Confined No Longer

© 2003 Bella Fae

Disclaimer: Disney owns the film; I own the plot.

Dedication: To the girl who got me started with this fandom, and encouraged me when I wanted to give up my writing. She knows who she is, and how much I love her.

Note: Vignette, so please excuse the length of this piece.

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She stared out at the vast unbearable blue of the Caribbean sky, its colour reflected in the tossing waves below her. Clear and azure, without a whisper of a cloud. She, like the endless expanse that stretched out before her, was free.

The corset had been slit; her hair unbound from its chignon. Dirt lined the rims of her fingernails and her skin smelt of the sea. Her soft hands had callused from work. Her opal skin was burnished bronze beneath the sun's unblinking eye. At night she dines with the crew, her laughter loud and spirit high. She sleeps with her cheek on the Captain's chest, exhaustion lulling her into warm dreams. Hard days of work show clearly in her roughened body, but free her strong heart.

She did not miss the captivity of Port Royal.

She was no longer confined.

She knew not what tomorrow would bring, but had not a care.

Captain Jack Sparrow was right.

The Black Pearl was freedom.

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