"Morning Ruby" this deep voice interrupted my thoughts as I heard someone enter into the diner. I put down my book to see Tristan Rey walking in and getting a cup of coffee at the bar as he sat on a bar stool. Ruby smiled at him and handed him, his cup. He was a man that somehow managed to look old but young at the same time. He had a young face, and dark hair with traces of silver in it but you could tell from his voice that he had years of life experiences under his belt. Finn came in behind him and slid into the booth I was sitting in.

"Morning Buddy" he smiled at me. I bumped him with my shoulder as a hello.
"What ya reading?" he asked.

"A book" I signed. He rolled his eyes at me.

"So I was thinking we could play Marco Polo today with the kids if that's alright? I'm still kind of sore from trying to teach them how to swim butterfly yesterday, I thought my shoulders were going to pop out of their sockets. And yes I know you will be able to beat all of us at Marco Polo" he said as he absentmindedly looked at the menu, even though he already knew what was on it. I nodded excitedly at his statement, because it was true I was a really good Marco Polo player.

"Thanks again for the coffee Ruby and do you mind if I leave some flyers here?" I heard Tristan ask as he started to walk out holding a large amount of papers in his hand.
"You can do whatever you want, you're our biggest supplier of the best fish here and you have the best aquarium I've ever seen. Well the only one I've seen actually" Ruby answered. I saw her look down at the flyer Tristan placed on the counter.
"You're seriously asking for volunteers to help you catch lobsters this season? Don't you have like six daughters?" she laughed.
"Are you eavesdropping on them" Finn whispered to me once he realized I had zoned out on our conversation. I put a finger to my lips telling him to be quiet.
"Believe me I've asked but they can barely watch over the fish at the aquarium while I'm gone, not to mention they show the least amount of interest in the family business, and besides I'm sure someone would like the money and the adventure of it" he said before walking out. I noticed Finn looking at me.
"You're not seriously thinking about doing it are you?" he asked.
"It could be fun" I signed.

"Ariel can you pass the comb already?" my sister, Aquata, asked me sounding very annoyed. I just ignored her as I tried to comb out all the tangles. I was going to go up again to the surface today, I was so excited. I had been lucky when Flounder and I got back home the other day. We had returned before Sebastian so we had time to come up with a clever and a elaborate lie that my dad bought….at least I think he did. I'm not sure I wasn't really doing a good job of lying because I had a huge smile on face and then on the other hand so did my dad, except his was kind of weird it was like he knew I was lying but he was happy about it. Actually speaking of Sebastian, where was he?
"Just borrow mine Aqua she's been using that comb all morning" Attina offered.
"Well she does know there are six of us and only two combs" Andrina barged in. I rolled my eyes and threw the comb at her.
"So where are you going today Ariel?" Alana asked as she blocked my way out.
"To just hang out with Flounder today. As usual" I answered trying to go around her only to be blocked again.
"Uh huh, sure" she nodded her head at me like she thought I was stupid.
"Who is he?" Adella asked catching onto what Alana was talking about. Wait hang on there was no he, there was only going to see the surface. Yes the man I had met yesterday was attractive but so…..

"There is no he" I answered

"Oh come on Ariel don't be a spoil sport. What's the point of having six sisters if you can't come to talk to us about your men issues" Aquata said to me. I bit my lip and crossed my arms.
"Awww you're angry about us teasing you that's so adorable" Alana pinched my cheek and all my other sister's made these annoying aww noises at me.
"Girls, girls lets stop" Attina barged in.
"Thank you" I sighed, finally one of my sisters was actually acting sane for once.
"She can tell us all about him when she's ready too" Attina continued. They all laughed at me as I quickly swam out of our room and into the open ocean. I found Flounder at the spot we had met yesterday.

"Ready to go up again?" I asked perking up at the thought of it. He let out a sigh.
"I guess so"
"Oh come on you can't still be scared?"
"It's just Sebastian's been gone a long time"
"Don't worry he'll be fine, he's probably still struggling on his back" I laughed.
"How many times are we going to do this Ariel?" he asked. Yes just two more strokes and I'd get to feel the wind again and see the beauty of the outside world.
"As many as we can" I smiled, breaking the surface of the water and breathing in fresh air.

