Chapter 5

Nemo played hide and seek with Tad and Pearl in the park. His dad hovered nearby while Dory was playing on the seaweed swing.

"Hey, Marlin," she called. "Come over and try this."

He swam over to her. "Me swing? I don't think so. I'm too old. But you go ahead and have fun."

"Oh, don't be such a party pooper." She jumped off. "We can take turns. I'll push you and then you can push me. You're never too old to swing. Come on," she coaxed.

After a little hesitation, he gave in. After getting on, Dory started pushing him. "Woohoo! This IS fun!"

"See! I told you so. Now my turn!"

"No way. I just got on."

"Don't be stingy! It's my turn!" Dory said again.

"Okay, okay. But just a short turn!" Marlin hopped off and let Dory back on. He swam behind her and gave her a push as she squealed with excitement.

Pearl heard their laughter and stopped to see what they were doing. Nemo and Tad, who had been chasing behind, ran straight into her.

"Ow!" Tad exclaimed. "Hey! Why'd you stop?"

Pearl pointed one of her tentacles. "Isn't it so romantic?" she sighed.

"Ew, gross. Someone cover my eyes. I'm getting see-sick," Tad grimaced.

"Sea-sick?" Nemo repeated in confusion.

"Yeah, sick of what I'm seeing!" Tad laughed at his own joke.

"Oh, grow up, Tad! What do you think, Nemo?" Pearl looked at him.

He remembered what his dad had said the night before. "I think I'm with Tad on this one."

"What? Pearl couldn't believe what she was hearing. "But you're the one who was trying to get them together."

"Yeah, well, things change," Nemo replied coldly. "Now are we going to finish the game?" Nemo swam off. Pearl and Tad gave each other confused looks and then swam after him.

Marlin was still pushing Dory. He was getting ready to tell her it was his turn when he spotted something from the corner of his eye. It was Silver and Lobby. "Oh no," he said out loud to himself.

"What? What is it?" Dory looked up and saw them as well. "Hey, is that the fish who…what was it…uh…"

"Punched me?" Marlin finished. "Yes. I've gotta hide."

"No you don't. I'm here with you."

"Why doesn't that seem to make me feel better?"

"Well, hello there!" Silver was the first one to speak.

"What are you doing here?" Dory asked with a huff. "Come to bully Marlin some more? You did say he bullied you right?" She looked at Marlin to make sure she hadn't forgotten.

Lobby couldn't help, but laugh. "I swear it was an accident," Silver defended. "I didn't actually mean for any of the punches to hit him. Honest, ma'am. I didn't mean to hurt your…" Silver paused before deciding to use the word, "husband."

Marlin and Dory looked at each other and then back at Silver. "We're not married," they said simultaneously, both feeling embarrassed.

"Are we?" Dory looked at Marlin questioningly.

"No. We're not."

"Oh. Well, then I apologize for that mistake too," Silver spoke again. "Now that everything's cleared up, my friend Lobby and I have something important to speak to you about."

"Yes, you see," Lobby jumped in, "we're looking for the Princess Dorinica and…"

"And you're wondering if I knew anything about her," Marlin cut him off. "Look, I know my wife was her best friend, but…"

"No, no. I mean, Silver and I think Dory here could be the princess."

"Oh, I see. You think Dory…" Marlin stopped as it sank in. "What? Are you serious?"

"Yes, think about it. Dory, Dorinica?" Lobby pointed out.

"Wait a second!" Silver had an epiphany. "Did you say your wife was friends with the princess?"

"Yes."

"Was she a clown fish?"

"No, she was a whale," Marlin answered sarcastically.

"Wow! Did she speak whale?" Dory asked excitedly.

"Ignoring Dory, Marlin continued, "Of course she was a clown fish."

"Lobby, the clipping please." Lobby handed it to Silver. "Is that clown fish your wife?"

Marlin gasped as he took the clipping and looked at it. "Coral? Yes. That was my wife. But this other one…it can't be." He looked at Dory.

"Hey, look! It's me!" Dory pointed. "Wasn't I such a cute kid?" she asked obliviously.

