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Eric walked slowly through the sand with Ariel at his side. They had been together now for twenty years. Long enough for him to have acceded to the throne. And with his reign, with her beside him, they had brought the kingdom into a whole new era. They now boasted the mightiest navy to ever sail the seas, state of the art ships powered by steam engines were the crown jewel of their fleets.Factories had started to dot the landscape, allowing them to manufacture weapons faster and with greater quality than all of their neighbors. They had electricity now, too, and consequently were no longer servants of the sun; theirs was the first kingdom to stay up all night, though no matter how jealously they guarded their secrets, other nations had begun to slowly steal them or copy them. Which only increased the need to utilize their strategic advantages for as long as they could.Ariel breathed in the salty ocean air. “Oh, how I’ve missed the ocean!” She danced around in the sand, beaming from ear to ear at the threshold to her old home.“Ariel, careful!” Eric shouted. He grabbed her arm and pulled her to him. The ocean waves lapped up to where her feet had just been. They took her footprints with them as they receded. Eric grabbed her hand and led her further away from the shore, but no matter how far uptide they moved, the waters seemed to follow. “You can’t touch the water. You know that!”Her effervescent happiness disappeared as she clung tightly to his arm. The light had left her eyes, and he hated himself for being the one to extinguish it. Once upon a time, he’d been her handsome prince that had pulled her out from the darkness of the ocean. Now, he felt more like a pirate that jealously kept his booty to himself, when in fact it belonged to the ocean’s depths.“It’s getting cold,” Ariel said, voice small and timid. She took one last look out at the ocean, allowing one more moment of wistfulness before she returned to the queen their people had come to expect of her. “Let’s go inside, Eric.”“Alright.” Eric pulled her into his side and laid a kiss on the side of her head. “I heard that a trader from the Kingdom of Huacitl has come to offer his goods. I am sure there’s something that will interest you there.”Ariel gave him a polite smile that didn’t reach her eyes. Then she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear as she gazed at the ocean one last time. “Let’s go.”But as she turned back towards him, a wave splashed against a nearby rock. Sea foam descended on the two of them. For a moment, both of them were laughing like they had in the old days. But as Eric’s vision cleared, all he saw where Ariel had stood were the bits of foam that floated away on the wind. The rest landed in the tide and were washed out to sea. He collapsed to his knees and screamed…Eric woke with a fright, his sheets soaked with sweat. This wasn’t the first time he’d had this nightmare. He patted around the spot next to him on the bed, desperate to feel Ariel beside him. But all his hand could feel were the sheets.He was out of bed and dressed within minutes as he barreled out of their room. A guard quickly confirmed what he’d feared, and almost fifteen minutes later, he’d finally cleared the god forsaken castle with all its stairs and mazes. He broke into a run as he neared the beach. “Ariel!”This wasn’t the first time Ariel had gone to the beach. For months now, she kept coming here without a word to anyone. She would just sit there on the sand and watch the horizon, all the wonder that her eyes once held for the world, above and below the ocean, gone.“Ariel!” Eric shouted furiously. Still no response. He was on the sand now. He’d find her soon. She’d be there, she’d be there, she’d be there, he kept telling himself. When Ariel wasn’t on the beach, zoned out to the world, she more often than not stayed in bed. Or stared out the window with melancholy. She still showed up for their royal duties; she could fake a smile, give a polite greeting, remember friends and family of politicians he never had a prayer of remembering himself. But outside of their duties, the Ariel he had known and fallen in love with seemed to have disappeared. Trapped somewhere inside her own mind, a glum corpse that knew all the people wanted was for her to dress pretty and make a good impression, not for her sake, but for his. “God dammit, if you can hear me, answer. Please! Ariel!”“Eric?” a distant voice called out. Eric sighed a breath of relief and charged across the beach as fast as his legs would take him. He wasn’t quite the young man she’d fallen in love with, but at this very moment, he felt like he had in his youth, the muscles in his legs pumping with all their might to cross the beach in record time.He practically plowed into her as he wrapped her in a great bear hug and spun her around. For a brief moment, she laughed, a tiny grin forming where only he’d seen a frown. But as soon as her feet touched the ground, that Ariel was gone, replaced by the one from the past few months.“Has something happened?” Ariel asked. He held her against his chest as she looked up at him.