Aquatic Kingdom Hearts

Chapter 10: The Sparrow Flies In; A Last Chance pt.1

Six Years Ago

Atlantic Ocean

A cruise ship was sailing the dark sea that was the Atlantic Ocean. The mighty roar of the ocean could not be heard as a grand cruise vessel going from England to the US was heading its way across the ocean. The ship, the Sea Queen; a veritable floating palace which had embarked on its maiden voyage from England was hustling and bustling all over it. but where a strange singing was coming from the back side of the ship…and from a familiar boy. Eric, as a ten year old boy, was by the rail, looking out at the sea as it was lit up by the moonlight. It was then he began to sing a little tune,

Drink up, me hearties, yo ho

Yo ho, Yo ho, A pirate's life for me…

We kidnap and ravage, and don't give a hoot...

Drink up, me hearties, yo ho…

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me…

We extort, we pilfer, we filch and sack

Drink up…

But was stopped as someone grabbed him by the shoulder, startling him from his little pirate jingle. Eric turned around and saw who it was; it was one of the UK sailors aboard the cruise ship. He was a man around in his thirties, an Irish brown haircut with muttonchops, and a sharp eye, and dressed in the traditional twentieth century sailor suit with a blue ascot tied around his neck and a 10 gallon hat on his head. He then spoke to the boy with much fear and concern in his life, as he eyed around the sea, and back to the boy, "Quiet, lad. Cursed pirates sail these waters; not to mention these be King Triton's domain."

Eric looked to him confused, and asked, "King Triton?"

The sailor looked at the boy as if he'd gone daft, "Why he's ruler of the Merpeople. I thought everyone who was on a boat knew about him." The boy looked equally confused as the man explained, "He be the one who governs the oceans; he decides if the waters be calm and tamed, or harsh and untamable." The boy looked a little freaked out by this, but then he seemed to calm a bit as the sailor said, "But he's only like that, if in his daughters anger him in some way."

"Mister Gibbs, That will do."

The two turned to see who it was that called out the sailor's name. it was a fellow, in his early thirties, dressed in a white Naval officer shirt, wearing navy blue pants with boots to boot, a blue Navy officer jacket with gold trim at the collar, sleeves and buttons as well. He had short brown hair but had a small ponytail in the back. His eyes were brown and showed a strong authority figure to anyone who looked into them. Accompanying him was a young boy around Eric's age, and had short blonde hair and sharp blue eyes, wearing a blue T-shirt and brown shorts; Seifer at his young age.

The man in question, was none other than Captain James Norrington, the Naval Captain of the Sea Queen. But Gibbs merely stated as he pointed to the boy, "I'm sorry, sir. But he was singin' about pirates. It's bad luck singin' about pirates with us mired in this unnaturally calm night in waters that have yet to be tamed. Mark my words."

Norrington merely shook his at Gibbs' foolishness and just replied with much disinterest, "Consider them marked." He then ordered, "On your way."

Gibbs sighed with must distaste of this as he left Eric with much deep thought on what he had told him. He nodded to the captain, "Aye, Captain." But as he past them all, he mumbled under his breath, while taking a quick swig of a secret stash of rum wrapped around his neck, "Though it's bad luck to have children on board, too. Even a curious one."

Eric raised an eyebrow as he said, "I don't know, I think it'd be pretty exciting to meet a pirate. Much less a merperson." In truth, he did find it exciting. His grandpa, Thaddeus Thatch, had told him so many stories about the Merworld, and of stories of pirates.

Norrington lightly chuckled as he corrected the boy's choice, "Think again, Mister Thatch." He then walked up aside to the boy as he stated, "Pirates are nothing more than vile and dissolute creatures, the lot of them. And merfolk, if they exist, are nothing more than bloody monsters. I intend that any man, who sails under a pirate flag, wears a pirate flag, or if even a man or woman intends to be anything that is unnatural get what they deserve." He then gave Eric as he answered, "A short drop and a sudden stop."

