Chapter 1: Waves in Motion

My first Little Mermaid fic. Yay! I've recently watched some scenes of the movie and I could not help but wonder what if Ariel had tried a different approach to Eric before she went to Ursula? Would had definitely saved some confusion, among some other things, and it might had had a much different outcome on how everything went. Thus this story was born.

I own nothing. The Little Mermaid and all its content belong to Disney. I don't own the cover image either.

Enjoy the chapter!

The sea was calm as the vessel made its short voyage into the night. Onboard a multitude of sailors laughed, cheered and made merry with one another. And what better occasion, the twenty-second anniversary of Prince Eric's birth. As was tradition, the night of his birthday would be spent on a marine vessels where the crew and close friends invited would celebrate and hold the festivities on deck.

Prince Eric himself was an athletic and strong young man. Over the years he had built up his strength and the rippling muscles on his body proved it. His short black hair swept across his head as smooth as the crest of the waves. His light blue eyes held a deep wisdom, yet still portrayed his energetic, fun-loving self. His attire was more fit for a determined, adventurous marriner then a regal prince, composing of a white, collared shirt with rolled up sleeves, blue pants with a red sash and black boots.

Beside him and urging him not to go off to the ship's back by himself was Grimsby, his confidant and close friend. Grimsby was shown to be quite elegant on his choice of appearance, consisting of a long, black coat, purple shirt, lilac ascot, grey and white pants and two, very long and buckled, purple shoes. The middle-aged man tried to pull the prince back from heading off from the rest of the party to be by himself, insisting that he come join him, but Eric shook his head and politely dismissed the offer.

As he walked down the ship's railing towards the back, Grimsby watched, worry slightly evident on his face. He had watched the prince grow up and loved him dearly, but there were times where he could be mysterious and secretive. Grimsby knew that the prince should be getting married soon, having putting it off for about six years now, but in that six year span Eric had seemed to go off quite often on his own.

Normally here it would not be a problem, except for the fact that six years ago the ship had caught fire by stray lightning on Eric sixteenth birthday, resulting in him being thrown overboard. Thankfully he had been found the next day, seemingly unharmed, but that still did not keep the unsettled feeling from rising over him as he watched Eric depart for the back.

By the time Eric got to the back of the ship, he already knew that he was late. In his hand was a small, lumpy object in a red handkerchief. It was simply wrapped, but he wanted to keep it close and out of the water as much as he could before he could present it.

As he swung by the farthest side of the ship, he saw his faithful and loyal sheepdog Max beside one of the purposely made holes in the ship to let seawater out from the top desk. Max regarded his master with a joyful bark before resuming his interest with the thing clinging onto the ship's deck and sending out a small appendage to pet Max's soft, long fur.

Eric smiled as he walked closer to Max and the other thing, feeling relief that it wasn't too late that his other companion had left. When he came next to Max, he bent his knees and sat down next to him and peered under the shadowed hole. A splash of salty seawater suddenly hit his face, sending him laying back and spluttering the ocean fluid.

"Hey. What was that for," he yelled, attempting to keep his hold on his wrapped object while trying to wipe the stinging saltwater off his face. As his vision started to become less blurry again, he heard a soft, tinkling laughter beside him.

"Well you deserved it. You're about ten minutes late and I was afraid you weren't going to show," a voice came from before him and with another wipe of the water from his eyes he could see who it was.

A young woman a year younger then him stared back at him, climbing up onto the ship's wooden deck where he could see her in the light of the lantern hanging above. A pair of aqua blue eyes stared cheerfully at him, set in a fair, lovely face. She had long, red hair that swept artistically across her head and she was wearing a set of lavender seashells that covered up her front. Eric smiled at her, taking in her sweet-looking and beautiful appearance. But what separated her from most of the girls he had seen was the fact that she had a long, green tail with lighter green fins.

The girl he had gone to see was in fact a mermaid.

Eric smirked at her witty response before playfully petting Max's head. "Oh yeah? Well then, Max," the dog perked up at his name being mentioned, "slobber her."

Before she even knew it, the mermaid had turned from a sitting position to one laying on the floor as she laughed and tried to pull Max away from all his doggy kisses. Eric laughed jovially before eventually pulling him away and assisting her into a sitting position once again. The mermaid nodded in thanks, before then brightening up and pulling out a simple, coral pink bag from its holding place on one of the ship's ornamental carvings. From it, she suddenly pulled out a sopping mass of fresh seaweed, obviously looking like it had meant to be wrapped around something.

