"Is that her?" Melody asked softly.

"Yes", Ariel replied. "That's your grandmother… my mother."

Melody looked curious, and Ariel couldn't blame her, given neither her nor Triton had discussed the girl's grandmother much before.

"She… died when I was very young. I couldn't even remember her face. That's why I had this statue of her commissioned."

The statue of Queen Athena stood proudly over the shore where once a wall had stood. It was a reminder to Ariel of her past and how important it was, even if she had come a long way from the waifish little mermaid she once was. Not only that, it was a way for Melody to always be reminded that her family, whether it be the ones on the sea or the shore, would always look out for her, much like this statue looked over their two kingdoms.

Once, Ariel had put a wall between her and her heritage. And while twenty years had passed since Melody corrected that using the trident, the fact that she had made the same mistake her own father had made in keeping her daughter from the things that made her happy was never far from Ariel's mind. It was quite ironic, really.

"What was she like? Do you remember?"

"Not much. Mostly, I remember how much she loved to sing. The memory of her and her love of music was so painful to my dad, he ended up deciding to ban all song-playing from Atlantica for nearly a decade!" Ariel recalls.

"What made him change his mind?"

"Well… Let's just say I loved songs too much for him to keep me away from them", Ariel told her.

"Kind of like how I loved the sea too much for a certain someone to keep me away from it, right?" Melody remarked, with a wink to her mother.

Ariel chuckled. "Well, I suppose you're right. Parents sometimes do the strangest things…"

"Yeah. I wonder if I'll end up the same way with my daughter", Melody contemplated.

"With our family's luck?" Ariel asked rhetorically. "She'll probably end up stealing the trident for an octopus witch. Again."

Melody laughed. "It's practically a family tradition by this point, isn't it?"

"I still feel guilty about keeping you from going into the sea for so many years", Ariel admitted. "With everything that happened to me as a child, I should have known better."

"Aw, come on, mom! You're allowed to make mistakes. And there's no one I'd rather make up that lost time with than you. After all, you're family!" Melody said, embracing her mother happily.

"Thanks, melody. I'll never make a mistake like that again." Ariel said softly, as she stroked Melody's hair gently with her hand. "Oh, and speaking of family, look who's over there!"

Pointed toward the shore, where a merman and a small mermaid were.

"Oh!" Melody exclaimed, recognizing them as her husband and her six months-old child. "Hey! Over here!"

Alex approached the two of them and smiled at Melody and his mother-in-law, carrying their young daughter in his hands. "So, who's the big statue of?"

"You don't know?" Ariel asked. "Well… I guess you wouldn't. That was the queen who ruled Atlantica long before Melody was born – my mother!"

"Oh! I never got to see her while she was alive", Alex remarks. Looking at his daughter, he shows her the statue. "Did you hear that, little girl? That's your grandmother! Look at her! You'll be as pretty as her one day, I'm sure you will!"

The baby mermaid cooed in response. "Now, now, Alex", Melody chides. "Don't spoil Harmony too much. We don't want her getting rebellious like the rest of her family."

"Right", Ariel nodded, winking at Melody. "Well, I have business to attend to in the kingdom now, so I'll have to leave you guys by yourselves. Have fun catching up!"

"Don't worry, mom. We will." Melody told her, smiling.

Alex walked (or, well slid) closer to his wife and brought Harmony to her. "Want to hold her?"

"Of course", Melody replied, taking the little mermaid girl into her hands. "She looks so small… and fragile."

"Most children are. That's why we have to look after them." Alex mused.

"Yeah… I guess that's what inspired mom to get that statue built in the first place", Melody commented.

Alex gave her a questioning look. "How do you figure?"

She looked once again in the Athena statue's direction. "Even the most powerful rulers had someone to protect them when they were young. We were all weak and fragile once, but we were kept safe and alive thanks to the love and care of our fathers…" Melody paused, looking at the smiling face of her daughter. "…and mothers."


A.N. Well, it's Mother's Day somewhere in the world still, right? :')

I had to rewatch the movie to write this, but I thought it was a perfect idea for both Mermay and Mother's Day, given the subject matter! I still do intend to make something else for Mermay specifically, though.

It's technically been 22 years since this movie came out, so I set the story 20 years later as a little reflection of that. It's very short, but I hope it put a smile on the faces of any fans of this movie or Melody :D

(And yes, I know the name Harmony for her daughter is kind of corny, but I thought it was fitting what with her own name being what it is)

Until next time!