Requested by Doe6215—Thank you! I also love, love, LOVE Erik and Ondina together. Sorry I waited until now to get it out; this one took me a lot of the day to do!

(I was in a mild, sappy mood today. Maybe soon I'll put out a more mature story with these two.)

Title: My Valentine

Pairing: Erik and Ondina

Time Period: Set sometime after 2x22, "The Last Dance", but before 2x26, "The Chosen One".

Summary: After realizing how big of a sacrifice it was for Ondina to give up her life in the ocean for a life with him, Erik is determined to make this Valentine's Day the best ever.

Rating: T


Erik had been preparing for this day ever since he met Ondina. When he met her, he was immediately drawn to her. He'd fallen for her, and from there, he pursued her. He knew he'd catch her eventually because he could see in her eyes that she wanted him too.

He smiled at the calendar at his bedside and hopped up, ready to prepare for this big day.

~.x.x.x.~

Ondina smiled to herself as she sat in the grotto. Today was going to be a good day, she just knew it. Erik had called Rita's house and told her not to come out and meet him, and that he'd come and get her instead.

"What's got you all happy?" asked her best friend, Mimmi, who sat next to her on one of the ledges of the golden-tan rock.

Ondina gave a long, bubbly sigh.

"It's Valentine's Day today, and I'm so excited to spend the day with Erik."

"So we can't hang out today, either?" Mimmi said, a disappointed tone in her voice. Ondina took notice of this and leaned over to put a hand on the shoulder of her best friend.

"I'm sorry, Mimmi. It's just… today is the day that land-people celebrate being in love, so I really just need today to be about me and him. But tomorrow, we can swim together all you want!"

Mimmi nodded and gave a small smile, but then it faded again.

"What do I do today, then? If you're going to be with Erik, Zac's going to be with Evie, Sirena's going to be with David, and Cam's going to be with Carly?"

"Hmm… well, isn't there that one boy you said you met at the marine park a few months back?"

"Chris? He… went to America for a while."

"I know. But you said he'd be gone for three months, right? And how long ago was that?"

"About three…" Mimmi stopped in her tracks and gave a wide smile. She hopped up from where she was sitting. "Months! Three months! He should be back by now! I'll – I'll go see him!"

Ondina gave a smile.

"Good. You have fun today!" she called after her best friend, who'd already left the room.

Ondina sighed and stood. She began walking around the grotto. Maybe… maybe she should do something while she waited for Erik to arrive. She grinned as she dug up Mimmi's makeup, no-water perfume, and comb.

"I'm so glad I have a girly best friend," Ondina exclaimed as she rushed to the closest bathroom.

~.x.x.x.~

Erik stepped up to the front door of Rita's house. He straightened out his polo shirt, gripped his pink and red roses firmly in his hand, and blew slowly out of his mouth. After a while of calming his racing heart down, he got the courage to finally knock on the front door.

"Coming!" called the sing-song voice of his girlfriend. He stood, bouncing up and down, waiting for her to greet him.

He was extremely nervous for the day ahead of them. He'd planned so many things to do that took up the entirety of the day, and the last thing he wanted was for something to go wrong.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the door open. Immediately, he looked up at the door.

What he saw made his pupils grow wide and his smile grow big. There Ondina stood, but she didn't look like she normally did. Her usual curls were tamed into silky, shiny waves that fell perfectly over her shoulders. She wore a strapless, pale pink dress that tightened around her chest and waist, but stopping mid-thigh in a flowy, loose way. She wore a sparkly pink eyeshadow that emphasized the blue in her eyes. To top it all off, her lips were glossed ever so perfectly that it made Erik go wild.

"Wow. You – you l-look… wow," he stammered.

Ondina smiled and walked over to him, standing right in front of him. She beamed.

"Thanks," she said, looking down with a shrug. She looked back up at him.

He looked so nice that it made her want to find her friends and brag about how attractive her boyfriend was, but she couldn't, because today was a day for just the two of them.

His hair was slicked back so nicely and his face was cleanly shaven, but what caught her attention most were his gorgeous eyes that made her go weak in the knees by the second.

The two just stood for a while, staring at one another, lost in a moment that seemed to never end.

