After that incident the six of them continued their flight and reached France. "I hate air travel!" Planchet complained as he threw-up over the side.
Athos was looking about with the spyglass when the ship rocked. "Damn!" The clouds cleared, revealing a large airship with Constance tied to the front. It was Rochefort and his men. Evangeline glared at the Captain of the Cardinal's guards.
"Ah, Gascon!" Rochefort called. "So you've traded up when it comes to transport. But, once again, you're outmatched. You can thank Milady for that. She passed on Buckingham's plans a long time ago. As you can see, we made some improvements." He chuckled, "Isn't she a beauty?"
"What do you want?" Evangeline demanded as she growled.
"The diamonds."
"Come and take them," D'artagnan responded cockily.
"Gladly! You see, I can blast you out of the sky with total impunity. If you fire on me, on the other hand, you'll be killing Miss Oh-so-young-and-pretty. You have sixty seconds."
Evangeline turned to the others. "He'll shoot us down the moment he has the diamonds," Aramis pointed out.
"We can't outrun them," Porthos said.
"And we can't fight them, damn it! We can't," Evangeline said harshly.
"Oh, Evangeline," Athos groaned.
"What? Do you think you have the monopoly on loss? I've lost my parents, my home? I've nearly lost my best friend a few times. What if she dies? The life of one friend or the future of France? Maybe it's selfish, but what would any of you do in my position?"
"I've made a lot of sacrifices, a lot of hard choices. For honor, for king, for country. You wanna know what I've learned, girl? Hard choices and sacrifices do not stand by you in hard times. Life is too damn short and too damn long to go through without friends by your side. Don't end up like me, ignorant of all that you have because of the loss of someone you love. Choose the woman. Fight for friendship, Angel. France will take care of itself."
"Times up!" Rochefort shouted.
Evangeline nodded to Athos and turned to face the other ship. "An exchange. I go aboard your ship with the diamonds, the girl comes aboard ours. Once I know she's safe, I give them to you."
"Fine. But I want to see the diamonds first."
Porthos tapped Planchet's shoulder gesturing for him to follow. Evangeline went over to the table and put the diamonds on her belt next to her sword. When she turned back around D'artagnan was standing very close to her.
"You don't have to do this," he said.
"Yes I do, she's my friend," Evangeline replied.
"So am I!"
Evangeline shook her head with a small smile as she gazed into his deep blue eyes, believing this could be the last time she ever saw him and she didn't want to die without him knowing how she felt. "No, you're much more than that." Before D'artagnan could respond, she pressed her lips to his. After D'artagnan got over his shock he grasped her waist and pulled her closer. Evangeline vaguely heard Planchet gasp as she pulled away and Porthos pull Planchet back below deck. She and D'artagnan smiled at each other before she walked over to the bridge between the ships.
Evangeline held up the diamonds, "Satisfied?" she put the diamonds back on the belt as she and Constance walked across the bridge and traded places.
Once she reached the other side Rochefort gazed down at Evangeline menacingly. "You never learn, do you?" Jussac hit her with his gun and she fell to the floor as Rochefort closed the door. He grabbed the diamonds as some of the guards dragged Evangeline to her feet and Jussac took her sword. "Fire!" Rochefort shouted. A cannon war ensued but it was obvious who had the upper hand. The guards led Evangeline onto the deck. "Good I really want you to see this. Finish them off!" The Musketeer ship turned and disappeared into thunderous dark clouds. "Lay in a pursuit course!"
"But sir!" one of the crewmen spoke up, "We can't go into the storm!" Rochefort grabbed Jussac's gun and shot the crewman.
"Anyone? Anyone else who wants to question orders?" no one responded. "Good."
"Where are they?" Jussac wondered.
Evangeline shook her head, "You're never gonna find them in there."
"I beg to differ," Rochefort said.
The ship suddenly rocked and Evangeline dropped to the deck. She saw the diamonds and pushed away one of the guards and grabbed the diamonds before running below deck. She dodged a guard, punched another, dodged a third guard and ducked a blow. She grabbed one of the weapons and hit another guard before kicking a second. She was grabbed but she pulled him into a pole before punching another guard in the stomach and kicking him below the belt. She was then grabbed again by the waist and thrown over a guard's shoulder but she landed on her feet and flipped the guard onto the ground. She ran to the door but it was locked.
"You know what your problem is, girl? You read too many books, and then you believed them," Rochefort said as he approached her carrying a gun in each hand. "Courage, honor. All for one. But history isn't written by heroes, it's written by victors." Shouting came from above them.
"You scared to take me in a fair fight?" Evangeline taunted referring to his guns.
"Hardly. I just don't fight fair." Someone called his name but he ignored it. Rochefort pointed the guns at her. "Oh, well." Evangeline gulped.
Suddenly the ship rocked again and they both fell to the ground.
When Evangeline came to she found her best friend crouched down beside her, "D'artagnan! I'm okay, go after Rochefort." He kissed her quickly before heading off. Evangeline shook off her dizziness, both from being knocked out and the kiss, and journeyed to the deck to find her sword. After she recovered it, and killed a few guards along the way, she clambered down to the top of the church that had speared through the air ship. She noticed D'artagnan and Rochefort fighting near the edge of one of the corners that jutted out over the gardens below. She ran down the steps just as D'artagnan was about to be pushed off. "No!" she screamed distracting Rochefort long enough for D'artagnan to attack him again. However, Rochefort managed to disarm D'artagnan, sending his sword into the air.
"You should've stayed in Gascony, boy," Rochefort said as he pointed his sword at D'artagnan. Evangeline was racing down the steps as fast as she could but she was too far away to do anything. Suddenly, D'artagnan caught his sword, blocked Rochefort's, and stabbed Rochefort in the chest.
"You should've apologized to my horse," D'artagnan said out of breath as he grabbed the jewels and Rochefort fell over the side. Evangeline grinned as she reached her best friend. D'artagnan smirked as he hugged her close.
"You're hurt," she gasped as she looked him over. He had scratches nearly everywhere; on his face, on his arms, and his legs.
D'artagnan shook his head, "I'm fine."
"We should probably get going." She turned to leave but D'artagnan pulled her back and kissed her hard. Evangeline grinned and leaned into him as she deepened the kiss.