Eric looked a little confused by that, but then looked at Seifer, who imitated being hung. Eric gulped at that, but was saved when his Uncle Milo stepped in, "Um, thanks, Captain. But I'm kind of wondering what effect this would have on my nephew."

Reassuring his uncle, Eric stated, "Actually, it's pretty cool."

And then Norrington quirked as he walked away with his son, "And that's what worries us all."

And just then, as everything settled down, a loud explosion was heard. It caused the ship to shake as they heard another thundering sound, as it came from the sky. Everyone saw, including Gibbs as he muttered, "Mary, Mother of God.", and saw an inhuman storm shake the sky, its loud roar shook the ocean causing it to become choppy with violent waves. Another shot of explosion shook the ship as it started to downpour form the sky. Eric looked around, wondering if Mr. Gibbs was right in bringing bad luck to the ship. It was then that through a flashing lighting bolt, he saw it. A giant, dark, and menacing sea ship that looked like it had a mouth at its front, and a black flat with a Jolly Rodger; a demonic skull with tentacles on the sides, encircling the skull.

Day 4

Present

Thatch Household

Eric shot up from his bed, nearly covered in sweat from what he had dreamed. Ever since he was rescued by Ariel when they were both ten, on occasion he had the same dream of that memory form long ago. He sat up, rubbing his temple and eyes to wake up as he remembered that dream. He only had the dream occasionally but it had a nasty habit of popping up when he least expected it in his sleep. Eric groaned again as he asked himself, "I had that dream again, but why today?" His thoughts were interrupted by two stirring movements on his bed as he saw where they came from.

Max was sleeping peacefully at his master's feet, lightly snoozing with no worries. Lying next to him, Dax was sleeping on him like a giant fluffy pillow, sprawled over and drooling at the side. Eric smirked at this scene, seeing the two not in a fight; Max trying to chew him up like a chew toy, or Dax running away. He then got up as he made sure not to wake the two up. He walked over to his table and saw the items that the Voodoo woman, Tia Dalma had given him.

The first object was the golden bronze bracelet that Tia had given him. She claimed that the bracelet had the power to give those who venture on land to venture in the sea. It also had the power to give those who lived in the sea to live on land. He didn't seem to understand that much at all; he groaned as he hated riddles that didn't make much sense. But he knew it was important, otherwise Dalma wouldn't have given it to him.

He then looked at the next object over to him, the one wrapped in the cloth. He reached out for it, and unwrapped it, now to find what it was that Tia had given him. It was indeed a sword, but none that his Uncle had ever shown him at the museum, but rather like something out of that game with that keyblade sword. It had a long silver blue blade, with a small sharp tip pointing outward at the base of the blade to where it connected at the handle; this made the appearance that the blade resembled a crab's claw with a tiny thumb claw. The handle was black but was surrounded by a bronze diamond-shaped hand-guard around the handle, but at the bottom end, a small key chain of the same pendant design that Tia Dalma had, was attached to it.

He was a little surprised by this as he didn't expect it to be a real sword. He had just thought it was some kind of artifact that was shaped like a sword, but didn't expect this. Eric wondered as he covered the sword back up, "What does she expect me to do with this?"

It was just then that Eric hid the sword as he heard yawing coming from his bed. He turned around and saw a half-asleep Dax waking up, scratching his head and stomach as he sat up from Max. The little otter looked at a surprised Eric, who was already wide awake, and groaned, "Argh. Mornin', kid. Good to see you're up and about; I was hopin' not to use the fog horn on you again."

Eric smirked as he went over to his closet and rummaged for his clothing for the day, "Yeah, you would like to do that, wouldn't you?" As soon as eh found what he was gonna wear, he stopped for a moment and frowned. What Tia had told him last night, even though he forgot about it to Ariel; he didn't forget about it completely. He then turned towards the still-waking up Dax as he asked him, "Dax?" The little otter popped his back as he stretched a little, but raised an eyebrow, meaning he had given Eric his full attention, "What Tia Dalma told me last night…was it true?"