Eventually, Erik was the first to snap out of this trance and he held out the bouquet of roses to her. She smiled and took them, smelling them. They smelled a lot like Mimmi's orchid-based perfume, only better.

Ondina gestured towards the flowers, telling Erik she'd be a minute. Quickly, she rushed back into the house, found Rita, and asked her to put the flowers somewhere safe, as Ondina really had no idea what she could do to make them still look pretty without them dying.

She ran back out to Erik and smiled. He smiled back and slipped his arm around her back. She did the same, and Erik began leading her to their first stop.

"Where are we going?" Ondina asked.

"I was hoping first we could catch some lunch—well, not literally catch lunch, but get some. There's this really nice place nearby that serves the best seafood all around. You'll love it."

Erik slid his hand down to her hip and pulled her tighter against his body. Still smiling, the pair continued to walk.

Once they got to the place, Ondina was surprised to see how nice it was. There were a lot of people near the entrance, however—especially couples.

"What's going on?" Ondina asked.

"It's just busy today," Erik said. "All these people are waiting to get in. Don't worry, though, I made reservations."

Erik guided Ondina to the desk where the waitress stood.

"Hi, I have a reservation for two?" Erik said.

"All right. What's your name?"

~.x.x.x.~

Erik and Ondina sat across from each other, Erik with a plate of lobster, and Ondina with a bowl of shrimp. The two laughed together as Erik picked up a piece of lobster off of his plate.

"Okay, open," he said, nearing the piece to Ondina's mouth. She opened her mouth as Erik flicked the piece of lobster into it. She chewed and swallowed, beaming at him.

"Okay, my turn," Ondina said, grabbing a piece of shrimp from her plate. She brought it to Erik's mouth, which was already open and ready. Slowly, she brought it closer, but then she retracted her arm and popped the shrimp into her own mouth. Erik had a sad look on his face, which made Ondina crack up. He couldn't keep his sad face on for long, though—Ondina's smile caused the corners of his mouth to rise, whether he wanted them to or not.

After a while of feeding each other, Erik got the bill.

"Can I see it?" Ondina said.

"It's fine," Erik said, flashing a smile in her way. "I got it."

"I still wanna see it," she said, snatching the bill from his hands.

She looked at the cost and handed the bill back over to Erik.

"I don't know much about land pay, and I still haven't had much experience with working, but I'm pretty sure that's a lot of money. Are you sure you can pay it?"

"Of course," Erik said, reassuringly stroking her knee from underneath the table and using his free hand to retrieve money from his pocket and sign the bill.

Erik stood, pushed in his chair, and walked over to Ondina, offering his hand. She took it. He pulled her up and pushed in her chair. The two left the restaurant hand in hand.

~.x.x.x.~

"Did you see that old couple?" Ondina said as they walked down their favorite trail.

"Yeah, what about them?" Erik said, looking down at her.

"Well," Ondina said, swinging their hands. "They were feeding each other, just like we were. It was sweet."

"Well…" Erik started, stopping to stand in front of her and grab both of her hands. "Maybe that'll be us one day."

"Maybe," Ondina said, looking up at him with a twinkle in her eyes and shrugging one of her shoulders cutely. Erik smiled and freed one of his hands, tucking a stray piece of hair behind one of Ondina's ears. He cupped the other side of her face with that same hand and kissed her cheek. He could feel her cheekbones rising into a smile.

He faced forward to continue walking again.

"So, where are we going next?" asked Ondina, looking up at him curiously.

"I was hoping maybe we could go out for a swim. You know, like we normally do. Maybe do some sightseeing?"

Ondina smiled up at him.

"I'd like that," she said, squeezing his hand as they walked.

~.x.x.x.~

Erik and Ondina swum side by side as they explored the ocean. When they got closer to the ocean floor, Ondina tapped his shoulder, grabbing his attention. She pointed to a family of manta-rays swimming on the floor. He smiled at the family, and then at her, who was still watching the animals swim together.

Once the animals left, Erik gestured up at the sky, signaling for her to come up for air. She nodded, and the two swum upwards.

"So, I was wondering," Erik started once they surfaced. "You think you're pretty fast, right?"

"Uh, think?" Ondina said with a smirk.

"You get what I mean," Erik said looking down, causing water droplets to fall off the tip of his nose.

