Chapter 9:

Out of the Boat and Into the Sand

Elsa

Elsa held her hand back over the edge of the boat and shot a continuous stream of ice from her palm and into the water, causing the boat to rip through the surface of the sea. Elsa sat behind Ariel and watched as she took in the new feeling of speed that she was sure Ariel had never experienced before. Their hair whipped behind them in the rushing wind. The cold sea sprayed them as the boat soared through the water. With her arms outstretched and her head held high, Ariel managed to take most of the spray. Elsa gazed at Ariel from behind, a smirk forming at her lips.

"How do you like my magic, now?" Elsa shouted over the roar of the wind.

"I had no idea magic could be used for such... joy," Ariel shouted back to Elsa. She whipped her hands through her flying, red hair and shouted various words of excitement. Elsa could only giggle.

“I'm glad that you like it.”

Ariel turned to face Elsa, twisting on her tail. Her hair whipped across her face with a few strands getting caught in her mouth. She brushed them away and Elsa laughed at the adorable mermaid. Ariel's entire front was soaked from the sea spray.

"I've been on ships before, but I've never experienced anything like this!”

"To be honest, I've never done anything like this either. When I started paddling away this morning, I figured I was going to be alone for the rest of the journey home so why not use my magic? Then, this idea came to me and it turned out to work like a charm."

Ariel became quiet. Even as her wet, red hair whipped through the air around her face, nearly burying it in those soft, slimy locks, Elsa could see Ariel tuck her chin into her chest. Elsa closed her hand and the ice stream shooting from her palm ceased. The boat slowed and then came to a stop. Elsa's and Ariel's hair were disheveled, poofy messes falling down their backs and across their chests. Elsa moved closer to Ariel, the boat shifting under her weight. Ariel looked up and noticed tiny snowflakes falling around her.

"I do forgive you," Elsa said softly. She leaned forward and took Ariel's hands in her own. Ariel's skin was soft and smooth and cold to the touch, just like Elsa's. "You don't have to feel bad for abandoning me. You came back."

"That's not the point," Ariel muttered, her eyes a stark contrast of the excitement she showed only a few moments ago. "When we first met, I scared you. It took almost no time at all for you to come around to me, though. You were so accepting of me after the first initial surprise of encountering a mermaid. But, when I learned of your magic—”

"You were in complete and utter awe," Elsa murmured. Ariel lifted her head, her gaze returning to Elsa's. "Remember when you returned with the shrimp I had carelessly thrown out to sea? There was snow. That was me. You loved it. Maybe you didn't know it was me at the time, but you still enjoyed it."

Elsa moved in closer to Ariel, her knee grazing the mermaid's scaly, green tail. A gentle warmth spread through Elsa’s chest, and she silently marveled at how Ariel’s presence made her feel.

"No matter how you reacted upon seeing me use magic for the first time, the most important thing is that you came back. You didn't abandon me."

"I know, but..." Ariel sighed, shaking her head. "It's like you said earlier. I based you having magic on one bad experience I had with magic and then freaked out on you. I called you a witch, a monster." Ariel yanked her hands from Elsa's and wrapped them around herself. "You're not any of those things." Ariel’s voice quavered. She tucked her chin back against her chest. “You're—”

Elsa reached into the long strands of slimy, red hair that covered Ariel’s face and found her chin. She curled a finger under it and lifted Ariel’s head. She gently brushed Ariel’s hair from her face, tucking loose strands behind each ear, and their eyes settled upon each other.

“—Elsa,” Ariel cooed.

Elsa’s teeth sank into her bottom lip at hearing Ariel say her name so softly. “Your peasant?” she offered. Ariel’s eyes softened and the faintest of smiles graced her lips. God, what Elsa wouldn’t do to be able to make Ariel smile every day of her life.

“My peasant,” Ariel breathed. Her lips spread wider.

Elsa gathered Ariel’s hand in her own again, never breaking eye contact with her. “My salmon,” Elsa purred.

Ariel’s porcelain cheeks burned as bright as her hair. The growing blush caused Elsa to grin. Her eyes fell from Ariel’s and landed on Ariel’s red, plump lips. The warmth in her chest blazed like a coal-powered oven. Her tongue darted out and wetted her lips, the same lips that buzzed with a need to be on Ariel’s. Elsa’s eyes found Ariel’s again and she noticed that Ariel was also staring just below Elsa’s nose. Elsa’s chest heaved. She was so close to Ariel now, she could feel Ariel’s warm breath on her lips.

