Disclaimer: Not mine. Just borrowing them!

Author's Note: This is just a little something that I thought up since seeing AWE. It was not well explained in the movie, due to dialogue cuts, that Will is NOT doomed to serve aboard the Dutchman for eternity, according to the film's writers. Davy Jones had to because of the sad breakup with Calypso. The fact that Will escapes service to the Dutchman after 10 years makes me very, very happy! The whole movie made me very, very happy! Pirate Cat

"... William, can ye see through things??? 'Cause if ye can, I ain't rollin' th' dice wif ye!"

Captain Will Turner laughed out loud at Captain Jack Sparrow's apprehension over playing a game of Liar's Dice with him. "No, Jack, I can't see through things. I can transport myself from one spot to the next, faster than you can say 'savvy', but seeing through things is not one of my new talents."

Jack frowned at him suspiciously; then his look softened, and he asked, a bit apprehensively, "... how are ye, lad? Are ye really doin' okay wif th' way tha' things turned out?" His deep, dark eyes searched Will's, as the new captain of the Flying Dutchman looked back at him with mild surprise.

"Yes, Jack. I am fine with things. I have a duty to fulfill, my Elizabeth waiting for me, my father serving with me on my ship..."

Jack's face had gone from concerned to sadness. "...are ye sure?" He needed to hear it for himself that he didn't condemn his friend to a life of misery. Will smiled broadly, "Jack, you don't understand. If Elizabeth and I prove our love and faithfulness to each other, Calypso has promised that I will not have to serve for eternity. I can return to Elizabeth and live out my life."

Jack's eyes grew huge, "Really? I didn't know that! But what about..."

Will narrowed his eyes and raised his eyebrows, holding up both index fingers, much like Jack would, still smiling, "I am cursed to stay for eternity, seeing my wife for just one day every ten years, only if Elizabeth or I fall prey to weakness. I have total faith in both of us, Jack. Elizabeth proved her true love to me, just as you proved to all of us that you are a very good man. Goes to prove that you don't know it all, Jack. Maybe I can join you on the Pearl once I am released from the Dutchman?"

Jack nodded, uncertainly, mulling this over... it felt strange... the whelp had grown so much wiser during Jack's time in the Locker, and Jack sometimes felt as though, he, himself, was slipping badly... his dark face grew somber as he looked around the deck of the Flying Dutchman. Jack's small dinghy was tied up to the side, proudly waving it's little homemade pirate flag with it's flying sparrow. He looked back at Will and shrugged, "I may never get my ship back, William. Maybe I don't deserve to have my Pearl as me own..." his voice trailed off, sadly, and he looked down at the mug of rum that Will had poured for him.

The truth of the matter was that Will was able to "see" things that he didn't tell his friend... that he knew Jack had bravely set out on his own, in yet another tiny stolen boat, his stubborn heart set on more adventures, and hoping to find the Black Pearl... but Will also knew that Jack Sparrow was changed. He was seeing things that weren't there, talking to himself, and getting a vacant look in his eyes that had been appearing there, now and then, ever since he was found in the Locker. He was taking crazy chances, endangering himself, without even knowing it most of the time. Will knew that his friend was playing a dangerous game going out all alone on the sea since his ship was commandeered by Captain Hector Barbossa - playing a dangerous game with the Royal Navy. Jack was not seeing things at all clearly, even though he had the utmost self confidence that he was.

Will also knew that Jack may never see his beloved ship, again, if it were up to him to try to get her back all alone. Will leaned forward on his elbows, his shirt opening a bit at the front, revealing the large scar across his chest. "Jack... I know that you have lost the Pearl, and I know how much that hurts you... and I want you to stay on my ship for a few days. It's alright... We both need to sort some things out, and I think it would be good for the both of us to bounce some ideas off of each other, eh?"

Jack looked up, and looked puzzled for a moment, "William, why can I visit ye aboard th' Dutchman, an' Elizabeth can't? That's a part of th' curse, isn't it? Ye can't have th' ones tha' ye love aboard, can ye?"

Will paused for a long moment, then reached over and patted his friend's arm, "... well, let's just say that I am not allowed to have Elizabeth aboard... it might be called a curse, but I prefer to call it a 'test'... I am allowed to have some loved ones aboard to visit..." William hesitated, then said, ".. such as the man that I consider to be my best friend. The man that I plan to help in any way that I can in order to get his own ship back..."

Jack looked up at the young man that he also considered to be his best friend, and said quietly, "Ye'd do that, William? After all tha' we've gone through, ya'd help me catch up t' me Pearl an' get her back from Barbossa?"

"... the sea is my home, now, too, Jack. And I need you and the Pearl at ready. We are a good team, you and I. I am sure that we can convince Captain Barbossa to see things our way." Will picked up his own mug of rum and studied his companion.

Jack had been silent for some time. He finally looked up and smiled brightly. "Me little companion, here, " he pointed to his shoulder, a shoulder with nothing on it except long, dark hair, "... me little companion tells me tha' ye're right. Ye'll help me t' get me ship back, an' me an' me Pearl will be 'round whenever Captain William-I-Used-t'-Be-A-Blacksmith Turner needs us, savvy?"

Will nodded to Jack's "little imaginary companion" that was supposedly sitting on his slender friend's shoulder, and winked. "Good call, mate. I hope that you can keep giving my friend Jack such sound advice."

William looked up at Captain Jack Sparrow, and smiled in the lantern light that now spilled over the deck of the beautifully reborn Flying Dutchman... the new, young, handsome captain shook the cup containing the dice, and said, "How about a game, my friend?"

Jack nodded, but narrowed his eyes and tilted his head. "William, are ye sure tha' ye can't see th' dice somehow?"

Will sighed and rolled his eyes.