Under the Water

Band: Moran, Matenrou Opera and Versailles in the background

Pairing: Soan&Hitomi, Ivy&Vivi and Sizna&Sono in the background

Rating: 17+

Genre: AU, fantasy, romance

Warnings: violence

Note: Hitomi as The Little Mermaid, Soan as a prince, Sizna and Sono are fish, Kamijo is a psycho and only Ivy and Vivi are just normal humans.

Storm. Big waves were hitting a ship, which started to sink. The crew tried to stop the crisis, but they couldn't do it. Handsome young man in blue coat and white shirt, already wet with sea water, grabbed rudder just before a moment, when a ship almost hit the rocks. But he couldn't change direction completely. He didn't know that the ship had actually hit one of the rocks lightly, which created a hole in the port side through which water began to pour onto the deck. And by the time the crew discovered it, it was too late.

Everyone got into the lifeboat, except for the young man. He came back for the dog that had been left on board. The animal was terrified. The man found it and gave it to his companion, but then the ship hit the rocks again. The lifeboat's ropes broke and it fell into the water, throwing one of the men right into the ocean, but fortunately he was saved by his crewmates.

Unlike the youngster in a coat, who fell into the water, when floor broke under his feet. When he reached the surface, he saw only burning wood and not even a single man. Trying to escape the rubble, he didn't notice the rubber falling from about. It hit him in the head, making him uncounscious. He fell in the water again, sinking slowly. He hit the bottom of the sea and then some days later it gave back his cold body to the seaside.

And then I woke up abruptly. The same dream again, the same since years. I sat up, breathing hard and my head really hurt.

What were these night visions? I had this dream for the first time, when I still was a preschooler. The older I was, the more recently it appeared. Dad said that maybe these are memories of my previous life. But is it possible for me to be a human in my past life?

Oh, right. I'm not a human. You know fish, right? Right. Humans too. And when you match these two creatures, you have me, my family and every Atlantis' citizen.

Yes, I know that humans think that Atlantis is just a legend et cetera. But it's better like this. At least they mind their own business.

"Young master?" I heard my butler's voice.

He was a seahorse. A very mean seahorse...

"What happened, Sono?" I asked and he sighed.

"This dream again?"

"Yes."

"Eat something and you'll forget about it" Sono patted my shoulder with his fin.

I shook my head and swam to the dining room.

I won't forget about this dream. I can't forget about something, about which I've been dreaming since childhood.

"Hi, Hitomi" black-white fish smiled to me, when I sat by the table.

I looked at it. In fact, the fish was my dear friend Sizna. He was nice, not like Sono. He was only a little too loving older brother towards his younger sister, Dura.

"Hi, Sizna" I mumbled, putting some algae salad on my plate. "Where are my parents?"

"Your father swam to the shore to make sure, if rumors about the storm are true" replied Sizna, chewing some algae. "And mrs Manako swam somewhere with her friend."

"Storm..." I mumbled, looking at algae between my chopsticks. "I had this dream again, Sizna."

"Oh" Sizna almost spat his algae. "Dura-chan had a bad dream too today. She dreamt of Sono in a dress, chasing her around."

"Hey!" Sono overheard us as always and materialised beside us.

"It was just a dream of a little fish, easy" Sizna laughed. "What are you going to do today, Hitomi?"

"I don't know" I put chopsticks on the table and sighed. "I feel a little off today, in fact."

"Is it because of this nightmare?" asked Sono.

I nodded.

"What nightmare?" my younger brother, Tooru, sat down beside me.

There was a big age gap between us, so for now he was a little annoying kid. But he was my annoying brother, so I loved him.

"The one about a storm. I've told you about it once" I explained, fuffling his blue hair.

"Oh, I remember" Tooru laughed, put the salad and algae into his bowl, then he started to eat fast. "Mum told me that dad swam to check, if there is any chance for a storm and that if she hears that you left home, she's going to pluck the scales from your tail."

"I want to swim around a little, because I don't feel right" I announced to him.

"So you want to have your tail pluckedl?"

"I want my head to stop aching" I replied.

I haven't been used to pain. I felt pain rarely and some people were telling me that something is wrong with my pain receptors.

"Do, what you want, but I wouldn't make mum mad" Tooru smiled brightly, showing his white teeth and one hollow after he lost his last baby tooth recently, then he swam to his room.

