Ariel Takes the Cake (a short story)

[Random Prince]

I've never been very good with fanfiction. I've tried reading and writing it, but I've never finished anything. However, I love TLM's Treasure Chest the novels series, so I thought it might be fun to write a simple, short story like those. I decided not to break it into chapters, so I'm going to post it in three parts. I hope you enjoy it!

Ariel Takes the Cake

by Random Prince

Sebastian narrowed his eyes as he looked around the vast, shadowy chamber and let out a quiet sigh of suspicion and irritation. They're in here somewhere, he thought as he scanned the jumble of dark, billowing curtains and giant slabs of stone, suspended by thick ropes of seaweed from the high ceiling.

He opened his mouth to call out, but changed his mind. It was almost certain they were hiding from him yet again and he wasn't prepared to give them the satisfaction of hearing him shouting helplessly. But there was so much to do and so little time. He made up his mind that the only thing to do was to find them himself, so he began to search, clambering across the cluttered floor, over ragged sheets and between heavy cases crammed full of extraordinary objects.

Then he saw what he was looking for. A wisp of bright red wafted momentarily from behind a curtain and he hurried over impulsively.

"Ha! I found you!" he exclaimed, dragging the curtain aside with all his might and seizing the culprit, which turned out to be a large piece of old, tattered red fabric. He buried his face in the cloth, shamed and frustrated.

Ariel had been keeping perfectly still and silent all this time, but she simply couldn't contain herself any longer. The sound of her laughter resonated throughout the room, making it impossible for poor Sebastian to decipher just where it was coming from. He spun around in bewilderment and quickly lost his temper.

"Ariel!" he fumed, shuddering with rage. His fury escalated and he began to jump up and down, snapping with his claws and babbling uncontrollably. "What do you...? How could you...? You know we have to...!"

"Alright Sebastian," Ariel interrupted serenely, emerging from her hiding place behind a statue, closely followed by her best friend, Flounder. "We were only... No, look out!" Her heart seemed to stop as she screamed the warning, but it was too late. One of Sebastian's flailing claws had severed a rope and before she could do anything to stop it, a huge wall of solid stone came crashing down, sending up a dense cloud of sand.

Ariel propelled herself blindly into the storm, blinking and choking as she called out desperately for Sebastian. The swirl soon died down and tears sprang to her eyes as she saw the tiny crab lying crumpled between the heavy fragments of shattered stone.

Flounder immediately swam off to get help, leaving Ariel alone on the floor of the rehearsal room, sobbing over a broken backdrop and one very cracked crab.



Sebastian felt very peculiar. What happened? Did I fall asleep? He wondered. The last thing he remembered, he was trying to find that infuriating mermaid so they could get to work on the show. Maybe the impertinence of her behaviour had caused him to pass out. It wouldn't be the first time. He opened his eyes and squinted groggily. The first thing he saw was a splash of bright red, and then a familiar face came into focus. The last face he wanted to see right now. Immediately he began to rant and rave.

"You! You... blundering barnacle!" he yelled, surprising himself. Why was he feeling so strange?

"Oh, Sebastian. I'm so sorry!" Ariel gushed, leaning in closer to him, and then drawing back again quickly in order to save her nose from another thrashing claw.

It was only then that Sebastian realised how terrible Ariel looked. Her hair was dishevelled, lacking its usual radiant shine and her face was ashen. Her eyes were slightly red and glassy. Then he felt a dull ache surging through his body and a chill of fear washed over him like an icy wave. Looking around, he found he was at home, lying in his own bed.

"What happened, Ariel?" he croaked.

Ariel burst into tears as she explained the accident with the falling scenery, apologising with every other word. She wiped her eyes with her hands and tried to compose herself.

"Your right claw and two of your legs are broken," she sniffed. "The Doctopus says you'll be fine, but you'll need complete rest and it might take a while for you to recover. I'm so sorry, Sebastian. It's all my fault!"

"How long have I been unconscious?" Sebastian asked.

"Two days," Ariel replied. "I've been here the whole time. Daddy tried to make me go home and get some sleep, but I just felt so bad about..."

