Epilogue

Jack came back to consciousness in stages. First was his vague awareness of voices fading in and out around him. Worried ones that were calling his name faded to voices that seemed to be talking about him, but he was right there... Why weren't they talking to him rather than about him? Somehow he couldn't find the strength to force his eyes open, so he settled for letting those voices fade into what sounded like Ana whispering something he couldn't quite make out, and that irritated him. The pirate captain managed to crack one eye open and give her a weak smile. "Wha' was tha', luv?" he asked, his voice raspy from lack of use.

Ana looked startled for the briefest moment before she launched herself forward. Jack wasn't sure if she meant to hurt him or if it was just a side effect of her enthusiasm of having him back among the land of the living. "I said you better come back or I'd drag yer sorry hide back from 'ell if I 'ad to," she mumbled in his ear.

Jack flashed her a wider grin. "Aye, luv, but I saved ye the trouble. I staid 'ere, and plannin' on stayin' 'ere a good while longer."

"Good to 'ear, Cap'n."

"Where are we?"

"Docking in Port Royal as we speak."

"Good to 'ear," Jack responded with a smile still on his face. He forced himself up in the bed and stretched his stiff body out. His ankle throbbed horribly, but nowhere near the ache that had been in it several days before. Bodies heal in time, and he was willing to handle a few more aches for a short time span to know that his nightmares had stayed right where they belonged: in the darkest corner of his mind and out of reality.

"Jack!"

Jack turned his dark brown eyes to the blacksmith that was standing in the cabin's doorway. "'allo, lad."

"You're all right!" Will said excitedly. Jack would have to ask him why he was so chipper when he could get a word in. "We were starting to think that you weren't going to wake."

"'m alive, ye 'aven't gotten rid 'o me yet," the captain answered with a smile. "Lad, ye a'right?"

"Better than," Will answered with enough nervous energy to lift him off the ground. "I just got a notice that Elizabeth's about to have the baby."

"Then wha' are ya standin' 'round 'ere for, whelp? Get movin'!"

Will nodded wordlessly as he scampered out the door and towards the schooners to go ashore, leaving Jack and Ana to chuckle at the soon to be father's reaction to the news. Jack shook his head slowly as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed as carefully as he could manage.

"Wha' the 'ell do ye think yer doin', Jack Sparrow?" Ana demanded.

"Tha's 'Captain', luv, an 'm getting' out of the bed so I can go see Will's new treasure snipe."

"Are ye now?"

Jack looked up at the woman that towered over him as he sat on the bed. She stood with her arms crossed and a glare set on her features. "Since when do you give me orders on what to do?" he mumbled as he slipped around her to stand slowly and gently, putting as much weight as he could on his good ankle to give the injured one a break. Everything was stiff and his body threatened to rebel against him and send him pitching forward, but Jack forced its compliance. "If ye'd like to come, luv, I'd suggest ye get yer pretty tail movin'," he offered as he started off after Will for the next schooner.

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It took Jack and Ana a considerable larger amount of time to reach the Turner's home with the pirate captain limping the whole way with moments where Ana made him sit and rest for as long as he might. When they did reach it, however, William Turner was nowhere to be found. In the main room sat James Norrington and Governor Swann paced anxiously, looking up only briefly as the pirates entered.

Norrington stood. "You look terrible, Captain," he said stiffly.

Jack gave him an odd look, his mind still moving sluggishly from his days of only semi consciousness. "Any news other than we know?" he asked at length.

"Mrs. Turner's child is due any moment now," Norrington responded.

"So we sit and wait?" Jack asked in a huff.

Ana rolled her eyes. "I told you that you should have slowed down. You put all that weight on your injured ankle for nothin', ye daft fool."

Jack started to respond when a cry erupted from the bedroom and everyone turned their eyes to the hallway. There was a long silence before a different kind of cry came from the room. It was a good five minutes of tense silence before the door opened and Will stepped out, holding a small bundle in his arms. "We're naming him Bill, after my father," he said quietly, looking fondly at the small boy in his arms.

Jack watched his friend in a quiet manner, his eyes watching the younger man's movements with his new child. He looked at Ana for a moment, then, and briefly thought about what it would be like to settle down the same way the Turners had. He banished the thought at that moment and decided that if it every came to them having a child, he was going to be brought up right: as a pirate.

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A/N: Yay! Done!!! Happy!!!!

Rose Noire le Mort: well... people kiss cheeks in Europe and it's not gay... but yes, that's a bit far away and thank you for not kissing me b/c I'm very picky about personal space :P Ana didn't die! I wouldn't kill her! I'm too much of a Jack/Ana fan hehe

Kungfuchick: hope I updated quickly enough

Dawnie-7: Yay! You got it! I just had to add it in there....

Jackfan2: Nope, that's something off the top of my head, not a SH quote, but hey, it gives you an excuse to go watch it again! Much fun! Yes, I will be working on my next story sometime in the near future.... Someday.... Maybe...

Flute Damioh: He's fine... C'mon, he's Captain Jack Sparrow! He'll live through anything, even Saiko as an author!

Lynx Ryder: Yeah, the monkey's weird, but he's my best friend's fav. Character. Weird, huh?

Sorry ya'll for short replies, but I'm trying to get this posted tonight before going to bed. G'night