come with me."
"That shouldn't be too hard. The boy is already head over heels for you, and mermaids are irresistible. The fool never stood a chance."
"He is not a fool."
"Any man who willingly involves himself with a mermaid on more than one occasion is a fool. Present company included."
The Mermaid just glared at him, "Perhaps I do have an idea on what to do with Philip. How were you planning on sending Turner home?"
"Sending Turner home?" Barbossa laughed. "The boy is doing no such thing."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't trust this lot," Barbossa said. "True the boy does look like the spawn of Bill Turner and Sarah Smith, but I'm not taking my chances. We're not going to cut his hand, we're going to cut his throat. Spill it all just to make sure."
The Mermaid gasped, "What? No!"
"Oh yes. I am tired of all these games. We're in this position because Bill Turner and Sarah Smith conspired to keep that final piece from us."
"You are in this position because you betrayed your captain and tried to murder Bootstrap Bill."
"Don't make out Sparrow or Bootstrap to be noble."
"And what of Smith? Bootstrap's wife was innocent of this entire adventure."
"Smith came from such a long line of Pirates that I'm surprised her blood didn't run black," Barbossa sneered. "The woman was obsessed with legends of the sea. She probably knew exactly what curse was upon the gold, and plotted with Bootstrap from the beginning. The woman had a vaster catalogue of lore in her mind than the entire Brethren Court put together, including Teague."
The Mermaid frowned, "Who is Teague?"
"Never you mind," Barbossa said. "Will Turner will die for the sins of his parents."
"He did not make those decisions."
"But he did make the one to sacrifice himself in Miss Swann's place. This is not up for debate. William Turner will die."
The Mermaid's mind raced. She couldn't do that to Philip and Elizabeth. She couldn't let it happen. Elizabeth hated her already, but to betray Philip like that? The Mermaid had to think of something fast.
"What if I stay?" The Mermaid offered. "Will you not kill him then?"
"I thought you didn't want to stay," Barbossa sneered.
"I'll stay a year if you don't kill Will."
"The answer is no."
"Two years."
"I'm not haggling over this."
"Five!" she exclaimed.
"Enough."
"Ten years!"
"ENOUGH!" Barbossa roared. "We are not debating this. We will row to shore, slit Turner's neck, and be freed from the curse, and that is the end of it!"
The Mermaid glared at him, "I will not let this happen."
"Oh really?" His eyes burned into his, "Well, if you do anything to stop me from breaking the curse, I will kill Swift as well. You think you mean nothing to me? Fine, let's pretend that's true. It's been fun, My Girl, but now you and I see the truth. I'm a pirate and you're a mermaid. We're both monsters and nothing more."
Her eyes were almost pitch-black, "And nothing more."
Barbossa stared at her for a long, silent moment and then stalked to the door. When he reached the doorway, Barbossa paused and looked back at The Mermaid.
"If you breathe a word of this to either of those boys, I'll chain you up on the island so you can't stop us. Now use your water to heal the injuries Twigg and Koehler gave you, and join us when you're ready. But don't take too long. I will throw you in the brig and leave you here if I have to."
The Mermaid folded her arms, "Who will carry me to the longboats?"
"You'll come walking down there yourself. It was because of your shenanigans with the preacher that the crew came to know of your legs. Now that the veil has been lifted, there's no point in hiding anymore. Pandora's box is open, My Girl. And that's one box that can never be closed."
With that, he left her.
The Mermaid's body shook as her mind ran over the conversation, her anger and fear building with every second. Slow, unsteady steps led her back to the tank, and she took her time healing her wounds. Her mind raced to think of a plan, but every answer she came up with proved riskier than the last. When she was finished, she just stared down at Philip's billowing white shirt covering her body.
Covering her body the way he had literally covered it with his.
Her jaw locked and she clenched her fists as she thought of the way Philip had laid his body upon hers, giving up everything just to protect her.
She dug her nails into her palms, seething at Barbossa's plans and all the time she had wasted on him. The Mermaid wouldn't let this happen. Not just for penance to Elizabeth or protection of Philip, but for the life Hector Barbossa had stolen from her. She would make him pay for everything he had done.
But how?
Then she thought of Philip Swift. She thought of Elizabeth Swann. She thought of Jack Sparrow. She thought of the side they fought on and how beneficial it might be to expand that team.
Swifts, Swanns, and Sparrows.
Maybe it was time to stop being a sea monster.
…Maybe it was time to be a bird.
It took all of Will Turner's self-control to not start throwing punches when Ragetti and Pintel led Philip to their longboat. Philip was beaten, bloody, his vest was barely covering the large red welt on his back from being hit with something, but most prominently was the large burn mark on his right cheek.
"Philip!" Will yelled. His eyes burned with hatred as Ragetti and Pintel pushed Philip down on the bench next to Will, "What did they do to you?"
"Oh, not them," Philip nodded at Ragetti and Pintel sitting down on the bench behind the pair, which was the final row on the boat. Philip jerked his head towards Bo'sun sitting on the first bench with Twigg and Koehler on the bench behind him, leaving the bench in the middle between the pair and Will and Philip empty. "It was those two. I think they're getting punished for it, although I guess so much for treating me the same way they treated Elizabeth."
"Actually, Fins did maul your cousin a little before Turner threatened suicide," Ragetti reminded.
"He's right," Pintel agreed. "We'd actually not be holding up our bargain if he didn't get roughed up a little. Not that we planned it, mind you, but it does meet the terms now."
Will and Philip exchanged a look.
"You know, of all the stories my mother told us about pirates," Philip said, "she never mentioned they were this pedantic."
"Finally explains my mother," Will shrugged. "But what happened? Did they burn your face?"
Philip sighed and glancing around, leaned in to whisper, "Those two – the ones being watched by the Bosun… who might actually just be called Bo'sun now that I think about it – attacked The Mermaid and I. Captain Barbossa came in with the others and broke up the fight. The dark one burned my face on a candle."
"Why did they attack you?" Will whispered back, eying the pair.
"I got in the way of The Mermaid and they have… intentions for her."
"Intentions like-"
"The line from my mother's song 'we kidnap and ravage' is far too whimsical for the reality of the situation."
Will sighed, "I am incredibly ready for this adventure to be over."
"Yeah, we're a little far from that moment, Will, but I appreciate the optimism."
Will just shook his head, "So… are you alright?"
Philip unconsciously touched his cheek, "It's not that bad."
"Are you lying to me?"
"Oh, very much so. I am in incredible pain right now, but there's nothing more I can do about it at this moment, so I don't want you to feel bad about it."
"Fair enough." Will looked around, "Any ideas on how to get ourselves out of here? While I am willing to die for Elizabeth's safety, that doesn't mean I'm just going to roll over and let it happen. Especially not after finally kissing her, and holding her, and-"
"Will?" Philip cut in sharply. "You know, as happy as I am to hear that you and Elizabeth are finally together, I would like to respectfully request that I don't hear about the physical side of your relationship. We may be best friends and usually you talk to your best friend about those sorts of things, but seriously Will… Elizabeth is basically my sister. I don't want to think about anyone doing those things to her."
"Alright, but I will have you know that if you ever annoy me greatly, I need to shut you up, or get minor revenge, I will bring it up."
"I expect nothing less from both you and Elizabeth," Philip said quite unperturbed at the thought. He even patted Will's leg for good measure. "And to answer your question, no, I have no plan. You've been the idea man on this trip. I thought that had been abundantly clear."
"Well, I was hoping you'd start pulling your weight," Will teased half-heartedly. "The only things I can think of right now are a pair of sea turtles strapped to my feet."
"I don't think there's any of those around."
"Yes, Swift. Because that's the problem with the idea."
"Why are those two seated together?" Barbossa's voice made everyone look up.
Barbossa and Jack the Monkey were climbing down into boat. Barbossa had a bright green apple in his grasp, much to the confusion of Philip. Of course, Will had heard the story of Elizabeth's dinner with Barbossa, so it only made Will roll his eyes.
Also, Will vaguely wondered if his mother's dislike of apples was rooted in the rivalry she apparently had had with Barbossa. Will seriously needed to find some time to sit down and review the first ten years of his life for all the signs of piracy he had overlooked in his family.
Maybe those ornamental swords over their fireplace had been a bit more practical than Will assumed.
"Well, Captain," Pintel said as Jack the Monkey climbed over his bald head and jumped over onto the bench next to Will, "we thought they would be easier to keep an eye on if they were in the same place."
"If you want to move them, I would support that decision," Twigg said. "They've been clucking worse than mother hens."
Barbossa glared at Twigg, "Those will be the last words out of you, or I promise you if I need to test if the curse has broken, it'll be you I shoot this time."
"Thank goodness," Pintel muttered.
"Now," Barbossa climbed over Pintel and Ragetti's bench to come to a stop in front of Will and Philip. "This won't do at all. I can't have you two sitting here and plotting against us. No, one of you will have to move. How about… Turner, you'll be on the bench next to me."
"Why me?" Will scowled as Jack the Monkey chattered and pawed at Will's leg to get up and move.
Barbossa grabbed Will's shoulder and pulled him with him over to the empty bench between Philip's and Twigg's.
"Because I don't trust those two won't try to attack Swift for a third time," Barbossa nodded to Twigg and Koehler.
"Fourth," Philip corrected. "But I appreciate the thought."
Barbossa looked like he was debating whether or not to punch Philip.
"Shutting up, Sir," Philip bowed his head.
"Come on!" a pirate called from one of the other longboats. They were all waiting for the signal to set off for Isla de Muerta. "I would like to be uncursed sometime this century!"
A dozen other pirates jeered their support.
"We be setting off soon," Barbossa called out. "You gentlemen can set off, but this boat will be a minute. We're waiting for the Creature to join us."
Philip bristled at the title. He very much hated the smirk Will gave him as he sat directly across from Philip.
He wondered if that was what he had looked like for ten years of watching will they won't they Will and Elizabeth? No wonder people thought Philip arrogant; he was just spending so much of his life dealing with those antics that people must have thought he was smug and annoyed about everything.
"Fins!" Ragetti suddenly called out.
Philip's attention was drawn to the deck of the Pearl where The Mermaid was trying to look as elegant as possible as she walked towards the ladder leading down to the longboats.
Philip couldn't help but smile at the sight of her. There was no particular reason; he was just happy to see her. Even just the sight of her struggling not to stumble on unfamiliar legs across the deck in the foggy night air made him happy (not at her struggles, of course.) Though the moonlight catching her hair in just the right way did perk his lips up a little higher. Philip was smiling just because she was there.
…That explained so many things about Will and Elizabeth. Philip took a side glance at his best friend – who was trying not to look freaked out at the sight of the skeletal pirates in the moonlight. Seriously, this whole romance with a mermaid must have been the Lord helping Philip understand his friends in an oddly twisted fashion.
Barbossa huffed, "Hurry it up, Creature! We don't have all night."
The Mermaid scowled at the title but made no reply. She was just thankful she could finally grasp the rail to catch her balance.
Of course, what did visibly disturb her was the catcalling the crew started to throw at her. Wolf whistles, crude offers and suggestions, and the prevalent desire for her to strip off Philip Swift's shirt which increasingly felt shorter with every taunt.
She tried to tug down the shirt, and Philip winced.
"Am I to swim ahead or behind?" The Mermaid called the Barbossa.
"I'd like you from behind!" a man exclaimed.
Philip tried to shoot to his feet, but Will caught his shoulder and forced him back down.
"Steady, Swift," Will advised. "Don't give them what they want."
Philip balled his fist tight but stayed seated.
"The Creature won't be swimming this time," Barbossa said as if The Mermaid wasn't the one to ask the question. He didn't notice how Philip bristled again at the title. "I don't trust the Creature won't take to make a break for it."
"Stop calling her that," Philip grumbled.
"Steady, Swift," Will warned again.
The Mermaid glowered down at Barbossa, the wind chilling her legs in a way she hated. Cold water was fine. Cold air on her fins didn't matter. But chilly air on skin was practically torture.
"Fine," she held her head high. "I will ride seated with you. I am not ashamed of my legs."
"What about the rest of it?" another pirate yelled.
Philip stayed seated this time, but he heard Ragetti and Pintel grumbling as they shoot dark looks at their fellow pirates.
"Next man who harasses Fins will get an oar to the face," Pintel glared at the men in the boat to the right of theirs.
"Agreed," Ragetti's natural eye turned to the boat on the left, but his wooden one was stuck in place forward 'staring' at Will.
It was an unsettling sight, Will had to admit… no pun intended.
"Who will carry me down into the longboat?" The Mermaid asked Barbossa, her voice ringing out strong and lyrical on the cold, night air.
"No one," Barbossa boomed back.
The Mermaid frowned.
"You said it yourself, Creature." This time Barbossa did notice Philip bristle. "You aren't ashamed of your legs, so use them. Climb down here and join us."
"But I…" The Mermaid faltered. Her eyes cast about the pirates as her face paled. She looked so helpless that even Will wanted to help her, "I cannot climb. My legs are not strong enough."
"I'll go, Captain," Pintel got to his feet.
"Sit, Master Pintel," Barbossa ordered. "The Creature got herself into this mess. She will use her own two feet to crawl down here. After all, the Creature does want to be independent."
Even Jack the Monkey was uncomfortable with the scene. He stood on his legs and pressed his tiny paws against his Master, chattering some unintelligible defense or offer.
Barbossa just waved him away.
The Mermaid's voice shook, "Please, Barbossa-"
"That is enough!" he snapped. "Now, climb, Creature!"
For a moment, she looked around for some solution. Below her The Mermaid saw Pintel and Ragetti gently motioning her to climb. Ragetti subtly tried to make some so gestures that he would catch her if she fell, but the hand movements more looked like a lobster and a mollusk doing a tango if anything.
Then her eyes found Philip's, those strong but soft green eyes that were becoming so familiar to her.
"Come now, Creature!" Barbossa yelled. "Climb!"
Philip mutely nodded, and The Mermaid found her strength… and her smile.
She came to the opening between the rails where the rope ladder hung. With very shaky limbs, The Mermaid began to climb down.
Unfortunately, where Ragetti and Pintel were seated, they were treated to the direct view of straight up that shirt. Simultaneously, Ragetti and Pintel reached over and covered the other's eyes.
"What?" Ragetti exclaimed. "You think I'd look at Fins?"
"Apparently as much as you think I would," Pintel shot back. "Come on, Man. That's wrong!"
Philip's eyes didn't move from The Mermaid as she took each slow step down. Hand down to rung. Leg down to rung. Hand down to rung. Leg down to rung. Every movement made his heart skip a beat, especially when her feet scrambled every time to bear the weight of her body.
She wasn't going to make it.
Around them, the other boats started to row away, but the Captain's boat stayed and waited tensely for the mermaid. Close. Close. She was getting closer. Almost there.
Her foot slipped.
With a scream, The Mermaid lost her grip and fell. Philip was on his feet in a moment, but so were Ragetti and Pintel, trying to catch her.
The Mermaid hit the boat hard. Her face smashed into the bench that Ragetti and Pintel had vacated. Instinct taking over, The Mermaid let out a terrible wail of pain, and while she started to cry, no tears fell from her eyes.
She held her face, knowing her nose was probably broken as blood poured from it, a few cuts here and there leaking crimson too. The Mermaid couldn't help it, even as Ragetti and Pintel got down to her level and tried to console her, she whimpered like the wounded animal she was.
"I could never stand animals in pain," Barbossa melodramatically scoffed and rolled his eyes. Of course, deep down he wanted to just pull The Mermaid into his arms and make the pain go away. Making sure no one was looking, he nudged Jack the Monkey to go comfort her. "Masters Ragetti and Pintel, make the Creature stop whining."
Philip Swift did not want to murder Barbossa, but he would not be unhappy if God sent down a bolt of lightning on the man in that moment.
"Come on, Poppet," Pintel helped position The Mermaid to the side of the boat so she could scoop the water and heal herself. He smiled as he watched her smooth away her wounds. "That's a good girl. See? All better."
"Master Swift," Barbossa called.
Philip looked down at him.
"Mind joining us back in the seated position?" Barbossa asked dryly, making everyone very aware of Philip being the only one standing.
Philip righted his shoulders, "I suppose I have no other choice."
"No need to get snippy," Barbossa glowered as Philip sat down facing him. "Masters Ragetti and Pintel, is the Creature healed?"
Philip winced again. Barbossa had just watched the girl who he was supposed to love as much as a daughter, smash her face into a longboat, leaving her bloody, and he was still just calling her that cruel name.
The word Creature was really starting to get under Philip's skin.
"Yes," Pintel said as Ragetti helped The Mermaid stand up. "I think she should be alright now."
