The Chronicles of the RLS Legacy

by All My Friends Are Heathens

The crew aboard the RLS Legacy knew they'd be in for the time of their lives, but this expedition might be more than they bargained for. And the nefarious pirates right on their tail? Not helping. (Non/Disney characters.)

9. Atlantis: Part Two

With the help of Pocahontas, Kenai and Princess Kida, they reached the main city of Atlantis in record time. Kida seemed hell-bent on returning home to help her father and her people before it was too late, and also to have revenge on the pirates who were terrorizing her planet and all its citizens. Kenai seemed to be of the same mindset, but Pocahontas appeared to be having doubts about the mission now. It seemed like she wanted to get the others there and then head home to her daughter as quickly as possible. Amelia couldn't blame her, but she also grew suspicious when she kept catching Pocahontas glaring at the princess. Amelia couldn't help wondering if Kida's presence was contributing to Pocahontas's sudden discomfort.

The streets of the main city were deserted when they arrived. Kida called to her people in Atlantean to let them know that she was had come back to protect them. With the pirates nowhere in sight, a few braver Atlanteans decided it was safe enough to step out of the shadows. The crew watched in wonder as a cluster of dark-skinned, white-haired natives came to bow before Kida and babble quietly in their native tongue, gazing up at her with pleading blue eyes.

"Look at all these people..." Jane whispered in awe. One small Atlantean girl peered back at her in the same fashion and they giggled at each other.

"I know... Milo looks like he's about to blow a gasket." Sweet joked quietly. Vinny chuckled at Milo's wide eyes and gaping mouth as he scribbled down more notes, paying meticulous attention to every detail of what was around them. He even discretely took a few photos with his holophone.

Kida quickly grew tired of her citizens bowing to her and urged them all to stand up. She had a quick conversation with an older Atlantean man while the other natives interacted with the sailors. After a moment, Kida's eyes grew wide with panic and she started to run toward the palace. The others quickly followed.

When they arrived to the throne room, it was a bloody scene. Kida gasped at how the sacred room had been overturned and all the guards slaughtered. Then, she saw her father collapsed on his throne and ran to him. Dr. Sweet followed her and tried to examine the King, but Kida shoved him away, shouting something unintelligible in her hysterical state. She whimpered and choked back her tears as she spoke to her father, trying to illicit a response from him. Kashekim remained still and silent, his white eyes dulled by death. Kida noticed something missing from around his neck and quickly grabbed at the crystal necklace she wore and pressed it to his chest, then sat there in shock when nothing happened.

"Why...why isn't it working? Why-?" She trailed off and turned toward the center of the room, her moist eyes lost on the surface of the pond. She looked back and forth between her necklace and the water, as if she were piecing together the awful crime that had been committed. Then, her face twisted in rage and she spat, "Those thieves! "

"What did they take, Princess?"Amelia asked gently.

But Kida was lost in her fury, hugging her father close and continuing to yell, "Thieves! Murderers! Demons! " Kida bent down and sobbed over her father's body while the others bowed their heads in silent mourning.

After some time, Kida collected herself and allowed Sweet to help her place Kashekim back on his throne. Kida closed her father's eyes and turned away to let Sweet examine the King to determine the cause of death. Kida noticed Milo pacing around the pond, his gaze fixed on the symbol in the center. She walked over to join him. He looked up at her in concern.

"What they took... It's very important, isn't it?" He asked her.

Kida nodded and quietly said, "Yes."

"What is it?"

She looked at him curiously. "You are a scholar, yes?"

He nodded in the affirmative.

She went on. "You have studied any scrap of information about this planet and its people for years, yes? You mentioned earlier that your grandfather was a bit of a fanatic of our culture. And you took on his quest to discover us. Do you not have a guess as to what it could be that they stole?"

Milo rubbed the back of his neck in nervous thought. "Well, I have a guess... I just hope I'm wrong... There was an old book I read that had a few excerpts from the Shepherd's Journal. It mentioned a really old, strange kind of...device that gave the planet its power, like a battery. But there were some other passages missing so I couldn't piece the whole thing together."

"That is a very close guess... But it is more than just a battery." Kida responded gravely.

"What is it, then?" Jane asked.

"It does give the planet power. Or, rather, it did. After some complications arose, its power was reserved solely for this city. Both because it was so weak, and so my father could watch over it..." Kida shook her head, awash in memory. "Many years ago, my father made the mistake of trying to use the Heart of Atlantis as a weapon, and it turned on us. Since then, both the crystal and our culture have slowly been dying away. Father kept it underground so that it couldn't cause harm again, or be used by bad people. But, consequently, the state of our civilization has become significantly weaker. Once I became old enough to see it, I became worried that eventually we would all fade away entirely..."

"So... The Heart of Atlantis...it gives you all your power, but...it's alive, and it's a part of you all?" John asked.

Kida nodded. "It is the collective consciences of all the Kings of Our Past..." She turned sadly toward Kashekim. "It seems that now my father has joined them..." She turned back to the others and held up her crystal for them to see. "They are connected to us all by these. The Heart of Atlantis gives power to them that allow us our longevity. They have healing abilities. And they keep us alive for a very, very long time."

Amelia nodded in understanding. "I see. I've heard before of how your father tried to weaponize the Heart. When you mentioned it earlier, you spoke as if you clearly remembered being there for it. That would make you thousands of years old."

Kida nodded. "Yes. Without the Heart, the crystals have no power, and we become mortal. That makes us easily infected by diseases we've never had to build immunity to before. It makes our true age catch up with us. Skin wrinkles, hair and teeth fall out, bones become brittle. We will become weaker with every moment that the Heart is gone..." Kida's expression became bitter and she shook her head, obviously confused. "I just do not understand how they were able to move it without me..."

"Without you?" Milo asked in confusion.

Kida sighed to herself. "In order for the crystal to be moved, it must bond itself to a living host. A young Atlantean of royal blood. I am the only one who could have moved it for them. Which is something they overlooked when they tried to kill me. But now...it is gone."

"The Jolly Roger holds a crew of people with all kinds of absurd abilities, powers that defy all logic. They must have found a way to work around that obstacle. A temporary way of moving it. Which means that they can't have gotten far with it." Amelia said thoughtfully. "They must be concealing it in the jungle somewhere, trying to figure out how to escape with it."

"There's no telling what they might do with it. I doubt that it's very stable at this point, and it's fighting them." Kida said. "We must go find it at once."

"Maybe you should stay with your people, Princess Kida. Let us handle it." Amelia said.

"You won't know how to. I must go with you."

"But what if you get bonded to the Heart?" Milo asked.

"That is a risk I must take. Regardless of what happens, I am the only one who can control the Heart of Atlantis. Without me, this could become a suicide mission for you all, and destroy my planet. Besides... My father is now a part of the Heart. I will not let him see us fail. I will not allow him and the other Great Kings to be responsible for any destruction." Kida crossed her arms. "You cannot keep me from going."

Amelia nodded at the princess with a slight smirk. "Very well, then. We'll be happy to have you." She turned to Pocahontas and Kenai now. "And you'll both be coming as well, I presume?"

Kenai nodded in determination.

But Pocahontas was obviously hesitant. Her unhappiness toward Kida had bloomed into barely-concealed hatred. She gave the princess a guarded look before telling Amelia, "I said I would get you to the city, and I have done that. Now I would like to return to my daughter."

Kenai looked shocked by her words.

Amelia looked at Pocahontas for a moment before saying, "With all due respect, I must insist that you come along. Your tracking skills would be most appreciated. And you clearly know this jungle better than anyone..." The last sentence was very pointed and caused a strange reaction from Pocahontas. Then, Amelia continued, "And I promise I'll make it worth your while."

Pocahontas shook her head. "I do not want your money."

"No, I assume any currency I offer would be quite useless to you. But I could give you anything else you might want in return for helping us."

Pocahontas raised one eyebrow. "I don't think there's anything I want that you could give me."

"Are you quite sure of that?" Amelia asked smugly.

Pocahontas glared at her for a moment, then looked down at her bare feet so Amelia couldn't see her doubt.

"Why don't you think it over while we travel?" Amelia asked, already leading the way out of the throne room. Kida gave Pocahontas a strange look on her way out. Kenai also looked at her questioningly and silently ushered her forward before following the others.

Pocahontas glared after the retreating group for a moment. Then, she took a deep breath and stalked after them. All her life she'd seeked adventure. This might be her only chance. And getting to see those monsters brought to justice wasn't a bad consolation prize.

They moved much more carefully through the jungle now, knowing that Hook and his crew were lurking around somewhere among the trees. But they still strode with focus and purpose in their search for the Heart of Atlantis, given Kida's dire description of what might come to pass.

A group of people- Kida, Pocahontas, Tarzan, Sinbad, Cale, Aladdin, Jazz, and Robin- moved through the trees while the rest of them crept along the jungle floor. Amelia noticed Kenai walking by her side and decided that he might be the best person to answer her multitude of questions. Well, he was probably the only person willing to.

"So, what was that earlier?" She asked him casually.

He turned to her in confusion. "What was what?"

"Well, that fancy trick Pocahontas did with the wind earlier, of course. What was that all about?"

Kenai ducked his head, obviously uncomfortable. "Nothing... I told you, she just caught sight of something and started...running."

Amelia chuckled. "It looked more like flying than running, if I'm perfectly honest." She took on a mock-confused expression and went on, teasing him. "Come to think of it... What was it Pocahontas caught sight of? She went quite a distance before reaching that clearing, and when she got there, she didn't seem to know what she was looking for. It's almost like she found the princess by accident..." Seeing the guilty look on Kenai's face, Amelia felt victory at hand. "But it wasn't an accident, was it?"

After a moment, Kenai shook his head. "She won't like me telling you..."

"No. Let me tell her myself."

Everyone stopped when Pocahontas dropped down from the trees and landed in front of the Captain with a slightly amused expression. The others who were in the trees came down as well. All attention was on Pocahontas now. She began to tell her story.

"When the Earth was collapsing, the few Native-American people left were moved here by the Galactic Federation, at the request of the Atlanteans. When we got here, we were subjected to live in villages far and wide outside the main city, left to the wilderness and our own devices. The transition proved too difficult for some. Disease, wild animals, and unpredictable weather ravaged our numbers. One illness in particular was the main culprit of our deterioration. A horrible fever that killed many. But, the few who survived were gifted with special powers, as if nature had deemed them worthy of some sacred honor. When I was very young- too young to remember- I became very sick with this fever. I was bed-ridden for over a month. It seemed that I would die. But I did not. Instead, I was reborn with the ability to speak with nature...to be one with it. The jungle speaks to me and shows me the way, and nurtures me like a mother. And I return the favor..." Pocahontas's face fell momentarily. Then, a hopeful gleam came to her eyes and she looked around at the trees in wonder. "Even after I failed to protect her from those monsters...She still cares for me."

"She sees that you are still fighting for her." Belle said with a smile. "That's really beautiful."

Pocahontas nodded at her gratefully.

"Pocahontas has a stronger connection to the world than even my grandmother, Tanana. If she were not meant to take her father's place, I think she would be meant to be the village shaman...shawoman? I don't know." Kenai explained with slight pride until fumbling at the end.

"But aren't shaman like...connected to the spirit world?" Flynn asked skeptically.

"Let's just say it isn't just nature that is a part of my being." Pocahontas replied crypticly.

Phoebus noticed the upset look on Kida's face. "Is something troubling you, Princess?"

Kida sighed. "Please, just call me Kida. And...well..." She stepped forward so she could look at Pocahontas. "Everything you said earlier, about how your people struggled all those years ago... And how they seem to struggle still... I never imagined that things were so bad in the villages. You make it sound as though my people invited you all here only to abandon you."

"You did." Pocahontas growled suddenly, taking Kida by surprise.

"Pocahontas..." Kenai began to reprimand her, but she raised a hand toward him and he was suddenly silenced. A chill seemed to fill the air in spite of the sunlight that leaked through the canopy.

"After everything you told us back at the palace, I have no pity for you or your father or any of your people." Pocahontas told Kida harshly. "I resented you before because of the King's neglect of my people, but now, knowing that all along you were hiding something that could have saved us all, I despise you."

Kida shook her head, guilt obvious on her face and tears springing to her eyes. "The Heart could have destroyed us all..."

"Only if used for selfish purposes. And your father is the reason why that was even a worry!" Pocahontas snapped. She shook her head and reared back as though disgusted by the princess. "And ultimately we were the ones who were punished for it. Left to rot in the jungle while you all cowered in your city with your precious crystals!"

Kida seemed truly hurt and distressed by Pocahontas's words, and was left speechless. She wanted to respond, but had no idea what to say to placate Pocahontas. It was true, the Terran refugees had been seperated from the Atlanteans, but Kida had always thought her father had built them cities of their own. How had she not seen all this time what was really happening? How had she grown up in these jungles and allowed herself to remain ignorant of the refugees' suffering? All Kida could do now was stand there with her mouth parted to say words that refused to come. There were no words to change what had already come to pass.

Pocahontas turned sharply away and stormed off into the brush. Kenai waited a moment before cautiously following her.

Feeling the eyes of all the sailors on her- or noticing how some were doing their best not to look at her- Kida felt overwhelmed by the responsibility of her father's actions that now lay on her shoulders. Kida quickly climbed up into a tree, ignoring when the sailors tried to call to her. She climbed all the way up until she broke through the thick canopy and sat on a blanket of leaves and vines, surrounded by blue sky and mist. She allowed the tears to flow freely here, and hugged herself as a crisp wind wafted over her.

