Ariel spent the next few days moping about the palace. Jim had fallen into a coma after her father healed his wounds. Sebastian had stayed to guard him, promising to come with word once their patient woke up.

The mermaid desperately wanted to see Jim again, but she was also afraid. He knew her identity now; her whole identity. He knew about her saving him, hitting him... lying to him. And she knew she had no excuse. She should have told him everything the second night, after he had confessed his true nature to her. But she hadn't trusted him the way he trusted her. When we meet again, I'll fix that, she decided, clutching Jim's pipe tighter.

"What's that in your hand, Ariel?" Arista asked. The youngest sibling had been mobbed by her sisters upon her return, and they hadn't left alone since. Not that she was complaining; she seemed to get lonely much easier recently.

"It's a- a pipe." Ariel replied, lifting it for her blonde sister's appraisal. "They put something that smokes in here," she pointed to the bell, "and inhale it."

"Ewwie!" Alana proclaimed, looking up from her compact mirror. "That can't be good for the complexion."

"Jim didn't smoke it, though." Ariel defended, putting the stem in her mouth.

"Jim?" Adella exclaimed, and the girls swarmed their sister, poking at the human artifact with interest. Public approval of humans had increased substantially since the Ursula affair, but Jim particularly intrigued her sisters since he was their young sister crush, as well as a national hero.

"It was his dad's." Ariel said quietly around the mouthpiece. Her sisters fell silent. Anything having to do with Jim seemed to both elate and sadden their youngest sibling.

Attina broke the silence. "Ariel, I-"

Then, a seahorse herald burst hurriedly through the door.

"Princess Ariel? Ah, Princess Ariel!" The seahorse bowed. "The sea king requests your presence. It's almost time for your meeting with the royal humans."

Ariel released the anxious breath she'd been holding in a flurry of bubbles. "Tell him I'll be right there."

Triton grinned as his youngest daughter entered the throne room.

"You look beautiful, as usual." He bragged, putting an arm around her shoulder. "But, what's this?" He lifted the chain of the necklace Ariel wore. "Wasn't this-"

"Ursula's, yes." Ariel replied. "Jim- gave it to me, to give my voice back. I kept it to remind me of all the pain my mistake caused, so I never do something so stupid again."

The sea king smiled tightly and hugged his daughter. "I'm sure you never will. Now, shall we get going?"

"Sure," Ariel shrugged, then said sternly, "But leave the trident here. I won't have you turning anyone into starfish during the peace meeting."

"But what if one of them attacks us, or looks at me strangely? Dirty, barbaric humans-"

"Well, a dirty, barbaric human saved our entire civilization," Ariel pointed out, prying the trident from his hands and placing it in its stand. "Now, behave."

Triton laughed jovially at her off-character behavior and took her hand as they swam to the surface.

The council was set up on a long table on the beach, one end reaching a good five feet past the surf so the mer-guests could take their places at the table. Besides King Triton and Ariel, there were six humans in attendance: the queen, Eric, Captain Harris, and the ministers of agriculture, defense, and war. The peace meeting went relatively well, considering this was the first formal meeting ever between human and merfolk, though it almost came to blows when the humans brought up oceanic fishing rights. With Ariel's help the squabble was soon rectified, and by the end of the four-hour meeting the two countries had laid out a suitable compromise. Atlantica would aid Guilder in defensive wars, as long as Guilder did not draw its fish supply from the sea. Also, there would be no use of magic to sink Guilder's ships and bring about storms, and the humans were forbidden from emptying their waste into the ocean. Breaches in this deal would result in dire consequences. On a lighter note, trade would be permitted between the two countries, and the nobles would meet together quarterly to discuss any problems or concerns. In addition, an ambassador to each capital- this idea took Triton some getting used to, as it involved the changing of humans into mermaids and vice versa.

At the end of the long peace council, all of Ariel's hard work paid off when Triton signed his name next to the humans' on the peace treaty. The sea king was discussing some specifics with the human queen when Ariel spotted the familiar red dot scurrying down the beach toward them.

