One-Shot: Understanding Her World
The reflective shine off the water caused the sunlight to stab with that much more intensity into Eric's eyes, as he was finally pulled out of unconsciousness and back into the real world…
And also onto dry land.
Sitting up dazedly, he found himself lying flat on his back on the beach of Tirulia for the second time in almost as many weeks. He rubbed at his temple, and felt glad that was all he had to do to clear his head; incredibly, his ears had not gotten clogged with water.
From the patterns of the sun still shimmering across the waves, he judged it to be roughly mid-morning – that much was clear. He had been sailing out at sea frequently and long enough that the sailors had taught him the basics of what they termed 'wayfinding.'
The more Eric's mind cleared, the more everything started to come rushing back to him, like the breakers at high tide: being torn from his beloved Ariel's side, the rip currents tossing him like a rag doll dangerously close to some jetties and it was only by some miracle that he just missed getting dashed upon them. The whirlpool – really, it had been closer in power to a maelstrom – which had almost pulled him under. His foot getting caught on the fishing lines of a long-ago sunken ship, which he'd used to haul himself onto deck and take command, as these lost ferries and their souls were called back to the surface. The flashes of the trident. He recalled painfully hearing, even over the gale winds, the sound of Ariel screaming. And, of course, the final, bloody, desperate fight with Ursula.
Everything had happened so quickly afterwards. The Sea Witch had taken his ship's bow directly betwixt her bosom, impaled on the stake instantly. Unfortunately, her tentacles had managed to wrap around the hull and drag the schooner down with her as she sank, taking it and everything on it with her. Eric had had no choice but to go down with the ship, electing to leap overboard only at the last moment. He remembered a rogue wave breaking over the schooner's aft deck at the same instant he jumped, smashing directly into him, and then…. nothing.
Somehow, incredibly, he had washed up on shore.
Unless….. that wasn't the explanation at all.
By now, he had roughly worked out the truth of what had happened when his ship caught fire the night of his 18th birthday: he'd always known that a girl had rescued him, but it wasn't until last night that he'd pinpointed the girl as Ariel. Had she found him again, and towed him back? Was she OK?
Suddenly, there was a flash from a few miles offshore, and for a second, Eric thought it was the glare playing tricks on him. But, no, it….
There she was! His beautiful little mermaid, rising out of the sea with her arms outstretched, a beaming smile of joy on her face, and walking on svelte, strong legs.
Walking on svelte, strong legs…!
As soon as she had fought past the ebb current and was firmly on ground, Ariel dashed out of the shallows and into his arms. He exuberantly picked her up and spun her around.
Then, smiling into each other's eyes, they leaned in with no words and shared a long, relieved kiss….
….. When they broke the kiss, it seemed, it was their wedding kiss, onboard the Tirulia wedding ship mere days later. The newlyweds' most solemn, private and intimate moment was rudely and hilariously interrupted by Max giving the blushing bride an exuberant lick on the cheek, as though the mangy mutt was claiming his turn. Ariel's blinding smile turned into something bemused at the dog slobber, though nonetheless joyful as the congregation burst into cheers of congratulations on behalf of their Prince and new Princess.
Eric couldn't take his eyes off of her.
His wife (she was his wife!) was radiant, effervescent. One would be hard pressed to guess she was only 16 years old; her white bridal gown, the way Carlotta had done up her bright red tresses of hair, all made her seem like more of a woman than girl in face. Eric didn't mind. She looked resplendent.
He watched as she flitted, floated over to the ship's railing, to say goodbye to her friends, her father and her half dozen sisters. Eric hoped for her sake that it wouldn't be goodbye forever. They'd work out ways to visit: either by having King Triton come up here, or maybe even…. go down there…. Tirulia already had some of its best engineers working on a promising prototype for a ship that could safely carry a man beneath the waves without said man losing his breath….
Eric felt someone nudge his knee, and he bent to shake the hand of the priest – the same diminutive fellow who had almost married him to Vanessa/Ursula. The man still had his spectacles, and still appeared jolly. Well, Eric thought wryly. At the very least he still didn't have that unfortunate tent in his pants when he married us today.
