The Queen and the Mermaid [Elsa/Ariel]
Nov. 22nd, 2016 10:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
roesslyngTitle: The Queen and the Mermaid
Fandom: Frozen (2013) + The Little Mermaid (1989) crossover
Characters/Pairing: Elsa/Ariel
Rating: 0+/G
Length: 2k
Summary: A tale of how one day, a queen met a mermaid, and fell in love.
Other: For a recent exchange, I drew up a bunch of drafts but didn't end up using all of them for my assignment. Here is one of the ones that didn't get posted.
The Queen and the Mermaid
Once upon a time, in a far northern land, there lived a queen with the power of cold, who in her fear and anger froze her entire realm until her sister helped her understand that she was loved.
This is not that story. I told you that story last week, and the week before that, and the week before that. But this is a story of that queen. Her story, after all, didn't end when the snow melted.
Queen Elsa was kind, and understanding, and overall she was a very good ruler. When the people of Arendelle realized just how much of an advantage it could be to have a powerful queen who could protect them from any harm that might arise, well - they accepted her as one of their own, and all was well with that.
One day, strange news was delivered to the queen. For the last two weeks, there had been odd disturbances up and down the fjord. Many people had heard singing coming from the water, and some of them, it was said, had seen a woman's face peering up out of the water in the warm light of the sunset.
All of the usual protections against magical creatures were not effective, and attempts to catch the creature in a net had been unsuccessful. Needless to say, those who used the fjord for transport were worried about this creature, and the people who lived along the fjord were starting to grow very disturbed. Some young men, it is said, had attempted to follow the song to see what its source was, and were later found half-drowned, clinging to their boats, and regretting their bravado.
They said that on those nights, the water had been rougher than expected, and that mysterious hands had thrown them back into their boat when it flipped.
What did the queen think should be done about this?
Queen Elsa decided to handle the problem herself.
Ordinarily, there would be plenty of objections to the idea of a queen personally taking on such a task. But everyone remembered that only a few years earlier, she had frozen the surface of the fjord until it was solid enough to run on, in her efforts to escape. If she was capable of that, surely she was capable of handling this sea monster, if it proved dangerous.
And so, Elsa gathered up her courage and went down to the fjord, taking none with her except for her brother-in-law. Elsa decided that she would handle this matter on her own.
The tales that had come to her said that the creature appeared most often in the early morning and the late evening, when the air was cool and the northern sun was still bright. And so, Elsa went to the fjord and listened.
The first night, she went and she stood and she listened for the song, but heard nothing. And late into the evening, she returned to her castle, wondering just how true the stories were.
The second night, she went and she stood and she listened, but she heard nothing. Once again, Elsa returned to her castle and wondered if the stories were true.
But surely, Elsa told herself, the people would not have brought the story to her if there weren't some truth to it. And so, she resolved to try one more time.
On the third night, Elsa went to the edge of the fjord. It was a bright and sunny evening. She stood and she waited and she listened, and when it reached the time when she would usually decide to leave, she decided to wait for a while longer.
That was when she heard it.
The most beautiful song she had ever heard rose up in the air. It was light, it was sweet, and it came from the water. Elsa peered across the fjord, and at first she saw a ripple. And then, she saw more ripples. And as she watched, a head surfaced from the water, peeking out at her.
It was the prettiest face that she had ever seen, with bright lively eyes and hair the colour of rowan berries, and Elsa found herself enchanted. But she only had a moment to see it, because in a trice it disappeared beneath the surface of the water again, and in its place flashed a bright tail, visible only a moment before it, too, disappeared.
"Wait!" Queen Elsa called. She had come to the fjord for three nights, and she was not going to leave until she had some answers about what this pretty stranger was doing in Arendelle. But the fish-girl did not hear her, because it did not return.
And so, with determination, Elsa stepped out onto the fjord, and the surface froze beneath her feet. But this time, she did not do it in fear. This time, the Queen knew how to direct her power, and the only part that turned to ice was the path she took as she walked out to where she had seen that pretty face.
