Chapter Eight: Rei Predicament

"Okay it's obvious he's nowhere around here" Jason said.

"Hmmm if he's not underwater that means..." Ariel said as they looked up to the surface.

"ABSOLUTELY NO-" Sebastian yelled as Ariel covered his mouth.

"If he's somewhere above sea, Scuttle would know!" Ariel said.

"Scuttle? Who Scuttle?" Jason asked.

"Yeah! He's a walking dictionary!" Flounder said.

Above the surface they looked up to all the seagulls flying above.

"Scuttle!" Ariel yelled.

"Hm? Well looky here! Hello folks!" Scuttle said seeing Ariel wave as he landed on a rock "Hey we have two new kids on the block."

"Hi! I'm Kilala."

"Jason and I'm not a kid!"

"We're looking for a friend" Kilala said.

"He's about the same age as her dirty blonde hair, green eyes good looking, seen him?" Jason asked.

"Hmm about the same age as you, huh? I got it! I've seen him somewhere!"

"Really?!" Ariel and Kilala said.

"Was it East? Or West? It may have been West, but it could have been East or was it North? Or South?"

"This bird useless" Jason said dropping his head with Kilala.

"Scuttle you flew here with the sun behind you" Ariel said.

"Maybe" Scuttle said.

"Then it's west for sure!" Ariel said.

'Wait for me, Rei! I promise I'll find you! I promise!' Kilala thought as they headed East.

Later that day the sun began to set as they stopped by some rocks for a break.

"Did you find him over there?" Ariel asked.

"No..." Kilala said.

"eeen" the dolphin panted.

"Go take a break little guy" Jason said seeing Kilala sadden face.

'Rei where are you?' she thought.

"Sorry I give up" Scuttle panted.

"How do you expect to find one fish in this mighty ocean?!" Sebastian said.

"Well we can't give up!" Jason said.

"Let's go home I'm afraid he's already-"

"WAIT!" Kilala yelled.

"Kilala..." Ariel said.

"Please! Let me search a little more! I don't want to give up!" she cried.

"Okay let's take a break" Ariel said as they sat on the rocks.

"Good idea" Jason said.

"Your friend must be very special" Ariel said.

"Yes...I really love him, but when we had to say goodbye, I acted like it was nothing and told him goodbye first, he still came to rescue me in the storm, he tried to save me. That's why I promised myself I'd never let him go again but a huge wave came and..."

"Kilala? What do you mean by 'love'?" Ariel asked.

"Well...you feel warm and happy just thinking about that person but sometimes it almost feels painful, like your chest hurts I guess being in love makes your heart do a lot of things" Kilala said.

"Sounds tiring" Ariel said.

"Heh true but I want to cherish these feelings" Kilala said.

"I wonder if I'd understand a little better if I were in love" Ariel said.

"Of course!" Kilala smiled.

"You hear it all the time, someday you will meet your prince charming and then you'll be together no matter what" Ariel said as she began to sing.

"Ahhhha ahhhha"

'What a beautiful voice and a clear melody. I feel so warm' Kilala thought

"Hmm" Jason smiled as the singing stopped.

"Look!" Ariel said pointing to a beam of light shooting to the sky from some rocks, "there's a beam of light shining to the sky!"

"Let's go!" Jason yelled as they swam towards the rock.

'Yeah, when you're lost or in trouble light will lead the way' Kilala thought as they swam around the rocks to see Merman Rei with a shark fin laying on a rock and the tiara sitting on the rock away from him.

"REI!" Kilala cried hugging him.

'Now that I've found you, I'm not letting you go! Rei I've finally found you!' Kilala thought.

"The tiara lead us here" Jason said picking it up.

"Sebastian?" Ariel said.

"Yes?" Sebastian said.

"Isn't love wonderful?"

"Wait a minute! His heart! I can't get a heartbeat!" Scuttle yelled.

"WHAT!?" they yelled as they saw Scuttle has one of fins at the end of Rei caudal fins on his face.

