Aquatic Kingdom Hearts

Chapter 7: Walking on the Surface; A Home Away From Home

Port Royal Cove

Morning

Day 1

The sun rose up from the west, as the sun's rays touched the beach shore. It lit up the waters and brought color to the dark portion that was the woods of Port Royal Cove. The waves calmly brushed the beach shore; their roaring gently waking up one inhabitance that was currently napping next to one of the trees. Leaning on it, and having a blanket draped over his shoulders, was none other than Eric, and sleeping next to him was Max. He had been waiting all night for Ariel to come back; Max had followed with him to keep him company the whole night.

As dawn broke in, Max yawned a little and shook himself awake, and to get the sand off. He then looked over to his master as he lay there; snoozing while huddled at the tree. Max walked over to him and whined for concern about his master. He licked his face, which caused Eric to laugh as he stirred awake, "Stop that, Max. That tickles." It was then that he shot up to his feet, wide awake as he shouted, "Ariel!" He looked around, but saw to no avail, the girl that he was waiting for.

He walked near the ocean water, slightly frowning at this as he sighed and fell flat on his butt. Max walked up to his master as he lay on Eric's lap. Eric smiled as he scratched Max's head as he sighed, "Thanks, boy." He then looked at the ocean as he talked to Max, "I know we made a promise that night to see each other." He could tell that Ariel wouldn't break her promise to him; something must have happened. He looked back at the ocean as he silently hoped, "Ariel…I hope you're okay."

Nearby

Near to where Eric was, at a patch of rocks that were shored in, the quartet of heroes was taking a breather. They had spent all their energy getting there; what without taking the East/West Current without the risk of drowning Ariel. Flounder was out of breath as he nearly went belly up at that point. Sebastian was wobbly walking on a rock, gasping for air, until he finally collapsed on the rock. Their newest member, Dax, had crawled up on shore, wheezing for air as he wheezed, "A clam….a clam…my kingdom for a clam."

Ariel was resting on the rocks, with her hair in her face. She groaned a little, as she brushed her hair aside. Usually, she wouldn't be this exhausted after trying to swim, much less stay afloat. The first hard thing she had learned was that she couldn't swim now that she was human. That would have to be something to learn now more than ever. She then turned to sit down in the water, bringing her tail up. But as she did, she sat up in surprise as to what she saw. She lifted one out of the water to confirm it and saw that where her tail and fin should have been, were two legs and feet. Her right leg she lifted out of the water; she then wiggled her toes. She smiled as she thought, 'Toes! I have toes, and feet, and legs!', she smiled even more brightly at this as she thought, 'The spell worked; I'm human! This is a dream come true!'

"Well, look what the catfish dragged in this morning!"

Ariel, and the others, looked up to see where that voice had come from. Up in the air, they had spotted their informant in the sky, Scuttle as he flew in on over. Ariel smiled as she crossed her leg over the other, and scuttle, completely clueless, perched himself on there. He smirked at Ariel as he noticed something different about her, but didn't put his finger on it. So he decided to make small talk about it, "Look at ya, kid. There's somethin' different about ya, ain't there?" He saw Ariel smile and nod at him, as he knew he got it; he then guessed, "I got it! It's your hairdo; you've been using a dinglehopper, right?"

Ariel smiled at that but shook her head, so Scuttle guessed again, "No? No, huh? Well, let me see. New…seashells?" Ariel thought about it, but smirked mischievously, letting Scuttle keep guessing as he figured, "No new seashells, eh?". Sebastian, accompanied by a now conscious Dax, sat down and looked exasperated at the seagull's stupidity. Scuttle then put his wings to his hips as he stated out loud, "I gotta admit I can't put my foot on it right now. But if I just stand here and think it out…."

And finally, both Sebastian and Dax shouted out in unison at this annoyance, "SHE'S GOT LEGS, YOU BIRD-BRAINED IDIOT!" Scuttle was a little surprised by that, and even more so as he flew up and saw that Ariel did in fact have legs. As he landed next to Sebastian and the otter, Dax, the crab explained, "She traded her voice to the Sea Witch and got legs. Geez, man!"

Scuttle simply shrugged as he stated, "I knew that."

