So, Captain Hook wasn't a monster, someone he'd loved had been taken from him.
Kaylee frowned, placing the cub on the ground as she watched from the quarter deck; no one had bothered to guard up here.
"That's absurd! Bootstrap Bill was a pirate but he never stole a child! Never-the-less killed one!" Jackson argued below.
Will's expression was made to looked shocked, but Kaylee could see that this was masking something else. Perhaps he'd known this.
"She was all I had," Hook snarled," I think I'd know how I lost everything."
Wait a minute, Kaylee's frowned deepened.
His eyes were familiar, a clear blue that she knew she'd seen.
"I searched for ten years!" Hook yelled," I scoured every port in the Caribbean! She's dead because of his father!"
He jabbed a finger at Will, whose eyes flashed to Marien for a mere second.
Kaylee arched an eyebrow, and caught a glimpse of gold around Marien's neck; it was similar to the locket she'd seen on Hook's ship. And her eyes were the exact color, just shaped differently.
"I don't think your daughter is dead," Kaylee said suddenly.
All eyes flashed to her as she walked down the railing, no one bothering to grab her.
Hook's eyes flashed, and he dropped his grip on Jackson and aimed his pistol at her.
"What do you know?" he demanded with a glimmer of sudden hope in his eyes.
"How old was the child when she was taken?" Kaylee asked.
Hook didn't move. "Six months," he replied stiffly.
"And her name?"
His eyes narrowed at her, but he answered.
"Marien."
Kaylee could here Gibb's sharp intake, and slowly turned to look at Marien; she'd broken the pirates grip and was shaking her head. Kaylee could see it now, the resemblance was astonishing.
"That's impossible!" she exclaimed, looking from Kaylee to Hook," I would've remembered!"
"At six months you wouldn't have," Kaylee told her.
"This is-no, this is not true!" Marien turned to face Will," This is not true, tell me this is not true!"
Will didn't look at her at first, his expression indescribable.
"Will?" Marien moved closer," this isn't true!"
He turned to face her, his expression giving it all away. "Yes, it is."
Marien's eyes widened and she stepped back, turned to disappear under the hatch.
No one was sure what exactly to do next, both their captains were frozen in shock.
"Er...back to work!" Gibbs shouted, "Leave the captains to their thoughts."
He glanced at Kaylee before walking off, and even Hook's crew followed his orders.
Jackson slowly got to his feet, staring at Will,
"I thought you were kidding," he said, a note of shock in his voice.
Will shook his head, looking as if he wasn't sure what to do.
Kaylee sighed, realizing that this was her fault. But shouldn't he have told Marien? She had a right to know.
****
Will turned Kaylee's dagger over in his hand, studying the hilt.
It was beautiful, the handle encrusted with silvery white pearls; the blade was gleaming silver, showing his reflection at every angle. His memory flashed back to when she stabbed a pirate with it seven years ago, a single pearl flying from it's spot on-impact. It was a beautiful weapon, but it could do so much damage.
He knew he couldn't blame Kaylee for what had transpired, in a way he couldn't be angry with her. Marien had a right to know anyway, it was no longer his choice.
He didn't hear her come in, but she was suddenly sitting next to him on the windowsill.
He sighed, though she'd been the one to reveal it, he couldn't hate her.
"How long have you known?"
The question was straight-forward, but he couldn't help wondering.
"I just realized today," she replied.
Today. She'd figured it out today.
"How did you know?" he asked.
"They have the same eyes, and they are very similar if you look close enough," she told him instantly.
He nodded, and could feel her questions burning.
"I'm sorry, Will," she said.
He shook his head, "It was time she know."
"Why did you keep it from her?"
He sighed, his guilt boiling.
"I didn't always know, but when I found out, I didn't know how to tell her," he replied," we'd just lost everything."
He looked up at her, and she knit her brows together.
"Gibbs told me he gave you the letter your father wrote for you," she said slowly," What exactly did it say?"
He stiffened slightly, what she was asking was a tender subject...but he trusted her. He trusted her with everything he had, and he didn't even know why.
He reached into his coat and pulled out the envelope; wrinkled over time and with an opened red seal. He handed it to her, and her open it.
He'd read it so many times over in his head that he knew exactly what it said:
Will,
I know you must have many questions, and I don't blame you, but there is something you must know. I only have moments left, and this is my will. I leave my ship, the Black Pearl, to you and your sister. I leave my fortune to your mother. Tell her I'm sorry. There is one more thing I must tell you, and it may come as quite a shock. Marien is not your sister, and to my grief, I stole her from a man named Killian Jones. My last request is that you return her to him. As you have heard, a man named Charles Darlo is raging across the Caribbean. There is only one way to stop him, and you must finish what I started. This will help you.
Sincerely,
Your father.
Kaylee looked back at him, her eyes reflecting pity.
"What else did he send?" she asked quietly.
"This." He felt around his neck for the chain that he'd never taken off since that day, he held up the medallion for her to see.
She moved closer, taking it into her hands. "What does this do?" she asked.
"It's a key."
She shook her head, and placed it back on it's chest; her hands lingering there for a moment.
"Captain Hook is Marien's father," she said.
"Killian Jones," Will nodded.
"I'm sorry if you hate me," she bit her lip, her slightly-longer canine teeth reaching over her bottom lip.
"Hate you?" he chuckled," I could never hate you."
She smiled, lightening his heart, but then her smile faltered. " Will, there is something you should know."
"That you are the girl I met seven years ago?"
She stared at him in surprise," How?"
"I had my suspicion from the day you boarded the ship," Will told her," I lied when I said I couldn't remember your name."
Kaylee blinked rapidly," I knew it was you from that morning up on the mast, when you showed me that pearl. It's from one of my daggers."
"I know." He turned the dagger in his fingers to hand it back to her.
She took it slowly, and he smiled slightly.
"You dream about me?"
She laughed, her cheeks flushing." Thanks, Reep."
Will chuckled, but he still wanted to know why she dreamt of him of all people.
"I've dreamt about you since the night I first saw you," Kaylee told him," You were always a boy, but then you grew into a young man and the dreams became more and more distant. I never forgot you, Will."
She took his hand, lacing his rough, callused ones with her strangely delicate ones.
"Perhaps this was meant to be."