Uh... hi. I'm not new to FFN; this is just another account I use at times. :)

I was watching The Little Mermaid the other day and was reminded of how much I adore that movie. My favorite Disney Classics are The Lion King and Aladdin, and while those are good movies, I hadn't seen The Little Mermaid in a long while. And then I realized that The Little Mermaid easily rivals Aladdin as my favorite. Might not be as funny (although Scuttle always brings laughs, Timon and Pumba and the Genie hold a special place in my heart), but it is beautifully made.

Anyway, I got inspired by this one piece in deviantART, in which Ariel is a merman and Eric is a princess. Princess Ericka and Prince Ariel, then. And, yes, Ariel is a unisex name, so I kept it. I know that this isn't a foreign concept and that others have written fanfics gender-swapping the two, but I read them and didn't like them much.

The Little Human

By: Crazy Diamonds

The salty sea air was refreshing. The mist rising from the water's surface brushed Ericka's face ever so gently, and she breathed in greedily. How she adored the ocean. The small princess leaned on the side of the ship, looking out into the sea with longing. Moonlight reflected on the calm water perfectly. As she absentmindedly twirled her curly black hair with her fingers, she thought she saw a glimpse of a silhouette below her. Ericka glanced down, but saw nothing. She pursed her lips and gazed over her shoulder at the crew of the ship, all dancing and having a good time. A laugh escaped her, and she walked back to the activity.

Grimsby approached her, his face an expression of satisfaction. "About time you got your head out of the clouds, my child."

"Not in the clouds. In the sea," she corrected with a grin.

"Yes, well," he said, coughing into the back of his hand. "I've got quite the present for you for your sixteenth birthday."

He gestured to bring the gift forward, and Ericka had to step back. It was so tall, she wondered what it could be. As if there was anything else it could be. Grimsby pulled down the tarp that covered the present, unveiling a tall statue depicting her in all her beauty, riding on a horse side-saddle. She bit her lip. Anyone who knew her at all knew that she would never, ever ride a horse side-saddle. It was incredibly uncomfortable. Not to mention that the statue was so extravagant and ridiculous. She never had that stupid expression of smugness on her face. Ridiculous. Absolutely.

Princess Ericka sniffed and put on a tight smile. "It's... great," she lied. Her dog Max bumped against her legs and she caressed him.

"Wonderful! Now, let's -" Grimsby was interrupted by a loud crash of thunder, and suddenly the winds rose. Ericka's dark hair waved wildly in the air. The ship began to careen from side to side, so that the princess fell flat on her back. Rain pelted down, soaking her nearly instantly. A bolt of lightning struck the mast, and a small fire began to lick the sails. Hungrily the tongues of flame began to grow, spreading up and down to the floor.

"To the lifeboats!" yelled the crew as she began to scramble back up. Max licked her face, but she pushed him away. She blindly followed the crew's orders to leave, feeling extremely confused in the panic. She got into the boat with the crew and Grimsby, who was lamenting the loss of the statue.

Ericka, on the other hand, was saddened by the loss of the ship.

And then the petite princess realized that a furry black-and-white creature was missing. "Maxy!" she exclaimed, standing up on the lifeboat. The waves nearly made her lose her balance and fall again, but before that happened, she flung herself into the raging sea and swam back the ship. In the distance, she heard the members of the crew and Grimsby call her back, but she ignored them. Maxy was barking his poor head off, backing away fearfully from the side of the blazing ship. He whimpered as his tail touched flame. By then, Ericka was heaving herself onto the ship.

"Shh, shh," she tried to calm her panicky pet. She picked him up. Max was heavy, but she could handle his weight. She bit her lower lip as she gazed down at the water. Ericka stroked the shaggy-furred dog and told him in a soothing tone, "Maxy, you'll have to swim, okay? I'm going to let you go. Swim to the lifeboat." She dropped the dog. Max yelped in surprise and crashed into the water.

