Everything has happened in the Little Mermaid as previously told. Ariel's Treasure Room has been destroyed by her father in a fit of rage and a remorseful Sebastian who'd never meant to tell Triton is with Flounder following her and Ursula's two eels to Ursula's lair. Sebastian had refused to tell Triton everything even though he'd slipped upon mentioning Eric. He then refused to tell Triton about her Treasure Room as this was her private thing which she'd asked him not to tell her father about. Finally in a rage Triton had ripped it out of him with magic, leaving him feeling violated and had dragged him along to the confrontation. Thus, Sebastian is less loyal to Triton than he'd been before and feels an obligation to help Ariel whom he now feels he has betrayed.

Also there is a history between Ariel and Sebastian as in the original story he gives in too easy to help her after she is a mute and silently pleads with him for help. Ariel knows that he once cared for her and she uses that to get his help. Here a little change is made in actions that spins the whole story out of its original path.

Things begin to change in this story when Sebastian decides earlier than he did in the other story to help Ariel achieve what she wants because he cares for her. In the other story he came to this same conclusion when she silently pleaded with him on the beach. Here He makes this decision just after Ursula has finished her song and dance on how it'll be so easy to use body language to get her man and poor Ariel is buying that she can win Eric without her voice.

Sebastian was horrified at the deal being offered Ariel. It was a win and no lose for Ursula. He now felt a terrible sense of obligation to the girl he'd once cared for after he'd been forced to reveal her secret. He decided he'd had enough of the two eels gagging him and Flounder. He couldn't let Ariel blow her chance to find happiness as Ursula rode over her like an avalanche. He slashed out with all his claws. There was a scream and Jetsam shot into the air and then Flotsam was knocked over by Flounder's tail and Flounder and Sebastian shot right over beside Ariel.

"What?" Ariel gasped, realizing for the first time that she was not alone. "Flounder, what're you and Sebastian doing here?"

"We're here to help you, Ariel." Flounder protested and then swatted Flotsam again.

Ariel glared at the crab. "Don't think you can stop me this time, Sebastian. My mind is made up. I'm going to win Eric and become human."

Sebastian settled down on her shoulder as she winced. "I'm not here to stop you, Ariel, and I know I can't stop Ursula, but I just want you to get the best chance to succeed and becoming a mute is not going to work."

Ursula shouted at the two eels. "Get them out of here!"

Jetsam held up his hurt tail. "You do it, boss. That crab carries switchblades."

Flounder looked up beseeching his friend. "Please, Ariel. We want to help you." He quailed as Flotsam moved in on him with an angry snarl.

Ariel looked from Flounder to Flotsam and her protective instincts for her friend finally got her out of her over-powered state. "Stop!" She shouted. "You hurt my friends and the deal is off."

Ursula snarled and huffed and puffed, but finally subsided like all bullies do as she realized her dominating role was done. Her victim was fighting back. She called her eels over to her and began examining them. "Are you all right, my poor poopsies?" She touched Jetsam under his chin. "Did the bad crab hurt you, little one?"

"Please, Ariel." Sebastian held out his claws to her. "At least listen to what I and Flounder have to say and then do what you need to do." He hung his head. "It's the least I can do for you now after I hurt you so badly and got your treasure room destroyed."

She stared at him for a while and he was afraid she was going to brush him off her shoulder when she seemed to see something in his pleading look that softened her heart a little. "All right, Sebastian." She declared coldly. "What advice would you give me? Not that I'll take any of it, but I will at least listen."

What he wanted to do was shout for her to flee and get out of here but that was never going to happen. "Ursula is demanding too much in payment. If you fail she gets you to do what she wants with and that means you become one of those." He gestured at Ursula's cringing garden. "And…"

"Now just a minute." Ursula barked. "If she succeeds I get nothing. That's not right either."

"Madam, I said you're asking too much, not what you're owed." He drew himself up. "If Ariel accepts what I suggest, then you get her singing voice but not her speaking voice." He looked up at Ariel. "It's a fair trade as your singing voice is valuable and you can still talk and won't have to try and seduce the prince and how can seduction be considered true love anyway?"

