AN: Sorry for the wait. I had writer's block and laziness to over come. XP These first few chapters are probably not that interesting. There mostly just introductory and transitions chapters. But please hold on, it's going to get a lot more interesting soon! And many, many thanks to anyone and everyone who comments and read this story~! XD

Words to know:
Nii-san: Big brother
Onii-san (I hoped I spelled this right): Big sister

The golden sun was lingering along edge of the horizon, speckling the earth and sea in the last of it's warm rays. Along the cost, another being was lingering at the edge of day and night. Her large silvery lavender eyes still fixed on the two figures shrinking into the distance. Her eyes stared at them with more so on the taller male. His strange blue tinted skin softly light by the setting sun.

A heavy sigh escaped her soft pink lips, another day gone by and all she had done was observe the strange man she silently admire. The little mermaid could feel night setting in. With another heavy sigh she slid off her perch on the large black rock and back into the ocean.

The sea happily accepted her back, with the cool water washing over her dried skin. The mermaid poked her head over the surface one last time to see the strange boy walking home with his friend and then dove under and began to head home.

The sea turn deep blue and the light from the surface dimmed but the little mermaid could still easily swim through the water. She dove to the bottom to feel the slimy seaweed tickle her skin. All around her the sea began to fall into a sort of strange slumber. Little creatures returned to their little hideaways till the safely of day would return and the night hunters would slowly began to make their way along the reef looking for the unfortunate souls who would become their next meal.

The little mermaid hurried along home, not because she was afraid of being eaten, but because she did not want to have to see some poor creature get eaten. She knew this was simply the way life worked, there was always the hunter and the hunted. She knew that very well, but no one ever said she had to watch it.

The little blue haired sea girl quickly swam along the reef till she reached a curtain of seaweed silently hanging over a well sized tunnel. The mermaid parted away the foliage and swam on inside. It was rather dark, but she felt her hand along the wall till she felt what he was looking for. Her hand brushed a rope on which she tugged and all along the wall strange sea creatures glowed and lighted the way for her. A warm smile spreed across her pink lips and she thanked the creatures for their help.

She swam along silently till the tunnel opened up again, showing a beautiful underwater city. Tall coral towers along with stolen sunken ship wood and many other strange items made up the buildings. It gave off a soft glow from strange glowing orbs of chemicals from sea creatures and magic. Magic lanterns hung everywhere and the sea life itself grew on the buildings. Large sea plants grew out of the sides of tall towers swaying gently in the current, and coral grew wherever it was let.

The little mermaid was happy to be home but stay hidden among the shadows. Everywhere happy mer-folk swam by, heading for home or for work, or even out to dates, and the mermaid stayed hidden from them all. Quickly dashing from building to building she silently suck back towards home.

She slid quickly along she outer walls and towards the back gate. Suddenly she heard the sound of someone swimming towards her and she quickly dove behind a nearby coral. She felt her skin grow hot from the fears of getting caught. But the sound of swimming moved pass her casually, and she sighed with relief. She peeked up over the coral to see a guard swimming away on his normal duties. The little mermaid moved form the coral and continue her journey to the back gate.

It was a rather simple but lovely two door gate, made of dark wood polished to a simple shine. She slid her fingers across it's smooth surface till it reached one of the two large black metal rings that were used to open and close the gate. She reached into her bag and pulled out a small silver key, slipping it into the lock next to the metal ring. She turned the key and tugged on the ring pulling the key out of the lock as she did so. The mermaid turned around to see if there was any observers and then quickly slipped inside. She made quick work to close the door quietly and lock the gate back up. She slipped the key back into her bag and slowly backed away form the door turning around as she did, only to bump face first into a something.

"Ow." she quietly moaned rubbing her nose.

She turn her large eyes up to stare into the face of a much upset young male. His eyes strict but kind, staring down with disapproval at her. She felt her cheek grow hot from his stare and turned her eyes away. She was not supposed to have sunk out, or even gone anywhere near the land or surface. And now she had been cough red handed, sneaking back home.

The young merman didn't even ask for an explanation. He simply held out his hand and the little mermaid reluctantly but obediently took out her key and place in in the palm of his hand.

"I'm sorry Neji nii-san." she mumbled, looking down with embarrassment and at the ground.

Neji singed a seep heavy sigh. This had not been the first time he had cough his little cousin seeking back home.

"Hinata-sama, how many time are we going to have to do this?" he asked with both annoyance and worry. "What if it had been a guard who had caught you seeking back in or even your father! Do you have any idea how much trouble you be in?"

Hinata nodded but didn't want to look up. She knew she only see her older cousin's worried eyes, and she be filled with guilt at making him so worried.

"Hinata-sama, look at me." he pleaded softly.

Hinata slowly turned her eyes to look at him and true enough his sliver eyes were filled with worry, that made her insides twist with guilt.

"Hinata-sama, why do you keep doing this? You know your not allowed to sneak off."

"Yes, I know..." she whispered.

"You could have gotten hurt or worst! So why do you keep disobeying? It's a simple rule to follow, just ask me or a guard to escort you when you want to leave the grounds, okay?" Neji knew better then to keep on telling this little cousin this. He knew perfectly well why his cousin was sneaking off and even exactly where she was sneaking off to.

The surface.

Ever since three years ago, his sweet Hinata had been wandering off more and more on her own. He had no problem when she went off to the see the sorceress who lived at the edge of water fall. But some days he had found her simply perched on a rock looking at the land. Her large silvery lavender eyes seemed to be dazed and distant, always looking at the same thing. The palace of the humans.

