Amy + Sonic

Mermaid Cove

Sonic grinned to himself as he watched the mass of people grow. In the summer his family's coastal business boomed like crazy. Ironically, he himself didn't swim but put him in a boat and Sonic was better than anyone else. His older brother, Shadow, he often took the surfing and cooking classes while his mum explored the underwater world through diving and marine biology lessons. His dad mainly fished and handled the gift shop. It was Sonic's job to give the guided tours; he took them out on the boats that sat around twenty people. The tours varied in location, sometimes they went out whale watching, other times they went down the rapids. However by far his favourite location was Mermaid Cove which housed an ancient shipwreck. To this day, no one knew how long it had been there or how it got there. It was also rumoured that on very rare occasions, an actual mermaid would be there! Sonic didn't really believe in mermaids or any supernatural beings and he'd been going to the cove for years. If mermaids were real, he was slightly offended that they still didn't consider him trustworthy enough to know of their existence. Perhaps his aversion to swimming and being in the water in general scared them.

Today, he was going to Mermaid Cove, on the supposed anniversary of the shipwreck. This group was mostly made up of families with young children, historians, and mermaid lovers. 'This is going to be a tight fit...' He thought, grimacing at the extra weight. "Okay everyone! Tickets!" Sonic jogged to the front of the queue and held out a bowl; no ticket, no trip. "Thank you, thank you, that's a very pretty bow your majesty." As each and everyone of his passengers arrived, they each entered the boat with a growing smile. "Okay, we all in? Great! Let's go!" A cheer went up from the boat as Sonic set out onto the sea. Mermaid Cove was a fair distance from the main town, it took about ten minutes by a rowing boat. However even if it wasn't the smoothest ride, Sonic could easily agree that the view was worth it.

"Are we nearly there, Mama?" The little girl dressed up as a princess asked loudly, staring at the waves racing past them.

Her mother smiled at her and gestured toward Sonic. "Why don't you ask our guide? He knows where we're going." The little, pink princess looked between her mum and Sonic with wide eyes.

Tentatively, she shuffled closer. "Are we nearly there yet?"

Sonic grinned at her. "Well, your most magnificent highness, I can assure you that as your most humble servant I shall endeavour to arrive at our destination as quickly as I can!" She giggled and went back to her mother who mouthed a thanks at Sonic. He liked kids, hopefully one day he would have some of his own.

A few minutes later, the large group arrived at the gaping entrance to the cave. A chorus of ooohs and ahhhs echoed around the cave as the looming shadow of the shipwreck came into view. Sonic had seen it about a thousand times now but the wreck of the Thorned Dagger always took his breath away. Thankfully, the sea had extremely little salt in it so the shipwreck was preserved in a great condition. "Okay everyone, we're here now. Carefully get out of the boat and mind the stones; tide's come in recently." Helping some elderly grandparents and young children out of the boat, Sonic cleared his throat and grinned as the kids gasped at the echo. "Welcome everyone, to Mermaid Cove! Home of the Thorned Dagger!" A sharp chorus of gasps sounded from the crowd, filled with shock and awe. Sonic turned towards the wreck to begin his tour but stopped in his tracks at what rested in front of him: A mermaid.

A beautiful, bright pink mermaid with short, pink, wavy hair. Eyes the colour of emeralds stared back at him, wide with shock and fear. In her hands was a large, water-logged book filled with drenched pictures. Her tail stuck to the drenched rock, spread across the entire face with lots of fins. She looked like a princess, a real princess. 'She can't be real, mermaids aren't real. It's a costume. Seriously, Sonic, relax.' However the rest of his party had different ideas. "MERMAID!" The crowd surged toward her and intense panic overtook her face. Faster than lightning, she dove into the water and hid from the eager yet loud humans.

