Hank held Dory in a clear plastic cup of water and used a large yellow caution: wet floor sandwich board sign to hide them as he snuck across the room. Sigourney Weaver's voice continued to speak to the tourists in the Open Ocean exhibit. "Now come with us as we explore the mysterious world of the Open Ocean."

Dory gawked at the exhibit anxiously. "Mom and Dad," she whispered. "They're actually in there."

"Don't celebrate yet," said Hank. "We still have to get you inside that thing."

When it was safe, Hank slithered out of the sandwich board sign and quickly camouflaged as a continent on a giant globe in the center of the room. Then he carefully inched closer to the exhibit. As they neared it, Dory started to worry about meeting her parents. "What do I say to them? I should introduce myself, probably. ‘Hi! I'm Dory.'"

Hank jumped up to some banners and swung himself toward a blue whale skeleton. He did a double take when he saw a display that read did you know the octopus has three hearts? Hank put it out of his mind and clung to the ribs of the whale skeleton as he swung into the exhibit.

Dory continued to worry. "I mean, we have so much to catch up on. Not that I remember any of it or anything that we did together ... What do you think I should say when I meet them? What if they don't recognize me?" she asked nervously.

Hank grabbed on to a rope that dangled from the ceiling lights, causing a spotlight to swivel over the crowd. One man in the crowd looked up, but Hank flashed the light into eyes, and he quickly covered his face. Hank managed to stay hidden.

"Oh, I should have brought a gift. We just passed a gift shop," Dory said, turning her head toward the store. "Dang it. Why didn't I think of that before?"

Dory continued to ramble as they landed on the Institute's upper scaffolding. Hank ducked out of view to avoid being seen by a passing staffer. Once the coast was clear, he peered over the upper platform to the Open Ocean aquarium and lowered himself toward the water.

"Well, looks like this is it, kid. Now I got a truck to catch," said Hank.

"Wait, I had something for you," said Dory.

Hank watched as Dory thought with a blank stare. Hank smiled. "Tag," he said patiently.

"The tag. Right." Dory took it off and handed it to him. Then she looked at him, a little sad. "You know, I think I'm going to remember you," she said sincerely.

"Ah, you'll forget me in a heartbeat, kid," Hank said with a chuckle. "Three heartbeats." He paused for a moment. "I'll have a hard time forgetting you, though."

Dory looked down at the huge tank of thousands of fish and took a deep breath. She was nervous about trying to find her parents without any help.

"They're actually down there, aren't they?" Dory mused. "I hope I can find them."

"Knowing you, I'm liking your chances," said Hank. "Now go find your family." Then he gently dropped her into the tank.

Dory's heart raced as she looked around the enormous aquarium. Large schools of fish circled, swimming in the same direction. She swam into the rapidly moving crowd and approached some of the passing fish. She asked again and again if they had seen her parents, but none of them were able to offer any clues.

Discouraged, she watched a stream of small fish swirl around her and swim downward. Her big eyes rested on the Open Ocean floor, where she saw something familiar hidden in the sand: a trail of shells. She gasped and swam down to take a closer look. "Shells ...," she said, remembering.

FLASH! Another memory came to her. But this time it was different. It was as clear as day — she was actually floating right there, where the memory had occurred! As it unfolded in her mind, it seemed to happen all around her. It was as if ghosts of her younger self, Jenny, and Charlie were there with her, playing out the scene. She could see her parents placing shells down in the sand, in a long line right over there. Dory watched, mesmerized. It was like reliving the past.

"Now, if you ever get lost, Dory," Charlie said.

"You just ... follow the shells," said Jenny.

"Hey, look! Shells!" said little Dory, noticing the shells.

Awestruck, Dory swam behind the ghost images as they followed the shells. The trail led through the coral, winding through it until —

Dory spotted a wall of sea grass that she instantly recognized, and the ghosts quickly faded into the background. "My home," she said. "THAT'S MY HOME!" She rushed toward it with anticipation. She felt she was just a moment away from finding her parents. "MOM! DAD!" she called. "I'm home!"

As Dory looked at her childhood surroundings, every view triggered another memory. As she came upon the front yard, the ghosts appeared. She watched young Dory and her parents having fun playing hide-and-seek. When Dory looked up at her tube-coral bedroom, she could see little Dory speaking whale through a vent.

But once the memory ghosts faded, Dory looked around, confused and worried as a terrible thought entered her mind. Where were her parents? She swam through the opening in the grass fence, calling out their names. Then she spotted a purple shell in the sand, and another vivid memory overtook her. Dory watched as the ghosts appeared and played out the scene.