I walked into Regina's office at around 6 o'clock in the morning. I needed to go and meet Finn at the docks at 7 so Tristan wouldn't leave without me, but I had to ask Regina if she had an extra notebook on her since my old one was full.

I knew she would be up already because she usually liked to take a moment to herself and drink coffee and revel in the silence. I knocked on her office door. She spun in her chair, turning towards me and smiled.

"You're up early" she pointed out the obvious.
"I need a new notebook" I signed to her.
"Already? I thought you bought yourself one 3 days ago?" she realized as she pulled one out of a drawer of her desk.
"I used it up" I shrugged.
"Someone's been talking a lot" she joked. I nodded and signed a thank you to her as I grabbed for the notebook but she didn't let go.
"Where are you going?" she asked being the slightly overprotective mother she was. I knew it was stupid but I told her the truth it was better do that then face her fiery wrath if she figured out that I lied to her. I handed her the flyer Tristan had left at Granny's and she read it with a disgusted look on her face.
"Finn's going with me" I told her to see if that would make things better.
"Andi I really think this is something you should not be participating in" she sighed.
"Why?"
"For starters you can't talk so what's going to happen if you fall overboard?" she asked.

"But I'll have Finn" I tried to explain. She shook her head.
"Andi you remember how I told you, your parents died right?" she asked. I nodded. According to her they had died in a boating accident. They had been out on their family ship and then this horrendous storm hit them and tossed them off and they were never seen again. I had no memory of it. For some reason all I could ever remember was Regina being my mom and not some other woman.

"Don't you think it'd make it seem like they died for nothing if you died they same way they did?" she asked. I nodded again. She handed me back the flyer.
"Why don't you sleep in for a bit, I'll wake you up later" she smiled at me. I nodded at her again.
"Sweetie?" she asked getting my attention. I stopped in the threshold of the door.
"I love you" she smiled. I rolled my eyes as I knew how she wanted me to answer back.
"I love you more"
"I love you most"

"Hello down there, are you exercising again?" this male voice said to me. I looked up and saw the face of the handsome hooked man again. He had caught me leaning against his ship, apparently, watching the people walk into town. Flounder ducked under the water out of fear of getting caught in a net of his again.
"Um yes" I answered smiling up at him.
"You're swimming in this weather?" he asked, considering how the sky had become overcast today.
"You know for a pirate you ask a lot of polite questions"
"I at least have manners around ladies. Although if you would like me to show off for you I will gladly challenge someone to a duel" he said.
"I'm alright without seeing any blood today"
"As you wish then" he smiled. I smiled back at him and felt my heart flutter a bit. He did have a nice smile that made his eyes just dazzle.
"Do you live here? I've seen almost every person in this village this past week more than five times and yet I have only seen you twice. Why might that be?"

"Not exactly from here" I answered honestly.
"So you travel then?"
"Somewhat"
"Would you like to see the world?"
"Would I?" I laughed.

"Come on board with me then" he offered, although I couldn't tell if he was joking or not.
"You're joking" he shook his head. There was a clash of thunder.
"Although I'd have to show you it tomorrow. Not the best sort of weather to sail in" he pointed out.
"I would love too, but I have a slight problem though"
"And what's that?"
"Well I don't even know your name, nor do you know mine and I'm-" and suddenly I was pulled under water.

I opened up my window and climbed out of it one leg at a time making sure I caught my balance before I reached for the tree next to my window. I slid onto the branch and then slowly crept down till I finally reached the ground. Regina made a nice try at trying to stop me with the whole dead parents being disappointed in me story but that didn't work at all.
"Where are you going?" Henry asked me right as I was about to walk off. I hadn't expected him to be behind me so he made me jump a bit at his voice.

"Where am I going? What are you doing out here with me?" I had to write since he didn't know sign language that well still.
"I saw you climbing out your window so I wanted to see why" he smiled.

"I'm just heading out to the docks ok"

"Are you going to see your dad?" he asked.