...how he finished his breakfast so fast? This kid is always an enigma for me.

"Young master, you can't..." started Sono, but Sizna interrupted him.

"Be quiet, Sono. Hitomi wants to swim to the surface and Hitomi will swim to surface" Sizna smiled and patted the seahorse's head.

"Sizna!"

"What?"

"Ugh, nothing..." Sono rolled his eyes.

I'll probably never understand these two...

* * *

When I left home, I realised that ocean really wasn't calm this day. Sizna and Sono swam with me. Sizna was talking about Dura non stop, Sono tried to persuade me to come back home. But my head hurt more and more, and on top of that my heart started to beat so fast that I thought I'm going to have a heart attack.

I reached the surface. I saw a black, ominous-looking sky and a turbulent ocean surface. The storm was real. I was about to dive back in, when I saw something that made my heart hurt so much that I couldn't breathe for a moment.

Ship! The ship from my dream! For Poseidon's, Neptun's and every god of seas and oceans' sake!

"What's going on, Hitomi?" asked Sizna, pulling my shirt. "Hitomi?"

I didn't listen to him. I was staring at a youngster in a blue coat, who at this point  ran away from the lifeboat.

Dog! He's looking for a dog! I knew he was looking for a dog!

"Young master, wait, what are you doing?!" called me Sono, but I was already swimming as fast as I could towards the ship.

This ship is going to hit rocks! He's going to die!

"Hitomi, watch out!" I heard Sizna's scream and that's why I jumped off the boat in the last moment, before it crashed me. I grabbed some brown-haired, confused youngster's sweater and threw him to his friends.

Dad won't be mad. He told me a long time ago that we should live with humans in peace. But he'll be afraid that people from land are going to eat us like some exotic meal.

I swam further. I saw this youngster just after he was hit by the rudder.

"No!" I screamed and caught him.

He looked at me and lost his consciousness.

I surfaced and looked for the lifeboat. It was already quite far away. I swam to it and handed to humans their lost friend.

"Who are you?" asked some petite, big-eyed, blonde-haired boy.

I smiled to him and dove into the water.

I heard a scream, someone tried to follow me, but...

"You don't have to. He's a merman."

"Mermaids aren't real, Ivy."

"They are. We’ve just seen one."

"You swallowed too much salt water..."

My head stopped hurting. Heart too. I felt relieved, calm and happy.

"What have you done, master?" Sono was frightened. "Humans saw you!"

"My dream was a vision" I announced. "Vision, Sono. I  h a d  t o  save him. It was his and my fate."

"But this kid in sweater saw your tail" Sizna pointed out. "Don't you..."

"I heard them talking about it and they don't believe him" I shrugged and came back home.

* * *

"Hitomi!" I heard my mum's voice, when I had a nap after this rescue mission.

I opened my eyes, a little anxious. She was staring at me, frowning and splashing water with her tail.

"Hitomi, Sono told me that you saved a human" she announced.

I sighed.

"Have I done something wrong?" I asked and then my dad swam into my room.

"Manako, darling. Don't be so harsh on him" he said.

"I didn't even start scolding him" my mum pointed out.

"So don't start" replied dad. "Do you know,  w h o  he saved?"

"No matter, who he saved, it's a bad situation!" shouted mum.

"Relax, Mana" mumbled dad. "Our son saved a human prince."

Mum blinked and looked at me.

"A prince?"

"I don't know anything about that" I announced.

"Do you see? Prince saved another prince" dad summed it up.

I didn't say that I'm a prince and my home is a castle, right? No? That's because I don't like it too. Well.

"So if a king of humans learns about this accident, we can tell him that we exist?" asked my mum.

"I'm not too sure, but they'll be grateful at least" replied dad.

"What about the second boy?" I asked.

Parents looked at me, surprised.

"Did you save someone else?" mum was surprised.

"Yes" I nodded.

"Did he see you?" dad looked at me firmly.

I nodded.

"It can be a problem" said mum. "What do you think, darling?"

"We'll see" dad scratched his head. "Hitomi, don't swim too close to the surface, until I learn more about the second boy and what is he going to do about that knowledge."

I agreed. I felt that I didn't have any other option.

* * *

"Master Hitomi, I don't like, what you're doing" said Sono, nervously flapping his fins. You have to come back to the castle, young master! Your parents..."

"Rules are meant to be broken" Sizna interrupted him.