"Mommy look, purple shells!" said young Dory happily. Jenny and Charlie stopped her just before she reached the shell.

"Sweetie!" said Jenny. "Undertow! Undertow. You have to stay away from the undertow. Right, Charlie?"

Young Dory looked past the shell down a sandy slope, and a strong current rushed past, tugging and bending the sea grass.

"This is very, very important, Dory," said Charlie. "We see the undertow and we say ..." Her parents watched as they waited for a response, but little Dory didn't seem to understand.

As the ghost memory faded, Dory swam toward the purple shell, remembering. "The undertow," she said quietly.

As she swam over to an outflow pipe, another memory was unlocked and the ghosts returned once more.

She saw her younger self singing softly in bed and stopping at the sound of her mother crying.

"Mommy?" little Dory said with concern as she swam over and peeked into her parents' bedroom.

In the bedroom, Jenny was crying and Charlie was trying to calm her. Even though Dory was perfectly safe, for now, Jenny couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible was about to happen. They had no idea that little Dory was awake and listening in on their conversation. "What's going to happen to her?" Jenny asked through her sobs. "Do you think she can make it on her own, Charlie?"

"Oh, honey. It'll be okay," said Charlie.

Little Dory looked around desperately, searching for a way to make things better. She didn't want her mother to be sad! She spotted a purple shell off in the distance and raced toward it. "Mommy loves purple shells," little Dory whispered.

As she tried to pick up the shell, she heard her parents screaming her name in panicked voices. Little Dory turned to see their fearful faces a moment before the tug of the undertow pulled at her and sucked her into a cave! She screamed for them, but in an instant, the current carried her through the darkness of the cave and out to the other side. Little Dory found herself swimming in the big blue ocean, all alone.

Dory had tears in her eyes when the memory ended and the ghosts faded away for the last time. She couldn't believe it — she had remembered everything. And now she knew how she had gotten separated from her parents. She looked around, panicked. "It was my fault," she said, pained. "My parents ... I lost them."

"Where's your tag?" a crab named Carol asked sharply, snapping Dory into the present moment.

"Huh?" Dory asked.

"Your tag? It's missing. That's why you're not in Quarantine?" prodded Carol.

Dory looked at her fin, where the tag used to be. "Quarantine?"

"Yeah. That's where they took all the blue tangs. Isn't that right, Bill?" the crab called back to her husband, who was trimming grass with his claws.

"Yep. Being shipped on a truck to Cleveland at the crack o' dawn," said Bill.

"What? No!" said Dory, panicking. "No, my parents are back in Quarantine? They're being shipped to Cleveland? But I just got here!"

"Oh, it's easy to get to Quarantine. You just go through the pipes, honey," said Carol.

Dory turned and looked at the outflow pipe with dread. "Oh, I can't do that."

Carol was confused. "Why not?"

"I'll forget where I'm going, and I, and I — can't be some place where I have nobody to help me."

"Well, then, I guess you're stuck here," said Bill bluntly.

"You're not helping, Bill," Carol said. Then she turned to Dory. "Just go in there if you want to. You'll be fine."

Dory frowned, looking nervously at the pipe. "Could you, uh, could you tell me how to get there? Through the pipes?"

"Sure, honey. It's two lefts and a right. Simple."

As Carol rushed off, Dory patted her fins against her head, trying to plant the directions firmly in her mind. "Okay, two lefts and a right .... I can do this. Two lefts and a right." Floating by the mouth of the first pipe, she closed her eyes tightly as she repeated, "Two lefts and a right" over and over again, trying to find the strength to begin.

Determined, Dory took another deep breath and squeezed through the pipe, chanting to herself. "Two lefts and a right. Two lefts and a right." She continued to repeat those words as she ventured alone into the darkness.

汉克将多莉放在一个装着水的干净塑料杯里，用一个 “小心地滑”的大型黄色警示人字牌作为掩护，偷偷摸摸地穿过了大厅。西格妮·韦弗的声音还继续飘荡在深海奥秘展区里向游客们进行着解说。“现在请跟我们一起来探索深海这个神秘的世界。”

多莉直瞪瞪地望着展厅，十分焦急。“妈妈和爸爸，”她低语道，“他们现在就在这里。”

“先别庆贺，”汉克说，“我们还得把你弄进那个东西里。”

等到周围都安全了，汉克立刻从人字警示牌里溜了出来，迅速伪装成大厅中央巨型地球仪上的一块陆地。然后他小心翼翼地朝着展厅慢慢挪近。快到展厅时，多莉开始担心起与父母相见时的情景。“我该怎么跟他们说呢？或许，我得先介绍一下自己。‘嗨！我是多莉。’”

