Will walked up from below just in time.

Jack was carelessly walking about the upper deck holding his phone up to the sky while the wheel was unmanned. Hurriedly, Will ran to the wheel to straighten the Pearl. He sighed and rolled his eyes as Jack continued his odd behavior. Only one thing on this Earth came between Jack and his beloved Pearl. And that was Esmeralda. As Will took over steering, he thought about how annoying the past week had been with Captain Jack.

There was no cellular service on their journey once they were 500 miles outside of Fantasia. Jack hadn't been able to talk to Esmeralda for seven whole days. As they closed in on the 500 mile checkpoint, Jack was anxious to be able to send some type of communication. That much was obvious to Will. He looked utterly ridiculous roaming every corner of the ship with his phone held up high to the sky as if that would improve any type of signal.

"What is he doing?" Jane asked, coming up from below after having checked on the gorillas.

Will laughed.

"Well, I think he's trying to find the best spot to send Esmeralda a text that will actually go through."

"So we're close then? I can never tell how much time has passed on these trips."

"Yes. We should be reaching Fantasia on Wednesday evening."

Jane nodded.

"Perfect. Any longer in the hold and these apes will go mad."

Will laughed.

"Any longer without being able to talk to Esmeralda and I'd say Jack will go insane."

Jane laughed in response.

Things hadn't been as awkward as he had assumed when he'd started this journey with her. Jane was quite pleasant and understanding. He admired her ability to compartmentalize and focus on the gorillas instead of their past dalliance. He had assured Anya when he left that he only had eyes for her and he wanted her to trust and believe.

"I wish I didn't have to go so soon," he said in the earliest hours before dawn.

Anya lay on his bare chest, nestled safely in his arms.

"Me either. After what happened the last time you left, I'm afraid of what will happen next."

He held her more tightly to him and kissed the top of her head.

"Don't think of such things. Everything will be fine. I'll be back in 10 days."

A silence hung in the air.

"Will?"

"Yes?"

Anya rose to look at him and covered herself with his sheets.

"Is Jane Porter going with you again on this trip?" she asked with fear in her eyes.

Will nodded.

"Yes she is. But I made it clear tonight that I don't want anything from her but friendship and a working rapport. That's all."

"I can't help but wonder if being in such close quarters again would change your mind," she said, averting her eyes.

"Anya, look at me," he whispered, touching his hand to her chin. "Jane Porter and I have nothing romantic between us. My heart was never really in it. It's with you. And it will be with you while I'm away. I promise you."

Anya smiled.

"I trust you, Will."

He leaned forward and put his hands on her cheeks.

"Good. I want your trust. I want your faith. I want your love, Anya."

He kissed her full on the mouth and wrapped her in his naked embrace. She returned his kiss with fervor, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Ah finally!" he heard Jack shout, bringing Will back to the present moment.

Will and Jane watched Jack as he aggressively focused on sending a message on his phone.

"Well, I'm sure Esmeralda will be relieved to hear from him," Jane said, walking away from the wheel.

Will pulled out his phone to check his messages.

Sinbad and Tullio had send coded messages inquiring about the African art Sultan had ordered as well as Vlad's crates of vodka. Phoebus and Eric sent messages in their group chat about Charming potentially continuing his campaign. But nothing from Anya. He tried not to take it too personally. He knew Derek and her mother were probably keeping her very busy. And Will had told her he wouldn't have signal for a long time, so he shouldn't be surprised.

As he looked up from the wheel he noticed Jack posing against the rail to send the perfect selfie to Esmeralda. He rolled his eyes and hoped their journey would conclude soon so Jack could return to Esmeralda and Will could return to Anya.

/

Esmeralda's mind wasn't as one tracked as Jack's was. With her pregnancy announcement, Attina offered her a creative position and Chel Dorado would replace her as Phillip's partner for upcoming performances. Esmeralda wasn't thrilled about leaving the dance floor but as she discussed schedules with Chel, she knew that she had to do this for her baby. She was in the lobby of the Muses' offices discussing the transition with Chel.

"Are you sure your sister doesn't want to cover you? I mean she's much better at this than I am," Chel asked, adding the rehearsal and practice times in her phone.

Esmeralda shook her head. She had worked with Chel in the past but she was no where near close enough to divulge her recent split with her sister.

"No. Angelica is too busy with her photography to keep up with my performance schedule."

"Well. I hope I do you justice."

Esmeralda gave a bittersweet smile.

"Chel, you're a great dancer. You'll do amazing."

Chel smiled.

"Coming from you. That's a true honor."

"Well, good luck. Have fun. I'm sure, Phillip will be a little nervous at first but he's quite to adapt," Esmeralda replied, looking at the time.

"Oh right. I have to meet him soon. Talk to you later, Es!"

Esmeralda watched Chel leave wishing that she could still be able to dance. She touched her midsection longingly staring off into space.

"Developing a way to cut through the floor with just a stare?"

She blinked herself back to reality to see Meg standing in front of her with a gift bag in hand. Esmeralda was relieved to see a friendly face.

"Hey!" Esmeralda said as Meg sat down next to her.

"You okay, Es?"

Esmeralda nodded.

"Yeah I think so. I just gave Chel my performance schedules and officially made the transtion. Just felt super weird. What's that?" Esmeralda asked motioning toward the gift bag.

"Oh. This is from Hercules' parents, actually. It seems Andrina told everyone in the family your news and Hera just couldn't help herself."

"Wow. That's so nice of her. I didn't think renting out studio space from the Olympus' meant I'd have such generous landlords."

"Yeah at dinner their anniversary dinner the other night, Hera was glowing talking about it."

Esmeralda was amused.

