The baby gorilla was trying everything she could think of to get her mother to react. But the mother was not going to give into her little one. So the baby gorilla decided to be daring and climb a nearby rope. Finally the baby received the attention she'd been hoping for. From her mother and the crowd of visitors at the zoo that day which included Meg and Hercules.

"Now that's adorable," Meg commented as she snapped a quick picture.

"Hey, I thought this was our hookie day. No work allowed," Hercules teased leaning up on the viewing post.

Meg smiled.

"These aren't work pictures though," she responded as she snapped another picture of the active mother-daughter duo.

"These are just for fun."

She had kept her promise that she would play hookie with him one day and today was the day. But she was inherently a creative artist. She couldn't not take pictures of an interesting subject. And besides, Hercules may have teased her, but he loved watching her with her camera. Her violet eyes were intense with focus when she was in her element. Her color was always glowing. He could tell this was her passion, her gift. And he felt like the luckiest guy in the world for getting to be a part of it.

"You can borrow my camera if you want, babe."

"What?"

"I'm just saying. Taking a picture may last longer," Meg poked fun at his innocent staring as she let her camera dangle from it's strap around her neck.

She winked at him and put her hand to his cheek. He kissed her palm.

"I was just enjoying watching you in the zone."

She smiled and kissed his mouth.

"Wonderboy, you are too sweet."

She pulled back and grabbed the zoo map from his hand.

"Where to next? Should we check out the new cheetah they brought in?" Meg asked as she began to walk away from the gorilla viewing area.

But Hercules had other ideas. He delicately grabbed her wrist back and pulled her into his embrace. He felt any leftover tension she had from the night before drain from her body. He always knew exactly what she needed even before she did. He kissed the top of her head and squeezed her tight. From playing hookie to calling her friends to just holding her. She thanked gods he was back in her life again. Especially after last night.

And he was just as thankful that he was in her life. After Esmeralda and Flynn had left them last night, Meg and Hercules decided not to talk about her father until the time was right. It was late at night and he didn't want her to have any more trouble getting to sleep than she already would. And they hadn't discussed last night this morning either. Hercules felt in his heart, being in such a natural place that it was a good time to at least open up the conversation.

"I've never been as scared as I was last night, Meg," he began.

She squeezed him tighter.

"I'm sorry, Herc. I didn't mean to scare you."

He pulled back so he could look into her violet eyes.

"No. No. Don't apologize. I was scared because I didn't know what to do."

"You did all the right things, Hercules. And more importantly, you didn't run away."

He kissed her square on the mouth.

"I'm not running away from you ever again."

"You mean so much to me, Hercules."

"Which is why I've made a decision. I'm going to go to my father and tell him that he either fires the new head coach or I'm quitting the team."

Meg was stunned. This was not the direction she thought this conversation was going.

"Wait what? But you love football. And you love being a part of the team. Hercules, I can't ask you to do that. I can deal with this. My father is - "

"You're not asking me. I made this decision on my own. I can't play for a man who hurt the woman I love."

She blushed. She hadn't even told him the whole story yet. And he was willing to do this just to be with her?

"But I can't let you give up your passion for me. I wouldn't be happy about that."

He kissed her again.

"Meg, you and our relationship is more important to me than football."

"But would you be happy? I want you to be happy, Hercules."

He smiled.

"Being with you makes me happier than playing on ten thousand football teams, Meg. And my parents have several business opportunities for me to fall back on. I wouldn't be out of a job."

Meg was at a loss for words. No one had ever done anything like this for her.

"Besides, who knows how many seasons I have left? I'm not getting any younger," he laughed, trying to make light of the situation.

She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I love you so much, you know that?" she whispered, thanking her lucky stars he was back in her life.

He kissed her again.

"Yes I do. And I thank the gods for it every day."

She smiled.

"Enough of this sap stuff. Let's continue playing hookie, huh?"

She grabbed his hand and led him in the direction of the new cheetah on exhibit.

Nearby the new cheetah, Jane and Pocahontas were comparing notes on the new lion, Kovu. He was expected to join younger members of Simba's pride to create a new generation of lions at Pride Rock.

