Just a Little Closure
So I really wanted to see some closure on Erik and I thought of this story. Also did any else notice how this is backward of Zane's development as a character? I mean Zane went from misunderstood to evil (season 1); to good (season 2); to back to misunderstood (season 3). Then for Erik it's the other way around. Misunderstood to good to evil. Then if he stuck around for season 3 I could bet it went from evil to good to misunderstood… Damn writers, way to recycle a character!
Any way I really wanted to write an Erik/Ondina fic and I have two more planned (one rated M!) outside this one. Hope you enjoy! Hopefully, this would be set between the end of season 2 and the start of season 3. Enjoy and please REVIEW!
UPDATE: To address the anon in the reviews, I initially didn't plan on the shop owner actually being Rikki until I started writing this. She also did not play a very large role in this fic to even place it in the crossover section. :) Hope you enjoyed the fic though!
His green eyes slide over the display in the window. Unlike all the other shops in the town center, this one stood out. The display showed a pretty dress that reminded him of the ocean. It was different shades of blue that stopped at the knee. Erik flashed back to a happy time with Ondina and he could see her in it. His heart nearly ached just thinking of Ondina. He realized that he missed her and that he should have listened to her. Right now, he probably wouldn't be about to cross the continent.
After she broke up with him, he just swam for hours on end, until he realized that he had to go back. Abigail and Wes were probably looking for him and his 'siblings' Nora and Wade wanted to play with him. When he came home, the foster care people were there. Abigail and Wes couldn't foster him and Wade because of the baby they had. Nora was becoming a handful and they had to give them up. They were being moved from Queensland to Perth of all places.
He looked down at the gifts in his hands and went inside anyway. Maybe he could find something better. Sitting behind the counter sat a woman with long dark hair and startling blue eyes. She looked vaguely familiar to him before he nodded his head in her direction.
Besides clothes the place held little nick-knacks of all kinds of variety. He pulled out his wallet before realizing he had enough to get some form of a good bye gift to his friends. That is if they ever decided to forgive him. Erik picked up a few hair accessories and looked at the woman stocking the shelves. Her name tag said Rikki.
"Excuse me, Rikki, may I ask your opinion on something?" he asked smiling a little. The girl with pale skin and curly blond hair smiled.
"Sure," she said.
"This is a good bye gift, I hope you forgive me for doing something bad, I love you type present. Do you think she would still know she's special to me?" Erik asked with a half-smile on his face. The girl, Rikki, looked critically over him and then at the present.
In front of him lay a pearl necklace and a hair comb that sparkled in the sun (also had pearls on it). He had added a few things in the box he was already sending to her.
"Well, Zane had sent his fair share of presents like that, I say you're good if you have an apology note."
"Don't worry I got one of those," he said with a smile. "And could I get that dress you have in the window."
Rikki nodded and Erik made his way to the check out. The woman looked at him with a look of contempt written all over her face. The look just reminded him of - No it couldn't be. The woman looked a lot like Mimmi with that look on her face. Instead of looking at her he eyed a necklace in the glass case near the check out. It was shaped like a mermaid on a silver chain.
"Could I get that necklace?" he asked pointing. "It's for my friend."
The woman still eyed him with disdain, but said nothing as she got up and opened the case. He really didn't care if the woman liked him or not. He was picking up and moving across the country. He'd never see anyone again whether he wanted to or not.
"You must have lots of friends," she said sarcastically. He didn't understand why this woman didn't like him, but at least he tried to be nice and honest.
"She's not really my friend. Mimmi, that's her name, is my ex-girlfriends friend and I thought to get her something. Long story short, I really screwed up and should have listened but I never did. She'd probably throw my present into the ocean but I thought she might like it. The least I could do is give her something."
He was being honest. Before he left forever, he might as well try to make it up to them. He was already giving David a present for putting up with his crazy antics about working. Carly too for leaving her short a person. He hoped that both of them would forgive him.
The dark haired lady only looked surprised at what he was saying. It seemed as if she knew who exactly he was talking about. It wasn't likely that the lady knew who Mimmi was, though. The woman looked over him critically and frowned.
"You want them to forgive you? After what you have done?"
Erik looked at the woman as if she was crazy. What was going on did the lady know him? Did she know his friends? Rikki walked over to them and only looked at him for a second.
"Nerissa I need the till for counts when you're done with this customer," said Rikki before getting on her knees again. This time she was stocking dolphin figurines. As soon as Rikki said the employees name he only looked at her questioningly. He had heard that name before but he couldn't place where. Never the less the lady was getting on his nerves. He just wanted to pay for his presents and get out of here. He had until noon to finish his shopping and drop them off. So trying not to show his annoyance he only replied as calmly as he could.
