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This is obviously fictional, since this sort of a wedding with these sorts of guests wouldn’t have happened so long ago – and even now it would only occur in Canada, Mass. and a few other select places in the world… Some characters etc. and owned by Disney (bleh). No profits are made.
Warning: High sappiness level. (After all, it IS a wedding…)
The Wedding (Part 2)
Captain Jack Sparrow cleared his throat. He had an idea of what he wanted to say, but his eyes slid to the left and were halted by the sight of Will Turner standing nervously beside Matthew.
Stunning. How could he have thought Bootstrap or Charles or anyone else looked in any way, shape or form attractive compared to Will? He was wearing… no, he was being caressed by smooth midnight blue trousers that hugged… no, clung to every curve of his long legs. When Will shifted from one foot to the other, Jack could see the raw silk slide over his hip. Mercifully, Will wasn’t hard. There was only the merest hint of the goods, since the crotch didn’t fit as snugly as the legs. Pity that, but not. If Will got hard, in those trousers, Jack would be unable to breathe.
Jack was also thankful Will was facing him. The back view would have made him dizzy.
Jack let his eyes sweep up over the flowing shirt and open vest. Not buttoned up and uptight, no, Will was loose and comfortable, with only the lower two laces of the shirt tied. The top two hung open, and his smooth, golden skin complimented the rich blue like… like gold buttons on a uniform?
Jack didn’t really like to think about uniforms. Unless Will was in them.
Will. In a dark blue commodore’s uniform - not the whole uniform, just the coat. That would be a bit scratchy, though, wouldn’t it? Jack supposed Will could wear a shirt under it to protect his skin, but that would spoil the whole golden skin/blue uniform contrast, would it not? Best have him naked under the coat. If it itched, then the coat would come off all the sooner.
“Ahem.”
Bloody Alphonse, always spoiling his fun. Jack straightened his back and turned to face the crowd, but not without noticing the glare from the preacher. Now what could he be glaring about? Oh, yes, Jack thought, he thinks I was ogling Matthew.
Jack spared a moment to give Matthew a quick once over. Very fine, he agreed with Alphonse silently. Matthew was in blue as well, a pale blue shirt under a dark blue jacket, with black trousers and boots polished to a glittering shine. He was lovely looking. All broad shoulders and tremendous height and gorgeous eyes. But he couldn’t hold a candle to Will.
The wind whipped a chestnut curl out of its place, sent it spiralling across Will’s forehead. Don’t look, Jack told himself, you’ll never be able to look away.
He gripped the railing hard enough to make his knuckles turn white. Cleared his throat again. “Your attention, everyone, please.”
Well, that worked. Everyone looked up expectantly. Jack smiled faintly. Now that everyone was looking, he would simply have to not look at Will until this whole thing was over. “It is my great honour, and pleasure, to officiate on this most auspicious occasion.”
There were murmurs of approval from below. Evidently, the guests appreciated the level of decorum Jack was showing. And the appreciation was well earned, because it was taking every ounce of decorum Jack possessed not to drag Will down to his cabin and…
“We are gathered here to celebrate and witness the marriage of two very lucky people,” Jack began, and then promptly forgot the speech he’d planned. It might have been the rum, it might have been the fact that everyone was staring at him, it might have been because he’d not been able to think of anything adequate to say.
So, he decided to tell the truth.
“Ten years ago, a terrible tragedy occurred. A young man, a young warrior, was ripped from his home, carried across the ocean, and treated so horribly, frankly, it makes me ashamed that I didn’t do anything about it, even though I didn’t know what was happening at the time.
“He was scared and probably would have preferred to be dead, but to our immense relief, he survived,” Jack said. He searched his mind for details, late night conversations by the fire, whispered confessions. The exact details didn’t matter though. This was a day for joy, and it wouldn’t do to dredge up all the bad things. He would concentrate on the good. “And he found he wasn’t as alone as he thought, because after a year he met a young student who treated him with respect. Treated him kindly. And then treated him with a good deal more than simple kindness…”
That little meander into the personal earned Jack a look of severe reprimand from Jacob. Jack gave a slight pout. What fun was a story like this one without the salacious details? But there were children present, of course. Jack forged on. “These two men formed a bond that nothing could break – not time or distance. And when they were separated, cruelly, after their love was discovered by…” Master? Owner? The very words filled Jack with repugnance, and he wouldn’t say them out loud. Not today. “They were parted and feared they might never be together again. But they never gave up hope.”
