Chapter 4

Inside of the castle, Spongebob sat in a large iron tub filled with warm water and bubbles. The bath felt good, and he playfully batted at the bubbles. A young castle steward dumped a bucket of water over his head, causing him to cough once or twice.

"Sorry, kid." The steward apologized. "So...princess found ya on the beach, did she? Well, we'll have you cleaned up in no time!" He picked up the sail and looked over it, before making a face. "We'll just uh...get this washed up for you." He explained, tossing the soiled garment into the next room over.

Upon the sudden movement, Gary poked his eyes out of the pocket, but before he could get a hold of his surroundings, the sail was retrieved by a laundry maid, and tossed into another iron tub, slightly smaller than the one Spongebob was in.

Even from his pocket, Gary could hear the conversation. "So, you must have at least heard about this guy, come on!"

"Not at all!" The other one replied. "What, this guy shows up on the beach wearing a ship sail and not saying a word?" She scoffed. "Not exactly my idea of a prince." The sail was then hung on a wire, and whipped off to another room.

Meanwhile, Bernie, Corneil, and Sandy were seated around the dining room table.

"Seriously Sandy, get real!" Bernie scoffed. "Good looking guys don't just swim around rescuing people!" He scoffed. "I mean, if that were true, I'd spend my entire life in the water!"

Sandy was staring out the window, hardly hearing her friend's words. She was clad in a magnificent red dress, and smiling dreamily. "I'm tellin' ya Bernie, he was real. I ain't gonna stop looking 'till I find him."

Bernie sighed. "Say something to her, Corneil!"

Corneil shrugged. "There's nothing to say. You know how she is."

"Come now, don't be shy!" A steward's voice could be heard from the other room. Spongebob was then shoved into the enormous dining room. He glanced around nervously, and smiled sheepishly when he spotted the princess and her friends. He was wearing a black tuxedo suit, and a red bow tie. To Sandy, he looked incredibly handsome.

"Cleans up good, don't he?" Bernie remarked, ushering the timid sponge to the table.

"Wow, he does!" Sandy smiled. "You look...you look great!" She said, at a loss for words.

Spongebob's face turned a slight pink color, as he took a seat. The two stared at each other for a long moment, until Bernie broke the silence. "Come on, you two must be starving!" He leaned back in his seat and lit up a pipe.

Sandy raised an eyebrow. "Aw come on Bernie, with the pipe and everything? I thought you said you wasn't gonna do that no more."

Bernie shrugged. "So...? I changed my mind."

Without too much thinking, Spongebob reached across the table and grabbed it, examining it thoroughly.

Bernie laughed. "You know, that was my great-grandfather's. He had it imported from somewhere, I can never remember the name of that place."

"Cuba?" Corneil suggested.

Bernie shrugged. "Something like that."

Spongebob looked at the pipe once more, before blowing into it. Ashes flew across the table, coating Bernie's face in a thick coat of black soot.

Sandy's laughter filled the room, as Spongebob shyly set the pipe on the table. "What'd I tell ya?"

"Hey Sandy, you're smiling!" Corneil teased.

Sandy giggled, glancing at Spongebob. "Yeah, I guess I am."

(This is where the huge scene in the kitchen is supposed to be, but since I'm lazy--and that part never made much sense to me--we're just gonna skip ahead in the story a little bit)

Bernie was trying to hold a conversation with Sandy. "Ya know, I was thinking...maybe our guest would like to see some more of the kingdom. Like...maybe a grand tour?"

Sandy wasn't paying much attention, staring at Spongebob--who was staring right back. "Sorry Bernie, did you say somethin'?"

Bernie huffed. "You can't just sit here, waiting for this mystery guy to show up at our front door! You need to do something more active, like you used to."

"Uh-huh, sure, if he's interested." She replied. "Do y'all want to take a ride with me tomorrow afternoon?"

Spongebob nodded enthusiastically.

"Great!" Bernie said, smiling. "Now, let's eat! Before this think crawls off my plate!"

But it already had. Bernie raised an eyebrow, and Corniel snickered, quietly.

-----

Later that evening, Spongebob sat on the balcony staring dreamily off at Sandy, who was, in turn, staring dreamily off at the sea. She glanced at him and waved, and Spongebob felt his cheeks turn a slight shade of pink, as he waved back and went back inside.

"I hope you're happy, Squarepants." Squidward whined, only to see Spongebob jumping up and down playfully on the soft bed.

There was a knock on the door. "May I come in?" A voice asked. Squidward huffed and opened the door to see Corniel.

"Oh great, you can talk too?" The annoyed octopus asked sarcastically, closing the door.

"Of course I can." Corniel countered, sharply.

Squidward rolled his eyes. "What are you doing here, why, and how long until you rat us out?"

Corniel shook his head. "I'm not here to betray your presence, good sir. I would like to lend assistance to your friend over here. I happen to know that this is the correct man, be as it may I don't know why he is so silent...but that's beside the point. I happen to know that you only have three days to get Sandy to kiss him, and I want to help."

"Great. Wait--how do you know that?" Squidward asked, throwing a glance out the window and seeing Patrick sitting on the beach.

Corniel nodded.

"Perfect! So...you can tell Sandy who Spongebob is, and she can kiss him!?" Squidward asked, excitedly.