“Of course something has happened!” Eric said, his voice cracking against his will. He spoke as if he could barely catch his breath. “I woke without you again. Without a note, without a warning.”“I don’t understand the problem,” Ariel said, eyes downcast. The little bit of enthusiasm she’d had from his hug died as he let go of her. She stepped back from him and faced the ocean, kicking her toes in the sand. “I just came out to the ocean.”“You just keep coming out to the ocean,” Eric rebutted. “Gods, Ariel. The way you stare at it… I thought at first you were homesick. I could understand that. But when I see you looking-”“Looking what?” Ariel growled, arms encircling herself. A storm was rolling in over the horizon, and the beach was unseasonably cold. As she wore little more than a shirt and skirt hardly befitting royalty (she’d bought them a year ago, her eyes had lit up at the clothes in the market they had visited; her tastes had always been strange, and there was no way he’d ever think of denying her such a simple pleasure), it was no wonder she was freezing.“Looking like you’d rather return to the ocean,” Eric confessed.“I am here, am I not?” Ariel said bitterly, walking out towards the waves before he could stop her. They lapped at her bare feet, and his nightmares flashed back as he reached a hand out in desperation. He could almost see her dissolving into seafoam and being carried away by the tide, and like in his dream, he fell to his knees. He couldn’t watch it happen again!“Eric!” He felt arms around him. Soft, warm hands tried to pull his head from between his hands and knees. “Eric, I’m here. I’m here!”Slowly, he let himself look up, his whole body trembling as he stared at Ariel. Ariel, who was whole and decidedly not a mess of bubbles. She bent down on her knees and hugged him, and he let her hold him until his shaking started to ease. “What happened, Eric?”“I…” Eric hated to admit weakness. What kind of man behaved like he just had? But losing Ariel would feel like losing his life. For months, he’d been living in constant fear of her walking out into the ocean and leaving him forever. “I keep having a dream where you are washed out to the ocean. I thought… I don’t know what I thought. I fear I am going mad at this rate.”“You are not mad, Eric,” Ariel reassured him, rubbing her hand up and down his back. Instead of standing up, both of them decided to sit on the sand next to each other. The waves were downtide, but slowly creeping closer. “I will never leave you. Not like that.”Eric heard what wasn’t being said. She had been thinking of going back. He thought he’d given her everything; was his heart and his kingdom not enough? “The way you look out at the ocean, Ariel… The way you’ve been for the last few months. You won’t talk to me, you won’t let me know why you’re feeling like this, and I can’t…” Eric hated himself for choking up. God, she would probably never look at him the same way again if he broke down and cried. He knew he loved her; he’d never known he’d loved her this much.“It’s been twenty years,” Ariel said, her gaze locked on the ocean, her words as if she was talking to no one in particular. “Of course I miss it. I dream of it sometimes. I see these terrible things that will happen to it. Manmade nets of strange designs that choke out its life, all sorts of human junk that I once admired destroying all the beauty I’d taken for granted. I can’t help but need to see it.”“It’s more than that,” Eric said, unwilling to let this go. That was part of it, yes, but he knew there was more. Ariel stayed silent. Her hair blew in the wind. Lightning flashed in the far distance, indicating that they’d soon have to head inside. Reasonably, they already should have. He reached out and laid his hand over hers. “Please, Ariel. Tell me what’s really wrong.”“Eric, I-” Ariel picked at the sand with her free hand. “This world is not what I thought when I was younger. It has changed so much that I can hardly recognize it. Ever since they discovered how useful coal could be, the air has changed; it chokes my lungs, the world smells terrible. I hate it.”“So do I, Ariel. But it has ensured that our kingdom will not fall behind others. It’s the unfortunate cost of progress.”“And my dreams show me where that progress will end,” Ariel replied defiantly.“You speak as if they are prophecies rather than fears.”“I believe that is exactly what they are.” Ariel turned to look at Eric, her face downtrodden and her eyes on their linked hands.“Maybe we can find a solution. A different method than coal-”“Maybe you can,” Ariel said sadly. He looked at her as if she were crazy. “Let’s not pretend, Eric. In name, I may be your queen, but the people will not listen to me. Even if they should, your nobility will not. They do not want a woman to lead. They do not want me to even have a voice; you are, perhaps, the only one that appreciates that I got it back. And now they…”Eric squeezed her hand reassuringly. He wasn’t blind to politics, much as sometimes he wished he were.