In the kitchen, Eric poured liquid into a deep pot and Ariel watched a blue flame bloom underneath. Soon the room smelled of something she would later find to be potatoes. Then, a warm smell mixed with spice and the alluring aroma of fresh clams. Not exactly fish, to be technical, but he was a human. She'd forgive him.

This was one of the things she loved most about the land. The smells, the inviting smells, and how expertly humans manipulated fire and spice to create something new out of practically nothing. Everything about the land was warm where the ocean was not. Fish were cold, the depths were cold, even lying against the rocks and staring up at the faraway sun only made Ariel wish for more light. But even when it was cold above the surface, as it often seemed to be in Storybrooke, homes were heated. Water ran hot. The mere act of cooking heated the room enough that she hung her coat beside Eric's on the rack. She returned to the kitchen to find him pouring out the chowder into bowls that didn't match, steam floating like bubbles above each one.

In her life Ariel had had little but raw clams, straight from the sea, as cool as morning. But this liquid was warm, and full of sensations for which she didn't yet have words. Creamy would be one, with a hint of spice and, of course, fresh clams heated to perfection.

"How is it?" Eric asked.

"What do you humans put in your food that makes it taste so good?"

He shrugged, spooning through his own soup. "Usually just salt and pepper, really. I'm not the best cook."

She blew the steam off her spoon and it floated away in a wisp. "It's like magic."

"I wouldn't say that, but I'll take the compliment."

"I mean it. Did you like to do this when you were a prince?"

"I never got the chance. We always had our own chefs in the kitchen. Sometimes when I was younger I'd sneak some fresh bread straight from their cutting boards though, and they knew better than to let me in after that." He dipped something white and spongy into the soup and ate it just like that.

She tried her best to copy him. It was harder than it looked-the crust cracked and crumbled, but the end result tasted delicious anyway. She hoped she'd never have to go back to eating anything under the sea, for many more reasons than that.

"The only reason I ever really learned how to cook for myself was because Regina cursed me here. At least I think I learned."

"You think?"

"It wasn't really me who did the learning. Regina gave us a separate set of memories to work alongside the curse. Now I know that none of it was real, but I still remember. So now I'm a fisherman and a prince. A former prince. If my kingdom even exists anymore, my cousin's ruling in my stead. At least he was when I left for the expedition."

His pause before "expedition" was almost too slight to notice, but Ariel heard.

"Will you ever go back?"

"I don't know. To be honest, sometimes I think it's not my life anymore."

She'd never been cursed, but she knew the feeling all too well.

"I came back for you, you know. Later in the evening-I thought you'd be gone by then, but I saw you waiting, even when the sun set."

"What? Where were you?"

"In the ocean." When he stared, Ariel clarified. "I had my tail. It's a long story, but Regina was going to hurt Snow, and I needed to take her somewhere safe."

"Did you say anything? I'm sorry I didn't hear you."

"She stole my voice. I wanted to call out to you, but I couldn't."

"Why would she do that? I mean, she cursed everyone, but-"

"I kind of stabbed her in the neck with a mini trident." She bit her lip, sheepish, but only because she couldn't remember the correct term. "Salad trident. Salad-salad fork."

Eric raised his head up from the chowder and didn't even open his mouth to speak for a long moment.

"Oh."

Another pause. He began again. "Well I, uh, can't say I blame you. Maybe she did good things while she was in Neverland, but I haven't gotten around to forgiving her for the last twenty-eight years."

"I guess she wanted the satisfaction of demoting you to fisherman."

"I don't know. I never wanted to be a prince, really. It probably sounds selfish. I got to travel anywhere I wanted, but the people I met? I didn't know them at all. There was always this layer of fake interactions and personalities you had to pick through. And even if I did, more often than not I didn't find much. So when Regina cursed me, at least in that respect, she was almost doing me a service."

"Sounds lonely."

