Here's chapter four of the story I don't own. Thanks as always go to all of my wonderful reviewers so far! Ariel and Eric are one of those pairings I love, but that we don't get to see a lot of in the show, so a lot of this comes from Disney canon. Hopefully that's okay with all of you!
For the first 18 years of her life, Ariel had been terrified of finding her soulmate. The words that had been written around her right bicep mentioned an adventure, and her little town got very, very busy with tourists wanting adventures on the ocean, a boat ride or snorkeling or some such thing. Though most residents were happy with their lives, all Ariel wanted was to get out of the little beach village, not get stuck there. As a result, she avoided talking to others, gaining a reputation for being a bit strange as a result.
She did however, make one friend. Belle, her neighbor, also wanted to travel and the two of them spent many an afternoon poring over books about far-away places. When it came time to go to college, therefore, it was only natural that they go together, the only two to leave their little hamlet.
Saturday of move-in, Ariel helped Belle settle into her dorm room, the other nametag on the door reading "Guinevere." They then headed for Ariel's dorm to do the same. Their parents, of course hadn't bothered to come. Both Mo French and Triton Seadon's involvements in their daughters' lives centered on trying to keep them home. When it hadn't worked, the two men had all but disowned their daughters.
Ariel's room turned out to already be half full, two dark-haired girls sitting and chatting on the made bed.
"Hey, I'm Regina, I'm your roommate," began the one with the bob, "and this is my cousin, Mary Margaret. She lives downstairs."
Ariel and Belle introduced themselves, and the cousins helped them to move Ariel in. The four of them got dinner together, and then headed back to their own rooms after a long day of unpacking.
"Hey Regina," Ariel mumbled as they were drifting off.
"mmhmm?"
"Do you know what there is to do around here? I want to start learning the area before classes start."
"The rec center does hiking trips in the state park if that's your thing."
"Okay,"
Sunday morning saw Ariel headed to the rec center wearing sturdy boot, jeans, and a purple tank top, her water bottle and camera in a mint green drawstring bag. When she got to the desk, a clump of students had already formed, dressed similarly to her. Ariel made her way up to the front desk, where a black-haired guy was bent over the computer. She cleared her throat.
"One more for the adventure crew excursion?" he asked, not looking up.
"And maybe dinner afterwards?" Ariel squeaked.
The guy straightened up, giving her a once over. His eves zeroed in on her right arm and he smiled, but something was off.
"I don't know." He replied.
Ariel was about to protest when a young woman with dark brown hair sashayed over, kissing computer guy ("Eric" she thought to herself, finally noticing his nametag,) on the cheek before looping her arm with his.
"Hey, I'm Ursula," the girl said, sticking out her hand.
"Ariel," she replied.
Ursula's face went suddenly ugly as she noticed the words on Ariel's arm.
"Ery, don't you think it will be hard keeping track of too many people," she pouted.
Eric looked torn, but eventually nodded.
"Urs is right." He said, "I'm sorry Ariel."
"Right. So, I'll, ummm, see you around." She said, and left.
The problem was that she couldn't stop running into him. When she went to the gym, at the dining hall, the library, even when she was doing her laundry for crying out loud, he was there. No matter how hard she tried to avoid him, he always popped up. And he always seemed to want to say something to her, but never did.
Finally, about a month into the semester, he walked up to her as she was on her way to class.
"Look, ummm, Ursula and I broke up."
The words came out in a hurry, tumbling over each other. Ariel stopped in her tracks, then thought better of it, walking over to a nearby bench. They sat, and Eric rolled up his sleeve. The words, as she had expected, read "And maybe dinner afterwards?"
"So why were you with her?" Ariel demanded, a little too annoyed to be polite.
"She said 'Maybe dinner afterwards'" he replied. "That was two years ago, and I generally greet people with 'Are you here for the adventure club excursion?' The only exceptions are her and now you. I thought it made sense that I had just missed the 'and.' But then you showed up, and I didn't want to hurt her, and…I'm sorry."
"It makes sense." Ariel replied thoughtfully. "But why now?"
"Someone else greeted Ursula the same way when she was on a trip this weekend, and her words matched exactly. Girl named Mal. Plus, Ursula and Mal both have sets on their left arms too. I never did."
"A double set?" Ariel replied. "It's funny, I've heard they're super rare, but now I know two people. Mulan, from the gym has them."
"Go figure." Eric answered. There was a moment of silence.
Eric broke it.
"So, umm, how about we get that dinner. Tonight."
"Or we could get lunch, right now."
He smiled. "Lunch right now it is."
A couple of notes: Ursula and Mal's third is Cruella, I won't be doing a story for them but I still wanted to give them a shout out, and establish that there are groups of three besides the one I will be writing. Also, these chapters seem to be getting longer. It isn't intentional, it just happens to be what's coming out of my head. Reviews, as mentioned above, are loved.