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Chapter four: The Promise

(Two Days Earlier)

King Triton was taking a small stroll towards Sebastian's shell rubbing his beared thoughtfully. He had an idea of what could possibly work, it wasn't very much, but it was definitely worth taking a look into. King Triton had been searching through his daughter's gifts and treasures from when she was a child when he came across something definitely important. A picture she had drawn after the first time she had met Flounder. It wasn't a finger painting or some crappy sketch to describe her fun-filled day. No this was definitely something special to her, it looked like it had taken ages to get the painting just right, the curve of his cheeks, the perfect motion of his stripes and the way his eyes were just so.

He pulled out the folded drawing again and sighed, "Oh Ariel," he muttered slowly to himself, "If only you had waited."

****

FLASH BACK.

King Triton was sitting in his throne, a positively livid look set on his face.

"Daddy I love him!" Ariel screamed back at her father.

"He is not your mate." he roared back,

"My mate doesn't exist!" She pulled at her hair in a frustrated growl; Sebastian sat across the room, a permanent frown in his features.

"Have you not thought of the affect it will have on anybody else besides yourself?"

"What affect besides the fact that you'll have one less annoying daughter to look out for!"

"You are not annoying Ariel."

"I don't care." She screeched again, ripping at her hair again.

"I don't understand why you just won't wait Ariel." He said softly to his daughter, trying to calm down the fiery red-head.

"Wait? Wait for what? So I can just die alone." Her eyes had filled with tears; King Triton said nothing starting at his daughter with a sad frown. Ariel felt her face heat up in anger, she didn't need his pity, she loved Eric and that was all there was to it. "I love him daddy." She said softly.

"If you are sure, you may do as you wish." The king said with a heavy heart remembering the promise he had made, he stared at his daughter, begging her to see reason with his eyes.

"Thank you daddy." She finally let the tears fall freely down her face as she raced up to hug him.

King Triton awkwardly hugged his 16 year old daughter back; he breathed in heavily as he watched her take off in the opposite direction, no doubt telling flounder the results of their argument.

King Triton rubbed his brow wearily, "Am I doing the right thing Sebastian?"

Sebastian stepped out from the shadows and slowly spoke his voice flat and dead of any emotion, "Only time will tell your majesty."

King Triton looked back at the small crab, and shook his head sadly, she would regret this and he would be there to help her pick up the pieces.

Sebastian sighed heavily, "Your majesty, why did you let her when you know who Eric's mate is?" he asked the king desperately.

"Because, you heard her Sebastian: She loves him." he looked at the crab with sad eyes, in just a few months she would be married, and soon after that her mate would come for her and so would Eric's.

The King walked out of the chambers followed closely by Sebastian. None of them noticed the pair of bright blue eyes slowly fill with tears as she watched her sister leave.

****

King Triton clenched his fist as he felt a burning sensation behind his eyes, he would do this, he could do this, if not for Ariel then for Arista he would.

****

Sebastian stoped mid pace as he heard a massive booming noise coming from outside his house, he instantly looked up to see the king outside his window his head thrown back as he was holding his stomach.

Sebastian stared at the old king like he was insane as he struggled to put two words together.

"Seb…Flou…Pac….ing... to…get...her!" he burst out in laughter together, after five minutes with the continuous onslaught Sebastian felt his patients wearing thin. The king took another few small chuckles as he wiped a tear from his eye, "I haven't laughed that hard since Ariel got her hand stuck in the seaweed stand." He chuckled a little more before he swam forward to meet the fuming fish and crab.

"What was so funny?" Sebastian almost snapped at the king, just catching his tongue as he remembered who he was talking too.

He watched as King Triton's eyes widened with the slight tone but he shrugged it off, "You and flounder were almost identical, I couldn't help myself."

It wasn't the first time the King had caught the fish copying Sebastian's pacing, but he highly doubted it had the same meaning as the last few times, for one Flounder wasn't following Sebastian's every single move. He let out another small chuckle as he watched the crab turn a menacing glare at the cowering fish.

King Triton interrupted the crab before he began to yell at the fish for copying his pacing moves again, he handed the crab the piece of slightly scrunched sea paper.

"What is this?" The crab asked as he took the drawing from the Kings out stretched hands, Flounder stood behind him, looking over his shoulder. The King let a small smile onto his face as he watched Flounder soak up the love and adoration that the artist had for him.

"Who did this belong to?" Sebastian asked the king, his eyebrows slightly raised.

Flounder looked up to meet the king's intense gaze and shivered as he heard the most beautiful name slip through his lips.

"Ariel."

****

(Present.)

Arista sat on her bed, the curtains were closed again, and it was pitch black, representing her failing moods ever since she had been told that Prince Eric would soon marry her youngest sister Ariel.

It had been a little over a week ago when the boat sailed off into the distance, and for a whole week Arista had locked the door and just sat in her room. Her father had tried numerous times to get her to open the door without force, but she wouldn't let him in.

