Basic Story Info.

Story Title: Where I Belong
Chapter Number: 7
Chapter Title: "Birthday Surprises (Part 2)"
Pairing: Ariel/Eric
Rating: T (Just in case!)
Disclaimer: I own nothing.


After promising Eric she'd come see him again tonight on his ship, Ariel headed back home, still deep in thought.

There were so many things that were going through her mind about Eric; how much she adored him and how wanted to spend every spare moment she had with him...

But how to make that possible was beyond her.

Lucky for her, she was getting nearer to home, so she could postpone her thoughts for a few brief moments.

However, Ariel was just re-entering the gates to the city when she had the feeling that something was wrong. There was a certain uneasiness about the mer-folk she swam by that made her anxious as to what was going on. There also seemed to be an increased number of mer-guards around the gates and in the city in general. That was odd...

"Ariel, Ariel!" Jordan exclaimed, swimming up to her. "Where have you been? Oh, never mind, come here, quickly," Jordan said urgently, grabbing Ariel's arm. "Follow me and don't say anything. I'll explain everything to you in a few minutes."

He swam hastily, leading her towards their secret trove. When they were safe inside, he covered the entrance with the rock securely behind them before continuing with what he had to say.

"What, what is it?" Ariel questioned, genuinely confused. "What's going on?"

Jordan gulped. "King Triton, um, your father, just got wind that someone went up to the surface and he's absolutely furious."

Ariel felt her stomach drop to her knees and her heart begin to pound rapidly in her chest. "Oh, really? Does he know who it is?"

"No, thank god... Why, was it you?" Jordan asked curiously. "Did you go up there?"

"No! I'd never d-dream of doing such a thing!"

Jordan raised his eyebrows inquisitively and chuckled, "Why do I find that hard to believe?"

"Oh, oh- you mustn't tell, Jordan! You must promise me."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, but what was it like?"

"Well, um, it was just the top of the ocean, I suppose, but that was all. It's not like I met a human or anything! Nope, pretty boring."

"Oh," Jordan replied, his visage reflecting disappointment. "That would've been cool, though. Well, anyway, one last thing, your father seemed really, really angry, so you'd better be careful and watch your back. I heard him say something about some enormous hurricane tonight or something as well..."

"Oh, no!" Ariel whispered, feeling her body become numb. Eric was going to go out sailing for his birthday tonight and... would find himself right in the path of the brewing hurricane! Crap. "I-I have to go! Now!"

"No, it's not safe out there," he said, grabbing her hand to stop her. "You have to stay here."

"No! I don't care!"

"I know what's best for you, Ariel," he pleaded. "Please, don't go..."

"You know what? I'll do whatever I so please. Now, let me go."

Feeling Jordan relinquish his grasp on her hand, she swam off furiously, swimming as fast as her tail would allow her, determined to get to the surface to warn Eric before it was too late.

As she broke through the surface of the water, she let her eyes adjust to the pitch black night of the sky before continuing on.

She looked around, scanning for signs of an impending hurricane, but the sky was stunningly clear, like it always was before a storm. She noticed, in the meantime, that the sky was dotted small shining silver spots all over it, like someone spilled shiny silver glitter all over it.

"Oh, Eric, where are you?" she whispered, brushing her bangs out of her eyes.

Suddenly, something burst out loudly in the sky, exploding and sending out an array of color across the landscape. Then, a large, beautiful ship cut through the water, it's sails billowing proudly.

There! Ariel thought, relieved. Now, all she had to do was warn him to go back home before things got worse.

She swam in the direction of the ship and splashed upwards, grasping and hoisting herself up on a small ledge on the side of the ship. She then leaned forward to peer onto the boat deck.

There, she saw a celebration with jubilant music and festive dancing going on.

And right in the center she saw who she was looking for. Eric. He was playing one of his recorders and dancing a little ditty with the rest of his company.

Now, to attract his attention...

As she was formulating her plan, his voice broke out from the crowd, talking to the older man she saw earlier on the shore. Her thoughts racing, she leaned forward a little more and couldn't help but tuning into the conversation that going on...

"Happy birthday, Eric!" the group chorused, unveiling what looked like an enormous present for him. It was a life-like stone sculpture of Eric, dressed in a very regal outfit. He was so handsome... and oh, how she wanted that sculpture!

"Oh, Grims," Eric chuckled in response. "It's um... really something. You shouldn't have."

"I know," he muttered. "But I really had rather hoped it'd be a wedding present for you."

"Remind me, how many times have we had this conversation, Grimsby?"

"Um-"

"No, no, that was rhetorical," Eric responded to Grimsby, who was ready to respond with the exact number of times the two had carried out a similar conversation. "I know it all too well how intent you are in finding me a wife, but these things can't be forced!"

"But it's not just me! The entire kingdom wants to see you happily settled down with the right girl-"

"Well," grumbled Eric uncomfortably, "she's out there," he said, motioning out to the sea. "She just—I just-"

"Haven't found her yet?" Grimsby finished. "Well, perhaps you haven't been looking hard enough."

Eric scoffed. "Believe me, Grim, only one very special girl deserves my love and when she and I are finally reunited, it'll BAM hit me like lightening."

In the distance, thunder boomed and lightening flashed. Rain came spilling down in sheets onto the boat, pulling Ariel out of her thoughts.