And when she was on the fjord, and near the place where the mysterious song had come from, she called out again and asked the strange to come to her.
The surface of the water rippled and shivered. Elsa waited one moment, and waited two, and just as she was wondering if she should turn back to the shore, the head appeared above the water again.
"Who are you?" the mermaid asked.
"I was wondering the same thing," the queen said. "Who are you?"
The mermaid said that she had been reluctant to come to the edge of the fjord, because she had been instructed by her family to stay away from humans. But a woman who could make a bridge of ice obviously wasn't an ordinary human at all, and so talking to her was another thing entirely.
"My name is Ariel," the mermaid said, "And I'm a little lost. I can't find the way out of this channel!"
"It isn't a channel, it's a fjord. You'll have to turn around and go back the other way if you want to get out. ...I'm Elsa, queen of Arendelle. Welcome."
Even though the mermaid now knew how to leave, she didn't leave Arendelle at all. It is true that the strange singing stopped, that fishermen and people living along the shore were no longer surprised and distracted by beautiful songs or the sight of a face in the water. But this is because the mermaid spent time close to the edge of the fjord, speaking with the queen, who visited her at every free moment.
The friendship between Elsa and Ariel formed quickly. They told one another stories of their lives; of swimming beneath the sea, or walking around on two feet. Of fish, and sharks, and whales. Of trees and reindeer and making snowmen. They spoke of family, and Elsa told Ariel about her sister, who loved to sing and dance. And Ariel told Elsa of her own family, with her many sisters, and her loving father.
"I wish I could show you all of Arendelle," Elsa said, after describing the forests and mountains and the beautiful city nestled around the fjord. Fish-tails were not ideal for travelling on land.
They gave one another gifts: bright shells, glass beads, bracelets made with beads of carved bone, and shiny rocks. They sang with each other, their voices mixing sweetly, echoing across the water. Elsa took up a glittering comb, and brushed Ariel's beautiful rowan-coloured hair, and braided it up around her head.
They savoured every moment they had together on that rocky shore.
They fell in love, of course. That is how these stories go. But even if we ignore how inconvenient it is to love a princess who does not have feet, and who has a fish-tail instead, there are other reasons that their love was not meant to be.
The tail, after all, was really a small problem. Elsa and Ariel could meet each other by the fjord, and they could swim together. And many times, Elsa went into the cold water, when the sky was dark. And nobody knows what those two did there, because they did not tell anyone about it.
The problem was that winter was approaching. And while there was joy in Elsa's heart because of that, for Ariel, it was not good news.
One day, Ariel told Elsa that she would have to leave.
"It's going to be too cold for me," the mermaid said. Even her voice was shivering. "So, I'll have to go home. But I'll come back in the spring, when it's warm again! I promise."
And this made Elsa's heart ache, because she could hardly stand the thought of going so many months without the one she loved so much. But she agreed that it was for the best, and that if Ariel would return to her in the spring, she could wait.
Finally, the night to leave came. The snowflakes fell down and down and dusted all over Arendelle. It was the first snow.
They parted with one last kiss, and Ariel promised once more that she would return again. And so she left, and the snow fell fast and full soon after.
All through the winter, Elsa missed her mermaid, though she took joy in the thought that she would see her again. And so, it was not so much of a hardship, because she knew that Ariel would keep her promise, and in the meantime she had to take care of Arendelle, and she had her sister and the winter to keep her busy.
When finally the spring thaw came, Elsa resolved to go to the fjord to wait. And so, she went every evening, and waited for Ariel to return.
But weeks passed, and the days grew longer, and Ariel did not come.
"Maybe it isn't warm enough yet," Elsa told herself. Even in spring, Arendelle was chilly. And so, she continued to go down to the water, and she continued to wait.
More weeks passed, and the summer solstice passed, and still Ariel did not come.
