A/N: Just a quick little one shot in honor of the 62nd anniversary of Disneyland, the reopening of Fantasmic! 2.0, and to answer the age-old question posed in Chapter 17 of The Happiest Place. As this story takes place nearly six years after The Happiest Place concludes, there are minor spoilers for that story.

Rated: K+

Bring Me the Horizon

"I'd go, too, you know," she said. "If you ever got the Pearl back."

He seemed to find that amusing. "Would you, now?"

"I've spent my whole life trapped. All seventy-five years of it. It would be nice to see what's out there for once. And, in case you hadn't noticed, there's not exactly much that's holding me here."

He put his hands on either side her, pinning her back against the railing, and leaned in close.

"What about now, hmm?"

"Very funny," she said with a laugh, wrinkling her nose. "That is, of course, provided you didn't run off on your own the second you got her back."

"And leave you trapped here for good? No one deserves that."

She considered him for a moment. "Do you actually mean it?"

"There's no way to tell, now is there?"

No, there wasn't. Besides, the point was basically moot anyway. He wasn't getting his ship back, and she wasn't ever getting out.

Sunrise. Cinderella's glass heels tapped sharply against the pavement as she ran. Fistfuls of her skirts were clutched tight in her hands. Behind her, the eastern sky further lightened as the sun began to peek over the horizon. She was out of time.

Strange how that worked, wasn't it? Sixty-two years to date in that place, and yet her timing never seemed to get better. Maybe she was just destined to be a little too slow. Just a little too late.

Once she'd believed that this day would never come. Rather naïvely, now that she thought about it. As often as the Park seemed to part characters from their Happily Ever Afters, it seemed almost inevitable that one of them should win theirs back someday, and even more so that it should be Captain Jack Sparrow. For the first time since he'd arrived, Disneyland had officially put him back on his ship. Cinderella couldn't even begin to imagine what that must have felt like.

Nearly six years their status quo had stayed intact, and all it took was one change on behalf of the Park to upset that delicate equilibrium.

She crossed the Hub, making for the wooden arch that led into Frontierland. At this hour, everyone was just barely beginning to get into place for the day. The center of the Park itself was totally abandoned. After going through the gateway, she headed right, passing the shooting gallery and Zocalo. Ahead was Frontier Landing. To her surprise, the Columbia was docked there. She felt her heart leap into her throat and forced herself to run faster. After shoving her way through the turnstiles at the entrance, she dashed across the landing and hopped the white fence at the far side. The set of rolling stairs were in place, and she took them two at a time before staggering up onto the ship.

The instant her foot touched the deck, the air around her shimmered and blurred. A second later the Columbia had melted away to reveal a ship as black as night. The ship rocked beneath her feet. All around, a crew of pirates prepared to make way, shouting to each other as they did. Several of them gave her looks as they passed by. Cinderella carefully sidestepped to get out of their way. As she did, she finally caught sight of the lone figure on the upper deck.

Jack stood at the helm, compass open, dark eyes fixed on some point far in the distance. There was a glint of something in them that she thought might have been triumph.

Standing at the bottom of the stairs with one hand resting on the bannister, Cinderella called up to him, "You haven't left yet."

The pirate finally looked down, noticing her for the first time.

"Ah. Welcome aboard The Black Pearl, Your Highness," he said, doffing his hat and giving her a sweeping bow. She ignored the gesture. Instead, she climbed the steps to join him at the stern of the ship.

"Did you wait?" she asked him as she reached the upper deck. "Or was I just fast enough to catch you before you went?"

He took a step toward her and asked in return, "Does it matter?"

She considered the question for a moment. Did it really matter? Whether or not he'd been planning to leave, he was still there. She'd made it in time either way. And that was what actually mattered in the end, she supposed.

"So, you finally have her back."

"Aye. Barbossa still has the Wench – and he can keep her – but the Pearl?" Turning back to the wheel, his fingers curled around one of the handles. "The Black Pearl's mine."

Cinderella couldn't help the small smile that tugged at the corner of her mouth.

"I'm proud of you, Jack," she told him. "You finally got your wish."

He shot her a knowing smirk. "I'm not the only one, love."

"I don't understand."

Gesturing behind her, he said, "Take a look for yourself."

Cinderella turned around. Beyond the ship was the open ocean, far as her eye could see. The caps of the dark waves shone like gold in the light of the rising sun. She'd dreamed of it, of course. A very, very long time ago. Actually witnessing it for herself, however, the world stretching out all the way to the distant horizon… that was something else entirely.

"You see it, don't you?" Jack whispered in her ear.

She felt the brief sting of tears in her eyes as she whispered back, "It's beautiful."

Even though years had passed, she could still remember the conversation they had on the rooftops of Puerto Dorado as clearly as if it were only yesterday.

"That's what you want most, isn't it? Freedom?"

"It is, and I think it's what you want as well."

And there it was. So close she could actually taste it on the briny wind that rushed over the deck of the Pearl and tugged at her bangs. She wanted that horizon and everything beyond it.

Slinging one arm across her shoulders and holding out the compass to her with the other, Jack said with a grin, "I promise, you will not be disappointed."

She took it carefully. Her mind still reeled from the sheer possibility of it all. There was a whole world out there, waiting. If she was ready for it.

With a deep breath, Cinderella flipped open the lid.