Thank you for the reviews, guy! It really does mean quite a lot! :)

DreamGirll: Thank you for reading this chapter!
MyNameIsAlexandraRider: Thank you for the review and for helping me with improving the last chapter! And don't worry about your reviews being long. ;)
Guest: Glad you like it! (:
rapunzelfan1: Whoa, that's a lot of 'o's! Glad to see you liked it so much!
Trekrider: Thanks so much!
MrAndersIversen: That's okay, thanks for the review!
Guest 2: Hope you like this next chapter!
TPATFan16: Thank you so much for reviewing!

.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.

Chapter 3 ~ Part of Your World

Pascal swam around in anxious circles outside the Throne Room, while Rapunzel received a telling off from her father.

"I just don't know what we're going to do with you, young lady," King Triton scolded.

"Daddy, I'm sorry. I just forgot," Rapunzel tried to explain. "I-"

Triton gave her a stern look, "As a result of your careless behaviour..."

"Careless and reckless behaviour!" added Maximus, who was floating above the King's head.

Triton continued, "... the entire celebration was, uh..."

"Well, it was ruined! That's all! Completely destroyed!" Maximus concluded, swimming in front of Triton to rebuke the young mermaid. "This concert was to be the pinnacle of my distinguished career. Now, thanks to you, I am the laughingstock of the entire kingdom!"

Pascal decided he'd had enough of the way the stern crab was talking to his best friend, swam into the room and yelled at the crab, "But it wasn't her fault!"

Remembering the King of Atlantica was sitting behind the crab, he began stuttering his explanation, "Uh, well, first, uh, this shark chased us. Yeah, yeah. And we tried to... but we couldn't, and he..."

King Triton and Maximus glanced at each other, before turning back to the fish, who growled to emphasise the shark.

"And... And we... Whoa!" Pascal paused and gave a sigh before continuing. "And then we were safe. But then this seagull came, and it was, 'This is this, and that is that'-"

"Seagull?" Triton questioned, causing Pascal to gasp and cover his mouth with his fins. "What? Oh! You went up to the surface again, didn't you? Didn't you?"

Rapunzel bit her lower lip briefly, "Nothing... happened."

"Oh, Rapunzel, how many times must we go through this?" Triton groaned, placing a hand on his forehead. "You could have been seen by one of those barbarians, by one of those humans!"

"Daddy, they're not barbarians!" Rapunzel argued.

"They are dangerous. Do you think I want to see my youngest daughter snared by a fish-eater's hook?" Triton said, lifting his daughter's head with his finger tips.

"I'm 18 years old. I'm not a child anymore!" Rapunzel told him.

"Don't you use that tone of voice with me, young lady!" her father barked. "As long as you live under my ocean, you'll obey my rules!"

"But if you would just listen..." Rapunzel tried.

"Not another word!" Triton yelled. "And I am never... never to hear of you going to the surface again! Is that clear?"

Rapunzel turned and swam out of the Throne Room with tears rolling down her face, and Pascal swam off after her. King Triton sat back in his throne and sighed.

"Hmph!" Maximus, who was standing on one of the arm rests, grunted. "Teenagers. They think they know everything. You give 'em an inch, they swim all over you."

"Do you, uh, think I was too hard on her?" Triton asked.

"Definitely not!" Maximus confirmed. "Why, if Rapunzel was my daughter, I'd show her who was boss. None of this flitting to the surface and other such nonsense. No, sir. I'd keep her under tight control."

Triton rubbed his chin thoughtfully and smiled, "You're absolutely right, Maximus!"

"Of course," the little red crab replied.

"Rapunzel needs constant supervision," Triton decided. "Someone to watch over her, to keep her out of trouble."

"All the time," Maximus added.

"And you are just the crab to do it!" King Triton told him, jabbing a finger into the crab's underbelly. Maximus gasped and walked out of the Throne Room.

"How do I get myself into these situations?" he grumbled to himself. "I should be writing symphonies, not tagging along after some headstrong teenager!"

He looked to the side and saw Pascal giving Rapunzel her coral-pink treasure bag. The two looked to the left and then the right, before making their way out of the palace.

"Hmm?" Maximus puzzled, and began swimming after them. "What is that girl up to?"

