Lady yawned as she padded along the beach. It was early in the morning, and she took the opportunity to enjoy the serenity of the beach while the children were still asleep. It was something she always wanted to experience. As her toes sunk into the sand, she walked to the border of the water and land. Lying down, she rested so close to the water that it would touch only her front paws with every wave. It was refreshing, yet relaxing. Yawning again, she began to lower her head to the sand.
Ariel was swimming in the ocean, giggling and brushing her hair with a dinglehopper. She stopped at her grotto to smile and admire everything in it. "Well, I'll have to start collecting new things in here.. Maybe I can find something up on land!" She smiled and swam up to the shore, hiding behind a rock. "Wow, it's Lady," she muttered under her breath before swimming foward, trying not to scare the dog. "Hi, Lady! How're you?" she asked placing her hands on the sand.
Lady's eyes were closed and all was calm until she heard someone yell her name. Her eyes opened wide as she jumped up tensely. "How… how do you know my name?" she asked timidly. "Have we.. met before?" Lady was pretty sure she had never met the girl. But wait. Emerging and disappearing into the water was a shining, glittering flipper. No, it couldn't be. These things weren't real. As the girl continued to smile at her, Lady saw that the tail was attached to her. She took a small step back.
Ariel quirked her brow and sighed. "Well, I thought we met before. My apologies for thinking wrong." She giggled. "Well, I'm Ariel." She looked at Lady staring at her tail and backing away. "Don't worry. I won't hurt you! I'm a nice mermaid.. Well, half-mermaid. My necklace that I wear can turn me into a mermaid whenever I want, so if I want to visit my home in Atlantica, I can!" she giggled.
Lady half-smiled at Ariel. She would have asked how she knew Lady's name, but people always seemed to read her collar and find it out before she had the chance to introduce herself. "Nice to meet you, Ariel." She looked at the tail again. "I've never seen a real mermaid before, just heard about them in stories I tell my children sometimes. How amazing!" As she listened to Ariel explain herself, Lady found herself even more shocked at the fact that there is a city underwater, Atlantica, filled with more mermaids. "I can't believe it!" she exclaimed with a surprised expression.
Ariel smiled with a gleam in her eyes at the small cocker spaniel. "Well, now you have! I'm sure your beautiful puppies would be fascinated to hear about you meeting a mermaid! I'm sure my daughter Melody was!" She chuckled and pushed some of her crimson hair off of her shoulder.
Lady laughed lightly, feeling more comfortable. "What a pretty name! Melody, I like it." She shook her head slightly, letting her ears loosen. "I'll be sure to tell my pups about you."
Ariel grinned. "N'aww, thank you! Well, her voice is like a beautiful melody! She inherits it from her aunts and her grandmother." She smiled. "Aww, that would be wonderful! Maybe I could meet them! Well, not as a mermaid." She adjusted herself on the rock and started singing. Her fins disappeared and out appeared her legs and a shiny blue dress. She jumped off the rock and dug her feet into the warm sand. "So! What are your puppies like?"
Lady jumped slightly at watching Ariel transform. She could tell Ariel was very spunky. "Well, they are all very adventurous, especially my son, Scamp. And my three daughters also love adventure, but are very ladylike and love taking baths," she replied.
Ariel nodded. "Ah, that sounds something like my sisters… I was the adventurous one, like Scamp. I would always go into sunken ships and find human things! It was dangerous, but it was worth it. It was a dream of mine to become human! As for my sisters, they sound like your daughters. They were always ladylike and like all of the other mermaids. I guess you could say I'm a fish out of water."
Lady giggled at the pun. "I think you and my son would be very good friends," she nodded. "Perhaps you could even teach him how to swim!"
Ariel gasped. "That would be fantastic! I tried to teach my dog, Max, how to swim, but he just splashed me," she giggled.
Lady laughed with her. "I'm sure Scamp would do the same thing at first. But he's only a puppy, and gets tired out pretty quickly. He wouldn't splash you too much."
Ariel sighed happily. "Aww, he sounds like a wonderful bundle of joy!" She smiled. "Dogs are the best when they're puppies, so young and so new to the world. It makes adventures way more fun." She twirled her crimson red hair between her index finger.
Lady smiled and laughed. "Oh yes, he certainly is. They all are." She looked at the setting sun. "Puppies can be a handful, but they're just like human babies. Watching them make new experiences and learn more things is priceless. But some of them do keep that young spirit in them as they get older." Her smile grew wider as she thought of Tramp.
Ariel shook her head in understanding. "I know exactly how you feel. Watching Melody grow up has been very fun! I can't wait to listen to all of her adventures when she gets to the age where I started all of my fun adventures." She smiled at the thought of her daughter. "Being a mother is like having a part of you reborn into someone else. Well, actually it is, I guess. Children are just so interesting to watch. You can learn a lot from them."
Lady started to shake her paws a bit to get off some sand. "Oh yes, you certainly can. What wonders they truly are."
Ariel was tracing a heart in the sand and opened her mouth to reply, but suddenly, her name was being called across the ocean. "That must be my sisters. Coming!" she yelled. "Well, Lady, I guess I must go. Nice talking to you!" With that, she turned and dove back into the water, swimming from sight.
Lady watched the mermaid leave, yelling in return. "Goodbye! It was nice to meet you!" Besides, Lady knew she should really get back to the pups. She turned and headed for home, happy to have spent the day with a new mermaid friend.