“Now they accuse me of being barren,” Ariel admitted, tears forming in her eyes. “To hear that I am destroying you and the kingdom because… You know how much I wanted to have a child.”Eric could take no more as he pulled her into him once again. “I know.” She rested her head against his shoulder as he stroked her hair. He had not heard people making such accusations. It was his foolishness that believed they were lucky, that the court gossips were not seeking to tear them apart for a lack of an heir. Of course they would have blamed Ariel behind his back.“And it never stops. How many wars have we had in the last ten years? How many people have died so that a few of those grubby little nobles can line their pockets with more than they’ll ever spend?” Ariel was crying now, her face buried into his shoulder for a moment before she continued. “The world has lost its spark. There is nothing of human invention that fascinates me anymore. All there was to explore has been discovered. And there is no human I can converse with that I don’t secretly despise. How can I when I watch those that would call me a friend speculate if the storyteller from the Empire of Lanwa’s tale was true: a human that eats the scales of a mermaid can gain eternal youth. They joked about catching my kind, my family, and eating them.”As far as most people were concerned, mermaids were the stuff of myth. But then he could easily understand Ariel’s fear; one of those friends could see her conversing with her sisters on the shore and decide to spear them through with a harpoon, all in a misguided and inhumane attempt at immortality.“I remain here in this world for you, Eric,” Ariel continued. “But I can not help the pull I feel towards the ocean. Back to a place that valued my voice, to a peace this kingdom has not known since the discovery of things our people called a gift. I have never forgotten the pull of the tide, the joys of exploring the endless depths of the ocean, the speed and freedom I once had to swim across the ocean in any direction I liked.”“We’ll figure this out,” Eric declared, though even he didn’t know if it was for her sake or his. “I love you, Ariel. We will find a way through this.”Three weeks had passed since their conversation on the beach. Eric had done his best to find ways to bring back Ariel’s interest in the world. He’d insisted that outside of an emergency, he and Ariel would be taking a well earned vacation.Before he’d started their vacation, however, he had gathered together a couple of his closest friends and tasked them with finding a way to combat the fumes that coal generated. Not only that, he’d secretly been going through his genealogy to see how succession was handled when the king had no heirs. And to see if, and how, adoptions had ever been handled.He was hesitant to broach the idea of adoption to Ariel, but as the years had made apparent, they would not be having a biological child of their own. Worse yet, as he looked into those spreading rumors about her being barren, he’d found out some of the nobles were starting to coalesce into two factions; one that wanted to see him have an accident, which was none too surprising, and “loyalists” that had been passing around names for possible concubines to bear him an heir and secure the kingdom.A seagull flew in through the window. It landed by Ariel, who sat at the desk in their room. She conversed with him as if he could speak, as she always had with creatures that were out at sea. He never knew for sure if she could really speak to them, or if it was a strange thing that was part of the mermaids’ culture. Even with what he’d seen, it still felt incredulous to be able to talk to animals.Ariel thanked the seagull as she retrieved the rolled up parchment, a special kind resistant to water that the mermaids had developed. She read the scroll quickly, then pulled out her own parchment and begun to write a reply. Eric wondered what was happening. Normally, she met her sisters at the beach. He’d only seen her send a letter three times before, usually because there was a formal occasion, like one of her sisters getting married. Once she was done, she rolled it up and attached it to the seagull’s leg.“What was that about?” Eric asked as Ariel stood up. She took off her pajamas.“You know my father,” she said with a laugh while she dressed in front of him. Her beauty still managed to steal his breath away. “Always with the formal method of communication.”Eric let the subject drop. He knew there must be more, but he had to let Ariel come to him in her own time. Ever since that day on the beach, she’d been sharing more and more with him. It disturbed him how disillusioned she’d become without him ever noticing. But talking about it was helping her. She’d started to joke with him again once in a while, and there were moments between the two of them where it felt like nothing was wrong. But he still woke up most mornings without her, and she stilled stared at the ocean with a lust that he could not quench.Eric stood up and started to get dressed himself. “A new merchant has come by bearing, from what I understand, creations unlike this kingdom has ever seen.”