After the whole experience on the surface involving the shipwreck, I never thought things would get crazier. Not only did I find a piece of the Wishing Star under the sea, which was actually at Ariel's secret grotto, but I watched Ariel have that faraway look in her eyes, daydreaming about Prince Eric and oblivious to everything around her.

Everyone thought Ariel was in love with a merman, but that ain't the case. Flounder, Sebastian, and I know the truth.

I was with Ariel on a rock above a nervous and panicking Sebastian, pacing back and forth about how he'd handle King Triton if he spilled the beans.

"Okay. So far, so good," Sebastian said nervously. "I don't think the king knows. But keeping something like this a secret for long will not be easy!"

"He loves me, he loves not…," Ariel said, pulling off petal after petal, then she smiled as she pulled off the last petal. "He loves me! I knew it!"

"You know, Ariel," I said to a smiling Ariel. "I can help you with that little love fest of yours! Prince Eric has gotten under your skin just as you have gotten under his!"

Sebastian stood in my blue-tang fish face. "Oh no, you stay out of this!" He then turned to Ariel. "And Ariel, stop talking crazy!"

"Oh, look who's talking! You look like you're trying to eat your way out of your shell. Lighten up and smell the alfalfa."

"I will most certainly not 'lighten up'!"

"I've gotta see him again…tonight!" Ariel said. "Scuttle knows where he lives."

"Ariel, please!" Sebastian begged. "Will you get your head out of the clouds and back in the water where it belongs?"

"I'll swim up to his castle," Ariel continued. "Then, Flounder will splash around to get his attention. And then, we'll—"

"Okay, okay, slow your roll!" I interrupted Ariel. "No need to go that far. Just try to contain your excitement. If nothing else weird happens, maybe the rest will be history."

"Yeah, the rest will be history," Ariel said.

"Oh, come on, Ariel, I get it. I know the human world can be a big pill of a mess to swallow sometimes. But still, that's why life on land is unlike anything you all got down here."

"WHAT!?" Sebastian's jaw dropped as I continued to rave about the benefits of living above the sea while the music of the sea began to play for me.

That made Ariel feel alive even more as the music continued to grow, and she and all the creatures joined in and danced along. I was so busy enjoying the little production number that I didn't notice Flounder joining in either.

After my awesomely yet boasting musical number about life above the sea, I looked up to see Ariel full of joy. "I know it's not much," I said, catching my breath. "But you'll be getting it. You dreamt about going up there, but this is a chance – your big chance to see everything we got right there above the sea. Trust me."

Ariel and I swam away to join up with Flounder, leaving a confused and flabbergasted Sebastian behind on a rock Ariel once stood.

"Ooohhh, somebody's got to nail that boy's fins to the floor!" Sebastian said in dismay rather than frustration.

Flounder led me and Ariel back to the secret grotto.

"Flounder, why can't you tell us what this is all about?" Ariel asked.

"You'll see," Flounder replied. "It's a surprise!"

Once we were inside the grotto, our jaws were dropped by what Flounder showed us – the statue of Prince Eric from the shipwreck way back.

"Flounder, you're the best!" Ariel exclaimed happily as she twirled around the statue. "It looks just like him. It even has his eyes!" Then, she pretended the statue was a real person. "Why, Eric, run away with you? This is all so…so sudden!"

But just as Ariel turned around in happiness once more, a familiar figure glared at Ariel in the shadows. She gasped and froze to see who it was.

"Daddy?" Ariel exclaimed as I, too, turned to see a furious King Triton approaching while Flounder hid behind a chest.

"I consider myself a reasonable merman," King Triton said. "I set certain rules, and I expect those very rules to be obeyed."

"How did you-?!" I began to ask, but I quickly turned to see Sebastian beside Triton. Knowing full well that that little crab was the one who told the king what had happened, I glared at him, almost losing my composure. "No, I'm not doing this, not now, not with you!"

"But, Dad, I—" Ariel tried to speak, but Triton wouldn't let her.

"Is it true you rescued a human from drowning?"

