The Little Mermaid 


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Once upon a time, in a happy peaceful kingdom under the sea, lived a
mermaid princess, and her name was Relena.
Princess Relena was the darling of the kingdom, everybody loved her
and looked up to her. Everywhere she went it was "Relena-sama this"
and "Relena-sama that" and she was grateful that everyone cared so
much about her, but she couldn't help but feel pestered.

Then one day, something really big fell out of the sky and landed in
the ocean. It was a gundam

Relena was very curious and swam up to investigate, even though all of
her friends and admirers cowered in the seaweeds. I wonder what this
little thing does? she thought as she pushed a button.

The big metallic thing moved! It opened up somewhere in its middle to
reveal a small room, just large enough for one chair, and someone was
sitting in it!

All of the mermaids hiding in the seaweed squealed in terror and swam
away as fast as their fins could propel them.

Relena carefully studied the person inside. It has legs instead of
fins. Is this what a human is supposed to look like? she thought. I
don't think I like it very much. Its head is too big, and too round. 
And it doesn't even have a face!

But on closer inspection, Relena found out that it did. What she
first thought of as the creature's head was actually a helmet. She
pressed her nose against the darkened surface of the helmet and took a
look inside.

And looked upon the face of the most beautiful boy she had ever seen.

Is he dead? she wondered. And she immediately felt very sad.

But she saw that the boy was breathing. I have to get him to the
surface, she thought. Humans can't live underwater. And so she swam
to the surface and pulled the boy up as far as she could onto a
secluded beach. It was rather difficult, since she couldn't maneuver
very well in the shallow waters. But she was finally satisfied that
the boy was in no danger of slipping back into the water again, and
she removed his helmet. He was even more beautiful without the
confining head gear. She lay there looking at him for the longest
time.

She had just mustered enough courage to reach out to touch his cheek
when he suddenly stirred and his eyes fluttered open. Their eyes
locked. Wide cerulean blue stared into dark cobalt. It was only for
an instant, but to Relena it felt like forever.

With a splash she dove into the water. Mermaids weren't supposed to
be seen by humans. It was supposed to be a bad thing. But Relena
couldn't image anything bad coming from that beautiful boy. She hid
in a small outcropping of rocks and watched him.

The boy sat up and looked around, probably wondering if what he had
just seen was real, or just part of a dream. Then he stood up, and
stared out to sea for a very long time.
Relena didn't move from her hiding place, or take her eyes off of him
until he walked away from the beach and disappeared over a sand dune.
Then she sighed.
"My name is princess Relena. What's yours?"

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Days past, and the mer-people forgot about the excitement of the
gundam falling into their midst and went about their usual
mer-business. But Relena couldn't forget the boy, or his cobalt blue
eyes.
He has the ocean in his eyes, she thought. But I shall never see him
again. That thought made her very sad.

Others noticed their favorite princess' despondency, and tried to
cheer her up. Relena smiled for them, but in her heart she felt very
lonely.

Finally she decided to go talk to her friend and confidant, the
sea-witch Dorothy. Most of the mer-people were afraid of Dorothy,
because of her magic. But to Relena, she was a friend.

"I wish to see him again, Dorothy. Nothing else seems to matter
anymore. I'd do anything!"

"Well!" said Dorothy as she tapped a finger against her cheek. "I
might be able to help you. It'd be my pleasure, really. But the
magic you need is very powerful, and it will come at a price."

"I'm willing to pay it."

Dorothy gave Relena a bottle full of dark liquid. "Drink this, and it
will make you human. You can breathe the air and walk on dry land as
they do. But you will not be able to speak their tongue. That is the
price of magic."

Relena nodded. It seemed a small enough sacrifice.

"And one more thing," said Dorothy. "This magic works on love. And
what's love without risk? If after finding the boy, 21 days pass
without him confessing his love to you, the magic will dissolve."

"And I'd be a mermaid again?" 

"No, dear Princess, you'll be dead. That is the price of love."

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Princess Relena debated long and hard about what to do. She thought
about her loving parents and all her mer-friends. She thought about
how much she loved her kingdom under the sea. 
But in the end, she thought she loved the boy more. If I could just
be with him again, she thought. That's all I need. 
Surely the boy would love her back!

So she wrote a letter to her father and mother and left it where they
would be sure to find it, and made her way out of the world she knew,
and into a brand new one.

When Relana found herself standing on dry land with her own two feet,
she felt very disoriented at first. Walking was difficult. But she
persevered. She felt giddy with happiness just knowing that she was
breathing the same air, and walking on the same ground as her
mysterious love. A few days later, she arrived at the proud castle
where Dorothy had told her the boy lived. He was a prince.

The people who lived in the castle were very shocked to see her. 
Mostly because she was completely naked. She hadn't worn clothes
underwater afterall!

But they got other their shock quickly, and decided, even though
Relena couldn't say a thing, that she must be a princess. They
treated her very kindly and dressed her in fine clothes.  And they 
introduced her to the Prince, whose name was Heero.

Oh what a beautiful name! thought Relana, and deeply regretted the
loss of her voice. She wanted so badly to speak his name and to tell
him that she loved him.

But nothing else could marr the pure joy she felt during the time she
spent in the castle. Everyone was kind to her. And Prince Heero,
though he was a little distant at first, gradually began to warm to
her. He even smiled! Relena thought her heart would burst with
happiness.
This is perfection, she thought.

But then she received horrible news.
There was a war going on, and the Prince was going away to fight it. 
He was going to fight in the metal thing that fell from the sky. 
(He'd been able to somehow drag it out of the sea.)

Another prince arrived at the castle. He also had a big metal thing
and was going to fight in the war too. He was Prince Heero's best
friend, and his name was Duo.

Prince Heero began to spend less time with Relena, and more and more
time with his friend. And at the end of the 21 days allotted by
magic, which coincided with the day before Prince Heero and Duo were
to leave for war, Relena realized that Prince Heero would never
confess his love for her.
Because he didn't love her. He loved Prince Duo.
Relena cried and cried and cried.

Suddenly she looked up, and the sea-witch Dorothy was sitting in front
of her!
"Poor little Princess Relena!" said Dorothy. "How tragic! How
pitiful!"

Relena could only sob.

"But don't lose hope yet. I have a plan!" Dorothy pulled out a small
sharp dagger. "You must stab Prince Heero through the heart with this
dagger. Then the magical spell will be broken, and you will return to
your natural form. You won't have to die!"
She placed the dagger in Relena's hands. "Your father and mother are
beside themselves with worry. All your fans -- I mean friends can't
decided what to do from day to day without you to order then around. 
You must come back to us, princess. You have until daybreak!"

And with that she disappeared.

Relena held the dagger in her hands and wondered what to do. Could
she really stab her Prince through the heart? But otherwise she would
die!

Still unable to make up her mind, she quietly slipped through the
castle halls and into Prince Heero's room. Prince Heero was asleep.

She stood by his bed watching him, just like she watched him the first
time she had looked upon his face on the beach. He was so beautiful. 
Even if he didn't love her, she still loved him.

I could never hurt him, she thought as the birds began so sing
outside, heralding the oncoming dawn. She tossed the dagger aside,
then reached out to stroke his face. 
Open your eyes, my prince, she thought, I want to see the ocean again.

Heero awoke. And as she looked into his blue, blue eyes, the sun rose
above the horizon, and Princess Relena vanished into a salty mist.

Heero looked around him, a little confused. Wasn't someone standing
over his bed just a moment ago? Was it a dream?
Shaking off a sense of deja vu, he rose out of bed, and prepared for
battle. 

---------Oshimai-------------------