汉克跳到几个横幅上面，朝着一具蓝鲸骨架荡了过去。他看到一个显示屏，起先没太注意，后来却大吃一惊，上面写着：你知道章鱼有三颗心吗？汉克没有多想，他抓住鲸鱼骨架的肋骨，荡进了展厅里面。

多莉还在不停地担忧。“我的意思是，我们有太多的记忆需要填补。倒不是说我记不住事或和他们一起共度的时光……你觉得我见到他们时该说什么呢？他们要是认不出我，那该怎么办？”她紧张地问道。

汉克抓住天花板灯上垂下的一根绳子，使一盏聚光灯旋转到了人群的上方。人群里的一名男子抬头看了看，汉克立刻将灯照向他的眼睛，他迅速遮住了脸。汉克成功地躲藏了起来。

“啊，我应该带件礼物的。我们刚刚还经过了一个礼品店，”多莉扭头望着商店说道，“该死的，之前我怎么没想到呢？”

多莉还在不停地絮叨，这时他们来到了研究所上方的脚手架上。汉克闪避开来，躲开了下方经过的员工的视线。等到水族馆边上没了人，他便在平台上方盯着远洋水族馆，朝着水面俯下了身子。

“好啦，看来就这样了，孩子。现在我得去赶车了。”汉克说。

“等等，我有样东西要给你，”多莉说。

汉克望着多莉满眼困惑地思索着。汉克微微一笑。“是标签。”他耐心地说道。

“标签。没错。”多莉解了下来，将它递给了他。然后她望着他，略带伤感。“你知道吗？我觉得我会记住你的。”她诚恳地说道。

“哈，心跳的瞬间你就会忘了我，孩子，”汉克轻轻笑道，“三次心跳。”他停顿了一下。“恐怕，我要忘记你就没那么容易了。”

多莉望着巨型水池里的成千上万条鱼儿，深吸了一口气。她有些忐忑不安，接下来要独自寻找父母了。

“他们确实就在那下面，对吗？”多莉沉思道，“希望我能找到他们。”

“越是了解你，就越开始喜欢你这种率性而为，”汉克说，“现在去找你的家人吧。”然后他轻轻地把她放进了水池。

望着周围巨大的水族馆，多莉心跳加速。大群大群的鱼儿转着圈，朝着相同的方向游着。她游进快速移动的鱼群中，靠近了几只游过的鱼儿。她一遍又一遍地询问着他们有没有看到她的父母，可是谁也没能提供一丁点儿线索。

她沮丧地望着一列小鱼围着她游动，然后向下游了过去。她的视线落在了深海奥秘展区的地上，她看见某样熟悉的东西埋在了沙地里：一条贝壳小径。她倒抽一口气，游下去仔细看了起来。“贝壳……”她说着回忆起来。

刹那间！另一段记忆闪入了她的脑海。可这一次却有些不一样。一切都历历在目——她正好就在此处游荡，这里就是此段记忆的发生地！记忆打开闸门，一切就好像发生在她周围似的。她小时候的自己、珍妮和查理的影像仿佛就在她眼前上演着当时的情景。她看见父母将贝壳放置在沙地里，就在那里，铺成了长长的一条。多莉望着出了神，就好像将过去的事情重新经历了一遍。

“好了，如果你迷路了的话，多莉。”查理说。

“你就……顺着贝壳路走。”珍妮说。

“嘿，瞧啊！贝壳！”小多莉望着贝壳说道。

多莉满怀敬畏地跟着幻象顺着贝壳路往前游。这条小路一路延伸到珊瑚丛里，从中间蜿蜒穿过，一直到了——

一看见那堵海草围墙，多莉马上认了出来，幻象也立刻消失了。“我的家，”她说，“那就是我的家！”她满怀希望地冲了进去，觉得自己离开父母才不过一会儿。“妈妈！爸爸！”她叫道，“我回家了！”

多莉望着她儿时周遭的环境，每一眼都勾起她新的回忆。她一来到前院，幻象就会出现。她望着小多莉和父母在愉快地玩着捉迷藏。她一抬头望向自己的圆管星珊瑚卧室，就听见了小多莉在朝着通风口说着鲸语。

可当记忆的幻象消退之后，多莉望向四周，迷惑而又忧虑，一种不祥的预感涌上了心头。她的父母在哪里？她穿过海草围墙大门，呼唤着他们的名字。就在这时，她发现了沙地里的一个紫色贝壳，又一段鲜活的记忆冒了出来。多莉望着幻象演绎着当时的情景。

