The next morning, Juliet slowly awoke in hers and Romeo's bed. She slowly sat up and stretched her arms with a yawn. She then looked over to see that Romeo's side of the bed was empty.

'He must have gone downstairs for breakfast,' she thought to herself. Just then, Juliet heard a knock on the door.

"Juliet?" she heard Odette's voice from the other side of the door, "Are you awake? May I come in?"

"Yes, Your Highness," Juliet responded, "Please, come in."

Odette then opened the door and smiled at the young girl, "You and Romeo really are meant for each other."

"What do you mean?" Juliet asked in confusion.

"He was formal with Derek and I last night," Odette explained, "But like we told him, there's no need to be formal with us, Juliet. You don't need our permission to use our names."

Juliet smiled at the young princess as she swung her legs out of bed, "Alright. Thank you, Odette."

"Did you sleep well?" Odette asked. Just then, Juliet's smile faded.

"Not really…"

"Come on, let me help you get ready for the day," Odette offered, "and then we'll go downstairs and meet Romeo and Derek for breakfast."

"Alright," Juliet said as her smile formed again and she stood up and walked over to the makeup table. She then sat down and Odette began to brush her hair.

"You're worried about Romeo's mother, aren't you?" Odette correctly assumed.

Juliet nodded, "I am. I only met her one other time when I was in hiding after Lord Montague discovered our first plot to overthrow him and retake Neo-Verona."

"Was she angry with you for turning her son against his father?" Odette asked.

"No, quite the opposite," Juliet explained, "She had actually left him many years before then when Romeo was still a child. It was the hardest thing she'd ever done, leaving her only child with a man she despised, but after what Lord Montague had done to my family, Lady Portia knew that she would've been driven mad if she had stayed with him."

"I can't imagine the pain she must have felt, knowing that Romeo was living with that vile man at such a young age," Odette commented.

"I know…" Juliet said glumly, "When she discovered who I was, she begged me for forgiveness for what her former husband had done to me and my family. But I knew deep in my heart that there was nothing to forgive her for."

"That's very noble of you, Juliet," Odette complimented.

"We have to rescue her, but…" Juliet began again, "I don't want Romeo to lose me."

"Don't worry, Juliet," Odette reassured her, "Derek has a plan."


"You can't be serious, Derek!" Bromley shouted at his childhood friend, "We can't just sneak into Montague's fortress and mount a prison break!"

"Oh come on, Brom!" Derek exclaimed with a grin on his face, "Where's your sense of adventure?! Besides, you were the one who helped me rescue Odette from Rothbart!"

"If I recall, all he did was get captured and thrown in the dungeon after getting lost in the woods," Rogers remarked.

"Gentlemen, please!" shouted Romeo, "If we can stay focused, I'd like to hear Derek's plan."

"My apologies, Lord Romeo," Rogers apologized.

"Right," Derek said before continuing to explain his plan, "So, in order to get into the fortress, we'll need a diversion, something to keep Montague distracted long enough for the rescue party to sneak inside."

"What did you have in mind?" Romeo asked.

"Well, I do have one idea, but it'll depend on how well you're willing to trust me, Romeo," Derek said, "Lord Montague is expecting you and Juliet to give yourselves up, so that's what we'll give him."

"What?!" Romeo exclaimed in shock, "No! Absolutely not! I won't let you put Juliet in danger that way!"

"Calm down, Romeo, we're not putting Juliet in danger. She won't even be anywhere near Montague's fortress," Derek reassured him, "We'll be using a decoy."

"A decoy?"

Derek nodded, "Yes. We have someone else disguise herself as Juliet and go with you instead."

"But wouldn't my father be able to see through her disguise?" Romeo asked.

"He's right, Derek," Rogers chimed in, "Montague knows what Juliet looks like, and I doubt he's as gullible as you were with that fake Odette trick."

"I know…" Derek said in annoyance before regaining his composure, "but we want him to see through the disguise anyway so he'll seize our decoy girl along with Romeo."

"What?! Why?!" Rogers exclaimed.

"So we can get someone else into the fortress as well," Derek explained, "Someone who has experience with sneaking in and out of places." As Derek finished his explanation, he eyed a certain talking frog with the other animal friends.

"Oh no! Not again!" Jean-Bob shouted, "I am not putting myself in danger like that another time!"

"That didn't stop you from trying to get past the alligators in the moat to get flowers for Odette," Speed added with a smirk.

"And what about that time you jumped off of a cliff while training for the obstacle course?" asked Puffin. This caused Jean-Bob to groan in defeat.

"Fine, I'll do it!" shouted the little frog, "But this is the last time!"