Dax sarcastically stated, "Oh yeah…sure ya did. And starfish are the smartest creatures in the ocean." He then snapped his fingers as he stated, "Oh wait! No they're not…", he then shouted at an ignorant Scuttle, "…because they HAVE NO BRAINS! LIKE YOU!"

Sebastian turned his attention to the Otter as he demanded an explanation, "That reminds me…", he then shot his claw at the otter, "Who are you anyway?"

Dax merely bowed, but not to Sebastian, but to a surprised Ariel as he introduced himself, "Princess Ariel…I am Dax, guardian sea creature to you and your warrior, your majesty." He then lifted his head as he stated, "She summoned me to keep an eye on you and your human lover."

But before anyone could ask what he was talking about, Scuttle was trying to clarify something, "So, wait a minute for a moment! What about Ariel? Is she permanently a human or not?"

Flounder was the one to answer at as he replied, "Yeah, Ariel's been turned into a human, Scuttle." But as he talked, Ariel started to get up; she wanted to try and walk, just like Eric did. She was a little wobbly around the knees, but she balanced herself out as she smiled at this, 'Wow! That wasn't so hard…' Flounder continued as he stated, "The spell can only be permanent if the human, Eric, can return Ariel's love…and k-kiss her."

Then Dax pointed out, "But like the Sea Witch said, kiddo. It has to be the kiss of True Love. Otherwise the spell won't be permanent, when the sun sets on the sixth day." He then waved his arms around hysterically, "And it's not like you can force something like True Love to just pop up in less than a week!"

Scuttle raised an eyebrow as Sebastian clarified, "The Sea Witch only gave Ariel six days to do it in." As they spoke, Ariel began to lose balance as she faltered over and splashed everyone wet. As Ariel tried to straighten herself out, Sebastian cried out in shock, "Just look at her! On legs; on human legs!" He then gasped as he realized what would happen if Triton found out that his daughter was turned human. He voiced that out as he shouted, "My nerves are shot! This is a catastrophe! What would her father say?", he then turned his attention to Flounder as he shouted, "I'll tell you what her father say. HE SAID HE'S GONNA KILL HIMSELF A CRAB! THAT'S WHAT HER FATHER'D SAY!"

Dax looked at Sebastian monotonely and asked, "Aren't you being a little over-dramatic, Crab Legs?"

Ariel groggily sat up, and thought to herself with a half smile, 'I guess this isn't going to be as easy as I thought.' She then slowly got back up, and for a few seconds, she smiled, 'Still, it'll be worth it once I meet up with Eric…' she then suddenly remembered; she was supposed to meet him again yesterday night. She would have to make it up to him as soon as he saw him again. She then smiled, 'I wonder how he's going to react when he sees I'm human?'

However, she was taken by surprise as she heard Sebastian shout out, while heading to the water, "That's it! No more mister nice Shellfish! I'm gonna march meself straight home right now, and tell him just like I should have done the minute…", but before he could go home, he was scooped up by a panicked Ariel.

As she lifted him to her eyelevel, she pleaded by shaking her head no, when she was actually thinking, 'Please, Sebastian, don't! This might be my only chance…'

But Sebastian wasn't taking this well as he pointed to Ariel, stating, "And don't you shake your head at me, young lady." He then thought for a moment, and thought out loud as he hopefully smiled at Ariel, "Maybe there's still time. If we could get Davy Jones and that witch to tear up the contract, and give you back your voice…you could go home to all the normal fish and Merpeople and just be….just be….", his upbeat attitude about this plan only earned one thing from it. And that was Ariel, looking depressed at him; he knew that Ariel couldn't talk but he knew what she thought at this point. He sighed as he said for her, "…just be miserable for the rest of your life." He then sighed in defeat as he groaned, "Alright, alright. I'll try and help ya find that boy, Eric." Ariel smiled at this and gave Sebastian an appreciative kiss on his cheek. She then set him down as he stood next to Dax as he shook his head, "Boy, what a soft shell I'm turning out to be."