"That proves it!" Lobby exclaimed.

"Proves what?" Marlin was having a hard time keeping up.

"Well, if we know that one of those fish is the princess and if we now know that the clown fish, your wife, was her best friend, then that leaves Dory as…"

"Princess Dorinica," Marlin couldn't believe it. His mind went back to his conversation with Bob the seahorse in which Dory had said the princess had known a lot of fish. His mind then fast forwarded to when Dory had mentioned Nemo's name having something to do with the princess' grandfather. Was it possible? Could Dory really be the princess?

"So, don't you remember being the princess?" Lobby asked curiously.

"Well, you see, I suffer from short term memory loss. I think it runs in my family, but I didn't have a problem until I was a teenager. Or at least I think I was a teenager. Hmm," Dory wore a thoughtful expression.

"That's perfect!" Silver exclaimed. "The princess was fishnapped as a teenager. Maybe something happened to you that caused you to have memory problems."

"It could explain a lot," Lobby chimed in.

Nemo swam over to them. "What's going on, Dad?"

"We think Dory is Princess Dorinica."

"What? Dory, a princess?" Nemo was in shock.

"Yeah, kid. It's true. Your friend Dory is probably the princess," Lobby assured.

"Wow! Cool! My dad dated a princess!" Nemo exclaimed as Marlin shied away.

"You did?" Dory gasped. "But you dated me! So you have been seeing someone else? I knew it!" Lobby and Silver stared at her while Marlin buried his face in his fins. "Oh wait, you guys mean me, don't you?"

"Yes, Dory," Marlin groaned.

"I see what you mean about short term memory loss," Silver said.

"So, if Dory's the princess, then what's going to happen to her now?" Nemo was curious.

"Well, this Friday there will be a giant ball to celebrated King Nathaniel's coronation. We hope to have him reunited with his daughter by Thursday so he can announce her at that ball," Silver explained their plan.

"So, she had to leave with you?" Marlin asked.

"Yes, and if she's the princess, she'll have to stay there," Silver added with a slight smirk.

"Oh," Marlin felt his heart sink.

"So, what do you say, Dory?" Lobby asked. "Will you come to the palace with us?"

"Um, well…" her eyes moved from Marlin and Nemo, over to Silver and Lobby and then back to Marlin and Nemo. Here her eyes locked with Marlin's. Words weren't spoken, but both knew they couldn't be separated. Not after all they'd been through together. "Come with me," she said.

"What?" Marlin wasn't sure he heard correctly.

"Come with me," she repeated, this time with more urgency.

"I don't know, Dory. I just can't…" he stopped. He saw the despair in her eyes and it tore through his heart.

"I can't do this alone," Dory pleaded. "Please?"

Marlin looked down at his son and then over to Silver. "How far is it?"

"Well, it's about a day to a day and a half swim to the EAC. Then, it's another day and a half if we ride the current straight through. But I have to warn you, it's a pretty hard ride. Do you think you and your son can handle it?" Silver attempted to scare Marlin off.

"We've ridden it before," Marlin answered calmly.

"Oh," Silver was disappointed, but tried not to let it show. "Well, then all together, I figure we can get there by Wednesday night if we leave this afternoon."

"So, will you come?" Dory asked again.

Marlin glanced at his son and then faced Dory. "Dory, when Nemo was taken, you not only helped me find him, you helped me find myself. I'd be a fool to let you just leave by yourself. I'd be a horrible friend after all you've done for me. Me and Nemo will go with you."

"Thank you!" Dory began to chant excitedly until she suddenly forgot why she was so excited in the first place.

"Great!" Silver forced a smile. "The more the merrier."

They all worked out the details, made plans to meet at the park in a few hours and then went their separate ways. Marlin knew the importance of this trip. He also knew his feelings for Dory were rapidly changing. But now he had less than a week to sort them out and figure out just exactly what she meant to him.

Author's Note - Gotta love the cheesiness :) Reading this back, I realize I've never been one for awesome detail when writing. Guess that's why I would rather be a screenwriter.