"aye," jack nodded. "but your voice has meaning to me, love." with that, he walked away towards will.
bella furrowed her brows in confusion, smiling slightly, and got up to follow him. she didn't quite know what to expect with him yet.
"here they come," will gestured toward the interceptor coming up behind them.
a grin spread across jack's face. his brilliant plan would indeed work. bella disabled the rudder chain.
norrington's crew boarded the dauntless.
the three quickly swung across the water to the interceptor, then disconnected all the rope and boards connecting the two ships.
realizing they had succeeded, bella couldn't help but smile at the look on the marine's faces.
"thank you for helping us make way, commodore! we'd have had a hard time of it by ourselves!" jack shouted, waving his hat in farewell.
bella stood by jack at the helm, blowing kisses at all the frost-headed men.
* * *
"when i was a lad, my mother raised me by herself," will said out of the blue. "after she died, i came out here, looking for my father."
"is that so?" jack said, hardly seeming interested. he followed bella to the quarterdeck.
"my father? william turner? in the jail, it was only after you learnt my name you agreed to help. since that's what i wanted, i didn't press the matter," will said. "i'm not a simpleton, jack. you knew my father."
jack sighed. bella stood at the helm, watching the two confront each other.
"i knew him," jack said. "probably one of the few who knew him as william turner. everyone else called him bootstrap or bootstrap bill."
"bootstrap?" will repeated in disbelief.
jack walked over to bella. she gave him control of the wheel. "good man. good pirate," he said to will. "i swear, you look just like him."
"it's not true," will said angrily. "he was a merchant sailor, a respectable man who obeyed the law."
bella smiled thinly when jack rolled his eyes. "he was a bloody pirate, a scallywag."
"my father was NOT a pirate." will drew his sword.
"put it away, will," bella sighed.
"it's not worth you getting beat again," said jack tiredly.
"you didn't beat me. you ignored the rules of engagement. in a fair fight, i'd kill you."
"well, then that's not much incentive for me to fight fair then, is it?" jack said over his shoulder. bella let out a small laugh. something about this man...
suddenly, jack spun the wheel insanely hard to starboard, and will was suspended by the swinging mast.
"now, as long as you're just hanging there, pay attention. the only rules that really matter are these. what a man can do, and what a man can't do. now, you can accept that your father was a pirate and a good man, or you can't. but pirate is in your blood, boy, so you'll have to square with that someday."
will struggled to stay up.
"now, me for example, i can let you drown. but i can't bring this ship into tortuga with just bella to help me, savvy?"
bella scoffed jokingly.
"nothing against you, love, but this ship needs at least three sailors," jack turned to her. for some reason, they just understood each other.
"so..." jack aggressively turned the wheel hard to port. will flopped back onto the deck, and jack pointed a sword at him. "can you sail under the command of a pirate?" he flipped the sword. "or can you not?"
will took the handle of the sword in agreement.
"honestly, will, i don't know why you're so taken aback by your father's previous line of work," bella said in all sincerity.
"i don't know why you're so open to it," countered will, standing up.
bella sighed. she cast a look at jack, who slightly nodded. then she said: "you're not the only one with pirate in your blood."
"what?"
"you heard me."
". . . your father too?"
"my father too," bella nodded. "it took a long time, but after scouting out every sailor to arrive in port royal, i finally met a merchant named matthews about six years ago. i asked him about my father, and he was the first person to tell me the truth."
"you never told me?"
"no," bella said without a trace of guilt in her voice. "i thought it was best that i pieced together more about his past before dropping that bomb on you. i never even told my mother i know the truth."
"hmm." nodded will slowly.
jack cut in. "you've got his eyes, you know," he said, charming as ever. "and his nerve."
she chuckled lightly. "tortuga, then?"
jack smiled. "tortuga."
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