Will You Be My Bride?
"Hurry Jim!"—Melody tugged Jim along off the ship and towards the palace.
"I'm, oof! Coming!"—Jim was barely able to keep up.
"Come on, I can't wait for you to ask daddy."—Melody smiled brightly. He looked over at her and couldn't help but smile; he'd never seen anyone who looked as happy as she did in that very moment.
"Sure thing."—Jim smiled.
"You what!"—King Eric's face beheld the look of shock.
"That's right daddy!"—Melody nodded her head in agreement with Jim, who moments ago asked the King's permission to marry his only daughter, heir to the thrown. She held onto his arm tightly, still wearing the pirate clothes she changed into earlier, and Jim's hair was a mess and his clothes still moist from the storm, his shirt sticking to his chiseled chest, and his pants sticking to his strong legs.
"Oh Melody! I'm so happy for you dear!"—Queen Ariel approached her daughter with tears in her eyes.
"Oh mom!"—Melody embraced her mother as she tugged on Jim's hand, who evidently got pulled into the group hug.
"Ariel, wait, you approve of this!?"—King Eric looked at her curiously with a hint of concern on his face.
"Of course I approve of this marriage."—Queen Ariel nodded her head in approval.
"Your Majesty, I mean no offense when I say that I'm not willing to accept no for an answer."—Jim stood tall before King Eric.
"Is that a threat?"—King Eric looked Jim up and down with his arms crossed.
"Depends on how you interpret it your Majesty."—Jim bowed his head.
"Hmm, I see, you're not going to back down on this. Well, I can't say that I'm all too surprised, what with the two of you spending so much time together."—King Eric rubbed his temples as he began to smile, and even laughing faintly.
"Your Majesty?"—Jim looked up at him, somewhat anxious as his heartbeat speed up beyond measure.
"Of course I approve, anything for my little girl."—King Eric went up to Melody, Ariel, and Jim and they all formed a family group hug.
"Now, it's the shining moment of truth."—Jim was taking Melody to the beach, whilst she was wearing a blindfold, unaware of the direction they were heading.
"Jim, hehe, where are we going!?"—Melody giggled as she simply followed his every order.
"That's it, just watch your step there. Ok, now I'm gonna pick you up so I don't spoil the surprise."—Jim carried her bridal style as he went towards the ocean and brought her to the little spot he made for the two of them. He then gently set her down and readied to take the blindfold off.
"Ok, ready?"—Jim asked as he began to untie the blindfold and caressed her face as he pulled it off her big-beautiful blue eyes.
"Oh Jim."—Melody sighed as she looked at the picnic he prepared for them in that same secret cave she showed him.
"Mel, there's a lot that you don't know about me, and I wanted to set the record straight. I'm not from here; I mean . . . Earth has never been like a real home to me. Does that make sense?"—Jim looked at her; he didn't know how to say it without saying too much.
"No, I get what you're saying, sort of. It's just like how I feel more comfortable in water than on land."—Melody looked at him, trying to understand what he was getting at.
"Yeah, like that, except I feel more like an alien sometimes."—He chuckled.
"Haha, I know what you mean, all the kids would make fun of me because I preferred swimming, and I'd talk to sea life, and no one thought that was normal."—Melody cringed at the thought of her thirteenth birthday party.
"Exactly, but it is nice to meet someone who sees me for me."—Jim smiled at her as she blushed slightly, making her laugh.
"I feel the same way."—She reached her hand as they shared a lingering kiss.
"You make me feel like I'm alive for the first time."—He cupped her face as she rested on his shoulder, feeling like she could share anything with him, but she didn't ever want to make it seem that he had to tell her EVERYTHING about him. She liked the fact that there were a few secrets between them, but as far as she knew, they were all from the past, and it wouldn't affect their future.
"Hey Jim, there's something I want to show you. But you have to understand, it's like this cave, I don't want anyone else knowing, but there are a few people who know about it, my parents obviously, but not the rest of the kingdom. Does that make sense?"—She looked at him with concerned eyes.
"Yeah of course, you're secrets aren't mine to tell."—He stroked her hair.
"Ok."—She stood and removed her dress, leaving her underclothing on. She then went into the water and thought about her fin, then she called upon her grandfather Triton for that special power that he gave her necklace as she went under the water and her tail appeared.
"Wow, I never thought I'd see a real mermaid."—Jim smiled as he went over to the water and had a pair of blue eyes looking back at him.
"Beautiful."—He kissed her as she giggled and pulled herself out of the water.
"Want to touch it?"—She asked him.
"Love to."—He reached down and stroked her slick, scaly tail.
"Hehe, it tickles."—Melody chuckled.
"It feels nice."—Jim smiled at her, Melody nodded, signaling that she'd change back.
"Well, that's my secret."—Melody shrugged.
"I see, so cool."—Jim smiled earnestly.
"Good!"—Melody jumped on him as they began to kiss; to which escalated quickly, but ended just before anything too inappropriate began.
"So, let's go plan that wedding shall we?"—Jim stood and helped her up as she nodded her head and they went off towards the castle.
The following months were filled with planning for the weeding, creating a guest list then sending out invitations, then picking out a perfect dress fit for a princess along with a navy uniform for Jim, then preparing the decorations, and so forth, until the blessed day arrived, and the entire kingdom was in full fledged celebration.