Hey guys! I'm trying to get my requests finished. I'm sorry this one has taken so long, but it's going to be done soon! This is Part 1! Part 2 should be up by tomorrow if all goes as plan. I've had some work delays, unfortunately. This is a mermaid story, but it's all kind of Little Mermaidish. So that means seashell bras and the whole nine yards! :)

Disclaimer: I'm not Butch Hartman...

-Ash

Samantha frequently showed interest in the human world, no matter how much it displeased her parents. The raven haired mermaid had always been much different than the rest of her family. Being the heir to the thrown of Atlantis wasn't something she was looking forward to what so ever. Samantha knew there was so much more to the world than swimming circles within the boundaries of her parents' kingdom. Although, that didn't stop them from trying to prevent her from leaving.

When she was younger she swam to her favorite hide-out near the ocean shore. The princess knew that this was the only place she could be herself while being alone. She could never be who she wanted around her parents, and she didn't have any real friends. The only merfolk that spoke to her were their advisors and the occasional young lady who wanted to be her "friend" for the perks. Samantha grew tired of being used. She wanted someone to like her for who she was, not for the titles. It was a sad fate for a mermaid of only twelve years old.

The mermaid found herself swimming into uncharted territory near her hide out when she saw it. A gigantic ship floating on the ocean in the distance. Her childish curiosity won out. She slowly approached a rock to spy on the vessel from a safe, remote area. Samantha knew if she was discovered her parents would feed her to the sharks.

Not literally.

But a form of house arrest was a possibility.

She propped herself on the rock before gazing at the new discovery. What did humans do with those things? Why didn't they just swim if they wanted to travel through water?

Samantha felt herself being enticed by the parade of colors that shimmered from the ship. She couldn't help but want to investigate more.

As she got closer, she immediately noticed that something in the water was different. A storm. A storm was approaching, and suddenly she felt dread wash over her young body. She swam towards the vessel with concern as the wind began to pick up speed. That's when she saw the boy with raven black hair and eyes as blue as the sky. She gazed at him in awe of the sight of an actual human before her. The young boy didn't seem to notice her.

The water began to splash angrily against the boat as the waves became heavier from the impending storm. Samantha stared at the boy who seemed amused by the ocean's thrashing. He watched at the water as the curiosity in his eyes mirrored that of her own.

What surprised both children was the sudden wave that picked up and rocked the boat, knocking it from side to side. The boy was jerked and held on to the side for support. His eyes widened in obvious panic as the boat continued to shift. Another massive wave and he was sent flying over the edge. The boy gripped the side of the ship tightly as he held on for his life.

"Danny!" a voice screeched as another young lady approached him. She grabbed his wrists in an attempt to pull him back up, but she wasn't strong enough to lift his weight.

"Jazz, I'm slipping!" the boy cried as his fingertips began to slip from the wooden side.

The elder girl tried to hold her grip on him, but her own hands were betraying her as she couldn't keep her grasp. "Help us," she screamed.

No one came in time. His fingers slipped from hers. The girl watched him fall from her hands, and immediately retreated to find help. As he plummeted towards the water Samantha quickly made her move.

She dived after the boy as he hit the ocean. He flailed in the water with panic as he thrashed his arms about and tried to get back above the water. The mermaid grabbed him by the shoulders as his body fell limp. She shook the boy before her but noticed his movements stopped. Her eyes widened with panic, and she yanked the boy with her up to the surface. Samantha surged through the water with the quickest speed she could muster. She dragged herself and the boy up to the sand with all the strength she had.

The young mermaid stared expectantly at the boy. Was he okay?

Suddenly, she was startled by his coughing. Samantha gazed at the human wide eyed as he choked up the water that had filled his lungs.

His eyelids fluttered open as consciousness returned to him. The boy sat up with a groan before he came to his senses. It was then the child realized exactly who had saved him. He blinked in confusion. "You're a…"

"A mermaid."

He blinked again. "Yeah."

Samantha ran a hand through her dark hair as she shyly glanced away. "Are you okay now?"

The boy gave a curt nod. "I think so," he said as he still stared at the mermaid before him.

"Good."

He gaped at her a moment as if there was something sitting on his tongue. The boy sucked in a breath before gathering his courage. "You know English?"

She gave a nod. "Mermaid can speak any language. As soon as you talked, I knew what language you were saying."

"Huh, that's cool," he stared at her before arching a brow. "Say, what's your name?"

"Samantha," she chimed with a tilt of her head.

He held out a hand to her. "I'm Danny."

She glanced down at his outstretched hand with confusion. The mermaid chewed her lip. "Um…"

Danny snorted. "You take it."

She grabbed his hand and yanked.

"Ow! Not rip my arm off!" He pulled his arm back and brought her hand to his lips. He pressed a kiss to her knuckle with a small smile. "That's how royalty properly greets a lady. Or at least, that's what my sister said."

Samantha cocked her head in confusion. "Huh? How'd you know I was a princess?"

"I didn't—I said royalty because I'm a prince."

Her jaw dropped in surprise. "You don't look like a prince."

"Gee, thanks," he said with a roll of his eyes.