Elsa sent word for everyone who spent time on the water to be on the lookout for a mermaid with red hair, and to listen for strange songs, if they could. Everyone listened, and everyone watched, but still nobody saw any sign of the mermaid.
And the leaves turned, and Elsa waited, and still Ariel did not appear in the fjord.
Every day, Elsa's heart became heavier, but still she continued waiting. Finally, she told herself that if the first snow passed, and Ariel did not return, then she would not wait any more. Though it was a painful decision, she knew that she could endure this, because even if it meant losing one love, she still had other love from her realm and from her dear sister.
One day in late autumn, the first snow fell, and as Elsa walked through the palace gardens, her heart ached, because she knew that if she went to the fjord that night, she would not find Ariel there.
"Did she forget about me?" she wondered, and frost spread along the ground at her feet in her sadness.
Suddenly, a messenger arrived, with word that a woman had arrived on a boat that morning, and was requesting to see her.
"A princess of the Southern Sea, your majesty."
This was unexpected. There had been no plans for Elsa to receive such a guest, and she had never even heard of a kingdom of the Southern Sea. "What is her name?"
"Princess Ariel, you majest-"
"I will see her immediately," was the Queen's reply.
Imagine Elsa's surprise when the mysterious visitor who greeted her was none other than the mermaid with the rowan-coloured hair - not coming to her in the water, but standing upon two feet!
They embraced each other tightly, and for a long time didn't let go.
"I'm sorry," Ariel said, hugging Elsa extra tightly, more tightly than she ever had. "I wanted to visit you, but I ran into some trouble." And she explained that it was a very long story, with involved a sea witch and an adventure on land, and that she would tell her everything later.
For Elsa, the important part was that her beloved had returned to her, just as she had promised. Ariel hadn't forgotten her after all. And, even better, they could now go everywhere together, without the confines of the water.
Now, they were sure, they would never be apart.
And I'm sure that after this, they had many adventures together. But that, please understand, is another story.
The End
Fandom: Frozen (2013) + The Little Mermaid (1989) crossover
Characters/Pairing: Elsa/Ariel
Rating: 0+/G
Length: 2k
Summary: A tale of how one day, a queen met a mermaid, and fell in love.
Other: For a recent exchange, I drew up a bunch of drafts but didn't end up using all of them for my assignment. Here is one of the ones that didn't get posted.
The Queen and the Mermaid
Once upon a time, in a far northern land, there lived a queen with the power of cold, who in her fear and anger froze her entire realm until her sister helped her understand that she was loved.
This is not that story. I told you that story last week, and the week before that, and the week before that. But this is a story of that queen. Her story, after all, didn't end when the snow melted.
Queen Elsa was kind, and understanding, and overall she was a very good ruler. When the people of Arendelle realized just how much of an advantage it could be to have a powerful queen who could protect them from any harm that might arise, well - they accepted her as one of their own, and all was well with that.
One day, strange news was delivered to the queen. For the last two weeks, there had been odd disturbances up and down the fjord. Many people had heard singing coming from the water, and some of them, it was said, had seen a woman's face peering up out of the water in the warm light of the sunset.
All of the usual protections against magical creatures were not effective, and attempts to catch the creature in a net had been unsuccessful. Needless to say, those who used the fjord for transport were worried about this creature, and the people who lived along the fjord were starting to grow very disturbed. Some young men, it is said, had attempted to follow the song to see what its source was, and were later found half-drowned, clinging to their boats, and regretting their bravado.
They said that on those nights, the water had been rougher than expected, and that mysterious hands had thrown them back into their boat when it flipped.
What did the queen think should be done about this?
Queen Elsa decided to handle the problem herself.
Ordinarily, there would be plenty of objections to the idea of a queen personally taking on such a task. But everyone remembered that only a few years earlier, she had frozen the surface of the fjord until it was solid enough to run on, in her efforts to escape. If she was capable of that, surely she was capable of handling this sea monster, if it proved dangerous.