Dax couldn't help but smirk at the crab's lament, but then crossed his arms as he looked up to Ariel. He then stated, "Okay, kiddo, before you decide to go venturing out in the human world…", he then pointed to her wardrobe, "…you're gonna need more than a seashell bikini to blend in." Ariel raised a confused eyebrow and looked down. Suddenly, she blushed of embarrassment as she jumped back into the water, realizing there was nothing covering her lower torso. She could only blush even more if Eric was here and saw her like this. But then Dax spotted something as he signaled Scuttle to follow him for a moment. They had come across what appeared to be an old sail and thin rope. Dax looked to Scuttle and they both nodded in agreement to this idea. Dax grabbed the sheet and Scuttle grabbed some rope as they hurried back to Ariel who had an eyebrow raised in confusion as Dax stated, "One skirt comin' right up, Ariel."

A Minute Later

Eric and Max were walking along the beach looking for something. A moment ago, Eric had heard voices shouting out on the other side to where he was sitting at. He and Max were walking over there as they could, wondering who it was. But then Max stopped for a moment, sniffing the air; he then jumped up and barked as he got Eric's attention. Eric was a little startled by this reaction in Max as he asked, "Max? What is it, boy?" Max jumped playfully as he finally ran towards where they were heading, with Eric following behind him, "Whatever it is, it sure has Max all excited."

Back at the rocks, Scuttle whistled with approval he commented with a wolf whistle, "Ya look great, Kid. Ya look sensational." He, along with Sebastian, Flounder, and Dax were looking at Ariel with her newest addition to her wardrobe. They had used the sail cloth and rope to make for Ariel a sort of hula skirt that was tied to her waist and ended at her ankles. It wasn't exactly the best looking wear ever, but Ariel didn't seem to mind as she twirled, letting the skirt dance with her.

The only thing that Dax mentioned was one comment, "As soon as that boy can, he's gotta get her some human clothing better than this ensemble."

Ariel looked at herself in the water, trying to make sure she looked her best for when she saw Eric again. She had wished that she had more time, but now there wasn't as everyone heard a strange barking sound. They all turned and saw a dog running towards them barking with excitement. Flounder panicked and dived into the water, and Scuttle took off to the air. Sebastian panicky babbled as he jumped into the sail pocket that Ariel's 'skirt' had. Dax looked around, trying to find something, and just jumped behind the rocks.

Ariel tried to run away from the dog, but Max had her cornered around the rock. So until finally, Ariel got up on the rock, hoping to at least gain some distance from the dog. However, Max jumped up, and licked Ariel's face, causing her to giggle from being tickled like that. Max kept himself steady as he leaned in on the rock than Ariel sat on. Ariel, seeing that the dog was just playful, simply petted him on the head like she would a dolphin. It was then that someone shouted, "Max!" That the dog broke away from Ariel's petting, and ran over to its owner's voice. It was then that Ariel realized who that was, 'It's…that's Eric's voice…'

Eric rounded the corner, after running after his dog, and saw Max running towards him. Max stopped in front of his master, and barked excitedly pointing right behind him. Eric knelt down to stop Max from moving around, and asked not only Max, but himself, "What's gotten into you, Max?" He then saw that Max was pointing back in his direction to where he just came from, and Eric saw who he was pointing to. He was surprised as he got up and with a dumb grin on his face as he shouted excitedly, "Ariel!", Max ran towards the mermaid-changed-human as Eric followed behind him, happy to see his aquatic friend.

Ariel saw Eric, with his smiling face, as he ran over to her, with Max leading in front and stopping at her. In fear of not looking her best, and on the fact that she stood him up the whole night, she pulled her hair over her right side. She gulped innerly as she prayed, 'Please don't let him be mad at me….'

Eric stopped as soon as he reached her, taking a few breaths, and smiled, "I'm glad you came back…well, a little later than I thought, but I'm glad you kept your promise." Ariel smiled brightly, happy knowing that he wasn't mad at her. She felt warm in her heart seeing him again; just being near him was enough for her now. Max jumped up and tried to lick Ariel again, but Eric grabbed on to Max playfully as he tried to calm him down a little. He apologized to Ariel for the awkward scene, "You okay, Ariel? I'm if my dog, Max, scared you or anything. He's actually a harmless, knuckle-headed, fuzz ball who slobbers a lot." After taking his eyes off of Max, his attention was turned back to Ariel, and he was a little surprised to see her staring at him all starry eyed.

