Chapter 6: A Human's Love
Belle solemnly walked down to the beach, almost in a trance, as had become ritual for her since the day Ariel had died in her arms a week ago. King Triton's words of comfort that day had helped to give Belle some hope that Ariel was alive, but as she reached the water's edge, she realized her inner realist was gaining ground over her hopeful side.
Move on with your life, Belle: If Ariel's dead, she's not going to want you to spend the rest of your life grieving for her.
So she had thrown herself back into her music with a kind of passion rarely exhibited by anyone, and the distraction had helped somewhat. The fans she had met from her musical appearances had also provided a nice distraction; Belle very much enjoyed their conversations. She had even spent some time composing some of her own pieces, something she had never done before.
But, once a day, Belle could not prevent herself from coming down to the beach and singing at least one song, hoping, praying, willing Ariel to hear her, if she were alive. She remembered the first time as if it had only just happened:
"I'd give anything to hold you in my arms again, Ariel," Belle sobbed quietly. "I miss you, and I need you. I've tried looking all the places you're not. I just can't find the place where you are. Maybe if I were to wish...very...very...hard..."
Come out, moon
Come out, wishing star
Come out, come out
Wherever you are
The tears flowed freely from Belle's eyes as she let the lyrics carry out across the ocean:
I'm out here in the dark
All alone and wide awake
Come and find me
I'm empty and I'm cold
And my heart's about to break
Come and find me
I need you to come here and find me
'Cause without you, I'm totally lost
I've hung a wish on every star
It hasn't done much good so far
I can only dream of you
Wherever you are
Belle now clutched her hands in a position resembling prayer in front of her sternum, directly below her chin. She directed her gaze heavenward, and thought she saw a cloud which bore a scary resemblance to Ariel. She reached out to it desperately, as if by reaching out to it, she hoped to take flight to the cloud and lose herself in it.
I'll hear you laugh
I'll see you smile
I'll be with you
A sob escaped past Belle's lips at this point.
Just for a while
But when the morning comes
And the sun begins to rise
I will lose you
Belle brought her hands back to herself, but her gaze did not leave the sky.
Because it's just a dream
When I open up my eyes
I will lose you
I used to believe in forever
But forever's too good to be true
I've hung a wish on every star
It hasn't done much good so far
I don't know what else to do
Except to try and dream of you
And wonder...if you're dreaming, too
Wherever you are
"I love you, Ariel," she said quietly to the wind, "and I hope you're OK. I just want to see you again...
Wherever...you...are..."
Letting the sobs come forth freely, Belle slowly made her way back into the mansion. Her wait staff offered her what little comfort they could, for which Belle was grateful, but she knew only death or Ariel's return would heal this wound.
Today, Belle still held on to a thin thread of hope that Ariel would, indeed, return, but that hope was dwindling more and more by the day. She was beginning to think that death would be the only way away from this pain. And it was this feeling that had inspired her to choose today's song. With a melancholy look upon her face, Belle began the lyrics:
I'm so tired of being here
Suppressed by all my childish fears
And if you have to die
I wish that you would just die
'Cause your presence still lingers here
And it won't leave me alone
These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase
If you'd cry, I'd wipe away all of your tears
If you'd scream, I'd fight away all of your fears
And I'd hold your hand through all of our years
'Cause you'll always have...all of me
A lone tear began to make its way down Belle's face as she continued along.
You used to captivate me
By your resonating light
Now I'm bound by the life you left behind
Your face, it haunts
My once pleasant dreams
Your voice, it chased away
All the sanity in me
These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase
If you'd cry, I'd wipe away all of your tears
If you'd scream, I'd fight away all of your fears
And I'd hold your hand through all of our years
'Cause you'll always have...all of me
Another tear joined the first as Belle began to end the lyrics:
I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone
But though I'm so lonely
You've been with me all along
If you'd cry, I'd wipe away all of your tears
If you'd scream, I'd fight away all of your fears
And I'd hold your hand through all of our years
'Cause you'll always have...all of me
Drying her eyes, Belle looked out over the open ocean. Blowing a kiss, she said quietly, "I love you, Ariel." And with that said, she turned to return to the mansion.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Belle, just as she had developed a ritual of coming down to the beach and singing to Ariel once a day, Ariel had also developed a ritual...of coming to her singing rock (the rock behind which she had hidden the day she saved Belle's life) and watching her sing. Belle's voice was like tonic for Ariel, and she could not get enough of it. Today, as with every time she had watched Belle, she had wanted nothing more than to call out to her and let her know she was alive, and still loved her. But due to her father's request...not an order, but a request...she could not do so until Triton had made his final decision.