And so, Elsa gathered up her courage and went down to the fjord, taking none with her except for her brother-in-law. Elsa decided that she would handle this matter on her own.
The tales that had come to her said that the creature appeared most often in the early morning and the late evening, when the air was cool and the northern sun was still bright. And so, Elsa went to the fjord and listened.
The first night, she went and she stood and she listened for the song, but heard nothing. And late into the evening, she returned to her castle, wondering just how true the stories were.
The second night, she went and she stood and she listened, but she heard nothing. Once again, Elsa returned to her castle and wondered if the stories were true.
But surely, Elsa told herself, the people would not have brought the story to her if there weren't some truth to it. And so, she resolved to try one more time.
On the third night, Elsa went to the edge of the fjord. It was a bright and sunny evening. She stood and she waited and she listened, and when it reached the time when she would usually decide to leave, she decided to wait for a while longer.
That was when she heard it.
The most beautiful song she had ever heard rose up in the air. It was light, it was sweet, and it came from the water. Elsa peered across the fjord, and at first she saw a ripple. And then, she saw more ripples. And as she watched, a head surfaced from the water, peeking out at her.
It was the prettiest face that she had ever seen, with bright lively eyes and hair the colour of rowan berries, and Elsa found herself enchanted. But she only had a moment to see it, because in a trice it disappeared beneath the surface of the water again, and in its place flashed a bright tail, visible only a moment before it, too, disappeared.
"Wait!" Queen Elsa called. She had come to the fjord for three nights, and she was not going to leave until she had some answers about what this pretty stranger was doing in Arendelle. But the fish-girl did not hear her, because it did not return.
And so, with determination, Elsa stepped out onto the fjord, and the surface froze beneath her feet. But this time, she did not do it in fear. This time, the Queen knew how to direct her power, and the only part that turned to ice was the path she took as she walked out to where she had seen that pretty face.
And when she was on the fjord, and near the place where the mysterious song had come from, she called out again and asked the strange to come to her.
The surface of the water rippled and shivered. Elsa waited one moment, and waited two, and just as she was wondering if she should turn back to the shore, the head appeared above the water again.
"Who are you?" the mermaid asked.
"I was wondering the same thing," the queen said. "Who are you?"
The mermaid said that she had been reluctant to come to the edge of the fjord, because she had been instructed by her family to stay away from humans. But a woman who could make a bridge of ice obviously wasn't an ordinary human at all, and so talking to her was another thing entirely.
"My name is Ariel," the mermaid said, "And I'm a little lost. I can't find the way out of this channel!"
"It isn't a channel, it's a fjord. You'll have to turn around and go back the other way if you want to get out. ...I'm Elsa, queen of Arendelle. Welcome."
Even though the mermaid now knew how to leave, she didn't leave Arendelle at all. It is true that the strange singing stopped, that fishermen and people living along the shore were no longer surprised and distracted by beautiful songs or the sight of a face in the water. But this is because the mermaid spent time close to the edge of the fjord, speaking with the queen, who visited her at every free moment.
The friendship between Elsa and Ariel formed quickly. They told one another stories of their lives; of swimming beneath the sea, or walking around on two feet. Of fish, and sharks, and whales. Of trees and reindeer and making snowmen. They spoke of family, and Elsa told Ariel about her sister, who loved to sing and dance. And Ariel told Elsa of her own family, with her many sisters, and her loving father.
"I wish I could show you all of Arendelle," Elsa said, after describing the forests and mountains and the beautiful city nestled around the fjord. Fish-tails were not ideal for travelling on land.
They gave one another gifts: bright shells, glass beads, bracelets made with beads of carved bone, and shiny rocks. They sang with each other, their voices mixing sweetly, echoing across the water. Elsa took up a glittering comb, and brushed Ariel's beautiful rowan-coloured hair, and braided it up around her head.
They savoured every moment they had together on that rocky shore.
