After their marriage, Scarlett and Cecil fought often. Despite her soft nature, Scarlett had developed a harsh bitterness in reaction to her traumatic banishment from the realm. There was also the racial difference that gave them very different world views and practices. And the fact that Scarlett and Cecil could not truly live together, as Scarlett could not leave the ocean. However, they stayed together for little Ashley, and really did try to make their mismatched marriage work. Their next child was a very sweet, sleepy little boy named Logan. Despite their efforts and the blessing of a new baby, Cecil eventually became so fed up with Scarlett's apparent ingratitude and hostility with him, that he began to beat her. Scarlett knew no way of resolving the situation, and it broke her heart as she saw the negative impact this had on her babies. Finally, she could not take it anymore and had to take them away from him. Cecil begged her to stay and promised to change, but it was too late. Scarlett swam away with the children, finding a new home on a beach hundreds of miles away.
By this time Ashley was 4 years old. She had hated the fighting, but loved her father and the home that they had left behind. She did not understand why things had changed, or why her father was gone and she had been uprooted. It seemed that her mother was to blame for it all. However, her mother was also the only person she had except for her brother who barely said or did anything. Her mother befriended some kind human girls from a human town not far from the beach, as they were strolling along and chatting one day. These girls became like aunts and took the children to school, and watched them sometimes for Scarlett. Ashley did not grow close to them, but she found that she adored her human school that she had been allowed to attend. She threw herself into the school, making friends, getting close to her teachers, and just trying to learn as much as possible. She finally felt like there was freedom and possibilities in life and something to live for. Ashley became a happy child. She also enjoyed making up stories with dolls when she was at home alone so that she didn't have to feel lonely.
Sometimes Ashley tried to get close to her mother and give her more chances to feel close and connected. These attempts were not met with success. Her mother worked tirelessly to try to allow the children to stay in the human school and provide for them. This left her without much to give Ashley, except critical judgement. Ashley grew up with the message that besides teachers and friends in school, no one wanted her, she would never be good enough, and there was just something fundamentally wrong with her that she could not fix no matter what she did. This feeling grew over time and made her very sensitive to rejection.
As long as everything was going fine in the human life she had created, Ashley was very happy. However, when she was 13, she finally fell for a human boy.