"Two days!" Sebastian squeaked, panicking. "Ariel, the show is tomorrow night and we've barely even started! This is a disaster!"

"Well," Ariel began soothingly, "we thought, given the situation, we'd just cancel..."

"No!" Sebastian stated firmly. "No. The King has invited everybody under the sea to this show and they are expecting something magnificent. We are not going to let them down."

"But, Sebastian," Ariel said awkwardly, "the Doctopus said you need complete rest. There's no way you can..."

"Then you'll have to find somebody else, because this show is not to be cancelled!" Sebastian insisted fervently. Ariel was silent for a moment.

"Well, if that's what you really want," she murmured, eyeing him closely. "I'll do it."

Sebastian tried to shake his head, but it hurt too much. The pain must have shown on his face, he thought, as Ariel hung her head guiltily.

"But Ariel," he said, trying to sound as bright as possible, "you are the star of the show. You can't be in charge and be the star."

"Don't worry about that. I'll find somebody else to take my place." Ariel told him. "I know how much this show means to you Sebastian and I owe it to you to make sure it's a success." Sebastian smiled weakly in appreciation.

"So I'm in charge? Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yes," he declared. "Now off you go. You have a lot of work to do! And don't worry about me!" he added before Ariel could protest. She looked concerned and exhausted as she kissed him gently on the top of his head and stopped to look over her shoulder as she swam toward the door.

"I am really sorry, Sebastian," she apologised once again.

"It's alright, child," Sebastian reassured her. "Now off you go and make me proud, and remember, the show must go on."



"Thank goodness he's alright!" King Triton exclaimed when Ariel arrived back at the palace. Ariel's six sisters all agreed.

"I just can't believe you'd do something so reckless and irresponsible," Aquata declared. "Wait, what am I saying? Of course I can." The gibe was good-natured but it still made Ariel's heart sink like a stone.

"Thanks, Aquata," she muttered flatly. "Like I wasn't feeling bad enough already."

"You do look awful," Adella offered, making the other Princesses laugh. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that!"

"It's ok," Ariel smiled feebly. "I'm sure you're right. I'm so tired, but I don't have time to rest. I have a show to arrange!" She shook her head a little to wake herself up... and immediately yawned.

"What do you mean?" Arista asked. "You're taking over the show?"

"That's right," Ariel said, rather unconvincingly, as the words were muffled by another yawn.

"But you're the star," Alana announced. "How are you going to...?"

"Not any more," Ariel told them. "That role is for the taking."

Andrina let out of squeal of enthusiasm. "Let me do it, Ariel! Please!"

"Oh, um..." Ariel spluttered, looking at her sisters. "Any objections?"

"Yes!" Andrina cried in delight when the other five mermaids said nothing, although Ariel had observed their subtle exchange of nervous glances. She wasn't feeling too confident herself.

"Oh, this is so exciting!" Andrina sang, the piercing sound making everybody else cringe. "I've never been the star of a show before, never ever!"

"I wonder why," Aquata said innocently.

[toons27]

Is Andrina off-key all the time? LOL

Wow, you write very well! My writing stinks!

[tnadav1]

great fanfic it's reminds me of the series.
Also I liked how Andrina is the star of the show .
Oh,and another thing-Ariel is never sarcastic,Jodi said that,she always speak from her heart so you should edit what she said to Aquata.

[Random Prince]

Thanks for taking the time to read the story. Glad you like it so far. Surely we can let Ariel off for being a little sarcastic after staying awake for two days! Here's the next part...

---

"How are we ever going to get this show together on time?" Ariel wailed, clutching her untidy hair in distress. The mermaid Princesses were gathered in the rehearsal room, trying to get organised. "The only thing we had ready was the volcano backdrop and now it's smashed to pieces!" Along with Sebastian, she thought miserably.

"Maybe we'll just have to do the show without scenery," Attina suggested. "You know, just pretend the volcano is there. Nobody will mind. The concert hall itself makes an impressive background after all."

"Ok," Ariel said breathlessly, "but we still have to plan everything, sort out costumes and rehearse. There isn't enough time!"

"We just need to prioritise," Andrina announced with a smile. "Surely the most important thing is that the star of the show gives an impressive performance. Let's concentrate on that, shall we?"

