A/N: Woo here's chappie 5! And I haven't gotten a single flame since chapter 3! So happy I am that we FINALLY got our own section on ff.net! No more searching around through misc. movies and Disney sections. ^____^ And just so you know, I was bored last night so I did start writing the next chapter, so hopefully it will be up pretty soon.

Disclaimer:  See Chapter 1

Chapter 5 – "What Happened on Our Anniversary"

"Could you, uh… sleep next to me this time?"

I looked at her with her big, tear filled eyes, and I couldn't help but smile. Her request took me a bit by surprise and I suddenly felt a weird kind of emotion overtake me. It was different, yet oddly familiar.

I went over to Dory and laid myself against her soft and warm body. As I closed my eyes, I could feel her heartbeat going very fast. I was going to ask her about it, but when I looked up at her, she was already asleep. I just smiled to myself and closed my eyes again. I then felt myself drift off into a dreamless sleep.

I was asleep for maybe twenty minutes before I was awoken by someone crying softly. When I opened my eyes, I looked around but didn't see anyone. But then I remembered that Dory was next to me. I looked up at her and saw that she was the one who was crying! Tears were sliding from her eyes and she was whimpering, yet… she was still asleep.

I moved from my spot to float in front of her, wondering whether I should wake her up, or leave her alone. It looked like whatever she was dreaming about wasn't making her very happy, so maybe I should wake her up…

But before I could reach out to shake her, I saw her eyes slowly open. She looked around for a second before laying her eyes on me.

A single tear slowly made its way down her cheek, so I reached out my fin and wiped it away for her. She jumped a tiny bit when my fin met her face, and I wondered why, even though I wouldn't bother her to ask.

Though I did want to know about her dream. "What's wrong, Dory?" I asked softly. She frowned and didn't say anything for a little while.

She looked up at me, her eyes shiny from tears and I felt sadness stab my heart. Whatever she was about to tell me, I could tell she didn't want to relive, yet wanted me to know about it.

Then she started telling me all about her nightmare. She said that she had a sister named Luna whom she was very close to. Her sister had been dating another tang named Alan (I told Dory that that name sounded familiar to me as it did to her) who was responsible for her death. Dory told me that her sister had been having another relationship with a butterfly fish, and that was why Alan killed her; he hated the idea of inter-species relationships. And the fact that his girlfriend was in one made him furious. She also told me about Alan raping her before taking her to his shark friend to have her eaten.

Even though I really didn't know who this Alan guy was, I felt a deep hatred for him. It was as if he had done something to me, or to someone very close to me, and maybe he had… maybe he had something to do with me losing my memory of last night! It had to be! How else would I know his name? I made my conclusion, but decided to tell Dory about it later.

The one other thing she told me about was about the dream she had earlier when she fainted. She told me how her entire family was killed by a shark, and that had been how her and Luna ended up alone to take care of each other.

Once she finished the story, Dory broke down in tears again. I felt so bad for her; her life had been so rough and full of sadness. I moved closer to her and hugged her as I told her not to cry. I tried my best to calm her down and make her feel better. She hugged me back as sobs racked her entire frame. I patted her affectionately, still thinking about what had just happened in these past couple of hours.

If Alan had been the reason we lost our memories of the night, then why? Why would he attack us that harshly? And how did Dory all of a sudden end up pregnant? It would have to of been another blue tang like her… could it have been Alan? And if even if *that* was true, I have to ask why again. Why would he rape Dory?

Dory told me that Alan found out about her sister being in love with another fish, and that had been a fish that wasn't her species. So he raped and killed her, not just because of the affair, but because he hated inter-species relationships. So then, what did Dory have to do with any of that? I knew she wasn't in any romantic relationship at all. Unless…

My eyes widened and I blushed at the realization. It was… me. Alan thought that Dory and I were in love. But he must have gotten the wrong idea. He must have just saw us holding fins, or something, and thought that…

Suddenly, a piece of memory came to me. I jumped, because it seemed to have just hit me in the face. Dory let go of me, but I didn't look at her. I stared at the ground, wondering about the memory.

I remembered how Dory had taken me to see the fireworks for our anniversary of the day we first met. Then after we had gone back into the water after the show, we almost… me and Dory almost… kissed! And that was when Alan came, and I now knew why he raped Dory. He… knew that we loved each other.

…Well why do you care? Is it because you… love her?

I looked up to Dory, who was still looking at me with confusion. Were we really in love? It was so strange, thinking of being in love with Dory. We almost kissed, after all. And if it hadn't been for Alan, we * would* have kissed, and I don't know what we would be doing right now.

"Dory…" I said quietly. "I think I… well, I actually do remember what happened last night."

She looked at me anxiously. "Well tell me!" she cried. I could tell she really wanted to know about what happened. I sighed.

"Yesterday was our anniversary, Dory," I told her. Her eyes widened.

"It was?!" she exclaimed. "Oh, I'm sorry I forgot!"

"No, Dory! It's okay, you were actually the one who reminded me at first," I told her. She put on a relaxed face. "You took me to see the fireworks, do you remember that?" I asked. She shook her head sadly.

"No. But I wish I did, I love seeing fireworks," she said. I continued on with the story.

"Well after the fireworks, we went back into the water to head home, and uh…"

I wasn't sure if I should tell her. Do I love her? Does she love me?

Shaking my head, I said, "That was when Alan came." Dory's eyes widened and I nodded. "Yes, Alan came. And he… raped you and got you pregnant."

She looked like she was about to cry. I couldn't blame her, though. Knowing that the father of her children was a cold-blooded killer had to be completely horrible.

"But why?" she asked sadly. I was hoping she wouldn't ask that. Now, I either have to lie to her, or tell her the truth and find out how we actually do feel about each other.

I decided to tell her the truth.

I took a deep breath. "He did it because he hates inter-species relationships." She looked at me with an even deeper confusion than before.

"Alan thought that we… were in love with each other," I said, looking at the ground so she wouldn't see me blushing. But when I looked back up to her, I saw that she was blushing a bit herself. She chuckled. "Wh-why would he think that?"

This was it. I couldn't figure out why it was so hard to tell her. It was something that happened, and would have happened if it wasn't for certain events.

"He… saw us almost kiss each other."

I looked her in the eyes, waiting for her response. Her eyes were wide with shock, and he mouth hung open a bit. "We almost k-kissed?" she asked incredulously. I slowly nodded, feeling the hotness in my cheeks increase.

"So…?" Dory said. I know how she felt. Just like me, she doesn't know where we're gonna go from here. Obviously we were in love, but that had just happened a couple hours ago, so it's impossible for any feelings to have changed. Yet even with that knowledge, I have no clue what to do.

I think she loves me, and I think I love her, so why is it so confusing?

Then I noticed that we were nearing each other. Was everything that was happening as made to be as it felt? Or was it just a spur of the moment thing? I didn't think so, but I wouldn't be able to list how many times my feelings lead me the wrong way.

"Dory, I…" I started. But I was cut off by Dory's lips on mine. I felt my heart speed up in that second, and my stomach flipped only a couple hundred times. It was a wonderful feeling that I never felt before. Not even with Coral. I wasn't sure what was different about it, but I knew it wasn't the same.

I returned her kiss with all I had inside of me for her. All the love, passion, and affection I felt for her.

When we broke away from the surreal kiss, we stared at each other for the longest time. "Marlin," she whispered, still in a bit of a daze. Our eyes were locked with one another's. I looked even deeper in her hypnotic magenta eyes.

"I'm in love with you," I told her quietly. She placed me into a gentle embrace and whispered in my ear, "I'm in love with you too."