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𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐀 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐐𝐔𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐂𝐊, head turned towards the shadowy water. leech was at the helm, and she wasn't tired enough to sleep.
she was left to her own thoughts about what might be bothering jack. over the past year, the two had never fallen out of love. however, they weren't exactly making much profit in terms of pirating. bella knew something was wrong with the captain; something was definitely vexing him. but for now, it was silent.
then, she heard the door to jack's cabin swing open. now was her chance; there was almost nobody on the deck.
"jack!"
"eh?"
"do we have a heading?"
"steady as she goes," jack said dismissively. bella looked back at leech apologetically, then jumped off the railing and followed jack.
"where are you going?"
"i need a drink," jack said, softer now as they passed by the crew sleeping. "as you were, gents."
they descended another flight of stairs, and jack grabbed his keys from his coat. he unlocked the door to the cellar, then hung the keys on the wall. they walked down an aisle, and jack stopped to look at some sea creatures infesting a shelf. they were pretty nasty.
bella took jack's free hand in hers. she was about to ask him what was wrong, but he spotted a bottle and pulled away from her to grab it.
jack tipped it over, but it was just full of sand.
suddenly, a tired voice echoed: "time's run out, jack."
in shock, jack dropped the bottle to the ground, and bella jumped to his arm for comfort.
jack cautiously led them both forward, and they peered around the dimly lit corner.
"bootstrap? bill turner?" jack whispered to a barley recognizable face, covered in barnacles, ocean waste, and sea creatures.
"you look good, jack," the man said, turning to face them.
jack looked completely baffled, and bella looked confused. he tilted his head.
"is this a dream?" he asked.
"no," replied the man.
"i thought not," jack sighed. "if it were, there'd be rum." jack set down his lantern on a barrel. bootstrap stuck out his arm, holding a bottle.
jack took it. "you got the pearl back, i see. and a pretty lady along with it."
"we had some help retrieving the pearl, by the way," jack answered. bella looked at him. "your son."
"william?" bootstrap looked shocked. "he ended up a pirate after all."
"and to what do we owe the pleasure of your carbuncle?" bella asked, still very much confused.
