The water is dark as sin, still as death. Killian eyes it suspiciously; he cannot see even an inch below the surface. If the sea witch has secrets hidden in the water's depths, he cannot tell.
He thinks of Ariel: of her bright red hair and even brighter smile, the way she kisses and the way she thinks. He's doing this for her. He pulls off his shoes and tosses them to the side, along with his sword and a few other items he has on his person.
He steps up to the small cement wall between himself and the water. He balances on the balls of his feet as he contemplates what may lie beneath the surface. Perhaps he should bring his sword? He jumps before he can make a decision.
The water swallows him whole, like the icy, black jaws of some horrid beast. The cold immediately sucks him up and swallows all feeling in his body. He can barely think except for screaming in his head about how horrible the cold is. But beyond the cold and the blackness and the pain, he remembers a playful, red-headed mermaid swimming through the ocean. He remembers the contrast of her bright hair against the blue waters, the way her laugh carried over the sound of the crashing waves. Then he begins to move.
Each movement of his limbs sends a knife through his skin, piercing his flesh like a thousand icy blades. But he swims as best as he can, for Ariel's sake. He can't see shit down in the blackness of the water. After a few moments, though, his eyes begin to adjust. He can make out vague shapes, at least.
He makes for the bottom. If Ursula is hiding anything in these waters, it won't be floating around near the top. When he gets near the ocean floor, seaweed tickles at his neck. It would send shivers up his spine were it not for the bitter cold already penetrating his bones. Killian is moving as quickly as he can, but all he wants is to be out of here.
He resurfaces soon. He takes a large gulp of breath, and then he resubmerges. Again, he finds nothing. He keeps doing that, getting steadily farther away from land each time. By the time he's ready to call it a night, the sky is lightening over in the east to a soft blue and Killian is beginning to lose feeling in his legs.
He makes his way quickly over to land, pulls himself out of the water, and splays out on the ground for a few minutes. He wants – no, needs – to get back in the water. He needs to find the sea witch, and more importantly he needs to find Ariel's heart. She said not to come back to her until he has it. And God, he needs her more than anything. It's been only a day since he's seen her, but it's killing him.
He can't help but wonder what she's doing right now. He can't help but wonder who she's doing it with.
Killian clenches his hand into a fist. He grits his jaw. Then he grabs his belongings, which were waiting patiently where he left them on the ground, and he stands up. Water drips in a steady stream from Killian's clothes as he walks along the street. He feels like the ocean water has stored itself all over him: in his hair, his clothes, his very skin even.
Did Ariel feel like this when she first left the sea, he wonders?
A motorcycle rumbles off in the distance. Eric ignores it. He keeps kicking pebbles along the sidewalk. His hands are shoved in his coat pockets and his head is bent forward into the wind. The weather bites at him, but not as much as the memory of seeing Ariel hand-in-hand with that other man.
He's tried to tell himself that it's nothing. But it sure didn't look like nothing. And the way Ariel had said that she and the man had plans, that was definitely something. Bah! He was being an idiot about this. What sort of a name was Killian, anyway?
The motorcycle gets louder and louder. It sounds as if it's coming toward Eric. He stops and looks around the street. He sees nothing. But just as he starts walking again, someone on a motorcycle comes roaring around the corner up ahead.
The motorcycle pulls up on the curb a few yards away from Eric. The motorcyclist swings a leg over the bike, climbs off, and pulls off her helmet. She shakes out her long, black hair. Eric can't help but momentarily appreciate the woman's curvy frame, clad in tight black jeans and a leather jacket. The heels of her boots click on the sidewalk as she steps away from her bike. After the seventh step, Eric realizes that he should probably stop staring.
He makes to keep walking down the sidewalk, but the woman stops him as he passes in front of her. She grabs him around the upper arm. The gesture is not threatening, but there's force in it. Eric stops.
"What's your name?" she asks. Her voice is husky and affected.
"Eric," he says slowly, turning to fully face the woman. "And yourself?"
"Ursula."
Eric shakes her hand. He asks, "Is there something I can help you with?"
"Possibly," she says.
Ursula has a sly, mischievous grin on her face. Something about her makes Eric's skin prickle.
"I think we have a mutual friend," says Ursula, "A charming girl, goes by the name Ariel."
Eric tries to keep himself from reacting, but he can't help himself. Suddenly, he's afraid, not just for himself but for Ariel, too.
"I don't know who you're talking about," Eric says tightly.
"Don't lie to me, Eric," says Ursula with a simpering smile.
Eric steps back. He briefly considers running. But Ursula would just hop on her bike and catch him in about two seconds, so that'd be no good.
"I need your help with something," says Ursula.
"I'm not interested," says Eric.
"You will be once you hear what I have to say," she replies, "You care about little Ariel, right?"
"Are you threatening her?" demands Eric.
Ursula laughs wickedly. She says, "No, there's no need to worry about her. But I wouldn't want to be that friend of hers, the dark-haired one with the hook. He's causing a bit of trouble for me."
"What kind of trouble?" asks Eric.
"That's none of your concern. What I need you to do is very simple: keep Ariel away from him. Woo her, romance her. That ought to work well enough."
"I can't…she doesn't seem…"
Eric doesn't finish the thought. The despair carries in his words anyway and just hangs in the air. Ursula brushes it aside with a gesture like she's swatting at a fly.
"You're a very handsome man, Eric," says Ursula, "How could she possibly resist you? Get her away from that pirate for a few minutes, remind her who truly cares for her, and she'll be all yours."