Dax was still half-tired as he muttered, "Well, yeah. Ariel was only given six days to be a human. And the only way to permanently become human…"

Eric shook his head as he interrupted, "No, not that. I already know that." He looked at the little otter with a serious expression as he asked, "The last thing she told me…was what she told me true?"

It was then that Dax was wide awake as he heard that. He crossed his arms as he simply looked at Eric and answered, "Kid…why do you think Ariel gave up her voice to become human? She wanted to be with you more than ever." He then smiled warmly at Eric, knowing something that Eric didn't get until when they got back home yesterday, "She did it because she loves you, ya big dope." He then smiled as he saw Eric blush from that little truth. But then he looked at Eric with a raised eyebrow as he said, "However…what Tia said to ya last night…you're just gonna have to search your heart to see if she was right or not."

Eric sighed as he went out of his room, "Yeah, I figured that much." He walked down the hallway and made his way towards the bathroom. But when he opened the door to it, he nearly slammed his face into it as he was caught in an awkward moment. Ariel was in the bathroom, having freshly finished her shower, and stepped out. But when Eric had walked in, she was wrapping her towel around her now. Luckily, she had her towel cover her backside, which she was faced when Eric came in, and wrapped it around her securely.

She was surprised by Eric being in here, and a little embarrassed. Eric weakly waved and smiled, "Hey." She embarrassingly waved too as she walked out of the bathroom, silently apologizing for not locking the door. She then scooted out, slightly embarrassed at this scene and closed the door behind her. Eric exhaled deeply, feeling a little tension from that awkward moment, and on the other side, so did Ariel. The two leaned against the door, at the same time, and thought the same thing as well, 'Boy, that was embarrassing…I don't know if I can look at him/her today.'

Port Royal Waters

The seas were as calm as always, with nothing new sailing out of them. But there was some slightly something odd as it sailed in. A small dinghy carrying one passenger that leaned in on its crow's nest as the passenger surveyed its targeted destination. He was a physically fit slim fellow around the ages of thirty or forty, his hair was slightly long to shoulder length and tied in dreadlocks; a few were beaded. He had a messy mustache but a braided goatee that ended at two points and a feather in his hair for some odd reason. And his eyes were clear as brown, with odd black rings under them.

He was dressed in a white buccaneer shirt with the collar open to expose a little of his chest, wore a military vest underneath a black leather duster jacket that ended at the back of his knees. Across his chest he wore a belt strap connected to a gun holster belt; with a white raggedly scarf tied on it, and had only one 9-mm Eagle in the holster, but with a sword in the other. He wore black military pants with black combat boots with black buckled boot-straps to them. And on his head, his hair was covered in a red bandana that stretched down his back, and on top of his head was an old fashioned buccaneer hat. Whoever this gent was, he was the epitome of a pirate if anyone saw him.

He looked forward to his destination, with his ringed eyes. He then heard an unfamiliar sound as he looked below, and nearly went bug eyed. He then grabbed one of the mast ropes and got back on the floor of the boat…which was slowly filling up with water. The man grabbed a bucket and furiously started scooping it up and pouring it out of the boat. He then saw that he was getting close to the port, as he saw something that would make anyone chill. Near one of the tall rocks that the ocean beat across, there were three skeletal remains of pirates left hanging, with a sign, saying, PIRATES YOU'VE BEEN WARNED. The stranger took his hat off and gave the deceased fellows a tip to them, and then got back to work on making sure he didn't sink.

Thirty minutes later, at the fishing docks, the occupants were minding their own business and doing their jobs. That is until they saw the strangest thing heading into their porting docks. The same strange clad man, who was now standing on top to the crow's nest, was sailing into port to dock his boat. Unfortunately, the closer he got to it, the boat was sinking into the water. As the boat reached the dock, it was up to the crow's nest with water, but gave the stranger enough time to calmly take one step and on to the dock. He walked down the dock way as he passed the docking director.

