Aquatic Kingdom Hearts

Chapter 15: Land or Sea; A Perfect Beginning

Back at Port Royal

Near the Thatch Household

It was night as the waves lightly hit the sandy beach with the cool evening wind. The oceans were beating against the rocks that lay ashore near the cove were two figures were at the beach. It was Eric, lying down on his back, still unconscious, but still wore his wetsuit, and his jeans as his tail had changed back into his legs. The bonk on his head from both the Kraken, and when he fell on the rocky edges from the sea bed. Now he was back on the sandy beach of his island home, sleeping off the pain and exhaustion from the agonizing rescue and battle against the Kraken, as well as nearly getting killed.

However, his head was resting on someone's lap, someone who stroked his head as they softly sang to him. A familiar song, as he stirred a little,

What would I give, to live where you are?

What would I pay to stay here beside you?

Eric stirred a little, as the voice became clearer and focused, instead of sounding like a distant echo. To him the voice was calm, warm, and all too familiar, as he stirred while listening to the song,

What would I do to see you smiling at me?

As before when he was only ten, Eric finally had the strength to wake up as he slowly opened his eyes. As he did, the moonlight lit up the area slightly with the rays beaming down, giving the same atmosphere on 'that' night. As his eyes came to focus, his hearing came as well as he still heard the familiar song being sung,

Where would we walk,

Where would we run,

If we could stay out here in the sun?

He groggily tried to get up, but his exhaustion got the better of him. But as his vision cleared up, he saw the one person he wanted to see when he woke up. he saw Ariel, dressed in her while shirt and black spaghetti strap shirt on top, her blue skirt, her purple pearl bracelet on her left wrist, and on her right, she had on the same bracelet that Eric had on. Along the way, Flounder, as well as Sebastian, had told her that the bracelet had the power to turn Eric into a merman. And if that was the case, it also had the power to turn a merperson…into a human.

She had her eyes close as she continued to sing out with a smile on her face, "Just you and me, wish I could be…", she then turned to Eric's direction as she finished, "…part of your world." And then her smiling face was turned to one of embarrassment as she saw Eric wide awake…and smiling at her.

Eric was just smiling at Ariel, as he said warmingly, "You know, you sang that song when we first met." He chuckled a little as he replied, "I was wondering when I'd get to hear you sing it again."

She then pushed him off as she covered her face, and complained with her hands still on her mouth as she looked away, "Eric! Oh gosh, I feel so embarrassed. Why didn't you say something?"

Eric shook his head as he got up on his knees and crawled over to her. He then chuckled as he cupped Ariel's face with his hands and smirked, "And have you too embarrassed to keep singing that song?", and then he kissed her on the forehead, causing her to look up to him. He then told her truthfully as he got her attention, "Ariel, I love it when you sing. That's one of the things I missed this week when you couldn't talk." He then gulped as he explained, "I like talking to you, and when you talk back to me.", he shrugged, "Sure, I mean it was easy to 'read' you, but….", he took a deep breath as he said what he was so nervous about saying, "…I missed it when you replied back with your own voice. If anything, I want to talk to you and have you replied back."

Ariel couldn't help but be stunned and blushed a little at what he said to her. He missed her singing as well as her talking to him. Feeling a little giddy, she smiled to him and asked a little nervously, "You…you really like my singing?"

Now it was Eric's turn to blush from embarrassment as he simply nodded at that. Eric's hands then went to Ariel's hands as they held each other's and looked at each other in the eye. They had been through a lot the past six days; adjusting to a new life with each other in it, romantic attempts to get each other to kiss, The Flying Dutchman and the Sea Witch. To the two it felt like they were living in a storybook; the past six days did feel like they were in a fairy tale story.

And like a fairy tale story, they knew what would come next for the two; Ariel reached out with her left hand, and touched Eric's face. But then suddenly, at this point, Ariel was nearly about to cry at this, but then quickly hugged him tightly. "Thank you, Eric. Thank you so much…for everything.", she said, holding him tightly. Eric was a little stunned by the hug, but then smiled as he returned the hug and rubbed her back, and then Ariel pulled away and gave a small laugh as she wiped away some of her tears, "Sorry, after what's happened…I just feel a little embarrassed."

