"Melody…" I heard a soft angelic voice swim into my slumber as a hand combed through my hair. "Melody…honey wake up," I moaned and swatted the hand away…I knew exactly who's voice that was. My mother.

"Moommmm. Go away. It's still sleep time," I moaned as I pulled the large quilt over my head.

She chuckled lightly and gently rubbed my shoulders. "Melody you have to wake up. You're going sailing with your father today. Remember?" She reminded me, pulling the coverings away from my body.

Not opening my eyes, I stretched out my hand to search for the blanket. "Why can't you go with him?" I complained.

Mom sighed. "As thrilling as that idea sounds; this is quality time you and him will be spending together. As I recall, you were the one who first suggested this. And besides, he's really looking forward to it," She exclaimed.

That's when my head shot up. Crap. I turned and gave her a harmless glare. "I hate it when you do that to me," I said.

She gave me a warm smile before rising from my bed. She walked over to my giant window and pulled the curtains away. I cringed and shielded my eyes from the burning light. "Mom! Seriously?"

When she turned back to me, her glowing smiled had vanished. "Melody c'mon, wake up. Hurry and get dressed. You have an hour to meet your father at the dock," She said sternly before leaving my room.

I sighed with annoyance then rose from my bed and walked over to my massive closet. I loved my mom and everything but she could be so…difficult and short tempered. She was a teenager once too and I was 100% sure she did not like being woken up. And by the looks of my surroundings it was pretty early in the morning.

As I looked through my massive amounts of clothes I finally settled on a torn up t-shirt and ripped pants. I was only going to be sailing so I really didn't need to look my best.

After wringing a brush through my matted black hair and giving my teeth a quick brush before I began to make my way to the dock. Walking down the hallway I passed one of the windows that looked out at the cove where the giant wall used to be. It had been taken down months ago and now all I saw was the beautiful, breathtaking ocean.

While I gazed out at the sea, I heard a murmur of voices from a distance. I looked behind me to see that my parents' bedroom was just down the hall. Feeling a bit curious, I tip toed over to the cracked open door and peeked in.

I saw a bob of red hair pass my vision followed by my mother's distraught voice. "Eric how do you expect me to believe that? How do you even expect yourself to believe it?"

I heard my dad sigh and rub his temple while sitting on their massive bed. "I don't Ariel…I just…Tommy is one of my best friends. He would never lie to me, especially about something like this,"

Confusion clouded my mind. I listened carefully as my mom huffed in frustration. "Well I think he's either insane or a liar. There is absolutely no way she could be alive after all of this time…it's not possible," I could tell from the tone in her voice she sounded hurt.

I pulled my head back away from sight when I saw dad rise up from the bed and walk over to mom. He pulled her into an embrace. "Ariel…darling. I know it seems hard to believe, but if there has been some kind of sighting of her…I want to look into it. Even though it's been seventeen years, I still haven't given up hope. Have you?" He questioned.

What in the world were they talking about? I had half a mind to burst into the room and question them myself, but obviously this was a conversation I wasn't supposed to hear. But I was defiantly going to find out sooner or later. I was about to leave before I got caught but then I heard my mom respond.

"No. Never. But…don't let it take you over. Please. Go out today and enjoy your time with Melody," There was a pause with what I assume was a kiss then my mother spoke again. "And speaking of Melody…she can't know. Yet,"

A held in a gasp as anger and betrayal flooded through my body. They were hiding something from me again. After all we had been through the last time they failed to tell me something about my life…they apparently hadn't learned anything.

Swallowing tears I heard my dad say "I gotta' go" followed by footsteps towards the door. Knowing I would be in deep trouble I bolted from my hiding spot and quickly hid behind the window curtains when he came out of the room. I peered out when I was sure he was gone and quickly scampered away, not before hearing my mother's distant sobs.

X

A few minutes later I trudged down to the dock. After hearing the conversation between my parents, I for one did not want to spend the entire day with my father. I honestly could not believe that they had been keeping another deep secret from me. I was determined to find out.

"Melody!" My head shot up when I heard my dad call out to me. He stood beside a large sailboat with warm smile on his face. He had blue sailor's shirt on with dark pants and mud boots. He looked ready for a day of sailing. I sighed and stopped in my tracks. I can't stay mad at him. At least not today.

"Hey dad," I said, returning the smile and continued to walk towards him.

When I approached him he pulled me into a hug. "You ready to sail?" he asked with excitement.

I hugged him back then looked up at him. "I can't wait,"

"Then let's go. After you, your highness," He said with a tease and gave me a bow.

I chuckled and rolled my eyes "Good one dad," He knew how much I disliked the whole princess thing and he loved making fun of me.

When we had boarded the boat, dad taught me the names of the different parts before we actually went out to sea. I had wanted him to teach me how to sail because I thought it would give me an excuse to be around the water more but as the day wore on, I was just plain old bored. The things he was telling me made absolutely no sense and there were a ton of words that I had never heard before.

As hard as I tried I could not concentrate on anything that had to do with the boat. Dad didn't seem to be aware of my boredom, for he just kept talking, getting lost in his own world.

My mind kept wandering to the water and I started to think about what my undersea friends were up to. I hadn't seen Tip or Dash or even my grandfather King Triton in forever. I was just about to ask dad if we could stop for a swim when I big boom of thunder rumbled above us. We both looked up to see an enormous black cloud hovering in the sky.