Chapter 1: The Encounter

The light danced and the world around her bathed in colors she had not seen ever before. Even her own coral colored hair seemed to have a lighter tone in this light – real light. She couldn't resist a giggle. She was finally seeing the real sunlight! Look at how it made her scales glow!

“Sayuri-hime, you can go go to the surface if you want,” her guardian hinted with a smile tugging in his lips. The enthusiasm of the 15-year-old girl was contagious. He wished he could have the same attitude every time he visited the Sea's Surface. Unlucky for him, the place had lost its attractiveness a long time ago.

“I don't want just yet,” she laughed and spun around, letting the light gleam on her body. “Look Eri-san, the color is the same as in mother's bracelet!” She pointed at her tail. It never was this shiny and light-colored at home!

“It's called silver,” the addressed merman explained. “The humans above think it's valuable.”

The mermaid-princess stopped in mid-motion and floated still, letting the sea currents move her around softly.

“Valuable? Would they think my tail is valuable?” she asked nonchalantly and tried to catch the sunlight in her hands. Her lips were pressed together in concentration while she chased it.

“Well, yes,” Eri answered after a while. He had been too entranced watching Sayuri's little game, he had forgotten she asked him a question. She cocked an eyebrow at him.

“Really?” she wondered. “But yours is so much prettier. I would change my tail for yours anytime! It is the color of the ocean sky at night, when all the light is fading and darkness settles in.” Eri smiled uncomfortably. As a merman he didn't like his tail to be considered pretty. But he had heard from other mermaids too that his turquoise-black tail was indeed something to be proud of.

“It is not the color that interests the humans, its the fact that you are a mermaid. And a princess on top of that!” He adjusted the trident in his hands and glanced upwards. He always got nervous when he started talking about humans. It was a stupid superstition, but he felt like talking about them would eventually invite them there and they would just pop out from nowhere.

“Why would they be interested in mermaids?” she pointed out and made a sudden dash towards Eri's fin where the light reflected in blue. Sayuri seemed to be disappointed when the said light didn't stay inside her small hands and she sighed in defeat.

“We are a rarity in their world. Everyone would love to have a mermaid or a merman as pet to parade around as if we were some corals to put on show!” This time Sayuri rushed for his black hair and swept her fingers through it. It was distracting. “The humans hunt us and kill us. That's why we are hiding.” Sayuri tilted her head and swam past him towards the surface, but just when she was about to breach it, she turned back at him.

“They can't be that bad,” she smiled. “I've heard mother tell stories about them. They seem... fascinating! Did you know they have light inside a glass frame? How do they get it in there?” She tried again to grasp the sunlight, this time on her tail, but failed. “Is it magic they use to capture it?”

Eri didn't share his princess' feelings. The only thing he felt towards men was resentment.

“No, Sayuri-hime. It's fire they use for light.” Sayuri stopped her light-capturing game and tilted her head to the side.

“Fire?” She tasted the word in her tongue. She couldn't recall hearing it before. “What is fire?”

“Follow me,” Eri said and made his way towards the surface. She spun around herself one more time marveling at all the shining lights before following Eri. Nothing could have made her prepared for what she was about to see, what she was about to feel.

First thing she noticed was how serene the world was. In the sea everything was moving constantly, nothing was ever still. But here the air was so calm. Until she felt the wind. The cool wind caressed her cheeks like the waters in the bottom of the sea. It left her cheeks rosy red and she took a happy breath – of air. Everything was so different! The reality was so much better than all the stories she had heard!

“The sun is full of fire,” Eri muttered and pointed at the sun. “If we linger here for too long it will burn us. At first it will feel pleasant, but in the end it will kill us.” Sayuri lifter her arm to protect her eyes. It was so bright, so full of light! How could anything be so full of light? But she could feel the warmness it produced.

“It doesn't feel uncomfortable,” she said carefully. “I think I like the feeling of it on my skin.” She turned her gaze towards Eri and gasped in amazement. “Your hair looks blue when the sun rays touch it! It's like... it's like magic! What color is my hair now?” She was babbling and she knew it, but all was so fascinating! It was so different in comparison to her world. Sayuri circled around herself again, trying to catch a glimpse of her hair when touched by sun.

