"I couldn't possibly deny you …"

To hell with the back pain – Jack bent down to the two of them beside the mango crates and had a close look at them, completely taken aback.

"Not that I wanted to," he added in a mumble, smiling with such mad fascination at the sight of the two little humans that Tara was ultimately overwhelmed by the situation.

She had prepared herself for everything – but not for obvious pride.

"Introduce them to each other already!" Hazel urged. Relentlessly, she pushed Tara towards her nephew.

"Hardly necessary," he asserted, however, as if in thought. "They know who I am. Don't you?"

Outright, it flashed through Tara's mind. As if he'd merely been away for a fortnight. And almost as if the children were a long-sought treasure …

Tia was the first to nod, though by now she was equally as infected with seldom shyness as her brother.

"You knew my name. Earlier." Jack's mouth curved into a smile at the glint of trust in her eyes.

"Sparrow," Tia repeated in a whisper, causing James to look up at her father indecisively as well.

"It's really you, isn't it?" James asked.

Tia added, "You're our Papá …"

"Did you hear that?" Jack glanced over his shoulder up to Tara. "The pronunciation?"

She put her hands on her hips and briefly closed her eyes. "I'm more concerned about the meaning of that word in relation to you …"

Jack just waved it off and looked back at Tia. "Will you say it again?"

"Papá?"

"Doesn't even sound as bad as I'd have imagined," he informed her. "Me trae a Caracas."*

Tia was immediately pleased by this interjection, quite unlike Tara.

She just grumbled in increasing annoyance, "Y tú me traes de cabeza …"*

For a moment there, Jack hesitated, then he simply replied, "Sure, whatever …"

"You don't understand, do you?" James whispered, seeming more than willing to offer his help.

"Just cabeza," Jack admitted.

"She said you're driving her crazy." James nodded, as if the meaning of those words wasn't the least bit concerning.

"Could have guessed that, actually, thank you …" He let his eyes wander from one child to the other. "Will you tell me your names?"

"I'm Tia."

Jack immediately beamed, so much so that his daughter quickly did, too. "Tia, as in Tia Dalma? My dearest fairy from the Pantano River?"

She hastily nodded.

"Well done, so you're a true-blue sea goddess …"

"She is indeed." Tara glanced at her daughter with a heavy heart. Jack could and should be grateful for her, and for Tara bringing her into this world as well. But, as much as it bothered her, she also had to thank Jack for Tia being here …

"Tell me, do you also practise ancient Voodoo and divination like her or –"

"Jack!"

"Right! We're practising bigotry – I forgot, pardon me …"

"What's bigotry?"

"Not that important, now that I come to think of it," Jack hastily replied.

Tara buried her face in her hands already while Sparrow turned to James, chirpy as ever. "And what about you, hope of all thieves? Let me guess – you were named after me?"

Tara simply couldn't help but laugh out in surprise. Out of the frying pan and into the fire. "Your humour has always been absurd …"

It actually seemed to puzzle him. "You didn't call him Jack?"

"Excuse me," she said, "but Barbossa named his monkey Jack …" For a moment there she let this fact sink in, then she added, "Didn't seem too appropriate for our son, then, you know?"

"Ah," he replied in equal cynicism.

"My name's James …" The very same gulped as Jack turned his face back to him again – in quite some astonishment.

And Tara knew very well that his father understood the intention of it, but as so often, she'd misjudged completely. He was not at all annoyed by this, the opposite was the case.

"James," Jack repeated. "Good, strong name …"

"After James Norrington," Tia added for her brother. "Mamá always says he was a good example of integrity."

"She knew that from me, yes, but Tia, there has to be time for titles, savvy?" Jack winked at her before asking, "Do you know who Norrington was?"

"A Royal Navy Commodore?"

"Exactly. Met him the day he got promoted."

It seemed like a lifetime ago.
Norrington tossed his pistol from one hand to the other that day, dismissively, just as his newly acquired position in the dusty Navy demanded of him. "No additional shot nor powder …" He quickly reached for the next confiscated item and opened it. "A compass that doesn't point north," was his hasty conclusion. His smile dripped with hubris, but he still had much to learn about the magic of those Caribbean waters. For a moment then, the Commodore glanced at his sword, proceeding to try for some dry British humor. "And I half expected it to be made of wood … You are without doubt the worst pirate I have ever heard of."

Jack had never been at a loss for witty replies, certainly not in the face of the Navy.

"But you have heard of me …"

Norrington couldn't laugh about this – at that point in his life, there was good reason to doubt he could even ever laugh at all.
He'd been just as moderately enthusiastic when said worst pirate had, a short time later, sailed away with the pride of the fleet, the Interceptor. Jack would wave back to him, thanking him for the advance work the Commodore's own men had put in for them to make way.
Jack had always been very polite …

"But he wasn't only working for the Navy, was he?" James asked. "He eventually became a pirate."

Jack nodded. It just so happened that due to surprising and unforeseen circumstances entirely, or at least partially, beyond his control, James Norrington's Navy career was soon shattered.

