There was soon the barking of a dog which startled Melody at first. Ariel came out from the steps as she looked around while Max joined her side as she looked a little homesick. Max began to sniff the ocean water. Melody snuck away with Estelle and Felicity as Sebastian followed them. Melody soon looked up to the window above her and tossed up her duffel bag before climbing into the window as Sebastian climbed up the plant vine next to it. Felicity and Estelle soon helped each other next as they went to join Melody.

"Whew, I don't think anyone has seen us yet." Estelle sighed.

A butler walked by, without seeing any of them as they stayed still and soon continued to move in relief as the guests who were around Melody's age joined the party in their best clothes. Melody soon accidentally bumped into a girl in an orange dress with her cousins.

"Oh, Y-Your Highness..." The girl greeted Melody before finding seaweed stuck to her dress.

"Sorry, my fault... I gotta go..." Melody smiled nervously as she backed up away to go to her room. "Can't go to the party without shoes!"

"We'll join her." Estelle and Felicity added.

"Oh, yes, of course..." The girl slightly scoffed as she joined with the boys she was with. "If you ask me, she's a little strange." he then told them about Melody.

"I heard she actually talks to fish!" The tall boy added.

Hearing him say that caused the other two to laugh. Melody looked a little sad about the others talking about her like that, but she had Estelle and Felicity to comfort her since they were family.

"Girls?" Atticus called out. "Oh, there you are, girls... Your mothers are looking for you... Have you two seen Melody though?"

"Oui, we just met her." Felicity nodded.

"Yeah, and those kids were making fun of Melody behind her back." Estelle said.

"Ugh... Bullies..." Atticus shook his head. "If you stand up to bullies, they almost always stand down... Now, let's get you girls dressed."

Soon enough, everyone met in a guest room, Akito and Vincent wore their best suits while Estelle and Felicity wore their dresses and their mothers were brushing their hair.

"I hope Sebastian stays out of sight of Chef Louis." Estelle said.

Cherry giggled slightly.

"Maman, are you okay?" Felicity asked.

"Oh, I'm fine, dear," Cherry replied. "Your cousin just reminded me of a funny story."

"Yeah, the fight between Sebastian and Chef Louis." Atticus smiled.

"Oh, my goodness!" Estelle cupped her mouth.

"That was hilarious!" Cherry replied as she laughed the hardest she had ever laughed before which surprised the kids since she almost never laughed anymore nowadays.

"It was that funny?" Akito smiled.

"I suppose it was," Atticus replied, trying not to laugh, only to join in as Cherry's rare laughter was contagious. "Cherry tried to save him."

"Yeah, I did..." Cherry remembered. "My mother told me from the story from the book The Little Mermaid."

"Wow." The kids smiled.

Cherry soon tied Felicity's hair into her trademark pigtails, but this time with hair bows instead of the buckles.

"Oh, you all look so cute..." Mo cooed as she put a bow in Estelle's hair.

"Thanks, Mom." Estelle smiled.

Akito pouted as he looked at his hair before taking out a blue fabric.

"Oh, Akito, don't mess up your perfectly combed hair." Mo told her son.

"Aw, come on, Mom!" Akito pouted. "I look silly without my bandanna!"

"Just go without it for one night." Vincent said.

Akito sighed as he soon folded up his bandanna and put it in his pocket.

"That's a good little brother..." Vincent smirked as he adjusted his green ascot.

"Hey!" Akito glared.

"What?" Vincent smirked. "I'm just doing what Mother intends~"

"But what about the scarf?" Akito smirked.

"Oh, Vincent, maybe you shouldn't wear that," Mo advised. "It might be unfair to Akito."

"But Moooommm!" Vincent whined. "Jenny got me this scarf!"

"Yes, but we don't wanna be unfair to your younger brother." Mo said.

"Ugh..." Vincent groaned and soon untied his scarf and put it in his pocket. "Fine!"

"Okay, we're all ready to go," Mo smiled. "Let's join the party."

"Yeah!" The kids smiled.

Atticus looked out the window as he saw Ariel putting her feet in the water which made him sigh for his cousin. "She must miss Uncle Triton..."

"Coming, Atticus?" Mo held out her arm to her husband.

"Yeah, I'm coming." Atticus said.

"It's too bad Patch and the others couldn't come." Akito said.

"I promise, next time." Atticus smiled to his son.

"I'm just glad you're here, Dad, and not on another case." Akito smiled back.

"Yeah, luckily cousin Jimmy was available." Atticus replied.

