Her hair gently swayed in the cool ocean water as she waited for him to arrive. It had been nearly two weeks since they had last seen each other, and Ursula was nervous that something had happened. He was always worried that someone had caught on to them, maybe it had finally happened. She wrung her hands nervously, waiting in the shadows of the palace gardens. Finally, he arrived, and Ursula swam over eagerly to embrace him. But something was different. He seemed tense, and wouldn't meet her eyes. She gently turned his face towards her.
"Neptune honey, what's wrong? Aren't you happy to see me?" She asked. He smiled slightly, and held her against him. Still, she felt something was wrong. Silently, she pulled away from him.
"I've been meaning to show you something." Neptune opened his mouth to protest, but Ursula grabbed his hands and started leading him out of the garden before he could stop her. Hiding in the shadows, she led Neptune out of the mermaid's domain and deep into the dark recesses of the ocean floor, until finally she stopped at the entrance of a dark cavern.
"Go inside." said Ursula.
"Ursula...I have to tell you something." Neptune started.
"Well tell me inside." Ursula insisted.
Neptune sighed, but Ursula grabbed his hand again and led him inside, down into a dimly lit room. There was a bed and shelves full of potions, all lit by a small skylight that let in the moonlight.
"Isn't it cozy?" Ursula mused.
"Ursula..." Neptune continued.
"I was thinking that you could stay here, I mean, when you sneak away from your parents."
"Ursula, we need to talk."
"But don't you like it?" Ursula pulled Neptune further in, but he yanked his arm away from her.
"Ursula, would you stop? This is serious."
Ursula was silent, if not a bit scared. Neptune had never gotten angry at her. It was quiet like that a long time before Neptune finally sighed and apologized. "I'm sorry, I just...this is important."
He looked into Ursula's eyes, and had to pause for a moment. Standing there in the moonlight, her black hair dancing about her slim figure, her tentacles swaying to and fro.
"What is it?" She asked.
"It's...you know that I am the only heir to the throne." Ursula nodded.
"Well...I have a responsibility to, to pass on the family name."
"What are you trying to say?" Ursula whispered, losing the purple in her cheeks.
"I am almost king, and a king has certain responsibilities..."
"What are you saying." Ursula asked again, this time a bit irritated.
"I'm betrothed." Neptune blurted. He immediately regretted it. It was eerily quiet for a good while, the tension slowly building. Ursula stood perfectly still, but her breathing slowly grew louder and louder, her muscled tensed, and something in her snapped.
"What do you mean, betrothed?"
"Um, well," Neptune stammered, backing up slowly out of the cavern as Ursula drifted closer and closer towards him. "There's this mermaid girl, pretty girl, my parents want me to marry, to be queen..."
"You said I was your queen." Ursula snapped, shoulders hunched, advancing faster. "You said that you would stand up to your parents, you said that we would get married."
"Well, I wanted to-"
"Was the all a load of crap, Neptune?"
"No, it really wasn't-"
"Was it all just lies, Neptune?"
"No, I loved you Ursula. It's just..." Ursula paused her pursuit. "You couldn't give me heirs."
That's what really did it. Ursula cried out and charged toward Neptune, muttering a spell beneath her breath as she chased him back toward Atlantis.
"Help! Witch! Witch!" Neptune cried, weaving back and forth so Ursula couldn't hurl anything at him. Mermaids and merman all across the kingdom came out to see what was going on, only to find their prince swimming for his life from some deformed mermaid trying to kill him. Mermen all across the kingdom rushed to save their soon-to-be ruler, charging after the hideous sea witch. Ursula pursued her prey, consumed by her anger. A hulking merman managed to get close enough behind Ursula to yank one of her tentacles, and the sea witch fell back as Neptune managed to escape back to the palace. She rose to continue after him, but was brought down by something hard against her head. She looked up to see Neptune's father looming over her, raising his trident a second time. Ursula fled back to the shadows, the cries of the merfolk growing fainter behind her. "Witch, witch, witch!"
Flotsam and Jetsam circle about the young thing, saying everything just as Ursula taught them. She watched from her cavern, waiting eagerly for the girl to fall into her trap. She studied her every detail, her flowing red hair, her clear blue eyes, her fear, her hesitation. And that voice. She had her mother's voice.