Kenai returned to the crew after a few moments and told them, "Pocahontas has gone into a deep meditation. I do not dare wake her."

"We can't just wait around! This drama is just wasting our time!" Milo practically shrieked. "Do they not realize that they're whole planet is in jeopardy?!"

"Milo. Breathe." Sweet instructed.

"You wanted Pocahontas to come along. We will not leave without her." Kenai responded firmly. He nodded upward toward the trees. "And, obviously, we need Kida, too."

"Right, then. I think we need a rest any way. Let's have a breather, eat, that sort of thing." Amelia told everyone.

While the others took a rest, Aladdin and Jazz took the opportunity to go further into the trees and practice shooting. Jazz quickly got the hang of it and Aladdin found himself very impressed with her aim and focus. Eventually, Jazz became so confident in her ability that she simply started to do tricks with her pistol, twirling it around between her fingers for fun. Of course, she made sure that the safety was on.

"We could work more with swords, if you want." Aladdin said as he watched her play around. "Your footing could still use some work."

Jazz looked at him sheepishly. "The claws make it hard."

"You should find a way to utilize them. For balance." He advised.

Jazz nodded distractedly and continued to mess with her gun.

"So things got a little intense back there, huh?" Aladdin commented. "I wonder how Kida and Pocahontas will be after this..."

Jazz was quiet for awhile, deep in thought. Her personal experience made it easier to see from both sides. She'd been in Kida's position before. A princess who had a responsibility to her planet and her people, a huge section of which she hardly interacted with. But Kida was facing a pressure that had never been a problem for Jazz: Ruling a whole planet alone. And Pocahontas was exactly the kind of person that Jazz had been fighting for for the last few years; Jazz had already pledged her allegiance to all citizens of her own planet, regardless of species. She hadn't allowed herself to be put in the same situation as Kida, though her people still resented her because she roamed the streets under an alias and they had no idea what their princess really felt for them.

Jazz wanted to be the peacekeeper, and go to both women and talk to them about all this, show them that the way to solve their conflict was to put aside their differences and work together. Jazz had seen prejudice and discrimination in her day, but at least the species' of Agrabah still managed to live together. How the Atlanteans could have turned their backs on the refugees was beyond her... Then again, maybe Kashekim had heard of what happened on Agrabah and decided not to give the humans a chance to take over. Maybe he'd done the kindness of saving the Native American tribes to preserve their species and culture, but decided it was for the best that the humans and Atlanteans not mingle. Maybe he really was a racist who didn't want hybrid babies running around. Or maybe the responsibility of taking on a whole new group of citizens proved too much for him and he decided to leave them on their own, though the decisive placement of the villages around the main city disproved that theory...

Whatever the case, Jazz hoped that Kida and Pocahontas and all the other citizens could learn to stand together, before it was too late. The only way Atlantis could survive was if its people were no longer divided.

And, Jazz also hoped that however the situation was handled would give her some insight as to how to fix things on her own planet.

Almost an hour passed without Pocahontas returning or Kida coming down from her sanctuary. Everyone was slowly starting to grow anxious. A few even said that they should just go and hope that the girls would catch up.

Kida had stopped crying by now and simply sat, breathing deeply. She wished she could lose herself to the sight of this beautiful sky, the clean-cut horizon against the canopy, like she could when she was younger and serenity was easy to obtain. But at this time, it was impossible. She felt a pressure building inside her as she thought of what the future might hold. First, there was this fight to win. How would they stop these pirates and return the Heart to the city without Kida being bonded to it? And even if she was taken by the crystal, would they be able to seperate in the city, or would she be lost to it? If she died, who would rule? What would happen to her people? And say all that was resolved, and the planet was saved, and she lived. Then she would have to be Queen, and have to redeem all her father's past mistakes. If only she'd known before what kind of ruler he had been in the past... But in the end he was a good man! Why hadn't he amended his wrong-doings?

And say that they lost this fight, and the planet faced a catastrophic end, and the Atlantean civilization and culture was lost for good, and all those poor people were killed...

Kida heard a rustling nearby and turned to see one of the sailors climbing up to sit by her. She was surprised to see a wild-looking man with stormy eyes and bare feet. His long, dark hair was styled in a way that she wasn't familiar with. His features were angular and sharp, as if he'd been cut from stone. Looking him over, she found him quite beautiful to look at. Judging by the look in his intense eyes, the feeling was mutual. He quickly collected himself and smiled shyly at her. She nodded in acknowledgment, eyeing him carefully.

"Sorry to disturb you, Princess. It's just that the others are getting antsy. They want to get a move on, but we're still waiting for Pocahontas, too."

"Please, call me Kida." She responded lightly.

He nodded, chuckling a little. "Sorry, I know. You told us earlier. I... I just wanted to be polite."

Kida smirked at his nervousness. "And what is your name?"

"Tarzan." He held out a hand for her to shake.

She looked at it strangely.

Tarzan realized his mistake and laughed at himself. "Sorry, uh... It's a handshake. You, uh... You grab my hand with yours."

She slowly followed his instructions.

"And you shake it, like this." He finished, moving her hand up and down in his firm yet gentle grasp. "See? It's a way we humans greet each other."

"Fascinating... So personal." Kida commented as she continued the handshake experimentally.

Tarzan smiled as he watched her. "Yeah, a lot of us don't have much regard for personal space. And when you're on ships all the time with a lot of people...um..." He trailed off as she began to move her hand so that her palm faced him and her fingers pointed toward the sky. He naturally moved his hand in the same way so that their hands were pressed together. He watched her awed look and said, "It seems that Atlanteans and humans aren't so different, huh?"

She looked at him for a moment, then pulled her hand away. Tarzan did the same, crossing his wiry arms over his chest.

"She never came back?" Kida asked after a moment of silence.

"I'm sorry?"

"Pocahontas. She hasn't returned yet?"

Tarzan shook his head. "Kenai says she's meditating in the jungle. Apparently it would be dangerous to snap her out of it."

"We cannot go on without her... And I cannot leave things like this between us. I must speak to her when she gets back." Kida hung her head shamefully. "If only I had known before, I could have helped her and so many others... I could have made my father do something."

"You shouldn't blame yourself." Tarzan said quietly.

"Who else is there to blame? My father is dead. And now I must fix his mistakes." Kida felt a tear slip down her cheek and quickly wiped it away. "It is silly... With all this going on, and the lives of so many at stake, I still can't stop thinking of him... I know that he made some wrong decisions, but...he grew to be wise, and..." Kida choked, breaking down again. "And he was my father and I loved him."

Tarzan sat by for a moment, watching her cry. Then, he said, "I know how you feel."

"You lost your father?" She sniffed.

"I lost both of my parents, when I was younger."

"We lost mother when I was very young... When the Heart turned on us... Father blamed himself for her death every day for the rest of his life..." Kida recalled regretfully. She looked up toward the sky. "Sometimes I wonder if she can see me, what she would say. What she would want me to do to make things right."

"I think she would trust that you already know how to make things right."

Kida looked at him in slight surprise.

Tarzan ducked his head. "Sorry, I spoke out of turn..."

"No, it is alright. Actually..." Kida smiled slightly. "I really appreciate it."

Tarzan nodded and thoughtfully continued, "I think that your parents would be proud of your actions so far, and that they know you will go on to do great things for your people. And I also think they would want you not to dwell of the past and focus on building a brighter future."

"It's just so hard, with how long we live... I'm sure I had my father with me for the equivalent of 100 human lifetimes. He and I were the only constants in one another's lives after mother died... Now that he's gone..." She paused and shrugged. "It's like I can't imagine how to move on without him by my side. How am I supposed to follow in his footsteps?"

"Don't. Create your own path. Be the kind of ruler that you want to be." Tarzan told her after a moment of thought.

Kida couldn't help smiling at him. "Have you always been so wise?"

"No wise man has always been wise." Tarzan smirked. "It takes making a lot of mistakes to be able to give such good advice."

Kida laughed quietly. "Well, if you want a job as a royal advisor, you've got it. I don't know how to even begin fixing things."

"We begin to ridding your planet of the pirates."

She nodded. "Yes, that does seem important, doesn't it?"

"For what it's worth, I think you'll make a great ruler."

"Why's that?"

"Your compassion."

When she gave him a curious look, Tarzan explained, "I don't think I've met another princess who cared so much for her subjects. You were so hurt by Pocahontas's words that you had to leave to conceal your supposed weakness. But you shouldn't be afraid to let them see you cry. They need to know that you feel their pain."

Kida nodded in understanding. "Is there anything else you want to tell me?"

Tarzan pursed his lips for a moment. Watching his expression, Kida could tell that a few thoughts came to mind, but he didn't know where to begin or if he should even say any of it. Eventually, he mumbled, "Well, nothing that seems very appropriate right now..."

Kida laughed aloud at his blushing cheeks. He smiled at her despite his embarrassment.

"Can we get a move on? Pocahontas is back!" Amelia called up to them.

Kida felt sick to her stomach and looked to Tarzan for reassurance. He gave her a firm nod and started to climb down to meet the others. After taking a deep breath, Kida followed him.

Everyone was already packed up and ready to move on when Kida and Tarzan returned. Kida quickly scanned the crowd until she saw Pocahontas talking to Kenai and Amelia nearby. Kida put on a brave face and walked over to them. Pocahontas noticed her coming and excused herself from the Captain to approach Kida. Everyone turned to watch as the two women met in the middle and awkwardly looked at each other.

"Pocahontas, about everything-" Kida started.

"It is I who should apologize to you." Pocahontas cut in, catching Kida by surprise. Pocahontas sighed. "I have been in conference with the Great Spirits since my outburst. I realize now that it is wrong of me to blame you for your father's actions. And I know that Kashekim was a good man, but... After everything that my people have gone through, we always found peace by having someone to blame. I know now that that is wrong. We must now choose a peaceful path. Instead of remaining divided, we must make the effort to work together and make this planet a home for both sides."

Kida nodded in agreement. "Yes. I promise you no more seperation, from this point on. Your people should have been considered Atlanteans the moment your ancestors set foot on this planet. I know that you were neglected in the past, but no more. I promise you, I will make it right."

"We will make it right." Pocahontas said with a soft smile.

Kida grinned and stuck out her hand for Pocahontas to shake. Pocahontas stared at her if she'd grown a second head. Kida reached the hand over to grab Pocahontas' and shook it vigorously. Pocahontas wore a comically confused expression.

"It is a handshake." Kida explained and laughed. "Apparently, on your ancestors' home planet, it is a way of greeting."

Pocahontas stared at their joined hands in wonder. Kida turned to smile at Tarzan, who returned the gesture.

"Okay, then! Let's get a move on! I doubt that Hook and his crew will wait around for us much longer." Amelia ordered the group, already plunging ahead into the trees. Everyone quickly followed the Captain into the jungle.

"Tarzan and Kida, sitting in a tree..." Adam whispered in a sing-songey fashion as he and Merida walked behind his older brother.

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G." Merida finished, and they both began to laugh.

Tarzan rolled his eyes and muttered, "Since when are you two friends?"

Merida and Adam both scoffed and said, "We're not."

The Legacy...

"What does she want you for so bad?" Peter hissed at Rapunzel while they sat in the darkened engineering room.

Rapunzel rolled her eyes. "She's my psychotic mother. She wants me to come home with her."

"But your 18 now, right? She can't force you to." Audrey whispered.

"Try telling her that." Rapunzel sighed. "Now you're all in danger because of me. I can't believe she actually went this far to get me back."

"Hey, she doesn't have you yet." Jim said.

"Not if we have anything to say about it!" Alice agreed.

Rapunzel looked around at the group in surprise. "You guys really want to help me?"

"Rapunzel, your mother is obviously unstable. We can't just let her take you back." Wendy said.

"Besides, you're one of us now. If you want to stay with the crew, you should be able to." Arthur added.

Rapunzel smiled at them all. "Thanks, guys..." Her brow soon furrowed in worry. "But how do we deal with my mom and those thugs?"

Peter opened his mouth to speak and Rapunzel quickly cut him off.

"Without killing anyone."

Peter sat back and crossed his arms, seeming stumped.

"Look, we just need to get them off the ship, and take off to find the others for help." Jim said. He turned to Audrey and said, "You'll need to be on standby down here."

Audrey nodded and said, "I'll need help."

"I'll stay here with you." Taran offered.

"Good... And Mowgli, once we get Rat free, you need to meet him in the rigging. Peter and I will help you guys up there." Jim looked around at the others. "The rest of you will need to be on call to do whatever Eric needs for a safe take-off... I guess we need a team to keep Rapunzel's mom and the Ugly Twins off the ship."

"It's my fault they're here. I'll do it." Rapunzel said solemnly.

"I'll help you." Arthur said. "And I think Naveen will, too."

"Good, okay... Now there's just how to do it..." Jim muttered, running a hand through his bangs. "Where are they now?"

"The woman and one of the brothers are in the galley with their hostages: Eric, Esmeralda, Naveen, Rat, Dr. Doppler, and Tiana. The other brother is guarding the deck." Wendy said.

Jim nodded along, seeming to put something together in his mind. "Right... Okay. I think I have something. It's a long shot... He's a big guy, but if we group up I think we can take him."

"So we're handling the guy on the deck first?" Mowgli asked.