Eric shook his head as he said, "Don't be.", he then touched her cheek again, bringing her head to meet up his look, "You deserve a happy ending, Ariel. I just, you know, wanted to help."

Ariel smiled at that as she replied, "You already did." And then her heart started to race, as she was about to do something that was at first accidental, but now wanted to do by choice for so long. She slowly took Eric's face in her hands, and surprisingly, he wrapped his arms around her waist, and the two slowly leaned in to one another as their lips almost met. But then their little kiss was interrupted, before it even started, by a familiar otter that popped in between the two.

Dax had arrived back and was being his annoying self as he implied, "Man, is this romantic or what?" The two broke apart from their moment, and didn't look too happy towards their little otter friend. He then snapped his fingers as he smiled at Ariel, "Oh, yeah. I almost forgot to tell you kids." He cleared his throat as he began, "Ariel, I've gotta message from your dad."

Ariel nearly lit up, "My father? He's alright?" But then she frowned slightly, knowing that she would have to return, "I guess he wants me to…"

"To stay right where you are.", Dax stated with his arms crossed as he continued, "On land, where it's safe from the Sea Witch and the Flying Dutchman." The two teenagers looked slightly confused at this; they probably figured that the two would have been caught by Triton and his soldiers. However, Dax explained, "Yeah, I know. It sounds pretty weird, but that's just how it sounds." He explained to the two that when Triton had gone back to finish the job to the two villains, the Dutchman was nowhere to be found. As soon as he had used the trident's magic to restore those that Ursula had punished from failing to pay, he had even sent out scouts and search teams to find the vessel, but with every search team it was the same: the Flying Dutchman had vanished without a trace.

Then Eric asked, "So…what does that mean?"

Dax smirked at the two as he said, "It means, Lover Boy…", and then looked to Ariel and pointed to Eric as he stated, "That Ariel's dad…has entrusted you…to take care of her until this whole thing is settled." He smirked as he pointed out, "But that might take a while, for oh say…until you two decide to tie the knot."

The two blushed from embarrassment, but smirked at the otter's joke. Flounder, who was close by, jumped out of the water excited for his friend. He cheered on, "That's great, Ariel! That means you and Eric can stay together." He then saw his two human friends smile at that, as they looked to one another, knowing that they wouldn't be separated.

But then Dax mentioned as he looked to Eric, "Now, kid. I know you're already shouldered on the whole destiny about you protectin' the Three Hearts of the Sea, one of which is Triton's Trident. But the King's puttin' you responsible for taking care of Ariel…", he then looked to Ariel as he remarked, "…and you, young lady, have to take care of him. This whole thing works both ways for the both of you."

The two teens looked to each other as they smiled at this turn of events. Ariel blushed at Eric as she nodded, "Don't worry, Dax. Eric's in good hands.", and took his hand into hers.

Eric smirked at her as he gently squeezed it back as he got up, with her following him. He then replied, "Same here." But then he suddenly went from happy to shock in realization, "Oh no, I completely forgot! My uncle's back home!" He then slapped himself in the face as he groaned, "Ugh! How am I gonna tell him I've got a mermaid living with us?"

It was then that Ariel turned him towards her direction. She then gave him a reassured smile as she answered, "Well then, we'll just have to tell him together. Now won't we?" Eric smirked right back at her as the two ran towards Eric's…and now Ariel's…home to go and break the news and truth to his uncle. Dax smirked at this whole thing, and just ran off after the two, but not before he waved to Flounder, telling him to wait for them tomorrow at the beach.

Unknown by the trio, and known by Dax who was running after the teens. What they didn't know was that King Triton, who was at a pretty good far distance from the two teen's sight, had watched them, from when Ariel sang to the boy, to when they both ran to Eric's home. And it seemed pretty strange, though not completely, that in the past six years, when her mother had died; he had never seen Ariel this happy. This boy, this human boy, had not harmed his daughter in any way, and in the end nearly risked his own life and safety, not only to save his life, but that of his daughter's. Sebastian, who was floating aside the Sea King, looked to him and saw the King's face in deep thought. Triton then finally, came to the realization, and asked Sebastian, "She really does love him, doesn't she, Sebastian?"