"Yo' Highnesses! Ariyal!"

"What is it, Sebastian?" Triton asked, but Ariel already knew what he would say.

"Eet's de boy, Jeem." He gasped. "'E 'as awakened!"

Prince Eric and Captain Harris, both present at the meeting, immediately jumped from their seats and sprinted down the beach. Ariel wished she could join them, but she could no longer come on to land. She bit her lip frantically.

Eric, as if reading her mind, turned about. "Ariel! Swim along the shore to the house!" He yelled, running backwards. "Then he can see you when he comes out!"

"Great idea!" She called back, diving into the water without bidding the other human dignitaries good-bye.

As Jim sat up, he expected to feel a lot of pain in his chest and leg, but when he propped himself up on his arms, he felt... nothing. In fact, he felt stronger than ever. He wiggled the toes of his left foot experimentally. No pain. He threw the covers back, shivering briefly at the sudden chill, to reveal his broken leg no longer in a cast. It looked as good as new.

"How long was I out?" He wondered. Morph, who had been by his side since the prince found him on the beach, flew around him in circles, cooing encouragement as Jim stood and took his first step on his healed leg. It performed perfectly, showing no signs of extended uselessness. He walked slowly to a mirror hanging by the bathroom door to examine his injuries, only to find he had none. No bruises or breakages remained from his time as Ursula's captive. In fact, except for his usual scars, some stiffness, and a case of bed head, he looked remarkably pristine. Then he noticed a small mar on his collarbone, hiding under his shirt. He pulled back the cloth to look at the fish-shaped scar, the place where the sea had marked him.

Jim realized that, as Captain Harris believed, he really did belong to the sea, though not in the way the old man suspected. He was in love with the sea king's daughter.

The sailor sighed, turning away from the mirror and pulling up his shirt collar. Could his life get any more complicated?

"Jim!" Captain Harris exclaimed, bursting through the door with Max at his heels. Jim put down the comb he was using and smiled broadly.

"Captain."

"Come, come, boy!" The captain grinned. "You're a country hero! Drop this 'captain' business and give an old sailor a hug!" Before Jim could protest, he was off the ground, lifted up by the burly man's emphatic embrace.

"Don't- break him, Harris!" Eric panted, leaning against the door frame with his good arm, the other in an impressive-looking swing. He smiled good-naturedly at the pair. "We just got him repaired!"

Harris released Jim only for Max and Morph to move in, reducing Jim to a laughing mess on the floor.

"Down, boys!" Eric proclaimed, helping the sailor up. "But really, Jim, good show. Both Guilder and Atlantica are indebted to you."

"I could say the same for you," Jim countered, shaking the prince's hand. "You saved both our lives. How'd you do it, by the way?"

Eric grinned. "You might want to sit down, it's a bit of a story."

Jim sat, and the prince told him about his plan to kill Ursula using the solar surfer as a sort of dagger. However, he was hindered by the dullness of the solar surfer's tip, and that's why he had to land and attach the copper rod and barrels of gunpowder to it. He told Jim how he had barely gotten back into position before Ursula was poised for her final strike, and how he drove the surfer full tilt into her, bailing at the last second.

"That alone would have killed her," Eric insisted, "but I didn't count on the surfer's overheated engine exploding and igniting the gunpowder. The blast was immense, and some shrapnel caught me in the arm."

"I see that." Jim noted. "Who made your sling?"

Eric blushed slightly. "Um, Jean did." The prince looked away sheepishly, and Jim didn't press him further.

"Anyway," Eric continued. "It was hard to swim to shore with an injury like that, but thankfully Morph showed up out of nowhere and turned into a strange, windmill-like contraption-"

"A propellor."

"Right, a 'propellor,' and aided me ashore. We found you twenty yards down the beach, unconscious but completely healed."