"I guess we should get going then." Cherry said as she soon came in a black formal dress.

"Oh, Maman, that's a nice dress..." Felicity commented.

"Thank you, Fliss," Cherry replied. "Sebastian Michaelis made it just for me when I visited Phantomhive Manor."

"It's true." Atticus said.

"You met them too?" Felicity asked her uncle.

"Who hasn't Dad met?" Akito and Estelle replied in unison before smiling to each other. "Jinx!"

Felicity giggled with a nod to that. They soon left the guest room and went to go downstairs to join the party before Melody would come down.

"Should one of us check on Melody?" Akito asked.

"I'll go." Felicity volunteered.

"Careful, Felicity." Estelle told her.

Felicity nodded and went to check on Melody as everyone else went down. Atticus and Mo then left their kids for a moment to talk with the other kids of the party to possibly make some new friends.

The mean girl from before seemed to smirk toward Akito and Vincent and fanned herself as she came toward them, trying to look cute and innocent so that they would dance with her.

'Oh, she can't be serious.' Estelle thought to herself.

"Hello~" The girl smirked.

"Um... Hi..." Vincent blinked.

"Would you like to dance with me?" The girl asked.

"Yeeeeeeeah... No." Akito and Vincent declined.

"WHAT?!" The girl glared. "Why not?!"

"Because we're already spoken for." Akito said.

"By whom?!" The girl glared.

Akito and Vincent soon brought out pictures of Emi and Jenny.

"Shoo, shoo now." Estelle smirked.

The girl seemed to leave with a huff.

"If only Jenny and Emi were here." Akito said.

Vincent soon sighed with Akito. Felicity knocked on Melody's bedroom door.

"Mom, is that you?" Melody's voice asked from the other side.

"Non, it's me, Felicity!" Felicity told the birthday girl.

"Whew! Come in." Melody said.

Felicity soon came in. Melody put on her pink and white dress and had a towel over her head to dry her hair while Sebastian sat with her.

"You trying to get dry before Tante Ariel gets here?" Felicity asked.

"Yeah..." Melody replied. "I can't let her know I was in the water."

"Oh, here, try on these shoes," Felicity said as she took out a pair of pink shoes. "They'll match your dress."

"Thanks!" Melody told her as she quickly put on her shoes.

"Now for your hair." Felicity said.

"Melody?" Ariel's voice called.

Melody quickly tied the ribbon around her waist, accidentally tying Sebastian with it, and she put on her tiara and hid her duffel bag under her bed. "I'm ready!" she then smiled and bowed to her mother as she came into her room.

"Here, let me help..." Ariel giggled as she came to brush Melody's hair.

Eric soon came in, seeing what was going on. "So, we're having a bad hair day?" He asked.

"If we were, you wouldn't be helping, would you?~" Ariel smirked to her husband.

"Well, I'm just here to let you know there are a lot of people downstairs-" Eric began.

"Why don't I join you?" Felicity asked as she came toward him. "This is a time for a mother and daughter anyway."

"Well, if you're sure." Eric said.

"We'll be right down," Ariel told Eric. "Just give us two minutes."

"Right, two minutes..." Eric chuckled as he shut the door behind him. "Now, where have I heard that before?"

"So, shall we?" Felicity asked.

"I'll be right down." Ariel smiled as she brushed Melody's hair.

"Okay." Felicity smiled back.

"Mom... Put down the brush... It's hopeless." Melody sulked.

"Oh, you look beautiful." Ariel smiled as she hugged her daughter.

"Do I have to do this? Everybody thinks I'm weird." Melody muttered.

"You're not weird!" Felicity replied. "We love you just the way you are!"

"Oh, honey, everybody has trouble fitting in at your age," Ariel coaxed. "I know I did... I was a regular fish out of water."

"You? No way." Melody told her mother before going off to the balcony.

Ariel frowned in concern and everyone else came to join her.

"I'm just afraid I'm gonna make a total fool of myself." Melody sulked as she stared out into the ocean.

Ariel looked to her and looked down to Felicity and the others. "Why don't you go down to the party?" she then suggested. "We'll be right there."

"You sure?" Vincent asked.

"I think Melody needs some alone time." Ariel said.

The others looked to each other and then went to go on their own to the party, but they couldn't help but listen in.

"Melody, this isn't just about the party, is it?" Ariel asked her daughter. "Is there something you want to talk about? You know you can always tell me anything."

Melody soon thought back to what Scuttle told her to do. "It's sorta impossible... Don't freak, but what I dream about more than anything in the whole world-" she then began to tell her mother.

