"𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐁𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒, 𝐁𝐎𝐘, 𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄'𝐒 𝐍𝐎 𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐓 𝐆𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐆—" jack muttered as they ducked behind a wall. "this girl, how far are you willing to go to save her?"

"i'd DIE for her," said will, testosterone clearly a bit high.

"oh, good, no worries then," jack answered.

"and what about bella?" will queried.

"yes, what about her?" bella chimed in.

"bella will be in no danger of death, because she has a bright head on her shoulders and a natural apt for swashbuckling," said jack. he looked at her, then turned to will. "savvy?"

"fair enough," will agreed. "we're going to steal that ship?"

"commandeer," corrected jack. "we're going to commandeer that ship. nautical term."

"do you know a thing about sailing?" bella hissed to will as they hurried down to the beach and lifted up a canoe to hide under.

"well, there's a rudder and sails and—"

"so no," bella exhaled. she wished she had spent some time with him going over how to sail instead of always swordfighting. "lovely."

* * *

after sneaking into the water under a canoe and scaling the back of the dauntless, the three saw a group of officers talking on the main deck.

"now's our chance," will said, pretending to know what he was doing.

"aye," jack nodded. they started in the direction of the officers.

bella slid down the banister to the main deck with ease.

"everyone stay calm!" jack ordered. "we are taking over the ship!"

"aye! avast!" will exclaimed, drawing his sword.

the group of marines burst into laughter. "this ship can't be crewed by two men alone!" gillette snickered, eyeing bella cockily.

"excuse me?" bella said, frowning. counting her, there were three of them— but apparently gillette didn't regard women as capable humans.

"no, you heard correctly," he smirked. "you'll never make it out of the bay."

jack glanced at bella, then raised his pistol up to gillette's nose. "son, i'm captain jack sparrow. savvy?"

within a few minutes, the officers were in a longboat, and will helped jack and bella make sail.

as she was tying a rope down, jack came over to her. he helped her fasten it tightly, then spoke.

"bella, don't worry about them," he said softly. "i can already tell you're a natural sailor."

bella turned to look at him. "thanks," she replied. "a woman's voice, however smart or true, becomes meaningless to men who've forgotten how to listen."

"aye," jack nodded. "but your voice has meaning to me, love." with that, he walked away towards will.

bella furrowed her brows in confusion, smiling slightly, and got up to follow him. she didn't quite know what to expect with him yet.

"here they come," will gestured toward the interceptor coming up behind them.

a grin spread across jack's face. his brilliant plan would indeed work. bella disabled the rudder chain.

norrington's crew boarded the dauntless.

the three quickly swung across the water to the interceptor, then disconnected all the rope and boards connecting the two ships.

realizing they had succeeded, bella couldn't help but smile at the look on the marine's faces.

"thank you for helping us make way, commodore! we'd have had a hard time of it by ourselves!" jack shouted, waving his hat in farewell.

bella stood by jack at the helm, blowing kisses at all the frost-headed men.

* * *

"when i was a lad, my mother raised me by herself," will said out of the blue. "after she died, i came out here, looking for my father."

"is that so?" jack said, hardly seeming interested. he followed bella to the quarterdeck.

"my father? william turner? in the jail, it was only after you learnt my name you agreed to help. since that's what i wanted, i didn't press the matter," will said. "i'm not a simpleton, jack. you knew my father."

jack sighed. bella stood at the helm, watching the two confront each other.

"i knew him," jack said. "probably one of the few who knew him as william turner. everyone else called him bootstrap or bootstrap bill."

"bootstrap?" will repeated in disbelief.

jack walked over to bella. she gave him control of the wheel. "good man. good pirate," he said to will. "i swear, you look just like him."

"it's not true," will said angrily. "he was a merchant sailor, a respectable man who obeyed the law."

bella smiled thinly when jack rolled his eyes. "he was a bloody pirate, a scallywag."

"my father was NOT a pirate." will drew his sword.

"put it away, will," bella sighed.

"it's not worth you getting beat again," said jack tiredly.

"you didn't beat me. you ignored the rules of engagement. in a fair fight, i'd kill you."

"well, then that's not much incentive for me to fight fair then, is it?" jack said over his shoulder. bella let out a small laugh. something about this man...

suddenly, jack spun the wheel insanely hard to starboard, and will was suspended by the swinging mast.

"now, as long as you're just hanging there, pay attention. the only rules that really matter are these. what a man can do, and what a man can't do. now, you can accept that your father was a pirate and a good man, or you can't. but pirate is in your blood, boy, so you'll have to square with that someday."

will struggled to stay up.

"now, me for example, i can let you drown. but i can't bring this ship into tortuga with just bella to help me, savvy?"

bella scoffed jokingly.

"nothing against you, love, but this ship needs at least three sailors," jack turned to her. for some reason, they just understood each other.

"so..." jack aggressively turned the wheel hard to port. will flopped back onto the deck, and jack pointed a sword at him. "can you sail under the command of a pirate?" he flipped the sword. "or can you not?"

will took the handle of the sword in agreement.

"honestly, will, i don't know why you're so taken aback by your father's previous line of work," bella said in all sincerity.

"i don't know why you're so open to it," countered will, standing up.

bella sighed. she cast a look at jack, who slightly nodded. then she said: "you're not the only one with pirate in your blood."

"what?"

"you heard me."

". . . your father too?"

"my father too," bella nodded. "it took a long time, but after scouting out every sailor to arrive in port royal, i finally met a merchant named matthews about six years ago. i asked him about my father, and he was the first person to tell me the truth."

"you never told me?"

"no," bella said without a trace of guilt in her voice. "i thought it was best that i pieced together more about his past before dropping that bomb on you. i never even told my mother i know the truth."

"hmm." nodded will slowly.

jack cut in. "you've got his eyes, you know," he said, charming as ever. "and his nerve."

she chuckled lightly. "tortuga, then?"

jack smiled. "tortuga."