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It takes a few days before they find the time to test our Ariel’s gift.
There’s tireless planning to do with the couple's upcoming celebration and voyages, and his mother is persistent on spending more time with Ariel than she did with his previous intended. Eric understands where she is coming from- after all, his last proposal was to an evil sea witch. Ariel complies with a grace only a princess knows, and answers all the Queen’s questions about the ocean and its magic. But eventually, Eric puts his foot down and marks a date for time uninterrupted and alone. (The castle whispers in suggestive suspicion, but Eric only laughs.)
Only when they finally arrive at the shoreline does he start to feel nerves twist between his excitement. He can only stare at the residue sea foam surrounding their toes. Eric has known the sea his entire life; his kingdom depends on it for resources, travel, and protection. He’s sailed on waves, calm and vicious, for months, and has dreamed of seeing every inch of the sea. Grimsby jokes of the permanent salt water scent in his curls.
This is entirely different. An unreachable, and admittedly, nonexistent world to Eric, now tickles his bare feet with high tide. The keeper of his heart is a mermaid who stands next to him with two legs, hanging onto his arm with bubbling anticipation.
Eric thinks he’s having a perfectly reasonable response, thank you very much.
“Let’s go further in,” Ariel suggests. “So you don’t end up flapping your tail willy-nilly on the sandbank.”
Before she leads them into deeper waters, she glances up to him, reading his static expression. “It’s alright if you’re hesitant. We don’t have to do this today, or at all, really.“
This snaps his attention towards Ariel. Sometimes, he’s still startled that someone could know him so well. Squeezing their hands together, Eric states firmly. “I want to. I’m just-“
“Nervous?”
He nods, and Ariel mirrors him. She smiles kindly, and with her free hand, brushes his unruly hair off of his forehead.
“Were you nervous? The first time you became human?” Eric asks before realizing. She mulls his question over for a moment before responding.
“I didn’t really have the time to be. It all happened so suddenly. I remember feeling as though my tail had been sliced through the middle, and then having two at the bottom of the sea. After that I was just focused on getting to the surface,” Ariel explains candidly, watching as her words cause Eric’s eyebrows to raise. His heart restricts as she recalls her pain, but before he can begin an apology, she continues.
“I don’t want you to worry. My first change only hurt because Ursula’s magic was filled with malice. My father’s way is swift, and not painful at all.”
Eric ends up scanning her figure, as if to make sure he finds no wounds from the sea witch's spell. Ariel does not waiver under his gaze, in fact, she stands tall and with pride in her experiences. When he reaches her eyes, they glisten in harmony with the ocean's reflection of the sun. He finds his own bravery in her. Forget uncharted waters; Ariel had set upon a journey from sea to shore that no mermaid or man had ever begun to imagine. She’s defied unwritten laws with trust in her instincts and passions. Alone.
If Ariel could, so could he.
With surety, Eric takes the first step and guides them further into the sea. When Ariel decides it’s far enough, she taps his hand with her thumb twice. The water is up to her shoulder and his upper waist. Waves sway them back and forth.
“Eric, are you sure?” Ariel asks once more as he turns to her. She moves her hand from his and places her arms around his neck. It’s in her nature to show him endless kindness, but her insistence on making sure he feels ready makes him breathless. Eric simply kisses her tenderly, before peppering her face in pecks.
“Yes. I’m nervous, but I’m all the more excited to see you in your element,” he answers truthfully.
His answer creates a wide smile, and the excitement he felt radiating off of her before has returned. Already, Eric sees her in tune with the ocean. She hops with an incoming wave, briefly meeting him eye to eye before the waves gently let her down.
“Alright! Imagine your tail, and it should be. The water will do the hard work.”
Ariel detaches from him, and he instantly misses her warmth. She faces the sea with her eyes closed, her smile quiet and peaceful. As if welcoming the ocean’s embrace like an old friend, she stretches her arms before diving in. Eric watches as the surrounding water starts to glimmer with the same other-worldly light his earring adorns. When he looks intently enough, he can see her silhouette a few feet in front of him as she swims. For a few seconds, the water becomes foggy with a golden mist too thick to see through, and when it clears, Eric instantly spots a green tail that carries Ariel back to his side.
As Ariel sits on the sandbank, part of her head pops above the waves. She’s short enough that only the bridge of her nose and eyes are visible, and she looks up at him in mischief. It’s a silly image, and Eric finds everything about her endearing.
Stretching her neck so her face is above the water, and tilts her head with expectation. “Your turn!”
Eric laughs at her antics, and in response, pats her on the head before she shakes his hand off, giggling. Then, he copies her actions.
Fully facing the sea, he closes his eyes and lifts his head a tad, mist spraying his face. While the ocean welcomed Ariel without doubt, Eric can feel its growing hesitation as he wishes for a tail. Less of an old friend, and more like an antagonizing sibling, the water grows colder and a wave takes him off balance. Eric hears Ariel’s voice, but water overwhelms his senses as he’s pushed under its grasp. He takes a final, deep breath, but the ocean scoffs at him. It surrounds and twists him in what can only be described as scrutinizing curiosity. Moves unnaturally around him, quick circles around his legs, poking at his feet. Pondering who this strange man is and if it should comply with his stranger request.
Is he trustworthy? Is he of pure intention? Is he of love?
The water teasingly pokes his cheek.
He seems to be. His soul is of wonderment, and love. He is made of the same sea crystals as she.
Eric knows he is underwater, but he feels no sense of urgency to fill his lungs with oxygen. When it is satisfied with whatever answers it has found, the water rushing around him calms, letting him loose into its full glory. Although he had not felt choked, Eric lets out a relieved sigh, and is instantly startled. Experimentally, he inhales. Exhales. His surprise is not reduced, but instinctively, Eric pushes himself to the surface.
