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Dreams_12  | Madison_dayy | chanyeolbby | FalseRealityDreamer |

 rewood101 | lotsohugs4me | iinspiritbabyy | Kyulurver

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~*Chapter Twenty *~

You let Ariel sleep in your room that night. You pulled some of the spare blankets out of the store room and curled up on the floor.

Are you sure? She held up the small notepad you had given her and you nodded your head.

“Of course,” you gave her a weak smile before getting up and turning off the light that was keeping the room illuminated. You felt terrible. She looked miserable and you felt bad in knowing there was nothing you could do to stop it. At numerous times in the night, you could hear her letting out sharp gasps of breath and you knew she was trying to cry.

Eventually, at god knows what time, you got up and grabbed the shell, switching the light on while you were up. Ariel sat up, eyes red from crying, and looked at you with a mixed expression of puzzlement and sadness. You put the shell to your ear and then nodded at her to try and speak to you through it.

“Let it all out,” you told her.

“He’s gone… he doesn’t even know who I am,” you heard her sob. You could see tears rolling down her cheeks as she spoke and she wiped them away with the back of her hand. “It’s him, it’s definitely Joonmyeon, he hasn’t changed a bit. But when he looks at me, he doesn’t see me like he used to. He just smiles and turns away.”

“It’ll be OK,” you whispered back, “Do you know of any way to get him back?”

“No,” she whispered, “The sea witch told me the only way to get back my voice was our wedding day kiss, now that he doesn’t even know who I am, I doubt that’s going to work now.”

“You can try,” you offered, “Maybe you can get him to fall in love with you again!”

“It was hard enough the first time, without my voice.”

“But can’t you just speak to him with the shell, like I am now?”

“You found the shell,” she shook her head, “Only you can hear me.”

“Oh,” you rubbed at the back of your neck, stifling a yawn. You sat in silence for a while, not quite knowing where to go next. But then you had a thought, you knew it could backfire and be a complete failure, but it could work, it could give her hope.

“I have an idea.” Ariel snapped her head up and looked at you hopefully, “I knew this boy, Jin. He knew a lot of things about Neverland. Maybe if we can find him, he can tell us more, maybe we can find a way to break the curse and make Suho – I mean, Joonmyeon –remember again.”

“Jin? I’ve never heard of such a boy…” she trailed off, “But if you think he could give you the answers then maybe he’s worth a shot,” she pondered. You gave her an encouraging smile which she returned.

“Let’s get some sleep and we can try to find him in the morning,” you nodded, getting back up to switch the light off. Ariel looked a lot more contented and had stopped crying altogether now. You heard the shell whisper a quiet “thank you” and you got back under your covers on the floor and tried to sleep again and this time, you weren’t woken up by Ariel’s choked sobs.

***

You knew that Jin had told you not to come looking for him, but you figured that when you told him that it was for a good cause, he’d understand. At least, you hoped. It was the morning, and after you had filled yourself up with breakfast and convinced Baekhyun that you were just going out for chat and to relax, he finally agreed to let you and Ariel go out on your own. He also gave you a small bag with some pixie dust in to call him for help if you needed it.

“But how do I use it?” you asked, peering in to the small little pouch of sparkling powder.

“Just open it, take a handful out and whisper my name, I’ll come as fast as I can.”

You grabbed a backpack of fruits and bottled water before nodding and putting the pouch in there too and going upstairs to get Ariel. She didn’t like to sit downstairs when Su- Joonmyeon was there.

“Are you ready?” you asked her. She was sitting on your bed in some clothes that you had leant her. They fit her better since she was a lot taller than you and she looked a whole lot better than you too; she still managed to look beautiful in a plain white t-shirt and grey joggers. Baekhyun brought you another pair of boots and she was lacing them up as she looked at you. She tugged twice at the lace before nodding, almost to herself.

You finally got on your way and you weren’t sure where you were supposed to be going. All you knew was that Jin’s house was about a twenty minute walk from here and you definitely came in from the densest part of the jungle. Ariel obviously couldn’t say a word as you spoke, but she held up the notebook and asked how Joonmyeon was doing.

“I haven’t spoken to him much, I’ve only just got here really,” you admitted, “But he’s really nice. He’s funny, sweet and kind, was he like that with you?” You turned to look at her and she gave you a sad smile and a nod as if she was reminiscing on her moments with him. “Don’t worry, I’ll help you get him back,” you assured her. She unexpectedly wrapped you into a hug and you stiffened at first, but relaxed in to it and returned it, patting her back. She pulled away and mouthed a “thank you.” You waved it off, shaking your head, “Come on, we have a boy to find.”

Her shoulders shook in laughter as you continued your trek through the dense foliage, you tried your best to hold back the branches for her to walk through, but every now and again you would walk straight into another one and scratch your face whilst you were checking to see if she was OK. She gasped every time a branch almost took your eye out and she made you stop to make sure it was OK, even when you protested and insisted that you were fine.