“It's still coral, Sayuri-hime, but it has a touch of light gold in it... It reminds me of the treat your mother gave to you on your birthday. Honey, was it called?” he pondered. “I think it was honey.” Sayuri nodded and tried to take in everything around her at once.

The sea seemed to go on forever. Everywhere were she looked she saw the sea. And the sky! She gaped at it with her mouth open. White foams broke the endless blue.

“Look, the sky sea has foam too!” Sayuri noticed with a happy grin. “Do you you think the sky is really a sea too?” She wondered whether she could jump high enough the reach the sky sea. Could she swim to the sun? Eri furrowed his eyebrows and scratched the light stubble starting on his chin.

“I... I actually don't know what to think,” he shrugged, “perhaps you should ask Shu-sama about it.” Sayuri grimaced. Her father wouldn't want to talk about the upper world. He didn't even want his daughter to see the upper world! She wondered in amazement why could that be. There was so much in here the sea world did not have.

The small movement in the horizon got her attention and she squinted her eyes, trying to see what it was. Eri swam next to her and followed her gaze. His face immediately fell into look of disgust.

“Humans... with their ship,” he spat. “We need to leave.” He was about to dive, but noticed Sayuri was locked in her place. He didn't like to look on her face. She was curious, naive and a bit spoiled, which only meant she would want to go and see the ship. She turned her begging eyes towards him.

“Could we go just a little bit closer. Just a little bit,” she pleaded with her cutest face. She even showed Eri with her fingers how little her little bit actually meant. Eri was torn. He would love to see the princess happy and seeing the ship would do that, but on the other hand, humans were dangerous and he was in charge of the princess' safety. He didn't have time to decide though, since Sayuri had already made her decision.

“I'm going nearer!” she stated and dove underwater leaving Eri staring at where her figure once was. It took a moment for Eri to collect himself. He should've taken more guards with him! The princess had always been unpredictable and headstrong. But she had promised to behave... As she always did. He sighed and kicked himself to full-speed. He wasn't going to let Sayuri get herself hurt.

He caught her before she had reached the ship. Grabbing by her shoulders he was able to stop Sayuri from advancing further. He was bigger and had more muscle.

“We are not going to see that ship, Sayuri-hime!” Eri told her sternly. “You promised to me you would behave. Otherwise we won't be having another trip like this.” The crestfallen look he got from the princess almost broke his heart. She tried to peek behind his broad shoulders to see at least the ship's bottom. His grip didn't falter.

“Please, Eri-kun, I want to see the ship! Just a glimpse is enough. I just want to see humans. We'll be careful and they won't even notice, right?” Sayuri offered him the best disarming smile she had. She could see Eri was having an internal argument with himself.

“Alright,” he started and Sayuri did a spin of joy, “but you'll do what I'll tell you to do. Humans are dangerous.” He wasn't sure she was listening to him anymore.

“So you keep telling me,” she laughed and darted forward again. She was going to see a ship! And humans! A feeling of nervousness had settled in her stomach. Her sisters had told her all kinds of stories about the outside world, as her friends too! But now she was going to actually see real humans...

They were going to be so envious! She couldn't keep the excitement to herself and let out a happy giggle. She could see the dark outlines of the ship already and decided it would be best for her to stop. Eri was following her close behind. Sayuri could feel his disapproving gaze tearing holes in her back. But right now she didn't care.

She peeked from the sea to have a look. The ship looked massive! And she had never seen anything like it. How could it stay above water when it was so huge! And how many people could fit in it? She swam next to it as it continued its way forward.

Sayuri glanced around trying to see if she could spot a human. She could hear voices coming from the ship, so she was sure there was at least one or two of them! Her gaze followed the side of the ship, trying to spot... well... anything!

She didn't expect to spot eyes staring right at her. She had been seen! She let out a small yelp of surprise and dove underwater as quickly as she could. Sayuri's heart beat like never before. Were they going to attack her? Should she escape? Should she tell Eri they had seen her? She glanced at her protector and noticed he was swimming on his back, staring at nothingness, but his trident was ready for use.

The uncertainty of things teared her heart, but in the end her curiosity won. Nothing had happened, so perhaps these humans were nice. She peeked out from the sea again and spotted the same eyes. Or rather, an eye. She couldn't see its color because of the distance, but she had to admit, she liked his hair color. It was silvery, much like her tail.