“I came back last night,” Ariel murmured. Elsa’s lips tingled at Ariel’s warm breath. “You were asleep in the boat and I didn’t want to wake you.” Elsa’s heart fluttered. “I wiped the tears from your cheek.” Ariel dissolved into a blurry mess as Elsa’s eyes filled with tears.

“You came back to me last night?”

Ariel nodded slowly. "I felt horrible. I wasn't sure if you'd want to see me after the way I left you, so I wanted to wait until you were asleep. I was coming back for my stuff, but when I saw you lying in the bottom of this boat wrapped up in the seaweed blanket I made for you and clutching my mother's leather pouch, I knew right then that you weren't a bad person and that not all magic was evil. I knew right then that what I had done was a mistake and that you didn't deserve to forgive me, but if you would then I would never leave you again.” Ariel’s breath hitched. “I value our friendship, Elsa.” Her voice cracked. “I value you.”

Elsa's heart swelled. Two tears etched their way down her cheeks. She sniffled. "I value you, too, Ariel."

Ariel placed her hands on either of Elsa's cheeks and used her thumbs to carefully wipe away the falling tears. Both women gazed into each other's eyes. Ariel rested her forehead against Elsa’s and the tips of their noses met. If Elsa was going to kiss Ariel, then the time was now!

“No more crying, then,” Ariel said softly, backing her head away from Elsa’s. Elsa swallowed, but the lump in her throat made it difficult. Her lips burned with a need to be on Ariel’s. "If I only have a limited time with you, then we should make the most of it and crying won't be a way of doing that."

Elsa knitted her eyebrows together. "Limited time? What are you talking about?"

Ariel's shoulders slumped and her smile faltered. Elsa could tell there was something wrong, but Ariel perked up immediately and smiled back at Elsa. "It's nothing. I want the rest of our journey to be filled with fun, laughter, and adventure!"

Elsa knew there was something Ariel wasn't telling her, but she played along with Ariel's façade. Elsa dipped her gaze to Ariel’s lips one more time and then back to her ocean-blue eyes. She sniffled and wiped her nose with her finger. "Deal," said Elsa.

Ariel slowly removed her hands from Elsa's face, but kept her gaze locked with Elsa’s. Elsa wished at that moment that her powers included reading minds so she could know what Ariel was thinking. Elsa inhaled a deep, ragged breath, calming herself. She wiped her eyes and turned her attention to the sky.

The Sun was just past its peak and Elsa figured that the time of day was somewhere in the early afternoon. There were a few stray clouds in the otherwise empty, blue sky and not even a breeze blew across the sea. The heat beating down on Elsa and Ariel was incredible, but luckily for Elsa her magic enabled her to withstand the heat as much as it enabled her to withstand the cold. Ariel on the other hand needed to stay wet during the immense heat to keep from drying out and while sailing at high speeds kept her wet with sea spray, sitting idle only aided in drying her out.

The boat shifted on the surface and a splash followed. Elsa looked to the sea to find Ariel, but she was gone. Elsa twirled her finger and pointed it to the sky, sending a thin, sparkling beam of snow and ice into the sky. Snow fell around Elsa and the boat as she looked over the edge and into the water.

The seawater was clear and clean. Fish swam beneath the boat and Elsa grinned watching them.

Where did Ariel go, little fishies? Where's my salmon?

Elsa jumped when a splash of cold water hit her on the back of her head followed by the innocent giggling that she had grown fond of over the last three days. Elsa whipped around to spot Ariel, but she was gone. She furrowed her brow and then jumped again as another splash of water hit the back of her head followed again by Ariel's childish giggling.

"I will get you," Elsa warned, her inflection showing her jest.

"You have to spot me, first," replied Ariel.

Elsa turned to where the voice was coming from but Ariel was gone again. The water rippled all around the boat and each time Ariel resurfaced Elsa was just a couple seconds too late to spot her. "You know I could freeze the area around this boat and capture you in ice."

“You could.” Elsa whipped around to spot Ariel, but she disappeared. “But, you won't.” Elsa quickly followed Ariel's voice, but Ariel was gone again.

“And what makes you think that I won’t?” asked Elsa, turning her head in all directions hoping to spot Ariel.

“I think you like me too much to encase me in ice.”

Elsa’s cheeks prickled with heat and she cocked an eyebrow. “Is that so?”

“Surely you would never freeze a friend?” Another splash of water hit Elsa’s head and as she turned to spot Ariel, she was gone.

