Eric took an enormous leap into the ocean and kicked hard to get closer to the bottom. When he felt his air running out, he resurfaced and took in a deep breath, taking in his surroundings from the waters point of view.

King Triton, still near the island, chuckled at his son-in-law. "Eric, you can breathe under the water now, you understand that right? You don't have to hold your breath to go under, talking is something you can do, etcetera." Eric felt his face flush as he brought his hand to the back of his neck and began to rub it.

"Yeah, I, uh, I guess you're right… Must still be a force of habit then."

Triton swam next to Eric. "You jumped away so quickly that I didn't even have a chance to see the color of your tail!"

Eric realized that the man was right remembering that as soon as the golden light had disappeared, he had jumped into the waves. He himself had not even noticed what color his tail was.

He lifted the bottom part of his fin out of the water and was met with a cream colored, scaly object in his face. "Well, that answers the question. Kind of a dull color though, don't you think?"

The king didn't respond. His eyes weren't leaving Eric's tail as if barnacles were growing on it. "E-Eric, has Ariel ever told you that no one in Atlantica has a white tail?"

Eric put his new appendage back into the water and stared curiously at Triton. "Well, no sir. She hasn't told me much about Atlantica."

"Well, you see Eric, I ask you this bec-." Triton was cut off by the fact that his son-in-law was suddenly dragged underwater.

"Dad, c'mon! Wait until mom sees you! She's gonna flip!" Melody was propelling her tail as fast as she could, wanting nothing more than to get back to the palace. Her mother had the right to know that Eric was alright and also to know his reason for going to the islands.

Melody turned around and looked at her dad. "Are you gonna kick or wha-." She stopped immediately and felt her mouth fall open. "You have a white tail…" She let go of Eric's neck and turned all the way around.

Eric cracked his neck and ran his hand through his hair. "Yeah, and yours is red." Melody stayed silent and stared. "Maybe it matches my hair? Sort of like how your mother's red hair goes nicely with her green tail!"

Melody shook her head. "If that was the truth then wouldn't I have a white tail, or maybe an orange one? No, dad, this is something different… Mom or grandfather is gonna have to explain it because I don't know all of the details…"

Eric began to follow Melody back to Atlantica again, getting used to moving his tail. He pretended that his tail truly was both of his legs put together and each push down of the tail was one giant kick. This charade with his extension actually worked out in his favor and he eventually even caught up with Melody.

She was quiet though and Triton was as well. Eric kept looking at the two, wondering if one of them would say something or even fake it by opening their mouths. Someone needed to explain to him why him having a white tail was such a huge deal. Weren't tail colors just that; colors?

Ariel tapped her fin on the floor, stirring up dust around her while trying to rid of her anxiety. She still hadn't heard from her father or seen him come back and now she couldn't find Melody.

Taking a deep breath, Ariel tried to calm herself down by thinking that it was Eric on the island. What he could have wanted was a mystery to her but the thought of him being up there instead of Grimsby was a relief.

Maybe he wanted to come visit Atlantica, Ariel thought, chuckling to herself. Of all places Eric would want to be, her home was the last of them.

She sighed blissfully at the idea of him coming to stay, even if it were only for a day or two. She had always wondered what Eric would look like in merman form and she had always given up, coming to the conclusion that she would never see her husband that way. He was too busy with the kingdom, deciding on what should be made laws and what shouldn't, trying his best to keep the towns people happy. In the past few years things had been particularly busy due to the flu epidemic that had broken out and he was still trying to get things with that sorted out.

Ariel frowned at the thought, remembering the tragedy that had struck the family during it. She still felt it was all her fault, even if it in fact wasn't.

When the flu broke out, Ariel had just found out she was pregnant. Eric and she were elated and Melody was overwhelmed with joy at the thought of there being another young person in the palace.

When nausea and vomiting commenced, Ariel viewed it as just being morning sickness and continued her duties as queen. However, after a couple of days of the relentless queasiness, Ariel spiked a fever and came down with the chills. When the doctor was called in, he became the bearer of bad news and divulged that Ariel had been infected with the virus that was taking out the country.

Carlotta and the kingdom's doctor were the only two allowed into Ariel's room during the week or two that she was ill. Eric and Melody could barely eat because they were so frightened by what disaster and anguish they knew the bug could bring.

Eventually, Ariel began to feel better and even returned to her responsibilities in the kingdom. However, one day while on a walk with Eric, Ariel began to feel cramps in her abdomen. The pain ultimately grew worse and before she knew it, Ariel was being informed that she had had a miscarriage.

The guilt and torment that she felt afterwards was too awful for words, feelings so strong that only someone who had suffered the same could feel. Depression controlled Ariel's thoughts, behavior, and actions for the next year and a half, a time that no one in the family would ever forget.

Even after five years and being essentially depression free for those five years, Ariel still didn't want to have another child. The mere thought of losing yet another unborn child was too much for Ariel to bear.

"Uhm, mom?" Melody appeared in the doorway, hands behind her back and a slight smile on her face. "I-I sorta followed grandfather to the islands and-."

"You what?" Ariel interrupted. "Melody, if anyone should have gone with your grandfather, it should have been me! I have been looking for you everywhere in the past hour; you had me worried sick!" She shook her head, more concerned about who or what was on the islands. "We'll discuss what you did later. First off though… W-who was up there, Melody?"

Melody's smile grew a bit bigger and she moved aside, allowing Eric to swim next to her. He grinned at Ariel.

Ariel's eyes took in only Eric's face in front of her and she swam to him, wrapping her arms around him and holding him close. "Oh Eric, I'm so glad you're alri-." She pulled away and looked at Eric again. This time, however, she noticed the white tail where his legs should have been and she gasped.

Eric did a twirl and beamed at his wife. "Well, what do you think?"

Ariel brought a hand to her mouth and shook her head again. "I can't believe the legend is coming true…"