Today, he and Sebastian had surreptitiously joined Ariel in watching Belle. They were paying more attention to Ariel, however...her body language, the little sighs they could catch...It was obvious to both of them that there was little they could do to change it. Ariel had found true love in Belle, and vice versa.
"They really do love each other, Sebastian," mused Triton quietly. "I almost see shades of myself and Athena in them."
"Oh, no offense, my liege," chuckled Sebastian, "but dose two got you and Queen Atena beat by several nautical miles, mon."
"You really think so?" Triton replied, also chuckling.
"I'll say only dis," countered Sebastian. "Never in my life have I seen Ariel so happy as she was during the time she and Miss Belle were togedder."
"I know," sighed Triton.
"And if Ariel has taught me anyting," continued Sebastian, "it's dat children gotta be free to lead deir own lives."
"Very true," said Triton sadly. "Then I guess there's just one problem left for me to deal with."
"And what's dat, Your Majesty?" asked Sebastian.
"How much I'm going to miss her," answered Triton, resigned to what he must do. Leveling his trident with the surface of the water, he pointed it towards Ariel, whose tail was in decent enough contact with the water. A golden stream of energy flowed from it, traveling along the water until it made contact with Ariel's tail.
Ariel started at the feeling of something brushing up against her caudal fin, and looked down to see the golden trail of magic. Glittering and sparkling, it traveled up her tail and started to cause a familiar sensation, though nowhere near as painful as when Ursula had put her through it. It was a pleasurable tingling, and Ariel's eyes grew wide and her face lit up as she felt the magic split her tail down the middle...she was gaining legs again. Following the trail of magic back to its source, she saw Triton and Sebastian waving her good-bye, with matching sad smiles on their faces.
"Thank you," she signed to them. "Come visit sometime," she called softly to them. They nodded and retreated under the ocean, feeling that if ever Ariel and Belle deserved a moment to themselves, it was now. By God, they'd earned it.
But the magic was not yet done. As Ariel slid off the rock into the calf-high surf, the glittering magic continued all around her body, expanding her seashell bra into a gorgeous, form-fitting, elegant purple dress, which came down to just above her ankles. Made of silk, it would later become Ariel's last physical connection to the world she had lived in for sixteen years of her life.
She began to slowly make her way towards Belle, who was just now turning back towards the mansion, and had yet to see her. Ariel wanted to call out to her, but she got the feeling a simple "Looking for me?" would not be good enough. So, she decided to catch Belle's attention the same way she had done so in the first place: her singing.
Meanwhile, Belle was beginning to make her way back up the beach to the street. She was trying to think of more ways to distract her from her heartbreak when she heard the thing she'd needed to hear the most, and which she'd thought she'd never hear again: the angelic singing voice of a certain redheaded mermaid.
It...It can't be! Is she alive? Is she really this close to me right now? Slowly, cautiously, Belle began to turn around, towards Ariel's voice. When she completed the turn, she felt the kind of unabashed joy that only special moments like this could deliver overtaking her, filling her up, almost literally drowning her in its fullness. There was Ariel, walking slowly towards her, voice and all, arms outstretched...and she was singing her heart out.
I'll be your dream, I'll be your wish, I'll be your fantasy
I'll be your hope, I'll be your love, be everything that you need
I love you more with every breath; truly, madly, deeply do
I will be strong, I will be faithful, 'cause I'm counting on a new beginning
A reason for living
A deeper meaning, yeah...