“妈咪，看啊，紫色贝壳！”小多莉开心地说道。她正要去捡贝壳，珍妮和查理却拦住了她。

“宝贝！”珍妮说，“暗流！暗流。你不可以靠近暗流。对不对，查理？”

小多莉朝着贝壳后方的沙地斜坡望去，只见一股强劲的水流奔涌而过，席卷之处，海草都压得弯下了腰。

“这点非常非常重要，多莉，”查理说，“看见暗流，就是说……”她的父母望着她，等着她回应，可是小多莉似乎不太明白。

随着幻象消失，多莉朝着紫色贝壳游过去，忆起了往事。“暗流。”她轻声说道。

她游到了一根出水管跟前，另一段记忆又浮现了出来，幻象也随之再次出现。

她看见小时候的自己正躺在床上柔声歌唱，听见母亲的哭声，她停止了歌唱。

“妈咪？”小多莉游过去，望向父母的卧室，关切地问道。

卧室里面，珍妮正在哭泣，而查理正努力安抚她。尽管到目前为止，多莉十分安全，可珍妮依然无法摆脱未来会有坏事发生的不安预感。他们没有意识到，小多莉当时还醒着，而且还偷听了他们的对话。“将来她会怎么样呢？”珍妮呜咽道。“你觉得她能自立吗，查理？”

“噢，亲爱的，不会有事的。”查理说。

小多莉拼命地四处张望，想要找到让情况变好的方法。她不想让妈妈难过！她瞧见远处有个紫色贝壳，然后冲了过去。“妈咪喜欢紫色的贝壳。”小多莉喃喃道。

她刚要捡起贝壳，突然听见父母惊慌失措地尖叫起她的名字。小多莉转身望向他们惊恐的面庞，却立刻被暗流的卷进去，吸入了一个黑洞之中！她尖声呼叫着他们，可转眼之间，水流就带着她穿过黑暗的洞，来到了外面。小多莉发现自己正游在蔚蓝的大海里，孤零零地。

多莉满眼含泪，记忆褪去之后，幻象终于也跟着消失了。她真不敢相信——她居然记得所有的事情。如今她知道自己是怎样和父母分散的了。她环视四周，惊恐万分。“都是我的错，”她痛苦地说道，“我的父母……我失去了他们。”

“你的标签在哪儿呢？”一只名叫卡罗尔的螃蟹厉声说道，猛地把多莉吓回了现实。

“嗯？”多莉问。

“你的标签呢？是不见了吧。所以那就是你没在隔离检疫所的原因？”卡罗尔催促道。

多莉望着曾经挂着标签的鱼鳍。“隔离检疫所？”

“是啊。那里就是他们安置所有蓝唐王鱼的地方。是不是啊，比尔？”螃蟹冲着她那正在用双钳修理草坪的丈夫喊道。

“是的，会在黎明时被装上卡车运往克利夫兰。”比尔说道。

“什么？不！”多莉惊恐地说道，“不，我的父母都回到隔离检疫所了吗？他们要被运往克利夫兰？可我才刚刚到这里！”

“啊，去隔离检疫所很容易的。你只要穿过这些管道就好，亲爱的。”卡罗尔说。

多莉转过身，畏惧地望着出水管。“啊，我做不到。”

卡罗尔困惑不解：“为什么做不到？”

“我会忘了我要去哪里，而且我，而且我——没人帮忙哪里也去不了。”

“好吧，那么，我想你只能困在这里了。”比尔坦率地说道。

“你这是在帮倒忙，比尔。”卡罗尔说。然后她转向多莉：“你要是想去的话，那就进去。不会有事的。”

多莉皱着眉头，紧张不安地望着水管，说道：“你能，呃，你能告诉我怎么到那里去吗？是通过那些管道吗？”

“当然了，亲爱的。左转两次，右转一次。很简单的。”

卡罗尔匆匆离去，多莉用双鳍拍打着脑袋，努力地想要把方向牢牢地印在脑海里。“好的，左转两次，右转一次……我可以的。左转两次，右转一次。”她漂浮在第一根水管的管道口，闭上眼睛复述着，“左转两次，右转一次”，一遍又一遍地念叨着，想要鼓起勇气开启旅程。

多莉下定决心，深吸一口气，一边念叨一边钻进了管道。“左转两次，右转一次。左转两次，右转一次。”她不停地重复着这几个词，独自冒险进入了黑暗之中。