Written In The Stars (Heathers/The Little Mermaid fanfic)

Chapter 6

3rd Person P.O.V

The next day soon came, which saw Lyra and Chandler climbing into a carriage that had been prepared for them. Chandler flicked the reins, and the carriage set off at a steady pace, going through the palace gates and heading towards the closest village. Lyra had a smile on her face as she looked around, as she was very excited to see many places around Ruby Haven.

"So, I thought we could start at Emeraude. There's a river in that region where the miners wash all the dirt off the gemstones they mine. Then we can do a loop around the kingdom to the other three regions, finishing at Tiger Eye Valley. What do you think?" Chandler asked, to which Lyra nodded to show her agreement. So that was what they did, travelling around the kingdom and stopping at various places in each region. Lyra was amazed by a lot of the things she saw that day, though she wasn't at all impressed by the sight of all the fish being brought in from the ocean and decided it was one of the few things she didn't like about the human world. Chandler had been watching Lyra's reactions throughout the day, and wasn't entirely sure why it made her so happy when she saw how happy and curious Lyra was. Part of her contemplated whether she might have feelings for Lyra. After all, the brunette was one of the few people she had met that actually shared similar interests that she did. Ever since she'd met her, she'd also been trying to figure out why Lyra seemed so familiar, especially her eyes. Was it possible that Lyra had been the one that saved her that fateful night? But if that were the case, it didn't explain why Lyra hadn't told her, or indeed why she hadn't spoken a word since her arrival. Shaking her head, Chandler banished those thoughts to the back of her mind as she saw where they were and stopped the carriage. By now, the sun had begun to set and it was almost dark.

"We're here." Chandler said, getting out of the carriage and holding out a hand to help Lyra get down. Lyra was curious as to where they were going, but allowed Chandler to lead her down a path lined with multiple trees on either side. Soon enough, they came across a lagoon, the size of which awed Lyra, even though she had lived in the vast open sea her entire life.

"I thought we could do a bit of stargazing before we have to go back. I come here quite a bit, because I love rowing out onto the lagoon and just staring up at the stars." Chandler said, gesturing to the nearby boat. Lyra nodded to agree with the idea, before helping Chandler to push the boat onto the water before they both got in, and Chandler rowed them out to the middle of the lagoon with a practiced ease, halting the boat and laying at the prow, gesturing for Lyra to join her. Lyra carefully moved over and laid beside Chandler, both of them looking up at the stars.

"One of my favourite things to do is look for all the different constellations in the sky. For example, that one there is the constellation Cassiopeia, the one that looks like a backwards "w". According to the stories, Cassiopeia was a Greek queen who claimed to be more beautiful than the sea spirits who served Poseidon. As punishment, Poseidon sent a sea monster to terrorise the kingdom. Cassiopeia and her husband thought the best way to solve the problem was to sacrifice their daughter, Andromeda. But that ended when Perseus killed the monster and rescued Andromeda. And that constellation there is the great hunter, Orion. You can always spot that one by looking for the three stars that make up his belt. Oh, and that one there is the constellation Lyra, supposedly meant to once have been the lyre of Orpheus before he died. Most Greek stories don't have happy endings, for some reason." Chandler said, before she faltered as she realised something that she found a bit odd that she hadn't realised it sooner.

"You know, even though I've known you for two days now, I've just realised that I still don't know your name." Chandler said. At this, Lyra gave a smile, as now she had the perfect way to tell Chandler her name. So she pointed to the lyre constellation that Chandler had pointed out to her, and then pointed to herself. After a couple of tries, Chandler put two and two together.

"Lyra? That's your name? Well, it's a very beautiful name. Certainly a lot better than Heather. I mean, I share a name with two of my friends. Not that it's a bad thing, but it can get a bit confusing sometimes." Chandler said, earning another smile from Lyra. The two continued to look up at the stars, but Chandler's mind was on a different topic. After spending the day with Lyra, Chandler had concluded that she did indeed have feelings for the brunette, and could maybe even go as far to say that she was in love with her. However, she had no clue if Lyra felt the same way she did.

"Oh, before I forget. There's one last spot I want to show you before we have to go back." Chandler said, getting up and moving back to her seat, and Lyra did the same, before she towed the boat over to where a small waterfall was located. This part of the lagoon was also covered by a willow tree, which added to the beauty of the scene. After a few minutes of looking around, Lyra looked back at Chandler, her brown eyes meeting Chandler's blue ones. Without realising, the two started to lean towards each other, the distance between them slowly disappearing. But just as the two were about to kiss, a sudden force tipped their boat and sent both girls tumbling into the lagoon. Unknown to them, Morgana had been watching the entire scene, and had sent her two eels to intervene, as it would ruin her plan if Lyra had succeeded. Fortunately for the teens, the area they were in wasn't too deep, so they were able to stand and make their way out of the water, pulling the boat behind them. But despite them being interrupted, the two were still smiling, amused by the situation.

"Well, I certainly didn't plan on an evening swim, but things happen, I suppose. I guess we should probably head back now. Everyone's probably waiting for us. Not to mention we need to dry off." Chandler said, leading Lyra back to the carriage and helping her in, before getting in herself and starting the journey back to the palace.

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The two eventually arrived back at the palace and went inside, only to be greeted by Veronica, JD, Duke and Mac, all of whom raised an eyebrow at the sight of Chandler and Lyra.

"What the heck happened to you two?" Mac questioned.

"We accidentally fell into the lagoon. Our boat must've knocked into something without us realising." Chandler answered, to which Lura nodded in agreement.

"I see. We're assuming you both had a good day then? Despite that last little bit?" JD questioned.

"We certainly did. And I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to go change my clothes and then call it a night. Goodnight, Lyra. I'll see you tomorrow." Chandler said, before heading upstairs.

"Okay, we should probably call it a night too. Come on, Heather." Duke said, dragging Mac along with her as she went after Chandler.

"Yeah, they're definitely going to interrogate Heather about what you guys did today. But seriously, how did today go?" JD asked. Lyra let her shoulders drop, before holding her finger and thumb very close together to indicate how close she had been to succeeding.

"You were that close? Damn, that's gotta be frustrating. But look on the bright side, you've still got until sunset tomorrow to succeed. You'll be successful. I know you will." Veronica said. Lyra made a rocking hand gesture, but then gave a shrug. She then gave both Veronica and JD a hug before heading upstairs to her room. While Lyra still had hope she would be successful, little did she know that her great-aunt had other ideas, and tomorrow was going to bring something completely unexpected, and it wasn't going to be a minor bump in the road either.