AN: Short introductory chapter. I really want to focus on about three to four couples per chapter. This is just introducing the story and characters all at once.

Magic of Survival

Chapter Zero

Honestly, what couple alive could turn down an exclusive invitation from "the mouse". Out of all the different fairytale couples there were only seven of them who were invited to this couple's weekend and they would be taking a cruise together. For some it was truly exciting but others were worried about the experience.

Mickey had invited: Aladdin and Jasmine, Belle and Adam, Ariel and Eric, Tarzan and Jane, Eugene and Rapunzel, Tiana and Naveen, and David and Nani. A quite eclectic group in his mind. For one month, they would be on a boat together that would visit different islands with all expenses paid. This meant that they could socialize together and visit places where some of them had been before and others had not.

As David drove up to the dock, he looked around at the different royal members and wondered why he and Nani had been invited. It wasn't as if they fit into this world with all these princesses. He sweat a little. Hopefully they could still be considered guests. "You checked everything before we came, right?"

Nani kissed David's cheek, "Don't make me worry about that. Lilo will be just fine with Cobra visiting…at least I hope so," she laughed weakly and David gave her a side hug once the car was parked. He had good plans for this trip but that meant that he had to try to find a good point whilst they were on the ship to be able to execute that plan. He and Nani had been friends for a long time and dating for a year and a half, a proposal wasn't out of line.

"You know, I think it will be fine," Nani said as she saw the other couples. There were a lot of princesses here, girls who had grown up with good backgrounds and she had struggled to keep a job. She had once dreamed of being a professional surfer but that was just a dream.

"Yeah, we're just as good as everyone else," David laughed awkwardly before dropping his head. "Otherwise, I apologize."

"Hey, just don't do anything crazy and it'll be fine," Nani reminded him as she cupped his cheek and turned it. She looked into his eyes and smiled before kissing her.

…..

…..

"Adam," Belle said as the two of them stood by the boat staring up at it. "It will be fine," she said to the man who five years ago had changed from Beast to Prince. She gently let her fingers play with his hair. He was gorgeous and he had been working for the past five years on being the prince that their princedom had needed. She definitely admired the steps he had put himself through despite it being tough for him. "I've brought a lot of books with me, travel guides. I know you're a little shy when it comes to socializing."

"You know," Adam tried to explain, "It didn't used to be like this. I used to enjoy being around -"

Belle put a hand on his chest trying to calm him. "You've explained this to me before and remember you are not going to transform again. They're not trying to take advantage of you. You trust that I'm not trying to -"

"I know," Adam said anxiously and Belle had to admit that this self-doubt was adorable. She had seen how much trauma he had gone through from what he had gone through. He was a good and noble person and she understood that the pain of being an animal had changed the world for him and he had been angry during that time. She was glad he was so different in his human form and yet so much the same as the one she had fallen in love with.

"We'll be fine, okay," she said before putting her hands on his shoulders and kissing him. "We're together. We'll be together for as long as you want during this vacation. We were summoned by Mickey, remember?" she said and Adam laughed.

"You truly are wonderful," he told her as he pulled her into an embrace but Belle shook her head.

"You're the wonderful one," she told him. "A prince right out of a story book."

"Hey," another man said as he walked over to them, "That sounds like one fine compliment to me." He held tight to his wife's hand and then with the other offered it out. "Name is Naveen," he said with a wink and Tiana put her hand to his shoulder. "This is my wife, Tiana, she is the most beautiful woman alive and…"

"And I grew up with Mama reading me all those princess stories," Tiana explained as she curtsied to them. "Though it was my friend Charlotte who truly enjoyed them. I mean Lottie ate those stories up with a spoon."

"I was into more musical pursuits," Naveen told them as Adam noticed he was carrying some kind of instrument. "I mean, what is life if you don't enjoy music and dancing and…"

"the rewards of a good day's work," Tiana added with a smile. "I hope the cook lets me use some of that kitchen space. There's no way of introducing myself without sharing some of my Daddy's secret recipes," she winked and Belle laughed. At least they seemed kind people, hopefully Adam was seeing that.

"I believed," Naveen told Tiana with a grin, "You promised to relax and enjoy the vacation."

"Mmhmm," Tiana nodded, "But that still involves making some good food to share." Naveen rolled his eyes but then smiled, "If you tease me any further, I won't let you help."

"Aww, come on," Naveen pleaded, "I was not teasing and you know you like me around when you cook," Tiana smiled before nodding though she still seemed a little stubborn about it.

…

…

"Eugene," Rapunzel told her husband as he looked around the dock. "What are you looking at?" she asked him before turning to Pascal who was looking at all the different colors. "Oh it doesn't matter," she squealed, "We're going on an adventure, a real life adventure."

"Blondie, every day with you is an adventure," Eugene smirked and Rapunzel put a hand to his chest and grinned at him, the love showing in her eyes.

"You do realize that my hair is brown, don't you?" she asked and Eugene shrugged. "How could you call me Blondie?"

"Term of endearment," he said before winking, "You should learn to get used to it."

"And I will get used to it," she said before looking at the boat. "Have you seen such a magical thing," she said and Aladdin laughed behind them. Eugene wrapped his arm around Rapunzel and slowly turned. They could see a new sultan behind them, his father in law had passed a few months ago.

"Doesn't seem too magical to me," he laughed and Pascal frowned as he turned to Abu and the monkey reached out to him. Pascal stuck his tongue out and Abu pulled his paw away, making a noise to Pascal telling him not to touch him. "I mean, if you want to know magic then I know a few things about magic."

"Which doesn't have to extend to this month," Jasmine laughed as Abu climbed onto her shoulder and stuck his tongue out at Pascal in an immature fashion. "We rarely go anywhere by boat," she commented.

"Magic carpet is easier, remember how I took you all over on our first night, we saw a lot of different things," Aladdin smiled to her as he looked at the boat as if it were nothing. Jasmine nodded but she still looked in wonder at the boat. To her it reminded her of her freedom. Aladdin could protect her from the outside world, she only hoped that Genie would stay in character enough to take care of the land for the month and not abuse the powers that came with it.

"Magic carpet?" Rapunzel asked before seeing the shocked expression on Eugene's face. "Is something wrong?" she asked tentatively and then turned to where Eugene was staring. There was a man who wasn't wearing a lot of clothes staring directly at Abu. Who on earth was this?

…

…..

Ariel kissed Eric's cheek as Eric admired the ship. Being on the sea was a passion that Eric had and it was no wonder he enjoyed hearing about the merpeople so much. They had both been teaching each other about the world and how they grew up and now it was two years into their marriage and Ariel was excited to share some news with Eric but wasn't finding the right time to do so.

"It's impressive, right?" Eric asked with one hand put to the side of the ship and Ariel nodded.

"A lot of things are impressive. It looks bigger than the boats that are -"

"It's the biggest ship I've seen for a while," Eric told her and Ariel smiled. This was a new world for her and she hoped she wouldn't feel too lonely as they travelled across the sea. Well, at least she had what mattered most to her. At least she was with Eric…and their unborn child.

End of Chapter Zero

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