Chapter 18: Down to the Sea

"All this time… and you never told me?"

Melody's voice was laced with pain, her face painted by betrayal. The way her daughter's bright azure eyes gazed at her mother… like Ariel was the monster, and not the vicious sea witch right behind her.

"Kept the most important secret in her whole life… from her own daughter."

Neither of them was wrong, and that's what made it sting all the worst. Ariel had brought all of this on herself, never trusting Melody with the truth made her seek it from the worst of places. How could she have been so stupid, when she had made that same choice herself even younger at 16? The worst fear of her childhood had come true, she had become just like her father.

Ariel felt like a fool asking, "Please, give it to me, Melody."

How could she beg her daughter to trust her now, when she had never trusted her daughter to begin with?

Melody's brows furrowed, the same way they had since she was born, the same way her father did. "You still aren't answering me. Why can't you say anything?!"

Melody had tried to be strong, but her voice broke and faltered towards the end regardless.

All Ariel could do now was try and tell the truth, far too late for it to matter. "Melody you have to understand, that witch! She threatened me, I just wanted to protect you. I never wanted any of this to happen, I never wanted to hide it from you. Please, you have to believe me."

Morgana shook her head, and with a tsk she gently laid her hands on Melody's thin trembling shoulders.

She spoke in a voice dripping with a gentle maternal tone, "Melody, I don't want to come between you and your mother. What you do with the trident is your choice."

Morgana glided beside the Princess, softly placing a hand on her cheek. Ariel wanted to vomit watching her worst nightmare look her daughter in the eye.

"Child, shh, don't cry. Some part of you must still be human, mermaids can't cry tears of the sea like this." With a long sharp nail, the witch wiped away the girl's tears.

"You alone were brave and strong enough to take it from the mad king. What you do from here is your choice and yours alone."

Ariel wanted to race over and snatch her child from the arms of this demon but was terrified of what Morgana would do if she rushed her. Melody was practically in her arms.

Her daughter was listening to poison, believing in poison, "Melody, she is lying to you!"

A pained rage overtook the Princess, "She is lying!? Her?! All you have ever done to me is lie! She is the only one who has ever told me the truth about anything! About

Atlantica, about myself!"

Lily flinched, she had never heard her friend scream in such agony.

Ariel began to cry, but unlike her half-human daughter, she could produce no tears. "I… I was trying to protect you."

Melody took a deep breath and wiped her eyes. "By locking me up? Hiding the world from me? Hiding my own past and identity from me? Do you know how much it hurts to not know yourself? To feel so out of place, to know something is missing, and everyone you love just brushes you off… "

Ariel did, more than anyone, but how could she explain it all in a sentence? Explain an entire life in a moment? Her daughter truly knew nothing about her, didn't know her own mother. How could she have let that happen? When nothing had hurt Ariel more than not getting to know her mother?

The Princess continued, "Of course, you wouldn't know or understand, you're always perfect, always right, everyone listens to you without question."

Melody finally locked eyes with her mother again, detest and pain in her every word.

"You knew how much I loved the sea."

Desperate please where all Ariel had left, "Melody please, if there was anything in my life I would change, I would do over, it would be this. Please believe me."

Ariel tried to slowly float closer to her daughter, but the girl pulled back shaking her head.

A deep male voice spoke up, the yellow and blue fish by the Queen's side.

"It's not fair to make Melody pick when she doesn't know anything that's going on."

Lily perked up immediately, "Your right dad, Melody should get to hear the truth. She deserves that, then she picks who to give the trident to."

Morgana was practically singing, "Well that's just a wonderful idea! Your mother gets to tell her side of the story, and then I get to tell mine. What do you think, darling?" She rested a hand on top of the Princess's head.

Melody nodded, "Tell me the truth mom, it's all I've ever wanted."

Ariel took a deep shaky breath, "I…I guess I should start with you being born…"

The sun was barely beginning to set, the rays of light coming through the ship's stained glass.

The Queen sat beside her newborn's cradle, watching the sunlight up her baby's lovely little face.

Ariel's angelic voice following along to the sea's calm tempo,

"Down to the sea we go, down a world I know

There has never been, not ever before

A child born from both sea and shore"

The Queen gathered up her little baby, serenading and rocking her gently.

"We journey to bless, my little Princess, to be

Both under the sun, and under the sea…"

The opening door startled the Queen, but the sight of her husband immediately calmed her heart.

Eric couldn't hide his prideful beam, "My darling, it's time."

Ariel glided to his side, "Isn't she just perfect."

Eric laughed deeply and placed a hand on his beloved wife's shoulder. "She looks divine, and you look exquisite."

The happy couple began their grand entrance from their quarters to the deck, Ariel kept singing softly. Both to calm her baby's nerves, and her own.

"Up from the sea they rise, to your world of skies

You're making us one, forever to be

Both under the sun, and under the sea"

As they reached the edge of the ship, the grand orchestra of Atlantica rang through the air. Ariel had heard her people's songs in so long, and it filled her with love.

Then the Atlantica royal anthem finished, and her father made his grand entrance from the surface of the water. All the humans around Ariel marveled at the sight, but she remained unphased.

"Daddy!"

After a brief embrace, Ariel nobly presented Melody to her father. The Princess instantly reached her hands out to touch her grandfather's face, and Ariel never forgot how her father instantly lit up. With a hearty laugh, he extended his triton and brought forth a glittering rainbow across the sunset sky.

The elated mother cradled her baby and sang as she proudly presented her to all of Atlantica's aquatic subjects.

"This is your world my darling,

One world, the land, and sea

My hope for you for always,

Is your heart will be a part of me"

King Triton bestowed upon his new granddaughter a magical golden shell locket necklace. Embedded inside was a constant enchanted view of his kingdom, and Melody engraved on the outside. So the Princess may always know who she is, where she is from, and that she has family who loves her there.

Just as Ariel's sisters were crowding and taking turns admiring their tiny niece, lightning and thunder violently exploded across the sky. Darkening clouds conjured themselves unnaturally fast across the clear sky, blocking out the sun, and killing the king's joyous rainbow.

"Well, well… quite the party we have here, isn't it?"

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. We are official caught up to that one, so the next chapter will be on 02/01/21!

If you would like to 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!

This fanfic is a retelling AU of The Little Mermaid 2 Return to the Sea, where Melody is 19 instead of 12!

So this chapter is basically my version of the "Down to the Sea" song and sequence from the start of the movie. I super love that song and sequence, and fun fact, there is an official "Down to the Sea" pin with Ariel and Melody! I want it sooooo bad.

This chapter and the next will basically be telling what happened in the prologue with much more detail. Also I got a question in the review of my last chapter, so here is the answer! if you have a question for me leave it in a review and ill answer it next time.

does Eric's family know about any of this? (In your story(or even in canon))?

Cannon wise, we never see anyone in Eric's family or other human royalty. He is not a king though, implying there is a Queen or King ruling during the movie. His name never changes to king, always prince, even after marriage and a baby. So lets say Eric does have one family member, I'd say they must know after the events of the first movie.

In my cannon he was a prince till he married, then he became king. He has no living family, instead heavily relying on both Carlotta and Grimsby. Something he does a ton in the movies too. Those two know, and a majority of loyal castle staff do. Otherwise, he has no family to know about it.

Thanks for reading everyone! I super appreciate the love and support ❤️