Words: 524
Rating: PG (just to be safe)
Characters: Elizabeth, Barbossa
Pairings: J/E (implied)
Disclaimer: Jack and Lizzie belong to each other, everything else to the mouse.
Summary:At Shipwreck Cove, Barbossa retells a little episode to Elizabeth …
A/N: Just a short drabble for my fantastic beta sparrowsswann
"There's something you should know about our dear Captain, Missy," Hector Barbossa said after he'd watched her for some time. "He's a great lover of birds, but never keeps them."
The Swann-girl didn't respond, rather continued to stare down into the dark and unfathomable waters of Shipwreck Cove. Oh yes, he'd seen her looking at Sparrow when she thought herself unobserved, eyes burning with the indistinct longing for something only he seemed to possess, and for a reason he couldn't quite grasp himself, he found it was his duty to warn her. If he was actually honest with himself, he did like her. She was brave and able to do whatever was necessary. A true pirate queen, and it'd be a shame if she fell victim to the twisted mind of a man he despised as much as he admired him.
"Back in
the unholy days when I was Jack Sparrow's First Mate," he began,
leaning casually against the rail beside her, "we made port at some
small town on an island right off the African coast. Jack and meself
went on land; wanted to obtain some supplies, we did. And when we
walked across this smelly market with no apples in sight, there came
this tattered man and waved something in front of our faces. A cage
it was, and inside sat a bird. A rather nice one – if you care for
birds, that is … colourful plumage and all. I shoved it aside and
walked on, but Jack … you know what Jack did? Bought the bird,
didn't even haggle for it. And I said: 'What do you want with
that bird? A meagre dinner it makes!'
'I do
not want it,' he said. 'It's not mine.' And opened the cage.
Stupid thing to do, very much like our dear Jack, of course, but the
bird didn't seem too keen on its freedom. So Jack reached inside,
threw the little thing into the air and it flew away.
'Why did
you do that?' I asked. And he replied: 'You know, that's bloody
damn well the most beautiful bird I've ever seen - and a shame it
is to keep a bird like that from flying.' "
When he'd finished, silence alighted on their shadowy figures, a darkness between them, and Barbossa suddenly realised she hadn't cared to interrupt him. Which he found surprising. He'd have expected her to be a little more repelled, at least put up some protest at his attempt to talk to her, but the fact she didn't even deny she'd taken a fancy to Sparrow seemed telling.
When she looked up, the pearly white moonlight was like a silver stream floating across her face, and he briefly wondered whether Sparrow's philosophy would fail him on this one. "But I've seen birds that stay – without a cage!" she insisted, and he knew she was already lost.
"Aye, that's what I told him, too. And you know what he replied?"
She looked at him expectantly, and he couldn't help but begin to mourn her tragic fate.
"They'd fly away – but you see, they can't, for someone clipped their wings."