A/N: Hi! This is my second time posting this chapter. I think this needs some clarification. This is Once Upon a Time, so everyone is tied into this story. You'll understand why Belle is in this story soon~

Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time, but I do own Ran/Arielle. The Little Mermaid is a story by Hans Christian Andersen.

Ch. 1

~Ran~

It was finally her fifteenth birthday, and she could finally swim to the surface. She had spent her childhood amazed by the magnificent stories of the surface. The large, brown ships and the beautiful buildings. What she wanted to see most of all, though, we're the surface-people. Her sisters' tales of the odd surface-people who walked on two, lanky arm-like things. All of the glorious gadgets that they invented, and the magnificent structures that they erected of stones and metal; they fascinated her. It was so easy to get caught up in fantacies that she would often find herself doing just that. She had elaborate fantasies of princes and castles, much like the ones underwater that she had lived in every day of her life.

Ran stared out her window. The sun was just beginning to show through the water, and it sent rays of golden light down into the clear waters of the ocean. The kelp rose up through the water like fingers. Fish swam around, looking for food.

All of Ran's five sisters crowded around her bed smiling. Then, her father and grandmother came up. Her father's eyes smiled as much as his face could take as he lifted her up out of the bed and kissed her on the forehead.

"Happy birthday Ran," he said in his deep voice, like a wave hitting a rocky beach.

"Thanks dad!" Ran hugged her father and then swam up to the ceiling. She grabbed her lucky gold headband and placed it in her long, blond hair. she swam back down.

She chatted with her sisters as they swam down into the corridor that lead to the top of their castle, a spot close to the surface. Her sisters told her what to watch out for. She had already hear each of their journeys a million times, and she was eager to get to the surface. She wanted to see the surface-people do badly!

Her grandmother swam up to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Ran, you must be careful. Do not leave the water. It will hurt your tail. And please come back. If you get taken out by fishermen, offer them three wishes. They'll accept. And-"

"Grandmother, I'm fine. I know. Remember, I've heard this a million times. I'll be fine up there. Trust me." And with that, Ran smiled and swam out the window towards the surface, adrenaline pumping through her veins.

~Arielle~

Arielle smiled. It was her fifteenth birthday and her sisters woke her up by shaking her bed, laughing. They lifted her up out of her bed as she grabbed her glasses and her golden headband. All six of them ran downstairs, making a huge racket. Her grandmother making pancakes in the kitchen, a wide smile on her face.

"I'm sorry your father is out fishing, but he is getting you something very special for your birthday," her grandmother said, an apologetic smile on her face.

"It's fine grandma; he's not the "King of the Sea" for nothing." Arielle laughed. Her father fished on the lake every morning. And, being the only fishmonger in all of Storybrook, Maine, he had picked up the weird little nickname that they had all come to love.

Arielle ate her pancakes and headed out the door. She had to meet her friends now. There would be a family party later, and then she would thank her parents.

Arielle ran to Grannie's where she was meeting her friends. On the way over, she saw a man with brown hair and brown eyes like chocolate. She stopped a moment to gaze at him, but he didn't see her. Then, she saw him limp, then trip and fall down the hill he was walking on. She ran after him, hearing a loud crack and seeing splatters of the thick, red liquid all the way down the hill.

He laid on the grass, out cold. His breathing was uneven and there was a gash on his forehead. The blood gushed out of it like a waterfall. Arielle searched through her purse. Surely, she could find something to stop the bleeding. The only thing she could find was her favorite scarf, but what was more important: appearance or a human life? She took out the scarf and bound his head tightly, watching the blood soak through the silk. She took out her cell and called 9-1-1.

A/N: Thoughts? Please R&R!