As the bright morning sun shone in the large balcony window in Ariel and Eric's new master bedroom, Ariel blinked a few times, feeling the bright sun on her sleepy eyes. For a minute, she almost forgot where she was, and she turned her head around to look around the room.
She then remembered. She and Eric were married now. She could actually be a human now; they had gotten their happy ending after all. Sighing to herself contentedly, Ariel briefly relived the previous day, and night. Both their wedding and wedding night were absolutely perfect, and throughout the whole day, she learned a lot. But certainly enjoyed it, that was for sure.
Hugging the tangled sheets up to her neck, Ariel suddenly realized that Eric wasn't next to her. She knew she had fallen asleep in his arms the previous night, but now? No sign of him. Anywhere. A certain thought crossed her mind, and she jolted upright with a gasp, looking around the silent room frantically. Where is he? Was this all some kind of joke? Daddy was right after all! He doesn't really love me! It was all a trick! What if he just left me here? What if I never see him again?
However, a few moments later the bedroom door cracked open, interrupting Ariel's thoughts. Eric peeking his head in and smiling at his new bride. It soon faded when he saw the distraught look on her face. Quickly, he walked into the room and rushed over to the bed, sitting next to her and placing a hand on her dainty shoulder, his expression worried. "Ariel? Are you alright?" His voice was frantic. "Are you… hurt?" He stared at his wife fearfully.
When Ariel saw him, she gasped, a wave of relief washing over to her. She threw her arms around him and buried her face in his neck. "No.. No, I'm okay. I just.. I thought you were gone." She bit her lip and pulled away, looking at him anxiously.
Eric chuckled softly when they pulled away, loving her affection. Gently, he told her, looking into her eyes, "Don't worry. I'm not leaving you. Not now, not ever. Okay?" He stood up and added with a mischievous grin, "Actually, I have something planned for us. For the next week. A little.. trip."
Ariel's face lit up, her excitement already growing. "Really?" she exclaimed. "What? What is it?!" She beamed happily, looking forward to whatever it was Eric had planned. She then noticed that he was already dressed, like he had been awake for a while, waiting for her.
Eric winked at her and, ignoring her questions, bending forward to kiss her forehead before backing up out of the room. "You'll see," he said simply. When he reached the threshold, he told her, "Just get dressed now, darling, and meet me out by the ship. Don't worry about bringing anything; Carlotta's already packed your bags for you. I'll be waiting." Although reluctant to leave the stunning girl in front of him, the sailor prince turned and left the room, heading out to the shore to make sure the ship was all ready to go.
As soon as he shut the door behind him, Ariel jumped off the bed, hurriedly getting dress and making herself presentable. She grabbed the dinglehopper off the… What was it called? A desk?… and combed through her long red hair, just enough to get out the tangles. The new princess then quickly headed out of the room, saying goodbye to Grimsby and Carlotta as she excitedly ran outside to find Eric.
Reaching the beach, Ariel saw the ship, still decorated with everything from the wedding. She squinted her sea blue eyes to see Eric standing alone by the steering wheel of the ship, waiting for her. After Ariel boarded the ship and joined Eric, the couple headed away to what Eric called a "tropical island" that was similar to where they lived now, but much more exotic. A few hours passed, and the couple spent the whole trip just talking, since they hadn't really done so the previous night. Eric finally noticed their island destinaion in the distance.
As Eric pulled into the port of the island, Ariel looked around, noticing how beautiful everything looked. But what especially caught her attention was the sea, which was a beautiful light blue, much different than the waters she was used to. According to Eric, this water would be a bit warmer than she was used to.
Taking Ariel's hand, Eric led her off the ship, carrying their bags with his other hand. He brought her to a private little home on the beach, which looked a lot more modern than the ones back at the kingdom. As they entered the home -which Eric called a "hut"- Ariel took in how beautiful everything looked, from the wooden floors to the large master bedroom that looked out over the sea. The former mermaid approached the large window which covered one of the walls of the bedroom, speechless as she admired the beautiful ocean.
Lost in thought, Ariel hadn't noticed Eric come up behind her, surprising her when he wrapped his arms around her petite waist. She leaned her head back against his chest as he leaned forward to kiss her neck. "So," he mumbled with a grin, "Ready to get started?"
For the next week, Ariel and Eric spent their honeymoon doing various activities on the island. One day, they went hiking through the jungle behind the beach, which helped Eric explain the nature of land to Ariel. They also spent lots of time in the ocean, of course, both scuba diving and simply relaxing in the warm waters. During the week, Ariel learned a lot about human enjoyment, including how they were able to interact with the ocean. By scuba diving, she learned that humans couldn't breathe or talk underwater. When they went under for a long time, they had to bring these large things called "air tanks" with them so they could breathe.
During the evenings, Eric surprised Ariel a few times by organizing a romantic dinner alone on the beach. During the nights, when it became too cold to stay outside, the couple would cuddle together in bed, watching the ocean silently or doing… other things. All in all, the week went just as well as Eric had hoped for.
Throughout the course of the trip, both Ariel and Eric fell more deeply in love, learning more and more about each other as they spoke for hours during the night. Constantly, they would be in the middle of some sort of activity, and as Eric watched his bride, he kept finding himself thinking, God, she's gorgeous. Ariel, too, found herself blushing all the time, completely in love with her husband and everything about him. When the trip was over, there was a reluctance to leave the beautiful island, but both were looking forward to their new lives together as Prince and Princess.