Good boy Sizna, you'll get a worm.

"Don't worry, Sono" I said, laying down on some big, flat rock, sticking out a little above the surface. "I'll be okay."

"Master" Sono grabbed my shirt. "Master, humans. Humans!"

"Shut up or they hear you" Sizna covered his mouth and I slipped off the rock to prevent humans from seeing me.

Wait... Isn't that this prince I saved? And his friends...?

"I really saw a merman, Vivi" said Ivy. "You saw him too."

"It couldn't be a merman, Ivy" mumbled Vivi. "Mermaids aren't real."

"I saw him too" admitted the prince. "But everyone keeps telling me I had hallucinations because of hitting my head."

"And they're right" said Vivi. "You just hit your head. Ivy got scared too and imagined everything."

"I wasn't scared!" shouted Ivy. "I mean, I was, but I'm telling the truth."

"I believe you" the prince laid down on the sand. "I can even wait here for this merman."

"Well, he was handsome, in fact" Ivy thought for a moment.

Vivi nudged him in his ribs.

"What?" Ivy looked at him.

"What about me?"

"You're pretty" Ivy ruffled his hair. "So-san? What are you looking at?"

"I thought that..." the prince leaned and almost saw me, but I was back in the water already. "I saw something. Or someone."

"A mermaid?" asked Vivi meanly.

"I'm going to make a merman out of you too" said the prince. "I'll catch you and splash! You'll be under the water."

"Don't do that, please" Vivi cried a little.

"So don't be mean" asked him the prince.

"Sorry..." said Vivi. "So, are we going back to the castle?"

"Of course!" exclaimed Ivy. "There's pasta for dinner today, we can't be late!"

And happily, pulling Vivi's hand, he ran to the castle, not even noticing that the prince stayed.

The young man pulled up his throusers, took off his shoes and entered the water.

Is he walking towards me?

No, I don't think...

"Master" Sono pulled my hair. "He's walking towards us. Towards us. Us!"

"Be quiet, Sono" growled Sizna.

We were swimming back, but the prince didn't give up even, when his trousers were already wet. And even, when he stopped feeling ground under his feet.

I couldn't swim away. I would make too much noise. Besides that, fear was paralizing me. And not just fear...

The prince dived and looked at me, already under the water. He glared at my tail, then he gave me his hand.

"RUN AWAY, YOUNG MASTER!" yelled Sono. "RUN AWAY, IF YOU WANT TO LIVE!"

"Shut up, Sono" Sizna smacked his head.

I gave the prince my hand and he pulled me to himself, then he swam towards the seaside. In this moment I thought that I'm stupid. What if he's going to sell me to the circus?

The prince sat on the seaside and I sat in front of him, still in water. I didn't want to let my tail dry out.

"So I was right" said the prince. "You're a merman."

"That's right" I confirmed.

"My name is Soan" he introduced himself. "What about you?"

"Hitomi" I replied. "Do you want to send me to the circus right now?"

"No way!" Soan laughed. "You saved me. What kind of person I would be, if I sent my savior to the slavery?"

"Humans are like this..." I mumbled and realised that Sono is pulling my shirt. "Sono, stop."

Seahorse glared at me and let go of my shirt reluctantly.

"Is this your pet?" asked Soan.

"DON'T CALL ME >>PET<<, YOU BIG MONKEY!" yelled Sono, trying to bite the prince, but Sizna stopped him.

"He's my butler, Sono" I replied.

"He seems to be angry. Did I say something wrong?" he asked.

"You called me a pet" growled Sono.

He was quiet for a moment.

"So... Did I?" Soan looked at me, at Sono, at Sizna and at me again.

"He explained this to you" I replied, a little confused.

"Oh..." Soan laughed hysterically. "Erm... Hitomi, you know, there is one thing..."

"What?"

"I didn't hear anything" he explained.

Oh, right. He's a human. They're deaf.

"I'm sorry" I smiled apologetically. "You called him a pet."

"Oh. Is it bad?" Soan looked at still annoyed Sono. "I'm sorry, Sono. Forgive me."

Sono snorted and didn't say anything.

"Did he forgive me?"

"Of course" I poked the seahorse's fin. "Sono is a friendly fish, right?"

Sono glared at me and snorted once again. Sizna just shook his head.

"Can I ask about somethig?" Soan looked at me firmly.

"It depends, what do you want to ask about" I replied.

