Six months had passed since Dolza's attack and the crew of the SDF-1 continued the round the clock work of humanitarian relief and protection for the few million survivors of the devastating attack. They were supported by Breetai and the Zentraedi that have aligned themselves with the SDF-1 during the final battle and the aid that they provided during reconstruction allowed progress to move faster than before. The RDF staff was tired and overworked but knew the importance in continuing their efforts if they wanted a chance for humanity to survive.

Commander Lisa Hayes walked into the bridge conference room, where she found Sammie, Kim , Vanessa and Claudia gathered around the large table discussing the latest base gossip. Lisa paid little attention to the gossiping Trio and sat down next to Claudia, who smiled at her as Lisa set a cup of tea in front of her.

Sammie finally noticing that Lisa had set down, started, "Good, I'm glad you're here. Before the general meeting starts, do you think we can make some decisions around what we are going to do for Children's Day?"

Lisa smiled at Sammie's suggestion and readily agreed. She was excited about the event and had pitched it to Admiral Gloval and the Macross Mayor Tommy Luan as a way to boost morale of the citizens that were still living on the SDF-1 and to do something for the children that were impacted by the war. There was an influx of young children that had lost their parents and those that could not be cared for within their own community were transferred to the SDF-1 for care. Unfortunately, the planning and execution of the event was taken over by the mayor's office as the military staff had too much on their plate already. Military personnel were asked to participate in the event and many people had volunteered to help out at the event or provide some sort of entertainment for the children.

Sammie continued, "As you know the event is only two weeks away and we haven't agreed on what we are going to do. Any ideas?"

"How about dressing up as famous historical women, there are so many wonderful women we could choose from." suggested Lisa. "It would also be educational for the children. "

Kim and Vanessa pouted, they thought Lisa's idea was too boring but liked the idea of dressing up. Vanessa perked up "I have an idea! How about we dress up as fairytale princesses? There are a ton of them in the storybooks and should be easily to pull off. I know a costume designer that could help us with the outfits."

Kim excited by the idea added, "Oh and I know one of the mechanics is a great artist and can help design some murals to create a storybook setting."

Sammie chimed in, "Oh I like that idea, that sounds like so much fun."

"But, but, don't you think that it's a bit girly? What about the boys, they aren't going to be much interested in visiting princesses," argued Lisa, finding the selection a bit frivolous.

Claudia interjected, "I took a look at the events, and the pilots are showing off their veritechs and there are going to be a lot of carnival games and rides. I think that this would be entirely appropriate and may help some of the younger kids traumatized by the war gain back some of the magic of childhood."

Lisa seeing Claudia's point grumbled a bit but reluctantly agreed to participate. "So who are we all going to be?"

That opened up a flurry of conversation between the Trio and some arguments about who should be Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and Snow White. Claudia and Lisa just smiled at each other and rolled their eyes. Lisa didn't know much about the princesses being much more into her music when she was younger and didn't really have any thought or care about who she should dress up as. Claudia annoyed with the arguments, put her hands up and said, "Ladies, stop, I have an idea… why don't we put the names of the princesses in a bag and everyone just pull a name and that is who you will dress up as."

Sammie, Vanessa and Kim conferred with one another and agreed to the plan. Pulling out a set of sticky notes, Sammie wrote the name of a princess on each one and Vanessa grabbed a bowl from a side table in the conference room and Sammie dropped the pieces of paper in it. Holding the bowl out to Lisa and Claudia they both pulled a piece of paper out of the bowl. Claudia opened hers and read "Jasmine" and Lisa opened her and read out, "Ariel" Lisa groaned, she may not know much about princesses but knew that "Ariel" was the name of the Little Mermaid. She watched as Sammie called out "Belle", Kim called out "Snow White" and Vanessa called out "Cinderella." The girls chatted excitedly about their roles and Lisa asked if anyone of them wanted to switch with her. All the girls shook their head and quieted down as others attending the staff meeting started to trickle in.

At the end of the meeting and everyone had adjourned except for Claudia, Sammie, Vanessa and Kim. "Good job girls," Claudia said with a wink. They all smiled back and laughed to themselves knowing that their plan had worked and that they had been able to trick Lisa into playing Ariel. The four of them had planned this ahead of time knowing they wouldn't get Lisa to agree to dress up as a princess and decided this was the best method to get her to agree. They had rigged the princess selection and Sammie had written Ariel on all the slips of paper so that Lisa would have no choice while everyone called out their own princess choice. It was an ingenious plan and the girls were proud they were able to pull one over on Lisa.

Later that day as Lisa and Claudia sat down to a cup of tea after a long work day, Lisa looked over at Claudia and pulled out the pink slip of paper that she picked from the bowl and playing with it, she glanced at her friend who had a smile on her face. "They pulled a fast one on me didn't they." Claudia laughed and took a sip of her tea before responding and said, "Yes they did." Lisa laughed, she wasn't mad at the Trio and silently applauded them for their creativity.