"Concentrate on you, you mean," Aquata quipped, raising her eyebrows.

"Jealous." Andrina turned up her nose haughtily.

"Good idea," Ariel agreed, not being entirely honest, but any idea was a very good thing right now. She rifled through the scattered papers on the table and handed a few sheets to each of her sisters, all except for Andrina. "Here are the songs. Please try and learn them while I..."

"What about me?" Andrina interjected indignantly. Ariel gestured to the remaining heaps of paper on and around the table.

"Those are yours," she explained. Andrina looked uneasy as she approached the table and began gathering up her many scripts.

"Flounder!" Ariel exclaimed as her friend swam into the room. "I'm glad you're here. I have something else to take care of and I need your help."

"Something else?" Alana repeated, dropping her music in surprise. "But you said you didn't even have enough time to arrange the show!"

"I know," Ariel confessed, "but I feel so terrible about Sebastian and I'm not going to be able to concentrate until I do something to make him feel better."

"What are you doing to do?" Alana asked. Ariel opened her mouth to respond, but realised she had no idea.

"Oh right, I need to come up with an idea first," she moaned, rubbing her head. "I should really make a list of everything I have to do, if I only had the time."

"If only you were an octopus," Aquata mused.

"What do you think?" Ariel addressed her sisters. "What cheers you up?"

"Seahorse riding?" Arista suggested cheerfully.

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Ariel said gently. "He already has enough injuries."

"A makeover!" Adella blurted excitedly. "Manicure, makeup, haircut!"

"Um, I'm not sure that would work for Sebastian." Ariel nudged Flounder to stop him giggling.

"Jewellery!" Adella went on happily.

"How about a cake?" Attina put in. "Sebastian loves his food and cake is always comforting."

"That's a great idea, Attina!" Ariel hugged her sister. "Thank you! I'll be back as soon as I can. Keep practising the songs!" She grabbed Flounder by the fin before he even had a chance to turn around and dragged him backwards through the doorway.

"No problem," Andrina called after them, her voice muffled behind the huge mound of papers spilling out of her arms.



Ariel was pleasantly surprised to find the palace kitchen empty. After being stuck in the rehearsal room with her sisters, she was in need of some peace and quiet.

"Should we go and find Cook?" Flounder asked, pre-empting the answer and turning to leave. Ariel grabbed his tail.

"No, I'm doing this for Sebastian. I don't want anyone helping me," Ariel fussed.

"Ok," Flounder said, wriggling free and swimming toward the door.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Ariel shouted after him. Flounder turned back, laughing.

"So, when you said 'I don't want anyone helping me', you meant...?"

"Oh, just get back here!" Ariel grumbled as she scanned the shelves for a cake recipe book. She quickly found one and wrenched it off the shelf, knocking half the other books onto the floor in the process. "Pick those up while I choose a recipe," she ordered distractedly, tucking her hair behind her ears.

"Yes, Princess," Flounder joked, swimming over to the books. He smiled secretly to himself when she ignored him.

"This one!" Ariel decided, pointing at a picture of a rock cake. "It looks good and it's supposed to be easy."

Ariel and Flounder set to work trying to make the cake. Neither of them could fully understand the recipe, so they estimated most of the measurements and substituted some of the ingredients they didn't know where to find. The kitchen was a complete mess by the time it came to whisking the cake batter, which they attempted to do by spinning the mixing bowl around the counter like a top.

"There," Ariel said, admiring her work. "It looks pretty good to me. Now we just have to put it into the oven." She swam over and opened the door. A surge of bubbles and a wave of heat blasted her in the face, making her jump. "Why didn't you tell me you'd already turned it on?" she demanded crossly.

"Sorry," Flounder mumbled. "I was just trying to be helpful."

"Never mind," Ariel said, concentrating. "Now, this oven opens at the front, not at the top, so how do I pour the mixture in?"

"Maybe we should just put the bowl in," Flounder considered.

"Good thinking," Ariel agreed. "That will save us cleaning the oven afterwards." She pushed the bowl inside and closed the door.