"Well, yea, I want them to forgive me. Despite doing some crazy things in the past, they are my first friends. I never had any because I've moved so much. My foster parents pretended to care but I knew they never did. Almost all of them wanted younger children. They had lives and couldn't exactly care for me as I grew older."
His voice was calm but he was also trying to choke back crying, he had tried too hard to forget his past but it always came to him time and time again. He could remember foster parent after foster parent fighting. One time there was one that had killed herself. There was the parents that couldn't afford to keep him and he had his first job. Then there was the abuse when he was around thirteen years old. He couldn't take it as the woman handed him a tissue.
"Your friends, do you think they'll forgive you?" she asked, this time, kindly to his shock. She actually looked at him with understanding in her eyes.
"If they do or don't, I'll never know. I'm leaving to Perth tonight and leaving the presents with my old boss. He's a nice guy and I hope he accepts my apology."
He gulped a big breath of air before letting it out again. He shouldn't have told this woman everything. She could be some kind of former psychologist that would want to question every little thing. He wished that the other employee, Rikki, was checking him out. She wouldn't have pushed for the questions. He studied Nerissa's name tag just waiting for her to ring his things up.
Nerissa looked at him with a glance before getting up. Great, she refused to even check him out, maybe he could find another place for stuff like this. He glanced at the clock before realizing that he only had an hour to get everything done. Finally she had come back with a pretty photo frame in her hands.
"Listen, Erik, I know you are a merman. I know you tried to take over the merman chamber on Mako Island. I know that you thought what you were doing was right. I get that you are genuinely sorry for what you tried to do all for the matter of protecting your friends."
He stood a little shell shock at what he was hearing. Nerissa clearly knew who he was and what he had done. To be honest the thought terrified him that she knew. This woman could easily turn him in to some marine biology institute to be studied. Erik looked at the woman and instinct told him to trust her.
"Erik, I'm going to give you this story short and simple. My name is Nerissa and my children are Mimmi and Zac. When I was your age I fell in love with a human in Canada and I had them. When a civil war broke out in the northern pod I left Zac on land and Mimmi with the southern pod. Then I went back to resolve issues with the pod. While there I was crippled and now I can't take my merform ever again. I was wrong to separate my children and I'm afraid to see them again to only resent me. Now I watch from a close distance."
By now Erik was positively drinking her story in. This was the real mother of Zac and Mimmi? He had heard bits and pieces from Ondina but she didn't know the full story. He never understood the story either until now.
"That chamber and the trident is powerful and could make anyone act fool heartedly. Erik, I saw what it did to that human boy, Cameron Mitchell last year. I believe your story and that you are sorry. I want you to give my children something from me."
She held out the photo frame and inside was a picture of her and a man. Both of them looked to be about seventeen years old and happy. The man had slightly tanned skin and dark eyes. Nerissa dressed in blue snow flake pattern sweater as they smiled at the camera.
Nerissa then opened the back of the frame for a note and a small thin chain.
"The photo is for Zac and the locket is for Mimmi. Both of them should get the note. I don't want you to tell them where you got this. I'll know if you do and I'll hunt you down in Perth to turn you into a seahorse."
"Will do," he said with a smile and pulled out his money. She had rang him up and wrapped the photo frame, locket, and note. As he left he could see Nerissa's eyes shine with tears.
"And I can tell Ondina will love the present."
"David?" asked Erik coming into the café. Today was the day he was leaving and he wanted to make sure everything got to them okay. He had put all of the gifts in a giant bag. Abigail was going to come pick him up in fifteen minutes. David twirled around and looked at Erik with surprise on his face. He only looked confused since Carly had just fired him not too long ago.
"Erik what are you doing here?" he asked surprised as he felt.
"David, my foster family is sending me away and I'm not coming back," he said feeling his heart race. He wondered if Sirena had told David everything about him. David only looked just as surprised as he did. "This is a present from me to you. I'm sorry I was such a lousy employee and I wish I could make it up to you. You're a great boss and I wish you luck in the future. If you want you can open it while I'm still here," he said. He had to rush after looking down at his watch. He hoped that David wouldn't throw him out. He did show up unexpectedly and was in a huge rush.
A little curious, David opened the present and found a book. The Young Businessman's guide to Life and Work written by Rikki Bennett. He had wrapped it really nice and what was inside was important.
"You have it signed by Rikki Bennett? Erik this must have cost you a fortune, they only sign stuff for charities and stuff," said David his eyes wide. He had only seen their handwriting on stuff online but never in person.
"Not if you know her. Listen I have a plane to catch would you mind giving this gifts to Cam, Evie, Carly, Mimmi, Zac, Sirena, and…" He paused for a moment before sighing. "Ondina. There's a little note on them for you to say."
