The Little Angel (Completed one-shot's in "Love Me". On hiatus. possibly 4ever)

Chapter Six

On Christine's tenth summer, she met a friend.

Christine had been playing by the water in the little sea-town where she and her parents were spending July and August. It was a warm day, to be sure, but there was a bit of a wind to the day, making things temperate. Christine was watching the water advance and retreat against the sand, her little red scarf playing gently in the breeze. Gustave and Charlotte were not too far off; five feet away, and enjoying some quiet moments together. Truly, they loved their daughter more than they could say, but sometimes it was nice to have moments when it was just the two of them.

Christine was enjoying the gentle breeze's noise, and the tranquility of the day. Yes, she loved her boat, but this was nice.

A breeze blew in at that moment, stronger than the other, gentler breezes that had previously ruled the day. It swept in with reckless abandon, kidnapping Christine's scarf in the process. Christine was up in an instant, glaring at the scarf as it blew out into the water. She looked around her and saw various other people crying out in dismay as their hats and scarves blew out into the ocean. Christine sighed, placed her shoes by the place she'd been sitting, followed by her stockings, gloves, and hat. She started to wade into the water; feeling it come up to meet her in the form of a happy wave, lapping at her pink toes. She started to step in, when a small voice called out, "I'll save your scarf!" and into the water dashed a small blond boy of about ten or eleven. He was fully clothed, and very brave; since to anyone but Christine and her family, the water would have been chilled. But this little boy did not seem to mind, as he dove in, and fetched Christine's scarf. The sopping wet boy soon returned with a triumphant smile, as he held up Christine's soaking scarf. "Here you go, Mademoiselle!" He crowed, handing her the scarf. Christine giggled, setting her scarf down on the sand so it would dry off. She curtseyed for the boy, "Thank you, most gallant knight." She remembered that was what Sleeping Beauty said to the Prince when he rescued her. The little boy laughed, "I'm no gallant night!" "You saved my scarf, didn't you?" The boy thought a moment, "Well, yes..." "Then I say, thank you, noble boy." The boy grinned, showing shiny teeth.

"Do you want to play with me?" Christine asked shyly, excited for a playmate her own age. The boy grinned again, "That would be nice. My brother's here with me, but he's older, and won't play anything fun! Are you fun, miss?" "Maybe?" She replied. "Do you like to make sandcastles?" The boy asked. "Yes! Do you want to make a Mer palace? I'll show you how!" Christine grabbed the little boy's hand, dragging him over to a patch of sand where they could make castles without fear of it being attacked by waves.

"What's a Mer?" The boy asked, curiously. "They are mermaids, but don't let them hear you call them that, and don't tell them I called them mermaids." the boy looked puzzled, "Why?" "They just don't like being called that—they prefer Mer." "Well, why are we making a Mer palace?" "Because Mer are the best at making castles." "How do you know?" he asked, watching her begin building the castle's square form. "Well, Mer are very powerful, so why shouldn't their palaces be grand?" Christine asked. "I guess..." the boy said doubtfully. Christine looked up at him, and blushed, "I forgot to ask, what's your name?" The boy giggled, "It's Raoul. What's your name?" "Christine." She answered. "I like your name, Christine." Raoul smiled at her shyly, "I don't have many friends who are girls—you're really nice." Christine blushed again.

Once the palace was built, Christine ran to where her parents were sitting and grabbed her dolls. "Are you having fun with that little boy?" Charlotte asked, smiling at her daughter. "Yes." Christine said, kissed her mother and father on the cheek, then dashed off to where Raoul was sitting. "So, what are we going to do now?" Raoul asked, eyeing her dolls doubtfully. "We're going to play pirate and Mer!" Christine announced, grinning. "First, we need to make a pirate ship, though..." She said, moving to another spot not very far from the Mer palace. "Okay! Pirates are cool!" Christine grinned, "Many of my ancestors were pirates." "Cool!" Raoul answered, helping her to build the ship.

Once that was built, Christine gave Raoul the dolls that were supposed to be pirates, while she took the Mer dolls, and got ready for war with the pirates. They played for hours, until Raoul's brother came to collect him, and Christine's parents said it was getting close to the time that they should head back to their boat. Christine and Raoul shook hands, promising they would be friends forever—or at least until summer was over. It turned out that Raoul's parents rented a cottage there each summer, and Christine's delight was immense when she told Raoul that her family spent ever July and August there, too. The two planned to meet up every day until August was over.

Some days they played in the sand, some they played in the water. As they got to know each other better; their families agreed that the children should play wherever and whenever they could, which meant playing all over town, and in the forest.

Raoul told her one day he loved stories, any kind there was, he loved. Christine grinned, before asking if he'd heard of the tale of how the Mer King came to be. When Raoul said no, Christine knew they would be occupied for days.

She drew the tale out over weeks, making it agony for little Raoul, who was eleven as it so happened. He would beg her to tell him more of the story, but she was adamant that it would have to wait, and launch him into a game of woodland thieves, or pirate kings before he could blink twice.

As it turned out, Christine was a superb playmate, and so was Raoul. Once, they played Robin Hood and his Merry men. Raoul wanted Christine to be Marian, but Christine refused, wanting instead to be Will Scarlet, or Robin Hood. The two got into so heated and argument, they both stormed off, declaring that they should never again play together.

The next day they sheepishly apologized to each other, and decided to try and play Robin Hood again, though this time they would take turns being Robin Hood and Maid Marian, which suited them perfectly.

Throughout the summer, they played every day. When it was time to part from each other's company, both parties were solemn, and sad. The stood in front of each other, morose and stony faced. "Well, Goodbye, Christine..." Raoul mumbled. "Bye, Raoul......It was really fun playing with you for the summer." "Yeah.....I'll look forward to next summer...." He said glumly. "Me too....." Then she smiled, "Oh! I have something for you!" Raoul brightened, "What is it?" "Since I didn't tell you the end of the story, I wrote the whole tale down for you to read while we're apart. And next summer, I'll tell you the follow on to that story." Raoul smiled, "I'd like that." "I'll miss you, Raoul.." Christine finally said. "I'll....Miss you too..." Raoul replied, sliding the story in his pocket. Christine hugged the little boy before returning to her parents. Raoul stood where he was and blushed.

"You'll play with him next summer.." Charlotte ruffled her daughter's hair. Christine looked at her mother, "Of course, Mamma. I was just thinking about how much I missed the open waters, that's all." Gustave grinned at his daughter, "My little Fish."

Christine grinned toothily.

That night, she heard the whispers again. It had started a few years back, when she was six. Late at night, she would hear unearthly singing—singing that seemed for her ears alone. It called to her, beckoned her, made her see fay where she knew none existed. The music spoke to her soul. She would wander out to the edge of the deck, leaning her elbows onto the railing, and with a dreamy smile listen to the notes which were for her alone. She loved to hear their melody.