Disclaimer: This is the second time I'm posting this story, since it got removed from the site for reasons known to me...anyways, since I have a hunch that it MIGHT have been the "chat/script" format of my past disclaimers, I'm going to have to do away with all the fun disclaimer and be boring. I have to conform and say that I own nothing related to Pirates of The Caribbean and in fact the only things I do own fiction-wise are the characters that I come up with. bows

Summary: Christina and Will are now engaged. Yay!!! So then they get married and have kids and live happily ever after, right?…Not quite.

A/N: Sorry it took so long for me to update! It was just - well, I was waiting for summer to come because I really looked forward to writing, but when I suddenly had all this time to write, I couldn't force myself to do it. During the school year I had to find time to write or nothing would ever get written. Now, I just have too much time on my hands, and yet summer is going by so fast…

It took a good week to fix the sails so they were fit for travel, and we had been blown off course by the wind. It seemed to be in our favor, however, as Tortuga was closer than it had been before, and Jack informed me that we would reach it within the week. He also said that we were to meet up with Mr. Gibbs, but would not disclose just what the mysterious pick-me-up was. I assumed that it was a woman, someone to warm that Captain's bed while we were out at sea.

However, if that was the truth, it didn't explain why he was being so secretive about it. Surely it was nothing to be embarrassed about, especially for a man like Jack, where his fondness for women was blatantly obviously.

Mary had spent the better part of the week recovering from the ordeal she had gone through, first tumbling from the ship and then being rescued twice over by myself and Jack. Neither rescues were as a knight would rescue a damsel, as I had to be rescued myself and when Jack tried to save me, it had nearly resulted in my death.

This was something Mary and I teased him about often, and Anamaria grew more and more disgruntled as it became obvious that we were the favorites of the ship. I found that I cared very little - as much as I did respect Anamaria, it was rare that I was ever the favorite in anything, and would not discourage it now just for her goodwill.

Mary has recovered fully as we prepared to set sail again, and I was put in charge of teaching her how to defend herself. This was easier said than done. The deck was off limits as it was often very busy, except sometimes at dawn Jack would assign one of the crew members to duel with me "to keep me on my toes" as he said, and to see that I was not getting soft from disuse of my skills with a blade. Mary watched, fascinated, and surprised me by being quite eager to learn.

"Well, seeing as how it seems unlikely that we shall be among civilized men - not to say that you are uncivilized, Captain Sparrow, just that you do not hold women to such ideals as the men of Port Royal - it seems fitting that I should learn how to defend myself. Especially if we are going to such places as Tortuga," she finished with a shudder. I grinned and gave her my sword, as it was lighter and made for a woman. I thought for a moment of Will, who had made it for me, and I didn't know what to think. I thought of him very rarely now, if at all, sometimes going full days without his face appearing in my mind. But when I did think of him, it was as if I was caught between a rock and a hard place, not knowing whether I should be angry or upset, or to just let it go. Since it seemed obvious to me now that he was not coming for me, contrary to what Jack said, I thought I should forget about him. Maybe forget about men altogether, for a time. After all, I had been gone for quite a few weeks and it seemed that even my father had deserted to me to the fate that I had chosen.

I was grateful for this, partially, because it meant that I was finally free of the life I had led - though perhaps not entirely unpleasant - in Port Royal. I was no longer the Governor's eldest daughter, no longer Elizabeth's sister. I was Christina, a member of the crew of Jack Sparrow the Captain of the Black Pearl. I was not Will Turner's fiancé, or the woman he betrayed. At sea I belonged to no man, except sometimes when Jack gloated that he had the three most beautiful women on his ship, bad luck or no. And even then, he was just joking, something he would hastily admit as Anamaria - who took her freedom more seriously even than I - would glare daggers at him.

Mary said she felt quite similarly. She had not thought of Commodore Norrington since the storm, and I thought that the near-death experiences were quite good for us. It had snapped both of us out of our misery caused by the men we love. ("Love? Oh, Christina, surely I do not love the Commodore!" Mary said, and Jack remarked snidely how he sincerely hoped that a woman such as Mary could not love a git such as the Commodore.)

But I still loved Will, of that I knew to be true. It was more something that I had grown accustomed too, perhaps like a chipped tooth that feels rough and awkward as first, and natural as time goes on. I smiled to think of the expression on Will's face if he knew that I had compared him to a chipped tooth. But it was true. Maybe I always would love Will, or the memory of Will, even if I never saw him again. I would love how for years I had yearned for him secretly, never thinking he could love me back. He was a comfort and a curse in the long, lonely stretch of adolescence. I would think of how lucky I was to have such a handsome man as my best friend, and mope about how he'd never see me as anything but a friend. Now, however, I reminded myself that Will wasn't always quite the dashing young man. I smiled, thinking of him in his awkward fifteenth year, when his feet seemed to large from his body. Most of the bouts I'd won against him had been when he was about fifteen, because he couldn't seem to control himself in order to be coordinated. And perhaps our friendship was not so innocent as I liked to remember - I remembered now how on a few occasions his eyes would wander along my body, as all I wore was a shift and sometimes just a pair of britches and a shirt I'd borrowed from him.

I loved him for the short weeks of our first true adventure, the rescue mission for Elizabeth. I loved how he was so protective of me around Jack, and how he defended my honor as best he could, even though it was hardly his place to do so. I smirked, remembering how the odd events had led up to Jack being the first man to share my bed - and how I remained still a maiden afterwards. Surely no other woman could boast such a feat.

I loved Will Turner even for the few sweet moments when he did say he loved me. I would love him even for the distress he caused me, because without it, I would have never left Port Royal, and would never have known the joy and terror, and the freedom, of the Black Pearl and her consort, the sea.

Mary and I soon grew tan in the unrelenting sun, though Mary's color was more reddish and she tried to avoid it altogether by wearing large hats to protect her face. "I may be miles away from a civilized town, but that does not mean that I must be as red as a lobster!" she said. I shrugged, going about with my hair tied back lazily and my face in the sun, and Mary scolding me about how my nose would soon burn off if I was not careful.

As much as I wish I could say that Mary was a natural swordswoman it turned out that she was not, and it took a good three quarters of an hour to get her to hold the blade properly. She was not used to the strain of lunging and advancing, and so I had her climbing the rafters each day, and stretching each night. It took a full two days before she learned a respectable advance, and another three before she could manage a lunge without losing her balance, but we practiced religiously for hours each day and Mary was never one to complain.

Finally, on the sixth day of our sailing, Mary managed to parry properly and repost, hitting me in the shoulder rather harder than she would have needed to for a practice bout. I overlooked the large welt I had in my arm because she was so ecstatic, and we agreed that the rest of the day we would relax and I prepared her for the shock that was Tortuga - but nothing I said could prevent me from the shock that I myself would receive there.

Jack had promised that the first thing we would do (after getting a drink of course) would be to go shopping. I had lent Mary my clothes because they were easier to maneuver in and was now running about the ship in her shift, tattered and torn about my legs. The men, as honorable as they were to Jack, could not help staring at the bare legs of a woman. I prayed that once we reached Tortuga there would be women enough to satisfy them, even though I was hardly concerned for my own safety.

It was a cool night when we finally arrived at Tortuga and the crew rushed off the ship like wild men possessed. Mary and I stood in the crow's nest laughing, and slowly made are way down to Jack, who was waiting for us. "Me ladies," he said extravagantly, offering an arm to each of us, "Shall we depart from my faithful ship, and make merry upon Tortuga?" he asked, with a wicked grin.

Mary glanced at me, barely containing her own smile. She had let her hair down, it glowed fiery red to her waist as she had brushed it this morning. My own hair she had braided back tightly in the style I preferred, and with Jack we made our way to Tortuga.

As much as Mary had changed during her time on the Pearl, she still was not prepared for the brothel that was every square foot of Tortuga. This time no women came up to Jack to smack him around, for which I was glad, but there were many evil glares tossed my way and Mary's.

