Author's Notes:

Thanks for reading!

It's fun to think of how Frank and Lily will continue their banter with one another, while now realizing that they have a mutual attraction to one another.

And MacGregor - He is just a delight.

Soundtrack suggestion: Track 20 - I Built a Boat.

Chapter 3: Strength in Numbers

Lily's mouth fell open at the sight.

A single petal had bloomed, and the sliver of moonlight that found its way into the cave shone brightly upon it. It's pink glow a stark contrast to the dim cave surrounding them.

MacGregor snorted. "Bloody hell…I'm not climbing that tree for anything less than a hot bath and a 5-course meal at Boodles." Proxima, as if to agree, grumbled and sat down next to MacGregor.

Lily on the other hand, was on the move. She had already placed herself under the petal.

"Frank!" Lily exclaims, excitedly. "You can lift me!" She shouted, pointing up towards the petal. Her arms already beckoning him towards her, her hands eagerly waving for him to join her.

Frank grimaced. "Lily, I don't know - that's pretty high - I was kinda thinking we should make like this tree and …leave…" Frank paused for effect. MacGregor snorted in amusement. Yup. Still got it.

Lily was less amused, and still craning her neck towards the petal.

Frank hesitated. The last thing he wanted to do was mess with more mythical things - after all, he just escaped a 400-year old curse. The last thing he wanted to do was trigger another one.

With Lily's help, you escaped the curse - his mind began to argue…but still. He decided to err on the side of caution.

He glanced behind him and for the first time laid eyes on the four men still encased in stone. Their faces twisted and frozen in fear. He felt sorry for them - even guilt. He was free now, and they were doomed to spend eternity frozen this way. They did attack him multiple times over the years… But the madness that consumed them may have only been due to Aguirre's devotion to return to his daughter.

Lily noticed Frank balk at her sudden enthusiasm to retrieve the flower. She felt a pang of shame that she was so quickly enamored by the magical petal. After all they had been through, if this single petal could erase all they had been through, she didn't want it. It wasn't worth what she…they…had unexpectedly gained. She moved back to where her brother and Frank stood.

"Frank?" Saying his name gently, laying her hand on his arm. "We don't have to…" She smiled up at him warmly. Frank's brown eyes meet Lily's green ones. He could see the truth in her eyes. She was willing to give up the petal again, for him. His chest constricted at the intimacy of her stare.

Frank's smile returned, and with a determined look in his eye, he made his move.

"Little Brother," Frank shouted playfully, "hold my hat." Frank whipped his hat off his head and tossed it at MacGregor who fumbled it once, twice, and finally pulled it to his chest.

Before she could register what Frank was doing, he had grabbed Lily's hand and spun her around, her back hitting the wall of Frank's chest. She let out an "oof" and before she knew it, Frank had dipped down and pushed his head through her legs and she was being hoisted into the air.

"FRANK! Frank Frank…Frank!" She shrieked his name repeatedly in surprise…and in warning. Her arms flailing, Lily struggled to keep her balance and not fall backwards.

"Relax Pants, I got you." Franks hands went to her kneecaps and when he squeezed them slightly, Lily's heels reflexively shot back, kicking Frank in the chest.

"Ouch! Hey! Easy up there!" He yelped. MacGregor stifled a laugh and gave Proxima a pat on the head.

"Just keep it steady, Skippy!" Lily instructed, refocusing on the task at hand.

She lifted her hands as high as should could reach, but still needed a little more height. She shifted her weight and her left hand landed with a smack on the top of Frank's head as she used it for leverage to push herself up a few inches higher.

Grunting, and tightening his grip, Frank planted his feet and held her still as much as he could.

"Just…a bit…more…." Lily drawled as she wiggled her fingertips towards the petal. And just as she was about to reach it, the moonlight shifted…

Lily froze. The sight before her began to change…

Frank, feeling Lily's movements cease, spoke up, "Hey! What's going on up there Pants?"

"Oh my gosh…Frank, look." Lily pressed both her hands back down to Frank's head and urged him to turn.

"Well would you look at that…"MacGregor stared in amazement.

When the moonlight shifted, it landed across a larger branch of the tree - causing an entire limb to bloom in front of them. Five glowing, pink petals were now in reach of Lily's outstretched hand.

