A/N: Hey guys! Happy Super Late New Year's everyone! Sorry it's taken me forever and a day to update, the holidays were extremely busy for me and as you guys know – school has been an issue since day one for me. Also if that weren't bad enough, I recently came down with a nasty case of writers block so it took me a while to get over that! Anyways I want to give a big, warm shout out to Avril Lambert, Ashgirl17, Ribon95, and my best friend Demi Brackensick for reviewing! You guys are the best – no question about it. The same goes for my wonderful readers – thank you so much, guys! Enjoy chapter 9…

Megara continued to run through the forest, not daring to stop for a second as her feet practically pounded against the forest floor. She felt frigid, her heart was pounding against her chest and she could nearly smell the wolf.

Even now, the shock hadn't worn off and she was still having trouble believing that the blood-thirsty that was chasing right now, had been the same boy she had fallen in love with all those years ago. How could this be? It wasn't humanly possible, or was it?

She wasn't sure of a lot of things at the moment. All she knew was that she needed to get to safety. She kept on darting through the woods, ducking under branches as she tried to look for some kind of shelter or cave to hide in.

That's when she noticed it, almost as if it had luring her. She hadn't even noticed it until now. She smirked at herself; she couldn't believe she hadn't seen it before.

At the moment the young Grecian woman was standing right under the tallest tree in the forest. Hiding in it was the easy part; the challenging part of the situation was climbing it. She knew that the Beast was probably hot on her heels, and if she didn't hurry then she'd become Wolf food.

Without any hesitation she started up the tree, and then once she felt as if she had climbed high enough, she jumped onto a large branch. It was thick and bulky, it was hefty enough for her to sit on but it wasn't that long. She'd only be able to stay on it for so long until she'd start getting uncomfortable.

Meg looked down at the ground, she could see the wolf coming closer and she began to slightly panic. She closed her eyes, and got into the fetal position for comfort. All she wanted was to go back home, even if she wasn't sure where home was.

"I'm so sorry Adam…"

OoooooooooooooooooooooooO

Ariel leisurely swam beneath the crystal, blue waters. Her fiery, red colored hair flowing as her scaly, green tail swayed with every movement she made. She was a mermaid in all her glory, and although she also made a gorgeous human – she had been born a mermaid. Therefore her features were vibrant underwater, her beauty practically lit up the dark seas she swam in.

"Well, look who decided to come home?"

Immediately the sixteen year old spun around, a petrified expression graced her features as she backed away a bit. She swallowed the nervous lump in her throat as she tried her best to speak. How could she have been so careless? She should've been more careful! Instead she had decided to go for a relaxed swim, and now she'd have to pay the consequences for it.

The creature slithered out from the shadows. The octopus-like woman smirked as she noticed the mermaid's eye go wide from the fear; she let out a bitter chuckle, "What's a matter princess – cat got your tongue?"

The octopus of a woman had white colored hair, with gray eyes, and bright ruby-red lips. She had lavender skin, aqua eyelids, and she wore purple seashell earrings. Her maliciously sharp fingernails were polished in red, pimple on her face, black strapless chest plate which showed both her giant breast cleavage and bare back. But worst of all, around her neck she wore a necklace with a seashell pendant.

Ariel placed her hand over her throat, she was trying her best to remain brave and emotionless but it was just so difficult. Just the very sight of the golden, sea-shell pendant brought back far too many memories "You don't scare me Ursula! I won't let you, do this to me anymore! You aren't Queen, you will never be-"

Before she had the chance to finish her sentence, the young princess was soon cut off by the sound of her own gasp as she felt Ursula pull her in closer.

The young red-head hated the feeling of an enormous, slimy tentacle wrapped around her waist but she was no match for it. So all she could do was squirm as she tried to wiggle her way free, "Let me go! I am ordering you to let me go!"

"Poor little princess," the sea-witched mocked as she held a golden trident against the girl's necklace "you were a fool for thinking you could defeat me once. Now that you actually think you can do it again, well it's just pathetic!"

Ariel cringed when she felt the sharp points of the trident touch her neck. The fact that it was glowing, it petrified her, and what made it worse was that Ursula actually had the trident! It wasn't her, "That's my daddy's trident! You have no right to be touching it or using it, and you certainly have no right to be threatening me with it!"

Without any hesitation Ursula slapped the mermaid across her face. Now there was an actual frown on the sea-witch's face, the look in her eyes made her look insane. Or perhaps it was the scowl?

