ToOH: no problem! Glad that you get it :D yeah, thanks for the suggestion. I'll try that out on the next stories (Princess and Pauper and Safe Haven) :)

teamBLAZE: aaand... here's the last chapter! ^^ truthfully, this doesn't turn out like how I had planned it the first time I thought of this story, but after reading it I guess this is the fitting ending, so to say. :P

One day, Ariel heard the sound of the horn roaring through the sky for the first time in about twenty years. She ran out from her castle towards the hole in the wall. Sure enough, she found a merman approaching the beach.

"A message from King Triton," he said, handing over a piece of parchment sealed in a bottle. The merman also gave her two identical necklaces with a shell pendant.

"Thank you," Ariel muttered quietly. The merman bowed and went back to the sea.

Feeling too impatient to wait until she had reached the castle, Ariel opened the message as she walked back. Ariel almost couldn't hold back her tears when she saw her father's penmanship that she thought she would never see again in her lifetime.

Dear Ariel,

Everything is fine in Atlantica now. As you might have learned, one of your grandsons, Neil, will be my successor. I wish you could come to watch his investiture as the crown prince. If you wear the necklace, you will return to your mermaid form when you're in the sea.

The other necklace is meant for your other grandson, whom I understand to have some unfinished business in Atlantica.

I miss you greatly.

Love,

Dad

The ceremony was attended by all the representative of the noble houses in Atlantica. It proceeded solemnly and smoothly. Neil, uncomfortable with the thought of wearing a headgear, chose to wear an armband. King Triton granted his request, forging a golden armband carved with the image of the trident for the new crown prince. The thought of having a great grandson made him feel really, really old, but at the same time he was glad to see how time was moving on.

And most of all, he was glad to see his youngest daughter. Who would have thought that her marriage to a human would save her from the terrible fate that had befallen her sisters, and now saving the whole Atlantica?

"Daddy!"

Ariel hugged her father fiercely. "I'm glad to see you, Ariel," Triton sighed. "Really, I am…"

King Triton had regained his former glorious form, although the long period of incarceration had left some marks. His wrinkles were more pronounced and there were some scars in his wrists and tail from the restraints.

Ariel then saw Neil, who kept some distance behind Triton. She unwrapped her arms around Triton and quietly approached the young man. Neil didn't recognize her at first until he heard her voice. "Neil…"

"Y—Your Majesty," Neil bowed rather awkwardly.

Ariel smiled wryly. "I thought you would call me… differently by now."

Neil made a clumsy attempt to clear his throat and bubbles came out from his mouth as he did so. "I…"

"I'm sorry, Neil," Ariel took his hand. "I'm sorry for not telling you the truth. I'm so, so sorry!"

"That's… fine," Neil assured her. "I'm just…"

Neil looked into Ariel's blue eyes which reminded him of her son, his father. "I used to wish he could be my old man. Now that he really is… I just don't know what to say."

Ariel hugged him. "Make him proud, Neil," she whispered as she patted his head gently. "Be good here."

Gwen immediately left her seat after the ceremony was concluded. She didn't want to be there any longer than she had to, especially after she spotted him as one of the attendants.

"Hey,"

She froze. She thought she had been quick enough. Gritting her teeth behind the veil that covered her lower face, she cursed herself.

Allen swam to face her. "Don't need to avoid me, I'm an adult. I can deal with a simple break up here and there—well, we weren't even anything yet, so what's the big deal?"

His tone was harsh and acetic, complete with a smug, devil-may-care smile on his face. Gwen reflexively looked down at his tightly crossed arms.

"I just came to say hi," he told her. "Courtesy, since I'm visiting your turf."

Gwen nodded quietly.

"Where's your faithful bodyguard? I have prepared myself for a body slam, but I guess I didn't need to, huh?"

"Indian Ocean," Gwen replied. "With Vivienne."

"The pink dolphin?"

Gwen nodded and she swore she could hear him chuckling. "I guess life moves on, huh?"

"I must leave now."

Gwen swam past him and Allen floated unmoved at his place. He didn't even turn to look at her leaving, but perhaps that made things slightly easier for him, too.

At least, now she told him she needed to leave.

She spent her whole time in her room, doing anything she could so that she didn't need to think of Allen and their meeting earlier. It fell flat, however, when she realized that her mind kept drifting back to that particular human. The wound she had tended to for half a year was reopened and rubbed by salt just with a few minutes of exchanges.

A servant knocked at her door. "You have a visitor, my lady."

She looked at the time. Is it something urgent?

She was tempted to turn the visitor down, but decided not to. Perhaps, making herself occupied with a client would help. Gwen drifted into the living room of the estate, peering curiously at her guest. "How can I help the Crown Prince at this hour?" she asked with a formal tone. "A reading, perhaps?"

"No," Neil replied curtly. "I needed another favor."

Allen strolled along the length of the beach, kicking a fistful of the slightly wet sand with his every step. Bored with the sight of the dull sand, he looked up to the dark sky; it was glittered with stars. He thought it might console him, but it infuriated him instead.

Those stars now reminded him too much of Gwen and he didn't need them.

His feet kicked a pebble and it rolled on the sand. Allen decided to take it and throw it with all his mind to the wall. It bounced back and fell right in front of him. Allen took it and threw it again and it came back again.

"Why?!" he yelled as he threw it again. "Why this keep coming back?!"