"I'm not so sure," Flounder confessed, peering through the window to see the cake frothing and bubbling violently.

"Let's get back to the rehearsal room," Ariel decided. "We have about an hour before the cake will be ready." She patted the oven with her hand, trying her best to ignore the loud popping sounds coming from inside and swam out of the kitchen.



"Ariel!" Triton called to his daughter as she swam through the hall. "I'd like to introduce you to our esteemed guest, Prince Rubrio from the Kingdom of Thalassa."

Ariel spun around to see a handsome, smiling merman swimming toward her.

"Princess Ariel," he beamed, bowing to kiss her hand. "I am honoured to make your acquaintance."

"Oh! Right back at ya!" Ariel blabbered idiotically, taken by surprise. Then she caught sight of her reflection in a nearby pillar and let out a scream of alarm. She looked horrendous! Her hair was sticking up all over the place, resembling a giant anemone, and she was covered in splodges of cake batter. Rubrio drew back, startled by the sudden outburst, as Ariel frantically tried to smooth down her hair and brush off the cake mixture.

"Prince Rubrio has come all this way to see your show, dear," Triton announced hastily, trying to distract his guest's attention, yet with a distinct note of pride and warmth in his voice.

"Your youngest daughter is in charge of the show?" Rubrio sounded impressed. "That is a great responsibility."

"Oh, it's nothing," Ariel lied, trying and failing to sound calm and composed under the ever-mounting pressure.

"Actually, our royal composer, Sebastian, would normally be in charge, but unfortunately he's recently had an accident and needs to rest," Triton explained.

"It wasn't my fault!" Ariel blurted out unintentionally. The Prince stared at her in bewilderment.

"Well, I hope he will be alright," he said after a moment of stunned silence.

"He'll be fine," Ariel replied, embarrassed. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go! Nice meeting you!"

Grabbing Flounder's fin yet again, she whirled around and swam away as fast as she could.

"What a... unique daughter you have, King Triton," Prince Rubrio said uncertainly.

"Yes," Triton replied fondly as he watched her disappear into the distance. "She is very special."



"What's going on?" Ariel cried as she entered the rehearsal room to find her sisters seahorsing around in brightly coloured fabric, adorning themselves with ribbons and jewels and laughing.

"We're putting together our costumes," Adella replied joyfully. Then she saw the anxious expression on her sister's face and her smile faded. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" Ariel shouted. "You're supposed to be learning the songs for the show! That's far more important than ridiculous costumes!"

"Oh, really?" Aquata piped up. "I thought you were just taking over Sebastian's job, not his entire personality. Anyway, we finished learning the songs so we thought we'd get on with something else."

"You learnt the songs already?" Ariel asked in astonishment.

"Yeah," Alana answered, "and we've practised them too. Listen!"

The mermaid Princesses performed the chorus of each song for their little sister. The sound was pure and the harmonies were perfect, but as they held the last beautiful note, Ariel realised something was missing. In fact, somebody was missing.

"Where's Andrina?" she asked. "Is she still learning her lines?"

Before her sisters could respond, Andrina came twirling into the room, dressed in her finest clothes and jewellery, a sparkling tiara on her head.

"Isn't it perfect?" she trilled. "Now I really look like a star!"

"Andrina!" Ariel exclaimed. "You're supposed to be learning your lines for the show! You're wasting time!"

"Wasting time?" Andrina repeated. "I'm the star! I have to look good."

"Yes, but..." Ariel began.

"Don't worry," Andrina cut her off. "I'll learn the lines. My costume is done now anyway."

"Ok," Ariel relented. She couldn't help feeling upset by Andrina's disregard for all her hard work, but she didn't want to argue. She needed to save her energy. "Just promise you will. And please remember to practise your singing!" You're going to need a lot of practise, she thought to herself, and something about her other sisters' faces told her they were thinking the same thing.

[tnadav1]

Nice part but still,she's not sarcastic,even if she's way tried and so worried about Sebastian.
Andrina is funny.

[WickedElphie]

Don't sell yourself short RandomPrince. So far your story looks really great. The characters are in character, the plot is interesting, and you have a very nice style. I'm eagerly awaiting the epic conclusion!

