A/N-While on extreme writer's block for my modern version of Peter Pan, I decided to start working on the next Disney Classic modern version I was planning to do after finishing the Peter Pan one. I have always been fascinated with the Little Mermaid, so here is my modern version of that story. Every original character is represented, but some are not in their original forms. There is no mystical quality to the story and no "real" mermaids either. (notice the quotation marks)But I can promise a very inventive and entertaining version with lots of ingenuity and the same feel as the original... well, minus the rating. Oh! One other thing, in this universe the Disney film does not exist even though the story is being told in our own modern reality.

Of Wishes and Waves: A Modern Version of Disney's The Little Mermaid.

Chapter 1-

Eric Davis cast his blue eyes onto his companion and long-time family friend Wilhelm Grimsby. "So my father sent you along to keep tabs, huh?" He sighed. "I was under the impression that you get sea-sick, Grim."

Wilhelm Grimsby eyed the youth with a mixture of admiration and contempt. He truly loved the young Davis boy, but the lad's complete disregard for showing respect to his elders irritated him immensely. "I do, Eric. But your father has charged me, as it were, with your safety while you're off on vacation."

Eric nodded, running a hand over his dog, Max's, fur. "In other words, you are here to make sure I behave like the well brought up guy I'm supposed to be." He moved away from the older man and turned to look out the port-hole of the Davis yacht. "I'm almost eighteen and he still treats me like a child. It's not like I'm stupid enough to get some girl pregnant the same hour I meet her!"

Grimsby winced. "Might I venture to say, young man, that your father never once considered his actions a mistake. James and Sarah were overjoyed at your existence."

Eric turned to look at the older man. "I don't want to talk about my mother, Grim."

Grimsby nodded. "I apologize. I know you miss her dearly."

Eric did not respond, instead he moved from the cabin he was staying in to the deck of the yacht, Max following at his heels. The ocean looked like sparkling glass as the sun hit the surface of the water. He loved the sea. In all the world, the ocean was the most important thing to him. He had learned to surf at ten, to scuba dive at sixteen, and to sail at seventeen.

After his mother's funeral, just a mere month ago, he had begged his father to loan him the Water Goddess so he could escape to the sea. James Davis had agreed, but on the condition that Grimsby accompany him for the duration of the trip. Eric had agreed readily since he liked the older man, but in the week since they had been aboard ship, the age differences had started taking their toll. Right now, the only thing Eric wanted to do was make port and get away from Grimsby for a little while.

"Eric, lad!" The helmsman's gruff voice echoed into the breeze, making Eric turn to look in the direction of the man.

"What's up, Aaron?" Eric inquired once he reached the slightly older man. Aaron was twenty and an exceptional sailor. He had been working on boats since he was kid and had literally jumped at the chance to work under Eric's father, the sole owner of one of the biggest privately-owned yacht-charter businesses in the states- Blue Pearls. A name which made no sense to Eric even today.

Aaron smiled, petting Max affectionately. "We get to the island in about an hour."

Eric nodded. "Tell again, why this place is so cool?" He sat down in one of the built-in chairs, watching Aaron steer the yacht expertly.

Aaron laughed. "Ah lad! This place is a gem. And a hidden one at that! They have grand hotels and beautiful beaches. And there's this one restaurant right off the main stretch that has got to be the best representation of living underwater that I've ever experienced! We'll be going there for lunch once we dock."

"So, you've been there before?" Eric asked.

Aaron turned the wheel a bit as he answered. "Every year since I was sixteen. My first girlfriend was a summer thing from that island. Her name was Brooke. She's the reason I keep going back year after year. We're just close friends now. She's been married off, has a little boy on the way last I heard."

Eric sat still, his mind a whirr as he caught the underlying meaning in Aaron's anecdote. "You think I'm gonna find my dream girl there, huh?"

Aaron shrugged. "I wouldn't discount the possibility. The girls are very pretty and, miracle of miracles, actually intelligent there. Plus nearly all of them love the sea and can sail. For a guy like yourself, Siren Island is perfect. Trust me."