The man looked at the man, and back to his sunken ship. He then stopped him by shouting, "Hey, wha…hold up there, you!" The man stopped, sharply turned around and walked towards the man. The gentleman stopped as the docking director stated, "It's thirty dollars to tie your boat at the dock." The two men looked at the sunken vessel, and the directory turned back to the man as he finished, "And I shall need to know your name."

The man raised an eyebrow, and then reached into his pocket, looking for something. He then found what he was looking for and then said in a thick buccaneer accent, "What do ya say to three blood rubies…", and then placed three quarter shaped rubies of the color blood red, in the director's docking book, and then said, "…and we forget the name?"

The director paused for a moment, looking at the rubies, until he finally looked at the man with a happy grin, "Welcome to Port Royal, Mr. Smith." And then walked away, forgetting he ever saw the man. 'Mr. Smith' smirked at that and walked away…while holding the docking director's wallet in his hand, looking for cash.

Port Royal Fort

Afternoon

The old fort that was first built in by the first settlers of Port Royal, stood tall and firm. Its massive stone walls and mighty cannons stood defiant to the elements. Even though it was a little outdated, the fort was reintegrated into the twentieth century. Now there were steel towers attached to the stone structure that was the fort, and the cannons were modernized as well. Although the fort was still stationed as an actual Navy station, it was also a tourist group, as well as a place for one to take field trips in.

At that moment, Feeney's class was just taking a just so tour at that very moment. And along the students was none other than Eric and Ariel, along with Frey as they walked with their class. Ariel looked over to Eric, in hoping to get him to talk about something, but he was a little quiet this day. He even seemed to try and avoid her as best he could. She silently frowned at this as she asked herself, 'Why is Eric being so quiet all of a sudden?' She then worried to herself as she thought back, 'We had so much fun yesterday, and we didn't have any problems talking to each other.' She then looked at Eric once more, but with a saddened, pleading look on her face to him without him noticing, 'Please…please talk to me, Eric.'

However, something else was going on, as behind the two lovebirds, Frey was watching his two friends. They were both seeing not talking to one another. Of course, one of them was rendered mute, but the two weren't talking at all. However, thanks to a certain crab on Frey's shoulder, Sebastian had explained the whole thing to Frey in a nutshell. Frey then looked to the crab as he stated, "Man, that's a pretty tight pickle she's in. She's gotta be kissed by True Love before the sixth day's sunset."

Sebastian nodded, "I know, and we almost had it yesterday…until things got run amuck." He then sighed in depression and despair, "And now they only have two days left."

Frey looked at this in deep thought and then asked, "Two days?" He then bucked up, "That means there's two days for this to work."

Sebastian thought about it for a moment, and then shook his head as he stated, "The only way for dose two to get together, is if they were in…um…", Sebastian thought out loud, "…Some sort of…social, uh…"

Frey raised an eyebrow as he asked, "You mean, like a date?"

Sebastian pointed out, "Right!"

Frey then shrugged, "But what kind of date? I mean, what kind would get those two to lip lock?"

Sebastian groaned, "Well, you're Eric's friend; you know him a little." He then asked as he looked around for a certain otter that should have been with them. But like always, he sniffed clams and went running for them, but Sebastian asked on, "What's his common interest with Ariel? What does he like to do with her together?"

Frey thought about it as they continued to walk, and then stopped as the rest of the class left him behind. And then Frey shrugged, "Swimming, exploring, surfing…stubborn kids?"

Sebastian slapped his claw on his face, and Frey would have done the same, if not for a small otter popping up. Dax had run around, trying to find Sebastian and the rest, while he was holding a strange parchment in his right pawed hand. Sebastian scolded, "Where were you, furball? Cant you see we're in a crisis here?"

Dax waved it off as he stated, "Not too worry, fellow romanticists…", he then pulled out the flyer as he stated, "…for the high school has opted a dancing ceremony for our romantic needs."