“Why bother?” Ariel replied as she brushed her hair. “Last time, they claimed to have a machine that could play chess.”“I don’t think they expected anyone to check under the curtain.”“I should think that was their fatal flaw.”“They could not have anticipated you, I suspect.” Eric chuckled. The machine, that supposedly could play against any human player, had been the one thing to pique Ariel’s curiosity in a long time.“Surely, if you’ve boasted that you’ve invented something so spectacular, you’d wish to show off how it works!” Ariel replied impassionately. Back then, Ariel had, quite unexpectedly, lifted the curtain under the machine in her fascination. Only to reveal the man hidden within that controlled the game. Back then, it’d cost her her smile. Now, the memory seemed to bring it back.“Then we should go visit this merchant, to make sure he is not scamming anyone,” Eric insisted. He moved towards a drawer and pulled out the small present from within. A gift from the merchant when he’d arrived.Eric reached over Ariel’s shoulder and placed the present on the desk. She paused as she brushed her hair to see what he was doing. “Perhaps this will intrigue you.”Ariel picked it up and examined it. She looked back at Eric and questioned him with her eyes before she returned her attentions to what he was told was a fan. Peeling it apart, in a manner of speaking, she slowly unfurled the folding fan. A beautifully hand painted image of a golden carp jumping out of the water was etched into its folds. “Is this a fan?”“So I’m told.”Ariel tried it, a small grin lighting up her lips. Then she stood up to face Eric and fanned him with it. He had to admit that it seemed handy, and far more compact than the hand fans that they typically used in their kingdom. “Thank you, Eric!”“I am told by the merchant that they can make a custom one that can also double as a weapon,” he added. Perhaps it made the mood more somber, but as someone in Ariel’s position, the ability to defend herself in a pinch could be important. “In case you feel the need for a little extra protection.”“It is sad that something so beautiful could be turned into a weapon,” Ariel remarked. She folded and unfolded the fan with the fascination of her younger self. After a minute, she realized that she could simply thrust the fan in one direction or the other to open and close its folds. She alighted with the widest grin he’d seen in awhile. “And I much prefer the one you have chosen for me.”“You can see everything from up here!” Ariel stopped to look at the horizon. They stood on a break area on the small mountain, about three-fourths of the way to the summit. The early morning air was cool and fresh, the grass and leaves and needles all still fresh with dew.“I told you that you’d like it.” Eric came up beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. That smile was everything he’d been looking for. If she thought it looked great now, she’d be amazed by the time they’d reached the top. He’d always wanted to take her there; there always seemed to be something more important. Not anymore, not ever again.Ariel took a large swig from her canteen and managed to empty her first canteen. Eric always preferred to come prepared, so each of them had a few canteens just in case. But Ariel, ever a creature of the water, always seemed to drink more than any human would need. He took a moment to refresh himself, unaccustomed to a workout like this since he’d become king.“Why have we never done this?” Ariel asked as they started back up the mountain. They had an entourage of people that followed behind them a minute later; a professional hiker/nature-man to guide them through any trouble, a doctor for any unforeseen circumstances, and a couple unlucky members of the royal guard who were saddled with their supplies. Eric wished it could be only them, but they were a necessary evil. The goal of this trip hadn’t been alone time with Ariel, but to show her something she’d yet to see. And to remind her that having legs wasn’t such a bad thing.“I’m asking myself the same question,” he huffed. Out of shape did not begin to describe how he was feeling. Sitting on the throne had taken its toll over the years. “I’ve been asking that question about a lot of things lately.”Ariel looked over and considered him for a moment. Then she went back to focusing on the hike. They focused on doing their best to reach the summit. A half-hour later, after what felt like a monumental effort, they reached the summit. Eric collapsed on his back. He was breathing heavily and desperately gulped down whatever water was left in his canteen.“Need help up?” Ariel asked, extending a hand towards him. He took it, then yanked her down onto him. “Hey!” Ariel giggled as he captured her in his arms, not caring that they were laying on the grass and dirt of the summit.