Nastasya barely slept at all, her time devoted to keeping Eric warm. There was very little wind and it thus remained milder than of recent weeks; and, though Eric still trembled with the cold, there had been far more testing nights than this.

Unlike his mother, Eric slept without waking, his mind and body claiming much needed rest after the day's events and the revelations of the previous night. It was an unusually dreamless sleep, unbroken until the rising of the sun.

He groaned sleepily, twisting beneath the sails as his legs were forced together with a series of drawn-out muscle spasms. For a while he simply lay still, certain that he could have slept until noon, and when at last he did open his eyes, he was more than a little surprised to find that he was not alone.

Eric sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and the sand from his cheek, and wondering why his mother hadn't waited for him at home like she usually did.

'How are you feeling my love?' Nastasya watched carefully as he came to, searching for any sign of illness or injury to give reason to what had happened last night. What she saw though was only an understandable drowsiness, the product yesterday's efforts and an interrupted sleep.

Silence ensued whilst Eric struggled to recall the incident that had preceded his slumber.

'I'm alright,' he replied eventually, 'I'm sorry.'

His mother only shook her head, dismissing his apology as unnecessary. Her hair, usually pinned back, hung loose and brushed her shoulders with each movement.

'I was so worried.' She seemed to speak these words to herself, her eyes upon the sand before lifting once again to Eric. 'What happened?'

Again, silence. Rationally, Eric believed that his mother would be pleased at him having somebody his own age to pass the day with; after all, she often admitted to wishing that their circumstance was different, that he might have grown up like any other boy. On the other hand, Eric couldn't shift the feeling that his admission to spending time with the daughter of the King would be frowned upon. Perhaps she would seek to put an end to it? Previously Eric wouldn't have thought his mother so unreasonable as to do this, but his visit to the human village had somewhat altered his perspective. She had her secrets, and he would have his.

'I don't know, I just... I just lost track of time,' he stated, not entirely untruthfully.

Nastasya raised an eyebrow. 'How can you have lost track of time?' she exclaimed incredulously.

Eric, who hadn't expected any argument on the matter, could only stare at her.

'This happens every night Eric, you expect me to believe that for the first time in thirteen years you lost track of time!'

'Eighteen years,' Eric corrected after a moments confusion.

He watched his mother freeze, her eyes growing wide before she closed them and shook her head softly. 'Yes,' she said, her voice quieter now, 'eighteen years. Forgive me, my love. I didn't sleep.'

Her excuse elicited a nod of understanding from Eric, though he contemplated her faux pas obsessively as they made the journey home. It seemed too exact for a mistake, and once again he wondered at the extent of what she kept from him. Thirteen years ago he had hit his head on the rocks at the mouth of the cave and lost his memory, or so he had been told—not that this had ever troubled Eric, for how likely was it that he'd remember anything of those early years anyway? It seemed too much of a coincidence that that should be the year highlighted by his mother's slip of the tongue; Eric kept this rumination to himself though.

After a quiet breakfast, he used his mother's weariness as a excuse for her to stay close to home, so that he might venture to the shipwrecks once again, thus keeping his promise to the princess without arousing suspicion.

Thankfully, with only a short hesitation, she agreed.

'Eric take care,' she pleaded, exiting the shack with him, 'ensure that you're home in plenty of time tonight.'

To this he agreed, not wanting a repeat of last night any more than she did, and turned to leave, stopping abruptly when his mother called out to him again.

'I mean it, my love, if you won't have care for your own sake, have care for mine.' She sighed, and Eric couldn't help but feel guilty at being the source of her weariness. 'I can't lose you,' she concluded.

Despite his misgivings, Eric felt compelled to reassured her and, kissing her cheek, made a promise to be at the caves by sunset.

Ariel rose and slipped from her room before any of her sisters were awake, thankful at being able to leave without questioning and assured in the knowledge that they were unlikely to worry about her absence—this was untrue of course, her sisters frequently fretted over her misdemeanours, haunted by the fear that there would come a day when she would fail to return; but they seldom told her this in favour instead of reprimand, and therefore how was she to guess at their concerns?

It wasn't until Ariel reached the shipwrecks that she realised that, amidst Eric's hasty departure the day before, they had neglected to arrange a definitive meeting point, and took to swimming vague circles above the wreck they had parted from, engaged in the difficult act of remaining where he would see her whilst evading the notice of prowling sharks.

