Chapter 13

When Jim woke up the next morning, Ariel had already left with Melody.

Instead small note was left where Ariel once lay. Hand trembling, Jim picked up the letter to read.

Dear Jim

Thank you so much for being there for me and our daughter, and I'm sorry this couldn't be longer. Thank you again, and I hope you'll see us off at the dock.

Love

Ariel

Jim's eyes widened as tears began to sting.

Crumpling the note, he tossed it in the trash, left the house key in the mailbox and hobbled home, his heart slowly breaking.

As soon as he got home, he told Sarah what happened.

"You didn't try to stop them?" She asked in surprise. "You're not even going to see them off?"

"Why should I?" Jim asked, burying his face into his hands. "I'll just mess up again... that's all I seem to be able to do with her! She even believed I was going to abandon her if she told me about her pregnancy..."

Sarah quietly rested her hand on her son's shoulder.

"Now, she comes back with our daughter! I love both of them... so much, but they're leaving again... and..." before another word could leave his mouth, he dissolved into tears

"And there's nothing you can do about it..." Sarah finished.

Jim looked up at his mom, tears streaming.

"I know how it feels to lose a loved one, and have my child leave... but, my child came back." She handed Jim a cup of hot cocoa and turned to leave. "I'm going to see them off. You're welcome to join me."

With that, she left and Jim was alone.

He hated this feeling... It hurt more than the first time Ariel left him...

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"She'll love it!" Jim thought, looking again at the ring he made.

It was a modest one with only one gem, an aquamarine.

Closing it in the box, he headed to the beach. He had made up his mind: After he completely finished his schooling, he would return, and, if accepted, he would marry Ariel. He had never felt more certain about anything!

As soon as he reached their special cove, Jim absentmindedly reached into his pocket. As soon as she arrived, he would pop the question.

"Jim?" He heard.

Looking around, he saw Ariel in the water.

"Ariel..." He began, his heart fluttering.

Running towards her, he bent down so they could kiss, but Ariel pushed back.

"Ari?" Jim asked in surprise.

Wordlessly, Ariel lifted her legs to reveal she had her tail again.

Jim felt his jaw fall. Sure it complicated things a bit, but he still wanted to go through with his original plan.

"Well, I'm sure you can get legs again..."

Ariel shook her head. "It's not that simple..." She replied.

"Ariel?" Jim asked, knowing he wasn't going to like where the conversation was going.

"We're making a mistake." Ariel finally said.

Jim felt his heart drop. "Ariel... no..." He whispered.

Without saying anything else, Ariel pushed away and swam away.

"Ariel! Come back!" Jim called after her. "Please!"

When there was no response, Jim dropped to his knees.

"Please..." he whispered again among choked sobbing.

What he didn't know was, as Ariel swam away, she cried tears of her own.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

As Jim snapped out of his flashback, he stared blankly into his cup of cocoa.

"I'm fifteen all over again..." Jim muttered. He had no more tears to cry, but a lot of pain in his heart.

Suddenly it hit him... In not seeing Melody off, he was just as bad as his old man!

Throwing a jacket on, he ran down to the dock. He had to see them off, plead his case, and just because he and Ariel may be different species, but that didn't mean SOMETHING couldn't happen... something had already happened...

As Jim pieced his plan in his head, he sprinted to the dock.

He hoped he wasn't too late...