"It seems, Captain, that you are quite a catch among the womenfolk of Tortuga." Mary said quietly, looking rather offended as a woman with very few teeth leered angrily at her. Jack waggled his eyebrows at her, "I'm quite a catch among the womenfolk of any town, Miss Mary, surely ye didna' doubt that." he said. Mary nodded, and I smiled at her over Jack's shoulder, she bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"I beg to differ, Captain Sparrow, I do not find ye a catch at all." said a mockingly snooty voice behind us. Jack turned around hastily, his hands up by his chest as if the speaker had done some grievous injury to him. Before us stood a woman, about my height, with blond hair so pretty that it could have put Elizabeth to shame. The woman had her hands to her hips and a warm smile on her lips, making it known that she was not angry with Jack at all.

"Laurelyn, darling, how long has it been since I've seen ye?" Jack proclaimed, abandoning Mary and I so quickly that we both were a bit offended. Laurelyn grinned and let Jack hug her, even being so bold as to lean up and kiss him on the cheek. I cleared my throat and Mary folded her arms over his chest.

"It seems yer new women are possessive, Mr. Sparrow, the type of women ye swore ye'd have nothing to do with," the woman said, her green eyes twinkling at us in the faint firelight that lit the streets.

"We are hardly Captain Sparrow's wenches, if that's what you mean." Mary said indignantly.

"I can't fer the life of me figure out why ye'd be opposed to it, Mary-belle." Jack said cheekily, and Mary looked as if she were ready to use what little bit of swordplay I'd taught her to cut Jack to ribbons.

"Who is this woman, Jack?" I asked before she could do so, although I would have found it highly amusing.

"I am Laurelyn Lupine, and I own that shop over yonder, and the pub beneath it," Laurelyn said, eyeing me carefully. I shrugged, "And I suppose you are one of Jack's women too, then, or a woman of Tortuga?" I asked, taking in her deep blue dress and violent red bodice, and the tall boots that she wore, visible because much of her legs were exposed. She knew as well as I did that I meant nothing innocent by calling her a woman of Tortuga.

"I'll have ye know, girl, that I have never sold this body to any man - and never will!" she snarled. I lowered my eyes, properly admonished, and muttered an apology. When I looked up she held my gaze somberly and then smiled. "It's quite aright, ye wont be the first nor the last to make such an assumption. Even Jack here did once, and he wont soon forget how quickly he took it back, will ye, Captain Sparrow?" she asked, and Mary and I were desperately curious to know what exactly this Laurelyn had done to make Jack take back his words so quickly.

Jack laughed heartily, "No, luv, that I wont." he said.

"What are ye doin' in such a wholesome town as this, Captain?" Laurelyn asked, but before he could answer a man grabbed Laurelyn around the waist and slipped a coin into her bodice. "That's a down-payment, that is, and they'll be more, lady, if ye'd be so kind to accompany me to that stable over yonder." he said. Laurelyn did not have a care to look outraged, but I did. She merely pulled a knife from a sheathe hidden somewhere in her skirts and stomped on the man's foot so he let go of her. In a flash she was behind him, with the knife held to his throat.

"If ye so much as think of touching me again, old man, it'll be yer last thought - be happy it's a pleasant one, not many get to go thinkin' of a stunning lady they'd mistaken as a common whore." she spat. The man nodded, terrified and furious with himself for looking terrified as Jack roared with laughter and Mary smiled weakly. I stood, staring at Laurelyn and feeling a distinct pity for her. How often did men ask her for such services as that of a wench - an awful blow to a woman's pride, that must be, more awful even than if a fiancé and gone off and kissed the sister of the woman he supposedly loved.

Laurelyn saw me looking at her and glared. "I need no one's pity." she snapped, pulling the coin from her bodice and spitting on it, and then whirling around to throw it at the man who had accosted her. It hit him square in the back of the head, but Laurelyn did not look to see if he turned around.

"What can I do for ye, Jack?" she asked.

"It just so happens that these two women here have joined me crew," Jack said, nodding at Mary and I. "And I shall be needing proper garments for them." Laurelyn looked at us, calculating. "Done," she said. "If yeh'll follow me to my shop, I'll take care o' that. Anything else?" she asked. Jack nodded. "It's been months since I've been in a good pub, love -"

"I'd be delighted if yeh'd honor mine, Captain." she said with a flirtatious smile.

