The Great Disney Adventure II: The Book of Songs

A Disney story by talking2myself

DISCLAIMER: see chapter 1

Chapter. 53 Paris: Land of Mayonnaise

Emma groaned and hung over the railing of The Black Pearl, her pigtails dangling in the breeze. "UGH!" she moaned, "I… am… so… BORED!!" Elizabeth chuckled at the girl's antics and ruffled her pigtails gently. It HAD been a rather grueling trip for the past couple of days. Emma had been cooped up on the ship. Emma had been okay at first, but she was rapidly getting hyper and ornery. The girl had already spent many hours on The Black Pearl, but before Emma had at least had genie there to entertain her. Emma groaned melodramatically, "And I thought long car rides were bad, but at least I had car bingo for those."

"We're almost there, little one," Elizabeth smiled gently, "Just a few more days."

"DAYS?!" Emma wailed. Elizabeth nodded. "UGH!!!!" Emma groaned, "I'll DIE!"

Elizabeth chuckled, "You could go help Sophia swab the decks." Sophia had spent the better part of the morning scrubbing furiously at the wooden planks until they shone like the sun. Sophia was just as antsy as Emma. She had already begun patching the many holes in The Pearl's sails. The Black Pearl looked like a floating patchwork quilt.

"She won't let me," Emma muttered, "She's not a very good sharer."

Elizabeth shook her head and then turned her focus to Will. Her fiancée was unusually quiet and had been for the past couple days. Right now, Will sat with his back resting against the mizzenmast. He was fiddling with his father's dagger. His brow was furrowed in sadness and anger. Elizabeth sat down besides Will and gently ran her fingers through his dark curls. "Penny for your thoughts?"

Will sighed, "Just thinking."

"What about?"

" About Paris… The Thirteen… My father…."

"Kelsey?"

Will frowned, "Her too."

Elizabeth stretched out her legs. "You two haven't apologized yet?"

"No!" Will said with a sudden fierce anger, "Not this time! She doesn't… she's not… she's not right. Not this time!"

Elizabeth sighed, "I wish you' two would stop this… foolishness."

"Oh really?" Will snapped curtly, "This is the same woman you wrestled to the ground in Jamestown."

"She is also the woman who risked her life to save my fiancée," Elizabeth pointed out, "Sooner or later you will remember that and apologize."

"No," Will said stubbornly, "This time I'll find a way to make her apologize."

"Just wait till her Ipod runs out of juice and play Josh Groban music," Emma muttered, "She'll move mountains for you."

At that moment, Sophia appeared with a paintbrush and a bottle of ink. "Hey Emma," she said, "Do me a favor."

"Sure," Emma shrugged getting to her feet. Sophia handed her the ink. "Run around the deck with this."

Emma said nervously, "Why?"

"So you can run around and make spots all over the decks."

Emma gave her a quizzical look, "Why do you want me to make spots?"

"So I can scrub them off the floors," Sophia snapped, "Now scoot!"

"Okay." Emma shrugged running off while Sophia shuffled behind her. Elizabeth shook her head and smiled at the two of them. I hope that cabin fever isn't contagious.

-888-

A few days later, Kelsey could see the outline of Paris against the skyline. "Welcome to Disney Europe, love," Jack said at her side.

"It's beautiful," Kelsey smiled, "Paris: City of Lights. City of romance."

"Land of Mayonnaise!" Jack said.

Kelsey groaned and pressed her hand to her forehead. "I finally make it to Paris and I have to go with the most culturally inept person in The Kingdom. This is so typical."

"I didn't think it was possible, love," Jack said sadly, "But I think you're becoming more cynical every day."

"Can't help it," Kelsey muttered glumly.

"The Whelp hasn't caved yet?" Jack asked. Kelsey shook her head.

Kelsey let out a heavy sigh, "What are we doing Jack?"

Jack eyed Kelsey's sad face thoughtfully. "It would seem, love, that it is up to us to save the day… again."

Kelsey scoffed, "What? Were all the princes busy? I don't believe that! There has to be, like, twenty three of them!"

"Love…"

"I'm not some sort of God sent hero!" Kelsey cried, "All I want to do is get my brother out of here and go home! How do I keep getting sucked into these greater plans?! Where's my happy ending?!" Kelsey groaned and flopped down to the ground.

Jack stared at her for a few moments before approaching her. "But would you really want that?"

"Huh?" Kelsey asked.

Jack sat down across from her, "We're different people, you and I."

"Different?" Kelsey muttered glumly, "The shrinks call it 'neurotic'."

"Different," Jack repeated, "We're different from Will and Elizabeth. Some people keep working towards their happy ending. But we're different. It's not about the happy ending. It's about the next chapter. Do… do you understand?"

Kelsey stared at Jack. Jack's having a deep moment? What next? Paris Hilton starring in a Disney movie?! She was a bit surprised to see Jack staring at her like that. With concern in his eyes and a serious expression on her face. Kelsey smiled warmly at Jack. "Yes, I think I do."

"Good," Jack said with a smile, "It takes two madmen to restore order. Ironic isn't it?"

Kelsey smiled at him, "Madpersons."

"Right," Jack said, pulling her to her feet, "We save people. It's what we do."

Kelsey grinned roguishly at her pirate friend, "We should put that on a business card."

