A/N: Let me start this off by saying how incredibly sorry I am for having neglected this story. School began shortly after my last update and my AP class has taken up more time than I thought. I also joined a marvelous RP group and I'm afraid I started giving them too much attention. Now though, it's the start of winter break for me and I'm planning on giving you lovely folks at least four updates before the New Year.
Truly though, you are all such marvelous people, I can't believe the amount of love you all give this story. It has over 10,000 hits, more alerts than I ever imagined seeing and some of you have even included me in your favorite author list. That's the greatest honor I can ever dream of receiving, and for that I wish I could give you all a very big hug full of love.
I plan on giving you all another update on the morrow as this is a really short chapter. c:
By the by, if you're like me and haven't looked at this story since the last time I updated and are lost, this chapter is taking place on what would have been Ariel's third and final day as a human.
Disclaimer: The Little Mermaid and all its associated characters belong to D*sney.
Ariel sighed and sat down in front of the vanity mirror. She picked up her brush and began to carefully brush out the knots that had formed. She saw the young maid hesitate as she made her way to the door and she shook her head, her blue eyes kind.
"Are you sure you don't need any 'elp, miss?" She shook her head once more, waving a hand to the side. The maid curtsied, calling over her shoulder, "Good night, Ms. Atlantica."
Ariel winced, from the pinch of the brush and from the formal name. Ms. Marks has gone directly to Grimsby to tell him of her last name, dismissing what Ariel had told her of her social status. It seemed that since then all of the servants had been instructed to refer to her as 'Ms. Atlantica' instead of the more familiar 'Ms. Ariel'.
Humans fuss more about propriety than Attina. She placed the brush back on the vanity table and ran her fingers through her hair. It was odd having her hair so, so close to her. The water used to always keep it slightly away from her but here it even stuck to her scalp.
Immediately following the soft thump or the door closing, Sebastian's voice rang out. "At least that girl didn't take long." Ariel smiled softly, having actually missed the motherly way that Carlotta fussed over her.
She made her way over to the window, brushing the curtains aside for a moment. A dreamy grin overtook her features at seeing Eric. Just like her first night at the castle, he was playing with Max. She titled her head in curiosity as she saw his lips rapidly moving and how hard set his features were. Suddenly, Grimsby appeared, his hands moving in a flustered motion.
"Do you think it's dry enough now?" Sebastian cautiously walked over the spread sheets, satisfaction showing when the ink didn't show up in his legs. He looked, prepared to see Ariel leaning over him. Instead, the teenager was frowning as she continued looking out the window.
Eric was pacing now and she saw Max sit beside Grimsby, his tail curled around himself. Flinging his arms up, Eric turned and faced the older man. She was shocked at the desperate worry and anger clear on his face. His lips didn't move for a while and she guessed that Grimsby was speaking.
Eric closed his eyes and shook his head, his posture weary, before turning around and heading back into the shadows. Grimsby's posture stayed stiff and tense and Max prodded him in Eric's direction. He patted the dog's head before going the same way as Eric, Max close on his heels.
"Ariel, are you listening to me?" She pursed her lips and firmly closed the curtains, absently nodding. She sat down in front of the chair, sighing as she got the papers. Pressing her fingers firmly on the ink, she moved them about, testing how dry it was. Yet even as she performed the "tests", the worry in her eyes wasn't just about the sheets.
Something was worrying Eric. And for him to walk away form a discussion with Grimsby, it had to be very serious. In her short stay, she already knew that Eric held him high in confidence and respect. She worried her lip, twisting the papers into a tube.
"Now, I better hurry or else all your sisters'll be asleep by the time I reach Atlantica." He stuck his claws out and noticed the trouble look in her eyes. He sighed and dragged a hand down his face. "Girl, everything's going to be fine. I'm sure that the King and Queen will like you as much as the Prince." He smiled a tad wistfully. "And you'll get to live happily ever after."
Ariel smiled, bending down to kiss the top of his head. Sweet Sebastian, always thinking about what was best for her and sisters. Although the meeting hadn't been first on her mind, she felt less nervous thinking about it. She was going to get her happily ever after, and she would try her hardest to include her family in it.
