Disclaimer: POTC not mine, but me wish it be so…

A/N: Due to the overwhelmingly emotional reviews I have received, I have decided to update earlier than usual. Watch me go.

The Black Pearl drifted silently, at the mercy of the wind. Timbers creaked.

Somewhere below decks, there was the sound of child crying.

Squirrel opened her eyes and gasped for breath. She tugged at the rope around her neck. It was fast, knotted tightly. She smiled wearily. If her cloak hadn't gotten caught and twisted, she would've really danced the hempen jig. Even so, it was hard to play dead for an hour in the sun, waiting, listening until the sound on the enemy vessel had faded into nothingness. Squirrel kicked again, trying to break free. But the ropes were thick, and refused to move. Squirrel sighed, then pulled out her knife and began sawing away at one of the ropes. Ropes were hard to come by, and a pirate learned to make things last, to never damage anything that could be reused. After what seemed like ages, the rope gave way, and Squirrel slid down to the deck below. After taking a few grateful breaths of air, she looked up.

Her cloak had decided to stay up in the rigging, and swung in the breeze like an empty shell. Like a body. Squirrel shuddered, then hurried below decks.

"Quiet now, baby." She sang as she made her way to the galley. The cries came from behind crates of salted meat that the enemy pirates had overlooked. Squirrel scared away the rat that had woken her son, then picked the child into her arms. "Mummy's here, baby. Shh, sleep now. It's all right."

The boy squirmed, reaching for his mother. Squirrel sat down on one of the benches and sighed heavily. Jack was gone. The crew was gone. All the valuables, all the necessities - gone. The Black Pearl was a sitting duck. And what could one woman do?

"Go back to sleep, baby." She cradled the boy in the crook of her arm and pulled the makeshift cradle down from its hiding place. "Sleep, and dream of great things."

The boy stared, wide brown eyes radiating innocence, then yawned. Squirrel placed him gently back into the cradle and tucked him in. She carried the sleepy baby above decks, into the captain's quarters, Jack's quarters, where she set the cradle down carefully, tenderly.

"Don't worry, Johnny." She stroked her baby's pale curls and smiled as he tucked his thumb into his mouth. "We'll get Daddy back." Her voice dropped below a whisper. "We have to."

Squirrel staggered back on deck, her eyes blurred with tears. Despite the reassurances to her child, she couldn't see how she'd be able to do anything. Jack was gone… they would kill him. The crew would all die. Squirrel choked back a sob. It all seemed hopeless.

"Girl, what are ye sobbin' fer? There's enough salt water in the bilges as it is!"

Squirrel's head snapped up, and she slowly turned to face the helm. It wasn't possible.

But Anamaria glared back down at Squirrel. "What are you looking at, Grey?"

Squirrel continued to stare, the tears drying from her eyes. "Ana?"

Ana snorted. "Aye, who else would it be?"

Squirrel shook her head, trying to clear her eyes. This is a dream. I'm hallucinating.

"Come on, girl!" Ana barked. "We've got a ship to catch! And with Jack not here and you being all tragic and useless - sorry, but it's true - I'm in charge. Think you can take orders from me for a change?" Ana grinned teasingly.

Squirrel cautiously climbed the stairs towards Anamaria. "How?" She managed to squeak. "You… You're…" No, don't think about that. Don't think abut how Ana… "There's no wind! They're smaller than us, faster than us… We'll never be able to catch them, and they've been gone for hours!"

Ana said nothing. She looked up at the black sails of the Pearl. Squirrel shivered, then stared. The sails were billowing, as though they were full, and the ship itself sounded like it was straining, like a dog at a leash, to move forward, even though the anchor was raised and nothing - nothing physical, anyway - was holding it back. Ana looked back at Squirrel and winked.

"Shut your eyes, missy." She said kindly. "Shut your eyes and listen."

So Squirrel did. She heard the sound of the sea, the creaking timers, the wind, the flapping sails, the wash of the ballast and bilge… and underneath it all, there was something else. Squirrel listened harder, scarcely able to believe it. She'd never heard it before, even after all her time on the ship. It was a humming, a subtle energy that manifested itself in a soft sound, like a song.

"What is it?" Squirrel asked, her eyes still closed.

"It's the ship." Ana replied simply. Squirrel opened her eyes slowly. Ana still leaned on the steering wheel. The Negro woman nodded, the grin gone from her face. "We're all here for you, Miss Grey." Ana waved a hand, indicating the deck and the sails… And, Squirrel got the feeling, something more. "So stop your fretting, or else!" Ana grinned, then rasped in a poor imitation of Jack, "Savvy?"

"Aye." Squirrel nodded, and managed a smile.

"Good." Ana smiled back, then scowled. "So get to work!"

Squirrel saluted, and laughed. Ana laughed along, if only for a while, before barking out orders.

A/N: If you're wondering about the relevance of the baby's name - yes. Named after Johnny Depp. No duh. It was my friend's idea to call Jack's son 'Johnny'. After I wrote Squirrel, she wrote two fics of her own. So I wrote Squirrel 2 to catch up.

And Squirrel's not dead. Happy? I bet you are. :D