There was then a knock which distracted her and she saw her father there. "How's it coming?" He then asked before looking to his daughter. "Oh, Melody, is that you? You look beautiful."

"He's right," Ariel giggled. "We'll talk later, you're going to have a wonderful time tonight."

Unfortunately, the night would not go as planned.

"Trust me." Ariel told Melody on the way down.

The three kids from earlier seemed bored and they soon brought out their own Pokeballs and released their own battle monsters: Mankey, Glameow, and Snivy. Unlike this trio of kids, the Pokemon seemed nice. Many of the guests shared a dance until the song then ended and they applauded the composers for their music.

"Presenting... Her Royal Highness: Princess Melody." Grimsby introduced the daughter of Ariel and Eric.

Melody soon came walking down to the room while smiling nervously. Everyone clapped to her from the bottom of the stairs. The mean kids soon sipped their tea and smirked as Melody came down as their Pokemon stood by their feet. Estelle smiled as she curtsied to Melody and Melody smiled back with her own curtsy. Akito smiled to Melody as he bowed to her as did Vincent.

"Um, hi," A boy smiled as he came up behind Melody and bowed to her. "Would you like to dance?"

Estelle let out a small squeal as she looked happy for Melody. Melody looked to him before looking towards her parents.

"Go on." Ariel smiled quietly to Melody.

"Sure... Okay!" Melody soon nodded to the boy.

The two soon joined hands and moved out onto the dance floor as Ariel and Eric smiled and Ariel then crossed her fingers behind her back. The conductor tapped his baton and soon had the musicians play a special song for Melody and her dance partner. Estelle just knew that Melody could do this.

"I wonder where Sebastian ended up?" Felicity asked.

Akito and Vincent shrugged to her while Estelle watched Melody happily, and where she soon went wide-eyed as she saw where Sebastian was. "Guys...?" she grimaced nervously.

"We know..." Akito and Vincent said as they soon saw with her.

Melody and the boy smiled as they shared a great dance together so far.

"How do we get Sebastian?" Estelle whispered to her brothers.

"Uh... Well... Um..." Akito stammered before shrugging.

"Thanks, that's a lot of help." Felicity sighed.

The music swelled as the music got bigger and grander and the boy soon held Melody around her waist with a smile before wincing as he was pinched on the fingertips.

"Oh, this can't end well." Estelle cringed.

The boy soon saw Sebastian and yelled out. The conductor looked in concern before dropping his baton in surprise. The boy yelled out and flung Sebastian off his finger and he ended up crashing in the punch bowl while Sebastian landed in the birthday cake as Chef Louis brought it in.

"And I was right." Estelle sighed.

The snobby kids smirked and laughed at Melody's misfortune while their Pokemon looked worried.

"Oh, no!" Melody frowned as she came to the cake.

"That's it!" Sebastian snapped. "I'm booking me self on a cruise."

"I'm so sorry." Melody frowned to him.

"Well, I should say-" The boy glared as he was drenched in punch.

"Are you alright, Sebastian?" Melody frowned at Sebastian.

"So..." The boy soon glared as Melody wasn't even paying attention to him.

"Who is she talking to?~" The girl in the orange dress smirked.

"She's talking to a crab!" The fat boy laughed with her and the tall boy and soon, almost every kid was laughing at Melody.

"At least it can't get worse, at least the chef hasn't seen Sebastian yet." Vincent smiled nervously.

Chef Louis soon looked right at Sebastian and glared. "YOU!"

"I'm gonna stop talking right now." Vincent groaned.

Chef Louis soon chopped his ax down and went to go after Sebastian, and where the chase scene looked funny, but Melody's situation didn't. Akito was soon heard laughing. Melody looked to him, feeling hurt.

"Oh! I'm not laughing at you," Akito promised. "I'm laughing at Sebastian and the chef."

Melody felt relieved to hear that and could see why he was laughing at that and felt herself joining in. Grimsby just sighed and shook his head at what was happening.

"Do you think Sebastian will be okay?" Melody asked.

"I'm sure he will be," Felicity smiled. "My mother told me that this has happened before, and Chef Louis never succeeds."

"She's right." Estelle smiled back.

The kids' Pokemon were also laughing at the chase scene. Melody looked to them and soon laughed with them as she had to admit, it did look pretty funny, and she felt happy to know that Sebastian would be just fine in the end. Sebastian soon flew on a salad dish before zipping by the conductor and the older man's wig flew off. The Pokemon with the snobby kids soon looked mad with their trainers for laughing at Melody just for talking to an animal like it was weird and soon gave them a taste of karma by using their attacks.