Jack looked at Matthew and Alphonse, who now stood side by side, holding hands. “Alphonse left the church, but did not leave his faith - his faith that people could be good, and his faith that he and Matthew would be reunited. That faith sustained him over the next seven years he spent searching, and helping those in need and doing all the things the church should have been doing. And Matthew was…” Jack had to say it, because to not say it would be to pretend it hadn’t happened, and the only way to prevent it from ever happening again was to face it head on, “… sold and taken far away from the man who loved him.”
It sounded unspeakable when it was said aloud. It was unspeakable. Yet, Jack had said it, and it was time to move onto the more positive part of the story. “But his love never left him. He inspired his people to rise up and demand freedom. And that is what lead him to Alphonse, because Jacob DeMaurier discovered that the notorious slave rebellion leader was being brought to the Caribbean, and decided that he should do something to reunite his brother with his lover.”
Jack looked down at Norrington at this point. The ex-commodore looked back up at him, shame showing in his eyes but dignity in his stance. Norrington knew it would be a long time before he could make amends for his sins against the very people who shared the deck of the Black Pearl with him. He also knew that those people were willing to forgive him, and to let him start fresh.
He was immensely grateful to have been allowed to attend the wedding, for once he’d been properly introduced to Matthew and Alphonse, he’d grown genuinely fond of them, and they of him. Because once the uniform was taken off Norrington, and his authority taken away, and he was taken away from the people he’d been trying to impress his whole life, they found a man who was quite capable of directing his sense of honour and righteousness for the good of all people.
As long as Gillette kept a close watch on him. And kept him satisfied in other ways.
Gillette beamed up at Jack. He was looking very satisfied indeed. And by the stories, passed on by Charles and Matthew, and a few others who’d happened across Gillette and Norrington when Gillette was keeping a particularly close watch on Norrington, Gillette was being satisfied in the deepest possible manner.
Jack blinked and looked away from Gillette’s hand, which was inching its way up under Norrington’s shirt. Really. At a wedding! Jack looked at Alphonse and Matthew, careful to train his gaze on their faces, and to not let it stray to where Will stood enticing, in Jack’s mind, Jack to inch his hand up under his shirt. At least, he had no right to look that good if he didn’t want Jack to want to put his hand up his shirt. Or other places.
Concentrate! Jack reminded himself.
Jack continued. “I wish I’d been on the beach at the moment they saw each other for the first time in seven years. I’ve been told it was…” Okonkwo had tried to describe it to him once. The fact that they didn’t speak each other’s language had not been a barrier. “… most moving.”
That was pathetic, Jack thought. There had to be some better way to say it. But when he tried to think of something better to say, to express how joyful Alphonse and Matthew were to be together, his mind was filled with the image of a breathtakingly breathless Will Turner telling him about what he’d seen, when Will had seen Matthew and Alphonse together, and Jack couldn’t think about that now because he still had a wedding ceremony to perform.
“It is my honour today to marry them.”
There was a burst of applause from below, but Jack ignored it. Will handed him the bible. Jack raised an eyebrow. They’d agreed not to use the bible in the ceremony, since there might be a question of inappropriate wording involving women and obeying and the like. But when he opened it there was a piece of parchment, and Jack read what was written there in Will’s steady script.
“We stand here today to witness the joining of these two men in sacred matrimony. We stand here as a community to witness their love for each other, and to offer them our abiding support and love. And we stand here to share in their joy.” That was very nice, Jack thought. He wondered who had written it. Probably a team effort - Matthew, Alphonse, Will and Jacob all looked very pleased with themselves.
Alphonse turned to Matthew. Jack knew that would happen. Everything was moving according to plan, Jack thought with relief. All he had to do was keep his mind off Will’s body. How difficult could that be?
Will brushed his hair off his face and his shirt fell a touch more open. He had the smoothest skin on his chest, Jack knew, right in the middle, where sweat trickled down on hot days, and where he tasted of salt and… stop it!
