Anne sat on a blanket on the beach, enjoying the sea breeze as it blew past her face. She sighed in contentment as she watched the small figure in front of her skip back and forth just above the water line. The sun was still hovering above the horizon, so they had a little bit of time left before sunset. It had been a mild day, and the sea breeze was just strong enough to be refreshing without bringing salty spray along with it. Anne breathed in the scent of the sea air and sighed once more.

Anne had been glad to settle on the coast. Though the cottage she now inhabited was infinitely smaller than Kellynch, it was more intimate too, and it suited Anne perfectly. She momentarily glanced back at the little home which had already become the site of more felicity than she could have ever imagined and marveled momentarily at her luck before turning her attention back to the present.

Keeping an eye on the little figure dressed in navy blue, Anne watched as the waves rolled toward the shore and the sun approached the dark water. The little figure skillfully avoided the crashing waves and managed to stay dry with the ease of one accustomed to life on the shore.

The small blue figure eventually stopped skipping and bent down to pick something up. Anne watched as the child studied whatever she had found and then turned toward Anne and came bounding up the short beach.

"Mama!" The little girl called when she was within earshot, her blue dress blowing in the wind and her hair mussed by the breeze. When she approached Anne, she pushed her dark curls back from her face with a sandy hand and held out a large shell. "Mama," her breathless voice repeated, "look what I found!" Her dark eyes glowed and Anne was once again struck with how much her eyes resembled her father's.

With a grin, Anne took the shell from her daughter's hand and gently brushed the sand from her hair. "It's beautiful, Sophia," she replied indulgently.

The little girl beamed. "Can I keep it?" she asked.

Anne nodded fondly. "Of course," she promised, even though her daughter had a whole shelf full of similar shells already in her room.

Anne scooted over on the blanket and patted the spot next to her. Her daughter sat down and Anne handed the shell back. She wrapped her arm around the little girl who leaned her head against Anne's side as she marveled at the shell in her hands. Anne sighed happily and kissed the top of her head.

They sat in contented silence for a while before the little girl, never one to sit in silence for long, asked, "Mama? When is Papa coming home?"

Anne sighed. Her darling girl loved her Papa almost as much as Anne loved him. His current absence was the only blight on Anne's otherwise complete felicity. After they had married, she had gone to sea with him for a time, never wanting to part from him again. However, once their little bundle of joy arrived, Anne decided to stay home and take care of their daughter. It was the second hardest choice she had ever made.

Anne hugged her daughter's small form a bit tighter. "As soon as he can, dearest," she promised, "you know that."

Restless again, little Sophia held the shell out in front of her. She held it just above the waves and moved it up and down with the swells, pretending it was a boat. "When I grow up," she said to her mother, "I'm gonna be just like you and Aunt Sophia. I'm gonna sail the world too."

Anne smiled at this declaration. The little girl was so much like her father. She loved the sea and she was never happy unless she was doing something. She liked nothing more than running along the beach and pretending she was on ship with her Papa, defending the British shores from her enemies. Anne did not doubt that her little girl would one day see even more of the world than her mother and her namesake had.

"Well," Anne said, reaching over to pick her daughter up and pull her into her lap, "if you want to sail the seas like mama and Aunt Sophia, you will have to learn how to ride the waves!" She began rocking back and forth and bouncing the little girl up and down, and Sophia let out a shriek of laughter. Anne's laughter joined her daughter's, and she stopped rocking and hugged her closer. Sophia returned the embrace, wrapping her little arms around her mother's neck and resting her head on her shoulder.

Suddenly, the little girl let out a loud gasp and moved to pull herself out of her mother's arms. The movement was so sudden that Anne couldn't stop her, and the girl was running off behind her before Anne had registered what happened. "Sophia!" She called, but the girl did not stop.

Turning to see what had grabbed her daughter's attention, Anne saw a figure making its way down the beach from the cottage's porch. Sophia was almost halfway between Anne and the figure when Anne heard her yell "Papa!"

In the dying light, Anne finally distinguished her husband's form as he closed the distance between himself and their daughter and scooped her up in his arms. Anne had to restrain herself from running to him as fast as Sophia had, but her steps were nonetheless quicker than normal as she hurried to meet up with him too.

When they finally met in the middle of the beach, Anne's surprise had given way to confusion, and she only managed to utter a surprised and breathless "Frederick?"

Frederick, still holding their daughter, pushed the little girl's curls behind her ear and beamed at Anne. "I was granted an unexpected shore leave," he explained quickly. "I came as soon as I could."

Anne was too overcome with surprised happiness to say much for the moment, and little Sophia took advantage of their silence. "Look Papa," she said, showing him her shell. "I found it today and Mama said I can keep it."

"That is quite a treasure," Frederick assured her, taking the shell in his hand that was not holding her. "Did you know," he mused, "that no matter where you are, you can always hear the sound of the ocean in these shells?"

Sophia looked confused. "In the shell?" she asked innocently.

Frederick nodded. "Here, listen," he said, holding the shell up to her ear.

Anne laughed when her daughter's eyes widened in response. "I can hear it!" she exclaimed.

Frederick laughed too and kissed her cheek before setting her back down. "It's getting dark," he observed. Then, to his daughter he suggested, "why don't you go inside and put that shell with the rest of your collection?"

Anne smiled. Sophia had only started collecting shells recently, but she had told Frederick about their daughter's growing collection in her letters. She was glad to see he had received them and had remembered this detail. Little Sophia, however, thought nothing of this comment and happily bounded away to follow her father's advice.

Frederick turned to his wife with a smile on his face. He pulled her into his arms and whispered into her ear, "I missed you."

Anne smiled against his chest. "I missed you more," she said.

He laughed. Pulling back and looking into her eyes, he assured her, "not possible." Anne grinned as he leaned down and pressed a long, gentle kiss to her lips. She sighed when he pulled away and rested her head on his chest once more.

Frederick hugged his wife closer and sighed, resting his head atop hers as he stared out to where the last rays of sun were disappearing over the horizon. He had watched a similar sunset each night while he was at sea. Before he had left, he had made Anne promise that she and Sophia would come out to the beach and watch the sunset each night as well. That way, he had told them, they would all know they were watching the sunset together, no matter how many miles separated them.

"Our little girl has grown so much since I last left," Frederick mused. "I am glad she recognized me."

Anne smiled and pulled herself back from his embrace. Still holding his hands in hers, she assured him, "I show her the miniature you left and tell her about you every day." She paused before adding with a grin, "she already wants to be a sailor like her Papa."

Frederick laughed. "She has the energy for it," he replied. "And I see you kept your promise about the sunset," he observed.

"Of course I did," Anne responded in mock offense. "Did you doubt me?"

He laughed once more. "No, of course not," he promised, kissing her forehead. "I would never doubt you."

"Good," Anne replied, pulling him into another kiss. This one was shorter than the other, however, as they were interrupted by a voice calling to them from the cottage door.

"Papa!" Sophia was calling. "Papa, come see the rest of my shells!"

"On my way, darling!" Frederick called back. He turned back to Anne once more and gifted her with a contented smile before leading her by the hand back toward the cottage.

When they reached the door, Frederick dropped Anne's hand, picked Sophia up once more, and carried her off toward her small room to look at the shells. Anne smiled as she watched them go, wondering what she had done to merit such perfect happiness.