"Why did you save me?" asked Soan. "I'm glad that you did that, but... Why were you there? Why did you save someone, who's a different species? You talked with my friends and my crew. Weren’t you scared that they're going to discover, who you are?"

"I didn't think about me, when this happened" I admitted. "I thought about dreams I had since my childhood."

"Dreams?"

"More like nightmares. About your death" I explained. "Besides, you also risked your life for someone, who's a different species. You came back to save a dog."

"How do you know that..." Soan froze for a moment. "Wait a minute. Have you really dreamed of it?"

"Yes. Since forever" I confirmed. "You probably don't believe me."

"I believe you."

"Why?"

"You know, I'm talking with half-fish" Soan pointed to my tail. "I wouldn't believe a human. But you're a magical seaborn creature, so why not?"

"Well, in some way it's nice" I said. "But I think I have to swim back."

"Already?" Soan looked disappointed.

"If someone sees me, they can be not so tolerating like you" I explained. "I prefer not to risk."

"You're right" Soan nodded. "Will we meet again?"

"Someday, for sure" I smiled friendly. "See you later, prince."

"See you later" Soan got up and I dived.

"You're going to get yourself in trouble someday, young master" growled Sono, waving his fins agressively. "You can't trust humans that much."

"Why?"

"Because they're humans!" shouted Sono.

"Don't judge him just because he's one of them" said Sizna. "Seahorses aren't always mean just because you are."

"Hey!"

I laughed and swam home. I had to sleep. I had too many adventures recently.

* * *

Laughter. The man in golden-red outfit stood with his weapon pointed at me and was laughing like a psycho.

"If I can't have you, no one can" he said with an emotionless voice and pulled the trigger.

"Hitomi!" I heard Soan's voice, who ran to me and pushed me away.

I smelled metalic scent of blood, but not pain.

He shielded me.

I sat up on the bed, breathing heavily. Soan, why would you risk like that? And why for me? I didn't save you to be a cause of your death!

I fell on the bed again. Protect him, Poseidon. Protect him from everyone, who looks like a man from my nightmare...

I sighed. It seems that I can't fight with fate.

* * *

Soan has been sitting on the sand and looked like he was waiting for me. I was a little surprised. I was the one, who’s supposed to be waiting for him.

"Did something happen?" I asked, swimming to him.

"I hoped that I'm going to meet you one more time" he replied honestly, smiling fondly. "You’re not mad at me, are you?"

"Absolutelly not, I was just surprised that you're here" I explained. "I thought that I have to wait for you."

"For me? Did something happen?" asked Soan.

"I had another nightmare" I announced. "I dreamt that some strange man wanted to shoot me, but..."

"But?"

"You shielded me. You did it and..." I couldn't tell him that he died.

"I sacrificed myself for you? Typical me" said Soan. "Are you worried about me?"

"I saved you. I don't like the idea that you're in danger again" I explained.

"It's nice" Soan smiled. "You're worried about someone you don't know. You're really nice."

Soan leaned on the sand and looked into my eyes.

"I just wonder about one thing. Can you turn your tail into legs?" he asked.

"What about you? Can you turn your legs into a tail?"

"I can't."

"You have your answer" I shrugged. "I can't visit your world. I'm sorry."

"But my world can visit you" said Soan.

"How?"

"I can show you" Soan opened his bag and pulled out a book.

It was weird. Pages were white, not green and signs weren't forged, but put on them with black ink. But there were also pictures on pages.

"What is this book?" I asked. "Is it magical? Can I learn white magic with it?"

"Nah, it's just the atlas of the world. I thought that you're going to like it" explained Soan. "I noticed last time that you didn't want to leave water, so I guessed you probably can't. So I brought a piece of my world to you."

"You're a great observer" I praised him. "Do you have more of such books?"

"Yes, I have a los of atlases" Soan nodded. "Should I bring them too?"

"It would be nice" I smiled fondly.

I was interested in these books. If they were showing real places, it was probably some kind of human magic.

* * *

Surface land seemed to be fascinating. Books had pictures, humans made dishes in completely different way and animals were even more awesome than ours.

"Good boy" I patted Maa-kun's head and gave him a bisquit. "Is it really liver flavour?"

"Dried liver" replied Maa-kun, chewing a bisquit. "I can't even compare it to fresh liver."

"But you like these bisquits?"