Sebastian couldn't help but smile at this as he nodded. But then he looked serious as he stated, "Well, it's like I always say, your majesty. Children got to be free to lead their own lives." But then Sebastian shrunk back a little, as the Sea King looked at him quite puzzled.

Triton asked Sebastian, a little doubtful as he realized an eyebrow, "You always say that?" Sebastian just chuckled nervously at that, and the Sea King just shrugged it off. But then his attention was turned back to the retreating forms of both his daughter and the boy that risked his life to save both of them. He then took a heavy sigh as he pointed out, "Though if what the otter, Dax, told me is true. My daughter and that boy have a great responsibility and destiny before them."

Sebastian raised an eyebrow as he asked, "You're referring to the boy being the Seablade Bearer?"

Triton nodded at that as he remembered how he had ordered the Seablade banished from Atlantica. Back then he had thought it would be impossible for a human to be charged with the destiny of ensuring that the Three Hearts of the Sea to work together to bring balance. So he ordered the Seablade to be banished on to land, never to be seen again. But after hearing that a Voodoo Priestess, Tia Dalma, had given the sword to the human, Eric Thatch, he had his doubts. But then when he saw the boy and his daughter together, there really wasn't anymore doubt that the boy was destined to use it. but then he looked to Sebastian as he asked, "Although, they do have a guardian watching over them…I'd prefer if they had a voice of reason…"

Sebastian nearly went bug-eyed at that; he was being ordered to go babysitting all over again. He then sighed, but smirked as he replied, "Your Majesty…I would be honored." And then he swam towards shore but not before he said, "But I doubt I'll be needed. Ariel does have dat boy to look after her."

"That's what I'm partially concerned about.", Triton stated, sounding like a protective father, "Ariel…in a house…with a boy her own age."

Sebastian gulped at that, but then reassured his king, "I'm sure dat dey won't try someting like that." And with that said, Sebastian swam towards the shore and scuttled over to his temp home.

As Triton turned away to go back home and tell his daughters about their youngest sibling's fate, he stopped for a moment. Triton looked behind him, thinking about his youngest daughter, and simply sighed to himself, "They'd better behave themselves.", and then dived into the ocean to return to his kingdom.

Thatch Household

Back at Eric's home, it wasn't doing so well for Frey Asapin as he tried his best to distract Eric's uncle. Milo had not shown it, but he was pretty worried about his nephew's absence, considering that was why Frey was doing a horrible job of keeping him occupied. He was currently sittin on the couch in the Living room, with Max sleeping at the side of it. Frey had done almost anything to keep him from wandering around, looking for Eric: Card games, special magic tricks, and the worst trump card ever; celebrity impersonations. Right now Frey was doing a horrible impersonation of Arnold Schwartzenaeger, with his shirt stuffed with stuffing to make it look like he had massive muscles. He then flexed a little as he told Milo, in a bad German accent, "Listen up, little man. You will see your nephew, when I say it is time."

Milo sighed at this, showing he wasn't going for this anymore. He got up as he said, dissatisfied, "You know, I think I'm gonna go see if I can find Eric now."

But then he was stopped as soon as Frey stated, back to his old self, "Ya, can't! Because…um, well…I, uh…he's in the process of…", he then gulped again as he stated, "Well, circumstances being what they are….", but then they heard a knocking at the back door, and then Max suddenly woke up. He barked happily as he ran towards it, recognizing familiar scents to it. Frey then quickly shot back as he smiled, "Well, what do ya know? He's back!", and dropped whatever he was doing as he ran over to the door. And then joyfully called out to Uncle Milo, "And wouldn't you know it….", he walked in with an embarrassed Eric, and much to Milo's surprise, a very attractive, but yet very shy redhead girl at his side, "…he's brought over a friend."

