Braking the surface of the water she took a deep breath and smiled. Her hands moved and pushed her hair out of her face before looking around. She felt the wind hit her bare shoulders and glanced around. The lost boys had a tendency to come to Mermaid Lagoon and spy on them from time to time. Not that she could really blame them. They were adolescent boys that lived rather close to a place where mermaids sunbathed. But it was the pirates that they tended to worry about the most. That was more their fault than anyone else's since they tended to steal their treasure and put it in the lagoon where the Pirates couldn't get it. It was fun for them and while the men got upset they never really did anything about it. The entire situation was one big never ending cycle. Her head snapped towards the east side of the lagoon when she heard voices. With a few flicks of her tail she was at Mermaid Rock in the middle of the lagoon.

"Alright boys, you keep an eye out. They're tricky these women."

"I don't think they're really women Captain."

"Be quiet Smee."

Smiling the girl peeked around the rock. There were only four of them. The rest of the crew must have been back at the ship making sure her friends didn't send it off to another part of the island like they had before. Clearing her throat a little she called out, "I think that's a bad idea Killian."

He laughed. "Ariel, come on now love don't hide."

Ariel easily slid through the water towards the beach and kept her eyes moving around just in case there were more of his men hiding in difference spots. "I never hide Killian. There's no fun in that." She looked him over and pushed her hair back again. "Are you going to come for a swim with me? You know you want to." One of her hands rose out of the water and she motioned to him. "Come on come swimming. Take that silly hook off and come in."

"So you can drown me? Oh no thank you love." His signature smirk graced his features as he looked her over again. The two of them had always had an interesting back and forth and he enjoyed it. There weren't any other women around that could get to him the way that girl did. He couldn't even be sure she was more than eighteen, but for the last five years she'd been tormenting him. It must have been Neverland that kept her looking the same no matter how much time had gone by. The girl could have been older than he was and no one would have known. But he doubted it. She was too young, too naive. The girl might have found a way to be in charge of the other mermaids but she was far from old enough.

"I wouldn't do that to you. Gods the last thing I want is the body of a pirate floating around my lagoon. That is just disgusting." She swam a little closer to shore and grinned. "Come swim with me Killian, I'll give you some of the treasure back."

"It's not a good idea Captain. You can't trust things like her."

Arial frowned at Smee. "Well that is just rude. What have I done to you?" Splashing some of the water she spun and started to swim away. "Stay out of my lagoon and know that it's Mr. Smee's fault." She turned and swam backwards while watching them. "Unless he says sorry."

"Ariel come back don't be a child."

Pouting she stopped swimming and looked at Killian. "I'm not a child." She moved to one of the rocks and pulled herself up a little so she was almost laying on it. "Your first mate was the one that was mean to me. I didn't do anything to him."

Killiam rolled his eyes. "Smee say you're sorry to the little princess."

If looks could kill Killian Jones would have been dead. "Don't mock me Hook." Ariel snapped. She didn't enjoy being mocked and it was worse when he did it. Things were different when it was just him around. He was like a big brother to her but the moment his crew was around he acted like he was cruel pirate he was supposed to be. It was irritating to her.

"Oh did I anger my little princess?" Killian walked to the edge of the water and gave her a cocky grin. He was safe as long as he didn't go into the water. "I'm so sorry little one."

"I hope you drown." She snapped before diving under the walter. If he was going to continue acting like that she wasn't going to speak to him anymore. Why was it that he could be like that when his crew was around? He didn't even tell Smee about his friendship with the youngest mermaid in the lagoon. He was the one that had come to her when the Pirates had first landed in Neverland. She had been kind to him. They'd been friends. She swam to the bottom of the lagoon and let herself rest there just looking up at the surface. Everything was always calmer down there. She turned her head towards where the beach was when she heard the sound of something breaking the surface. Slowly she pushed herself up through the water and peeked the top of her head out of the water so she could see over the surface.

Killian had discarded his jacket and boots on the beach and it seemed that the rest of his crew had left him as he made his way into the water. The hook remained though. Ariel did take notice that even though the two of them wouldn't do harm to each other he still kept it in place. "I'm sorry Ariel."

She moved so her sounders were out of the water and frowned. "No. You were mean to me Killian. You let Smee be mean to me." Moving her hand she splashed water at him.

He turned his face away from the splash before looking at her again. "Come here Ariel."

"Why would I do that?" She pushed herself through the water and started to swim around him. "You might try to put your hook in me."

"I would never do that to you." He reached his hand out and let his hand brush against her fin as she swam around him. "You're the last person I'd put my hook in."

