Starry, Starry Night

Disclaimer: I am neither Disney, nor Jerry Bruckheimer, and am not using these characters for profit in any way. I am merely using them for personal entertainment. (Means Will and Jack aren't mine.)

Rating: PG-13, for light male/male sexuality (kissing).

Warning: This is a slash story; read no further if the idea of two men having intimate relations is uncomfortable to you. There is also mention of past character death.

Pairing: Jack/Will

Author's note: This is honestly, the first fic I've posted publicly on ff.net. (Read: not my first fic, just the first posted.) But seriously folks, my knowledge of Nautical Celestial Navigation is very limited, and if you know the actual way to do it, write me and tell me, preferably in small words and short sentences so I'll understand. The Chained Lady is Andromeda, and the Little Bear is Ursa Minor. I'm not even sure you can see them in the sky at the same time. Hopefully, you won't even notice. Feedback is welcome, but please be constructive.

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               It was late evening, and the sky above the Black Pearl was rapidly darkening. The stars had begun to come out, and the brilliant dusting of stars was mirrored in the sea that churned in their wake. Somewhere below decks a sailor had begun playing a lute, and as it echoed around the wooden ship, it sounded haunting and alien as it reached the upper deck. The whole ship vibrated a sense of the magical; whether it was the remnants of the curse on the ship or merely Will's loneliness, the young blacksmith couldn't tell.

               The ship was four days out of port, and there was no sign of life or land in sight, and to the young man sitting on the mid-deck, it was the perfect escape from his station and society. His life was now a mixture of adventure and toil, a far improvement from the dreary existence he had lived after Elizabeth... passed.

               Now, his eye fell, as it often did, upon the Captain, one Jack Sparrow, family friend and general annoyance: his father's Captain, and now his own Captain. In the moonlight, Jack looked fey-like, not so much ghostly as ethereal. Will had seen what Jack would look like as a ghost, and didn't want to repeat the experience - too frightening, in more ways that one. No, Will thought Jack looked as if he was bathed in the moonlight, as a sheen of silver outlined Jack's body as he stood at the helm. As the thought passed through his mind; a sigh passed from his lips.  

               "What's on yer mind, luv?" came the voice from the wheel, typically rough and a little slurred. Will looked up in surprise. Jack had typically ignored Will on the nights when he sat on deck away from the crew. Will looked at Jack closely, following the line of his body against the wheel, noting how his arm appeared to be haphazardly lain on the spokes and the tension that revealed otherwise.

               Will took a deep breath and looked up at the stars, trying to calm the hitch that had come in his breath and sighed again, this time deeply and raggedly. "Is it always like this?" he said offhandedly to Jack, hoping the man would just ignore him and keep steering.

               "What do ye mean, whelp?" came the response. Will turned his eyes on Jack again, and the Captain leaned against the wheel and beckoned the younger man up to the upper deck.

               Will took the chance to stretch his legs, and bent backwards before climbing the few stairs and sat down on a crate next to the rail. "Is it," he gestured wildly with his arm in a long sweeping motion to indicate the sky and the ocean and the ship with its haunting laughter and otherworldly music, "always like this?" As he gestured, he didn't see the Captain's eyes, hidden by the shadows of his hat and the kohl that lined them, sweep over the line of his body and then close halfway. If Will had been able to see them, he might have wondered at what made them look so doleful

               "Boy, ye know better than that." Jack said, looking skyward and making a slight correction to the helm. "The sea is a perfidious mistress, and as inconstant as th' moon." 

               "It's just... I feel as if I'm dreaming. The sea, the stars, the air..." Will paused, and looked at his shoe. It was stained with tar and dirt, more properly a boot than a shoe. The buckled shoes had been traded in Tortuga for the boots, and Will had never felt more comfortable. Now, he picked off the grime as he spoke. Will was unable to find the words now, and settled into his own reliable melancholy. "Elizabeth would have liked it."

               "Aye, yer strumpet would have been in paradise." Jack said, as he respectfully pulled his hat off and held it to his breast. "May she rest in peace." Jack put his hat back on his head after a moment and his eyes, but not his neck, shifted to look at Will. "And you?" he said as he looked over his nose at the young man. "Do ye like the view I've set before ya?"

               "I... love it." Will looked at Jack as he said it, letting his eyes search the Captain's. In the moonlight, Jack's face looked sad and lost, yet Will lost his own thoughts as he looked into the dark depths shrouded by the kohl-lined lids. An infinite silence stretched before the two men, broken only by the incessant beating of the waters on the boat. Will could almost feel it rock in time to the beating of his heart as it slowed. For a moment, Will thought himself and Jack the only two people on the ship, bringing back lost memories of the fateful journey to Tortuga on the Interceptor.

               The moment was broken when Jack's eyes shifted upwards again, towards the sky. "Stand up lad, and let the old pirate teach you somethin'." Will stood, unfolding his long, lean limbs in a complicated motion aided by the motion of the ship. When he finally stood, he leaned against the rail next to the captain and followed Jack's gaze up towards the stars. At least, until Jack grabbed his arm and pulled him closer to the wheel. "Hold th' wheel steady, lad, steady..." Jack set Will in front of the wheel, and stood behind him, and Jack set his hand over Will's, leading the direction. "D'ya feel the pull of the ship?" he asked, his voice right in Will's ear. Will nodded, as his Adam's apple bobbed when he swallowed. "Now jus' keep 'er steady and follow my directions, and we'll be fine. Savvy?"