Milo shot up, looking a slight bit confused at this as he walked over to the three teens. He then looked at Ariel in confusion as he asked, "Uh, who is this?"

Ariel and Eric looked to one another, slightly nervous about telling him about this. But when they looked each other in the eye, they knew that it was for the right thing to tell him the truth. Eric took a deep breath, and introduced the person most dearly to him, to his only family, "Uncle Milo…this is Ariel.", he smirked, as did she as they knew what would come next, "She's the mermaid I told you about."

A small dumbstruck silence went into the room, as that little bit of information was echoing in the living room. The three teens were now wondering if what they had just said sounded a little too sudden. Milo just looked at the three like they had lost their minds; talking about mermaids of such things, and that the girl was a mermaid. He then shook his head and chuckled, thinking it was some kind of joke, as he pointed to them, "Okay….who put you up to this? It's Johnson from the Marine Biology department. Right?"

"Sheesh, for a professor, you're really in denial on this."

Everyone was a little surprised by that voice, even Milo as he looked around and asked, "Who said that?" But then the teens remembered who made that voice, as they smirked at what they saw. It was none other than Dax, as he stood next to Milo as he tried to find out where the voice came from, "Come on, already. Who said that?"

Dax sang out in a joyous tune in his voice, "Over here."

Milo turned around, trying to find the source of the voice, as the teens were taking a little delight in this. They watched as he asked, looking a little more worried, "Where?", it was then he felt something tug along at his pants, getting his attention. He looked down and saw a strange otter that resembled a meerkat in some way, and was shocked at what came next.

Dax simply smiled, and said, "Hello.", and was nearly stomped on by Milo as he jumped out of the way. Then he jumped on to the sofa, and then looked pretty miffed at a stunned Milo as he complained, "Well, that's the last time I show some polite manners to a complete and utter stranger."

Milo's jaw was left open in awe at this sight; an otter was actually speaking the human tongue, and behaving like that of a person. He just gasped the words out as he looked at Dax in astonishment, "Incredible."

But then all of a sudden, Sebastian had seen the whole thing. Dax had blown their cover, and now he scuttled over towards the empty-headed otter, scolding, "Well, now you've done it, Dax! Splendid, just peachy!"

Dax waved it off, "Oh, come off it!"

Sebastian growled, "You come off it!"

"You."

"You!"

Dax just smirked triumphantly, "You infinity…plus one." That earned a full out growl from Sebastian. Ariel couldn't help but giggle at this ridiculous scene; which caused the boys to laugh out loud at this.

However, Milo shook his head as he tried to figure out what was going on around here. He finally got fed up as he shook his arms in the air and called out, "Okay everyone, settle down!" He then looked to everyone; human and animal alike as he stated, "Okay, I've got some answers I need questioned."

"Answers.", Sebastian corrected the older human, "I tink you mean, 'I've got some questions I need answered', right?"

Absentmindedly forgetting he was talking to a Jamaican-talking crab, Milo nodded, "Yes, sorry about that.", and turned back towards the kids, and asked, "What's going on? What are they?", and then pointed to Ariel, seeing that his nephew might have been right, "And who are you?"

Ariel, being a little shy at the moment, seeing that she was meeting with her boyfriend's family. She fiddled with her hands for a moment, until she took up enough bravery and replied, "Well…that's kind of a long story."

A Few Minutes Later

Frey had gone back home, leaving the two Thatch men and the Mermaid Princess-turned-human alone in the house…also with the two talking critters to explain things as best as they could. They were sitting down in the living room; Milo was sitting in one of the lounge chairs with Dax on the left armrest, while the two teen lovebirds were sitting on the couch with Sebastian on the armrest. They had sat down and explained to Milo everything that was their little adventure: Mermaids, the Sea Witch, Ariel becoming human, the Voodoo Priestess Tia Dalma, the Flying Dutchman and the Kraken, but left out the detail about Eric being chosen as the only one to save the so-called Three Hearts of the Sea. It wasn't every day you find out your nephew's girlfriend was a mythical creature from ancient stories.

