Her eyes fluttered open as the sun began to make its way up. She had made it. Land had been much further away than she had first thought and whilst swimming there on her own would have caused her no problems dragging Eric along and trying to keep his head above the surface had bee extremely difficult and tiring and she was now beginning to feel the effects. Slowly she lifted her head off the sand and onto Eric's chest and soon the steady beating of his heart and the warmth of his body lulled her back to sleep.

After following Sebastian for most of the night to his daughter Triton was relieved to see that she had made it to safety. He watched as she woke up and he prepared himself to go and speak with her however he stopped once he saw her rest her head on the human boys chest and fall back asleep.
"Oh Ariel" he sighed "What am I to do"
He had heard the story of what she had done the last three days and whilst he was angry she had gone to the surface and into the human world he couldn't help but feel ashamed that he had scared his own daughter enough for her to seek help from their enemy rather than her own father.
"She really does love him doesn't she Sebastian" Sighed the Sea King, it was more of a statement than a question as he already knew that she loved that boy more than anything.
"Yes, yes she does" Sebastian agreed
"I forbid contact with the human world over 10 years ago for fear that the same fate would befall my daughters as it did my wife, I let my anger towards them grow and it was my anger which drove Ariel away" The sea king paused deep in thought before continuing
"Sebastian do you think I may have pushed her too far this time as I fear that I have and that she won't come back" Triton asked the small red crab knowing that if he was to get an honest answer out of anyone it would be him.
"Your Majesty I believe that yes she may be fearful of you" that was just the answer Triton had been dreading, his own daughter afraid of him. He was snapped out of his thoughts as the crab continued.
"However I think she wants to make things right she was terribly home sick and she spent most nights watching the sea and would spend almost all her free time down on the beach. I don't think even you sir could scare her enough to want to leave the sea forever" Sebastian finished and they floated in silence.

Soon the sun was rising and the young couple lying on the sand were bathed in the suns warm rays. Eric began to wake opening his eyes he noticed Ariel's head resting on his chest her eyes closed as she slept. He smiled at the sight. Closing his eyes once again memories of the night began to fill his mind and relief washed over him as the realisation that Ariel was safe hit him. They no longer had to live in fear of her being snatched away, his thoughts turned to her resting on his chest and he brought his hand up and began to stroke her hair lovingly. The action woke Ariel and her eyes fluttered open, her face breaking into a smile as her eyes met Eric's as soon as she saw he was awake she leaned over and brought her lips down on his, his hand reached and cradled the back of her neck pulling her into him deepening the kiss. The sound of someone clearing their throat startled them causing them to reluctantly pull away from each other. Turning around in the direction of the noise Ariel was shocked by what she saw.
"Daddy" she gasped
At the sudden realisation that Ariel's father, King Triton was only a few meters away Eric jumped to his feet and bowed. Surprised by this gesture Triton chuckled. Eric rose and looked down to see Ariel still sitting on the sand, suddenly realising that she couldn't stand as she no longer had legs he kneeled down beside her taking her hands in his.

"Ariel I'm sorry" Triton sighed
"No Daddy I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gone to Ursula, I really messed up this time" she replied looking down at the sand unable to hold his gaze.
"No Ariel listen to me I shouldn't have yelled at you like that and I should never have thought any good would come from keeping you away from something you love your too much like your mother" Triton smiled at the memory of his wife.
Turning to Sebastian the small crab nodded his head in reply to his silent question, at this Ariel looked towards Eric with a look of confusion and fear. Raising his Trident he pointed it towards Ariel and she was once again engulfed in light. However unlike before there was no look of pain on her face only joy as she felt the familiar tingling sensation in her tail and the feel of one splitting into two. Once the transformation was complete she looked down at her feet and wiggled her toes before looking up at her father with the biggest grin on her face he had ever seen.
"I only ever wanted what was best for you Ariel, I only ever wanted you to be happy and seeing you with this boy has made me realise he is what makes you happy"
"Oh Daddy thank you so much!" she cries as she ran out into the Ocean and jumped into her father's arms. After placing her back on her feet Triton was surprised to see Eric now standing a few steps behind Ariel.
"Your Majesty, we may have only just met and I have only known your daughter for a few days however I cannot imagine my life without her, so with your blessing I would like to make her my wife" Eric turned to see an extremely shocked Ariel.
"I think I have made enough decisions on my daughters behalf, she will have my blessing whatever she decides" Triton replied
Eric turned to face Ariel taking her hand in his
"Ariel I know we have only known each other for a few days yet they have been the best days of my life, you have sparked something in my heart that will never die, I love you and I can't imagine a single day of my life without you, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife"
"YES YES YES!" she cried in reply
At her reply Eric grabbed her by the waist lifted her into the air and spun her around bringing her back down to the ground where she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

Beginning to feel a bit awkward as his daughters face didn't seem to leave the young Princes for quite away Triton finally cleared his throat. Ariel broke apart from Eric, her cheeks turning pink.
"I need to get back to Atlantica now, I can see you will be taken care of properly here"
Ariel nodded her head running up to her father to give him a hug.
"please come and visit" she said gently
"Of course, I am sure your sisters will be up to visit as soon as I tell them that their little sisters getting married" Triton said back
"Adella's going to be pleased" Ariel giggled
Triton chuckled at Ariel's comment knowing full well that while Adella may be happy for Ariel she will still be annoyed that Ariel's getting married before her.
Pulling away from her father's grasp she waded over to Sebastian picking him up and kissing his head
"Thank you" she whispered
After placing the crab back down she walked back over to Eric who was now standing back on shore placing his arm around her waist he pulled her close to him as they waved her father off. After he had completely submerged Ariel turned to Eric
"I love you"
Eric smiled, he was never going to tire of hearing her say that
"I love you too" He replied pulling her into a hug
"We should probably head back to the Castle, I'm sure Carlotta and Grimsby are besides themselves with worry"
"yes they probably are" she agreed
"Plus we have a wedding to organise" he stated
At the mention of wedding she smiled, taking her hand in his they began to walk along the beach back to the castle, never running out of things to say.


Another chapter! Please review and tell me what you thought. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed I really love hearing your thoughts so please continue. Not sure when the next chapter will be up as this is up sooner than I expected but am planning on updating the story at least once a week.

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