Jim nodded. "Triton-"

"Yes, he told us later when he and Ariel came ashore to inquire about you. Speaking of whom-" Eric winked. "She's waiting for you just outside. Shall we go meet her?"

The young sailor bit his lower lip, his heart pounding. "I- I can't."

"What? You can't? Why not?" Eric exclaimed in disbelief. "Seriously, she saves your life-twice- and you say you can't? There's gratitude for you. And to think she picked you over me-"

Jim growled, remembering why the prince had so irked him before. "Don't you dare question my feelings for her. You have no idea what I have to consider!"

"I know that there is a beautiful girl on the beach who has been waiting days to see you, and yet you're being a jellyfish about meeting her!"

"Prince Eric, please, let me handle this." Captain Harris said calmly, putting a hand on each man's chest. "Can you go outside and wait for us?"

Eric nodded hesitantly, turned, and stomped out the door, slamming it behind him.

Ariel splashed excitedly about on the shoreline, her heart pumping furiously. Finally, after three days, she'd be able to see him! The princess hadn't realized how lonely she would be without her knight until she was lying awake in her own bed, miles from the chef's villa where Jim slept. She had wondered if he missed her too, then realized, of course he wouldn't miss her, he was in a coma.

Her father, annoyed that she was so worked up over an alien boy, told her that her depression was a part of being a teenager and she would soon grow out of it. However, his advice did not stop the mermaid from wishing to be by Jim's side, even if she could do nothing but watch him sleep.

Ariel physically jumped when she saw the villa's front door open, but her shoulders sank as only the prince emerged.

"Is he coming?" She asked as Eric approached.

"I'm- not sure," he said nervously. "I think he's a bit- confused right now. Captain Harris is talking to him. I'm supposed to wait for him-them- here."

"So, what's this all about, lad?"

"I just don't know if I want to see her right now, that's all." Jim lied through gritted teeth.

"D'ye mind if I ask why?"

"We just have- trust issues." The younger sailor said softly. "As in, I trusted her, but she- didn't trust me."

Harris nodded slowly, but he could see in the sailor's eyes there was more to it. "And that's all?"

Jim growled, stood up, and began to pace. "Of course that's not all! She's a blasted mermaid! I'm an alien! It's the most taboo relationship in the galaxy, and I've gotten tangled in it." He pulled both hands through his hair. "What's worse, she has a family! Even if I were able to sneak her off the planet, my conscience would never be clear! Augh!" He fell against the wall. "Don't you think I've thought through every possible scenario? I'm a desperate man, Harris. I would do anything to be with her, but-" Jim sighed sadly. "I'm not some prince on the beach, mere miles from her homeland. We're talking light-years of separation for a relationship barely three days old. The best thing for her is to no longer be involved with me."

"So you're not going to see her again at all."

"No." Jim said firmly. "That will only make my leaving worse, and tempt her to do something reckless. I don't like this-" he sniffed and wiped his face with his sleeve "-at all, but it's the only way."

"I didn't think the ingenious Jim Hawkins had such a narrow-minded way of thinking." Harris probed, a bit perturbed.

"You know what, sir? Just- be quiet!" Jim's fists clenched, then he forced himself to relax, turning away from his superior. "Word of this would have gotten back to the Academy, and they'll want to extract me before I can do any more damage. Please leave, I have some packing to do." Morph cooed sadly, snuggling against Jim's cheek, and Jim patted him gratefully.

"Fine. Come, Max." The captain waved a hand at the whining dog. "Let's leave the boy to his sulking."

Ariel perked up when the villa's door opened once again, but when Captain Harris walked down the front steps to the beach alone, she sunk beneath the waves to hide her tears of frustration.

Wait a minute! Her reasonable side warned before she could swim away. Maybe it's not how it looks. He could be busy doing any number of things, so don't assume he's never coming out of that house. Besides, it can't hurt to see why he isn't coming down. Ariel conceded, resurfacing as the captain walked toward her and the prince.

