Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. All characters belong to Disney and all ideas are based after the original fairytale by Hans Christian Anderson.
Author's Note: I am a huge fan of Anderson's fairytale and the Disney movie, so I decided to combine the two and make an alternate ending to the Disney movie (It will be a form of Hans Christian Anderson's ending using Disney characters and music). I originally pursued this idea by composing my own Part of Your World Finale for the end of the movie. So in here will be some of my own lyrics.
In order to make this alternate ending work, other details that happen earlier in the movie will have to have been altered. The most important being Ursula's spell and another being Vanessa's true identity. So, please forgive the inconsistencies. :)
Warning: This is very very sad. But I had to keep it true to the original tale.
Ariel sat quietly and alone at the wedding ship's rail looking out over the sea. She couldn't sleep; the nightmares kept coming. She couldn't stop thinking about the cruel fate that awaited her come morning.
Oh, Eric. She sobbed. Tears gushed from her big blue eyes. Why didn't you love me? Why didn't you see it was I who had saved you from the sea? Everything seemed to be lost now. By morning, she would be foam upon the sea and Eric would never know of her suffering.
"Ariel?"
She looked down at Sebastian, who had crawled over to her side. She blinked back the tears, but a sniffling sob broke out. It was all over for her now. She would never be with Eric. She had sacrificed everything for him and he didn't even know.
"Don't cry, Ariel." He looked up at her with eyes every bit as sad as her own. "I'm sure there's a way out of this."
She shook her head. There was no way out. No way out. She couldn't go to her father, he wouldn't understand and Ursula? The words of the spell returned to her. The morning following his marriage to another, you will turn to sea foam upon the waves. Sea foam. Waves. She knew it would be the end.
"Ariel!"
The sudden word caused Ariel to look frantically out to the ocean at the sound of her name. Attina? She was sure the voice belonged to one of her sisters. Where are you? Are you here? She soon spotted her six sisters in the water below, their heads bobbing above the water. Their long hair was no longer flowing in the breeze. It was all cut short on bobs above their shoulders.
What happened? Thought Ariel in alarm.
"Ariel! Ariel! Look!" Cried Attina anxiously. "We gave our hair to Ursula and she gave us this in return!" She held up a dagger.
"It'll save you!" Added Arista. "You must slay the prince and when his blood hits your feet they'll become a tail and you can be with us again!"
"Catch, Ariel!"
The dagger flew through the air and implanted itself in the deck of the ship. Ariel looked at it. Slay Eric? She could never---
"Hurry, Ariel. Be quick! It's almost dawn!" Cried Adena. "You haven't much time!"
"You must slay the prince!" Alana pressed. "It's the only way!"
"Come back to us!" They all begged and then they were gone as they ducked beneath the waves.
"Ariel?"
Ariel looked down at her crustacean friend and more tears filled her eyes.
"What are you going to do?" Sebastian's form became blurry and she fought the urge to cry. She had to make a choice. It was either she or Eric. One of them would have to die.
She unsteadily got to her feet and picked up the dagger. She examined it. It was sharp and pointed, made out of white marble. It would work perfectly for it's purpose.
"Ariel, if you kill him it would be murder!"
She looked down at Sebastian and he lower lip trembled. He was right. It would be murder. But what choice did she have? She didn't want to die.
"There must be some other way!"
He had said that before. She knew he was trying to give her some hope. Something to hang on to. But there was no other way.
Come back to us, Ariel! Her sisters' voices still echoed in her ears. Her family needed her. They wanted her back. Even her father--- well, she was sure he would forgive her for what she had done. Right?
Then, slowly, she began to walk towards the bridal cabin. Eric and Vanessa would be asleep. No one would know she had been there. She would take the weapon with her once she had done the deed.
"Ariel!" Sebastian whispered urgently. His claw clamped on to the edge of her skirt and he dragged along behind her.
Ariel continued to walk, trying to persuade herself that she was doing the right thing. I have to do it. There's no other way out.
"You can't do it, Ariel! It's bad. It's terrible! It's murder!"
Maybe it was. But she wanted so much to live. She still had so many years left as a mermaid. Even if she wouldn't be getting her immortal soul.
"Ariel!" He had by now, grabbed the end of her dress with both claws. She looked down at him and he looked at her sharply.
I have to do it. She thought, looking at him. She tried to make him understand through the tears in her eyes. I have to do it, Sebastian. There is no other way!