"No promises, Jean-Bob," said Derek, "Anyway, when Montague takes Romeo and our decoy into his fortress, Jean-Bob releases them from the dungeon. They then let Brom and I in and we look for Lady Portia. And while everyone else is escaping, I look for where Montague has the Forbidden Arts and steal them. Then, once I'm able to get out, I'll destroy them once and for all, and we all get back here safe and sound!"

"Brilliant plan, Derek!" Romeo exclaimed.

"Y-yeah…should be f-fun…" Bromley stuttered.

"One problem, though," said Rogers, "Who are we going to use as our Juliet decoy?"

"I'll do it," said a familiar voice. The four men and the animal friends looked to see Odette standing in the doorway with Juliet behind her.

"Odette, no!" Derek exclaimed as he stood up from his chair, "It's too dangerous!"

"You're acting like I haven't done anything dangerous before, Derek!" Odette argued, "If Lord Montague has the Forbidden Arts, I want to make sure they're destroyed for good too! Our kingdom has suffered for too long because of them, and now they've fallen into the hands of someone worse than Rothbart!"

"All the more reason you shouldn't be anywhere near him!" Derek shouted "Don't you remember what happened the last time we had to deal with them?!"

"Derek, perhaps we should at least consider it," Romeo began.

"Absolutely not!" Derek exclaimed again, obviously not wanting to change his mind, "There has to be someone else who could help us!"

"We don't know anyone else, Derek!" said Odette, "We're running out of time, and this is our only chance to-"

"I CAN'T LOSE YOU AGAIN!"

A deafening silence then fell on the dining hall as Derek fell back into his chair. The young prince then did something that he hadn't done in a long time; he began to cry.

"I can't…" Derek sobbed, "Not again…"

Everyone else in the room was taken aback by Derek's sudden change in emotion, none more so than Odette. She'd never seen her husband so broken up before. It was no question that he'd come a long way from the little boy who could barely stand the sight of her when they were younger, but to completely break down crying at the thought of losing her again, Odette was in complete shock at the sight of it. She then walked over to her husband and began stroking his back.

"Derek…" Odette began to softly speak, "I know you worry about me, especially after everything that's happened, but this is something I feel I have to do. Not just for us, or for our kingdom, but for my father's memory. He died because of the Forbidden Arts, and I always blamed myself for what happened to him. Just as you blame yourself for what happened to me."

"But…" Derek finally spoke, "What if something happens to you?"

"That's a risk I'm willing to take, Derek," Odette stated, "but you have to let me take it."

Watching this reminded Romeo and Juliet a great deal of what they'd been through before their deaths, but then an idea popped into Juliet's head.

"Romeo?" she began, "Do you remember our vows in the church?"

"Of course I do," Romeo, "We promise to share joy and sorrow for all the rest of our days. For all our life and until death."

"For all our life and until death," Juliet repeated before she and Romeo began to speak in unison.

"Together shall we be," they said together, "Henceforth till the end of eternity."

Everyone else in the dining hall looked at the young lovers in awe at their words.

"I understand that you're worried about Odette," Juliet stated, "But Derek, if this is something she feels the need to do, it's your duty as her husband to help her see it through, not hold her back."

"You're right, Juliet," Derek said as he wiped the tears from his eye, "I'm sorry for my outburst, everyone. Especially to you, Odette."

"It's okay, Derek," Odette reassured him, "We'll get through this together."

Suddenly, the conversation was shattered by the sound of Jean-Bob blowing his nose into the tablecloth.

"Way to kill the mood, you're royal frogness…" Speed commented sarcastically. This then caused the whole dining hall to burst into laughter.

"Well, I think that's all settled," said Derek.

"Uh…one small problem, Derek," Rogers interrupted.

"Yes, Rogers?" the young prince asked.

"What about the ball?" asked Rogers.

Derek then groaned, "The ball! I completely forgot!"

"I guess we'll have to cancel or postpone it," Odette stated.

"What ball?" asked Romeo.

"Derek had a ball planned for our anniversary this year," Odette explained, "but now it looks like it might not happen."

Derek then took a deep breath, "No big deal. If we time this mission just right we might be back in time for it."

"But just in case we're not-" Odette began before Derek cut her off.

"We can do this, Odette," Derek stated.

Odette wasn't sure if they really could pull this all off, but she had faith in her husband. After all, it was one of the reasons she fell in love with him.


Me: Hey guys! Sorry this chapter took so long, and sorry that it's not longer, but I've been having a lot of things been going on lately. But I hope you guys still enjoy this chapter! Let me know what you think!