Queen Ariel stood on the balcony overlooking the water. She scanned the horizon for some sign… any sign of her family. She was going mad with frustration and worry. She was tired of sitting at home with no way to help. Eric told her to stay put in case the children made it to Caledonia, but if Ariel knew her daughter, she'd most likely gotten into some sort of trouble. There was so little Ariel could do from her current position. An idea began to form in her mind. It was a long shot but if she could make it work she could help her family.

Everyone lay flat on the ship as it rocked back and forth violently in the water. The Kraken had disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared and everyone braced themselves for another attack, when it seemed as if the attack was over everyone stood and began to survey the damage.

"Was anyone hurt?" Captain Covas asked as he looked over the damage to the ship.

Matthew sat on the deck of the ship not able to move. He'd watched as the Princess Melody had been picked up by one of the tentacles and thrown far from the ship. She could be drowning out there! Matthew was so shocked that he couldn't think straight. He saw something shining close beside him. He realized that it was Melody's shell necklace. He picked it up and looked at it for a second before he snapped out of his state of shock and jumped up; put the necklace in his pocket and ran towards Captain Covas.

"What in Poseidon's name was that?" Coral exclaimed still clutching onto the mast.

"Watch your language," Serena scolded, "Justin do you really think that was a Kraken? I thought…" she stopped, looked around and then lowered her voice, "I thought grandfather took care of the Krakens."

"I thought so too," Justin replied helping Cody untangle from the ropes that he'd managed to trap himself in during the fight, "this doesn't make any sense."

"I don't know about the rest of you but I have had just about enough of this adventure," Pearl whined.

"Well feel free to go home at any time, oh wait that's right…" Cody shot back.

"Stop it, both of you," Justin scolded, "fighting with each other isn't the answer. Now is everyone alright?"

The cousins assured him that aside from a few scratches and bumps they were fine. They were in the middle of checking when Serena noticed something was amiss.

"Wait," she said, "where is Melody?"

"She must be over there with Matthew," Cody replied pointing.

"But isn't that Matthew coming this way?" Coral asked.

"Matthew what's going on?" Serena asked as he came running up to them.

"The Kraken… Kraken… grabbed… it….grabbed… it grabbed her!" Matthew panted still trying to get his breath after the attack.

"What are you talking about?" Coral asked.

"Melody, the Kraken grabbed her!"

"WHAT?" Justin roared, "What do you mean? You mean the Kraken got her? And you didn't do anything to STOP IT?"

"It grabbed her and then when I threw her a knife she stabbed it and it threw her out over the water!" Matthew explained.

"So she could still be out there somewhere?" Coral replied frantically.

"She IS somewhere out there," Matthew replied, "We need Captain Covas to turn this ship around and head South, that's the direction she fell."

All at once the entire company ran in the direction of the Captain to give him to news.

Captain James was a free man. He didn't need anything or anyone, only his beautiful ship, his greatest love. He didn't need to know where he was going or what he was looking for; being at sea was enough for him. Little did he know that his life was about to change forever.

"Cap'n! Cap'n come 'ere!" A rough voice called from the deck. Captain James looked down from the rigging where he'd been lounging. He saw that the men hauling in the fishing net, they were obviously spooked. James jumped down onto the deck and walked over.

"Well what's the matter? Forgot how to haul in fish?" James asked as his crew all stared at the net. One of the crew, an old man, pointed to the net. James looked closely and to his surprise he saw that there was something strange sticking out of the net… a human hand.

"Bring it in!" James ordered, "Let's have a look shall we?"

"But Captain, what if it be a dead body? That'll be a bad omen!" One of the crew members reminded him.

The net was brought in and dropped down onto the deck. The crew stood around waiting to catch a glimpse of the unfortunate individual's body. Since no one else seemed to want to get near it James opened the net himself.

"Careful Cap'n, it might be one o' them tricky fish people! Catch one of them in your net and you won't live long, no sir!" Another cautioned.