"My who?"

"Your dad King Triton, Tristan" he tried to compare them.
"My dad is dead Henry, alright?"

"That's not what the book says" I face palmed myself out of frustration.
"You think I'm crazy too then Andi?" he asked.

Oh great now little bro just make me feel guilty I thought. I shook my head at him and he smiled at me making me feel slightly less guilty.

"Can I come with you then?" he asked as I started to walk towards the docks.

"Don't you have school?"
"You can write me a free pass can't you? I mean you're a teacher to. Please Andi? Pretty please, we never do anything together anymore" he asked.
"You're doing really good at playing the guilt card today you know that right?"
"It's what I do best" he joked. I sighed as I threw my arm around his shoulder and we walked to the docks together.

I had been caught by surprise from the sudden change that had occurred. One minute I was having a lovely chat with a quite attractive man and the next I was back underwater finding myself face to face with my father and Sebastian right next to him smiling at me. Sebastian was shouting at my father about how I had disobeyed him and that I had flipped him onto his back and he was lucky to get out of it alive and live to tell the tale.
"What were you doing up there?" my father asked me urgently as he harshly grabbed onto my shoulders.
"Nothing I was just watching" I stuttered. Oh crab how did I not know this was coming I should have noticed my father was right on his way when the pirate had pointed out the sudden change in weather.
"I saw you talking to a human"
"That didn't mean anything we were just talking. He didn't even know what I was he thought I was a human like him"
"That's not a good thing"
"I'm sorry" I apologized trying not to cry at the fact that my father was yelling at me. I knew this was coming so I shouldn't be acting like a child crying for getting caught breaking the rules on purpose.

"Ariel, your mother died because of some humans foolishness, that's why I never wanted you up there in the first place. Do you want to die?" he asked. I shook my head.
"But father, some humans are different from others. This one I was talking to would never hurt me. He was really kind-"

"That doesn't matter Ariel he's a human, they're all the same no matter what" My father interrupted me.

"So are we the same then father?" I asked.
"That's a ridiculous question"
"No it's not because according to you all humans act the same because they're human. So doe that mean then that you and I are exactly the same because we are merpeople"
"This is ridiculous"
"You're ridiculous, if mother was still alive, she wouldn't care, I'm sure all she'd want is for me to be happy"
"You didn't even know her and besides what you don't understand is that all I care about is your safety"
"SO WHAT? I'm old enough to take care of myself now and you know what? I'd much rather be a human now than a mermaid" I stated swimming away from him and tried to get as far away as I could.

"Ariel come back" my father shouted at me.

"So this is the lot I get stuck with then? A mute girl, a tiny boy, and a boy with huge fish lips" Tristan sighed as he looked at Finn, Henry and I. Apparently we were the only three to show up and answer to his flyer.

"Is he talking about me?" Finn asked the both of us. Henry and I laughed at him.
"Well better than nothing. Now you keep an eye on him" he pointed to Henry and then Finn, "You keep an on her" he pointed to Finn then me "and you keep an eye on him" he pointed back to me and then Henry.
"Roger sir" Henry saluted him. After that we went to work on his tiny ship. It was actually pretty fun. Sometimes the water would splash over the side getting us wet and making us slip on the deck of the ship and making us laugh. Although it was very cold, which was the down side but we somehow managed to survive. Several hours later we finished up for the day.

"So do you agree with me then?" Henry asked as we leaned on the side of the ship..
"What?" I wrote for him on my notebook which I had tried with all of my might to keep dry.

"That he's your dad?" he whispered looking at Tristan, who was steering the ship. I could kind of see it, we both had a sense for adventure, never really gave up, always smiled, and we had the same color of eyes, but I wasn't so sure yet. I gave Henry a shrug as my answer.
"You'll see soon enough" he promised as we pulled into the dock.