Frey looked at the flyer and it read: PORT ROYAL HIGH'S ENCHANTED SEA DANCE, THUR AT 8 PM. Frey lit up as he remembered that they had that dance on Thursday at the gymnasium at school that day. He chuckled in success, "Of course, the Enchanted Sea Dance! That's at our school this Thursday. Couples usually have a high ranking of kissing at this sort of thing."

Sebastian smirked at this idea; now there was nothing to stop this plan. He then looked to the two as he pointed to Frey, "Alright, 'den! Frey! You are in charge of helping Ariel get a dress for 'dat dance!", Sebastian then turned his attention towards Dax, "Dax! You tell Eric about it, stick to him like glue and get 'em ready for it." He then looked to the two as he stated to them, "And no matter what happens, we've gotta be sure to get 'em both at that dance!"

Navy Port

Near the Docks

The royal ports were where the UK and US Navy kept their battleships placed. Near one of the ports was a C-class line cruiser battle ship of impeccable design, dubbed the Dauntless. In the port next to the Port Royal Fort, was a US Navy Arleigh Burke-class Destroyer dubbed the Interceptor, the speed of the UK and US Navy fort at Port Royal. For anyone to go up against such vessels would mean certain doom for them. Only two men were stationed to guard only the Interceptor, privates Murtogg and Mullroy, who were just standing there casually, until they spotted someone walking down the docks.

Mr. Smith had spotted the Navy vessels while walking all over Port Royal. And it seemed that the ships of the Navy had caught his eye. He walked down the dock stairs, heading right for the Interceptor, however there was one…or two obstacles standing in his way as he made his way towards the boat docks. The two soldiers raced in front of 'Mr. Smith', and Murtogg stated with much authority in his voice, "This dock is off limits to civilians."

'Smith' merely shrugged as he apologized, "I'm terribly sorry, I didn't know.", and then made his way back to the Interceptor as he replied, "If I see one, I shall inform you immediately." But then was stopped as the two soldiers blocked him off once more. 'Smith' looked over Murtogg's shoulder as he looked up at the fort and noticed a tour, and pointed out, "Apparently there's some sort of high-toned and fancy to-do tour up at the fort, eh?", he then asked the two soldiers, "How could it be that two upstanding gentlemen, such as yourselves, did not merit an invitation to help out, eh?"

Murtogg looked over to Mullroy for an answer, but merely shrugged. So Murtogg answered, "Well, Someone's got to make sure that this dock stays off-limits to civilians."

Smith nodded at that as he pointed out, "It's a fine goal, to be sure of. But it seems to me…", he then looked over to where the Dauntless was docked at and pointed it out, "…that a ship like that one, makes this one here seem a bit superfluous, really. "

The two soldiers looked over at the Dauntless, and back at Smith, as Murtogg answered, "Oh, the Dauntless is the power in these waters, true enough.", but then he pointed to the Interceptor and smirked with pride, "But there's no ship as can match the Interceptor for speed."

Then Smith made a quick movement of thought, and then looked at the two chaps as he then replied, "I've heard of one, supposed to be very fast, undetectable by anyone; a Stealth ship refitted for combat, Savvy. Supposed to be nigh uncatchable: The Black Pearl."

Both soldiers looked smug by this, even as Mullroy scoffed at this as he stated, "Well, there's no real ship as can match the Interceptor."

But then Murtogg looked to his friend, a little skeptical as he replied, "The Black Pearl is a real ship."

"No, it's not.", Mullroy stated, correcting his colleague.

"Yes it is, I've seen it."

"You've seen it?"

"Yes."

"You haven't seen it."

"Yes, I have."

Mullroy looked to his friend seriously, and then stated in a tone with much seriousness and terror, that he gave his question with description, "You've seen a ship, painted with black wings at the sides, that's crewed by the damned, and captained by a man so evil that Hell itself spat him back out?"

Murtogg thought about it, but then simply replied, "No."

Satisfied, Mullroy smirked as he hardened his reply, "No."

"But I have seen a ship with black wings painted on the sides.", Murtogg replied back.

