A/N: ChainOfPaperclips requested: Okay, this may be a bit of a tall order, but could you write a scene in the Sit, Stay, Feel universe where they run into Ariel and/or Eric some time after the close of that fic? I'm dying for some hints as to how that all panned out. I'm greedy. :D

No prob! This fits in shortly before the epilogue. Enjoy!


Emma sat up, leaning on her elbow looking down at Killian as if he'd gone round the bend. "Seriously? You want to take me out for sushi." she said, skepticism and amusement duking it out in equal measure in her tone. They were laying in bed at the end of a long day of work and dog training classes when Killian brought up the idea of what to do for their one-year anniversary.

When he'd confessed a while back the reason he had been home sick the first time they met, she pulled quite the face (admittedly more at his bad judgment than his choice of lunch), so he was not surprised she was dubious about them going for sushi to mark the occasion. Still, he figured a year away from it should be enough time to get his brain to disassociate sushi from his inadvertent quality time with the toilet.

"Aye. I think it's fitting, don't you, love?" he said with a wink and a wide grin at his own ironic sense of humor.

Emma snorted. "Risky is more like it. Did you take tomorrow off for old time's sake too?" she laughed as she looked at Killian askance.

"No need. I told you before that was a gross error on my part," he reminded her, shrugging.

"Gross is right," Emma mumbled under her breath.

"This time," Killian continued, pretending he hadn't heard Emma's remark as he swept a lock of her hair that had been tickling his bare shoulder out of the way, "we are going to a restaurant where my favorite chef will make it fresh right before our very eyes. I've every faith all will turn out well."

Emma shook her head then gave Killian a quick peck on the cheek then lay back down. "If that's where you want to take me for our anniversary, fine. Just know I think you're weird. And I won't be rubbing your back if you hurl later. You're on your own."

"So noted," he said with a nod. He rolled over onto his side and whispered in her ear, "And just so you know, I think you're beautiful." He punctuated his sentiment with a lingering kiss on her lips.

"So you've told me. Daily," she teased, not sounding the least bit sorry to hear him say it again.

Two nights later, they wore Gale out with a long round of fetch and keep away before giving her dinner and heading out themselves, ignoring her sad eyes at being left behind. Killian knew Gale would sleep regardless of the efforts to tire her beforehand, but he still liked make sure she got some running around time in if Gale was going to be alone for any length of time. He hated being away from her during the day as it was, so he always made the effort to spend time with her first if he knew he was going someplace after work. Gale wouldn't be alone much longer, though. They would be picking up their new puppy in a few days and then they'd all be home more often until "the new kid," as Emma liked to call her, was a bit older.

Killian swung the Jeep into the last open spot in the parking lot at his favorite Japanese restaurant, Moritomo's. Knowing it would be a busy night — the annual summer music festival started last night and brought quite the hoard of tourists — he made reservations for 7pm just to be sure they didn't miss the chance to celebrate their milestone. The Japanese restaurant was divided between two rooms — one for hibachi and the other for everything else — and it was usually full even without tourists. The main dining room with its red carpeting and parchment colored walls with dark wood tables surrounded the showcase of the place: the long sushi bar manned by the main chef and two assistants. Before adopting Gale, Killian had spent many an evening after work sitting at that counter trying the different types of sushi, growing rather fond of the crunchy rolls and sashimi, and drinking sake or Morimoto's Soba Ale. He'd missed coming here and was relieved to find out Emma liked Japanese food as well.

For the number of tables occupied, the dining room was relatively quiet with people too busy enjoying not just copious amounts of sushi, but udon, tempura, and teriyaki, to chatter much. The waitstaff bustled about with the grace and precision of a dance troupe on their 500th performance, and Killian scanned the room while they waited for their own table to become available. There were three private rooms the size of an over-large booth to the right where the tables were built low to the ground, the area beneath it sunken to allow for leg room, and shoes neatly placed on the step outside as was proper for entering a Japanese home.

Emma must have seen them too because she asked, "Are we getting one of those little rooms?"

"Alas, no. I'm afraid the temptation to shut the screen and barricade it so I could have my way with you — loudly and with vigor — scandalizing the other patrons was too great, so I asked for a regular table," Killian admitted with a sad shake of his head.