I managed to find an empty secluded beach after swimming for awhile. I must have gone pretty far because I had no clue where I actually was. Oh well though at least it was quiet and calming out here and I needed anything to help me get over that screaming match that just happened. I let out a sigh as I pulled my tail fin close to me and rested my chin on where a pair of human knees should have been.
"Oh my word" I heard this female voice gasp. Oh no someone had seen me. I quickly jumped in the water and started to swim away.
"Don't be frightened I'm not going to hurt you" the voice promised. I looked towards it and saw this aging woman with dark brown hair. She had a certain air about her that didn't seem right.
"I've never seen a mermaid before" she said to herself.
"Well now you have" I told her sarcastically.
"It must be so amazing" she said. I scoffed at her comment.
"Well I'm sure for you it's just as normal as walking is for me" she explained.
"I'd much rather walk" I told her. She smiled at me and raised her eyebrows.
"Oh where are my manners I'm sorry my names Korra, and yours?" she asked holding her hand out.
"Ariel?" I answered as I shook her hand cautiously.

"Now Ariel, what's got you so sad?" she asked.
"It's nothing it's just my father and how stupid he is" I mumbled.
"Oh don't mumble dear I hate mumbling" she nagged.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" she offered trying to cover up her nagging remark.

"If you could help give me a pair of legs to get as far away from here as possible that'd be great" I joked.
"Well that could be arranged" she said.
"Excuse me?"
"You want legs I can give you those" she smiled. I felt a smile form on my face as for some reason that one man's voice echoed in my head.

"Would you like to see the world?" I was actually going to see it, and if I got to mee up with him that'd be a bonus.

"You'd give me a pair of legs?" I asked and She nodded.
"We don't even know each other though"
"Well you can say I'm very kind but also very underappreciated, like you should have seen all that I did for my daughter she didn't even say thank you" she sighed.
"If you give me a pair of legs I'll say thank you with ever breath a I breath" I promised
"No you won't" she shook her head.

"I'm sorry?"
"Well you see magic works in strange ways to get something you have to lose something"
"What would I lose?"
"Your voice" she stated. I thought about that for a moment. Travel the world and not talk? Or go back to life under the sea?

"Oh and one more thing this won't be permanent the longest I can give you is three years at the most. Originally I was going to give you three days but you can't see all that you want to see of this world in three days now can you?" she smiled.
"So eventually I'll have to be a mermaid again?" I asked. I mean that didn't sound to bad if I did miss my family at least I knew I could eventually go back to them.
"Yes, but if you want to make it permanent all you have to do is find true love and have your kiss with your man before your three years are up" she added.
"So what do you say are you ready to walk Ariel?" she asked. There was something still so strange about her, but honestly maybe she was just a creepy sort of person and besides why would that matter after I had my legs!

"We have a deal" I nodded. I saw a pair of human clothes suddenly appear on top of my skin. It was 3 pieces sort of. The top was a long sleeved white shirt with a corset above it and the bottom was this plain bottom knee length black skirt.

"Trust me you'll thank me later afterwards for not having to walk around naked later and searching for clothes" she said. Suddenly I was covered in a cloud of purple smoke and I felt my fin split down the middle into two. When the smoke dissipated I noticed that Korra was gone, but more importantly what I noticed was that when I looked down I saw that I had my own pair of human legs! I put my weight on a rock as I tried to heft myself up but ended up just falling down on what humans called their butt. I laughed to myself and heard no sound. Oh well what did that matter I had legs!

Regina walked into the living room to find both her children reading books.
"Hello you two have a nice day?" she asked. They both looked up and then looked at each other, smiled, and then nodded.
"Well don't let me bother you, keep on reading" she assured them as she walked to the side table in the living room and noticed Andi's old notebook sitting on it. Regina felt very curious as to how Andi had filled up all of those pages so quickly. She flipped it open to random page to find a drawing of a ship, a ship that she recognized from Henry's book. She flipped to another page and saw a hook. She flipped it again and saw Captain Killian Jone's himself staring right up at her. Regina looked up at her daughter. It seemed like she had no clue who she was still, but that didn't mean her dreams were trying to tell her something.

Yay hope you liked the chapter and sorry for the lack of Killian in it I assure you there will be more in the next chapter and that's it for now. I hope you enjoyed this and please review if you did :D