Ariel just couldn't help but look at him; she had been thinking about him ever since the kiss. It was then that Eric had a good look at her for a moment, and asked, "Did something happen, Ariel? There's something…a bit different about you." Ariel smiled at this, and thought 'Alright, Ariel…it's time to show him the big surprise.' And then surprising, Eric, Ariel scooted off the rock…and stood on her freshly given legs and feet. Eric was as surprised as anyone, as he nearly stuttered, "Ariel…you…you have legs." And then much to Ariel's, and surprisingly Sebastian's, surprise, Eric ran over to her, and picked her up and spun around with her in his arms. Ariel laughed and smiled at this as he stopped and set her down, but still held her in his arms. He smiled at this as he said, "This is great…I mean it was great when I met you as a mermaid, but still this is great."

Ariel just couldn't help but smile at Eric's awkwardness and at this; she was on land, as a human, with the one person that meant the most to her. and from the way he was acting, he was happy to see her as well, which only made her even more happy. She smiled at Eric as she thought, 'This is the best moment of my life.' But then she noticed that Eric's smile faded and turned to one with confusion. She was worried that something was wrong; that it was something about her that made him like that.

Eric looked to Ariel a bit confused; she had been quiet the entire time she had been here. It was then that Eric asked in concern for his friend, "Ariel? Why don't you say something?" Ariel looked at him, and shied her face away from him. But he was persistent as he pleaded her, "Ariel, please…what's wrong? I can try to help if I can." Ariel looked back at Eric, and took a deep sigh, knowing he might not understand. She then looked to him and attempted to say, "I don't have my voice, Eric…", but all that came out was her lips moving with no sound at all. Eric looked at her with deep surprise and concern as he asked her, "You…you can't talk?" Ariel nodded at that. Eric looked concerned as he asked, "How did that happen?"

"SHE TRADED HER VOICE TO THE SEA WITCH TO GAIN HER LEGS, ERIC THATCH!", a booming voice was heard from the rocks behind them. Eric and Ariel turned to see who it was that spoke out, but Ariel hid behind Eric. Max growled, preparing to attack whatever it was that spoke out. Sebastian on the other hand, peeked out of Ariel's skirt pocket to see what all the commotion was about. But then suddenly, showing on one of the bigger rocks, like a movie screen, a menacing shadow popped up as it spoke up, "DOES SOMEONE NEED HELP? LEMME HEAR YA SAY AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

And even though Ariel couldn't talk, she and Eric both yelled out in fright, "Aaaggh!"

The shadow merely shrugged as it uttered, "UH, THAT'S CLOSE ENOUGH!" The shadow then struck a dramatic pose as it boomed out, "OH ERIC THATCH! PRINCESS ARIEL! YOUR GREATEST ADVENTURE IS AT HAND, FOR I HAVE BEEN SENT BY THE GREAT SEA GODDESS, CALYPSO…", it was then that the two teens and Sebastian, spotted a familiar seagull making a shadow puppet of Dax. Dax looked at the Scuttle and kicked him down, scolding him, "C'mon, ya want to help, ya gotta stop playing around and focus.". He then went back to his little introduction as he boomed out, "…TO GUIDE YOU BOTH THROUGH YOUR LOVE STORY…AND YOUR DESTINY!" Scuttle fanned the flame that they had made to keep the shadow up and going, as Dax continued, "SO HEED MY WORD, BECAUSE IF YOU CANNOT HELP ARIEL GET HER VOICE BACK…THEN THE PROPHECY WILL NOT COME INTO FULFILLMENT…SEABLADE BEARER!"

Eric didn't really understand what was going on here. Ariel didn't understand either, but she did remember the name of the weapon that she heard of. From what she remembered, the Seablade was a sacred weapon, given to the Merpeople by Calypso to be kept for safe protection. She didn't know what this had to do with Eric as the boy, who was deeply confused by all this, asked, "Who…or what are you?"

The shadow raised an eyebrow as he smirked, giving its final performance, "WHO AM I? WHO AM I? I AM THE FORMER GUARDIAN OF THE THIRD HEART OF THE SEA! I AM THE NOW GUARDIAN OF THE PRINCESS AND YOU, ERIC THATCH!", the shadow then flexed its scrawny muscles, "I AM THE POWERFUL…", it then slid its hands down its sides as it walked towards the two kids now, "…THE PLEASURABLE…." Dax then popped up from the rocks, and revealed his true form as he stated in his normal voice, "The extremely wonderful Dax." Ariel couldn't help but laugh at this; without a voice, all she could do was giggle. But Eric, raised his eyebrow in confusion at this bizarre scene; an otter, around the size of a meerkat…was talking. However, his common sense came back when he remembered that his friend behind him was a mermaid, and that he was attacked by fish pirates, along with his friend who was keeping tight lip about it. So if a mermaid and fish pirates existed, then talking sea creatures wasn't that far off. Dax then chuckled, "I'm pretty hot, eh?"