Nevertheless, she clutched on to the weapon for dear life as she threw Ariel on to the ground, "You disgusting, brat! You were a fool for coming back and you were a fool for hiding. Tell me princess, where on Earth did you run off too?"

The red-headed mermaid looked up, she placed her hand on her cheek – the sting which the smack left didn't make life any easier. She was furious but she knew that if she weren't careful with her words, she'd be endangering everyone "It's none of your business! And I only came back for one reason and one reason only."

"And what reason is that?"

Ariel looked up into the monster's eyes, for just a second her voice had run off. She didn't one nor did she own one but just the very thought of her reason, it brought her courage out. She cleared her throat, clenched her fists, and without any hesitation – she said, "I came back for my sisters!"

OoooooooooooooooooooooooO

The feeling which he gave her sometimes was almost scary. The emotion she received when he was on top of her, it was thrilling and yet terrifying. She smiled as he claimed her lips in another passionate kiss, and once he was over – he then sat up.

Melody's face lit up like a Christmas tree as she let out small gasp once their lips parted, "I love how every kiss is always a little better than the last!"

Jim bit down on his bottom lip, subtly nodding his head in agreement "Well you know me, always trying to please?"

She laughed as she shook her head playfully. The young girl then looked up at the ceiling and after a few minutes of just staring – a thought occurred "Oh my goodness! I haven't seen Jane or Alice in forever!"

He glanced over at his girlfriend, wondering why she looked so worried "Well, it's not as if you've been avoiding them. You're life has just been busy Melody, with all that's been going on I find it amazing that you have time for me in general."

The twelve-year-old smirked as she placed a sweet peck on his cheek, "You know I'll always have time for you! But anyways, it doesn't matter if I've been busy or not. The point is I haven't seen them, and if I don't go see them soon – they'll probably think I'm ignoring them or something."

It took her boyfriend only a few seconds to comprehend what was going on. He shot her a raised eyebrow expression, and then queried "You never told them about your home life, did you?"

Melody sighed as she shook her in disappointment. It wasn't that she didn't trust them – she did, those girls were her best friends. It's just…the fear of being treated differently could just be so overwhelming. Even the thought of her friend's just looking at her another way, worried her "I meant to. I really did mean too but the perfect time just never came around? We were always either in a crowded space or the moment just…wasn't right?"

"Yeah," Jim nodded – remaining completely skeptical, he knew the real reason why Melody kept her home life a secret, "I'm sure that's why you never told them."

The dark-haired girl crossed her arms, immediately getting defensive about the situation "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, nothing," he reassured her as he continued to sway his feet back and forth "why don't you got right now? I'm pretty sure I have some chores to do, and the last thing I want is for you to be stuck up here all day with nothing to do."

Melody nodded her head at the thought, "Sure! Just one problem – how do you suppose I get out of the house without your mother noticing?"

"The window," Jim smirked as he walked over to the window, opening it for her to jump out of "just slide down the roof and make sure you land on your feet. You'll be on the ground before you know it."

The twelve-year-old was hesitant at first but she soon realized that the window truly was her only way out. So, using all the courage she had, Melody closed her eyes and then jumped out the window. She cautiously slid down the roof, and then agilely landed on her feet.

She then looked up, shooting her boyfriend a smirk as she blew him a kiss and then started to run down the street. She was rather excited to see her friends; she had so much to tell them…

OoooooooooooooooooooooooO

"I don't know Aladdin? I mean, Meg and Herc should've been back last night and if not last night then at least by this morning! I'm worried for them," Jasmine confessed as she continued pace around the hideout.

Aladdin on the other hand was eating apple, calmly sitting on the ground as he shrugged it off "Jasmine I'm sure they just decided to stay at Inn, and well – you know…"

The young girl fought back a blush as she shook her head, "No Aladdin, you know Meg. She wouldn't just do something like that, she knows I worry. And besides they didn't take any money with them."

"Are you sure they didn't?"

Jasmine took his question into consideration, she hadn't actually checked but she had assumed that they hadn't. Perhaps they had and she just hadn't noticed? She immediately made her way over to the bags of money, and she carefully counted about each and every coin.

The dark-haired man noticed how stressed out his girlfriend was getting, and he didn't like it. Once he finished eating his apple, he threw the core out on the streets and then stood back up to confront her, "Jasmine I'm sure they're fine. Really, you have nothing to worry about."

Instead of listening to her boyfriend, she completely ignored him and when she finished counting the money – she only sighed when she realized that he was right. A few coins were missing but not enough to rent a room for a night, "Well Aladdin you're right on some level. There's money missing but not enough to get a room at an Inn."