She covered her mouth in remorse. "Oh, sorry. I didn't try to sound mean," she pulled her hands away from her face and leaned over towards him. "You just don't look anything like the princes from Atlantis."

"Most princesses around here don't have fish tails either," he retorted.

Samantha giggled at his quip. "You're funny, Danny."

"Why thank you," he replied with a laugh.

She gazed at him before her lips turned up with a smile. "We should be friends."

"Of course. Does that mean I get to call you 'Sam' for short? I like to give my friends nicknames."

"Sure," she beamed.

"I think I see shadows over this way," a voice called from down the shoreline.

The mermaid swung her head quickly towards the sound before turning back to the boy before her. She placed a finger on his lips. "They can't know about me."

He grabbed her hand that was pressed against his mouth and took her pinky in his own. "Promise. Meet me here tomorrow when the sun is at its highest."

She nodded hastily before she took off back towards the water.

Finally. Someone who wanted to like her for who she was.

6 Years Later…

"Sam!" the prince called as he approached their usual hiding place.

She leaned up against the rock and popped her head above the stone to see Danny running in her direction. He waved his arms at her earning a chuckle from the mermaid.

"Quit that before you draw attention to us."

He let out an exhausted huff from his run with a forced laugh. "Sorry, I was trying to make sure you saw me."

"I did."

Danny took her hand into his and gently kissed her fingers. "You'll have to forgive me."

"We'll see," she scoffed.

The young man gave a chuckle before gazing out at the ocean before him. "Shall we go for a swim?"

Sam cocked a brow at him. "You're not going to be swept away by the current again, are you? Rescuing you all the time is a pain."

"But you love me too much to let me drowned," he cooed.

She crossed her arms with an agitated sigh. "You keep saying that I love you, but I don't recall such a thing ever leaving my mouth."

"It's okay, I can sense your bottled up passion for me."

"Pfft, as if."

He grinned at her. "C'mon now, let's go!" Danny stripped off his shirt and galloped into the water with a splash of his arms.

"I'm serious! Don't get hurt again!" she called from the rock as she watched his antics.

His head barely bobbed above the water. "Oh nooo, I'm sinkinggg…" he drawled as he floated up and down.

Sam scooted off the rock into the water. "You know, you're going to be like the boy who cried wolf. I'm not going to save you because I'll think you're joking."

"I think I should save you for a change."

She giggled as she approached him. "From what? Land sharks?"

"Har, har, very funny. Almost get eaten by a shark one time, and now you have to bring it up at all times," he snarked with a roll of his eyes.

Sam let out a groan. "Maybe because you were almost eaten by a shark. That could be the reason. You really just don't have much luck with the ocean, do you?"

"I got lucky enough to find a beautiful mermaid from the ocean."

Her eyes widened as a pale blush dusted her cheeks. "If I recall I don't think there was any 'finding me', I'm pretty sure I saved your butt then too."

Danny growled and lightly splashed her. "Yeah, okay, so maybe my ocean luck isn't the best." He cupped a hand under her chin, forcing her gaze to bore into his. "But maybe that's why you need to join me on land."

She sighed. "Danny, you know I can't. My parents can't even know I've spoken to a human, let alone been friends with one since I was young. There's no way that my father would use his power to let me on land. Ever."

"But he should. I could talk to him?" Danny asked with a shrug.

Sam cocked a brow. "Do you have a death wish?"

He cupped her cheek. "If it's for you, it's worth it."

She shook her head. "No. It's not. I can't lose you. This is how things have to be for now. There's nothing we can do to change it. That's what I've told you for years, Danny. It doesn't matter what our feelings are. We're from two different worlds that can't collide."

"So you admit it."

The mermaid gave a confused tilt of her head. "What?"

"That you have feelings for me."

"Ugh, you're impossible."

Danny strode down the seemingly infinite hallways of the palace to arrive at his room quickly. He had been caught by his father's advisor when sneaking out to see Sam recently, so now he was on careful alert when he went to visit. The prince hadn't told her of the ordeal to prevent her from worrying, but there was always the chance that he would be unable to escape his bodyguards.

It was a bit worrying that recently his advisor had shown a lot of interest in the beach. The man hated the sun, so it was strange. He was rather intent on following Danny when he went to visit Sam. The prince had noticed the odd behavior, and was more worried when the man dropped a question about the existence of mermaids.

"Daniel."

The prince's hair stood on end as he spun on his heel to face the voice behind him. "Y-Yes?"

His father's advisor clasped his hands together, and his shoes clicked as he marched towards the young man. "Where have you been, my boy? We've been searching for you."

"I've just been out for a morning walk through the palace, Mr. Masters. Sorry to worry you," Danny lied smoothly with a fake smile.

The man stared at the boy with narrow eyes. "I see. From now on it'd be much appreciated if you would let the staff know where you're going from now on. That is, unless, you don't want us to know where you're going?"

The prince let out a scoff. "Why would I have anything to hide?"

"I don't know. Why don't you tell me?"

"But I have nothing to say."

"Daniel."

"Vlad."

The elder man's nostrils flared as he glared at the prince. "Why don't you stay in your room until you can learn some respect? And from now on you will be watched for as long as I see fit."

