A strong wind whipped around the Dark Storm, enabling it to get to Tortuga in less time. It was the perfect wind, Jesabel thought, to blow her out of their lives forever. She had always loved the wind, and though it had not helped her make an entrance on this ship, it would help with her exit. Even though the Captain had forgiven her and let her out of the brig, she felt she didn't belong anymore. They gave her dirty looks as she passed by. Well, she had made an attempt at mutiny. She should be dead. But the Captain was far too kind to kill her. And Jesabel knew that since her welcome on this ship had worn out, she would have to leave before Smalls rallied the others and they came after her. So while the Captain gave "strict" instructions to the others, Jesabel prepared to leave.

Above deck, there was much laughter and excitement. Cari quieted them down before she began to speak. "Ye all have money, right? Well...things 'ave been rough here lately, and so I want all of ye to go out and have a bit of fun." There was a roar from the crew as they left the ship, scattering into the slum of Tortuga. "Don't get inta any trouble! And be back before we set sail tomorrow!"

Sara walked onto the ship just as the last member walked off. "I asked about, and there's a doctor not too far from here. Not a very good one, mind ye, but a doctor."

"Right." Cari glanced over to the side of the ship, where Jack Sparrow resided, munching an apple. Apparently he wasn't sure whether he could leave or not. Or maybe he was just being annoying. She went over him. "Ye can leave anytime ye want."

"Aye, I'll probably go tomorrow. Today I have to find someone who'll let me borrow their boat. And in the morning, I'll steal it." Jack smiled and took another bite out of the apple.

"Well, I'm off to be examined." She turned to Sara. "Lead the way!" The pair walked off, leaving Jack to stare off into space.

"Sparrow!!"

So much for the staring off into space, then. Jack looked for the source of the voice. Smalls. Of course.

"We're off for a drink! Ye comin'?" She gestured down the road, where Robyn and Caitlin were asking directions.

Let's see. A bar, with lots of whores, or an empty ship. Where do you think he'd want to be?

As they walked down the street, a bit less crowded since it was still in the morning, Jack suddenly became aware of a peeping sound coming from a bush.

"What?" Smalls asked as he moved toward the bush.

"Ye keep going, I'll catch up in a minute." Jack waved her away.

"Hey, ye two! Keep going, Jack an' me'll be along later." Smalls called to the other girls.

He glared at her. "Ye really like to annoy people, dontcha?"

She saluted. "Trouble's me name, mischief is me game!"

Jack ignored her and peered into the bush. There, the source of the peeping. A small bird, with what looked to be a broken wing.

"I didn't know ye liked ta rescue animals in yer spare time." Smalls taunted good-naturedly.

"I have a soft spot for birds." Jack explained.

They were silent for a minute, then Smalls walked away. Not long afterward, Jack heard her somewhere behind him arguing. That girl's mouth was going to get her into trouble one day. After what sounded like a small scuffle and Smalls' loud cursing in several languages, she returned. She had a black eye and a bloody lip, but she held the source of her trouble out to him triumphantly: a birdcage.

"What's that for? I'm not keepin' it!" he got to his feet, the bird safely in his hands.

"Give it ta Cari." Smalls stated.

"But-it's got a broken wing!" Jack thrust it out for her to see.

Smalls' eyes twinkled, but not in the usual mischievous way. "Somehow, I don't think she'll mind."

"Your arm seems to be healing well enough. Keep it as clean as you can and you shouldn't get an infection." The doctor went behind Cari and unknotted the bandage wrapped around her head. "Now, let's look at this wound." Cari winced at the pain his probing fingers brought. After what seemed like hours, he stopped. The doctor moved to get a fresh bandage for her head.

"Well?" Sara prompted.

"There's no need for stitches, it's not too deep. And, as I said about the arm, keep it as clean as possible, and you won't get an infection." He began to wrap the new bandage around.

Cari and Sara exchanged glances. Now came the hard part. Sara cleared her throat. "Um, Doctor, me friend here-well, before the accident-she was, well...with child."

The Doctor smiled. "I can understand why you're worried. Most women try to get rid of the child. I hope this accident wasn't to kill it, but if it was, you have nothing to worry about. It's most likely dead."

Cari's heart stopped. "Dead...?" she whispered, unable to believe him.

The doctor seemed to realize that they were not whores, as he had appeared to have thought. "Well, there's a fifty-fifty chance, really. Either the body decides it can't deal with healing and the child, or it doesn't. It could just as well be alive."

Sara grabbed the man's collar. "Ye look at her and give her proof that it's alive or dead, or I swear, I'll knife ye!"

"Sara!" Cari exclaimed.

Sara let go, but she continued to glare at him. The doctor was shook up, but nonetheless told Cari to lay down and lift her shirt. Sara almost killed him there, but then he explained that he was going to listen for a heartbeat. The stethoscope was cold against her skin, and she wished she had never come here in the first place.

"There." The doctor paused. "A heartbeat."

"Can I hear?" Cari asked, feeling like she would faint from relief. He handed over the ear-pieces, and she heard it. A steady thump-thump-thump. She gave him back the stethoscope and slid off the table. After paying what seemed like a rather large amount of money, they left. They stood in front of the office and looked at each other.

"Are ye thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" Cari asked.

"I hate doctors?" Sara said.

"Yep."

Jesabel had planned on being gone before the Captain got back, mostly because she didn't want to have to say good-bye to Sara. She didn't want to say good-bye to anyone. She just wanted to leave. Erase herself from their memories. And she never wanted to meet her niece. So she should just get out. But as she started back above deck, she heard the stomping of feet that signaled someone's return.

