Sure enough, Xavier found Hali splashing about in the sea. The princess was swimming a few yards off from shore with her back towards him.

"If diving was ever made a sport," Xavier called out to her, "you'd be a gold medalist, for sure."

Hali spun around, obviously startled, "What do you mean by that?" she questioned.

"That was some dive you took. Courageous too!"

Hali sunk lower into the ocean, using it to shroud her tail. If Xavier had seen her, then her only remaining secret had exposed itself.

"Are you going to come out of the water?" Xavier coaxed.

"Yes," Hali submitted, "but you have to turn around first," she said moving her pointer finger in spirals.

For the first time, Xavier took notice of Hali's dress lying safely on a flat rock. Hali had left it there to dry, after jumping, dress and all into the ocean. Shortly after this discovery, Xavier blushed ferociously. All this time, he had been talking to a naked princess, or so he thought.

With Xavier's back turned, Hali took the opportunity to whisper, "legs."

Stepping out of the sea, Hali quickly slipped back into her sun-dried dress.

"You can turn around now," she informed.

So, Xavier turned to see Hali wringing the excess salt water out of her fiery hair. She really did look stunning. Xavier noted how Hali's pastel green dress fluttered on the slight breeze. It could very well have been Hali's dress he saw trailing behind her when she took the infamous dive, he supposed. He must have imagined the tail. Still, it was an incredible dive.

"What are you thinking about?" Hali questioned the young man.

"Mermaids," replied Xavier.

Hali's face went pale, "Mermaids?" she panicked.

"Yes, just a silly story my mother used to tell me as a little boy."

"Oh," Hali relaxed, "I'd like to hear it some time."

The story went like this:

Far out at sea the water is as blue as the bluest cornflower, and as clear as the clearest crystal, but it is very deep, and if many steeples were piled on the top of one another they would not reach from the bed of the sea to the surface of the water. It is down there that the mermen live.

Xavier stopped to see if Hali was listening, and found that she was really quite attentive.

The mermen are very curious. Sometimes they salvage human objects tossed overboard during a thunderous storm, or sunk to the watery depths after a ship had been wrecked. Oh, how the mermen treasured these objects! It was not uncommon to see a merman's home decorated with a long lost painting, or the garden of a young mermaid contain a statue or two as the focal point.

"Here's where the story gets a little silly," Xavier sheepishly remarked.

"Please, go on," Hali returned kindly.

J'étais à la plage, 'my mother would always begin.' One clear, sunny day, when the sky was blue as ever, my parents took me to swim in the sea. I was four years old, and I was very excited, because it was the first time I had ever seen the ocean. I was playing in the sand, reveling really, when my eyes caught a glimpse of a small, shiny object. It was a pearl. I knew this because ma mère had a string of pearls that she would wear about her neck on special occasions. I tried reaching for the pearl, but it was just out of reach. So I stretched my hand a little further, and at that moment a wave rushed at me and pulled me under the water. Zut alors, I cried, for I thought I was going to drown, and never see ma famille again. But soon I was back on the sand and breathing in the salty sea air. Sitting up, I saw a tail, I knew it was a mermaid's tail, splash into the water.

Xavier stopped again hoping Hali was not laughing at him. She wasn't.

"Is there any more?" Hali was very curious.

"A little bit," Xavier swallowed hard. It had been months since he last thought about his mother.

Form that day on, I would ask ma mère to take me to the beach every day. Every day I would search for the mermaid, but everyday I was disappointed. Until one morning, as I combed the beach for little shells, a head came up from the water. Je m'appelle Siren, she said to me. Je m'appelle Ami, I said to her. And that is how I became friends with a mermaid. Sometimes she would bring me one of her human treasures and ask me what it was. I was very proud because I could identify each and every one. One time she showed me a pair of spectacles, the same kind that mon père kept on his nightstand. Another time, she brought a sparkling diamond ring, and I told her that human women wear those on their fingers. Each day I would give names to her treasures and she would tell me stories about the mermen living beneath the waves. She was my very best friend.

"What happened to your mother, Xavier?" Hali ventured to ask.

"She died of a fever, about a year ago. That's when my father and I moved back here, to his home country. To get away form it all, you know?"

"I'm sorry," Hali apologized, "I shouldn't have brought it up. I'm so nosy."

"No, it fine," Xavier said truthfully, "mermaids are silly myths, aren't they?" he said gazing deeply into Hali's azure eyes.

Hali's heart began to skip beats here and there, and Xavier's eyes once again transformed into waves colliding into each other with the bounding of the sea.

"Maybe not," Hali said breathlessly.

She could feel the slight brush of Xavier's lips against her own, and was preparing herself for the inevitable kiss, when suddenly a shrill voice pierced the air like lightning.

"Xavier, you lazy boy! The horses need feeding!"

Xavier winced and ran his fingers though his sandy hair, "I've got to go."

"Au revoir," Hali said not quite able to hide her disappointment.

Xavier stood and dismally walked back to the stables, "Hali?" he said turning back to her, "can I see you again tomorrow?"

"Oui, oui monsieur."

That seemed to satisfy him, because as he made his way back to the waiting and hungry horses, Hali noticed that he had a much more sprightly step.

Now that Hali's little romantic dome had been shattered, and shards of imaginary glass lay strewn across the sand, she realized just how many hours had passed since she began talking with Xavier. The sun was low on the horizon, and ready to set at any given moment. The ocean was as calm and peaceful as it was earlier in the day, and the water shone pink and purple with the sun's reflected rays. Despite the scene in all its splendor, Hali hated the fact that, contrary as it might have felt, time had not stopped for a second.

Quick French Lesson

J'étais à la plage= I was at the beach

ma mère= my mother

Zut alors= (roughly) Oh gosh

ma famille= my family

Je m'appelle= my name is

mon père= my father

Au revoir= goodbye

oui monsieur= yes, sir (or in Hali's case, yes, Xavier)

Ultra Special Blah Blah Blah

First thing is first:

The following does not belong to me: Far out at sea the water is as blue as the bluest cornflower, and as clear as the clearest crystal, but it is very deep, and if many steeples were piled on the top of one another they would not reach from the bed of the sea to the surface of the water. It is down there that the mermen live. It was written by none other than Hans Christian Andersen, author of The Little Mermaid. These are the opening lines of the short story first published in 1837. All this writing and reading about Ariel made me nostalgic for the original. So, I pulled out my book of Andersen's fairy tales, and paid homage to this genius. If you haven't read it, I urge you to go to your local library and borrow a book of his Andersen's fairy tales. Just be warned the story is completely different form the film we know and love, although there is a similarity or two.

Next:

Congratulations to percabethrox17 for winning the virtual high five and cupcake.

Also, congratulations to PrincessCricket for becoming our very first virtual million heir. Enjoy your virtual trip.

xJadeRainx