"Of course! I love them!" replied Maa-kun entusiastically, waving his tail.

"I'm curious, what he replied" said Soan, sitting on the blanket.

"That it doesn't taste like fresh liver, but he likes it anyway" I explained, making Soan laugh.

"I'm glad you got along" he said and started peeling some red fruit with a small knife.

"What's that?" I asked.

"An apple" replied Soan, giving me a slice. "Taste it."

"Thanks" I nodded and bit it. "Sweet."

"Fruits are sweet because of fructose" explained Soan. "I have clementines and strawberries too, if you want. Well, clementines are a little sour."

"Why?"

"Probably because of vitamin C" Soan peeled a clementine and gave me a slice.

"You didn't use a knife to do it" I noticed.

"It has such a thick skin that I don't have to" Soan gave me both fruits. "You see? Apples have thin skin. Do you want strawberry, by the way?"

"Is it tasty?"

"It's the best fruit in the world" he said, giving me one.

"Don't you have to peel it first?" I was surprised.

"Nah, you can eat it, everything in strawberries is edible" Soan smiled brightly.

He was right. It was delicious.

"Oh gods, a mermaid!" we suddenly heard.

We turned around abruptly and I felt cold sweat on my skin. It was this man from my dream. He's going to kill Soan!

"Run" Soan snapped me out of my thoughts.

I nodded and jumped into the sea, before the man running towards us managed to catch me.

* * *

I've been avoiding Soan for a month. I wouldn't forgive myself, if something happened to him just because I met with him, but...

I missed him. I missed our conversations, atlases, fruits and Maa-kun. But especially I missed Soan himself. I think that I had a crush on him. And I didn't mind it at all.

"Hitomi?" dad sat down beside me, when I was reading a book on the sofa. "Sono told me that you befriended a human."

I froze. Why my butler can't keep any secrets?

"He told me, because you stopped talking to him suddenly. Did this prince hurt you? Should I declare a war with humans?" asked dad.

I shook my head.

"Someone saw us" I explained. "This person was a man from my dream and..."

"Dream? About this ship?"

"The other one. More... Drastic" I replied.

"Drastic?"

"So... I mean, the prince died in it. Because of me" I whispered the last words.

"Oh" dad went silent for a moment. "He got your attention, didn't he?"

"The prince? A little" I confirmed.

"Humans are fascinating for me too" dad looked forward, just like he just remembered something. "That's the reason why I married one of them."

I blinked.

What?

"What are you talking about, dad?" I asked, confused. "Mum is a mermaid."

"She's a mermaid now, but it doesn't mean she wasn't born as human" explained dad. "Her ship was wrecked, everyone died. She was the sole survivor. She was young, younger than you. And badly injured. But under our magical care she got better."

"And magic turned her into a mermaid?"

"There was no other option. Humans can't breathe underwater" continued dad. "But she never missed the surface world. She never liked her species."

"Why? Humans aren't so..."

"They're not" dad interrupted me. "Not everyone is a good person, Hitomi. And they don't understand that someone is different than them. Mermen can have pink tails and no one would make a problem out of it, but humans will bully others for even trivial things. And we're not even the same species as we are."

"So humans are bad?"

"They're different than us" replied dad. "They have other priorities. Other way of thinking. I just want you to be careful. If your nightmare is going to happen, what then?"

"I am careful. That's why I stopped swimming there" I replied.

"Be careful around this stranger, Hitomi. But don't ignore the prince" dad smiled fondly. "If you like him, if you trust him, don't end this friendship. Just be careful about others. They can hurt you."

"Or even kill me" I mumbled to myself.

* * *

"It was Kamijo" explained Soan, when I met with him again. "My annoying cousin. He's obsessed with mermaids. He won't give up so easily."

"I understand" I nodded.

I looked at Soan. Something bothered him. I could see it.

"Something happened?"

"I thought that I'm not going to see you again" he admitted. "That you got scared and you won't visit me ever again."

"I'm sorry for worrying you" I said. "You're angry, aren't you?"

"No. I understand you. I would panic myself" he laughed a little hysterically. "It would be typical for me."

"Are you panicking often?"

"A lot!" he cried. "Well, in fact, I started to worry that something happened to you."

"Why?" I didn't understand his way of thinking.

"We're friends, aren't we?" Soan smiled fondly. "I don't want to lose contact with you just because I have a crazy cousin."

