"Arista! I told you to stop stealing my stuff!" Aquata's furious voice echoed through the room she shared with her sisters. All of them were out, each doing something or together, who knew? Aquata was only concerned for how her favorite sea shells had gotten to Arista's mirror. An aggravated sigh left her lips as she was about to leave her room and confront Arista later, when she heard something.
A sob? But it was so quiet! Furrowing her eyebrows, she turned around and did a once over at the room, scanning it for anyone. Maybe she was just hearing things. Yeah, that's probably it, she was just hearing things. But...there it is again! And again! Who was in here?! Scanning the room with her eyes once again, she caught something she hadn't the first time. A small shape in a corner of the room, covered by one of the covers of their beds. What in the....? Aquata shook her head, and swam towards the shape carefully, and slipped the cover off.
"Attina?!" Aquata said with shock and surprise mingled into her voice. Her oldest sister was sobbing, and....hiding?! What for?! Why?! What had happened?! Attina was always the core of their family, the one who held it all together. But why would she be crying?!
"A-Aquata!" Attina said surprised, and frantic for an explanation. What could she say that wouldn't make it as though she was crying? Allergy's? No, everyone knew she wasn't allergic to anything, so what could she say? "I was, um, uh, cleaning up the room, and uh, this fell on top of my head. And then I um, uh, um....couldn't see anything and I um...got scared?" Aquata looked at her sister in shock for a moment, before sitting on the floor of their room with her. Things were getting really strange nowadays, that's for sure.
"What's wrong?" She asked softly, in the same tone Attina always used with one of them. Whether it was when they were younger and they woke up with nightmares, or when someone's crush didn't like them back, Attina had always just been there for them. So why would she cry? What was so bad to make Attina cry heart wrenching sobs?
"Oh Aquata." Attina finally sobbed, as her younger sister held her like she had held her when they had found out their mother wasn't coming back. But this time it wasn't their mother she had lost, no, this time it was someone even closer to Attina. "Ariel's gone Aquata. She just left us. She's human.....we'll never she our baby sister swimming and singing anymore...or-or hiding human books under her pillow so Daddy wouldn't see them, or even laugh at whatever Alana has on her face. She's just....gone!" Attina sobbed out, as Aquata held her oldest sister with wide eyes.
Oh. That. Aquata had been dealing with the pain of losing their baby sister to the human world like the others, looking to Attina for solace.....but no one ever thought about how this was affecting their oldest sister. At twenty-two they all thought since she was so old that she was going to be mature and deal with the grief in her own way....but they should have known better.
"Attina, she's not gone forever. She's just....human now, that's all. We'll still see her." Aquata comforted, but it only made Attina sob harder as she hugged her younger sister.
Ariel had just been married days before, to a handsome prince indeed....but had she ever thought about how it would affect her sisters? Leaving so suddenly? And disappearing for three hellish days of being so worried for her, and then suddenly there's this battle up on the surface that no one (at the time) knew what was happening, except to stay put. Then that night she comes back home....but it wasn't the baby sister they knew and loved. She seemed so....tortured by something, although she refused to speak what, and then the next morning they find out that she's human?! Did she ever even look back and think for a moment, 'Gee, maybe I should at least tell my sisters, you know, the ones who would stay up half the night with me when I had nightmares, that I'm leaving them for a man I barely know.'
"No Aquata you don't understand. Ariel was...the baby. She wasn't supposed to get married at sixteen, she wasn't even supposed to grow up! She was supposed to explore shipwrecks, wonder about humans, laugh at the weirdest things, but she was never supposed to become human! She wasn't allowed to grow up....she wasn't allowed." Attina sobbed into her sister's arm, and Aquata let her own tears spill from her eyes.
Attina was right; Ariel had always just been the family baby. Those ten years there was no music, she was the one always finding some way to make the silliest thing a game to take your mind off of no music. She was the one who brought back music, she was the one who somehow made you laugh because she was so young and unknowing....oh why did she have to leave them?! Why? Yes, her true love was on land, but she didn't know how much it hurt them to see her go. Never to see that bright red hair followed by a green tail crash into you because she was swimming so fast again suddenly didn't seem all that annoying....it seemed like fun.
"Please Attina, your making me cry. I-I understand what you're saying...but this is Ariel's choice. She's not a baby anymore; she-she had to do what her heart told her. And I know it-it hurts but-but we have to re-respect her decision be-because we l-love her lots and n-no matter what, she's still our little sister. Our baby little sis-sister gr-gr-grew up!" Aquata sobbed out too, Attina and her hugging each other tightly.
Of all the things to happen, why this, Aquata asked herself? Why would Ariel just leave without a goodbye? How long would it have taken to tell Eric to wait an hour so she could go home and tell her sisters she was leaving? And Daddy? Yes he turned her into a human, but couldn't she see the pain behind his smile as she kissed him goodbye? Couldn't she see how much he just wanted to hold her as if she was still four with a broken arm? Was she so blind and selfish that she only thought that she'd get her fairytale, and that her family would be fine? NO! Her family wasn't fine! They still hurt deeply because she was gone, little Ariel with those huge blue eyes and red hair, who reminded them so much of their mother, was now....gone! They could still see her yes, but when? On the off chance that was the ship she was on with Eric, instead of some pirate who wouldn't mind killing a mermaid for money? Didn't she know that? Didn't she?!