While the two soldiers continued to argue, the man calling himself Smith slipped past the two, and made his way to the Interceptor. And Mullroy finally shot out to Murtogg, "Oh, and no ship that's not crewed by the damned and captained by a man so evil that Hell itself spat him back out could possibly have black wings painted on the sides, therefore couldn't possibly be any other ship than the Black Pearl. Is that what you're telling me?"

Murtogg thought about it for a few seconds, and then shook his head with a dumb smile, "No."

Mullroy, finally winning the argument, turned to the civilian as he resolved his answer, "Like I said, there's no real ship as can match the Interceptor." But it was then that they realized the strange clad civilian was nowhere to be seen. However, they spotted him on board the Interceptor, looking it over. The two soldiers ran towards it and boarded her as Mullroy shouted, "Hey! You! Get away from there!", He and Murtogg pointed their rifles at the man, who just stood there, a little surprised, as he finished, "You haven't got permission to be aboard there, mate!"

Smith just looked at the two gents as he patted the side of the Captain's cabin and apologized, "I'm sorry; it's just such a pretty boat.", he then slapped his head, trying to correct what he had just said, "Ship! Ship. She's a ship."

The two soldiers never left their eyes off of him, in high suspicion about this wierdo. Then Mullroy asked, "What's your name?"

The man shrugged, "Smith. Or Smithy if youd like."

Mullroy raised an unsure eyebrow at this as he asked, not buying for a second, "What's your purpose in Port Royal, Mr. Smith?"

Murtogg nodded, "Yeah, and no lies!"

Not really caring for secrecy, seeing that there was no point to it, Smith just walked up to them, with their weapons still trained at him, and simply told them his reason, "Well, then, I confess. It is my intention to commandeer one of these ships, pick up a crew in Tortuga, raid, pillage, plunder, and otherwise pilfer my weaselly black guts out."

The two soldiers both had raised eyebrows at this strange man. They had only one thought at this scene and that was this guy was out of his mind. But Murtogg aimed his rifle at Smithy and commanded, "…I said 'no lies'!"

Mullroy looked to his friend and simply said in truthfulness, "I think he was tellin the truth."

Murtogg sighed as he pointed out to his colleague, "If he was telling the truth, he wouldn't have told us."

Smithy nodded at that, but then pointed out, "Unless of course, he knew you wouldn't believe the turth, even if he told it to you." The soliders riased an eeybrow at that remark, and looked to each toher on that, seeing if he was telling the truth or not.

Back at the Fort

Eric was walking alone at the fort, separated from the rest of the class. Feeney had stated that the class split up and observe some of the historical dictiations that as the fort. For now, Eric had passed the gallows and was walking along the cannon-enforced wall. But his mind wasn't focused on the fort, its historical significance, nor the fact that feeney threatened that there was gonna be a quiz for on this. His mind was currently on a certain redheaded friend and a certain dilemma that followed her.

He sighed to himself as he told himself, in a much depressed tone, "Six days?", he asked himself as he looked back at the ocean, "She only has six days to be human?" he knew that wasn't true; she only had two days left to be human. And on top of that, in order for her to become a permanent human, she needed to fall in love, and be loved in return. And in order to prove that, she and her love would have to seal it with a kiss of True Love. He then sighed to himself in confusion about something, "True Love's kiss, eh?" he sighed at this realization of the deal. He then stopped as he looked out at the ocean thinking; this thought had been in his head for some time now…ever since that kiss on that moonlit ocean moment, and to what Tia Dalma had said to him, 'How do I feel about Ariel?'

"Hey, Eric!", Dax suddenly, popped up on Eric's shoudler, surprising him. He then nudged Eric's cheek with his elbow asking him in a singing tone, "Come on…How's our favorite surfer? C'mon, how's our favorite surfer?" Eric just sighed as he turned away from the otter. Dax looked at him with a raised eyebrow, and then noticed it in Eric' eyes. He smirked as he told himself, 'Aw, I knew it. that deep long look in his eyes, that heavy sigh, the conflicting thoughts that are going on in his head…' he then lightly chuckled, "So ya finally figured it all out now, eh?"