"Right" I smiled back to him, but I was really worried about him.

I knew that Kamijo has going to put us in trouble.

* * *

Our friendship with Soan was flourishing like flowers in spring. Or something like that. Did I use this metaphor well? Anyway, I felt like I've known the prince since forever. And I wanted to be his friend, to be close to him and, to be honest, him himself too.

I was falling in love with him more and more. I loved his soft smile, bright and deep eyes, which were piercing my soul, and his even deeper voice. I wanted to listen to him for hours, even if he was reading some boring book about how to use some things.

And there was also his cousin. He was coming to the beach, just to check, if I'm here. If he found me there, he was chasing me and tried to kidnap me. Once he managed to catch me, but I pushed him away and Soan punched his face. I tried even to talk to him patiently, but I was left just with proofs that humans really have other priorities than mermaids. And I didn't like it at all.

* * *

I was on my way home after meeting with Soan, when I heard a loud splash. I looked up and looked around. I saw Maa-kun, who was falling down towards the bottom of the ocean. He had to fall from the ship and lost his consciousness, when he hit the water surface!

I swam to him and embraced him with my arms and then clouds of dust rose up around me. I felt something wrap around me, and after a moment, holding Maa-kun tightly to my chest, I realized that I was in a net.

I was thrown aboard a fishing vessel along with the dog, which regained consciousness and began wheezing and growling.

"This dumb asshole threw me into the sea!" Maa-kun splashed water from his fur. "Master is going to wipe the floor with his face."

"Dumb asshole?" I repeated, having hope that he's not talking about...

"Excellent" I heard a voice and then it was no one other than Kamijo, who walked to me.

He grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him.

"I knew that this trap will work."

"Don't touch him!" Maa-kun tried to bite Kamijo's calf, but the crew pulled him away. "Let me go, I have to tear apart his arteries!"

"Stupid dog" murmured Kamijo.

"Have you really risked his life to kidnap me?!" I yelled at him, furious.

"It's just a flea-bag" Kamijo shrugged.

"I don't have fleas!" denied Maa-kun.

"Let's go back!" ordered Kamijo. "To the castle! We have, what we need!"

"Aye, captain!"

Just perfect...

* * *

Kamijo brought me into the cell and chained me to the wall.

"Wait here, I'll be right back" he said, stroking my cheek.

I gritted my teeth. It was this cell. The cell from my dream, which I've been dreaming about for months. Or I should say, having nightmares about.

I sighed. My tail started to dry up. What will happen, if it dries completely?

Kamijo came back after half an hour and covered me with a blanket.

"I don't want you to get cold" he said. "And now listen to me, little fish, because I have some offer for you."

"What offer?" I pretended to be interested.

"You're going to be my lover" announced Kamijo. "Or I'm going to send you to the circus. There's also an option of killing you, if you're going to be too rebellious."

"I'm going to be your own curtisane only after my death" I growled. "I have my honour."

"I can take it from you easily" Kamijo smirked.

"And how do you want to do it, if I don't have legs?" I didn't understand, how he was going to screw me.

"You still have mouth" replied Kamijo and turned towards the door. "Think about it, if you want to be still alive."

And then he left.

...

What did he mean?

* * *

I didn't realise that I fell asleep before I woke up. Scales on my tail were almost dry. They even started to change colour.

I heard noises upstairs and some loud footsteps. Someone was running downstairs, someone else was chasing them, something broke. What's going on there?

Footsteps, these from stairs, were coming closer to my cell. Kamijo?

Gate opened abruptly and just as I thought, this horny aristocrat stood in the doorway.

"My stupid cousin is here" Kamijo grabbed my shirt and picked me up. "He's here with his sidekicks. What is your relationship with him, exactly?"

"We're just friends" I replied.

Because we were. Even if I had a crush on him.

"Do you want to be more than friends with him?"

"..."

"Answer me!"

"..."

"So I'm right" Kamijo threw me against the wall, which made me a little dizzy and nauseous, after I hit my head. "That's why you don't want to sleep with me. You chose him."

Kamijo pulled out his gun. He had golden-red clothes.

I knew, what he's going to do.

"Kamijo, no!" I yelled. "Wait!"

"Wait?" Kamijo started to laugh like a madman and pointed his gun at me. "For what?"

Right. If he shoots me, Soan will be safe.

"You're right. If you want to kill me, just do it now" I said, closing my eyes.

