A girl tilted her head, listening to the islands steady lull. Wave after wave, caws of seagulls, wind rushing past palm leaves, the footsteps of island natives against the sand, all converging in a beautiful rhythm. She brushed back her red bangs, then readjusted her loose dawn pink shirt. Life was life, wasn't it? No changes, just the same thing day after day. She scanned the vast sea in front of her, trying to find a ripple or shift in the translucent waters that mirrored her blue eyes.

"Kairi! Kairi come on I know you're in the top of that!" Kairi rolled her eyes and looked down from her palm tree. Ventus ruffled his blond spikes and smirked up at her with his eyes reflecting the sky rather than the sea "At least pass down the fruit we're supposed to be collecting!"

Kairi brushed a few leaves aside and picked armfuls of Paopu fruits and held one up menacingly "Okay then!"

Ventus threw up his hands as he was pelted with fruit, trying to catch as many as he could "ACK! KAIRI!" He caught a few and tossed them into a basket as he dodged a few of the smaller unripe ones "Kairi you're being reckless!"

Kairi stopped, wandering her way down the Paopu tree "Okay then." She hoisted the filled basket up, then set it atop her head with perfect balance. She sauntered off with the one hand helping her fruit basket flared out more with style than function "I'll see you later, Ven!"

Ventus crossed his arms "Hmph. Made me do all the work again." He looked out to sea "Still, I wonder what she was looking for this time."

Beneath those pristine waves of turquoise and blue and purple was much more than met the eye.

A cheerful boy was digging through the sand, obviously and intently searching for something with sky blue eyes. A quick glance around the rock his lower half was hidden behind revealed a dolphin tail. He tilted his head a little (this caused his unruly brown hair to point more ways than it already was) as he pawed at the sand some more, then shrugged with an exhale of bubbles and floated off elsewhere. He brushed past seaweed and scanned the ground, the lit up and dove at a shell. He tilted his head some more with a wide smile as he held it to the light filtering in from above the surface.

"Color is pink, but not too much pink; orange but not too much orange either; just the right tint of yellow and white, too!" He muttered with excitement "And the condition is so smooth! So flawless!" He swam off "Shell love this!" He then paused, his excited grin becoming mischievous and lopsided "Heh, 'shell'." He resumed his journey "That's one of my best ones!"

The merman looked at the shell in his hands "Puns aside, this has gotta be one of the best shells I've ever seen."

He scooped up another shell- this one closed actually a closed clam "Okay, whatcha got in here?" He began trying to pry open the natural treasure chest, ignoring where he was swimming among the atoll and going on a sort of "autopilot". He swooped above a school of fish, turned away from a wall of rocks and coral, grazed the sand (disturbing some flat fish trying to hide) and began swimming past a garden of sea anemones-

"HEY!"

And smack into a blond haired merman slightly older than him with a red tail speckled with splotches of cream. The little merman backed up and stammered an apology "Oh, u-uh, sorry, bro."

The other sighed and rolled his eyes "Sora, how many times have I told you to watch where you're swimming?"

Sora shrugged apologetically, shoving the shell and still unopened clam behind him "A lot, Roxas." His eyes darted away from Roxas's cold navy glare.

Roxas swam around Sora, noting the trophies, then resumed his spot and intently examined the sea anemones in front of him. Sora stared at the sand, wondering what Roxas was going to scold him about now. The older brother never really liked Sora's shell hoarding habits or puns or anything about him really, it seemed, not anymore. Actually, he'd become quite broody and harsh since their parents died.

"Which do you think is the prettiest?" Roxas asked coolly.

Sora's head snapped up "Huh?"

Roxas gestured to three of the anemones- one coral red and pink and then another cream and yellow and the third deep purple and blue -and repeated his question "Which do you think looks the prettiest?"

Sora shrugged "Depends on where they're gonna go." He noted they were still a few days off from being at their fullest.

"I'm gonna give one to Xion." Roxas explained "I want to make sure that when I ask her that she'll have the best one."

Sora snorted lightly- remembering his earlier pun -the pointed to the yellow one "That'll look really pretty in her hair, but you'll wanna wait a day or two if you want it to be fresh and at its best."

Roxas blinked then leaned over and inspected the anemone further. "I... Suppose you're right." he whispered. He stood taller and added "You always had a gift when it came to these kinda things."

Sora smiled. He then swam off "Now, if you'll excuse me I gotta go put these up and get this stupid clam open."

AHH LITTLE MERMAID AU THAT'S BEEN EATING MY TIME FOR ABOUT A WEEK NOW fhjdsfl;vjdn v I can't believe me sometimes