Shantae groaned and opened her eyes. Her vision was blurry and she had a killer headache. Where was she? What was going on? She tried to wipe the sleep out of her eyes, but found that both hands were tied to a wooden board, preventing movement. She cried out in alarm, tugging at the rope, trying to escape. Even her legs were bound together. Had this been a different situation, Shantae might've enjoyed being tied up. But this wasn't that situation.

"Well, well, look who just woke up. Good evening, lazy."

That voice. Her vision still blurry, but slowly getting clearer, Shantae watched as a purple blob made its way towards her. Panicking, Shantae pulled on the ropes even harder. She didn't want to die. Not like this.

"Stop. Calm down," the voice commanded. 'No.' Her mouth was dry.

"Shantae." 'Go away, go away, go away!' She tugged more. Harder.

"Shantae!" The genie froze in fear, and watched as Risky came into focus. She didn't say a word, but was visibly trembling out of fear. The pirate had her hair flowing out of her bandana; she looked amazing. Not that it comforted Shantae in the slightest.

Risky climbed up onto the platform the genie was on, and Shantae realised it was a purple bed. No time to appreciate it now. As the pirate drew closer, Shantae shrank back, terrified what Risky would do while she was so helpless. She had too much of a headache to channel her magic. Tears formed in her eyes, causing her vision to get blurry again.

Risky crawled next to Shantae, who refused to look at her. The pirate sighed, cupping Shantae's face gently. She slowly turned her head to make the younger girl face towards her. There was little resistance, but Shantae refused to make any eye contact at all. Risky reached for something that Shantae didn't want to see. Probably a dagger. Or her pistol. Or both.

She was surprised when she felt a damp cloth wiping under her nose with the utmost care, cleaning away crusted blood. She finally looked at Risky, who smiled gently at her, continuing to wipe away the blood. She felt like a baby. Shantae got so lost in Risky's scarlet eyes that she didn't notice when Risky put the cloth away to retrieve another.

"Stay still. This might hurt." What?

Shantae's eyes darted to see what Risky was applying to her forehead, but was too slow to catch it, before wincing in pain as a sharp stinging sensation began from whatever was on her head.

"Sorry, sorry. Just a little more." What. Did Risky just say she was sorry? When did that ever happen?

Before she knew it, Shantae found the second damp cloth (with its mysterious stinging ingredient) was replaced with a bandage being carefully wrapped around her head. Risky was even considerate enough to keep it under her pony tail. As the pirate leaned forward to get around the back of Shantae's head, the genie took the time to admire Risky's generous chest. 'They're way bigger than mine. Risky's lucky. Maybe she'll let me… no. That'll never happen. Not now.'

"Are you staring at my breasts?" Dammit. She had been caught. Too lost in the moment, again.

Shantae averted her eyes, blushing red. Maybe Risky would kill her quickly. She reddened even further as she felt the back of Risky's fingers caress against her cheek.

"I'm flattered. Really. Not that you make it hard for me to notice anyway; you did it a lot while we were against the Pirate Master." Of course she had noticed that too. 'Risky is way more alert than I thought… I need to remember that.'

"Anyway, besides me, is there anything that you want?" 'What did you just say!? Besides you!? When did she become so flirty?' Still blushing furiously, she made eye contact with Risky, noticing once again how nice she looked with her hair out.

"W-water," Shantae croaked, her voice barely reaching a whisper. "Please." Risky nodded, walking off to get a glass of water for the bound genie. Shantae watched her, looking out for any poison that Risky might put in. However, still feeling quite tired, she closed her eyes. She tried to remember what had happened before she blacked out. Risky crying on the floor, her nose getting punched hard, an argument, and something being thrown at her. Any details that Shantae tried to remember got muddled up as she fell into sleep again.

Or nearly did anyway.

"Hey. Wake up, runt. You want the water or not?" That sounded a bit more Risky-like. Shantae stirred, opening her eyes again to the sight of crystal clear, cool water in Risky's hand. She nodded, her lips slightly parting, as if the glass was already at her lips.

"That's great. But do you really think I'm doing this out of kindness?" Of course there was a price. Risky had lost all her friendly tone as well. This couldn't end well.

"If you want the water, and by the looks of it, you really do, you have to promise me that you'll never stop my plans again, that you'll forfeit your magic to me, and that you don't mind your friends 'disappearing.' Deal?" Shantae gaped. Seriously? She shook her head vigorously, her mouth too dry to reply. Risky giggled at the panicking girl.

"I'm just joking darling, stay still," Risky smirked, dropping the aggressive tone and bringing the glass to Shantae's lips. After drinking about half of it, she took it away to let the genie breathe.

"You're mean," Shantae glared. "I'd rather die than let you do anything to my friends."