He joined his bride at the ship's railing just in time to see her finish embracing her father. He bowed low to Triton, as was customary with any visiting rulers, and the man dipped his head back in a sign of deference and respect. Eric had yet to even exchange words with the Sea King, but it was comforting to know that Triton nonetheless accepted him.
Arm in arm, the newlyweds waved goodbye to the merfolk, gasping as Triton conjured a rainbow to shimmer across the sky above the wedding ship. Pulling a pleased Ariel close, Eric bent and kissed his true love again.
It seemed like several sunlit days before they broke apart. Ariel grinned up at him lovingly.
"Flounder's sad," she informed him.
Eric chuckled and rested his hands lightly on her hips. "Poor Flounder. And Sebastian…?"
She smirked. "…. Seems relieved."
Eric let out a full on chortle at this. "Just so long as that infernal seagull Scuttle doesn't try to serenade our marriage bed, I'm happy."
Ariel giggled. "I'll pass on the message."
"Your Highnesses!" The couple turned to Grimsby walking towards them, an absolutely delighted smile on his face. Eric bent low to whisper in his wife's ear.
"Now there's a fellow who looks relieved…"
"What, to have you married off?"
"Yes. Just don't go saying it to him. He has a very delicate disposition."
Ariel was smirking again. "I'm sure," she noted dryly.
Grimsby bowed low before them, procuring a key from his pocket. "The key to the honeymoon suite, as ordered, my prince."
"Thanks, Grim," Eric pocketed it. Ariel turned to her husband, face alive with childlike wonder.
"Where is it?" she bubbled.
"Why, it's the captain's quarters, of course, my dear!" Grimsby explained. "Admiral Hornby has graciously agreed to let you use his accommodations. We will let off your guests at the docks, and then set sail for the open sea!"
Eric didn't necessarily like the idea of that, even if it was an excellent way for him and his bride to spend some time alone. The last time they had been out at open sea, his ship had caught fire, run aground, sunk, and he'd nearly died. But far be it from him to stomp on Grimsby's carefully laid plains: as he'd said, the man had a very delicate disposition.
"Sounds good, Grim. Oh, one thing:" he leaned in close to his manservant and tried to speak the order sotte voce. "Make sure Max gets off with the others. I don't want him pawing at the door."
Max heard and understood him anyway, and he whimpered. Ariel knelt besides the dog to nuzzle his mane, her bridal skirts fanning out like flower petals.
"Sorry, boy….. not this time. We'll be back soon; we promise."
Eric couldn't will the guests to disembark for shore fast enough, but finally they were embarking out into open water once more. By now, the sun was setting, making the waves sparkle as though the flotsam itself had caught fire.
Eric worked to banish from his mind the flashbacks of his ship catching ablaze, instead focusing on how the sun's dying rays made Ariel's auburn hair shine. Grinning impishly, he finally dared to sweep her off her feet and carry her, bridal style, towards the honeymoon suite, causing her to squeal in delight.
"Eric!"
Laughing, he kicked the door in, carrying her grandly into their chambers before depositing her on the four-poster, curtained bed. A porthole window was at their back, mounted just above the headrest.
Hugging her bridal skirts close to her knees, Ariel beamed up at him. Her eyes widened a little, blinking dolefully as her groom began to disrobe.
"What are you doing?" she asked her husband. Eric halted midway through yanking off his tie.
"What's the matter? Don't you know?" He pondered his wife for a few moments. Then it dawned on him. "You mean… you haven't done this before?"
She frowned cutely at him. "Done what before?"
Eric peered at Ariel, fascinated by her all over again. "You really don't know what I'm talking about, do you?" On the one hand, of course, why wouldn't she? – after all, she was only 16! Granted, at 18, he didn't know much more himself – much more than she clearly didn't, anyway.
He paused in stripping down for the moment – which wasn't that disconcerting, only his tie and cufflinks were undone. He kicked off his loafers and gently sat down on the bed next to her.
