"Did Jasmine need any help hanging up her photos?" Angelica asked Meg later in the afternoon when they were wrapping up for the day.

Meg sat at her desk organizing her latest invoice.

"Flynn told me this morning that he plans on helping her this evening, so my guess is – no."

Angelica laughed and shook her head, packing up her desk for the day.

"Any idea how long it will take for them to officially get back together?"

Meg spun around in her chair to face Angelica.

"At this point they're both Cleopatra, Queens of Denial. When Flynn got home last night, all he did was talk about helping Jasmine get her shop ready. It's like they can't see it."

Angelica stood up.

"Well, I just hope for them it works out this time. They seem to really enjoy each other this time. Flynn has really grown up."

Meg nodded.

"It is a wonder, isn't it?"

Angelica smiled.

"Well, I'm off. Unless you need me to stay to help close up," Angelica said, anxious to get ready for her dinner with Aladdin.

Meg shook her head.

"I think I can handle it. Big plans with Al tonight?"

Angelica smiled, giddily.

"Just dinner. Nothing fancy."

"Aww. How cute," Meg sarcastically responded, teasing her friend.

Angelica rolled her eyes.

"Good night, Meg," she replied walking out the door.

Meg smiled and returned to her invoice organization.

Not two minutes later, she heard the bell of the front door to the studio.

"Did you forget something, lover girl?" Meg said, not looking away from her desk right away.

She looked away from the screen expecting to see Angelica returning in. But came face to face with someone else.

"Oh. I'm sorry. I thought you were my studio partner," Meg said seeing an older woman with cat eyes and black hair standing in her studio.

She got up to greet the woman.

"Hi, I'm Meg. How can I help you?"

The woman looked Meg up and down.

"I was wondering if you all do professional family portraits?" the woman asked in a smokey deep voice that matched her cat eyes.

Meg nodded.

"Of course. We can either do it in studio or pick a location of your preference."

"Oh. Good. My husband just got settled in at his new job as head coach for the football team and I thought a new family portrait would be perfect for our new start in Fantasia."

Meg took in a deep breath, thinking quickly on how to respond to this woman. Her step-mother. Her step-mother who had no idea she existed. Meg blinked and tried to remain calm using techniques that Dr. Thatch had taught her.

"Oh. You're Mr. Sykes' wife?" Meg inquired, masking her deep discomfort as best she could.

The woman nodded.

"Yes. You an call me Mirage."

"Well," Meg started, "Mirage. Let's schedule a time for us to take this family portrait, shall we?"

Meg wasn't sure what she was doing but she decided to go through with the project. As she went over dates with Mirage, she thought about what she was going to tell Hercules or if she should tell Hercules.

A few doors down, Flynn was eagerly helping Jasmine with with hanging her newest pictures of Anya for the store.

"These pictures are great, Jas," he said, holding one out to look at it.

"Aren't they? Angelica did a great job. Thanks again for setting it up."

He smiled and winked.

"Of course. I always like to take care of my friends," he said, half kidding.

She giggled and headed toward the other wall, with a hammer in hand. Flynn took this opportunity to take her in. He'd always thought she was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. But right now with her hair in a messy bun, wearing ripped light wash jeans and an old t-shirt, he thought she was absolutely stunning.

"You mind spotting me?" Jasmine asked as she pulled two nails out of her pocket, beginning to ascend a ladder.

Flynn blinked back into reality.

"Oh sure."

He walked over to the ladder to hold it steady.

"Thank you!" Jasmine said as she put the hammer on the top ledge and began climbing.

She took one nail out of her teeth and picked up the hammer and started pounding. Then the other.

"Don't you think you need a level, Jas?" Flynn asked.

Jasmine eyed her handy work.

"I think they look pretty even!"

Just as she leaned back a little more to give it another look, she lost her footing. Instinctively, Flynn opened his arms and caught Jasmine just before she landed hard on her back. Without thinking, Jasmine's arms wrapped around Flynn's neck to hold herself steady.

"Whoa!" she shouted.

"You okay?"

She nodded, suddenly realizing their faces were inches away from each other's.

"I'm fine. Momentary scare."

"Well, I'm glad I was here to help."

"Me too."

Jasmine's eyes locked with his and the seconds passed by like hours.

"I guess I should put you down now."

Jasmine's lips were millimeters from his.

"Flynn?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't put me down."

Next thing she knew, she was pressing her lips to his and savoring the taste. His grip on her tightened. What he'd wanted from her for so long was finally happening. His knees grew week as their kiss intensified. He found himself carrying her to a nearby shelf up against the wall. His hands moved from her waist to her thick luscious hair. She yanked on his shirt, aggressively untucking it from his jeans. He stepped back all of the sudden, afraid they were about to make a huge mistake.

Jasmine opened her eyes, her lips still red from their kiss.

"Why'd you stop?"

"I was just thinking..."

She cut him off.

"Flynn. Don't think. Just live in the moment for now."

"Are you sure?" he asked, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

Her hand when to his wrist.

"I'm sure," she said as she sat up and continued their kiss, being the aggressor. She finished untucking Flynn's shirt. Almost ripping the buttons off, she removed it before removing her own t shirt. Feeling her barely clad skin again was heaven for him. Flynn wasn't sure what the aftermath of this moment would be, but for now he just reveled in the fact that he was kissing Jasmine again and she wanted him to.

At the Court of Miracles Apartments, another couple was having the opposite of a passionate start to their evening.

After Will had gotten enough rum in Jack to keep him from going to Royal Hall to reveal Charming's secret, he had headed over to Jane Porter's for dinner. He still hadn't talked to Anya since their kiss at Club Agrabah a few nights ago. She wasn't returning his texts or calls. He was worried that things with her would never return to how they were. And even now sitting in another woman's apartment as she served him a delicious meal, he still couldn't stop thinking about Anya.