The dishonourable discharge had really broken him. But at least Norrington's true nature eventually emerged. As a nobody with nothing else to lose, he was almost fun.

"Aye, he was actually a pretty good free man, Jay," Jack finally said, "he'd taken on a position available with my crew and finally served only himself. It's what the Pearl does to people. At least until he held Jones' beating heart in his hands as leverage. That made him an Admiral with the Company and once more he was having no more fun at all. He was desperate to get back into the golden cage of society, but you, James …" He regarded him intently, his son, "you'll never be like that. Am I right? You know what freedom –"

"Can I talk to you for a second? Outside?"

In surprise, he glanced around. Tara was drumming her fingers on one of the boxes and her face did not bode well at all. She hadn't changed, and for that he thanked heaven and hell …

"It's better not to argue with your Mamá once she's already irritated," he said to the twins and then got up with a groan, finally stretching his back again. The precarious cracks were not quite promising, but after his excessive rowing session it was to be expected.

"Since you mentioned her, Captain," Kate sneered as he passed her by with Tara, "where is she? The Black Pearl?"

Jack wouldn't let his gloom on. Yet this sore point kept hurting him throughout his life ….

"She's a little indisposed right now, Katie," Jack claimed. "Much like you earlier, when you were supposed to be hiding the two birdies from me."

Kate just gave a dismissive wave of her hand, then the mother of his children shooed him out the back door once again.

"Minute three, Jack," she hissed as they moved a bit away from the shop. "Minute three and you're imposing your definition of freedom on them. And claim I'm irritable and tried to hide them from you!"

"Isn't it true? Have you not always been one for truth? Is not bearing false witness a sin against the All-"

"You speak of cages! As if I'd locked them away from you!"

"That was entirely in reference to James Norrington, love, but you and your guilty conscience, I suppose you feel not altogether unjustly addressed."

"Oh, you are truly the last person on earth who has any right to condemn me –"

"Can we talk about the names?"

Her eyes widened. "What?"

"The names. Perfect." He went on, "You named them after a pagan deity and the fallen man who was the Royal Navy's true pride – and as much as I hate to deprive you of the satisfaction of teasing me – I love it."

She bitterly smiled. "Well, that's too bad …"

"You've obviously told them plenty about diligence and integrity," he continued. "As sure as you've taught them to speak Spanish. ¿No es verdad?"

"Your pronunciation has always been horrible –"

"And – not to forget – traditions of a moral life, yes? You kept preaching all of that to them."

"As best I could, yes, I –"

"See, that's quite excellent indeed, but then it's about time they learned a thing or two from me as well." He was as smug as ever. "You and me, Tara, the best of both worlds. Just think how well we complement each other –"

"Sparrow, I'm warning you!" she groaned. "That's precisely why Kate should hide them from you! You won't cloud their minds with all your blasphemous talk of freedom, and you won't infect them with your flamboyant posturing –"

"If I may be so bold as to interject my humble opinion, they're already perfectly cheeky little rebels on their own."

"You're not going to be a bad influence on them!" She felt how her neck stiffened. He had re-entered her life for only mere minutes, yet it already served for a splitting headache. "Not after six years of me protecting them like the apple of my eye, bringing them up as decent –"

"And how brilliantly you've done that with those two, it's only right and proper," he replied as though she was talking to a wall. "And I confess, dear, had I been there …" He paused and shrugged his shoulders, looking at the water of the Cove. "Safer not to say it, but I'll give you that – I don't know if I could have put up that well with tiny people. Different story now, the two are already debating, and that's something I sure like –"

"You are not going to ruin their lives by making them love and lose you!" It literally burst out of her. "It's quite enough you did that to me!"

"But I did come back, twice," he was quick to protest. "And I tried to do so a third time. First in Tortuga. Then I was in Port Royal, where actually damn few people like me. I'd also picked a rueful time to visit London, Singapore shortly after was much better –"

"Why the hell would I have been in Singapore?"

"I'd heard rumours that you were working for Mistress Ching, but no one knew anything more. Utter nonsense, I know, but I was at my wit's end, so –"

"Who told you that?" she asked.

"Doesn't matter – anyway, as I said, I was even in Caracas, among other places. So literally everywhere." He couldn't help but smile. "Just for you."

"And when exactly were you in all those places, just for me?" She acidly asked. "When did it occur to you that you might want to mess with my head again and look for me, huh?"

He was about to answer, then hesitated. "That was …" He blew out his cheeks. "Well, it took me a while, I'll admit that I was hoping we could leave that behind –"

"I was exactly where you could have found me for another six months, Jack, right in Tortuga," she muttered, mustering all her patience to keep from instantly going for his throat.

"Apologies for my tardiness, but I guess we then just narrowly missed each other."

"I had to make a decision." She looked him up and down in wary disbelief. "You were free, as always. You land softly as a cat, every time, from any height. But I wasn't free. Without parents, basically without anything, I had to take care of our children. But then again, can you even grasp the concept of serving others and not only yourself?"

She was just as much a realist as she had been then, and just as hurt. And just as right as ever.

"I … can."

