DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT own any of the chars from TLM. They belong to Disney. I do however own Andrina's special name for Ariel.
Enjoy!
A/N: I'm so sorry it took me so long to update. I hope this chapter makes up for it!
"I Remember Music"
Chapter 9- Aquata's Second Chance
Ariel awoke the next morning feeling the same as the night before. She was still in pain and her stomach felt horrible.
As she tried to stretch, she found she couldn't.
Opening her eyes as best she could, she realized she was still in Aquata's arms.
She couldn't remember how she had gotten there.
Despite this, she felt safe and remained where she was until Aquata awoke a few minutes later.
Aquata smiled gently down at her baby sister.
"Hey, sis." She greeted. "Do you feel any better?"
The whimper of pain that issued from Ariel's mouth gave Aquata the answer she needed.
She instructed Andrina, who had just come in to check on them to get their father.
Andrina did so without any hesitation. She wanted Ariel to get better as soon as possible.
Ariel was feeling so bad, she didn't even notice when her father picked her up and gently laid her in the chariot for the ride back to the hospital.
All she could feel was intense pain and nausea and she wanted both to stop.
"I'm going with you!" Aquata declared right before the chariot took off. "I-I have to be with Ariel now."
Triton relented and allowed his eldest daughter to join them. He knew how much this meant to her.
The ride to Coral Memorial Hospital only took twenty minutes, but to Ariel it felt like hours.
Aquata just kept talking to her and assuring her she wasn't going anywhere the whole time.
She let Ariel squeeze her hand while they waited for Arainia to examine her.
She sung to her while the examination was going on while still assuring her she wasn't going to leave her.
Ariel responded to Aquata's words as well as her actions. She appreciated what her eldest sister was doing for her, even though she couldn't express it in words right now.
"Is Ariel going to be okay?" Triton asked anxiously as Arainia prepared to do a test called a CT.
"It's hard to say right now." She answered. "Only one of you can go with Ariel while the CT is performed."
Ariel's grip on Aquata's hand tightened when she heard this.
"Can I Go with her?" Aquata asked Arainia.
"Of course you can, Aquata." Arainia replied as she wheeled Ariel to another part of the hospital.
During the CT scan, Aquata stayed by Ariel's side and sung to her and tried to help her endure as best she could.
Arainia tried to get Ariel to drink some kind of liquid in a cup, but she couldn't keep it down.
Arainia finally put it through a small IV she started temporarily.
This solution seemed to work best.
After the medicine was administered, Arainia began the CT.
Ariel squeezed her eyes shut from the bright light and pain as the test was complete.
Every whimper and sob of pain that issued from Ariel's' mouth felt like it cut through Aquata's heart. She wanted so badly to take Ariel's pain away, but she knew she couldn't.
"Shh, it's okay, Ariel. It's all right. I'm right here." Aquata assured her.
She silently wondered if Andrina wouldn't have been better suited for the job. She was always able to calm Ariel down faster than any of them.
Aquata stopped herself from thinking like that immediately. She was the eldest. It was her job to protect her younger sisters and be there for them whenever they needed her. And Ariel needed her more than ever right now.
Once the procedure was done, Ariel was taken back to her temporary hospital room where her father was waiting for them.
Aquata tried to keep Ariel calm while Arainia talked to Triton about what she thought was going on.
"We'll know more when we get the results of the CT back." She explained. "But from what I can tell based on the symptoms Ariel is experiencing, she's just taking a little more time to recover. She'll probably be able to go home tomorrow if not later on tonight."
Triton nodded.
Arainia gave Ariel a small sedative to help her sleep before she left the room to see if the results of the CT had come in yet.
"Father, is Ariel going to be okay?" Aquata asked once her sister was asleep.
"I hope so." Triton said while taking his eldest into his arms for a hug. "I hope so."
"Mom, please, watch over her. " Aquata prayed. "We can't lose Ariel." With that, Aquata went back to Ariel's side. She was determined to be there for her.
A few hours later, Arainia came back to discuss the results of the CT with Triton and Aquata.
"It's just as we expected." Arainia reported as she sat down on a coral chair across from the king. "Ariel's brain is just taking a while to recover from the amnesia and the shock of the accident itself. She should be all right in a few days. I'm going to send her home in a few hours."
"What can we do to help her?" Triton asked.
"Just be there for her. Feed her only small meals until her stomach can tolerate whole ones again and monitor her progress as best you can. I wouldn't bring her back here unless the pain worsens or she goes unconscious because of it. The vomiting will subside on its own."
Triton nodded. He trusted Arainia's judgment.
"All right. Thank you for all your help." He said.
"It's my pleasure." She replied. "Your family is a joy to work with." With that, she checked on Ariel before leaving to check on another patient.
When Ariel woke up, she was in her own bedroom. She knew she wasn't alone the second she heard Andrina's voice address her from somewhere to her right.