"...so I told Father that he would just have to accept my notes on the subject because I was not letting him go on another expedition at this age," Jane finished, having said something about her father wanting to tag along with them to Africa.

Will nodded, feeling extremely guilty that he was continuing to lead her on this way when he was distracted with thoughts of someone else.

She smiled and took a sip of her wine.

Jane was beautiful. Her bright blue eyes shined in the dim lighting of her dining room. The lilt of her voice did entrance him. Her love for animals and nature captivated him. But she was not Anya.

Will had a decision to make. And although he didn't want to break Jane's heart knowing they were about to set sail in a few days together, he couldn't string her along anymore.

Across town, Esmeralda was leaving for the night after finishing a rehearsal with Phillip. The two stood in the studio toweling off and packing their bags.

"Did you want to grab a drink?" Phillip asked.

Esmeralda shook her head, hoping that Jack would pay her a visit later.

"No, thanks. I'm just gonna head home."

"I can walk you."

Esmeralda laughed and playfully swatted Phillip on the shoulder.

"Relax. I'll be fine. I carry a knife, remember."

Phillip smiled.

"If you're sure. I'll see you tomorrow, then!"

And Phillip headed out the door.

Esmeralda smiled and shook her head at Phillip's over-protectiveness.

She didn't need body guards. She had been taking care of herself for a long time and she would continue to do so.

She grabbed her dufflebag and headed outside into the twilight.

The air was crisp but still warm enough. As she ventured down the sidewalk toward her apartment, Esmeralda took out her phone to text Jack and ask if he was free later and that she wanted to give him a send off.

"Texting your paramour I take it?" an eerie deep voice asked from behind her as her arms were yanked behind her back.

Startled by this, Esmeralda threw her phone up in the air and it landed in the grass. Her dufflebag fell to the ground

She recognized that distinct voice anywhere.

Judge Claude Frollo.

Her stomach dropped. He had her arms pinned behind her back. She could feel the bony fingers of his free hand gliding up her side. She looked toward the grassy area where her phone lay, wishing she had telekinetic abilities to call for help.

"Ah. Ah. Ah. Don't even think about it, gypsy," she heard his evil whisper against her neck.

Her temperature rose in a panic.

Quickly, she racked her brain for any possible solution to this predicament. She still had a free hand. She could grab her knife from her bag. But almost as if he expected her to do that, Frollo angrily kicked her dufflebag so far, it was out of her reach.

She was trapped.

She tried scrambling away but it was no use. His grip was so strong. His hold on her arm tightened.

"You'll pay for what you've done, gypsy."

"Wh-what h-have I done?" Esmeralda stuttered.

"Obviously, you've bewitched the entire coastguard."

Panic set in.

This man was truly crazy and he had nefarious plans for her.

She had to get away. And she had to get away now.

With all the strength she had, she tried again to pull away. She lifted up one leg and came down hard on his foot. He momentarily let go but was not deterred. She tripped over her bag as he caught up with her. She was on the ground, helpless, trying to unzip her bag and find her knife. But before she could, he was already on top of her, straddling her.

His bony fingers found the top hem of her leggings and he began to pull. Just when she thought her life was over, she heard the familiar voices of Cassim and his men Omid and Yazan. Suddenly they were towering over her, tackling Frollo to the ground.

She sat up and looked around her.

Phoebus and a few men from City Hall followed behind Cassim with handcuffs.

"Judge Claude Frollo, you are under arrest for assault," Phoebus said, tossing the cuffs to Cassim.

"Are you alright, luv?" she turned behind her to see Jack Sparrow crouching down next to her.

There was nothing she could do to keep the tears of joy from falling as she laid eyes on him. With an instinct to protect her, Jack wrapped his arms around Esmeralda and let her cry on his shoulder, cradling her against his chest.

"Oh, Jack. It was horrible. I thought...I thought...I thought he was going to..." Esmeralda stammered through tears, tugging at his loose shirt.

Jack kissed the top of her head.

"I know what you thought, luv. And I had that same thought."

Esmeralda pulled back to look at his face, still clinging to his shirt as if her life depended on it.

"What?" she asked as he wiped the tears from her cheek with his calloused thumb.

"Call it intuition, luv. I knew he wouldn't stop with Norrington's refusal."

Esmeralda searched his eyes, coming to realization.

"Luckily, Phoebus owes old Jack a favor or two. He convinced Cassim to follow Frollo. As soon as Cassim saw Frollo sneaking around in the direction of your studio, he got word to me."

"You mean..."

"I couldn't fathom any possibility of danger befalling the fair Esme," Jack responded, winking at her.

Esmeralda's heart swelled and she wrapped her arms around Jack, knowing he'd made it so nothing would happen to her and that he would be here to comfort her. She knew he was trying to make light of the situation but his actions tonight and him being her right now, meant more to her than those three little words could ever.

She kissed him passionately on the mouth.

She heard Phoebus clearing his throat in the background.

She broke the kiss to see what he wanted.

"I'm going to take Frollo in now," Phoebus announced.

Jack nodded, standing up.

Phoebus pulled something out of his pocket.

"I believe this belongs to you, Miss Teach," he said, revealing her phone.

Jack helped her up so she could retrieve it from him.

"Thank you, Captain Swann."

Phoebus nodded affirmatively and returned to Cassim's men holding Frollo.

Esmeralda turned to Jack.

"Let's get you home, luv," he announced as he picked up her bag and threw it over his shoulder and opened his arms for her.

With tears streaming down her face, she eagerly jumped into the safety of his arms, kissing him once again. She cradled her head on his shoulder. He kissed her temple and carried her down the dark street to her apartment.

Esmeralda had never felt so cared for and protected in her life.