"Ariel…." He began slowly, ever careful to sound as though he wasn't speaking to a child. No, just someone who hadn't been even been a human for a full week. It reminded him that Tirulia's new princess would have a lot to learn – including, apparently, how exactly to go about ensuring an heir for the kingdom. Having the Talk with his bride was not exactly how he envisioned their wedding night to go. At all. But here they were, and he decided it was best to try and meet Ariel where she was. "When a mermaid and a…. mer….man. Merman," he landed on. "…. get married in Atlantica….. what… what do they do after the wedding?"
Ariel seemed perplexed by his question. "Well, before long, the bride will decide to have a baby and then about nine months later…. the baby just…. appears."
He stared at her for a moment, waiting for her to keep going, but she didn't. He tried not to laugh at how adorably sincere she sounded.
"And….. that's it? How do they do it?"
"How do they do what?"
"Have a baby." She still appeared confused, so he decided to take a different tact. "You're the youngest of seven daughters, right? Did…." he attempted to remember some of his new sisters-in-law's names; they tragically all sounded the same. "…Angelica – or, wait, was it Eliza…?"
"Aquatica."
"Yes, her! Did Aquatica…" (Lord, what a name!) "…. or any of your sisters describe how it was when your mother was pregnant with you?" Eric didn't know much about Queen Athena, Ariel rarely spoke of her, though it was clear she had loved her mother.
Ariel bit her lip. "Well…. they always told me that Mama used to say how the flotsam would one day just come over you, with lots of little bubbles, and the bubbles would make a baby in her tummy!"
…. Well, shit. Props to Athena for thinking up a creative way to explain how…. merbabies are made, even if it was also totally inaccurate. And also, wait a second – mermaids had tails from the waist down. How exactly would Triton, or any other merman, stick the thing into the other thing, and…..
Eric's head was starting to hurt, and he hadn't even slipped and taken a spill on the deck yet, as he was wont to do. He smiled at his blushing bride tightly. "You know what? Never mind. We'll figure it out later."
"How? Why?" Ariel blinked at him dolefully. "Don't human women have flotsam bubbles make a baby in their tummies too?"
"….. Nooooooooo….." Eric chuckled nervously.
"Well, then, if we want to make a baby someday, how do we do it?" She seemed to genuinely want to know.
Eric merely stood and continued to undress, though he was careful to leave his boxers on. Baby steps. Like a mermaid learning to walk on human legs on the shore. Throwing back the coverlet, he crawled into bed with her.
Ariel blushed, and very deliberately looked at his chest. "I like watching you take off all your clothes." A beat, and then a thought occurred to her. "Should I take off all of mine?!"
He gaped at how she asked this so excitedly. "Tell you what: let's get you out of that dress, but maybe leave your undergarments on."
Ariel happily stood up and turned her back to him. She cast a glance to him over her shoulder. "Unzip me?"
It had to be unintentional, given her clear naiveté on all things…. frisky, but Eric nearly groaned with lust at how sultry the question sounded. He reverently unzipped Ariel's wedding dress, and helped her step out of it. When she reached around to unclasp her bra, he stopped her. "Annnnnnnd… I think we're good."
They both climbed back into their marriage bed together, in nothing but their underclothes. Ariel snuggled into her husband happily, delirious with joy.
"Good night," she crooned. She craned up to kiss him on the lips soundly. Eric smirked against her mouth.
"Goodnight, my little mermaid."
He felt her bristle a little, though not in an offended way. "I'm not a mermaid anymore. I'm something better. I'm with you."
Eric considered this. It made him wonder just how unhappy Ariel had been in Atlantica. "Would you ever want to go back? Be a mermaid again, even if it was only for a day or something? To visit your family."
He sensed her bite her lip thoughtfully. "Maybe. To visit. Although I don't know how I could breathe down there or grow a tail again. Perhaps Daddy could change me back magically with his trident."
"Good thought," Eric bobbed his head. The couple settled down to sleep, the only sound being the lapping of the waves beneath their porthole window, through which moonlight now beamed down.
After a long silence, Ariel whispered, "Eric?"
"Hmm?"
"…. When and however we decide to make a baby, I'd want to name her Melody."
Eric beamed. "Now that sounds perfect, darling."