The day of the event was filled with excitement. Everyone on the base and in the city had worked hard all week to transform a large unused section of the SDF-1 into an amusement park. Carnival rides that were used during the opening ceremonies of the SDF-1 were recovered from salvage and mechanics had worked hard to help fix the rides and make them available for the day. The plan was to make them a permanent fixture in the SDF-1 until the citizens can be moved off the space fortress. Interspersed through the rides were food and drink vendors, there were face painters, balloon animal makers, and clowns on stilts. The pilots had an area where the different Veritech's were displayed and the pilots created shifts to be able to man the station as well as give them some time to enjoy the fair as well. While geared for the kids, the atmosphere of the day felt like it was a day of fun for everyone, not just the kids although they were the main focus.

As for the bridge crew, a winding path was created with little alcoves decorated with appropriate princess's theme. Sammie as Belle was dressed in an elaborate golden ballgown and her hair was piled on top of her head. Her background scene was a ballroom with a beautiful night sky and music played behind her. The kids were going to pose with them and be able to take photos with their favorite princesses and at 10am, 2pm and 5pm, were going to do a little storytelling for the kids.

Kim, who made a wonderful Snow White, had a woodland scene with a small cottage painted in the background and many small painted animals around her. Woodland sounds filled the air in her area and occasionally the sounds of the dwarfs mining could be heard and Kim would pause and tell the children about the dwarfs and how kind they were to her.

Vanessa, dressed in a white and silver ballgown and a glass slipper in her hand and her background scene had a castle at the top of hill and had a large ceramic pumpkin that looked like a carriage nearby and in the background beautiful music playing, with a clock sound ticking and striking midnight after each melody was played.

Claudia dressed in more conservative Arabian harem costume gained a lot of attention with the flowing black wig she wore. Her background scene was set in the castle with the desert sands being seen by its windows, rich tapestries graced the floor and Claudia herself had a flying carpet, engineered by Dr. Lang's team to appear as if it could fly. A large animatronic tiger was also present, which growled and purred to the children much to their delight.

It was Lisa's transformation to the Little Mermaid that captured everyone's attention. The trio oohed and ahhed, when Lisa finally came out of the dressing room in her outfit. Lisa had surprised everyone and had her long honey brown hair dyed a beautiful red color. Dr. Lang assured her the color was only temporary and would wash out quite easily even though the color was so rich. Lisa had used her own bra and sewing skills to create her top, not trusting the Trio to come up with her costume. Lisa and constructed a seashell top using her bra as a foundation and using shell necklaces she wove them into her long hair and draped them around her neck. It was her mermaid body that made the costume as it looked incredibly realistic. Dr. Lang's team had created the sheath and covered it with a material that looked wet but was dry and that shimmered under the lights as Lisa moved her legs up and down. It was uncomfortable to walk in the outfit and Lisa was to spend her day perched on a large created rock. Her background was a beach scene with a seaside castle perched on a hill with a shipwreck washed on the beach. Perched on the rock, in a deep blue sea, Lisa would flip her fins and invite the children to sit with her and tell them stories about her life in the sea. Everyone thought she made a very realistic mermaid and Sammie was so pleased that Lisa put so much effort into her costume. The women were such a hit with the children that throughout the day, not only were children coming in to pose with their favorite princesses but teenage girls and grown women came in as well to take photos with their princesses.

Rick, Max and Miriya had just finished their own shift with the Veritech's and had signed autographs and taken pictures with many kids who saw the Skull Squadron as their heroes and most of the boys and some of the girls wanted to be just like them when they grew up. Miriya had been fascinated with the children and were amazed at their curiosity and resiliency and especially found the infants and toddlers quite interesting and was determined to ask Max if it was possible for them to create one for themselves.

Rick used to the attention as it was similar to attention he would get at the airshows but was beat at the end of the shift.

"Whew, glad we are done with that, so what's next?" said Rick.

Miriya in awe of everything that she had seen provided as entertainment for the children wanted to see everything and ride every ride. The three of them worked through the park until they came to the forested path with a large wooden sign directing them to the Princesses. Miriya knew that this was where her friends were and was curious to see these "Princesses." She was unfamiliar with the fairytales and was enchanted as she walked along the path with Max and Rick and saw the magical world that was created. Max and Rick were also impressed with the transformation and were sets that the bridge officers were set in and content to wander down the path as Miriya stopped at each Princess to observe the outfits, hear their story and take a photo with them. As they left Claudia as Jasmine, with Miriya ahead of them, Max slyly asked Rick, "So what's Commander Hayes's costume?" Rick nonchalantly responded that he didn't know and that Lisa had kept it a secret from him. He had tried to wheedle it out of her, but he hadn't been able to pry it out of her or Claudia or the usually gossiping Trio and was actually excited to see what Princess she was as he never really saw her out of her officer's uniform. All of a sudden Rick and Max heard a squeal of excitement from Miriya as she hurried down the path and stopped right down the alcove where Lisa was. Rick and Max with a look at one another, ran down the path to Miriya wondering if the sound they had heard had actually come from Miriya. Laughing as they hit end the end of the path to where Miriya had stopped they looked in the scene in front of them.