Jim nodded at him. "And you'll be in charge of that. I think some fancy rope-work will do the trick."

"And then we'll lure the other two on the deck! Get them out in the open to give us the advantage." Alice said.

"We'll need a distraction..." Rapunzel said. "That'll be my job."

"Are you sure you're up for it?" Arthur asked.

"Gothel will only come to us if she knows I'm really there." Rapunzel replied calmly, though on the inside she was trembling. If things went wrong... She couldn't think of it. This had to be done. "Yes, I'm sure."

"And how do we get them off the ship, while also keeping the first guy off?" Wendy asked nervously.

"One of us will have to sneak away to free the others in the galley..." Jim looked at Alice now. "You're pretty good at sneaking around. You game?"

Alice nodded dutifully. "Yes. Yes, I am...game?"

Jim smirked. "Okay, then." He noticed Peter glaring at him and rolled his eyes. "What?"

"I'm just a little offended you didn't ask me to do the sneaking." Peter grouched.

"You and Tink will both be more useful in the fight, especially if things get bad..." Jim looked over at Wendy. "Amelia and Eric have been giving you flying lessons, right? You know how the ship works?"

Wendy blushed a little. "Well, yes, but I'm not great..."

"All you have to do is get the ship started once we get the helm clear, and wait there until Eric comes to steer us out of there." Jim told her.

Wendy nodded. "I-I think I can do that. I mean, yes. Yes, I can do that." She put on a brave face despite her obvious nervousness, earning an admiring glance from Peter.

"Okay, we have a plan... A very loose plan. I think we can do this! But first, we have to sneak up to the deck without alerting the people in the galley, or tipping off the guy up top." Jim muttered.

"Traveling in a group might be a bad idea, then. And we should take different routes." Arthur strategized.

"There are three different ways up to the deck... So we'll split up into three teams and go one at a time each way." Mowgli said.

"Brilliant!" Alice smiled.

Rapunzel grinned at them all. "Thank you guys so much. I think now I know what a real family feels like."

"No problem, Punzie. If someone messes with one of us, they mess with all of us." Peter grinned. Tink chittered in agreement.

"Okay, we can't wait any longer. We should go now." Jim said. They all stood up and began splitting into teams: Jim, Peter and Tink; Alice, Wendy and Mowgli; Arthur and Rapunzel. Taran and Audrey stayed behind. Audrey gave Jim a quick hug before he headed out.

Before leaving, Wendy turned to Taran and Audrey and said, "Once I see Alice go to free Eric, I'll let you know over the comm to start things up."

Audrey nodded and said, "Good luck."

"You, too." Wendy turned and left with her group.

It was a slow-going and anxiety-riddled task to get up to the deck in the way they had devised. They all managed to make it and found hiding spots on the deck of the ship, where they could all easily see one of the men lounging at the helm, seeming bored out of his mind. Peter and Jim went to join Mowgli in the rigging, carefully climbing when they were sure the thug couldn't see them. Wendy and Alice huddled behind a crate across from where they could see the boys and Tink in the ropes. Across the deck, Rapunzel and Arthur were clinging to the outside of the ship and peeking onto the deck through the railing.

Alice glanced nervously toward the man at the helm and whispered to Wendy, "What if he has a gun?"

"I think Gothel's the only one with a gun..."

"You think? "

"I'm fairly certain, yes. She's the only one I've seen with a gun. The two men have only had knives, from what I've seen."

Alice sighed. "I really hope that's the case..."

There was a slight commotion on the mast and the girls looked up to see that the main sail had been released. The thug jumped to attention and stared up at the miraculously opened sail, starting to walk down to the deck. Wendy spotted the three boys clinging precariously to the back of the sail. Thankfully, the sail was of a very thick canvas, and the sun shone from the thug's side of the sail, so their shadows weren't visible to him. This was obviously their means of luring the man into whatever trap Mowgli had come up with.

"Here we go..." Alice whispered as they watched the man walk toward the center of the deck.

Suddenly, Tink swooped down from her hiding place in the brim of Peter's cap and flitted about in front of the man's face, screeching nonsensically and grabbing or biting at whatever part of him she could. He shouted and swung wildly to swat her away, but she was too fast. While Tink distracted him, Mowgli climbed back out into the rigging and dropped a lasso of rope down to the deck, right in front of the man's feet. Tink lead the enraged thug forward until he had stepped into the loop of rope. Mowgli gave the rope one quick tug and the lasso tightened around the man's ankle, trapping him. Before the man had time to react, Mowgli released the rope trap he'd set up and the man was wrenched upward and flung off the ship in a catapult-fashion. His surprised yell rang through the air until he landed with a crash into the trees.

Everyone on the deck leapt from their hiding places and cheered. Then they heard indistinct shouting from below the deck and got into position. Wendy and Alice both went back into hiding so they could sneak away later without Gothel or her sidekick looking for them.

Rapunzel ran to the door and screamed downward, "Come get me, mother! I'm up here!" She ran back toward the rest of the group on the deck.

Within moments, Gothel and their first victims twin brother stomped up the stairs to the deck to be greeted by the group of kids. Mowgli remained in the rigging, working wildly to ready the ship for take-off. Once Wendy was sure she was out of the villains' lines of sight, she began to sneak up to the helm. Alice waited patiently for her chance to spring into action.

"Oh, you are a tricky one, aren't you?" Gothel mocked Rapunzel. "Making all these poor people believe that I'm some horrible, abusive monster that you're just trying to escape from? Honestly, Rapunzel, how could you get them all wrapped up in this? And how could you abandon your poor mother in such a way?" Gothel tisked. "So selfish."

Rapunzel glared back at the woman, who showed a peculiarly significant agedness since the last time she saw her. Rapunzel shook her head and said, "Just leave them alone, mother. It's me you want, right? You don't have to threaten anyone else. I'll go with you."

Gothel rolled her eyes. "Stupid girl. You're obviously not planning to go willingly, or you and your little friends wouldn't have gone to such lengths to throw my henchman off the ship."

"Henchman?" The other thug growled.

"Hush, you." Gothel hissed at him. She narrowed her eyes at Rapunzel. "You can't seriously be planning to put up a fight. Enough of this foolishness, Rapunzel! You know that mother knows best. Just come along and no one has to get hurt."

Rapunzel shook her head again, her glare turning into a look of hatred. "I'm not going anywhere with you."

Gothel sighed. "Alright. I guess we'll have to do this the hard way." She pulled out her gun and aimed it at Arthur, who stood next to Rapunzel protectively.

Suddenly, another lasso shot down from the rigging and snapped shut around the gun. It was pulled out of Gothel's hand before she could blink. She turned a venomous look up toward Mowgli, who brandished the gun now. He disarmed it and tossed the pieces into the bird's nest.

"No guns! No one is going to die here!" Mowgli called, threateningly wielding another lasso.

Gothel whispered to her thug, "Watch out for him... Let's get the others." She and the man started to walk toward the kids. The man pulled out his knife with a malicious smirk.

"Get the knife away from him. Then it's just a matter of stalling until the others get here." Jim told the others when he spotted Alice running toward the door.

Gothel lunged toward Rapunzel, grabbing the slim girl by the arm while her cohort warded Arthur off with his knife. When Tink swooped in to distract the man, Peter, Jim and Arthur worked together to get the knife away from him. Rapunzel wrestled with Gothel, letting the older woman think she had the upper hand while she subtly lead her toward the edge of the ship. After a tense moment of grappling with the thug, Peter managed to kick the knife out of his hand. It skidded across the wooden floor and was left forgotten while the man angrily attacked the boys with his giant hands. Peter urged Jim to go meet Mowgli while he, Arthur and Tink started pushing the thug toward the edge, where Rapunzel was trying to tear herself out of Gothel's grip and shove her over the edge.

Alice returned to the deck with the other crew members. At this point, the ship hummed with energy from the awakened engines and Wendy's preparation for take-off. Rat followed Jim up to the ropes while Eric ran to take over the helm and the others went to help the kids get rid of the intruders. Within a few moments, the thug was thrown overboard. Gothel was flung down after him, but she stubbornly gripped Rapunzel's hair to keep from falling. Rapunzel screamed in pain as Gothel's fingers tangled in her hair and threatened to pull her off the ship as well. The others quickly grabbed onto Rapunzel to keep her from going over, creating this horrible pressure in the girl's head.

"I didn't come all this way for nothing!" Gothel snarled, pulling with all her strength to try and force Rapunzel to fall. "You're coming with me, whether you like it or not!"

Rapunzel shook her head and desperately fought to keep from falling overboard. "No! I don't care how many times you come after me, or how long you chase me for! I will never stop fighting to get away from you!" Rapunzel groaned and leaned back, lifting Gothel up slightly. Then, Gothel was struck across her face by Esmeralda's foot. Gothel screeched and slipped backward, falling to the ground. The others quickly pulled Rapunzel and her hair away from the edge of the ship, all breathing heavily.

"Rapunzel... That mama of yours...is a real piece of work." Tiana panted.

"Ready for take-off?" Eric called from the helm.

"What about the villagers?" Naveen asked.

"I think they've got it covered..." Dr. Doppler mumbled. They all turned to see a mass of angry villagers chasing Gothel and her cronies into the jungle.

"Besides, we need to get to Amelia and the others, and the holophone is busted!" Eric called, already taking the ship into the air. "We have to go find them, ASAP!"

In The Jungle...

The journey to find the pirates and the Heart of Atlantis was proving to be more difficult than the crew of the Legacy had previously expected. Tempers began to run hot as they searched and searched through the jungle with not even a clue as to where Hook and his crew could be.

"You'd think that something as powerful as the Heart would be easier to find..." Amelia muttered as she led her tired crew onward. She turned to Pocahontas and asked, "Are you sensing anything?"

Pocahontas shook her head. "No."

"This is hopeless! Look, Hook wants something from us, right? It's the whole reason he lured us to this planet. Let's just try to get them to come to us!" Meg snapped.

"And how do you suppose we do that, Megara?" Amelia demanded icily.

An argument soon broke out amongst the group. Kida turned away as everyone shouted at one another, trying to think of a plan. Then, a faint whisper caught her attention. She turned in the direction that she thought the voice had come from, but there was no one there. Another voice spoke in her other ear, as if someone were standing right next to her and speaking. Kida whirled toward the voice, but the space beside her was empty. Kida flinched when a few voices started to speak at once, a low thrum of sound that seemed to rumble deep within her and echo all around. Kida turned to the others in confusion as the voices multiplied and grew to a crescendo, wondering how none of them could be hearing them. They all continued to argue, but Kida could no longer hear their shouting over the Atlantean being spoken in her head.

It was then that Kida realized that she was the only one who could hear because the voices were only speaking to her.

In an instant, the sound was coming from one distinct direction and Kida turned to it, entranced. The trees seemed to move aside, clearing a path for her that was illuminated by blue light. Kida moved like a puppet toward the light.

"Uh...guys?" Sinbad called to the others as he watched the trees seem to bend to Kida's will.

Everyone turned to see Kida slowly walking away from them, on a straight and purposeful path to something they couldn't see. They hesitantly began to follow, slightly alarmed when the trees moved back into place behind the group as they passed.

"What's she doing?" Phoebus muttered.

Hercules walked forward until he was in step beside Kida, peering curiously at the princess's face. Kida wore a placid expression, but her eyes had gone entirely milky white and seemed fixed on something straight ahead. Hercules followed her gaze, but saw nothing.

"She's in some kind of trance..." Hercules explained as he let Kida move ahead of him again. "It's like something is...calling to her. Something the rest of us can't see or hear."

"The Heart." Milo realized. "She's taking us right to it!"

"Then what happens to her when she finds it?" Jane asked in concern.

"Whatever is meant to happen." Amelia replied solemnly.

They walked on in eerie silence for awhile, anxiously waiting for Kida to make some change in direction. But the path remained straight and Kida led them through parted trees with a calm and purposeful stride.

Eventually, a strange sound started to reach their ears and the crystal around Kida's neck started to hover upward until it floated in front of her blank face and glowed blue. The noise was like a pulsating hum, with the barely heard but easily recognizable sound of whispering voices underlying it.

"We must be getting close." John whispered.

Then, another voice, very loud and clear and angry, rang out through the trees up ahead.

"Would you get control of that damned thing?!" Hook growled. "Why's it acting like that any way?!"

"Don't ask me! Rourke and Helga are supposed to be the experts here!" Ursula snapped in response, her voice strained.

"Just get it under control!" Rourke yelled.

"Maleficent and I are doing the best we can, you-!" Ursula shrieked.

"Captain! The trees!" Smee cried.

The cluster of trees that had seperated the two crews now seemed to leap out of the way, granting Kida access to the Heart that hovered in the air, encircled by green energy that Ursula and Maleficent held it with under much stress. The Heart of Atlantis shone vibrantly, its blue light now expanding to a blinding radius. Maleficent and Ursula both finally lost control of it and it broke out of their holds, knocking them both back with a wave of energy. The rocks that floated around the Heart ( an array of stone slabs of all shapes and sizes, with faces carved into them) spun faster now as Kida drew nearer to it.

"Ssstop that girl!" Jafar hissed at Sadira, who ran forward and started to shift the earth under Kida's feet.

"No!" Tarzan and Milo both shouted. Tarzan ran forward to push Kida out of the way, but Clayton tackled him. In an instant, both crews had drawn their weapons and were aiming at each other.