"Of course I want to" announced Kamijo. "If I can't have you, no one can."

His voice was emotionless. He pulled the trigger.

Door slammed against the wall.

"Hitomi!" I heard Soan's voice, who ran to me and pushed me away.

I smelled metalic scent of blood, but not pain.

He shielded me.

Damn it!

"Soan!" I leaned over him and pressed wound on his chest. "Look at me, Soan. You can't die, okay?"

"Hitomi..." he said, grabbing my hand. "Am I seething things or... Your tail..."

Soan coughed with blood.

"Legs..." he said louder.

I looked at my tail and... didn't see it.

I was a human covered with a blanket.

"It dried up" I realised. "It dried up!"

I tied a blanket around my waist and got up, picking Soan up.

At first I had trouble with keeping my balance, but then I started walking forward. I passed confused Kamijo, who probably didn't have any more amunition, because he didn't shoot again. And he didn't even try to stop me.

* * *

I ran upstairs clumsily, almost tripping all the time and almost falling from them. I hit my knees hard many times, but I had to save Soan.

"It's you!" I heard Ivy's voice. "Vivi, that's this merman!"

"He has legs" Vivi pointed out.

"And he can't use them properly. Come on, we have to help him" Ivy ran to me and took Soan from my arms.

He threw Soan's arm over my shoulders and my arm over his.

"Grab Soan from the other side, Vivi" said Ivy.

Vivi just nodded.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"To the sea" I replied.

We started to run. Leaning against Ivy's shoulder, it was easier.

* * *

On the beach I saw my dad, who also had legs and was running too. When he saw me, he stopped abruptly.

"For Poseidon's sake, Hitomi!" he shouted, then he ran to me.

He took injured prince from me and checked his pulse.

"He's still alive. Damn it, I tried to dry this stupid tail for two hours! We should go now."

Then he looked at Ivy and Vivi.

"Oh, right. I totally forgot about you two" he said. "Tell the king and queen that I'm taking their son under the water for some time. Humans can't save him."

"And you can?" asked Ivy.

"Of course, it's not a problem at all with our magic" my dad smiled brightly, putting Soan on the seaside. "Hey, prince? Blink, if you can hear me."

Soan blinked.

"Good. You can feel a little weird, but it'll take just a moment" my dad warned him and waved his hand over Soan's legs.

Crack! Soan's trousers broke immediately.

The prince had a tail. In a shade of blue so bright that it was almost white.

Ours returned in the moment we touched the water. I didn't even notice it.

"I told you, Vivi! Mermaids!" Ivy clapped his hands, excited.

"I have mindbreak, I think..." said Vivi.

"See you later" I saluted to them and jumped into the water with my dad and Soan.

* * *

Soan was sitting in the bed, reading one of our books. I swam to him, carrying dinner for him.

"Strange" he said, looking at a tuna salad.

"What's strange?" I asked. "Don't you like tuna? Should I give you something else?"

"No" he shook his head. "I just thought that, you know. Mermaids don't eat fish, because they have fish tails."

"Stereotypes" I laughed. "Do you like our cuisine, by the way?"

"Of course" he nodded. "Even if I feel like I'm eating sashimi all the time. But I don't mind."

I sat down next to him on the bed.

"Soan?"

"What?"

"How did you know, where I am?"

"Maa-kun led me there" explained Soan. "He came back to the castle with wet fur and has been freaking out, until I decided to follow him. My dad wanted to take him to vet already."

"Your mum wanted to do it too?"

"No, she wanted to call an exorcist."

We both laughed.

And then we were silent for a moment.

"Why did you protect me?" I asked after a moment.

"Really?" Soan put the bowl on the night stand. "I understand that women are oblivious. But another man? Please, come on."

"Wait, are you..."

"I fell in love with you, Little Mermaid" Soan laughed shortly. "I can be your prince Eric, Ariel."

"Ariel is my father's name."

"You're kidding, aren't you?"

"I'm not."

"Oh, Neptun" Soan kissed me briefly. "You're not going to stop surprising me, Hitomi. And one more thing..."

"What?"

"I don't want to go back to the surface" he announced. "Unless with you by my side."

"You have to stay here for now" I reminded him, taking his hand. "And then we’ll see."

Soan smiled fondly, which made me realise one thing - whatever we decide, we're going to be fine. We just have to be together.

The end