Both Worlds
Title: Both Worlds
Author: Katya Starling
Fandom: The Little Mermaid
Characters/Pairing: Eric/Ariel
Rating: PG/K+
Challenge: 100 Fandoms 6: Home and FFFC r19.09: Flounder
Warnings: Future Fic
Word Count: 1,425
Date Written: 6 May 2019
Summary:
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to Disney, not the author, and are used without permission.
She stood on the rock that separated her two kingdoms and looked out over the blue, shining sea. She had come too early today, and already the water was rapidly drying from her too human legs. She sighed as she looked down at her toes. She wiggled them up at her, but the motion no longer brought her joy as it once had. It had not in many years now. Very few things brought her joy now.
Ariel’s heart ached as she looked up again and the water remained calm. There wasn’t a single wave, not so much as a ripple, no indication at all that no one was coming to meet her. They had all moved on with their lives. Even Flounder now had a mate and little fishes. He had a school all his own for which to care, and now that her father was growing older, Sebastian’s days were filled with running the kingdom from behind His Majesty’s beard.
Ariel sighed again and glanced over her bare shoulder. A kingdom she’d once loved loomed behind her. The castle walls held her own children within its protective barriers, and her devoted husband was eagerly awaiting her return. She had everything for which any other woman could have ever asked.
Yet she was still unhappy. She had not been happy since she’d been young. She barely even remembered the feeling, but she did recall delighting over such simple things, from a dinglehopper to the wiggling of human toes. She sighed once more and ran her hands over her tired, sorrowful face. That was her entire problem in a shell: She had always been far too fascinated with the human species.
She had been so busy trying to become a human that she’d forgotten to relish and appreciate what she was and what she did have, and now that she was gone from that world, she could never return. Tears started streaming down her face. She sniffled and almost sobbed aloud. People were watching her for the shore. They always did these days: that was another reason why her own people never came to meet her any more.
She’d asked Eric to outlaw the witnesses, but he hadn’t understood her plea. How could he? He was in his kingdom; he had his friends and family, his people, his home. She was the one who still felt like an outcast. She was the one who always had and always would, because everyone in her own home was correct: She would never belong here.
She was not a human, and no matter how hard she tried, she would never be a human. A scream built within her, but she would not let it go where others could hear her. She would not release her pain where humans who could never understand could hear her and talk about their Queen, gossip about her growing madness and how the King never should have taken a fishwoman for a wife.
She was well aware of their tales. That was another thing of which she’d tried to tell Eric, a possible danger of which she’d tried to warn him, but he always insisted on looking at the positive side. He never wanted to doubt his people. He didn’t want to fear his own species and the things of which they were capable, but she’d seen those horrid things firsthand.
At least fishing was now banned, she thought, taking a small amount of pride and comfort in that knowledge, but other humans still ate her friends. She had to see fishermen and their catches every time they visited other kingdoms, and nobody but Eric ever understood why she screamed and cried at the terrible sights. Sometimes she doubted even he did until he took her in his arms and comforted her. He could only affect their own laws; he’d told her that a thousand times plus.
But some days, it just didn’t help. Some days, like today, no matter how much he loved her and she him, Ariel still ached for her home. She still just wanted to go home, to her friends and family, to her people, her kingdom. She just wanted to swim the familiar waters, explore the familiar caves, see the faces of her nieces and nephews, feel her father’s embrace . . .
But she could not go home. She could never go home. She had known that when she’d accepted Eric’s hand in marriage. She had known that when she’d chosen to stay with him and try to become a loving, human wife to the kind and handsome Prince. She had always known that was the cost of staying with him, but she’d been willing to pay it to be with the man she loved.
She still loved him; she always would. Yet, still, her heart ached. Burying the scream that rose within her, Ariel dove into the water. A few of her most trusted guards ran for the King, but it was still hours before she resurfaced. She woke to his arms around her, gently yet also tightly holding her.
There were tears in his blue eyes as he cupped and tenderly stroked her cheek. “Did you try to leave me again?” he asked, his voice breaking.
Ariel felt the guards move closer, their hands going for their weapons. They thought she was a prisoner here, and in a way, they were right. Yet she was not her husband’s prisoner. She was the prisoner of her own heart and her own choices; she was her own prisoner. She’d always love both kingdoms, but she could only ever have one.