Ursula considered this, started to object, and then reconsidered. She'd planned to have a dumb Ariel, unable to communicate with anyone but didn't Eric know her only by her singing voice? She'd never convince him with a frog's croaking that she was the one he'd heard on the storm-wracked beach. Besides, how would Eric react to some strange woman claiming to be a mermaid? She'd be lucky if she didn't end up in a padded cell. Also it would be better if she wasn't a mute as there would be no sympathy or mystery factors. "I can live with that." She said with a smile.

"You can?" Ariel looked down and a small smile formed on her lips before she said for the first time in her more normal voice. "Thank you, Sebastian. I was really uncomfortable with the body language method. I'm not that type of girl. What else do you suggest?"

"Several things. First, if she turns you into an air breather, then what happens to you if she does it underwater?" He shuddered. "You begin to drown and if you try to come up too fast to reach air you're going to get the bends and at the very least be very sick. So she has to deposit you on land outside the castle and use her magic to make sure that you don't get the bends."

Ariel touched her throat with the fingers of one hand. "Drowning?" She shook her head violently. "No. And I've seen the results of the bends from fish brought up from great depths too fast. It's nothing I want to experience." She glared at Ursula. "Add that to the contract." She looked at Sebastian and as she really and truly smiled, he felt her last resistance to him collapse. "Please, continue, my friend."

"Second, Ariel, if she gives you legs, then she'd better give you the means to use them correctly or you're going to spend a lot of time flailing around. Third, they wear clothes on land and if you end up naked there, the humans will at the very least think you're odd. We can tell them you were in a ship wreck to explain some of it."

"We? You want to be there to help me?"

Flounder rubbed up against her. "Of course we do, Ariel."

Sebastian sighed. "You'll be there all alone surrounded by humans who don't know you and you'll need all the help you can get. Of course she has to send us with you or it's no deal."

She nodded and gently touched Flounder on his back fin, causing him to wriggle in delight. "Do it like he said, Ursula." She glared at the belligerent Ursula. "You were trying to trick me weren't you?"

' Ursula refused to answer. What did the little fool think she Ursula was doing? Of course she was trying to trick her. It was all part of the great game. "You're making this more complicated than it has to be." Ursula growled as she leaned her double chin on her open palm and then spat in disgust.

Sebastian drew himself up to his full height. "Madam, it hasn't begun to be complicated. However, I listened to what you said about getting the kiss of true love and I couldn't agree more about that clause."

"You do?" Ariel's voice had wonder in it. "Sebastian, I never thought of you as a romantic."

He made a shooing motion with his big claw and blushed. "Then you never sang any of my love songs."

"That's right." She said. "You have to be a romantic to write such beautiful romantic songs and music." She shook her head. "I think I may have been wrong about you, Sebastian. You're more than just some egotistical composer."

Flounder grinned at him. "Go for it, Sebastian." He encouraged. "You're making a lot of sense."

Flounder praising what he was saying? Would wonders never cease? He looked up at Ariel who was looking intently back at him. "Back to getting the kiss of true love to complete the spell. Ariel, I'm afraid there's a problem. If you do get the kiss of true love, then there's no problem. The spell completes and you become human and live happily ever after." Ariel hugged herself with delight.

He brought her delight crashing down when he continued. "But what if it's not the kiss of true love? How are you to know that it isn't, Ariel? You could get a kiss and think it is a true love kiss and waste the remaining hours you'd have to make it right only to have Ursula come and take you right out of Eric's arms."

Ariel put a hand to her mouth. "No!"

"Boys." Ursula whispered behind her hand to her two eels. "You should've eaten him on the way here." They nodded.

Sebastian patted Ariel's shoulder. "You can make it better, Ariel. Have her create a spell that gives you a flash in your mind when you get the kiss of true love."

Ursula growled sarcastically. "I need to save some power here. This is getting too specific and expensive. I might as well make the spell flash and just complete on any kiss of true love."

"That would work." Sebastian replied.

Ursula stared at him and then slapped her forehead. "Me and my big mouth." She clutched her face in her hand. "Any more little quibbles?"

"Madam, how about the legality of you making a contract with a minor." He grinned nastily at her. "You know she has to be eighteen or older to not have an appointed guardian sign with her?"

