AN: Her is a brief chapter to prove that I am indeed Dirty Chiban and that I have not completely fallen off the planet. Summer is here so updates should be more frequent. Again, I ask that my work not be plagiarized, it is offensive. Thank you for being patient, even for this small portion. Please, I would like inspiration, so feel free to share your thoughts and ideas. They are very much appreciated. Enjoy!!!!

Interludes

Move! You have to move faster! You have to save Jim!

The same three thoughts echoed through her mind like a mantra, forcing Ariel to strain her body by pumping her tail faster and harder. Her transparent fins beat furiously, her muscles aching with the force of her intention, causing a flurry of bubbles to leave a trail in her wake. Long discarded and forgotten was the cumbersome human ball gown, as she descended into the natural depths of her home. The land and its now, not so mysterious wonders meant nothing to her without Jim.

For the millionth time, a crystal clear image of Jim bound in chains rose to her mind's eye. She could clearly see him, voluntarily walking closer to his doom and farther away from her, all in order to protect her from his world's so called justice. The black hole-like ache spurned her onward without rest or the slightest pause.

It was very late when she hurtled through the city gates. The gate guards seldom shook from their napping as she blew past them, the bubbles only tickling their noses. Up and up she swam, through the final home stretch, into the open vine covered window and into the bedroom she and her sisters shared. Upon her hasty and impromptu entrance, she unintentionally held all her sisters' attentions.

"Ariel!"

"What's going on?"

"Where have you been?"

"Are you okay!"

The youngest mermaid was almost relieved she was panting, bent over. She didn't know which question to answer first. Instead, she decided to disregard all of them and started by shaking her head and proceeding in the calmest tone possible.

"I need you all to listen to me. I really need all of your help." At the look of all their willing and eager faces, she continued.

"Jim's in danger." The expected over-dramatic collective gasp was taken from the group and furious whispers were exchanged.

"What happened?"

"What can we do?"

Ariel's blue eyes hardened into determined sapphires. It was time to propose her plan.

"Jim was taken away. I have to go after him and save him." Attina swam forward, shaking her head, her brows creased.

"Ariel, no. You can't! It's too dangerous! Why don't you just tell Daddy. I'm sure he'll be able to handle this." Ariel's eyes widened at the thought of her father finding out about Jim's true identity.

"No! I can't tell Daddy! And you can't either! He wouldn't understand at all! Talk about an understatement. At her outburst, all of her sisters' facial expressions were dampened either by fear or confusion. There was a long silence and Ariel knew what decisions were already in their hearts. Ariel sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat.

"I'm sorry I brought you all in to this, but I'm going to save Jim with or without your help." And with that she swam out of the room through the seaweed door and into the hallway, the cries of her sisters begging her to come back echoing after her. In fact she swam a few feet before hearing,

"So Hawkins is in trouble huh?" Ariel stopped and turned at the sound of Finn's voice. He was leaning against the stone wall with his arms crossed and a stern look that dared her to dash away. Out of everyone she knew, with the exception of Jim, Finn was the only person in the entire kingdom that could catch her.

"Sparky, what kind of trouble is he in exactly?"

The are cold, Jim Hawkins thought absentmindedly. Two hours he had spent in this ship's prison cell and all of his hope of ever seeing Ariel, his mother, or having a future had slowly melted away, under their grip.

Upon his arrest, he had been informed that soon they would make port and that he would be on the first deportment ship on its way to Trog. Ample sedentary time revealed that he would never be able to see his mother again. He would never be able to see her smiling face, embrace her and tell her of the girl he had sold his freedom for. He would never be able to share his story. His mother would simply be informed of his sentencing through a letter. He couldn't stop the images of her distress and horror as they manifested on her face. The urge to beat his fists against well anything seemed promising right now.

A creak in the wooden floorboards alerted him to the fact that he had a visitor. Jim didn't move. Any perceived noncompliance would earn him a tightening on his chains.

"Jim?"

Delbert's hesitant call caused the subconscious release of some of the mounting tension that had suddenly accumulated. Still, he didn't speak, his chestnut bangs shielding his face from view. Quickly glancing around for any witnesses, Delbert rushed to the bars of the cage encasing his dear friend.