Her choice was made a long time ago. She lowered her gaze, her lids shielding some of the sadness from her eyes. “I can not,” she whispered, and she knew it was true in more than one way. She could not leave him, because she would be just as incomplete and sorrowful without him as she was when she missed her home and family so much that it became a physical pain within her, as it had been today.
She was glad the sun was finally setting; perhaps tomorrow would be better. The pain was always there, but like the sea and the changing of the waves, it was never constant. Some days hurt better than others while some nights, she was almost perfectly content to stay in her love’s warm and comforting embrace.
“I would let you go,” he whispered, his voice breaking along with his heart.
She almost hated herself for giving him pain; it added to her own hurt. She lifted her hand, cupped his face, and caressed him. He turned into her palm, placing a chaste kiss on her damp skin. “I know you would,” she whispered in return, “but you do not hold me. I am not,” she said more loudly so that the guards could hear, “your prisoner. I never have been. I chose to stay.” She lifted her thin shoulders into a very human expression, shrugging them. “I just miss them so sometimes.”
“I know.” A tear fell from his eye. She knew he’d keep her from all pain if only he could, but this was to be her life. She would always be torn between two worlds, never being able to have both yet always loving both. He stroked her long, red hair, in which there were now nestled a few, gray strands, and held her close against him.
His body wrapping around hers was as warm, strong, and comforting as it ever had been. She cried into his shoulder. Eric lifted her into his arms and carried her home, the only home she could ever have again, the only home she could ever have with the man she loved. “I love you,” she whispered, feeling a little better now that she was with him again. He’d been wrapped up in court all day, leaving her for far too long to her own thoughts and devices.
“I love you too,” he said, kissing her head, stroking her hair, and vowing to somehow find a way to make and keep his Queen happy. No matter what else they had to sacrifice along the way, all that should matter was that they were together, and one day, it would be all that did matter. He’d find a way to make it so. He was the King. Their whole world was supposed to be within his power to give her. He sighed deeply, knowing he could never give her both worlds for which she ached.
The End
Author: Katya Starling
Fandom: The Little Mermaid
Characters/Pairing: Eric/Ariel
Rating: PG/K+
Challenge: 100 Fandoms 6: Home and FFFC r19.09: Flounder
Warnings: Future Fic
Word Count: 1,425
Date Written: 6 May 2019
Summary:
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to Disney, not the author, and are used without permission.
She stood on the rock that separated her two kingdoms and looked out over the blue, shining sea. She had come too early today, and already the water was rapidly drying from her too human legs. She sighed as she looked down at her toes. She wiggled them up at her, but the motion no longer brought her joy as it once had. It had not in many years now. Very few things brought her joy now.
Ariel’s heart ached as she looked up again and the water remained calm. There wasn’t a single wave, not so much as a ripple, no indication at all that no one was coming to meet her. They had all moved on with their lives. Even Flounder now had a mate and little fishes. He had a school all his own for which to care, and now that her father was growing older, Sebastian’s days were filled with running the kingdom from behind His Majesty’s beard.
Ariel sighed again and glanced over her bare shoulder. A kingdom she’d once loved loomed behind her. The castle walls held her own children within its protective barriers, and her devoted husband was eagerly awaiting her return. She had everything for which any other woman could have ever asked.
Yet she was still unhappy. She had not been happy since she’d been young. She barely even remembered the feeling, but she did recall delighting over such simple things, from a dinglehopper to the wiggling of human toes. She sighed once more and ran her hands over her tired, sorrowful face. That was her entire problem in a shell: She had always been far too fascinated with the human species.
She had been so busy trying to become a human that she’d forgotten to relish and appreciate what she was and what she did have, and now that she was gone from that world, she could never return. Tears started streaming down her face. She sniffled and almost sobbed aloud. People were watching her for the shore. They always did these days: that was another reason why her own people never came to meet her any more.
She’d asked Eric to outlaw the witnesses, but he hadn’t understood her plea. How could he? He was in his kingdom; he had his friends and family, his people, his home. She was the one who still felt like an outcast. She was the one who always had and always would, because everyone in her own home was correct: She would never belong here.
