"Arista! Wake up already!" Adella's voice carried to her sister's ears, but the girl refused to wake up. Shaking her sister harder, she heard Arista groan, and bury her face farther into the pillows.
Why, of all the days, had Adella been given the chore of waking up her third youngest sister? Usually it was Attina's job to wake Arista up…but Attina wasn't sharing the room with her sisters anymore. The thought of her big sister not being there, in the room still shook at the core of Adella's soul. Shaking those thoughts from her mind, she tried once more to get her sister to wake up.
"Arista, come on, wake up. I don't want to be late and miss saying goodbye to Attina." Adella said in a gentler voice, that was a sigh. She missed her big sister already, and Attina wasn't even on her honeymoon. That left two open beds in their room now, Adella mentally noted. Two of their sister's had left…and one soon to follow, considering Alana had been proposed to the night before at Attina's wedding.
"I'm up, I'm up." Arista groaned, sitting up in her bed. Her almost white blonde hair was a mess around her face, the usual part that covered her left eye a complete mess. But that's not what caught Adella's attention. What caught her full attention and made her gasp was the horrible looking black eye.
"Arista…your eye! Ohmygod, what happened?! Did you fall?! Ohmygod, hold on, lemme get Attin—" Adella broke off suddenly, as she grimaced and swallowed the lump in her throat. Silly, she berated herself. Attina was married now; she didn't need to solve her sister's problems. So taking in a deep breath, Adella tried again with her sentence, calmer this time. "Arista, what happened to your eye?" Adella's quiet voice questioned. Arista was silent.
The merteen got up from the bed and crossed over to their old mirrors. Old in the fact that the girls, about a month after Ariel brought music back to the kingdom, had begged their father for a bigger space to use as their mirrors, because 'it was completely, and totally an emergency that they needed a bigger space, since they weren't little girls anymore and had to put their makeup somewhere.' Once their father had heard the word 'makeup' and 'little girls' together though…well, he wasn't so keen on the idea of them having a bigger space. But then again, puppy dog pouts were made for exactly this type of purpose weren't they?
"Arista?" Adella's quiet, gentle voice called out to her younger sister, swimming towards the girl who was staring at her messed up locks in front of the mirror. Adella's brows furrowed, her teal eyes searching her sister's face for some clue as to what Arista was going to say. "What happened to your eye?" Adella prodded, not liking to wait on things. Arista abruptly turned her face from the mirror, to stare at her sister with annoyance.
"Nothing Adella, don't worry so much. I probably just slept wrong." Arista lied through her teeth, forcing herself to not bite her lip and confess to her big sister all that had happened. She may be a little slow, but that didn't mean she was an idiot, her mind stated, thinking back to the night prior...and her father's smile as he saw Attina.
"Arista, you're a worse liar than Ariel, do you know that? Tell me what's wrong." Adella pleaded, but her sister would have none of it, as she glared at her sister.
"Just leave me alone Adella, okay?" Arista said angrily, before softening her voice as a thought crossed her mind. "Tell Attina I say goodbye…and to-to have fun on her honeymoon. If she asks why I'm not there…tell her I'm just not feeling well." Arista really did try to stay strong throughout her sentence, but her voice cracked halfway in between. Oh sure, her youngest and oldest sisters got good guys, great for them. Couldn't you see how happy she was for them; she was practically jumping for joy at the thought of losing yet another sister to marriage.
"I'm not leaving our room without you Arista. Tell me what happened, or I'll go get Daddy." It was an empty threat; both girls' knew that for a fact after Adella bluffed to her sister. Their father was too happy and proud at his oldest daughter for getting married…and now second oldest for following in her fin strokes. He didn't care about their little girl squabbles, now that two of his daughters were married, and another on the way. Only Attina could solve such a problem…and Attina wasn't even here, both girls thought melancholy to themselves.
"He doesn't care about us 'Del." Arista said softly, her voice cracking as she used her big sister's nickname that only she used. As the story goes, according to Attina, King Triton, and…once upon a time Athena, when Arista had begun to start to speak, Adella was her favorite sister. Why? None of the family had a clue, but Arista would only want to play with four year old Adella. Adella's name though was too difficult to pronounce for her beginning language skills, and thus, the nickname 'Del was born.
