Disclaimer: They all belong to Disney... along wif me weasly black heart.

Author's note: It is a fact that Port Royal, Jamaica was partially destroyed by an earthquake, in the 1690s. This event has been used in some fanfics... I thought I would use it in a one shot. I took liberty with it, a bit, and set it later into the 1700s, when my stories take place. As always, William is "pardoned" from the curse and no longer captains the Flying Dutchman. He and Elizabeth are crewmembers on the Black Pearl, which pleases the ship's beautiful captain a great deal.

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The night was like black velvet around them... the sky was clear, but there was no moon to cast a bright light over the water, or upon the large black galleon as it crept along in the still sea. The waters, themselves, rippled only slightly, like as if it was holding its breath in anticipation of another disaster like the one which had taken place. The ship finally slowed to a silent stop, and with a hand signal, the sails were furled and the anchor lowered only enough to slow any progress. The mighty Black Pearl blended into the night like she was a part of the night, herself. As her lamps were doused, she became completely invisible, much like her captain, with his handsome dark coloring, would; a dark, silent spectre when it was useful to him, ghostlike but for the sound of the trinkets interwoven upon his person.

The crew gathered about one solitary lantern sitting upon the black floorboards of the main deck, partially enclosed by crates pulled around to block the light from anyone that might be watching from the shore. They were there upon a mission of the heart... pirates did have hearts, after all, they just showed them in different ways than the civilized world did. They had just recieved news from James Norrington, the captain of the ghost ship, The Flying Dutchman, that there had been a dreadful disaster... a terrible act of nature that would no doubt cause a great deal of heartache for at least two of the crewmembers of the most famous pirate chip in the Caribbean. Port Royal, Jamaica, had been stricken by a devestating earthquake, and two thirds of the destroyed town was now thirty feet under water...

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"... I want to come, too, Will," Elizabeth Swann Turner was near tears, as her tall, muscular husband prepared to climb down the side of the ship to the waiting longboat. Captain Jack Sparrow looked at her with sympathetic eyes, as he, also was readying himself to lower himself into the darkness, below. William was steadfast.

"... No, my love. Your place is here, watching the Pearl with the rest of the crew." William pulled his wife to him, putting his hand under her chin to raise her lovely face to his. His soft brown eyes met hers, and she knew that what she had said sounded like a child. Jack leaned forward a bit, his own luminous dark eyes catching the small amount of light from the lantern nearby, "Izzy... you know better. We are in hostile waters, lass, an' your fightin' skills are needed right here, in case anything happens... which it won't... but there is always a chance..." The words were punctuated with two graceful forefingers held up in front of the captain's serious face.

Elizabeth laid her head against William's strong, scarred chest, and sighed. "I know... I wasn't thinking..." Looking back up at her husband, she leaned forward and kissed him, her arms around him in a warm, loving embrace.

As she laid her head upon his chest once more, as Jack's rum husky voice whispered to the gathered crew, "If you must speak, speak no louder than I am, now. The water is calm, an' th' wind is heading inland. There is nothing t' obstruct any sound, an' any noise louder 'n' this will carry clear in to shore. Be quiet... or it could be our necks."

Turning his face toward the Turners, he continued speaking to the crew, "You all know why we are here... this is a stronghold o' th' Navy an' th' East India Trading Company, but this was once home t' these two bloody pirates, here." Jack's gold teeth caught the lanternlight as he smiled, wryly, "... an' William an' I are goin' closer in t' find out wot we can about friends and acquaintances... no lootin' here, mates... we are only here for information, savvy?"

The crew was silent. None of them had any good memories of this place, save for hauling Jack Sparrow's scrawny arse out of the sparkling waters to finally reclaim his dark ship upon the very morning that he was to be hung at Gallows Point... many others had met their fates in the very same place, but because of a young blacksmith finding them and making them privy to what he had planned, and telling them where to be upon that morning, Jack Sparrow had been saved.

The only crewmembers who had friends left in Port Royal were Angus Murtogg and Giles Mullroy. They had no idea how many of their old mates had made it back to Port Royal after the Battle of the Maelstrom, but they were worried that there would be casualties among the military. The fort still stood, they had been told, but there were many who had been killed by falling debris, or drowned as the very waterfront fell out from under their feet.

As William finally gave Elizabeth one last kiss upon her forehead, he started over the side of the ship to the longboat, below. Jack prepared to follow him, when Elizabeth took a hold of his sleeve. Turning to look at her, he was greatly surprised that she wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a firm hug, whispering, "Be careful."

Jack grinned and said, "'Careful' is me middle name, love." She frowned at shook her head at the captain, as his dark form disappeared over the side of the ship and into the black, the only evidence that he was there at all being the sound of his boots upon the rungs.

Soon, only the sound of the water lapping against the Pearl's hull, and the soft dipping sound of rowing oars was all that the crew could hear, and Elizabeth Swann Turner began to bite her fingernails as the two men that she loved more than anything in the world disappeared into the darkness.

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Hours passed. The night time stars crept by as the crew grew more and more on edge as there was no sign of their slight captain and his best friend... there was very little talking between the crew... the only sound that brought them any joy at all was the gurgling of Elizabeth's and William's newborn son. Elizabeth brought him out of their cabin to take her mind off of her worry and sadness. As Joshamee Gibbs sat down next to her, she looked up at him with sorrowful eyes and said, softly, "I almost wish that we didn't come... I know that Jack is being very kind in bringing us here to try to find out if anyone is alive, but there will be nothing left of the life that Will and I knew..."

Joshamee smiled at the bonnie lass, and whispered, "I know Jack, Missy, an' he has his reasons t' come back t' Port Royal. He knows tha' this was home t' you an' Will, an' if it can help th' two of ye t' find closure an' complete acceptance o' th' lives that you both have chosen, then so be it."

Elizabeth thought that this was an odd thing to say... she had never had one bit of doubt that she and William had made the right decision to stay with the crew of the Black Pearl, but perhaps Jack was worried that they did have doubts. Or maybe he was just wanting to see things for himself, as he was inclined to do.

Her thoughts were finally interrupted some time later by the sound of oars, rowing a bit slower than before, and she joined the rest of the crew at the railing, straining her eyes against the darkness. Against the even darker water, the silhouette of the longboat materialized like a ghost, with a taller figure rowing, and a slender figure with a tricorn hat at the bow, leaning down low, watching the water with dark, sharp, cat-like eyes.

As Jack and William climbed slowly up the rungs and were pulled onto the main deck, William's tight face and Jack's terse "Weigh anchor... let's get th' hell outta here an' head for open waters... Joshamee, get me a bottle..." was all that the crew needed to hear... especially since Jack called his quartermaster by his first name.

As the Pearl's sails were, again, filling with the power of the low breezes, the ship slowly and silently made it's way back out of the mouth of the bay. William remained silent, his eyes watching the sky as the stars began to move amid the three tall masts of the ship. Turning, he saw the image of his wife, standing a few feet away, watching him with bare emotion etched upon her face. As he opened his arms, she ran to him and embraced him, to comfort him without even knowing what would be forthcoming from him and their captain, who was now pulling the cork of a bottle of rum with his teeth, spitting it out and pouring rum into three tankards.

As they went further and further out to sea, the lanterns were lit, and the warm light was finally inviting enough for the two silent men to tell the crew what they had seen.

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To be continued with the conclusion, tomorrow...