The third of every month, Ariel went to the sea.
She had been human for about a year now - in fact, that was to be celebrated when she went to visit her family today - and married to Eric for about six months. They had wanted to wed right away, but neither Ariel's sisters nor Carlotta would've forgiven the pair if they didn't let them do some planning with the wedding. The ceremony and celebration ended up being modest in size, but lavishly carried out, and all were satisfied.
Ariel loved her family, and didn't want to spend the rest of her life away from them, so she was very happy at how often she got to see them. And she was especially excited tonight, as she would never pass up a party. She loved socializing and hosting and couldn't imagine a time where she wouldn't enjoy the warmth of the limelight.
"Attina!" she waved, her other hand still holding Eric's.
"Have fun." he squeezed her hand and murmured into her ear. "Miss you as much as always."
"And, as always, I'll be back." she smiled up at him, pecking his cheek. She turned to face the growing group of her family, as more sisters popped up from the waves, swimming as close and they could.
"Hurry up, Ariel!"
"We still have to get you ready!"
"Get her ready? I have to get ready!" Alana huffed.
Ariel laughed. "I'm coming!" she gave Eric one last hug and sprinted to the sea. She hopped up onto a pier and ran faster, faster, faster until she was able to leap right off the end, into the open water. Eric counted the seconds until she broke the surface, tossing her hair back. A soft golden glow emitted around her, as her father appeared with his trident. Within second, she was able to peak her light green fins out of the water and smile.
"Goodbye!" she cried again, flipping below the water.
"Goodbye!" Eric waved. He would miss her, he always did, but at least he had an undistracted day to get the ever-growing piles of correspondence on his desk.
...
Ariel laughed as she raced her sisters back to the palace, swimming loops around each other.
"When does the party start?" she asked.
"Late afternoon. There's a dinner, and then dancing. Then a performance - there's a bunch of singers coming in, I forget who. But Arista picked them, and she says they're -"
"They're really good!"
"Yeah, that's what she keeps saying."
"Basically, we have just enough time to get ready - and get you ready, and then it'll be time to head down."
Ariel laughed. "I'm perfectly capable of doing my own hair and makeup."
"Oh, we know you are!" Adella smiled. "But today is your one year anniversary of being human, and we just want everything to be extra special. Plus, you can't deny, no one is better than Alana at makeup."
Alana beamed proudly at this.
"Okay, fair enough." Ariel conceded.
"We got you a new outfit, too!" Andrina beamed.
Ariel dove down suddenly and retuned with a few flowers. She began tucking them into her sisters' hair and swimming around them. "Oh, you girls are such dreams." she smiled, and the group raced back to the palace.
They all gathered around their mirrors, and Ariel helped the others girls get ready, swatching colors, comparing different styles, and helping style hair. After several hours, every girl was styled at her most elegant, and feeling wonderfully about it.
"Your turn!" Andrina beamed, and all the girls swam over to Ariel, sitting her in front of the mirror.
After 45 minutes, they deemed her complete, and finally allowed Ariel to look at herself. She gasped, and leaned in to make sure it was really her. Her hair and been pulled back and done up with pearls, her skin and been perfected into a soft cream, and her eyes looked brighter and bigger.
"I love it!" she exclaimed, turning around to hug her sisters.
"Careful!" they smiled, hugging her softly back. "Don't mess anything up!"
They dragged her over to the closet next, and dressed in in a flowing purple tea-length skirt and pearl-covered matching top.
"Come on!" Attina insisted, waving the girls over to the door as soon as they were all ready. "The party will start any minute!"
...
The dinner was wonderful, with seven courses and heaps of laughter. Everyone was so excited to see Ariel back - she had always been well-liked in the kingdom, and her returns were most typically shared with family and close friends. People made her promise them dances and private conversations, and Ariel beamed as she agreed to them all.
One man did not talk to her at all through the dinner, but this did not throw Ariel off in any way, as she had only spoken to him once before. In fact, she probably didn't even remember meeting him at all.
Duke Devon did not sit anywhere near Ariel, or any of the sisters for that matter. He was not related the family in any way, his grandfather had gotten the position by some historical folly only his family seemed to remember, and he was invited because it was polite, not because he brought anything in particular to the party.