As Elsa shifted in the boat, her reddened cheeks cooled. The prospect of liking Ariel as anything more than a friend enticed Elsa. She had never kissed anyone before nor had she ever felt the urge to kiss someone until Ariel came into her life. A warmth settled in her chest as she pictured those beautiful, mermaid lips again.

"You must have been really great at playing hide and seek with your sisters?”

"What's hide and seek?" asked Ariel, briefly returning to the surface.

"It's a game," Elsa said, peering over the edge of the boat in anticipation of catching Ariel, "in which someone hides and the other players try and find the person hiding."

"Oh, that sounds like fun."

Elsa whipped around and found Ariel floating at the surface on her back. Her red hair was splayed out across the surface and her hands were tucked up under her head. Her tailfin gently beat across the water as Ariel now circled the boat on her back. Her green tail glimmered in the sunlight and her wet skin sparkled.

"I found you." Elsa grinned.

"I let you find me," said Ariel, smiling. She continued to float on the surface, absorbing the sunlight and admiring the peace and tranquility of the moment. "Sometimes it's fun to play tricks on humans. Father says we're not allowed to come to the surface nor are humans allowed to know about us, but honestly most of us are quite mischievous. When we do manage to sneak away and go to the surface, it's fun to find a ship and just play around with the people onboard. Sometimes we'll kick our tails in the water and make the sailors believe we're dolphins. Sometimes we'll emerge for just a few seconds, long enough for the sailors to get a glimpse of us and then we'll disappear into the abyss again, leaving the sailors to speculate as to what they really saw. Was it a human? Was it a fish? Are mermaids real? They'll never know."

Elsa giggled. "You're horrible!"

"We're mermaids. Sure, we may not exist to humans, but our legend will always live on in songs and stories that you humans create about us. I've heard some of them, being human once myself."

"Do you know any of the songs?”

“You don’t know any of them?”

“I’m not a sailor.”

“What were you doing on the ship, then?”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“I was—" Elsa paused. She had yet to reveal to Ariel that she wasn't just a citizen of Arendelle, but that she was the Queen. "Uh, I was..."

"Eh, no worries," said Ariel. The water rippled as Ariel sat up, her tail disappearing beneath the surface and her breasts floating above it. Her wet, red hair clung to her neck and shoulders and floated on the water around her. “I know a couple of the songs.”

“Could you sing one of them to me?” Elsa placed her elbows on the side of the boat and propped her chin in her hands as she marveled at the gorgeous mermaid.

Ariel reached for the boat and pulled herself in. She arranged herself so her tail was hanging over the edge with her fin floating on the surface. Her whole body glittered in the sunlight.

"I can do that," she said, flashing a smile at Elsa. "I actually really love to sing. It makes me feel closer to my mother." Ariel paused, her teeth sunk into her bottom lip. Elsa could tell that she was recollecting memories of her dearly departed mother. "Anyways, what song would you like to hear first? Fathoms Below or—"

"Either," Elsa interjected. I just want to hear your beautiful voice sing me a song. "Either song will do."

Ariel sat back getting comfortable. She stretched her arms along the side of the boat and flashed a toothy smile at Elsa. Ariel stared out at the sea and inhaled a deep breath and when her voice left her lips, Elsa was entranced. Her mind fogged and her gaze settled deep into Ariel. Like the legends of sirens luring sailors in with their voices, Elsa was the sailor to Ariel’s siren.

Elsa peered at Ariel, her eyes unwavering, as if she was the only thing in the world that mattered in that moment. Everything around Ariel faded away: the water, the boat, the Sun, the sky. Only Ariel's presence and her voice remained.

Listen to the sounds

To the sounds out at sea

You can hear them singing

Their songs sweet as can be

"Mermaids aren't real!"

Is what they'll tell you and me

But listen, O' listen

To the sounds of the sea

Listen, O' listen

To the songs out at sea

Listen, O' listen

To the maidens of the sea

Elsa's mouth hung agape. Her eyes were wide and she was still entranced. Never before had she heard a more beautiful voice. She wanted to praise Ariel, but her mind was clouded, hazy. She couldn't get that voice out of her head. Her heart swelled with warm tingles as they dispersed from her chest up to her head and down to her toes.

"That was my personal favorite of the mermaid songs," said Ariel. "It's called Maidens of the Sea. It's not very long, but most sailor songs aren't. What did you think?"

Elsa tried to speak but nothing coherent came from her mouth. She managed to smile stupidly and then could only bring herself to clap like a fool. Ariel giggled. "That good, huh?" Elsa nodded her head. "Do you want to hear the other song Fathoms Below?"