He seemed to take it pretty well as he leaned back in his chair with his jaw dropped ridiculously. He then finally spoke up, a little dumbfounded and baffled by the whole thing, "This is for real."

Dax jumped up as he folded his arms and smirked at the dumbfounded museum scientist, as he quirked, "See? Now, you're catchin' on."

Then Milo looked towards the two teens, and looked to Ariel as he asked, "So basically, this Sea Witch is after three artifacts that'll give her complete control over the seas. And one of those objects happens to be the Trident, that your father, The King Triton, has in his possession?"

Ariel nodded at that, and nervously gazed at Eric's uncle, "And it's because of that, my father thinks that Ursula will try again to kidnap me to get to it." She then stated, "But they won't try anything as long as I'm on land…", and then looked at Eric smiling, "…and among people I care about." Milo raised a slightly confused eyebrow as he saw the two smile at one another, but then had a know-it-all smirk on his face as he realized what that look represented.

And then it was Eric's turn to be nervous as he asked, "Which is why the two of us were wondering…", Eric gulped as he looked at his Uncle hopefully, as did Ariel, and he asked, "…can Ariel stay with us until this whole thing's settled?"

After hearing that, Milo sat back into his chair, with his arms crossed and in deep thought as his face was scrunched up in thought. The two teens looked at this in nervously as they saw him drumming his fingers on his arm in deep thought about it. Even Dax and Sebastian looked equally worried at this; they knew Eric was okay, seeing that Ariel was the girl of his dreams and would let her stay, but they weren't sure about his uncle seeing that they didn't know much about him. Then the feeling of dread was coming as Milo sat up and looked at the two seriously, and spoke up, "Well, I don't know…", and just when things looked bad, Milo excitedly shot up and smiled, "…Alright, you can stay!"

Ariel couldn't help but smile at this, as the two teens shot up and she hugged Eric fiercely, with him returning it. But then Milo spoke up again, causing the two teens to break up for a moment, "But you're gonna have to help around the house, and attend high school next week to blend in with us."

Ariel lit up as she heard that last condition, and asked, slightly stunned, "Me? Attend a human high school?"

Eric, confusing Ariel's stunned reply to one of disappointed shock, asked her concerned, "What's wrong, Ariel? Don't you want to go?" However, he was answered as Ariel hugged him again.

She chuckled as she looked up to Eric and replied, "Of course. I'd like that very much."

Milo then smirked as he hugged the two kids, meeting no resistance, as he stated, "Then it's settled. As of this point, Ariel, you can stay here at the Thatch household." Even the two sea critters smirked at this whole event, and knew that things were getting better…but little did they know that things would get worse.

Antarctica

Artic Circle

In the Antarctic, completely isolated from any of the populated colonies of the continent, lay a new lair. No one who was either sailing or drifting on the Artic waters noticed the new construct of ice that lay before the waters. It was a giant demonic looking skull-shaped ice cave…that was housing the Flying Dutchman, and a wandering Kraken, as a lone eye was popping out of the water, looking around for something. It was then that it heard the meticulous moaning of the Sea Witch, "Oh, my back!" The Kraken looked pleased as it slithered on over towards the ship.

Meanwhile, Ursula was lying back on a makeshift table, as the lobster crewman, Penrod was accompanying her on it. After a complete hair-raising escape from Triton and his army, the Dutchman had made it all the way over to the Artic Circle; the last place Triton's forces could ever find them at. However, the whole ordeal had left Ursula with a sore back. So Penrod had insisted that the sea witch take a massage, courtesy of him. However, he jumped on her back, and nearly broke it as he smushed his feet into it, causing her to whelp out as he calmly told her, "Now, mam', you just forget about that Princess and human. All in the past, I say. All in the past."

Ursula sighed as the massage was finally kicking in, "Ah yes. The past." In her mind alone, Ursula saw that Princess Ariel and the human, Eric Thatch, had ruined her whole plan. Intentionally she blamed the two for everything, but right now, she was starting to forget it as Penrod hopped off and started to work on her upper back…by smashing his claws into them, causing them to pop. While he performed it, he foolishly started to remind Ursula why she failed, "Like when that boy had all those sea creatures attack you."