"It doesn't look like she's back yet." It was Smalls. Great. One of the last people she wanted to see right now.

"Of course she's not back yet." And Jack. She would never get to leave at this rate.

"Good God Jack, it's a bird, not a ring!" Smalls cried.

"Oh, ye give it ta her if ye want her ta have it so much!" Jack seemed rather agitated.

"No. I'm off for a drink. Ye can stay here." Even though she couldn't see Smalls, she knew she was grinning evilly. There was the sound of her walking off, and then the silence, only interrupted by the peep of a bird.

Jesabel sat down on the stairs, figuring she would wait until the right time. There were more footsteps, then very drunken singing.

"The hills are alive with the sound of music!!!"

"Well, boys, now you've met Spanish Rose-"

"With songs they have sung for a thousand years!!"

"-The wickedest flower that grows!!"

It was Robyn and Caitlin, which was no surprise.

"Here. I found 'em being thrown out of a bar." That was Bramble, which was a surprise.

"We left 'em alone for only half an' hour! How can they be that drunk?!" Jack exclaimed.

"Drink fast!" Robyn giggled.

"I'm going." Bramble left, leaving Jack with two drunk women.

"Birdie!" shrieked Caitlin.

"Aye, that is a bird." Jack stated. "Why don't ye two go pass out in the galley?"

"Okay..." they chorused, hiccuping.

Jesabel jumped up and pressed herself against the side of the staircase as the ladies stumbled down the stairs. If they noticed her, which they probably didn't, they said nothing. Jesabel watched Robyn get only as far as the first table before collapsing, Caitlin did a bit better, she actually sat down before becoming unconscious. Jesabel shook her head sadly, thanking God she never drank.

She heard someone run onto the ship, fly across the deck, and, if she wasn't mistaken, jump on Jack.

"It's alive!!" The Captain. Now she'd never leave.

"Ye know, I didn't think it was possible to give someone a one-armed hug." There was Sara.

Jesabel peeked out the top of the stairs. The Captain, whose good arm was squeezing Jack very tightly. Then Cari's eyes widened and she jerked away, brushing herself off. Jack blinked and looked at her. Sara grinned at them.

"Sorry...I'm just really happy..." The Captain apologized sheepishly.

"I take it you're perfectly fine?" Jack asked.

"I'm fine, it's fine, I could fly!" The Captain laughed.

"Well...I'm off for a drink." Sara said, before turning around and leaving.

"What's with the bird?" the Captain wondered.

Jesabel noticed the birdcage at Jack's feet. Jack looked at it. "Oh...Um, well, I found the bird and then Smalls, for some reason, got a cage. It's got a broken wing."

The Captain bent down and picked up the cage. "I'll take care of it."

"Keep it." Jack shrugged. "Smalls said I should give it ta ye as a gift of hospitality or somethin'..."

"Aye, I think Smalls has a crazy idea that..." The happiness in the Captain's eyes seemed to dull, and she looked away. "Never mind. Smalls is insane."

"I won't argue with that." Jack smiled.

Jesabel suddenly realized that she could leave right now, with those two out there, because it would seem like she was just going to wander the town, not leaving for good. Though her bag might seem suspicious, she didn't think either of them would pay much attention. Jesabel mustered her courage, then went above deck.

They didn't even look her way. Jesabel glanced at the Captain, and saw that she didn't look quite herself. All that joy was gone, and her eyes seemed to be fixated on the bird, but not really looking at it. Jack was staring at the ground, for some reason. Jesabel crept away. She was nearly gone, nearly out of their lives forever, when, at the walkway that led to the dock below, she looked back.

"You know what's funny about this bird here? It can't fly away, it's got a broken wing and it's stuck in a cage. Just like me." The Captain said, not expressing any emotion as she continued to study the bird.

And suddenly, Jesabel saw. The girls here were a songbirds, with a free spirits. Their wings, their only means of getting away, had been broken long ago by different people.

Jesabel was frozen, paralyzed with the sudden realization. The image loomed before her, this ship was a cage, and the girls were trapped, hurt birds. And she belonged with them.

A song, from somewhere inside her, fought its way up and escaped her lips. "There's a whole lot of singing that's never gonna be heard, disappearing everyday without so much as a word somehow. I think I broke the wings off the little songbird, she's never gonna fly to the top of the world right now..." Jesabel clapped her hand over her mouth as the Captain whirled around to stare at her. She stumbled backwards, going down the walkway backward, before turning around and running away.

And she heard the sound of boots scrambling across the deck, and could picture Cari at the side, her eyes wild as she watched her try to escape the cage. But what she didn't expect to hear was the half-shouting, half-singing, that answered her own song.

"Everyone's singing, we just wanna be heard, disappearing everyday without so much of a word somehow! Wanna grab a hold of that little song bird, take her for a ride to the top of the world right now!" the cry echoed behind her as she raced away.

"Go Jesabel! Fly away! To the top of the word, Jes! The top of the world!" Cari screamed.

Jesabel continued to sprint down the street. She was leaving the life of the broken songbird behind. And though she knew that life was harsh and cruel outside the cage, it was better than the horrible memories that embedded the walls and floors of that ship. And she was better off than Cari, who couldn't leave those memories even though she wanted to.

And then Jesabel was gone, flying away on a bit of wind.

Songs Used:

'The Sound of Music' from 'The Sound of Music' (been on a Moulin Rouge high lately, couldn't resist!)

'Spanish Rose' from 'Bye Bye Birdie'

'Top of the World' by the Dixie Chicks