Author's Note: I think this will be only two or three chapters long. Other than that, there's not much else to say.
I own nothing here.
Chapter 2: Learning to be a Human.
Axel yawned loudly, stretching his arms up above his head and groaned as he sat on the bench in town near the river where people toured or went fishing. Dark circles surrounded his eyes as he felt the urge to just simply go back to sleep, but he knew he couldn't. He had a lot on his plate today.
More than anything, he was worried about Kairi.
"You look like you spend the night awake." A familiar voice, very close to his own, spoke. Axel looked up to see his brother, Reno, standing next to him with their friends and co-workers; Rude, Cloud, Zack, Tifa, and Cissnei.
"I look like it because I haven't been sleeping well at all. Had trouble just falling asleep. Might as well been staying up all night at this rate." Axel groaned, leaning his head on the back of the bench.
"Ya' know, the last time this happened was when we were kids." Reno pointed out, skeptically.
"You had the same problem and besides, one; we were kids, and two; we were up secretly playing 'till we got into trouble with Mom and Dad." His brother retorted.
"So why did you have trouble falling asleep last night?" Cissnei asked.
Axel hesitated. He knew he couldn't tell them the truth. He promised Kairi to keep her and the merfolk safe. So instead, he shrugged, "I dunno. Maybe it was the hormones or somethin'. Maybe a little nap at the beach might help."
"You're going to fall asleep on the beach? What if it rains?" Tifa asked, skeptically.
"I'll take my chances." Axel replied, standing up. "I won't long. Besides, I've been requested to spend a few days at the Palace this week, via Grimsby's invitation. Something about needing help to get Prince Eric's head out of the ocean or whatever."
"How come you were invited?" Zack asked.
"Ask the old guy. Heck, he's old enough to be my grandfather."
"Be careful. If he hears that, you could end up in prison." Cloud warned, and Rude grunted in agreement.
Axel rolled his eyes. "Please, that's nothing compared to being eaten by a Naga. If I had to choose, I'd rather be stuck in jail than being stuck in a mutant-snake's stomach. Got it memorized?"
"You got a point." The blonde-haired man muttered. "I heard that two years ago some poor kid was eaten by a Naga at a beach in another town before that Naga and another one during the attack were killed."
Axel tried not to stiffen when he heard this. Two years ago when that attack happened, that was the year when Kairi lost her parents to that Seawitch and had been made an outcast that had her move to here in this regional area. It couldn't be a coincidence, could it?
"I heard that four teenagers, a mouse and a dog vanished from that town." Tifa added, while unaware to them, Mickey and Xion were walking towards the beach when they briefly heard this part of the conversation while passing, and when they did, they both stiffened before sharing an worried glance before continuing on and tried to act as normally as possible, with Mickey whistling innocently his favorite song.
"No one knows what happened to them." Rude agreed.
"Do you really believe in all that nonsense? Nagas? Really?" Cissnei rolled her eyes. "It's just as ridiculous as the sailors claiming that merpeople are real."
Axel again tried not to stiffen. Oh merpeople were real, alright. He was close friends with one. Secretly.
"Nagas, I believe. Heck, those things give me nightmares everytime I hear 'bout them." Reno shuddered slightly. "Merpeople on the other hand, that's like asking for a nicer version of Nagas, only them being half-fish and not meat-eating."
"I'm already having trouble sleeping as it is." Axel whined. "Are ya' trying to give me nightmares to make it worse?"
"Whoa there, bro. Since when were you a chicken?" Reno teased.
"Reno, we're runners. Chasing chickens for their eggs is our job. You'll have to excuse me for not being comfortable with giant snake-people who have normal people for breakfest, lunch and dinner. And on that subject, I'm outta here. See you later." Axel responded before walking off, leaving his brother and friends behind.
Once they were in the safe distance, and hiding near the alleyway, Xion and Mickey both hidden themselves between two buildings and sighed in relief.
"Phew! That was close." Mickey sighed.
"Too close." Xion nodded in agreement. "Do you think our families had already spread word about us being missing? What if they find out that we're here and that Sora's a you-know-what?"
"Oh, don't worry, Xion. I'm sure they haven't figured that out yet. As long as we're careful, it'll work out." Mickey whispered.
Unfortunately, they were briefly unaware that Axel, who'd decided to head to the east side beach, passed them and down their usual path. Fortunately, though, he'd been unaware of their conversation as he just continued on. It wasn't until the tree fern and tropical bushes that he saw a familiar figure lying on the beach and his eyes widened in shock and horror.
Kairi layed on the beach, with a spiky-haired boy next to her.
"Kairi!" Axel gasped, breaking into a run and fearing for his friend's well being. But as he made it to her, another shock sank in. Gone were her pink fin. In it's place was a pair of thin and beautiful legs. What in the world happened?
Kairi...had become a human?
Shaking his head and deciding to ask later, he cradled her in his arms and shook her. "Kairi? Hey, Kai'!"
Stirring and moaning, Kairi's eyes opened as her world slowly returned to her and the first thing she saw was a familiar redhaired man who held an expression of great concern.
"Axel...?" Kairi muttered.
Axel sighed in relief, "Oh, thank Ifrit. Are you alright?"
"...Yeah. Just a bit dizzy and...why does my later half feel strange and doubled?" Kairi replied, realising that for the first time she couldn't feel her tail, but she felt something new.
"You mean you don't have a clue?" Her friend asked, puzzled.
"About what?" The mermaid, or rather,the former mermaid, asked, confused.
"Uh...you might wanna take a look at your legs." Axel awkwardly suggested, and then realised another problem which made him try and focus on her upper half of her body.
