Disclaimer: I do not own The Little Mermaid characters or songs.
Author's note: Ariel's name is spelled "Arielle" when Sebastian is speaking because that is how he pronounces it in the films. Also, I could not find a canon name for the little orange seahorse herald who appears in this chapter, so I named him Harold the herald.
The next morning, Melody was anxiously treading water in the sea outside her home, waiting for Grandfather Triton to show up and change her back into a mermaid for the day. She couldn't wait to see Aquamarina and Alicia again.
"Sweetie, be patient," Ariel urged her daughter. "Grandfather will be here soon."
"Melody, child! Arielle!"
Ariel and Melody were delighted to hear the voice of Sebastian the crab, Triton's overprotective composer and servant. He was swimming towards them.
"Hi, Sebastian!" Melody and Ariel called.
"Oh, child, I was so worried about you," he exclaimed. "But now that Morgana has been trapped in ice, you will be safe!"
Triton chose this moment to appear and picked up the Trinidadian crab with his trident. "Sebastian! So nice of you to join us."
"Join you?" Sebastian echoed blankly.
"Ariel and Melody were going to spend the day with us under the sea," Triton explained.
The crustacean's mind immediately began to fill with worries. "That sounds very nice, Sire-"
"Hey, Mom, I have an idea!" Melody exclaimed suddenly. "Why don't I go under the sea with Grandfather, and you can go home and spend some time with Dad, just the two of you?"
"Go to Atlantica without me?" Ariel repeated skeptically. "Oh, I don't think that's a very good idea."
"Why not?" Melody demanded. "You and Dad were just saying the other day about how you should have trusted me with the truth about being a mermaid…"
Ariel sighed. "I know, Melody. But this is all new for your father and me. You understand that it was hard to keep everything from you. This is an adjustment for us all." She gestured to the tail her father had just created for Melody with his trident.
"Now, Ariel," Triton said reasonably, "I certainly agree that Melody needs to be careful both on the land and sea, but she will be with me. Her grandfather."
Ariel's face softened. She wanted nothing more than for Melody to bond with Triton. "Well…"
"Besides," Triton added brightly, "Sebastian will watch over the girls as well!"
"Girls?" Sebastian echoed in terror. "As in...more than one, Your Majesty?"
"Yes." Triton smiled. "Melody was planning to spend the day with her cousins Aquamarina and Alicia. Right, honey?"
Melody nodded happily.
Ariel was quiet for a moment. Then, she put her hands on her daughter's shoulders. "You will be home at least one hour before dark." She turned to her father. "Okay, Daddy?" She continued after Triton nodded. "Do not talk to strangers-"
"Mom," Melody interrupted with a sigh.
"You forgot that important lesson when it came to Morgana," Ariel reminded her sternly.
"Sorry," Melody mumbled, blushing.
"Most importantly," Ariel went on, "you stick with Grandfather or Sebastian or the triplets, or whoever is with you at all times. Is that clear?"
Melody nodded. She was in shock that her mother was letting her go.
Ariel hugged her daughter for what seemed like an eternity and finally let her go after another long list of warnings and rules. Finally, Sebastian, Triton, and Melody were on their way to Atlantica.
Melody was a little bummed out as they swam to the family kingdom. If her grandfather (whom she adored!) was with them all day, there was no way Alex would approach her, if they even ran into him somehow. After all, Triton was their king! Alex would probably be too intimidated to talk to her in front of Grandfather Triton.
As the trio swam along, Sebastian realized that nearly every young merboy that they passed was looking at Melody. Triton didn't notice. Melody didn't appear to notice either, though her eyes were roving back and forth continually as they glided through the water.
Just as they reached the underwater palace, Harold, her grandpa's herald and master of ceremonies, swam up to them with his usual air of urgency. "Your Majesty!" he cried. "I have an important message from the neighboring kingdom!"
"Ah, yes." Triton nodded. "Thank you, Harold. I'll be there in a minute." After the seahorse swam off, Triton turned to Melody and frowned. "I'm sorry, honey. It looks like I won't be able to spend time with you today after all."
"I understand," Melody told him.
"Luckily, I know Sebastian is always willing to act as chaperone in my absence!" Triton declared cheerfully.
"Me?" Sebastian squeaked. "And more...teenagers?"
Triton picked up the crab and looked him in the eyes. "Now Sebastian, I need you to watch out for the girls. I'm sure they'll want to look around and hang out today, but you must never let them out of your sight. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Sire," Sebastian squeaked.
Alicia and Aquamarina suddenly came flying out of the castle, surrounding Melody and giggling happily. Sebastian couldn't help but smile at the sight. Melody was so shy and reserved that she could use friends like her two cousins.