"Happy birthday," she said, a bit sheepishly, to him. Her hand went behind her head and rubbed in softly as he took the gift from her. "Sorry about the wrapping, I didn't have any paper." Eric laughed as he started to unwrap it.

"It's perfectly fine, I wouldn't have it any other way," he replied. The seaweed was wrapped tightly around the object and he had to pinch and tear quite a bit of it to get to the thing inside. The mermaid graciously discarded the seaweed wrapping and threw it back into the sea as she anticipated his reaction to her present.

"A-Ariel," he stuttered, once he had gotten to the present's core. In the palm of his hand was a very ornately carved dagger, complete with its original case and everything. Despite being waterlogged under the sea for so long, it had been carefully polished to remove anything still sticking to it. He slowly unsheathed it and gasped at the shining blade, gleaming polished in the lantern light. His thumb rubbed the hilt of the knife where his kingdom's flag symbol had been delicately engraved into it. He took a long gaze at it before turning his head to Ariel.

"I know it's bit old and I tried my best to clean it up and stuff, but it's just that I wasn't sure what to get you, so I just hope you-" The little mermaid was suddenly cut off by a pair of warm, strong arms encircling her and pulling her close. After a moment to realize what was happening, her own arms went around his next and deepened the embrace. When they soon pulled out, much to both of their annoyance, she saw that he had a wide smile on his face.

"I absolutely love it. Don't think I don't. It's just that," he held up the knife, "my father had one of these just like this one." As Ariel watched him finger the knife, he continued. "I remember that he often used to pull it out and tell me about the adventures he had it with him when he was younger. When he died," he looked down sadly, "I never saw the dagger again. But... but just the thought you were able to find one exactly like his just makes me feel like I've gotten back a piece of him I thought I'd lost." He looked up again and smiled warmly. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she softly said, smiling as she gazed into his sparkling blue eyes. He found himself doing the same, staring deep into their depths, until all in a second it was over. He leaned back, but then suddenly straightened up as if he had just realized something.

"Oh, I have something for you too," he said, reaching into his pocket and plucking out the handkerchief and giving it to her, who accepted it a bit weirdly, before staring back up at him again.

"But my birthday was a few months ago," she said, but he just nodded understandingly.

"I know, but I thought I just get you something from the festivities that you'd like. Just something small, but I know you enjoy them so much," he replied. Her hands slowly unknotted the red, embroided cloth and she stared at the little fruits tucked neatly inside of it.

"Strawberries," she gasped, reaching out to pluck one of the ruby fruits and eagerly taking a bite into its light-seeded, ripe flesh. A burst of sweetness touched her tastebuds, making her chew in ecstasy. She quickly took a few more of the delicious berries and popped them each into her mouth.

"This is so good. Thank you so much," she said between bites. A smile quirked at the sides of his mouth.

"You're very welcome."

"Prince Eric!"

Both heads spun around to the footsteps hurrying over to them. Eric quickly straightened up, slipping his ift into his pant's pocket while Ariel slid out of the floor hole. Just as Eric had stood up straight again and Ariel had disappeared into the ocean with a small splash, Grimsby appeared along with two sailors into the light.

"Over here Grimsby. I'm fine. Max here was keeping me company. Right Max," he asked casually. Max barked in agreement and licked his master's cheek before going to sniff the now empty spot where the strange woman that smelled like fish had disappeared to.

"Oh, thank goodness," Grimsby said as he took out his handkerchief and dabbed his forehead with it. "Perhaps you should come back to the front deck of the boat. After all, it would be a shame to spend your twenty-second birthday party elusive on the ship's railing."

Despite every molecule of him protesting the request, his years of princely lessons had settled in his being, acting as a moral compass for doing the right thing. He knew there was no use arguing with him, considering Grimsby had practically raised him at a very young age when his parents had died. Grimsby to this day almost always had the advantage in their arguments, so he might as well give up now while he still had any dignity left.

"Yeah, you're probably right," he admitted as he got up. Max pranced by his feet as he began walking beside his master to the front deck.

"Besides your majesty, you might as well enjoy yourself while ye can. The weather's lookin' a bit scurvy, so we best be gettin' back before history repeats itself," a sailor added. True enough, the once star-speckled sky was now covered in a thick layer of dark clouds. The moon was still visible, yet was blurred by the mists before it.

"And of course there's the list of possible wives for you to look over, considering you will be kinged in a week's time and a king must have a queen," Grimsby commented. Eric sighed and swept back his hair with his hand.