Skeptical and even more confused while wondering what Axel was talking about, Kairi looked down and was expecting to see her fin. Instead, when she did, the real shock and realization sank in almost immediately. In the place of her tail were indeed legs. Her very own legs. She lifted one of them and tested it out in her control. Shock soon turned into amazement.
"I...I have legs. Axel, I have legs!" Kairi began to say, excitedly. "I'm a human! That means I can walk on land now!"
"Yeah, great and all and I'm happy for ya'. But, what the heck happened? And who's this kid?" Axel asked. He was indeed happy for his friend to be human now, but first he had to know what transpired into leading his mermaid friend to become a human.
Suddenly remembering what happened, Kairi turned her attention to Sora who began to groan as he stirred.
"Oh! Sora!" Kairi cried out, and Axel gasped softly. So this spiky-haired kid is the Sora that turns into a Naga at night Kairi talked about?
Groaning, Sora blinked his eyes open and when his vision become clear, a concerned and relieved Kairi came into view. Almost immediately his memories returned to him and Sora sat up straight and was very relieved himself. The mermiad...she was alive!
"You're...you're the mermaid who saved me! Oh, thank goodness! I was afraid that I'd eaten you! Must've been a dream." Sora sighed in relief.
"Um...actually-"
"Hey, hold on now. What do you mean you'd eaten her? What's goin' on here?" Axel cut Kairi off and demanded to Sora.
Seeing Axel and realising that Sora just blurted out, he immediately knew he was in trouble.
"Uh oh...I...uh...well, um...Huh?" Sora blinked when he looked down and shock and surprise was drawn into him. In the place of Kairi's tail was a pair of legs. Blushing he immediately looked back up and asked, "Hold on...you turned into a human?"
"It came as a surprise to me too. It must've happened after you spat me back out when you turning back into your human self." Kairi replied and thought.
"So...it wasn't a dream..." Sora muttered, renewed guilt forming. "I'm really sorry. I didn't want to eat you. I really didn't! The Naga-side of me took over and I couldn't stop it from forcing me to swallow you. I guess it was luck that I turned back into a human that had me get you out. What I don't get is that how my transformation turned you into a human too."
"You know...me neither. But I don't blame you for that. In fact, I think you saved me from drowning when I turned into a human." Kairi replied.
Axel though, while he couldn't blame the kid either for what happened, he still wanted to try and put the pieces together. "Lemme get this straight. Your 'Naga-side' took over your head like you were possessed by some nasty ghost, swallowed my friend whole here, and then when you took your body back and transformed, you spat her out and then that said transformation turned her into a human and you dragged her here to save her from drowning?"
"Sounds about right." Sora replied, awkwardly. "I really thought eating seaweed and normal food would keep that side of me under control so I don't eat people and merpeople."
"...How long have you been doing that, if you don't mind me asking?" Kairi asked. To think that Sora's Naga-side reacted into eating her was the first time that Sora would eat a mermaid or a human was unusual as Nagas were well known for eating meat.
"...Two years." Sora reluctantedly replied. "I want to figure out how to be fully normal again."
"So you're cursed? And you avoid eating merpeople and people to avoid in being seen? No wonder things were quiet." Axel thought.
"It's a very long story. The only way to break the curse it-Oh!" Sora cut himself off as he remembered something. He immediately pulled his left glove off his hand and expected to see the scratch and scales. It wasn't there; it was gone. Did that mean the curse was broken? And if so, how and why did Kairi survive and become a human herself?
"...My scar...it's gone." Sora muttered, amazed. "Though...not how I wanted it to be."
Before Kairi and Axel could ask further, voices of Xion and Mickey calling out Sora's name caught the trio's attentions as they looked to see the said two along with Riku and Roxas whom they just met up approach, only to freeze when they caught sight of two other people and that Sora wasn't alone.
"Uh, oh." Mickey muttered, worriedly.
"Uh oh." Axel repeated, worriedly.
"Uuuuh...Sora?" Xion muttered, worriedly.
"Yeah, um...let's just say...we're busted." Sora replied, sheepishly.
Sora's friends approached as Roxas and Riku helped Sora stand up while Axel helped Kairi stand, though the former mermaid wobbled, shaking a little on her new legs as she wasn't used to standing.
"Easy, easy. It's not easy walking for the first time. Trust me, babies learnin' how to walk have a bit of diffculty at first all the time." Axel told her.
"Wait...you're..." Xion began, seeing Kairi for the first time and somehow managed to get the two and two together already. "You're the one who saved Sora from drowning the other day?"
"...He told you?" Kairi asked, blushing a little.
"Only the four of us and Goofy, since we're the only ones who...know about Sora's secret." Xion replied, smiling and walked closer to her. "He was also going all head over heels for you since then, and I've been wanting to meet you."
Mickey, Riku and Roxas on the other hand, blushed heavily when they saw the same problem Axel and Sora noticed earlier and the three of them covered their eyes.
"What's wrong?" Kairi asked, noticing their looks and it took Xion a second to realise what's wrong and groaned in realization.
"Um, first thing's first. We have to get you some clothes." Xion sheepishly suggested.
"Oh...oh! I-I didn't even think about that." Kairi blushed, finally realising what the problem was.
Axel shook his head, chuckling. "Yeah, that's another thing you gotta get used to, Kai'. If you wanna be a human, you gotta dress like one."
"Wait, wait. So...she's the Mermaid that Sora kept on talking out and now she's human? How did that happen?" Riku asked in disbelief.
"I thought she was a normal girl or that Sora was hallucinating." Roxas added.
"Uh, guys? Why don't we worry about that later and get her some clothes first?" Mickey suggested.
"Here, you can burrow my trench coat for a while." Axel offered, sliding his black coat off and wrapped it around Kairi's body and buttoned it up so that way at least the, eh, girly parts were covered and only the bottom of her legs were seen as she slid her arms though the too big sleeves.
