Ariel let out a content sigh as she laid back in the ocean, enjoying the feeling of the sun on her skin. After months of not being able to become a mermaid, she was finally able to flip her fins and get a sense of her old home. She didn't go to Atlantica, though; she wasn't quite ready to be bombarded by the merpeople with questions about Hayden, how she felt, when can they see him, and all the rest. Instead, while Carlotta was watching over a sleeping Hayden, Ariel was able to use her necklace and spend some time flipping her fins near the shoreline, if only for half an hour.
She dove under the waves again, twirling in circles as she relished in the feel of the water on her scales. Though she much rather preferred her legs, she did love her fins. Now, seeing her tail reminded her of Hayden and his beautiful green eyes: a mermaid gene that he had acquired.
The redhead stayed under the waves for a couple of minutes before resurfacing. She popped out of the water, feeling very relaxed, until she heard a brief scream.
Looking up, Ariel saw a blonde woman in a green dress who looked remarkably like Claudia, the red-obsessed girl Ariel had met in Colmar. The blonde girl looked shocked, but almost thrilled.
"Ah! Are you a mermaid!?" the blonde squealed in delight, hurrying closer to Ariel in the water.
"Uh," Ariel said, unsure of the stranger and assuming she was not from the kingdom, otherwise she would have recognized the princess. Ariel turned her head and lifted her fins out of the water before turning back to the blonde. "Yes?"
"Ooh! Well, you certainly surprised me!" the girl laughed. "I'm Paula! I've never seen a mermaid up close before!"
Ariel slipped her tail under the waves before replying with a smile, "And I'm Ariel. You.. wouldn't happen to know a girl named Claudia, would you?"
"Claudia? Ooh, yes! That's my sister!" Paula replied. "Say, can I look at your tail again?"
Realizing that Paula was only interested in her fins, Ariel shrugged and replied, "Sure." Paula eagerly stepped into the ocean, looking with awe at Ariel's tail and chattering away about how much she loved mermaids. Ariel simply sighed and rested her head on her hand with her elbow in the sand. What is with these French girls? One is obsessed with my hair, the other with my tail. I wonder how many of them there are…