"Ariel, you're awake! How do you feel, El?"
"Okay. " Ariel said honestly. "My head still hurts, but I don't feel as sick anymore."
"Thank Mom for that." Andrina said sincerely. "You had us all worried."
Ariel frowned, but refrained from apologizing. She remembered Aquata's words from the night before and they were slowly sinking in.
"Are you hungry?" Andrina asked tentatively.
"A little. " Ariel replied.
"All right. I'll let Aquata know. She wanted to bring you something special."
Ariel smiled. She was grateful for all Aquata had done for her in the last few days.
After Ariel ate all she could, she laid back down and Andrina took to stroking her hair.
"I love you, El." She said softly. "I just want you to get better."
"I want to get better. " Ariel assured her. "I want to remember again."
"I know you do." Andrina comforted. "You'll remember in time."
Ariel closed her eyes and was asleep within minutes.
The events of last night, coupled with the trip to the hospital had really worn her out.
"Sweet dreams, El." Andrina whispered. With that, she pulled out her journal and started to write in it while keeping a close eye on Ariel.
Ariel's eyes opened as she found herself in a strange place. The room was twinkling with what looked like different colored starfish.
As Ariel gazed around, she saw statues on either side of the space.
Swimming in the middle of them, she heard a distant melody playing from somewhere up ahead.
Following the sound, Ariel prayed it would lead her to the exit.
She had no idea what this place was.
Even though she wanted to leave, a part of her felt safe here.
She didn't know why, it was just what her heart was telling her.
After circling the room for a good amount of time, she finally found a door.
Opening it, she swam through and found her surroundings had completely changed.
No longer in the brightly lit statue room, she now found herself in a wide open space that resembled a fair ground.
As she swam around, she got the sudden urge to find someone. She didn't understand what was going on. All she knew was she had to find this person and fast.
Even though she had left the statue room, the music followed her every movement.
It was like it was trying to guide her.
Following her heart, Ariel continued to follow the familiar melody until she came to another door.
Taking a leap of faith, Ariel pushed it open. She quickly realized it was just an extension of the place she had been in before.
As the music continued, Ariel heard someone calling her name.
The voice sounded familiar and full of worry.
"Ariel! Ariel, where are you? El!"
Ariel knew immediately who it was.
She tried to call out to her sister, but found she couldn't speak at the moment.
When she did regain her voice again, she called out, but received no answer in return.
"Andrina! I'm right here! Andrina!"
She could still hear her sister calling for her, but try as she might, she couldn't establish contact with her.
Feeling frustrated, Ariel tried once again to find the exit.
As she swam through another door, she heard Andrina calling her name once again.
Only this time, her voice sounded closer than before.
"Andrina!" Ariel called out yet again. "Where are you? Andrina! Help me! Andrina!"
It was then that she felt someone touch her shoulder. She felt someone shaking her slightly while still calling her name…
"Ariel, come on, El. It's just a dream." Andrina said softly. She prayed Ariel would hear her and wake up soon.
Ariel's blue eyes opened a minute later.
"Andrina?" Ariel asked as she tried to sit up.
"I'm right here, El." Andrina assured her. "Are you all right? You were calling my name in your sleep."
Ariel nodded as she propped herself up on her elbows
"Yeah. I'm fine now. I just had the strangest dream." She confided in her sister.
"Do you wanna talk about it?" Andrina offered.
Ariel took a minute to calm down before relaying the details of her strange dream to her sister and best friend.
Once she was done, she posed a question to her sister.
"Do you know what it means?"
Andrina took a few minutes to answer. She had an idea, but she didn't want to scare Ariel.
"Do you know where you were when you were looking for me?"
"It looked like a fair ground." Ariel recalled slowly. "The strange thing is, I felt like I had been there before."
Andrina nodded slowly.
"If you have the dream again, let me know." Andrina told her. "For now, just try and forget about it. You also need to try and get some more sleep."
"What time is it?" Ariel asked.
"It's after ten." Andrina answered.
Ariel yawned as she lay back down. She closed her eyes and felt Andrina start to stroke her hair once again.
This motion helped her drift back to sleep shortly afterwards.
"Sweet dreams, El." Andrina whispered.
She stayed with Ariel for a little while before retiring to her own room for the night.
She would check on Ariel in a few hours. She knew her sister would be okay for a little while.
She had initially been afraid to leave Ariel alone in the beginning, but she had been home for a few weeks now and she was starting to get the lay of the palace again.
But as Andrina lay down for bed herself, she couldn't get the details of Ariel's dream out of her head.
If she was right, the dream was going to be the key that helped Ariel regain her memory.
Andrina prayed it would happen soon. She hated seeing her little sister so afraid and unsure. She wanted her best friend back.
"Please, Mom, please help Ariel regain her memory soon." With that final prayer, Andrina closed her eyes and fell asleep to sweet dreams. She just prayed Ariel was having them as well….