Kairi smiled, "Thanks, Axel."
"So, you guys are friends?" Sora asked to the two redheads.
"We've been friends for two years. It's a long story. Actually, he's sort like an older brother to me, despite him having a twin himself." Kairi replied.
"Let's just say we've been secretly meeting every afternoon after work everyday. So, me, a bird, a fish and another mermaid only know about this." Axel admitted.
"Well, look at what the catfish dragged in!" Scuttle's voice echoed from around the corner, getting everyone else's attentions.
"Scuttle?" Kairi asked, wondering what the seagull had found if he hasn't noticed her and the others yet.
Axel groaned softly. "Speakin' of the bird..."
Wondering what was going on, the group decided to see what was going on and followed the direction of Scuttle's voice around the cliffs and onto the beach near the ship wreck and lagoon. What they saw surprised them, but more so to Kairi as she recongized not only Scuttle, but also Flounder, Sebastian, and Ariel. But something was different with her former fellow mermaid.
"Look at ya! Look at ya! There's something different. Don't tell me - I got it. It's your hairdo, right? You've been using the dinglehopper, right?" Scuttle asked, noticing that something was different, but unlike everyone else, he hasn't noticed the change in Ariel's bottom half.
"Dinglehopper?" Sora asked, dumbfounded and Mickey, Riku, Roxas and Xion shrugged while both Kairi and Axel facepalmed in exasperation.
"That's what he called a fork and thought it was used as a hairbrush that people use." Kairi sheepishly explained.
"And a holding pipe as an instrument." Axel chuckled, still finding those amusing and still Scuttle still didn't get it, even as Ariel bounced her new right leg to get her friend to understand while he babbled on, until Sebastian, who also facepalmed himself in irritation, finally lost his temper.
"SHE'S GOT LEGS, YOU IDIOT!" The red crab shouted, startling the bird who flew off and landed onto the rock next to him as he continued, "She traded her voice with the seawitch and got legs. Jeez, man..."
"I knew that." Scuttle said, dismissively.
"...Seawitch!?" Kairi, Sora, Xion, Axel, Mickey, Riku and Roxas exclaimed in shock and horror. Immediately, Kairi went over, despite wobbling a little as she cried out, "Ariel! You made a deal with Ursula!?"
Her cries got her other friends' attentions as they noticed and while Ariel was stunned and amazed to see her fellow former mermaid a human now too, though she could still talk at least, the other three were shocked as well.
"You too!? Wait a minute, you mean you didn't make a deal with Ursula? How did you get legs, girl?" Sebastian demanded.
"Well, um...it's a complicated story." Kairi replied. "I sort of had help..."
By then Sora and the others approached, and the other three yelped, but Mickey quickly said, "Don't be scared. We're not gonna hurt ya's. I promise."
"He's right. We're all friends. I'm Sora." Sora introduced, then realised he still hadn't introduced Kairi or Axel to his friends or even know their names or everyone else's either. "These are my best friends; Xion, Mickey, Riku and Roxas."
"Oh, I forgot. We haven't formally introduced." Kairi blushed again, "My name's Kairi. These are my friends; Axel, Ariel, Flounder, Scuttle and that's Sebastian."
"Got it memorized?" Axel added, tapping the side of his head.
"So um...you said something about Ursula making a deal with Ariel here?" Sora asked, and suddenly felt a bad feeling about this.
Flounder, still nervous with the humans, explained to Kairi and Scuttle, "Ariel's been turned into a human. She's gotta make the prince fall in love with her, and he's gotta ki- he's gotta kiss her." while Ariel tried to stand up on her legs while Kairi tried to help...but both former mermaids wobbled, which Sora noticed.
"And she's only got three days." Sebastian concluded.
"Whoa-whoa!" Sora cried out as he tried to help Kairi, only to accidently be pulled along with Axel who also tried to help into the water, and all four of them fell into the shallow water in a big splash and soaked those who were not habitable to the ocean wet. Everyone else's clothes were dripping wet and Scuttle's feathers made him look like a drowned cat with seaweed on his beak.
"Great. That means the main reason why Sora lost his mark is because of this and now it's got Kairi involved." Xion groaned.
"...Care to explain that?" Axel asked, after spitting the salt-water out of his mouth while his hair almost covered his face.
"As part of the curse, if anybody makes a deal with Ursula and only has three days to make it or whatever, Sora will be human without turning into a Naga during that time and once those days are up, unless he has true love's kiss, he'll be a Naga permamently." Mickey explained.
Sora helped Kairi stand while sighing, "I knew this was too good to be true."
"So...we both only have three days and then turn back to not being human?" Kairi asked, disappointingly.
"Well, you two seem to be liking each other a lot." Axel pointed out as he stood up. "I think this can work out."
Sora and Kairi both blushed and looked away slightly.
"I knew it! A human is cursed to be a Naga! And now look at both Ariel and Kairi! Just look at them!" Sebastian cried out in dismay. "On legs! On human legs!"
He then gasped and went into a hysterical breakdown, "My nerves are shot. This is a catastrophe! What would her father say?" then went to Flounder and continued, "I'll tell you what her father'd say, he'd say he's gonna kill himself a crab, that's what her father'd say!"
As Ariel stood up and this time was successful in not falling, she looked in shock as Sebastian began saying as he began to march back into the ocean, "I'm gonna march meself straight home right now and tell him just like I shoulda done de minute-" and she quickly scooped him up and had him sit in the palms of her hands.
"And don't you shake your head at me, young lady." Sebastian ordered when Ariel shook her head in denial. He then began thinking of how to reverse this to make things back to normal, "Maybe there's still time. If we could get that witch to give you back your voice, you could go home with all the normal fish, and just be...just be..."
