(A/N: It's the final chapter. It came so fast, or so it seemed. I didn't think I'd ever write a fic like this one, let alone having it turn out so well. It's too bad I couldn't have written it back when The Little Mermaid was more popular. But I'm grateful to everyone that has read, and I now present you with the final chapter.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Epilogue

This was one of the happiest days of Ariel and Eric's lives, but also one of the saddest. Their little girl was getting married! It was truly a cause for celebration, but it was also a cause for great sorrow, because their daughter was leaving them. She was leaving her life on land and her family for a life in the sea to start her own family.

In the months that had followed the fall of Arquan, Melody and Ariel had taken on human form once again to tie up any loose ends before the former left land for good. It had been a very busy time, not just because they needed to get their affairs in order, but because they had a wedding to prepare.

Many people came, both human and merfolk alike. Carlotta was busy weeping into Grimbsy's shirt, much like she had when Eric and Ariel had gotten married. Chef Louis was busy keeping an eye out for a certain crustacean, but Sebastian had learned from last time, and remained in the water.

After much deliberation, and a lot of arguing between Tip and Dash, Dorian was chosen as the ring bearer. Though incredibly bored with the whole event, the young prince had yet to raise a single complaint. It seemed he was trying to make an extra effort to appear more grownup and responsible after his little stunt of climbing down his balcony had gotten him in trouble. He tried even harder to make a good impression when he was named successor to the throne, so the people would see that one day he would be a worthy king.

Melody named Sea-Sea as her maid of honor and her female cousins to be her bridesmaids, while Alex had chosen Tide as his best man, followed by Tip, Dash, Scuttle, Flounder, and his male children as the groomsmen.

As the groom's parents, Urchin and Gabriella received a front row seat to their son's wedding, along with Melody's aunts, uncles, and male cousins. Gabriella couldn't seem to stop crying, and Urchin and Ollie were doing their best to stop her joyful tears.

Many other family friends attended as well, including the former Evil Manta and his son, Benjamin, Shelbow, Ink Spot, Cheeks, Ray-Ray, Dudley, Zeus the crab, Spot the killer whale, Stormy, Pearl and her husband Thor, and even the now full-grown Daniel. And when Simon the sea monster poked his giant head out of the water, the humans had nearly fled in fear until they were assured by the sea king himself that Simon was perhaps the gentlest soul around.

Also among the crowd was Hemsworth's family. They had been found after the whole fiasco with Arquan and Captain Bloodshot. It had seemed that Alex had been right, Hemsworth's family had managed to pull themselves out of the slumps over the years, and Hemsworth's brother was alive and well. There had no longer been any reason for him to continue pirating. It was just a sad fate that Hemsworth hadn't gotten out before it was too late.

His family had not been told the truth of what their son had been doing over the years to support them. He had been made out to be a prisoner on the Sea Arrow, rather than a crewmember, who had sacrificed himself to save Alex. He was labeled as a hero, and with all the pirates drowned at sea during Arquan's rampage, there was no one willing to contradict this story, and Hemsworth's family had been rewarded.

On a happier note, the wedding had finally gotten underway. The beach around the pier had been decorated for the occasion, and the pier served as the walkway the bride and her father would walk down, rather than an aisle. King Triton waited at the end of the pier with the groom, ready to perform the ceremony. It had already begun, and Eric walked his daughter down the length of the pier while Ariel hung back, wiping away her tears. Max followed behind them, holding up the end of Melody's dress in his mouth.

The layout of the wedding was meant to be symbolic as the bride made her transition from the land to the sea. The walk across the beach and over the pier were meant to represent her walking out of one world and into another. For decorations, ornaments that tended to be used for wedding celebrations on land covered the beach and half the pier, while farther out, these land decorations were mixed with and slowly replaced by decorations from the sea. Even the seating arrangements had been based on this theme, with the humans remaining on the beach and the merfolk beyond the pier, while animals that were known to go on both the land and in the sea surrounded the pier itself.

As Melody and her father reached the end of the pier, Triton commanded the water around him and Alex to rise. They were lifted up until they were level with Melody and Eric as Dorian began making his way down the pier with the rings.

It was truly a beautiful ceremony, and the vows that Melody and Alex exchanged brought tears to the eyes of many, a single drop even escaping the sea king. When the rings were exchanged and Triton announced them as husband and wife, cheers rang out from both those on land and in the sea. Melody threw her arms around Alex and kissed him passionately, not caring that her dress was getting wet. Alex returned the kiss, glad that he no longer needed to hide doing this with her, and could now do it any time he wanted.

