I noticed Ariel take a deep breath as Zeke watched me approached. I gave him a thumbs up, wondering how Ariel would execute this plan. I didn't believe you need to be an actor or actress to pretend to faint. Just collapse, right?

Ariel's wide green eyes found me and I nodded in encouragement. She looked back at the people gawking at her and swam around casually. Zeke nudged my shoulder. "What did you say to her?"

"I just cut to the chase," I told him. "Told her it might help us to free her."

My supervisor only nodded, looking a bit tense as we waited to see what happened. I gave him a smile to try and relax him and he returned it gratefully. Something about the way his smile lit up his face made me feel warm inside. I quickly looked away, careful to hide what might be a slight blush. That or my face was sunburned.

Alarmed voices began rising from the people, drawing my attention. Ariel laid at the bottom of her exhibit, her eyes shut and her body limp in the water. Darn it. I missed the performance. Thanks for distracting me, Zeke.

"What happened?" a woman asked.

Zeke and I hastily approached to step in as the people looked at her in bewilderment and worry. I pushed to the front and turned to face the audience. "Please leave at once! We need to work this out. I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

"What happened?" a confused person asked. "Why did she faint?"

"Please, leave," I said. Zeke grabbed the orange cones from next to the grass and placed them a good distance from the exhibit, circling it so that we had a fair share of the walkway and wouldn't have people on top of us as we tried to speak with Ariel. "Come back tomorrow, if you want. But please leave! We need concentration to work this out."

After a moment, the group of people dispersed, throwing us hesitant glances as they did so. The children looked mildly disappointed.

I gave a sharp rap on the exhibit and Ariel's bright green eyes snapped open. She cautiously swam off of the ground and hovered just above the coral, mostly out of sight in case people passed by and looked in her direction. "What is so important that you need to talk to me about?"

"We need to catch Ursula," I said. I watched her expression blank. "She has been accused of kidnapping a child, and if it's really her, we need to make sure she's caught so that no more harm will come. Hopefully the child's still okay."

"Ursula is evil," Ariel muttered. "I don't know what you want me to do. She's stronger than I am."

"We kind of want to use you as bait to lure her into your exhibit," I admitted, feeling bad for forcing this on her. "There is a pipe big enough for you to fit through if one of us just unscrews it open so you can escape after she is completely inside your exhibit and we get the lid closed and sealed."

She pursed her lips, running her hand down her scaly tail. Zeke was keeping a lookout for us. I was just hoping we got this conversation done quickly and with Ariel on board. She seemed agreeable enough as she met my eyes slowly. "And how can I trust you?"

"I don't know," I sighed. "But I really do want to help. I just want to get you and everybody else back to your proper worlds."

"Well," she breathed, "where will the pipe lead to?"

"I...didn't think of asking that," I admitted. She frowned slightly to which I hastily added, "But I can ask if you want!" When she nodded her head I turned to Zeke standing by and keeping guard. "Zeke."

He turned to me and I motioned for him to come over. As he approached, he studied Ariel curiously. She returned the gesture, looking him up and down and narrowing her eyes.

"Need something?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder.

"Yeah. Where does the pipe she will fit in lead to?"

"A water supply," he said, "but she won't have to go all the way down the pipe. Ursula won't fit so as long as she stays a good distance away from the opening she can hang out in there until we get Ursula out of the exhibit."

"Okay," Ariel sighed. "So you want to open this prison, let my enemy in, and trap me with her."

"But you will be safe in the pipe." I could sense her hesitance and another surge of guilt made me shift my body awkwardly. "Um, if you don't want to it's fine. We can find another way to-"

"No, I might do it," Ariel said. "But how will you get the pipe open?" She swam over to the opening of the pipe, tugging against the bars that resembled a trapdoor. "It's stuck."

"I'll have to get in and unscrew the nails to take it off."

"You can't breathe in here," she stated matter-of-factly.

"Yup," I sighed. "I know. I'll wear scuba gear or something."

Zeke nodded in confirmation and Ariel looked between us skeptically. "I hope you know what you're doing."

I laughed, trying to make it sound lighthearted but feeling my stomach churn at the thought that we were really going to do this. I had never faced an actual villain before and now a villain that shouldn't even exist in our world was loose and we were going to try and catch her. I just hoped she wasn't very smart. "We know what we're doing. We discussed it the other night."

"After we get Ursula and rescue the child she's kidnapped we can finish figuring out how to send you all back to your worlds," Zeke said. "Then everything can go back to normal."

"Since when do you want to help us?" Ariel demanded, folding her arms as she glared at him. I could immediately sense the tension. I guessed she didn't like Zeke that much.

"Since someone with courage and sass began working here," he responded, avoiding my gaze and running a hand through his brown hair. I couldn't help smiling at his words.

Ariel didn't seem entirely convinced but I admired how she sucked it up anyway and turned back to me, her face determined and focused. "Okay. I'm in."

•~•~•~•

Summer is on its way, WOOP WOOP! I put in my two weeks at Walmart about a week ago. Just have to keep swimming until my last day on Thursday!

Just keep swimming.

Here we go. I've got this haha!

How're you all doing?