"Please" Naomi begged the Queen of Norberg. "I thought they were all dead. If I had known that Elena was alive I would have never stayed here and I know that my mother would never have accepted commander of the Navy here if she had known too. She would have done everything she could to help our Princess. She took the job as a favor to you, please do this for us. Please let me take the fleet of ships to rescue Princess Elena."
Naomi had now grown quite emotional and it was showing. She battled tears and the yearning to help her friends rang true in her pleas. When she had received the letter from Avalor informing her that Princess Elena as well as Gabe were very much alive and stranded on an island she was shocked. It had been almost a year since the invasion and every report she'd heard of the incident had made it clear that all the Royal family had passed. Her family thought it best to stay in Norberg where it was safe. She had trusted those reports for months and if anyone other than the man who wrote the letter would have told her that Elena was alive she wouldn't have believed them. But she knew that Chancellor Esteban would never have wrote her asking for help if it wasn't true. They never really saw eye to eye, if he had had the chance to get her off the grand council he, without a doubt, would have taken the opportunity. For him to want her back in Avalor, he must be desperate. She was their only hope and though she knew deep down that it wasn't her fault, she felt guilty that she had abandoned everything and had been living a normal and even prosperous life in Norberg.
"I'll make you a deal Miss Turner" The Queen started. "I will allow you to captain a small fleet. No more than six ships. Travel to this island where your Princess is rumored to be. Inform me of the situation after you arrive and I will decide if an alliance with these people is a risk my kingdom is willing to take. Avalor has always been a friend to us in trade and other foreign affairs but sending my entire Navy into an unknown situation is just something I can not do."
Naomi completely understood. She wouldn't have advised it either but at least she was getting something. "Deal" she agreed.
"Are you sure you don't want one of us to go with you?" Captain Scarlett Turner asked her daughter.
"No mom. Really. You're needed here. And if Elena needs more ships or more help at all, I'm going to need you here to lobby for us. No one is more respected or persuasive here than you are." Naomi told her. She then embraced her mother, followed by goodbyes to her father, the other captain Turner. Now she would board her own vessel as the third Captain Turner. She saw the pride in her parent's eyes as they watched her ready her crew and prepare for their journey.
Naomi circled the small mass of islands where Elena was rumored to be. Fuerza island was supposedly where she ruled now. Naomi wasn't sure which island was which as there was very little known about any of them. She found the best place to dock her fleet and navigated them towards a tiny port. She, along with her first mate and a few high ranking crew members lowered a row boat from their ship and made their way towards a small marketplace. She hopped off the boat once they hit land and immediately began questioning the locals.
"What do you want with Queen Elena?!" A tall and overly burly man finally asked her upon hearing her inquiries.
"I'm her friend. Her BEST friend. I need you to bring her to me at once" Naomi demanded to which the man laughed.
"You WANT to go into the village of Fuerza?!" He asked. "Strangers are not welcome there. Do you have any idea what happens to outsiders when they try to go there?"
"I don't care. I came here to see the Queen and one way or another, I WILL see her." Naomi told him defiantly.
"Headstrong girl, you will not last long on these islands" The man told her. Naomi crossed her arms and gave him a look that said "oh really?! Watch me!" Just then another man of similar stature approached and took the first to the side. They exchanged what looked like argumentative whispers off to the side before finally coming to an agreement and returning their attention to Naomi and her crew.
"There has been a recent change in command, perhaps our new Queen will allow you to enter the village but you will wait here until we are given authority to take you there" The first man informed her.
"That's fine" Naomi said with an air of stubbornness. "Cause whether you like it or not, I'll be here. In fact, I'm not leaving these islands until I see Elena." The two men turned to leave and Naomi and her crew set up a small temporary camp along the shore, not far from the marketplace.
"Naomi!" Elena called as she got off the row boat she had taken from Fuerza.
Naomi looked up from her camp to see Elena running towards her, Gabe just behind, followed by another man built like the previous two she had met. She jumped up and ran to meet her friends. Elena and Naomi collided into an embrace and Gabe wrapped his arms around both girls. They finally all pulled away and Naomi looked at her two friends and tears began to fill her eyes.
"I thought you guys didn't make it. Everybody thinks that you're dead Elena" Naomi told them.
"I know" Elena admitted. "Although, I think Shuriki has figured out that I'm here."