"Weren't the sirens those Greek mermaids who lured sailors to their deaths by singing?" Eric stood up, moving to stand beside Aaron. Just then he noticed Grimsby emerge onto the deck. He looked green and seemed a little unsteady. "We have about thirty more minutes at sea, Grim."

Grimsby clutched the edge of the chair near him. "Thank God."

Aaron and Eric shared a chuckle at the older man's reverent response.

Many miles away, on Siren Island, Ariel Waters sat in the surf, her blue t-shirt and ragged jeans completely soaked through. She hummed a melancholy melody to herself as she watched the seagulls on the rocks nearby. Her attention was on one in particular, though. Her dear bird-friend Scuttle, named for the way he moved about the beach, was enchanted with her musical ability and she enjoyed showing off for him on a daily basis.

When time permitted it, she was able to slink away from her other six sisters and take their rowboat out to the small, unnamed island directly across from her home on Siren Island. She had planned to do so today, but the sea had looked rather choppy and she'd decided not to chance the trip until the waters calmed some. Besides, she had work in about twenty minutes anyway.

Sighing, she stood up in the surf and made her way to the higher part of the beach, her bare feet sinking into the sand with each step. Her two-story beach house loomed before her over the small sand dunes that barricaded her technical back-yard from the beach. The breeze rushed by, pulling her red hair along as it went. She touched down on the grass of her real backyard and hurried over to the shower that was installed just to the left of the back doors. Quickly, she striped down to her bikini and stood under the torrents to get most of the sand off of her body. Satisfied, she entered her house, leaving wet footprints all across the hard-wood floors as she made her way to her bedroom at the very end of the hall.

She shut her bedroom door a minute later and took a moment to look to her in-ground fish pond complete with exotic fishes. She sat down beside the rock-circle ledge that kept the water inside the hole in the floor. Her favorite fish, a bright yellow fellow with blue stripes and fins was dashing around the implanted false coral reef. She had named him Flounder when she found him doing just that on the hard-wood floor of her bedroom after jumping out of his mini-ocean. "In quite the hurry today, aren't we Flounder?" She cooed to the fish knowing full-well he would never answer.

Getting up, she removed her swimsuit, snagged a fluffy towel from her freshly done laundry which had been dumped on her bed, by an annoyed older sister no doubt, probably Aquata. Naked, she walked into her adjacent bathroom and turned the shower on full force. She waited about two minutes for the temperature to get warmer, and then stepped inside and scrubbed herself down to get the rest of the sand off her person. She toyed with the idea of shampooing her hair, but opted not to because of the time constraint. She had to be at the restaurant in fifteen minutes or her father was going to be very mad.

Emerging from the shower, she wrapped the towel around herself and combed out her dripping wet hair. She crossed back into her bedroom and riffled through her top drawer for her work uniform. She found the sea-shell bra and ultra short-short shorts that she had to wear under the rest of her costume. She fitted the bra onto her upper body and slipped on another bikini bottom and the shorts. She yanked her pale blue sweatshirt off the hook on the back of the door, pulled it on, and slipped into a pair of black flip-flops. Fully dressed, she rushed out of the house, took a side road down the beach, and sprinted the remaining two hundred feet to the restaurant in record time. Slightly winded, Ariel stopped just inside the back door of her father's pride-and-joy.

Triton's Palace was the premiere restaurant on Siren Island. It was the most unique thing ever built, and had the most interesting theme ever devised. The outside was white-washed stone that had been painted over with a pearlescent white to reflect the sun's rays and make the structure literally shine. The building was really one very large circular dining area in the center, flanked on one side by the immense kitchen and on the other by suite-sized restrooms and a theatrical stage complete with orchestra pit.