"But if you were dead, you wouldn't be able to stop me doing things to them anyway. Besides, keeping you alive is more fun," Risky replied. She put the glass down, brushed some of her long hair away from her face, and crawled back onto the bed next to Shantae. The tied-up heroine wouldn't look at her again.

"Why haven't you killed me?" Shantae asked in a whisper. She shuddered, really not wanting to make Risky change her decision. She didn't feel safe at all.

"I have morals, believe it or not. It's as simple as that," Risky answered nonchalantly.

"Go on…" Shantae insisted, turning her head slightly. Risky leaned back against the bedhead, playing with one of Shantae's bindings.

"I follow a particular set of rules that I've made for myself. I don't want to go to the extremes that the Pirate Master did," Risky said, scowling at his name. "Don't threaten children. Only steal from merchants and the rich. Be kind to the prisoners. That final one applies to you."

"But you're always screaming at your men. Plus you've always wanted me dead."

"As intelligent as they are, they're still idiots half the time. They deserve it, and it keeps them in check. As for you?" Risky paused. She hadn't explicitly said she had to be honest. But then again, this was Shantae, her definitely-not-romantic interest. "I had a change of heart." It was only half of the truth, but at least she wasn't outright lying.

"I see," Shantae murmured, digesting what had been said. She would like to say Risky wasn't as bad as she thought, on top of what had passed between them on the Tinkertub 2.0, but since the previous attempt to take over the Genie Realm… she really didn't know. Her thoughts were distracted by the feeling of her bindings beginning to rub her skin raw.

"Risky?"

"Mm."

"Can you untie me please? They're starting to hurt." Risky stopped reading the book she had grabbed and looked at Shantae, who was beginning to tug again.

"Promise not to attack me?"

"Promise." Risky reached over and grabbed her dagger, but a bit of her wanted to make sure that Shantae got the message. The pirate put the tip of the dagger against the underside of Shantae's chin, who immediately stopped moving, her eyes widening in fear.

"I mean it, brat. Any nonsense, and I will kill you. Understood?" Risky asked menacingly, applying a bit of pressure to the dagger, just to get her point across. A small 'eep' and nod from Shantae satisfied her, and she cut all the bindings that held Shantae in place.

The genie sat up on the bed, her heart beating. She didn't know what to feel. Relieved from Risky's kindness? Or terrified from her threats? Either way, she was thankful for the freedom from the bindings. She had a proper look around Risky's hideout. The mess from before had been cleared and most of the displays had been fixed. Risky had her hat and sword on a rack, in front of the empty dock. If she looked past that, to the entrance of the cave, she could see twinkling stars dotting the night sky.

Shantae sighed. She seemed to be sighing a lot lately. It was clear that she had been knocked out since she arrived in the afternoon. She reached up to her head, tracing the bandage that was wrapped around the apparent wound. The genie pressed gently, going around the bandage, locating where it hurt the most. It was right in the middle of her forehead, by the feel of it.

"Stop that. You'll just make it take longer to heal." Shantae glanced over to where Risky was sitting, reading her book. The pirate seemed very absorbed into reading it – how had she even noticed Shantae touching her head? Not wanting to make it worse, Shantae gave up on messing around with her head and proceeded to lean against Risky's shoulder. The older woman gave no evidence of noticing, or caring, besides a hint of red appearing across her cheeks.

Being another cold night, she shivered, pressing further against Risky. Their bare arms rubbed together, creating butterflies in Shantae's stomach and doubt in Risky's. The contact between them felt intimate and foreign to Risky – enemies shouldn't be in this type of contact with each other. It was wrong! 'But it feels so right…' Risky began to feel Shantae's hand snake it's way around her waist, as if they were the best of friends.

Risky couldn't handle it anymore, shoving Shantae off as she tried to lean her head on the pirate's shoulder. A small squeak of surprise came from the genie as she flopped onto the bed, bouncing slightly against the soft mattress. She turned to see Risky with her head buried in her hands, her legs drawn up to her chest, and the book abandoned next to her feet.

"Are you alright, Risky?" Shantae asked, crawling towards the purple-skinned woman. "I'm sorry..." There was no answer, nor any movement. "Risky?"

"Just go to sleep, Shantae!" Risky yelled from behind her hands, causing the younger girl to jump – yet there was a saddened tone underlying it, as if Shantae had reminded her of something she would rather forget.