The saddened look on Ariel's face, along with Kairi and Sora who both looked like they were about to cry as well and their friends shared sombered looks.
"Just be miserable with Kairi for the rest of your life..." Sebastian finished when he realised that by doing so would only crush Ariel's dreams and happiness. And Kairi's and Sora's.
"Gosh, that's not very fair." Mickey pouted.
"Everyone deserves to have their own lives. Even everyone in the ocean." Xion added.
"Yeah, c'mon. Have a heart, old crab." Axel pleaded, and Riku and Roxas nodded in agreement.
Shaking his head in dismay and in defeat, Sebastian sighed, "All right, all right. I'll try to help you find that prince." and Ariel's face immediately let up before she gave him a thankful kiss and both Sora and Kairi's face lit up as well happily, and their friends sighed in relief.
"Man. What a soft-shell I'm turning out to be." Sebastian muttered to himself after Ariel gently puts him back down.
"Now, Ariel. I'm tellin' ya. Kairi already looks the part, so if you wanna be a human the first thing you gotta do is dress like one." Scuttle began explaining, going over to an hold discarded shirt that was washed up. Which the boys finally realised that Ariel too only had her shell bra and blushed before looking away in embarrassment.
"What's wrong with them?" Flounder asked, puzzled along with her friends.
"It's not very nice for a boy to see a girl with no clothes on." Mickey awkwardly answered without turning around.
"I can help with at least styling Ariel." Xion offered, "Okay, let's see..."
Five minutes later...
Ariel was now dressed in a makeshift ragged dress that stopped at her knees thanks to Xion's handy work and everyone has to admit, she did a good job considering the lack of clothes around here.
"Ta-da!" Xion proclaimed.
"Whoa!" Everyone else exclaimed.
Axel let out an impressed low whistle. "Hey, lookin' good."
"Well, Kairi looks amazing in the coat too." Sora pointed out.
"You think so?" Kairi blushed a little.
Scuttle whistled twice at Ariel's new stylish look which the latter liked. "Ya look great kid. Ya look - sensational."
Just then, they all heard barking from around the corner and when everyone looked in alarm, a sheep dog happily came running up. Scuttle flew away, Flounder screamed and dove back into the water, and Sebastian scurried up and hidden himself into Ariel's new pocket while she ran up to the rock, and Kairi backed up into Sora and Axel while the others looked in surprise, and the dog then happily gave Ariel a kiss on the cheek.
"It's okay. He's a dog." Sora ensured Kairi who relaxed a little.
"Yeah, but he sure gave me a bit of a fright." Axel sighed.
"What's the matter, Axel? Chicken?" Kairi teased, which made the others chuckle.
"Aw, come on. I already got that joke from Reno earlier." Axel whined.
"Max...Max." Another voice called out and everyone looked to see Eric calling and ruffled at the dog named Max who came up obediedly. "Quiet Max! What's gotten into you fella?" Eric asked, before noticing Ariel, while the others backed away to give the two some privacy, even though Axel immediately recongised the prince and bowed, as did the others when they caught on. "Oh. I see."
While Eric began talking to Ariel and apologized about Max startling her, at first he thought and correctly guessed that she was the one who had saved his life, when she tried to respond after being asked her name, she remembered to her and everyone else's disappointment that she traded her voice for legs.
"Oh no...Ariel can't talk or sing anymore." Kairi whispered in dismay.
"What's wrong? What is it?" Eric asked, concerned. When Ariel gestured at her throat, he asked, "You can't speak?" and she shook her head sadly to confirm it. "Oh. Then you couldn't be who I thought."
Max and Ariel both sighed in annoyance, as did Sora's group, Kairi and Axel. Then Ariel had an idea and tried to mimick what happened and how she lost her voice, though Eric couldn't understand it, and quickly caught her when she lost her balance and nearly fell.
"Whoa, whoa, careful - careful - easy." Eric muttered, and soon found they were in each other's arms. "You must have really been through something. Don't worry, I'll help you. Come on."
He made to help Ariel back to his castle when they both finally noticed the others who quickly flinched and chuckled nervously.
"They friends of yours?" Eric asked, and Ariel shrugged. "Well, um, you can all come too. You're soaking wet."
"Really? You sure it's okay?" Sora asked and Eric nodded, before noticing Axel and said, "Are you Axel that Grimsby asked to come over?"
"Uh, yeah. That's me, your highness. I uh...I found these kids ship wrecked so um...yeah, intended to help them out." Axel awkwardly replied.
"Don't worry. You're welcome to come along." Eric offered kindly and Ariel smiled.
The others shared a glance, and Sora was about to say something, when Mickey secretly shushed him, whispering firmly, "We can't let him know about your you-know-what." and Sora silently nodded in agreement.
So Eric, while helping Ariel get used to walking, lead everyone towards his castle as Sora and Axel helped Kairi get used to walking, looked back to Flounder and Scuttle, with the latter giving the two former mermaids a thumbs up for good luck.
Half an hour later, both Kairi and Ariel were in two seperate bubble baths getting cleaned up and were playing with bubbles. Xion was already cleaned up and dressed in fresh clothes, and was helping to clean up Kairi while a very nice maid named Carlotta was helping to clean up Ariel.
"Washed up from a shipwreck. Oh, you poor things." Carlotta said sympathetically. "We'll have you feeling better in no time."
"Thank you so much for helping us, ma'am." Xion said kindly.
"Yes, we really appreciate it." Kairi added warmly and comfortably.
"It was nothing, dears. Now then..." Carlotta replied, humming to herself as she approached Ariel's dress, with Sebastian still hiding in the pockets, and Axel's trench coat and when she picked them, she cringed before awkwardly told the girls, "I'll just...uh, I'll just get these washed for you."