"Daddy, I had to—"

"Contact between the human world and the mer world is strictly forbidden. Ariel, you know that! Everyone knows that."

"He would've died!"

"One less human to worry about!" Triton scolded angrily.

"You don't even know him!" Ariel yelled heatedly.

"I don't have to know him! They're all the same – spineless, savage, harpooning fish-eaters incapable of any feeling—"

"Daddy, I love him!" Ariel shouted, admitting that to her father as she gasped. Everyone gasped as well – except me.

"Whoa," I said. "Talk about a little teenage rebellion."

King Triton's jaw dropped at Ariel's defense. "No! Have you lost your senses completely? He's a human. You're a mermaid.

"I don't care!" Ariel said.

"All right, we get it!" I intervened once more. "So, what if it's all true? I helped Ariel save the guy, but I swear, never in many years did I think Ariel would be caught and yelled at for it! You gotta believe me here!"

"Enough!" King Triton argued. "Did you know about this?!"

"And what if I did? You repeatedly told Ariel not to trust humans, but they can't all be as bad as you say! And I'm… Well, I'm gonna let Ariel prove it to you!"

King Triton turned back to Ariel. "So, help me, Ariel, I am going to get through to you. And if this is the only way, so be it!"

And with that, King Triton destroyed everything in the grotto as his trident sent out lightning bolts in every direction.

"Daddy! No!" Ariel cried in horror as all her human treasures got blown to pieces. "No! Please! Daddy, stop! Daddy, stop it!"

Just then, Triton turned to the statue of Prince Eric. Realizing this, Ariel tried to stop him. "Daddy, no!"

But it was too late! The statue of Prince Eric was utterly shattered into pieces, along with all the other human objects Ariel collected.

Once King Triton left the grotto, Flounder and Sebastian swam to a sobbing Ariel. At the same time, I looked around at the destroyed grotto.

"The whole place is totaled, and I had just labeled all that stuff so Ariel would have an insane amount to memorize!" I said as I pulled out the Wishing Star piece to see that it was still okay. "Well, the important thing is that this bad boy didn't break. Except for those vases. And those plates. And that chest box."

Knowing that Ariel needed to be alone, I swam away from the grotto…until Flounder and Sebastian trailed behind.

"Poor Ariel," Flounder said sadly.

"I didn't mean to tell," A guilty Sebastian replied. "It was an accident."

"An accident!? Are you kidding me?!" I yelled at Sebastian in anger. "I thought you said we forget what happened, and you told him! Now look what Triton did!"

"Okay, granted, we all have some anger issues."

"Uh, destroying Ariel's treasures is not an anger issue!"

"But that's because the king loves his daughter!"

"Oh, yeah, that's something! Well, he has a strict way of showing it. Let's give Triton a gold star. Parent of the week!" I replied. I took a deep breath to continue. "Your king may have broken every single treasure Ariel had owned, all of her collecting down the drain, but not her!"

Sebastian looked at me straight. "Well, she just might break his heart."

"Ooh, sure, you think that! Because it was your big mouth that got us launched into this mess – AGAIN! Some majordomo you turned out to be for bringing Triton to her secret grotto."

"Well, if you hadn't filled poor Ariel's head with all your nonsense about life on the surface, this wouldn't have happened!"

"If you hadn't been spying on us, I wouldn't have done that!"

"You just don't understand, boy! It's for Ariel's own good, and I pray that she wakes up from this madness you helped push her into. Soon, she's swimming in some dangerous waters."

"I don't understand!? I don't understand!?" I repeated as I pointed accusingly at Sebastian. "YOU don't understand! Ariel has nothing left to live for, and it's all your fault! I saw how the surface world gave Ariel the one thing she could ever love, and you let the king just take it away. Now, if you all excuse me, I gotta do what I gotta do…and maybe Ariel would do the same."

I later swam away to find Eric's castle for Ariel, leaving Flounder and Sebastian behind. "'Dangerous waters,' my butt…," I muttered. "If the surface world matters to Ariel, it matters to me, too! Now everything's ruined! It'll never be the same!"