Danny smirked and crossed his arms. "I don't think you really have a say in those types of orders. Unless you plan on going to my father and tattle telling on me, which you won't because you're too curious as to where you apparently think I'm going every day."

Vlad gripped the front of the prince's shirt. "You and I both know where you're going every day, Daniel."

"Prove it."

The man's face morphed into a terrifying grin that almost made Danny back down.

Almost.

"I may have to take you up on that offer, little badger."

The prince snarled. "If you hurt her…"

"You'll what? Tell your parents that you've been running off every day to flirt with a mermaid? That's hardly a believable story. You and I both know that this palace will be mine, and there's nothing you can do about it. If you try to interfere then you can say goodbye to the fish girl, is that clear?"

"Crystal," he growled.

Footsteps from down the hall caused the advisor to quickly release the prince. He patted his shoulder with a smirk. "I know you'll make the right choice, won't you?"

"Of course," Danny replied through gritted teeth.

With one last sly grin, Vlad turned away as his shoes clicked with every step he took. Danny felt his blood boil with clack. The prince balled his hands tightly into fists as he watched the advisor calmly walk away.

Suddenly, Danny flinched when he felt something touch his shoulder. He whipped his towards the feeling to see his best friend standing beside him. The young man, Tucker, worked in the garden of the palace. He and Danny met as children while Tucker's parents had worked at the palace for years.

Tucker cocked a brow at him with curiosity. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," the prince murmured.

"You don't sound fine."

Danny groaned as he glanced at his friend. The prince stomped his foot in frustration. "I just can't stand that man."

"Mr. Masters?"

"Yes! He just threatened me!" Danny exclaimed as he ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

Tucker reared back in surprise. "Threatened you? Threatened you how?"

"I-I can't tell you…" the prince mumbled as he gazed at the painting on the wall beside him.

He felt guilty for being unable to tell his friend the truth. But maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea for someone to know what was going on.

Tucker stared at him. "I thought we told each other everything."

The prince let out a sigh. "Okay, I'll tell you, but we need to go somewhere private."

Sam glided through the water to reach her home. If she was late again then her parents might ground her for all eternity. When she reached her bedroom (which consisted of giant clams and seaweed), she was surprised to so her parents already waiting for her.

The mermaid glanced around nervously. "Did I do something?"

Jeremy glared at his daughter. "You think that we don't know where you've been? We know this entire ocean, Samantha! We simply had a few fish follow you."

"O-Oh," Sam felt her body slump.

The king narrowed his eyes at her. "How long have you been making googly eyes at a human?"

She chewed her lip thoughtfully. "Not long at all. We barely know each other."

Her mother scoffed at her. "From what we hear, it seems like you two know each other very well. He even said you loved him! How repulsive!"

"Mother, you don't understand. He really cares about me," Sam argued as she gestured to herself. "The real me. Who I really am that you two seem to not care about. You just want me to be this perfect mermaid princess that you put up on this pedestal. I hate it! I can't be who you want me to be!"

Her mother slashed the water with aggravation. "Samantha, you-"

"It's 'Sam' now. I've been going by Sam for a long time now. You just never cared to listen. I don't think you've even cared about me. Ever."

Pamela gaped at her. "How dare you?"

The king slammed his scepter down with a snarl. "We will not be disrespected by you, young lady! You're getting married!"

"What!?" the princess screeched.

"That's right. Your father and I have arranged a marriage for you. We figured it would take your mind off the human boy," her mother added.

Sam's eyes bulged as she stared at them with disbelief. "You arranged a marriage in less than an hour? How long have you been planning this?"

"We always figured you'd marry Elliot, but we were going to wait until you were ready. We see now that you are ready to fall in love, so we decided that it would be with someone we wanted," Jeremy explained.

Sam reared back with disgust. "Elliot? You're making me marry Elliot? That pompous, fake, son of a clam headed prince? How is he anywhere worthy enough for the throne?"

Pamela hummed sweetly at her daughter as she completely ignored her rage. "He is the only eligible bachelor that is of age for the thrown."

The princess groaned. "I'd rather die."

"Why are you so ungrateful for all your father and I have done for you?"

She flung her arms up. "Because none of this is for me! It's all for you! If you cared about what I wanted then you'd let me be with Danny, and just let Elliot take the throne! He really cares about the kingdom, and wants to do all these great things. I can't stand being here. Elliot's great at being royal because he's just as fake as you two are. You're so selfish."

"Sam, you're marrying Elliot and that's final. Also you will not be seeing this human boy ever again or else," the king threatened.

"Or else what? I'm already miserable enough as it is."

"We'll destroy their castle."

Sam scoffed at the statement. "Yeah, right. That's a little dark coming from you."

The king scowled. "I'll do whatever it takes to keep our kingdom safe from humans. They're responsible for the death of many merfolk because of those ships. They take our people for sport, and that's unacceptable."

"You'd hurt innocent people to punish me? Do you even hear yourself?"

"Follow orders and I won't have to."

The princess glared at her father before letting out a defeated sigh. "Fine."

"This is for your own good."