"Maybe it was a really cheap Inn? Hey, you never know and if you ask me, we have nothing to worry about," Aladdin comforted her as he placed a tender kiss on her cheek.

Jasmine nodded her head as she wrapped her arms around him, trying her best to just stay calm. She hated when she got like this but it was in her nature to worry. Meg had always been such a wild child even though she had been the oldest, and Jasmine had always been the one to make sure Meg didn't get too over her head.

"You know what you need," he started with a mischievous glint in his eyes "you need a distraction! And I know just what to do!"

She rolled her eyes as she playfully shook her head. That being said, she still listened with the utmost interest "And what do suppose I do, exactly?"

"Well, we could go for a walk through the town? But that also could be a bit boring," Aladdin sighed as he tries his best to think of distractions "or maybe we could-"

"Help, somebody help please! Somebody, anybody just please help?"

Instantly both Aladdin and Jasmine ran out of the hideout, and haste fully darted towards the direction shriek. In a blink of an eye they were both running down a shabby alley, and once they reached the end – that is when they saw a woman on the ground, crying. It appeared that she was sitting over something…or someone?

Jasmine carefully approached the woman, and the first thing she did was softly place her hand on the woman's shoulder, "Shhh everything is going to be alright. We're going to help you, my name's Jasmine and this is my boyfriend Aladdin. What's your name?"

The woman had fair skin, beautiful bluish-green colored eyes, light orange hair, and she wore a simple pink colored dress. It wasn't anything too formal nor was it anything too shabby.

The woman had tear stains on her cheeks, and she could barely breathe let alone talk, "My names G-Giselle. Please, you have to help me! My brother, he's dying and I have no idea what to do!"

Aladdin and Jasmine were both about to ask her where her brother was but then she moved out of the way, and that is when they could both see him on the floor. His body looked cold, and he was pale as winter snow. He was lying in a pool red, and his face was covered by his blonde hair.

As realization dawned on the dark-haired girl, she quickly placed her hand over her opened mouth to help her recoil from the shock "Oh my God John! Aladdin, we have to help him!"

Her boyfriend was quick on his feet as he sprang into action. First he grabbed John by the arms, and then watched as Giselle automatically grabbed the man by his legs. They then both carried him out of the alley, and Aladdin then led Giselle towards the hideout.

Jasmine followed them, knowing exactly where they were headed too. They had all sorts of medical bandages at the hideout, and wrapping John up would be child's play. However the matter of fact was that John himself was losing a lot of blood, "Giselle what on Earth happened?"

The young girl looked frantic, just having to carry her brother made her stomach turn and twist in all kinds of ways, "W-we had been going home, t-taking a short cut through the alley, w-when a man approached us. He tried hurting me, John intervened…t-the b-brute pulled out a knife, and then…I didn't know what to do? I froze, and just…I couldn't move and by the time I could speak again, he already was out cold."

Aladdin shot Giselle a sympathetic expression, he sincerely felt bad for the girl "Don't worry Giselle – he's going to be okay, I promise you."

Jasmine couldn't react or say anything else. All she could do was continue to stare at John. The color in his face was gone, and the red just wouldn't stop pouring out of him! It was terrible to say the least.

She gently placed her hand on his cheek, and in a hushed tone she whispered "You're not going to die. I'm not going to let you go that easily…"

OoooooooooooooooooooooooO

Eugene carefully sneaked in through the back as he quietly tried to make his way back into the palace. He was exhausted, and even though it was only noon – he felt that if he didn't get any sleep, he wouldn't be able to move on.

"I used to be a mermaid. I actually still am in fact."

He knew there had been something different about the princess. But never in a million years had he expected that! She was part-fish for God's sake and just didn't seem natural. That being said, he was usually good at handling the weird and unnatural things about life. After all his true love had been born with golden, magical hair!

"I have to go. Tell Rapunzel that I'll be back by nightfall but if I'm not back, I'll be back first thing in the morning."

Where had she run off to anyways? He hadn't the slightest clue, and the curiosity was truly getting to him. Eugene had never seen a mermaid before, and so Ariel certainly was a mystery. In fact the young man had been so lost in his thoughts, that he hadn't even realized that he had ended up stumbling into his bedroom.

Rapunzel had been sitting on their bed, lost in a book and if it hadn't been expecting to see Ariel any minute now – she wouldn't have noticed her husband coming in. Either way, his presence put a bright smile on her face "Eugene, I haven't seen you all day today! I've missed you sweetie!"