"Aquata, I miss her so much. I-I didn't think I would, b-b-but I miss every time she got beached and I was forced to babysit her. Or those times when we'd have to hold her hand at the carnival because Daddy didn't want her all alone. I used to hate doing that so much, and I would complain, and complain.....but I would do it all in a heartbeat if I could Aquata, I swear. I would be ten, and she'd be four and I would hold her little hand tightly so she wouldn't get lost in the crowd. I wouldn't mind her being a baby again and throwing her toys at me. I wouldn't even mind fighting with her! I miss her so much....I miss her so much." Attina sobbed, and Aquata held her sister as she held back her own sobs.
Right now, Attina wasn't their older sister. She wasn't their 'almost' mother, or their protector....she was just another heartbroken girl who was just sad. So what if Aquata was three years younger than her?! Attina had looked out for them for all of their lives, and never once had they stopped to think whether it was she who was hurt the most as she comforted them. Their father had been so distant those ten years, and Attina had just naturally become in charge of them, although some may say it was Marina who was.
It was Attina who would tell them at night to behave around Marina and their father so that maybe one day it would all be over. It was Attina who would help Aquata with her math homework when she was ten, and Attina was thirteen. She could have been playing outside, or doing a teenager thing, but no, she had stayed indoors and helped her younger sister with algebra. It was Attina who had held Aquata when she was only eight deal with the loss of their mother. It was Attina who never once did something nice for herself because she was looking after her younger sisters. She'd spent all of her teen years, the most important years, looking after them.....had Aquata really been so stupid that she couldn't have seen that?
She should have known when Attina stayed inside to help Alana look for her pearl clip, when there a huge game of tag that had been assembled outside. She should have known when she cried for hours on end because Arista had accidently ripped the head off of and Attina spent all those hours sewing him back up, when her friends had told her to 'ditch the baby and just chill'. She should have known when Attina told them to have fun and go outside on the anniversary of their mother's death that this is what she did inside. She should have known. She should have known.
"Attina....I'm so sorry. I--we ruined all your teenager years because of our stupid problems. We should have just figured out another way to do stuff, but you were always there when we needed you....and you never complained. You always did so many nice things for us---and we didn't notice it because we were selfish. You never had a chance at a real teen life. I'm so, so, so, sorry." Aquata whispered, hugging her oldest sister tightly. Stupid Ariel and running away to the surface forever. Stupid Daddy for making her human. Stupid Aquata for not figuring out that her oldest sister was in pain, while she laughed and played. Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid!
"Aquata...." Attina was at a loss for words as she unburied her face from her younger sister's shoulder and looked at her for a moment before throwing her head back and laughing. Aquata was shocked and scared as she looked at her older sister with confusion at the laugh coming from her. It sounded genuine...but Aquata has a breakthrough, and this is what she gets?!
Poseidon help anyone in the future who has to deal with this stuff every day....thinking about that it caused a small smile to form on Aquata's lips. Maybe there would be some doctor that for some reason, people would watch him because he caused breakthroughs. And maybe his name would be random like.....Dr. Phil!
"Aquata, you guys didn't ruin my teenage years for me. You needed me there for you....I was the oldest, I had to protect you. Daddy was distant, and Momma had just died.....you didn't know what to do. I had to be there for you then. I just had to. I mean sure, I missed parties, games, and a lot of other stuff.....but if I hadn't, how would you have grown up?" Attina said with a small laugh to herself, but then she looked at her younger sister again whose mouth had already opened with a response.
"But, you were in pain and we never knew! You cried when no one could hear you Attina! You were there for us, and....we were never there for you." Aquata stated softly, biting her lip to keep the tears from coming. Attina had been crying for years, and never once had they thought to see it or realize it.
"It got annoying at times, not being a normal teenager like all my friends because I was constantly keeping you out of trouble. And then when I was trying to be normal, one of you would beg me to tag along.....but I guess I just didn't want you to see me in pain. I had to help you all out of yours, so how would it seem if I cried too? No, I had to be strong....for you....and for me." Attina said softly, swallowing the lump in her throat.
"Attina, we wouldn't have cared if you cried! You were just so tough when Momma.....it scared us to see you so strong. You never let us know how you felt all those years and now Ariel...." Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Aquata tried again "Is human....and you've just become so strong again....we were afraid for you." Aquata bit her lip tightly, turning her brown eyes to meet the green orbs of her eldest sister.
"Y-You were afraid....for...me?" Attina asked, pointing an unsure finger to herself. Aquata nodded, and finally she couldn't take it anymore and she burst into tears, while her sister also sobbed, hugging each other tightly."I-I-I never knew....it just hurt so much....and now Ariel's....not a baby anymore...and she's gone....I was....I'm just so scared." Attina finally admitted, sobbing as her sister hugged her tighter.
"What for? We love you...your our big sis Attina, you've helped us through everything....you've always been there for us...please, just let us be here for you now." Aquata said, tears falling down her cheeks as Attina let out a breath and nodded, sobbing into her sister's shoulder. Together they would get through this....all of them would. All they had to do was stick together, because no matter what, that's what sister's do.
I just want to say, to everyone who's reviewed my stories that you guys are what really made this one possible. I was just following up on a tip one of you left me, and I thought that this might be a great story. You guys are the bomb, and this story is all for you, hope you liked it! P.S. To any who review this story, I say the same...your all rockstars!