They’d agreed long ago that the regular vows would not do. Jack read from the paper. “Alphonse DeMaurier, do you take Matthew…” Jack paused. Damn, but there was no way he would be able to pronounce Matthew’s tribal name. He looked helplessly at Will.
Will said it. To Jack’s ear, it sounded like nine or ten random syllables with far too few vowels, but Matthew smiled. Will must have been practicing that one for a while. Very impressive. Talented tongue.
“…to be your…” Jack paused again. Lawful would not do. “… your loving husband, in sickness and in health, through whatever trials may come, forever and beyond?”
“I do,” Alphonse said clearly, but a bit shakily.
“And Matthew, do you take Alphonse to be your loving husband, in sickness and in health, through whatever trials may come, forever and beyond?”
Matthew looked a bit unsteady. Will gripped his elbow. “I do,” Matthew said, quieter. Softer.
“Rings,” Jack whispered.
Will and Jacob pulled out the rings, lovely gold bands Will and Matthew had made.
Alphonse and Matthew had decided against words for this part of the ceremony. They slid the rings on each other’s fingers and clasped hands. They leaned forward until their foreheads rested together. They looked too emotional to talk, anyway.
Jack looked back down at the parchment. There was nothing else written on the page. He turned it over, but the back was blank. He looked up at Will, for guidance, suggestions, anything. But Will was looking at Matthew and Alphonse with utter joy, and was being no help at all.
“Well, then, by the power I hold as captain of the Black Pearl, I now pronounce you wed, in the eyes of…”
Murmurs rose as the ship pitched to one side, quite unexpectedly, since it was an unusually calm day. A wide, smooth wave had rocked it, and Jack suspected he knew what had caused the sudden disturbance.
Jack saw Will’s eyes shutter closed, and a swift shiver run through his body. Bloody hell, Jack thought, even the randy heathen god wants to have a part in this ceremony. When Will opened his eyes again, he was smiling. Jack let out the breath he’d been holding. In favour of the proceedings, the nuisance of a deity must have been. Good, then.
Jack looked back down at the crowd. Pirates and rogues. Freed slaves, escaped slaves. Harlots and madams. Misfits and mutineers. Deserters and rebels. People who had at one time been under the lash, and some who’d been on the other end of it. All happy, ecstatic even, to see these two men married.
“… In the eyes of all who matter,” Jack concluded. “You may- ”
But it was too late, because Matthew and Alphonse were already kissing.
There was a great cheer from below, and Jack stepped away from the railing to make room for the newly-wed couple, who were still kissing, but that didn’t stop Will and Jacob from pushing them closer to the railing so everyone could have a good look.
“Well done, Jack. Simple and honest, as we planned,” Jacob shook his hand. “Thank you so much for giving my brother such a lovely ceremony.”
Jack nodded and smiled and pressed himself up against Will, who looked a little choked up.
“Y’alright, luv?”
Will nodded and squeezed Jack’s hand. “Isn’t it beautiful?” he whispered.
Jack looked at Will’s moist eyes. He felt a little ache in his heart. “Is this… is this what you want?”
Will looked him in the eye.
“Do you want to be married?” Jack asked, barely a whisper.
Will bit his lip. “Alphonse and Matthew got married because they wanted to share with everyone,” Will said. “They were apart for so very long, and they were frightened they would never see each other again. This is a way to show they can never be parted again. And to share their happiness with everyone.” Will gripped Jack’s hand hard. “We’ve never been apart, have we? Not really. Once we were together, I mean. We might have had a few misunderstandings, but we’ve been together since…”
“I’ve been yours since the first time we touched blades,” Jack said. “And you came around soon enough,” he grinned. Then he grew serious once more. “Tell me, Will. Honestly. Do you want to get married?”
“No,” Will whispered, “we already are.”
Jack didn’t know what the tug in his heart meant, but he decided it had to mean something very good, because it spread warmth through his whole body.
“And I don’t want to share with anyone,” Will added, and pressed up against Jack.
Jack groaned. “How soon can we get all these people off my ship?”
Will laughed. “Don’t be a poor host, Jack. We have forever. We can wait until the end of the party.”