They stared at each other until she found the courage to lift her hand a bit a do a small wave. That was how humans greeted each other, right? Her sister had told Sayuri that so she couldn't be completely sure.

She almost did a backflip when the boy she had made eye contact with first glanced around himself, probably to make sure no one saw what he did, and waved back at her. Sayuri couldn't resist a grin forming on to her face. She had greeted a human! All the girls back at home would die to hear about this!

What next? The humans gave usually gifts to each other. She wondered if she had anything to give. Then the idea hit her and if possible, her grin grew even wider. She had collected seashells earlier and found one that held a pearl. Her father had told Sayuri it would make a perfect gift for someone special. Well, her new human friend surely was special! She untied the knots holding the pouch containing the pearl on her hip and lifted it up.

The boy saw the pouch, she was sure of it. Now all she had to make sure was he would realize to catch it when she threw it. She glanced around. There were no others visible. She pointed at the pouch in her hand and then threw it with all her strength. Sayuri crossed her fingers that the boy would catch it.

She couldn't resist herself anymore when the boy caught it with lightning quick reflexes. She did a small backflip. This had to be the best day of her life! Sayuri followed the boy's movements with her gaze. Would he like the present? He eyed the pouch for a while before turning it upside down. The small pinkish pearl rolled out to his hand. Sayuri's father had said the color was rare. She hoped the boy would like it.

The boy bowed deep and pointed at his hand. Sayuri mouthed a little o. She was going to receive a present too? She hoped she would be quick enough to catch it. She saw his hand raise and throw something at her. It glistened in the sun and she realized she had to jump to reach it. Sayuri threw all her caution away and did so. She caught it and hit the water with mighty splash. She didn't care – she had just gotten a new friend!

She eyed the thing very carefully. It looked a bit like pearl with a string, but it was the color of her tail. Silver. The wind moved it a bit and she could hear a tiny tingling sound. She took a deep intake of breath and shook the silver pearl carefully. It really did tingle. She raised her head so the boy would see she was really happy for her gift. It would be her treasure for now on!

Sayuri only caught a glimpse of the silvery-haired boy before she heard the yell:
“Mermaid!” The breath she was about to take caught on her throat and she froze. Sayuri was abruptly pushed underwater, but not before she felt a graze hitting her shoulder. She glanced at it and to her horror she could see blood. She was bleeding.

“Don't worry about them! The pirates are attacking!” Eri's weight pushed her down before she could hear more. She was too shocked to resist the heavier merman when he took her deeper and deeper into the sea. They both were scattered forward when the shock wave hit them underwater.

“What is going on Eri-kun?” Sayuri yelled. She had never witnessed anything like this. The sea had come to life and she was at loss. What had happened? What was happening?

“Other ship came and attacked the one you were infatuated with. What were you thinking staying up for so long a time?” Eri's voice was strained and Sayuri realized he was angry. Angry as an enraged shark. She held her head down in shame and showed him the silver pearl she had gotten.

“What is that?” Eri asked with a voice that was too calm to be true. Sayuri didn't know what to answer to him. How could a day that had been so perfect take such a horrible turn?

“I...I,” she tried to answer, but instead found herself cradled in Eri's arms when a loud boom could be heard even underwater and a shock wave more powerful than the first one ripped through the sea. Splinters and parts of wood carried with it and Sayuri heard Eri wince when he was hit. She tried to resist the tears of panic. What would happen to them? What would happen to the boy she gave her pearl?

“We need to leave, now!” Eri commanded her, but she shook her head and pushed him away. She needed to know the boy would be alright! She started to make her way back towards the ships, but Eri got an iron grip on her hand.

“We – need – to – leave – now,” he said and his gaze was so frightening Sayuri's will started to falter. But then her gaze hit to something she couldn't believe. Her pouch. Sinking. She took a lightning quick dash towards it and her sudden movement got her out of Eri's grip. He hadn't thought she would resist him anymore.

“Sayuri-hime! Don't go there!” he yelled after her. She didn't listen, but kicked the water harder. If the pouch was here, the boy was probably near by too. Sayuri checked the are frantically with her eyes. She couldn't see him anywhere and Eri was nearing her. She couldn't leave this place without knowing the boy would be alright!

A sudden glimpse of silver got her attention and she darted towards it. She could see him now. The boy was sinking, his hair a floating cloud of silver. She could feel the tears stinging in her eyes, but the water washed them away without her even noticing it.