They fell in love, of course. That is how these stories go. But even if we ignore how inconvenient it is to love a princess who does not have feet, and who has a fish-tail instead, there are other reasons that their love was not meant to be.
The tail, after all, was really a small problem. Elsa and Ariel could meet each other by the fjord, and they could swim together. And many times, Elsa went into the cold water, when the sky was dark. And nobody knows what those two did there, because they did not tell anyone about it.
The problem was that winter was approaching. And while there was joy in Elsa's heart because of that, for Ariel, it was not good news.
One day, Ariel told Elsa that she would have to leave.
"It's going to be too cold for me," the mermaid said. Even her voice was shivering. "So, I'll have to go home. But I'll come back in the spring, when it's warm again! I promise."
And this made Elsa's heart ache, because she could hardly stand the thought of going so many months without the one she loved so much. But she agreed that it was for the best, and that if Ariel would return to her in the spring, she could wait.
Finally, the night to leave came. The snowflakes fell down and down and dusted all over Arendelle. It was the first snow.
They parted with one last kiss, and Ariel promised once more that she would return again. And so she left, and the snow fell fast and full soon after.
All through the winter, Elsa missed her mermaid, though she took joy in the thought that she would see her again. And so, it was not so much of a hardship, because she knew that Ariel would keep her promise, and in the meantime she had to take care of Arendelle, and she had her sister and the winter to keep her busy.
When finally the spring thaw came, Elsa resolved to go to the fjord to wait. And so, she went every evening, and waited for Ariel to return.
But weeks passed, and the days grew longer, and Ariel did not come.
"Maybe it isn't warm enough yet," Elsa told herself. Even in spring, Arendelle was chilly. And so, she continued to go down to the water, and she continued to wait.
More weeks passed, and the summer solstice passed, and still Ariel did not come.
Elsa sent word for everyone who spent time on the water to be on the lookout for a mermaid with red hair, and to listen for strange songs, if they could. Everyone listened, and everyone watched, but still nobody saw any sign of the mermaid.
And the leaves turned, and Elsa waited, and still Ariel did not appear in the fjord.
Every day, Elsa's heart became heavier, but still she continued waiting. Finally, she told herself that if the first snow passed, and Ariel did not return, then she would not wait any more. Though it was a painful decision, she knew that she could endure this, because even if it meant losing one love, she still had other love from her realm and from her dear sister.
One day in late autumn, the first snow fell, and as Elsa walked through the palace gardens, her heart ached, because she knew that if she went to the fjord that night, she would not find Ariel there.
"Did she forget about me?" she wondered, and frost spread along the ground at her feet in her sadness.
Suddenly, a messenger arrived, with word that a woman had arrived on a boat that morning, and was requesting to see her.
"A princess of the Southern Sea, your majesty."
This was unexpected. There had been no plans for Elsa to receive such a guest, and she had never even heard of a kingdom of the Southern Sea. "What is her name?"
"Princess Ariel, you majest-"
"I will see her immediately," was the Queen's reply.
Imagine Elsa's surprise when the mysterious visitor who greeted her was none other than the mermaid with the rowan-coloured hair - not coming to her in the water, but standing upon two feet!
They embraced each other tightly, and for a long time didn't let go.
"I'm sorry," Ariel said, hugging Elsa extra tightly, more tightly than she ever had. "I wanted to visit you, but I ran into some trouble." And she explained that it was a very long story, with involved a sea witch and an adventure on land, and that she would tell her everything later.
For Elsa, the important part was that her beloved had returned to her, just as she had promised. Ariel hadn't forgotten her after all. And, even better, they could now go everywhere together, without the confines of the water.
Now, they were sure, they would never be apart.
And I'm sure that after this, they had many adventures together. But that, please understand, is another story.
The End
no subject
Date: 2016-11-27 04:38 pm (UTC)I'm glad it was able to brighten your day. :D I do love the idea of this pair, they would just be soo adorable together. <3