When he had broken their most trusted rule and busted the door down he was meted with the most terrifying site a father could face, his baby daughter, slowly dying. She of course had little over 3 weeks left to live. She unlike many of her sisters didn't go after her mate after she had found him and felt the worst betrayal when she finally did see him wrapping his arms around Ariels waist.

She felt a pain unlike any others, she wouldn't and didn't try. She made her father promise to not say anything to him or Ariel. She had heard the massive fight between Ariel and her father, her heart clenched at the thought of her father agreeing to let them marry, but decided that it was for the best. She obviously couldn't be the best for him if he had fallen in love with Ariel.

Now she lay in her bed, her eyes red and sore from crying, nightmare after nightmare of Eric telling her he didn't like her, she wasn't beautiful enough, she wasn't good enough. Her body was almost a skeleton from lack of food, her skin an unhealthy pale from lack of sunlight, but her eyes had lost the spark and her soul had lost the reason to live.

****

"Flounder?" Ariel stared wide eyed at the boy in front of her, his hair an unruly sunshine blond; his skin gave a soft glow with the moonlight just touching his skin.

"Flounder." She whispered softly to her self, loving the feel of his name just slowly roll of her tongue.

"Ariel." He all but moaned back.

"What are you doing here?" Ariel shook her head away from her wondering thoughts.

"I-I came to see you." Flounder stared down at his feet, "These are actually pretty hard to walk with." He heard the most beautiful laugh and almost got lashed as his neck snapped up and stared at the giggling red-head.

Ariel tried to control her racing heart as Flounder gave her a small smile. Ariel pushed a strand piece of red hair behind her ear, as she tempted to raise her eyes once more, locking onto his.

"Flounder," Ariel whispered, and felt a flush go to her cheeks as she noticed his slight shiver.

Ariel looked up to stare into his beautiful sea coloured eyes, they were the most expressive eyes she had seen, filled with love and adoration she closed her eyes at the intensity. She swallowed the lump in her throat as she flicked her eyes back to Flounder, her breath coming out in short deep pants.

Flounders face had a small flush to it, as he stared at her, he took a small step forward a beautiful cheeky smile graced his handsome face as he noticed she didn't back away but whimpered softly. He took another and another until he was right in front of her, he knelt down to look her directly in the eyes.

Their faces just seemed to have a magnetic pull; Flounder glanced down at her lips, anxiety started to bubble within his belly as he flicked his eyes back to Ariels to see her baby blue eyes zooming in on his lips.

A small cough from a rather flushed crab was all it took for the two to repel like they had been found out, two star crossed lovers. Flounder couldn't help but realize how close it was to the truth.

He sent an evil glare in the direction towards Sebastian as the crab sent him a small smirk. He ran his fingers through his hair as he resisted the urge to go and smack the crab in the face.

Ariel straightened her clothes as she saw Sebastian, "Sebastian, what are you doing here?" she asked the crab, a full blown smile filled out across her small face as she stared down at the crab and beckoned him to sit in the palm of her hands.

Flounder almost was happy that the kiss had not happened just to see Ariels smiling face once more, almost.

"I'm here on official business from the king," Sebastian told the princess, "To watch over Flounder here." He jerked a claw in his direction.

"Oh? How long will you all be staying?" she looked in Flounders direction and noted the butterflies in her stomach again.

"Only today," Sebastian interjected.

"What?" Ariel's face had fallen as she stared at her best-friend.

"For now," Flounder hurriedly finished off Sebastian's sentence. "I have to return once the sun sets." Flounder looked down at his feet, kicking the sand softly.

"Oh," Ariel placed Sebastian on the sand as she rose; trying to will the sadness that suddenly hit her at full pelt.

"I can come and see you every day though." Flounder told her as he picked up her hands in his, enjoying her soft skin against his.

"I would love that." Ariel spoke softly, and blushed as she felt her eyes suddenly dart down to look at his lips once more, she pulled herself away before she go too carried away. "Well I must be off, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yes." Flounder breathed as his eyes soaked up her appearance one more.

She nodded slightly and took off, running at full pelt towards the castle, relishing in the feeling in the pit of her stomach and the full blown smile across her face.

****

Eric rubbed his face wearily as he stared at Princess Margret, wasn't she annoying. Her long blonde hair was piled up on her head in random curls; her big blue eyes were staring at him excitedly as she talked continuously about some person falling in love with some other random person Eric really didn't care about. But something about the girl seemed to remind him of someone, someone he knew.

****

He woke up drenched in sweat with dirt sleeping garments in Ariels bed; he looked out of the window barely any light was shining through the window. Eric shook his head and desperately tried to remember his dream. A beautiful blonde, with gorgeous baby blue eyes: her hair tied up in a pony tail, her fringe covering one of her beautiful eyes. He remembered his pants feeling incredibly tight as he watched the beautiful blonde curls fall across her back as she removed the hair-band.

****

He shook his heads from his sudden thoughts and moved his pants slightly as he tried to listen to what the young princess in front of him was talking about, well, at least look like it.

(A/N) Please Review.