Elsa nodded, still unable to speak.

Ariel stretched her back and her arms, curving slightly over the side of the boat. Her large breasts jutted out from her chest and Elsa's eyes found their way to them. She thought back to first meeting Ariel and seeing them bare and exposed. Her cheeks grew hot and she had to force her thighs together to smother the growing heat from between her legs. Ariel sat up straight and inhaled a deep breath of air. As she was about to sing, her eyes widened and she screamed, "Scuttle!"

Elsa jumped. She shook her head, her mind clearing of the haziness. She noticed Ariel staring up at the sky and she looked up with her. There was a bird flying around in the sky and quickly descending upon the boat. As it grew closer and finally landed Elsa recognized it. It was the seagull that had been with Ariel the first time Elsa had awoken after fainting from their actual first encounter.

Ariel squawked and chirped at the bird. Elsa furrowed her brow and cocked her head in confusion. The seagull squawked back at Ariel and Ariel laughed. She ran her hand down the bird's back as if petting it in the same manner that Kristoff and Anna would pet Sven. Ariel squawked again and then that's when it dawned on Elsa. Ariel was speaking to the bird. Elsa sat back, intrigued, at listening to Ariel speak to the seagull.

After a few minutes of listening to Ariel speak Bird—or whatever language it was that birds spoke—Elsa couldn't hold back any longer. She giggled at the ridiculous sounds Ariel was making. Ariel peered over at Elsa and grinned. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing," Elsa said, giggling a bit more. "Just keep speaking to... your friend.”

Ariel gasped. "Oh my, Poseidon! I'm so rude! Elsa, this is Scuttle." Ariel turned to Scuttle and squawked. Elsa could only imagine that Ariel had said, 'Scuttle, this is Elsa.' She giggled again when thinking about it.

When Elsa was a lot younger and before she and Anna had been separated because of the head incident, Elsa and Anna would often spend a lot of time outside playing together. Elsa was always trying to impress Anna one way or another and Anna was always about making Elsa laugh. One way Anna went about doing that was by making animal noises. She had always told Elsa that "I'm an animal trapped in a human body. Help me, Elsa! Help me live like—" and then whatever animal Anna happened to feel like at the time. Elsa would then help Anna live like an animal. Sometimes that meant covering her in dirt if she happened to be an animal living underground or splashing her with water from the fjord if she happened to be a fish or, Anna's personal favorite, making it snow so she could live like a polar bear or a reindeer or another animal living in the snow. While Kai and Gerda, the royal servants to the former King and Queen of Arendelle, didn't like this, because it meant the girls would need another bath, Elsa and Anna always had fun.

As Ariel continued to squawk at Scuttle all of those warm memories of her and Anna returned. She sat back and reflected on them while admiring Ariel.

After a few minutes of reminiscing her youthful past, Elsa's reverie was broken as Ariel shouted her name. Elsa shook her head and brought her attention back to Ariel. "Yeah, what?"

Ariel giggled. "I said we need to follow Scuttle. We have a surprise for you."

Elsa turned her head to where Scuttle had been sitting and noticed he was gone. She looked to the sky and saw him hovering above the boat. "What's the surprise?"

"If I told you, it wouldn't be much of a surprise, would it? You'll just have to wait and see." Ariel grinned and cocked an eyebrow as if trying to be sly about wherever it was she wanted Elsa to go.

Elsa looked up at Scuttle as he hung over the boat, slowly flapping his black and white wings. "So, follow him?"

Ariel nodded. Trusting Ariel, Elsa extended her arm behind her ready to propel herself through the water with her icy magic, but then she stopped. "Wait, I need to know something." Ariel stared at Elsa intently, her eyes getting wide and her smile slowly stretching wider across her face. "How is it that you can talk to a seagull?"

"Oh, well, merfolk speak all languages. It's a gift from our god, Poseidon." Ariel sat back in the boat, relaxing again. She stretched her arms across the sides of the boat and let her tailfin slap the surface of the sea. "Let's see, how do you humans put it? Uh, I'm very good with my tongue."

A white-hot heat rose from Elsa’s chest, into her neck, and settled in her face as her jaw slackened.

"What?" giggled Ariel. "You look like you've seen me—what was the word?—nude, again."

Flustered, Elsa opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Oh my... She opened her mouth again, trying to speak, and this time she stammered, "Uh, I-I think you m-mean you're fluent in many tongues."

"But I only have one tongue," said Ariel, innocently.

