Panchito helps Arista

On shore, under his castle in Mexico, Panchito played the same song Arista sang to him on his clarinet, with Donald and Jose walking by his side, Burrito lay nearby as Panchito played his clarinet. He stopped and sighed and got up off of the rock. Burrito started flying around, getting the trio's attention and causing their to get excited.

"*Esa voz.*" Panchito said, "I can't get it out of my head." He turned to Donald, Jose, and Burrito, saying, "I've looked everywhere, *amigos*. Where could she be?"

Not far away, Arista, her mother, and her friends finally managed to get her to the shore. It was exhausting, but everyone made it to the shore.

Flounder and Sebastian were the only ones exhausted and weary that they collapsed near the rocks!

Arista started to wake up and pushed her hair out of her eyes. As she did, she noticed her new knees and was caught by surprise. She raised one of her legs above water and saw a foot with five toes (In real life, humans have five fingers on their hands). She wiggled her toes and was fascinated. She had finally gotten her wish of having legs and being a human. As she marveled at her new legs, Scuttle flew overhead and landed on Arista's leg.

"Well, look at what the catfish dragged in!" he exclaimed, "Look at ya! Look at ya! There's something different. Don't tell me, I got it. It's your hairdo, right? You've been using the dinglehopper, right?"

Arista shook her head no, but kept smiling.

"Nope. Try again." said Athena.

"No? No, huh?" Then Scuttle thought for a moment and said, "Well let me see. New . . . seashells?"

Arista didn’t respond, but smirked at Scuttle, hoping he’d find out the answer. "No new seashells."

"Getting warmer!" Athena said in a singsong tone.

Arista shook her leg to get Scuttle to notice, and he stood on her leg, annoying Sebastian. "I gotta admit I can't put my foot on it right now," he said. "But if I just stand here long enough I know that I'll -"

"SHE'S GOT LEGS, YOU IDIOT!" Sebastian shouted.

Finally, Scuttle jumped up, seeing Arista's legs, and rose up in a flutter at the outburts.

"She traded her voice to the sea witch and got legs." Sebastian explained, "Jeez, man . . ."

By that time, Scuttle had flown and sat on a rock by the crab. "I knew that."

"Thank you, Sebastian." said Athena.

While Arista attempted to stand, Flounder explained to Scuttle what was going to happen.

"Arista's been turned into a human," said Flounder. "She's gotta make the Mexican rooster fall in love with her, and he's gotta ki- he's gotta kiss her."

Her legs were a little wobbly. It was as if watching a baby try to stand on its own with no support for the first time.

"And she's only got three days." said Sebastian.

Arista managed to get on her feet, but quickly found herself unable to stand still. She quickly lost her balance and fell over in the water, causing a splash that got Flounder, Sebastian, Scuttle, and Athena wet and causing Scuttle to have a piece of seaweed hanging off his beak. Another piece of seaweed was on top of Arista's blonde hair. Athena tried not to laugh, but she thought Arista and Scuttle with seaweed in their hair and on their beak respectively was pretty funny.

Sebastian got frantic. "Just look at her. On legs. On human legs! My nerves are shot. This is a catastrophe! What would her father say? I'll tell you what her father'd say, he'd say he's gonna kill himself a crab, that's what her father'd say!" he complained, turning his attention to the fish.

Other than Sebastian's frantic yelling, Arista was getting up and getting the seaweed out of her hair. Hearing this, she saw Sebastian starting to head into the water, and then she picked him up and shook her head frantically, trying to make him change his mind. Arista didn’t want her father to find out about what she just did, and, picking him up and shaking her head no are in an attempt to stop him from going to tell Triton.

Sebastian carried on complaining. "I'm gonna march meself straight home right now and tell him just like I shoulda done de minute . . . and don't you shake your head at me, young lady." Eventually, he stopped complaining and spoke in a normal tone of voice. "Maybe there's still time. If we could get that witch to give you back your voice, you could go home with all the normal fish, and just be . . . just be . . ."

Sebastian's hope for Arista started fading away when he saw Arista's sad, gloomy face. Fearing that Arista would get more depressed than she was when her grotto was destroyed by Triton's anger, Sebastian finally started to give in, saying, "Just be miserable for the rest of your life. All right, all right. I'll try to help you find that rooster."

Arista smiled and kissed the crab before putting him down.

"Boy. What a soft shell I'm turning out to be." he said.