"Yeah. I know 'Ris." Adella said softly, as she saw the tears in Arista's eyes. Since Arista had deemed her with a nickname, Adella had done the same at four years old…and the name had stuck and fifteen years later, was still used. Arista had a soft shell, so to speak, and could be hurt easily. That's why now she was softly crying to herself.
"We lost another sister 'Del. And soon, Alana will follow, and then…I'll just be left. Everyone has a boyfriend, or a husband…and I'm just…here. I'll probably be here, in this room, still playing my Sea-Sax while everyone goes off and has little babies. I'll be a spinster forever!" Arista cried, falling into Adella's arms in a flurry of sobs. Adella didn't know what to do. Should she cry, as she felt like doing…or should she be strong and comfort Arista like Attina would have done?
"Don't talk like that 'Ris. You know you'll find someone, someone who loves you." Adella said, trying to swallow the guilt and pain that was weighing down on her chest. Her teal eyes were tearing up, as she quickly wiped them away with the back of her hand, trying to be like Attina. Be strong Adella, her mind said. Be strong like Attina would be, soon you'll be the oldest of your sisters that aren't married. You have to try and fill Attina's pace, you know, be the strong sister, the one everyone looks up to.
"No, I won't. You have an amazing boyfriend 'Del, he's practically made for you, and we all know that soon Aquata and Andrina will be engaged because their in love with their boyfriends…I'll be the last one left in our room. I'll be the only one to stay, alone in a room with seven beds, six of them empty because all six of you will be gone with your husband's…and I'll still sleep in my old bed, and play the sea-sax." Arista sobbed, as Adella's eyes widened, hurtfully, as she bit her lip and tried hard not to cry. Come on Adella, be like Attina. Show some strength, be there for you younger sister!
"Please Arista, stop this! Come on, you know that someone will love you. Please, don't cry!" Adella begged, holding her sister tightly as she struggled not to cry either. Attina never begged for them to stop crying, her mind stated, which only made Adella want to cry more.
"No, no, I'll going to die alone! Adella, I don't want to die alone! I want someone to love me like your boyfriend loves you, but we all know that will never happen. I'm going to be the last one, while all of you girls move on and have kids, and have a family…I'll still be sitting alone at the table, watching all of you make goo goo eyes at each other…and I'll just be a spinster!" Arista wailed, clutching onto her sister harder as Adella and Arista slowly floated down to the floor of their room, next to, of course, Ariel's empty bed.
"Damnit Arista, stop it!" Adella finally yelled at the top of her lungs. Arista stopped sobbing, staring at her sister in shock as she moved out of her comforting arms, her face the very picture of hurt. "I don't have a boyfriend, okay? I made him up because…no one loves me either. No boy even looks at me. Look at you Arista; you're so pretty with your white blonde hair, and baby blue eyes. Then look at me. I look like how Momma did after that ship crashed into her. Remember how they said they couldn't open the coffin, because she was all in pieces and Daddy didn't want us to see her like that? Yeah well, that's me." Adella said bitterly, letting tears finally fall down her cheeks. Arista was silent for a moment, as Adella curled into a upright ball.
"'Del…you don't look like that. You're beautiful." Arista's soft voice said, breaking the air and only making tears fall faster down Adella's face as she shook her head no, and looked up at her younger sister.
"Please, don't lie to me 'Ris. I've known I was ugly since I was nineteen, and Cori dumped me for his second girlfriend, who, by the way, was much prettier than me. But you, Arista, you have boys flocking to you at your every command. Trust me, you'll be married and I'll be the spinster." Adella said, well more sobbed out, as Arista put one hand on Adella's shoulder and another on her chin, lifting it up as if Adella was a child.
"Adella, do you remember that song Momma used to sing us to sleep with?" Arista asked quietly, her voice soft and gentle, like Attina's used to be. Adella sniffled and brought her eyes up to her sister, nodding once at the memory.
"Oh the waves roll low,
And the waves roll high—"
"No, not that song." Arista's voice cut off her sister, as Adella looked up with a lump in her throat to her sister. "This one, big sister." Arista said softly, before grabbing her sea sax and playing a soft, sweet melody off of it, before breaking off the music and letting her voice take its place.