"You don't know what you're meddling with, James!" Amelia hollered at Hook. "You don't know what's at stake here!"

"And you don't know what I'll do to get what I really want from you!" Hook spat back.

The ground beneath Kida's feet crumbled and fell away under Sadira's power, creating a dark chasm that threatened to swallow Kida. But, to everyone's amazement, Kida remained where she stood,walking on the air as if it were a solid path. A beam of light reached down from the Heart, beckoning Kida to walk into it.

Gaston rolled his eyes and aimed his shotgun at Kida's head. "Permission to shoot, Captain?"

"No! You idiots, the only way you'll be able to move your precious treasure is if she bonds to it!" Amelia snapped.

Hook looked at her, his eyes shining slightly with triumph. "Is that so?"

"Captain, what are you doing?" Phoebus whispered.

"Trust me." Amelia whispered back.

"Seems we finally have a way of controlling this thing." Hook told his crew. He looked at Gaston and Rourke and nodded toward the Jolly Roger, which was grounded a few yards away. "Get the box, huh?"

The two men stared in wonder as Kida stepped into the light, then scurried off to their ship. Everyone lowered their weapons and watched as the beam of light narrowed itself until it seemed to slice through the center of Kida's body, making her jump. Her eyes closed and her mouth parted slightly as the light lifted her limp form upward toward the Heart, which now seemed to glow brighter than the sun. Soon Kida was trapped inside the Heart while the stones that orbited it spun around at alarming speed, creating a whirring sound that grew piercing to the ears. The glow's radius grew and grew and soon became so blinding that most of those present had to look away or shield their eyes. After a moment, the glow faded away, and they all looked up to see that the giant orb of light had taken Kida's shape.

Kida, who was now completely crystalline blue, slowly hovered to the ground, which Sadira had returned to normal. Kida walked like an automaton toward the crowd of people, her form buzzing with an electrical energy of great magnitude. A woman from Hook's crew reached out to touch the princess as she walked by, seeming mesmerized.

Milo quickly jumped forward and said, "No, don't! Don't touch her!"

Clayton had pulled Tarzan up from the ground, and in his awe allowed Tarzan to wrestle himself out of his grip. Tarzan stared after the retreating Kida in shock, wanting to go after her but unsure what would happen if he did.

"Kida..." He whispered.

"Where's she going?" Helga demanded as Kida continued to walk away from them all, seemingly toward the jungle.

Amelia smirked. "She's going home."

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Rourke growled. He lit his cigar and watched as Gaston slammed a large metal box into Kida's path and quickly opened the door. Kida walked right into the box, then paused when she sensed an obstruction. She turned slowly to walk back out, but Gaston had already slammed the door and was welding it shut. Through the little round window in the top of the steel door, Kida's haunting face could be seen. Then, a sheen of frosty crystal etched itself over the box and the window became foggy.

Immediately, weapons were drawn and aimed again by both crews.

"You know I can't let you leave with that, Hook." Amelia said. "We have you severely outnumbered. Surrender now."

"And you know that I don't give a damn about your numbers when I have such unimaginable power on my side." Hook said with a note of pride in his tone.

As if on cue, a good portion of his crew put away their weapons and decided to put their otherworldly powers on display. Maleficent stood protectively beside him and raised her arms, her yellow eyes gleaming. Her green skin began to glow and the black dragon printed on her sprang to life and loomed over them. Sadira shifted the earth to elevate herself above the others and raised a boulder into the sky, threatening to fling it at the crew of the Legacy. Ursula, Vanessa, Hades, Eris and Dr. Facilier all made a show of their own powers. Gaston chuckled maliciously and cracked his knuckles. Jafar stepped forward and hissed before spitting flames, creating a wall of fire between the two crews.

Hook smirked darkly at Amelia and said, "You can't win this, Porter... But I would be willing to make a trade."

"What?!" Rourke snarled.

Hook ignored him and casually scanned Amelia's group with his piercing eyes. He looked displeased for a split second before collecting himself and asking, "Where is that pesky sprite who accompanies one of your cabin boys?"

Amelia narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "What could you possibly want with Tinkerbell?"

"She has information that I sorely need."

"The survival of an entire civilization in return for a little sprite? Hardly seems like a fair trade." Amelia cocked her pistol.

"For me, it is more than fair." Hook said in mild annoyance.

Amelia tipped her head to one side in embellished curiosity. "And what is it Tink knows about that's so important to you?"

"You are wearing my patience quite thin, pussy cat." Hook took a step forward. The reflection of the flames over his pale eyes shone like hell fire. "Will you be handing over the sprite or not?"

"Well, obviously she's not with us right now. If you'd like to accompany us to our ship, I'll let you have a look around for her." Amelia replied haughtily.

Hook's lips twitched in thinly-concealed rage. Then, he lifted his head high and gave Amelia a flash of a smile. "No, I don't feel like having you turn me over to the Federation today. Instead, you can feel free to follow our ship. We'll be going on our way with the Princess..." His face took on a vengeful expression. "I hope you can catch up to us before we sell her off."

With a nod from Hook, Gaston started to lift the metal box over his head, preparing to carry Kida to the Jolly Roger.

"Well, that's not happening." Phoebus muttered before firing his blaster gun at Gaston.

Gaston groaned unhappily and fell to one knee when he was shot, but the wound was only on the surface of his skin and quickly healed itself. Phoebus aimed to shoot again, but was struck in the shoulder by a shot from Rourke's gun when gunfire began to ring from both sides. Thankfully, Phoebus was wearing armor and was only momentarily winded. He quickly climbed back to his feet, knowing that his shoulder would be sore later. But now he had to jump back into action because a cyborg was attacking his Captain.

"Silver, you treasonous old slob! I should have known you would join up with scoundrels such as yourself." Amelia chided the cyborg as they dueled. Phoebus jumped in and used his sword to knock Silver's gun out of his hand, giving Amelia the advantage. But when she went to shoot at him, Silver raised his robot arm to block her fire. The metal was impenetrable and acted as a good shield from her blasters.

"Aye, Captain Porter! And they gave me a few upgrades!" Silver cackled in response.

Suddenly, Amelia's guns were wrenched out of her hands by a large, crab-like claw from overhead. Amelia unsheathed her sword and whirled around to come face to face with a fearsome alien creature looming over her. With one monstrous claw he knocked her to the side, but she somersaulted and slid into a defensive crouch, brandishing her sword. The creature perched on his eight spider-like legs and sneered at her through sharpened teeth at the end of a long snout, his serpentine eyes bulging out of his head.

"And what about me, Captain?" The alien growled in a low, raspy voice. "Have you missed me as well?"

Amelia stood up and John and Phoebus jumped to either side of her.

"Honestly, Scroop? I can't say I've given you much thought since I got rid of you." Amelia replied.

Scroop snarled and leapt forward to attack along with Silver, whose metal body parts offered him excessive strength and speed.

"Amelia!" Jane cried, running to help her sister.

"Jane, wait!" Mr. Porter called after her.

"I'll get her!" Belle assured him before running after Jane. Belle quickly caught up to her friend and grabbed her by the arm, stopping her just in time before a tall, lanky woman in an extravagant fur coat stepped into their path. The two young women backed away slowly as the strange woman, whose hair was half black and half white, chuckled and aimed her pistol at them. Another older woman stood nearby and smirked at the stand-off, and two other young (and fairly unfortunate-looking) women stood with her and sneered.

The woman in the fur coat smirked at them over her shoulder and waved her gun nonchalantly toward Belle and Jane. "They're quite lovely, aren't they, ladies?"

"Yes. Very beautiful." The older woman drawled. The two girls by her side rolled their eyes and unhappily crossed their arms.

"So pretty it makes me sick." One of the girls, who had dark hair, spat angrily.

"Oh, let me do something about that, Drizella." The woman with the black-and-white hair replied with a devilish grin, cocking her gun in Jane's direction.

"No!" Belle cried, shoving Jane out of the way when a shot rang out.

"Belle!" Jane screamed in fear of her friend being shot.

In the blink of an eye, Hercules stood in front of Belle, shielding her from the bullet. The small metal object crumpled like tin against his indestructible skin and fell to the jungle floor uselessly.

The woman's eyebrows popped up. "Impressive."

The older woman who stood by with the two girls rolled her eyes and drawled, "Quit gawking, Cruella."

The woman in the fur coat- Cruella- stowed her gun, lifted her fingers to her mouth and let out a loud, piercing whistle. Hercules ushered Belle and Jane away when he spotted Gaston sprinting in their direction. The girls ducked behind some rocks and watched as the two giant men clashed violently together. Cruella laughed wickedly and led the other three women away to fight somewhere else.

Meanwhile, Pocahontas and Kenai were crouching in some bushes and arguing quietly while the battle raged on around them.

"Pocahontas, we have to help them fight!" Kenai insisted.

"No! There has to be another way..." Pocahontas said, shaking her head. She was conflicted by her longing for justice and her non-violent nature. Despite the pirates' crimes, who was she- who were any of them to take a life and call it justice? No, she wouldn't kill anyone. If only these people would see reason. Maybe a deal could still be worked out...

"What have we here?"

Kenai immediately pulled out his hunting knife and turned to stab the pirate who loomed over their hiding spot, casting them in shadow. But Kenai froze when the long barrel of a blaster gun was stuck under his chin and pressed against his throat. The man on the other end of the gun was a tall, heavyset man with long black hair done in ribbons. He dressed in a surprisingly regal manner, like some English aristocrat.

"A couple of savages hiding out like rats?" He sneered down at them, threateningly pushing Kenai back with the gun. Kenai hit his head on a rock and slumped to the ground in a daze. Pocahontas ran to his side and glared back up at the pirate without a response. The man looked down at her with a cold, spiteful gaze. He tilted his head to one side and mockingly asked, "Do you not speak English?"

"We will not fight you." Pocahontas stated stubbornly.

"Good. This will be over with quickly, then." The man said, taking aim at Kenai first.

Pocahontas threw herself over Kenai to shield him, squeezing her eyes shut in anticipation of the blast. The shot rang out, making her wince. But she felt nothing. Pocahontas turned and looked up to see that the shot had been misdirected into the air when John Smith used the hilt of his sword to knock the man out. The pirate lay unconscious on the ground between John and the two natives.

Pocahontas looked slightly confused. "You did not kill him."

John shook his head. "I am neither judge nor executioner. It's not what I'm here to do." John kneeled down to take the man's weapons. "There are better ways to handle things."

Pocahontas couldn't help being surprised by these words. These sailors were truly nothing like she'd expected.

"Take Kenai further into the jungle and care for him. Don't let him fall asleep with that head injury." John instructed her politely as he stood back up.

"No, I should-"

She was cut off when another pirate- dressed all in yellow, ran over and tried to shoot John in the back of the head. John ducked out of the way and whirled around to kick the man in the gut, buying some time before the next attack.

"John!" Pocahontas called, jumping to her feet.

"Take Kenai and go!" John responded before sheathing his sword and running to grapple with the man over his shotgun.

Pocahontas was reluctant to do what he said at furst, now wanting to jump in and make sure no harm came to the crew that was fighting so valiantly to save her planet. But then she looked down at Kenai and realized that he was slipping away. She scrambled to get ahold of him and dragged him away into the bushes. Once she felt they were far enough away to be safe but still hear what was happening, she laid Kenai down on the soft ground and went searching for medicinal herbs, or foliage to wrap his head with.

Amelia hadn't wanted to admit it, but Hook was right. It was becoming apparent that her crew didn't stand a chance against his, which held powers far beyond what she'd been expecting. Where the hell did he pick up his recruits? Right now she faced off with the man himself, caught in an epic swordfight. Amelia was an even match for him, but he was ruthless and bore down on her unrelentingly. And Amelia found herself distracted by how the rest of her crew suffered. Even Hercules, who was easily the most powerful on her ship, was falling at the hands of Gaston. Maleficent, Hades and Jafar had the perimeter of the arena swathed in flame, making it impossible for anyone else to get out. Ursula, Eris and Vanessa were doing their fair share of damage while Sadira tried to bury a group of Amelia's sailors under heavy rocks and tons of dirt.

It was starting to seem that they would not win this fight.

Then, the Legacy herself flew in overhead. Eric brought her down a little and released the boarding ramp.

"If any of Hook's crew try to board, shoot them!" Eric ordered the people on the deck- Jim, Peter, Taran, Arthur, Naveen, Tiana, Esmeralda and Dr. Doppler- who were leaning over the side of the ship with their guns loaded and aimed.

"Phasers set to stun!" Jim called back.

"Their's won't be! Do not miss!" Eric responded. He looked up to see Rapunzel, Mowgli and Rat keeping busy in the rigging. Wendy and Alice were helping Audrey in the engineering room.

Dr. Sweet noticed Tiana firing a warning shot at Dr. Facilier when he made a move for the boarding ramp. The man was easily warded off. Dr. Sweet cheered, "That's my girl!"

"We have to get Kida on the ship and take her back!" Milo said.

"I'll help." Tarzan volunteered. Adam and Merida agreed.

"Gaston! Quit playing with your freak friend and let's get out of here! Get the box onto the ship!" Rourke ordered the behemoth.

Gaston left the severely enervated Hercules lying on the ground and headed toward the box that held Kida. Hercules started climbing to his feet to follow him, but by now Hades and Eris had recognized him and were coming to have their long-sought revenge. Belle watched uneasily as the two pirates advanced on Hercules, who was struggling to stand.