Scuttle came across what appeared to be a pink and white top with a strip of orange that goes across the middle, a white slip, two jade bracelets, and two gold earrings (Similar to Chel's outfit). Scuttle grabbed the top, slip, bracelets, and earrings.

"Now, Arista, I'm tellin' ya," said the seagull, "If you wanna be a human, the first thing you gotta do is dress like one. Now lemme see."

Before that, he noticed that with Arista's mertail gone, she wasn't wearing anything from the waist down, …except her shell bra and mermaid bikini bottom.

"Now's my chance." Athena said to herself, as she magically turned herself into a human and was now wearing a lavender bikini bottom to go with her shell bra.

Meanwhile, Panchito, Donald, and Jose continued trudging down the beach, unable to take the girl’s voice out of her head. But as they walked, Burrito detected a scent, one that he recognized from before. Suddenly getting excited, he tried getting the Three Caballeros to follow him, braying in delight.

Panchito looked stunned. "Burrito? Huh . . . what,"

Burrito just happily started flying ahead of Panchito and the others. The Three Caballeros saw Panchito's pet flying donkey rush off. "Burrito!"

Back with Arista's friends, they managed to dress Arista up in the pink and white top with the orange strip, white slip that covers her wide hips, jade bracelets, and gold earrings. She felt giddy wearing her first human clothes. Scuttle gave a wolf whistle as he checked out his friend. "Ya look great, kid!" he said. "Ya look - sensational." Flounder agreed, but Sebastian felt skeptical about the outfit. Even Athena was now wearing a lavender strapless dress with a green sash-like belt around the waist once she got out of the water.

Suddenly, everyone heard Burrito's excited braying nearby and looked. They spotted Burrito flying towards them. Flounder yelped, got spooked, and hid under the shallow water.

Scuttle flew off, and Sebastian, knowing that Arista would need him, rushed to the girl and hid in her slip. Athena tagged along. Arista tried getting away from Burrito. But the hyper flying donkey kept intercepting her at every turn. Arista got on a small boulder at the beach as Burrito kissed her face.

"Burrito!" Panchito called from a distance.

Burrito stopped licking Arista, turned, and flew to his master and the others, leaving Arista to smile at the flying donkey.

"I think he likes you, Arista." Athena said with a smile.

"Burrito!" Panchito called before seeing his pet, and tried to calm Burrito down. "Quiet, Burrito! What's gotten into you *amigo*?" Burrito brayed loudly, as if getting the Caballeros' attention.

As Panchito petted his pet, his eyes widened when he noticed Arista sitting on the boulder. "Look!" Donald said.

"It's a girl, *não*?" added Jose.

"Oh . . . Oh, *entiendo*." said Panchito, as he and his pals approached the girl. Arista tried to compose herself by moving her hair out of her face.

"Are you O.K., *señorita*?" asked Panchito, as he playfully ruffled Burrito's head. "I'm sorry if this *tonto* scared you." he said, "He's harmless, really - . . ."

"Technically, "*Tonto*" means "Knucklehead in Spanish, right?" asked Donald.

"That's right, Donald." agreed Athena.

Panchito stopped talking and stared at Arista, but as he did, he started having a feeling. There was something familiar about her. Arista smiled very lovingly at him.

"I think she loves you too, Panchito." Athena said.

"*Gracias, Athena*." Panchito smiled, tipping his sombrero before placing it back on his head.

"Who is she?" Jose asked Athena.

"Oh, that's my daughter, Arista," answered Athena. "She's the youngest/third oldest mermaid."

"You . . . seem *muy* familiar . . . to me." Panchito said skeptically, "Have we met?"

Arista nodded yes with a big smile on her face. Burrito brayed in excitement. He tried to lick her, but he was pushed down by Donald.

"We have met?" asked Panchito, as he grasped her hands, "I knew it! *¡Eres tú!* You're the one - the one I've been looking for! *¿Cómo te llamas?*"

"We don't know what you're saying." said Athena.

"You'll have to translate for her, Panchito." added Jose.

"English, please." Donald said impatiently.

"You know, what's your name?" Panchito said to Arista.

Burrito turned to Arista with excitement and also started feeling joyful and curious. Arista tried speaking. But with her voice gone, nothing came out of her mouth.

"What's wrong?" Panchito asked, "What is it? *¿Qué pasó?* *¿Cuál es el problema?*"

Arista patted on her throat and showed Panchito her neck, trying to show that she couldn’t talk.