"You have no idea," Eric said. "Everyone I talked to at the harbor here, and everyone in my kingdom-they're real people with real problems. Nobody disguised them under some facade. If there's anything I'm still afraid for back in my land, it's my people. My cousin's probably doing better than I ever could, but I worry."

"Maybe someday you'll get the chance to go back."

He sighed, scraping his spoon along the dregs of the bowl. "One more thing I'm afraid of."

After they finished, Ariel handed him her bowl to wash while faraway clicking sounds echoed behind the walls. Eric told her it was the heater, the machine that made the house warm, and that the heat worked better in the living room. So she sat on the couch, and after a few minutes he followed and sat close beside her. She leaned right on his shoulder, sinking further as he stroked her hair, soaking in the idle touch she'd never felt before.

"Poseidon, that feels good," Ariel said, still with a weight in her stomach. She leaned closer, searching for a comfort she didn't yet understand. His stubble itched a little, but she liked the heat of his skin too much to move.

Eric leaned over to kiss her temple and she melted into sleepy little giggles which only settled when he lowered his hand to rub her shoulder.

"Do all humans do this?" Ariel fumbled for his free hand. He slipped it in hers, and for a second, she felt like she wasn't dreaming.

"No. Only ones that really like each other," Eric breathed into her hair. "I missed you so much. For so long. Is that crazy? All I had were my dreams of you and my memories of what little time we'd spent together. And when the curse hit, not even that."

"Not crazy at all." She rubbed her nose along the curve of his shoulder into his neck, testing affection. "I've never missed anybody more than you."

She remembered dreaming, so much dreaming, nights and days and counting so many sunsets wondering if she'd ever speak again, let alone see his face. She knew the feeling. Floating in a dark and empty sea: miles of nothing with a sky above and a yawning black below, waiting for the one time of year when for a few small moments she could rise out of the sea and greet the sun up close.

Eric met her eyes. "Did Snow tell you about the curse?"

"Belle did, but only a little. Just that your memories were replaced with new ones, like you said. At least most everybody's were."

"For twenty-eight years," he said. She could hear the desperation in his voice, and it hung in the room like a mist. "More than my entire life back in the kingdom. Time was frozen here, but we felt every minute."

"Twenty-eight years? And when the savior-"

"-broke the curse." Eric laughed, and for the first time, she heard in his voice what sounded like bitterness. "Emma Swan broke the curse, and everyone's memories returned. They found out who they were before and their curses ended."

"And yours?"

"Well, it was nice not having an evil queen rule over my life for a while."

"That's not what I asked, Eric."

But she knew the answer, and she knew Eric could tell, because when she settled herself in the hollow above his collarbone, he rested his chin on the top of her head.

Softly, he murmured, "It's been lonely," and she felt every word.

"I know," she said into his neck, "I really know."

The whole room fell silent, and Ariel could hear the low hum of Max breathing in his sleep. She could feel the soft beat of Eric's pulse along his jugular, where her cheek touched.

"Where did you go when I was gone?" Eric asked. "Under the sea?"

"Yeah. And on land when I could, on the highest tide of the year. That's Ursula's gift."

"Were you with family?"

She didn't bother to dignify his question with a laugh. "No."

"Did you have family?"

"Everybody has family, silly," Ariel said. "It's more a matter of whether you stay with them or not."

He paused for a moment, and Ariel could tell he knew when he asked. "Was it your father or your mother?"

It had been so long since she'd been back to that place. That place in her head, the place that was real once long ago, and the one sect of the sea she hadn't explored since. "My father."

She couldn't remember the last time she'd spoken those words aloud.

"Tell me."

"There's not much to say, really, at least not anymore. My father drove me out a long time ago. I was weak, selfish, some childish little fish who refused to do what she was told." Ariel laughed, but not bitterly. Those feelings floated deep in a sea she'd never return to. "It hurt then, but I was young. My father didn't own me and I didn't know that."