"Hurricane a-coming!!"

"Stand fast!"

"Secure the riggings!" voices echoed.

Ariel, before she had a chance to recover, was tossed off the side of the ship in a whirlwind of wind and rain as a huge wave stuck the ship.

Her vision became obscured as she was lurched underneath the water. She fought to break through the water and resurfaced again just in time to see the ship engulfed in flames.

Squinting her eyes, she saw Eric struggling helplessly on the boat deck. His leg seemed to be caught on something...

She felt her heart beat rapidly as she swam nearer the ship, trying to piece together a way to help him, if at all possible.

Another explosion then burst out, causing her to bring her arm up to shield her eyes against the blinding light it emitted, but, gratefully, she didn't fail to see a body – more precisely, Eric's body - flying through the air and splash mercilessly beneath the water.

She dove into the water in the direction of where his body had been, scared out of her life. She scanned through the debris and other wreckage floating around her and, thankfully, was able to spot him, drifting further and further down into the ocean. Swimming furiously, she reached him and then looped her arms around his. She pulled and pulled upwards until the two broke through the surface.

Hastily, she took a firm grasp on his arms and proceeded to swim as fast as she possibly could towards the shore...


The storm was beginning to break up as Ariel dragged Eric onto the beach, laying him gently on the sand beside her. Sitting up next to him, she stared lovingly at his beautiful, unconscious face, feeling a flood of emotions overwhelm her.

Eric meant so much to her, more than he was probably aware of, and there was just no way she could lose him now.

She took up his hand hers, desperately hoping that she hadn't been too late. "What an exciting birthday you had, Eric," she whispered.

She ran the back of her other hand up and down his cheek gently, still holding his hand in her other. "There's so much I long to tell you. ... If only you could know the half of it... well, then again, maybe someday you will..." she sighed. "Please, wake up, Eric," she pleaded, tears streaming down her face.

Just then, a single ray of sunlight appeared over her shoulder, shining and illuminating Eric's face. In response, his eyes fluttered open and he began coughing up water in an attempt to clear his lungs.

"Don't worry, relax," she soothed as he made an attempt to move. "I'm not going anywhere; that's right, take your time. I'll be right here..."


Swimming back and forth anxiously, Jordan was deep in thought, his mind racing with thoughts about Ariel. Why had she gone off so quickly when she had heard about the hurricane? What was she in such a rush for?

He thought for sure that his tip off to the king about someone going up to the surface would scare her enough to defer her from ever leaving Atlantica again, but boy had he been mistaken. Ariel's adventurous spirit would probably never be fully detained.

There had to be some way, however, to keep her within his grasps. He was, after all, destined to be the king of the sea when Triton keeled over (Yes, that deal the two of them had planned had quite the perks!) And having Ariel as his beautiful, intelligent wife would only help boost a positive image for his people.

But, in order for that to happen, he had to pull her head out of the clouds and back where it belonged: in the ocean. Maybe if he could find the source of her wandering mind, he could shut off the source...

Swimming out of the gates to Atlantica, he headed up to the surface world, to the place where he was certain he would be able to find Ariel. She had been so keenly interested in it, after all.

When he broke through the surface, he saw nothing more than a brilliant blue color above him with seemingly endless water surrounding him. His lungs were taking a while to get used to the new atmosphere of the world above, so, taking a moment to collect himself, he scanned the landscape. It was mostly water and air (is that what it was called?), except for a bunch of sand that was a little ways off.

Floating over out of pure curiosity, Jordan found himself intrigued by a vibrant red blob on the shore. Getting a closer look, he realized it was Ariel.

Bingo, he thought. Found her.

But he stopped mid-stroke as he realized that she was already with someone. With some human. He watched on, his heart twisting and writhing in pain, as she stroked his face lovingly, talking to him with the most gentlest of tones.

Oh, the nerve of her! He thought, simmering with anger. And he knew he shouldn't be quick to jump to conclusions, but he hadn't even met that human there and he already loathed him. Maybe it was because he wished it was him that was there, getting Ariel's affection...

He watched on, feeling as though he was going to become sick, as the human returned her affections, stroking her wrist delicately with his fingers, smiling weakly as she spoke to him.

Now, if that wasn't love, he wasn't sure what was. And the thought of her in love (with a human nonetheless) pained him, and yet inspired him at the same time. Maybe this could play out to his advantage...?

"Oh, Ariel, you've fallen in love with a human... What would your father think of all this?" he muttered angrily, swimming up closer. "That puts the two of us in a predicament, now doesn't it? But no, oh, no, no, no, that's just too easy! Oh, just wait until you see what you've gotten yourself into, Ariel, darling..."


Let me start off by saying that I'm SO, so sorry for not being able to update sooner. These past couple of weeks have been really, really insanely busy and I haven't found a spare bit of time to get online to update! But I sorta compensated, right? ;) I hope so. Anyhoo, I thought I'd do a double update today, as well, in honor of my birthday (well, it's not technically until tomorrow), but you know what I mean. :)

As always, reviewers - you're amazing and never cease to make my day and um... I hope you all enjoyed the update(s)!

Up Next: Ariel and Eric have an intimate moment on the beach and... what on earth does Jordan have planned?

-Dreaming Wide Awake