"Good." Barbossa scowled as he saw the longboats ahead of them. "The Creature has wasted too much time. We're falling much behind the men. Get her seated next to Swift, and make sure you cover her legs. We don't want the Preacher to be eying the Creature again."
Philip Swift finally snapped.
"She has a name!" the words ripped out of throat before he could stop them.
The Mermaid froze as Ragetti was about help her take the seat next to Philip. She stared at him with utter shock and confusion. What was he talking about?
It appeared no one knew. Everyone just stared at Philip in utter silence and shock… except for Will who had no idea about the significance of Mermaid names.
Time stretched forever. Nine sets of eyes – including tiny brown monkey ones – stared at Philip until he kind of regretted speaking.
"Fins has a name?" Ragetti muttered.
Pintel elbowed him.
The Mermaid wanted to ask what Philip was doing, but her mouth felt dry. Was this really it? After all these years, would she truly get a name? Why was he giving her a name? He knew what it meant. Why would he play with her like that?
"She has a name?" Barbossa finally spoke.
Philip didn't really know what to say, "Uh… yes. Yes, she does."
"Alright," Barbossa said. "Pray tell. What be it?"
Philip's head immediately snapped to The Mermaid. As their eyes locked together, he silently tried to urge her to go ahead. Claim a name. He waited for her to speak. Claim that which meant so much to her. Give herself that which she had yearned for all these years.
Take control of your life and name yourself.
But The Mermaid was unmoved, and as Philip looked into those strong and certain hazel eyes, he understood. She would never name herself; it wasn't about the name. It was about having a name, having someone care enough about her to give her one. That longing wasn't just for a title, it was a longing for what the act of giving a name signified.
He finally understood that to her the act of naming was an act of deepest love.
And in that moment, Philip realised that he truly loved her.
If you were to ask Philip Swift what he would feel in that moment, he would have guessed his body would have shook, his words would stammer, and his mind would race through a thousand Biblical names searching for the perfect one.
Instead, he didn't think. With a voice as strong and certain as he would deliver a sermon, a name just slipped from his lips.
"She is Syrena."
Her eyes did not break his gaze. The lovers didn't share a word as they both understood what he had truly done, what he had given her, and most importantly what he had confessed.
Both were certain that this would not be the end of their adventure… it was only the beginning.
"Syrena," Philip repeated, his voice more unsure now. What if she didn't like the name? She wasn't smiling, her lips perfectly flat.
Then she gave him the tiniest nod, and he gave a sigh of relief.
She was Syrena now… or perhaps they both knew she had always been Syrena.
"Alright," Barbossa's voice cut in. He eyed The Mermaid warily, not sure if he was angry or joyous, "Get Syrena settled and properly covered. Gentlemen, start rowing before we lose the others. Get to it!"
"I've got her," Philip assured Ragetti, helping The Mermaid to sit. He smiled as Ragetti nodded and returned to his own bench. Philip then turned his attentions to the one he called Syrena, "Are you comfortable? How is your face?"
"I am fine, Philip… And I- I thank you for the name." The Mermaid nervously wrung her hands behind her back. She kept her voice low, "But you did not need to do that. A name is so important-"
"And you deserve to have one," he said certainly. "I don't regret giving it to you."
The Mermaid sighed, "But Philip, a name means so much."
"I know." Philip reached behind them where Barbossa couldn't see. He grabbed her hand and held it tight, "And I mean every part of it."
The Mermaid glanced down shyly. She knew that if she wasn't surrounded by pirates, she might try to kiss him.
"I…" The Mermaid saw that Barbossa was facing toward Isla de Muerta, not watching her at all. She hesitated and then rested her head on Philip's shoulder, "I think I mean it too."
Philip smiled and with his free hand, stroked a strand of hair out of her eyes, "Well, when you've figured it out, please let me know."
And The Mermaid smiled. They sat in silence, The Mermaid's head resting against Philip's shoulder, hands clasped, and looking far too blissful for their kidnapped by pirates and probably going to be murdered before dawn situation.
Will Turner raised an eyebrow at the sight but said nothing.
He was not explaining this one to the Governor.
And as they rowed toward Isla de Muerta, Philip Swift staring so lovingly into her eyes, The Mermaid thought over her new name.
Syrena, The Mermaid smiled to herself.
She liked it.
"I still like Fins better," Ragetti mumbled.
Pintel nodded, "Agreed."