Rick's jaw dropped when he surveyed the scene before him. He couldn't believe that the mermaid in front of him was the Lisa that he knew and had to keep himself from not staring at her and tampering down any impure thoughts that ran through his head. The seashell bikini top she wore did little to cover her taut abs and well-toned arms and her skin glistened as it was dusted with a subtle glitter. Her long hair was wavy and bouncy and although he thought she looked incredibly sexy with the red hair, he preferred her natural hair color. Lisa was seated on her rock and in front of her were a troupe of 3-4 year old boys and girls from the orphanage, escorted by their caregivers. Lisa was telling the wide eyed group of kids a story about her life as a princess under the sea and one cute little girl in the front who had sat enthralled during Lisa's story, slowly inched her way up closer and closer to where Lisa was sitting. Lisa who noticed the little girl leaned down and pulled her up into her lap as she finished her story. Rick was surprised to see Lisa so natural with the children and didn't notice Claudia come up behind him still dressed in her harem outfit. She didn't want to miss seeing Rick's reaction in observing Lisa. "She volunteers at the care center y'know." Rick hearing Claudia but not taking his eyes off of Lisa said, "Really? I didn't know that. When does she have time?"

"Oh she makes time, even if it's an hour or two she tries to get over there as much as she can to read to the kids or to teach them songs."

It didn't surprise Rick that Lisa made time for the children under the SDF-1's care. She always seem to have time for him when he needed to vent to someone one, or talk to about Minmei. Lost in thought, he was pulled from his trance when he heard the kids clamoring for Lisa to sing them a song. Gently putting the girl back down, Lisa agreed to sing, if the kids behaved and not having any accompanying music, Lisa started to sing in a clear voice "Part of Your World".

Rick who loved to hear Lisa sing even though she didn't do it often, couldn't take his eyes off of her as she sang the song and repositioning herself on the rock in order to better hit the high notes.

Up where they walk

Up where they talk

Up where they stay all day in the sun,

Wandering free, wish I could be part of that world

Lisa continued to sing and looked at the children in front of her:

Bet'cha on land they understand

And they don't reprimand their daughters

Bright young women, sick of swimming

Ready to stand..

As Lisa finished her song, Rick could see tears in her eyes and wondered if the song had some significance to her. Miriya waited until the children left and ran up to Lisa and compliment her on the outfit and her song. "Commander, I was unaware that you were also a canary!"

Confused, Lisa looked at her friend and said, "Canary?"

"Yes, isn't that what humans who can sing are called? It's what Lt. Commander Grant calls Minmei all the time."

Lisa laughed and said, "Well not all of us are canaries. I stopped singing when I made the choice to join the military. I was amazed as you that song came out so easily for me."

Rick and Max had just, joined Miriya when they heard Miriya ask, "That song you sang, you had so much feeling in it. I could feel the want, the longing in your song."

Lisa blushed at her compliment and said to Miriya, "Thank you, I will admit that song does hold some memories for me. I think it showed how I felt growing up as I did, so restricted, with all my activities carefully planned. I wanted to break free and find my freedom and I was surprised as anyone when I decided to embrace the life that my father had envisioned for me. I'm glad you like it and I think that the song also can apply to your situation Miriya. Like Ariel, you left a life you knew to one that is as different as can be and gave up so much for it."

Miriya was thoughtful and said, "I would like to see this movie that is made about this Little Mermaid."

Max promised to find it for her and they quickly took a photo with Lisa on her rock before leaving her with Rick.

There were no other visitors at the time as the event organizers closed the path down to allow the women some lunch. Lisa felt the need to stretch her legs and pushed her finned legs out and moved them up and down, causing the tail to shimmer and shine. Rick couldn't keep his eyes off of her and Lisa didn't really notice as she tried to get up off the rock. Losing her balance she grabbed onto Rick and Rick who had been fantasizing about Lisa and her outfit, was startled when she grabbed him and the two fell down with Lisa laying on top of Rick.

"Rick I am so sorry, the mermaid tail, it threw me off balance, I think I lost some feeling in my legs." said Lisa stammering.

Rick looking up, with Lisa laying on top of him with her green eyes looking at him with concern and her red hair forming a curtain around them, couldn't help but just stare. Lisa tried to get up, but Rick held her in place, his hands on her waist.

"Rick?" Lisa asked biting her lip wondering if Rick was ok and if he had hit his head on the way down. "Are you okay?"

Rick finally coming to his senses and hearing her question, and realizing the improper position they were in, allowed Lisa to scoot off of him and as he stood up, he helped her regain her balance with her fins.

She smiled at him as he helped her up and then Rick said to her, "You look beautiful Lisa, and you sang beautifully too."

"Thanks Rick, I appreciate it. Why don't you stay and have some lunch with us, I know they brought in enough food."

Rick happy to spend time with Lisa agreed and the two enjoyed their lunch with their friends. All of them wondered why Rick and Lisa were taking so long to get together but seeing Rick notice Lisa in a different way, gave them hope that he would get it together and get over his crush Minmei soon.