All I did was convince Ariel that it's so much better above the sea, ensuring her it can still be fun to be on land. Now things have gone to pot, for real!

I continued searching the calm, open blue waters until I stopped at a pile of rocks far away from the shore…of a beautiful, colossal castle that sat on the hill by the water's edge. I finally found Eric's castle as I drifted to sleep after a long swim.

Moments later, after my long nap from finding Eric's castle, I stood up and stretched for a bit…until I bumped into Ariel, Flounder, and Sebastian.

"Well, look who finally came around," I said, getting Ariel's attention as she turned to happily see me. "I see you've been feeling better after that family drama?"

Just then, Scuttle came in as he landed on Ariel. "Well, look at what the catfish dragged in. Look at you. Look at you. There's something different."

"Wait, are you sure?" I asked in confusion while Scuttle scratched his head to ponder things out.

"Don't tell me," Scuttle said to Ariel. "I got it. It's your hairdo, right? You've been using the dinglehopper, right?"

Ariel shook her head.

"No? Then, what else is there?" I asked.

"Well, let me see. New seashells?" Scuttle guessed.

Just then, Ariel smiled as she bounced her leg up and down. I immediately noticed her new human legs, realizing what Ariel was trying to get at. "Wait a minute… Not saying anything… New legs… Oh no, don't tell me…"

"I gotta admit I can't put my foot on it right now," Scuttle said, still clueless. "But if I just stand here long enough—"

"She's got legs, you idiot!" Sebastian shouted, yelling impatiently as Scuttle and I looked at Ariel's legs in shock. "She traded her voice to the sea witch and got legs. Geez, man!"

"I knew that." Scuttle said.

"Yeah, I don't think you do," I replied to Scuttle, then I suddenly realized what Sebastian said. "Wait, did you just say, 'sea witch'? You mean Ursula?!"

Flounder explained how it happened. Ariel's been turned into a human. She's got to make the prince fall in love with her, and he's gotta…he's gotta kiss her."

"And she's only got three days!" Sebastian added while Ariel tried to stand up, but she lost her balance and fell into the water, splashing us.

"I see," I nodded slowly, then shrugged as I turned to Ariel. "Well, at least this is your chance to meet the prince. I mean, talk about a lousy swap, but you got guts."

"Can you please grasp on the situation!?" Sebastian asked impatiently again.

"Hey, hey, hey, I am grasping the situation. It's an unfair one, I get it. I mean, three days? Now tell me that's unfair. It's almost as three days as the weekend."

"Just look at her, boy! On legs! On human legs!" Sebastian continued as I rolled my eyes at his constant panicking. "My nerves are shot! This is a catastrophe! What would her father say? I'll tell you what her father will say. He'd say he's gonna kill himself a crab! That's what her father will say! I'm gonna march meself straight home right now and tell him, just like I should have done the minute and—"

"Don't you even think about it, crabby," I told Sebastian. "I say we hurry and teach Ariel the ways of being human, help her get that kiss, and ruin Ursula's plan to send Atlantica completely down the dumper."

"But maybe there's still time," Sebastian replied. "If we can get that witch to give Ariel back her voice, she could go home with all the normal fish and just be—"

"Miserable for the rest of her life? Not gonna happen because I'm in charge of this operation!"

"Wait a minute," Sebastian halted me. "What operation!? And who put you in charge?"

"I did! Because I'm not letting you ruin Ariel's chances of being with Eric and exploring the human world by marching over to Triton and explaining what happened! Three strikes, and we're in hot water! Plus, I had much experience in the surface world when I was human, so I know how things work. So, step aside, because Sumter's in charge!"

Scuttle flew toward to pick up some sails and rope. "Now, Ariel, I'm tellin' ya, if ya wanna be a human, the first thing you gotta do is dress like one."

"The bird's got a point," I shrugged as I agreed with Scuttle. "I mean, you gotta put on something. At least you'll look…fashionable. After that, it's time for a little teaching montage."

Ariel looked at me in confusion.