"Sure," he said taking the bag from his hand. Erik had jogged to the door and would leave before Carly had got there. He did not want to run into her at all.
"Oh and Erik," called out David. He turned and looked at the curly haired boy with a hurry up look on his face. "You weren't exactly that lousy."
Erik smiled as he found the blue van he was looking for.
"Oh presents," said Carly as she saw the bag sitting on the counter. "Anything for me in there?"
"Actually, yes, Erik stopped by this morning to give us something. It was to make up to us about being a lousy employee." Carly only looked just as surprised that Erik had stopped by. She knew exactly what was going on between Erik and the girls. Now she was only suspicious of what he may have got them. Maybe it was seaweed and week old lobster.
She peaked into the bag and saw everything nice and wrapped. Each of them had a little post it note on it.
"Oh really? And what did he get you?" she asked pointedly. This had to be some kind of trick.
"I got a signed copy of Rikki Bennett's book!" Now Carly looked really taken a back of what Erik had got David. She tried looking in the bag for the present for her.
"You mean the one you read all the time?" she said trying to snoop. Maybe they were cursed but Erik wasn't exactly cruel just poorly misguided.
"The very same. Here's yours," he said handing her a gift. It was wrapped in her favorite shade of pink wrapping paper. She was very tempted before ripping it away from his hands
She opened it and inside was an embossed refillable journal with her name in big letters. It was bound in pink leather and a nice set of glitter pens. Carly only ran her hand across the cover and opened to the first page.
Carly, hope you have as just as much fun journaling as you do blogging. Happy writing ~ Erik.
"I'm actually kind of touched," she said. "I don't think I'll miss him, but I'm touched."
She put her present and bag together in the back office. David followed her in suit and Evie walked into the door to open the shop. She looked curiously at the bag and then at Carly as she walked out.
"What's with the bag?" she asked peaking inside.
"Erik gave us presents as an apology for being a lousy employee. David got his favorite book signed and I got an embossed pink leather journal. I think you got something too."
David was rifling through the bag as Evie only looked confused. It was Carly and David that was above Erik. She had nothing to do with the café, only the shop. Then her curiosity only grew when she thought of what Erik might have given her.
"The note says either keep it or sell it, but enjoy all the same."
Evie took the present and opened it. Erik couldn't have like cursed the package or whatever. She knew that he didn't have that much power. Still, Evie opened the package and silky blue dress fell in her hands. It felt really good like a mix between cotton and silk. It was different shades of blue that stopped at the knee. She immediately thought of her favorite brown moccasins that would match with it perfectly.
Gently, she fingered the material and smiled as it was the right size. Thing is why Erik went through all the trouble for her. Evie wasn't exactly his boss, she was just a co-worker. Maybe he felt bad for the incident with the chamber.
"Where did Erik say he was going?" she asked still fingering the material of the dress.
"Perth," said David from the blender. Evie only looked surprised for like the hundredth time today. Erik moved to the other side of the country. If Ondina hadn't broken up with him, she would be crushed. The thought of Ondina sparked a new conversation piece.
"Did he did Ondina a present?" David only shouted yes before going in the cool room to get stuff ready for the day. Evie felt a pang of guilt run through her as she thought of his actions for the past week. Erik had tried so hard to Ondina to like him after the incident. She understood that his intentions were good but his actions clearly weren't.
She shook her head as customers started to come in. She smiled as she saw Sirena and Mimmi come in and look at the bag curious as well. Instead of asking, Sirena just started looking in the bag at what was inside.
"Sirena, there's a present in for you. I'll wait until Ondina and Zac gets here," said David with that goofy grin on his face. Sirena and Mimmi only shared a look before one of them spoke up. Evie only smiled at them feeling happy that nothing had really changed since the incident in the chamber. Not only that but they were showing her how to use her moon ring.
"David, Ondina's not coming today. Rita told us that Erik's final transcripts were faxed to Perth. Ondina's been crying all week about it. She regrets that she broke up with Erik," said Sirena. Evie only turned and looked at Sirena with a doubtful expression on her face. Ondina? Crying?
For the entire time that Evie knew Ondina, the girl never cried, or got that upset. She was like a rock that wouldn't budge. Evie flashed to the time that Ondina thought that showing Erik her tail was devastating. She was going to go back to the pod and never come back to land. She had done so many things and she was crying over a boy.
"It's true," said Mimmi. "Ondina's never been really good with people and has a hard time fitting in. Besides me, Erik is the only person she really let in to know her."
"Well Erik must have felt real bad about what he had done. He had got us all a good bye gift," said Evie. "He got David a signed book by his favorite author, Carly a nice leather journal and me a dress."
