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[turned_captain]

Call it narrative imperative, call it coincidence, or what you will, but the waters in the Caribbean inlet of the lake have parted and the Flying Dutchman is in what, for want of a better word and with liberal use of inverted commas, we shall call 'port

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[try_corsets]

Coincidence or not, his wife is gratified to see her husband's ship. Somehow she knew it would be there. With all the thought she'd given it and Will over the last several hours, she just knew he would have to sense it and come.

It's a pretty notion, anyway.

Elizabeth is in the dinghy and halfway to the ship when she suddenly stops rowing, hauls one of the oars out of the water and lets the small boat drift on the gentle swells that only hint at the waves they will become. She takes several deep breaths and stares at the Dutchman's starboard side.

[turned_captain]

Somewhere that's not here, somewhere a distance away in a safe location only Elizabeth knows for sure, a hidden locked box misses on of the steady, rhythmical thumps it's been producing so reliably.

It always does when she comes in sight of the Dutchman.

For a while he watches her sit, for whatever reason she needs to, in the rocking of the ocean swell. After a few such bobs however, her husband is sitting in the stern, hands clasped between his knees.

"Elizabeth."

[try_corsets]

The sound of his voice makes her suck in a breath and hold it. Not because she's trying to steady herself or find the courage to say what needs to be said, but because the way he first speaks her name after they've been parted always goes through her with all the intensity and emotion of their one day on land.

"Will."

She blinks, the only indication that his sudden appearance has caught her off guard. The other oar comes up and in, leaving both secure in the rowlocks.

[turned_captain]

He smiles, and leans forward towards her, reaching just to brush his fingers against her hand, to feel her skin.

"Are you well?"

He's not sure she looks it.

[cutting_edgex23]

As X has not had much opportunity to see a ship at anchor on the lake, she approaches, quiet and quick.

And then she stands on the jetty, head tilted as she scents the air and listens intently.

Hmm.

[turned_captain]

There's not a lot to pick up from the Dutchman in terms of smell. In fact, it very nearly doesn't smell at all, being a dead ghost ship. Of course, it's a dead ghost ship on which the captain has been entertaining his wife since arrival, so there's that.

Soon, though, said captain, dressed only in his trousers and a shirt, which hangs open to expose the scar where his heart used to be, appears to leave his (pregnant!) wife some time to sleep.

Then he notices someone on the jetty. All smiles, he lifts his face in greeting. "Ahoy!"

[cutting_edgex23]

This is not a word X knows very well, which means she hesitates for a few seconds, half-frowning.

Then --

"Hello."

Beat.

"You are Will Turner?"

Elizabeth talked about him visiting Milliways. And being unable to leave his ship. It seems like a logical question.

[turned_captain]

"I am!" Will replies. "Will you come aboard?"

[byhisbootstraps]

Sometime after this...

Mr. Turner (currently the only member of the family who isn't Captain Turner) has missed the reunion going on elsewhere on the ship, as he's been in his hammock below deck.

When he comes out blinking into the sunlight, his first realization is that they've made port in that strange place between worlds again. His second is ... harder to quantify, but something -- something's changed.

Slowly he steps up to the wheel, runs a hand along its weathered wood.

[turned_captain]

The ship is Bound to the soul of her Captain, and her Captain is currently filled with something inadequately described as mere 'joy', so it's not surprising that the vessel feels different to one of her crew.

The Captain hasn't left the ship, of course, but he doesn't make an appearance on deck for a few minutes; being distracted as he is in his cabin.

When he does appear, he's smiling so hard it feels like his face will never be the same, and he stops by the door, watching his father. Savouring the moment just before imparting the biggest of news.

[byhisbootstraps]

Bootstrap turns at the sound of a footfall on the planking.

"William," he says in greeting, and then the look on his son's face makes him straighten involuntarily.

"...What's happened?"

[turned_captain]

He's actually been rehearsing this moment intermittently for the past hour or so. The build up, the teasing, the making Bootstrap guess that he's to be a grandfather

But Will can't help himself. It just comes out.

"She's pregnant."

[pirate_jack]

"Yo, ho, yo, ho..."

The song is coming from the edge of the forest, and is shortly followed by the appearance of a pirate.

Jack Sparrow is swaying back and forth as he saunters along, but stops short upon spotting the Dutchman.

"Well, now. If it isn't sweet William."

[turned_captain]

"Jack!"

Will's unusually pleased to see him, today. Maybe it's because he'll get the opportunity to spread his joy around. Maybe with gloating.

"Ahoy!"

[pirate_jack]

"Ahoy yourself," he calls back, grinning broadly. "Been some time, mate."

[turned_captain]

"It has!" Will agrees.

And because he wants to know before he blurts it out; "have you spoken to Elizabeth lately?"