Melody sat staring at the waves, a smile on her face as the water lapped against her feet. She looked around her at the area where a giant wall had once separated her from this beautiful view. The gulls flying over the sea avoided collisions with one another by swooping low and grazing their beaks across the salty seas.
A cry amongst the gulls stuck out from all the rest. In fact it was almost a sing-song voice. Melody's smile grew and she jumped to her feet. "Scuttle!"
The bird came to a screeching halt in the sand, his feet getting caught and causing him to tumble until he finally stopped. Scuttle sat up holding his head to see five blurry Melodys running in his direction.
"Scuttle, I swear, you're trying to kill yourself…" Melody grinned at him and helped him to his feet. "So what're you doing here?"
Scuttle stumbled a bit as he stood up but quickly regained his balance. He had endured so many crashes that the dizzy feelings were pretty much something he felt on a regular basis. "The fish, Flounder, wanted me to tell ya' he's on his way with Chase and your grandfather. Not a clue what they want but they asked me to tell ya' that."
Melody thanked Scuttle, confused and quite frankly worried. There had been no plans of Melody seeing either Chase or Triton, not until she visited her second home again that is. She feared something may have gone awry in the kingdom below. Before she had a chance to let her thoughts finish processing, Melody heard a tapping noise and the sound of someone out of breath. Melody spun around to see Flounder tapping the water to get her attention. "Here… Is…" The fish took a deep breath, muttering what sounded like, "Sweet Neptune I'm out of shape…" under his breath. "Your grandfather and… Chase…" With that Flounder sighed in relief and smiled as he relaxed into the water.
At the mention of their names, Triton and Chase popped up from the water. Melody beamed at them. It had been a month since she had last seen the pair. Her father had determined that while he and Ariel were out of town to try to talk to another kingdom about trade opportunities, Melody should stay with Carlotta and Grimsby to avoid suspicions that the true reason the royal family had left was to find the young princess a suitor. Chase smiled back at her but didn't move from his spot. Melody began to hurry into the water to greet Chase before her grandfather held up his hand to stop her. She immediately stopped but gave Triton a strange look. "What is it?"
"Sebastian and I decided that it was time for Chase to begin his search for his future queen," the king explained. Melody felt her heart drop at those words. It seemed to be more of a warning to her rather than a comforting message. "Oh…"
Chase quickly picked up on her disappointed looks as her shoulders slowly fell and her smile faded. "Yeah, and we also know that your parents probably want to have you start to look for a prince to marry and so your grandfather asked me what I would want to do and-." The future king cut his sentence short and took a deep breath before locking eyes with Melody. "Mel, I already told you this, but I still know for certain that there is only one princess I want… That's what I told your grandfather and his next move was to bring me here…"
Melody took a step closer to the water, her feet completely submerged now. Triton raised his hand to stop his granddaughter again but she ignored him this time, determined to get further into the water. "While that's wonderful for the sea, I have a life on land which includes suitors and lately even proposals." Melody rolled her eyes as she got waist deep into the water, standing about two feet away from Chase. "So what's your solution to that?"
Chase grinned at Triton before turning back to Melody. "We've got that covered already Mel."
Melody narrowed her eyes, trying to figure out what he could possibly mean. She laughed to herself at the only answer she could think of: Chase with legs. The image in her head was nothing but a stumbling Chase, tripping on stairs as he tried to get accustomed to balancing himself on two legs rather than relying on a single tail.
Chase glared at Melody. "I know what you're thinking. Quit laughing, jerk…" His complaining made Melody laugh harder before she dove under the waves to make her way towards Chase. However, she wasn't greeted by the merman's tail under the water. Melody quickly pushed her way to the surface with her eyes wide. Chase merely smirked at her.
"Surprise."