"Now, don't look at me like that so crossly," I continued. "I know it's not going to be easy, and we don't have much time, but you need somebody with my knowledge of the surface world to keep you straight and narrow. It's high time you forget everything you thought you knew about the human world and begin your lesson with a clean slate. So, trust me, I got it all worked out."

And that's precisely what we did as the training montage began with me as Ariel's teacher. I taught Ariel how to walk like a human, eat like a human, and act and behave like a human. I know Ariel doesn't want to leave her mermaid ways behind, but this is the only way she'll learn if she ever wants any chance to be with Eric.

Once the montage is over and Ariel has been trained, this leads to the ultimate problem – how will Ariel communicate?

"Well, Ariel," I began. "Since you gave away your voice to Ursula, there's still another way for you to communicate – writing. You must write what you have to say or want to say. People use pen and paper to do so. You'll ask for those later, but you'll have to use neither your fingers nor a stick to write on the sand right now."

"This is ludicrous," Sebastian groaned.

"Well, it's worth a shot, okay?" I replied, and then I turned back to Ariel. "Whether any of those work or not, there's also folks who communicate using sign language by moving their hands – it's a better way to talk until we get your voice back."

Ariel nodded.

But then, I suddenly remembered. "Wait a minute, hold the phone… You met someone with sign language, didn't you!? Gabriella!"

Ariel's eyes grew wide in surprise.

"You know Gabriella? The mermaid who uses sign language to communicate, with her octopus friend Ollie as her interpreter. Good times. Gooood times."

"Yeah, I remember her. And Ollie, too," Flounder cried as she and Ariel remembered. "We met them a couple of times."

"Well, if Gabriella and Ollie were here, we'd have this whole operation worked out in a snap," I replied. "But it's a shame we don't have those two to help us. It's like they're being left out, and it's unfair!" Then, I looked back at Ariel. "Still, you can't tell Eric everything because it'd be challenging to explain why you didn't have your voice anymore, and nobody may believe you. All I'm saying is your chances of happiness could've been destroyed because of the actions of one sinister sea witch. We cannot allow any more mistakes like this. Just remember everything I taught you… I think."

Ariel nodded.

But before I could explain things even further, a loud bark startled us from nearby.

Max, Eric's dog, must've caught Ariel's scent and ran in excitement. Soon, everyone scattered while I hid and watched Ariel try to avoid Max as she was on top of a rock. I'm guessing Max must've known who Ariel was, given how he saw her at the birthday party on deck and at the shore.

Just then, Eric appeared, and Max tried to lead him to Ariel as the prince finally met her. "Are you okay, miss?" He asked Ariel while petting his dog. "I'm sorry if this knucklehead scared you. He's harmless, really."

As Eric looked at Ariel, it was as if it triggered his memory. "You seem very familiar to me. Have we met?"

Ariel nodded with a smile of excitement.

"We have met! I knew it! You're the one… The one I've been looking for! What's your name?"

Ariel tried to answer, but remembering my advice and the fact that she had no voice, she held her throat.

"What is it?" Eric asked. "You can't speak?"

Ariel sadly shook her head.

"Oh, then you couldn't be who I thought."

Ariel sighed, and so did Max. But she had an idea as she sat down on the sand with her knees and wrote down her name on the sand.

"'Ariel,'" Eric read as he looked at her name on the sand. "Is that your name?"

Ariel nodded.

"Oh, sorry. My bad. You must've been through something. Don't worry, I'll help you."

As Eric helped Ariel and led her to his castle home, she looked at Flounder, Scuttle, and me with a smile. The three of us were at the water's edge, watching Ariel taking her one step closer to her dream.

I smiled with satisfaction. "See? What did I tell 'ya? Writing is one of the best ways to communicate."

"So…what do we do now?" Flounder asked.

"I say we stay here and keep an eye on Ariel. That's what we're gonna do. In fact, it's all we can do, and…" Then I stopped to realize someone was missing. "Wait, where's Sebastian?"

