Ariel had been married for only a few days when her Daddy had asked her to meet him on the shoreline. He said he wanted to give something to his former-mermaid daughter, which puzzled Ariel. There was nothing back home that she would need, and he had already given her her wedding gift.
However, Ariel had happily agreed to meet him. She had spent the last 16 years seeing her father every single day, and now, that wasn't to be the case anymore. She thought she wouldn't feel bad in the slightest about it, but over the past few days, she realized she actually did.
Ariel walked out onto the beach, going towards where her father had asked to meet her. He wanted to be somewhere where no one else could see them; Ariel wasn't sure if that was because what he was giving her was supposed to be a secret, or because he didn't want the other humans to see and gawk at the merman.
When she reached the area she was told to be at, which was under the boardwalk, Ariel waited patiently for a few minutes, looking forward to seeing her Daddy. When the King finally surfaced, Ariel stepped out into the ocean to meet him, embracing him but seeing that he was holding something in his clenched fist.
"You.. said you wanted to give me something?" Ariel asked.
Triton took a deep breath before relaxing his fist, revealing a beautiful, golden seashell locket. As Ariel looked at it, he said, "I don't want for you to never see Atlantica again. I exerted some of the trident's power into this locket… If you open it and sing into it, you will be transformed into a mermaid, or back to a human." When Ariel gasped, he paused before going on. "It is specially designed for your voice only. All you have to do is open it and sing your tune, and the power will be released. This way, you will always be able to come visit us, if you choose to do so."
Without saying anything, Ariel threw her arms around her father, "Thank you, Daddy.. But.. It only works for me? What if Attina or Adella or anyone else wants to come on land?" She bit her lip as she awaited his response, afraid that Triton didn't want his other daughters to go on land.
"I have given your sisters lockets as well," he responded with a smile. "each of them has their own locket that will only work for themselves. No other mermaid or merman will be able to access its power." He held the locket out to Ariel. "Do you want to see how it works, Ariel?"
Ariel hesitated, staring at the locket unsurely. What if it only worked one way? What if she couldn't turn back into a human? "I.. I guess so.." She opened the locket in her father's hand, cleared her throat, and began to sing. Within a few moments, a golden swirl emitted from the open locket, circling around Ariel from the waist down. Almost instantly, she got her fins back, and she gasped when she saw what had happened. "And it was completely painless!" she said happily, looking up at her father.
Triton chuckled, "Yes, and that, too. You shouldn't feel any pain when using it. Now, sing again and see what happens."
Ariel did so, and again the magic swirled around her. Only this time, her tail split into two, and she had her legs back. Once the transformation was complete, she stood up off the sand and hugged her father again. "Thank you, Daddy. So much. I love it."
When they broke apart, King Triton put the locket over Ariel's head. Ariel clutched it protectively, knowing she would never take it off. It was perfect. She didn't have to completely sacrifice her old life to be with Eric. She could see her family whenever she wanted to. It was the perfect gift, a link between two worlds.