The phrase felt unfamiliar outside of her own head. It wasn't a secret-not dark, not shameful. She'd just never come across anyone who wanted to know.

"It must've been frightening for you."

She heard the voice of her father bellowing in her ear after so many long years, and she remembered the spark of his trident in the dark. She thought of it sometimes, white-hot magic shattering soaked wood and metal, but much less now. It took a moment for the thought to subside.

"It was, but I found a way out. There was a grotto some miles from home. I found it when I was searching through a shipwreck, and it was empty, so I made it mine. I moved a big rock in the middle so I could lie back and look at the sun. I filled it with all the human things I could find-for so many years, until I had to chisel out more space in the rocks by myself. It took a lot of work, but I had something to myself."

Ariel wondered what it would look like now. Maybe someone else had cleared it out and made themselves a little safe place, somewhere to keep lonely daydreams of a world more like home.

"Then my father found out, and since he had his trident, you can probably imagine what happened."

"Christ, Ariel. Did he hurt you?"

Ariel heard the concern in his voice. It felt strange to her, hearing new emotions attached to something that hadn't entered her thoughts for so long.

"No, Eric," a genuine smile formed on her lips. "He destroyed my things. That was it. And I knew then that I had to leave. So I did, and I never looked back. Ever. And it was the best thing that ever happened to me."

"But," Eric held her closer, "are you okay? Are you sure?"

"Yes. So much." Ariel squeezed his hand to reassure him. "He's not a part of my life anymore. My whole family-nobody is. And I don't want that life back, not ever. I went as far away as I could, and I ended up near the shore by kingdom. I saw a few merpeople there, but they kept to themselves, so I felt safe. Not home, but safe.

"Sometimes the sea is unbelievably beautiful, but it's not home. It's never been home, at least for me. I'm sure under different circumstances I could've had a happy life down there. But I've spent so much time dreaming of something better than what I had with my family, and for the first time, I think I found it."

"With me?"

"Yeah. I'm not crazy, am I?"

"If you are, I am too." Eric leaned close to kiss the top of her head. "I never stopped dreaming of you. Your face. Whether or not that's supposed to be true love, whatever that means, it doesn't matter. I just want to know you. And this little place is as much your home as it is mine. It's not much, but the heat works most of the time and we're right near the beach."

Ariel heard the softest hint of shame in his voice, as if his home, to her, would be anything short of magic. She didn't care whether it was a palace by the sea, a wandering caravan or a little white house on the beach. He'd invited her to a place where she could dwell with love, like the daydreams she'd drifted through for so many years.

"That's all I want," Ariel said, catching him in a long, sweet kiss. "That's all I've ever wanted."

They met with unpracticed touch, both she and Eric pushing too far with each kiss until their teeth scraped together. Was this what love was like? Pushing and pulling in between bouts of sheepish laughter? Ariel thought of Snow and her husband, how naturally they interacted, and wondered if soon she and Eric would read each other as effortlessly as they did.

Someday, Ariel thought. With practice.

He leaned down to kiss her neck and Ariel grabbed his hair tight as her breath caught in her throat.

"Too much," she whimpered out, "too much-"

He peeled himself off of her right away and she heard him whisper easy, easy, into her skin.

She panted, relieved that she could even speak at all. "I'm so sorry. Again. I'm not very good at this."

"It's okay. All this-it's new for me too." A subtle flush painted his face. "But there's nothing you have to do. We can wait, or we can stop."

She'd spent too much of her life waiting. "Can we go slow?"

His wanting smile said yes and he pulled her onto his lap. She had one leg on either side of him. She grabbed onto his shoulders to balance, still unused to the pull of gravity outside the water. But then both of his hands slid low on her back to steady her, and Ariel felt him brush a sliver of bare skin just above her skirt.

For want of that touch, she peeled off her shirt, and after some hesitation Eric slid his hands on her waist again.