Once Carlotta was out of the room briefly and out of earshot, Kairi looked up to Xion and asked softly, "This happen often?"
"Well...kind of. You get used to it after a while." Xion replied with a shrug.
Dressed in dry clothes and waiting for the girls as they were invited to spend some time in the castle, Sora, Axel, Mickey, Riku and Roxas were having their conversation while Grimsby and Eric were talking about a girl whom saved the latter's life.
"You think this will work out?" Roxas whispered.
"Hopefully." Axel shrugged. "I mean, I'm happy for Kairi and all and this does make it less awkward. She always wanted to see what our world was like."
"Can't blame her for that." Sora replied, and then sighed lovingly. "...She's great."
"Roxas...why is your face red?" Mickey asked when he and the others noticed that Roxas suddenly looked like in dream land himself, until Mickey's voice snapped him back to reality.
Blinking, the blonde-haired teen blinked, "M-my face was red?"
Both conversations came to a stop when Carlotta came and gently gestured all three women, all dressed up and cleaned up, into the dining room. Both Kairi and Ariel were in pink dresses while Kairi was in a light blue, blushing. Sora, Eric and even Roxas could only stare at the girls in amazement, while Mickey, Riku, Axel and Grimsby all smiled.
"Oh, Eric, isn't she a vision?" Grimsby smiled at Ariel.
"Uh...Y-you look wonderful." Eric complimented, and Ariel blushed slightly, nodding her thanks.
Axel smiled at Kairi as did Sora.
"Wow...Kairi...You...you look amazing." Sora complimented.
"...Thank you, Sora." Kairi replied happily.
"Nice dresses. You three look great." Axel complimented.
"Wow, I...Xion...you look...stunning." Roxas complimented, blushing.
Xion blushed herself, "Really? Thanks, Roxas."
"Come come come, you must be famished. Let me help you my dears." Grimsby kindly overed, and with the help of Sora and the other boys, the girls were seated at the table. Sora then sat next to Kairi's right, while Axel sat at her left with Roxas and Xion seated next to Ariel's left and Eric at her right. Mickey and Riku sat at Axel's left with Mickey in the middle and Riku next to Grimsby.
"It's - It's not often that we have such lovely dinner guests, eh Eric?" Grimsby asked after he took a seat, before he and Eric look a bit dumbfounded when Ariel began brushing her hair with the fork, and Kairi and Axel, both looking embarrassed, shook their heads and Sora's group looked awkard. Suddenly embarrassed herself, Ariel quickly put the fork down. She then noticed Grimsby's pipe and lit up again.
Which made the rest of the group who knew the secret try not to whince.
"Uh, do you like it? It is rather - fine..." Grimsby asked, handing Ariel the pipe, only for her to try and play music, and blew out the ashes right into his and Riku's faces which were covered up. This made Eric and everyone else laugh, before quickly collecting themselves and apologised, but still held smiles.
"Oh my!" Carlotta giggled, approaching the young prince. "Why, Eric, that's the first time I've seen you smile in weeks."
"Yeah, I guess we looked pretty funny." Riku admitted as he and Grimsby both wiped their faces with cloths.
"Oh, very amusing." Grimsby agreed.
As Carlotta revealed tonight's dinner, Sora and Kairi turned to gaze at each other and, for a moment, seem lost in each other's eyes. Both smiled and couldn't help it. They wanted to know each other, be together. Neither one felt so in love before until they met one another and despite Sora still feeling guilty for having swallowed her up before spitting her back out, he was glad that he managed to save her, and somehow had her turn into a human herself.
Meanwhile in the hallways, Goofy the lanky tallish dog, having been offered a second job as a waiter of the palace, was humming to himself as he made his way to the kitchen where chef Louis was making dinner...
Only to open the door at the wrong time where Louis was attacking Sebastian who, having accidently landed himself in the kitchen after escaping the washing, hidden himself in a cabinet. Louis, with a mallet in hand as yelling an insane battle scream just as Goofy stood in front...
"Yeeeeeeeeeeeoooooooooowwwwww!" Louis hollared as he jumped and crashed into both the shelves...and Goofy.
"Uh-oh!" Goofy yelped, gulping and braced himself.
Crash! And then, "YAAAA-HOO-HOO-HOOEEEEEEE!" A scream followed along with more crashes echoed into the dining room.
The guests, Eric and Grimsbly looked into the direction where it was coming from as Axel asked, puzzled, "What was that?"
Smiling nervously, Carlotta said awkwardly, "I think I'd better go see what Louis is up to." before dashing off to see what in the world was going on.
An awkward pause.
"Okay...?" Sora muttered, dumbfounded.
Goofy was catching every thrown object Louis was tossing in the latter's efforts to find Sebastian who'd seemed to have disappeared and Goofy stumbled and panickly tried to not drop anything.
"Come out you little pipsqueak and fight like a man!" Louis demanded, continuing his crazy search like a madman.
"LOUIS! GOOFY!"
Both Goofy and Louis jumped and while the former stumbled and had to re-catch everything he accidently flew into the air, the latter hit his head and had pots and pans fall off the shelf. Both of them looked to see a furious Carlotta standing in the opened doorway when she saw what was happening.
"What are you doing!?" Carlotta demanded angrily.
"He did it!" Goofy quickly pointed at the chef while gently putting everything down.
Louis, realizing he was in trouble, tried to make an excuse when he realized he couldn't and smiled sheepishly while putting out the small fire on his mustache. "I'm sorry, madame."
Fuming, Carlotta grabbed three plates with covers and stormed off, with Goofy quickly placing the other seven onto a tray trolly and wheeled it while nervously following the angry maid. He paused when he whispered to Louis, "Gawrsh, I've never seen ya' or a lady that mad." before hurrying away.