Ariel stopped in front of him. "What's wrong with being friends with a mermaid? I doubt they'd be upset about it. I can be helpful." She smiled and paused for a moment. "Some of them even think I'm pretty."

"None of them should look at you in that way Ariel. You're a child." Killian glared at her but the handful of water that hit him in the face made him cough. "Fine you're not a child. But I would like to know who decided to speak to you in that way."

She laughed. "I don't need protection from a pirate."

[So Dark And So Sweet]

"Ariel." The man laughed as he made his way through the bookshelves trying to spot the small redhead that had managed to avoid him for most of the day. "It's getting late, you have to come home." He heard a sigh before he saw her move out from behind one of the bookshelves. "Don't sigh, it's late and Belle was worried that something was wrong."

Her eyes darted towards the front of the library where she knew Belle must have been sitting. Frowning a little she hoisted her bag up on her shoulder. She let out a huff before walking past him and towards the front of the library. She gave Belle a small wave before walking out the door.

"Something has to be wrong."

"She misses him is all. She gets like this sometimes."

"Poor thing. Keep an eye on her William, she has me worried."

"Of course. Captain asked me to watch her I'm not going to stop just because he's not around. She's a sweet little thing and needs someone to watch over her."

Ariel listened to the voices and frowned. She didn't need people watching over her. Nothing ever happened in the stupid town and she was the last person anyone was going to lay a hand on. She was a walking charity case in town. Though she had been like that before the curse was broken. The sad little mute girl that lived with her doting older brother and crazy Jefferson. At least Smee always kept an eye on her even when under the curse. Ariel knew that Killian would be happy when he came back. Because he would come back and so would everyone else. Or they were there and had been hiding the past few weeks. Many people had decided to stay quiet after the curse was broken because of their pasts. Pirates were people that stayed under the radar because it was better for them. When Smee came out of the library she pased a smile on her face.

"There's no point in that. I know you're upset." He wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders and led her towards the car. "Did you walk all the way here?"

She nodded.

Smee sighed. "You can't do things like that Ariel. People might not see you and if something happened, you can't call for help."

A frown overtook her features and she shrugged his arm off of her shoulders. The last thing she liked being reminded of was her condition. She slipped into the car before slamming the door closed behind her.

All Smee could do was sigh. She was in one of her moods and it was going to take a lot to get her out of it. Jefferson was usually able to help since he had been pretty messed up before getting Grace back. He sighed and walked around to the drivers seat. "He'll show up Ariel."

She held up her hand and shook her head before glaring out the window. If there was one thing she worried about it was Killian never reappearing. There was so much that could go wrong that she couldn't be sure he was still around. The smoke had over taken her and Smee when he was helping her become more comfortable on her legs and she couldn't be sure if he was swept up in the the smoke or not. She had been lucky to have William Smee with her. Regina even let her keep her memories since the mute girl wasn't much of a threat. Regina had also had a soft spot for the tiny mermaid that she'd met and given legs to.

Once they reached the boarding house Ariel slipped out of the car and made her way up the steps to the door. It opened before she had the chance to reach for the knob and Jefferson stood there. She gave him a look before moving around him and walking inside.

"Well she seems to be in a wonderful mood."

"Yes well it's not like she can talk to us about what's wrong." Smee gave Jefferson's arm a pat before walking inside as well. "Belle seems worried about her and she wont tell me what's wrong."

The sound of glass breaking made the two of them run towards the kitchen. Jefferson got there first and hesitated in the doorway. Ariel was standing by the island with her hands in front of her like she was still holding the bowl that was shattered in front of her bare feet. Her hands were shaking and her tiny shoulders were moving with the silent sobs that were slipping out of her. Jefferson's eyes moved away from Ariel and came to rest on the man standing just inside the backdoor.

Jefferson held his hand out and motioned for Ariel even though her back was to him. "Ariel, come here." His eyes didn't leave the new arrival. When the man went to take a step forward Jefferson moved forward and held his hand up. "Stay where you are." His hand moved and carefully took hold of Ariel's wrist and he pulled her back. "It's alright, whatever happened it's alright."

"She knows everything's alright." The man took a step forward and smirked.

"What did I just tell you?" Jefferson snapped. He wasn't going to let this mystery man into the house when Grace was upstairs. He was actually surprised that she hadn't come downstairs when she heard the glass break. "Ariel could you go check on Grace for me?" When Ariel didn't move Jefferson turned a little and looked at her. "What is it?"

Smee came into the room then. "Grace is alright I went to check on her." His eyes moved to the new man before reaching up and pulling his hat off his head. "Captain."