"So what was I supposed to do?" She blew a strand of hair out of her face when she noticed how he almost seemed affected. "You changed your mind, yes? How very flattering, but I couldn't wait for that! I needed someone I could rely on."

He didn't have to think about it too long. "Teague."

"I couldn't have done it alone." She exhaled in frustration and looked up at the cloudless sky. "I knew you'd hate me for it, but –"

"You thought I'd never know anyway because I'd never come here …" Her brave facade could hardly withstand his probing gaze. So he smiled for her. "Tara, love, Shipwreck Cove with its bloody cursed city was my last shot. I figured if I didn't find you here, you were probably dead. But I had no idea that we had …" He blinked a few times, then, in a mixture of euphoria and disbelief, he said, "I just wouldn't have expected that we complied with Genesis in the first chapter and twenty-eighth verse …"

"Me neither." The sparkling sea made the Cove seem like a paradise, but this conversation, despite the view, was her personal hell. "Especially not twice," she added.

"Funny old world, isn't it?" He spread his arms, resting in himself as she knew him. "Never too little, always too much …"

It was the first time she couldn't entirely suppress a laugh. It summed up his entire life in a way.

"They were born just before the annual hurricanes," she then quietly recounted, as if on impulse. "Nine months after we said goodbye for the second time. I think it was that night with the raging thunderstorm. To come full circle with adverse weather in irony of fate, you know."

"I vividly recall that night." He really did, especially now, glancing at her beautiful silhouette again. "The memories of us kept haunting me. In the best and worst ways …" That was the truth as well, and as annoying as it got.

"Yeah. Sure …" She looked past him, slowly shaking her head. "Jack, you need to know I love those kids with everything I have, even if …" She gave him a dirty look when she continued, "Even if they also kept reminding me of you, of all people, day by day …"

"But …" He raised his index finger and couldn't help it. "At least they turned out to be really very pretty kids –"

"You weren't the one holding them tight when they cried. You didn't witness their first steps, their first words, the teething – none of it."

"You'll have to tell me all about that because you never went looking for me like I was looking for you."

"Oh, don't you think you can just come here and –"

"I already did. I am here." He said what he said, nodding at her with still too much joy because he actually didn't understand himself to be the ultimate prophecy of greatest chaos. No, instead he smirked, as warm and promising as he only did when he couldn't have her. "For now, at least," he added in a mumble. "Because I'm actually about to starve and die …"

"I beg of you, just do me this one favour," she was already moaning.

"To die of hunger? Actually, that was an indirect call to save me from exactly that, but –"

"No, do me a favour and …" She hoped he really understood her words. "Keep it together with those two. Act like someone who deserves these kids. Would you do that?"

"Why, yes," he assured her, "I'll try my hardest. Now if you'd be so kind I'd be much obliged if the three of you accompanied me to what I originally hated to be my home and –"

"You want to go to Teague, voluntarily?" Surprised, she crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, look at that …"

"You know, 'want' is a very stretchy term."

Impatiently she eyed him.

"But for simplicity's sake – yes." She could tell by the very glint of theatrics in his mimic – he was going to go for pathos at any moment. "Besides, where else would I go, if that's where you –"

"Save it, Sparrow." Already walking away, she called over her shoulder, "You're talking too much again."

"Already?" It sounded downright irritated, and to her secret delight, he followed after her much more quickly than he would have done earlier. "Darling, don't be ridiculous, we haven't seen each other for nearly seven years, how can you say that after such a short amount of –"

"Even now, see? Too much talking."

She trudged through the white sand while he cleared his throat, trying hard to maintain an impeccable accent. "¿Te traigo de cabeza?"

"Sí."

"Didn't you miss me at all?"

The question was as sudden as it was foolish. Tara paused, just to explode once more and face him directly again.

"Trust me on that one!" She frowned, about to lose her mind. "Ever since your children were able to talk, it was as if you'd never been away! So no! I did not."

"Oh, you're a much better liar than you used to be," he retorted. "You'd always get a little nervous and blush, but now –"

"Not anymore, no," she interrupted him, already walking towards the back door again. "Thank yourself for that."

"I actually do that all the time."

The headache intensified, practically following her on two legs. "You're unbearable …"

She couldn't help but briefly close her eyes and take another deep breath before opening the door to Aunt Hazel's shop again. "Tia, Jay?" she called inside – and the very two of them were already eager to listen.

"Yes? Are we all going home now?"

"Is Papá coming with us? He has to!"

"Yes," Tara heard herself say, not believing this confirmation coming out of her mouth. "Yes to both, but not until you've apologised to Ace."

"Come again?" Jack almost choked on the sheer idea of it. "Darling, Ace tried to kill me over three shillings –"

"Don't you get in my way!" she hissed. "Savvy?"

He held her gaze for a few heartbeats, then he decided that this was definitely yet another battle not worth the fight. "Yes. Yes, yes. Savvy …"

* Translations
Me trae a Caracas = Reminds me of Caracas
Y tú me traes de cabeza = And you drive me crazy

And dear ella, thanks a ton for your kind words again, your feedback is so very motivating! I'm really glad you like the story and characters so far ^-^