“I just need a moment to catch my breath,” Eric told her as she settled on top of him. For a second, she looked up, before she focused on him again. He could guess that it was their entourage being not so subtly told to fuck off to anywhere else out of sight.Ariel leaned down towards him. Their foreheads rested against each other. “I thought we came up here for the view?” Ariel asked. It had been so long since they’d shared a simple moment like this. Over the last year or two, there always seemed to be something more important for Eric to manage. Ariel would be there the next day. He’d taken that for granted for too long.Ariel nuzzled his nose with hers and kissed him on the cheek before she backed off of him and stood up. He followed her this time. Both of them walked towards the edge of the summit and took in the horizon. This was the best view of their entire kingdom and it took both of their breaths away. Eric hadn’t been up here since he was but a boy, being shown by his father what he’d inherit someday.“If only I could paint,” Ariel said, catching Eric off guard. He laughed at that, much to her chagrin. Ariel had tried to take up painting early on in their marriage; it had not gone well. Ariel was many things, but a gifted artist was not one of them. Ariel growled. “Keep laughing like that and I’ll paint your royal portrait.”“Good gods, woman. Please, no,” Eric begged through his laughter. He placed a hand on her shoulder. She stared at him indignantly. Eric sobered up quickly as he let go of her. “What I meant, dear, is that I could not deserve such an honor.”“Oh, I think you’re more than worthy of the honor,” Ariel replied, looking back over the summit. Her mood turned somber as she continued, “The view is spectacular. But that’s not why you brought me out here, is it, Eric?”Eric scratched at his cheek. She wasn’t wrong. He had many reasons to take her on this hike, none as important as spending time with her. But there was another subject he’d wished to broach in a somewhat private place (the entourage were doing a good job staying out of sight at least).“I’m not suggesting we do this right away,” Eric led with that, unsure how this would go down. In many ways, he felt like they should have talked about this years ago. But there was no better time than the present to remedy that. “What do you think about adopting? A kid, I mean.”Ariel’s gaze was ripped away from the horizon by his words. “Eric, we can’t do that. Think about the succession-”“It won’t be an issue,” Eric promised. He took her hands in his own. Their hands hung loosely between the two of them. “I will appoint my cousin, the baron, and his family as the successors. Our kid would still be a royal heir with a title, but their descendants would become barons; they would be next in line after my cousin and his family.”“Do you really think things will go that smoothly?!” Ariel rebuked him, her voice rising. Eric was taken aback. She was rarely angry. “You can’t, we can’t, protect them. The nobles are like a pack of vultures. They’ll be circling, waiting, for any opening to tear our child apart.”“I promise, Ariel, I will protect them. I will protect us.”“Eric, stop. Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” Despite her anger, she never let go of him. Looking down towards the ground, she continued, “I would love to have a child. To start our own family. But that’s not our reality. It’s not how this world works.”“And your kingdom would have been more accepting?!” Eric shot back. Ariel always had a superiority complex about her father’s kingdom-“I’m sure Father would have had an issue.” She spoke slowly and carefully, choosing each word. She let go of his hands and he realized he’d really hit a nerve. “But our child would not be in danger of being killed. You forget, Eric. I have lived in your kingdom for twenty years. You have never once visited mine.”“How the fuck am I supposed to visit your father’s kingdom?” Eric shouted, throwing his hands up in the air. He walked around in a circle, pacing, trying to calm down. The last thing he’d expected was to have an argument like this. They hadn’t been this angry with each other in years- He realized that they hadn’t had the chance to argue like this in years, because he was hardly there for her. Always so busy…“You’ve never even asked if there was a way to visit.” Ariel’s voice was unnervingly calm. Eric felt damned at that statement. Logically, how could he have? Was she implying there had always been a way for them to go there? “I want a child, Eric. Gods know I’ve wanted one with you for so long. But that is not our reality. Whatever fantasy you’re entertaining, you have to realize, that is something we’ll never have.”“We could try,” he countered weakly. Her arguments weren’t exactly wrong. It wasn’t like he was powerless to protect an adopted child, but should he be injured, should he die, things would quickly go south. And maybe Ariel understood better than he ever could how the court would rip and tear at their child just because he was not of their blood.“If you need a child so badly, Eric, then there are plenty of women lining up,” Ariel said bitterly, wrapping her arms around herself. The court gossip, again. Eric was tired of the fucking court gossip ruining their lives!