Emma waggled her eyebrows, "Maybe next time."

Killian smirked and drew her closer to him. She was no timid lass, to be sure, and it was one of his favorite things about her. But now was not the time to think of such things or he'd have to go take a walk to the car to right his head and...other things.

Thankfully, Emma interrupted Killian's train of thought and yanked gently on his arm, her fingers already entwined with his and nodded in the direction of a table towards the back.

"Hey, look! It's Ariel! Remember her? From that first Puppy Kindergarten class we did together?"

"Aye. She had the black, curly-haired puppy, correct?" he asked as he knit his brows trying to recall the details. He really spent more time watching Emma than he did anyone else in class, so he was vague on who had which dog after all this time. Plus, he and Gale had helped with a couple more training classes, so the number of dogs and owners became a bit of a blur. He wasn't sure how she kept everyone straight.

"Sebastian."

"Aye! Sebastian. That's right."

Emma leaned in and whispered in his ear, "Maybe you should invite her on your boat so you can say you have had a mermaid on board."

"I've got a thing for golden haired sirens, not red-headed part-time fish. Besides, I can't imagine a mermaid would be here eating sushi of all things, love."

"Maybe she likes California Rolls...Wait, is that Eric, too?!" Emma asked getting a better look at Ariel's dinner companion.

Killian pressed his lips together and squinted as he craned his neck to see better. Just then, the man turned to wave down a waiter and they got a better look.

"Looks to be. I told you they were going to end up together," he said smugly.

"Yes, Mr. Know-it-all. You did. Were you as confident that we would?" Emma asked, poking Killian in the ribs with her knuckles.

"Perhaps," he said, arching away from her so he wouldn't laugh loudly and disturb the dinner crowd. She knew exactly where he was ticklish now and she could not be deterred when her mind was set on making him squirm.

"That is not a confident answer," she countered.

"I was confident in how I felt. You were the challenge."

"Challenge, huh?" Emma goaded, bumping him with her shoulder.

"But I do love a challenge," Killian answered, his eyebrows flicking up briefly before he leaned down to kiss her.

"Flatterer," Emma mumbled into his lips.

"Mmmm..." he hummed.

The sound of a throat clearing pulled the two apart, and the maitre d' in her dark blue yukata with a chrysanthemum design bursting like fireworks on it, smiled brightly at the couple as she hugged the menus over the bright yellow obi wrapped around her middle.

"Your table is ready. Douzo," she said, inclining her head toward the dining room and pointing the way with the menus.

Killian rested his hand on the small of Emma's back as she stepped out ahead of him to follow the woman through the maze of full tables, busboys, and waitresses weaving in and out around them. As luck would have it, they were ushered to an open booth next to the table where Ariel and Eric were seated. When Ariel made eye-contact with Emma, her face lit up and she patted Eric's hand and grinned at him.

"Ms. Swan!" she cried.

Emma thanked the maitre d' for showing them their table but remained standing to greet her former students.

"We're out of class now, you can call me Emma. How are you Ariel? Eric?" Emma asked, shaking hands with each of them. "Oh, you remember Killian, my demo guy?" she asked pulling Killian forward.

"'Demo guy?' Is that a new term for 'boyfriend' I am unaware of?" Killian asked with mock confusion while taking his turn shaking hands.

"Watch it, buddy, or I'm going to start introducing you as my clean up crew," Emma sassed back.

Both Eric and Ariel laughed at the banter and then Ariel said, still holding Emma's hand, "It's so great to see you! We loved that class, by the way."

"Some of us more than others," Eric said, beaming at Ariel as a flush of red a few shades lighter than her hair bloomed on her rounded cheeks.

"It's great to see you, too — together even! You are...together...or did I just make a complete ass out of myself?" Emma said with an embarrassed smile.

Ariel held up her left hand to show off a sparkling diamond ring with inlaid, pale pink, iridescent mother-of-pearl in the tear-drop shaped band.

Emma let out a low whistle. "Nice job, Eric."

From over Emma's shoulder, Killian agreed. "Congrats, mate. I knew you two were were going to hit it off. When's the big day?"