Then suddenly, Max shot at Dax, got him in his teeth, and started swinging him around like a chew toy. Dax screamed out in panic for somebody to do something. Ariel and Eric ran over to help the little guy; Eric grabbed Max and pried open his mouth, freeing Dax. Ariel held Dax as he looked like a slobbered mess. Dax moaned a little as he groaned out, "Now I know why I don't like dogs as much…"

Ariel looked a little confused as she didn't know why the little otter had come to her rescue with the others. And she still wasn't as sure to what he said as she thought, 'A legendary sea goddess sent a guardian to help us…but why?'

Almost as if he was reading Ariel's mind, Eric thought the same thing. As soon as Max was calmed down, Eric asked, "Let me see if I got this straight…a Sea Goddess, whom I've never read about in the museum, sent a little cat…to help Ariel…and me?"

After he heard that, Dax shot up as he snarled at Eric, "Hey, otter. Otter, not cat. I only lick the insides of clams, not my fur and hack up hairballs." He then stuck his tongue at Eric, giving him a raspberry.

Eric stood up, along with Ariel as they looked at each other in silent thought about this whole thing. Ariel shrugged, not sure of what he was talking about, seeing that she had just met him. Eric scratched the back of his head, but not sure of what to make of this either. Not sure of what to make of at this point, he sighed as he stated, "Well, how about we all go to my house and we'll try and get things explained there." He then looked to Ariel as he smirked, "Besides, I'm pretty sure from what you went through, you could use a warm bath or shower."

Ariel smiled at Eric's generosity as she mentioned of his home. She then blushed a little knowing that she would be going to, and probably staying at, Eric's house. She couldn't wait to see his home, as she nodded her head as she started to sprint towards where Eric had come from at. However, she still wasn't used to using legs as she nearly stumbled and fell towards the sand. Eric ran over as he caught her in his arms, "Whoa!" He then helped Ariel back up to her feet, but still held her in her arms. Eric didn't notice it before, but despite the fact that Ariel was two centimeters smaller than he was, she was really beautiful, whether as a mermaid or a human. The two were staring into each other's eyes, suddenly remembering their first kiss. Then suddenly, without even realizing, they were slowly closing in on each other's lips, and were about to kiss, when all of a sudden…

"Aright! Break it up, you two!", Sebastian shouted as he popped up on Ariel's shoulder, nearly surprising the two teens. Ariel groaned in frustration at Sebastian's interference on a romantic moment. Eric, on the other hand, wasn't a little freaked out by this but amazed as Sebastian berated him, "Think you can just put on the moves on the Princess so easily. Well, not while I, Horatio Felonious Ignacious Crustaceous Sebastian, the court composer and guardian of Ariel, is on the watch."

Ariel just groaned at this as she put the still fuming Sebastian back in her skirt pocket. She sighed to herself, thinking, 'I've never been this embarrassed in my life'. She apologetically looked at Eric for forgiveness, but saw him wave it off.

He then chuckled as he still held on to Ariel to support her, "Don't worry, Ariel. My uncle can be embarrassing at times too."

He then helped her along to walk, with Dax following up behind, trying to hop on to Max. He grumbled as he jumped on to Max's back, "Come on, Big guy! Run like the wind, Max!" But all he got was a growl from the dog, as he whimpered, "Or on second thought, I'll just walk on my own." And hopped off and walked alongside the dog as the two followed Ariel and Eric. Ariel turned back to the beach for a moment, as she saw Flounder and Scuttle giving her a thumbs up in luck as they headed for home.

Thatch Household

The front door opened as Eric let Max and Dax in first, seeing as how Max was getting so excited. Eric turned to his other guest as he saw Ariel look at the place with fascination. He smirked as he led her in, now that she was getting the hanging of walking, "I know this place isn't a palace, like you or Sebastian are used to…but it's the best I can do for you." He then looked around and saw that his uncle was still gone, and that he suddenly remembered.