"Fish people," James scoffed, "Stupid superstition, it's some poor dead sailor who got himself thrown overboard, don't get carried away."

James loosened the rope that held the net closed. As he pulled it away the fish began to spill all over the deck. No one noticed, however, they were all focused on the thing that the net had pulled in.

"What is it?" One of the men asked.

"What dew ya mean what is it?" Another shot back, "Don' ya know what a woman looks like?"

The crew would have laughed at the joke if they hadn't been so startled. The figure in front of them was indeed a woman; her slender curved figure gave that away. Her long black hair covered part of her face. James couldn't tell if she was alive or not. He knelt down and reached out his hand and brushed the wet hair away from her face. He was surprised to see that she looked so young; she must have been a run away. He touched her shoulder and shook her and she started to sputter and cough but did not wake up.

"Whadda we do now?" one of the crewmen asked, "We can't leave 'er out 'ere."

"An' why not?" Another argued.

"Cause it wouldn't be gentleman like!" the first shouted back.

"Would you all please shut it?" James commanded, "We won't leave her out here. I'll take her to my cabin; once she's awake we can find out where she came from."

James scooped up the girl and carried her into his cabin. He laid her on the bed and she began to stir again. Her eyes fluttered open and grew wide as she saw him standing over her.

"Who… who are you?" she asked weakly looking around, "Where am I?"

"I am Captain James of the Revenge. You are on my ship. We pulled you out of the water."

"Oh… how… how did I get here?" She asked still looking around the room. She was clearly disoriented. Swallowing sea water had that effect on people.

"I was hoping you could tell me," James replied, "my men pulled you out if the water."

The girl looked as if she was confused, then it hit her.

"That's right, the Kraken attacked my ship! My family! Everyone was on board. Have you seen anyone else?" She became frantic and tried to sit up but it made her head spin and she had to lie back again.

"The Kraken? You must be mistaken; the Kraken doesn't swim in these waters"

"Then tell me sir, what exactly attacked my ship?"

"I don't know, maybe it was a giant squid or something?"

"I know what I saw," the girl replied starting to drift off. It was obvious she was going to pass out again.

"Wait, who are you?" He asked, "What is your name?"

"Melody," she replied, "Princess Melody of Caledonia."

The girl then passed out again. James stood and left her alone in the cabin. He could barely contain his excitement. Fate had just dealt him a friendly hand. He was going to be rich!

"Do you see anything?" Serena called to Cody who had stationed himself in the crow's nest to lookout for their missing cousin.

"Nothing so far, everything looks clear." Cody called back.

"This doesn't make any sense," Coral sighed as she stood next to Matthew looking out over the water on the starboard side, "Grandfather took care of the Krakens years ago, before my mother was born, how could they appear now?"

"Who knows? Maybe there were more and he just didn't realize it," Matthew replied surveying the water intensely.

"You don't think she's hurt do you?" Serena asked coming to the side of the ship and looking out over the water.

"She'll be alright," Matthew replied trying to reassure both himself and the others, "she'll be alright. She has to be."

Justin scanned the water frantically. He couldn't believe something so terrible had happened. How could it have gotten this bad? How could he have lost two of his cousins and managed to put the rest in such a dangerous situation at the same time? His grandfather was crazy for thinking that Justin could keep his family safe, much less an entire Kingdom! How was he ever going to explain to his grandfather and the rest of his family that he'd lost Melody? He could just see the disappointment on their faces. He could even see Melody's face looking at him, filled with disappointment that he hadn't saved her. He shook his head to clear the thoughts away. She was out there; all he had to do was find her.

All was quiet on the Scurvy Serpent. Leah poked her head around the corner to make sure no one was around before making her way to the side of the ship. She took one last look around before lowering a bucket and bringing up some fresh sea water. She put her fingertips into the water and drew out a bubble and began her message.