Of course, inwardly he knew the answer; he wasn't that dumb to realize that the wall had reflected it back. However, he had wished something else returned instead of the dead pebble. He bent down and took the pebble again. He swung his arm as hard as he could and just like before, the pebble came right back at him. However, this time, instead of falling in front of him, it grazed his cheek.

He wiped the blood that trickled from his cheek, and that was when he saw the wall began to glitter. Allen watched in silence as the wall began to disintegrate with glitters that looked like stars, floating to the sky. As the wall was torn down, a figure came to his sight.

She came nearer to the beach amidst the glittery sky. As more and more of her body came up, he saw her dress, glittery just like her surrounding.

Allen took a step forward as he rubbed his eyes in disbelief. She kept coming nearer, by now her waist was already above the water.

She should've stopped then, that's what he thought. However, she kept coming nearer, towards him. Allen couldn't believe what he saw: she stood before him, with her palm stretched out to touch his face. She wiped the blood from his cut gently. Only when their skins touched, Allen realized that he hadn't been dreaming.

"I saw you… standing on a grand ship, waving at the sea," she told him with her quiet voice. "You looked so happy there and I knew you didn't belong in the sea."

Allen smirked and unlaced her veil. "So, now you realized that I'm too good to be passed over so you followed me to the dry land?"

Gwen shrugged. "Something like that, perhaps."

"Don't be shy," he chuckled. "Because I happen to love you."

Allen tilted her chin up and looked into her eyes. "Your eyes are even brighter here," Gwen muttered quietly.

"Which means…?"

"I… love it even more…"

Allen gave her his crooked smile right before he bent down to kiss her. "I need to compliment your taste, milady," he whispered. "It is excellent."

"I can get the girl even without your intervention."

"Whatever," Neil shrugged when he caught the sight of Gwen in her dress. "That looks good on her, I'll give you that."

Allen and Gwen wore the outfit that Eric and Ariel had worn on their own wedding decades ago. Due to careful keeping, the two outfits had retained their condition and it was almost as good as new. The only alteration they made was to sew crystals to Gwen's dress so that it sparkled under the light.

"Hey, hey, eyes off from my bride." Allen glared at Neil with a mock threat as he wrapped his arms around Gwen's waist a little bit more tightly.

"Yeah, she's my twin, you know?" Reine quipped from his side. "Am I not enough?"

Neil rolled his eyes. "You never struck me as the jealous type."

"I'm not jealous," Reine retorted. "Just an affectionate reminder that you have me after… how long?"

"Three hundred and eighty four days," Neil replied quietly.

Reine nodded with a proud smile. "See? You even counted the days. I'm sooo touched."

Neil's cheeks flushed red. "Don't start being embarrassing here," he hissed.

Reine chortled and gave Neil a quick peck on his cheek. Allen and Gwen laughed when they saw Neil was completely struck speechless by that.

Below them, Viv was practically cheering that her OTP got together for real, together with her newborn calf. Viserys, while maintaining his calm demeanour, seemed to be sincerely happy for his mistress despite having to part ways with her.

Gwen looked across the ocean, at the merpeople who had come to her wedding. She could see Leighlee next to Rod among her other sisters, including Therese who had come back a few months ago. She remembered most, if not all, of them from her visions. She looked at Allen, he was smiling and waving at the guests from the sea.

It looked perfectly like her past vision.

"You never know what life has in store for you, huh?" Reine quipped, as if she was reading her mind. "I told you, you didn't get the full picture then."

"So, you knew since then?"

"Not exactly… but this possibility came up at some point of time."

Gwen nodded in acknowledgement. Despite being Seeress for most of her life, it appeared that she still had so much to learn. Gwen held out her hand and offered it to Reine and for the first time, Reine took it.

Their eyes changed as both of them went into a trance with Neil and Allen watching quietly from the side. It lasted only for a brief moment before they came back to their senses and they smiled at each other.

"What did you see?" Allen asked.

"Many things," Gwen replied. "Hardships, mostly."

"Decisions changed and a whole new world of possibilities being opened," Reine continued.

"Sound like a lot of work."

"It is," the twin sisters replied at the same time. "But…"

"But?"

Gwen and Reine looked at each other for a few moment before Reine spoke. "We only get the full picture when we hold each other's hand like before."

"Likewise," Gwen continued. "As long as we hold on together… we will be whole, and everything will be fine. That might sound strange, coming from me, but that's… the truth. And we, Seeresses, are supposed to guide you to the truth."

Reine nodded in agreement. "That's a neat way to put it together."

King Triton, who had been watching the exchange from the side, smiled contently at how everything fell into place and finally made sense. He raised his trident and created a rainbow just above the two couples. They looked up to the sky, pleasantly surprised by the appearance of the beautiful arc that joined the sky and the sea.

To say that they would live happily ever after was not it. They knew, after all, that hardships awaited them. But, there was something in knowing that they were not alone that was empowering.

So they lived, day by day, unafraid of the future not because they had seen it beforehand but because they knew now, in the present day, that they didn't have to face it alone… and it would be the case for a long, long time. Most probably for ever after.

The End

A/N: So this is the end of this rendition/fan-made sequel of Little Mermaid. Truthfully, lack of reviews disheartened me for a bit and I was stumbled by writer's block, but thanks to you guys I could finish this now ^^

Special shout out to teamBLAZE and Tailor of Our Heart who gave me continuous reviews! I can't merely express with words how I'm thankful for those :D

My thanks also goes to everyone who have favorited/followed/reviewed/read this story ^^

I hope you enjoy this story and see you at another chance (read: story) ^^

Love,

imaginebelieve