Oi. A month. Dang. I'm so, so sorry…school, you know. It catches up to you, and you lose track of everything else.

To those who are still following this (And thank you so much for doing so, this has really blown me away!) this is not my last chapter. Next one is. HOWEVER, there will be a sequel—starring now Flynn and Rapunzel—once Tangled comes out. I haven't decided on a name yet, but I'd love to hear your suggestions!

Also, if you're wondering why I put a space between the ! and ?s, it's because for some reason won't let me put both at once.

Arc 1: Saving the Others

Episode 4

The carpet sped along, struggling somewhat under the weight of the four. Sea mist flew into their faces as it lowered to just above the water, hiding under the curve of the ship.

Tiana gripped her corner of the carpet. Her hair flicked around her face, and every time she pulled it back with her fingers it just blew back into it. Her eyes, however, never left the ship above them. Every second she expected some sailor to poke his head over the side and catch them.

"Tell me again why we're flyin' here?" she asked Naveen.

"I told you," Naveen sighed, his tired eyes sagging, "This is the ships blind spot. It's too clear a day; if we fly higher, we'll be spotted."

Tiana groaned. She was dreadfully exhausted, and in no mood to be saving anyone before she got a decent night's sleep and some food. She wanted to lie back onto the soft carpet and nap, but the rest of it was being taken up by Phillip and the Prince.

Her eyes shifted out to the horizon, the sun dancing on the rhythmic waves. There was still no sign of anywhere the princesses could be kept. They had already been out at sea for almost an hour.

Her mind wandered once again, this time to Snow White and Aurora. Where they captured yet? As much as she appreciated them, they had nowhere near the skills to defend themselves. She doubted they would be seriously hurt, but then again, the fake Mulan threatened her with a knife. Still, it could have been just a threat…

Tiana closed her eyes. How did things turn out like this? Just two days ago she was in a worried, but reasonably safe position. Now she's flying over the ocean, fearing for her life.

It's not like she hasn't been in mortal danger before. But this time…even if they weren't her friends, they still looked like them, and it was quite unsettling.

She heard Phillip give a hard but slow breath behind her. He was thinking of Aurora too. Poor dear, of course he was.

"Are you ok?" She mumbled to him. What a ridiculous question. No, he was not ok.

"I'm fine, thank you." He said, but his glistening eyes told her otherwise.

Tiana nodded softly, turning away. What was she supposed to tell him? That she "knows they'll be ok?" Thing is…Daddy told her never to lie.

But she had to give him credit. At least he was trying to hide his feelings. If she was in his shoes, if she lost Naveen like that, she'd be a blubbering mess of tears and worry right now.

"Achidanza…" Naveen whispered. She looked up to his face. His eyes were wide with shock and glee, finger pointing. Tiana followed his finger out to the shining waters.

And there it was. An island.

It was small, bleak and without a speck of visible life, not even trees. The stone prison loomed in the darkness of it, daring you, threatening you with its very existence. It looked cold, miserable, and torturous. The exact type of place that would be comparable to Hell for the average Disney Princess.

Tiana shuddered at the thought of them all trapped there.

The ship seemed to be creeping towards it at the slowest rate. Only the darkest thoughts crossed her mind of what was happening in there.

No. She begged herself. Stay optimistic, like they would…

Optimism was usually her "thing," something that kept her apart from all the naysayers in her city. But not right now. Now she could only think the worst.

Finally, the crew picked up speed, preparing to hit land. They let down the anchor just off the beach, and began to carry the cargo into their boats. The carpet slowly crept around the ship, avoiding the wandering glances of the crew. Tiana's heart thumped in her chest. Her breath caught in her throat as they all forced themselves to be as quiet as possible. If they were caught…

Once out of sight, the carpet let them all down. Naveen stared in awe at the prison towering above him.

"All this to lock up us?" He whispered. "Not too subtle, either."

"How will we get in?" Phillip studied the rough stone sides. The carpet took it upon itself to answer this question.

It flew towards the sky, up to the top of the building. It paused, swerved a bit more, and then came back down. With one of its soft tassels, the carpet pointed towards the top.

"I think it's saying there's a window up there." Tiana sighed, no longer questioning her husband's ability to communicate with it. It was helping, and that was all that mattered. Naveen thanked him, and began to climb on. The rest followed.

One by one, they climbed into the tiny window hidden on one of the tallest towers. The inside was almost completely dark, the only light the tiny beam that invaded through that opening. The Prince fumbled along the dusty, cobwebbed walls, feeling for some kind of exit.

Finally, they came to a doorway. A cascade of steps lay below them, a tiny light peeking from the bottom.

"Yes!" Phillip whispered, and, holding onto the wall, started down. The others followed, trying to stay as quiet as possible.

"Stupid brats!" A rusty voice bellowed from the direction of the light.

The rescuers stopped short.

"Who was that?" Tiana asked softly.

"I'm not sure." Naveen peeked around Phillip's shoulder. "But whoever it is, they don't sound friendly."

Cautiously, they stepped forward. Tiana winced as the stone creaked under her weight.

"Who goes d'ere?"

She grabbed her husband's hand in panic. His eyes were wide in fear, Phillip looking back at her in shock. Her breaths picked up speed as the footsteps rapidly got closer and closer.

"Lets go!" The Prince yelped, and they burst up the steps.

"Hey!" Dozens more feet were now running towards them, and a mob of armored guards burst through the doorway into all directions. Tiana screamed, tripping on one of her heels and toppling toward the ground. Before she hit, though, Naveen managed to pull her back up, gripping her to his side as he ran.

"It's the last princes and princess!" The leader cried, sprinting. His rough arm wrapped around Tiana's torso, ripping her away from her husband and off the ground. Naveen's face was raging with anger.

"Tia!" Naveen reached out, trying to save his wife, only to get caught by two guards himself. Phillip and the Prince drew their swords, doing their best to ward off the attackers. Still, they were vastly outnumbered, and soon they were disarmed and carried away.

Tiana fought against her holder, but her skinny arms were no use against his bulging muscles. He held her up, showing her his ugly face. Scars creased across it, what left of his teeth rotting and brown. His eyes were wild, almost animalistic.

"I wo'dn't do that, perty. I c'n snap ya like a twig." His eyes slowly lowered down her body. "Ya ain't like the Jasmine gal, but ya'r still perty…" His beefy fingers reached for the hem of her tattered skirt. Tiana gasped, kicking it away. He only laughed. "Feisty one." Putting her back under his arm, he led her down towards the light.

And in there, Tiana almost forgot everything. There was the thing she had needed to see.

All of her friends. Alive. Finally.

"Tiana!" The Disney Princesses and Princes were huddled in jail cells, two or three in each, but it seemed someone was missing. "Naveen! Phillip! Prince!"

The guards opened the creaky barred door, carelessly tossing Tiana inside. Belle and Cinderella were in there as well, and dove at her with a hug.

"We thought you had been killed!" Belle cried, a tear gliding down her cheek. Cinderella bobbed up and down, gripping Tiana's arm.

"I'm sorry you've been captured, but I'm so happy to see you!"

"Me too!" Tiana glanced across the cell. Suddenly, she realized who she didn't see. "Where's Mulan?" she gasped.

Belle and Cinderella looked to each other, sadness and fear falling onto their faces, before turning back.

"They locked her up in a special cell father down the jail." Belle answered "She was too much of a fighter. She almost beat off the guards in an escape attempt, so they locked her up especially well."

"Shang too."

Tiana sighed, closing her eyes. "Of course. Just to make this harder."

"Question is, how are we going to escape?" Cinderella sat back against the wall. Her dirty blonde (Tiana was quite relieved to see it that color) hair drifted into her eyes, and she made no effort to pull it back. She was still in her work clothes, Tiana realized, so she must have been captured soon after they had talked.

Tiana's eyes wandered outside of the cell. The darkened empty hallway was all that looked back at her. "Why are there no guards here at night?"

"The warden doesn't feel the need to watch us, since we never fight."

A grin spread on her face. "Well, we'll just have to change that."

"You load of—Why don't you fight like a man!"

"Why don't you, you lowly peasant!"

"Hey, what'sa goin' on here? !" barked the warden, bounding his round stomach into the room. He stomped over to one of the cells, roaring in fury when he saw what was causing the commotion. Adam and Aladdin were rolling on the ground, punching at each other and trying to grab each other's necks. Aladdin seemed to have the upper hand, pinning down Adam and wailing on him with his fists.

"Hey, hey hey!" he lumbered forward, grabbing the still punching and kicking Aladdin off of his rival. He opened the creaking rusted door just enough to pull the boy through. "Look kid, d'ere ain't gonna be any fightin' in my prison!"

"Point taken." Aladdin smiled coolly, nodding. "Now will you put me back?"

The guard snorted. "Attitude, eh, twerp? I'll 'ave ta tell da bosses 'bout ya…" He threw down Aladdin with a thump. He snorted again, this time sending a thick glob of spit down on him.

"Filthy lil' varmin." The warden left, slamming the door.

Silence. Then,

"Did you get the key?"

"Of course!" Aladdin spun the key ring on his fingers. "What kind of street rat would I be if I couldn't get a simple key?"

He reached through the bars, unlocking the cage. Smiling, he did the same to the others. The doors opened wide, freedom sweeping into the tired faces of their prisoners. They clamored out as fast as they could.