Sonic realised that he needed to take control of the situation. "Hey, hey, guys! Stand back please, she's a little shy." He pushed to the front of the crowd and put himself between the land and the sea. Making sure that there was a decent space, he knelt down to the waves and put his head under the water. A few mere inches from his face was this beautiful mermaid, glaring at him, awaiting an attack. Sonic held his hands up and smiled at her, trying to exude peace. Pulling out of the sea, he sighed, filled with relief, as she started to follow him to the shore.

She positioned herself back on the rock and smiled gently at the group. Now that she could assess each human in front of her, their threat level was extremely low. Some of the smaller humans looked to her in awe while the older ones had a look of confusion on their face. While she couldn't speak above the water, she hoped that her friendly intentions were clear. "Why isn't she speaking?!" The little princess shrieked, looking accusingly at her mother.

Her mother shushed her and glanced at Sonic. He stood between them and gestured to the beautiful mermaid behind him. "While it is possible for her to be on land and engage with humans, her voice would come out as nonsense to us above the water." Beside him, she nodded enthusiastically and encouraged him to continue. "However, we are very lucky to see a mermaid on this anniversary, normally they hold a ceremony in their own city. For you see, this shipwreck has a very tragic history for our underwater friends: It is said that the mermaid you see as a figurehead on the Thorned Rose was created to represent the Queen of the Sea, Beauty Rose. According to legend, she accompanied the ship on it's maiden voyage... but neither ever returned. A torrential storm hunted both ship and mermaid until it claimed their prize. The waves played catch with this mighty vessel until it became trapped in this cave. The Queen, brave and powerful though she was, found herself at the mercy of the waters she once controlled and perished at the bottom of the sea; leaving her people in a state of distress. Therefore, we should be very grateful that she has come to the surface. Do you have any questions for her?" The faces in front of him gazed around at the cave and the mermaid.

"How can we ask questions if she can't speak?!" Shouted a child in a ninja suit.

At that question, she flicked her tail and held out her book, eagerly pointing to the pictures and the words. Sonic smiled at her. "Most answers to questions will be in the book but there are other ways to talk than through speech. Watch." He turned to the mermaid and grinned, 'Okay relax, she's still a person even if she's a mermaid.' "It's nice to meet you Miss, what's your name?" She smiled and flipped through the pages of her book, stopping at a page near the beginning. Turning it around to show the group, she pointed to a picture of a blooming rose and then back at her. "Ah! Everybody meet Rose. I'm Sonic, that's Pink Princess and that's Master Ninja. How are you?" Rose smiled and held her thumbs up. "Great, now who else has a question? Ninja, Princess, you go first." Excitedly, the two kids ran forward and pestered Rose with questions.

A couple of hours later, the questions from the whole group and Sonic ended as it was time for the tour to return. "Unfortunately guys, that's all the time we have. Say thank you to Rose for answering your questions. Maybe she'll come back again one day." The group slowly made their way from the shipwreck to the boat until it was just Sonic and Rose. She leapt off the rock and splashed in the water, soaking Sonic. "Hey!" She smiled at him and waved her tail at him. Sonic shook his head and grinned. "It was nice to meet you Rose," Sonic knelt next to the water and grinned at her. "I hope we'll meet again soon." She smiled up at him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Uh, Rose? What you doing?" Their faces were inches apart and Sonic assumed he was about to kiss a real life mermaid when suddenly his whole body was submerged under the water. The softest pair of lips he had ever felt were pressed against his own, preventing oxygen from being lost. Gingerly opening his eyes, Sonic began to smile as Rose was kissing him, although confusion began to settle in as to why they were under the water.

After a few moments, Rose pulled away and nuzzled against him. "My name is Amy Rose, Princess of Aquatica. I hope to meet you again soon." With a final, swift kiss, Amy swam away into the depths of the ocean.

Sonic pulled himself out of the water and shook his head in disbelief. "I guess mermaids are real."

I hope you enjoyed this one-shot, it's inspired by the Little Mermaid but obviously doesn't follow the story. The only actual thing it inspired was the mermaid and the no talking above water thing. However, I enjoyed writing it. The next short story will hopefully be up tomorrow. ¡Adiós!