"What?" Shouted Ursula. "My contracts are legal and binding. They've held up under magical scrutiny."

"How many have you signed with mermaids and mermen under eighteen?" He snapped. When she looked away he nodded. "I thought so. Madam, you will agree to the changes and then I will sign it with Ariel as her guardian. Without my signature you don't have a deal that'll stand up."

"Sebastian!" Flounder protested. "If you do sign for her, King Triton will blame you." He shuddered. "He'll kill you."

Ariel looked pleadingly at him. "Sebastian, will you sign it? For me? Even knowing what daddy can do when he gets mad?"

Sebastian sighed. "Ariel, he already used magic to rip the secret you'd entrusted me with out of my body and.." He looked away remembering the pain. "I will do it anyway."

"Why, Sebastian? Why will you do it?" Ariel was staring at him as if she'd never seen him before.

He looked up at her and knew why he did it but she could never be allowed to know that he cared so much for her that he was betraying Triton who'd told him to control her and guide her. Triton would indeed gut him for this. "Let's say I owe you big time for the loss of your treasures and let it go at that."

Flounder was staring at him. Did Flounder know why or had even a clue as to why he was doing it? He hoped not.

Ursula growled. "I don't want to do any of this. I'll refuse."

He willed himself to face her anger. "It's better than having the Sea King fry you for tricking his daughter, madam." He retorted. "If he has half a brain he'll realize that a contract between you and a minor without a guardian adult such as me signing it will not be legally binding and he'll use your guts for garters. Maybe you can shield yourself against his wrath using your phony contract. But how quickly before he realizes that he can still bring you to justice for all your other crimes and I'm the crab who'll suggest it to him unless you let me help her. So. It's make the changes and let me sign or no deal."

"I hate you crab." She growled. "All right. All right. I'll make the damned changes."

Ariel's fingertips brushed his shell. "Thank you, Sebastian. You're truly a friend." She smiled at him with real affection. He knew he was finally forgiven for the treasure room.

"Way to go, Sebastian." Flounder said as he raised a fin in a high five and slapped Sebastian's up raised claw.

Sometime later Ursula stared in disgust at the now three pages of golden contract. She turned to Ariel. "Sign." Ariel did so with fierce determination.

Sebastian floated over as she moved back and signed his name as ward. The contract sped to Ursula's hand and vanished.

Ursula grinned evilly and then raised a sea shell she'd tied on a chain about her neck. She pointed her finger at Ariel. "Sing!"

Ariel began to go through her warm ups but before she could even get through the first set of notes ghostly white hands dove down her throat and ripped her singing voice out and away to the shell.

"My song." Ariel said and then she gasped as she heard the croaking words that came from her mouth.

"Madam, that's not right." Sebastian protested.

"You signed the contract. No refunds. No returns." Ursula was grinning with evil delight. She turned and threw the final bottle in the cauldron and then stepped back and started laughing.

Sebastian and Flounder floated beside Ariel as the spell built and the explosions grew in number and volume.

"Ariel?" Flounder's voice quavered as the lights flashed.

She reached down and touched his back fin. "It'll be okay, Flounder." But she had to swallow as a particularly large explosion shook the room.

Sebastian noticed and hastened to add. "We're here for you, Ariel. Don't worry."

She swallowed again and then got a determined look. "Why should I worry? I'm going to be human and be with my true love Eric."

The spell exploded and a white pseudo arm reached out and grabbed Ariel and as she struggled in its grip her lower body split in two and she had legs. There was a flash and she now wore a white blouse and a blue skirt. Another flash and she was gone.

"Madam." Sebastian demanded of Ursula. "Why haven't we left with her?"

"Because you're going to Eric's kingdom all right, crab cakes, you're just not going to the same spot in it." She leaned forward and grinned evilly. "And I wanted the opportunity to tell you how much I appreciated your interference. Good luck in surviving your arrival."

"Madam, you're a cheat!" He shouted.

She shrugged. "I'm a villainess. What did you expect?"

There was a flash and they were gone. Flotsam floated around Ursula and rubbed up against her. "Where did you send them, boss?"

"Boys, he and that stupid fish will end up on her plate which is where sea food like them belongs. I sent them right to the kitchen." All three laughed wickedly together.