Jim didn't see John at all the next day. He didn't know if it was because John was upset with him about standing him up the night before or because Kida was keeping him busy; either way, Jim was glad he didn't have to explain why he hadn't seen him last night.

When Jim was done with all of his chores, it was fairly early in the night and he went up to the deck to join the celebration Kida was having to reward the crew for their victory the day before. In the center of the deck, Naveen was playing guitar while Rapunzel sang an upbeat song and Esmeralda danced. Everybody appeared to be having fun for the first time since Jim had boarded the ship. Nearby he saw Dimitiri flirting with the surgeon, Anastasia, but she was clearly not interested. Mulan and Shang and Belle and Adam were dancing in front of Naveen. Merida was sitting on the edge of the ship talking excitedly to Thomas and Flynn. On the upper deck, Eric was at the helm having a serious conversation with Jane. Jim spotted Tiana on the stairs leading to the upper deck. She appeared to be trying to explain something to Phoebus and was motioning wildly with her hands. On the far side of the deck, away from everyone else, Meg was making out with Hercules. The rest of the crew- Kida, Gaston, Kocoum and Shang- were standing in a circle, drinking and bragging about their kills. Jim didn't see John anywhere, though.

Jim started making his way up to John's room, knowing this would be the best time to talk to him since everyone else was distracted. He paused outside John's door and hesitated before finally knocking on it. John opened the door, but didn't say anything when he saw Jim. One look into John's blue eyes and Jim lost his nerve to end things with him. He knew he was being selfish and continuing this relationship wasn't fair to John, but Jim wanted to be with John more than anything.

"I'm sorry about last night," Jim said.

"Don't worry about it." John opened the door further and stepped back. "Come in."

Jim stepped past John, into the room. John closed the door, but didn't move from his spot.

"Why aren't you down at the party?" Jim asked, not knowing what else to say.

"I wanted to be alone."

"Oh. I can leave if you want me to."

John shook his head. "I wanted to be alone in case you came up to see me."

Jim smiled at John, but inside he was yelling at himself. You're a jerk for doing this to him, Jim scolded himself. He let his smile fade and then sat down on John's bed.

"Is something wrong?" John asked.

Jim couldn't bring himself to lie to John, but at the same time he knew he couldn't tell him the truth. He took a deep breath and said, "Meg told me what happened with the last guy you were with and I don't want to hurt you like that."

"I see." John leaned against the door. "Are you ending things with me for someone else?"

"What? No! John, there's no one else." Jim ran his hand through his hair. "It's just that I like you and I'm afraid of accidentally hurting you." John didn't say anything, so Jim added, "You're the only one I want and I can't stand the thought of me causing you pain."

The look on John's face was uncertain, yet expectant. "Jim, is there something you need to tell me?"

Jim looked into the eyes of the man he was falling for and lied. "No."

"Good."

John pushed off the door with his foot and slowly walked towards Jim. He leaned over Jim and rested his forehead against Jim's. Jim's heart raced and he forced his guilty thoughts away. He slipped his fingers through John's thick blonde hair and pulled him into a kiss. The kiss lasted a while before they had to part for air. Jim continued to hold John's head close to his own.

"Don't let go," John whispered.

Jim nodded and in an instant his mouth was against John's again. Each time they kissed it was intense, as if their lips had waited forever to be together again. Jim had never been good with words and he could never quite express what was on his mind. But, he always kissed John with everything inside of him, hoping he could show John exactly how he felt about him.

X X X

Meg parted her lips from Hercules' briefly to take in air, but they were suddenly cast in darkness as something blocked the moonlight. She looked up to see that they were now slowly floating through a narrow trench. An eerie silence fell over the crew as they looked around.

"Stay steady!" Kida instructed Eric.

"Aye, Captain."

They weren't even halfway through the trench when they heard singing. The beautiful voice surrounded the ship and all of the men were instantly in a trance.

It's a siren! Meg thought, in panic. She grabbed Hercules' head and pulled it close. She put a hand over one of his ears and pressed the other against her chest. She looked around the ship and saw the men walking dreamily towards the edges while Tiana, Anastasia, Esmeralda, Rapunzel, Merida, Mulan and Belle frantically tried to keep them away. Jane was struggling with Eric to take control of the helm, but he shoved her away and she fell hard on the wood and was knocked unconscious.

"It's my mermaid!" Meg heard Eric say.

Kida hurried up the stairs, but had only made it part way when Eric sideswiped the wall of the trench. The impact caused Kida to be thrown against the railing and Meg gripped the edge of the ship to keep from falling overboard. Kida finally made it up to Eric and knocked him away from the helm. She quickly steered the ship away from the wall, but Eric had just as quickly regained his composure and was now fighting for the wheel.

"She wants me to come to her!" Eric snarled.

Meg scanned the trench, but it was too dark to see anything outside of the ship. Hercules struggled against her and she could see the other women were also having trouble controlling the men. Meg knew she try and help them, but she couldn't risk losing Hercules.

All of a sudden, the singing stopped. The men slowly came out of their dreamlike states, but Meg didn't dare let go of Hercules. Once the confusion and chatter settled down, they all noticed a woman standing on the edge of the ship. She was wearing a long white skirt and a white lace corset. Her skin was pale, but her hair was dark brown, almost black. Even Meg had to admit she was beautiful. The woman had her gaze fixed on something on the ship and she gracefully stepped down from the ledge. She slowly walked across the ship, everyone parting out of her way. She stopped in front of Gaston and tilted her head to the side. Kida jumped down from the upper deck and quickly placed herself between the woman and her fiancée.

"Who are you?" Kida demanded.

The woman turned her head to look at Kida. "I'm a siren. But you can call me..." She paused and looked at Gaston again. "Vanessa."

"What do you want?" Kida asked.

"Him." Vanessa motioned at Gaston. "He's the most handsome man I've ever seen and I want him." She now looked at Kida. "In exchange for letting me stay on the ship with him, I will protect your ship and crew from sirens and other dangerous creatures of the ocean."

Kida looked thoughtful for a moment. She glanced at Gaston and the way he was looking at Vanessa made it clear that he was not going to refuse the mysterious woman.

Kida held out her hand and shook Vanessa's. "Deal."