Fresh Air

Chapter Seven

He had finally reached the area where the merpeople dwelled when he was stopped.

“Good Posiden, what happened to your tail?” came a voice from the side. He looked and saw the King’s court composer, Sebastian, on a rock. He swam over and looked the boy over.

“Well what happened?” he asked. Neptune was taken aback, he was still focused on the nights events. He shook it off and blinked at the crab.

“I was attacked by a shark,” he said. The crab swam closer and looked at his bandages.

“I’ve seen these, they are- you were with a human?” he asked hoping that he wasn’t right.

“Yes,” said Neptune.

“Oh what is our world coming too? You were with a human?”

“Look, I know you aren’t all that fond of humans, but you must have softened up to them since Princess Ariel is now one,” said Neptune, “plus they aren’t that bad. The one I saved not only is helping Ariel while she is on land she helped me after my shark attack.”

“Oh no, it’s that one girl. The daughter of the,” Sebastian gulped, “chef.”

“Yes, but she doesn’t eat fish. She said she was a vegetarian or something, only eats plants,” he said.

“You like her, don’t you boy?” he asked eyeing Neptune.

“Well, yes, she is kind and nice and-“ he started.

“Yes, and pretty, and all that. But you must realize what will happen if you keep up this relationship,” he said.

“We are just friends, Sebastian, and why do you care? You are just a court composer, it’s not like you are the king,” said Neptune swimming away from Sebastian but then he bumped into someone.

“Your highness!” gasped Sebastian. Neptune turned around and looked up at the King who had an amused smiled on his face as he looked at the boy before he caught sight of his tail and the bandages.

“I’m so sorry your highness,” said Neptune backing away from the king.

“Sebastian if you would please leave, I would like to talk to Neptune alone,” said King Triton. Sebastian looked between the two and left.

King Triton then turned to Neptune and gave him a sympathetic smile.

“So it seems I have another one of my people in love with a human,” he said sighing.

“No, your highness, I am not in love, I’m just friends with her,” he said.

“Are you now? Because I saw you return and you had the same look on my daughters face,” he said knowingly.

“I do not love her now, no, but it is possible I might like her in the near future. Especially if I keep seeing her. She is just so different from the other girls down here. But don’t get me wrong, your daughters are great,” said Neptune, quickly adding the end.

“Calm yourself, Neptune, it is all right. I will not deny you your heart’s desire. The main reason I wanted to speak with you is your tail. I can hardly imagine it can get you around very well, which is dangerous if another shark decides to attack.”

“Well what can I do about it?” he asked confused, “the best I can do is hope that it grows back together.”

“Ah, but look at who you are talking to,” said the king smiling.

“You want to help me?”

“Yes, but now comes the questions what will I be giving you? A new fin… of a pair of legs?”

“Why do you want to help me? And why are you giving me that choice. Don’t you think there have been enough changes for one day?”

“Neptune, I know how you make very little friends down here. Your parents often come to me worried. You spend one day up there and you already have a close friend, now if that doesn’t mean anything then I don’t know what does. Of course you will have to discuss this with your parents before I take any action, but I am giving you a choice and only you can make it. Now go home and when you are ready feel free to stop on by.” The King nodded to the boy and swam away.

Neptune was shocked. The king would give him legs if he wanted to? But that would mean leaving his parents, they were the only ones who were ever there for him. He couldn’t just abandon them, could he? He decided to go home and talk with his parents immediately. He knew what he wanted but he needed his parents’ support.

“Mum? Dad? I am home,” he said as he swam into his home.

“Where have you been all day, and what happened?” asked his mum swimming in and over to her son quickly.

“It’s nothing, I was out with a friend and I got attacked by a shark,” he said.

“A shark? Good heavens,” gasped his mother.

“And you lived? Good for you boy,” said his dad coming in.

“Honey don’t encourage him. Now I told you to stay away from sharks.”

“It’s not like I did it on purpose. It just snuck up on me.”

“Anyway I want to hear about this friend of yours,” said his dad.

“Well she’s nice and I met her today. I saved her from drowning and then took her to the coral reef and she showed me these things called fireworks and she helped bandage me up after my shark attack.”

“Wait, your friend isn’t human? Is she?” asked his mum.

“Yes, but she doesn’t hunt fish or even eat fish or any animal for that matter,” he said.

“Well if she can be friends with you, then I like her,” said his dad.

“Phil,” said his mum glaring at her husband.

“No, mum, he’s right. Actually there is something I need to talk to you about. Once I got back down here I ran into King Triton and he offered me something,” he said, “he said he could fix my tail predicament.”

“Oh how wonderful,” exclaimed his mum.

“But there is more. He said he could either give me a new tail, or legs,” he said and there was silence.

“Well surely you would pick a new tail right?” asked his mum confused.

“I don’t know,” said Neptune.

“I know, this girl, she’s something more than a friend, isn’t she?” asked his father.

“Not after one day, but I like her a lot, and it’s like everyone keeps saying, I have no friends down here, then I save the first human I see and she likes me? It’s crazy, but I never felt like I belonged down here.”

His parents looked at him then at each other. His father nodded and his mother was hesitant.

“I don’t know, Phil. He’s my little boy, I can’t lose him,” she said.

“You won’t be losing me. I can swim out here and visit, or something. We can make it work,” he said.

“Oh, come on, let the boy live the life he wants,” said his father putting a hand on his wife’s shoulder. She took a long time to respond.

“All right, but you promise to visit?”

“Thank you mum,” he said and hugged his parents.

The next morning Neptune and his parents made their way to the palace and were greeted kindly by the king.

“So you have made your choice, and I see your parents support you,” he said.

“Yes,” said Neptune.

“And?” he asked. Neptune turned to his parents and they smiled and nodded to him.

The market place was bustling as usual as Rosette made her way around town and picked up the things needed at the palace. Many of the shop keepers stopped to talk with her and she held the conversation until they started asking questions about Ariel. Eric had said he wanted to formally introduce her to the people so she wasn’t allowed to talk about her.

It was mid afternoon when she returned to the palace. She had lingered a bit at the stables in hopes that she would be able to avoid having to do any laundry. That was the one thing she hated was laundry because no matter what, she always managed to get completely soaked through.

She walked into the front room and over to the side stairs for the servants when Carlotta came rushing down.

“Where have you been?” she asked flushed.

“In the market. Why? What happened?” asked Rosette startled by the large woman’s sudden appearance.

“Just come quick, we’ve been waiting long enough,” she said and shoved Rosette up the stairs. They came to the balcony where Eric, Ariel, Grimsby, and someone whose back was turned were all enjoying some afternoon tea.

“Here she is,” said Carlotta. Rosette placed her basket down and walked out and looked around confused.

“What’s going on?” she asked looking at Eric.

“Well, go ahead,” said Eric looking at Ariel.

“Right, Rosette I would like you meet an old friend acquaintance of mine,” she said and the stranger stood up and turned to Rosette who gasped.