Ursula's eyebrow was raised as she asked, "Attack me?"

Then Penrod chuckled, "And then the two laughed in your face…"

Ursula started to snarl as she clawed the table with her fingernails, leaving imprints in it, and speaking with much venom as she growled, "Laughed in my face…"

And then Penrod made it even worse as he stated, "Or like yesterday, when the Princess pulled your hair, and when that Thatch boy tricked the Kraken to come after and try to eat you.", and then whispered absentmindedly, "Right in front of Jones and the crew, too."

And then at that point, Ursula's anger and rage nearly drove her insane as she was seething on the boarder of unbearable. She growled viciously as she slammed her fist on the table, "Right in front of Jones and the crew!", she then shot right up, nearly startling the lobster crewman, as she shook her fist in villainy determination, "We've got to find them." But then her thoughts on vengeance were halted as she heard a very dangerous growl….a hungry one. Ursula slithered over to the railing, as did Penrod and they saw next to the ship was none other than the Kraken…and it looked at Ursula mighty hungry too.

Ursula shrieked as she comically backed away very quickly. This caused the crew and Jones to come out very quickly, with the tentacle-bearded captain to ask, "What's all this then?", and then saw Ursula get up looking pretty horrid, and asked her like he didn't care, which he didn't, "And what are you doin'?"

Ursula calmed down as she wailed in a sarcastic tone at first but then went on to complaining, "This is just fantastic! No sooner do I lose the first Heart, The Trident, but now I have this to worry about."

Jones looked at the Kraken, and then back at Ursula as he said, "Oh, get over it. He's just hungry; his meal ran off on him. Remember?"

Ursula snarled, but then went on to complaining, "I swear, Jones, this whole ring of failure right now is pushing me to delirium. The last thing I need right now is an ancient sea beast coming after me." It was then that she felt a shadow looming over her, and saw the Kraken's tentacles over her. She shrieked, and comically shot up towards the mast, and clinged to it like crazy. She looked down to Davy Jones as she screamed, while shaking, "Capt. Jones! Do something!"

Davy Jones sighed, hating on being in the middle of this, had no choice in this matter. He walked over to the Kraken's tentacle and slapped it, shouting, "Go! Back! Back to the abyss, from whence you came!", not wishing to defy its master's orders, the Kraken slunked back into the deep waters and away, fuming that it had missed out on its meal.

Ursula slimed back down as she scolded, "Blast those two teenagers! This is all their doing!", and then she touched back on deck as she evilly sneered, "Well, I'm not defeated just yet." She then looked to Jones as she ordered, "Davy Jones! Get your crew ready to set sail to Ireland."

Jones and the crew looked at each other in confusion, as Koleniko asked in everyone's stead, "Ireland, mam'?"

Ursula looked impatient as she stated, "If we can't use the First Heart to get where we're going…then we're on our way to find the Shepard's Journal!"

Saturday Afternoon

Port Royal Cove

On the sunny Saturday, the teens from Port Royal were having the best Saturday of their lives. Volleyball games were being played, girls were sunbathing or talking to each other about the latest heartthrobs, and most were going surfing. And that was what one teenage boy was doing on his own that day; Frey was in his wetsuit, just lounging about on his board, watching the clouds going by. That is until a very familiar voice was being heard as it got closer, "Asapin! I thought that was you."

Frey got up from his board and saw Seifer, Krad, and Foo making their way over to him. Frey just sighed in exhaustion already as he moaned, "Oh, hey Seifer. So what's the 411?"

Seifer strode in and looked around the area. However, he frowned as he saw that his rival was nowhere to be seen. He then looked towards Frey as he asked, "So where's Thatch? He and I still have our old score to settle on the surf."

Frey sighed, knowing full well that Seifer was never going to give up on this. He looked to the stubborn mule as he stated, "He's not surfing today."

Seifer raised an eyebrow as he asked, "What? Why?"

Krad nodded as he asked, "Is he chickening out, ya know?"

Foo sighed and simply said in her deadpan voice and face, "Girlfriend."