"Oh Grimsby. You know I don't feel so good about this entire finding a wife thing. I want to find someone out there who truly loves me for who I really am and not what my birthright says," he admitted.

"As do I, but let's hope we'll find her soon, considering your coronation will be this very week," Grimsby said as he continued his path to the front of the ship. Eric fell a few paces behind, eventually coming to a stop and looking out to the dark blue sea as far as the eye could see. His mind and heart felt conflicted at the moment. He knew he could no longer shirk his duties of finding a wife to become his queen, but... but his mind could not just let go of the image of the red-haired, gorgeous-faced, most beautifully voiced mermaid that had saved him all those years ago and continued to be there for him until now. He sighed as his thumb stroked the wood railing. He took another long, lingering gaze at the sea, trying to spot something in its depths.

"See you tomorrow, Ariel," he whispered, before Grimsby's voice once called him and he resumed his walk towards him. He suddenly froze when he heard something splash into the water below him. Looking over the railing once more, he could see the white ripples and bubbles of something that had clearly come off the ship. Just for a moment though, he thought he could see the flash of red and green.

A smile graced itself on his lips before he went to join the party. After all, it was for him and he wasn't going to let all the hard work done for him go to waste.

Under the sea, way below its surface and deep near the bottom, an amazing selection and variety of all life forms grew, survived and thrived. Fish swam through the crystal blue water as birds flew through the sky way above. All sports of aquatic plants, corals and polyps gave vibrancy and color to what would just be the sandy seafloor. And of course, beneath the wave's crest, lived the merpeople.

With the tops of humans and the bottoms and fins of fish, they existed in harmony with the ocean itself they lived in. Ruled over by the benevolent, yet widowed King Triton, everyone lived in peace under his reign.

Until Ariel realized she was late for her family's performance.

As the king's daughter, she was required to make public appearances along with her sisters and the musical show was no exception. She knew by the time she'd arrive back home their be a scolding lecture by both her father and possibly his right-hand crab, advisor and composer, Sebastian.

Still, this unavoidable, negative events that was fated to happen anyways did not stop the smile that had spread across her face, even as she swam and was joined by her close fish friend, Flounder, as they both headed home. Eric had said goodbye to her, even though he had not known she was there and could here him. The thought that he cared for her in that way sent her heart nearly bursting with happiness.

Ever since the day she had seen, rescued and met him, her feelings had only grown stronger. Though he was human and she a mermaid, she knew they had a bond like no other. While she had yet to admit and reveal her true feelings towards him, she had a strong knowing that he might reciprocate them as well.

The thoughts of what happened next had her almost fainting with giddiness.

She knew he had duties as a prince, same as she had as a princess, and she knew about the entire 'finding a bride' objective he had, but she hoped, from the bottom of her heart she hoped, that she might be the one he'd call his wife someday. If there was only a way to make him one of her kind or her into his, she knew they'd be absolutely perfect for one another. Living happily ever after.

"Ariel!"

Her father's deep baritone voice distracted her from her fantasizing and her shoulders slumped forward as she entered the glimmering, decorated palace known as her home. Inside she could see a hair haired and bearded merman with a gold, pointed crown, a blue tail, strong, chiseled muscles and lastly, but it at all the least, his all-powerful relic, the trident. A powerful artifact from ancient time, passed down from each ruler to the next, it was a glorious, yet was currently used more as a punctuation for her father's angry fit over her absence.

When Sebastian pointed and called out her name and her father rotated around to look at her, she mentally steeled herself for what was about to come.

Hope you enjoyed reading the first chapter, there is more to come and I promise I'll do them all. So basically, to summarize the events until now, Ariel rescued Eric, but he was able to get a small look at her with a small conversation before she had to leave. Unlike the original film, Ariel kept her emotions in better check, meaning her sisters and father never assumed she was in love. We cut to a few days later where Eric is roaming the beach near his castle, looking for the mysterious girl who saved his life. Ariel visits him, but keeps her mermaid tail and origins hidden and promises to talk to him more. This continued for about a month or so, until the two came together in the place where "Kiss the Girl" happened and Ariel revealed her true form to Eric. He is shocked of course, but readily accepts her for who she is and promises her to keep her secret while still visiting her. This continues for until the current chapter where the dynamic will begin to happen.

I was originally going to make Ariel give Eric a 'dinglehopper' for a birthday gift, but I figure if they've interacted over the years, they've obviously explained and told each other about things in their culture., but who knows, maybe I'll incorporate some hints of it in later chapter.

Please leave a review and I hope you'll stay tuned till the next chapter. Sincerely, v.t.7