"Diane, you should be ashamed!" Glameow scolded.

"You too, Robert and Blake!" Snivly and Mankey added.

"Are they talkin' to us?" The fat boy asked, pointing to their Pokemon.

"They seem to be..." The girl replied, looking a little annoyed.

The three Pokemon soon used battle moves to punish their trainers for being mean, and their attack moves then ruined their clothes.

"Glameow, how could you?!" Diane cried out. "You know Mother wants us to look our best!"

"Mankey, I'm gonna be in so much trouble!" Robert frowned.

"I'm disappointed in you, Snivy." Blake added.

"So are we with you three!" The Pokemon replied in angered unison. The three Pokemon then soon left their owners out of anger.

The three soon yelled to their Pokemon and ordered them back, but their Pokemon ignored them as they joined the other group.

"Your trainers are meany butts." Vulpix said.

"Yeah... I guess I never realized how rude they can be..." Glameow replied.

"Until they laughed at Princess Melody instead of laughing at the chase scene." Mankey added.

"We're sorry about them..." Snivy said. "I don't know what came over them."

"Maybe I should go talk to 'em." Teddy narrowed his eyes.

"They won't understand you." Glameow sighed.

"I guess your people aren't like ours." Teddy suggested.

The Pokemon shook their heads.

"We're sorry that they laughed at that girl..." Mankey said. "They just don't know how to have fun."

"Sometimes I feel like I'm used only for show and how pretty I am..." Glameow sighed and rolled her eyes. "While I am rather gorgeous, I'd like to play and explore, but Diane usually stays inside and just looks in the mirror all day long, looking like she's the most beautiful girl in all the land."

"She's not that good looking." The male Ralts scoffed.

The female Ralts then nudged her brother, but the other boy Pokemon couldn't help but snicker to this.

"Hm... Yes, she certainly thinks she's the most gorgeous and that she should be a princess instead." Glameow smirked out of amusement.

This caused all of the Pokemon to share a good laugh out of this.

"I don't think that boy likes me too much." Melody frowned about the boy she danced with.

"Pfft," Akito rolled his eyes. "It's his loss. He was probably a jerk anyway."

"Probably." Vincent shrugged.

"I wouldn't think about him too much." Akito told Melody.

"Oh, you guys are so sweet..." Melody replied.

"No prob." Estelle smiled.

Melody sighed though.

"Are you okay?" Felicity frowned.

"What if I never fit in?" Melody frowned back. "I can't be perfect like my mother."

"No one said you had to." Estelle said.

"But I want everyone here to like me..." Melody frowned. "They're not like you guys."

"They're just royal snobs." Estelle told her.

"So, you can talk to us then?" Glameow asked.

Felicity nodded with her cousins.

"Um, how?" Mankey wondered.

"We... We don't know... We just always have..." Vincent replied.

"I don't know why I can either..." Melody added. "I mean, it's not like my parents can."

This caused the Fudo siblings to smile nervously.

"I'm sorry your party was ruined..." Snivy told Melody.

"Oh, thank you..." Melody sighed. "I'm just worried I'll never belong anywhere."

The kids tried to stop her, but Melody soon went upstairs to her room as she felt isolated.

"Wish there was something we could do for her." Estelle frowned.

"What can we do?" Vincent replied. "It's best we don't meddle in someone else's life."

"But this is our cousin!" Akito told him.

"Well, that's true, but..." Vincent said, unsure how to back that up.

"Then it's settled." Akito smiled.

"But..." Vincent said before sighing. "Alright... For Melody."

"For Melody." Everyone else agreed.

Diane, Blake, and Robert were still complaining about Melody until Cherry came right behind them with a cold death glare.

"Do you three wanna keep complaining...?" Cherry asked with an icy glare towards them.

The kids smiled nervously.

"I suggest you apologize to Melody when she comes back." Cherry said firmly.

"Y-Yes, ma'am." The kids nodded.

Cherry nodded back and soon let them go.

"Uh, you didn't have to do that..." Mo said.

"They'll get over it." Cherry said mysteriously.

"Maybe." Mo said.

Atticus, Mo, Cherry, and Forte stared upstairs as Ariel soon decided to go and talk to Melody as Akito, Estelle, Felicity, and Vincent were going there themselves with their Pokemon. As well as the royal kids' Pokemon.