"They'll kill him... We have to do something." Belle told Jane.

"What can we do? You saw what those two were doing out there! We can't possibly match up." Jane said regretfully.

"We don't have to match up, we just have to distract them long enough for Herc to get a second wind." Belle said, a devious look coming to her hazel eyes.

"Belle, it's too dangerous. Your father would never forgive me if I let you do it!" Jane argued worriedly.

At this time, Milo, Tarzan, Adam and Merida had snuck over to join Belle and Jane in their hiding place. Milo glanced toward where Hades and Eris had begun their torturous attack on Hercules, who was doing his best not to fall.

"Hercules is the only one of us who can carry that box... Even if a group of us try to do it, we'll be completely vulnerable to attack. If Hercules gets Kida, we can fend off the pirates long enough for him to get her on the ship." Milo told the two women.

Belle smirked at Jane. "Well, now we have no choice but to help."

Jane rolled her eyes. "Right. Then what do you suppose we do?"

Belle glanced around for anything to help. Then, she noticed small stones lying around in all directions. Belle grinned and told Milo, "Jane and I will throw stones at Hades and Eris until they come after us. The rest of you get Hercules to the box and give him whatever help he needs."

"I'll stay with you, lassies." Merida said, already notching an arrow in her bow. "Yer stones cannae do more damage than my arrows."

Belle nodded gratefully at her.

"Are you being serious?" Adam demanded. "Where are you going to go once they come after you?"

"We'll lure them into the jungle and try to lose them." Belle responded calmly, grabbing a handful of stones from the ground.

"Hades is bound to burn down the whole jungle looking for you..." Tarzan said.

"You're going to get yourselves killed!" Adam snapped.

Belle rolled her eyes. "I'm getting very tired of men not trusting me. Just go. It shouldn't even matter what happens to us as long as Hercules gets Kida on the ship."

"And we better move fast." Milo said, directing their attentions toward where Gaston was lifting the metal box off the ground and starting to carry it toward the Jolly Roger.

"Go on, then!" Jane urged the guys as she plucked up her own pile to stones.

"Belle-" Adam started to argue further, but Merida cut him off.

"Have a little faith, boy-o. We got this." She stood up and took aim, knowing that her arrows may not pierce the aliens' skin, but they'd certainly be cause for annoyance.

Adam hesitated to leave, but at the insistence of Tarzan and Milo, he groaned in frustration and ran off with the others.

"Now!" Belle told Jane and Merida. On cue, all three of them released their onslaught of projectiles at Hades and Eris. As the stones and arrows bounced harmlessly off of them, the two pirates turned to glare at their hidden attackers. Hades sighed and raised his hand. A stream of blue flame surged from his palm, threatening to burn the girls to a crisp. The three of them ducked down behind their rock to avoid the fire.

"We'll get to them later." Hades said ominously. Eris smirked at him.

When the two of them turned back to finish Hercules, they were unpleasantly surprised to see that he'd disappeared. They turned to see him limping away with Milo, Tarzan and Adam, heading straight toward Gaston.

"Hey! Wonder Brat!" Hades shouted, racing after him. "You can't just-"

Hercules turned and met Hades with a solid punch in the jaw, sending him flying back. Eris ran to his side while Hercules stalked off, seeming to be gaining energy. Hades sat there, stunned, as Hercules walked away from him. Then, he felt another stone bounce off his head. He growled in anger, his flames starting to glow red. He turned toward the three girls who hid behind the rock and told Eris in a low, dangerous tone, "Do everything you can to stop him. He's not getting away that easy."

"What are you going to do?" Eris asked as they both stood up.

Hades was already stomping toward the girls, who were still flinging stones and firing arrows at him even as he approached.

"I'll be back." He assured Eris, his voice shaking with rage. Then, the entirety of him burned red and he roared in rage, sending a wave of powerful fire toward the girls. Jane, Belle and Merida quickly ran to hide in the jungle, and Hades didn't hesitate to follow. Soon, the girls were trapped in an inferno with the bloodthirsty Hades as the jungle was lit up by his flames.

Eris went after Hercules, but was blocked from him by Milo, Adam and Tarzan, who were all trying to scare her off with their guns. Eris chuckled ruefully and fired back at them with waves of black energy that they carefully avoided. The three men managed to distract her and temporarily lead her off Hercules' trail when she realized she wouldn't be able to reach him until they were out of the way. Eris exchanged blows with the three humans while Hercules continued to run after Gaston.

Meanwhile, Jazz was desperately prying up rocks that Sadira was trying to trap Flynn and Aladdin under. She used her claws to climb over the mound of stones and lift them or shove them away to free her friends. Whenever Sadira tried to crush her with another rock or smother her with dirt, Jazz scurried out of the way too quickly for Sadira to realize.

Jafar watched her movements for a moment, his snake eyes gleaming in recognition. He slowly approached Jazz with an eerie calm. Jazz noticed him coming and became panicked. She immediately recognized Jafar when they got here; He was once her father's advisor back on Agrabah. Before he was found out for corruption and murder and banished from the planet, along with Sadira. Sadira didn't seem to realize who Jazz was, but Jafar had a look in his eyes that made her skin crawl.

Jazz pulled out her gun and aimed at him, but it was suddenly pulled out of her grip by some invisible force. She turned in shock to see her gun fly to Vanessa's waiting grasp. Without hesitation, Jazz pulled out her sword, but then it was wrenched out of her grasp in the same way in the opposite direction. On the other side of her, Ursula cackled and tossed the sword away. Jafar gestured lazily to the two women and they went off to fight another battle. Jazz stumbled back in fear as Jafar quickly scaled his way up to her. As a last defense, she tried to use her claws to slice him across the snout, but he easily caught her hands in his own and held them together. Sadira created an unbreakable binding using some rock around both of Jazz's hands. Jafar then wrapped his clawed fingers around Jazz's throat and lifted her up off the ground.

"I know you from ssssomewhere..." He hissed as he looked her over.

Jazz choked and gasped for air. "No..."

"Yessss... I do." He rasped, opening his jaw to reveal a ball of flame coming to life at the back of his throat. Jazz's eyes widened in terror as she realized he was about to burn her alive.

A shot rang out and Jafar screeched, dropping Jasmine and falling to one knee to cover his injured foot. Jasmine looked up to see Esmeralda giving her a thumbs-up from the ship, the barrel of her gun still smoking. Sadira immediately started flinging a barrage of large stones at the Legacy. Some stones struck the ship, but most were destroyed by the crew's blaster guns. Jafar stood up, enraged and ready to kill Jazz. She used the rock encasing her hands as a weapon and cracked it over his head. The rock broke apart and Jafar crumbled again, but stubbornly rose to his feet. Jazz let out a battle cry as the two of them fought hand-to-hand (and foot-to-foot). Her panic had been overtaken by adrenaline and her years of agility came back to her as she fought to survive, expertly using her claws to protect herself. Whenever Jafar tried to spray her with flame, she leapt or rolled out of the way and kept her focus. He was not going to win this fight. She had to defeat him if she was going to free Aladdin... And Flynn, of course.

Hercules finally caught up to Gaston and tackled him, knocking the metal box out of his grasp. The box bounced a few times, then rolled a number of yards away. Gaston growled and shoved Hercules off of him, trying to get back to the box. But Hercules came up from behind him and grabbed him by the neck, wrangling him backward. The two wrestled for a few moments before Gaston lost his temper. Gaston grabbed Hercules with both hands, lifted him up over his head, and threw him away. Hercules bounced and rolled in the same fashion as the box had, but much more violently, tearing through the ground as he went. Gaston waited to see if Hercules would get up. When it didn't seem like it, he turned and started walking toward the box again.

Hercules slowly and painfully pulled himself up, but couldn't quite stand. He watched Gaston go for a moment, feeling helpless. He'd never faced an enemy he couldn't beat. How was he supposed to take this guy down? He looked around for help, but everyone was too busy fighting someone else. And a lot of his crew seemed close to losing. Hercules looked crestfallen toward the trees. Then, an idea came to him. He eagerly bounced to his feet and ran over to rip a tree out of the ground. Then, he went after Gaston.

"Hey!" He shouted.

Gaston rolled his eyes and turned to him, only to have Hercules swing the tree at him like a giant baseball bat. Gaston flew through the air with a loud, drawn-out yell and disappeared far into the jungle, out of sight. There was a faint crashing noise in the distant trees. Hercules grinned before dropping his tree and then sprinted toward the box.

Rourke and Helga stood stubbornly in front of their prize and fired their guns at him, but Hercules showed no response. The blasts didn't even hurt him or leave a mark on his skin. In fact, he seemed to gain more energy from the blasters, like he was drawing the lasers into his skin, which softly glowed. It only fortified his strength and urged him onward. Helga quickly realized that any attempt to take Hercules down with their weapons was futile and stepped out of the way. But Rourke stood his ground and continued to fire as Hercules closed in on him. Hercules reached up one hand to grip the gun in Rourke's hand, closing his palm over the barrel and crumpling the metal like paper within his fingers. Rourke angrily threw up one fist toward Hercules' face. Hercules quickly raised one arm and easily blocked the attack. A loud crack and Rourke's pained yell signaled that his arm had been broken upon the sudden contact with Hercules'.

Hercules smirked and used the same arm to sweep Rourke out of his path. Helga ran to Rourke's side as he lay on the ground a few yards away. Hercules didn't hesitate to grab the metal box with both hands and lift it over his head. He turned and started to jog with the box toward the boarding ramp of the Legacy. Seeing him run by with Kida gave the rest of the crew new hope and they started to head toward the ship after successfully fighting off the pirates.

"To the ship!" Hook ordered his crew. "We'll follow them in the air!"

"The fight's not over yet!" Amelia told her own crew as they scurried about the ship and prepared to take off. She and Phoebus ran up to the helm to see Eric waiting for them at the wheel. Amelia began to scold him, "What possessed you to disobey orders? Not that it isn't appreciated, but the villagers-" She got a clear look at Eric and raised her eyebrows. "Great Scott, what happened to you?"

Eric tried to look amused despite his own exhaustion and the seriousness of the situation. "Complications arose. I thought it best to come find you."

Amelia looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well... Good thinking. Not that we didn't have this handled, of course."

Eric grinned. "Of course, Captain."

Phoebus saw John bringing Pocahontas and Kenai aboard and said, "We need to take off now."

"No!" Hercules said, scanning the crowd on the deck. He cast worried eyes toward the blazing jungle. "Belle's not back yet."

"Jane's in there with her!" Milo cried. Wendy gasped and clung to her distraught father at the sound of this.

"And Merida..." Adam realized aloud with obvious dismay, earning slightly surprised looks from both of his brothers.

Amelia turned toward where the Jolly Roger was starting to lift off and preparing their canons. She felt her heart pound, worry for her sister clouding her mind. But she had almost 100 other lives to think about, as well. And a whole planet depending on them. Amelia groaned regretfully. "We can't wait! Eric, take us out of here, now!"

Eric immediately followed orders. "Aye, Captain."

"No, wait! Just let me run in and look for them! I can-" Hercules tried to argue.

"Wait! " A distant and very familiar voice shrieked from the treeline. Amelia immediately recognized it as Jane's voice and eagerly turned to see her, Belle and Merida sprinting out of the burning trees and toward the ship.

"Wait for us, please!" Belle called, equally excited and panicked. Jane and Merida were both screaming as they ran on either side of her. The crew cheered as the three women ran up the boarding ramp and onto the ship, covered in soot but seeming unharmed. Eric quickly pulled up the ramp and took off as fast as he dared toward the main city.

Amelia, Mr. Porter, Wendy, Hercules, Milo, Dr. Sweet, and Adam all hurried below deck to meet the girls, who were hacking and wheezing as they nearly collapsed. Dr. Sweet immediately began to examine them, worried about how much smoke might have filled their lungs. The Porters were fawning over Belle and Jane, ecstatic that the two girls had made it. Milo and Hercules kept their distance, but were obviously quite happy about it as well. Adam just stared at Merida in shock.

"How did you guys make it?" He demanded.

"Could ya' be less excited to see me if ya' tried?" Merida chided, then started coughing again.

Adam glanced at Belle, who was shuddering in Hercules' embrace. Adam shook his head and looked at Merida with eyes that betrayed his emotions: an inexplicable mixture of disappointment, jealousy, gratefulness, and amazement. "Really...how?"

Merida shrugged. "Belle used her book smarts to track down a river. We used the water to splash Hades until he was too weak to chase us. Then we escaped."

Adam turned to see Hercules gazing down at Belle with obvious admiration and wonder.

"You defeated Hades?" He asked her softly, stroking her ash-coated cheek with one large thumb.

Belle, though definitely proud of herself, still responded humbly, "Only temporarily."

Hercules grinned. "I will never doubt you again." He leaned down to kiss her forehead.

Adam rolled his eyes and turned back to Merida, who wore a peculiarly unhappy expression.

"You girls should go with Dr. Sweet to the infirmary. The rest of us need to get back to the deck." Amelia cut in authoritatively.

Jane, who had the worst of the coughing, allowed herself to be led away. After sharing a short look with Adam, Merida followed. But Belle was hesitant to leave Hercules.

"I'll come find you if anything goes wrong. Don't you worry about me." He assured her. Belle smiled up at him before slipping out of his arms and following the others. Hercules noticed Adam glaring at him and turned away to follow the others up to the deck. Adam decided to head to engineering to help Audrey, with Merida being temporarily absent.