"THAT'S HIS CAUDAL FIN!" Ariel growled removing the bird.

"Don't ever scare me like that again!" Kilala yelled.

"Rei! Wake up!" Jason said.

"Ugh..."

"Rei?!" Kilala said as Rei panted as she felt his head, "he's got a fever!"

"Fever?" Flounder said.

"It means he's sick!" Jason said.

"We have to cool him down!" Kilala said.

'I'm so sorry Rei. It's all my fault' Kilala thought as she put a wet cloth on Rei head.

"Sebastian, is there anything we can do?" Ariel asked.

"Well...be right back!" Sebastian said jumping into the water.

Sebastain then came back minute later with a large clam.

"And a clam going to help us how?" Jason said ass Sebastian opened it up and reveled it to be a book.

"Let's see" Sebastian said flipping through the pages, "here it is! White Crown Seaweed" he said as they looked at the picture, "it's a white seaweed that cures all illnesses."

"So all we have to do is get one and-" Kilala said.

"But this plant only grew around here ages ago! Now it's rare and tough to get a hold of. It'll be nearly impossible to find!"

"Ahh" Rei panted as Kilala touched his face.

"I'll find it, no matter what it takes" she smiled.

"Scuttle you watch him, we'll be back soon!" Jason said as they all dived back into the water below as Sebastian sighed.

"I know helping others is a good thing but what if we see humans during this treasure hunt?" Sebastian asked.

"Humans?!" Flounder said as Jason and Kilala took glances at each other.

"Err are humans scary? They're not all bad people at least that's what I think" Kilala said.

"She's right! You shouldn't think poorly of humans" Ariel said.

"ARIEL! How many times do I have to tell you?! Humans are evil creatures! They eat us, for crying out loud!" Sebastian yelled.

"And you Kilala if you ever said anything to defend humans in front of King-"

"Are you talking about me Sebastian?" King Triton said as the crab turned around to see the king.

"K-K-K-KING TRITON!"

Have you found Ariel yet?" King Triton asked as Jason, Ariel, Kilala and Flounder hid behind a nearby rock.

"Huh? No sir. I'm still searching" Sebastian said.

"Make sure you bring her back! Or you'll never hear the end of it!"

"Y-yes your majesty!" Sebastian said as Trition road off on his chariot.

"Ariel...now look what you've done! I swear you'll be the end of me! He's going to kill me if I don't take you back!" Sebastian said in despair.

"NO! My father's always telling me, don't do this! Don't do that! All I do is make him mad!"

"That's because you always disobey him" Sebastian said with annoyance.

"My father hates me" Ariel said.

"Ariel I don't think that's true at all there's no parent who hates their children" Kilala said.

"Well...you say that because your parents are kind, right? Unlike my dad" Ariel said.

"My father left me to help my mother recover from an illness and he's been away for a long time so I don't know how to say this but I love my mother and father and I can wait alone because I believe they love me, too" Kilala said.

"My parents are dead but I know they love me and I love them" Jason said.

"Ariel you love your father, right?" Kilala asked as Ariel blushed.

"Well maybe a little...okay I'll go to the palace for a little bit. Kilala you take care of Rei until I get back okay?" Ariel said.

Back by the rocks Jason sat next to Rei as Kilala cleaned his rag.

"Hold on a little longer" Kilala said.

"Ki...?"

"Rei?" Kilala said as Jason looked over.

"Kilala...?" Rei smiled.

'You love' Jason thought with a smile as he heard Rei beging to pant as Kilala felt his head.

"His fever...it's getting worse! I'll go look for there-" she said as Rei grabbed her arm.

"You're trying...too hard...again...I'm okay..." Rei said.

'Rei even though you're in pain you're still worried about me. You're so stupid sometimes!' Kilala thought before whipping her tears away before diving into the water.

"Kilala!" Jason yelled diving after her.

A.N. Please Review.