Beachside Beginnings

*Beachside Beginnings is a short story about how Citrus and Blu met.*

## Characters

* Citrus
* Blu
* Pumpkin
* Cobalt

## Chapter One

“Bye, Pumpkin!”

“Bye, Citrus!”

It was a long day, and Citrus was ready to just sit down and relax. Harvesting all day is tiring, but it's worth it when you get to goof with your friends and get some free fruit to eat.

As Citrus walked over to the beach, they felt a sense of calm. It was the only place where they felt safe and at home when they left the fields. They walked over to a tree and plopped down their basket of fruit.

“Now, let's see here, what do we have?” Citrus said as they opened the basket and looked at all of the lovely fruit. “An apple will be fine.” They grabbed an apple and closed the basket, settling into the nook of the palm tree. Citrus thought that tree was special. Through thick and thin, the tree has always been able to stay grounded to the earth, no matter the attacks it takes. It was also the best shading spot on the beach.

Citrus gazed at all of the lizards playing as they bit into the apple. There were Sharklets on rocks trying to juggle some coconuts and some other leaflets dipping their toes into the sand. That beach was a calm place. But would Citrus have the courage to ever talk to anyone there? Oh, heavens no! Citrus preferred to be by themself. Being with a group of three or more people would make them scared.

As Citrus began to finish their apple, they saw a commotion in the middle of the beach. It looked like some sharklet was emerging from the ocean. There were lots of cameras and lizards around them. Was that some type of famous lizard?

“Please, please, that's enough!” The crowded lizard said as he shoved the cameras away and waved them back to the ocean. He sighed in relief and began to walk towards a rock. But as he was walking, Citrus caught his eye, and He immediately ran over to them to extend a hand.

“Hey there! Seems like you need a friend. I'm Blu! How are you?” Blu said without hesitation.

## Chapter Two

Citrus looked blankly at Blu’s hand and then at his face. They were never the o to randomly strike up a conversation with another lizard because they didn’t know how.

Citrus shook his hand as they quietly said. “Hey there, I'm Citrus.” They hoped he would go away. Why was he there? They were just trying to enjoy themself.

“Cool! What a nice name. It fits you!” Blu continued, taking a seat right next to them without asking. Citrus didn’t know what to do, so they followed their natural instinct: being quiet. They put their finished apple aside and just stared at the beach, not making eye contact with Blu.

Blu noticed Citrus staring and pulled their face into eye contact with them again. “So… the Neptullin, huh? Would you ever want to go there someday? It's pretty nice there!”

Citrus realized they had no choice but to keep talking to him. “Yeah, it is nice. But may I ask, why are you here? Judging by all of those cameras following you, you had good company before you waved them off."

“Oh I know, it just seemed like you would need a pal!" Blu said, gesturing to all the other lizards hanging out. "I mean, you’re just sitting alone! Who would want to sit alone when you can sit with some friends? Or a lot of friends?"

The thought of just sitting with a ton of lizards made Citrus's stomach churn. There were just too many lizards. Too much noise. Too much judgment.

Blu flipped his hand and gestured to the beach again. “And yeah, they were some pretty nice lizards, but sometimes I need a break. Fame is fun, but staring at those lights all day does something to you.”

“Oh, well that's nice,” Citrus said as they picked up a shell, flipping it around. "But for me, I'm pretty fine with being alone.”

“What if you could just try to spike up a conversation with a couple of people? Just once? For me?” Blu pleaded as he looked at them sadly.
Citrus thought about it. But did they have any choice?

“I guess I can try it.” They softly muttered.

“GREAT!” Blu popped up in the excitement and looked up at the sky. “It's getting pretty late now though, so I guess we can do this tomorrow!”

As he headed off to the ocean, Blu looked back at Citrus. “Goodbye, my orange friend!” He said as he saluted and winked at them.

“Gee.” Citrus thought. “Tomorrow is going to be a weird day.”

## Chapter Three

As the next day came, Citrus got up from their bed and slumped to the living room to get a piece of toast. Tangerine popped up behind them.

“Are ya going somewhere?” Tangerine pondered. “You never get up this early!”

“Yep. I'm going to go meet Blu's friends, I guess.” Citrus said as they put the bread into the toaster. “I don't know why I agreed to it, he just met me yesterday and he’s treating me like one of his best friends.”

Citrus opened the door to the great outside and walked past the fields. Today was the weekend, so they had no point in going, even though some lizards chose to stay.

“Hey, Citrus!” Pumpkin hollered, picking some blueberries. “You wanna join us today?”

“I think I'm fine. Thanks, though!”

Once again, Citrus plopped down by the tree, putting their blanket snugly on the sand. As expected, Blu came, walking up to the shore. It was early in the morning, but Blu wasn’t exhausted. He was the opposite! Citrus wondered how he could manage that. He was well-dressed in a blue tuxedo.

“You stuck true to your word! Why, I would have thought you would have stayed home!” Blu greeted Citrus as he sat next to them again.

Citrus laughed softly. “Yep. I'm here.”

