Prologue - Friendship Made On A Golden Beach

"Yay! Beach time!" cheered four-year-old Anna Baker, running out onto the soft, warm sand.

"Slow down, Anna," her mother said with a smile. "Wait for us."

Her father just laughed. "As if we could keep up with her carrying all this stuff," he said, gesturing to the beach umbrella, towels, and chairs that the two of them were carrying.

The Baker family were on the island of Motunui, a very popular vacation spot in the South Pacific. It attracted thousands of visitors like themselves every year.

"Beach looks so pretty, Daddy," Anna giggled as she skipped down the beach. She jumped onto the sand and rolled around in it. "The sand is soft and squishy."

"Don't roll around too much, sweetie," her father advised. "You don't want to get sand in your swimsuit, do you?"

Anna got to her feet, smiling. "C'mon! I wanna go in the water!"

"Just hold on until we get our things put down, okay?" her mother replied. "Then you can go swim."

Anna pouted as she always did when things didn't go her way. She loved being in the water, splashing and goofing around.

Once her parents had set up the umbrella and chairs, her father smiled. "Okay, Feisty-pants, you can go and play. Just promise you'll stay where you can see us, alright?"

Anna nodded excitedly. "I promise, Daddy." She gave her parents a hug, then scurried off into the ocean.

Anna's mother sighed. "That little girl is going to be the death of us, Adgar."

"Nah, she's just really excitable," Anna's father remarked. "She gets that from me, you know."

"You, excitable?" Her mother chuckled. "That's a laugh."

Meanwhile, Anna had raced off across the beach, as fast as her tiny legs could carry her slightly chubby body. She climbed up onto some rocks a few yards to the right of where her parents were sitting. She could still see her parents' big red beach umbrella, so she knew she'd be okay. She saw that the water was flowing in between the rocks, forming a cove, and she decided to hop in.

The water was pretty deep, but Anna was a good swimmer; her parents had taught her how to swim when she was three. She poked her head out above the water, making sure she could still see her parents. She didn't want them to worry about her, or for her to lose them.

As she floated in the small cove, she could feel something making waves nearby. She turned around and saw the top of another girl's head poking out of the water, looking at her with big blue eyes.

Anna jumped slightly. "Ah!" She scurried back a little bit, surprised to find someone else in the cove with her.

The other girl moved back as well, clearly frightened. "Eep!" She made like she was about to swim away.

Anna looked down at the other girl, seeing that she was scared. "N-no, don't go. I won't hurt you."

The girl looked at her, clearly uncertain. "You promise?" she asked in a soft voice.

Anna nodded. "I promise."

Anna climbed up onto the rocks and sat down, her feet dangling in the water. The girl swam closer, her upper body now out of the water. She looked to be a few years older than Anna, with long platinum blonde hair, pale skin, and bright blue eyes. She was wearing a pale blue swimming top similar to Anna's.

Anna's eyes widened. "Wow…you're pretty."

The girl blushed, smiling. "Thanks. Um, what's your name? Mine is Elsa."

"Anna," she replied proudly. "Anna Arianne Baker!"

"You have a weird name," Elsa remarked. "And…you look weird too."

Anna looked confused. "No, I don't."

"But you have two fins." At this, Elsa pointed to Anna's legs.

"Fins?" Anna asked. "I'm not a fish, silly! These are my legs."

"L-legs?" Elsa asked.

"Yeah, see?" Anna lifted her right leg, wiggling her foot.

Elsa looked at Anna's leg, grabbing it with her hand. "It's so smooth…where are the scales?"

"I don't have scales," Anna said. "Fish have scales, though. Mommy showed me."

Elsa looked up at Anna. "I have scales. Wanna see?"

Anna nodded. "Yes, please!"

Elsa laid on her back in the water, revealing her whole body to Anna. Just below her belly button, where her legs should have been, there was a long, smooth fish tail coated with sky-blue scales, and at the end were a pair of beautiful, fan-like blue fins.

Anna gasped, her eyes widening. "Elsa…you're a mermaid."

"Shhh!" Elsa shushed her. "Please don't say that so loud."

"Sorry." Anna looked down. "I've just never seen a mermaid before."

Elsa smiled. "I've never seen a…um…." She blushed. "A…land-thing before."

"A land-thing?"

"That's what you are, aren't you?" Elsa asked.

Anna shook her head. "No, I'm not a thing. I'm a girl."

"Girl...?" Elsa asked. "Do all the land-things look like you?"

"No," Anna replied. "There are lots of different ones. Some have different hair, or different eyes, or even different skin. Mommy and Daddy say that it doesn't matter if they look different, though. They say that what people do is more important than how people look."

"So…what are you doing here?" Elsa asked. "Do all land-things live so close to the water?"

"I don't live here. I'm on vacation," Anna told her. "My mommy and daddy are over there, getting the sun on their skin. It makes them look funny."

Elsa giggled. "You land-things are a fascinating bunch."

"What about you?" Anna inquired. "I never thought mermaids would be real, but why did you want me to be quiet about you?"

Elsa looked down. "Well, there's a lot of reasons. My dad told me not to go too far from our home, and to never go near the places where the land met the water. He never explained why, but…I think it's because of who my mom is."

Anna tilted her head to one side, confused. "Huh?"

"See, there are two kinds of things in the ocean," Elsa explained. "There are the merpeople, like my dad…and there are bad creatures called Sirens. Dad says they lure away little mermaids and mermen, and eat them. But he says that not all of them are bad, because…because my mom is one of them."

"So there are two different kinds of mermaids?" Anna asked. "Cool!"

"My dad told me that since my mom is a siren, I'm half-siren. He said that when I get older, they'll give me some of Mom's old things, so that I can learn more about sirens. My parents always tell me that they want me to know as much as I can about both sides of my family."

"My daddy always says a family is the most precious thing of all," Anna stated.

Elsa smiled. "Your dad must be really nice."

"Anna, sweetie!" Anna's mother called to her. "Time to head back now!"

"Aw, man," Anna pouted. "I wanna stay here and play with you."

Elsa giggled. "It's okay. You'll come back tomorrow, right?"

Anna nodded. "Yeah, definitely!"

Anna's father then walked up to her. "You heard your mother, kiddo. Time to go inside. What were you doing up here, anyway?"

Anna looked up at him. "I made a new friend, Daddy!" she answered. "Her name's Elsa, and she's…." She looked down at the cove, only to find that Elsa had vanished. "Oh."

Anna's father raised an eyebrow. "Who are you talking about, honey?"

Anna got to her feet. "My new friend, Elsa. She's really nice. And guess what?" She motioned with her hand for her father to come closer.

He smiled, kneeling down. "What?"

Anna leaned in and whispered in his ear, "She's a mermaid."

"Oh, is she now?" He chuckled. "I'd like to meet her."

"I don't know if she'd like you."

"What, would she be allergic to me?" he joked.

Anna giggled. "Nah, you'd probably smell funny!"

He laughed, picking Anna up. "Come on, Feisty-pants. Let's get cleaned up so we can have dinner."

xXx

Over the next two weeks, Anna and Elsa became fast friends. Every day, Anna would make an excuse to go and see the mermaid. They had a secret meeting spot now: a set of rocks on the beach behind Anna's condo, hidden from the prying eyes of Mr. and Mrs. Baker.

Today, however, was the last day of Anna's vacation on the island, and the last chance she would get to speak with Elsa.

Anna walked out to the meeting spot, wearing shorts, a T-shirt, and flip-flops, and carrying a beach towel over her shoulder. She looked around for a moment, making sure she was alone, then took off her flip-flops and sat down, dangling her feet in the water. She kicked them around a few times, making splashes each time. She just hoped Elsa was near enough to notice.

Elsa then raised her head above the water, smiling as always and swimming towards her. "Hello, Anna."

"Hi, Elsa," Anna said, smiling a bit. "I need to tell you something."

Elsa looked at her, with her usual wide-eyed cheerfulness. "What is it?"

Anna sighed sadly. "Elsa…I'm going back home today. Mommy and Daddy have to go back to work and stuff."

Elsa's smile faltered. "You're…leaving? Y-you'll come back, right?"

"I dunno," Anna replied. "And even if we do, it could be a long time from now."

Elsa looked sad. "Oh…." She then smiled a bit. "But at least we had this past couple of weeks, right? And you taught me so much about…hyoo-mains."

Anna couldn't help giggling at Elsa butchering the word. "It's 'humans', you silly billy."

Elsa reached up out of the water, holding Anna's hand. "I promise, Anna: I'll never forget you."

Anna looked into Elsa's eyes and smiled. "Goodbye, Elsa. I'll see you again…one day."

Elsa leaned up out of the water, giving Anna a gentle kiss on her cheek. "Goodbye, Anna," she said. "I'll be waiting for you." With that, she dove into the water and swam away.

Anna felt her cheek, blushing softly. Only her mother kissed her on the cheek, and now her new friend had just done the same.

After Elsa left, Anna dried off her feet as best as she could before putting her flip-flops back on and starting back towards the condo. As she walked, she took one last look back at the ocean. She could see Elsa off in the distance, waving goodbye to her.

She waved back, saying to herself, "Bye, Elsa. Thanks for being my friend."

As Anna headed back towards her condo, Elsa blew her a kiss and smiled. "We'll meet again, Anna," she said. "I promise."

xXx

Author's note: And so begins my latest Elsanna fic! This is gonna be a long one... ish, so strap in and prepare for a fluff-filled ride with angst near the end! Also, Matty had a lot of fun writing this with me, since he loves mermaids.

See you next time!