“Please be alive, please be alive,” she pleaded and took a tight grip of his vest. He wasn't that heave and that she was grateful for. She was able to near the surface with quick speed. Sayuri knew humans couldn't breathe underwater. They needed air.

The glow of the sun had changed its color. The whole sea was a shade of orange, but Sayuri didn't have the time to stay and wonder it now. She didn't notice the water getting warmer and warmer. With a final kick they both reached the surface. She didn't hear Eri's warning in time.

“Fire!”

Sayuri glanced frantically around. It was hot, too hot and only thing she could see was thick black air. She couldn't breathe it. She was quite sure the boy couldn't either. She couldn't dive again, not with him. He would drown. Sayuri started to feel desperate and swam forward blind. She couldn't see a thing, she couldn't breathe and it was starting to be too hot. She tried to wave the thick air away from her face, but her hand hit something. It stung her and she pulled her hand back not noticing the red blisters that were starting to form. What was she going to do?

She felt a hand grip her hip and a moment later she was underwater, Eri glaring at her. Without saying a word, he took the boy from her and dashed forward with both of them. Sayuri had never witnessed anyone swim so fast. She tried to help him by kicking with her tail too.

“Don't,” Eri said between his clenched teeth. This time she did as she was told to and when they breached out from the water, she was silent and still. The boy was unmoving in Eri's arms. He didn't breathe. Sayuri had never in her life felt so powerless.

“Help him, please,” she begged her guardian.

“Keep him floating,” he commanded and took a grip of the boy's jaw. Sayuri tried to keep the boy's body near the surface while following what Eri was doing. She hoped with all her heart he could help the boy. What he did amazed her. He clenched the boy's nose shut and blew air to his lungs through his mouth. Sayuri almost crossed her fingers. If Eri didn't know what to do... if this didn't help...

It took two more breaths before the boy started coughing and gasping for air. But he didn't wake up. But he was alive and that was what mattered. Sayuri neatly tied her pouch to his vest, so it wouldn't get lost another time. She could at least do that.

Eri's gaze followed her the whole time. She knew he was angry. Probably beyond angry. And she would face the consequences later.

“Don't ever do that again,” he started his lecture.

“I won't,” she promised, trying hard not to cry. Eri gave her an one-armed hug and she answered it. She had been so scared. If Eri hadn't been there, she would probably be dead. And the boy too.

“I mean it,” he whispered with a raspy voice. “My heart almost stopped when you started to swim straight towards that fire.” Sayuri nodded, not wanting to relive today's experience ever again.

“Keep company to the boy. I'll try to find some sort of raft for him. He's not going to live if he has to stay in water. We need to tow him in a shore somewhere.” Eri looked around him and started to swim towards the blown ship.

Sayuri looked at his retreating back and then turned his attention to the silver-haired boy. He was breathing. He was alive!

“What have I gotten myself into?” she muttered and glanced at the silver pearl in her hand.

Sayuri was bored. Beyond bored actually. There was absolutely nothing to do, nothing to seek, nothing to be enthusiastic about. Days and nights were endless foam of greyness. Life felt completely dull.

Completely and utterly dull.

Ever since that fateful day fifteen years ago Sayuri's life had taken a drastic change. She had known her father would be angry for not following his rules and her mother would be absolutely horrified over her injuries, but she had thought they would forgive her in time and life would continue to be the same.

Oh, how wrong she had been.

First, after listening to the merking's booming voice yelling at him for hours, Eri had decided he wasn't worth of being Sayuri's personal guard anymore. He had let her get hurt and by that failed her, his family and the royal guard. Without saying a word he had laid his trident down, stripped the blue pearls from his hair and swam out from the throne room. Sayuri hadn't seen him since.

His mother had visited her later on and relayed Eri's message to Sayuri. I will return when I feel worthy of your presence again, it had read.

”But... but he is already worthy. I'm not above him! It was all my fault, I didn't listen to him and without him I'd surely be dead!” Sayuri had tried to explain, but it had already been too late. Eri had left their secluded home and no one knew where he was.

”He is an honest and fiercely loyal man, but blames himself too much,” his mother had said with a distant look in her eyes. “He has too much of his father in him. He'll come back when he feels ready.”