Jack frowned.
Will laughed again. “We’d better join the party, Jack.” Will reached up and tapped the flask in the breast pocket of Jack’s coat. “And you can have that out in the open now. But don’t have too much. I want you awake and alert tonight!”
Jack squinted his eyes shut tight and groaned again. This would be, he was sure, the longest party he’d ever attended.
Tessie and Kay had baked the biggest cake Will had ever seen. Not that he’d had much opportunity to see a lot of cakes in his life, but this one had to be spectacular by anyone’s standards. He stood to one side and watched the children line up for their shares. Then the adults all took pieces and Shimura pulled out the bottles of wine he’d ‘found’ on the expedition the week before. Elsie’s husband started to play a drum, one of the pirates had a fiddle, and there was a flute as well. The dancing was vigorous.
Jack tried the wine, but found the rum much more to his liking. He settled against the main mast, and watched the festivities while sipping his drink. Not too much. He wanted to be alert. He felt a presence behind him and peered over his shoulder.
“Cheers, captain.”
“Marina. Yes, cheers.”
She clinked her metal cup against his flask.
“So, what are your plans?”
“Plans?” What plans? Jack thought.
“To do with our son,” she prompted.
Jack’s head swivelled, and he saw Jonathon sitting beside Young Frank. The two of them had plates piled with cake and other treats on their laps, and they were studiously ignoring the younger children, as older children are wont to do at social events.
“No plans. He seems quite happy with my sister, don’t you think? Elizabeth is tutoring him, and he’s making friends in Nassau. He visits the rest of his family when he can.”
“He’ll want to go to sea, sooner or later.”
“Later,” Jack said. “He’s too young yet. But when he’s old enough, if he still wants to, I’ll take good care of him, don’t you fret.”
Marina made a noise, half agreement, half suspicion.
The silence was awkward for a minute or so.
“I didn’t recognize you, at first,” Marina said finally. “Not until Alex told me who you were. You did seem a bit familiar, but I didn’t realize.”
Jack shrugged. “I look different.”
Marina reached up to finger a long dreadlock. “Aye, you do. You used to look so…”
“Young?”
“I was going to say ‘respectable’.”
“All part of the pirate plan, eh.” Jack whispered, “Confidentially, it was a good scheme, pretending to be a businessman. Paid better than outright pirating in some ways.”
Marina didn’t bother to stifle her laugh. “That’s why I didn’t recognize you. You were such a gentleman with me, honestly Jack. I think you would have paid me if I hadn’t laid a finger on you. I just couldn’t reconcile that nice young man with the lecherous pirate who so obviously lusted after my handsome stepbrother.”
She was teasing. Wasn’t she? Jack didn’t care. She was speaking the truth.
“I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you,” Jack said. “You’re still as pretty, you know. But you dress differently.” He gestured at her tight, velvet bodice and voluminous skirts. “And your hair…”
Marina patted her intricate curls. “Takes a lot of time, you know. But the customers expect it.”
“How’s the new business, then?”
“Oh, excellent.” Marina was managing the less legal aspects of Alex and Elizabeth’s new hotel. “You should come by for a visit.”
Jack shook his head vehemently. “Sorry, but I’ll not be setting foot in a brothel again.”
“Will would kill you?”
Jack laughed nervously. Wouldn’t do to be seen as beholden to another. Not very piratey, was it?
“Don’t lie to me, Jack. That’s not it at all.”
No, it wasn’t.
“I’m teasing you, Jack. What you should do is thank me very politely, tell me that you’ve no need of my services, and say that if you ever run into anyone who is in need and is heading my way…”
“Aye, Marina. I’ll do that.”
Will was leaning on the railing, watching the party. Kay rested next to him.
“You look happy,” she said.
“I am happy.”
“I’m glad.”
Will looked at her.
“I worried you might not be happy. Family on shore. Lover on the sea. Alphonse has given up the sea to be with Matthew. But Jack can’t give it up.”
Will smiled. “I worried about the same thing. But I’m going to sail with Jack as long as he needs to travel.”
“That could be forever, you know.”
Will nodded. “Forever and beyond.”
Next: Chapter 100a The Happy Ending Part 1
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