"There's a big kick-the-clam game today at the school," Aquamarina announced. "We have been waiting for you so we could all go together."
Melody smiled. It continually amazed her that Alicia and Aquamarina genuinely seemed to like her. "Can't wait! I've never been to a kick-the-clam game before. Um, they don't use real clams, right?"
"Right." Alicia gave her a relaxed smile. "It's a fake clam. Anyway, don't stress about that. The important thing is all the cute players on our home team. James and Charles are both on the team!"
Melody nodded without a hint of recognition for two of the boys she had met yesterday. She desperately wanted her cousins to tell her about a blond boy named Alex on the team, but they were already pulling her along.
"Girls!" Sebastian squawked. "Wait up! We all must go togedder!"
The three mergirls let the current pull them along towards the kick-the-clam stadium for a while, and it was clear that Sebastian was far behind. He was not as fast as they were. Melody felt a stab of guilt. Sebastian was almost as overprotective as her parents, but she genuinely liked him. She hoped that he would catch up soon.
The girls slowed down when they reached the stadium for the game. Aquamarina and Alicia knew as well as Melody that their parents would be upset if they ditched Sebastian completely. They loitered for a minute until he caught up.
"Hey! Mel-Mel!"
The boy's voice caused all conversation (and Melody's heart, almost) to completely stop. Alex was standing in front of her!
"Mel-Mel?" Alicia repeated incredulously, though Melody barely heard her.
"Um, um, hi!" Melody exclaimed awkwardly. "Hi, Alex!"
"Mel-Mel?" Alicia shrieked again.
"I thought everyone called you Melody," Aquamarina giggled. "Is Mel-Mel your nickname?"
"Oh, well, it's my uh," Melody stammered. "My-my…"
"Is Melody your real name?" Alex asked with a smile.
"Uh, yes," she finally managed. "Melody."
"That's a really pretty name," Alex said sweetly. "I like it."
Melody's face turned red and her cousins gasped in awe.
"We didn't know you knew our cousin, Alex," Aquamarina told the blond merboy.
"Cousin?" Alex repeated. He turned to Melody, only speaking to her. "I had no clue Aquamarina and Alicia are your cousins. So that makes you...wow. You're King Triton's granddaughter!"
"The one and only," Alicia cooed, even though Triton had numerous granddaughters, herself included. Lucky for her mistake, Alex and Melody were too caught up in staring at each other to notice. Aquamarina did giggle, however.
"Melody! Aquamarina! Alicia!" Sebastian huffed loudly, finally appearing in front of the stadium. "You girls are to stay with me at all times. Why, if anything happened to you, your mudders and fadders would turn me into crab soup!" He brushed past Alex. "Excuse me, young man. Well, let's head into the game. We need to find good seats…"
Sebastian gently pushed Aquamarina and Alicia towards the entrance. He settled onto Melody's shoulder to make sure she followed them.
"Maybe I'll see you Saturday!" Alex called after her.
"Saturday?" the crab and mermaid echoed, the former with suspicion, the latter with joy.
"The big carnival will be in town," Alex explained loudly, as Sebastian all but forced Melody further and further from the conversation. "They have some really great sand cones, if you like those. Maybe we could-"
"Enjoy da game, young man!" Sebastian called in a falsely cheerful tone. He successfully pushed Melody into the stadium and turned to face his young charges. "Melody, who was that boy? Why does he know your name?"
"Yeah," Alicia agreed eagerly. "How do you know him?"
"Well, I sort of, uh, met him. Recently," Melody answered lamely. "I don't really know him-"
"He wants to know you," Aquamarina squealed. "That's for sure!"
Sebastian frowned as he led the girls to a row of seats. "Be dat as it may, you do not need to be meeting any boys. Just concentrate on spending time with His Majesty and your cousins. Let's watch da game."
Sebastian let the girls get snacks and they all settled in. Only Sebastian watched the game. Melody's cousins had more pressing issues.
"How do you know Alex?" Melody whispered.
"We go to school with him," Aquamarina explained.
"How do you know him?" Alicia asked in awe. "You've only been a mermaid for, like, a day."
Melody started to explain the events of the past few days, but her cousins were too excited to pay much attention.
"He wants to meet you on Saturday," Aquamarina whispered urgently.
"He didn't say that," Melody countered. Here was her shyness and lack of self-confidence shining through again.
"He would have!" Alicia insisted quietly. "But Sebastian pulled you away. You know what this means, don't you?"
"What?" Melody asked warily.
"You have to meet him!" Alicia declared.
"Meet him?" Aquamarina repeated. "How is she supposed to do that? Even if we're allowed to go to the carnival at all, the grown-ups will make the triplets or Sebastian babysit us the whole time."
Alicia nodded seriously. "I know that. Which means you'll have to do it in secret."