[fridamoonbeam]

LOL, I love the mer-sisters. Very cute story =)

[Random Prince]

Thanks guys. I appreciate it. Here the final installment...

---

Ariel swept into the kitchen and flung open the oven door, worried she had been away too long. Once again the burst of boiling water caught her by surprise and she waved her arm in front of her face to disperse the flow. As soon as the water had cooled, she took a peek inside the oven. It was dark, but she could just make out what looked like a small, rocky mountain standing in a mixing bowl. Well, it is a rock cake, she told herself. I guess it's supposed to look like that. She slipped on some oven mitts and carefully retrieved her creation. Just as she was carrying it over to the table, Flounder swam into the room, out of breath.

"What's that?" he gasped, slamming to a halt.

"It's the cake, Flounder," Ariel replied, frowning at him.

"Oh!" Flounder exclaimed with a little too much enthusiasm. "Right! It looks... great. Um... is it supposed to be doing that?"

"Doing what?" Ariel muttered. Then she realised the cake in her hands was shaking, almost trembling. She promptly set it down on the table and stared at it. "It's probably because it's so hot," she resolved. "I'm sure it will stop once it's cooled down."

But as she watched, the quaking only grew more and more forceful, until at last the bowl began to bounce wildly around the table. She backed away, astounded.

"Take cover!" Flounder yelled over the clattering noise, but before they could move, the cake exploded with a loud boom, sending miniature boulders all around the kitchen. Caught in the deluge, Ariel and Flounder braced themselves, but the solid fragments were surprisingly light and didn't hurt at all. Flounder picked one up and took a bite. "Hey, this is pretty good!" he declared, but this did nothing to console a distraught Ariel.

"Oh no!" she wailed, burying her face in her arms. "It's ruined. Everything's ruined! It's bad enough the volcano backdrop got smashed and now my rock cake has exploded!" After sobbing for a moment, she lifted her head and was confused to see Flounder smiling at her.

"Ariel," he grinned. "I think you just solved one of your problems."



As Ariel swam through the palace, heading back to the rehearsal room, she couldn't believe her eyes when she saw Andrina swimming in the opposite direction.

"Andrina!" she cried incredulously. "Now what are you doing?"

"Oh," Andrina spoke casually, "I'm just taking a break. I need a lie down."

"What?" Ariel shouted, grabbing Andrina by the shoulders and resisting a strong urge to shake some sense into her. "Andrina, the show is tomorrow night and you have six songs to learn!"

"I'm just taking a break," Andrina repeated. "The star of the show needs her rest. Anyway, I already learnt a couple of the songs."

"Ok," Ariel breathed, trying her best to stay calm. "I'd like to hear them."

"I left my music in the rehearsal room," Andrina shrugged.

"You said you'd learnt them," Ariel demanded. "Why do you need the music?"

"Well, I don't know them off by heart just yet," Andrina explained indifferently.

"Then you haven't learnt them!" Ariel yelled. "You haven't done anything!"

"I'm going to lie down," Andrina persisted, trying to squirm free. "I'll learn the lines when I get back." Ariel strengthened her grip on Andrina's shoulders.

"No," she dictated. "You're not going anywhere." Andrina began to struggle.

"Yes I am!" she challenged. "Just because you're in charge of the show, that doesn't mean you can order me around!"

"Yes it does!" Ariel retorted.

"I'm the star of this show!" Andrina proclaimed, dramatically. "I should be treated with respect!"

"No you're not!" Ariel snapped, letting go of her sister. "You're not the star of this show. Not any more."

"What?" Andrina gasped, upset. She seemed to abandon her idea of a lie down and followed Ariel into the rehearsal room. "No! You can't do that!" The other Princesses were hovering by the entrance, looking nervous.

"What's going on?" Attina enquired. "We heard you fighting."

"She's taken away my role!" Andrina wailed dramatically, before Ariel could speak. "I'm not the star any more!" When none of her sisters displayed a reaction to her announcement, she began to cry. "I knew it! Nobody cares!"

"Seems like you care about yourself enough for the rest of us," Aquata criticised under her breath.

