Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix and Disney, and The Little Mermaid belongs to Disney. 'Kay? Sue and I shall smite thee where thee stand!!
"Superior?" Demyx asked over dinner one night. "Why can't we go to Atlantica?"
The question was innocent enough, but once he asked it, eight pairs of eyes turned on him, and a fork dropped from Axel's hand with a clatter. "And why," Xemnas asked dangerously, "would you ask such a question?"
Demyx mumbled something along the lines of "just wondering." In reality, however, he wanted to know why he was unable to trade his new legs for the fins he had lost. Had it really been only a week ago that the Heartless had attacked him? Only seven days since the love of his life had been murdered? It felt like years since he had been trapped on land.
"Number IX, you may not descend to the waters of Atlantica because the system of a Nobody involves the proper function of lungs," Xemnas began. The rest of the Organization except Demyx rolled their eyes, knowing another rant was going to begin and last for FAR too long. "Though we do not truly exist, the possibility of drowning in the ocean world does, and we do not wish to prematurely descend into the empty darkness from whence we began to prevail in this form. Furthermore, it is not within our power to transform our legs into the fishtails customary of that world's inhabitants. Thus, our ability to swim in Atlantica would be terribly hampered. In your particular case, Number IX, Atlantica is the world in which your true form prevailed, a world which would cause our Organization an appalling predicament if you were to be discovered there by someone you once knew."
"Yeah," agreed Xigbar, chortling. "Enough of a predicament for you to get Dusked." Demyx went pale.
"That will do, Number II," Xemnas demanded.
"But Superior, Vexen could invent a potion that could give me back my fins just for one day!" Demyx pleaded. "He's a sea wizard and all…. or… land wizard…."
"It has been forbidden by the Superior," Vexen reminded him. "Besides, transformation potions take me a very long time to complete. And what I am is called a scientist, not a wizard."
"Then Zexion!" begged the poor ex-merman desperately. "His power is illusion, he could—"
"No," said Zexion flatly. Tears spilled out of Demyx's turquoise eyes.
"Dude, are you crying?" sneered Xigbar. "Are you actually crying?" Demyx shook his head furiously and tried vainly to blink the tears away.
"Enough," the Superior boomed. "Number IX, you are forbidden from returning to your world. As all the others know, unauthorized teleportations to worlds beyond our own nonexistent realm are severely punishable, especially if the destination is the domain from whence you came. This meal is adjourned. You may retire beneath the pale, light of our Kingdom Hearts, which, as each of you knows, will one day be our salvation. Number VIII, it is your turn to wash the dishes." Axel disappeared, grumbling, into the kitchens, and the rest of the Organization disappeared through black portals to wherever in the castle they spent their leisure time.
Except for Demyx. Defying the Superior's orders, he had teleported out to a rock on Atlantica, far out in the middle of the ocean. The sound of the waves swishing towards the shore and the feeling of the spray that came from the crash of water against his rock brought him back to tears. This time, though, he could weep freely without the others making fun of him.
"If only I could make them understand," he sobbed to no one in particular. "I just don't see things the way they do. I don't see how a world that seemed so magical before couldn't be magical again." An electric blue sitar, so different from the seashell one he played before he was forced into the human world appeared in his hands. His fingers danced across its strings, and, once his tears had subsided slightly, he began to sing.
"Look at my legs
Look at my
feet
Constant reminders that I'm not complete
I lost my tail
and my girl
My home and, well— everything
Trapped on the
land
So far from the sea
And everyone up here makes fun of me
I
just can't take any more
I'm just a Nobody
I've got no
heart and no one to turn to
All the others are so mean to me
And
can I go home?
Of course not
I lost my fins
And my gills
I
would drown
I wanna be where the merpeople are
I wanna see,
wanna see them swimming
Gliding around under the waves
Walking
around you can't get too far
Fins are required for floating,
swimming
Breathing down under the sea
I shouldn't walk
I
shouldn't run
I shouldn't be up here in the sun
I want to
be free
Wish I could be
Part of that world
What would I
give
If I could live under the water?
What would I pay to spend
a day
Off of the sand?
Here on the land
They don't
understand
They think I'm just one big joke and mock me
I'm
a merman
I should be swimming
I don't want to stand
I want
to go home where they all know
Why I love it down in the ocean
I
want to go home where the waves toss and tides churn
When's it
my turn?
Wouldn't I love
For land to still be far up
above?
Back to the sea
Wish I could be
Part of that world"
Demyx could hear the song of the sea calling out to him, "Come home, Dyme… come home… home…."
"I can't," he sniffled, tears bubbling up in his eyes again. "I have legs now… I can never go home…."
"Don't say that," said an unfamiliar voice. A mermaid of about eleven years old with blazing red hair leaned up to the rock. "Saying never won't get you anywhere." Demyx knew from eighteen years in the ocean that coming to the surface was illegal, and this little girl had not only done that, but slipped right up to the rock he was sitting on. Her green scales sparkled in the moonlight as she flicked her tail a few times to get comfortable. "I heard you singing," the girl said. Demyx blushed. The only merpeople who had ever really heard him sing were his mother and Merydia. The mermaid giggled upon seeing the color in his face. "Don't clam up, you were good. I mean, other than the fact that you're so upset."
"Won't you be in trouble for being up here?" Demyx asked. "I mean, it's still illegal, right? Don't get the Sea King mad at you for trying to cheer me up."
The mermaid bit her lip. "Daddy doesn't understand," she said finally. "He thinks humans are evil and will kill me as soon as they look at me. But you're looking at me, and I'm not dead!"
"If you heard me singing, you know I'm not human," Demyx reminded the girl, who shrugged. "Wait a minute— did you just say the Sea King is your dad?"
The mermaid nodded. "My name's Ariel."
"Dyme." Before the pair of them could say any more, lightning flashed in the suddenly cloudy sky, and the surf and wind became angrier. "King Triton's not happy right now, is he?"
Ariel shook her head, terrified. "I have to go. Don't give up, Dyme— you'll come back to us someday!" With that, she dove back into the sea, and Demyx watched the princess disappear under the water until she'd gone too far down to be seen from the surface. Without realizing it, he was strumming his sitar and singing again.
"What would I give to live where they are?
What
would I pay to swim like I used to?
What would I do to be
there
Home in the sea?
I shouldn't walk
I shouldn't
run
I shouldn't be up here in the sun
I want to be free
Why
can't I be
Part of that world?"
From the portal he had left open, he heard a knock on his bedroom door. He rushed back to the castle and flopped down on his bed with his sitar, looking like he'd been sitting there playing all along. "Come in," he said glumly.
It was Axel, sleeves rolled up and usually gloved hands bare except for a thin film of soap. "Hey, fish boy, I just came to warn you—don't try to go out to Atlantica. The Superior will turn you into a Dusk, and we need the whole Organization if we want our hearts back." He turned and left the room before Demyx could even respond.
Demyx smiled to himself. How little they knew. His thoughts brought him back to Ariel. "Don't give up," she had said. "You'll come back to us." Somehow, he knew, she would be right. He wouldn't let himself be stuck on land for the rest of his life.
"I don't know when
I don't know how
But
I know I'll get back home somehow
I will be free
Once more
I'll be
Part of my world!"