Secondly, she was almost stripped from the silver pearl. Her father had taken one swift look at it when Eri had told him what happened and pulled it from his daughters hands. The look on her father's face was one of utter disgust.

”Human trash,” he had muttered. “You risked your life because of human trash.”

”It's a gift,” Sayuri had whispered and flinched when his father turned his stern gaze at her. She loved her silver pearl, even though it didn't make the beautiful sound underwater as it had on the surface. But still, it was a gift, a memory of the silver-haired boy and she wanted to treasure it. It had been her first real adventure. With humans nonetheless!

”A gift,” he repeated and Sayuri nodded.

”I... I got it from the boy we rescued,” she explained. She and Eri had towed him to the nearest fishing village and watched as the fishers found the boy's unconscious form on the small makeshift raft. She had wanted to stay and watch the village too (it had been so full of life and people and fish!), but that time Eri had won all her arguments.

“The boy,” the king had muttered. “The human boy...” Sayuri didn't like the look in his eyes when he glanced at the silver pearl. “I don't want this trash to poison my kingdom. It needs to be destroyed.”

Without a second thought Sayuri had snatched the silver pearl back and hugged it closely to her chest. The look on her father's face would have been priceless if the situation hadn't been so dire.

“I... I won't let you! It's mine, it's my gift and I won't give it to you!”

Now that Sayuri looked back at the incident she realized she had been a fool. If she had cooperated with her father he might have let her continue her trips. The third thing that had happened during his father disciplinary lecture had been stripping her from all of her freedom. She was not to venture outside of the Halls of the Moon and the royal guardsmen would stop her if she even tried. If her father hadn't been so mad at her, she might still roam the seas and satisfy her curiosity. Now she could only look as the merfolk went in and out the Moon Gate. And in the end she stopped looking, because it reminded her too much of the fact that she couldn't do it.

She had tried to figure out things she could do to keep her occupied. She tried knitting, she tried singing, she tried figure-swimming, she tried everything! None of that interested her as much as the world outside did. The company of her sisters turned into annoyance. They had no ambitions and they didn't even care what the outside might offer them! They just offered her a dumbfound look when she asked why they didn't have any lust for adventures.

“Why should we have? All we need is here. And the outside of full of those disgusting humans. They are dangerous,” her eldest sister had nodded vigorously, “yeah, I know they are a danger to us all. They want to enslave us. Father has told me all about their vicious plans!” It took all of Sayuri's willpower not to start yelling to her sister. Sometimes they were just plainly idiotic.

She feared she was eventually going to lose her mind. She knew exactly how every day was going to turn out to be, because the days were all the same! Things never changed! She had tried to ask her mother to convince her father to let her make even small trips outside, but her father was relentless. No one of the royal family was allowed outside anymore It was too dangerous, Sayuri's little accident had proved that to her father. There might be humans. There might be sharks. There might be poisonous jellyfishes. There might be tons of excuses Sayuri wasn't buying.

“Too dangerous, too risky, too everything, but all here is so unbelievably boring!” Sayuri muttered to herself. “Even the royal guards are boring...” She had tried japing the guards like she often had done with Eri, but that had only gotten her father mad. Sayuri sighed. Everything she ever did just made her father mad.

She had spent the better half of the day just floating in the royal garden thinking. Although the scenery had stayed the same for the most part of Sayuri's life, it was her favorite place, mostly because of the mosaics painted and sculpted on the walls surrounding. They depicted the glorious days of her people, when they still roamed the sea freely and without fear. Sayuri touched briefly the face of the First sinking his trident deep in the skull of the leviathan. The features of the First were no longer visible due to seawater washing the color away, but Sayuri had heard he had been handsome and fearless. Unlike some other merking she knew...

What had bothered her most of her life was the lack of female presence in the mosaic. Surely there had been fearless queens too? She had asked her mother and sisters once and received giggles and snorts. Her mother at least had the courtesy of not to laugh although the smile tugging on her lips was as annoying.

“Mermaids are not warriors, my dear. We are the backbone of our home, weaving seaweed beds for our loved ones who battle in our stead. We sing mournful songs for those who are not returned. We are the ones who remember and tell our sons. Our part is important too, but we do not leave our home to kill leviathans or krakens,” she had explained calmly.