"Your father! I shall go to him and ask him to change you back! He's sure to be able to break Ursula's spell!"
But there wasn't time and he wouldn't do it; she was sure. Ariel looked at the door that was now before her, the entrance to the bridal chamber. She had to go through with it. She slipped inside, closing the door behind her, trapping Sebastian outside.
"Ariel!" But his muffled cries were ignored as he continued to plead with her. "Ariel! Don't do it! It's not right!"
She quietly approached the bedside. There was Eric, sleeping peacefully, and beside him, his wife, Vanessa. He looked so beautiful to her. She couldn't imagine life without him. What would Vanessa do without her husband?
I can't do it. Ariel thought. I can't kill him. He didn't mean for it to happen this way. He wouldn't have known that I had made such a risky bargain with Ursula. It's not his fault. It was mine.
She looked down at he dagger in her hand. She'd throw it out to the sea and follow it. It was only fair that she would be the one to go. After all, she had known what the stakes were when she signed Ursula's paperwork. She had made the choice. It was her decision.
Goodbye, Eric. She reached up and gently stroked a tendril of dark hair out of his eyes, as more tears leaped to her eyes and slid down her face. Then softly, she began to sing a woeful song inside her head. My love for you, it will never die… She leaned over and kissed him tenderly on the forehead. Keeping it true, though my heart is aching…he would be happy and know nothing of her pain. She only wished she had brought him some happiness during her time on earth.
She stepped back from the bed and gazed out the window before her, watching as the sun slowly began to peep over the horizon.
By morning break,
I will be,
Foam on the sea…
She looked back at him as her tears began their final decent down her face.
All these long months,
Stayed by your side,
But in the end,
You chose a new bride.
Your love for me,
Not meant to be,
Part of your world.
She turned to go and fled from the room, closing the door softly behind her. Tears blinded her, but she didn't dare turn back. It was already too painful thinking of death and how she had lost Eric.
"Ariel!" Sebastian ran after her as she reached the railing. "Ariel, you didn't--- tell me you didn't--- Ariel! What are you doing?!"
She paused at the railing and looked out over the sea. Goodbye, father, sisters. I'm sorry, but it wasn't meant to be. She looked at the dagger. She'd never use it. She knew that now. She loved Eric too much. Decidedly, She threw it into the water.
"Ariel?"
She looked down at her friend, then crouched and took him in her hands. I couldn't do it Sebastian. You're right. It would be murder. He deserves happiness. Even if I don't get mine.
"Oh, child." Sebastian looked into her tear-filled eyes. "I'm going to miss you! We're all going to miss you!"
She nodded, kissed him quickly and then the two friends embraced. I'll miss you too. You've always been so good to me. Tell Founder I said goodbye and that I'll miss him too.
Sebastian nodded, as if reading her thoughts. She notices tears were now coating his eyes. This wouldn't be easy for him either. He'd have to return to Atlantica. The bearer of the bad news.
She gave him a brave smile and set him back on the deck. She prayed he would be okay and that his memory of her would be happy; Eric's too. She hoped he wouldn't miss her when she was gone. Goodbye, Eric. I love you. She took one last glance towards the bridal chamber, then boldly, she climbed up on the ship's rail and looked over the ocean for one last time. The sun was steadily rising, brightening the sky second by second.
Give up my fin,
Give up my life,
Hope you'll be happy,
With your new wife.
Back to the sea,
This way I'll be,
Part of your world.
And with that, she threw herself over the rail and into the churning sea below. She closed her eyes as the water surrounded her and she sunk deep into the shadows. She waited and waited for the end. But the end didn't come and soon she was floating up.
When she opened her eyes again, she was in the air in a beautiful gown and surrounded by many beautiful women, just as translucent as she.
"Who are you?" She asked timidly and then gasped. He voice was back!
"We are the daughters of the air." Replied the prettiest of the strangers. "Because you didn't slay the prince, by your sacrifice you have been given an opportunity to earn an immortal soul."
"An immortal soul?" Ariel couldn't believe what she was hearing. She didn't have to die? She would get her soul? It seemed too wonderful to be true. But it was true, and jubilantly she jumped up into the air and burst into songs of praise. She smiled and then followed her new friends upon their 300-year journey for a soul and passage into the most wonderful place of all. Eternal paradise. Heaven.