…..

Why was she coming back?

Ariel honestly didn't know the answer. Maybe it was just because she'd seen the boat again, after coming back from her hideout. Maybe she just wanted to make sure that her father didn't drown the boat like he'd done with so many others.

Maybe it was him.

Eric.

At 18, Ariel was at the perfect age for marriage. Add in the fact that she was the last princess of King Triton, and she had suitors swarming all over her. But the few that wanted her, and not her body or her title, they weren't right. They were formal and uptight and traditional. They had to be; otherwise her father would definitely not have allowed them to see her. And none of them ever looked at her, really looked her in the eye like he did.

Whatever the reason, she found herself looking at the boat once again as it swayed over the waters only a few hours later. By this time, it was well into the night, and there were fewer sailors on the deck than before. With a thrill, Ariel noted that he was there. Her Eric.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. When did he become mine? she asked herself.

Just then, she heard shouts of alarm and wondered what it was, praying that her father wasn't sinking the ship. Craning her neck, she discovered that what she imagined would have been far better.

The ship was giving off a horrible smell as bright orange-yellow lights started to consume the deck. Fire, Ariel thought, remembering her lessons in which she was taught how humans killed fish and burned them. She never believed in fire, or burn, whatever that was, but seeing it now, she understood why the sea kingdom hated and feared humans so much.

The fire was annihilating the boat.

Powerless, Ariel watched anxiously as the men threw water at the flames to no effect. The prince in particular seemed to be everywhere at once, running down below the deck to alert whoever was there, dousing the fire, and trying to keep the damaged vessel from tipping over. Despite the sailors' efforts, though, the boat was slowly crumbling in on itself.

Ariel watched from afar as Eric shook his head and changed tactics, ordering all of his men off onto tiny rubbery-looking boats in teams of five or six. She held her breath, waiting as Eric started to set the last boat free, with himself and two other men on it.

Suddenly Eric shouted out something and raced back among the flames. For a moment he was visible, his face filled with panic and determination. Then he vanished below decks as the doorway to it became wreathed in flames. Why is he going back?! Ariel almost screamed. She swam closer to the ship, waiting for the prince to reappear, dreading every minute that passed.

He can't possibly have survived, with no way to get back up, she thought.

But her intense worry was chased away as Eric became visible again, holding Max. Eric's clothes were singed by the fire and he looked exhausted, but he managed to set Max down and watched as he ran over to the boat where Eric's two shipmates were waiting.

Eric was about ten feet from the ship when the rigging collapsed.

Ariel screamed this time, but her voice was drowned out by the sailors' cries as their boat floated away from the vessel. By this time, only a fraction of the hull was left and most of boat was comprised of the smoking boards that drifted among the hideous wreckage. Ariel surged downward, scrutinizing everything around her in attempt to find the young man, desperately hoping that Eric was still alive.

She found him slowly sinking, about twenty feet from the surface. His eyes were closed and he wasn't moving. Why not just let him drown? the part of her that was like her father whispered.

Shut up, the rest of her replied as she wrapped her arms around his chest and tugged him towards the surface.

As she broke through gasping, she took in the fact that his chest had the slightest rise and fall to it. He was breathing. Her sigh of relief was punctured by a ragged yelp as a piece of the boat that was still smoldering burned her tail, leaving a patch of open flesh that stung horribly. Ariel shut down the tears that sprang unbidden to her eyes and forced herself to swim towards where she knew the shore was.

…..

She had been swimming for God knows how long when she spotted the shore. It had been almost 2am when she had found the ship for the second time, and now the sky was lightening to the pale gray that comes before dawn. Normally swimming took about as much effort as talking, but normally her tail wasn't damaged to the point that she could barely swim, and normally she wasn't carrying a 150-pound human while attempting to keep his head above the surface.

A 150-pound human who might not be alive if she didn't get him to shore fast enough.

The thought was enough to give her one last burst of adrenaline as her muscles gave out and she finally crumpled onto the sand, being careful to set Eric down gently next to her. She lay there, completely drained, not even capable of lifting her head to see where they had ended up.

After almost twenty minutes, she found the energy to sit up and glance around. She and Eric were on a small inlet near a cave, hidden from anyone who could have been nearby by a well-placed patch of rocks jutting out towards her home. But she ignored the feeling that she should be on her way back now and focused on the human in front of her.

He looked beautiful despite the fact that his clothes were in smoky tatters and barely preserved his modesty, his hair was a crumpled mess, he had burns that were far from trivial on his arms and feet.

His feet.

She couldn't resist leaning down to gently prod an undamaged part of his toes, wondering what it would be like to have them on her, to be able to be human and discover more about the world and who she herself was. Absentmindedly singing to herself, she tapped him gently with no response. If not for the warmth of his breath on her face, Ariel would have sworn that he was dead.

Suddenly Eric's vivid blue eyes shot open and he convulsed, coughing over and over again. Ariel jumped back at first, but when she realized he was in pain she put a hand on his shoulder and patted his back, the way she would have if someone choked. Apparently it worked, for he coughed up whatever seawater in his lungs that there was and breathed heavily, barely able to keep his eyes open. Ariel curled her tail out of view while simultaneously easing him back down.

"Who are you?" he managed.

"Sshh," she replied, "You don't need to know my name. I should go now that you're safe."

"What about my crew?"

Ariel couldn't help but smile at how much he cared for his crew. "They're all safe and probably looking for you right now." She made to dive back into the water but was stopped when his hand wrapped around her bare waist.

"No, please, don't leave!" he rasped desperately.

"I have to, I can't be around huma-"she halted, realizing she'd said too much, and hoping he hadn't noticed.

"I would give anything to stay, but I can't. I can't," she repeated, unfastening his hand.

"No, wait!" Eric tried to stop her, but Ariel just smiled, kissed his cheek, and melted back into the water as Eric went unconscious.