“But I've heard stories that us mermaids are the ones who kill humans with our kiss, dragging them with us to drown!” Sayuri had argued. “Surely there's some truth in those stories!” Her mother had just stared at her, her hands stopped in mid-motion to comb her sister's hair. It had taken a while for mother to regain her composure.

“You should not listen to the old merhags in the square,” she had muttered. “They know nothing.”

“But mother...”

“This conversation is over!” Sayuri's mother had snapped and Sayuri's mouth had shut itself.

Sayuri sighed and lifted her hand away from the cool rock. If she looked at the picture close enough it looked like almost moving, but she knew she was only lying to herself. The days of the adventurers were over and she would live the rest of her long life fading in these gray halls. The sudden movement below her made Sayuri turn around. She only caught a glimpse but that was enough. Only one person had a tail of radiant pink and that was her little sister Kei. Sayuri almost yelled to make her stop, but caught herself in time. It would be much more entertaining to follow Kei unnoticed and find out where she was going! She could pretend to be the First, following the trail of the Leviathan to its nest.

Sayuri propelled through the water and shot after her little sister. Kei was swimming fast, but her big sister was faster and it wasn't hard for Sayuri to keep up with her pace. A couple of times she had to hide behind a rock or in the sea weed so that Kei wouldn't realize Sayuri was following her. Each time Kei glanced back Sayuri became more intrigued. Where was Kei going?

Sayuri knew the Halls of the Moon like the back of her hand. She had spent the last ten years exploring the caves and caverns and had found nothing of interest. Usually the caves where either blocked or collapsed and you couldn't see where they led. Some of the caves were turned into housing, like the big one where her father held court. Her sister was swimming towards a secluded area, which held most of the blocked caves. Sayuri had gone there once, but there was nothing but solid rock there to her utter disappointment.

She couldn't figure out what Kei could possibly do there. That made following her even more interesting. Her little sister had a secret! Maybe she had hidden things in here? Things father wouldn't want to see! Or perhaps - Sayuri gasped - she was meeting with someone! Could her little sister possibly be courting someone behind their father's back? Even Kei couldn't be that bold! And at her fifteen years of age she was too young to court anyone. Even Sayuri hadn't been courted yet and she was already reaching the age of thirty! Her mother had said that when the time was right they would start searching a possible suitor for her. She herself had married at the subtle age of one-hundred and thirty after courting with Sayuri's father for fifteen years. The merpeople did everything slowly including aging.

Sayuri saw Kei snatching a small blue light-fish with her until she made a sharp turn to a descend into a cave. Sayuri scratched her head. Why would Kei need a light fish? The big ones illuminated the Halls and the light usually was sufficient in the caves too. Perhaps Kei had found a tunnel? Sayuri couldn't hold herself anymore, she had to know what Kei was hiding!

The cave opening was small and for a while Sayuri was sure she would got stuck if she tried to get in. But if Kei had fit through, so would she! Or at least she tried to tell herself that. She managed to slither through, but received a few painful scratches around her hip. She brushed them off as if nothing had happened. Her curiosity was piqued now. She hadn't felt this enthusiastic about anything in years!

She glanced around the small opening, but found nothing of interest. It was a fairly normal looking tunnel, nothing special about it. Kei had ventured forward and Sayuri could still see the faint glimmer of the small fish. She didn't have her own source of light with her so Sayuri swam after Kei. She didn't want to get stuck in darkness.

To her amazement she didn't see Kei anywhere. The tunnel just lead to a dead end. The fish was there though, floating in the middle of the way. Sayuri glanced around her. Where in the name of the seas had Kei gone? Sayuri had seen her coming here. She couldn't just vanish!

Sayuri backtracked to see if she had missed any potential hiding places but saw none. She returned back to the fish and stared at it, as if it could speak and tell her where her sister had gone. The fish just stared back.

“Oh, this is useless,” Sayuri exclaimed and once again glanced around her. “You can't tell me where Kei went...” But the fish did the unbelievable and swam right next to a rock. Sayuri stared at it and then at the fish.

“Did my sister go there? Behind the rock?” she asked just to be sure. The fish looked like it was nodding. Sayuri feared she might be going nuts, but nevertheless followed the fish. The rock was big enough to hide a possible entrance. She tried moving it and was surprised to notice that it moved easily. Further investigation proved that the rock actually was hollow on the inside.