"Good luck having her for a mother in law, one day, Meg."

Meg laughed but got silent.

"What?"

"Hercules said something similar at dinner the other night and it just has me in a weird headspace."

"What do you mean?"

"Hercules talked about us having a family of our own one day and I don't know if I want to be a mother, to be honest. I mean look at where I come from."

Esmeralda nodded, understanding. Her own mother had an alcohol problem and died young. She had never met her father. Only Clopin had memories of him. He died when she was young. She could relate to that fear.

"I won't lie to you. I've thought about those things too. But then I think, I've already come this far in life. I can take care of another human being."

"You're a lot stronger than I am, Es. The vitriol I saw a couple of weeks ago. I don't want to pass that on at all."

"You mean when your dad came with his new family?"

Meg nodded, staring off blankly. Her violet eyes grew dark.

"Are you talking about it with Dr. Thatch?"

"As much as I can. I just don't know what I'll do when Hercules brings up a potential family again."

"Well, Meg, you two are on that path. You'll probably be married by this time next year if not sooner."

"Yeah maybe your Little Sparrow there can be the ring bearer or flower girl."

Esmeralda laughed.

"Oh I hope this kid inherits my graceful walk."

"Now, that would be a story to tell."

Esmeralda sighed.

"I have to ask. How's my sister?"

Meg shrugged.

"Beats me. She barely speaks to me. She's downright mean sometimes. She takes on her own projects and doesn't consult me unless it has to do with billing."

Esmeralda shook her head and began to cry.

"I'm so sorry, Meg. She shouldn't be adding you in to this drama."

"What the hell happened? I thought she was coming around to you and Sparrow?"

Esmeralda was silent. She shook her head again remembering the horrible names Angelica spewed at her in front of Clopin and Aladdin. The pain was eating her alive.

"Don't tell me you're going to go radio silent too on this?" Meg sarcastically asked.

Esmeralda shook her head.

"No it's not that. It's just really painful to relive. It's always the ones you love most that can cut you deeper than a stranger."

Before Esmeralda could go further, her phone dinged multiple times in a row.

"Good gods, woman, where's the fire?" Meg teased.

Esmeralda looked at her screen. She had seven messages from Jack including a swarthy selfie of him on deck. Even with her situation, she couldn't help but smile and blush. Jack did stir up special feelings in her.

"Oh gosh, it's your pirate paramour, isn't it?"

Esmeralda nodded.

"He's within wifi range. So he'll be here in about two days."

"How are you going to tell him?"

"I have absolutely no idea."

/

Further North, Esmeralda's roommate Flynn worked with Aladdin at investigating the most recent incident at Royal Hall. They had already walked through the grounds near the Guest House and were exchanging notes with some of Cassim's men.

"A dead rat? That's just unsanitary on so many levels," Flynn stated after he'd dismissed the men back to Cassim's headquarters.

Aladdin nodded as they headed toward the main house to discuss their findings with Rolfe and Royal.

"And vile. My money is still on Adam Beastman."

Flynn shook his head.

"No. We know who all of Beastman's underlings are. And none of them have been seen outside his properties in weeks," Flynn said as he entered the house.

Anya and Derek were sitting at the dining room table looking at a tablet screen.

"My eyes are closed in that one!" Anya exclaimed as she swiped.

"Oh come on. Only a little. It's a good picture," Derek responded.

"Yeah of you! It's obvious Angelica wanted to make you look good."

At the mention of Angelica's name, Flynn knew this would not be good. He turned to Aladdin who instantly stiffened.

"Not in this one. As you can see, I look terrible in this photo. But Angelica did an excellent job."

"We're finished," Aladdin curtly interjected, pausing the photo viewing.

Derek turned to Flynn and Aladdin.

"Ah. Good. Anything useful?"

"No."

Aladdin's rude responses weren't getting them anywhere.

"Nothing new anyway. Our men reinstalled the cameras that were disconnected the other night and added more that aren't easily noticeable to the naked eye. Cassim is following up on a few leads as we speak," Flynn added.

He never thought that he would be the professional one out of the two of them.

"If there's an update. We'll let you know," Aladdin said, dismissively, heading toward the door.

He stomped out.

"Anything I should be concerned about?" Derek asked Flynn, nervously.

Flynn shook his head.

"Yeah, what is up with him? He is not the same Aladdin I remember," Anya added.

Flynn sighed. He knew he couldn't get too deep but Anya was his friend.

"He's going through a rough break up, really."

"I thought he and Angelica were doing great?" Anya asked.

"Angelica?" Derek inquired.

"Yeah. Aladdin and Angelica have been seeing each other for a while. Or so I thought. What happened?"

"It's a long story. And unfortunately I am not at liberty to divulge every last detail but suffice it to say, they had a very big fight."

"Well, that's too bad. I liked them together."

Before Flynn could say anything more, Anya's phone buzzed.

"Oh. It's a text from Will. They're within range."

Flynn nodded nervously, knowing what that would mean for Esmeralda.

"Excited to see him?" Flynn asked.

Derek rolled his eyes.

Anya blushed.

"Yes. I am, actually. Is that a problem?"

Flynn smiled and shook his head.

"No. No. Not a problem at all. In fact I'm very happy for the two of you. Finally, Will got his girl."

"How long have you known about his interest in me?"

"Since we were kids, Anya."

Anya's blue eyes grew wide in shock.

"And with that I'll let you two continue your portrait viewing. Give my best to Angelica."

Anya covered her face.

"Bye, Flynn!"

As Flynn headed toward the door to meet up with what he assumed was a heated Aladdin, he sent a quick text to his new roommate. They were having a guest for dinner. It was time Esmeralda met her unborn child's grandfather.