The inside of the restaurant had been transformed into a nearly-real underwater paradise. The first thing a customer saw was the giant coral reef replica that served as the hostess's greeting area and a partition between the dining area and the waiting area. All over the restaurant, delicate glass bubbles of varying sizes were suspended from the ceiling at various heights to give the illusion of being water-dwelling creatures to the customers and staff. Every wall in the interior was painted a pearlescent light blue and sported a giant water tank filled with exotic fish and beautiful coral reef replicas. All the chairs were made to resemble clams or oysters while all the tables were simple glass topped circles with a tank of living fish swimming around underneath the diner's plate. All the dishes had been specially made for the restaurant as well. The plates and bowls all resembled open shells, while the cups were the typical glass kind and were multicolored. The floor of the dining area was painted to look exactly like the ocean floor, and had various fish and creature representations, as well as reefs, glued to it in certain spots to add to the effect.

Ariel admired her father's vision and his ability to succeed with his goal of owning one of the most unique restaurants in the world. Perhaps the coolest part of his theme was the vast array of costume quality uniforms his employees sported. The waiters and waitresses were all dressed as some kind of fish, as minimally as possible to allow for the effect without injury or inconvenience. The busers portrayed all kinds of sharks; each shirt had a fin attached to the back and to the sleeves. And the entertainment staff, including her, was costumed as anything from sea-turtles to mer-people. The only employees allowed regular clothing were those working in the kitchen as cooks, dishwashers, and the like.

Standing out in the middle of the dining floor, Ariel stared up at the beautiful theatre stage. Her father's personal seat, when he was in character, was a glittering gold-and-white coral throne that was raised at the very center of the stage, while there were seven other smaller and less sparkly versions of the throne elsewhere surrounding the big one.

"Get dressed already, Ariel!" Arista shouted as she popped out of the kitchen. "We open in ten minutes, Girl."

Ariel nodded, hurrying to the dressing room in the stage wings. She found her other half of the costume, a beautifully made green mermaid tail that fit against her skin like extremely form-fitting jeans and had a small slit at the bottom for walking on her toes when necessary. When she sat, however, her feet fit into these little pockets inside the tail fins so that she gave the appearance of a real mermaid, if such a thing existed. She pulled off her sweatshirt and draped it over the hanger that had held her tail costume. Donning her red-haired and seriously full wig of very long hair, she moved out of the dressing room just as her other six sisters bustled inside to get dressed themselves.

Her father was already seated on his throne, his own blue mer-person tail catching the stage lights. He held his version of Poseidon's trident in one hand. His smile was bright with anticipation. She approached him, moving practiced skill in her costume. "Hey, Daddy."

Triton Waters glanced at his youngest, and favorite, daughter with pride. "You're not singing today. We're going to use your recordings instead. I worried about that beautiful voice. The doctor said you were still capable of getting Laryngitis."

Ariel nodded, a bit disappointed. "Alright." She went to her respective throne, the one directly to her father's left, and sat down in the right position. She silently watched her sisters file out across the stage and take their seats as well. She did not smile until her favorite employee, the conductor of the orchestra, came out of the restroom.

Sebastian Carson was a little over thirty years old and had been a feature of the restaurant since its very beginning. He was a fantastic composer and wrote all the theme music that was played by the orchestra. Originally from the Caribbean, he had a distinct flavor unlike anything the island had ever seen and was an instant success in all his efforts. He was dressed in the most bizarre costume of all, a crab.

Sebastian took the side-stairs to get to the stage and walked over to discuss the orchestral arrangements with Triton. He tipped an invisible hat at Ariel as he went, noticing how sad she seemed.

A few feet beneath the floor, inside the orchestra pit, all the musicians were seating themselves and preparing their instruments and sheet music as they waited for their conductor to take his perch. Elsewhere, the rest of the staff came from the break room and took up their positions as well. The hostess, a young girl named Trisha, unlocked the front doors and took her post behind the coral reef replica where her podium was situated. Triton's Palace was officially open for the day's business when the line of people outside started filing inside.