He was not disliked, make no mistake, as no one could think poorly of him for the simple fact that no one thought of him at all. He knew this, and while he wasn't fond of the notion, he didn't stew on it.
He was aware he'd have to put in more effort than anyone to get the attention of the youngest princess, but he was not afraid to do so. Thus, he caught her attention, and her arm, after the meal.
Ariel laughed before she even saw who had grabbed her. "Oh come on, Andrina! I promised I'd go see that lobster after some dancing, but some is more than one dance - oh!" Ariel flushed red as her hair as soon as she realized her mistake. "I'm very sorry sir, I thought you were my sister-"
"Think nothing of it." he kissed her hand cordially, and she flushed again. "If you are so fond of dancing, may I have this one?"
"Sure, um, of course." she nodded swiftly, and he pulled her out on the floor. She had already promised to dance with merfolk of all types; all genders, ages, relations. But, somehow, this dance hung with a feeling that it should be forbidden, that a boundary was being crossed.
Devon felt a similar emotion, but he felt a step being take forward, not a boundary being crossed. "Tell me, Princess Ariel."
"Ariel is fine."
"Ah, Ariel. If we are already being informal, then my title is not necessary either."
"I'm sorry, but you will have to remind me of your name." Ariel said, a little sheepish. I don't recall us meeting."
"You don't?" Devon said this lightheartedly, as if he was teasing, but it was a bit of a blow. Why, it was roughly a year ago that we met. Of course," he continued, as if the next thought was also a joke. "It is not our anniversary that we are celebrating."
"No, I suppose it isn't." Ariel agreed. "But, please, who are you."
"My name is Duke Devon, miss, but you, of course, may call me Devon." he spun her after he said this, as a sort of punctuation. He knew the tune that was playing, and understood his time was becoming limited as the song was ending. "We met at the party that was thrown the day before your choral concert - or, at least, what was supposed to be your choral concert."
Ariel squirmed at this memory. "I guess I can be a bit forgetful, huh?" she joked.
"Then I shall be here to remind you!" Devon beamed. "We stumbled upon each other in the gardens just outside the dancefloor. You were very excited for the party, and swirling about with your friends and sisters. We had a lovely conversation, and you promised me a dance. But, you got rather tired, and went off to bed before I had my chance." he pulled her closer. "So, I guess, this is me holding you to your promise."
"I guess it is." Ariel said flatly, not sure of what was supposed to come next. However, the music came to a sharp ending, and couples broke apart.
Devon was the last to let go, and he did not fully drop Ariel's left hand. "Tell me, what was so much more compelling about the human world than what we have here?"
"Well, I've always loved the human world." Ariel insisted. "It's nothing like how it is down here, full of fascinating things and new experiences. I've been a mermaid my whole life, well, before this year, and I know how things work down here. I just thought I had been everywhere, done everything. I wanted something new." she smiled softly now. "And then I fell in love."
This, Devon was not aware of. "What?"
"With a man named Eric." she nodded, misinterpreting his surprise. "I had always wanted to be human, but now I knew I had to be. I loved him as soon as I saw him, and I knew I'd never forget him if I just tried to continue on with my daily life."
"But-"
Devon did not get a chance to finish his thought, as Ariel's attention was suddenly grabbed by her sisters, who swam over to her.
"Ariel, come here!" Adella bounced, wrapping both her palms around Ariel's arm. "The Duchess of the Caribbean brought you a gift! We said no gifts of course, but she saw it and thought you'd love it and come on!"
Ariel waved goodbye to Devon, spitting out a quick apology. She dashed off with Adella and Artista, trying to remain composed, whilst so clearly excited.
Devon stood there, blankly, trying to rebuild the hold in his chest. She was the same as he had remembered; a perfect fairy of the sea, angelic and bright and perfect. He had gotten to dance with her, like he had hoped would soon happen. He had made plans of how to whisk her off her feet, how to convince her to stay a mermaid, that her life as a human was really more of an extended vacation. He had run over arguments about how the sea was where she belonged. But now, she was married. To a human.
And he hadn't planned for that.
Back, and as always, back with another story. Review, please! I love reading all of them!