"So much for slow." The pitch in his voice raised just a touch, and he fought to look at her eyes. Ariel felt a proud little smirk cross her lips.

"Should I have worn the purple shells instead?" This was the pair Belle had hurriedly helped her buy the very afternoon she'd returned to Storybrooke, and thus far part of her only human outfit. These shells were made of fabric and were plain and dark, but they seemed to do a fine enough job of distracting the poor fish in front of her.

Eric masked it enough with a grin, at least. "Next time."

She realized he'd never seen them before, which explained the look on his face. She'd have to surprise him when she got the chance.

Eric fell back flat against the couch, pulling her with him, and her whole weight enveloped him. She drank him in with kisses, slow to savor his taste, and felt his hands weave into her hair, which only melted her to him even more. His touch spoke of loneliness, it brimmed with pent-up love, and it broke her heart to feel the desperate pressure of his nails against the back of her neck. But she'd love him until he believed it, and then she'd never stop.

She peered down at his shirt, ran the fabric between her fingers, but whatever it was made of didn't stretch as much as her clothes did. She tugged gently to test.

"Buttons first," Eric said, which thus far meant nothing to her.

She fingered the tiny round pieces running down the center of the shirt. "Why do human clothes have to be so complicated?"

"I wouldn't know," he laughed breathlessly. "They're holding the shirt together in the middle. Slip the button down to where it's attached."

His explanation came too late, as she was already in the middle of investigating. It took some fumbling to maneuver the round button through the slit in the fabric, but she did it. She finished another, and another again, but the task grew increasingly more difficult with the rise and fall of his chest. His breathing felt heavy under her hands, but by the time she felt his skin against hers, his breaths were almost too shallow to notice.

She pressed her forehead against his, watching his dizzy eyes, and then sank to kiss, sucking at the swell of his lip.

"How're you feeling?"

Eric gasped out his words. "Do you really need an answer to that question?"

No, she didn't. She knew exactly what was about to happen and wanted every bit just as much as he did. But she had no idea how to proceed, at least with the legs she had now.

"Eric," she said, "you're, uh, going to need to swim me through this. Walk me through this."

It took him a long moment to answer, and it almost made her wonder if she had misread his intentions. "Why don't I walk you to the bedroom first."

When Eric led her upstairs, he checked behind him every few moments, as if to see if she was still there.

His bedroom was peppered with old books and maps of places she'd never heard of, and she had trouble finding any unoccupied spaces of wall. It reminded her of the grotto she'd had back home. She looked at the pictures on the covers of the books: trees and rock formations as multicolored as corals, with fauna to match. The names of these places belonged only in fish tales. Marianas Trench, the High Sierra, the One-Hundred Mile Wilderness. The last of these lands shared a map with Storybrooke.

By the amount of books he'd collected on that very place, Ariel guessed he'd never gotten the chance to see it.

Ariel heard the door click shut. She suddenly felt half-dressed and found the zipper to her skirt, kicking the fabric to the floor along with her tights.

She sat on the bed, expecting to join him there, but he still stood in front of the door, sliding his shirt off and tossing it near her skirt. He didn't make a move otherwise.

"This is your first time." Ariel didn't need an answer. She knew without him saying.

His voice was almost too quiet to hear. "Yeah."

"Well don't look so embarrassed about it. It's mine too," she giggled. "Come here."

As soon as he sat on the bed, she straddled his lap, slowly growing used to having two points of balance. No matter how she sat, she couldn't get enough of being close, and from the giddy smile that formed on Eric's lips, neither could he.

She kissed through his smile. "So we'll be walking each other through this, then."

He finally reached behind her for her shells, and she rolled her shoulders to help slip them off.

"You're nervous," Ariel said. More like terrified.

"Is it obvious?"

His heartbeat thundered under her fingertips.