"Having a good evening?" A voice asked from above. The bubble popped as Leah whipped her head around and saw Captain Roberts sitting up in the rigging. He had obviously seen everything and wanted to know what all of it was about.

"Captain Roberts!" Leah exclaimed, "What are you doing… how long have you been there?"

"Long enough," Roberts replied jumping onto the deck, "What was that?"

"What was what?" Leah asked innocently.

"You know what I'm talking about, that thing you just did. That hocus pocus you just pulled out of the water."

"Oh, well…" Leah wasn't sure how to respond, she couldn't very well tell him the truth, "You must have been hallucinating, had too much to drink Captain?"

"I know what I saw lass," Captain Roberts threatened, "Don't think I'll forget just because you play pretend. You WILL tell me what that was."

"You have no right to threaten me Captain Roberts! I am not afraid of you."

"Why lass, you insult me," Roberts said softening his voice, "I already know what it was."

"You… you do?" Leah asked backing up to the railing. She hoped Captain Roberts hadn't seen through her THAT quickly.

"You're what? Some sort of witch? You cast a spell or something just now."

"Captain Roberts, I don't think you actually saw anything. I think you are just trying to poke your nose into business that doesn't concern you." Leah tried to walk away from Roberts but he blocked her path.

"I'm Captain, Lass," Roberts replied, "everything that happens on this ship concerns me."

"What's going on over here?" Terence asked coming up behind them.

"Ah, right on cue." Captain Roberts sighed, "I wondered when you were going to show up."

"What are you doing Roberts? Threatening women now?" Terence scoffed.

"I asked a simple question, all I wanted was an answer." Roberts replied innocently.

"I told you Captain, you must have hallucinated," Leah argued.

Captain Roberts looked at Leah, then Terence, then back to Leah again. His confused face changed into a suspicious scowl.

"You can lie to me all you want lass," Roberts chuckled, "I know what I saw. Don't go casting any spells on this ship." Roberts turned and stalked away mumbling to himself, "We've bad enough luck with a woman aboard. A witch isn't going to make things any better."

When Roberts was out of sight both Leah and Terence breathed a sigh of relief. The Captain was so unpredictable that the argument could have gone in a very different direction. They were just glad he had left them alone.

"What happened?" Terence asked.

"I didn't see anyone around so I tried to send grandfather a message but before I'd even started Captain Roberts appeared out of nowhere and started asking me questions."

"Did you tell him anything?" Terence asked.

"No, I told him that he'd had too much to drink and he was seeing things. He didn't believe me. Now he thinks I'm a witch."

"This was the worst idea I've ever had. I should have known better than to trust a pirate."Terence sighed as he leaned on the ships rail and looked out over the water.

"Don't worry, we'll be alright" Leah moved closer to Terence and put her hands on his shoulders. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer; it felt so natural that they hardly noticed until they were face to face looking into each other's eyes.

Leah looked up into the dark eyes of the man whom she'd come to respect and admire so much. She wanted nothing more than for him to return the feeling. She wanted to know what he was thinking, she wanted to ask him, but she didn't dare speak and spoil the moment. Terence stood there for a second and then moved closer. He kissed her lips gently.

Leah felt the spark as their lips touched. She'd never been kissed before and it was a totally new feeling spreading through her human body. She felt her heart pounding as she closed her eyes and felt his lips touch hers.

Out on the water a pair of red orbs glowed dimly in the moonlight. The couple on deck, preoccupied, didn't notice the orbs bobbing up and down in the water. They continued to glow for a moment and then disappeared beneath the dark waves.

-Author's notes, findings and ramblings-

Dear xJadeRainx,

I told you not to count James out! He's back and badder than ever! (You can stop sending me threats now)

I have decided that Justin is very much like his grandfather. He's overprotective, prone to angry outbursts and easily threatened by anything that could potentially harm his family. Hopefully he learns to calm down before he gets himself too worked up.

Leah and Terence kissed! Fluff!

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to REVIEW!