"Is he sick?" She asked, brushing wet hair away from her face. "Did Daddy's healing not take full effect? Why isn't he with you?"

The captain didn't have to say anything; his sad, resigned eyes spoke volumes. Jim was never coming to visit her, and it was all her fault. The princess bit her lip and turned tail into the sea, sobbing the whole way home.

Jim watched from the window as Harris walked toward Eric and Ariel on the shoreline, and his heart sunk as the mermaid swam away. Heaven knew he wanted to run into the surf after her, but he couldn't. In the end, it would only hurt her more. Hurt both of them more.

Oh, and that's the catch, isn't it? He thought bitterly. You're afraid of getting hurt yourself. You and your psychology-grade abandonment issues.

"I'm hurting enough already." Jim replied sadly, not in the mood to fight with his conscience. "She'll be able to get over me easier this way. It would probably be better if she hated me."

His conscience fell silent; neither side wanted that. Jim kicked a waste basket in frustration, sending garbage flying and startling Morph.

"Sorry, boy, I didn't mean to scare you." He soothed, petting the creature then crouching to right the basket and pick up spilled trash.

He sniffed again and rubbed at his eyes with a sleeve. "I just- want to get off this bloody planet."

The next day Flounder found Ariel in her room where she had been since the peace meeting with the humans.

"A-Ariel?" He whispered. "Are you okay?"

The mermaid sighed and flipped over. "No, Flounder, I'm not okay. I'm beside myself with lovesickness and that blowfish of a biped doesn't seem to care!"

"I'm a-assuming you're referring to J-Jim."

"Of course I'm referring to Jim, who else would I be referring to?" Ariel pressed her pillow against her face, so Flounder barely heard her say, "He's all I think about."

She pushed the pillow aside and fished the pipe out from beneath her mattress, turning it in front of her eyes.

"Will there be no happily ever after for me, Flounder?" The princess asked quietly.

Before Flounder could reply, Aquata called from the doorway, "Someone to see you Ariel!"

"Who is it?" Andrina interjected.

"Ooo, is it a boy?" Adella squealed. Ariel held her breath. It was extremely unlikely, but maybe-

"Back off, Adella. It's just Urchin."

"Oh." The whole room sighed in unison, the sisters returning to what they were doing.

"Tell him I'll be out in a sec." Ariel sighed, tucking the pipe back under her mattress and haphazardly straightening her hair.

"You don't look so hot." The blond merman commented as Ariel entered the small conference room. He motioned her into a seat. "I came by to deliver your-uh- package. Is something wrong?"

"I've been and done the whole human shtick, Urchin," Ariel confessed.

"What?"

With a bit of prompting, she went on to tell him the whole story.

"So you had the whole thing in the bag, and then you gave it all up for some alien?" Urchin guffawed, sitting back in his chair. "I gotta tell ya, I'm sort of mad at you right now. I mean, do you plan to have all the cool adventures without me?"

Ariel looked down at her lap. "I-I'm sorry." Urchin bit his lip and started to say something, then she continued. "Anyway, you can keep the stuff. I'm not turning human again without my father's permission."

"So- what about your lover? You're just giving up?"

Ariel scowled at him. "He's not my-" then sighed, "No, I'm not giving up. I just don't know what to do."

The merman rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, he's in that chef's villa, right? To me, the obvious plan is to just wait for him there. He has to come out eventually.

"I'd stay hidden, though." Urchin added as an afterthought. "If he really doesn't want to see you, he probably won't come out if he knows you're there."

Ariel raised an eyebrow, and Flounder voiced what she was thinking. "I-isn't that like... stalking?"

"After making a deal with the sea witch to become a human behind your dad's back and nearly destroying our way of life, I think stalking is a step up on the morality scale."

Ariel frowned, but had to admit he was right. She would try his plan, only because she couldn't bear never seeing Jim again.

"Why don't you come stay at the castle?" Eric suggested to Jim one day over coffee and scones. The prince had visited Jim every day since he had woken up, their argument the day Jim had woken forgotten. "Sable has been sent to the winter palace until a suitable punishment can be thought up for her, so she won't be a problem. But between the two of us," Eric put down his cup and leaned forward in a conspiratorial manner (though only the two youths, Max, and Morph were in the house), "She's been a bit loopy ever since the Ursula affair. Mumbling to herself, not eating, being uncharacteristically quiet: I think she's shaken from the realization that she aided the near destruction of civilization as we know it. Added to your rejection of her, it was more than she could bear."

Jim grunted into his coffee mug. He was not happy about the duchess's degradation, but content that justice had been served.

"So?" Eric prompted.

"So what? Oh, um, no... I can't stay at the palace. It's too stuffy and- gold." Jim took another sip of his coffee, and his companion chuckled.

"I get it. You refuse to be with her, yet you cannot bear to be parted from her."

"Not this again, Eric."

"I'm just saying. She loves you just as much now as she did a week ago, and you her. Whether you stay away or are together, that doesn't change. So why torture yourself?"

"Well, what about you?" Jim asked, desperate to change the subject. "Is the search for a suitable princess back on?"

"No, actually," Eric blushed, and Jim raised his eyebrows inquiringly. The prince reached inside his shirt and drew out a gold chain. A modest silver ring from its end twinkled in the sunlight.

"Really?" Jim whistled. "So fast? Who's the lucky girl?"

"Ah," Eric laughed. "Jean-Jeanette."

"Jeanette? You proposed to-"

"She proposed to me, actually."

Jim guffawed, the gusto of his laughter almost spilling his coffee. "She proposed to- proposed to you? Ah ha ha!" Morph caught on to the mirth and laughed as well, rolling in the air with over-enthusiastic joviality.

Eric scowled at them. "Yes, well, I wasn't aware she had such feelings for me. She asked me to marry her in the middle of bandaging my arm. I said yes before I knew what was happening."

"But she hasn't saved your life, or brought peace to warring countries." Jim pointed out with mock skepticism.

Eric smiled sheepishly, slipping the ring on his finger. "She doesn't have to."

After Eric left, Jim wandered about the house, pondering on all that had happened. He thought about Sable's banishment and impending trial. He thought about Eric's impromptu and taboo engagement. He thought about the treaty between the mer-people and humans Eric told him Ariel aided in. Most of all, he thought about Ariel and Eric's insistence that separation would not make the burden any less.

"I'd have to disagree," Jim told Morph as he watched the sunset. "But I can't stay cooped up here until the Academy comes. I should enjoy what little this planet has to offer while I still can." Morph cooed encouragingly and nudged Jim's arm. The sailor smiled.

In the end, Jim could find nothing he wanted to do more than walk along the beach and star gaze. Yes, he sensed Ariel had been watching his borders, but he decided to take the risk. With a resigned sigh and a racing heart, Jim descended the stairs into the night.

When the door to the villa opened after dusk, Ariel's surprise nearly threw her off of the rock she was hiding behind. She regained her balance, her heart thumping painfully in her chest when Jim caught the pale moonlight. The mermaid watched as he walked down the beach, then slid into the water and followed him. Even from underwater, with his form distorted by the waves, he was handsome. Suddenly, he stopped and looked out to sea. The mermaid dashed behind a rock. As much as she wanted him to spot her, wanted to talk to him, she was embarrassed about stalking him for the past three days. So she waited with bated breath as he scanned the waves.

The more Jim walked, the more irritated and paranoid he became. She was out there, in the waves, he could feel it. If she wanted to see him as badly as Harris and the prince claimed, why didn't she show herself?

What am I thinking? He wondered, slowing to a halt. I can't see her. Doing so will only make everything worse...

Had his father thought this way, before he left his family? Jim gripped his pant pocket where the pipe used to be. Even if he had, Jim still would have wanted his father to spend every spare second with him. His abandonment would have still hurt, but at least he would have more happy memories to hold on to... Jim made up his mind.

"Ariel? Where are you? I know you're here!" He yelled into the waves. Nothing. He called again, running into the surf. "Ariel!"

Still nothing.

Jim kicked the wet sand in frustration. She had given up on him. Not that he blamed her, but how was he supposed to reach her? He gritted his teeth, his eyes glassy. Would he ever-

"Boo."

Jim jumped a full foot into the air before landing on his rump, crab-crawling away from the source of the sound.

"Wow," Ariel grinned, allowing herself to wash up on the beach. After brushing some wet hair from her face, she placed her chin in her hands. "I never knew you were so excitable."

"Voices out of the dark can scare anybody," Jim replied, irritated that he was so relieved. "Especially if the voice belongs to mythical creatures that throw rocks at your head."

"Oh, you're never going to let that one go, are you?"

"Not really, no." He shrugged. "Besides that, I'm still not used to you making noise."

"Noise? Quite the charmer aren't you?" Ariel held up a hand against his retort, getting right to the punch. Her voice, however, came out soft and timid. "Why did you wait so long to visit me?"

"I, uh," The spacer looked up at the stars and sighed, deciding to tell the raw truth. "I was afraid that being around you, when I knew I was leaving soon, would ultimately hurt you... me... us." He sniffed, embarrassed of his past notion. "I thought separation was the best way to ease the pain."

"That's kind of hypocritical, Jim."

"Yeah, I know. Have you always been so outspoken?"

"I was mute. So," Ariel bit her lip, changing the subject again, "Is this just a one-time thing? You visit me to make up for lost time and then lock yourself back up in your ivory tower?"

"You know that nothing in that house is even close to ivory." Jim chuckled. "But no. I've realized that I will regret not spending as much time with you as I can."

Ariel blushed, tapping her fingers together girlishly and looking up at him through her eyelashes. "Why?"

"Because-" Jim blushed, too. "You're going to make me say it, aren't you?"

"It's not that hard." She shrugged. The mermaid fixed her big, blue eyes on his, and he couldn't help noticing how they reflected the starlight. "I love you, Jim."

Jim grinned in spite of himself. "I love you, too."

From that night on the two teenagers were inseparable, having picnic lunches on the beach, going for swims, and watching the stars. However, Jim would not let her kiss him.

"I want to spend time with you, but we can't kid ourselves." He said maturely when she pouted at his rejection. "I'm going to be leaving, and that will be the end of any romantic relationship we have. I want to spend this limited time with you without all the emotional baggage that comes with tragic love."

"You're not very romantic, you know that?" Ariel growled. She drew random circles in the sand with her fingers for a while before saying in an offhanded manner, "But you still- like like me, right?"

Jim blushed, a bit irked by her juvenile yet entirely charming behavior. "What do you think?"

A couple days later, they attended Prince Eric's wedding.

Eric and Jeanette had a modest yet beautiful ceremony, performed on the beach so that mer-people could attend. Jeanette looked gorgeous in a wedding dress she had designed, and the prince wore a matching suit. Eric beamed when she said "I do."

Festivities went on well into the night, and Ariel reveled in the music and dancing, wishing she could take part herself. She was content, however, to sit next to Jim, who could not be persuaded to dance at all.

"They look really happy together, don't they?" She mused, resting her head on Jim's shoulder.

Jim grinned in his lopsided way. "Yeah, they do."

"As happy as us?" Ariel asked, snuggling closer.

Jim's smile shrunk a couple of molars. Harris had told him that morning that an Academy ship was only two days away. He would be leaving her in two days.

"Probably."

Oh snap. We're finally getting to the end of this sucker. I'll try to make the end worthy.

OK, as far as the book thing, if you want a hard copy of the book note me soon. :) And just to be clear, this is all on a donation-basis. I will be making no profit off of the books whatsoever, as all the leftovers will be given away to charities.

I just don't have the moneys to buy books for everyone who wants one.

Thank you for your faithful reading and encouragement!