"Jack, wake up!"
Jack groaned and turned to the side, settling back into his dream. Missy stomped her foot, an annoyed sigh escaping her lips. She tried to think of a way to wake her brother up that didn't involve physically harming her brother. Out of the blue, her face lit up with a mischievous smile, and she leaned down again.
"Elsa is at the door, asking for you."
It took a second, but then Jack was wide awake, sitting up and looking at the door expectantly. Missy stood back as he jumped out of bed and ran to the door, when he suddenly stopped and turned towards her. "Is this a trick?"
Missy nodded and quickly said, "It was the only way I could get you up in time!"
"In time for what?" She pointed at the clock on the wall, which said 8:03. Jack eyes widened. "We're gonna be late!" he said, looking around the room frantically.
Missy quickly pointed at the doorway. "I already packed up our stuff, and I cleaned the room a bit." Jack looked around and saw their bags waiting by the door. "I laid out your other clothes, too," she said, sitting on the bed with her legs swinging. Jack looked at her in confusion until he looked down and saw that he was still wearing his suit from last night.
"What happened?" he asked as he went to retrieve his clothes and stepped into the closet.
"Nothing, really," Missy called out loud enough for him to hear, "You picked me up from the seamstresses' house, we went back here, and you passed out as soon as we entered the room." She looked over at the door. "I was gonna ask you the same thing."
Jack came out in his normal clothes and shrugged, balling up the suit in his hands. "It was a party, what did you-Hey!" he cried out as Missy jumped up and grabbed the suit from his hands.
"You need to be careful with these, Jack! They're special!" she exclaimed as she folded it neatly and stuffed it into his bag. She looked around the room one last time before picking up her bag and opening the door. "You coming, party animal?"
Jack just sighed and picked up his own bag, following his sister out of the inn and towards the docks, where a medium-sized trading boat was leaving the harbor. "Hey, wait!" Jack called out as he ran towards the dock. Missy had to run to keep up.
"Sorry, kid," the man on the dock said, his thin, pointed nose buried in papers, "You just missed it."
"Wait a minute," Jack said, "Can't you tell them to come back? They're not that far out."
"Jack, calm down," Missy said, placing a hand on her brother's arm, "I'm sure there'll be another boat heading to Corona soon."
"That was the last boat for the whole week" the man said, "Unless you can swim or have your own boat, there's no other option but to wait." Missy dragged Jack away from the man and towards the rocky shore, where they sat with their legs kicking. Jack was in a sour mood, and Missy didn't know how to make him feel better. She briefly considered asking about the party again, since she only heard a little about it, but immediately retracted the thought.
"We could stay in the inn for a few more days," Missy said, looking at Jack hopefully. He shook his head.
"We only have so much money left," he said, "We can't afford to stay there any longer." Missy thought for a few moments, staring out into the sea. "There's the seamstresses house," she suggested, "I'm sure that-"
"We're not taking charity, Missy," he said sternly, "They've done enough for us."
"It's not charity, Jack," she said, picking up a loose stone and tossing it into the water, "It'll only be for a couple days."
"I said no." His tone implied that the conversation was over, and Missy fell back into silence, staring out into the sea. She always loved the ocean, especially the one in Arendelle. The water just seemed so much bluer and more beautiful than back in Corona.
Soon, it was midday, and Missy volunteered to go buy some food. "I'll be right back," she promised, her coins jingling in her pocket.
"Don't go asking for favors, alright?" Jack told her. She nodded and turned around, rolling her eyes when she was far enough away. She didn't understand why Jack wouldn't just ask someone for help when they were down on their luck. She practically had to beg him for permission to ask one of their neighbors for food a few years back, when they had just moved in and had landed in some rough times. She stopped for a moment when she saw Flora's street, wondering if she could risk running there and back before Jack got suspicious.
Finally, she shook her head and kept walking towards the bakery. She might be annoying, but she wasn't about to break a promise. She bought a round loaf of bread and a sweet drink they called 'lemonade' for the two to share, and hurried back to the shore where Jack was waiting. They spilt the bread and the lemonade for lunch, taking turns throwing loose rocks into the sea. Jack told her about the party, and she made fun at the way he blushed when he talked about Elsa. She just knew that they belonged together, like how she knew that Rapunzel and Eugene were in love with each other. But, Jack was a realist, and he kept saying that he was a peasant and she was a princess, and it would never work out, etc. Missy argued back that crazier things had happened in books, and Jack said that the crazy things should stay in the books. She grew quiet for a while, looking up in the castle.
"Why does Elsa stay in the castle all the time?" she asked, looking up in curiosity. Jack looked down at her in surprise. "Everyone kept saying that she was sick when I was little," she continued, tossing another rock into the sea, "but that was a long time ago. She would've gotten better by now, right?" She looked up at Jack again studying his face. He looked worried and sad, like when she brought up their mother. She could see an inner struggle inside his mind, contemplating on whether or not to tell her.
"It's… complicated, Miss," he finally said, turning to face the ocean. Missy turned away sadly, knowing that he wasn't going to talk about it.
"I wish everything wasn't so complicated," she whispered, swinging her legs and hitting them against the rocks. They sat in silence for a long time, letting the wind and water have their own conversations. It was almost evening, and Jack still didn't have a plan, which made Missy worried.
"Jack," she said carefully, "Are we going to be homeless?"