Flounder and Scuttle looked around, realizing that Sebastian ain't around. Then, I remembered that Sebastian must've hidden in Ariel's pocket as we looked at the castle, realizing the crab was inside.

"Ooh, Sebastian is so gonna get it," I giggled as I imagined Sebastian having a little chase scene with the chef in the kitchen. "This is so gonna be the most humiliating day of his life."

"This has got to be, without a doubt, the single most humiliating day of my life," Sebastian grumbled as he was on the dresser in Ariel's guest room that evening after dinner, picking up bits and pieces of lettuce. Then, he turned to Ariel, who sank into her new soft bed. "I hope that you appreciate what I go through for you, young lady."

Ariel bounced up and down on the bed while she nuzzled into the pillow while Sebastian continued. "Now we gotta make a plan to get that boy to kiss you. Tomorrow, when he takes you for that ride, you gotta look your best. You gotta bat your eyes like this. You gotta pucker up your lips like this."

Sebastian turned to Ariel, who was already asleep. "You are hopeless, child. You know that? Completely hopeless."

Soon, Sebastian drifted to sleep as well.

Ariel and Eric were on a horse-drawn carriage heading for the village marketplace the next day. Flounder and I leaped out of the water to see Sebastian on the carriage beside Ariel.

"Has he kissed her yet?" Flounder asked.

"Not yet." Sebastian replied.

I groaned in frustration. "Well, has Ariel learned a little sign language yet? Maybe more writing?"

Sebastian shrugged.

"I'll take that as a maybe. Oh, follow along, please. Have you all not thought of this before? This movie came out, like, in 1989."

Ariel had already taken in the sights for the rest of the day and saw many things. Despite my lessons and the inability to speak, she and Eric were having a grand ol' time and enjoying each other's company.

Flounder, Scuttle, and I were nearby to see Ariel and Eric on a rowboat at a beautiful lagoon that evening.

"Move over," Flounder said to Scuttle. "Move your big feathers. I can't see a thing."

"Nothing is happening," Scuttle said. "Only one day left, and that boy ain't puckered up once. Okay, all right, this calls for a little vocal romantic stimulation. Stand back!"

If by 'vocal romantic stimulation,' Scuttle means he'll sing a serenade…with his terrible squawking.

"Oh my god, this is bad," I groaned in dismay as I hurried to Sebastian. "Hey, can you take charge of the romantic music?"

"You're asking me!?" Sebastian asked in surprise. "For my help?"

"Well, I was going for a few selections like 'You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine' by Lou Rawls, 'Can't Take My Eyes Off You' by Gloria Gaynor, 'I Think I Love You' by Tenacious D, or maybe 'Can You Feel the Love Tonight' by Elton John."

Sebastian looked at me with an unamused look about my choice of love songs.

"But maybe your little orchestra mojo might help set the atmosphere, so…"

"Well, since you asked," Sebastian said as he grabbed a sea plant as a baton and summoned all the lagoon animals for help. "We've got to create the mood."

And so, on cue, Sebastian created a fine serenade with ducks tapping on the turtles' shells for percussion, grasshoppers rubbing their legs into the sound of violins for strings, plants vibrating in the breeze for winds, and Sebastian singing the lyrics for words.

"That's more like it," I said, nodding. "I guess."

Soon, the serenade continued as Ariel and Eric drifted under a willow tree, the perfect place to share their kiss. With the fireflies lit up and the fishes creating a remarkable fountain, those two lovebirds were about to kiss…

…that is until the mood was ruined when the boat carrying Ariel and Eric flipped over, and the musical serenade stopped.

"UUGGGHHH!" I screamed angrily. "Give me a big, fat break!" Then, I suddenly noticed two familiar eels cackling.

Now I remember! Flotsam and Jetsam intentionally made the boat tip to ensure Ariel and Eric wouldn't kiss. But if that's the case, Ursula was trying to interfere with Ariel's deal to ensure she was the winner and that all her revenge plans on Triton would never be for nothing. How could I forget that?

We still had one more day, and that kiss will have to wait for now…or will it?