"We need to land" Skylar, the half bird / half jaguar said to his fellow jaquins, Migs and Luna. They all knew that they had to find somewhere to keep Elena, the crown princess of Avalor, safe and out of sight. She rode on the back of Skylar along with her royal guard, Gabriel "Gabe" Nunez. She was not riding with them willingly though. Elena had wanted to stay and stand up to Shuriki, to defend her kingdom and her family. Gabe, however, had wasted no time. Shuriki was already inside the palace. He scooped her up in his arms and whisked her away, saving her from the deadly fate that awaited her if she were to stay. Elena had tried to free herself from Gabe's grasp, flailing her legs about and pounding her fists on him where ever she could land a blow. She screamed at him that they needed to go back, screamed that she couldn't leave without her grandparents and her sister. Her efforts were unsuccessful as Gabe was just too strong for her to physically fight off. Gabe's heart tore as he listened to the sound of fear in Elena's shrill cries. He wanted nothing more than to run back for her family. The risk was far too great though and he had one task: to keep Elena alive. There were other guards that were assigned to protect Isa, Luisa and Francisco and all Gabe could do was pray that they were successful. He had wrapped one arm tightly around Elena's small waist and held on to Skylar with the other as they flew away from the palace and away from Avalor, Not knowing when they would be returning. Elena had finally given up her fight once they were in the sky. She was positioned with her legs on one side of the jaquin and she turned her body towards Gabe as she wrapped her arms around him to stay steady on their jaquin. She stared over his shoulder as she watched the palace grow smaller and smaller in the distance. Her cries eventually began to fade as she knew that there was not much she could do now. Still, she was furious with Gabe and her anger festered as they rode on in silence.

The trio of jaquins had headed North West upon leaving Avalor. They flew over the kingdom of Cariza and continued on further west. After some time, they spotted some small islands grouped together and decided it would at least be a good place to rest. They landed on a beach on the south side of one island. There were jungles just behind them but they could tell from above that the island was vastly small mountains, valleys and meadows. Quite similar to Avalor but seemingly uninhabited.

Gabe was the first to climb off Skylar's back and he held out his hand to Elena, wanting to help her down. She scowled at him as she hopped down unassisted and brushed past him, fists squeezed tightly and tensing up with anger once again. She stopped a few yards away with her back to him and the jaquins.

Gabe knew that she needed a moment to gather her thoughts. Even though there was nothing else he could have done, he understood her anger towards him. He saw her take a deep breath in and heard her exhale in a huff. "Elena...?" He whispered softly and with caution as he slowly took a step towards her, unsure if she was ready to talk. At the sound of his voice, Elena spun around to face him. Her jaw was clenched and her eyes burned with fury as she stomped towards him. "Nope, not ready to talk yet" Gabe thought to himself, eyes widening as Elena's open palms slammed against his chest, pushing him back, surprising him with the amount of force she hit with.

"How could you?!" Elena demanded "I could have stopped Shuriki! I could have stayed and fought!"

Gabe simply stood tall, letting Elena take out her frustrations on him. With each pounding of her fists, he could only stare at her with more and more sympathy. He knew she felt helpless. Her first instinct was always to stay and fight. She was quick to jump into action without a plan, never really thinking of the end result. It was exactly how she had gotten trapped in that amulet forty three years ago. Gabe knew how this one would have ended, even if Elena hadn't admitted it to herself yet. This time there was no amulet to protect her from Shuriki's wrath. There was only Gabe. He had done what he had to do.

"You're just going to stand there?!" Elena finally asked. She wanted Gabe to react, she wanted a reason to justify the blame she was placing solely on him. "You just left everyone there to die!"

"My job is to keep you safe" Gabe spoke at last. He was calm but firm with his response. His face expressionless. "You are the crown princess. Without you Avalor doesn't stand a chance. If we stayed you'd be dead now too. Shuriki would not have hesitated to kill you. And Isa? Your Abuelos? They'd all be gone too... just like what happened to your parents. It would have been foolish to try to stand up to her and that army"

Hearing Gabe use her parents and the rest of her family to make his point and call her foolish was the last straw for Elena. She cocked her arm back and slapped him across the face. Again, Gabe took the hit, knowing Elena needed an emotional outlet. She was hurting. What he said may have been harsh but it was exactly what Elena needed to hear. She needed to hear the reality of the situation.

