Back To The Castle

Ch. 3

Melody was sitting on the top of the rock, looking closely at the strange yet pretty shell she had just found. Peter was floating behind her, looking at the shell too.

"Cool huh?" Melody said, turning to Peter.

"Yeah," he admitted. Then he squinted at the thing. "Hey, I think there's something written there." he pointed at it.

Melody turned back to the locket and looked closely. Sure enough, there under the dirt was what looked like a bright yellow shape.

"Hey I think you're right."

"Who cares!" Sebastian exclaimed. "Melody please, if your mother ever found out you've been swimming out here…"

"I know, I know." Melody put the necklace in her bag and swung it on her shoulder. "She'd flip."

After she stood up, she dove into the water. This time she managed to not splash anyone. Sebastian had a feeling she did that on purpose just to bug him. As she came back up, she started to float on her back. Scuttle was walking on the rocks.

"I had a thought here. Now where'd it go?" he picked up a rock and looked under it.

"Hey Sebastian, what dose my mom has against the ocean anyway?" Melody turned on her front and stared into the sun. "I mean, how can there be anything wrong with something so…so…" she turned to face them. "…wonderful..."

Sebastian opened his mouth then closed it. The thought for a moment, trying to find and answer. But all he could do was shrug. Melody giggled. Then she went up to them both and spoke quietly.

"You know what? Sometime I even pretend, I have…fins." she giggled nervously.

"Like a mermaid?" Peter said, grinning slightly.

Melody smiled slightly. "Well, yeah." she said simply.

She turned and swam a little away. Sebastians face went totally blank and he fell on his side. Peter looked at him, slightly confused. He couldn't see why there was a problem with her pretending to be a mermaid. Peter turned to her, and was surprised to see her laying on a rock, a sad look on her face.

"I wish I could tell my mom how I feel." Melody sighed sadly. "But…she'd never understand. I can talk to crabs but…not to her."

Peter looked down at her sadly. He was used to hearing Melody complain about how her mom never understands her. He always agreed with her, normally because he didn't trust adults anyway. But this seemed to be really getting to her. He wasn't absolutely sure what to do, he wasn't exactly good at this stuff. Sensitivity wasn't his best habit or anything. Peter floated over, and sat next to her. He rubbed his neck nervously before speaking.

"Well…have you ever tried to tell her?"

Melody looked up at him. "Well, not really." she admitted.

"Wait a minute." said Scuttle suddenly. "It's just hit me. How about, you tell Ariel how you really feel."

Sebastian smacked his face. "Oh yes." he said sarcastically. "Just waltz right in and tell her you've been out here, SWIMMING IN THE OCEAN! We could all just have a big party."

There was a few seconds of silence, in which Peter and Melody stared at Sebastian. Then Melody gasped.

"The party!"

"Say, that reminds me of somthin." said Scuttle, rubbing his chin.

Melody hurried to get her bag as Sebastian got in the water. She jumped in after her. As they began swimming towards the castle, Peter flew above them. It seemed to take for ever before they got to the secret way through the wall. After Melody moved the small pipe, her, Sebastian, and Peter swam through into the other side. After a moment, they came up out of the water. They sat there for a moment, then they heard a dog barking.

"Crap." said Melody in a hushed voice.

Ariel and Max were coming outside just a few feet away from where they were. They all ducked into the water for a second as she passed. When she was gone, they popped up. Then Melody jumped up and started walking quietly and leaned up against the wall of the palace. She was just about the jump up on the window when suddenly she felt a set of arms rap around her waist. She turned her head and saw it was Peter.

"What are you-" But Peter put a finger to her lips.

"Keep your voice down." he whispered.

They sat there for a moment. Melody was about to ask what the problem was when all of a sudden two palace guards started coming out in front of the castle. The stood frozen for a second, keeping deadly quiet. Melody huddled up to Peter a little more. She was so close she could hear his heart beat. Slow at first, but when she had gotten closer to him it seemed to have gotten faster. Then Peter started to drag Melody by the hand around the other side of the wall. When they stopped, he looked around before looking back at her.

"Maybe I should carry you to your room." he pointed up. "It's just up there anyway."

Melody shrugged. "Sure. Be a lot easier."

Peter turned around and she got on his back and rapped her arms around his shoulders. Then in a second he shot up into the air straight to Melodys room. Then in no time, they were on the balcony of her room. When they landed, Melody stepped down and walked into her room.

Ariel was outside with Max, walking along what beach was left on the inside of the wall. She laughed slightly as Max began to run around and play in the water. Then she looked at the sky. A few seagulls were flying around the clouds as the sound of the wave hitting the wall echoed. Then she sighed.

"I miss you daddy." she said quietly. "I wish you could be here with us."