“Quite a bedhead you are, are you?” He said as he noticed Citrus half-holding the blanket with a dazed gaze. He shook their head a bit. “Come on! Wake up more, it's time to go.”

Citrus yawned a bit. “Okay! But where are we going?”

“The ocean, of course!” Blu followed with an excited tone. There was silence followed by confusion for a moment.

“Oh, sorry, I forgot to mention the potion! I forgot some lizards can’t swim underwater.” He chuckled as he pulled a glittering blue potion from his front pocket.

“Don't worry, this potion isn’t permanent.” He said as he saw a hint of nervousness on Citrus’s face. “I’ve got a smaller portion for you so you could stay down there for what? One? Two hours? Oh, who knows. But here! Go ahead! Take a sip.” Citrus grabbed the potion from his hand and opened the cap gently. They took a small drink from the potion and emptied it.

Citrus put the potion aside and felt their face. “I don't feel anything. What is it supposed to do?”

Blu gave them a mirror, which was again in his front pocket. “It’ll give you gills, of course! Wait a second, okay?”

“Alright.” Citrus held up the small mirror and reflected it to both sides of their face. Nothing happened until some minutes later when small gills grew on the side of their head.

“Great! It’s done. Now come with me! I have a lot to show you.” He flung up his hand in a tucked arm position, waiting for Citrus to grab it.

“Well, I trust you,” Citrus said as they hooked their arms to Blu and began to walk to the beach.

## Chapter Four

“I present to you. Neptullin! Such a sight for sore eyes, isn’t it?” Citrus took in all the sights as they both elevated down to the flat ground. There were many pearl statues, glittering lights, and fashionable lizards.

“Wow. It is nice.” Citrus said with a breath of shock.

“This isn’t even all of it! Let’s go to my friend's place first, I think you’ll like it.”

While they swam, Citrus took a glimpse of the townspeople. They all looked so friendly and sociable. Lizards were singing, dancing, and laughing nonstop.

As they approached the stop, Blu opened the door to the building. It was a big, light blue boutique. Inside, there were a lot of workers sewing suits and bowties, but the thing that caught your eye was the big workspace above all of the sharklets. Blu escorted Citrus up the stairs and inside that workspace.

Cobalt had a pin in his mouth as he was slowly sewing something but then saw Blu out of the corner of his eye.

“Hey there, bud! How are ya?” Cobalt said as stood up from his seat to hug him.

“Better than ever, my friend. What are you working on?”

“Oh, nothing special. I was just fixing up something.” Cobalt saw Citrus hiding behind Blu and gave him a push. “Who’s this, huh? Hey there, leaflet!.”

“Hello there.” Citrus gave a timid hand wave and looked away.

“A shy one, yes? Well, I know just the trick to that!” Cobalt gestured to a big bean bag in the corner of the room that Citrus didn't see before. It was labeled “Comfort Corner”.

“You could come there whenever you want! My treat.”

“Thank you for the kind offer, Cobalt! Now, I was wondering if you would like to come to Bluewater Delights with me. Show this leaflet what it holds?”

Cobalt clapped his hands together. “Oh, certainly! Give me a second while I clean up all this.” He went to tidy up his area as Citrus looked at Blu.

“Bluewater Delights is a restaurant owned and made by me! Pretty cool, huh?”

“Wow. What things do you not own?" Citrus started, counting off their claws. "First, I know that you’re a popular sharklet, secondly, you’re friends with this professional suitmaker, and third, you own a restaurant. That must be so cool with that amazing life.”

“Absolutely!" I love it here.

Citrus sighed. “We don’t get that kind of luxury up there because of the raids. Lucky you, living underwater!”

“Oh, I'm sure it’ll get better. Trust me!”

“I hope it will. But, also, If you’re that rich with items, why do you choose to stay with me? Citrus gestured to the lot of sharklets out of the window. You could have fun with those other sharklets wanting to talk to you.”

“I do love the cameras, but it looks like *you* need some excitement in your day.” Blu looked down at Citrus. “Even though you might be a bit shy and quiet, you do have something special about you, yaknow? You just need to find it.” He squeezed their shoulder and smiled.

“Okay, I'm ready. Let's go! I have my signature jacket on, so this will not fail to impress.” Cobalt strode to the door, wearing a flashing blue jacket with rainbow stitches in it.

“All Right! Come on, Citrus. I’ll show you my favorite stop of this tour.” He ran over to Cobalt.

Citrus walked over to them with a warm smile.

## Chapter Five

As they swam closer to the restaurant, the music increased and the sign flashed brighter. There were people packed in every booth, inside and outside.

“Just a heads up. Maybe you’ll want to back away from me when I go inside.” Blu said as he began to open the door.

“But why?” Citrus asked. But after he opened the door, they knew what they were about to go into.

Hundreds of chattering voices and intensely loud music filled their eardrums. A couple of sharklets turned to Blu and said “Hey! It's him!” as a crowd began to form. There were so many sharklets that Citrus couldn’t see Blu anymore until he popped his head out of the bunch and grabbed their arm.

