By Your Side (Will Turner)

24

Silence fell on what was left of Jack's crew. The small herd sat in the dingy, drifting away from the beloved Black Pearl. At their distance, they watched as the long, slimy arms over the kraken hugged the ship with it's captain still on it. The ship slowly began to be brought down past the ocean's blue surface. No one spoke a word but their faces said enough. Broken expressions were plastered on the crew's faces as Evelyn. Her emerald green eyes burned holes in the Pearls black sails until her eyes burned with tears. She swiveled back around on her seat, keeping her back to the scene. Not being able to bear the sight she had been exposed too. She dropped her head, gazing down at her lap while gripping her wooden seat with tight fists. Closing her eyes, tears streamed down her nose followed by a sniff. A warm hand was placed on top of hers in a source of comfort. She opened her eyes to see Will's hand placed on top of hers but she pulled her hand, shaking her head. Another sniffle came from her. Evelyn looked up to look back over her shoulder to see that the Pearl was completely gone. She sighed and looked at Will. His facial expression was soft as he looked upon her broken expression. Will slid his body closer to her and opened his arms subtly to her. Evelyn let out a small cry and nuzzled into Will's chest, placing her hands beside the side of her face on him. Will wrapped his arms around her, lowering his head to kiss the top of her's a few times. He lifted his head slowly to look at the other crew members. Ragetti and Pintel shared a tearful look after they looked at Evelyn crying. Leo sat with his elbows on his knees while covering his mouth with his hands. Mr. Gibbs wiped his teary eyes, putting a fake smile on his face as he looked to Evelyn, still laying her head against Will's chest.

"It will be alright, Miss. Adams. Jack is in a better place now." He tried his absolute best to sound positive. "I hope." He added more for himself.

Evelyn opened her eyes, sniffling. She slowly pulled back from Will, throwing him a quick glance while doing so. She looked off into space, red faced nodding. "I know." She sniffed, swallowing. "I'm proud of him." She raised her head to look up at Mr. Gibbs then the others. "He did a selfless act." She gave an emotional smile, nodding. Swallowing, she gave herself a moment before continuing to speak. "Jack knew that the kraken was after him and he stayed behind to give us all a chance to make it out alive." Her eyes grew watery once more as she looked to Will. "And I'm proud of him for it."

Will gave her a nod, a soft smile forming on his lips but something else was in his eyes she was too tired to make out. He said nothing but wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Evelyn laid her head down on his shoulder and glanced at Leo with heavy eyes. She gave him a strained smile before closing her eyes. Leo gave her a strained smile as well that began to fade off as she closed her eyes. A guilt expression wove its way on to his face, the facial expression causing his stomach to mimic the emotion the longer he looked at Evelyn. Leo moved his eyes up from Evelyn's sweet face to Will's burning glare. Both men didn't say a word to each other but glared at one another until they both looked away.

Only after a few minutes did Evelyn fall asleep soundly against Will's shoulder. Will looked at his shoulder at his sleeping flower. His breath hitched his throat slightly the longer he looked at her. He loved her ever so and it killed him to see her like this. He never really cared for Jack but he knew how much he meant to Evelyn.

Will lifted his head up, looking over at Leo's direction with a glare. He looked at Leo staring off into the water, not realizing he was being watched at first. After a moment, Leo lifted his gaze up to meet Will's hostile expression. "What?" He snapped at Will.

"Why did you do it?" Will whispered to him so only Leo was able to hear.

Leo hesitated for a moment, slowly realizing that Will saw what he did to Jack. He looked at Will up and down, taking in a deep breath. He leaned forward, to speak for only Will to hear. "Because at first I was the only one who realized that creature was only after Jack, not the rest of the crew. I did it to save Evelyn. If he had come with us from the ship than she would have been dead. You and I both know we wouldn't be able to live with ourselves if anything happened to her when we could have prevented it." Will still glared at Leo causing him to roll his eyes. "Oh please, don't look at me like that. Like you wouldn't do anything like that if it meant protecting her." Leo's eyes flickered to the sleeping girl on Will's shoulder. "She's the most precious thing to us. I'd do anything for her, wouldn't you?" His eyes softened at he looked at her face, then looked at Will's.