She had let the dress fall in front of them to show it off. Where ever he had gotten it, it was made well, and not jinxed. Evie had used her moon ring on all the presents to see if anything was wrong with them. Nothing out of the ordinary were on the presents. With that being said, she pulled out another present this time with the names Sirena and Mimmi on them. A little confused, Sirena took the present and opened it. Inside was a bracelet made of silver music notes stuck together.
Mimmi opened her to find a necklace with a little figure of a mermaid on it. It rested on top of a book called Mermaid Mythology that was dark purple with gold carved into it. She fingered the book before opening it to discover potion recipes and information on powers.
"Oh and when Zac gets here, there is another present but it's not from Erik. It's from the manager of the place he got the other stuff. Erik did say that he hopes it helps you forgive him. It's really important that I give it to you together."
David then preceded to go outside and clean up. Mimmi only grew weary of the presents. She had done her own scan on them with her moon ring. Nothing was wrong with them and Erik only wanted them to forgive him. Mimmi found that she couldn't believe it. He had broken her best friend's heart and thought that presents could make them forget all about it. There was nothing that he could give them that would make her forgive him. Ondina was home crying over him and refusing to see anyone.
It wasn't exactly too long before Zac showed up. David had went and grabbed the gifts from the office that he had taken it to.
"I'm not going to forgive no matter what he gives me," said Zac and refused to open his present. Cam had already came and went with a beach towel with his name printed on it.
"Well, the manager wanted you to open this," said David. Zac and Mimmi opened the gift with a roll of their eyes. David looked taken a back at how similar they were. He could tell they were siblings now that he really looked at them.
Both of them had that same smile that said they were up to no good. They had that spark in their eyes when they were happy about something. Even the way they walked was somewhat similar to Zac.
The paper on the gift seemed to be made of seaweed. The first thing that fell out of the paper was the locket. On the front was squiggling lines that represented waves. On the inside was nothing and they turned to the main wrapping.
Mimmi only gasped as soon as the wrapping was pulled away. The long dark hair of her mother flashed through her mind. Striking deep blue eyes of her mother looked back at her. Since Mimmi was holding the frame she quickly dropped it to the floor before hiding behind her hands.
Erik had found a photo of her mother. Nerissa had to be about their age in the picture. The man next to her had to be their father. He looked exactly like Zac dressed in a striped sweater. Her mother smiled at them with that glint in her eyes that Zac had sometimes. Mimmi remembered her mother and the memories come flooding back.
"Where did Erik get this?" she demanded as she eyed Zac's hands shaking as he held the picture.
"He didn't say where he got anything. Everything had the tags taken off of it and he didn't leave any special notes or anything that could give it away. There was also a note left with it," said David looking at it over Zac's shoulder at the photo.
Before David could even get the note he looked at the door. In the middle of it stood Ondina having a hard time standing up. Mimmi had rushed to her and everyone stood still. David rushed to get Ondina's present and they all sat down. Each person told them about what they had heard and the presents. Needless to say they didn't exactly forgive Erik, but they didn't seem to hate him as much as they once did.
Ondina only looked out to the sea with the necklace he had given her in her hands. After getting the presents she had just went in the water and swam. She swam from her home and Ondina was sure she was treading in the western pods waters as she was so far out. Slowly, her mind drifted to what had happened early. She had promised herself that she would not get worked up over some boy. Apparently, Ondina had broken her promise and she was trying to get away from everyone.
She had tried hard not to think of him. Ondina spent some time with the pod, her friends on land, and long talks with Rita. Nothing seemed to stop her from thinking about Erik. Rita had said that time heals all wounds and it just took a while. Ondina only flashed back to the presents when she opened them. She very much wanted to throw them in the ocean. It was the only thing she had left to remember him by though. Sooner or later she would want to remember Erik by something.
Ondina knew that Rita was lying about time healing wounds, though. Rita always thought of Harry, the picture would move all the time, and it wasn't the young mermaids that would move it. Ondina felt her heart flip as she realized that she is in love with him. She was going to give the pod up for him. Nothing was going to change what she originally thought. Rita went on to land because she was in love. Ondina was going to do the same. Now she felt so stupid for now realizing it.
She didn't honestly know if Erik was going to put other stuff in front of her. He had hurt her and he loved her all at the same time. Silently, she just continued to cry. Ondina wasn't just about to let the pod see her like this. She turned and found the one person she had been crying over. Erik sat there torn up himself and both of them just sat there staring at the ocean.
"Ondina you know I'm sorry right? I wanted you to be safe and it got to my head. I never wanted to hurt you or for us to fall apart. I love you, Ondina. One day I'm going to make it up to you and I'll be back."
"Erik, just shut up and watch the sunset with me. We'll argue about what happened later, I can promise you that," she said with a wistful grin on her face. "And I love you too."