Lila made it home safe, but upset. "It is ever so unfair, I cannot tell anyone what happened up there, and he will never know that I was the one that saved him," she lamented. Her father saw she was sullen and told her he did not need her for any chores that day, so she went outside and wrapped her tail around the coral fence that surrounded the fields of kelp and sat down. She thought of the boy with his sand colored hair, smiling and thanking the girls on the beach. She had sat there with him all night. She had swum so far to the shore with him. She had saved him from sinking down to the depths where she lived, but a man could not. She went to see her friends, but when they asked her what she had seen on her trip, all she would tell them of was the sunset. "It was ever so beautiful," she would say, and leave it at that.

She started sneaking back up to the shore to look upon the city. She stopped seeing her friends as often and missed entire nights of sleep. But, she was always looking at the shore at night, and there were very few people that ever came down to the beach at night and most of the city was asleep. Some nights she would sit under the pier where the fishermen would come and go from their boats and she would listen to them. From the fishermen she learned that the young man she had saved was the prince, and that he was good and kind and his people loved him. They were so happy to find him, for they thought him to be lost in the storm as he did not make it back with the ship. She wanted to tell them that she had saved him, but they were fishermen and she was afraid.

She began to spend her nights in the tides around the palace. She was spending more time at the surface than at home. She wanted to spend all her time at the surface. She loved smelling most of all. Things at home all smelled the same, if you could say that. Water literally would fill your mouth and nose and everything was everywhere. But at the surface, she could smell the flowers from the gardens of the palace, and food from the kitchen. It made her sad for the things she would never get to try, and she went home. She tried to ask her father about the humans, but he knew nothing about them.

She had questions, and nobody seemed to have answers for her. When speaking to one of her friends one day, she asked about humans again. "Well, there is one place you could probably go to ask around here," her friend said, "I don't know if I could ever go, but the Sea Witch may know the answers you seek."

Lila thought about this a minute. "Y-you mean Madame Blanche?" she asked pensively.

"You know that is exactly who I mean," her friend replied. "She usually helps with love problems, and some say her magic is fake, but you can never be too sure."

The next morning, Lila was pacing near the entrance to Madame Blanche's dwelling. It was so normal looking, Lila did not know if she was at the right place or if Madame Blanche was a fraud. She was busy pacing and eventually when she turned around she swam right into Madame Blanche. With her dark hair and trinkets tied in her hair and around her tail, and she was even wearing some human clothing that had been scavenged from a ship, she was a fearsome sight for the young mermaid. Lila froze and thought of swimming away.

"You have many questions for me," Madame Blanche stated more accusatory than as a question. "Come in, come in. I have what you need." Lila followed her and was surprised at how clean and nice everything was inside. Madame Blanche caught her staring, "Do not touch. You sit there." Lila settled in. "What can I do for you?"

Lila hesitated before speaking, "How long does a human live? I mean, if they do not drown, are they able to live hundreds of years as we do?"

"No, dear, they do not," Madame Blanche replied, "they live less than one hundred years. But when we die, we become sea foam – as we have no soul. The humans, they have a soul. Their lives are shorter, but when they die, their soul leaves their body and goes on to become a star in the sky." She continued, "When a human dies, they have a grave for friends and family to visit, and people look to the sky and remember them; here we have no such things and when you are gone, there are none to mourn."

"Oh," said Lila softly. "Thank you ever so much, I guess I will be going then."

Lila turned to go. "There is a way," said Madame Blanche, quiet – but serious. Lila paused, and turned back. "There is a way," she went on, "a way to earn a soul. Or at least enough of one to become one with the stars when you die; where you can see every sunrise and sunset, every mountain, every river, every flower… for all eternity." She stopped and studied Lila for a bit, she was leaning in and hanging on every word the woman had to say. "You would have to be loved by a man. More than he loved any other, even his father or mother. All of his dreams would be of you, and his love yours and yours alone, you would earn it. For the humans, when they love, they go to a man, such as me, a priest. And this priest places their hands together and binds their souls for eternity. When that happens, his soul will flow over into you and you would have enough soul to go on to the stars when you died." Lila could see a dark intensity in the woman's eyes.

"That is all?" Lila asked "That sounds ever so easy."

"That, and you would have to give up your tail. You would have to become one of them, you would need legs." Lila looked at the woman. "I can make that happen for you."

"That would be ever so kind of you!" cried Lila. "I –."

"Do not thank me, young one." The witch interrupted. "For I do nothing for free, and this will be very painful for you. I will give you a potion, and you will swim up to shore and take it at sundown. Your gills will fall away and you will never again breathe under water again. You will feel as though you are being cut in two with a hot blade. Your tail will writhe in pain and shrink down into legs. Let no one find you before sunrise, for they will fear the sight of you until then." Lila shrank back, unsure of what to do. "I must say, you will be quite pretty as a human, and you should have no problem getting your prince to fall in love with you. You will be graceful beyond any other, and dance will come easily to you. But beware – every step you take, will feel as though you are running upon sharp knives and broken glass. However, this will only last until you have your soul, and once fully human, you will no longer feel pain from each step."

"That is ever so terrible!" Lila said. She hesitated, but continued, "I will do it. The prince seems ever so nice, and surely he will remember me once he sees me. Then he will marry me and give me a soul."

"Be aware though," the witch went on, "You will never be able to return, never see your father again. And if you do not win the love of this prince- your heart will be broken, the first sunrise after he marries another, and you will turn to sea foam anyway."

"I will do it," Lila said. She would miss her father, but she wanted to see her prince again, wanted him to know she had saved him.

"And for my payment," the witch stated, "I will need your voice. I need to put my blood and my life into each spell I make, and I need the best part of you to make give me the energy to finish it."

"But if you take my voice, how will the prince know me. How can he fall in love with a girl who cannot speak?"

"You will have your grace, your beautiful ability dance – even though you will be in pain – you must use your eyes to express your love to him." The witch was busy putting things into her cauldron as she spoke. She started chanting, and Lila heard her name a few times. Then the witch grabbed a blade and cut off the end of her own tongue and threw it into the cauldron. The potion went from green to silver to purple. Madame Blanche put the potion into a bottle and gave it to Lila. "Remember to get out of the water and sit somewhere safe and to take it at sunset." Lila noticed that the witch's tongue was fine. She went to reply – but no sound came out. "Remember, you cannot speak. Now go." Lila was practically pushed out the door.

The door opened again, and the witch threw a dress at her, the kind that human women wore, and the door closed again. Lila took the dress, swam through the fields at her father's farm once more, placed a large beautiful shell in the garden for him to find, and swam to the shore near the palace. She waited until it was nearing sunset and waited near the back edge of the palace, where some tide pools were that were not watched at night. She hoisted herself up into a pool and put on the dress. Then sat looking at the potion; watching the sunset through the bottle. When just the last rays were shining she opened the bottle and drank it down.