Louis sighed in relief, before muttering to himself while answering Goofy's question, "Unfortunately, I have."
Back in the dining room, everyone resumed the conversation...well, Ariel could only respond with body and facial language, but that seemed fine for now.
"You know, Eric, perhaps our young guests might enjoy seeing some of the sights of the kingdom. Something in the way of a tour?" Grimsby suggested, only for him to notice Eric wasn't paying attention. The younger man was gazing at Ariel with a smile, as their looks looked similiar to Sora and Kairi's.
Until Eric noticed the Grimsby had been talking and turned back to him, asking, "I'm sorry, Grim, what was that?"
Annoyed, Grimsby whispered while Carlotta served the two of them and Ariel their meals, to which she, and soon the others once Carlotta was out of sight again, saw that Sebastian had hidden himself under Grimsby's cover and gestured all eight of them to keep quiet.
Hurriedly, Ariel signaled Sebastian to her plate. While Grimsby and Eric weren't looking, the red living crab scurried over and hidden himself in her plate while the former mermaid quickly closed it and leaned onto it, pretending nothing happened and Sora's group, Kairi and Axel mentally sighed in relief.
"Well - whaddaya say? Would you like to join me on a tour of my kingdom tomorrow?" Eric asked Ariel who nodded excitedly. Of course she would like to join Eric on the tour. In fact, she loved that idea.
"I can give these guys a tour too, if that's okay." Axel volunteered.
"Sure." Eric nodded and Ariel nodded in agreement.
"That'd be wonderful." Kairi said happily, and the others nodded in agreement.
"Ay-hyuck! Heya, fellers. I didn't know you were here." Goofy's voice spoke up, and when seven of them looked up, Sora, Mickey, Riku, Roxas and Xion were surprised to see him as he served them their plates which had pasta bakes.
"Goofy?" Sora's group asked, surprised.
"Goofy! What're you doin' here?" Mickey asked.
"I just got myself another job as a waiter here. I also got me a job to work with Donald to deliver eggs." Goofy replied. He then asked in a whisper, "But uh, how 'bout you fellers?"
"It's a long story." Sora sheepishly replied.
Confused, Goofy just shrugged and waved the group a goodbye while saying gentlemen like, or as gentlemen like as possible, "Bom am pa teete!" which had everyone else chuckle at his little mistake due to him trying to say, "Bon Appetit".
"Wonderful. Now let's eat before this crab runs off my plate." Grimsby happily said, only to hit his fork on his plate and when he looked, he realized that his crab wasn't there and was lost for words.
Later that night, and for once Sora had no need to head to the beach and turn into a Naga, everyone was ready for bed. Sora shared a room with his friends while Kairi and Axel shared another, and Ariel had her own with Sebastian with her.
He was just heading there when Kairi came back in her new pjs. The two of them noticed each other and smiled warmly, blushing a little and couldn't help but gaze at each other in the eyes once more.
Until they realised they looked silly and blushed in embarrassment.
"Oh, um...Night, Kairi." Sora said.
"Goodnight, Sora." Kairi replied, smiling warmly and headed into her and Axel's room.
Sora smiled, before heading into his room where the others were still awake and were waiting for him.
"Okay, so you only have two days left. How are you gonna approach Kairi without making a fool of yourself?" Riku asked, firmly.
"Dunno. I don't want to rush it, but it's like you said, I've only got two days left. I'm not sure how to do it right." Sora admitted as he layed down in his bed.
Xion and the others thought hard, until she said, "Well, there's nothing more romantic then a boat ride at the lagoon. And I think Eric and Ariel are gonna do that tomorrow night too."
"You sure Kairi will like that?" Sora asked, uncertainly.
"Oh, don't worry, Sora. Of course she'll love it. What kinda girl wouldn't want a nice quiet evening, under the early night sky, surrounded by fireflies?" Mickey said optimistically.
"Hope you're right. I still feel terrible for what happened earlier." Sora said, sighing.
Xion sighed, before approaching Sora and playfully ruffled his hair, which annoyed him yet comforted him at the same time. "It'll work out, Sora. I just know it."
Sora hoped his friends were right, and Roxas looked the most sympathic, secretly gazing at Xion's back.
Since he was in love with her.
At the same time in Kairi and Axel's room, they were discussing the similiar conversation.
"Two days left and it's kinda goin' fast. So, how're you gonna approach Sora?" Axel asked, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed to his chest.
"I'm not sure. I don't want to act all silly. I'm not sure how to do it right." Kairi admitted, only to blink in surprise when she realised how soft and extremely comfy the bed was. Smilng, she layed fully on it and made herself more comfortable.
Axel sighed, "Well, the closest thing I can think of is a boat ride on the lagoon outside of town. But I'm not sure, because one, I'm not a romantic expert, and two, it might make you think of the ocean. Sure Sora's a nice kid and I actually really like him, and Roxas and Xion, Riku and Mickey and that funny guy Goofy...I'm just worried about the whole Naga thing. I mean, seriously, no offence but you did end up swallowed whole and frankly, I'm too scared to even ask what the stomach was like."
When he didn't get a response, Axel looked up and saw that Kairi had fallen asleep. The young man smiled and silently went over, blowing out the candle and covered his friend up to her shoulders under the quilt, caressing her fringe from her face.
"Night, Kai'. Sleep tight." Axel whispered, settling himself on the floor and leaned against the side of the bed. "Ya' know, I really do hope you and Sora do end up together. As people. It'd be the best thing that'll happen to you."
Plus if Kairi remained human, Axel can see her all the time he wanted without having to worry about the risk of her getting seen as a mermaid by anyone else.