Eric looked to the otter and asked, "Wha…What are you talking about?"

Dax shook his head as he simply stated, "Oh, come on. Isnt it obvious?" he then pointed out, "You finally realize you're in love with Ariel." Eric gave Dax a look, reading out, 'You're outta your furry freakin' mind!' Dax waved it off as he explained to the shocked Eric, "You're both in each other's lives and are as close as a boy and girl can get without being in an intimate relationship…in the beginning, right from the start when you were ten, and now that you've met again at sixteen…you care for Ariel."

"Of course I care, he's one of my closest and best friends.", Eric shot back.

Dax sighed as he smiled at his naïve teenaged friend, "Eric, Eric, Eric… Trust me; the way you've been acting ever since I saw you two meet there at the beach, there was an attraction between the two of you. I've seen it, and I think Flounder, Frey, and…I can't believe I'm saying this…but even the crab has as well. You seem to care for that little mermaid more then just a friend since the beginning." Eric just stood there shocked in the realization of the truth. Dax smirked, knowing that this was going somewhere, "Frey said so himself, you've thought about her for at least six years since you met her. So let me ask you…can you honestly say that you can see your life without her if she were to turn back into a mermaid and never come back?"

Eric turned away from Dax's sight as he thought about that. Could he? Ariel had been a wonderful addition to his life. She liked…no, loved hanging out with her. She was such a wonderful person and when he saw him hurt, like when they first talked that night, he would find that he hurt as well. He actually looked forward to seeing her everyday after that night. He stood there thinking about all the things that they did together over the past few days, and all the fun they shared. And then the thought of losing her suddenly in his life suddenly occurred.

The emptiness that he felt surprised him and then it finally dawned on him once again, only in a new light. "Oh my…", he whispered out as he looked to Dax to confirm this silent realization. And then looked at Ariel's direction to confirm the truth that had been in his heart the whole time.

Dax smirked at this as he decided to lay the plan down now, "So, anyway, Eric…"

Meanwhile

Meanwhile, Ariel was walking over to where the old warning bell was located at the fort, which was across from where Eric was at that moment. She stopped as she sighed and looked out over the distance, seeing the vast ocean that she was facing near the docking area. She had been kind of in a little depressed state; not because she missed home, but what was tugging at her hear this morning. All this morning and when they went to the fort, Eric had been avoiding her nonstop, not even as so much as to talk to her. She leaned over to the bell as she wondered if he didn't want to see her again.

'What have I done,' she wondered, fearing the worst might have happened. 'Did I do something to make him upset with me?' She hoped not, it was hard finding a friend like Eric that she could talk to about her entire life. Sure in the ocean she had friends like Flounder and Sebastian, but Eric was someone special that had reentered her life. He was someone her own age that she could relate to, talk to and had fun with. The thought of losing that was depressing to say the least.

However, her thoughts suddenly shifted from losing Eric to that of startlement. As suddenly she leaned on the stone structure that held the bell in place, a part that she leaned on suddenly loosened. She suddenly lost balance, and fell off, the wall without as much to scream. She plummeted into the water hard from high up, but it didn't go unnoticed as someone shouted, "Someone fell off the wall!"

Eric had seen Ariel slip off and was running towards the spot. Soldiers were rounding up to run down the fort way and to save the girl. Eric ran towards where Ariel was, and slipped off his shoes. He knew the navy had good intentions, but with the way they were going, she would be long sucked out to sea. Dax looked at Eric, the boy's face with hard determination, and gulped. He nervously asked as he held on to Eric's shoulder tightly, "Eric…what are you doing?"

Eric then said as he reached the edge, "Tia said Ariel's safest when she's near me….so I'm gonna do what comes naturally!", and then to Dax's horror, Eric jumped off the edge while still in running, and dived towards the water, with Dax screaming for someone to save him.

"YEAH….BUT WHO'S GONNA SAVE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Next Chapter: The Sparrow Flies In; A Last Chance pt.2