I wanna stand with you on a mountain
I wanna bathe with you in the sea
I wanna lay like this forever
Until the sky falls down on me
Belle would have run, but she didn't want to ruin the moment by tripping over her own stiff legs. So she simply stretched her arms out wide and began to walk towards Ariel at the same deliberate pace. The look of complete shock had not changed one bit on her face. Ariel, seeing this, smiled as she continued her song:
And when the stars are shining brightly in the velvet sky,
I'll make a wish; send it to Heaven, then make you want to cry
The tears of joy for all the pleasure and the certainty
That we're surrounded by the comfort and protection of the highest powers
In lonely hours
The tears devour you
Ariel and Belle finally came within arm's length of each other as Ariel ran through another chorus, and then:
Oh, can't you see me, my love?
You don't have to close your eyes
'Cause I'm standing right before you
All that you need will surely come...
"Is it really you, Ariel?" asked Belle incredulously.
"You better believe it's me," replied Ariel warmly, and to prove it, wrapped Belle up in a close, strong, tender embrace. Belle felt the familiar warmth of Ariel's arms around her neck and returned the hug, picking Ariel up off the ground and spinning through a full rotation.
I'll be your dream, I'll be your wish, I'll be your fantasy
I'll be your hope, I'll be your love, be everything that you need
I love you more with every breath; truly, madly, deeply do
Oo-ooh...
As Ariel finished her song, Belle was feeling happier than she had since before she'd even met Prince Benson. Relief that Ariel was real was at an all-time high, as well. It was too much for Belle to take, and she began to cry the tears of joy that Ariel had mentioned in her song. There was no point, she thought, in stopping them or pretending, and she simply let them come, hot and wet against her cheeks.
Ariel pulled away enough to look at Belle directly and saw the tears flowing.
"I know you're happier than you've ever been in your life," said Ariel, confused. "So why are you crying? Don't tell me something's wrong..."
"No," wept Belle, attempting to dry her eyes. "Emotional overload, that's all. I'm just so glad to see you again; so happy you're here, and so overjoyed that..."
"That I still love you?" Ariel offered with a sly smile.
"Yes," confirmed Belle, nodding gently. "And I still love you."
"Then," quipped Ariel, "don't you think we're a bit overdue for one of these?" And she leaned in, lips forward...she was angling for a kiss. Belle was hesitant to close the distance, afraid that something might happen and reveal this whole scene to be nothing more than a dream. She eventually did, however, make lip-to-lip contact...and Ariel did not vanish.
A thrill of excitement jolted through Belle's entire being at this fact, and she immediately made the kiss much more powerful, filling it with all the passion, love, and hunger she could muster, all of which were so raw and desperate, it surprised both women quite a bit. Ariel, of course, in her love for Belle, gave as good as she got...and even decided to kick it up a notch.
When Belle felt Ariel's lips part and something else join the fray, a kind of urge she had not felt for quite some time overtook her, and she parted her own lips, sending her tongue forward to greet Ariel's. The dance that ensued lasted for what felt like no time at all, and only ended because both women had to come up for air.
"As long as you believe, and are willing to work for it," reminded Ariel, "dreams will always find a way to come true. Mine just did." And with that, she let out a familiar, yet different, set of lyrics that Belle instantly picked up on.
(Ariel)
Now we can walk
(Belle)
Now we can run
(Both)
Now we can stay all day in the sun
(Belle)
Just you and me
(Ariel)
Now and forever, I'll be...
(Both)
Part of your...world
After a last embrace and kiss, Belle brought Ariel back to the mansion.
I knew there was more to life than what I'd experienced before, thought Belle.
See, Daddy? I told you there were good people up here, Ariel thought.
They were ready to live out their new life together, once and for all...come what may.
A/N: AND IT'S FINALLY HAPPENED! LOVE CONQUERS ALL! Ariel and Belle, together at last! Ain't it sweet? Hold your applause, though; there's still an epilogue that I'll be bringing to you.
To Be Concluded...