Entering Act 1. I do not own The Little Mermaid or any of their characters. Just wanted to see how a group of mutant toddlers would react to one of the greatest Disney movies of all time :)

Act 1

An hour and a half later found all four turtle tots and the red-headed human girl camped out in front of the television. Splinter and Mai had set them up with enough pillows and blankets to make everyone comfortable before leaving them to their own devices. April pressed play on the remote as she snuggled deeper under the blanket. Donnie shifted so she could get comfortable lying next to him.

As the clouds of a stormy sky appeared on screen with the opening notes to Fathoms Below, a hush fell over the group.

"Okay," Raph muttered as the waves crashed against the hull of the ship. "This might actually be cool…" Leo hummed in agreement.

Donnie's breath caught at the beautiful underwater scenes as the Main Titles played, and Mikey squeaked as the mermaids appeared on screen. April grinned. She was glad that everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves…

"Ah, we are the daughters of Triton…"

Raph cringed. "Nope. I take it back. This is dumb." April smacked the boy with a pillow.

"Quiet, you! Just wait; you'll like the next bit."

Everyone tensed as a shark chased Ariel throughout a sunken ship after discovering precious human treasures. Mikey cheered when the mermaid saved Flounder from the "jaws of death" as he put it.

Donnie scrunched his face as Ariel surfaced to meet with her seagull friend, Scuttle. "Wait… how does a bird know so much about human stuff- ohp. Never mind. That is not correct!" He gestured to the item Ariel was holding. "That is clearly a fork, not a… whatever the bird called it." The girl next to him giggled before shushing him.

"It's a dinglehopper, Donnie. Scuttle's supposed to be funny. Just enjoy it!" The boy grumbled, but he rested his head on his arms and continued to watch the movie.

Ariel swam home, not knowing that she was being watched by the evil sea witch, Ursula. Mikey whimpered as she contemplated the mermaid's fate. Leo patted his shell when the scene shifted to Triton scolding his daughter for visiting the surface.

"Why's the old dude so mad?" Raph demanded. "All she wanted to do was see the sun and visit her friend." He sunk further into the blanket nest he had created. "I 'kinda know how she feels."

Leo transferred the comforting pats to Raph's shell. "I know, Raph. We all do. But, King Triton and Splinter each have their reasons. All they want to do is keep everybody safe. That's why they do the things they do." Donnie gave his eldest brother a rueful look while Raph smacked his hand away.

"And that's why he put a crab in charge of a 16-year-old mermaid?" The purple-clad turtle scoffed. He laughed as Leo sputtered, unable to come up with a response.

"S-shut up and watch the movie, Donnie!" Leo retorted.

Donnie continued to chuckle. He could sense the excitement building in the petite body next to him, seeking a way out. He glanced at the screen before checking on April. "You good?" Sebastian followed Ariel and Flounder into a secret grotto.

April beamed. "This is my favorite part!" She extricated herself from the mound of blankets so she could perform the sequence she knew by heart.

"I don't see how a world that makes such wonderful things – could be bad…"

As Part of Your World began to play, Leo, Raph, and Mikey kept their eyes on the red-head swimming around on the screen. Donnie only had eyes for the red-head dancing around the room.

"I've got gadget and gizmos aplenty,

I've got whozits and whatzits galore!

You want thingamabobs?" April, smiling, booped Donnie's nose.

"I've got 20!

But who cares?

No big deal…

I want moooorrrreeeeee…"

There was no way to describe how April danced around the room, other than she was simply floating. Having seen the movie exactly 124 times since the day she had been born, April knew every lyric and every step of choreography. Donnie watched the girl, enraptured by her performance. As the finale neared, April's face contorted to match the longing on Ariel's face on screen.

"When's it my turn?

Wouldn't I love,

Love to explore that shore up aboovvveeeee…

Out of the sea…

Wish I could be…

Part of that… woorrrllldddd…"

April settled back into her spot next to Donnie as all four turtles applauded.

"That was beautiful, April!" Donnie breathed. "How did you know to do all of that?"

She shrugged, ignoring the warmth in her cheeks from her friend's praise. "I re-watched it until I knew everything. Simple."

"Look!" Mikey pointed to the fireworks filling the screen. Ariel had resurfaced, swimming to the ship and laying eyes on Prince Eric for the first time. Their moods all changed from joyful during the Jig to fearful as the Storm approached. Everyone huddled closer as the waves threw most of the crew overboard. April didn't mind when Donnie grabbed her had again.

"Max!" Eric returned to the flaming ship.

Mikey shouted at Raph to let him go. Glancing back, April giggled as she saw what had occurred: Raph was so distressed at the predicament the dog was in, he held his brother so tightly that his eyes were about to pop out of his head.

"Save the dog! Get your dog, idiot!"

The storm passed. April saved Eric, yet no one said a word. They didn't want to break the spell. Mikey, now freed from Raph's grasp, whimpered as Scuttle checked for a heartbeat.

"No, look! He's breathing! He's so, beautiful…"

April poked Donnie's arm. "This part's my favorite!" She whispered. Donnie smirked, assuming he'd be hearing that phrase fairly often tonight. He returned his gaze to the screen, still aware of April singing softly beside him.

"I don't know when, I don't know how,

But I know something's starting right noowwww…

Watch and you'll seeee, someday I'll beeee…

Part of your… woorrrllldddd!"

April's cheering died down as she felt Donnie growling beside her. Ursula had returned, scheming of what to do with Ariel.

"I really don't like her."

Leo squinted. "I don't think you're supposed to, Dee."

The story progressed with Mikey dragging everybody up to dance to Under the Sea. Donnie even managed a twirl with April. They all sobered as the scene shifted once more to the secret grotto; only this time, an angry King Triton stood at its center.

"Aw, sewer bunnies." Raph muttered. "This won't end well."

It didn't go well.

Things continued to slide downhill as Ariel signed away her voice to the sea witch for a chance to meet her prince. Raph let out a dark laugh as Ursula cast her spell to take the mermaid's voice.

"Wow. She's dumb."

"She's in love, Raph!" Leo was fully invested at this point. "Let her have her adventure to find her prince!"

Blue and red opinions clashed as green smoke swirled on screen. Donnie poked April's side. "Hey," He whispered softly. "You wouldn't ever give up your voice to go on an adventure, would you?" The girl shook her head vigorously.

"No way! I'm not going on an epic adventure without by best friend." She lifted her chin. "Besides, I like talking too much."

Donnie snickered at that comment. "Good. Wouldn't want it to get too quiet around here. And… I would follow you anywhere." His eyes went wide as he heard the words that had just spilled out of his mouth. The boy shot up from his prone position, trying to undo it. "I mean- I would go with you to make sure you weren't hurt! Oh! Not that I don't think you couldn't take care of yourself! Shoot- I mean…"

"Oi! Down in front!" Raph scolded. "Ariel's trying to make it to the surface!"

So fun fact... I may or may not have printed out the entire transcript for TLM, watched the entire movie twice while taking notes on the transcript as to how each character would respond to certain scenes, and listened to the ENTIRE TLM soundtrack on repeat for an entire week :) What I do for you guys and the sake of the story (but I wouldn't have it any other way)!

Speaking of music, I have a playlist of songs I'm using as inspiration for the entire story available on Spotify! Simply search Once Upon a December Night: An Apriltello Story. If you listen, who knows? You may see certain influences as the story progresses ;)

See y'all next week for Act 2!