"It... It's a figure of speech. Saying someone is fluent in many tongues is the same as saying someone is fluent in many languages."

"Humans are weird." Ariel sat forward and flashed Elsa another grin. "Can't I just say that I'm good with my tongue?"

The heat from the Sun may not have ever bothered Elsa, but the heat in her cheeks sure did. When she tried to speak, she only managed to squeak, “Why?”

Ariel inhaled a deep breath, calming herself from her giggle fit. She grinned devilishly at Elsa and leaned forward. In an almost seductive tone, she whispered, "I like to see you blush."

Elsa buried her face in her one free hand and used her other hand to shoot a continuous stream of ice into the water, causing the boat to accelerate quickly without warning. The jerk of the acceleration knocked Ariel back and she landed in Elsa's lap. Her soft, red hair covered Elsa's lap and her arms dangled over both legs, her nails gently grazing the skin of Elsa's slightly fuzzy legs. As Elsa tried to focus on following Scuttle, she couldn't resist the shiver that went up her spine or how her skin broke out in goosebumps at the gentle teasing at her legs.

"I feel comfy like this," shouted Ariel. "I think I'll just lay here until we get to land."

Elsa did her best to resist Ariel. Her heart hammered against her chest. Her breasts swelled with the same warmth from earlier, her nipples hardening into her lavender gown. Butterflies fluttered in her belly and on top of that she felt the sudden urge to run her fingers through Ariel's hair and along her scalp.

Then, it hit her as to what Ariel had said.

"Wait, did you say land?" shouted Elsa.

"Oh, did I? Oops…"

"We're going to land?"

Ariel nodded her head against Elsa's belly. "Just follow Scuttle!" She pointed her finger up at the flying seagull. "He said it's about another hour or so from here. It is slightly out of the way seeing as how we're heading east, but I didn't think you'd mind since you've been out on the water for so long."

"We're going to land!" cheered Elsa.

Ariel giggled. "Yes, we're going to land."

Elsa's eyes widened with elation and then as quickly as she was happy to be heading to land, she thought of Anna and lost all excitement. "No, wait, I can't. I need to get home!"

“This will only be a slight detour.” Sea spray wetted them and the rushing wind had Elsa’s hair flying behind her and Ariel’s hair whipping all around Elsa’s midsection. "You need land as much as I need water and while I enjoy you being out here with me, I want you to have at least a few hours on land. We'll be there just for tonight. We'll leave at sunrise, I promise."

Elsa considered it. She really did want to get home. That was her first priority, her only priority. She didn't want to worry Anna especially since she was pregnant, but at the same time Elsa couldn't deny how much she just wanted to step out of the boat and stretch her legs, let her toes curl in some dirt, and hopefully eat something other than raw fish.

Elsa nodded her head, the corner of her lips rising. "Okay, but we must leave first thing in the morning!"

"Will do," Ariel shouted. "Now follow that bird while I get comfy between your legs."

Elsa's elated grin faltered as another blush rose from her chest and settled in her cheeks. She did her best to focus on the travel and not on Ariel's words, but they were hard to resist. Her skin broke out in a new set of goosebumps and the tingling warmth returned to her breasts, her nipples once again hardening beneath her worn gown. Elsa inhaled a deep breath of salty sea air and shook her head, doing her best to rid her mind of her embarrassment.

She focused on Scuttle, but was reminded of Ariel's presence every time her fingernails brushed along the skin of her legs, which happened to be quite often and, if Elsa hadn't known any better, on purpose. She did her best to not think about it, though it made the hour-long detour a real challenge for Elsa.

# # #

When they finally arrived, Elsa marveled at the beautiful sight before her. Sand as white as flax covered the beach. The shallow, crystal clear water that washed up the beach was nearly covered in magenta and white lilies and the places in the water that weren't occupied by sea flowers sparkled radiantly in the golden glow of the sunlight. Lush, green trees covered the island beyond the sandy beach, most dotted with purple and pink magnolias and the others standing tall bearing their hanging fruit. Beyond the trees in the distance was a large mountain covered in lush, green foliage, though it was nowhere near as large as the North Mountain. The island felt like a dream, something Elsa would conjure up in her mind to make her feel better about being lost out at sea.

Ariel hopped out of the wooden lifeboat and slithered in the sand, pulling the boat up on shore. She slithered away and flopped down on her back in the warm, white sand.

Elsa slowly reached over the side to touch the sand. She hesitated fearing that if she touched it, it would all disappear like some cruel dream. Ariel lifted her head and gazed upon Elsa. "Come on, Elsa," she urged, "you've been wanting land for three days now. Get out and enjoy it!"