"Only a little." On his lips she tasted salt and fervor; she kept his grief on her tongue. She could understand a loneliness like his, kept quiet under a curse he didn't deserve. "If it helps, I'm scared too. But what happened between the ball and now-it doesn't have to own us. We'll be okay."

"We can hope."

"We will." She leaned in to whisper, nipping gently at his ear. "Now, aren't you overdressed?"

"A little," he said, and there came the smirk she wanted. "I'll fix it." He laid a hand on her shoulder until she pressed her back against the bed, his sudden boldness surprising her. A little push really did work.

"But first," he said, leaning over her, "you have to do me a favor."

"What?"

"Take off the bracelet."

"But then I'll-"

He just nodded with a smile, and she lifted her hips to slip off the last of her clothes. She bit her lip through a giggle, remarking on a previous conversation with a certain Evil Queen.

"I can't say I expected that," Ariel said, making a mental note to fill him in later.

"Did I make you happy?"

She pulled him down to her neck and nuzzled into his hair until she heard him laugh. "Very."

After so many travels to land and back, she'd grown used to the feeling of her legs fusing into her tail. When the cloud of smoke faded, she set her bracelet on the bedside table and flicked her fins against the sheets.

He leaned down to kiss just below her bellybutton, running a curious hand down the center of her tail. She suppressed a low whimper. Of course, he probably heard it anyway, given the smirk on his face.

"I said I wanted to know you. All of you. Besides, it might be for the best, as far as I know." The breath from his laugh made her curl her fins against his leg. "I don't have any condoms."

"Condoms?"

A pause followed, too long to be comfortable. "Uh-later. It'll ruin the moment."

Then they'd both have something to tell, Ariel thought as Eric fumbled with his belt. She entertained the notion of trying to help him out, but she'd had enough trouble with buttons and was more than content to watch. "You're already blushing," she said.

He crawled back on the bed until she felt his weight over her, and he nuzzled her nose. "So are you."

She hadn't noticed any heat in her cheeks until he mentioned it. But then the feeling washed over her like a wave, much stronger than the flutter in her stomach at the ball so many years ago. More than regal gowns or the gaze of a hundred onlookers or the trill of music, delicately composed.

Her fingers trailed the line of his jaw just to prove to herself that this was real. The soft hitch in his breath told her yes. Never again would this tenderness, theirs, be confined to a memory a dream.

Finally she bared her neck for him to kiss, but even after she braced herself, nothing happened.

"Ariel?"

She leaned back her neck further, welcoming his touch, and let her arms hang at his shoulderblades. "What?"

"I know you're the one who rescued me."

"I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you-"

"No, no, I understand. It's okay." He pressed a delicate kiss to the shell of her ear. "But...did you sing?"

"A little. I thought it might help you wake up." Her surprise faded into a smile. "You remember?"

"I've only dreamed about it ever since it happened," He said, threading his fingers through her hair. "I should've known. Mermaid songs are legendary in our land."

"Would you like me to sing to you again?"

"More than anything." He lowered his lips to kiss her again, deep and sure.

They had barely parted when she opened her mouth to sing. She kept the melody soft enough so only he could hear, just like the morning after his rescue. Only this time he was the one above her, and he sunk into the sound, pressing his forehead against hers. And soon her song fluttered to a sigh as he slid inside her. She dug her nails into the skin of his shoulders.

This was far from the way merpeople made love to one another, as far as she'd heard. Silent, tails spiraled together, floating somewhere empty in the sea. This was close, this was raw, gravity and sweat and heated breath and the rough graze of his stubble against her lips, her shoulder, the soul of her voice. But tender, too, with a rhythm slow, tidal. He whispered small things and she cried out low into his ear, more as he drew himself closer, and she shut her eyes tight and felt hot tears down her temples.

"Am I hurting you?" Through the strain in his voice, she could hear Eric struggling to form the words.

"No."

He slowed anyway, probably just to be sure, but his own restraint made her want to squirm out the stirring heat in her. She made an impatient noise, but subtlety wasn't overtaking the considerate prince in him. So she pulled him down by the back of his neck and crushed her mouth to his, rolling her tail hard against his hips.