"So…" Ondina started.

"So," said Erik, looking back up at her. "I want to race."

At this, Ondina scoffed.

"What? Are you scared?" asked Erik jokingly.

"Scared? Me?" Ondina said. "No way. No doubt I'd beat you, it's a pity you'd even suggest it."

"Well, if I win—"

"If," Ondina interrupted.

"Yes, if… Then you have to let me spend the night over at your place sometime."

"That's not too bad of a punishment," said Ondina, looking past him in consideration.

"Who said it was a punishment?" Erik said, something unrecognizable in his sea green eyes. Ondina looked back up at him. What was he suggesting? Whatever it was, Ondina couldn't help but feel her heart beat faster.

"Okay, well—when I win, I want a foot rub."

"Deal," Erik said, showing his gorgeous pearly teeth.

"Right. So, where're we racing to?" Ondina asked.

"How about the moon pool at Mako? First person who makes it inside wins."

"You're on," Ondina said. "I'll count us off. On go."

Erik nodded, swimming to her side.

"Ready…"

Erik stretched out his arms, prepared for take-off.

"Set…"

And before the word "go" had even exited her mouth, Ondina had begun swimming. Erik watched her swim away, something admirable in his smirk.

"'Ay! What happened to 'go'?!" he called after her, and he began to swim. Soon enough, he was right on her tail, but he wanted to trick her into thinking she was winning, so he stayed there. Right when they were meters away from the moon pool, Erik swam past her and made it in first.

Ondina swum in after him in a fit of rage.

"Hey! How did that happen?!" she asked, but immediately fell short after looking around the room.

The part of the cave that was on land was decorated with blankets and pillows. In the corner, there was a huge, circular, inflatable raft that was bordered so water couldn't get in easily. It could fit probably around five people. The walls were strung with streamers and balloons. In front of her, there was a wide banner that read, "Happy Valentine's Day!"

"Oh, Erik…" she said, still staring at the decorations in awe. By now, Erik had already pulled himself out of the water and begun using his powers to dry off his tail.

"What're you just sitting there for?" he asked, eyeing her with a smile. "Get up here!"

Ondina pulled herself up out of the pool. Erik was dry and fully clothed now, and he bent over, clenching his fist to dry his girlfriend off. Soon enough, the two were dry and standing, looking at the decorations and the pool from a spectator's view.

"I know it's not a full moon tonight," he started. "But I was hoping we could put the raft into the water and watch it rise over us without actually getting wet. Do you think it'd be cool?"

"Yeah. Definitely," said Ondina, biting her lip.

As the sun set, Erik went to work on setting up the raft. He decorated it in blankets to make it comfortable to lie on, and he put pillows where their heads would be. Carefully, he set the raft into the water and climbed onto it. Ondina followed, being extra careful. Once they were both on and comfortable, Erik pushed the raft slightly away from the edge so it resided in the center of the pool.

Erik had his arm wrapped around Ondina, and she laid attached to him, clutching onto his chest. The two lay silently, staring up at the top of the volcano that exposed the sky.

"It's awfully beautiful when you're not really in the water, isn't it," Ondina said quietly.

"Definitely is," Erik said, stroking her hair. They stayed like this for a while, watching the sky. Soon, the crescent moon rose up into view. They watched until it was directly above them.

"Erik," said Ondina shakily, looking up at him. He carefully shifted his body downwards so that they were lying face-to-face. They both lay on their sides, directly facing one another.

"Yeah?" he said, reaching over to stroke her shoulder.

"Thank you so much for today. It, well—it was amazing."

"I'm glad you liked it," he said. Their smiles faded as he moved his hand up to her face.

"Ondina?"

"Erik?" she asked as their eyes directly clashed.

"…I love you," he said, never once breaking eye contact.

Ondina felt her heart speed up. She nodded.

"I love you too," she said.

The air around them seemed to calm down, if not just disappear completely. Erik stared into her eyes, and then looked at her lips. Oh, those glossy lips that Erik wanted nothing more than to melt into. He looked back up at her eyes, her gorgeous eyes that broke him every time.

And she did the same, eyes flicking back and forth, as if asking permission. Unknowingly, the two were leaning into each other. Once they were close enough and all they could see was their partner's lips, their eyes fell closed and their lips touched.