She snapped the branch off easily, bringing the precious cargo to her chest. Frank lowered her gently to the ground, and when he stood back up, his own mouth hung open in awe.

Lily handed the limb over to Frank. Understanding that he was really the one to decide what should be done with these extra petals that have now presented themselves to this unlikely trio.

Frank shook his head, not wanting the burden of the decision. "I feel like you should take these. Really Lily - this is the whole reason you came out here in the first place. Your grandfather would be proud." Frank smiled at her, encouraging her to take the petals back.

Lily also shook her head in non-compliance, holding her hands up and refusing to take it back from him. "No Frank - I mean, yes - this is why we came," Lily looked up at her brother, then back at Frank, "But I don't need all of them…the one is sufficient enough for me to do my research…the rest, well…" Lily's voice trailed off.

Frank's mouth twitched. He studied the glowing branch in his hand for a long moment. Had he not been saved by one of these magical petals, who knows what torturous fate he would be trapped in at the very moment. Would his soul have also been ravaged by jungle for another four hundred years - just like his former comrades?

Luckily for him, he had a savior.

Lily fidgeted. Frank was staring at her again. What was once an annoying gawk has now turned into an affectionate gaze and it made her unsure of how to react.

"Frank - if I may…" MacGregor stepped forward, and Lily was grateful for the interruption. "What say we hand them over to Trader Sam. Perhaps her tribe would benefit from a few of these … troublesome petals." he said with a hint of high society aloofness.

Frank smiled knowingly, "No…I know that she and the tribe would not want anything to do with them. They know the dangers that come with having something so important and sought after in their possession. They'd just as soon forget every mention of the sacred tree and its petals."

Frank smirked to himself, then looked up at Lily. "Too many crazy determined explorers out there looking for something that shouldn't exist." Lily's mouth popped open as she feigned an insulated expression, but small smile landed at her lips in the end.

Frank took a deep breath. Grateful for the air in his lungs.

"But I do know who would benefit from these…" Frank said softly as he turned back towards Aguirre and his men.

If he was given a second chance, then perhaps these tortured souls should get one as well.

Realizing what Frank was suggesting, MacGregor gulped audibly. "Uh, Frank…you - you're sure they won't, you know, pop alive again and well - murder us?" He asked nervously, as he moved to put Proxima between him and the frozen soldiers.

"I think even they have experienced enough bloodshed to last a few hundred lifetimes." Frank said empathetically.

Frank plucked a single petal from the branch and handed it gently to Lily. She took it willingly and wrapped it in Frank's red bandana - placing into her pocket for safe keeping. Then, walking towards the wall where the jungle's vines had turned the cave into a tomb. He approached the first conquistador.

Sancho. You were always hungry. Never left any food for anyone else, Frank mused. Bees were frozen around his face and long drips of honey were etched in stone across his face. The honeycomb was prevalent across his chest and neck.

Frank pulled a petal from the branch and placed it to his open mouth. The petal turned to dust almost immediately, and within seconds, a whisper of a a breeze could be heard. Sancho's features began to crumble, and his whole body cracked and shifted, falling to the floor as it all turned to ash.

Melchor. A stone frog sitting atop his head, Frank crinkled his nose in remembrance, You smelled. Like badly. Just rotten. Frank placed the next petal to Melchor's lips - and again - a breath of air, and his stone facade crumbled away, leaving pile of ash and dust behind.

Gonzalo. His beard a maze of thin branches and twigs, while his hands were a tangled web of stone tendrils. You never liked me. Feeling's mutual. Frank pressed his petal to the soldier's mouth. Breath. Dust.

Aguirre. The snakes around him all frozen and outstretched- as if carved from the same stone the wall was made from. Frank raised the last petal and brought it to the lips of his former friend and comrade. This time he spoke out loud, "Rest, brother. Be with Anna." The wall shifted as Aguirre's snakes began to crumbled first. The fear that was etched into Aguirre's expression began to dissolve and when nothing remained but a tangle of broken vines, Frank's shoulders slumped and his head fell forward as he gave thanks silently to whatever God or Being that has allowed him to live.

He felt Lily's hand slip into his. She squeezed it gently, and he marveled at how that simple gesture gave him hope. He wasn't prepared for it - so his words failed him in the moment. Not sure what to do or say, he just stood there, allowing her to be the stronger one this time.

Four lifetimes have passed, but he suddenly felt like his life was just beginning.