When they finally broke apart, Melody turned her back to the crowd and shut her eyes as she randomly threw her bouquet in the air. Tip and Dash began fighting each other as the bundle of flowers came down towards them. It seemed like Tip would be the lucky man as he climbed on top of Dash's head to make the catch, only to have the bouquet snatched away at the last second by Scuttle as he flew by.

Chuckling, Melody shook her head at her friends' antics. She turned to her father and gave him a big hug, then bent down to pat Max's head, and then hug her brother. Ariel had made her way down to the end of the pier by this time, and was now waiting for her turn. When Melody finally managed to tear herself away from her brother, she hugged her mother as well.

Long moments passed before they broke apart, both with tears in their eyes. Melody looked over her shoulder at her grandfather and new husband as the water level returned to normal, then back at her mother.

Ariel gave her a smile as she wiped away her daughter's tears. "Be happy," she said, and then nodded towards the end of the pier. "Go."

Melody returned the smile, and then, hiking up her dress, made a dash to the end of the pier. She knew that this would be the last time she would be running, yet, there was no hesitation on her part as she leapt off the end with her arms spread, as if she were flying. Triton took aim, and fired a beam at her from his trident. Melody's wedding dress burst into a shower of sparks around her as her legs fused together to form her sparkling orangish-pinkish tail. A mermaid once more, she splashed into the water.

She came up beneath Alex, throwing her arms around him and pressing her lips to his. Once Alex got over his surprise, he placed his hands on her hips and picked her up as he began spinning them both around. Melody squealed gleefully as she spread her arms, overjoyed that she would never again be parted from her two greatest loves, Alex and the sea.

Triton smiled at how happy his granddaughter and her new husband looked together. This had been, he decided, his final act as king. He therefore turned to his oldest daughter and held out his trident to her. Attina didn't seem to understand why her father was presenting it to her at first, but once the meaning became clear, her eyes widened, and she looked up at him in shock and disbelief.

"Daddy…?" she asked uncertainly.

He nodded to her. "It is time."

With trembling hands, Attina reached for the mighty weapon that only the ruler of the sea was meant to have. It glowed bright gold as it was passed from father to daughter, as if it was acknowledging its new owner. A rightful ceremony would take place later, but for all intents and purposes, Attina was now the new queen of the ocean. Triton swam a few feet back and bowed to her. The new sea queen looked around as merfolk and humans alike bowed to her as well.

A smile grazed her face, and she waved the trident through the air, displaying her father's greatest expression of joy by creating a rainbow in the sky. Everyone applauded her; even Melody and Alex managed to tear themselves away from each other long enough to clap their hands.

It was later while Melody and Alex shared their first dance as husband and wife, as best as two people without legs could, that the unexpected happened. Sebastian sat on the top of a rock protruding from the water with Queen Attina's twin girls, Athena and Shelly, on either side of him as they watched the happy couple.

Sniffling, Sebastian wiped a tear from his. "Eet's so beauteeful. What a perfect end. Eet's like everything has come around full circle."

"I guess," Shelly muttered. "Although I still can't figure out why Aunt Ariel wanted to be human. I get that she was in love with Uncle Eric, but the human world just seems so… ghastly. Why would she take such an interest in it?"

Athena had a different opinion. "I don't know. Some of it seems pretty amazing. I wonder what it would be like to be part of that world."

At those familiar words, Sebastian's head snapped in her direction. He saw a look of wonder and longing in her eyes as she stared at the shore. He knew that look well. It had been the very same look that had appeared in Ariel's eyes whenever she looked at the land, the same look Melody had whenever she looked at the sea. Yes, he recognized that look all right, and he knew it could only mean one thing.

"Oh, no," he muttered. "No. No, no, no way! Absolutely not! I'm not going through all dat again!" He stubbornly stomped down the rock and into the water. "Forget eet! You can count me out! I'm getting way too old for dis."

THE END

(A/N: Oh no! It looks like the cycle is starting all over again. But there won't be a sequel, just the possibility for one. I hope that everyone enjoyed my story. It was very different from what I usually write, but I'm glad I did it. I'll probably going back to more of the anime genre fanfiction now, so I hope you keep an eye out for that. On a final note, I leave you the last of the pics I found. It's actually of Melody in her wedding dress! Not done by, me, but still nice to look at. Just don't forget to replace the DOT with an actual . when you type in the link. So, here's your last chance to review. Tell me your thoughts, and I'll catch you later.)

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