"Thanks," Eric said. "In about six weeks, actually. Toward the end of summer. We are renting the harbor cruise ship and having the ceremony at sunset. Grimsby is an old family friend and cut us a deal."

Killian nodded slowly as something dawned on him. "Oh, now that you mention it, I saw the paperwork come through for that event the other day. I'm the harbormaster, by the way. I never associated the name with you. Sorry! I like Grimsby. Excellent example of good form. If you need anything else, don't hesitate to call me."

"Thanks! I appreciate the offer," Eric said.

"So...how are Max and Sebastian doing?" Emma inquired, changing the topic. Killian could tell she was eager to know about them and how they fared. She often complained that she rarely got to see how her former students managed after they graduated and he thought sometimes her confidence suffered for not knowing if her teaching methods stuck.

Ariel chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Oh, those two? If you separate them, they are like a couple of fish out of water. They hate to be apart."

Emma smiled and elbowed Killian as unobtrusively as she could at Ariel's simile. Killian, for his part, coughed to cover the grunt she elicited with her sharp joint to his solar plexus.

"That's fantastic! And do they behave for you? Did you go on to do anymore training?" Emma asked.

It was Eric's turn to chuckle. He shook his head though, obviously thinking about Max. "Well, Max is a good dog. He gets by. Honestly he's just such a happy guy, everyone loves him wherever we go. I'm still working on getting him not to jump on people, but he's got the basic commands we learned in your class down really well. He's just a big, hairy, doofus."

"And I'm taking Sebastian for therapy dog training. I want to bring him to some of the local nursing homes. He's really quite gentle and sweet. Until you get him near water, of course, and then it's like he forgets there's land to run around on. Can't keep him out of it. He's quite the swimmer."

"We should get him and Gale together," Killian suggested. "She's happiest when wet as well," he added.

"That sounds like fun!" Ariel agreed.

They were interrupted by their waitress bringing the check for Eric and Ariel, which set the red-head to raving about how much she loved the vegetarian rolls she had for dinner. Emma shot a knowing look at Killian as she listened to Ariel, a huge grin working its way across her face. Killian could only laugh to himself assuming that Emma no doubt thought Ariel's vegetarianism was one more clue she was, in fact, a mermaid. She was a tenacious one, his Emma.

The same waitress took Emma and Killian's drink order before exiting to the bar to place it. Once she left, the two couples shook hands and hugged again, Killian giving Eric his card in case he needed a favor for their wedding preparations. He also reminded them to give them a call to set up a play date with the dogs.

As Emma slid into her seat in the booth, she wagged her finger at Killian. "You do want to get her on your boat!" she accused him smugly. She was laughing as she said it, but Killian captured her hands in his, kissing her knuckles.

"I said nothing of the boat, darling. I told you: no mermaids. They're bad luck for pirates in folklore, you know...Not that she even is one, mind you. No, I was thinking more about your and Gale's little beach. Might be a better location if we bring the new pup with us. She's not going to be ready for the boat for a while and she'll need some socializing with other dogs and people. I just thought that would be a nice place we could have better control over."

Emma conceded his point. "You're right. That's a better idea. You've become quite the dog trainer yourself. Maybe I'll promote you from 'demo guy,'" she said, giving him an impressed smile.

"I've a fantastic teacher, love. So, what are you going to have tonight?"

Emma glanced at him over the edge of her menu that hid half her face, and batted her eyelashes. "You mean besides you?"

Killian choked on his water, spilling some down his chin and shirt in surprise, making Emma laugh before she went on to answer his question. "I think I'm gonna get the seafood yaki soba and a side of gyoza. You?"

"Well, darling, I'm a bit ravenous," he said as he looked at Emma intently, letting the double meaning sink in. When he noticed her pupils dilate and a blush rise up her neck to her cheeks, he continued, "...And it's been too long since I've been here, so I'm going with the sushi and sashimi combo."

Looking at what that consisted of on her menu, Emma's eyes widened. "Don't you think 18 pieces of sushi is a bit excessive for your return to raw fish? Sure you don't want to ease into it?" Killian smiled but shook his head. Emma rolled her eyes and warned him, "Just no doggie bags though. I can't stay home to nurse you through another 'gross error.'"

"If the lady insists."