She looked down at the ground for a second. She stared at the water that was clashing up on the shore. Ariel smiled at it for a moment. She looked around to see if she was alone. When she saw she was alone, she slipped out of her shoes and started walking towards the water. She hesitated for a moment, then stepped in the edge of the water. The waves fell calmly over her feet, cooling them gently. Ariel closed her eyes and sighed happily. She felt for a minute like she was back home, back to the place where she had left so long ago. There was nothing keeping her from staying here all night, nothing at all.

"Mother?"

Ariels eyes snapped open as she looked around, but saw no one. She was completely alone. Then she looked up and saw Melody standing on her balcony, looking down at her. She was already in her pink ball gown and had a towel on her head. Ariel froze, not knowing what to do.

"What are you doing?" Melody called.

"Uh…nothing." Ariel said quickly.

With that, Melody stepped back into her room. She closed her curtains slightly, and leaned against the wall. Her, Sebastian, and Peter all sighed.

"I'll be right up." Ariel called.

They all gasped in horror. Suddenly, Melody started running around the room. She threw her towel off her head and started running towards the closet. Sebastian went to her side table and grabbed a pink ribbon off that was hanging on the mirror. When Melody came back out, she was rushing to get her shoes on.

"Gezz, calm down Mels." exclaimed Peter, staring as Melodys continued to rush.

"I can't." Melody said hurryingly. "She coming now. God, if she sees me…"

Just then, they heard Ariels voice coming from outside her door.

"Melody?"

"One minute." called Melody.

Melody then grabbed the ribbon Sebastian was holding behind her. But she didn't realized he was still holding it as she started ting it in a small bow. Peter noticed this and laughed.

"Uh, Melody…" he chuckled.

"No time." she said quickly. Then she started pushing him out the window.

"I'll see you tomorrow, ok?"

"Sure thing Mels." said Peter.

"Good."

"By the way," Peter smiled at her. "Happy Birthday."

Melody smiled back. "Thanks Pete. I'll see you later."

She closed the curtains, she heard footsteps coming up to her door. She heard the sound of wind blowing behind her. She knew Peter was gone. One less thing to worry about. Melody rushed over and grabbed her tiara off her table and placed it on her head. As she looked down, she notice her bag full of shells was still by her table. Melody walked in front of it, and kicked it under the table just as her mother opened the door. Melody smiled at her, trying to hide her obvious mischief.

"I'm ready." she said, curtsying.

But her tiara slipped and fell on her face. She pushed it up and smiled nervously at her mother through her fallen bangs. Ariel laughed and walked in next to her.

"Here, let me help."

Melody sighed before sitting down. She put her tiara on the table as Ariel began to brush her hair. Then the door opened again and Eric walked in. He smiled at them.

"So, we're having a bad hair day, huh?"

Ariel smirked at him. "Well if we were you wouldn't be helping, would you?"

Eric shrugged. "Well I just wanted to let you know, there're a lot of people down stairs-"

"Oh we'll be right down." Ariel cut across him. "Give us two minutes."

Eric laughed as he shut the door. "Right, two minutes." when the door was closed he mumbled, "Now where have I heard that before."

Back in the room, Ariel had continued brushing Melodys hair, smiling slightly. Melody on the other hand was far from happy. She was staring at the floor, thinking about what she was about to do. Then she huffed.

"Mom, put down the brush. It's hopeless."

Ariel smiled down at her and put the brush down. "Oh, you look beautiful."

Melody still looked sad. She continued to talk as Ariel started putting her hair up in a pink tie.

"Do I have to do this? Everyone thinks I'm…weird."

"Oh honey," Ariel said sweetly. "Everyone has trouble fitting in at your age. I know I did." then she smirked. "I was a regular fish out of water."

Melody raised an eyebrow. "You? No way."

She walked around Ariel and marched her way to the balcony. Ariel looked back at her worryingly. Melody leaned on the railing. She didn't say anything for a moment. When she next spoke, it was with worry and nervousness.

"I guess I'm just afraid I'm gonna make a total fool of myself."

"Melody," whispered Ariel. "this isn't just about the party, is it?"

Melody didn't say anything. She continued to stare out at the ocean, watching a few dolphins flip in the air. She continued to stare at the water. It was hard to hide the longing in her eyes. Luckily, Ariel didn't seemed to have noticed. Then Ariel walked up and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Is there something you want to talk about?" Melody didn't say anything. "You know you can always tell me anything."

Now Melody looked up at her, and unreadable expression on her face. Ariel smiled reassuringly. After a moment, Melody smiled back. The she took a deep breathe.

"Well,…ok. I mean, it's kinda crazy and…sort of impossible. Now don't freak," she said quickly. "But, what I dream about, more than anything in the whole world, is-"

But she was cut off as a nock on the window came from behind them. Melody and Ariel turned to see who it was. It was Eric. He had come back to see when they were coming down.

"How's it coming." he stared at Melody. "Melody, is that you? You look beautiful."

Melody smiled at the ground. Ariel laughed.

"He's right. Now, we'll talk later." her and Eric started leading Melody out of her room. "And don't worry about tonight. Your going to have a wonderful time. Trust me."