“Ariel, I would never do that.” He hoped his words would reassure her. They weren’t working. The gossip must have done a number on her head. Was it his new routine to hate himself for how much he’d been missing over the past couple years?Eric tried to grip her shoulder, but she shrugged him off. “If I have a child, it is with you. Or it is with no one at all. I love you, Ariel. I would never hurt you like that.” Ariel had her back to him, and after a few seconds, she turned around to face him. Tears flowed from her eyes. He reached out for her and this time she didn’t resist. She opened her arms wide as they embraced. He nuzzled the side of her head and kissed it, thankful that she was still willing to open up to him.“I don’t need to have a child,” Ariel sniffled as she laid her head against his shoulder. “You are enough for me, Eric. Truly.”Eric wasn’t about to let himself cry. It was hard not to, though. “And you are enough for me.”Eric woke up, and again, Ariel was not beside him. His heart broke at that. He’d thought that somehow he’d gotten through to her yesterday. When they’d returned home from their hike, they’d made love all night. It hadn’t been that amazing, that intimate, between them in years.Groaning from his aching muscles, he made his way out of bed. As he went to go about his morning routines, however, he found a note on their table in Ariel’s handwriting. The note was simple, just telling him that she’d gone to the beach. The writing was stilted, almost mechanical, which was so unlike Ariel; her normal handwriting was vibrant and curved and bent and expressed a cheer not many people had. Still, a note was better than nothing. Maybe things had changed, if only a little.He made his way out to the beach, not surprised when he found Ariel staring at the waters with dead eyes. She looked up at him, surprised that he’d followed her out here on a cold, cloudy day. But there was no smile nor joy. Only resignation marred her features.Eric didn’t say anything as he took a seat next to her. Staring out at the ocean, he tried to piece together what it was that drew her in, if it were something he had a chance of understanding at all. Ariel gripped his hand as they sat there. Eric relaxed at the touch.“I can’t always be smiling and happy,” Ariel muttered. Both of them kept their focus on the ocean.“I didn’t say anything?”“No, Eric.” Ariel turned to look at him. “I know that. I don’t really know when it happened. But the past couple years, everything seems dull. Pointless. And I look out at the ocean, and I remember a time when I was happy. When I was curious and recklessly inquisitive, and the whole world seemed like the greatest mystery. Some days I swear I can feel that spark again, but most days, I can’t help but long for what once was. It’s so difficult to find anything good in this world, and further impossible to see how it can stand out against the overwhelming tide of crap humans produce.”“Is it really that different down there?” Eric asked. He was appalled that he didn’t have a clue. Ariel was human now. That was a basic and defining fact of their relationship. Somehow, her past had never mattered. While he knew little things here or there, most were just stories of her family, the few that she’d ever volunteered.“No.” Ariel sighed. “We’re not all that different. Though my people down there were kinder than yours at court-”“Perhaps because your father-”“I know my experience is biased,” Ariel said, talking over him as he had to her. “But they truly are kinder down there. Ursula was all the proof you needed that we’re not that much different, but they were kinder to me and to each other. Everyone here is out for themselves; almost everyone back at home had a sense of belonging and community, and while they could be just as selfish, many of them chose not to be.”“Is it possible for you to visit?” Eric asked. His heart felt like it was about to seize up. There was nothing he feared more than Ariel disappearing into that great, open ocean. Ariel considered him. She looked so tired that she might just decide to rest here on the beach forever.“I’ve always feared my father may not let me return,” Ariel confessed, voice small and quiet. “I know- I know he gave us his blessing, and I know he would never actually do that to me now. But he did try to keep me there back then, and I…”“I wish there was something I could do,” Eric confessed, staring at his lap. His free hand drew a circle in the sand.“There is,” Ariel said, a little life having entered her again. She let go of his hand and stood up. She walked backwards towards the ocean, her arms crossed behind her. “Come out into the waters with me.”Eric felt his breathing become labored. The nightmares replayed in his head. She could turn into seafoam at any moment and…“Eric, please.” Ariel stopped and waited for him to follow. “I’m not going to disappear. Please. Come see. I’ll still be right here.”Eric stood up and followed her. Slowly, she moved backwards into the water until it covered her ankles when the tide would come in. Still she moved, unaffected by the pull of the tide; perhaps a leftover from her time as a mermaid. He followed her until the water was up to his ankles. And then she splashed him. “Hey!”