Reunions Ch 13

"I wish we at least had some music."

Evianne laughed softly. "I don't." She sighed and looked out at the sea, the horizon showing the first symptoms of the day's death. Nothing could be heard in the open ocean. "I never did like music at all. It's a compilation of noises, arranged in a way that makes sense to the human ear. I fail to find any captivating attributes to it. It's chaotic, too analogous to the chaos of life." She dipped her hand into the water. "Don't you sometimes find you'd rather pause on the beach and stop – regardless of any duties or chores, man-made burdens – just stop and breathe in the salty air, and listen to the deep voice of the waves, and hear the seagulls babbling in the distance?" She looked up at him sadly. "The rhythm of nature is that which we should follow, not that of man. We are our own captives."

"I think you misinterpret the point of music."

"No, I don't think I do. Then again, I grew up to Hubert singing sea shanties. That might've traumatized me slightly, come to think of it."

"For what it's worth, it was very poetic."

Evianne sighed. "According to Jack, my mother did love poetry."

The boat bobbed as the sun dropped lower in the sky. Evianne then sighed. "You and your mother are very close."

"Mother only has me, and I her. I love her, and we can't very well hold grudges or hate each other, we need each other to scrape a living."

Evianne nodded, staring at the floor of the boat. "I understand, very well." She looked back up at him. "But really, who knows? With Jack's wondrous plan we may have your father back within a short time."

"Perhaps," sighed Will. "Evianne... She talks about him so much, and from my old memories.... I've always dreamed of the day he'd be freed, and I'd actually have a father. A time when I'd not just talk to him for a day, and then have to wait another decade. Even if he's shattered my expectations, that still doesn't change much...."

Evianne disregarded this last comment. "And you're... your family is actually having the chance to get him back. Lucky duck," she said with mock jealousy, though William saw just a hint of the real thing, deep in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Evianne—"

"No, really, it's fine," she cut him off quickly. "Really, Will, it brings me joy to see that someone with opportunities I'll never have values them, even after what happened today on the Dutchman. I'll never see my mother, no matter how far I travel or what perils I face."

I won't either, unless we witness a miracle. "You've not mentioned her at all before."

"Speaking of her around Jack is like treading upon thin ice."

"Jack happens to not be here," Will cajoled.

Evianne rolled her eyes, but sighed in a signal of surrender. "Well. Get comfortable," she sighed. "It's quite tragic, you know, how she ended up marrying a pirate… She was actually the daughter of a rich merchant; the Matthiesens were quite up there in the English social ladder. But when her father was unjustly accused of treason to the crown, he was executed. My grandmother escaped England with her daughter, Lauren Adena, and two sons, Thomas and Edward. They ended up in Port Royal ahead of the soldiers. But on the way to Tortuga, where they were planning to settle and hide from the Royal Navy, their ship was attacked.

"My grandmother was killed, and so was one of my mother's brothers, Thomas. My mother was thirteen at the time, and her remaining brother, Edward, was eighteen. They survived, finished the journey to Tortuga by working their passage on a vessel with a tolerative captain, and lived there on the island. But Edward left after four years; despite his father's past 'crimes,' he'd managed to obtain a post with the East India Trading Company. He left Tortuga without so much as a glance back or a single word of farewell. Simply disappeared one day, leaving his seventeen-year-old sister to fend for herself on the island.

"My mother only found out his whereabouts by way of a letter he sent her many months later. She neither saw nor spoke to him after he left, but years later she finally wrote her reply to his single letter. It said, quite simply, that she'd married and was leaving Tortuga . She told him it would do no good for him to try to reach or find her again. Ever."

"So I surmise you've never received word from your uncle?" asked Will.

Evianne shook her head. "Never from him directly. He most likely has no clue I exist, or that his sister Adena is dead. But the name Matthiesen enters the Navy swines' conversation quite often. From spying, I learned he's now a prominent ship's captain. Working closely with Henry Beckett," she said disgustedly. "I'd not hesitate to kill him. He was no family of my mother's, and no family of mine."

"That's a bit harsh," said Will.

Evianne smiled ruefully. "Life's harsh, Will. Just look around you."

The sky was a pale gold now, splashed with pastel hues which the glittering water reflected like a paint-laden canvas. The sun was a small, bright crown still sitting above the horizon, sinking almost imperceptibly into the endless expanse of the sea.

"Can I ask you a question Evianne?" asked Will after a few minutes of looking at the beautiful spectacle.

"Fire."

"...Why do you always call Jack 'Jack' and Never 'father'?"

Evianne shrugged. "Jack Sparrow is not the type to outwardly express or receive affection, and I was raised with that mindset. I suppose it'd be a weakness among us pirates. And it's also simple force of habit."

"Do you feel that you're you like him in that respect?"

Evianne stared out at the horizon thoughtfully. "I keep my distance to maintain their safety." She turned back to him. "If someone I had feelings for were to suffer or die because of me, I'd not forgive myself. Simply because I am a pirate – and a Sparrow, no less – those around me are always at risk."

"I know where you're coming from, and I could say the same, being a Turner. But Evianne, anyone can die at any moment, and we will all have our time. I know I would rather live a week full of emotion than an empty century. Learn to live life."

Evianne raised an eyebrow at him. "Where did the sudden wisdom come from?"

"Marty is a wise man," attempted Will.

"Well, I do love how you speak as if we were to see another sunset. It would seem our 'time' is now.

"So, Turner, have you lived your life?" commented Evianne subduedly.

They locked eyes.

"I think I have."

The heavens turned into a deep navy color around them, before finally surrendering to a star-laden sky of pitch. Cold quickly descended on them, a vulture descending on a dying animal; Will's soul was now choked by a icy dread in the silence.

"He'll do it," muttered Evianne suddenly.

"What?"

"Jack will find your father. And-- He'll--- " Though he could not see her tears, Will could hear the tears in her voice. He moved tentatively, for fear that the boat might tip over, but he settled himself beside Evianne and she accepted his embrace. He held her close in the frigid blackness as she sobbed into his chest.

"Evianne, listen. Until it happens, we'll just pretend we're not going to... we'll pretend we'll both be going home. Evianne, we're both going home. We're both going to see our fathers. Everything is going to fix itself."

He heard her take a deep breath and felt her lift her face. "I'm sorry. I'm being idiotic. All right." A knot formed in Will's throat. Evianne was a skilled liar; she could even trick herself. He found it impossible. He hugged her more closely and settled his face on the top of her head, breathing in her hair.

"Will."

"Yes?"

"When your father returns," she began, her voice so composed you'd think they were sharing a conversation in a tavern, "You, your mother, and him, you'll all be a happy trio...

"I asked you, once, if staying on Isla Cossette was what you wanted. You didn't answer."

Will lifted his face. "On the contrary, I believe I told you I was 'settled and content'."

"That was earlier in the conversation in question, actually. We both knew you were lying to yourself, Turner. Lying to yourself desperately just as you're trying now. But that time, you hesitated. I told you, then, that... it didn't have to be that way."

"Right. I remember. And I asked you what other choice I had. Well? What other choice do I have? I have to go back, continue my apprenticeship, do the odd sailing jobs, help mother--"

"Your mother will have a husband to look after her."

"What are you suggesting, that maybe she won't want me there anymore?" An edge crept into his voice.

After a pause, Evianne said, almost in a whisper, "That maybe I want you on the iBlack Pearl/i."

Will's heart skipped a beat. Evianne closed the gap between their faces, bringing her forehead up to his in the dark. He felt her pulse quicken in his arms and simultaneously felt her face draw closer.

"I figure... since I've killed you already... no harm done...." She pressed her lips against his.