"They didn't seem to want to wait for Hades, Captain." Eric informed Amelia as she came to join him, Phoebus, John and Robin at the helm. "They're gaining on us fast. Should I go to top speed?"

Sensing the reluctance in his voice, Amelia took one look at the scanners and saw that the ship was already under much duress. If they pushed it now, they could be facing a blowout. She shook her head. "No..." She turned toward the deck and called, "Man the canons! They'll be attacking if they manage to catch up!" She turned to Hercules and Phoebus while John and Robin left to help with defense. "You two help Tarzan guard the box. Milo's trying to figure out how to free Kida as we speak. We just need to protect her long enough to get her into the city."

"We're leading those pirates right into the heart of the civilization, Captain." Phoebus said warily.

"Hopefully we can blast them out of the sky before that becomes a problem." Amelia replied.

Phoebus nodded and led Hercules toward where Tarzan and Milo stood by Kida's metal prison.

Hercules seemed intent to rip the box open with his bare hands, but Milo stopped him.

"Whatever material is coating the metal... It isn't natural. I don't think it's a good idea for anyone's skin to come in contact with it, even yours." Milo explained.

Hercules looked confused. "I carried it up here just fine."

"Well, that's not the same as trying to break through it, is it?" Milo asked peevishly.

Hercules raised his hands in surrender. "Point taken."

The roar of another engine filled their ears and the whole crew turned to see the Jolly Roger pulling up beside them. Hook could be heard shouting "Fire! " and large cannonballs came sailing toward the Legacy. Eric raised the defensive shield just in time, but the blasts diminished the shield's strength considerably.

Eric shook his head. "Captain, the shields can't take much more! Permission to speed up?"

"No!" Amelia called back.

Another round of cannon fire jostled the Legacy about.

"Would you return fire already?!" Amelia demanded of those manning the cannons.

"Fire!" John shouted, and they quickly obliged. Their cannons did much more damage to the Jolly Roger, the smaller vessel in this battle. Even with their shield up, Hook's crew couldn't compete. Hook ordered Rourke to pull their ship up above the Legacy. They were going to try to board from overhead.

"Weapons out, folks!" Robin told the others, notching a flaming arrow into his bow and aiming upward. Everyone followed suit with their own weapons and began to fire as Hook's crew descended upon them. Rourke left Cruella at the helm and dropped down onto the deck of the Legacy, moving feverishly to retrieve his prize with Gaston and Helga at his side. Rourke carried with him a sturdy chain that reached from the bottom of the Jolly Roger, prepared to clip the end of it around a metal loop at the top of the box that held Kida.

Hercules quickly diverted Gaston while Phoebus and Helga began to fight. Rourke faced off with Tarzan and Milo (who was obviously out of his depth but still put on a brave face).

"You folks have officially pissed me off." Rourke growled, pulling out his pistol and aiming it at Tarzan's head.

"Look out!" Milo cried when he saw Rourke's finger twitch on the trigger. Milo leapt forward and shoved Tarzan out of the way. The blast caught Milo's shoulder and he cried out in pain, falling over on top of Tarzan.

Rourke laughed and jumped up on top of the box, clipping his chain to the metal loop. With a wave of his hand, he signaled the others to return to the ship. Any attempt by a member of the Legacy to climb up after the pirates or to approach Kida was met with merciless gunfire. Cruella started to pull the pirate ship up, dragging the metal box that Rourke was perched on off the deck of the Legacy.

Dr. Sweet was called to the deck to care for the injured crew members, and Rapunzel eagerly offered her assistance.

Though she'd taken a shot to the side, Amelia stubbornly ordered Eric to follow the pirates upward. Eric followed suit, wary of how close they were getting to leaving the planet's atmosphere. The dark expanse of space was threatening to swallow up both ships, and they all knew that the Leviathan was probably waiting to obliterate them.

Tarzan knelt by Milo until Dr. Sweet came to take him away. Milo gritted his teeth against the pain and told Tarzan, "Whatever it takes...save...Kida."

Tarzan nodded and watched the doctor take Milo before glancing around at the crew. Most of them were now too weak or injured to fight. He and Hercules were among the few who could do anything right now.

Tarzan glared up at where Rourke stood atop the metal container, threateningly wielding his gun. Tarzan turned toward Hercules and whispered, "I'm going up there. I need you to be ready to break that chain."

Hercules frowned. "If we drop that box onto the deck, it could break through the ship."

"Then don't drop it onto the deck."

Hercules started to shake his head. "But-"

Tarzan moved into action before Hercules could argue with him. He quickly scrambled up the mast until he was high enough to leap backward onto the box, catching Rourke by surprise. Rourke turned his gun toward Tarzan, but Tarzan swung himself upward to kick the gun out of Rourke's grip. The gun sailed through the air and landed on the deck, right by Hercules' feet. Hercules quickly picked it up and aimed at the chain while Tarzan continued to fight with Rourke.

"Move the ship aside!" Hercules called to Eric.

Eric looked to Amelia for approval. Having caught onto their plan, Amelia nodded at him. Eric started to move the ship out from under the Jolly Roger, leaving Tarzan, Kida and Rourke dangling over the thick clouds. Hercules kept the gun trained on the chain and waited for a clean shot, hoping that Tarzan would jump back onto the ship before it was too late.

Tarzan ducked in time to evade another strike from Rourke, who was having a difficult time trying to knock Tarzan off with one broken arm. Finally, Rourke became enraged enough to barrel toward Tarzan, using one shoulder to knock him over. Tarzan flew backward off the box, then somersaulted in midair and caught onto the side of it, staring wide-eyed into the small frosty window.

"Tarzan!" Jim cried from where he stood watching on the deck.

"Don't worry, Jim. He's got this." Peter assured him, though his expression gave away his own uncertainty.

Rourke swung a fist downward toward Tarzan's head. Tarzan leaned to one side to avoid the punch. Rourke's fist instead smashed through the window, and he howled with pain when a few shards of glass clung to his hand. Rourke stood up and stared at the injured hand as the cuts glowed a threatening red. Suddenly, a blue crystalline material started to grow from inside the gashes and crept over Rourke's skin.

Tarzan glanced toward the window, catching sight of Kida's blank, blue face. Then, he focused on the broken glass and carefully plucked a large shard out of the metal frame. Rourke yelled and grabbed Tarzan's arm with the transformed hand, lifting him upward. Tarzan quickly sliced Rourke's other arm, the broken one, with the glass. Rourke yowled and dropped Tarzan, trying to stop the crystal from growing with his already-mutated arm. Tarzan managed to grab the side of the metal container again and clung to it. He watched as Rourke was transformed into a glistening statue, his shrieks of pain and panic becoming inhuman and his eyes glowing a demonic red as he raised his face skyward. He froze like that, seeming to no longer be a problem.

The crew of the Legacy cheered at Tarzan's apparent victory. He leaned back and turned to grin down at them.

"Jump over here so I can break the chain!" Hercules encouraged him, cocking the gun that he still had aimed.

Tarzan readied himself to jump onto the deck, but Rourke's crystalline form suddenly sprang back to life, unleashing a metallic wail and lunging forward to grab at Tarzan again. Tarzan swung around to the adjacent side of the metal box to avoid his grasp.

"Now, Hercules! Shoot it now!" Tarzan shouted as he continued to avoid the monstrous Rourke's attacks.

"No!" Jim protested while Hercules hesitated to pull the trigger.

"Do it!" Tarzan insisted. "Now! Do it now! "

Amelia steeled herself and ordered Hercules to do as Tarzan said, in spite of Jim's continual argument. Hercules gave Tarzan a regretful look, which Tarzan couldn't see because he was busy distracting Rourke. Hercules quickly took aim and fired at the chain that kept the container tethered to the Jolly Roger. Just like that, Tarzan and Rourke were plummeting toward the ground with Kida.

"Follow them, Eric!" Amelia ordered.

Eric dutifuly turned the ship downward and sailed after their falling comrade. Everyone quickly grabbed ahold of something to stay balanced as the Legacy traveled (almost freefalling) down a vertical path.

"They're following us, Amelia!" Robin called from the back of the ship, where he could watch the pirates.

"Shoot them down!" Amelia cried in response. Everyone who was able pulled out their guns and started firing relentlessly at the pirate ship. Amelia looked over at the worried Jim and said, "We just have to make it there before they do."

"You think we can save my brother in time?" Jim asked.

"It's picking up speed, Captain! I don't think I can catch up!" Eric cried.

"Accelerate, then!" Amelia responded.

"The ship won't be able to take it!"

"The ship doesn't have to do anything! Just shut off all systems! We'll let gravity work for us!"

"Are you insane?!" Dr. Doppler screamed.

"You really think that'll work?" Eric asked.

Amelia grinned. "Have I ever steered you wrong?"

Eric shook his head and started to shut everything off. "Someone go tell Audrey to kill the engines! Quickly!"

Jim ran off before anyone had to repeat the order, racing down toward the engineering room. Amelia stood with Eric at the helm while Phoebus and John warned everyone to brace themselves. The ship's engines whined into silence and the Legacy eased out of its controlled downward cruise and into a much faster plummet toward the planet's surface. The wind whistled deafeningly around them as they fell toward the metal object that Tarzan and Rourke were riding toward what would be certain death.

"We're reaching them! I need engineering on stand-by!" Eric shouted.

"On your signal!" Peter responded, waiting to sprint toward the engineering room.

The ship was only a few yards behind the container now. Tarzan was still clinging to it, but Rourke had him in a vice-like grip and was still trying to throw him off. Tarzan grappled with him, then spotted the distance between them and the Legacy shrinking. Hercules ran to the side of the ship and aimed his gun at Rourke's back. He fired a shot, taking Rourke by surprise. Rourke screeched and released Tarzan, fighting to keep his own balance on the container. The ship managed to pull it's bow up next to the container.

"Tarzan, jump on!" Amelia called to him.

Tarzan looked hesitantly between the bow and Kida for a moment, then leapt off the container and wrapped his arms around the bow, hanging onto it as the wind threatened to pull him off.

"Now!" Eric shouted at Peter.

Peter ran down the stairs and for a terrifying moment, the ship continued to dart down toward the planet, its size helping to drag it down faster. Then, the engines roared to life and Eric pulled the ship upward at a sickening rate, making everyone lurch where they stood. The ship made a few alarming turns as Eric tried to wrench it back into control. They hovered just under the clouds in an eerie silence.

Tarzan climbed up onto the bow and walked across it, hopping over to join Eric at the helm.

"That was some fancy flying, there." Tarzan said breathlessly, clapping a hand on Eric's shoulder.

Eric laughed a little in utter disbelief of the accomplishment. "It was the Captain's idea."

"Well, that was fun!" Amelia cried with a feral grin.

A few people groaned in response.

An echoing, machine-like wail and a loud crash from below them made most of the crew look over the side of the ship to see that the container had made its landing. It had burrowed into the ground a few feet, and now lay smoking at the bottom of an impressive crater. A few chunks of lifeless crystal were scattered around it, the last remains of Rourke.

"They've fallen back, Ame-" Robin paused to correct himself as he jogged up to the helm. "Captain. The Jolly Roger has taken a lot of damage. They're falling back. It seems that they plan to make an escape before they lose complete control of their vessel."

"Should we pursue them, Captain?" Phoebus asked her.

She shook her head. "If they're that close to wrecking, we'll catch up to them without issue. Right now, we must take the Princess back home." She nodded at Eric, who took the cue to bring the ship down toward the ground. Robin turned to watch as Hook's ship, miles above them, pulled up further and vanished in the clouds.

Eric brought the ship down to hover next to the box and Tarzan leapt down to help Hercules load it on board. Then the Legacy took off and sped toward the main city, all the while keeping an eye out for the Jolly Roger in case another attack was being planned. It was clear to Amelia that Hook didn't give a damn about Kida or the Heart of Atlantis, but he wasn't going to let Tinkerbell go without a fight. She couldn't help wondering what it was about the sprite that had Hook so invested in her, and made a note to ask Peter about it later on, when they weren't all facing death and the Atlanteans were no longer threatened by extinction.

The Legacy landed in the center of the city, where a sea of Atlantean faces greeted them with cheers and open arms. A crowd gathered around in a large circle around the ship and watched eagerly as Hercules carried the metal box off the ship and set it on the ground.

"Now we just need to figure out how to get her out of there..." Milo thought aloud as he and a few other members of the crew joined Hercules on the ground. Milo examined the box and stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I'm worried about trying to use tools with that substance contaminating the metal... I mean, we saw what it did to Rourke."

Meg rolled her eyes. "If the Princess is so powerful, why doesn't she just get herself out?"

"She appears to be dormant for now..." Jane replied, carefully peeking in at Kida through the tiny broken window. Her view of Kida's face was obstructed by an intense blue glow, making her frown.

"Not dormant." Pocahontas said, seeming transfixed by an input that wasn't reaching the rest of them. Her glassy brown eyes peered up at the clouds in apparent wonder. "Waiting."

Sinbad sighed. "And what does that mean?"

His question was quickly answered when canon fire echoed through the air and a nearby building consequently combusted and crumbled. The Jolly Roger glided down from its hiding place in the clouds and fired blast after blast upon the unsuspecting city. Amelia immediately ordered everyone back to the ship while the Atlanteans ran for cover. Hercules tried to carry Kida on board, but Pocahontas stopped him. Amelia told Eric to pull up and prepare to return fire. But then, Kida's metal prison began to shudder.

