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Ordinary Man	By : danglingdingle Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (All) > General Views: 1471 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I dot not own PotC nor have any affiliation with Disney. I make no profit from doing this.

Chapter List
- 1-Ordinary Man
- 2-2
- 3-3
- 4-4
- 5-5
- 6-6
- 7-7
- 8-8
- 9-9
- 10-9b
- 11-10
- 12-Interlude
- 10
- 11
- 12
Will paused outside the smithy door. He’d done what he could for Jack, settling him in the small room off the main shop, where Jack had fallen asleep almost as soon as he’d laid down on the narrow cot. Debating whether he should remove his boots, Will had opted to let him be, instead of risking him awakening again. He had stood there for several minutes, as the pale moonlight seeped through the shuttered window, watching Jack snore, a peaceful look finally enveloping his features. At least for tonight he’d be safe.

Now, as Will made his way through the silent streets towards the cottage he shared with Elizabeth, he reflected on how all their fortunes had changed, and what the future might hold for them. Capricious Fortuna, ever friendly and alluring to those whom she strived to deceive, until she overwhelmed them with grief beyond bearing, by deserting them when least expected. Like a ship's rudder, She was the one who controlled how lives and fates were steered. Could one possibly stay the force of her turning wheel?

The cottage was dark, the hour late. Will hesitated at the gate, wondering if he’d ever come to know this place as home. Elizabeth had done everything possible to make him feel welcome, wanted, needed. And yet, Will still felt an outsider in his own home. Not like the smithy, which he was able to make his own with a few changes and additions, this house was clearly Elizabeth’s. From décor to library, to gardens, she had infused her surroundings with her indelible spirit and beauty.

Elizabeth. Will’s heart leapt and a quiver of joy shivered down his spine. He treasured her like the most precious of gems, her faithfulness and love had set him free, her belief in him had given him wings. Yet, he found himself still the tongue-tied boy in her presence, the years of separation heightening their differences, instead of melding them as one. His son was an even bigger enigma, a free spirit like his mother, yet quiet and introspective like his father.

Will entered the house as silently as he could, climbing the narrow stairs to their room, pausing only to look in briefly at his sleeping son. He slept sprawled across the bed in the moonlight, one arm flung over his head, in innocent slumber. Will brushed the hair from Liam’s forehead and bent down and gave him a soft kiss before closing the door once more.

Elizabeth was awake as he entered their room, standing by the window, gazing out at the moonlit gardens below. She turned as he came in, and he caught his breath, once again amazed at how lovely his wife truly was. He came over and wrapped his arm around her, gazing out with unseeing eyes at the sea beyond the hillside.

“Did you find him?” Elizabeth asked the question, a slight hesitation in her voice.

“Yes.” Will frowned slightly. “How did you…”

“Liam told me about the compass.”

He turned her around and searched her eyes. “I was going to tell you, once I was sure.”

“Sure?” She turned and searched his eyes in return.

“Elizabeth,” he said hoarsely, pulling her close. He kissed her, affirming his future, sealing his fate.

****

The smithy was empty the next morning. Will had not expected anything less, he had done all he could. The Wheel of Fortune had turned once more.

****

Elizabeth returned home shortly before supper, wearily removing her traveling cape, she greeted her husband with a kiss before asking, “How was your day? Liam behaved I hope?”

Will gave her a grin. “I’ve yet to see that wild streak you keep telling me about.”

He moved over to the side table and poured her a glass of sherry as she sank gratefully into a large upholstered chair, kicking off her shoes as she leaned back.

She took the glass he handed her and smiled. “Won’t do to have the local school teacher drinking sherry. Nevertheless…” she swallowed the small glassful and sighed, closing her eyes and leaning back in the chair.

Will took the glass from her now relaxed hand, marveling once again at how beautiful his wife was, and what a lucky man he truly was.

Luck. Or fate?

Will shivered and went and placed the glass carefully on the table, pausing to stare out the window at the yard beyond. Liam was kicking a tin can, looking desolate and alone. Most of his friends had already been apprenticed out, grown old before their time, with no time for childhood games.

Elizabeth had told him when Will had first returned that she had higher aspirations for their son, that despite the craftsmanship of his father, she had hoped to send Liam on to University once he’d reached the proper age.

Will, remembering his own aborted childhood, his long hours at the forge under the tutelage of Mister Brown, had agreed. His son, the son of the one time Pirate King and Ferryman of the Dead, grandson of both a pirate (and a good man), and the former Governor of Port Royal, yes Liam deserved to make his own mark in life, not be dictated and shackled to a trade he did not wish to learn.

Will’s mind drifted back to those first few years in Port Royal. Alone in a strange land, with no friends and no family, Will had found his solace and inspiration in the forge, in the working of metal. The conversion of iron into steel, the magical transformation that took place, the precision and honing and tempering, these lessons reflected his own maturation. Life’s lessons, hard learned and hard earned.

Elizabeth moved to where he was standing. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she rested her chin on his shoulder and followed his line of sight. With a soft sigh, she whispered, “He reminds me of you, when we first met. Remember?”

How could he forget? His whole life had changed that moment he was pulled from the sea. Mere fortune? Or a touch of destiny?

****

“What do you have there?” Will asked his son, who was peering into a bottle on the kitchen table.

Liam looked at his father, excitement in his eyes. “A caterpillar. Mother says it will turn into a beautiful butterfly one day.”

“Does she,” Will said, trying to keep the amusement from his voice.

“She does.” Elizabeth came into the room, carrying a basket of flowers from the garden.

Will walked over and wrapped his arms around her waist. “And how does Mother know these things?”

She leaned back with a laugh, smelling like sunshine and a touch of lavender. Will breathed deeply, pulling her closer and nuzzling her hair.

“Mother met a woman who studied them,” Liam’s serious voice interrupted. “The caterpillar first makes a cocoon. Doesn’t he, Mother?”

Elizabeth smiled indulgently at her son. “Yes it does. The poor lowly caterpillar, never straying from the small world it knows, doesn’t know that one day it will transform into a glorious butterfly, with wings to carry it anywhere it wishes to go.” She took a vase off the shelf and began to arrange the flowers, while continuing her lesson. “But change does not come without a price. The caterpillar must go through a long confinement. It takes time for the caterpillar to change, to shed its old form, to become a new creature.” She gave Will a long glance and added, “That time apart is what gives him his freedom to fly away.”

“Only to seek the most beautiful of flowers to call his own,” Will added softly, pulling her once more into his arms. Over his shoulder he said louder, “Liam, why don’t you go see if you can find more caterpillars in the garden.”

****

“Do you ever have regrets?” Elizabeth had asked him, sated and content as they lay together.

“I regret not having been here, not being here for you, and Liam.”

She smiled at him. “Beyond that, I mean.”

“No, none.” He hesitated then asked, “Do you?”

“Only the same.”

“You don’t regret your choice then?” He studied her closely. “You could have had everything, the world. Yet, you chose me. Why?”

Elizabeth turned and wrapped her arms around him, nuzzling his neck. “I chose you, because I could see the butterfly that was there.”
- 10
- 11
- 12
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Ordinary Man