"This show isn't all about you, Andrina," Ariel argued, incensed by her sister's lack of consideration. "We're doing this for Sebastian and we've all been working really hard, while you've been parading around like a star."

"It's not fair!" Andrina bawled. "You always get to be a star and you never even try!"

Oh dear, Ariel thought, you've got me there. How do I say this without making everything even worse?

"Well," she began hesitantly, "that's because... Sebastian thinks that I have the best... no, it's just that... singing comes more naturally to me. That's all." The remaining five sisters murmured in agreement. As much as they all loved to sing, they knew Ariel had a special talent. Andrina, on the other fin, did not share their understanding.

"So," she uttered resentfully, "what you're saying is, I can't sing."

"No," Ariel reasoned, "not exactly. I just think you could do with a little more practice..."

"Oh, come on!" Andrina contended, taking offense. "Admit it! You think you're better than everyone else and you won't even give me a chance!" Exhausted and extremely hurt, Ariel couldn't take any more.

"You know what, Andrina?" she cried. "If that's what you want to hear, fine! You can't sing, you're not prepared to work hard and you'll never be a star!"

Andrina pushed passed Ariel and swam out of the room in tears.



"Thank you! Thank you!" Sebastian swelled with pride as he addressed the crowd that cheered and applauded with admiration. Suddenly he was distracted by a voice whispering his name, softly and sweetly. He opened his eyes and saw Ariel leaning over him.

"How are you feeling?" she asked gently.

"Oh, I'm fine," Sebastian yawned.

"I brought you something," Ariel said, presenting her gift.

"A basket of rocks," Sebastian observed, confused. "Thank you, Ariel."

"Try eating one," Ariel smiled. Sebastian pulled a face.

"Maybe you've been working too hard," he advised. Ariel giggled and held out one of the rocks. It did smell good, so he ventured a taste.

"Rock cakes!" he laughed in delight. "I love those, but they're usually too big for me to eat. These are the perfect size!"

"That's what I said," piped up Flounder, who was floating behind Ariel. "I helped to make them."

"Well," Sebastian munched, "they're delicious. Thank you."

"It did start off as one big cake," Ariel confessed, "but it exploded. We're going to try and recreate it for the volcanic eruption at the end of the show!" Then her face fell. "Well, we were going to."

"What's happened?" Sebastian asked.

"I told Andrina she could be the star of the show," Ariel told him, making him cringe. "It totally went to her head. She didn't learn any of the songs and when I tried to talk to her she got really mad. I couldn't make her understand that the show is for everyone... and I ended up hurting her feelings. Now we have nobody to sing all the solos, and after the rest of us worked so hard."

"Your other sisters have been working hard?" Sebastian repeated.

"Oh yes!" Ariel brightened. "They learnt the choruses of every song in no time, with all the harmonies and everything! It's too bad they can't all be the star of the show. They deserve a chance to shine."

"That sounds like a good idea to me," Sebastian said.

"You're right!" Ariel exclaimed. "I can't believe I didn't think of it before. Thank you Sebastian!" She and Flounder rushed out of the room, leaving Sebastian to enjoy the basket of very special cakes.



The six excited mermaid Princesses could hear the audience buzzing with anticipation as they took their places on the stage behind the great curtain. From her position in the wings, Ariel gazed out into the endless crowd, feeling apprehensive, but far more rested and relaxed than she had in the last couple of days. She spotted her Father in the royal box, surrounded by various important-looking guests, including Prince Rubrio, and smiled. Hopefully the show would be inspiring enough to compensate for the laughable first impression she'd made the day before. A hush descended as the lights dimmed and soon the concert hall was plunged into complete darkness.

As the music started, Ariel swam backstage to check over her list. Everything had been taken care of and the show was going swimmingly. The audience cheered wholeheartedly after every song, each one with a solo part sung by a different sister. Ariel was spellbound as she watched from above the stage, having never had the chance to see her sisters perform a show before. She felt quite emotional when Andrina swam forward and sang more beautifully than ever before. She had truly seen the error of her ways and worked hard to practise her song, grateful for the opportunity. Ariel became so engrossed that she almost forgot about the one last task she had yet to complete, and when the final song began to play she swam to the palace kitchen as fast as her fins would carry her.