The walls that kept her contained suddenly broke apart and floated away from her, hovering in perfect, unmarked fragments. Then, they rode a wave of energy that erupted from Kida and scattered in all directions, a few pieces piercing through Hook's ship. Kida's expression remained serene as she started to hover up toward the sky, raising her arms at her sides. The blue glow that emanated from her began to leak into every surrounding crack and crevice, bringing the dull old buildings to life. Kida disappeared into the clouds as the Heart's energy built itself up throughout the city, and then throughout the entire planet.

The crew of the Legacy watched in wonder as the power of the Heart revived all of Atlantis. Then, Amelia noticed Hook's ship taking off in a last-ditch escape attempt.

"Seems like they know something we don't know." Phoebus mumbled.

"Should we pursue, Captain?" Eric asked.

Amelia shook her head, looking thoughtfully up at the radiating blue glow above the clouds. "I think we should let Kida take care of it."

Suddenly, there was a deafening clap overhead, more powerful than any thunder any of them had ever heard. The very air around then quivered as a transparent shield started to wrap itself around the planet. Everyone watched as the shield reached out toward the Sentinels, which could be seen hovering just outside the planet's atmosphere. Once touched by the shield, the empty eyes of the statues lit up with life, burning with the same blinding blue glow that signaled vitality on Atlantis. The broken pieces floated together and seamlessly repaired themselves to create whole beings, once more animated by the Heart to protect Atlantis. The Sentinels levitated in a uniform ring around the plant, mimicking the rings of Saturn. They each smacked their large stone hands together once in unison, creating another booming clap. More blue energy formed between their palms. And as the Sentinels pulled their hands apart and stretched their arms out horizontally, the blue energy expanded in the same fashion as it had before, creating a second layer to the shield that Kida had initially created.

"They'll never get through that wall..." Robin said as he watched the Jolly Roger race toward the shield at break-neck speed.

Amelia smirked. "And they know that."

The pirate ship pulled a very sudden turn-over, flipping upside down and turning back toward the planet to avoid colliding with the shield. Whatever damage the ship had taken before contributed to the engine combusting on them. The Jolly Roger was caught in a free fall into the Atlantean jungle, cutting through the atmosphere at an uncontrollable speed that made the outside of the ship catch fire and start to pull apart on them.

"They're having a very bad day." John remarked.

"Eric, get after them!" Amelia ordered. He immediately obeyed as she continued, "We can't lose them in a crash. Those bastards need to pay for everything they've done!"

The Legacy lifted off and sailed at a dangerous speed toward where the pirate ship was close to plummeting through the jungle's canopy. Everyone hung on and watched anxiously as Eric took them on a fluctuating ride on the Jolly Roger's trail. After watching the flaming vessel dip into a large break in the trees just before they could reach it, Eric turned down sharply to follow them into an underground grotto.

The cavernous pocket under the jungle was all rock and water, completely dark aside from the few slivers of light that crept in overhead. The sound of rushing water was deafening and on all sides water sprayed down from hidden crevices in the rock. Eric steered carefully to avoid jagged rocks jutting out from the unpredictable rock formations hidden on the dark. A wave of cold water lashed out over the deck of the Legacy, nearly washing a few people away, and Eric was careful to avoid the waterfalls as well.

The Jolly Roger fell like a weight, unable to shift its course to avoid any of the obstacles. Its bow smashed against a large rock, crumpling the ship like paper and turning it on one side. It tipped over and teetered off the rock, flipping over and over as it descended toward a large, inky black pool of water at the bottom of the cave.

"Eric, stop! Pull up!" Amelia screeched over the cascading water hissing all around them. "We'll never make it!"

Eric eased the ship to a stop and pulled up slightly, hovering for a moment. The roar of the rushing water was temporarily usurped by an ear-splitting crash from below. The Jolly Roger had made its deadly landing on the solid surface of the pool below, momentarily upsetting the deceptively soft waves. The water swallowed the ship up in a matter of seconds. The spray of white foam and mist concealed the grisly scene and soon no sign of the pirates could be detected. Within a few moments, the pool returned to its serene, unbothered state, as though nothing had happened.

Amelia gazed down at the water, narrowing her feline eyes at the large rocks slipping in and out of the gentle waves. It was too dark to tell what lay under the dark water for sure, but...

Amelia shook her head. "No one could survive that fall. Not even them. I'll call the Federation to send a search team to be sure. But for now..." She turned to Eric. "Back to the main city."

Eric nodded and carefully pulled the ship up and out of the cavern, raising them up until they hovered above the trees. Then, he steered them toward the city, where the Atlanteans were watching in awe as Kida, no longer bonded to the Heart of Atlantis, was slowly floating down from the clouds in a ray of soft blue light. Eric pulled the ship up under her so that she would land on the deck. Everyone cleared the way for her to land safely, but Tarzan stepped forward and waited for her to hover down to him. He reached out with both arms and allowed her to land in his embrace. Her toes barely touched the wooden deck and the ray of light vanished, releasing her. She sank against Tarzan's chest, warm and malleable now that she was back to normal. Tarzan gently tightened his grasp in her to make her feel secure.

"Kida?" He whispered, gazing down at her peaceful, apparently sleeping face.

She stirred and quietly mumbled, gaining her own footing but not withdrawing from him. She turned slightly and lifted her chin so that she was looking up at him. To his surprise her once clear, bright blue eyes now shone more vibrantly, a soft echo of the intense glow of the crystal around her neck. Sparkling white spots danced across her irises like starlight playing on a rippling tide. Those eyes that were once so innocent and wondrous now contained knowledge of a power that no one else could understand.

"Tarzan?" She whispered back, and thankfully her voice hadn't changed. Only her eyes were unrecognizable, a fact that left Tarzan both disappointed and grateful. Kida smiled shyly up at him, then bit her lip and shut her eyes and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tight. Tarzan was slightly stunned by this overt display of affection, but quickly melted into it. He heard a few people on the deck snicker or aww at the sight, making him blush.

Eric smirked as he started to lower the ship into the city, greeted by the cheering crowd of Atlanteans.

Kida pulled back from Tarzan, slightly surprised from the ship's movement. It dawned on Tarzan that she'd never been on a ship before and its movement was unnatural before. She smiled as she watched the city grow upward around them. Then, she lifted her left fist and opened it to reveal a small bracelet in her palm. Happy tears sprang to her eyes and she muttered a word that Tarzan didn't understand.

She looked up at his confused face and smiled slightly, her lip shaking. "Mother."

Tarzan nodded in understanding and pulled her into another hug.

Only a moment after landing and lowering the boarding ramp, the ship was flooded with Atlanteans who were eager to see their Princess. Tarzan and Kida soon found themselves enveloped by the happy crowd that milled about the deck, welcoming Kida back and congratulating the sailors who'd saved them all.

Later That Day...

After working until sunset to rebuild the city and its surrounding villages and heal the people, every citizen, Atlantean and human alike, gathered together to host a celebration for their foreign saviors in the main city. With the Heart of Atlantis at its apex power, the scorched and overturned planet was healed in a matter of hours. The flora and fauna were revived, turning Atlantis lush and green once more, and twittering with activity from the jungle's creatures.

The citizens were healed as well, and were more healthy and joyous than they'd been in years. It showed in the expedient way that they worked throughout the day, and then decorated and prepared their feast for the festival. The Atlanteans started to teach their human neighbors all about traditional delicacies, dances, decorations and costumes. This was the first time that the Atlanteans had interacted with the human refugees since Kashekim welcomed them to the planet hundreds of years ago, and it was miraculously harmonious. Grateful to have survived the pirates' attack and have their Princess (now Queen) returned, the citizens eagerly came together for the festival.

Amelia watched proudly as the Atlantean people finally unified. Children from all walks of life ran around and played together, shrieking gleefully. Elders shared stories and songs, and various natives and sailors compared tattoos. In the center of the city, a diverse group of people twirled and hopped in a tribal dance. A band played crude instruments, mostly drums, nearby to supply a beat for the dancers. Glass orbs hanging overhead contained clusters of a rare species of firefly, casting a soft golden glow over the festivities.

"So..." Pocahontas said, grinning as she stepped up next to Amelia. "This is why you do it."

Amelia turned to Pocahontas with a smirk and one raised eyebrow. "What is?"

"This...euphoric feeling. Seeing all these people so happy after you've saved them." Pocahontas looked around at the sight that she never thought she'd see.

Amelia nodded and turned back to watch the dance. "It is nice. Some days are better than others. Hell, some days are particularly awful; that's just a part of the job. But this..." Her eyes lit up. "This is a particularly good day." She turned to smile genuinely at Pocahontas. "This is what makes it all worth it."

Pocahontas nodded and glanced around again. She found entertainment in the various sights of people mingling. Milo was running around like mad with his group, taking part in every Atlantean tradition he could, snapping photos and scribbling down notes. Jane was following along in much the same fashion. Meanwhile, Belle was focused solely on an Atlantean tome that was being translated for her. Hercules sat patiently by her side, smiling to himself at her obvious excitement. Adam seemed bothered by the sight of Hercules holding Belle's hand until Merida came up to him with a large plate of food. She gave him a small smile and held the plate up, offering to share. He nodded gratefully and started picking off the plate. Across the way, Meg and Phoebus were chatting in a conspiratorial manner until Sinbad and his little crew showed up to join the conversation. Meg smirked when Phoebus blushed and ducked his head. Meanwhile, Alice and Wendy had dragged John into the dance. He self-consciously followed along while the two girls laughed at him.

Pocahontas laughed quietly, prompting Amelia to turn toward her again.

"This crew of yours..." Pocahontas smiled at the Captain. "They are good people. All of you are..." She turned again and saw the Kida had managed to tear herself away from the crowd to talk to Tarzan. They stood very close together, their skin almost touching. He cupped her face with one hand and spoke to her in hushed tones, his stormy eyes equally hopeful and sad. Kida looked down at the space between them and decided to close it, pulling herself close to him.

"He knows she won't go with him." Pocahontas muttered as she watched.

Amelia shook her head. "She has a greater responsibility here."

"As do I."

Amelia gave her a subtly doubtful look. "Is that so?"

Pocahontas frowned at her. "I promised Kida I would help change Atlantis for the better."

"Is that supposed to be your job?"

"It should have been my father's." Pocahontas replied bluntly. "The Chiefs should have taken diplomacy with the King upon themselves, instead of being complacent. It is as much my duty as it is Kida's to help our people evolve..." Pocahontas turned to see Tiger Lily sitting with Kenai, Koda and Tanana by a small fire, roasting vegetables. Tiger Lily giggled gleefully with Tanana as she watched the flames char the skin of the vegetable, a tuber of some sort. "And, I must set an example for my daughter. After leaving her and going through all that to achieve this... What would I be teaching her if I decided we should just leave with you?" She watched as Kenai stood and lifted Tiger Lily up to sit on his shoulders. The girl shrieked happily and placed her hands over his eyes, taking to his games quickly and whole-heartedly. Pocahontas's chest flooded with warmth as she caught a glimpse of the future that could be, the future she'd always wanted... If she did decide to leave with Tiger Lily on the Legacy, to leave life on Atlantis behind, she doubted that Kenai would come along. He had his own family to think about, and he would never leave them. He'd have to help Denahi and Tanana lead their village.

Amelia tilted her head thoughtfully, her ears twitching upward. "I think you would be teaching her to forge her own path."

Pocahontas turned back to Amelia with a guarded expression.

Amelia shrugged nonchalantly. "I believe that you've always craved adventure, Pocahontas. That you've always wondered about what exists outside of this isolated little planet. You tell yourself you've seen it all by now, but remain undeniably curious about everything that could be in this universe...and the next. But you got pigeonholed into settling down and you were gifted with that beautiful child and you figured that would be the end of it. But now, you have another chance. You and Tiger Lily both. I believe travel could do you both some good."

Pocahontas thought this over. This was the experience of a lifetime Amelia was offering her and her child. A chance to temporarily (or permanently, if she chose) escape her responsibilities to her people who she'd always felt disconnected from, and instead focus on her duties as a mother. Shape Tiger Lily in her own way, without outside interference. Teach the girl to be her own person, and not just who her father and grandfather always told her to be... The opportunity was tempting.

Still, her connection to the planet made her hesitate. The idea of leaving Atlantis and possibly losing this wondrous gift pained her. She worried that losing her power would be like losing a vital piece of herself, that she would no longer feel whole without it. And without it, how much use would she be to the crew of the ship? And denying herself and Tiger Lily the welcome of the Atlanteans into the heart of their civilization just seemed wrong.

It felt as though Pocahontas was being pulled in two different directions.

"Take the night to think on it. Our ship is nearly repaired, and we're leaving tomorrow, midday." Amelia said in finality. "But, I'd like to encourage you- for completely unbiased reasons- to take this chance. I assure you we'll treat you and your daughter..." She noticed Pocahontas watching Kenai and smirked. "...and whoever else comes along, quite kindly."

Pocahontas smiled slightly at the sailors scattered throughout the crowd, taking part in all the merriment. She had created a few friendships among the members of the Legacy. She felt strangely at home on the ship. She'd never been on a ship before, and yet she was naturally acclimated to its movements. She seemed linked to the ship in a similar fashion to how she was linked to nature. Not actually linked to it, but the feeling was similar. Like an echo of the feeling of connection to the planet. A comforting feeling of belonging.