They'd kissed before, but this was something different. Erik cupped her cheek harder, rhythmically moving his lips along hers, savoring the warm, smooth feeling that was slowly getting more intense as they kissed.

Ondina felt strange. Her heart was beating a mile a minute, and there she was, kissing him. She knew, when they were laying together earlier, looking up at the stars, that this would probably happen tonight. She thought of the novels of Rita's that she'd read about romance and kissing, what it'd feel like when the kiss was longer than the five-second one she'd first given him.

The characters in those stories described their kiss when it happened and their thoughts as it occurred. When hers and Eric's lips fell together, it was entirely different than what she'd expected. When they were leaning into kiss, and when they were actually kissing, she wasn't thinking of anything, she was just doing, like it all came naturally. Her mind was completely blank—she was doing everything out of pure instinct and pleasure. She loved this feeling of warmth, this feeling that was much more sensitive than the regular skin-to-skin contact.

Eric pressed on harder as their lips separated for short two-second periods to get air, and then pressed together again for ten. He found himself now stroking her cheek instead of his holding it in place. The left hand of his that he was laying on found the right hand she was laying on, and he held it tightly. Ondina's free hand found the bicep of the arm that held her face, and she clutched it.

After a while, they found their bodies connecting to each other like magnets. Within minutes, both of Erik's arms were slipped around Ondina and hooked behind her back, pushing their bodies together so that no space resided between them. Ondina's right arm was under his armpit and up in his golden hair, while her left was cupped to his jaw. There wasn't much room for this position to work comfortably, but she didn't care, as her entire body was as warm as can be, even if her heart was beating faster than ever.

Though it felt like hours, minutes passed, and finally, the pair broke apart out of pure exhaustion, even though they didn't want to. Their breaths were still heavy, and Ondina was now shivering due to being out of her boyfriend's warm embrace.

Erik glanced over at Ondina with a smile on his face.

"Well, that was fun," he said, reaching his hand out for her to take. She took it, glancing at him and sighing.

"I've never done anything like that before," she said, looking down at their interlocked hands.

"Trust me, me neither," he said, sitting up. She leaned over to him and rested her head on his chest, breathing heavily.

"You okay?" he asked, stroking her hair.

"I'm fine, but that was so… weird!"

"So're you saying you didn't like it?" he said, pulling away from her to look her in the eye.

"I mean, of course I liked it, but…" she said awkwardly.

"Mmmhmmm…" he said, eyebrows raised. "Well, we need to get this raft back over to shore, and I know just the way to do it."

"Oh, now that you mention it… how are we gonna get it back over? I mean, we can't just use our powers—"

Suddenly, Ondina fell backwards into the water. She popped back up with a tail and an angry look in her eye. Erik fell back on the raft, laughing.

"Why… would… you… push… me?!" she said furiously. "You know, that's it!"

She swam underneath the raft and mustered all the power she could to flip the raft over. Erik's smile faded when he realized he was getting his payback.

After he felt his tail appear, Erik swam up, laughing, and threw the raft up onto the land part of the cave. He swam over to Ondina, who was turned away from him.

"What're you—" she started when she felt his hands on her shoulders, but Erik, with a big smile, dunked her before she could finish. He took a breath and plunged under with her.

Underwater, she was crossing her arms with an angry look on her face. Eric was still laughing. At this, Ondina's frown began to lessen and a smile creeped up on her face, though it was unwanted. Erik swam closer to her, cupped her face in both of his hands, and pressed his lips to hers for a few seconds. When they broke apart, he raised his eyebrows and swam to air.

"So you had fun today?" Erik asked when Ondina surfaced.

She looked down at the water, then up at him, blushing.

~.x.x.x.~

"It was so sweet," Sirena said, her hands on her knees and a smile as wide as the ocean itself. "We went to see a movie and I got to meet his parents. He'd set up a dinner and everything!"

"What about you, Ondina?" Evie asked, catching the mermaid's attention. "How was your day with Erik?"

"…Let's just say I had the best valentine ever," said Ondina, beaming. She then broke out into a few giggles, and the other three girls followed suit.


Please leave your thoughts on this first tale, and, of course, don't forget to request if you have an idea!