Chapter 13 - Happily Ever After
Arron sat upon the rock he had been on just days ago when he had saved his beloved Princess for the first time, his green tail glistening in the sun as it rose in the sky. He gazed longingly at Erica who had washed upon the shore yet again. Still, he wanted nothing more than to be a part of her world once more, especially now that he had his voice back. But he had learned from Ursulis that you really can't have everything you want.
Queen Tritannia, Stella and the seven Prince's stayed a way back, observing their youngest pal from above the waves.
"He really does love her" said the Queen with a small sigh. "Doesn't he, Stella?" she asked the crustacean.
"Well..." began the crab. "It's like I always say, your majesty. Children ought to be free to live their own lives." the Queen looked at the crab in humorous amazement.
"You, always say that?" she asked in a sarcastic tone. Stella chuckled. "What do you boys think?" the Queen asked her sons. The boys turned and looked at each other.
"Well, he's never really fit in here." said Alec.
"He's only gonna keep getting into trouble down here." said Atias.
"He's finally found someone that makes him happy." said Abbot.
"We put him through enough stuff, I'm surprised he didn't run away earlier." said Aquatis.
"If he stays, he's just gonna keep slipping away again." said Aristan.
"Let him go, Mom." said Averil. The Queen sighed.
"Well, I guess there's only one problem left." Said the Queen.
"And what is dat, your majesty?" Stella asked. Tritannia looked at her youngest son with a happy sort of sorrow, and she mentally said a goodbye.
"How much I'm going to miss him." the Queen beckoned for all of them to swim over to the youngest Prince, and he snapped out of his reverie to greet them.
"Guys!" he exclaimed when he saw them, knowing that he had a lot of apologies to make. "You guys, I am so sorry. I never meant for any of this-" but his mother held up a hand.
"I believe it's us that owe you an apology." said the Queen. "It wasn't fair of us to yell our opinions into you without talking to you first and getting to understand you." she began. "I should've known that you only ever acted out because you were hurt. I guess your father left your life, but he never left our hearts." she touched a hand to her son's cheek, and Arron felt tears threatening to fall.
"I'm sorry we didn't listen to you, buddy." said Alec.
"I'm sorry I said that you were lazy." said Aquatis.
"I'm sorry I called you a minow that one time."
"When was that?" Arron asked with a laugh.
"Well, I thought it..." said the third youngest.
"And I'm sorry, too." said Arron. "I never appreciated what I had until it was gone, Ursulis taught me that. It was so stupid of me to go chasing after an impossible wish and make everyone else pay for the consequences I got myself into." the Queen was proud. Her son was still young, but had matured so quickly. "But I just don't belong in Atlantica." he said. "I spent three days on land, and it felt more like home in that time than the palace ever did. I'm sorry, Mom." Tritannia sighed.
"We know you don't belong here, Arron, as much as it pains me to see you go." Arron raised an eyebrow.
"Go?" he questioned. The Queen smiled, and Stella's eyes widened as she saw Tritannia place her trident on the surface of the water, sending a river of magic towards the rock.
Arron looked down at his tail to find it transforming, sparkling with golden magic, and he looked at his mother with a smile full of thanks. Tritannia nodded back approvingly, and his brothers smiled warmly.
Erica came-to just in time to see Arron walking up and out of the sea, dressed in a glistening blue jacket and trousers, and they ran towards each other and embraced tightly. Arron picked Erica up by the waste and twirled her over his head just like the day he had done in town, taller than her by at least a few inches now that his legs had been crafted with care. They embraced warmly and finally shared their first kiss.
"I'm gonna have to get used to you being taller than me." Erica chuckled when they pulled away, and Arron beamed, running a hand slowly through her midnight black curls.
"And being able to speak, too." he said, and they kissed again.
Queen Tritannia came up to the duo, just on the edge of the sea, and Erica turned to face the first mermaid she had ever seen. Ever since she was a little girl, she had longed to meet a mermaid, to admire their glistening tails and delicate hair that flowed in the sea. Now, her wish was granted, as the astonishingly beautiful Queen of Atlantica came up to greet her.
"Your... your majesty..." Erica stammered and curtseyed, and the Queen nodded in response.
"You know, just days ago I believed all humans to be barbarians who never felt any emotion whatsoever." she started.
"Great introduction, Mom." said Arron, to which he shut up when he saw his mother's gaze.
"But. If a human can risk their life to save a creature of the sea, like you so heroically did, then I see no difference between mer-folk and humans. You have my blessing to be with this girl, Arron." she smiled, and Arron beamed back.
"Thank you, Mom!" he exclaimed.
Arron stayed in the castle with Erica for many weeks, and he told the palace staff the entire story, to which they had listened with wide-eyes full of wonder. Grimsby had sparked up a strong friendship with the boy, and had thanked him dearly for saving the girl he thought of as a daughter. The Princess, former merman and head butler became a small but loving family as the weeks turned into months, just like Erica had hoped. No longer was it just her and Grimsby reading late at night in the library, now they had one more to add witty banter to their conversations. Arron strived everyday to earn his keep within the palace, despite Grimsby insisting that he had saved the Princess multiple times and needed to do no such thing. But Arron was delighted to learn as much as he could about human objects and ways of life by assisting the palace staff, and rolled up his sleeves to help whenever he could.