“What in the name of the sea,” Sayuri muttered. “Why is there a hollow rock here?” She glanced at the tunnel that had revealed itself. Kei had went there, but where did it lead? Sayuri peered into the darkness. Was it safe? In the back of her head the voice of reason was trying to tell her that her father would be really angry. But Sayuri didn't listen.

She swam after her little sister. The fish followed her and lit the tunnel eerie blue. Sayuri was grateful for the light for she had never liked darkness. She even kept some fishes around her sleeping chamber so it was never completely dark there. Her mother had called her silly, but had let her keep the fishes anyway.

Sayuri didn't know how far she had swum but noticed the difference in the water almost instantly. It was growing warmer. She could see some light ahead. Different kind of light. Natural light.

Her eyes grew wide when she realized where she was going. To the surface! Her swimming came to a halt. Kei had gone to the surface without any guardians, and Sayuri was about to do the same! Kraken's bottoms! For a moment all she could do was open and close her mouth in utter disbelief. The surface.

A cry of joy escaped from Sayuri's mouth and she raced to the top and towards the light. She was going to see the sun again! At that moment she didn't care about anything else. She had spent fifteen years dreaming about the life on the surface, dreaming about to be able to let the sun kiss her skin once again and dreaming to meet humans! She emerged from the sea and did a backflip. A giggle erupted from her throat and she couldn't help but to laugh. Everything was so beautiful.

The moment would have been perfect if one very unhappy mermaid hadn't said anything.
“Sayuri! Why are you here?!” Sayuri could hear from Kei's voice that she was angry. And she looked the part too. Her arms were akimbo and her mouth was pressed into a thin line. Her pale pink colored hair had formed a cloud around her head and her tail was swaying from side to side with snapping motions.

“I followed you!” Sayuri explained happily. The surface. “And I would've done it earlier if I knew where you were visiting!” She expected her sister to accept her company now that Sayuri knew what Kei's secret was, but Kei was having none of that.

“Leave! You are ruining everything!” she yelled and Sayuri's smile froze on her face. “Someone will miss you and then they will know of the secret passage! Did you even cover it after you?” Sayuri formed a little “O” with her mouth. The thought hadn't even crossed her mind. Kei understood immediately what the look on Sayuri's face meant.

“You are an idiot, Sayuri! You hear me? An idiot!”

“Well, how was I supposed to know the passage led to the surface?” she yelled back. “And it's not like you were that hard to follow! Anyone could have followed you, did you think of that?! But only I did and believe me,” Sayuri glanced around her marveling at the beauty, “I will tell no one.”

“Oh, like you told no one that one of the guards had kissed our precious big sister? Like you told no one that the oyster collector had found a extremely rare pearl? Like you told no one that...”

“Be quiet, this time I'm serious!” Sayuri promised and tried to force the blush from her cheeks. Those had all been careless slips, she could keep her mouth shut if she really tried.

“Yeah, right,” Kei sighed and roller her eyes. “I doubt you can be serious.” Sayuri stuck her tongue out. She could be if she wanted to! She just rarely wanted it. And she had so many thought running in her head that sometimes she just forgot she wasn't supposed to say something. She was about to answer to Kei when her eyes shifted to something she almost didn't believe.

“Is... Is that land?” she asked with eyes wide open. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Now it was Kei's time to squirm under Sayuri's gaze.

“Well, maybe...” Kei muttered and fidgeted with her hands.

“What do you mean maybe? That's land, right!” Sayuri's was sure of it now. It looked much the same as the land she and Eri had taken the boy from the ship.

“Well, yes...” was Kei's quiet answer. She still hadn't stopped squirming.

“I want to go there!” A gleam lighted in Sayuri's eyes. She would regret it forever if she didn't! Who knew, her father might catch them afterwards and she would never have a second change. She even started to swim towards the shore. Kei didn't share her enthusiasm.

“You can't go there, you idiot!” she stated and swam ahead of her.

“And why not?” Sayuri tried to swim past her, but Kei put her body in front of her. Sayuri could have easily pushed her aside, but she was her little sister. She needed to be gentle with her.

“Because... because you are so strange. The humans will immediately think something is off with you!” Kei was making up excuses and it showed in her voice. Sayuri furrowed and looked past her. There were humans there? She might see humans again! Now she was even more determined to see at least something!