“You needed to lighten up a little.” Ariel tried to splash him again. He dodged, then splashed her. There was a momentary panic before she moved to splash him again, and then, when she was still there, he knew she was not about to dissolve into seafoam this day. It wouldn’t fix everything right away, but slowly his nerves went away for the moment as they continued to splash each other. “Everything is not your fault, Eric.”“I fear a lot of it is,” he said as they stopped. The tide came in and went out, the water sloshing around their legs.“I’m sorry I’ve scared you so,” Ariel said. “I knew about your nightmares, but I couldn’t… I don’t know, really. I fear my mind feels broken when these moods come over me. It’s hard to think of much else outside of myself; it feels pointless to try to do anything about it.”“I am just glad you’re still here with me,” Eric told her, deciding to splash her. Ariel laughed, finally, and he hoped that at least for now, her mood had improved. She tried to splash him back, and he decided to change tactics. Taking the water straight on, he walked through it as quickly as he could and headed for her.Soon they were out of the water as he chased her about on the sand, determined to catch her. He wasn’t unfamiliar with what she meant about the spark she’d once had in her youth; growing older had taken its toll on him as well. But as he managed to catch her, he felt like he had back when this was all new, when he’d been saved by an impossibly beautiful princess that gave up her home and her voice for him.Ariel giggled as he managed to wrap his arms around her from behind. He pulled her up into the air for a brief second, laughing as he did so and dragging out a girlish scream of delight from Ariel. When he put her down, he let her go and waited for her to turn around. And then his hand cupped her cheek, which practically fit in the palm of his hand. He used his other hand to grip the back of her neck as he kissed her. Her hands came to rest on his chest before she soon slipped them into the hem of his shirt and moved them across his skin.“I’ve missed you,” Eric breathed before he could stop himself. Ariel had set his senses on fire, drowning out the rest of the world.“I’ve missed you too, Eric.” Ariel leaned up to kiss him again.Things between Ariel and Eric weren’t magically fixed overnight. But after a couple weeks, Eric was fairly certain they were in a better place than they’d been in years. Ariel’s melancholy didn’t disappear entirely, but she communicated where she was going now. And more often than not, Ariel would smile or laugh rather than shuffle off somewhere in silence.On all but one morning Eric had awoken to Ariel there beside him in bed. Refusing to get up any earlier than he might have to, he wrapped his arms around her and fell asleep for another half hour. But no matter how great this time together had been, duty called and their vacation would have to come to an end. Not quite yet, though.Eric woke up much earlier than normal that morning. His heartbeat was erratic as he made his way towards the beach in the cool morning air, the sun only beginning to crest the horizon. As he strolled its shores, waiting for the dawn, seafoam splashed against the rocks in the weak morning light. It no longer scared him like it had, but it still made him uneasy.He sat down in the sand and waited for there to be a little more light before he started searching for who he was supposed to meet. It gave him plenty of time to reflect on their lives. While Ariel’s mood was generally better, she’d still soured on humans. He couldn’t blame her, considering most of their interactions were with nobility; Ariel looked as if she’d be happier with the help than her peers.But she was also homesick. For all of their relationship, he’d mostly ignored where she came from. It was only natural that a mermaid would aspire to be fully human. Why look back?The rays of the sun started to beat down on the waters as dawn broke. Ariel deserved someone who wasn’t so ignorant. Who didn’t ignore everything she had been, and all the things she still was.Eric stood up and started to search the rocks. He wasn’t sure how he’d know if he’d found the right one. Ariel’s father hadn’t thought to instruct him, like it should be obvious, and they should all look so differently.Finally, he came along a rather large red crab among the rocks. He assumed it must be the messenger. He decided to take a risk and sat down next to it. If Ariel could talk to them, then maybe he could too? As it stood, he was unsure what to do except to introduce himself.“Sir Crab? Or Miss? Anyway, honored Crab, I am Eric, Ariel’s husband. Her father was supposed to send you to me with a special gift.”The crab did not respond, but it didn’t scurry away either. Maybe it could only understand parts of what he was saying? Eric tried making some gestures to indicate what he was talking about, hoping to overcome the language barrier. At no point did he fail to realize that he looked like a fool, but he was left with few other options.