Cook had done a wonderful job recreating her volcanic rock cake. It looked extremely realistic, with jets of bubbles bursting from the peak. This one was bigger than Ariel herself, so it required the help of a large ray to carry it to the concert hall. The slight trembling again turned to violent quaking just as they lowered it carefully onto the stage behind the rear curtain, which was instantly hoisted up to reveal the incredible moving backdrop. The audience gasped in amazement at the sight as the mermaid Princesses held out their final, harmonious note and swam up from the stage. The music swelled and the volcano erupted with a thunderous roar, flinging hundreds of rock cakes out into the crowd, much to everyone's surprise.

Minutes later, after a resounding floating ovation and a feast of cake, Ariel and her sisters greeted their audience.

"Well done Ariel!" Triton praised his daughter, swimming over to give her a hug. "I'm very proud of you. That was a spectacular show!"

"It certainly was explosive," Prince Rubrio joked, appearing at the King's side. "And may I say how lovely and clean you look tonight."

"Thank you very much," Ariel laughed. "I'm glad you enjoyed the show."

"You did a wonderful job," he continued affectionately. "I have something to give to you." He drew a stunningly beautiful shell from behind his back and placed it in her hands.

"Wow!" Ariel exclaimed. "You didn't have to do this."

"I brought it from my kingdom, intending to present it to your Father," Rubrio explained, "but when he told me how much your friend Sebastian would have loved to experience this show, we decided to use his magic trident to capture the sound forever inside the shell. I thought you might like to take it to him."

"Oh yes," Ariel enthused, throwing her arms around her new friend. "Thank you so much!"

Ariel's sisters joined them, each of them carrying a large bouquet of sea flowers.

"Cool shell!" Alana declared. "Look how it changes colour!"

"You were all fantastic!" Ariel applauded her sisters. "Thank you for working so hard. It really means a lot."

"You made it all possible," Attina told her. "I'm sure Sebastian will be very proud."

Everyone cheered as Ariel grabbed Flounder by the fin once again and they swam off to visit Sebastian and share their triumph with their friend, along with a rock cake or two.

The End

[WickedElphie]

Aww. I really liked the ending. My one wish is that we had seen Ariel bring the sisters her idea and their reactions. Particularly Andrina's.

But like I said this was a sweet little story and a nice sample of Ariel's life before Eric.

I hope we can look forward to more of your writing in the future!

[Random Prince]

Thnaaw, thanks Elphie! I'm glad you enjoyed the story and again, I appreciate you taking the time to read it (especially since it doesn't even include Eric :'().

I agree with what you said about another scene with Ariel and her sisters. I was aiming to keep it short and I thought it might disrupt the pace, but actually it probably would have been a nice part of the story.

Anyway, I had fun writing this and I'll definitely try it again some time.

[Random Prince]

I just finished this picture of Ariel meeting Prince Rubrio...



Technically Ariel should be covered with cake mixture, but I didn't feel like drawing that.

[WickedElphie]

Wow that picture looks awesome.

[tnadav1]

Great fanfic it's sounds like a book,you can wirte some Little Mermaid books .
I still think that you should fix her sarcastic comment,I know she's tired but I think that she's stronger then that .
Question about Andrina-She was selfish,vain and she thought that she's the only importent thing about the show and she also didn't worked hard at all unlike everyone else? because I thought Ariel sounds a little harsh but if Andrina was like I said in your story then wasn't.
Also I loved the picture the prince reminds me of the prince that wanted to merry Jasmine in the beginning of Aladdin (I can't remember his name,I"m tired).

[fathomsbelow]

I really liked the story, and it's a nice look into Ariel's life in Atlantica. It was like a television episode, which is really awesome because I loved the TV show
That's also a really great illustration! You're very talented

[Random Prince]

Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I've always loved the TV show too.

[toons27]

This story was awesome! I felt like was watching a tv episode from the TLM series! Like everybody else, said Ariel was a little bit OCC. Otherwise, great job!

Oh and please check out my first chapter in "Melody's nanny." I just posted it.