"But-"

"Please!" Shantae froze. There was definitely an emotional factor behind that one. It nearly sounded like a sob, and that was very worrying considering the person it was coming from. The genie gazed at the pirate for a few seconds, contemplating whether to press on or not. Knowing how easily Risky could get stirred into a rage, she decided against it, feeling guilty for ruining the moment between them. She silently unclasped her wristbands and her ponytail, placing them on the bedside table on her side of the bed. She also took her tiara off for more comfort, but she was going to have to sleep without her pyjamas tonight. She quietly grunted in frustration at this – it was never comfortable sleeping in her outfit, unless she was on her back only. Except that she hated sleeping like that.

She turned to look at Risky, who hadn't budged, before slipping under the covers and closing her eyes, worried about the pirate's welfare. However, still being slightly tired from before, it wasn't long before Shantae fell blissfully into light sleep.

At the sound of gentle snoring, Risky peeked through her fingers to make sure the genie was asleep, before dropping her hands to her sides. Her eyes were red and watery, and she stared blankly into her lap with downcast eyes. She hadn't meant to throw Shantae off, but she couldn't think of anything else to do. She couldn't have asked her to stop either. Shantae would've understood, but at the expense of some of Risky's dignity. It was just all too sudden, too fast. It wasn't even her fault, for once.

Risky breathed deeply, trying not to break down again. Shantae reminded her too much of someone she knew a long time ago. Someone she loved, and someone she trusted. However, things turned south, causing a great deal of problems for Risky. Eventually, they became the reason Risky had outcast herself and took the Pirate Master's offer of being a pirate. She barred all positive emotions for a while after that, making sure that she would never have to suffer the consequences of love ever again.

Risky glanced over to the sleeping girl on her right, unable to stop staring at her. 'She's so beautiful with her hair out.' She felt disgusted the second she thought of this, tearing her vision away from Shantae. She could not stand being sappy. Just like she couldn't stand Shantae. Or her undeserved hair-whips. Or her stupid red outfit, her goody two shoes-ness, and the way she shook her hips when she danced. She especially couldn't stand her constant happiness and her bright personality.

Yet she had fallen for her.

'Admit it Risky, you absolutely love how much of herself she exposes. You love her dances too – you stare so often!'

'You're completely wrong! She's annoying and naïve!'

'But you love her naivety; it's part of her amazing personality you love!'

'You're a fool!'

'She always brightens your day when she appears, even if it's just because you want to beat her again. Plus, her goodness is the reason you're not possessed by the Pirate Master yet!'

'She's a pathetic, short brat who's had her uses and is now just a pain in the backside!'

Risky had so many emotions running through her mind that any sad memories had been replaced by reasons she hated the stupid twerp sleeping in her bed. Her teeth gritted, she was ready to thrash anything that gave her enough of a reason, before hearing a content sigh to her right. More emotions were added to the mix of denial, anger, and hate before it came to a peak, burning the pirate out. She smacked her head on the bedhead and let out a controlled, quiet groan, still considerate enough not to wake Shantae. Risky was in a losing battle here. She very much wanted to stab the genie in her sleep, but also wanted…

Risky took a deep breath. It had been a long time since she had wanted to get intimate with someone, and not in a one night stand kind of way. She began to wriggle her way under the bedsheets, unwrapping the bandana around her head while still thinking about the girl next to her.

It was clear that Shantae had picked up on her flirting before, proved by the extreme blush across Shantae's face when it happened. Shantae obviously wasn't subtle about her own intentions, but her innocence and naivety was a part of her that Risky liked. The thing that stood out most to Risky was how Shantae would go to any extent to protect and save her friends, and that extended to Risky, and even the barons. It was truly an admirable trait, and the pirate was genuinely thankful for Shantae's actions. She had been terrified of the idea of being taken over by the Pirate Master. Not that she would ever admit that, of course.

Fully under the covers, Risky thought about reaching out and hugging Shantae in her sleep, maybe even spooning her. Instead, she turned her back on the genie.

The idea of a relationship with Shantae, though? That was more preferable. Risky would have to make sacrifices, but… Shantae was worth it. She had proven it. As Risky began to slip into the dream world, she thought that perhaps… Shantae could teach her to love again.

'Told you, you're in love with her.'

'Shut up.'

I know I said 2 weeks, but personal issues got in the way, plus the original chapter I had written up didn't sit well with me. I don't like publishing something I'm not happy with, so I took the time to re-write the chapter from scratch. Sorry for the delay!

Since I'm back at school, I have no idea when the next chapter will be out, since nearly all my time is taken up by folios (and speed-running the new costume pack DLC). I'll aim for at least one in the next month, but no promises.

If you haven't noticed, I've changed the description of the story because, let's be honest here, this is as much about Sky and Rottytops as it is about Shantae and Risky.

As usual, any feedback and criticism is appreciated, and please notify me of typos in PMs.

Till next time,

-Tommycats

P.S.

It took me forty minutes to think of a chapter title.

Forty.

Minutes.

And it's not even that good.