My Anchor ~ Harry Hook

CHAPTER ONE

11 YEARS EARLIER

'You'll be fine, my dear. You're going to be just fine, I promise.' Her mother spoke softly beside her as they were being led through the lifeless halls of the Anderson Palace. The somewhat reassuring words, however, went in one ear and directly out of the other.

Today was Aria's initiation ceremony. It was the day that she had dreaded for the first five years of her life, leaving her waking up from nightmares with sweat dripping from her brow, terrified that she would not be a worthy enough child for her parents.

Her parents.

Oh, her parents.

The famous Prince and Princess Anderson. Or as close friends and family know them, Ariel and Eric.

They had been preparing her for this day since the moment she first opened her eyes. On her fifth birthday, she would be put into the stretch of water that connected their castle to her mother's grotto, and if her tail, or as her mother described it, 'her rite of passage', appeared she would be deemed worthy enough, and if not, well, they hadn't exactly specified what would happen if she didn't grow her tail, but Aria was sure that wouldn't happen.

As they reached the beach, Melody, her older, already worthy, perfect sister, appeared at her side. 'Hey, don't stress Squirt. I'm sure you'll be fine.' Aria didn't totally believe her but gave her a small, grateful smile even so. Noticing that she was, in fact, not calming down, she leaned into whisper in her ear. 'And I promise no matter what the outcome, I will always love you.' Melody then moved backwards to stand straight, holding her hand out and extending her pinky finger towards her.

'I love you...'

Reluctantly, Aria extends her pinky finger towards Melody's interlocking them together. 'To Neptune and back.' she said, her face breaking out into a grin.

'Darling, they're ready for you now,' Her father's voice broke their moment apart. With one last reassuring nod from Melody, she turned towards her father, keeping her head lowered. 'Yes, father.'

As they walked towards the little closed-off section of the bay, her father rested a hand on the top of her head and said, 'I'm proud of you no matter what, Angel.' overwhelmed by the sudden realisation that despite her family's unwavering support now in just minutes that could all change and these words could be nothing but empty promises, she stops dead in her tracks, breathing heavily and closing her eyes.

Her father, noticing immediately, crouches down to her level and pulls her into a bear hug, whispering that nothing that she could ever do would change the fact that she's his little angel. As he's getting back to his feet, he places a gentle kiss on her forehead before ruffling her hair and taking her hand.

Walking into the ocean, she felt a calm she had yet to experience today. She stood there in waist-high water just waiting—no praying—for something to happen. The longer she waited the more began to lose hope.

Five seconds passed.

Ten seconds.

Twenty seconds.

Thirty seconds.

And by the time a minute had passed, she was internally screaming, 'NO NO NO NO NO!' She tried kicking her feet out behind her, thinking that maybe that would work, but it didn't.