Frey nodded, "Yeah, he said that his girlfriend wanted to show him something."

Not Too Far Away

After carefully avoiding anyone nearby spotting them, Ariel, now as a mermaid, was swimming under the water. Eric wasn't too far behind her, dressed in his wetsuit and as a Mer-Dolphin, was following her. When Ariel had wakened up on Saturday morning, she immediately went to wake up Eric, by jumping on his bed. She had insisted on going into the ocean, but Eric stated it was too dangerous, saying that Ursula and the Flying Dutchman were still out there. However, Ariel was persistent on going out there, and seeing as how stubborn she was, Eric sighed in defeat and said yes. This earned him a kiss on the cheek, which he blushed from at that.

They had swum around the island for almost felt like a few hours. Before she took him to where she wanted to go, she had him playfully chased around. Eric didn't complain at all about it, even though he was plenty tired of it. It was then that they reached the underwater caverns of the area. The two teens stopped at a circular rock near one of the caverns; with Eric's help, after Ariel had told him this was it, the two pushed back the rock with ease, revealing a cavern opening behind it. And then Ariel signaled Eric inside, "Come on, Eric…it's this way.", and swam inside the hallway.

Eric followed behind as he asked her, "Ariel, why can't you just tell me where it is we're going?"

Ariel looked back with a mischievous smile as she replied, "Now if I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise.", she then continued to swim forward, leaving Eric completely in the dark as they swam further. Whatever she wanted to show him, she was doing a pretty good job at keeping it a surprise. As soon as they got to the end of the tunnel, Ariel smiled brightly as she showed Eric in, "Tada! Here we are."

As soon as he reached the end of the tunnel with her, he was completely amazed at what he saw. It was a vast cavern that stretched upward like a cone that was about twenty feet high up. At the very top, there was a small shimmer of light that illuminated the area. It was also big enough for a person to swim around freely and with more room to do it in. But what really got Sebastian flabbergasted, was that on each layer that acted like a shelf, there were objects, artifacts, and devices from the Human world there. There was everything you'd ever find: silverware, paintings, music boxes, bottles, TVs, shoes, bikes, vases, nautical equipment, and clothing from every era that went from Victorian to modern. The room was a complete treasure trove of human artifacts that had been salvaged from wreckages of the Atlantic. Though some of it seemed pretty much destroyed, and there was some rubble on the bottom, everything seemed to be in okay condition.

All Eric could do was look at it in amazement as he simply uttered, "Whoa."

Ariel smiled as she swam around and replied, "I thought you would say something like that." She then stopped at the center as Eric swam a little forward as he still looked around. Then Ariel replied, "This is my collection; all the stuff I've collected off of a wreckage of any ship I find at the bottom of the ocean."

Eric was in complete amazement as he looked around the room. The cavern trove had everything; books, artifacts, everyday household things that stretched on from the Victorian era to modern. He then looked to Ariel, with a dumbfounded smile, as he said, "Ariel, this is amazing."

Ariel smiled at that, but when his back was turned as he looked around the shelves, she slightly frowned. She knew of the real reason why she wanted to bring him down here. She looked at the center of the cave, her sitting rock formation, was where she had left the family album, or what was left of it, was left when she went with Davy Jones. She made sure that Eric wasn't looking, and swam over to it, and picked it up. She remembered on what Scuttle had told her about this book, but she also remembered why she didn't take this with her. If Eric had found out about this, she shook her head, 'He can't find out about this…', and then headed for the exit.

As soon as Eric was done looking at one of the paintings, he turned and noticed Ariel leaving. He called out to her, "Ariel? What are you…?", he then saw her slightly startled, and then she swam out of there like crazy. Eric shouted, "Ariel, wait!", and chased after her. he had started to chase after her as she tried to get away, with the book clutched in her hands. The two had been circling around the waters, with one trying to lose the other.

However, their little chase was going unnoticed as Dax was watching this with no puzzlement, but amusement. However, Flounder popped up as he saw what was going on and looked to Dax as he asked, "What's going on, Dax? Why are they swimming around in circles?"

