Savvy? [Will Turner]

XIX

19.

Jack's crew emerged from the hull of the Pearl and shouted their delight through cheers of praise as Jack fought to get to the wheel, his mind set on getting out of there before the HMS Dauntless recognized Jack, Elizabeth, or Will.

"Gibbs!" Jack opened his arms as Gibbs made his way up the steps from where Jack had opened his compass with a smile.

"Jack! good to see ye' alive and well. You gave us quite a fright." He chuckled as he took his spot beside the Captain. While Lynn would usually stand where Gibbs had taken up residence, Jack didn't let it bother him, thinking the young prince was hanging around the Turner boy.

Fixating his hat on the top of his head, Jack surveyed the remnants of his crew, Mr. Cotton's parrot was flying above everyone's head, Anna Maria was hanging around the boys as she did just a good a job as any other man, and Elizabeth was making her way over to Will with a smile. Lynn was good at lurking in the shadows and had often made it a game for Jack to try and find Lynn within a crowd to which he had always failed so he didn't think much of it when Lynn's mess of long hair couldn't be spotted in the crowd.

"I figured out a way, we always do." Jack hummed out to Gibbs as the ship's final masts were released from their thresholds and caught the wind, pushing the fastest boat known to man forwards and out towards the horizon. 

Will nearly jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder, the events of the last few days had made him tense. The muscles loosened and his frame shrunk as he relaxed upon finding that it was just Elizabeth. She joined him in looking out over the railing of the ship, watching the ship's material break through the water.

"I never got the time to thank you for coming for me," Elizabeth spoke without tearing her gaze off the horizon. As much as she wanted to glance at Will, she refrained. Will looked troubled and the young girl hated seeing him like that. He just hummed out in reply, not focussed on her words in the slightest.

"What's bothering you?" She wrapped her arms around Will's shoulders and pressed her cheek to his warm back. He let out a breathy sigh.

"Nothing. Just thinking," he brushed her off.

"About the adventure?" She guessed.

"Something like that." He responded, glancing over his shoulder to meet Elizabeth's gaze.

"Are you okay?" He asked her and she nodded, removing her figure from Will's and brushing off her tunic she now sported. Their hands had been bandaged from the cuts and Will felt only slightly jealous that Lynn had wrapped Elizabeth's and not his or Jacks'.

"I'm fine, it's crazy to think about going back home after something so... thrilling." Elizabeth searched for the right word to use to describe her experience abroad and sighed when she found it. Will nodded along in agreement, wanting nothing but to wander the deck of the ship in search of Lynn who hadn't been seen since their departure from the island. When prompted, Jack had figured Lynn went under the deck to address his wounds and take a light nap, the bags growing ever so prominent as time had progressed.

And that thought knawed at the very being of Will's existence, he didn't see the urge to find the prince and should have been beyond relieved that he and Elizabeth could have a decent conversation without the feeling of imminent death around the corner.

~

The calm silence continued on for hours to come, Jack's crew finding peace as the waters lapped against the side of the ship as the material broke through the calm. The crew, having long since finished their duties, gathered around conjoined barrels as they played cards and sang sea shanties with all their off-tune glory.