Everyone on the ship was either furious or elated. Mal and her friends belonged to the latter as they had made their escape with Ben, and Uma's crew were seething. It didn't help that their captain had jumped overboard without another word.
XJ had climbed up onto a net and had her eyes closed. The wind of the sea blew through her hair and the salt in the air helped her successfully clear her head after the encounter with Mulan's offspring.
"I watched you, you know," A voice said as XJ felt movement beside her.
"Watched me do what?" XJ asked, her eyes still shut.
"I watched you fight, Xiao," Harry said, his voice serious, which was a surprising turn from his usual mischievous tone. "It was hard to hear you in the middle of all the fighting, but I caught words."
"And?"
"The look on your face gave me chills. I thought you were going to finish the girl off, but you let her go instead."
"I'm sensing that you want an explanation."
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. Not like I would be able to force it out of you." Harry said carefully, watching XJ's unchanging expression.
XJ was silent for a while and Harry was about to change the subject, but then XJ spoke. "Mulan's emperor refused to give my father's people food. We were dying so we did what we had to. Mulan's little girl had eaten up the story everyone around her had told her, so I decided to enlighten her. She didn't take it well, but I managed to convince her."
"And why did you let her go?"
"When I get to Auradon, I'll need a mole. When Fa Mulan's daughter forces the truth out of her mother, she'll turn against her family, no matter how much she won't admit it. With a little bit of convincing, she'll work for me." XJ's eyes finally opened.
"Huh, I thought you'd gone soft." Harry said, wrapping an arm around XJ's waist, which he seemed to like doing a lot.
XJ snorted, "The day I get soft is the day my father decides to search for me again."
"You deciding to date me counts as getting soft, you know." Harry smirked.
"You really like bringing up the fact that we're a couple, don't you?" XJ said, smiling slightly.
Harry shrugged, "It's quite a feat to court you, lass."
There was a moment of comfortable quietness in between the two, XJ and Harry just watching the waves move and splash against the rocks.
"Did Uma tell you her backup plan?" Harry asked all of a sudden.
XJ shook her head. "I'm assuming that she's going to swim through the barrier when Mal and her gang drive out back to Auradon. I don't know what she's planning to do after that, though."
"She found Mal's spell book and she's making Ben fall in love with her. She's going to show up at the Cotillion and have Ben remove the barrier around the Isle." Harry explained. "It was a split second thing, and she kind of shouted her plan at me as she ran off the side of the ship."
"That's not a bad plan. I'm impressed." XJ commented, "But you and I both know that it's not going to work."
Harry raised an eyebrow quizzically, "Why?"
"If anybody knows the side-effects of a spell, it's Maleficent's daughter. Uma won't be able to do anything, since the rest of us can't get over to her. If she had thought of the plan before, maybe we could have all swum over when the barrier broke for a split second and stall for time, but with the crew stuck here, nothing's going to change. Our best bet is Ben inviting some of us to Auradon, and then finishing the mission Mal and her friends were supposed to do." XJ finished.
Harry blinked a few times and then laughed.
XJ sent him a look, "What?"
Harry grinned, "Nothing, lass, it's just amazing to see how your brain works."
"I highly doubt that I'm that much of an enigma, Harry."
"Well, you're wrong then." Harry said, still grinning. His gaze wandered to Auradon. "When you take over the place, what's going to be the first thing you declare?" Harry asked.
XJ hummed thoughtfully. "The barrier will have to come down, obviously, but that wasn't the answer you were looking for, was it?"
"Nope. You ordering the barrier to come down is pretty obvious."
"I figured. I don't know actually. I don't intend to rule the country well in terms of 'good'; I just want the crown."
Harry chuckled. "You really are a villain."
"Rotten to the core and don't you forget it." XJ said, smiling.
"How could I when you keep reminding me every minute?" Harry said, kissing XJ's cheek.
XJ grinned as Harry pulled away. "The word love hasn't been used in years." She hinted, turning her head to smile at Harry.
Harry smiled back. "Until now. I love you."
XJ had been hinting at Harry to say the words, but the feeling of hearing the words directed at her still took her breath away. "I love you too."
Harry's smile grew even wider. "Would you look at that - the big, bad Xiao Jun saying 'I love you'. We really are like Mal and Ben, aren't we?"
XJ scrunched up her nose in disgust, "We're cooler."
Harry laughed and pulled XJ closer, "Yes we are."
---
Harry, XJ and Uma's crew were seated in Ursula's Fish and Chips, which was deserted, watching the live broadcast of the Cotillion. Harry had told the crew about Uma's plan, but he hadn't told them about XJ's predictions. XJ had told him not to, or the crew would lose their faith in their captain, and as small of a threat Uma was, if she found out that XJ had caused her crew to turn against her, no matter how slightly, she would be annoying to deal with. The daughter of Ursula was anything but powerful, but she sure was determined.
XJ was sitting at another table while Harry sat with the rest of the pirates. XJ needed to be alone, and after reassuring Harry that he hadn't done anything wrong and she just needed to reboot her brain, something that she found helped her function better, she sat down at a couple of tables next to the pirate crew.
When Uma made her appearance, dressed up like a princess alongside Ben, who was under her spell, the crew cheered and laughed as the people at Cotillion's jaws dropped and eyes widened.
Harry roared, raising a fist into the air, "Tonight lads, we ride with the tide!"
The crew roared, clapped and whooped. Harry joined in the noise and glanced at XJ, who had her eyes glued to the screen. Her eyes briefly flickered over at the rise in volume and caught Harry's gaze. She grinned at him and Harry returned it. Harry made an over-exaggerated kissing face and winked. XJ rolled her eyes but smiled, her eyes returning to the broadcast. Harry did the same, and watched as Ben started to dance with Uma.
Suddenly, when Uma yelled at the Fairy Godmother to break the barrier, Mal confronted Ben, and Uma's spell was broken. Harry had expected this, but the crew hadn't, and bursts of outrage and shocked yells echoed through the empty restaurant. Harry just sighed and left the table, walking over to XJ.
"You should stop thinking so much; I can't have a girlfriend whose head has blown up." Harry smirked as he sat next to his girlfriend.
"I wasn't thinking, I was sorting things into files in my head." XJ said, smiling slightly. She smiled a lot more now that she was in a relationship with Harry.
"Explain," Harry said as he turned his chair around and put his elbows on the back of the chair and putting his legs on either side of the backrest.
XJ sighed as Harry rested his chin on his arms. "Memories are in a cabinet, facts are stored in another, and so on. They're all in the form of files and my head is an archive. I have to file things from time to time, and to do that I need absolute silence. If I don't, then I don't function as well as I would like."
"Sounds like it requires a lot of brainpower." Harry commented. "It also sounds boring."
"It works effectively and that's all that matters."
"You know what else works effectively for clearing your head?" Harry asked, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
XJ asked, looking a small bit suspicious, "What?"
Harry kissed her without another word as XJ's eyes widened. He pulled away and grinned, "That."
XJ laughed, a sound, much like her smile, that had become much more common now that she and Harry had gotten together, "Maybe it does help."
Harry winked, making XJ laugh again. He smiled at the sound of her laughter and wondered how he had managed to get that lucky.