Maximus crawled onto a rock, panting heavily, and saw Rapunzel and Pascal stop in front of the entrance of a cave, which was covered with a large round boulder. Rapunzel pulled it forward before she and Pascal slipped inside, as the boulder began falling back into place. Maximus charged for the shrinking gap and only just managed to get through, however the boulder send him flying into the grotto, straight into an hour glass. Maximus rubbed his head, before giving a gasp. "Huh?"

The grotto - which was obviously Rapunzel's - was filled with human treasures. Rapunzel was lying on a rock in front of an old candelabra made for three candles, which currently held a knife on the left and a spoon on the right. As she twiddled her fork in her hands, Pascal looked at her with worried brown eyes, "Rapunzel, are you okay?"

"If only I could make him understand. I just don't see things the way he does," Rapunzel said sadly, carefully placing her fork in the spot between her knife and spoon. "I don't see how a world that makes such wonderful things, could be bad."

"Look at this stuff, isn't it neat? Wouldn't you think my collection's complete? Wouldn't you think I'm the girl... the girl who has, everything?" Rapunzel sang angelically, motioning to the grotto's packed walls. "Look at this trove, treasures untold. How many wonders can one cavern hold? Looking around here you'd think, 'sure, she's got everything'!"

"I've got gadgets and gizmos a-plenty, I've got whozits and whatzits galore," Rapunzel swam over to one of the shelves and picked up a wooden box, before opening it to reveal several corkscrews, each one different from the rest. "You want thingamabobs? I've got 20!"

Rapunzel closed the box and placed it back on its shelf, then looked up at the hole in the grotto's celling. "But who cares? No big deal. I want more! I wanna be, where the people are. I wanna see, wanna see 'em dancing! Walking around on those... What do you call 'em?"

Pascal waggled his tail fin. Rapunzel smiled, "Oh, feet."

"Flipping your fins, you don't get too far. Legs are required for jumping, dancing," Rapunzel continued swimming around her grotto. "Strolling along down a... What's that word again? Street. Up where they walk, up where they run, up where they stay all day in the sun! Wandering free, wish I could be, part of that world."

Rapunzel and Pascal swam back down to the bottom of the grotto and lay on the sandy floor. "What would I give, if I could live, out of these waters? What would I pay, to spend a day out of the sand? Bet'cha on land, they understand. Bet they don't, reprimand their daughters. Bright women, sick of swimmin', ready to stand!"

Rapunzel pushed herself off the ground, pulled a book off one of the shelves and opened it to show Pascal. "And ready to know what the people know. Ask 'em my questions and get some answers! What's a fire, and why does it... What's the word? Burn?"

By now, Rapunzel was practically shouting each word that her incredible singing voice produced, "When's it my turn? Wouldn't I love... love to explore that shore up above?"

Rapunzel's voice softened to the way it was when she first started singing. Rapunzel swam down to the rock she was lying on before and sat on it as Pascal came up beside her. "Out of the sea, wish I... could be, part of that, world..."

Maximus, who had been walking around the grotto watching Rapunzel, fell from one of the shelves into a tray covered with treasures, creating a huge crash. Rapunzel grabbed a frying pan from one of the shelves and pointed it towards where the 'crash' came from (just had to put that in there). She gasped and put the heavy metal object back on the shelf upon seeing who it was, "Maximus!"

Maximus shook the stuff off himself, "Rapunzel, what are you... How could you... What is all this?"

"It's, uh... just my collection," Rapunzel replied innocently.

"Oh, I see. Your collection, hmm?" the crab replied calmly, before yelling, "IF YOUR FATHER KNEW ABOUT THIS PLACE, HE-"

Pascal gasped and gave the crab a worried look, "You're not going to tell him, are you?"

"Oh, please Maximus, he would never understand," Rapunzel begged.

"Rapunzel, you're under a lot of pressure down here. Come with me, I'll take you home and get you something warm to drink," Maximus gently took Rapunzel's hand and began leading her out of the grotto, when a large dark shape passed over the grotto, blocking the light, and causing a low rumbling noise.

"What do you suppose..." Rapunzel mumbled to herself, and swam out of the grotto.

"Rapunzel? Rapunzel? " Maximus called as Rapunzel slipped out of the grotto and began swimming to the surface.

.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.

Oooh, next chapter's gonna be good! What did you think of my frying pan bit? ;)