"Given these observations, I'd say he's ready to be introduced to Kiara sooner rather than later, wouldn't you agree?" Jane asked.

Pocahontas nodded in agreement.

"Absolutely. We will be able to share this at the Jungles' dinner party later this week."

"I'm sure they'll be positively delighted. Ursula has shared with me that Kovu's progress is their main priority."

"I hope this means that Pride Rock could become the leader in the lions' species survival plan. Could you just imagine?"

Jane got starry eyed just thinking about it.

"I think I'll ask Will if he'd like to join me. He seemed to enjoy his private tour this morning. I hope I haven't bored him with my endless jabber about animals and science," Jane shared.

"You two seem to be spending a lot of time together. Do you think it will lead to something?"

Jane blushed.

"I'm not sure. I do enjoy spending time with him. He's one of very few men who find my science talk interesting and not a put off."

"He seems so serious, though."

Jane shook her head.

"No he's just very quiet. He does a lot of listening. Which I can appreciate given the pickings of Fantasia men. Why, I will have you know that once at the Pridelands, Gaston LeFou had memorized an entire page from a very old issue of National Geographic just to have an excuse to talk to me."

Pocahontas laughed.

"Yes it seems that Will Turner is a rare one indeed. Although, don't count all the men of Fantasia out just yet."

Jane's eyes grew wide.

"Why Pocahontas, I'd say you are holding out on me! I thought you had given up on our stoic Commodore Norrington?"

Pocahontas rolled her eyes.

"Oh I was never that interested in him."

"Out with it, girl. Who are you interested in?"

Pocahontas blushed.

"Well he's older. He's more distinguished. He's well-traveled, also a man of the law. He enjoys spending time with me. We haven't made anything official yet. Neither of us are big on titles anyway."

"Oh I see, you're going to keep it a secret from me, are you? I despise guessing games you know?"

Pocahontas laughed.

"Well, it just so happens that he's also been invited to attend the Jungles' dinner party so I will introduce you then."

"Oh really! Oh I will enjoy this. I promise not to embarrass you!"

Pocahontas chuckled at the recent embarrassing moment before another important dinner. Nothing Jane could say could top that moment.

"Oh believe me. He's seen me in some embarrassing moments."

"Oh you devil! Well, I will look forward to meeting this mystery older gentleman of yours, Pocahontas."

"And I look forward to getting to know Will Turner. I hope it turns out well for the both of us."

"Indeed, my friend. Indeed."

Nearby at one of Eric Shipman's warehouses, Will was feeling less than hopeful as Flynn and Rolfe debriefed their small group on what Anya had overheard about Frollo's intentions.

"So basically, we have two choices. Lock Esmeralda up in some dark tower – which believe me is not even a remote possibility – or Jack, you have to act in public like Esmeralda is the last thing on your mind," Flynn stated as he finished revealing Anya's findings.

"Well that shouldn't be to hard for you, right, Jack?" Sinbad asked, laughingly.

Will looked to Jack who hadn't said much since they arrived. Having seen Jack's reaction to the news that Frollo was not only possibly stalking Esmeralda but was willing to put her in danger to trap him in some kind of criminal activity, Will knew that this would be one of the hardest things Jack had ever had to do.

"But of course. I'm Captain Jack Sparrow," Jack responded with a wink and a nod.

Only Will knew he was faking.

And Jack was indeed faking. He'd play coy for the rest of the boys to save face and his reputation. But the more he thought about frolicking in public with other women, the more dread he felt in his stomach. Something he wasn't used to being that he only dallied with women to satisfy physical needs and desires. But the dreams that plagued him on his voyage home haunted him. And the not so distant memory of Esmeralda's skin on his lips lingered in his brain. But he hadn't admitted anything to Esmeralda. And now he was afraid he might never get the chance with this recent development.

"There is another option," Tullio interjected.

"What's that mate? Send her away until the election's over? She'd never go for it," Jack responded.

"Fight fire with fire. Don't you have a terrible secret about Charming?" Tullio asked.

Will and Jack glanced at each other, knowingly. Although that would be a smart strategy, Jack's gut told him that it wasn't the right time for that secret to be revealed. However, Rolfe had other ideas.