"Jim! Jim, are you alright? How have you been holding up?" The solar surfer just looked sullenly to the left. Delbert pressed onward.

"Jim, how could you do that? How could you just take all the blame like that." It was true. Upon questioning, Jim swore vehemently that Delbert had absolutely no knowledge of Ariel, his relationship with her, or his use of the ring. With his believable confession, Delbert was not charged, but would be on six months of probation.

Jim gave his longtime friend a knowing look and shrugged, seemingly nonchalant for the circumstances.

"Delbert, you and I both know you can't make it in jail. Besides, I won't let you go to Trog. Doc, what about the Captain, your kids?"

"What about your mother?" The stab of guilt and remorse struck him again with renewed vigor as the vision of his devastated isolated mother flashed before him. And then a cruel voice in the back of his mind whispered, You were going to leave your widowed mother alone so that you could go off and have your nice happily ever after with Ariel.

Jim wanted to cringe. But wait, no, that's not what I really wanted either. I just ...I wanted to stay with Ariel but...I would've made sure she was okay. I would've gone to visit. The little voice perked up again. Get her blessing maybe? Convince her that life in Atlantica could be so much better than what she had now? Yeah, and that's never going to happen now.

Meeting Delbert's gaze, Jim said softly, "Take care of her Doc, and...when the time's right, tell her what happened, that...that she...was worth it...and that...I'm sorry...

The halls were quiet, silent even. The only sound was the whisper of fins beating furiously.

"Finn! Wait! Where are we going? Come on! Say something!" The red headed princess whispered clearly frustrated. Immediately after sharing the entire story of her and Jim, the elder merman had become stone faced before taking off down the hall in a dead sprint. Luckily, the spirited little mermaid was able to keep up with him.

At a loss for what to say, Ariel had been content to bite her lip and follow after her future brother in law. That is, until, they reached the throne room and Finn was wearing an expression like he was going off to his death sentence. He turned and Ariel couldn't tell what he was feeling. She thought she saw anger, weariness, sadness, and was that...fear?

"You want me to speak Ariel!" The smaller mermaid flinched at his tone. He only called her by her true first name when he was really angry with her.

"I'm going to sound just like your father when I say how incredibly stupid you are for getting mixed up in the human world like this, and I'm guessing you already know now how dangerous it can be up there. And now, I have to go risk my fins to go rescue Hawkins."

Meanwhile, keeping her head down, the last sentence processed, blue eyes that rivaled her watery home, snapped open.

"Wait..what?" Her heart beat faster with renewed vigor. There was a whisper of hope in the tide.

"Ariel." Finn let out a long sigh.

"Ariel. Like it or not, merman or not, Jim Hawkins is your mate. You two were meant to be together." Finn shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"Somehow..." Finn's far off gaze indicated he was mentally a million miles away.

"So what, we're going to go rescue Jim, right?" Ariel asked as they swam forward toward the throne and closer still to the trident resting ominously in its holder.

"We are not going to save Jim. I am." He put a quick finger to her parted lips to silence the inevitable protest. He then leveled her gaze, a serious unspoken request for her to remain silent.

"While I'm gone, I need you to take care of everyone." He exhaled a long breath and Ariel almost wanted to shy away from the intensity of his eyes.

"I need you to look after Attina for me. I need you to take care of her for me, in case...I can't...anymore."

Ariel shook her head wildly. No! No, Finn can't and won't die. And what about...Jim...Finn's sudden uncharacteristic bear hug only amplified the severity of his upcoming mission. And then, before she could return it, he had left her amrs and had swam back quickly toward the trident. Ariel's eyes widened in wonder and awe as Finn grasped the trident firmly, its magical properties flaring golden in recognition to its upcoming owner.

The last she saw of her brother in law was a brief nod and a glorious blinding flashing light leaving her feeling even more alone when she saw that he had vanished.

"Good luck Finn. Please...bring Jim home."

See, I'm actually not dead! Sry this chapter is short but I wanted to get something out to you. Next chapter is called rescue, so if you have any ideas please let me know. Please review. I'm looking for 5 to see if ppl are still reading this. Later days....Dirty Chiban