"So where do you two come from?" Laurelyn asked, and I looked up. Her rogue-ish accent was gone, in fact she spoke as articulately as would make my father proud, and her eyes seemed clearer than they had out in the street. I didn't bother to try to scrutinize this - I understood that sometimes it was necessary to put up an act in order to fit in comfortably in any given place. Like all the times I'd been forced to act like a proper lady at some banquet or another, merely to keep the peace with my father. Mary and I had followed Laurelyn to the shop she owned as it was right above the pub where Jack had decided to wait for us. "Leave the shopping up to the ladies, that's what I always say!" he told us, swaggering off to the bar and eyeing a barmaid.

"We are from Port Royal." I answered as Mary wandered off through the shop.

"Really? Fancy old place, isn't it? What brings you to Tortuga?" she questioned, and I studied her warily. I didn't know whether or not I should tell her why we were here, I was speaking to a woman who I hardly knew and had just met. But Jack seemed to like her, and trust her enough to leave Mary and myself with her, so it couldn't hurt. Aside from his mutinous First Mate, Barbossa, Jack seemed like a relatively good judge of character.

"You don't have to tell me, I'm just a bit nosy. Don't get uppity folks such as the likes of you here in Tortuga, I fancy news of the civilized world from time to time." Laurelyn said, and I nodded.

"To tell you the truth, Mary and I ran away." I said.

"From what?" Laurelyn asked distractedly, picking out clothes and holding them up to see if they were basically my size.

"Well, I'm running from my fiancé -" I started, but Laurelyn looked up sharply and said with an amused smile, "Ah, a runaway bride, are ye? Afraid of the long walk?"

I smiled sadly. "I wish I was afraid of the 'long walk', as you put it. But no. Will - my fiancé, that is, loves another woman. My sister, as luck would have it." I said. Laurelyn looked shocked. "Oh - I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have -"

"It's quite alright," I said, waving my hand. And strangely, it was quite alright. I remembered how hesitantly I had told Mr. Gibbs and Jack about why I was leaving, how I had to force myself not to break down every time I mentioned Will's name. But now, things were different. Perhaps it was because I was at Tortuga, where honor and fidelity seemed to be as far away as fairytales. Maybe because after sailing for a good deal, I was far enough away from Will to be immune to the hurt and anger he'd caused. Maybe because Laurelyn was a woman, and could understand the pain of these matters better, whereas Jack and Gibbs could associate more with causing said pain.

"I think it worked out for the best, anyway. I never really fit in in Port Royal, and I would have hated to been married to a man who always secretly desired my sister. Perhaps it couldn't have been kept a secret, in spite of whether or not Will and I had gotten married. I'm not even sure if Will loved me in the first place." I said, knowing that to be untrue.

"I take that back - he did love me. But in the way a cousin will love a cousin, I suppose. Not in the way a man will love his wife. At least we both realized it before it was too late." I said thoughtfully. Laurelyn nodded sagely. "Men never can make up their minds, can they?" she mused, hopping up to sit on a counter and dangling her legs. I mirrored her, and we both listen to a while as Mary shuffled around the shop looking at various articles of clothing.

The shop wasn't very big but what it lacked in size it made up in personality. The walls were a deep orange color and the floor was scrubbed clean. There were corsets and dresses and garters and all womanly clothing styles, mind you, they were all very revealing and would never be seen in Port Royal. There were also men's clothing but specially made for what one would have to call 'petite' men. Laurelyn told me that all the clothing was made especially for women, so that women pirates such as Anamaria would never have to compromise themselves by hemming men's clothing to fit into it. "There's not a reason in the world why a woman shouldn't travel." Laurelyn said wistfully.

"So, you say that you never fit in in Port Royal? Why's that?" she asked as we were silent once again. I offered her a lopsided grin. "Have you no eyes, woman?" I demanded, jumping off the counter. "Just look at me! Do I look like a proper lady to you?" I held up my hands so she could see the calluses, and gestured to my tan skin and sun lightened hair. Laurelyn laughed. "Well, no, not exactly - but somewhere under all that must have been a proper lady, at one point." she said mischievously.