Whilst she waited, Ariel cast her mind back to the circumstances under which she and Eric bid farewell to one another the previous day. She tried to recall whether she had said or done anything to make him so suddenly nervous, though perceived that it was likely her title alone that caused him unease. Perhaps he regretted his admission to spending time at the surface to such an extent that he no longer wished to be around her, certainly this was the concern that gnawed at Ariel's mind as she waited, her eyes scanning the wall of kelp for any sign of her friend. She thought back to their conversation yesterday evening, and recalled for the first time that he had never actually said he would come back today, only that he could.

Doubt snaked suddenly through her veins, doubt that no matter the connection she formed with someone they would never truly open up to her, there would always linger some distrust on account of her father and his rule. It was a fear alleviated only somewhat when a familiar shimmer of cobalt blue entered her field of vision.

Ariel watched as Eric stopped at the edge of the kelp forest and scanned his surroundings, no doubt realising as she had that no meeting place had been established.

To save him the trouble of searching for her, Ariel propelled herself into open water and began making her way towards her friend, her relief making her careless. When finally he caught sight of her he made his way to greet her, waving enthusiastically—a gesture which Ariel returned, smiling as she did so.

Muffled words reached her soon after, Eric's waving bordering now on frantic, and the princess strained to decipher what he was saying with a deepening concern as the duo drew ever nearer, until suddenly his voice exploded through the dappled water.

'Ariel, behind you!'

Noting his urgency Ariel wasted no time in discerning for herself what followed her, instead she darted down into the dark maze of sunken ships, trusting her own dexterity should the unknown pursuer do the same. A shadow passed over her as she descended, at which point she chanced a glance over her shoulder, though in truth she could have guessed the cause of Eric's panic. A shark, two thousand pounds of muscle passing overhead. Ariel slowed, confused as to why it would suddenly bypass her, before recalling that Eric had been headed directly for them. Before she could do anything about this though, something grabbed her upper arm and pulled her down into the near complete darkness of an overhanging hull. Breathless, her heart pounding, the little mermaid ripped herself free of her captor, sticking out an elbow for good measure. The grunt that this elicited, however, halted her assault immediately, and she whipped round to see Eric bent-double, his eyes fixed upon her accusingly.

'What was that for?' he asked, his voice lowered.

Ariel could only stare at him. 'You frightened me,' she admitted, her voice equally as hushed.

'If you hadn't stopped I wouldn't have had to!'

'I only stopped because I was worried about you!'

Silence, broken by a breathy chuckle from Eric as he straightened up and rubbed tentatively at his ribs. 'Remind me never to get on your bad side,'he quipped.

Ariel smiled, though it faltered somewhat as a shadow passed by their hiding place.

'What now?' whispered Eric.

They fell into a thoughtful silence, hardly daring to breathe each time the shark passed by their hiding place, each secretly hoping that it would eventually get bored and leave without any further action on their part. It soon became evident, however, that this was not to be, and the chill of the shadows at this depth soon had them both shivering.

'Do you remember the place I mentioned yesterday?' asked Ariel, an idea coming to her suddenly. Eric nodded. 'We'd be safe there, it's not too far.'

Eric agreed to this plan, stumped as he was by a lack of sufficient alternative and finding that he trusted the Princess entirely, despite this being only their third meeting.

Their progress through the shipwrecks was painfully slow, for they moved only when the beast turned it's back on their route, and even then only so far as the next sheltered crevice—these were always small, given that they served to stop the shark from being able to join them, and Eric found himself blushing at his close proximity to Ariel and wondering whether she thought him bad-mannered. This was a worry soon abated though, for she couldn't seem to help but giggle when they found themselves at one point squashed together.

'I'll admit this wasn't quite how I imagined our day going,' she whispered, their faces only inches apart.

Eric found her ease an astounding and welcome counter to his own frazzled nerves. How was it that she could remain so calm in their current predicament? Her's was an infectious amusement though, and Eric found that he couldn't help but mirror her smile regardless.

As it turned out, they would look back on their navigation of the shipwrecks as the easy part, despite the stinted progress, for with little else but open water now before them and the shark still prowling above, there remained no other option but to make a break for it, else wait for some unknown length of time in the hope that their peruser would grow bored; Eric especially was not keen to test it's patience, being in possession of a very strict and convincing curfew.