The next morning, Carlotta and Grimsby waved Eric, Ariel, Sora, Kairi, Xion, Axel, Riku, Roxas, Mickey and even Goofy off as they travelled in seperate carriages into town, with both Ariel and Kairi being amazed by the surroundings of the human world.
Flounder was following them in the river made in town, jumping up and down to get Sebastian's attention as he had hidden himself in Ariel's pockets.
"Are they kissing yet?" Flounder asked, eagerly.
"Not yet!" Sebastian whispered back, much to Flounder's annoyance and disappointment.
A little later in the Town Square, the group toured around as Kairi and Ariel looked in interest and Kairi had to giggle when Ariel saw a little puppet show before they and the others went to a little dance area. Sora offered Kairi for a dance in a gentlemen manner and she accepted, and then they, Ariel and Eric, and even an eager Xion and Roxas danced while Mickey, Riku, Goofy and Axel watched them, smiling.
"Gawrsh, they look kinda happy together, don't they?" Goofy thought.
"They sure do, Goof'." Mickey agreed.
They then went for a little shopping and Kairi now wore a pink modern dress with purple shoes while Xion, Sora, Roxas, Axel and Mickey had their clothes from yesterday cleaned and dried. After that they, Ariel and Eric left in the carriages on the way out of the kingdom, while Scuttle landed on a porch and found Flounder in the river.
"Yo, Flounder! Any kissing?" He asked.
"No. Not yet." Flounder replied dully.
"Hmmm...Well they-they better get crackin'." Scuttle cried out in exasperation.
Later in the early evening, wanting to give the two couples some time alone, Xion, Axel, Roxas, Riku, Mickey and Goofy watched with Flounder and Scuttle while Sora and Kairi were in one rowboat with Sora rowing, and Eric and Ariel in another with Eric rowing, both boats going in opposite directions.
"Move over! Move your big feathers. I can't see a thing." Flounder told Scuttle.
"Gawrsh, nothin's happenin'." Goofy grumbled sadly.
"Aw, gee. Tomorrow's the last day and not once they even puckered up." Mickey groaned in dismay.
"Geez, just kiss already for cryin' out loud." Axel groaned impatiently.
Xion sighed, "Maybe they need a bit of a more romantic setting."
That was when Scuttle came to an idea, which would be considered a bad idea. "All right, this calls for a little vocal romantic stimulation."
He flew up into a tree branch over the water where he knew the two boats would sail under, saying to the four little birds that were humming happily at the two cute couples, "Stand back." and inadvertedly scared them off.
Clearing his throat, Scuttle then began to squawk a song...which was pretty awful. "Laaaaaa la la la la la la la!"
"Wow. Somebody should find that poor animal and put it out of its misery." Eric joked, and Ariel faked a smile before she, and both Sora and Kairi looked up to see Scuttle who winked at them and gave them the OK sign, while still singing terribly, "La la la la laaaaaa! La, la, la la la la!"
Which only had all three of them facepalm themselves in embarrassment at his terrible singing.
Everyone else agreed, because the group on the shore covered their ears with their hands and groaned, cringing at the horrible sound, while on Eric and Ariel's boat, Sebastian did the same.
"Vocal romantic stimulation? More like Vocal ear-breaking stimulation." Riku deadpanned.
"I swear, my ears are starting to ring." Axel grumbled as he and the others silently moved along the land to follow their friends and away from Scuttle's terrible squawking the seagull called 'singing'.
Fortunately, Sebastian had a much better idea and had the lagoon's locals to sing a rather very nice, more romantic and MUCH better song which went the mood, a song about 'kiss the girl' which sounded quirky to Axel, but hey, whatever works. Plus everyone else seemed to like it and he liked it better than Scuttle's awful squawking.
Alone to themselves on the boat and not loud enough for Eric and Ariel to hear, Sora began, "You know, I...I still feel terrible for what I did to you the other day. I'm really sorry, Kairi. I never wanted to hurt you and I still don't."
Kairi smiled and shook her head, "I have to admit, I was scared when your Naga-side had you swallow me whole, but you got me out and saved me from drowning. The first time I saw you return to human form, I knew I couldn't let you drown. Because you're good in your heart, Sora."
She then sighed and added, "And I had a feeling that you accidently swallowed me when you regained control before you would chew me up."
"You knew?" Sora asked, shocked and feeling more guilty.
The former mermaid nodded, before taking hold of Sora's hand and said, "I'm not angry, Sora. More than anything, I wanted to help you return to a full human, because for the first time in two years and in my life, I felt I belonged somewhere."
"Really?" Sora asked, surprised and when she nodded, he smiled softly and gently placed a hand onto her own, the two holding hands with each other. "Thanks, Kairi. If there's anything you want me to do, all you gotta do is ask. I'll do my best to protect you. I promise."
Both boats unaware of each other's pressence at the moment, the two couples floated under a willow tree which was much more romantic and went for a slow spin so that neither Sora, Kairi, Eric or Ariel would get dizzy. Mickey and the others watched on and silently encouraged and supported them to kiss. Scuttle then appeared in front of the group while trying to squawk along Sebastian's song, only for both Mickey and Goofy to grab his beak to shut him up without interruptions.
Sora kept on staring at the beautiful mermaid in human form as though he was seeing a perfect angel from heaven and Kairi was doing the same with a smile on her face, and both Eric and Ariel were doing the same with each other. All around them as the song was coming to an end, both couples began to bring their faces closer to one another, and closer, and closer, and closer, while all of the animals and both Sora's and Kairi's friends were encouraging them, and Sebastian was shaking Scuttle by the neck while making the latter comically dizzy.