Dax turned towards the little fish as he explained, "Well, it's like this: Ariel wanted to take Eric to see her trove. They went in there, but then she remembered some book that she didn't want Eric to see. So she split on the dot, causing Eric to go after her. And in this sense, that's why they're swimming around like a couple of Dolphins that are high on helium."

Flounder looked at this with understanding, and then said, "That seems kind of…crazy."

Dax smirked as he answered, "Yeah…but that's what people do when they're in love. And I'm pretty sure that things'll work out.", he then pointed to the two teens as they headed above the surface, "It's worked out okay for them so far."

As soon as she broke the surface, she gasped a little out of exhaustion. And then suddenly, Eric popped up next to her; still a little frightened, she tried to swim away. She squirmed a little as she tried to get away, saying, "No! Leave me alone!"

Eric then got fed up as he asked, "Ariel! What's wrong with you?" It was then that he noticed the strange book in her arms. He broke away to give Ariel a little space, and then saw the title of the book. He then asked, a little surprised, as he pointed to the half-trashed book, "That's my family album. How did you…?"

Ariel sighed, knowing this would have happened eventually. It was nearing sunset now as the two swam over to a smooth rock near the beach, where no one was present at the time, as Eric sat up on it and removed the bracelet, his legs changing back to his human ones as Ariel sat down next to him. But she didn't take the bracelet to revert to human form as she told him the whole story. She explained that she didn't find it like this, but that her father had destroyed it, before he had a little more trust in the boy she had fallen in love with. She then turned away as she sadly said, "That was also the reason why I didn't see you that night.", she then started to let out a few tears as she replied, "I was afraid you would hate me. You took care of my mother's necklace for me…", and then she covered her face as she didn't want to let him see her cry, "…and I end up destroying something that's important to you."

Now Eric understood why she had bolted from the cave; she didn't want him to find out about the book. But he knew that the book's safety wasn't her responsibility, but he felt that she made it her own as soon as she had found out that the book belonged to his family. He then leaned in, took a still-crying Ariel, and hugged her gently in his arms. He then stated truthfully to Ariel, "It wasn't your fault. I know this book means a lot to me; it carries all the memories I had with my mother, father, big brother, and my Uncle Milo and Grandpa Thaddeus." But then he broke the hug slightly as he let Ariel look up to him with her tear-filled eyes, "But right now, as long as this book is still useable with blank pages, I wanna fill the rest of it with memories of our time together, Ariel."

Ariel looked at Eric with much surprise; he had completely forgiven her about the book. Not only that, but what he said about making memories of their time together was touching to her heart as it beat faster. She then took a moment to wipe away the tears, and then she smiled at Eric, "Thank you. I want to make new memories with you as well."

Eric smiled at that, and then decided to tell Ariel something really important. He then looked her in the eye and said to her, "Remember when you wondered what Tia Dalma told me, while you waited outside?", he then slightly blushed a little as he told her, "She told me that the one who would give Ariel her True Love's kiss…the one who would give his heart to her…", Ariel was starting to blush at this as she waited to hear the answer, "…she told me that he was standing right next to you." Eric smiled as he and Ariel were leaning in closer to one another, as he finally whispered, "…and she was right."

Ariel's face was blushing like crazy; as was Eric's, but the two forgot that as they leaned in closer. Ariel's heart began to race again as she took Eric's face in her hands; Eric wrapped his arms around her waist vice versa. And then the two finally, but slowly, leaned in as they lightly but passionately kissed as the sun began to set. The two didn't take notice of it, but Flounder, Dax, and even Sebastian were far away as they saw the two teens kiss. And then Sebastian just smiled happily, seeing the two together at last, and sighed, "Well…it's about time." This moment for the two, was a pure moment of happiness in their lives, which in some cases was a rare thing. The two teens wanted to enjoy this moment for as long as they could, because they knew that the future held who knows what in store for them, their friends, and their families. But at this moment, that was the future, and both Ariel and Eric wanted to enjoy the present at this time.

Next Chapter: It's the Pearl; Parley with Barbossa