"No!" Corniel replied, putting up a hand and shocking Squidward somewhat. "Love can not work that way. If Spongebob wants Sandy to fall in love with him, he has to do it himself. I believe that carriage ride tomorrow will be just the thing for it!" He sighed. "Now, you'd better get some sleep. Something tells me, you're going to need it." And with that, he exited the room, gently closing the door behind him.

Squidward raised his eyebrows. "Perfect, Spongebob! Isn't this going great?"

But Spongebob had already dozed off. Squidward sighed, almost smiling. "You are completely hopeless." He pulled a blanket over himself, in the chair he was sleeping in. "We're gonna miss you at home." He whispered.

-----

Down in Bikini Bottom, a police officer had stopped by the Krusty Krab.

"Any sign of them?" A desperate Mr. Krabs inquired.

The officer shook his head. "No, sir. We've put out reports on the radio to keep a look out for Spongebob Squarepants and Squidward Tentacles...but we haven't heart anything."

Mr. Krabs was practically in tears, but he stood strong. "Well, keep looking for 'em! And hurry, before I loose all me valuable customers!"

"Roger that." The officer replied, before turning to leave.

Mr. Krabs sighed. "Oh, what have I done?" he asked himself, pitifully. "I'm sorry, Spongebob."

-----

The following day, Bernie waved goodbye with a wink as Sandy and Spongebob left the castle grounds in a horse drawn carriage. Heading into town, Spongebob was completely mesmerized at his first few glimpses of the surface world. When they were nearer to their destination, Squidward attempted to capture Spongebob's attention, but Spongebob was having too much fun, and simply waved back at his friend, smiling.

"Have they kissed yet?" Squidward asked Gary, watching the two ride further on. Gary shook his head, sadly.

Later on, Sandy and Spongebob stopped at a puppet stand. Spongebob watched in disbelief for a moment, before removing a puppet from the perplexed puppeteer's hand. Spongebob heard music, and immediately swung toward it, clutching Sandy's hand.

"Hey Squidward, any kissing?" Patrick asked, abruptly appearing by the octopus' side.

Squidward jumped. "No!"

"Oh." Patrick replied, dolefully.

"They'd better get a move on," Corniel cautioned. "The deadline is tomorrow!"

Squidward shuddered. "I know!"

Spongebob and Sandy climbed back into the carriage, smiling and having the time of their lives. Spongebob stared at the reigns for a long moment, before Sandy giggled. "Wanna drive?" She asked.

Spongebob nodded, and took the reigns from her hands. He snapped them across the horse's backs, and they immediately sped up to a run. Sandy startled and clutched on to Spongebob for a moment, but after a while she began to enjoy the ride. But she didn't let go of Spongebob's arm.

-----

As the evening drew to a close, the Princess and the Sponge set out in a small canoe, over a vast beautiful lake. Spongebob's friends, along with Corniel, still spied on them vigilantly. The quietness of the lagoon lent out a very peaceful atmosphere.

"I can't see!" Patrick complained, shoving Squidward.

Squidward slapped a tentacle over the starfish's mouth. "Be quiet, you dunderhead!" He whispered.

Sandy raised an eyebrow. "Did you hear something?" She asked.

Spongebob shrugged and shook his head, not for a moment averting his eyes from Sandy's beautiful face. She returned the stare, smiling. "Ya know," she whispered, careful not to disturb the atmosphere, "You've been my guest for almost two days now, and I don't even know your name." She smiled. "Maybe I can guess. Is it...Edgar?"

Spongebob stuck out his tongue, in a way that indicated a "No".

Sandy laughed. "Alright, is it...Darrin?"

Spongebob shook his head again.

Sandy looked thoughtful. "Benjamin?"

Spongebob, Squidward whispered, and it carried a sound that resembled the cool night breeze.

Sandy perked up. "Spongebob!?"

Spongebob smiled, nodding his head.

Sandy giggled. "It's cute; it suits you."

Spongebob smiled shyly. There were several moments of silence, where the two stared deep into each other's eyes. Sandy leaned forward a little, looking like she wanted to kiss him, but not quite sure.

As if to reassure her, Spongebob leaned forward as well.

Squidward bit his lip, clenching his fists. Patrick silently cheered, and Corniel stared in expectancy. "Come on girl, you can do it," he whispered.

Their faces were inches away...and then centimeters...and out of the blue...the boat tipped over!

Squidward shouted in annoyance, and Patrick flopped onto the ground. Corniel sighed and looked up at the sky.

-----

At the Chum Bucket, Plankton regarded the entire scene in anxiety. "Nice work Manray, Dirty Bubble." He murmured. "That was close--too close! That kid is better than I thought. At this rate, they'll share a kiss by tomorrow!"

He put on the shell necklace, in which he'd earlier acquired Spongebob's voice. "Well, we'll see about that." He murmured, laughing. His appearance slowly began to change, along with his voice. "Dhahaha!"

-----

I know, I know. It took WAY too long to get this updated. I'm sorry! It's just REALLY hard sometimes, to come up with the right stuff XP FORGIVE ME! ANYWAY, I hope you all enjoyed. I can't tell you when Chapter 5 will come, but...it'll be the last chappie! Have a good one! v

-Meg