Jadezauber:
This snippet was a draft for the epilogue. I liked the thought of Jack telling James, “Don’t kill too many pirates,” and James answering, “I can’t promise that. I am still doing my duty.” It shows James is still the Commodore and pirate hunter, and Jack is acknowledging it.
This scene did not fit with the emotional tone I had envisioned for the epilogue, so I did not use it. But it’s worth reading because it shows: Jack and James are fundamentally the same people, but they have learned to respect each other.
Enjoy:
The sun was beginning to crest the horizon, as the Black Pearl sat anchored in the misty waters.
James Norrington stood at the gangway. His uniform was wrinkled and stained with salt, and his hair was wind-blown, but he stood with a straightness that felt different than before—less like a rigid statue of the law, and more like a man who finally understood the ground he stood on.
He turned to find Jack leaning against the railing, idly flicking a compass that seemed to point everywhere but north. Jack looked up, and for a moment, the eccentric mask slipped.
“This is where we part ways, James,” Jack said quietly. “Try not to sink too many of my friends.”
Norrington looked Jack squarely in the eyes. There was no longer any shadow of the gallows between them. “I cannot promise to ignore my duty, Jack. But I can promise that I will never again mistake a man’s character for the color of his flag.”
He paused, his voice dropping an octave. “Thank you, Jack. You gave me back more than my life on this ship. You gave me back the ability to look at myself in a mirror.”