She firmly rolled the papers and handed them to Sebastian. She looked at the clock and quickly scooped him up at reading the time. It's already pass curfew!
Ariel set him on the balcony railing and saluted him, a nervous smile on her face. He sighed and saluted back. "Good luck child." And with that, he was gone.
A/N: This A/N is a response to an anon review by J. Everyone else can skip this is they want; y'all won't miss out on anything. J, by the by, this is not an angry response. Your review is the kind I love and I wish that you had an account so we could talk about this privately.
Mainly, I want to say thank you for your compliment. I really doubt myself as a writer since I feel that I write way too much dialogue so this story is a bit of a challenge. I'm so glad you like the way I'm portraying the characters since it's always hard to bring them to life based on a singular movie (or three, whichever).
1. I really debated with myself over the whole writing thing. I would have loved to do it with just body language, but then I started thinking of very mature scenes and I want to keep this T. Maybe I'll do another 'What if' with that as their form of communicating. But, it's clear in the movie that she knows how to read and write. She seems to be able to understand what she reads in human books, Ursula's contract was in English (let's assume that's the language they speak), and she signs it. I've heard a lot of debate over why she didn't just explain it to Eric in writing if she could and I think that it might be because even she knew how unbelievable it was. Maybe she trusted that she would be able to get Eric to love her without explaining? Maybe it slipped her mind in all the excitement of being human and being with her prince in a way that's very common for teenagers, or anyone?
2. J, first off, I have never seen the Broadway show. I know I've mentioned some of the Broadway songs, but that's all I've heard/seen from the show, the songs. So, I have no clue as to how it went in the show. If you have seen the show, I would really appreciate it if you could possibly give me a play-by-play (in a private message) of what they did as the only major differences I'm aware of is that Vanessa doesn't come up, there's a singing contest, and Ariel is the heroine. So, for Eric's 'rents being alive, I'm going mostly by what's in the movie. And in the movie he's called the Prince and in any monarchy, that I'm aware of, it doesn't matter if the heir is married or not, once the parents pass away, the heir is made the ruler. To me, his parents aren't mentioned because they don't play that big a part and they're just in the shadows during the real wedding.
3. I've haven't read the novel either, I've been trying to get my hands on a copy for years and nutin'. I truly have no clue as to architecture, and I don't really know much about Greek and Latin (although I'm trying to fix that). And I hate stereotypes and I'm always looking at 'What if's' in them, so I can picture Eric being the exception to the Scandinavian look. Just like not all Russians are blonde, or all Mexicans are short, or all the French are dark-haired, or all Asians have straight hair. Also, I don't see Eric having olive skin. It just looks normal colored to me. ._.
4. Once again, I've never seen the show. And I'm not contradicting the movie just to contradict it. It's just that it's always been bothersome to me the idea of kingdoms coming up and going away with no trace, a thing that stops me from fully enjoying fairy tales and Disney movies nowadays, and I had to give myself an explanation. Once I did so, it kept interrupting my writing and I decided to put it in here so that I wouldn't have to do an A/N to explain it. And again, I might do one where he is the Prince/King but that would make me have everyone treat Ariel in a much harsher form and I really don't like writing negative things. D:
If I sound snippy, I'm not, really. It's those types of reviews that make my day because they make me think and analyze my choices. If you have an account, please log in for a review or PM because I'd like to keep talking with you about this since I feel that you'll probably have some damned good responses. (:
If you aren't J and you're reading this, please don't hesitate to ask/doubt/confront me on certain things in this fic. Send me a review or a PM and I'll gladly explain what was goin' on in my brain when I was writing. If it's on the history I'm using as background, how I'm developing characters, my writing style, whichever, all of y'all have a right to voice your opinion on it. Besides, I'm only a fifteen year old high school sophomore and I am bound to make mistakes. My research is based on books I've read and the internet so I could be wrong on so many things it's not even funny.
I do answer all the reviews I recieve non-anonymously and I will get to that before the end of the weekend. Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter!