Okay, here is the longest chapter, so far. Anyways, when you compare it to my friend's chapters, you know my favorite authors, mine is very short. Like… okay. ON WITH THE STORY! After the disclaimer…

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN THE LITTLE MERMAID.

Chapter 5: Going Back

Ara's POV

I awoke the next morning with the sun in my eyes. I sat up, looked around, and saw everyone except for Cat was awake. We all smiled. Today was Cat's 12th birthday. We all had planned to wake her up. I slowly got out of bed and tip-toed towards where my other sisters were forming a huddled circle and whispering, trying not to wake Cat up from this.

"Okay, remember the song?" Melody asked. We all nodded. We were singing Cat's favorite song. We all tiptoed again and stood in age order around Cat's bed. I stood next to Anna and Estar.

"1… 2… 3!" I counted. We all started singing to "This Little Light of Mine." Cat loved that song, I swear, every time she hears it, her face lights up. We saw her eyes flicker open, sit up, and smile. Then she joined in the singing. We changed the song a little, so it went like this…

It's your special day, we're gonna let you shine.

It's your special day, we're gonna let you shine.

It's your special day, we're gonna let you shi-ine, ha-a-a-appy birthday!

"Thanks, girls!" Cat said.

"Happy birthday, little sis!" I said.

"Girls, come down to the shore! There's a group of special guests here!" our mom called, "and a surprise too!"

"We're coming, mom!" Melody yelled back. We rushed downstairs and burst through the doors. As we ran down the palace steps, I could see that in the water were seven figures and two on land. We ran down the beach, and the two figures on the land were a lot clearer. They were our parents. All seven of us stopped near the edge of the water next to them. In the water were our six aunts (all on our mom's side) and our grandfather, King Triton.

"Hello, girls," Our aunt greeted us, "and happy birthday, Cat."

"Thank you," Cat replied, "Mommy, why did you call us?"

"Well dear," she said, "For the first half of the day, we're spending time in Atlantica, which means another transformation."

I couldn't believe my ears. I hadn't been to Atlantica in a year! I missed all of my friends that I'd made the first year there. It was only our first time there because we had no idea our mom was a mermaid, at least until Melody found that necklace that plays our mom's lullaby, which she just so happens to be wearing. I was wearing mine as well. We all had different charms to our necklaces. Melody has one that looks like a seashell, Kanade has a starfish, Anna has a conch shell, Ara has a penguin, Estar has a dolphin, Quellie has a turtle, and I have a narwhal. In case you're wondering, a narwhal is like a walrus with a unicorn horn. Only, the horn is a tooth.

Once we were all transformed and in the water, we dove deep down into the water.

As we swam down, I admired our tails. I was glad to have them. I was glad to be a mermaid. Melody had a red tail, which was beautiful when the sun shone on it after a long swim. Kanade had a green tail, and Anna had a pink tail that she loved and adored. Estar had a lavender purple tail, it was her favorite color. Quellie had a yellow tail, and Cat had a simple blue tail. As for me, I had an orange tail, and I felt a little abnormal.

As the golden glow of Atlantica came into view, my heart was pounding to see my friends again, hoping they would remember me, especially Rina, Nyst, Brad, and Jacob. All four of them were siblings, two pairs of twins. Thank goodness they're fraternal and not identical. It's kind of obvious. The boys are one pair and the girls are the other. Brad and Rina are the older ones. Each pair is about fifteen minutes apart.

After searching around for a while, I finally recognized Rina's sparkling lime green tail, Nyst's bright purple tail, Brad's dark blue tail (which was currently flapping around like crazy), and Jacob's orange tail.

"Rina! Nyst! Brad! Jacob!" I yelled. Rina was the only one who turned around, since everyone else was farther ahead.

"Ara!" she yelled as she swam towards me as well. The others looked over their shoulders. When they saw me, they turned around and swam over. We all came together into a group hug, then Nyst and I did our special handshake and laughed.

"It's been sooooo…" Nyst started and continued her symphony of O's.

"I get it," I interrupted her.

"Why haven't you been coming down here?"

"Anna, Estar, and I have been working on the arches, Melody and Kanade have school, and Cat and Quellie have been at the orphanage."

"WHOA! What a schedule, Ara!" Rina exclaimed. "No wonder you guys haven't been seen around for a while!"

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