"If anything has happened to Isa..." Elena said staring Gabe straight in the eyes with a threatening intention.

"It's on me" Gabe finished for her, more than willing to take the burden of guilt off Elena's shoulders. Gabe's face remained calm and stern but his eyes and his voice became pained.

At that moment, Elena knew that she had gone too far. Gabe cared about Elena's sister as if she were his as well. Elena was well aware of this. Just as she was well aware of his feelings for her. It had been two years since they had met and their friendship had grown to something so much more. Though neither ever spoke the truth aloud, it was no secret that there were mutual feelings of love between them. There were few, if any, people that Elena trusted more than Gabe. He would never do anything to intentionally hurt her or her family. She knew this with all her heart. If Gabe thought for even a second that he and Elena could have saved them all, he would have stayed. Elena had kept her eyes locked on Gabe's. She saw the strength he had in them. He was hurting too but he remained strong for her. Everything he did was for her. The intensity in her eyes began to soften as the truth hit her hard. Gabe could see the realization overcome her.

"We all had our orders Princessa" Skylar added gently in defense of all of their actions.

With her eyes still on Gabe, Elena nodded, somehow giving him an understanding smile through her distraught expression. For Gabe, as well as the three jaquins, to not stand up to Shuriki and fight, the situation must have surely been hopeless. She then dropped to her knees, buried her face in her hands and just sobbed as her anger turned into grief.

Gabe gave her a moment and then knelt down by her side and pulled her in close to him. She allowed her head to drop against his chest and wrapped an arm around his neck. Her acute feelings of resentment towards him were gone and she was now truly thankful to be in his arms. There was safety and comfort where she was in that moment and she clung to it because it was all that she had left to hang on to. She knew that Gabe's calm and cool reaction to everything was exactly what she would need to gain clarity, analyze her situation and devise an actual plan.

They still hadn't spoken to one another about the invasion and by the time they had built themselves a temporary shelter, fire and settled down for some rest, there was an awkward tension that began to grow between Gabe and Elena. Gabe peaked over at their jaquin companions, who planned to take turns on a night watch. Skylar and Luna were sleeping soundly while Migs stood proudly at attention, taking his job to a level of seriousness that always trumped the others. Luna stirred from her sleep as Skylar let out a loud snore.

"Hope Skylar's snores aren't going to keep us up... maybe we should have had him take the first watch" Gabe joked nervously in attempt to ease the tension and start a conversation. He then cleared his throat uncomfortably scolding himself for doing so at an inappropriate time. He felt slightly better about it when Elena let out a quick chuckle under her breath and smiled at him. She immediately looked back down though, staring somberly at the fire.

"I don't think I'll be sleeping much tonight" She stated.

"yeah..." Was all Gabe could muster as a response. He hesitated a moment before saying what he needed to say. What he needed Elena to know. "There was a guard assigned to each member of your family in case of invasion. They were all left in good hands.. I didn't just... I didn't just leave them Elena."

"I know you would never do that Gabe." Elena said sweetly and Gabe let out a sigh of relief.

"We have to believe that they got out safely and have found shelter... just like we did" Gabe told her with hopes of reassurance.

"yeah..." Elena trailed off, wanting it to be true but the knot in her stomach told her it just wasn't so. "And what about everyone else? Naomi? Mateo? The palace staff? Our friends in the city? The villagers? What's going to happen to all of them?"

"I don't know" Gabe sighed honestly.

Elena closed her eyes and hugged her arms around her curled up knees to comfort herself. She didn't want to think about any of it anymore. She didn't want to have to figure it all out. She was tired and defeated. She laid down and closed her eyes, hoping to make the nightmares of the day go away. The corners of her eyes filled and as she squeezed her lids tighter, the stream of silent tears began. Eventually Elena's body gave way to exhaustion and she fell into a deep sleep.