He shivered, every muscle along his shoulders and back drawing taut like a line. A muffled, hungry sound let her know she had him, but she wasn't about to let go. She waited, kissing deeper until he finally gasped out for air and bucked along with her. His breath made the sweat on her neck run cold, but she didn't care. She drowned a sigh of his name, and then again, until she gripped him like she'd drift to the bottom of the sea, winding her tail around one of his legs.

This threw him off balance and he nearly toppled over her. The bed creaked as his knee landed beside her tail, still tangled in his other leg. He dug his face into her neck and hissed words she'd never heard before as he fought for coherent speech.

"Oh God, I'm sorry." He panted helplessly, wiping the sweaty hair from his face. "I'm so sorry."

She let her tail slip off of his leg, damp scales scoring skin, but still had no idea why he apologized in the first place. Had she hurt him? But why was he the one apologizing? She caught her breath enough to begin to ask, but when he pulled out and she felt his fingers curl inside her instead, she knew exactly why.

He seemed to want to lean close. Maybe to kiss, maybe to whisper something, but the shame in his face showed in his hesitation.

"You're fine," she sighed out, and pulled him to her, "you're fine."

Even as his hand settled into a steady motion, Eric's gaze didn't once leave her eyes. She tried her best to do the same. It didn't last long. The touch of his fingers pulled her into a ragged cry, and she fell undone, rolling to her side and wrapping her tail around his leg, gentler this time.

She felt her cheeks grow wet again, and his hand slowed in response, but through her tears she gasped, "Keep going," and clung to his shoulders. "Please-"

He cradled her head to him and for a brief moment Ariel trained her eyes up to his until she felt the pressure of his fingers, harder, and curled up against him as tightly as she could. She trembled against his chest. She squeezed her tail around his leg, fins flicking uselessly over the sheets as her tail rocked in time with his hand.

He whispered into her hair, "I've got you. I've got you, sweetheart," and held her together until the feeling crested over with a soft, heavy sigh. He drew her close, stroking the back of her neck with his thumb until she went silent and limp in his arms.

She kissed his heartbeat then. A steady pulse, as she imagined hers would be soon. But not now. Thankfully Eric seemed more than willing to keep her in his arms for as long as she liked. She looked up at him and nuzzled his cheek. He met her in a slow, lazy kiss.

"You might want this back," he said with a sleepy smile, twirling the bracelet on his finger. She slipped it on, and as soon as her tail formed back into legs, she wrapped them both around one of his and heard a groan resonate from his chest.

"So you can cuddle with a human, huh?"

"I figured sweaty scales might be uncomfortable."

"Well, I'm kind of covered in sweat. And not all of it's mine." She blew her hair out of her face, giddy to see him blush.

"We can shower later, if you want."

By the slight slur in his voice, she imagined "later" meant whenever he felt like getting up.

Truth be told, she couldn't blame him. "And by later, I hope you mean much later."

"Reading my mind already, Miss Mermaid." Eric pulled the covers over them both, and she snuggled against him until only her eyes and her hair peeked out from the blankets. Her eyes drifted closed. She soaked in the touch of his hand on her back in lazy motions, but after a while she heard a scratch at the door and a long whine. She opened her eyes again.

Eric flopped his head against the pillow. "Max," he groaned, practically rolling out of bed to get dressed, not even bothering to button his shirt.

"Okay, okay, Max, I know. I'll let you out." As soon as he opened the door, Max pounced on him and wagged his tail, licking all over his hands before he even got the chance to pet the poor creature. Eric made a pitiful attempt to smooth his hair out of his eyes and Ariel had to stifle a giggle when he wiped his hand on his pants.

"We'll pick this up later, then?" She said.

"A bit later," he mumbled, rolling his shoulders. "Wait for me."