A/N: So, so, so sorry for the long wait. Life has been so hectic between volleyball, high school registration, and having a severe case of writer's block. Anyways, I hope you like chapter four!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, blah, blah, blah. . . All characters belong to, blah blah, blah. . . Now on with the show!

Chapter Four- Mermaid Lagoon

"Gotcha!"

Ariel shrieked as Peter swooped down and grabbed her waist. Her long, red hair had small twigs and leaves caught in it, and her face was red and sweaty from their game of hide-and-seek.

Ariel crawled out of her hiding spot and flopped on her ground, panting heavily. Peter landed gracefully next to her, and sat cross legged by her head, crunching the leaves beneath him.

"God, I'm exhausted," Ariel said, stretching her arms above her head.

"Wanna go swimming?" Peter asked, cocking his head to one side.

Ariel thought for a moment. She was hot and sweaty. She could almost feel the cool water slipping over her head, and her powerful tail propelling her through the water. Plus, swimming was practically the only thing she could beat Peter at.

"Sure," she said, hoisting herself up off the dirt. They took off and were soon flying over the trees.

"Where are we going?" Ariel asked.

Peter smiled a devilish grin. "Surprise," he said, and started to fly a little faster.

Ariel laughed and sped up. Soon enough, the two were racing over the green tree tops. They were neck and neck when Peter suddenly stopped. "Here," he said.

Ariel wheeled around, nearly slamming into a tree trunk. She slowly made her way over to Peter. The two of them hovered in the air, and Ariel finally looked around. She saw a small cove with a waterfall cascading into it. There were rocks scattered in the water, their mossy tops poking out of the water. Sitting on the rocks and swimming in the water was a small group of mermaids.

"Come on," Peter said, gently taking her hand. Ariel's heart quickened. They flew to the largest rock, which was flat and soft with moss.

The three mermaids caught sight of Peter. "Peter! Peter!" they called out.

"Hey girls!" Peter said.

The mermaids swam up, speculatively looking at Peter and Ariel's intertwined hands. One had dark hair, one light, and one caramel colored.

"Who's she?" a brunette mermaid with a dark purple tail asked.

"Oh that's Ariel," Peter said, quickly jerking his hand free from Ariel's. Ariel glanced away, wondering why that move had hurt so much, almost like a slap in the face. Her eyes welled up with tears, and she rapidly blinked them back.

"What's she doing here?" the brunette asked, rather rudely.

"We came to go swimming," Peter said.

"Well why don't you get in?" the mermaid asked. She scooped up a handful of water and threw it at Ariel. Ariel, suspecting as much from the jealous girl, stopped it in midair. She controlled it with her mind, and then tossed it back at the mermaid. It hovered over her for a second, and then doused the girl in the face. The brunette shrieked and fell off the rock and into the water, landing with an ungraceful splash.

When the mermaid surfaced again, Ariel said loudly "I think I will get in," and dove into the cool water. Ariel felt her legs start to tingle and morph into one, the water swirling around her. Bitch, Ariel said in her head and smiled, recalling the mermaid's shocked look when Ariel had doused her. Oh, sweet revenge.

She broke the surface to find three dumbfound mermaids staring at her, while Peter had an amused grin on his face. Ariel winked at him.

"Holy shit!" said the mermaid with the long, straight caramel colored hair. She pushed herself of the rock and swam over to Ariel. "How the hell do you do that?"

Ariel smiled. She had a feeling she was going to like this girl.

"I don't know," Ariel said. "I just do."

The mermaid looked up at Ariel with a look of awe and humor. "I'm Piper," she said. "That's Nyree with the pink tail," Piper pointed to the blonde mermaid, and Nyree waved back. "And that's Mirabelle," Piper pointed to the mermaid with them purple tail, but she simply huffed, crossed her arms, and turned away. Ariel tried not to laughed, but ended up snorting. At that, Piper had to chuckle too.

"Mirabelle's just jealous of you- she's had a crush on Peter for ages," Piper said, rolling her eyes.

Ariel felt sort of smug. She was the one Peter payed attention to, even now. He was watching her closely, while Mirabelle was by his side, vainly trying to get his attention.

"She's like a barnacle, always hanging on to him when he visits," Piper said. "Quite frankly, it's getting old-no scratch that. It got old a long time ago."

Ariel felt. . . jealous. Mirabelle had obviously known Peter for a long time, much longer than Ariel had known him. However, at that moment, Peter flew over to where Ariel was, and with a war whoop, dove into the water. She laughed, mostly at Peter, but also at the look of rage on Mirabelle's face.

The rest of the day was spent at Mermaid Lagoon. More mermaids appeared and disappeared, but Piper stayed all day with Ariel and Peter. Peter entertained them with stories of his heroic bravery against Captain Hook, to which the girls listened to entranced. When the sun was starting to set, Ariel swam out of the lagoon and, with words of caution from Peter, slipped by the pirates' ship. Ariel shivered when she met the open sea. The water around the island was so warm and soft; out in the middle of the ocean, the water was cold and choppy.

Ariel swam home as quickly as she could, cursing under her breath about the sunset. Everyday with Peter was so magical, so simple. For a few hours, she could forget all of her troubles and just. . . escape. But, come sunset, reality would sink back in, and she would start to feel alone again.

Sorry this was kind of short. I'm still having writer's block. The action will pick up in these next few chapters. If you guys have any ideas for my story, I would love to hear your suggestions!

Love,
imaginethatt/ Kathleen :)