"I don't know…" says Eric.
Ursula steps closer. She places a hand on Eric's chest. She gets her face close to his and whispers, "Are you really willing to lose her?"
She's got him. Eric curses himself internally and shakes his head no. Ursula grins like a cheshire cat; she's got him in her clutches.
"Excellent," she says.
She steps away and moves to get back on her motorcycle. She puts on her helmet and flips the visor up to give Eric a wink. Then she kicks her motorcycle to life and speeds off around the corner.
Ariel flips the page in her book. She picks up her mug of coffee to take a sip. The taste is bitter; she doesn't take it with cream or sugar. Her mind is half in the book and half with Killian, whever he is.
The doorbell rings. Ariel dog-ears her page and sets down her book. Then she gets up to answer the door. She runs a hand through her hair; her nails catch in all of the tangles.
Ariel vaguely hopes that it's Killian on the other side of the door. She wonders whether he's found her heart yet. But then she looks through the peephole and sees that it's Eric. She feels vaguely disappointed, but it feels far away, like it's someone else's emotion.
She opens the door. Eric smiles when he sees her.
"Hello, Ariel," he says.
"Hi."
"Can I come in?"
Ariel shrugs. "Sure."
She lets Eric into the house and shuts the door behind him.
"Everything okay?" she says.
"Absolutely," replies Eric.
"Then why are you here?" she asks.
"I feel like I haven't seen you in a while."
"I've been busy," says Ariel shortly.
"Have you got a little bit of time for me?" asks Eric.
"I'm not in the mood today, Eric," she says.
He's here for sex. She knows she can't technically get irritated about it. She does this to him at least twice a week, and he never complains. She's just really not in the mood for it, though. And what with Killian suddenly being in the picture, it wouldn't technically be cheating, but still.
"I wasn't suggesting…would you like to get a bite to eat? Maybe chat for a little while?" he tries again.
Ariel shakes her head. She replies, "No, really. I'm not all that interested. And since when is this the go-and-get-lunch kind of relationship? Last time I checked, it was pretty exclusively of the no-pants-necessary persuasion."
"That's not enough for me, Ariel. It's never been enough," says Eric.
"I'm not interested, Eric. You're nice, but…" she trails off.
A shadow casts over Eric's eyes. Suddenly, his shoulders hunch forward and his hands slip into his pockets. Ariel would almost feel bad, if she could feel anything at all.
"I'll see you around," she says feebly.
She opens the front door. Eric turns to go, but as he passes through the doorway, he stops.
"The man you were walking with the other day…" he says over his shoulder.
"A friend," says Ariel simply.
She's lying. "Friend" is just about the only word that doesn't describe Killian.
"And me?" he asks.
"A friend," she repeats.
Eric nods. He leaves. Ariel shuts the door behind him and heads back to the couch. She picks up her book to the page she dog-eared. She smooths the crease in the corner before she begins reading again.
Killian swaggers out of Granny's diner. There's a hint of whiskey on his tongue, but not enough to get him drunk. A pirate like him, he knows how to hold his liquor. And after two days of unfruitful searching for Ariel's heart, he needed a drink.
He bumps into someone on the sidewalk in front of the diner. Killian is ready to keep walking, but he recognizes the man he bumped into. The last time he saw him, the man was leaning down to kiss Ariel on the cheek.
"You looking for someone?" asks Killian.
He's picking a fight. He knows he is, but he can't help himself.
"I might be," says Eric, "Have you seen Ariel lately?"
"Maybe I have," Killian says with a grin, "And maybe I've seen a bit more of her than you have of late."
"What does that mean?"
Killian doesn't reply. He lets his shit-eating grin do the talking for him. Eric begins to glower, and then the truth dawns on him and he looks pretty damn pissed.
"You didn't…" says Eric.
"Sorry, mate. But you know, Ariel always preferred her men a bit rougher. And I can give her rough like you wouldn't even believe," says Killian.
Killian sees it coming a second before it happens, not enough time to dodge the hit. Eric's fist comes up and socks him square on the jaw. Killian's head snaps back. He brings his hook up to slash at Eric, and he catches the man on his arm. Killian can feel the blood run down both of their wrists.
Eric cries out in pain. Killian loathes himself for the feeling of satisfaction he gets from seeing Ariel's fuck buddy in pain, especially pain that he caused.
"You better stay away from her," says Eric, seething.
"I think that decision lies with her," says Killian, "You'd do well to abide her choice. And at the moment, her choice seems to be me."
"She told me you were just a friend," seethes Eric.
Killian laughs. He says, "The day I become 'just a friend' to Ariel is the day I sprout wings and a tail."
"Or maybe it'll mean she's just come to her senses," says Eric.
Cradling his arm, Eric brushes past Killian and heads into the diner. Killian doesn't know what sort of medical help he hopes to get in there, but the townsfolk will probably be more willing to help Eric than Killian. Killian wonders whether his jaw was bruised when the bastard punched him.
As he heads back to his ship, Killian ponders Eric's words to him about Ariel coming to her senses. There's not a doubt in Killian's head that she'll be different once she gets her heart back, but suddenly he has no clue whether she'll still want Killian. Maybe she'll want the nice guy who moons over her like an idiot. Maybe she'll want schmaltz and sappy love songs and roses. Eric can probably give her all of those things.
Killian wonders whether she'll still want a pirate whose first love will always be the sea. In his head, Ariel is the living embodiment of the sea, so beautiful and untamed and utterly green.