               Will managed to find his voice and croaked, "Yes." Jack stepped forward and melded his body to Will's, leading the boy and teaching him at the same time. Will, however, could hardly concentrate. His senses overran his mind, and all he could think about was the feeling of Jack's rough hands on his own, the man's lean body close to his, the smell of rum and spice and sea and... something that should have been foul. Will's mind seemed to shut down as the thoughts that he hadn't been able to voice earlier bubbled to the surface like so many lost breaths. They all stayed at the surface, but Will's voice seemed to drown again, and he settled for breathing deeply that strange scent that seemed to be uniquely Jack's.

               The reverie was broken sharply, as Jack's left hand had come up sharply and tilted Will's head back a bit violently. "Pay attention, whelp, or I'll not be teachin' ye anythin', savvy?" Will nodded again, and looked upward. It seemed that Jack was in the business of navigating by the stars. "Now if ya had been paying attention, ya would've learned that th' star directly up an' ahead of us is the North Star. As long as ye has her in yer sights, you'll not get lost."

               Will thought about this for a moment, letting Jack's lesson overwhelm his senses. "What happens if you've got a cloudy night?"

               "Most fancy sailors carry a compass for that occasion, otherwise yer bound to be lost at sea." Behind him, Jack's smile turned into a smirk. "Most important thing you can have, a compass."

               "But Jack, you don't have a compass," Will said offhandedly, and Jack's unseen grin became even wider.

               "Aye, but you're forgettin' one very important fact." Jack paused for dramatic effect. "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow. I don't need a compass." Will turned and looked at him incredulously and began slightly shaking with mirth that turned into a chuckle, and then a laugh in a few moments. Jack joined him, and Will forgot about his earlier discomfort until Jack suddenly jerked and grabbed the wheel. Jack turned Will back around and grumbled. "We'd best be payin' attention, or Anamaria will take our heads for getting' lost."

               Will inwardly smiled and looked at the wheel. "Jack, who's the captain of the ship? You, or Ana?" This earned him a cuff on the shoulder, and Jack's unintelligible rebuff.

               After a few moments, Jack returned to the lesson. "Now, look for the Chained Lady*, and ye'll know yer next point. Then find the Little Bear*..." Jack continued on in this vein for a few moments, but Will was only half paying attention again. It felt like a dream, and in his mind's eye, he knew that when Elizabeth had told him to find his destiny, she had meant this - not just the life and the lesson, but the place and the arms around him. He could see her face, pale and wan, her eyes dark and shining, and hear her voice as strong as the day they met. Now, Will realized, they were memories, meant to be cherished, but not clung to like a rope. Will sighed again, and Jack paused in his long-winded speech. "What did I say about paying attention, whelp?" Jack said softly.  "This is one of those opportune moments, where you're learnin' something you'll be hard pressed to learn from someone else - Especially one with as much talent as me."  Will turned his whole body to meet the Captain's eyes, and they were shining with starlight.

               "Sorry Jack, I was letting my mind wander." Will looked carefully at the Captain and could see a faint bemused smile adorning Jack's face.

               "Do you remember what I told ye about opportune moments, Young William?" Jack said, his eyes still a little wistful, as his hands gripped the spokes of the wheel tightly. Will opened his mouth to reply, but Jack moved in, closing the small distance between them, and covered Will's mouth with his own. It was a hungry kiss, but chaste with endless questions and possible answers. The only thing Will could possibly do, thought his mind, was return the kiss. He did, and it pulled the Captain closer as Will's arms snaked around Jack and into the hair that fell against Jack's coat. Unlike the plaits and mats that fell in front of Jack's face, this hair was soft, and Will tangled his fingers in it. This was exactly what Will had been dreaming about; it was the endless answer to his own endless, unasked questions. Jack pulled back for a second, but before Will could protest, Jack whispered against his lips, "I never waste them."

               They parted and Will choked back a slight sob. "Sometimes, when I dream, I think someone is still laying next to me." He looked into Jack's eyes, which were still shining with moonlight. "When I wake up, I'm all alone."

               "Well, Young William, are ye dreamin' now?" asked the Captain as Will rested his head against Jack's shoulder. Will could only shake his head, and Jack's free hand pressed against Will's shoulder. Unseen by the eyes that were closed against the rough shoulder, Jack looked up at the sky and propped his chin against Will's forehead. "I won't let ya go, Mr. Turner," he said as he pressed his lips to Will's brown locks. Will felt Jack's precarious balance shift as he was pressed against the steering wheel, and he raised his head from Jack's shoulder to kiss him roughly. In the distance, the continued strains of a muddled melody came echoing back from a twisting sea wind.

               They stood like that for an unending moment, tranquil and motionless in their own world untouched by the crowd below the deck, or the rocking of the sea. Above them, the moon shone on, her light occasionally shrouded by clouds but brightly mirrored in the sea. The stars, some fixed and constant and others ever changing and mutable, and sparkled like diamonds all around them, having fallen in the sea.