Eugene was quickly sent crashing back into reality, and that's when he looked up and smiled at his wife "I've missed you too blondie. So, what are you doing here?"

"Well I was waiting for Ariel but she never came. So I assume she's just running late, and I decided I'd read until she got here," the young brunette explained as she placed her novel down on the nightstand.

His smile faltered at the mention of Ariel – she just had looked so scared before. He wanted to help her but she was panicking, and there was nothing he could do. He pushed these thoughts aside as he tried his best to maintain a nonchalant conversation, "I'm sure she's probably just going for a swim. Did she tell you?"

"That she was a mermaid? Yeah she did, and I think it's really cool! I mean I read about mermaids the day we went to the library and," Rapunzel's face lit up like a Christmas tree as she reminisced on those warm summer days "they just sounded so interesting! And Ariel is a very pretty princess; she really does look like a mermaid."

"I guess so?"

Suddenly a thought occurred, and the young princess blushed as she recalled the conversation she had shared with her mother earlier. She shook her head, wondering whether or not she should actually bring it up "Um Eugene…can I talk to you about something? B-but you have to promise not to laugh."

"Sure," Eugene told her in a reassuring tone, "you know you can talk to me about anything."

Rapunzel bit down on her bottom lip, nodding ever so slowly as she tried her best to find the courage to speak up. She cleared her throat, and eventually she built up the courage to say "When do you think we'll have children?"

He stiffened a bit at her question, his eyes went a bit wide but he was trying his best to stay calm. The thought of actually having children scared him but not for the reason you'd think, "I um…I don't know? I mean I know the other day I was joking about making an heir but we just got married. Don't you think it's a little early?"

The young princess shook her head as she continued on, "You see earlier today, momma and I were talking about being a royal and all, and then she brought up the subject of children. She told me that it would be normal if I felt nervous or even a little scared, but she also said that it had to be done. That the kingdom needed an heir."

"Right," Eugene nodded as he felt a subtle blush take over "well that makes sense…I guess? I mean we have to have children sometime, right? It's required by law that we do."

Rapunzel nodded her head as she tried her best to relax her husband by placing a tender kiss on his cheek, "Please don't feel nervous about it. Momma said there was no need to worry now, I mean we just got married – we have time…at least for now we do."

The young man shook his head; just the thought of settling down scared him a bit. Flynn Rider never could nor did he ever want to settle down. If he had an urge to fulfill, he'd flirt with a local girl and then before he knew it – he was on top of her. Eugene Fitzherbert on the other hand was much different…

He hadn't even realized how long he was taking, "Blonde it's fine, really I'm fine. It's just…I don't want us rushing into this. You're really wrong now, and a baby is a lot of responsibility. I know for a fact that we'd make wonderful parents, I just don't think we're ready at the moment."

"I understand," Rapunzel told him as she nervously placed a strand of hair behind her earlobe "I mean just a few weeks ago I didn't know intimate was a word. Let alone an action, I'm just so new to all of it."

Eugene felt at his body stiffened a bit at the mention of intimacy. Sometimes she was just too much for him; she was just so adorable and innocent. And yet she wasn't, she was a grown woman and she was capable of so much, "You know I love you, right blondie?"

"Of course," she nodded as she studied her husband carefully "I love you too!"

"And you know I'd do anything for you, right?" He faintly smirked as he scooted closer to her. His eyes immediately darkened a bit with lust and suddenly a light flickered on. His love slowly mixed with the lust he felt for, making his eyes look brighter than ever.

Rapunzel nodded her head as she bit her bottom lip; she loved it when his eyes darkened and then somehow managed to light up. She had seen it once on their wedding night, and now she was seeing it again – she silently gasped at the sight, "I know…"

"Then let me show you," he whispered as he got a bit closer and then softly wrapped his arms around her waist "let me show you how much I love you. How much I need you."

All she could do was nod her head. She bit down on her bottom lip as she felt him gently lay her down on their bed. She wrapped her arms around his neck as she felt him place his hand on her thigh.

Eugene smirked as he claimed her lips in a passionate kiss, "Don't be scared blondie, I'm not going to hurt you."

"I know you're not," Rapunzel gasped as she felt his hand travel up her thigh, and before she knew it her cheeks were burning from the sudden rush of emotion "I love you."

"I love you too…"

A/N: And that everyone is what I call a wrap! Once again, I am so sorry it took me forever to update! I've just been buried under school work, and to be honest – this chapter would've been uploaded hours ago but school work, which I've been doing all weekend, has got in the way. Anyways thanks so much for taking the time to read this, you guys are the best! Until next chapter everyone…