At the far end of the longest line he had ever encountered to enter a restaurant, Eric stood beside Aaron and Grimsby. He could not stop staring at the building that housed his destination. The words Triton's Palace were painted in wavy Calligraphic blue ink above the coral reef looking arch that over-hung the entrance. There was no telling what he was going to see once inside this place.

"Get ready to be transported to another world." Aaron grinned as he addressed both Eric and Grimsby.

Grimsby said nothing, only stared with wide-eyed wonder the huge line of people he was currently at the end of.

Eric nodded. "How long is the wait?"

Aaron shrugged. "There isn't going to be one. This place is huge, my friends, huge. Every single person in this line will get seated as soon as they meet the hostess."

Eric waited to see if that was indeed true.

When the familiar face of Aaron Forrester came into her view, Trisha Thomas grinned broadly. "Welcome back, Aaron!" She noticed he had company and addressed them too. "And Welcome to Siren Island to you gentlemen as well. It's about time Aaron brought others on his get-away voyage."

Eric smiled, but did not speak.

Grimsby, ever the adult, cleared his throat. "I should like to be seated soon, Miss."

Trisha's pretty features slipped into a frown for a millisecond then she nodded. "Of course, Sir. If you'll just follow Amanda, the Angel Fish, she'll see you to your table."

On cue, a twenty-something dressed to a minimalist fashion like an Angel fish, approached the little group. "Come this way please." She grabbed three menus from a bin and proceeded to lead them into the dining area.

"Holy shit." Eric whispered to himself when he saw the extent of the interior. This place was amazing!

"Told ya." Aaron responded triumphantly.

Amanda stopped at a table just a few feet from a large stage where six women dressed as mermaids were seated and one older man dressed as a merman. "Your table. Your waiter for today is Ryan. He'll be with you shortly."

All three of them watched Amanda leave. Aaron immediately began perusing the menu. But Eric and Grimsby were looking around in awe.

On the stage, the merman spoke with booming clarity. "Welcome, friends, to my feast. Join myself and my lovely daughters in a festival of music, frivolity, and food. I am King Triton, allow me now to introduce the most important women in my life."

Eric watched as each woman waved when the man said her name. His interest, however, rested solely on the woman to the man's left. She looked a lot younger than the others. He was certain she was no older than seventeen. He had missed her introduction though, because Ryan had come inquired about their drink orders. He was equally certain that she was wearing a wig over her real hair.

Aaron noticed Eric's intense interest and caught his attention. "Already falling, are you sailor?"

Eric looked back to his friend. "I think one is my age."

"You won't meet her. The entertainment staff is not allowed to mingle with the customers." Aaron went back to the menu.

Perplexed, Eric raised a brow. "Why not?"

Aaron smiled. "Because Triton is insanely protective of his daughters."

Eric had no time to respond as Ryan came back to take their orders. After he left, though, Grimsby started asking questions too.

"The owner and creator of this restaurant is one of the men who plays the character of Triton. I'm not sure which one, though. But I do know that the ladies on the stage are the owner's real daughters. I also know that Triton is the owner's real birth-given name." Aaron looked around to the surprised expressions. "I called ahead and book one of the nicer beach houses for the next few days, by the way. I figured old Grimsby here would want to sleep on solid land."

Grimsby nodded his appreciation. "Thank you."

Everyone in the restaurant fell silent when a man dressed as a crab walked across the stage, bowed to the merman, and took up residence at the edge of a large hole in the floor. He clapped his hands, pulled out a conducting baton and turned to stare down into the hole. As he moved his arms, music erupted like a gushing volcano throughout the dining area. The man continued conducting for a long time and slowly the spell of his arrival faded as the diners returned to their conversations.

Eric managed to tune out the rest of the spectacle while he ate his meal. But when a beautiful and soft soprano voice invaded his ears, he looked up at the stage. None of the mermaids were singing, though. That meant this was a track, pre-recorded and probably some famous vocalist's doctored performance. He closed his eyes and let the song envelope his very soul.