"Secret? What secret? Have you been holding out on me, Sparrow?" Rolfe interjected, inquiring about his opponent.

"All this time I've been worried that my former association with Ratcliffe was going to ruin my chances and now you tell me we have what we have needed all along?"

Eric stepped in.

"Hold on a minute, Rolfe. None of us know what this secret is. We are trusting Jack and Will on this one."

"Trusting pirates? Criminals?" Rolfe retorted.

"Hey back off, dude. You just got here. The rest of us have been working together to fight the man since you disappeared to Ape Mountains with the rest of the Ratcliffe regime," Flynn shot back, making sure Rolfe knew who was running his campaign.

"And besides. We are the only ones who can and will help you best Charming and Beasman, or did you forget that detail?" Will added.

Rolfe rolled his eyes.

"Okay, gents. Let's take it down a notch. I was just letting off some steam. I know what we are up against. I'm just saying if you want me in charge and not the Charmings and the Frollos and the Beastmans of the world – then I will need every tool in my arsenal."

"And you'll get it. But you're going to have to trust Jack and Will and the rest of us. We've been playing this game for a long time. And we have yet to lose," Sinbad gave his two cents.

The entire room went silent. None of the small group knew what to say next.

"So we're in agreement then?" Eric asked breaking the deafening silence, looking to each man for their response.

"Jack, will you be able to stay away from Esmeralda until after the election?" Will asked, knowing full well what his answer would be and knowing it would be a lie.

Jack looked off into space and saw an image of Esmeralda dancing on stage at the pier. How beautiful she was. How talented she was. How skilled she was in each step. He then remembered another man's look as he watched the performance. The look of greed and envy, lust and danger. Frollo wanted Esmeralda for what could only be described as nefarious purposes, whether it was to catch him in a trap or not. Not revealing his true feelings to anyone, Jack knew he had to protect Esmeralda from Frollo. Even if it meant publicly gallivanting around with another woman, risking losing her altogether.

"Aye," Jack agreed.

"Good. Glad we've taken care of one problem for the day. Thank God, Anya is sill at Beastman Manor," Eric stated.

Flynn was about to respond when Rolfe had a response all ready to go.

"She'll be so relieved to hear we have a plan. Poor thing was worried sick about her friends. She sneaked out of the Beastman Manor and ran all he way to Royal Hall to tell me."

"She was pretty upset," Flynn added, hoping that would be the end of it.

"Indeed she was. I'm glad I was there to listen."

Will's nostrils flared.

He knew that Rolfe was the lesser of two evils in the mayoral race but his insinuation that he cared for Anya made Will's blood boil. It was half jealousy and half guilt for not being available to hear the story. He hated himself for not being there for Anya this morning when she called. He was giving her the space she had asked for but he was still her friend and he shouldn't have ignored her phone call just because he was with Jane all morning. He hated making promises to her that he didn't keep.

"Well, then, which of you lovely gents is going to find me a date tonight?" Jack asked, outwardly smirking, breaking the tension. Inside, he was nervous for his stubborn gypsy girl to find out just what he would be up to tonight.

As they all dispersed, staggeringly, Flynn caught up with Rolfe as he headed toward his unmarked car. His tone regarding his conversation with Anya seemed as if he cared more for her as if she weren't his benefactor's long lost sister. And he had loyalty to Will who was noticeably upset by said tone and what Rolfe was insinuating.

"Hey, Rolfe. Wait up."

"What's up?"

"Be straight with me. Are you interested in Anya?"

Rolfe was taken aback but unfazed.

"As a matter of fact. Yes I am. She's a lovely girl."

"I thought so. Look, just back off a little alright."

Rolfe furrowed his brow.

"Why, do you two have some thing going on I'm not aware of?"

Flynn shook his head. His loyalty to Will taking over.

"No. Just she's already taken so to speak."

"Well as far as I'm concerned, Anya is free to make her own choices and be with whomever she wants."

And with that Rolfe got in his car and drove off.

Flynn got the point. But he would still keep an eye out should anything go any further between Rolfe and Anya.