Just before he left to see Ariel last night, his Uncle had told him that he would be out of town on the other side of the island for a while, for the next week until he got back. So now, it was just him, a couple of crazy talking-sea critters, his dog Max, and Ariel. He then gulped at this realization, 'Oh boy, this is not good. Me…alone in the house...with a girl? This…is…not good.' He turned around and sweat-dropped a little as he nervously replied, "I forgot something….my uncle's gonna be out of the house for a whole week. I guess this means we'll be having the house all to ourselves."

Ariel blushed at that, considering that when she had learned how to read the humans books that she had found. It was said that when a boy and girl were alone together in a house of sorts, all kinds of romantic moments would come out. If she was looking for a way to come up with a moment for the kiss of True Love, this would work out for it. Although the whole thing made Ariel feel a little nervous and blushed a little, but smiled at the romance of it.

Ariel walked in and smiled brightly as she saw for the first time Eric's home. She looked around, as excited as a kid in a candy store as she saw a human's home for the first time. The front doorway was neatly cluttered with a few maps and books, detailing lost civilizations and dead languages. But the living room was neat, clean, and something to behold. Inside the house, it was pretty quaint, something of a Western look to it. The front door led to a living room that was connected to the kitchen and the stairway that led to the second floor of the house. In the Living Room, a small fireplace was in the back to where a U shape formation of couches was placed with a coffee table in the center.

Ariel looked around the room, like it was a dream come true for her, and saw on a nearby coffee table a picture. She went over, picked it up, and looked at it and saw a man with black hair standing Next to a woman with flowing brown hair standing in front of a seven year old boy with the exact hair color as the man. Eric saw her looking at the picture and said, "Those are my parents."

Ariel was a little surprised as she responded with movement that indicated, 'I-I'm sorry.', she responded shyly.

Eric just let it aside as he walked over to her and smiled at both her and the photo, "Ah, that's all right. You have a right to know. You can tell I take after our mother, even though I've got my dad's hair. She was sort of the sea-loving type; her branch was that of the Thatch family. Even though they were married, my Dad took up my mother's last name."

Ariel just smiled at the picture; seeing how happy Eric was in the picture. Dax jumped up the table to look at it and asked, "So where are they now? Globe-trotting? Off explorin' the Antarctic wilderness? Off facin' the Sanarbanian short Amazon women, and their exploding wigs of death?" That question, despite the end being a little ridiculous, brought the whole room silent. All it seemed to do was have Eric lower his head in response to that question. Ariel looked at him in worry and wondered if she or Dax had said something wrong.

After a moment of silence, Eric finally answered, "They're dead. They passed away six years ago."

Ariel was shocked to hear that; she had no idea and now she had been so inconsiderate of such a thing. Even Dax felt a little ashamed by that as he hopped off the coffee table and on to the sofa nearby, as Eric let Ariel sit down and he told her that both of them had died in the same boat sinking that Ariel had saved him from. While they were trying to escape they had been caught in one of the explosion. His explained as he finished, "After Grandpa Thaddeus dies, my Uncle Milo, who was my mother's brother, was the only living relative to be my legal guardian."

Ariel looked at Eric, who was sadly smiling as he tried to cover up his pain, and could tell that he was still taking the death of his parent's at his young age, very hard. She scooted over to him and hugged him, probably to show him that it was alright to be hurting now or that he wasn't alone. He then smirked as he sighed it off, "But hey, I've gotten over it." Ariel looked at him, not actually buying it; this made him a little nervous as Eric cleared his throat and jumped right up, breaking the hug that Ariel had him in, "You know what: let's go get you that shower."

In the Bathroom

Ariel looked all around the room and was amazed by the porcelain details of the place that Eric called the bathroom. Eric then turned her attention to a part of the room, which looked like a tube with turning knobs and a faucet on the top and bottom, "This is probably your first time using one of these, so I'll tutor you through this before you do this all confused." He showed her that the faucets had their different settings of hot and cold. He then showed her how to turn them on and off. After she understood, and nodded, Eric then walked out the door, "Well, when you're done, just dry off and use the robe if you need something to wear. You can leave your stuff outside, and I'll go wash it for you." And with that, he was out the door.

