Hooked

Things hadn’t always been difficult for her. If anything, this so called curse everyone kept talking about had been a blessing. If that curse had stuck, Ariel wouldn’t have to remember him. Prince Eric.

She remembered how thinking about him had once consumed her thoughts, made her head light and heart beat faster than she thought possible. Now the thought of him just left a sour taste in her mouth and made her chest tighten. These rediscovered memories didn’t help much either. She had dreamed about Eric before the curse had broken, but she hadn’t known who he was. Now that she knew, now that she remembered… some mornings the dreams would be so intense she would wake up crying.

There was no way for her to escape these memories. She hoped that in time she could get over what had happened and could move on, but the return of the memories made it seem like everything that had happened had just happened yesterday.

She had heard talk around town that if you crossed the town line, that if you left Storybrooke, you would lose all of these memories from your previous life. Ariel had found herself many times standing right on the edge, wanting desperately to take that small step. Just one small step and all of her pain would vanish.

But something was holding her back. Before the curse had gone away, she hadn’t known much about herself. She didn’t know her family or really who she was. These memories gave her all of that. She now knew she was Ariel, heartbroken former mermaid. She could see her father and know that she was loved. She wondered if he was out there somewhere, whether she would ever see him again.

Having these memories made her yearn for the past, where everything was simpler, and she was happy and carefree. But she knew she had to do what she could with what she has. There was no easy way out of this.

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It didn’t take long for her to figure out what was going on in town. She may not go out often, but Ariel had a knack for overhearing important conversations. She kept hearing the names Cora and Hook, and the tones of the people’s voices were implying to her that these people were not good people. Putting two and two together, she realized that it was Hook who she had seen at the dock yesterday. It wasn’t hard to figure out that the man with a hook for a hand might be known as Hook (though surely this wasn’t his real name; he must have been known as someone else before the loss of his hand).

Either way, she was glad that he had barely bothered her. It seemed he wasn’t someone you wanted to mix with.

Ariel was starting to notice that ever since her memories had returned, she found herself out of her apartment more and more often. She always walked in the same direction, toward the ocean as if it called to her. It made sense though; the ocean used to be her home.

She stayed away from the dock where she had seen Hook, though. She really didn’t want to be stuck in the middle of anyone else’s trouble. She found a small beach nearby and sat down in the sand, taking in deep breaths, enjoying the scent of salt in the air. She couldn’t wait for warmer weather, when she could actually go into the water and feel its gentle caress along her skin, feel the familiarity of it.

She ran a hand through her hair; the bright red hair she wished she could just get rid of. It made her stick out like a sore thumb. She knew she could easily dye it, but before the return of her memories, she couldn’t bring herself to do it because it was a part of who she was even if she didn’t know anything about her past. After the return of her memories, she couldn’t bring herself to dye it because she knew her father loved the red shade; it reminded him of her mother.

Ariel let out a sigh, laying back on the beach and closing her eyes. Being so close to the ocean gave her bittersweet feelings. She almost wished that she could return to her family and just forget everything else. But again, this life she had now wouldn’t be so easy to give up. She was sure that if she was restored to her former mermaid self and was again living in the ocean, it wouldn’t be long until she was yearning to have legs again. She enjoyed walking and running too much.

“You know, if we’re going to continue running into each other like this, I think it’s only fair that I know your name,” Hook said, startling Ariel from her thoughts. He had seen her from the dock, her red hair a beacon in the distance. He couldn’t help but take the time to be near her and admire her looks. She sure was a sight for sore eyes.

She stood up quickly from her spot on the beach, backing away from the man she now knew couldn’t be trusted. Her eyes darted to his hook and he noticed, raising it slowly.

“Don’t let this scare you,” he said, smiling at her. “It’s only dangerous if I want it to be. So are you going to tell me your name or are you just going to keep staring at me like that?”

Though she wanted to, Ariel refrained from looking away. She didn’t want to give in to this stranger, no matter how much he actually scared her. She took another careful step back, trying to decide on her next actions.

She looked down at her feet for a moment, deciding to break the eye contact she had been maintaining. Finally, she looked back up, a smirk of her own on her lips.

“You’d be so lucky to know my name, Hook,” she said quietly, but loud enough so he heard her. Hook watched in surprise as she turned quickly, running away from him.

Now he was intrigued.