Chapter 5: Disaster

Before Melody stood a tall handsome prince, dressed in a lovely aquatic blue that matched his eyes. He looked as if he had naturally brown hair, but the sun had lightened much of it to a soft blonde. Leaving only his roots and streaks of hair their natural brown color, and the rest sparkling natural highlights.

Over his shoulder Melody could already see a line of young men, all hopeful to dance with the new princess. Yet she could see most of them had wandering eyes, looking to other potential dance partners. There was an equal number of lovely young maidens, being courted or attempting to catch the attention of their male peers. Yet a few of the men towards the front of the line had their eyes locked on her like she was a prized catch.

The prince before her was a bit different though, to begin with, he didn't seem to know the formalities of a ball. You never ask if a lady would like to dance, you always ask "May I have this dance" or "May I have the honor". But this didn't deter the princess, if anything she admired the more casual way he asked her. Like she wasn't someone special, like a regular girl.

His bow to her also seemed awkward and unpracticed, his hand shaking a bit when he extended it to her. She thought he must have been nervous, and honestly, she felt just as much anxiety. His eyes never left her face, and to Melody, his eyes seemed like the color of the ocean. Not a light sky blue, but a deep green-blue like the aquatic depths she loved.

A glance over her shoulder confirmed what she already knew, her mother was ecstatic. Her father had a smile on his face, but the Queen was beaming.

"Go on" her mother mouthed, clenching her hands in excitement.

The music began to slowly pick up again, signaling the ball was beginning.

Melody looked back to the prince, and with a soft smile, she slipped her hand in his.

"Sure, ok." As he had dropped the formalities she did as well, skipping the usual "You May'' or "I would be delighted". Yet she felt her cheeks flush, surely she could have done better than "Sure, ok."

He took her hand and guided her to the center of the dance floor. No one could begin dancing before the princess did, so everyone watched with bated breath. The Queen crossed her fingers behind her back and prayed everything went well.

With one hand he held her waist, and in the other, he held one of her delicate hands. Then all of a sudden they were twirling, the music swelling as couples began to spin around them. The prince may have been awkward and shy to begin with, but as a dancer, he was smooth and confident. Spinning her perfectly before bringing her back close to him in time to the rhythm of the song.

Drinks began to be served throughout the party, guests eager to get a sip of the legendary royal cellar's offerings. Something that previously was a point of pride of the crown, but hadn't been shared in over 20 years. Then the air was filled with the smell of delicious food, as the banquet slowly began to roll out.

As the first dance finished off, the prince reluctantly released her. With a bow and curtsy, it was time to switch partners for the next dance. It's very rude in a royal ball to dance with the same person twice in a row, as it was only fair to allow others a chance. That didn't just go for Melody either, every dance everyone had to switch partners. Yet Melody found herself wishing she could perhaps dance with him again later in the night.

Then all of a sudden, a tragic disaster struck.

Half of the royal ballroom was made up of many tall crystal windows, meant to show off the beautiful ocean shore the castle sat upon. All at once they violently shattered, an explosion followed by a rain of glass. The sound was deafening, a boom followed immediately with shrieks and howling winds. When the sunset only an hour before the sky had been crystal clear, but now the night sky was filled with a raging storm. Through the blasted open windows the ocean pushed itself inside, ice-cold water flooding the floor and rain slicing through the air. Guests scrambled to the interior of the castle in desperate attempts to escape the terror.

Princess Melody was just starting to dance with the second young prince with the disaster hit, and the young man made no attempts to save her. He had disappeared from her arms and bolted before she even knew what happened. The powerful gusts and surging water slammed her into the ground, and her giant ballroom dress was soaked in seconds. The heavy gown had already weighed a lot on her body, leaving bruises on her hips from wearing it. Now with the layered dress sopping wet, it felt like a hundred pounds dragging her to the floor.

The water that had blasted into the ballroom began to recede quickly, dragging her back with it. Melody screamed and scrambled to grab onto anything to keep herself from being dragged into the sea.

