Chapter Eight: Doubts

"You guys went on a date!?" Tiana was sitting on Merida's bed. The girls were having one of their "girl days" and Merida was glad for the company.

"No, it wasn't a date." Merida said, sitting on the other side of her. Tiana seemed to be ignoring the fact that it was cut short by someone attacking them.

"Merida." Tiana gave her a look.

"It really wasn't!" Merida lightly hit her with a pillow.

"Then why do you always wear that necklace that he gave to you?" Merida blushed and tried to form a reason.

"Because- Because it was a gift." She said. Her answer fooled neither of them, and they both started laughing.

"Well, if you need a wedding caterer, you know who to call."

"Tiana!"

Merida had already settled into a morning routine. Wake up, get dressed, try to look presentable, walk downstairs, and make breakfast (God knows how Peter was able to live by himself; The only thing he could make was ramen.).

As she was getting out ingredients for pancakes, she noticed something new on the table. It was a vase, filled up with water and flowers that she recognized from her time outside with Peter. Next to the vase was a note:

Had to go help Ariel find Sebastian, will be back soon.

-Peter.

P.S. Please make me some pancakes, I will love you forever.

Merida laughed. Living with Peter was so easy; She couldn't imagine living by herself again. She blushed. "Stop thinking like that!" She told herself, but she couldn't put the idea to rest.

After she had made a few pancakes, she had an idea. She went to the cabinet and pulled out a bag of chocolate chips. She poured in the batter like she usually did, but threw a handful of the chocolate pieces on top of it. After that pancake was done, she tasted it.

"Yum." She said, chewing it slowly. She'd have to tell Tiana about this amazing creation.

Merida made the rest of the pancakes with chocolate chips and then set the table. She looked at the vase of flowers and smiled. It was sweet of him to do that, and he managed to make them look like an actual bouquet. She laughed and cleaned up her mess from making the pancakes.

Merida was in the middle of making orange juice when Peter walked in. He smiled, and then sniffed the air.

"Why does it smell like chocolate?" she laughed and told him about her creation. He smiled and tried it. "Merida," He said. "this is the most amazing thing I have ever had in my life."

She laughed, because it probably did seem like that to him, with all of the ramen that he was eating before she came along. She poured him a glass of orange juice and they ate their breakfast with a happy chatter.

"You know, I was thinkin'…" Peter said between bites.

"Yeah?"

"Well, after all of this is over, I was thinkin' that you and me should go visit Ariel. It'll be tons of fun because we can have combats where you'll shoot your bow and arrow and I'll shoot my slingshot and Ariel can judge them!" They both started laughing; Merida laughed so hard that she couldn't breathe.

"Sure, Peter." She said, still laughing. "We can do that sometime."

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Merida looked at Peter.

"I thought only you could get up here." She said to him.

"Actually, anyone who flies can get up here." He said, unphased, and opened the door.

Standing there was an out of breath Aladdin and Carpet; Aladdin's face was whiter than Merida had ever seen it. Peter grabbed his arm and took him in.

"What's wrong?" He asked. All traces of his smile were gone.

"We… Jack… Captain Jack found him…" Aladdin gasped. Carpet fell to the floor and Peter grabbed Aladdin's shoulders.

"Where?" Aladdin looked up.

"They're… at Jack's place… trying to figure out what to do with him." Merida helped Aladdin drink some water. She looked up at Peter.

"We have to go." She said. Peter looked at her for a long second.

"Okay, wait for me." He ran up the stairs. Merida managed to get Aladdin to the couch and laid him down. Peter came back down with his backpack.

"Will you guys be all right alone?" Aladdin propped himself up.

"Yeah, we'll be fine." Peter grabbed Merida and jumped off the porch. She didn't know where Captain Jack lived, but Peter seemed to.

After a few minutes, they landed on the beach in front of a large beach house. Merida thought it suited him, but then again, didn't everyone's houses suit them? Peter let her go, dug in his backpack, and pulled out his knife.

"Just in case." He said, and they walked inside.

When they entered the house, they saw that there was no need for the weapons. Jim was bound tightly to a chair, and he was looking at the floor. Clustered around him were Jack, Tiana, Mulan, Jasmine, and Dr. Joshua Sweet.

They all looked up when Merida and Peter entered, except for Jim, who continued to stare at the ground.

"Where'd you find him?" Merida asked, staring him down.

"I found him while I was walking through the forest and pinned him down. Jack heard the commotion and came to help." Said Mulan.

Merida had to suppress a smile. She had heard stories that Mulan was a great warrior.

"We're just deciding what to do with him." Jack said, twisting a knife in his hand. Merida looked at the knife, then to Jim. She froze.

"No." She said, and they all looked at her. "You can't kill him; That would be wrong." She said, staring him down. Funny, he was going to have her enslaved as a pirate, but she couldn't see him die. Peter leaned into Merida's ear.

"Merida, people can't die here." She looked up at him, shocked.

"We could put him in the zoo." Jack said, smiling. Tiana looked at him and he promptly closed his mouth.

"After we get him cleaned up, we can put him in the dungeon." Sweet said, looking at Jim.

Dungeon? Merida looked up at Peter, distracted from her new discovery. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Jim look up, a flicker of curiosity in his eye. A flag went off in her head. That wasn't an appropriate emotion of someone who was guilty of kidnapping.

"We don't tell people that there's a dungeon because we don't want to scare them." Peter said, looking at her. "But yes, there is a dungeon. It's where we keep people who try to bring others harm." Jim looked up at Merida.

"Merida, Merida please, you have to believe me." He pleaded with her. Jack kicked his chair.

"Shut up." He said, but Jim kept going, his face desperate.

"Merida, please. It wasn't me. I don't know what happened, but I was tied up and there were people that I didn't know. Please."

Merida looked at him. His face looked so genuine, and she wanted to believe him, but how in the world could he be innocent?

"I-" Merida whispered. "I need a minute." She walked out the door, closed it, and then sprinted along the beach.

"Merida!" Peter called, running up to her. "Merida."

She turned to him, tears rushing down her face. He pulled her into him.

"What if it wasn't him?" Merida said, looking up at Peter.

"Merida, it had to be him. We all saw him." Merida was shaking. Peter walked her to the grass and sat her down. He rubbed her back.

"It's just-" Merida said, trying to wipe her tears away. "He seems genuinely innocent."

"It's okay, Mer," Peter said, hugging her. "it's all over now." He misunderstood what she had said, but Merida was too exhausted to correct him. He pulled her back and looked into her eyes. "I will never let anything hurt you." He said, and he kissed her forehead. "Now, let's go home." He picked her up and began to fly.