Jack looked at her, his eyes filled with determination. "Not on my watch," he said, looking around the harbor. He stood up and told her to stay put before going out and talking to the other boats. Missy watched for a minute before turning her attention to a lather large ship with the Arendelle flag draped on its sides. She studied it for a moment, noticing how its crew members hurried to and fro in a panicked manner, as if someone important was coming.
She looked over at Jack, who had also noticed the boat, and had the biggest grin on his face. He hurried back to her, telling her to hurry up and get her bag. She did so, mildly confused, and followed him to the large boat, where he waited for the sailors to stop moving. When they did, she turned around, wondering what in the world was happening, when she saw the King and Queen walking towards them. Missy gasped and grabbed hold of her brother's hand, suddenly nervous. He smiled down at her and squeezed her hand, and waited until the King and Queen were close enough before speaking to them.
"Excuse me, your Majesties," he said, nodding his head in respect. The King and Queen listened intently as he told them about what happened, Missy staying behind him and looking up shyly. She wasn't shy at all, but when you're facing royalty, you tend to hold back some.
"And, in conclusion," Jack was saying, "We were wondering if that offer for a trip still stands." The King and Queen exchanged a look, and Missy worried that they would laugh in his face and order an execution for wasting their time.
"Of course," the Queen finally said, smiling warmly, "There's plenty of room for you and your sister." The Queen looked at Missy and smiled, but Missy hung onto her brother. "You must be Melissa," she said, "My name is Indun."
Missy smiled at her and said, "You can call me Missy, your Majesty."
The Queen reached out her hand and Missy looked up at Jack, who nodded encouragingly. She took the Queen's hand and followed her to the boat. She looked back to see the King and Jack in the middle of a conversation. She briefly wondered what they were talking about, then her attention turned back to the Queen, who asked her about life in Corona and Rapunzel. Missy answered as best as she could, occasionally looking to see if her brother was onboard yet. When Jack finally did board the boat, Missy ran over to him with excitement in her eyes.
"Isn't this so cool?" she asked him, "We're riding with the King and Queen of Arendelle! The real King and Queen themselves!"
Jack just grinned at her, then looked around the ship. "Well, if we're going to stay on here, we need to pull our weight, which means helping out around here."
Missy nodded, grabbing his hand and pulling him to the back of the boat. Jack gripped his bag tightly.
"Missy, are you listening to me?"
"Yeah, yeah," she said, "But they've got it handled, and I wanna say good-bye to Arendelle."
The ship started to pull out of the dock and Missy ran up to the railing with Jack in tow. She leaned against it, watching the dock grow smaller. A small crowd had formed, waving good-bye to the ship. Missy waved back with a large smile, and looked over at Jack, who was watching the castle. Missy looked up and saw the sliver of blonde hair in one of the windows. She looked over at Jack and smiled, taking his hand.
"We'll be back," she said. He looked at her and smiled.
"Yeah, I know, pumpkin."
Missy giggled and turned back to the railing when a large gust of wind came out of nowhere, nearly knocking them over. Jack's bag wasn't so lucky, tumbling into the water. Jack held onto the railing, looking over to look at his bag.
"Good thing there's nothing important in there," he said, as the wind died down, "I can always-AAAHHH!"
"JACK!" Missy screamed as a stronger gust of wind came through and push Jack over the railing and into the water. She rushed to the railing and looked into the water, searching for her brother.
"Jack! Jack!" she kept yelling, "Come out of there! Jack!"
Missy's yelling eventually caused a small crowd gathered around her, asking what happened.
"My brother fell overboard," she said, "The wind knocked him over."
A few moments later, Jack's head bobbed to the surface, coughing and sputtering. Missy sighed in relief as Jack looked up at her and smiled.
"The water's great!" he shouted, making Missy laugh. He began to swim towards his fallen bag as Missy turned to look at the sailors, wondering why they weren't trying to help.
"Aren't you going to help him?" she asked, "He needs to be back on the boat."
"Sorry, miss," one of the sailors said, "But we're too far out to go help him."
"Then turn the boat around!" she shouted, growing angry.
The same sailor replied, "We're on a tight schedule, and-"
"Jack's my brother! You can't leave him out there!"
"HEY!" Jack started to yell, waving his arms around wildly, trying to stay afloat.
Missy turned to look back at his shrinking figure. "You go ahead to Corona!" he shouted, "I can find another boat! Don't worry about me!"
Missy shook her head. She couldn't leave him behind, not now. What would she do without him? She wanted to jump in with him, but she couldn't swim very well. The sailor's point did start to make sense. Every second brought Jack farther and farther away from the boat.
Finally, she nodded and shouted as loud as she could, "I'LL SEE YOU IN CORONA, OKAY? YOU BETTER NOT BE LATE!"
She could faintly hear Jack's laugh and his response, "I WON'T, I PROMISE! I LOVE YOU!"
"LOVE YOU, TOO!" she shouted before he turned back to Arendelle. She watched him until they were too far away to see him, and she whispered out into the sea, "I'll see you soon, Jack."
Hey guys! Another chapter so soon? WHAAAAAAATTTT?! Yeah, I got inspired and this just spat itself out. Next chapter should be out soon, but I can't make any promises. So leave a review, blah blah blah, and I'll see you in the next update. BUH-BYE!