The princesses leaped into their prince's arms, crying and rejoicing. Everyone was smiling and laughing, high on their escape.

"Shh!" Tiana said. "They'll hear! Let's get Mulan and Shang out and hit the road!"

They all were silent in a second. Cautiously, Aladdin ran down the hall to a tiny, lonely cell. He quickly unlocked the door, slowly dragging the cumbersome metal open.

The two fighters leaned against the cold walls, cuffed to the ground with heavy iron braces. Mulan slowly edged her exhausted eyes up, her usually silky black hair now matted and untamed. Still, she managed to force out a bright smile.

"Tiana, you're safe!" She said.

"Yeah, M, and we're escapin'!" Tiana took the key from Aladdin, unlocking the braces from her friend's arms. Mulan practically fell on her with a relieved hug.

"I'm sorry, but…" She rubbed her red, chaffed wrists. "Those things just hurt so much, and I could never sleep…"

"It's okay," Tiana smiled sweetly, unlocking Shang. He looked as tired and pained as Mulan was, but seemed less inclined to show it. Instead, he immediately jumped over to help her up, supporting her with his arm. She blushed, brushing a tangle of hair behind her ear.

"Let's get out of here!" Tiana grabbed her hand, and the entire group rushed toward the stairs. They bounded up as fast as they could, abandoning all attempts to stay quiet. They just wanted, needed, to get out of that prison.

Naveen whistled for the carpet as soon as the tiny window was in view. It happily greeted Aladdin, who, like Naveen, for some reason could understand it.

"Great to see you too, buddy!" Aladdin dove onto it, Jasmine, Mulan and Shang following. The carpet disappeared toward the ground.

"Wait," Tiana said, "What about the other guys locked in here? Like your animal friends?"

"We'll have to save them later." Naveen sighed. "That's all I can say."

Phillip, the Prince, Pocahontas, and Cinderella climbed onto the carpet once it returned minutes later, flying down as well. After that, Eric, Ariel, John Smith, and Charming made their escape. Now only Tiana, Naveen, Belle and Adam needed to get out. They waited in anticipation for the carpet to come for them.

Then, suddenly, there was a BOOM down the stairs, shaking the entire floor.

"WHERE ARE MY PRISONORS! ?"

Tiana jumped in fright, gripping Naveen's arm. His breaths quickened. Belle stared up at Tiana with wide eyes.

"Naveen, get the carpet!" His wife hissed, squeezing his arm tighter.

"I can't do that right now!" He stared at the doorway, slowly moving in front of her. Adam had already done the same to Belle.

The lump of a warden came crashing up the stairs, his sound echoing through the hall. Tiana flung her head out of the window, wishing, praying, with all her might to see the carpet.

The warden was getting closer and closer…and there were more with him.

"Tia…" Belle backed up.

"I know! I know!" Tiana knuckles ached as she held onto the windowsill in worry. "CARPET!" She screamed, not caring if the warden heard or not.

He did, and only came faster. Tiana wanted to cry.

Then, finally, the carpet came into view.

She leapt onto it before it even reached the window. Naveen flipped on after her, followed by Adam. Belle reached out to safety—

"Oh no ya don't!" The warden exploded into the room and, far faster than anyone his size should be able to, wrapped his fat hands around Belle's ankle.

Belle screeched, failing to escape his grasp.

"Belle!" Adam cried, taking her hand and trying his best to retrieve her onto the carpet. Belle was suspended in the air, the hard ground far down below her. The wind blew in her hair, and she had to use all her strength to balance.

"Ya'll be a perty little prize once I get you." The warden sneered, leering at her.

That stopped Belle short.

Her face changed from fearful to scarlet red anger. Her muscles tensed. Hands tightening around Adam's, one well aimed kick with her free leg hit him square in the eye.

He bellowed in pain, letting go of her. Belle swung onto the carpet, Adam pulling her to safety.

Tiana flew her arms around her friend.

"Belle, you were amazing!"

"Thank you…" She brushed her wild hair out of her face. "Can we just leave, now?"

The carpet reached the ground shortly after. In the distance, they could still hear the guards rumbling down the building toward the ground floor.

Tiana quickly looked out to sea. "Uh, how are we going to get off this island?"

"Why, I think I have an idea." Eric stepped up behind her, turning her head to the ship that carried the cargo there, left unwatched out in the water. The crew was sleeping in the island, preparing for the next day's sail home. "Just my area of expertise, too."

"Really?" Tiana and the others followed Eric toward the ship. "You can sail this thing?"

Eric looked back at her with a smirk. "My dear, I can sail this in a storm sent from God."

And with that, they loaded onto the boat. They were going home.

Next whenever I get around to updating…THE GRAND FINALE!