-888-

"And that one's Orion the Hunter," Alice pointed up at the night sky. The two of them sat in the crow's nest and were staring up at the crystal clear skies.

"He never looked like a hunter to me," Rob said, "Just a bunch of dots." He craned his neck They're a lot brighter here than they are at home, but the constellations are the same."

They're not all the same," Alice said, "According to your sister, Montressor isn't a planet at your home." Alice pointed up at what appeared to be a second, crescent moon. "Montressor spaceport. It's quite lovely."

"Yeah," Rob said with a smile, staring at Alice and not Montressor, "Lovely."

Alice caught his gaze and blushed. Rob caught her red face and he started blushing fiercely as well. "I guess… I guess I won't be seeing that one when I go back home."

Alice's happy smile faded away, "No. No I guess not." And I won't see you here.

Rob sighed and stared out at the horizon. "This place is so different. It's so much better… but so much worse. It's weird." He smiled sheepishly, "I suppose I'm not making much sense."

"No, it makes perfect sense," Alice said cheerfully, "This place is usually full of happy endings, you just have to conquer the villains first." Alice frowned, "Usually it isn't this hard to do."

"It's because of this stupid, Aaron guy!" Rob scowled, "It's not this world that's causing all the problems. It's ours! Why do we have to live in such a horrible place…"

"No, Rob!" Alice cried suddenly, "Don't ever say that! Your world is wonderful place!"

"How do you know that?" Rob sighed.

"Because you're from that world." Alice insisted. "Kelsey is from that world. Two out of three people who come from your world are good." Alice smiled, "It must be good." Alice leaned forwards and pressed a kiss lightly on his lips. "I want to see your world."

"Alice…" Rob sighed. He pressed his fingers to her lips and forced them away. "You can't… I have no idea what would happen if I tried and if something happened to you I'd…"

"I know," Alice sighed, "I know." The two of them sat there in a heavy, melancholy silence. "So what's going to happen… when all this is over?"

Rob shook his head, "I don't know."

Alice eyed Rob sadly. "Rob…"

"Show me the stars, Alice."

"But Rob,"

"Ally please," Rob begged, "Just for now. Show me the stars. They're so beautiful and I can only see them for a little while."

Just like you…

-888-

Underneath those same stars, Aaron paced restlessly. Sleep was not going to come quickly. He was grudgingly impressed by Bootstrap's actions. He refused to tell them anything. Now he sat in a cell, quiet as ever still convinced that Will would come to his rescue. Aaron scowled, clearly Turner took after his father.

Their trip was not going well. They had circled around the Isla Cruces several times now and still there was no sign of The Black Pearl. Kelsey and her friends had fled. The Flying Dutchman had been turned around and they were now heading out to open sea. He had no idea where Kelsey could have gone. They had no leads. No clues. Nothing.

Aaron scooped up the broken chair leg and chucked it against the wall. The look in Kelsey's eyes still haunted him. That look of pity. It infuriated him. She was his prisoner. She was tied to a chair. And yet despite it all, she was feeling sorry for him. It wasn't right!

His desire for revenge was rapidly turning into an obsession. Those eyes. Those big, blue eyes brimming with pity and concern. They haunted him. They taunted him. They brought him back to another time in his life. A darker time. He had seen that look in the social worker's eyes as they moved him from house to house. He hated the look!

Aaron picked up another chair leg and let out another yell of frustration. Hades opened the door to his cabin just as the wooden spar flew over his head and splintered into pieces. Hades rolled his eyes, "Honestly. Hasn't the décor on this ship suffered enough?"

"What do you want, Hades?" Aaron snarled.

"A purple seagull landed on the ship," Hades said, "Mim. She wants to talk to you."

"I don't want to talk to her," Aaron muttered.

"Yeah, can't say I blame ya," Hades said, "Though she's quite eager to see you. Says it's urgent."

Aaron grumbled, "I bet." He followed Hades out of the door and into one of the offices. Jafar and Jones were already there, though they looked half asleep and disgruntled. In fact, the only happy looking one in the entire room was Mim. Mim was sitting there, grinning like a madwoman.

"This better be damn important, Mim," Aaron scowled.

Mim's grin only got bigger, "There's been a change in plans."

-888-

"Paris." Kelsey said. She stood with Jack and the crew and stared out at the large port. "Just great. Frollo's turf. Frollo's song. We're going to need to keep the aliens hidden below. We draw enough attention as it is. If we stand any chance of getting that song, we're going to need to blend in."

"How do you plan on sneaking by Frollo?" Jack asked, "He's the one who sings the song after all."

"Not sure yet," Kelsey sighed, "But I'll figure out something. I have to." So much rides on this song. My friendship with Will, Bootstrap's freedom, The Kingdom.

"I trust you completely," Jack said with a smile, "Onwards to the land of Mayo!"

No one chuckled at Jack's comment. Kelsey turned to face Will, desperate to see some sort of warmth in his face. Will just turned away from Kelsey's glance. Kelsey frowned. Heavy silence filled the air. Rob frowned and his hand slipped into Alice's. Alice smiled at him and gave him a bright smile. Rob returned the smile, but he couldn't break the silence.

In the end, it was Emma who broke it. "Can we go to the land of ketchup next?"