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Over a decent amount of time shared between the two soon-to-be lovers, the time had passed and Ariel decided to make her way back to the party. Her mind couldn't seem to grasp on the reality that had happened, the moments between her and the one she'd been missing had become a distinct moment in time for her to experience.
They say there's more than what meets the eye, and that was an understatement for the poor girl, she could only rely on what she witnessed, rather than what she knew, or rather what she didn't know. Time was not of the essence of her case seeing as the pace of her whole livelihood were seemingly varied. Some days, life would go slow, turning mundane, nothing out of the ordinary came to surpass the daily dose of ordeals that came across her life. While other days came across the most intense events that would lead her down the darkest paths she could never comprehend would be possible. Some of those ghastly-fast days could appear one of the most interesting, that in turn, it would be a whole discovery for her. Others were just another boulder to the 'so-called' brick wall, breaking her down, putting up more effort to build herself back up. It was challenging, then again when is there never a challenge in life.
Her thoughts came to a stop on her previous life, sensing the commotion through the waves of vibration that travelled across the ten diameter radius of the dance floor. She looked up again. The party appeared the same as she left it. Despite her drafty, emotional response that blurred her vision upon her recent tragic event, she amazingly felt no fear. It was like all the constant anxiety within that moment was something that acted as cement for her walls rather than the boulder, it kept her closer together.
Feeling more at ease, she didn't question it. She carried on through the crowd, still keeping her distance as a sense of social justice was one of her ongoing practises. Though this moment was something that would alter her path, it couldn't have been permanent in all cases. So she still stuck to her ideals, keeping her distance and respecting others, hoping to keep their euphoric aura at a continuous state, uninterrupted. Her view then fixated on the very unmistakable trolls that she had ever-so-rudely left abruptly. She heaved a sigh and carried on. Queen Essence, though in the middle of an enjoyable conversation had noticed her from the corner of her eye, her eyes widening in concerning, her tone apprehensive
"Ariel! Are you okay? Honey, what happened?" She questioned ominously, the tone in her voice almost slapped Ariel in the face, a wave of guilt washing over her causing an inconvenience to the poor woman. But she wasn't the only one worried either, she looked over to see both Cooper and King Quincy share a look of pity and sympathy for her, knowing that she felt all too' stressed and felt as though they may have somewhat pressured her into the conversation.
"I-I... I have something I would like to tell you, your majesties." Ariel hid a bow between the sentence making it almost unrecognisable using her upper body, only wanting the best. The three four-legged trolls shared a look of perplexity, but all turned towards her once again.
"Go ahead, kid." King Quincy encouraged.
Ariel began, "Well," she took a seat gracefully, sitting by the table.
"Judging by our...um, well- first encounter, I know that there is a very obvious elephant in the room. I wasn't the most forthright within that moment..."
She paused. "Growing up, In the Techno habitat where I grew up, I didn't exactly, well um... have the best childhood. Let's just say some things are too brutal to even mention and I wouldn't want to say anything that changes our relationship with one another."
They all shared a look of uncertainty. "Also, I uh, I'm not used to being close with much people..." She somewhat sheepishly yet sorrowfully mumbled in insecurity.
"I know I haven't been the most easy-going Troll you've m-met and um, well I just hope you can understand that my... trauma... just so happens to get in the way of meeting wonderful people like you!" She then cleared her throat getting a hold of herself.
"So I would just like to sincerely apologise if I've made anything difficult for you? I just think the way I acted, the way I might have made you feel, seemed a little off-putting and I just hope- you can un-understand."
Now despite the lack of confidence, she had in her brief confession, that was way more than she had outdone herself in the last decade, and secretly...
She couldn't be prouder. She shifted her gaze towards the table, her hands nervously shifted, almost like a hesitant hand wrestle. She had spoken her truth, and that was all she could do at her state, she just hoped it was enough.
Queen Essence only just looked at her with sympathy, her eyebrows curving down to her lid. Her mouth was slightly agape, her heart swelled in dismay. King Quincy could only share the dame view with his wife, seeing as this girl was so much more than he imagined. He could only stare, which he knew was not helpful.
Cooper was not so much as dumbfounded but felt as though this was a whole new experience. Sure he had experienced loss and pain through lack of hope, back what happened almost a year ago. But he never looked at the views of another perspective, the other possibilities on how one can go about loss and grief. He simply had no expression at first, but as he got a good look at the girl's current state, he could spot the undying nervousness that was shown through her shaking hands. He saw no expression because he chose to hide it. That was the worst part, he couldn't depict the true emotions through her face. Thus leading him to frown at who is what had broken this poor girl.
Queen Essence only took a hand under the aqua troll's chin, lifting it to get a view of her eyes. She spoke, "You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for." She confirmed, making Ariel feel a tinging spark of hope. King Quincy nodded, "Precisely. You don't gotta worry about how we first met you though darlin'. We thought you were wonderful!" He kindly smiled in gratitude. Ariel looked at him in disbelief, with a small smile beginning to grow on her face.
"Really?" she asked.
Cooper then spoke up. "Yeah, girl! I mean, I didn't meet you while mom and dad were there, BUT, when we met a few moments ago, I could tell you were so kind, I couldn't wait to talk." He admitted, Ariel was overall very flattered at the amount of appreciation she got she could only kindly bow at them again.
"Thank you so much for understand, your majesties." She thanked them.
The four-legged trolls all nodded, smiling at her politeness once again.
"And if you ever need anything, anything at all, you have the King and Queen of Funk to assist you by all means." King Quincy kindly offered, Queen Essence nodding along to his offer.
"And prince!" Cooper added in comedically. Ariel stifled a quiet laugh in response and nodded.
"Thank you guys once again. I'm honoured." She for the last time thanked. Her sparking that rare twink of excitement that could be seen through the dilation of her eyes.
Queen Essence then looked back up to see the time. "Oh, would you look at that, it's time to make reign on the stage, baby." she looked over to King Quincy, who just smirked in return from the given announcement. He took his view to Cooper, and winked, "Well son, time to show them where your blood lies." Quincy encouraged, Cooper's eyes lit up in excitement. "You mean it, Dad!? Up with you guys?!"
The royal parents shared a look with a smirk on their face, looking back at their son giving him a knowing look. His eyes never broke that state of excitement, he jumped for joy running towards the stage. Both King Quincy and Queen Essence share a look to Ariel, who just sweetly and encouragingly smiled, nodding to them signalling that she would be fine.
