Chapter 1

"I only ask to be free. The butterflies are free."

~Charles Dickens

Ariel walked down the hall and just happened to bump into the person she was looking for. "Grimsby!"

"Hello, my dear," he smiled. "How are you this afternoon?"

She smiled widely. "Fantastic. Hey, do you know what Eric is up to?"

Grimsby nodded. "Yes, he's booked with meetings this afternoon, but he wanted me to tell you that he is looking forward to having dinner with you tonight. He wanted me to assure you that he'll be there, even though he's busy."

She smiled and gave him a hug before running off to her room. "Thanks, Grim!"

On her way up, Ariel contemplated her idea. It seemed like Eric would be busy. That should leave her with plenty of time. She felt guilty, not giving Eric the insight into what she was going to do, but it was quickly overshadowed by her excitement. Ariel was pretty sure today would be the day.

She had heard people talking about the woods just to the east of the town. The townsfolk said that at one spot, the grass practically turned into flowers, and those flowers that lined the ground just happened to attract butterflies, and Ariel just happened to love butterflies. She had seen quite a few on her adventures with Eric and knew quite well what they were at first sight.

When she was just a young mergirl, Ariel had found a sunken human book and in it was a passage about butterflies and from that day forward she dreamed that one day she would see them in real life, but not just a few of them, a whole field of them, like the book had described.

Once she heard about this location, she knew it was just waiting for her. She had pictured—dreamed—of seeing those butterflies for such a long time. Ariel had dreamed up the image years ago of her finding a spot to see the colorful butterflies. She imagined they would be flying past her and perhaps she would be able to hold one. Nothing in her dream had changed. She was going to see them.

However, the princess felt terribly bad about leaving Eric out, but he was just so busy and Ariel was too eager to wait until he wasn't busy. She also knew that when he wasn't busy, he should probably use the time to rest. Part of Ariel felt bad that whenever he didn't have work to do, Eric was taking her out. She figured this would be one less thing he would have to do for her, allowing for him to get some extra rest.

She couldn't tell him, though. Ariel knew that Eric would insist upon going with, but she didn't need him with her. She didn't really think she wanted him with her either. If she did manage to convince him not to go along, Ariel knew he would make her take guards with, and she most certainly didn't want them. She just wanted this adventure for herself, even though she could experience it with anyone, like the person she couldn't bare saying goodnight to before they returned to their separate rooms.

Arriving at her room, Ariel changed into the simplest dress her maids had made for her. It was slightly fancier than an ordinary villager's dress, but she was hoping that she could make it through the town without being noticed. Putting on a pair of simple shoes and removing any accessories, she pulled her hair back in a bun, grabbed a cloak to conceal her fiery red hair and headed out.

The other morning she had asked her maid about a back entrance that only the staff used to arrive and leave to and from their shifts. Ariel's maid had answered, thinking that the princess was just curious as always, but now she knew of a way out.

She made her way towards the exit, smiling at the people who acknowledged her. She didn't want to seem suspicious, but she also tried to not be seen by many people, especially when she got close to the exit. Ariel didn't want Eric suddenly asking where she was and for people to then point him in the direction of the exit, which would lead him to search for her outside of the castle.

Looking behind her she saw that the coast was clear and pushed open a door and softly descended down a small, old staircase. Approaching the exit that would lead her out, she put on her cloak and took a deep breath. There would be guards, but why would they pay attention to someone leaving the castle? It was intruders they were on the lookout for.

Finally, Ariel opened the door, letting it close softly behind her. She didn't look at the two guards. They would recognize her by her face. She closed her eyes and listened as her feet made each step down the gravelly path, hoping not to get caught.

Once a good distance away, she opened her eyes and left out a small laugh. She had made it. The butterflies were just a short distance away now.

Lucky for the princess, not one person seemed to notice her. Ariel had made it through the short distance she had to go through the town and reached the woods without a hitch. The longest part was the walk to the town.

As she continued in deeper along the path, she mused at the thought of making it this far. While she never felt trapped back in the castle–how could she when she could find new human things around every corner–she missed the freedom she had back at home where she could just leave and go explore, on her own if she wished. While she usually had someone with her, the option was still there. Back at home, Ariel was not the future queen. She was not about to get married and expected to produce heirs once she was. Here, she was.

Part of that bothered her.

Ariel turned her thoughts to the noise she heard next to her. It wasn't loud and only made her curious. Out of the bush ran a squirrel—or was it a chipmunk? She forgot which was which. The creature ran around her feet and then up a tree across the pathway.

Ariel laughed, watching it as it was chased by another. Ariel found these woods to be quite lively and enjoyed walking through seeing a bunny and birds! There were so many birds in the human world! She couldn't possibly ever learn the difference between all of them.

She sighed and breathed in the fresh air. The scent she enjoyed the most was the smell of the ocean, but noticed that she also enjoyed this crisp, nature smell, but while experiencing the woods was nice, Ariel couldn't wait to get to the butterflies.

Eventually, Ariel took notice of more than just the periodical flower. They began to line the ground like a meadow, just like she heard.

She began running closer and closer into the flower patch, her cloak hood falling off her head. The former mermaid eagerly looked around for a butterfly and she spotted one, and two, three–she gasped!

There they were!

Countless butterflies flew above the flowers. Ariel laughed in delight. It was everything she imagined it would be! It was her, the butterflies, and the beauty. And she had this moment all to herself. She would never forget it.

Ariel let her head fall back, smiled, and spun around laughing, her cloak fanning out behind her. The butterflies spread around her in all different colors, many of them actually being multiple colors, seemed to almost dance with her. There were most certainly different species of butterflies.

Kneeling down she took in the scent of a flower, noting its sweet aroma and studied a butterfly sitting on another. It took Ariel's breath away. They were the most magical creatures to her. There weren't any in the sea for sure.

She stood up and held out a hand for a butterfly, and one of the many came and landed on her. Ariel slowly brought her hand closer to her face to have a better look. "Wow," she breathed.

While it stood still on her hand as if it were inspecting it, she watched as its wings lightly continued to flutter back and forth. It looked so delicate, and Ariel knew it was. She has read about that in the book, so she knew she could damage the wings by touching them.

Gently lifting her hand into the air, the butterfly flew away to join the rest. Ariel followed it with her eyes until she lost sight of it after getting mixed back in with the others. She sighed. She couldn't stay out forever, even though she was sure she could have.

Turning around, Ariel picked exactly two of the sweet flowers and then looked at all of the butterflies one last time, taking a mental picture. Yes. She would never forget this.

(A/N- This will be three chapters long. I was thinking about making it all one big chapter, but it just didn't seem like a good idea.)