You ate as you walked too, however, munching on the delicious fruits didn’t make time go any quicker. You felt like you had been walking forever and you weren’t passing anything familiar at all.

Ariel tapped your shoulder and held up her notebook again,

Are we close?

“I don’t know,” you admitted, “I don’t really know Neverland that well,” you bit your lip. “We should be there soon, hopefully,” you mumbled the last part, hoping that her hopes wouldn’t be destroyed. She nodded and you continued walking until your feet were aching.

“Do you want to rest for a while?”

Ariel nodded complacently and you walked a little further ahead until the jungle got a little less dense. You found a nice patch of ground and cleared away all of the broken twigs and branches that were scattered all over it before seating yourselves. You pulled the bottles of water out and passed one to Ariel, taking huge gulps. You felt refreshed, but you gained no more of the energy you desperately needed. Where are you, Jin? You thought to yourself, Why can’t you just magically appear like you did last time?

“I told you not to come looking for me,” a familiar voice came from behind you, almost immediately after you had just thought of it. Your head snapped around and your eyes widened when you spotted Jin emerging from behind one of the trees. Ariel tapped your shoulder and pointed to him with wide eyes and you nodded.

“Jin,” you whispered breathlessly, “I know, but I really need your help.”

“I see you’ve been busy,” he said nonchalantly, dismissing your request. “Saving Lost Princesses and stuff.”

“That’s why I need your help,” you tried again, “Ariel’s prince, Joonmyeon, doesn’t know who she is. How can we get him to remember again? Is there a way?”

“Only true love’s kiss can break the spell on Joonmyeon,” Jin said bluntly.

“But, she can’t speak, how is she supposed to get him to fall in love with her again?”

“She did it before didn’t she?” Jin raised an eyebrow at Ariel. “If he really is your true love, you should stop at nothing to get him back.”

“But what spell is Joonmyeon under?” you asked, “Why can’t anyone remember who Ariel is?”

“That’s not a story for me to tell,” Jin ruffled your hair, “But all I can say is if Joonmyeon kisses Ariel again, he’ll remember all of his past with her, but nothing more.”

“What does that mean -nothing more?”

“All I can tell you is that nobody on Neverland remembers their past and will not do so until the curse is broken. Joonmyeon will remember Ariel, but nothing about his life before her or otherwise. Now run along,” Jin shooed you away, pushing you towards the trees you had just come out from, “Go home before Hook finds you out here and kills you or something.”

“But-”

“No more questions, no more buts. Go.”

***

Ariel slumped down on the sofa, pulling one of the cushions to her chest as soon as you got back.

“Did you have fun?” Kyungsoo asked, bringing you both a plate that was covered with cookies. The smell wafted up your nose and made your mouth water. You grabbed one without hesitating and sighed in pleasure as the chocolate chips melted in your mouth.

“Yes, thanks,” you smiled, “But how did you make these?”

“I have my ways,” he winked. You laughed and grabbed a handful of them, placing them on your lap. Ariel sighed and held up her notebook that she had been scribbling on.

I’m going to bed.

“Ok,” you nodded, “see you later. She left without looking back and walked silently up to your room.

“Is she OK?” Kyungsoo asked, still standing with a now half empty plate of cookies in his hands. He sat down next to you in the seat Ariel had just left vacant.

“Yeah, she’ll be fine,” you insisted. You still hadn’t told anyone about Suho, Joonmyeon or Ariel’s story. You intended to keep it that way too for a little while. Although you were beginning to formulate a plan and you would need one person to help you. One person who was mischievous and didn’t care about getting in to trouble. One person who would never pass up the opportunity to cause a little trouble. Baekhyun.

“Have you seen Baekhyun?” you asked Kyungsoo with a mouthful of cookie.

“Uh, yeah, he was in his room the last time I saw him,” he nodded, puffing out his cheeks.

***

You knocked twice on his door and heard him call for you to come in.

“Oh, hey Semmi, when did you get back?” he asked sitting up, putting his book down. You noticed that it was the diary he’d brought with him, but you didn’t say anything about it.

“I need your help,” you dove straight in.

“What is it?” he crossed his legs under him and tapped the space in front of him on the bed. You stared at him and he chuckled, “Just sit, I’m not talking to you when you’re all the way over there.”

You nodded timidly and shuffled over to his bed where you sat on the edge. You told him the whole story, you told him all about Ariel and Suho being Joonmyeon and how he was her Prince, but he couldn’t remember. You made sure not to tell him about what Jin had said about a curse though, you kept that to yourself.

“So, this boy said that they need true love’s kiss?” he asked.

“Yes,” you nodded, “But she can’t speak, and that’s where you come in. We need to make Suho fall in love with Ariel again by any means necessary and I know that you’re the number one trouble maker around here so…”

Baekhyun rubbed his hands together, “This is going to be fun,” he smirked.

sorry for any mistakes, I didn't edit it~~