Title: Between Them
Fandom: The Tempest
Rating: G
Word Count: 400 words
Characters/Ships: Ariel
Notes: Counting this towards Air/Floating/On the Outside.
Summary: Some glimpses of Ariel.


Ariel changed back into a human shape to drag Ferdinand out of the water after having become the tempest. The human was nearly unconscious, so only a light touch of magic was required to send him to sleep completely so he wouldn’t notice nor remember a young man carrying him, cradling his body close and dragging it away from the place where the waves kissed the beach, making sure he rested further up on dry land.

Finally Ariel laid him down with as much care as he could muster. Even after all this time working for Prospero, they were never sure of his strength in their human shape. They had hurt Miranda by accident more than once when she was a child.

They carefully touched the prince’s face to move a strand of hair out of his eyes. The salt water had soaked it so the colour was unidentifiable, but Ariel sensed it must be near gold when dry.

They stretched out a hand to touch the young man’s skin and only realised they had done it still in human form when the water wouldn’t simply fall out of their body but clung to their skin.

Ariel got up and changed into warm air, floated on top of the prince#s body, surrounded it from all sides, got into his nostrils. It felt good to be this protective over a human. Prospero had always taken care that neither Ariel nor Caliban came too close to his daughter, and for himself would never have allowed such closeness.

***

Ariel was there when Miranda and Ferdinand found each other. They wondered about the shine in their eyes, the happiness on their faces, upon finding one another.
They were aware that humans felt things they didn’t feel, and yet they wondered. Being close to Ferdinand in their spirit shape had given them an unfamiliar sort of pleasure, just as touching his skin in their human shape.

They knew they could never reveal themselves in human shape, that Ferdinand only had eyes for Miranda now. And yet, they wished they understood that happiness that the two young people clearly felt; wished they could feel the same; wished they were able to feel happiness at their happiness.

They changed into their spirit shape and blew first through Miranda’s, then Ferdinand’s hair, mingling them in the sky as they walked across the island.

They would be close to each other, but there would always be air between them.