Both couples lips were about to touch in both boats and their eyes had closed...when the moment was ruined and both boats capsized and sending the startled four overboard, much to everyone else's dismay.
As both Sora and Eric helped Kairi and Ariel out of the water, Riku, Axel and Sebastian all facepalmed in dismay.
"Aw nuts!" Mickey grumbled in irritation.
"Man! So close, too!" Roxas groaned.
"That is so unfair!" Xion moaned.
Mickey sighed, before blinking in confusion as he caught the sight of not one, but three somethings dive underwater; two eels who were clasping each other's tails shaking them like hands while congratulating each other, and something large like a giant's head sinking while it snickered before swimming away when Demyx, who had been the one to capsize Sora and Kairi's boat, realised he was spotted and quickly made his escape, and Flotsam and Jetsam who'd been the ones to capsize Eric and Ariel's boat also escaped.
The mouse frowned and gulped nervously. He could've sworn he'd just seen a giant head...and if he'd seen a giant head, then it belonged to the one thing everyone feared the most.
A Naga.
"Mission Accomplished, Mar'!" Demyx reported in Marluxia's mind while the pink-haired Naga witnessed everything going on through his magic orb. "Can I eat that little mouse I saw earlier now?" He asked, hopefully.
"Not yet. Not until I say so. Keep yourself out of their sight." Marluxia ordered and ignored his servant's whining and instead focused on Sora and the others. "That was too close for my taste. Too close! That fool! Ugh, those two mermaids are better than I thought. At this rate, they'll be kissing by sunset no doubt!"
He sighed explosively before switching over to what Ursula was doing and made to so that he could hear what she was saying and when Marluxia noticed she was going through her recipes for her spells, he smiled wickedly.
"Triton's daughter and that other mermaid will be mine - and then I'll make him and the girl's friends writhe. I'll see them wriggle like a bunch of worms on hooks!" Ursula declared, using the spell to transform herself into a human.
While Marluxia suddenly admired Ursula's plot and felt that perhaps her interference will work to his advantage, he muttered to himself to her despite knowing she wouldn't hear, "Not if I have that mermaid as my servant's meal. Or perhaps to get him to obey me, I will threaten her life and have him make his decison; his freedom, or her safety."
"Demyx! Meet me at shore tomorrow afternoon. We may have our key to our success." Marluxia ordered, grinning evilly.
Later that night, almost everyone has gone to sleep. Xion on the other hand, found she couldn't sleep. So she silently went to the garden outside and gazed out to sea, deep in thought. Sora and Kairi had been so close today, and so had Ariel and Eric, and then suddenly the boats somehow capsized to ruin their chance in setting things right and making a new future.
She felt bad for them. More importantly, it was mixing up her own feelings for a certain boy whom she shared a dance with today. All of Xion's efforts in helping Sora to find true love, she ended up falling for Roxas during that time.
"Maybe I wasn't much help after all." She muttered sadly to herself.
"I know that feeling." Axel's voice spoke.
Startled, the teenager turned to see him standing there.
"How long have you...?" Xion asked.
"Not long, but I couldn't sleep." Axel shrugged as he approached and stood next to her. "I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that you're having the same problem."
The black-haired girl sighed, looking over the ocean once more. "You guessed right." She said, before asking, "Axel? Did the terrible things that happened two years ago meant to be a curse of cruelty to Sora and Kairi?"
"Why do you say that?" The redhaired man asked.
"I don't know. Sora and Kairi did nothing wrong, and all of the sudden this happened. Do you think it's because they're meant to have their lives ruined and everyone else got caught up in this?" Xion muttered.
The redhead shrugged, "I think you're overestimating life, Xi'. No one can look into the future, but the past can't be changed either. Sometimes things happen for reason and somethings they don't. But I seriously doubt Sora and Kairi both had their lives in a bad way because of karma or a curse. If ya' ask me, it was bad timing for both of them, and the ones to really be blamed for are the Seawitch and the giant carnivore snake-people."
"Guess you're right." Xion nodded. "...Sora, Riku, Roxas, Mickey, Goofy and I grew up together, you know. And when Sora was cursed, I tried my hardest to help him find true love...but now...now I got feelings for...for Roxas." She admitted with a dark blush.
Axel was admittedly surprised, before sighing and admitted, "When I first saw Kairi for the first time, I was so shocked and amazed I couldn't think straight. She'd been travelling all on her own because no one believed it was Ursula that had killed her parents. They insisted that it was either humans or Nagas that done it and she'd been made an outcast because of it. I wanted to tell people that I saw a mermaid, but when I saw her crying, and I got up to her and asked what's wrong, she told me what happened and it broke my heart."
Pausing, he then continued, "So when I comforted her, I decided it was better off that I was the only one who knew, because I couldn't bear in her life being any worse than it already was. Since then, Kairi and I became close friends and we would see each other in secret. I guess I became sorta like an older brother to her."
"That's so sweet of you, Axel. No wonder you two are so close." Xion smiled, which made Axel blush in slight embarrassment.
"Yeah, well. It ain't easy, especially since she's growin' up and fell in love, even though she almost died twice. Don't get me, I like Sora and I trust him, and seriously hope he and Kairi stay human forever. I'm just...scared to think what would happen if he turned into a Naga full-time." Axel replied.
Xion knew what Axel was talking about. "We're all worried. I hope it won't be too late for them or Ariel."
"Same here."
The two of them continued to gaze at the horizon, fully unaware that Eric was nearby, and was fallen under the spell of a disguised Ursula who walked along the beach, using Ariel's voice in the shell she wore.
A/N: The next chapter will be the last chapter of this story. Sadly I won't be able to write or update for the next couple of days, but I will update it without a doubt and finish this before I move on to update one or a few of my other stories.
See you then!