Elsa inhaled a deep breath and as her fingertips touched the silky, warm sand she couldn't stop the tears from running down her nose. Elation filled her being and she gasped, followed by a wide smile. Sand. Land. I can't believe I'm finally back on land. Elsa stepped out of the boat slowly and as her toes touched the sand, she sobbed.

"Thank you," Elsa cried. "Thank you, Ariel! Thank you for this."

Ariel was on her back with her arms outstretched above her head. Her red hair was splayed out all around her with sand particles littering her locks. Ariel moved her arms about her body as if to create a snow angel—or rather, sand angel—while her tail wiggled in the seafoam that washed up on the bank. Water lilies drifted up with the gentle tide and as the seafoam washed over Ariel's tail, the flowers remained on her, as if the sea was decorating her. "Don't thank me," she cooed. "Thank Scuttle. He's the one who brought up the island in conversation. He said there's human food here like berries and fruit and such. I only asked him if he could get us here."

Elsa fell to her knees and picked up a handful of sand. She poured it over herself feeling the rough granules settle in her hair and fall down her shoulders, chest, and back. She looked around for the seagull and noticed him pecking away at the sand as if trying to find a worm. Elsa wiped her face, sand sticking to her tear-stained cheeks. "Thank you, Scuttle," Elsa shouted, unsure whether the bird could understand her. In a fit of excitement, Elsa followed it up with a squawk of her own.

Scuttle looked up and squawked back at Elsa while flaring his wings. Ariel sat up abruptly with sand falling from her hair and her back. "Elsa! You just insulted his mother!"

Elsa's eyes widened. "Oh, I'm sorry... What did I say?"

"You called his mother a pigeon... whatever a pigeon is?"

Elsa shifted her eyes. "Oh... I'm sorry, Scuttle," Elsa shouted. "Thank you for finding this island for me!"

Ariel turned and squawked back at Scuttle. "It's okay. I told him it's your first time speaking Gull."

Elsa grinned and scooped up more sand. She rubbed it along her arms and then fell forward, into the sand. She turned over on her back and stretched out. “It feels so nice being back on land!”

"Come, join me over here," said Ariel. Elsa turned her head and noticed Ariel patting her hand in the sand beside her. She blushed.

"But, I'm comfy right here."

Ariel grinned. "Okay, fine." Ariel rolled in the sand several times until she was lying beside Elsa. "I'll just come to you, then."

Elsa's cheeks blazed. Ariel writhed slowly beside Elsa. She moaned softly, enjoying the warm, soft sand on her skin. Elsa's pulse quickened. "This warm sand feels so nice against my skin and tail. How does it make you feel Elsa?"

Elsa swallowed hard. "It feels... nice," she choked out.

"Sometimes it's nice to just lay out in the sand and in the sunlight, huh?"

Elsa nodded. "It is." Though her cheeks were still flushed, Elsa couldn't resist a smile. While nothing would quite compare to being back in Arendelle, this island would happily suffice for the night. She had warm sand, beautiful scenery, fresh fruit to eat, and a wonderful friend beside her. Considering her circumstances, life was as perfect as it currently could be for Elsa.

Ariel sat up on her side with her head propped up on her hand. She looked Elsa up and down before finally resting her gaze on Elsa's face. "It was all worth it," she murmured.

Elsa turned her gaze to Ariel. "What was?"

"This. Saving you. Getting to know you. Seeing you smile. It was all worth it."

Elsa gently bit down her lower lip, another blush filling her cheeks. "Thank you for all that you've done," Elsa said tenderly.

Ariel smiled, holding her gaze with Elsa's. Elsa's eyes returned to Ariel's lips and then back to her sparkling, ocean-blue eyes. Elsa jerked as sand suddenly landed across her body. Ariel grinned and rolled over and away from Elsa. She sat up in the sand and slithered away, heading for the shallow water coming up the beach. "I bet you can't get me," giggled Ariel.

Elsa's heart fluttered in her chest as she watched Ariel slither through the sand. She sat up and got to her feet, opening her palm and forming a snowball in the center of her hand. "Oh, I'll get you, but it won't be with sand!"

Elsa lobbed the snowball at Ariel, barely missing her. It landed in the seafoam and melted upon impact. Ariel giggled again as she dove forward, landing in the water and swimming up the bank. Elsa chased her on foot, continuing to throw snowballs at her all the while both were laughing and having a good time being together on the island.