"You can't speak?"

"Apparently not." said Donald, shaking his head sadly.

Arista shook her head sadly.

"She can't speak because she traded her voice to Ursula in order to become human." said Athena. This caused Panchito to feel down. "Oh." he said, "Then you couldn't be who I thought." He was sure that this girl was the one who saved him.

Donald and Jose rolled their eyes in frustration. "Oh, brother!" said Donald.

"*O não!*" added Jose.

Burrito snorted in frustration. Arista is his master's rescuer! Couldn't he see that?

Arista did the same thing before coming up with an idea. *I know!* Arista thought. She moved her arms and hands around as if she was trying to do pantomime or charades.

"What's she doing?" asked Jose.

"Is she playing a game of charades?" asked Donald.

"I think she's trying to tell you that she wants to regain her voice." responded Athena. Panchito tried to figure out what Arista was trying to say.

"What is it?" he asked, "You're hurt? No, No . . . You need help."

Arista tried to make more hand movements to communicate. But then, she lost her balance and fell off the boulder, much to Donald, Jose, and even Athena's amusement!

"Whoa, whoa, *cuidado*," said Panchito, as he caught Arista in his arms. "*Cuidado. Tranquilo.*"

The two stared at each other in a shocked and awkward way.

"*Cada cuáles*, you must have really been through something." said the rooster, "*No te preocupes*, I'll help you. *Ven* . . . *Vamos*, you'll be okay."

As Panchito put Arista's arm over his shoulder, she glimpsed behind her and gave her friends a big grin. Flounder, Scuttle, and Athena, who removed her dress and magically transformed herself back into a mermaid, smiled at her and wished her good luck. Panchito, Donald, and Jose guided Arista toward his castle. Walking was very hard for someone who spent their whole life swimming! Regardless, Panchito was patient and made sure Arista did not fall. Eventually, they arrived at Panchito's castle.

Later in the day, Arista was introduced to the people and animals working at the castle. The first order of business was to clean Arista up and get her washed for dinner. In her tub filled with bubbles, Arista played with them, overcome by fascination.

Pouring warm water from a jug over her head was a tall, slender female pheasant with amber feathers covering her body, a yellow beak, legs, and feet, deep blue eyes, long eyelashes, long, blonde hair tied in a ponytail, and a tail made of gold, dark red, and dark purple feathers, wearing a red blouse with short, puffy sleeves, a white Peter Pan collar, and matching ends at the sleeves, blue mini-overalls with gold buttons and light blue ends at the legs, red earrings, white socks, and red shoes. She also wears a red hair-bow. Her name was Goldie, the castle maid, Chanticleer's wife, and Panchito's mother. She was nearby, and she helped in getting Arista cleaned up.

"Washed up from a shipwreck?" gasped Goldie, "Oh, the poor thing! We'll have you feeling better in no time.

Sebastian, who was hiding in Arista's slip, peeked out, but saw Goldie overhead, taking the top and slip and preparing to leave the room. "I'll just - I'll just get these washed for you." she said.

In another room, the top and slip were put in large tub, and three washerwomen wash them. Unfortunately, Sebastian was still stuck in these clothes, and he couldn’t get out.

"Well, you must have at least heard about this, girls." the first washerwoman said, beginning to talk.

"No!" the second washerwoman exclaimed.

The first washerwoman washed the top and slip, causing Sebastian to feel uncomfortable with each scrub and movement, saying, "Gertrude says she's a princess, but since when has Gertrude ever gotten anything right? I mean really, this girl shows up in rags and doesn't speak-"

"Madame," said Sebastian. "Please!"

As this conversation went on, he was squished by a presser, along with the top and slip, but he recovered immediately afterward, though he landed on the clothes in the laundry basket.

"Not my idea of a princess." said the first washerwoman, as she took the top and slip and hung them on a clothesline one by one, "If Panchito's looking for a girl, I know a couple of highly available ones right here."

As the clothes were hung from the clothesline, they were moved towards the nearby castle. Sebastian jumped out of the slip and landed in a room through a window. Relieved to be out of that experience, Sebastian started to get up. But as he did, he saw something absolutely horrifying: beheaded fish with sharp blades, cooked squid and octopi in a pan, and worst of all, deep-fried crabs on a plate. This was the castle kitchen, and the sight of so many dead sea creatures was too much for Sebastian to take. He fainted in fear.