Prologue:

The sea at night smiles

Ariel never imagined that when the world crashed down, she would be smiling along. She can't breathe, she's drowning. How can she? She's a creature of water, water has cradled her like the mother she never knew, water has protected her like a hug her father never gave her. But now, as she hears the gleeful roar of the crowd, the laughter and the clapping, and the happiness of the court, she can't get enough oxygen, she can't stand the choking grip of her destiny. The betrayal of her father's announcement, right in the middle of a public hearing so there would be no backing down, no denying her future, no changing the turning of events. Prince Eric beams at her from across the coral reef and she manages a weak smile in return, for the safety of tradition and the upcoming marriage.

She swims to the podium obediently and smiles at her father and the royals from the visiting court and Queen Valtameri, Eric's mother. As Eric joins them, the crowd's roar is defining, but her smile and her silence are louder: they feel like a curse of eternal misery.

As she receives the congratulations of her sisters, her giggles and comments of her good looking husband-to-be she smiles, like a good princess would. Her eyes are reflected in theirs and in the green depths she sees a dead young girl, a dead future, a dead will. She feels tied down the bottom of the ocean, like starfish frozen in the rocks, with no escape, with the unfortunate inevitability of seeing the wondrous world around her, but no way of following, of chasing it.

She can't end like this.

"How dare you, father? How dare you announce that when I had clearly stated I didn't want to marry him? How dare you sell me for the sake of politics?" she yells as soon as she enters his chambers. Sebastian sighs and leaves quickly, but she doesn't care at all. Her future was robbed from her and she spies treason everywhere she looks, including her father's advisor.

"Be quiet! Don't talk to me like that, young lady!" her father's voice booms across the room and she imagines the seas thundering as his wrath touches every corner of the ocean.

"No father! For once, I won't stay silent! You went against my wishes, you betrayed my happiness. My future was not yours to bargain with." she screams, the frustration and desperation coming out of her in rivers, as she cries and stands in front of him. His green eyes, so alike her own, soften but his face is set, his jaw is taut. He's rock and she's coral, and she's defeated by his decision.

"Ariel, you're too young to understand the responsibility of the kingdom. Eric is a nice merman, he's polite and kind, he's a fair prince, he will rule well. And this treaty was one of your mother's last requests. Valtameri's kingdom will be yours one day, you should be pleased with the gift of the crown." he tries to reason with her, but she gasps at the mention of her mother.

"Don't talk to me about a mother I didn't know. Don't talk about her, don't tell me she's in every coral I see, in every current I feel, in every jelly fish that dances. She's not! She was never here with me, and I don't care about her requests. And I don't want to be queen! I won't marry someone I don't love, you can't have that. You can't take my love away father, we've talked about this!" she screams heartbrokenly.

"Again with the land. I've had enough with this obsession Ariel. You are not meant for the land, you're a mermaid, even more, you're a mermaid princess. You need to learn duty and honor. And marrying Eric will teach you that!" he scorns as she puts her face in her hands and wails softly.

"Power weights more than love, as you will found out eventually. What's a sea kingdom compared to a sky you will never own? You will not go to the surface again, you will marry your prince and you will obey. Am I clear, Ariel?" King Triton demands, and she looks at him. Her eyes, though tears still escape her, are clear and furious. Acceptance is not in the deep green of her stare and her voice is challenging.

"You've made yourself clear my king. Excuse me." she avoids his hand as he tries to reach her. She swims past Sebastian at the door, past Flounder's questioning gaze at the outside of the palace. She swims as if she could reach the end of the world, as if she could disappear away from these restraints, from a life of unfulfillment and boredom. She passes everything that has tied her down, her sisters, her father, her kingdom, she swims away from it, desperate for an absolution, for a chance of a dream, for someone who can understand her.

The waves agree with her torment as they tremble and roar, as they swirl and tangle into currents. She stops abruptly as she sees the bottom of two ships shakes dangerously, crashing into each other.

"No." she whispers and swims toward the vessels, regret of the storm she created making her faster as she sees a body drop into the water. The waves shake her like a leaf in the wind and she avoids being crushed by one ship, but the man is sinking fast and she knows he'll drown if she doesn't save him quickly.

She chases him as the currents rattle him, but when she catches him, he's heavier than she expected and she sinks for a moment. His eyes are open but unseeing, and she does the only thing she knows can save him. She touches her lips to his, just a stroke of her mouth, and her kiss saves him, as the legend promise it would. A mermaid's kiss will always save a drowning sailor.

His body is heavy and unmoving as she crawls toward the shore and sets him on the beach, the waves threatening to take him back. She dares the sea to try as she watches him, waiting for the moment he wakes up and finally sees her.

He coughs and splutters and in a moment of trepidation, she hides behind a rock, her minute of fear costing her the opportunity of her life to know the feeling of gratefulness in a man's eyes. He tries to stand, but loses his breath and just lies there, feeling the waves toy with him and the day's end reassure him of his own end, still far away.

If the sea at night was a man, it would be this man. His eyes were clear blue, shifting and shadowing as they searched the beach where he was. Those light aquamarine eyes had a spark inside that betrayed a restlessness and his volatility. The power of the sea, of pain and betrayal, but of strength and determination was confined in those blue eyes, unpredictable as the ocean's own character. And his hair is inky dark as a night' smile. He was dressed in leather and his hook shined in the moonlight's ghosts, but he was beautiful as a storm during sunset and Ariel felt fascinated by this man. She had never been so close to a man before and this one was darkly handsome, like a dream you never wanted to leave, but he had an air of danger, spelled in his clothes, his sword and the muscles she had felt under her hands when she carried him. There was heaven and hell in his eyes, and she craved his story like nothing she had wanted in her life.

She hides when she hears a man's call: "Captain Hook!" She smiles, at the moniker, but realizing her time is almost done, she considers revealing herself to him. But with what purpose? What can she say to this sailor? "With a kiss that gave your breath back, you owe me a story?" That's nonsense, it's treachery and with her father's disloyalty close to her heart, she can't do the same. How she wishes though, as she see him stand and get in the boat with his sailors. They even joke with him about her, without knowing the reality of their words.

"Maybe you were kissed by a mermaid sir, and she left you here because she couldn't love a man with a hook".

The striking captain grins and she thinks the sky has opened and she was granted a miracle, because his smile is the most arresting sight she has known in this land she loves so much. But there's a haunting in his face, even if he smiles and jokes with his men, happiness doesn't quite reach the blueness of his eyes. They're flashing but dark in their emotions, and she realizes as much as the land intrigues her, she needs to know him, because never has she seen such secrets in someone's eyes.

The boat rows away and she's left sitting on the shore, and when the moon is high as a floating ship seen from the bottom of the sea, Scuttle comes to her side.

"I heard congratulations are in order, princess."

She turns to the seagull and her green eyes twinkle like the storm that just passed, as she smiles and her eyes are full of purpose. In that moment, she's the sea, a force never betrayed, never dominated.

"No Scuttle. Not yet, if I can change my fate."

A/N: This is just the prologue of a new fic I'm writing. If you liked it please review, and if you have ideas or something you'd like to see in this new fic, don't hesitate to message me. This is just starting, but I'm hoping you'll like what I have planned. Lots of angst for Hook and Ariel ;)