'We might be able to out-swim it,' suggested Ariel, seeming the more willing of the two to test this theory; and, though decidedly less willing, her companion was inclined to agree.

They waited, watching as the shadow that had tormented them for what must have been well over an hour now passed left across their hiding place, and then right again towards the kelp forest.

With a burst of speed that Eric couldn't help but be surprised by, Ariel darted from the shadows with a call for him to follow, and suddenly the pair were hurtling through open water. Little had it been considered that there would be much difference in speed between the two; Ariel had assumed with a single glance at Eric's physique that he would easily match if not exceed her for pace, and Eric certainly wouldn't have considered himself slow—but then, he'd had only his mother in terms of comparison.

It soon became apparent that Ariel far surpassed her friend in both speed and dexterity and, though adrenaline provided Eric with the means to keep up initially, he soon fell behind, such were the repercussions of living only half his life in a form which he suddenly relied upon so heavily. Such exertion—as he had felt last night—quickly exhausted the muscles which made up his tail, and rendered using the limb both painful and awkward to such an extent that he could think of little else.

Ariel couldn't know this of course, but she could not ignore the fact that the further they swam, the slower Eric's progress became, and the more ground the shark made, having been initially duped to allow them a fairly significant head start.

They were perhaps two hundred meters from her grotto when she made the decision to swim back to Eric.

'Do you see that arch?' She was swimming now alongside him, and pointed ahead to where the seabed sloped downwards.

Eric only nodded in response.

'Swim through it, directly in front of you you'll see a boulder propped against the drop-off, roll it aside and wait for me!'

Before Eric could reply she pitched upwards, hollering at the gaining predator and waving both arms high in unison so as to direct its attention. Thankfully it took the bait and began its pursuit of the mermaid princess, leaving Eric to follow her instruction. He was fearful for Ariel's safety and in awe of her stamina in equal measure, and the thought of her risking her life for his sake did not sit well with him, but figured that the best way he could help would be to do as she said; and so, gritting his teeth, he persevered, the ache in his tail deepening with every flick, the muscles seeming to wring themselves dry.

At long last did he reach his destination, struck suddenly by a fear that the muscles in his arms would fail him too. Much to his relief, such was not the case, and he rolled back the boulder to reveal a dingy opening.

He waited.

His own laboured breaths filled his ears, but no other sound reached him. All was eerily quiet. Should he call out to her? Suppose something terrible had happened. He was in no way fit to fetch help, today had proven him utterly useless in an emergency. He had little time to dwell on this though—and perhaps that was for the best—for at that moment a flurry of crimson flashed in his periphery, revealing to him both Ariel and the persistent shark. He watched as she raced overhead, before dropping like lead and twisting under the arch.

'Let go!' she shouted.

Eric froze, bewildered by this new order.

'But- '

'Do it!'

Trusting her judgment over his own, Eric released the boulder, watching from the shadows and praying that Ariel had estimated this correctly.

At the last possible moment she slipped through the shrinking gap, her momentum carrying her through the tunnel into the main chamber as the opening closed with a thud! behind her, shutting out her pursuer.

She leaned against a rock in the middle of the room (as she thought of it) breathing heavily and abuzz with adrenaline to such an extent that she couldn't help but laugh out loud, though Eric would likely think it a strange reaction. Thoughts of Eric turned her attention back to the entrance, at which point her elation fell somewhat; he hadn't moved, and sat now with his tail crumpled beneath him, leaning back heavily against the tunnel wall. His eyes were closed, his features pinched in discomfort, his fingers kneading tentatively at his cobalt scales.

'Are you hurt?' Ariel asked, lowering herself down beside him.

Eric shook his head softly and opened his eyes, barely able to make her out in the dim light. 'It's just cramp,' he offered meekly; a half-truth at best, but one which would have to suffice, 'I'm sorry.'

Ariel told him that an apology was unnecessary and the two fell into silence, each recovering from their respective exertion.

'I think you must be completely mad,' observed Eric, 'but I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say that you just saved my life.' He placed his hand atop hers. 'I don't know how to thank you.'

Ariel smiled at the contact. 'There's no need,' she assured, 'you would have done the same for me.'