follow the lanterns

Ariel was almost giddy with excitement at the thought of reuniting with the place she loved the most in the entire world; water. It didn’t matter where in the world she was, or how beautiful a place was, as long as she was near a body of water, she was more than satisfied. “We’ve been without each other for so long. –You don’t think I’ve been forgotten, do you?” She laughed, shaking her head at Rapunzel’s aversion to any water that didn’t come out of a spout or shower head. “Haven’t you seen that movie Shark Night? Some sharks do live in lakes…. but I think that’s only sometimes. Plus, in that movie they were breeding the sharks in lakes on purpose,” she quickly added, not wanting to deter Punzie from swimming, even more. “–Hunky tour guides? I’m all for that…. Plus, it’ll give us a chance to practice our German!”

As the blonde watched the red head’s eyes glimmer with excitement, it made her extremely happy to know that her best friend had something in this world that truly made her feel like there was nothing better than it in existence. Much like how Punzie happened to be with her lanterns and artwork. “If it has, I will personally make sure that it starts remembering you again because that is totally not okie dokie! I.... have no clue as to how I’d do it but I’d try my best regardless!” Color drained from her face as she heard that sharks could actually live in lakes, pulling at her bottom lip in discomfort, “Well..... you have officially killed my motivation to ever learn to swim and will probably stick to hot tubs and kiddie pools for the rest of my life,” she said, a dramatic sigh escaping her as the back of her hand touched her forehead. “Yes!” She exclaimed, “I only know how to say ich liebe dich and ich muss pinkeln but I don’t think ‘i love you’ or ‘i have to pee’ will be very appealing to boys.”

“–Wait, do you really mean it?” Ariel’s eyes lit up at the mention of water. There were few things she loved more than water– and Rapunzel was one of them, but the thought of soon getting a chance to get into a bikini and spend hours in water, doing nothing but swimming and studying underwater creatures immediately had her more excited to be on this adventure with her best friend. “Punz, we’ve been through this! Lakes are freshwater, oceans are salt-water. But I’m with you there, in this case. A lake will more than satisfy my need for some water-fun!” she exclaimed as she grinned at her best friend’s phone, before gleaming back at the blonde. “–Okay fine! But where are we going?! And will there be cute boys there?”

“Yes?” She said, a slight inflection at the end, “I know how much it means to you so what kind of best friend would I be if I forced you to live without the love of your life? I can’t get in the way of the worlds best romance story!” As any normal person would, Rapunzel always put others needs before her own so whilst the idea of being abandoned on the shore whilst Ariel got a chance to play mortified her, it also delighted her to know she made the red head happy. Almost making it worth the forced courage. “That doesn’t mean anything to me! All I know is that you can swim in both and there’s no sharks in lakes. Making it fifty times safer than the ocean,” she tried to defend her case but found herself hunching her shoulders in frustration. It quickly faded away as an excited smile soon appeared, a giggle to match, “A museum! If I read the map right it’s about twenty minutes from here and has a lot of interesting artwork on display. --Ariel! We’re in Berlin. Cute boys are everywhere! We just have to wait and see if any happen to be on the way since who knows, we might end up with hunky tour guides. Hopefully with hot bodies to boot.”

“I have all the faith in you and your skills, Punz,” Ariel replied with a grin, taking a quick photo of the blonde, before letting her camera fall against her chest. “But last time I trusted you with a map… we ended up here in Berlin. AKA, the place furthest away from a sea of water! I just wanted a nice beach to tan on and an ocean to swim around in for a few hours, and you led us here, instead! So I’m a little grumpy with you at the moment…. Mostly.” She giggled, turning to face the bustling city behind her. “Anyway– fine. We can do it your way for a little while…. But only if you promise to lead me to some water to splash around in!”

The blonde closed her sketchbook after sticking her tongue out for the picture. Tucking it into her backpack, Punz stood herself up and pulled her phone from her pocket, "That's not necessarily true! I have a ton of places saved that are apparently amazing for all sort of water activities that you will more than love! They're only lakes and won't be anything like the ocean but you know I consider them all the same," she explained as she swiped around her phone to find the article, turning it towards the redhead. She had never been a fan of water since an overprotective parent had resulted in her fear of many things - learning to swim included. Grabbing her backpack and looping it over her shoulder, she took the map off the table before linking her arm with her friends, "I promise that we'll reach water sooner than later but for now! Let's go that way," she pointed, tugging the girl along.