Before the young princess could follow him, the mast collapsed and hit her head and hit her head. She fell into the raging sea unconscious.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ariel gasped as he witnessed the enchanting young princess fall into the water. He dived into the sea, glad for once to have a fish's tail instead of two human legs. He surfaced again. Ericka was just an arm's length away. He took her into his arms and began to fight the water, dragging the princess to shore.

"What are you doing?" Sebastian protested. "You know what your fadder said!"

"She'll die," he replied in a steely tone that suggested that he was not in the mood to argue at the moment. The crab sighed and followed the merman.

Once he had dragged Ericka to shore, far enough away from the waves so that she wouldn't be swept away by them, but he could easily make an escape if need be, he checked over her. "Is she alive?" he worriedly asked Scuttle, who promptly took off the girl's shoe and pressed his head against her foot.

Scuttle shook his head in grief. "I can't hear a pulse."

Ariel rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Why would her heart be in her foot?" He pressed his own ear against Ericka's chest, and was relieved to find that the sound of a sluggish heartbeat made its way to his eardrums. "Oh, good," he breathed, staring at the princess' lovely face. He ran his hands through her long, dark, curly hair. She was alive for now, but she didn't seem as if she were breathing.

"Her lungs, boy, she must have water in her lungs!" said Sebastian, crawling up to inspect the girl.

"L-lungs?" he asked, frowning. "How do I make the water come out?"

Both Sebastian and Scuttle shook their heads and shrugged.

On instinct, Ariel leaned down and kissed the girl, breathing air into her mouth. Instantly, Ericka coughed up water to the side, kicked out her legs, and scrambled from under him, blue eyes wide. She huddled her legs against her chest as if she thought he would harm her. She didn't seem to be surprised, though, so she hadn't seen his tail. "You saved me."

"Yes," he replied, inching closer to her. His emerald-green tail hovered over his head now, shading him from the strong sun, which felt like... what was the word? It felt like the fire: hot on his skin. He racked his mind for the word. What did fire do? Burn, he thought. Fire burns. So that was what burning was. A scorching hot sensation. Yes. The sun felt as if it were burning him.

Ericka's eyes widened. "You -you're a mermaid."

"Merman, actually," he corrected her gently.

Slowly the princess relaxed from her tense, defensive position. She crawled over closer to him, sand sticking to her clothes and tan skin. She touched his face with her small hand, as if to make sure he were real. Wonder lit in her eyes. She glanced at his tail and bit her lower lip in that way of hers. "May I?"

He nodded wordlessly and curled his tail to the side.

Ericka placed her hand onto his tail and ran her hand along it, feeling the scales. She gasped. "You're -you're real. You are real." She laughed, which sounded as sweet as music to him.

The sound of barking made Ericka look back. It was her dog, who was running at top speed towards them.

Another voice ordered, "Max! Come back here!"

Ariel recognized the voice as the man's from the ship. The one who had given Ericka the statue of her. He wriggled out of the princess' reach. "I must go."

"Wait," she said, crawling toward him and grabbing his hand. "Stay."

"No, no," he fretted, feeling torn between talking with her more and returning to the sea. "I have to go. I shouldn't have even saved you. We aren't allowed to show ourselves to humans. I'm sorry. I must leave."

Ariel frantically heaved himself into the waves, Sebastian following him closely. He dived into the ocean and swam just far enough to be sure that he wouldn't be followed by a certain little human, behind a boulder which jutted out of the sea. There he squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself for Sebastian's lecture. It didn't come.

Instead, Flounder popped up, his eyes bright. "Wow! You saved that girl."

"Yeah," he answered absently, peeking out from behind his rock to catch another glimpse of Ericka. He had to admit that he was absolutely stricken with her. "I guess I did."

"I know dat face! No, no, Ariel, you are not going back on land!" Sebastian said, glowering at him. Ariel had no idea that a crab so small could look so intimidating.

He sighed and glanced at the shore again, longing tugging at his heart.

So there is the first chapter. Not very long, but I hope you like it.

I also hope I kept the characters... in character.

~Crazy Diamonds~