Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in the story. No copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: My very first fanfic! A retelling of my favorite fairytale... Enjoy!

The Little Mermaid

A long time ago there lived a little mermaid with long flowing hair and a shiny silvery tail deep in the depths of the glassy green ocean with her seven beautiful older sisters and her father who held a tridon in his right hand and was king over the seven seas. Everyday she played with the bright fish and prawns and raced them amongst the coral while her sisters preened and combed their beautiful hair beside her and watched over her. She felt intensely happy and at ease amongst the weeds and shells and her lovely sisters and wanted nothing else in the world.

. . . .Then one day she glanced up and she saw bright ripples far, far above her little head. She asked her sisters what they were. They told her they would tell her once she was older. No matter how she asked them they would not tell her what those bright ripples were...

. . . . On her eighteenth birthday, her sisters took her by the hand and said, Come, we will show you the sky above. And the land beyond. With a swish of her silvery tail, she rose higher and higher through the sea...

. . . . They held her head above the water she had always known into the dry, empty space above it. She shivered and took in the curious white puffs drifting in the pale blueness above and watched the luminescent orange glow sink into the line separating sea and the sky above. Her sisters laughed and tossed in the waves, beckoning her. She breathed in the emptiness. It felt immensely lighter than the heavy depths of the water pulling her down. She chased her sisters as they darted in and out of the waves.
. . . .With the darkening ocean, there gathered stormy dark clouds, heavily blotting out the blue sky. The air became increasingly chilly, and her sisters called for her to return.

. . . .She shook her head. Something drew her, as it approached on the murky horizon. The sky split. The most deafening sound roared across the ocean, and icy rain as sharp as needles fell. The waves grew majestically, and she duck into the water to avoid the violent tossing surface above. Still her sisters beckoned, but still she hovered there, shaking her head.

. . . .In the inky blackness and swirling undercurrents, her hand brushed something rough. It was a jagged splinter of wood, with many others swirling about. She swam forwards, pushing them aside hesitatingly. Something stirred within her. Then her hand touched something cold. Her fingers grasped it, and she found, it fitted her hand perfectly. She gazed into his pale face, eyes tightly closed and lips colourless. Hesitatingly, she raised his head up above the choppy waves. The rain came down furiously, and she glanced around.

. . . .Far off, a huge dark shape loomed against the sea. The white waves crashed futilely against it. Without knowing why, she tugged him through the waves and finally hauled them both up the rough hard surface covered with tiny sharp grains. She felt so strange, away from the pull and force of the sea she'd always known. The rain poured down, and he remained motionless. She took his icy cold hands, held them in her own. Gingerly, she brushed his wet hair off his face. Grabbing some seaweed, she pulled it over him and slipped into the edge of the water. The night thundered on.

. . . .All was clear when she opened her eyes. Her skin stung. The intense brightness was on her pale skin, it felt hot. She glanced over at him. The light glinted off his pale golden hair,and glistened like diamonds in his torn but richly decorated clothes. He seemed to stir. With a splash, she hid behind some large grey rocks, watching as people hurried over to him. She watched as he slowly stood up, upon his two legs, and left slowly with them.

. . . .From then on, she visited the surface often. Sometimes her sisters went with her, but often she went alone. She hovered at the spot with the drifting wood, parting them slowly with her hands, never sure what she was looking for, and she hid behind the rocks along the shore, hoping to see him. Sometimes, she caught a glimpse of him moving along the beach. But he never stayed long. Frequently he gazed out to the ocean for awhile, before his two legs took him off on his way, out of her sight.
. . . .She swam into the depths of the sea urchin. With a soft swirl of her murky dark tentacles, the urchin said Give me your voice, in exchange for a pair of legs to walk the land above. She agreed.

. . . .In excruciating pain, she felt herself facing the hard stinging land, the sea lapping at her toes. Her toes. There was a voice above her. Are you alright miss? She looked up at him. He reached forward and sat her up. How did you chance upon here alone? She opened her lips but no sound came out. You are shivering cold. Miss, perhaps you should return with me to my palace first. You can get some clothes, and we could give you something to eat... He beckoned his servant over who helped her to her feet. She put one before another but stopped. Every motion felt like a step on knives. Tears stung her eyes but just then, he gently took hold of her hand.

. . . .He gave her soft flowing clothes to put on, he gave her a seat at his table, and he looked at her and smiled at her. And he talked to her. From which lands do you hail from? Have you lost your way? How in the world did you chance upon my coast? You look much better, my lady. You were pale as death the day I found you. I swear my lady, I have seen you before. My father is troubled by my actions, and he has cause to be weary, but... I don't know, I cannot explain my actions, or how I feel towards you. I swear, I've met you before. My lady, it may sound foolish, but when I look at you, I get this feeling within me... that I know if I found you, I would treat you as right as I possibly can.

. . . .You have the greenest eyes I've ever seen. As green as all the ocean.

. . . .She followed him everywhere on her legs, put them carefully one before another as gracefully as he did. He showed her the gardens, with their green trees and sweet-smelling bright flowers. He brought her to the stables with the huge magnificent horses. He showed her the silver and gold seat his father had in his wide hall and he brought her to beach and the sea. And he never stopped talking to her. She could never reply him, but she loved the sweet cadence of his voice, and she was blisfully happy listening to him.

. . . .One morning as he was out riding, she sat at a soft seat beside a glass pane overlooking the emerald green sea. Two or three servants huddled in a corner, talking in hushed voices. Our young lord, he is about to be married. Married? The castle has been on its toes recently, all the servants made to scrub and clean and tidy, and all the cooks to arrange for the best food and wine. His majesty is unhappy about the young lord's proximity to that strange green-eyed girl, but the young lord has finally agreed to the wedding. No one can comprehend his fascination with that girl. I heard he's fond of her, but he has finally grown tired that she does not reply him, her never saying anything in return to all that he's spoken. He's tired of sharing his life and his speech, when she doesn't share hers.

. . . .That night he held her hand and walked her through the cool gardens again, fresh and sweet with dew. I am about to be married. My father has agreed for you to sit at the table on my left. You shall toast with me and my queen. She's a beautiful, immaculate young woman, fairest princess any prince would desire. I cannot find any reason not to make her my Queen... but truth is, I find I don't want to. He looked at her, slowly placed his hands onto her shoulders, gazing right into her, his eyes midnight blue against the dark ocean beyond. My lady...don't you have anything to say about this, anything at all? he pleaded.

. . . .She felt her voiceless throat clamp shut together painfully when she watched him hold the princess' beautiful hand and put the shiny band on her beautiful finger. She buried the tears in her pillow, watching the pale crescent moon rising in the night sky from her window when she heard them calling her name.

. . . .You must come to us. Come and see us. She slipped out to the edge of the sea. Her sisters beckoned her, once again. We have exchanged our hair, all of us, with the sea urchin, for this knife. Take it and plunge it into his heart, and you shall return to us. Your tail, your voice, you will return with us to the ocean, and our father, and the fishes and the prawns, and to us, our sister. Go quickly..or else by day break you will surely die...

. . . .She felt the most excruciating pain in every step she took. She paused outside his door. She could feel the cool of the waves that night she pulled him from it. She felt the throbbing of his heart fading...as she held him with all her might, put herself between him and all of the icy, dark depths of the sea, until he reached his shore...that night clear as the shimmering ocean in her head. She heard his voice and her voiceless reply in her head. Then she turned.

. . . .As the sun peeked out from the horizon before her, she stepped off the grey rocks, back into the icy green waves to which she belonged. She fell into a wash of white sea foam, gently riding the wave crests as they rolled their eternal journey along her prince's shore.