She was not a human, and no matter how hard she tried, she would never be a human. A scream built within her, but she would not let it go where others could hear her. She would not release her pain where humans who could never understand could hear her and talk about their Queen, gossip about her growing madness and how the King never should have taken a fishwoman for a wife.
She was well aware of their tales. That was another thing of which she’d tried to tell Eric, a possible danger of which she’d tried to warn him, but he always insisted on looking at the positive side. He never wanted to doubt his people. He didn’t want to fear his own species and the things of which they were capable, but she’d seen those horrid things firsthand.
At least fishing was now banned, she thought, taking a small amount of pride and comfort in that knowledge, but other humans still ate her friends. She had to see fishermen and their catches every time they visited other kingdoms, and nobody but Eric ever understood why she screamed and cried at the terrible sights. Sometimes she doubted even he did until he took her in his arms and comforted her. He could only affect their own laws; he’d told her that a thousand times plus.
But some days, it just didn’t help. Some days, like today, no matter how much he loved her and she him, Ariel still ached for her home. She still just wanted to go home, to her friends and family, to her people, her kingdom. She just wanted to swim the familiar waters, explore the familiar caves, see the faces of her nieces and nephews, feel her father’s embrace . . .
But she could not go home. She could never go home. She had known that when she’d accepted Eric’s hand in marriage. She had known that when she’d chosen to stay with him and try to become a loving, human wife to the kind and handsome Prince. She had always known that was the cost of staying with him, but she’d been willing to pay it to be with the man she loved.
She still loved him; she always would. Yet, still, her heart ached. Burying the scream that rose within her, Ariel dove into the water. A few of her most trusted guards ran for the King, but it was still hours before she resurfaced. She woke to his arms around her, gently yet also tightly holding her.
There were tears in his blue eyes as he cupped and tenderly stroked her cheek. “Did you try to leave me again?” he asked, his voice breaking.
Ariel felt the guards move closer, their hands going for their weapons. They thought she was a prisoner here, and in a way, they were right. Yet she was not her husband’s prisoner. She was the prisoner of her own heart and her own choices; she was her own prisoner. She’d always love both kingdoms, but she could only ever have one.
Her choice was made a long time ago. She lowered her gaze, her lids shielding some of the sadness from her eyes. “I can not,” she whispered, and she knew it was true in more than one way. She could not leave him, because she would be just as incomplete and sorrowful without him as she was when she missed her home and family so much that it became a physical pain within her, as it had been today.
She was glad the sun was finally setting; perhaps tomorrow would be better. The pain was always there, but like the sea and the changing of the waves, it was never constant. Some days hurt better than others while some nights, she was almost perfectly content to stay in her love’s warm and comforting embrace.
“I would let you go,” he whispered, his voice breaking along with his heart.
She almost hated herself for giving him pain; it added to her own hurt. She lifted her hand, cupped his face, and caressed him. He turned into her palm, placing a chaste kiss on her damp skin. “I know you would,” she whispered in return, “but you do not hold me. I am not,” she said more loudly so that the guards could hear, “your prisoner. I never have been. I chose to stay.” She lifted her thin shoulders into a very human expression, shrugging them. “I just miss them so sometimes.”
“I know.” A tear fell from his eye. She knew he’d keep her from all pain if only he could, but this was to be her life. She would always be torn between two worlds, never being able to have both yet always loving both. He stroked her long, red hair, in which there were now nestled a few, gray strands, and held her close against him.
His body wrapping around hers was as warm, strong, and comforting as it ever had been. She cried into his shoulder. Eric lifted her into his arms and carried her home, the only home she could ever have again, the only home she could ever have with the man she loved. “I love you,” she whispered, feeling a little better now that she was with him again. He’d been wrapped up in court all day, leaving her for far too long to her own thoughts and devices.
“I love you too,” he said, kissing her head, stroking her hair, and vowing to somehow find a way to make and keep his Queen happy. No matter what else they had to sacrifice along the way, all that should matter was that they were together, and one day, it would be all that did matter. He’d find a way to make it so. He was the King. Their whole world was supposed to be within his power to give her. He sighed deeply, knowing he could never give her both worlds for which she ached.
The End