Pocahontas couldn't help questioning exactly what her capabilities were at this point.

She noticed Tiger Lily waving her over to join them by the fire. Pocahontas gave Amelia a slight nod before walking away to meet her daughter, who still sat on Kenai's shoulders and munched happily on a roasted pepper. Kenai smiled at Pocahontas in greeting, but her mind was racing and she couldn't bring herself to look at him. All around her, the wind seemed to carry a soft whisper from the trees, two simple lines in her native language that left her shaken.

"Trying to reel in some recruits, eh, Amelia?" Jane asked teasingly as she joined her older sister on the sidelines of the dance.

Amelia avoided meeting Jane's eyes and answered quietly, "We can use all the help we can get at this point, don't you think?"

Jane eyed Amelia knowingly. "You seem troubled by something."

Amelia immediately shook her head. "No, no. Not troubled. Everything's fine."

Jane stared at her. "Amelia."

Amelia sighed. "Alright, well, fine then, if you really want me to be honest. There was a moment earlier... When we had Kida on the ship, and Hades was burning the jungle down... We all knew you and Belle and Merida were in there with him, but you hadn't come out yet. A few people were saying we should wait for you, but I knew we had little time. We had to get out of there..."

"So you were going to leave us."

Amelia turned to Jane to see a small, sad smile on her face. Jane leaned in and whispered, "Daddy told me."

"Do you hate me?" Amelia asked fearfully.

Jane shook her head. "Of course not."

"No?"

Jane took a deep, thoughtful breath. "Amelia... You are my sister, and I love you. And I know you feel the same way. But you've always shown it...differently than Daddy or Wendy or I. You're more like mother; rational, calculating, efficient. I'm not going to lie, at times you can seem rather cold."

Amelia's ears twitched and she pouted slightly. "And?"

Jane looked at her sister calmly. "It's always been hard for you to decide what's more important, work or family. Fame or love. What's ideal and what's right. On days like today, when an entire planet's fate is at stake, I like to think you've stood on the right side. I wouldn't have blamed you for leaving us behind. I knew I was playing a small part in something much bigger than myself, and that you had a responsibility to save thousands of other lives. You're the Captain, and I'm just along for the ride, by your grace." Jane smiled, then quickly sobered. "I just hope that you continue to make the right choices...by looking at the bigger picture. You understand?"

Amelia nodded. "Yes."

Jane didn't quite believe her, but smiled any way. "Good."

Then, Milo and Robin came along and insisted on dragging both women along into the dance.

Esmeralda watched from the sidelines, having just gotten away from the dance to catch her breath. Esmeralda was a very skilled dancer and could usually go on for hours without getting tired, but this Atlantean dance was very involved and called for more athletic movement than she was accustomed to. The steps were harsh and feral, aggressive. She was more the free-flowing type. Still, she was never one to turn down learning a new dance. She liked a challenge.

Chel crept up behind Esmeralda and tapped her on the shoulder. Esmeralda turned with a demure look, hoping to find the handsome guitar player from the ship. Instead she looked into her best friend's eyes and laughed. The two girls quickly hugged, then stood together arm-in-arm to watch the excitement.

"The boys and I were gonna hit the dessert table, if you're interested." Chel said.

Esmeralda shook her head. "No desserts for me. Watching my figure."

Chel rolled her eyes. "After almost dying at the hands of pirates, you still only care about your looks?"

Esmeralda smirked when she noticed the handsome man with the hazel eyes and mocha skin joining in with the band with a guitar. "That's not all I care about..."

"His name is Naveen."

Esmeralda turned to Chel in surprise. "What?"

Chel grinned cheekily at her stunned face. "He's the heir of a pretty big inheritance over on the planet Maldonia. A far-away Terran colony. Very small, very rich. His father owns and runs some important company I can't remember the name of."

"How did you find this out?"

Chel shrugged. "I have my ways."

Esmeralda raised an eyebrow. "Illegally, then?"

"I took a peek at his file... I noticed your interest in him and decided to check in and make sure he was clean." Chel tipped her head as Esmeralda turned to check out Naveen again. "You don't need another creep in your life. And I know you and Miguel will never get together, no matter how hard Clopin and I try to make it happen."

Esmeralda chuckled. "And Tulio's not in on that?"

"Tulio doesn't care. He knows you and Miguel will both find love in your own time. He'd actually be more disappointed if you just settled for each other." Chel's face turned serious. "But he'd never tell you that, so don't bring it up."

"Alright..." Esmeralda's face was slowly clouding with doubt as she watched Naveen perform with the natives, stunning them with his masterful playing.

"I approve of him, though." Chel said, nodding discretely toward the prince.

Esmeralda slowly shook her head. "I can't get involved with some rich boy... Not with my past."

"Everyone has a past, Esme. I'm sure even he's done things he's not proud of."

Esmeralda gently pulled her arm out of Chel's and turned her back on Naveen, crossing her arms. Her eyebrows were drawn together, making her forehead scrunch up the way it usually did when she was troubled or deep in thought. (Or both.)

"There's only one thing he could possibly want from a girl like me, and I promised myself that I wouldn't be so generous with that any more." Esmeralda replied sadly. "If he knew about the things we've had to do to get by, he wouldn't respect me. It wouldn't be real."

"You don't know that."

"I know his type."

Chel wrapped an arm around Esmeralda's shoulders and said, "Let's go see about those desserts."

Later...

Pocahontas stood at the open door to Tiger Lily's temporary room, watching as her daughter slept. Kida had announced tonight that, for the time being, all citizens of Atlantis would be living in the main city. There was just enough room for them all, apparently. Some were placed in bungalows, some in huts, some in rustic tree houses, or tents, but a few were placed in small houses of solid stone. Pocahontas and most of her tribe had been placed here, and though she was sure it was meant to be a comfort, the cold, dark rock only made her feel isolated.

This was where they would be staying while the villages were rebuilt as smaller cities, more sophisticated and comfortable than how the humans had been living before. Kida was intent on fully acclimatizing the refugees to Atlantean culture, and treating them like real citizens. These cities would be places where native Atlanteans, indigenous or not, could live together in harmony. The future looked bright and promising with Kida's plan to blend the two cultures.

And Pocahontas had already been in a meeting with Queen Kida to explain that she wouldn't be around to help that happen.

Now she stood here, lost in thought, as she watched Tiger Lily peacefully slumber, probably dreaming about the adventure that awaited them, an escape from all the horrors that had befallen them here. Though they'd lived here all their lives, it was not their home. Pocahontas realized that now. She'd already packed her few belongings in a sack to take along with her. In the morning, she would help Tiger Lily pack and they would hurry to join the sailors for take-off. Pocahontas wanted to avoid explaining this to Kenai if she could. She knew it was wrong, and irresponsible. But she couldn't stand the look on his face when he was upset. She refused to be the cause of having to see him like that.

This hope was quickly crushed when she heard quiet footsteps behind her. She already knew it was Kenai before she turned to see him standing in the doorway, which remained open permanently due to ages of wear and tear, leaving an empty arch of stone. Kenai offered her a shy smile.

"May I come in?" He asked in a hushed tone, seeing Tiger Lily sleeping over her shoulder.

Pocahontas walked toward him. "Let's talk outside."

Kenai nodded respectfully and turned and go back outside. Pocahontas followed him out. She looked thoughtfully up at the purple night sky, littered with vibrant white stars. A sort of halo of golden light reached up into the night from the firefly lanterns that were still lit in the streets of the city. The insects wouldn't cease to glow until the sun rose.

A few ghostly echoes of conversation reached her from the furthest reaches of the city, whether from small groups that remained in the streets or sat up in their homes, too restless to sleep. Everything in the city was decrepit and open. A few house had make-shift curtains slung over the cavernous windows and doors or broken walls to create some semblance of privacy. But their quiet attempts at talking permeated the air, creating a claustrophobic ambience. Pocahontas couldn't understand how this place could feel like both a home and a prison, both free and suffocating, both inviting and daunting. Despite her desire to flee, she still felt deep within her a desire to belong. She turned to see the Legacy parked in front of the gate to the city, still lit up, and felt instantly calm.

Kenai's accusatory tone caused a cold, sinking feeling in her chest.

"You were acting strangely at the feast." He said. She turned to him and his expression softened considerably. His voice was laced with concern, but there was an edge to it that hinted his suspicion that something was wrong. "Is there something you want to talk about?"

Pocahontas stood quietly, trying to think of the perfect way to deliver this news.

Kenai continued, "You've been through a lot the last few days. I understand if you're troubled. But-"

"Tiger Lily and I are leaving."

There it was. The shattered expression on his face that she hated. Pocahontas shuddered slightly, surprised by her own blunt words. She'd spoken so impetuously, as if she didn't care how he would react, but only wanted this over with as quickly as possible. She wished that was how she felt. She wanted him to think that so it would be easier for him to let her go. But more than anything she longed to run into his arms and cling to him and hope that he would say something to make her want to stay.

Kenai looked at her for a long time, processing what exactly those words meant. Then, he tilted his head to one side, subtly turning his face from her so she wouldn't see his pain.

"When?" He asked simply, his voice low.

"With the sailors. Tomorrow." She answered, her voice shaking. Despite the warmth emanating from the lanterns, her core felt like ice.

He though this over for a minute. Then, he turned away, crossing his arms. Pocahontas felt like she could fall apart right there, watching him withdraw from her like that.

"Tiger Lily wants to go?" He asked, his own voice trembling now.

"We talked about it before she went to bed. She's eager to get away from here, at least for a little while. Have some distance from the place where her father was killed..."

"For a little while?" Kenai asked, lifting his head without turning to face her. "Does that mean you'll come back?"

Pocahontas hesitated before forcing herself to say, "Possibly."

Kenai knew that was a lie. He always knew when she was lying. He'd recognize that tone any where after the first time he heard her use it: The day she told him her father might consider letting them get married, years ago.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked, breathing shallowly.

Pocahontas looked toward the canopy, remembering the whisper she'd heard earlier. "Someone told me to listen to my heart. My heart says to leave."

"Someone or something?" He asked with a humorless laugh.

She didn't answer.

They stood in silence for a long time, Pocahontas biting her lip to keep from crying as she just stared at the back of his head, imagining what could be going through his mind, what his face must look like as he thinks this over, how he's planning to react.

Finally, Kenai turned to face her, with deadly calm resolve.

"I will go with you."

Pocahontas was definitely not expecting that. Kenai only seemed more hurt when she was obviously taken aback, and Pocahontas hoped that he thought she didn't want him to come along. Though a part of her had hoped that he would want to, she believed it would have been too selfish to ask. And now she thought it would be selfish of her to allow it, even if he wanted it. Not only would he be leaving behind all he knew and everyone he loved, the planet would also be losing another person who would be vital to its evolution. Pocahontas couldn't just take Kenai away with her.

"What about your family?" Pocahontas demanded, shaking her head. "You would leave Denahi with the responsibility of caring for Tanana and all of our people? Or I suppose Koda will have to take on such duties so early in his life."

"I will discuss this with them all tonight. They will understand." Kenai went on. "And Tanana and our people are all self-sufficient, and will have help from the other villages and now the Queen herself. There won't be too much responsibility for any one person. Everyone will work together."

"That's what Kida's saying, but we don't know that for sure." Pocahontas replied coldly. "These are groups of people that have never interacted before now. You think they'll all just work together and get along without a single issue?"

"You're being pessimistic."

"Without me here, you must stay and make sure our people thrive. I promised Kida I would help her rebuild, but now I cannot hold my word. You are our best gatherer, and you know the woods almost as well as I do. The people will not survive without you here to help."

"Pocahontas, you aren't listening! With everyone finally coming together, there are hundreds of other gatherers and hunters and medicine people to help. They will not miss me."

Pocahontas had thought of this, but since she did not know the people from the other villages or the city very well, she wasn't sure if she trusted them. It was all well and good to come together for a festival, but how would they all do at actually building a civilization that would survive? The thought of it almost made Pocahontas want to stay and take on her father's title, but she knew she wouldn't be able to do it justice. She was too inexperienced to take on that responsibility, no matter how much help she had. But she did trust Kida enough to keep things running smoothly.

"Kenai, if you and I both leave, what will be stopping the others from wanting to leave? It is best if Tiger Lily and I just go quietly on our own." Pocahontas insisted, grasping at any bit of reasoning that would make Kenai reconsider.

"You are the only person I know who has considered a life away from Atlantis. Everyone else is happy here. They're all excited to bring change to this world. And though I find it a little strange that you're so eager to leave right now-"

"And what is it you want?" Pocahontas demanded.

Kenai paused, caught off-guard by the question. Pocahontas waited patiently for him to answer, though she could tell he was unsure. Kenai shook his head, hurt by the expression on her face, and took a step back from her. That was an answer enough for Pocahontas.

"You want to stay here, with family. This is your home, Kenai. You belong here, you love it here, you've never once thought of leaving before right now. I cannot let you make this decision without thinking it over more carefully." She said, trying to remain level-headed even though all she wanted to do was collapse. She was watching the expression on his face and saw that to both of them, his decision was already clear. As much as he loved her, it was unlikely that he would willingly leave behind everything else he knew and loved for whatever mysteries the rest of the universe held in store.

"Sleep on it and come to me with your decision in the morning. I won't question you then." Pocahontas replied, then quickly turned and hurried back into her house so he would not see her tears.

As far as Pocahontas was concerned, she could not stay, and Kenai could not leave.