“Hello, guys! Hello! Yes, it's me. I’ve brought a couple of friends with me too!” Blu announced in a booming voice, pushing Citrus into the spotlight.
Citrus felt the crowd of people pushing against them for a slight second. It was very uncomfortable.

“A table for three, please,” Blu said to one of his workers as he escorted him to a booth. Cobalt, Citrus, and Blu sat down.

“Gee, you weren’t joking when you said you had a lot of fans,” Citrus said, scaredly eyeing the place.

“Yep! I'm always true to my word. I hope you’re liking it here!”

Citrus wished they liked it there, but they didn’t. The only thing they wanted to do right now was to bolt out the door and become invisible. Or, just to tell Blu they couldn't handle the same things as him. Was that too much to ask?

As the sharklets were talking to Cobalt and Blu, Citrus was moving a glass full of water back and forth as they took in everything that was in the restaurant. There were a ton of aquariums of fish, many bright lights, and a couple of volunteer sharklets singing.

“So, what’s new, Blu?” Citrus overheard an interviewer ask him.

“Nothing much!” Blu responded, and the interviewer’s questions turned into murmurs.

“Say, who’s this?” One interviewer questioned, putting the microphone to Citrus.

“Just a friend!” Blu said, letting the interviewers move over to Citrus.
A crowd of sharklets started to crowd Citrus. Flashing lights and loud noises blinded them, but they tried their best to respond.

“I'm Citrus. I'm from the tropics!” Citrus started, trying to get the interviewers to go somewhere else. Maybe bland responses would do the trick?

“Interesting, interesting!” One interviewer said, urging for more. “Can you tell us more about it?”

“It's… a tropical rainforest full of explorers and traders,” Citrus said as they grinned nervously. Even that blank response made the interviewers want more, though. It was like they had nothing better to do, and once again, they waited patiently for another response.

Citrus didn’t know what to say anymore. They were at a loss for words. The silence lasted for a few seconds until the interviewers burst into a chatter, giving suggestions on what else they should talk about. In Citrus' eyes, the crowd started to transform into a black shrivel of monsters, growing more and more as the seconds passed. Citrus was terrified and bolted to the door without hesitation.

“Citrus, wait!” Blu tried to catch up to them, but he was too slow. Citrus was swimming as fast as they could as their mind was numb with ideas. They had to go somewhere. Somewhere safe.

Colbat’s safe area! That was their only idea. Citrus swam over there and thankfully, the door was unlocked. They bounced into the bean bag, covered themself with a huge blanket, and pretended they were invisible. Maybe if they stood there motionless for a while, no one would know they were there.

Blu came into the building a few minutes later, gasping for air. “Citrus, please. Are you okay? If you were too uncomfortable, I'm sorry-”

“No. It's my fault.” Citrus said, still hiding underneath the blanket. “I shouldn’t be this sensitive. Because look at you!” They unhid their head from the blanket and gestured to Blu. “Outgoing, confident, always keeps a conversation alive. I can’t do any of that!” They put their head back into the blanket and mumbled.

Blu took a seat next to them. “I should be the one that’s sorry. I dragged you into this.” He looked at them and smiled. “I just wanted you to know that people care about you, okay? You don’t have to spend your days alone.”

“Thanks,” Citrus said in a meaningful tone.

“You're welcome. Let’s go, I need to show you something.”

## Chapter Six

Blu and Citrus swam back to the surface and approached the beach again. At first sight, Citrus noticed that the tree, that tree they always went to, was decorated and furnished with a lot of sparkly shells and trinkets.

“What’s this?” Citrus asked.

“Well, you know, a little something for you. Maybe it is better just to relax with a couple of people. I learned a lot from you.”

Blu walked over to the beach as Citrus hesitated for a moment, then walked on over to him.

Blu sat down in his original place. “I also got you some new fruit, too.” He gently pushed the basket to Citrus as the top opened. But these fruits weren’t the ones Citrus commonly picked. As Citrus further inspected it, some of them looked like special fruits gathered from The Royal Kingdom or The Floral Castle.

“These look exotic. Where did you get them from?” Citrus wondered, picking one up and then gently putting it aside.

“Oh, you know, places.” He said with a grin.

It was silent for a while until Blu finally stammered out, “I am honestly, deeply sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Citrus said. “You’ve said that quite a lot.”

They picked up a shell and flipped it around. “I think I learned something from you too. I’ve come to like these lizards a little more. Maybe I can talk with them a bit instead of just laying here.”

“That’s amazing to hear,” Blu said with a deep sigh. “I mean, the whole point of that was to make you more confident!” He exclaimed as he flailed his arms in the air and laid back into the blanket. He still had a goofy grin on his face.

“So, want to do this again tomorrow?” Citrus said, laying down with him.

“Yes! That would be great!” Blu exclaimed once again.

Citrus smiled. They knew there were a lot more adventures to come.

**THE END**

## Credits

* Written by Catlovergirl2 from 11/13/2022.

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