“Honored crab, surely there is something you might be able to do or say, so that I know you understand what I am saying.”Eric quickly turned his head when he heard giggling from behind him. Ariel was behind him, having a hard time stopping her laughter. “What are you doing talking to a crab? It’s just a crab.”“Oh, I… Uh, that explains a lot,” Eric said as he hung his head. A fool he was, then. There were worse things he could be if it were for her sake.“Why are you looking for Sebastian?”“Is that the crab’s name?” Eric stared at her, confused. Understanding dawned on him as he remembered the name. She had talked a lot about Sebastian when she had her voice restored. He was one of the creatures who had helped her out when she came to land.“Yes, but why are you looking for him?” Ariel tilted her head, wearing a curious expression.“I was, well- It was a surprise,” Eric told her. “Is there any chance you can help me find him?”“Of course,” Ariel said, that curious expression never leaving her face. “I’m surprised you still want to come out to the beach. We’ve been here a lot recently.”Ariel walked ahead on the beach, leaving small footprints in the sand. As Eric caught up, his much larger ones were there beside hers. But as they were walking near the tide, the water eventually came and washed them away. Eric swallowed, his surprise no longer much of a secret.“There’s something I wanted to tell you,” Eric led with.“If you mean the present, I have already found it,” Ariel said. She pulled out the strange contraption Eric had found from a merchant the other day. It was called, if he recalled correctly, a finger trap. It seemed the kind of thing she’d love. “But what do you do with it?”“You, uh, put your finger from each hand in it I’m told.” Eric lost his nerve to address the real surprise. It hadn’t been easy for him to ask for this help. And he was still nervous about what the result would be. Terrified, in a way.Ariel did as instructed with her index fingers, looked at him as if he were mad, then tried to free her fingers. “What?”“That’s why it’s called a finger trap.” Eric came over to help her, but she shooed him off as best as she could with her hands stuck together by the trap.Ariel pulled and pulled again. Her face scrunched up as she tried to figure the device out. “And here I thought this was a strange hair ornament.” Eric laughed. Ariel relaxed for a moment, concentrated, then pulled only a single finger out. With a gasp of delight, she freed her other finger. “Strange, useless, but fascinating. I think I will play a trick on my sisters with this device.”“Um, speaking of your sisters…” Eric scratched at his chin. “I talked with your father. To see if it was possible for us to visit. Sebastian is supposed to come carrying the potions that will enable it. That is, if you want to go see your family.”“Oh, Eric, I’d love to.” Ariel stashed the finger trap away. She came up to him and laid a hand on his upper arm. “But I don’t want to leave you here-”“Ariel, I said us, not just you.” Her stare of disbelief amused him. “Of course, if you’d rather go on your own-”“You would come with me?” Ariel asked. “You realize that means-” Eric nodded his head. He knew exactly what it meant. He was not comfortable with the idea of temporarily becoming a mermaid – merman? – but he’d at least give it a try to visit her home one time. The light of dawn and the brightness of the electric bulbs their kingdom had developed paled in comparison to how Ariel began to glow. It would take time, but he was going to do everything in his power to make her as happy as the day they wed.“Really? Eric, thank you!” Ariel shouted. She embraced him before she leaned up on her toes to kiss him. “There are so many places to show you! Oh, I know you’ll love some of the shipwrecks!”Eric stroked her hair as he listened to her go on and on and on of all the places they could see below the sea. In the distance, he saw a red crab of strange proportions that carried with it a bag between its pincers. His world was about to turn very, very strange. He kissed her forehead and embraced her tightly again. Their little moment was coming to an end and he was going to enjoy every last bit before they had to deal with a talking crab.Almost like the crab knew not to approach yet, it stopped a short distance behind Ariel. “I love you, Ariel. And I very much look forward to seeing your kingdom.” What he wasn’t telling her, yet, was that if she wished to return permanently, he would accompany her. If his kingdom were not enough to keep her, he’d throw it away; he’d already started the steps to appoint his cousin as the heir to shut down the calls for a concubine. It no longer needed either of them, whereas, if Eric knew anything about Ariel, her kingdom could certainly use her. Only a little less than he himself did, however.“Eric, really, I…” Ariel sniffled to hold back her tears. A gentle wind picked up and blew loose strands of her hair about her shoulders. “I love you so much, Eric. I promise, we’re going to have a good time.”He had no doubt about it. Whatever the future held, they would be facing it together. There was nothing left to say; he kissed the girl.