A/N: Here is my attempt at writing a Hook/Ariel fic. I hope you all enjoy it. I must say MorgansGurl Part of His World, and A Bee Cee's Poor Unfortunate Souls, has really inspired me to give it a go. IF you have yet to read them you probably should. Anyways tonight Ariel makes her entrance on Once and I am super excited! =D

Chapter I

She watched them from her spot on the side of the boat, her crimson red hair blowing in the wind. They were dancing to music. She loved to watch humans dancing, the way they moved she found breathtaking. It was one of her many favorite pass times.

She loved everything that had to do with humans. Their freedom to explore, different lands and oceans. She had once followed a ship miles on the sea but eventually had stopped and decided to go home, not knowing what she would find in the waters or if she'd ever see another one of her kind.

She enjoyed watching fishermen go on their ships and would even help them when they were not bringing in anything. Though they never knew of her presence. Her favorite was the pirates she would see. They seemed to travel all over and engage in battle with other ships on sea. She had taken a pocket watch from one of them when they fell into the ocean.

She spent most of her days above the surface pulling herself onto ledges of ships, or simply watching from the ocean at a safe distance. She learned many things about the human world by listing to them speak to each other, the stories they would tell. She would even go to near by docks hiding underneath to watch and learn from the humans that she wished she could partake in their world.

One of the women dancing fell to the floor. She had been drinking a lot of liquid from a barrel that Ariel determined made humans lose their balance and seem to make them happy because the woman was grinning from ear to ear.

The woman laughed and the man she had been dancing with helped her to her feet. He gave her something shinny and the woman smiled then suddenly came running to where Ariel was. Her eyes widened and she quickly moved hiding out of view as the woman leaned over the ship and emptied the contents of her stomach. As soon as she was gone Ariel returned to her spot and noticed what the man had given the women she had left behind.

It was a silver seashell attached to a chain, a necklace Ariel noted. She reached her hand out and took it in her hand to exam it closer. She looked back to the humans and then jumped off the side of the boat with the necklace in her hand swimming quickly away as if they would catch her.

She swam to her secret place. It was a little sandy place surrounded by rocks only accessible by the ocean, or possibly by land if you could manage to climb the rocks that lead to it without a wave pulling you under. She pulled herself out of the ocean and onto the little bit of land dragging herself across to a large boulder where she had hidden a chest. She opened it up and began to look through the many things she had stolen from ships. She didn't dare hide it under the sea where her father or even one of her sisters could find it. They would call her childish for holding onto human trinkets, and give her a lecture of the dangers.

"Hello dearie"

Ariel snapped her head up to see a man sitting on a rock above her. His skin looked greenish and shinny as if he had just come out of the water, but his clothes were dry. She looked around there was no easy access to her secret place. "Who are you? A wizard?"

The man chuckled; he popped up onto his feet balancing on a small rock. "Rumplestilskin at your service." He said with a bow.

"Rumplestilskin?" Ariel said hesitantly. "I think I've heard of you…. The Dark One?" She asked.

"Precisely so then you've heard I make deals. Which is why I am here." He jumped down sitting on the rock once more. "Are you interested in having legs?" He smirked.

Ariel looked at him her heart skipping a beat. Excitement ran through her and any fear she had of the man disappeared. "You can do that?"

"They don't call me the Dark One for nothing." He said with a humorous tone to his voice. "What I want in exchange is a promise that you will fetch me some squid ink."

"Squid ink?" She asked surprised at such an easy task.

"Not jut any squid ink, but the rarest squid ink."

"You mean…"

"Yes. I could probably get it myself but its such a boring task."

"Its dangerous, and they're hard to find."

"Yes but you don't need to find it now. When I decide I want it I'll come and find you."

"But how? I'll have legs."

"Awe and a fin when you hit water."

She stared at him for a minute debating on whether to accept. She could die trying to get that ink for him. Though she would get to have legs, and get them now. It was practically everything she ever wanted. "Alright."

Rumplestilskin giggled a gleeful sound and suddenly there was a scroll in his hand, and a quill in the other. "Contracts are binding" He said, "but I do require one more thing before I give you legs."

"What?"

He pointed to her tail. "Three scales from your fin."

"Why?"

"Call me a collector of things." He told her. "Do we have a deal?"

Ariel held her hand out for the quill, and as he placed it in her hand she had a moment of hesitation. She took a deep breath and signed the parchment before she could have any second thoughts. She wanted her legs.

Rumplestilskin giggled again and the scroll and quill were gone replaced with a knife he handed her the hilt. "Now the scales."

Ariel took the knife and on her upper side cut into herself biting her lip at the sharp sting. Her eyes watered but she soon had three scales removed from her tail. With a bloody hand she handed him back the knife and three of her scales. "Now I'll get legs?"

Rumplestilskin grinned snapped his finger and Ariel began to feel a dull ache in her tail. She looked down at her long green fin as the ache began to increase in its magnitude. She cried out as her whole body suddenly began to feel like it was on fire.

Her nails dug deep into the sand as she heard a loud tearing noise. Her fin was splitting into two and slowly began to morph into legs. She clenched her eyes tightly at the pain.

The burning feeling began to fade and turned back into a slow dull ache. She opened her deep ocean blue eyes blinking away tears now staring at two long alabaster legs.

She wiggled a toe and grinned touching her new pair of legs. She had legs, two beautiful legs. She snapped her head up to where Rumplestilskin was sitting but he was no longer there. She looked back at her legs she ran her hands along them. There were three crescent moon shaped scars on her upper thigh but besides them she found them perfect.

She attempted to get to her feet and immediately fell. This was going to take some practice.