A large strong hand grabbed hers, and with a flash, the gown had been sliced away. The massive layers of fabrics ripped from her body and tugged away in the violent surf. Powerful arms snatched her from the floor and suddenly she was being whisked away in the arms of a stranger. The young man who grabbed her carried her bridal style, and she threw her arms around his neck in terror. The mob of panicked people quickly became more dangerous than the raging weather, stampeding through the narrow grand ballroom doors in desperation.

"Go under the staircase! There is another exit there!" Melody shrieked at the man carrying her. Without wasting a second he dashed under the stairs she had made her grand entrance on only a few minutes ago. Just as she said there was another exit there, a passageway to the ballroom the servants were supposed to use.

After a few more moments of running down the empty hallway, he slowed to a stop.

"Are you alright, your Majesty?"

Melody looked for the first time at her rescuer and realized it was the blonde prince she had first danced with. He was slightly out of breath and didn't put her down right away. As she clutched onto him she noticed how broad his back and shoulders were, how his strong arms carried her both effortlessly and delicately. Then she immediately blushed red and scolded herself, now was not the time to be thinking such silly things.

His green eyes were locked onto hers, his face contorted with worry.

"Y-yes I th-think I'm okay…"

Immediately a smile appeared on his face "Oh good I'm so glad. I was so worried when I saw you fall like that…"

"Umm… I think you can put me down now…"

"Oh right of course!" His face turned bright red and he gently put her down, holding her hand delicately the whole time.

The hallway they were in was dimly lit and empty, eerily quiet compared to how loud everything had just been. She noticed for the first time that her clothes were ripped to shreds. All that remained was a skirt of fabric that fell to her knees, one side of it ripped up her hip. Both of her shoes were gone, and her corset was mostly intact although missing a sleeve.

The prince however looked as perfect as he did when she first saw him, his clothes immaculate and not a hair out of place. When she met his eyes again he blushed and looked away, suddenly adorably shy for a noble prince.

The prince cleared his throat, "I'm so sorry about your dress, I had to use my knife to cut it off you. I feared I wouldn't have been able to pull you from the water otherwise."

Melody knew most men carried weapons on them, royalty and her father included, but she hadn't noticed the bejeweled dagger on his hip before.

"No need to be sorry, you saved my life. Quite honestly I hated that dress."

He looked at her in surprise, "Oh but you had looked so radiant."

His sudden directness seemed to catch them both off guard. He suddenly turned bright red and couldn't meet her gaze.

"Um I mean...uh…"

Melody found his stuttering utterly adorable, "May I know the name of the man who gave me my first dance, and saved my life?" Her question took him completely off guard and he stayed silent for a moment. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, they were found.

"MELODY!" The princess turned and saw her mother along with many servants rushing down the hall to her. In moments she was surrounded, the group whisking her away while her mother rattled off a hundred questions. When Melody looked back over her shoulder the handsome prince was gone.

Hi everyone, thank you for reading my AU of The Little Mermaid 2, with Melody at 19 and not 12. I originally posted this FanFiction on Deviantart, and it is updated there every 1st and 15th of the month. I will be adding chapters to this story every Monday till it's caught up to the deviant art version.

If you would like to read ahead or check out my Disney fan edits here is my deviantart link:

mermaidmelodyedits

You can also check out my Disney fan edits on Instagram:

mermaid_melody_edits/

I'd super appreciate if you guys could leave me your thoughts in the comments! Critique, comments, discussion, etc. I want to hear it all! Feel free to also message me if you have any questions or want to chat!

Chapter 5 is so much fun! The legendary ballroom scene, only much higher stakes than Sebastian accidentally destroys Melody's cake. I never understood the scene in the original very well. 1st she had nothing to do with the incident at least as far as the other guests are aware. if anything the boy she danced with seemed more at fault, people only thought she was weird for asking Sebastian if he was ok after that. Also I think anyone who disrespected the princess at her own party would be pretty severely punished, plus Ariel and Eric just kind of watch while the whole thing happens? Also we never see that boy she danced with again. anyway, I hope you liked my version and I look forward to hearing your thoughts!