"Laurelyn, my dear, if there ever was a drop of propriety in my blood, it's long since been let out." I said. "Besides, running away is in my blood. My mother ran away when I was young, she ran off with a pirate. It seems my fleeing Port Royal was inevitable."

Laurelyn nodded. "I wish I could say the same for my mother. She was a very proper lady, however, part of the Court and all that. She liked to believe she was higher up in the nobility than she actually was, attending lavish balls and the like. But she died when I was four, and my father took me here. She had spent most of her money on gowns and such, and we had no choice but to leave or my father would have been thrown in prison. So he made a life for us here." she said. I kept quiet. I had told her a lot about my life, but hadn't mentioned the fact that my father was the Governor of Port Royal. I wanted to learn more about her before I told her that.

"My father wanted to marry me off, but there's hardly a respectable man in this town and even if there was, we'd never make a dowry that could be taken for me." she sounded bitter, I wondered what her father had told her to make her doubt herself like this.

"I think you are a dowry in yourself," I said gently. Laurelyn grinned. "Yes, I suppose I am. But I told my father I'd never marry any man he chose for me, and grudgingly my father gave in. He was a good man, he could have easily just given me up to the first man that offered. So I learned how to run a pub and established my own shop," she continued, waving her arm around the expanse of the store. "And I'm doing well for myself, I suppose."

"It seems that you are. What of your father?" I asked. Laurelyn sighed. "He's still alive, but in his age he's torn up with missing my mother. I do believe at one point they truly were in love, before she became obsessed with the finery of nobility. Before the fever took her." Laurelyn answered quietly, and I regretted asking the question. But a smile was again upon her face in seconds. "And then I met Jack." she said with a sigh. I raised my eyebrows.

"Jack, bless him, is the only man I've ever loved - 'tis a shame that he's a pirate, because I'd take him for a husband in a second." she said. She got a wicked look in her eye, "And I would have, too, but out of the kindness of my heart I would not have tied him down."

"Pardon?" I said, utterly lost.

"Jack…well, Jack made the mistake of thinking I was a common wench. He came into my pub one night and had gotten piss drunk - not a surprise, I'm sure. He was alone at the bar and I'd been working downstairs that night. He looked terrible, as if he'd been alone for years. Little did I know that it was after he'd been marooned, and he'd just been wandering around, searching for a way to get back to his precious ship." she said, narrowing her brilliant green eyes a bit. I waited, not wanting to interrupt.

"There were a few shifty looking men in my pub, more than the usual tossers that I get, you know? And they were looking at him and muttering. He didn't notice, but I did. So before he could leave - and when he got up to leave, they got up as well, there was not a doubt in my mind that he'd meet an unlucky end - I invited him up to my room."

"You what?"

Laurelyn grinned slyly. "Well, it was either that or let the man get killed or beaten to a bloody pulp! So I played the part of the wench and - predictably - Jack came."

I sat in shock, staring at her. She tossed her blonde head with a smirk.

"So Jack and you…are lovers?"

"No, not this day nor any day before, I'm afraid. Jack came up to my room and passed out cold on my bed. I stayed up all night watching over him. He tried to pay me in the morning, as if we'd actually done something that he couldn't remember."

"Well, what did you do?"

"I told him that if anything of the romantic nature had indeed transpired between us, it wasn't something that he was likely to forget. And I also told him that there were men out looking for him, and it would probably be best if he stayed with me for a while."

"Laurelyn!"

"Obviously, Jack didn't say no." She smirked again.

"Well, what happened?!" I demanded, furious that she could keep me on the edge like this. She grinned and her eyes darted around the room sneakily.

"Well, by the third night we couldn't contain our passion for each other any longer, and he stayed to warm my bed for a fortnight!" she proclaimed. I shrieked and nearly fell off the table. Laurelyn sat primly, laughing.

"What are you, some kind of Governor's daughter?" she snorted. I grimaced. "Well, actually, yes I am. And that shouldn't be any reason to explain my shock! You are Jack's lover!" I accused her, and she rolled her eyes as I picked myself up off the floor.

"No, dimwit, I'm not. He did stay for two weeks, but was a perfect gentleman about it. I was only sixteen at the time, after all, and my father lives in a room downstairs. My bed is in the loft and even with all the unholy ruckus that goes about downstairs, my father's got the ears of hound." she said this a bit regretfully and I raised an eyebrow. Mary caught my eye - she had emerged from wherever she was and had been listening with varying degrees of disapproval and amusement written across her face. Her face was flushed rather obviously from what Laurelyn had implied in her last few statements.

"Oy, did you just say that you are a Governor's daughter?" Laurelyn asked. I sighed, "Catch on quick, don't you?"

"And you're still running away?" she asked. I shrugged. "Being a Governor's daughter doesn't guarantee happiness." I said uncomfortably. She studied me calmly. "No, I suppose not." she answered, as if waiting for me to clarify.

"I'm a twin. My sister Elizabeth…well, she could be considered the angelic one. She's beautiful, and proper, well-raised and such. She's had more suitors than I can count, and Will - the man I was supposed to marry - he's been in love with her since we were twelve. It's rather romantic, actually - she spotted him in the water eight years ago on the crossing from England. And he saved her life just a few months ago when she was abducted by the pirate Barbossa." I explained. Laurelyn looked angry.

"That's not romantic, that's cliché!" she said.

"Call it what you will. Anyway, I've always been second best to her, and rather the black sheep of the family, ever since my mother left. My father adores Elizabeth and I've been quite overlooked. It's hardly been fun," I paused, and took a breath. What I meant to say next, well, I didn't know how it would affect me. "…when I caught Will and Elizabeth kissing in the garden right under my balcony, I decided that there really was nothing left tying me to Port Royal - with Will obviously off to marry Elizabeth, why should I stay? And Jack's been a dear friend to me, I've grown quite fond of him since I first met him. I'm sure I'll be much happier on the Pearl than at Port Royal."

"What if he comes looking for you?" Laurelyn asked. I laughed. "If you ever saw Elizabeth, you would know that there is no reason for him to come after me." I scoffed, and Mary tossed me a chastising look.

"What about you, Mary?" Laurelyn asked. It occurred to me that we'd been sitting around talking for nearly four hours, and hadn't done a bit of shopping. I was sure that Jack would not mind having to stay in a pub for four hours, but we couldn't stay at Tortuga forever.

"I was a maid in Governor Swann's household." Mary said quietly, obviously not as quickly comfortable with Laurelyn as I had been. Laurelyn nodded. "And you…just decided to run away one day?" she prompted. Mary glared. "Christina asked me to go with her." she said defensively. Laurelyn shrugged. I admonished Mary silently. Obviously there was nothing to be suspicious of Laurelyn for, why was Mary being so guarded? After all, we were all women here. Who else can women trust if not each other? I thought of my sister - the one female in the world who was supposed to be my closest confidante, and took back that thought. Obviously, women could be as fickle and selfish as men. Mary sighed, as if understanding my thought, and I was grateful once again that she'd come with me and that her life had been spared from that awful storm.

"I deceived the Commodore, if you must know." she said quietly.

"Whew, girl, is that what you did?" Laurelyn asked with a proud grin on her face. She looked as if she wanted to shake Mary's hand. "Don't tell me - was it Norrington?" she asked, her eyes glittering, and Mary and I exchanged looks. "Yes, it was Commodore Norrington - how do you know of him?" Mary asked apprehensively. Laurelyn let out a hearty laugh.

"Everyone in the Caribbean knows of that git," she said. Mary looked offended. "He's not a git." she said quietly. Laurelyn looked surprised. "When you say deceived…" she started. Mary looked down at her hands, which were clenched in her lap.

"I dressed up as a lady and went into town with Christina, and met the Commodore there. He's really quite nice -" Mary dared a look at me, and I tried to smile reassuringly. "But when he found out I was a maid…he was rather angry that I impersonated a lady…he said that I played him for a fool." Mary whispered. It dawned on me then that as much as I had come to terms with what had been done to me by Will, Mary was still very much infatuated or maybe even in love with the Commodore.

"Whew." Laurelyn said, running a hand through her hair. I yawned and tried to stir the conversation in a different direction, as Mary looked quite uncomfortable. "Jack said that he's going to be spending the night in Tortuga, but you're welcome to stay here." Laurelyn said hospitably. I smiled, "Only if its not too much trouble." I answered, and Mary nodded graciously.

"Oh, its no trouble at all. You don't know how long I've been waiting to have a meaningful conversation among women - the women of Tortuga are not particularly fond of each other. There's a lot of competition, I expect." Laurelyn said. "And I also think that most women are unhappy here." she added thoughtfully.

"They don't seem that way," Mary said.

"They're drunk, most of the time. But it can't be pleasant, selling your body to a different man each night. Upper-class people such as yourselves don't understand it, but I see it all the time. Most of the women here are not in these positions by choice. They're runaways just like you - but not all are lucky enough to have someone like Jack." she said quietly. I could sense that Laurelyn had an affection for Jack that went deeper than spending a few days with him. Something had happened between them, something important. Perhaps something like what Jack was doing for Mary and I myself, helping us to get away.

Laurelyn was kind enough to set up a spare cot for herself, leaving Mary and me to kip on her bed. "Jack usually sleeps on the cot, if that's where he manages to aim himself before passing out." she said with a grin, pulling off her dress shamelessly and crawling into bed in her shift. Given that Mary and I didn't have a change of clothes, Laurelyn had given us each a spare night gown. It seemed that she got most of what she needed to support herself from the pub and had an endless wardrobe to share. We spoke for about another hour before Mary dropped off into dainty snores. It was then that Laurelyn and I decided to call it a night.

The next day, Jack stood impatiently in the pub as Mary and I hurried to get dressed. He had informed us that it was half past noon, and we'd slept away half the day. He was rather upset about this, as today was a beautiful day for sailing and the Commodore was sure to be hot on our tail. I, being the Governor's daughter, was not someone who would be easily let free to do as I pleased.

"If that whelp Turner isn't coming after you, rest assured that bloody Norrington is. Yer father will have seen to that." Jack grumbled, looking as if he'd spent the good portion of last night drinking. Which, obviously, he had.

I lowered my eyes. "I'm sorry Jack - I never should have come. I'm putting both you and your crew in grave danger…perhaps Mary and I should stay here until the Commodore comes -"

"No!" both Jack and, oddly enough, Laurelyn declared loudly and then stopped to glance at each other. "I mean - Christina, once someone's a part of me crew, 's my job as Captain -" he drew himself up fondly, and Laurelyn smiled warmly at him "- to see that they're protected as such. 'Sides, my ship likes ye." Jack said, as if this were the most normal thing in the world. I looked quizzically at Laurelyn.

"Don't look at me, Miss Swann, I just don't want a Guv'ner's daughter in my shop!" she teased. I grinned.

"Well, missies, it seems like we should be off. Are ye sure ye won't join us, Laurelyn-love?" Jack asked. Laurelyn smiled sadly, "No, Jack, but you know I'll always be waiting for you here." she said, and he nodded.

"But ye know, I could use a good seamstress on the Pearl -"

Jack narrowly missed the boot that Laurelyn hurled at his head.

Once aboard the Pearl it took longer that I thought to make leave. We had to wait for the members of the crew to arrive - and they arrived all at different times and in various states of dress, or, occasionally, undress. It seemed obvious to me that the crew had indeed 'made merry upon Tortuga' - even Anamaria! She heaved a contented sigh and crept up between Mary and myself, wrapping an arm about each of our shoulders. "So - how was yeh two virgins' night?" she asked, without a trace of embarrassment. I rolled my eyes and shrugged off her shoulder, while Mary just looked scandalized.

"I tell ye, yeh don't know what yer missin' out on, ye two great Vestals! But I suppose, Princess, yer waitin' fer dear William, eh?" she asked, goading me. I said nothing and Gibbs, who I noticed was aboard the ship again, gave Anamaria a blatant disapproving glare. He widened his eyes to something over my shoulder.

"Well, look here, men - and women -" Jack amended hastily from behind me as someone stumbled aboard the Pearl. I heard him clap someone on the back roughly. "It seems we have a stowaway!"

A/N: There ya go, eleven pages! Enjoy! Now, I'm off to the Harry Potter universe!