Ariel could only smile at Eric's considerate attitude as he closed the door. As soon as it was close, she pulled off her bikini top shirt and skirt, and in a quick manner, she shoved them out the door. She then walked over to the bathroom and went straight for the shower. When she turned on the water like Eric showed her how, and stepped in, the hot water and nearly gasped as she felt the hot water running over her body.

She sighed in bliss as the hot water ran over her body. But then she remembered on what Eric had told her about his family. She frowned slightly as she remembered every word, 'His parents were on that boat. If only I had known…' but she shook her head, knowing full well that there was nothing she could have done. But she didn't know what pain that Eric had gone through; she only had lost one of her parents, but he had lost both of them. Her heart ached a little more at knowing this; she could only guess how hurt he was at that age.

She turned off the faucets and exited the shower, and dried herself off. She then took a gander at the mirror as she slipped on the robe. She looked at herself, in studying on how she looked, and possibly her thoughts. She thought about it, and then smiled, 'I'll just have to do my best to cheer him up, as long as I'm here.'

Back Downstairs

Eric sat down in deep thought as he had put Ariel's stuff in the washer. Currently, he was thinking on how he could help Ariel with not only staying as human, but also on how to get her voice back. That thought however, was shot out as Dax shot up on his lap, "Hey, lover boy…what's got ya down in the dumps?"

Eric, while looking a little annoyed at the otter, picked the little guy up by the collar of his fur. He then asked, "Okay, furball, I think it's about time you give me some straight answers." He then sat the otter down on his feet and looked at him seriously, "Why is exactly does Ariel and me need a Guardian? And what's the deal with this Sea Witch."

Dax sighed at this, knowing full well the kid wasn't going to like this. So with a quick sigh and a heavy heart, he started to explain everything…that is until they heard a sputtering and coughing of bubbles, "Wat was the big idea throwing me into that whirlpool of soap and death?" The two turned around from the sofa and saw who it was. It was a soaked up Sebastian, and man, was he looking pretty miffed. He scolded at the boy as he started to climb up the sofa, "I don't know what it is that Ariel sees in a forgetful, bumbling, pretty-boyish, beach…"

But Dax just lifted the little crustacean up as he too scolded the little crab, "Now just a cotton-pickin' second here, Crab Legs! How's anyone supposed to expect to find a small speck like you!"

Sebastian growled as he broke free of the fur ball's grasp and stood up a she shouted, "How dare you! I was composing grand musicals before you were even appointed guardian of anything!"

Dax remarked, "Oh yeah, I've heard your musicals. I especially love Solo I Can't Hear You!"

This earned a huge brawl between the two critters; a battle that was only verbal with one insulting the other. Eric sighed, seeing he didn't want to get involved in this mindless squabble. As he walked towards the stairway, he bumped into a familiar redhead as Ariel was coming down the stairs. She was dressed in the white bathrobe that Eric had given her, but was still drying her hair a little. The two stood there, staring at each other, especially Eric, who at that point in time, couldn't stop staring at Ariel, seeing that with her hair wet, made her look even more beautiful than what he said to her at the beach.

It wasn't long until he snapped out of it, he blabbed out, "Hey, um…uh….", his brain was short-circuiting at the moment, making him seem a little goofy. Ariel couldn't help but smile at this and nearly let a giggle slip out. But Eric finally got his brain to work again as he blurted out, "Bedroom! Yeah, that's it. I still haven't gotten the guest room made up.", and with that, he ran up the stairs, leaving a confused Ariel behind.

Sebastian and Dax looked at the scene, and for the first time, aside from calling Scuttle a Bird Brained idiot, looked to each other and nodded as Dax commented, "Well…if we were looking for an awkward moment for those two….that was it."

Sebastian nodded, "Da boy's about as cool as a sea cucumber….and as clever as a starfish when it comes to romantic moments." Yes indeed, for the two sea critters and their outside companions, for the next five days, getting those two to fall in love and kiss would be an easier task said than done.

Next Chapter: Clothes Shopping; A Whole New World

Author Personal Note: Dax is an OC I came up with at the last minute. He's sort of a combination of two of my favorite Disney Characters, Timon and Mushu. The concept for him came from Daxter from Jak and Daxter, the little ottsel sidekick.