"Every day is so wonderful
And suddenly, you saw debris
Now and then, you'll get insecure
From all the pain, you'll be so ashamed
You are beautiful no matter what they say
Words can't bring any of you down
You are beautiful in every single way
Yes, words can't bring you down
So don't bring yourself down today."
Arista's voice was quiet, but the melody ever present in the song, and beautiful with the tune. Adella's eyes watered up immensely, overflowing with more tears as she was suddenly taken back to a different time.
A time where the whole wide world consisted of her room, the palace, and the gardens where her sisters and her would play. A time when Arista would clutch onto her tail because she was afraid to swim and hurt herself. A time where thumb sucking was as normal as crawling onto Momma's lap and letting her hug you lovingly. A time where her mother was the prettiest lady in the whole wide universe, and anyone who said otherwise was completely, and utterly wrong. A time when her giggles were as careless and free as the bubbles she left in her wake after swimming. A time where…everything was simple.
"Trust me 'Del, Momma never lied to us. We're all beautiful…one day…you'll get married…and I'll be smiling as I say goodbye to you…and I'll be the one left in our room." Arista said, her tears coming back as she felt her soft shell caving in on her. She was always the sensitive, slower one of her sisters…but Adella didn't care.
"Not if I can help it 'Ris. Pinky swear to me that you'll get married…that we'll get married…someday." Adella's voice said softly, extending her pinky out to her younger sister. Attina never did that, Adella's voice berated…well, Attina wasn't here either. No, now it was Adella's turn.
"I pinky swear." Arista said in a whisper soft voice, as both sisters looked at each other's stained with tears cheeks and puffy faces for a moment, before breaking out in laughter. Why they started to giggle, they had no clue…they just did.
"How did you get that black eye Arista?" Adella's voice finally asked, but she couldn't keep the smile out of her voice. She was…not exactly thrilled, but at the same time, not so down. Maybe, maybe their mother had been right. Maybe Adella was actually….beautiful.
"A pillar came out of nowhere and I swam right into it!" Arista's voice with upmost sincerity, admitting what happened to her face. Adella looked at her sister for a moment, before cracking up in laughter, just imagining it in her mind.
"That's…that's a good one 'Ris." Adella panted, her laughter still not deserted as she kept laughing at the image of Arista slamming right into a pillar. Arista couldn't stop laughing, as she turned her head to the side…and saw Ariel's empty bed. Her laughter suddenly deserted her then, as it was replaced by sadness, and a strange emptiness the girl had found forming for the past two years in her heart.
"We really did lose them, didn't we?" Arista's sullen voice stopped her sister's laughter, as Adella turned to see what her sister was staring at. It was Ariel's empty bed…with the sheets still all ruffled up and the area around the bed a complete mess. Just the way Ariel had left it that day she'd gotten in a fight with her father, and exchanged her tail for legs. Just looking at the bed made Adella want to start crying…it seemed as though Ariel had just left for a quick swim, and would be back in a seconds, out of breath, and with shining blue eyes because she'd just discovered something new.
"Promise me that no matter what happens to us 'Ris, if we get married, have children…promise me that no matter what, we'll always be sisters" Adella's quiet voice said, her eyes tearing up as she looked at Alana's bed. Soon that would be one more empty bed in the room…another sister gone into the world of marriage.
"No, we'll never be sisters." Arista's even softer voice startled Adella, as the girl opened her mouth to demand why. Arista turned around to face Adella, tears streaming down her face as she wiped them off with the back of her hand quickly.
"We'll always be the best of sisters."
Okili dokili, so this is a new oneshot! I wanted to use Arista and Adella because we all know that Arista is a bit slow, and does cry easily...but I also wanted to put in Adella because I don't think the movie Little Mermaid 3 can sum up her character nicely. They just show Adella in the movie as boy crazy, but I think as the third oldest she'd be...kind of lost. Now that Attina has been married, and Alana is soon on the way to her own marriage, I think that as the oldest sister who's still in their room Adella wouldn't know how to act. Should she be strong like her oldest sister Attina, or playful and fun like her youngest Ariel?
Anyway, review if you liked it...I don't think it was one of my best stories, but all the same I'd like a few reviews on this story.
P.S. The song Arista sings is actually I Am Beautiful by Christina Aguilera. I just messed around with the lyrics, but I don't own the song. Sorry. :*(
P. P. S. For any Harmony fans I'll be posting a chapter later, so don't worry!