When he breaks through the waves, he finds Ariel where he left her. She’s giggling at the ocean’s display of its exploration of Eric, and makes her way deeper in the ocean to him, tail splashing behind her.
“That felt much, much less graceful than yours looked,” Eric says, blinking the sea water rapidly from his eyes. Uncharacteristically, it does not burn as it usually does.
“The ocean can be skeptical,” Ariel answers through her laughs. “But it seems to be fond of you, hm? We have that in common.”
Eric finds she is mystically beautiful as a human, but he’s rendered speechless at her true form. Chrome scales glisten across her brown skin, her locs cascading around her shoulders while they float around her. She carries an elegance that cannot be replicated on land while the ocean holds her as one would a rare jewel.
A Princess has returned. Rejoice!
“It was- it was odd. Strange. Peaceful?“
Ariel laughs fondly as Eric tries to process the ocean's work. Which reminds him- he looks down into the now crystal clear water, instead of mysterious depths he is used to- and finds a tail, a tail, in place of legs. His pelvis is an ombré of skin and scales. The tail is an intense shade of sky blue, one that darkens the closer it gets to the end where silk fins protrude. Longer, thinner, fins surround his main one, these ones closer to purple. The closer he looks, the more iridescent scales he sees, and as they shimmer, they reflect the green color of Ariel’s own tail. When he kicks what should be his feet to stay afloat, Eric finds his legs are morphed together, and the tail swishes through water at his request.
The yelp that leaves his lips is unbecoming of a future king.
Ariel’s hands are immediately on his bare chest in worry. “Eric!” The linen shirt he wore to the shoreline has disappeared into the sea.
“I’m okay,” he says immediately, not yet tearing his gaze from the tail attached to his body. Eric sees Ariel’s tail swimming in tandem, with an ease only years of practice can bring. (His tail compliments hers wonderfully, as Eric thought they would.) When he tries to separate his legs again, his tail flicks quickly, as if it’s trying to mimic both legs at the same time. As a human, Eric had to fight the ocean to stay afloat. Treading water with tired arms and violent kicks. Having a tail- being a merman- is absurdly different. The ocean has become his friend, gently caring for him while the waves wash over him in a protective hug rather than an attack. Bitter chill is replaced with warmth. When he looks at his hands, up his arms, they’re littered with scales of his own.
Looking up back at Ariel, he finds his awe mirrored while she watches his tail, before focusing on him again. She bites her bottom lip to try and hide her smile. The delight radiating off of her is addicting. These new sensations are strange, yes, but Eric is perfectly at home. Being able to celebrate this side of Ariel, and experience it with her? He’s wonderstruck.
“I- wow. Wow! This is- I mean- look at you, you’re a sight to behold, love. Well, you always are. Wow. And I'm- I have a tail.”
Eric stumbles through his sentence, and Ariel cannot hide her smile. She blushes at his compliment, and leans on him to close their distance. Eric notices he exerts no additional energy to hold both their weights. As birds glide through the sky, the ocean carries them.
“You’re quite a handsome merman.” Ariel says shyly.
“Says you,” Eric flirts back. “The seven sea’s most ravishing princess.”
“Eric.” Ariel hides her ever reddening cheeks in his chest. Her tail wraps around him. This only pushes him to continue.
“The ocean’s rarest jewel. My wonderful little mermaid. The kindest, most graceful, most wonderful-“
He can feel Ariel tighten her grip around him, and in an effort to escape Eric’s showering of love, she pulls them under the next wave that reaches them. Before Eric can take a deep breath, water fills his nose. But like before, he breathes easily. Still used to his human instinct, he closes his eyes to protect them from the salty burn.
“Open your eyes,” Ariel speaks softly. Her voice is different under water, he notices. Light and smooth, but now, it leaves a celestial echo in the expanse of the sea. Like a magical melody that remains, even after its final note.
In fact, the ocean sounds nothing like Eric thought it would. He expected eerie silence, broken by only the sound of marine life swimming to and fro. But it’s loud, bustling, even though they’re the only ones around. Eric can hear everything, the swaying of water, how their fins interrupt the sea’s routine. An endless, ethereal humming all around him, a symphony of vocals, chimes, and strings. There’s nothing eerie about it; in fact, it's a serene feeling Eric has never felt before. As if the ocean can hear him back, its music grows not louder, but stronger.
The strange one enjoys our song!
Eric does as Ariel asks, and the first thing that comes to mind is how he’ll never look at her the same again. Ariel’s eyes are brighter underwater. Her hair moves around them with the waves. She still has her tail around him, leaning her hip on his middle so they’re eye to eye. Eric pushes his tail up so she can properly rest on him. Meanwhile, he sits on nothing but empty water, and thanks the ocean for taking care of them with such delicacy.
You’re welcome, strange one.
The couple is tangled together in such an intimate position, they have no focus but one another. Eric forgets the tails, forgets the ocean's enchanting music, and kisses her with calming passion. Ariel tilts her head to the side to get him closer, humming in pleasure. Even Ariel’s quiet noises harmonize with the sea, and she tangles her hands in his hair to keep him so near. Her tail tightens around him.
When they’re forced to separate for air, (or water), Ariel keeps him close. Their foreheads are touching, noses squished together, lips only millimeters apart.
“I am, unequivocally, head over tail, in love with you,” Eric vows into her lips, finishing his declaration from the surface. He’s only mildly surprised at how clear his voice sounds.
“I know. I can feel it in the sea.” Ariel kisses him once more, discontent with the space between them. “I hope you can feel all my love for you too,” she confesses.
Ariel’s hands feel like silk on his body, her tail holding him in a comforting hug. The ocean moves with poised magic, and the orchestra reaches heavenly vocals. Eric knows it’s her doing.
“I do.”
He can. He is of love!