"She sent an assassin to kill Elena. But... we took care of it" Gabe added in a slightly boastful tone.
"Really? Cause I thought for a second there that the assassin had gotten her" Naomi replied sarcastically.
"Not sure what I've missed more... you or your big mouth" Gabe joked with Naomi and the trio laughed. It felt good to laugh again, for all of them. It was just like being back home in Avalor.
"Anyways, From what we heard, you didn't make it out either. What about your parents? Or anyone else?" Elena asked, thirsty for information.
"My parents and I made it out fairly easily. Our ship was already away from the docks. We did what we could to fight back but we weren't really armed for battle. If we didn't flee then our ship would have been lost. Once we got to Norberg we received word that Avalor had completely fallen to Shuriki's control and that the entire royal family was dead. If I had known..." Naomi began to choke up again. "If I had known you were alive I would have come back to fight a long time ago"
"Naomi! Do not feel like you let us down!" Elena told her and hugged her once again. "You did the right thing. You and your family are safe and that's all that matters to me."
Naomi felt better immediately, her guilt slowly lifting.
"Besides..." Elena continued "It's a long story but... I haven't exactly been in an ideal situation here. Until well.. very recently I've pretty much been a prisoner here. But! I'm finally free, I'm Queen of the Fuerza people now and along with Gervaso here" She motioned to her army commander who had been silently watching the reunion, "we are going to get Avalor back!"
"Sounds great!" Naomi cheered "Where do we start?"
"Well... we're just starting to figure that out now." Elena said, sounding a bit unsure. "We have an army of about 1,000 Fuerza warriors, we just don't have a way to get them off the island"
"I can get you as many ships as you need plus Norberg's army is willing to join the fight if we can convince them that we have a real chance of winning" Naomi offered.
"Really?! That's amazing!" Elena said, her eyes lighting up.
"Yup! I'll write my mother and she can make negotiations with the queen and they'll be here as soon and as fast as they can get here" Naomi told her.
"Wait a minute" Gervaso finally spoke up, a bit skeptical at how this was all turning out so well. "How is it that you found out Elena was here? The only people that know she is alive are the rulers of Avalor. Are you conspiring with them?"
"Gervaso! Naomi is my best friend! She would never do anything to put me in danger" Elena argued.
"Hey! Muscles!" Naomi said, addressing Gervaso "Listen to your queen! I am not conspiring with Shuriki!"
Gervaso just stared at Naomi, her willful personality humored him but he wasn't about to let her see that. He glanced at Elena and she gave him an apologetic look. After all, Gervaso was the rightful heir to the throne and was doing Elena a favor by letting her remain queen for the time being. "Ok blondie" He shot back. "Then explain yourself"
"Fine. Ok... I'll admit... I got a letter from Avalor" She looked at Elena apologetically "But it's not what you think. It was from Esteban. Well actually it wasn't signed at all but there were more than enough clues letting me know it was him. Anyways, it means that he didn't want anyone to know it was him that sent the letter. So it's him that's conspiring against Shuriki. He wrote to me that you were alive and that you were here, that you may need help and most likely that you'd need ships. And you guys know how he feels about me... so if he's reaching out to me then you know he must be desperate!"
Gabe and Elena looked at one another and both nodded in agreement.
"Well I don't exactly trust Esteban but... she's right. He must be desperate. He must really want Shuriki gone. And... I don't see how him sending for Naomi would mean anything bad for us" Gabe stated. Elena thought about it for a moment and agreed.
"You're right Gabe. I don't think we have anything to fear. Whatever Esteban's motive was, we have nothing to worry about now. Naomi is here and that's a good thing. Gervaso? What do you think?" Elena asked.
The Fuerza prince thought about it. He looked at Elena who he trusted and he looked at Gabe who had also proven himself to be trustworthy. He then looked at the short young blonde her with big ambitions and an even bigger mouth. For some reason, he trusted her too. He went with his instincts. "I say we all return to Fuerza and start training our army just as we had planned. Then when blondie here gets us more ships and her navy...then we'll just see how things go from there. If she can come through for us, then she'll have earned my trust."
"Good!" Elena said happily and satisfied. She then put one arm around Naomi's shoulders and one around Gabe's. She was grinning from ear to ear as she guided them to the row boat to head back to Fuerza and finally get started in putting their plan into action.