One day, he pulled a freshly cleaned dingle-hopper out of the basin he was attending to and dried it with a cloth, turning to his fellow worker beside him.
"So, what do you guys call this?" he asked, desperate to finally know the correct answer.
"Oh, that's a fork." he replied, and Arron mouthed an 'oh' as he put it back in the drawer and went back to the pile of dishes.
After being able to experience the joys of dancing with Erica once, the two had decided that they couldn't live without it and danced together in the grand ballroom every night, the chandelier twinkling above them.
Arron had taken Erica down to the edge of the sea to meet Stella, Flora and his brothers, and her eyes widened as she saw a crab and fish actually talk!
"Guys, please make the official acquaintance of Princess Erica." Arron said, and Erica smirked. Arron knew she hated formal introduction and only did it to tease her.
"Please to meet you, your majesty." said Stella, bowing low.
"Hi!" Flora squeaked.
"Stella and Flora helped me out so much when I couldn't talk. If it weren't for them, I never would have even made it to the surface." he said, and Erica turned to the crab and fish.
"Well, you did an amazing job. Thank you so much for making sure he came back to me!" she said.
"You are very welcome, Princess. It was me who whispered his name to you dat time at de lagoon." Stella said, and Erica's eyes bulged with understanding.
"I was wondering how that name just popped into my head! Thank you, Stella." she reached down to pick up the little crab, and she smiled. Then, it was Arron's brother's turn to speak.
"Wow. I cannot believe that Arron got a girl before us." said Alec.
"Oh what, because you're such a Don Juan?" Averil replied, and laughter ran among the group. The brothers were happy to meet Erica and were grateful towards her for saving their brother's life at many turns. After all, if their own mother trusted her, why shouldn't they?
Arron and Erica had decided to work on kingdom matters together to promote the welfare of mer-folk, now that humans knew that they were very much real. Together, they constructed new laws, working in the library until nightfall with several empty mugs of tea cluttering up the desk. Ultimately, they had managed to outlaw wailing, the hunting of mer-folk and sharks and banned the dumping of toxic materials into the sea. The two had made a name for themselves in the town as young politicians and made trips to town often, sometimes to organise political events and other times simply to have fun. The whole village adored the adorable couple of Princess Erica and her red-headed boyfriend, and eventually, the two had been so lost in their love for one another and their daily duties that they celebrated their sixteenth birthdays together and finally came-of-age.
It wasn't until one night at dinner that Arron had finally popped the question, and Erica accepted in a heart-beat.
As the wedding ship departed from the dock, Arron and Erica waved at the mer-people down below, the humans now open and accepting to the mer-world alongside theirs. Queen Tritannia made sure of that.
Erica was finally wearing something to a wedding she wanted to wear; her pirate shirt and a white skirt, as informal as that, but Arron loved her just the way she was. He too had dressed somewhat informally for the occasion, with white pants and black shoes but with the sleeves of his white shirt rolled up. Arron looked down at Stella, Flora and Sienna and blew them a kiss, and they cheered back at him, so happy that their friend was able to get the happily ever after he wanted.
It was Grimsby who had walked Erica down the aisle, and gave Arron a small bow and huge smile as he accepted him into part of their family.
Carlotta started to tear up at the lovely couple like she always did at weddings, and blew her nose into Grimsby's tie... Grimsby looking like he was quite dead inside.
Stella scuttled about the ship but froze when she saw Loui, who began chasing after her immediately. She was just about to go cower in fear, when she spied a rope connected to one of the rolled up sails. She smiled mischievously and snipped the rope with her sharp claws and the heavy wooden plank slammed straight into Loui's face, causing him to lose several teeth in the process. Stella let out a triumphant "Yes!" and jumped back down to Flora and Sienna, where she bowed for them and they clapped in response.
Arron's brothers cheered but also jeered at him from the water, making funny, but, inappropriate hand gestures at their little brother. Arron replied with rude gestures of his own, which was met with scornful looks from Tritannia, causing the brothers to stick to waving for now…
Tritannia manoeuvred the waves with the trident's magic to push her up so she could see her son. Arron met his mother at the ship's railing, and after a few seconds of him regretting what he had said to her just days ago, pulled her into a tight hug. He whispered,
"I love you, Mom." something he hadn't said since he was seven years old, and a small tear escaped the Queen's eye. Tritannia turned to Erica, who curtseyed respectfully, and the Queen bowed back, finally accepting the human world in all its glory. She cupped a hand to her son's cheek.
"I believe you lost something the other day." she said, and in her closed palm, a beam of light shot out between her fingers. When she opened them, Arron's purple shell necklace was there. His eyes widened.
"Mom, thank you! Where did you find it?" he asked. The Queen smiled.
"I raised you," she said "I know everything." she gently draped the shell over her son's head, and he picked up the purple pendant and gazed at it lovingly.
"Thank you." he whispered with a voice full of gratitude, and tears threatened to fall from his eyes. Tritannia stood back and waved her trident across the sky, where a magnificent rainbow appeared, glistening for all to see.
Arron and Erica kissed as the wedding ship moved into the distance, sailing into a new horizon. Finally, Arron and Erica had gotten what they had wanted all along; someone to love them for who they were.
Authors note: Thank you guys so much for reading, I really hope you enjoyed it! This is the first of many Disney fanfics to come. I really enjoyed writing this. Love you lots, beautiful readers ;)