When Killian returned to his cabin later that evening, he was exhausted. It had taken a good deal of convincing and threatening to keep his crew from breaking down his door to get to Ariel, and though he had quelled their interest for now, he had no doubt that it would cause further turmoil in the future. He opened the door with his hook, his good hand balancing a tray of food for Ariel. She startled at his entrance, her eyes wide with surprise and a hint of relief.

"Food. Eat," he mumbled, handing her the tray, which held her dinner and a glass of water. She muttered a small "thank you" before eating everything on the plate quickly. A pang of guilt rushed over him – she was hungry, and he hadn't thought to bring her food earlier in the day. In his exhaustion, he walked over to his bed and collapsed face-down with a long groan. The lack of sleep mixed with the trying day had taken a lot out of him.

"Are you alright?" Ariel asked in a small voice. He chuckled, finding it ironic that the captive was worried about the captor.

"Your little tail was hard to save today, love. Don't make a habit of being a burden to me," Killian said, his words muffled by the blankets on his bed. He heard the movement of water and lifted his head to see her turned around to face him.

"Why do you call me love? You don't love me," she puzzled, tossing her hair over her shoulder. The action left her chest uncovered, and it was a sight Killian couldn't handle at the moment.

"For god's sake, girl, put a shirt on," he growled, pulling his off from the collar behind his neck and tossing it at her. She caught it, and though she looked confused, she slipped it over her head, tying it around her waist so it wasn't dragging in the water.

"Why are you so mean to me?" she asked quietly, looking down at the water she sat in. "I didn't do anything to you. You were the one who caught me."

"I'm a pirate, Ariel. We aren't known for our niceties. I didn't know mermaids had such sensitive feelings," he said, rolling onto his back and flopping his bare arm over his eyes.

"I'm a princess. I was raised on niceties," she confided softly, peeking up at him through the thick fringe of bangs that fell across her eyes. "They aren't difficult, you should really try to be a little kinder."

"Maybe I'd be kinder if you would be quieter," he snapped back, louder than he had intended. Another swishing noise of water, and he knew she had turned away from him. Running her fingers through her long hair, she began to hum softly, an act that both infuriated and relaxed him.

"I told you no singing," he tried to scold, but his voice came out quiet and calm.

"And I'm not singing, Killian." She continued to hum, and before he could even yank his boots off his tired feet, Killian drifted off to sleep right where he lay.

That night, the dream came again. It started exactly as it always did, with him battling to stay afloat on a stormy sea. When Ariel's voice reached his ears, he swam directly to her, but this time, he called out her name for help. She looked over to him, and the face that in his dreams always wore a far-off smile and hazy eyes was contorted with worry and fear. She immediately dove into the water and swam to him, pulling him to the rock with her, and helping him up to safety. He looked at her, in disbelief at the turn the dream had taken, but she just laughed at his expression. "This is what you needed all along, Killian. You just had to ask for help. I'll always be there to help you, my love," the dream-Ariel cooed. He leaned in to kiss her, but just as their lips were about to meet –

"Killian, help!" Ariel cried out from across the room. He sat straight up in bed to find two of his men struggling to lift the slippery girl from her little sanctuary. One was fighting with her arms, which kept slapping and snaking away from him, and the other was trying to grab her tail, and then dodge it when she lashed it out toward him.

"What is the meaning of this?" he shouted, his authoritative voice returning though he had just awoken. Both men stopped trying to grab Ariel, but turned their vicious eyes on him.

"Why should you get her all to yourself, Hook?" one of them spat venomously.

"Because I am the captain, and what happens on my ship is up to me. My ship, my rules," he growled, moving over to place himself between the men and the terrified mermaid. "If you have a problem with that, maybe it's high time you took a little swim."

The two crewmen exchanged a glance before lunging toward Killian. He grabbed his sword from his bedside table, and swung it, catching one of the men in the hip. He writhed away in pain, but adrenaline brought the man back for further attack. Both of the crewmen were armed, and the clanging of swords against swords and against hook was too much for Ariel to bear. Before the fighting could escalate any farther, Ariel opened her mouth and began singing as loud as she could. She sang no words, but an intricate melody beautiful enough to stop all three men in their tracks. They all turned to look at her. The two crewmen looked completely enchanted, but Killian looked pained, as though he were trying to fight off her spell.

Still singing every word, Ariel instructed, "If you're name is not Killian Jones, it's time for you to soak your bones. Walk off the side of this grand old ship, meet the ocean for your final trip. Let the waves sing you to sleep, embrace the world of the ocean deep."

The two men walked out of the room, still entranced by her voice. The spell didn't break until they both hit the surface of the ocean. Unlike the night before, the waves were strong and high, and the sea seemed to wake up to swallow the two ruffians. Once she heard the two splashes and their ensuing cries, Ariel stopped singing and looked up at Killian.

"I'm sorry I sang, I just didn't know what else to do," she whispered quietly, tears forming in her eyes as she realized what she had just done. As she started to cry, Killian dropped to his knees beside her boat and pulled her into his arms.

"Shhhh, love. You did what had to be done. Be at peace," he murmured against her hair, stroking her shaking arm as she cried.

"I just killed those men," she sobbed against him.

"If you hadn't, they would have killed both me and you. You only did what you had to do. Davy Jones wanted two lives tonight, and he was going to get them, no matter which two lives they were," he reassured, holding her carefully with his left arm, making sure that his hook didn't touch her skin. She pulled back from him just enough to look in his eyes, blue fighting against blue in an intense gaze.

"I'm terrified," she whispered quietly. "I don't know anything about this world. I didn't even know I could do what I just did. And I don't know how much longer I can handle sitting in this awful little boat."

He sighed, pulling back from her and running a hand through his hair. His eyes darted over to the bookshelf in the corner, overcrowded with maps and knickknacks. A bottle of purple liquid sat on the top shelf, glimmering with promise and danger.

"I can't let you go. I don't know why, and I don't know how, but there is something tying me to you, and I can't let you swim away and never figure out that piece of the puzzle," he admitted, looking more vulnerable than he had even when she had seen him gazing out to sea. "But there is something I can do."

"What is that?" she asked tentatively, brushing the last of her tears from her eyelashes.

"You said that you had wanted to look at the ship last night when I caught you. Why is that?" His eyes didn't leave the vial.

She bit her lip and considered her words very carefully before answering. She couldn't very well blurt out that she was fascinated by him and she wanted more than anything to meet him.

"I have always been fascinated by the human world and everything in it – land, ships, people. I just wanted to get close enough to explore.

"Well, love, you may get your chance," Killian sighed, running a hand through his still sleep-mussed hair. He walked over to the shelf and retrieved the container, swirling around its contents before turning back to her. "The woman who gave this to me told me that I would know when to use it. She told me that this potion would change the nature of things, so I had to be very careful, but when the moment was right, I would know."

"What are you saying?" Ariel asked, fear starting to creep through her veins as he approached her, uncorking the bottle. "Killian, what are you doing?"

Before he could answer or she could protest, he thrust his hook under the water and looped it around the narrowest part of her fin, pulling her tail up out of the water. He poured the purple liquid over her shining green scales. As the last drop from the bottle escaped and fell onto her, she started screaming in pain. Before his eyes, Ariel was lifted completely from the water as her fin began to transform into legs.

It didn't take long before the change was finished, and Ariel was dropped back into the boat with a loud splash. The magic had worked, just as he had hoped it would. Her screaming had stopped, and instead, she was looking at her new appendages in equal parts wonder and worry.

"Congratulations, my girl. You're a human, now," Killian said with a smile.

-x-

Feedback?