As the years passed Neji began to worry more and more about his cousin well being. It was unlike her to disobey or even wonder off. He remembered the quite shy little girl that was once his cousin. Hinata use to never wander off more then a few feet away form her parents and even him. But now a days he could hardly ever find her at home, or even within the city. His sweet little cousin had changed so much since that storm three years ago.

Hinata once again turned her gaze back to the ground and silently nodded her head indicating that she had heard her cousin plea. She really did feel a great deal of guilt for constantly sneaking off and causing her poor cousin to worry so much, but she couldn't tell him why. He would have never understood. It was something even Hinata herself couldn't quite explain.

Neji sighed a heavy sigh, and moved from Hinata's way.

"Hurry and get inside."

Hinata smiled a bit and hugged her cousin tightly.

"Thank you nii-san." and she quickly headed inside the mansion.

Neji watched his cousin swim off and sighed again to himself.

"What am I going to do with you." he mumbled to himself, but this time a tiny smile manage it's way onto his lips.

It was already getting late into the evening when Hinata herd her sister knock at door. She got up from her bed and swam over to unlock it. On the other side stood the bight face of Hanabi with a huge grin. She quickly slipped inside and bounced over to Hinata's bed.

"My, my Onii-san. Your starting to get a bit rusty." Hanabi giggled and pulled out a silver key from behind her.

Hinata's face lit with joy at it's sight and swam forward to get it, only to have Hanabi dart out of the way.

"What do you say?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Thank you very much Hanabi." Hinata answered with a cherry voice.

Hanabi chuckled a light chuckled and tossed the key over to her eager sister. Hinata caught the little silver key in her hands and dove forward to embrace her sister in a tight hug.

"Sincerely, thank you so much!" she mumbled into her sister's hair.

"Of course, what are sisters for?" the little brown haired mermaid replied hugging her sister back.

"How did you get it back?"Hinata asked letting go of Hanabi.

"It was in the same place as last time. Either Neji nii-san doesn't pay attention or he secretly want you to keep sneaking off."

Hinata laid down on her bed and stared at the shiny key in her fingers. Hanabi follow suit and laid down perpendicular to her with her head resting on Hinata's stomach.

"What's so amazing about the surface anyways?" Hanabi curiously.

Hinata ponder this question for a moment.

"It's a new world up there, just somewhere new and exciting to explore."

"But the same thing can be said for the sea. Not even our people have seen all it has to offer yet."

"The land is filled with colors and light."

"So is down here."

"But the land has something the ocean doesn't."

"What? Burning sunlight? Fishing hooks? Nosy seagulls?" Hanabi joked.

"No, no!" Hinata replied laughing as well.

"Then what?"

"The surface has... the surface has..." Hinata trailed off.

Hanabi turned to look at her sister's face. A soft red tint was already visible on her cheeks and her eyes were dreamy and filled with a strange light Hanabi had hardly ever seen before. She turned so they she was resting her crossed arms on her sister's abdomen.

"The surface has that human prince, doesn't it?" she giggled.

Hinata's face turn full scarlet and she quickly got up off the bed causing Hanabi to tumble off as well.

"N-no, no! Th-that's crazy. What are you t-talking about?" Hinata stuttered as she swam toward her window.

Hanabi pulled herself off the ground to stare at her.

"Onii-san, your not a very good liar." she said smiling.

Hinata stared out her window. Her face growing hot form embarrassment. Hanabi swam over to sit next to her.

"Onii-san. I know about your little "crush". It's not hard to tell. Everyday you stare at the same thing. I can see it in your eyes, you have feelings for that human.. don't you?"

Hinata sighed.

"I... I really don't know. It's just... every time I see him, my heart starts racing and my body starts to feel all hot and nervous. I just want to be able to talk with him, but..." she trailed off.

Hanabi sighed as well.

"Onii-san, you know you can't fall in love with him right? It's against the law, against our nature. It simply wouldn't be right. Humans can't know about our existence. They have no right to."

"Yes, I know, I know... It's just, It's just... I just want to be able to talk to him, even if it's for a little while. Just to see what his world is like, and... and how he's doing..."

Hanabi sighed again, she felt like she had been doing that a lot tonight.

"I knew it was a bad idea for you to save him. It's already been three years and he's still causing you trouble."

"No, it's not like that!"

"We aren't suppose to get involved with humans-"

"I know, I know! It was just-I couldn't just float there and let him die! Even if he was a human, no one should have to die in our ocean. Nothing should be allowed to pollute our waters." Hinata argue

"Many have died before." Hanabi argued.

"Yes, but... but I wasn't there those time... and this time... this time... I don't know. Something inside of me just told me I should have saved him."

They both sighed together in unison.

"If you really want to talk with him, why don't you just visit the sorceress that the end of the water fall and ask her to give you legs for an hour?"

Hinata's eyes brighten.

"Perhaps... perhaps I will! I'll go see her right away!" Hinata quickly dashed out her window, only to be pulled back by Hanabi.

"Whoa, whoa there little seahorsey! Do you have any idea the kind of trouble you get in if Nii-san or even father catches you out this late?"

"Oh right..." Hinata swam back in. "I shouldn't get so excited." she blushed.

"If you really want to see the human so badly. We can both visit the sorceress tomorrow, okay?"

"Alright, alright." Hinata laughed. "It's late, we should both be heading off to sleep."

Hanabi smiled and let go of her, and swam toward the door.

"Good night Onii-san, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night dear Hanabi."

And with that Hinata watched her sister swim out the door, her emerald tail sparkling behind her. Hinata got up and locked the door. She fell back into her bed and closed her eyes.

'Tomorrow... tomorrow, I'll finally get to met you...my strange prince.' she thought to herself.

And with that Hinata fell into the land of dreams.