Bridgette was swimming so fast, she thought her mermaid tail might break off. She wanted to get to the open water before the sun rose, which would be very soon. Dawn was her favourite time of day. It just meant a new day was coming. A promise of more. A promise of hope. Watching it rise over the ocean was absolutely breath taking. She zoomed through the underwater tunnel, her tail brushing against some seaweed wiggling around on the sandy tunnel floor.

Omaria was full of underwater tunnels. Each tunnel was underground, and filled with water so the mermaids can swim through them. The tunnels lead to different lakes and ponds on the island. The most common one all the mermaids went through was the biggest tunnel, the one that lead to the small pond surrounding the Omarian Tree. But there were different ones too, such as the small pond beside the village that mermaids swam to if they wanted to greet their two-legged friends, or a few more small ponds around the Woods of Eve. The longest tunnel was the one that lead to the lake by the mountains, the one with the waterfall falling into it. Not many mermaids went there because it took so long to swim through the tunnel there.

Finally, Bridgette swam out of the tunnel and into the clear, aqua blue ocean. She surfaced and whipped her long blonde hair out of her face.

She was just in time.

The sun was just starting to rise, turning the ocean into a variety of shades of yellow, orange, and pink. She sucked in a breath of the fresh air. The actual air. Not the water she breathed in all the time.

Bridgette had always longed to be able to breath in the normal air. To have legs and feet. To be able to walk across the sand and feel it between her toes. But she couldn't. She was a mermaid. If she breathed in fresh air for more than three days, she would dry out. Sometimes, being a mermaid really sucked. Yes, the ocean was beautiful, but it got boring. With legs, you could walk anywhere. Go anywhere. You wouldn't be missing out on anything. You wouldn't have to keep secretly visiting your human boyfriend so you wouldn't get caught breaking the law.

Oh, and then there's the law about mermaids dating people with legs. It wasn't aloud. No one knew why, but it wasn't. Bridgette, however, was breaking that stupid law, by dating the sweetest man she had ever met.

Geoff.

She smiled at the thought of him. Geoff was one of Queen Heather's knights, so if they got caught together, his punishment would be much greater than Bridgette's. She thought of his silky blonde hair and his tall, buff build-

Bridgette's thoughts were caught off when she spotted a ship sailing towards the island. Curious, she swam towards it. Once Bridgette was close enough, she took a good look at it. It was big, with navy blue sails. She tried to see if anyone was on deck, but then suddenly she caught glimpse of something shiny falling off the side of the ship and into the water. Bridgette dove underwater and went after it, since the water at this part of the island wasn't too deep. She reached the bottom and looked around in the sand for whatever it was. Her fingers touched something cold, and she yanked her hand back. It was a ring.

Carefully, she picked the ring up off the sand and brushed it off. It had an opal in the center, surrounded by tiny little sapphires, and a gold band.

"Damn…" Bridgette mumbled to herself. Someone must have a lot of cash in they're pocket. She knew someone must be looking for it, so Bridgette surfaced and swam to the side of the ship.

"Hello?" She called up.

No reply.

She had to swim harder to keep up with the ship. "Um, excuse me? Is anyone up there?" She called again, louder.

Still no answer.

"Dammit-!" She dove back under the water and flapped her tail hard. Bridgette surfaced again and even though she was swimming very fast, she still couldn't keep up that much with the ship.

"Someone dropped a ring! I have your ring! Um…" Her voice faded into the air. No answer once again.

Bridgette stopped swimming and let the ship sail away. She looked down at the ring in her hand. What was she supposed to do with it? She couldn't keep this knowing that someone had lost it.

The ring glistened in her hand. It was very pretty.

She looked down at the tiny brown sack attached to her waist with some seaweed. She could store it in there for now until she found the owner. She didn't really have anywhere else to put the ring. She certainly didn't want to wear it, because that would be so wrong. And she didn't want to stuff it down her mermaid bra, because that was also so wrong.

Her mermaid bra wasn't much of a 'bra'. More of a cropped halter top. It was light blue with seaweed dangling from it. Her tail was a darker shade of blue, with transparent seaweed-like features dangling from it as well.

Bridgette sighed and placed the ring into her little bag. She decided to swim through the tunnel that lead to the Omarian Tree. If there was someone there, she might be able to locate the owner. Bridgette surfaced in the pond where the Omarian Tree stood. No one was there except-

"Geoff!" Bridgette called happily.

The knight turned around and grinned. He walked over to the water's edge and crouched down.

"Hey, Bridge."

She took his hand and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. "How are you doing?"

Geoff grinned. "I'm alright. A bit tired."

"Why'd you get up so early?" Bridgette asked.

He shrugged. "I woke up very early and couldn't fall back asleep. I just… I don't know. I got this weird feeling."

She squinted. "About what?"

"I just woke up and felt uneasy," he rubbed his hand through his hair, "but maybe I'm just getting sick or something."

Bridgette placed her hand against his forehead. "You don't feel hot, but maybe I can't feel it 'cause I've been in the cold water for so long."

Geoff laughed. "Yeah, maybe." He looked at the sun poking through the trees, then back at Bridgette, "I should probably go. Don't wanna be late for the early morning knight round-up."

Bridgette sighed. "I wish I could walk with you. I wish I had legs. Instead I have-" She looked down at her mermaid tail, "-this lame thing."

"Aw c'mon, Bridge. Never wish to be anything but yourself," Geoff told her, "Having a tail is way cool."

"But it's keeping us apart."

He smiled sadly. "I know. And that is a downer, but I'm not gonna let some dumb law keep us from being together."

She shook her head. "I'm not talking about the law. Yes, that is part of it, but what I mean is that my home is underwater while yours in on land. We breathe different types of air. I can't go the places you can go and vice-versa."

The blonde knight closed his eyes. When he opened them, sadness washed over his face. "On land or in the ocean, I still love you the way you are. And I always will. There are factors with your mermaid tail and my legs that keep us apart, yes, but we don't have to let them bother us."

The mermaid smiled sadly. "I love you, Geoff."

"I love you too," he said and kissed her on the lips. "Now, I gotta go. Queen Heather's uncle is arriving this morning, so I better be there."

Bridgette giggled. "Alright, goodbye."

He got up and began walking towards the castle. Bridgette sighed, looking down at her tail. She really, really wished she had legs. Then things wouldn't be so complicated. Bridgette swam around the Omarian tree, watching the sun start to light it up.

"Stupid tail…" She murmured.

Finally, she dove under the water and swam back through the tunnel. As she was swimming, she noticed something on her middle finger. Bridgette stopped to examine it, but then gasped when she saw what it was.

The ring was on her finger.

But how? She was sure she put it in her pouch.

Bridgette just shrugged it off and placed the ring into her pouch for real this time, and then with a flick of her tail, she swam off.