I, in no way, shape, or form, own Shantae. How unfortunate. Rated T for language and sexual/violent references and themes. Enjoy!

The shaking and the rumbling ceased, the balls of fire and smoke from the explosions fading away. It was always a mystery why every major enemy exploded once defeated, whether they were mechanical or not. It was quite comical, really.

The dust finally settling, the purple-haired girl glared down the Pirate Master, her hands on her hips with a triumphant grin plastered across her face. The woman she risked her life for stood next to her, who, with hair disheveled, a number of cuts and bruises on her pale skin, and torn clothes that barely resembled her usual outfit, had her own triumphant smirk.

"You're finished, Pirate Master," Shantae yelled gleefully. She had come across just as badly as the woman next to her. Cuts decorated her bare arms, and bruises were starting to appear across her exposed torso. Nothing a potion couldn't fix. Or a visit to the healing spa.

"You've not seen the last of me!" threatened the Pirate Master, before exploding again and his remains blowing out with the wind. Her arms stung and her bruises began to ache, but she couldn't have been happier. The Pirate Master was dead (or presumed to be, anyway), her powers had returned, and Risky Boots was alive and safe, if not a little be shaken. Not that'd she admit to it.

As Risky turned to her, Shantae took note of how nice she looked with her hair down, draped across her face. But then again, Shantae always thought she had a hidden beauty to her, a contrast to her aggressive personality. Asking for her weapons and equipment back, Risky didn't look the least bit as worried as she had before. Shantae asked about the curse, and the pirate snickered and explained that with the Pirate Master dead, the curse was gone, and there was nothing to fear. Relief shot through the young half-genie while Risky told her how she was free of the darkness that ruled over her, that she was now able to make her own destiny without the influence of the Pirate Master shadowing her any longer.

"So… you're going to become a good guy?" Shantae tentatively asked. At this, Risky burst out laughing, but it wasn't her usual evil cackle. It was a genuine laugh, and something Shantae wished she could hear it more often.

"I didn't say that," snorted Risky, "listen carefully, runt." Risky started to slowly approach Shantae, the younger girl biting her lip nervously. Was Risky going to kill her then and there? After what she had done for her? 'No,' Shantae thought, 'not even she would stoop that low… would she?'

"You walked the walk and you talked the talk," the pirate continued, "you even dressed the part." Shantae giggled a bit. Unable to resist, she pulled out the bandana and swapping it with her golden headpiece, if just for a moment. She quickly swapped them back over at the sight of Risky still walking towards her. Now wasn't the time for joking around. Risky could attack her at any second now!

"But in the end, you're no seafaring cutthroat. Far from it. You can't pretend to be something you're not," Risky stopped in front of Shantae. The height difference was evident; Shantae's nose barely reached the top of Risky's lips. The lips she couldn't stop staring at. Shantae finally broke her gaze away from them and made direct eye contact with Risky, having to tilt her head up a little bit to do so.

"And…" Risky's voice softened, her smirk fading slightly. The pirate snaked her hand to Shantae's cheek, and the half-genie's heart quickened at the contact. Quickly pinching herself with her free hand to make sure that this wasn't a dream, Shantae let out a tiny sigh of relief that she wasn't. 'Relief? Really? Is that what I'm thinking right now? She might be planning to snap my neck, or gouge my eyes out, she wouldn't do that. But I can dream, right?'

"Neither can I." The words interrupted the half-genie's conflicting thoughts, and she had barely any time to look at Risky before she felt the soft pressure of lips pressed against her own. Her azure eyes widened, before slowly closing and melting into it, pressing back. 'Please be real, please be real, please be real,' she repeated in her mind, never wanting the moment to end. She hated to admit it, but she had had a huge crush on Risky for a while. 'It's not right,' she would tell herself in her mind, 'she's your rival. Your arch-nemesis. You fight each other. This alliance is only until the Pirate Master is defeated, don't get your hopes up on a silly crush.' But the moment Risky opened up to Shantae about her past, Shantae's wall of 'why you shouldn't have a crush on Risky' crumbled. On that ship, in the port of Frostbite Island, Shantae's crush on Risky rekindled, and she couldn't help but feel sour that their friendliness would end after Shantae had helped Risky beat the Pirate Master.

These memories flashed through Shantae's head, before blanking out again to savour the kiss. Her hand found its way to Risky's waist, but didn't dare to pull her closer. Not yet. But all good things had to come to an end, and the kiss ended far too soon for Shantae, and she groaned in disappointment as Risky pulled away. The guardian opened her eyes, staring into Risky's red gaze, a blush on her cheeks. Shantae couldn't blame her, she could feel her cheeks burning as well. They smiled at each other, before the taller woman averted her gaze, letting out a breath that neither of them had really noticed she was holding.

"So long," Risky murmured before turning around and walking off. Shantae's smile instantly dropped. She could hear her friends and uncle approaching her from behind. She never got to say anything, how could she just walk off like that!?

"Risky…I…I…" Shantae began, but the pirate was at the other end of the bridge between the castle's towers. Instinctively, she grabbed right arm with her left hand; a posture of vulnerability.

"Don't go!" she pleaded softly, but she knew it was already too late.

Risky was gone.

Prioritising a fanfic over my English essay! Oh yeah! Thanks for reading lads (and lass'), there's more to come! I may or may not upload another chapter until I've played through Risky's Revenge and Half-Genie Hero. Depends if I need to reference past events in the story, make up a story for the gap between Pirate's Curse and HGH, or if I can pump out another chapter without the need to do either. I may be able to, but this won't be updated for a few weeks either way, thanks to school.Sorry for any spelling or grammatical mistakes, I don't have a proof-reader and I'm too embarrassed to ask one of my friends to do it for me. Also, I spell words how they're spelled in Australia. Forgive me if this causes any inconvenience.Please Rate and Review! Constructive feedback will be taken into consideration!