“Silly, I won't go to the land-land, just to the shore. It's not like I can walk with my tail like humans do...” she laughed and took her little sisters hand. “Come, we'll go together!” Kei didn't move, but a blush redder than she had ever seen was on her face. Sayuri raised her eyebrows. Why was Kei so embarrassed? Had she more secrets in store for Sayuri?

“Yeah, about that...” Kei started. Had the humans seen Kei and that was why they shouldn't go near the shore? How many times had Kei already visited here? Was it dangerous to go?

“What about it?” Sayuri asked. She needed to know everything before going. She didn't want the events from ten years ago to repeat themselves. She could always hide the fact she had gone to visit the surface-world but she couldn't hide injuries. Especially if something were to happen to her little sister.

“We actually get legs if we are not touching the sea water,” Kei blurted out. All thoughts escaped Sayuri's head at that moment.

“We what?!”

Kakashi was once again on his roof. He didn't know why the place felt so special to him, after all it was just a roof, yet he found himself there quite often. It had started when his father, the famous Konoha's White Fang, had performed seppuku. The walls of the empty house had felt suffocating and one day he realized he was spending more time on the roof than on the house itself. After that it became a tradition to him. Every time he had a nightmare, every time he felt lonely or sad, every time he felt there was something bothering him – he climbed to the roof and stayed there. It was a comforting place. It offered him solitude no other place could.

He was never alone when visiting the memorial stone. When Kakashi stood there he could hear Obito, Rin, his sensei and all the others he had lost during his life. Obito's laugh was in the rustling of the leaves, Rin's beautiful singing in the flowing of the nearby stream and Minato could be heard in the blowing wind. Kakashi hoped they were happy, wherever they were. He often told them about his daily life, his students (how Naruto had finally fixed the dripping tap he'd had for the better part of the year, how Sasuke was finally opening up again and how Sakura was now rivaling even Tsunade in her medic skills) and how Kakashi himself was happy now.

The war was over. Akatsuki and Madara had been beaten. There had been casualties, every war had them, but in the end they had won. Naruto had even achieved the unthinkable in beating some sense to Sasuke. The raven-haired man had returned with them to Konoha and although he still spent most of his time alone Kakashi could see a ghost of a smile on Sasuke's lips every now and then.

So why did Kakashi feel like he was lying when he said he was happy? Konoha was in peace, his former students were alive and well, Gai was still pestering him about their rivalry and Iruka was getting married to a girl he had met before the war. Kakashi had every reason to be happy, yet he felt an aching in his heart he could not explain by words. It felt like something was missing.

”And if I hear Gai saying I need a girl to love, cherish and keep me youthful forever one more time, I'll make him confess his love to Lee's mother with my Sharingan,” he muttered to the night.

”Why would you need a girl?” a curious voice asked behind him and made Kakashi flinch. He had been so concentrated on himself, he hadn't realized Sasuke had crept up behind him. Kakashi had to give him credit though, he hadn't been surprised by anyone in a very long time. He offered an eye-smile to the young man, who for some reason was dripping water on his roof in the middle of the night.

“You went for a midnight-swim?” he asked and turned his gaze back to the stars on the sky. When his father had died, Kakashi had tried to count them all to keep his thoughts occupied. More than once he had fallen asleep and woken up with the morning mist hanging around him. If Sasuke hadn't turned up, he might've done it again.

“It's too hot for me to sleep, so I jumped in the river for a quick cool down. After that I just wandered around. Your hair was really visible in the moon light, so I thought I'd give you company. I've seen you on other nights too,” Sasuke explained and laid down next to him. Kakashi raised his eyebrows. How many times had Sasuke went past him unnoticed? He was getting old and rusty. Sasuke guessed his trail of thoughts too.

“Don't worry, I'll tell no one that you've become old and deaf to the world,” he offered and the corners of his mouth did a slightly twitch towards his eyes. Kakashi snorted.

“I'm not too old to beat you,” he replied which made the handsome young man tap his shoulder sympathetically. The uncharacteristic behavior made Kakashi raise his eyebrows even higher. Sasuke never was this friendly. After coming back it was clear to Kakashi and everyone else that the young man liked to keep even his closest friends an arm's length away. He touched people rarely and talked about himself even less. That didn't stop Sakura from trying, though. Kakashi had seen her more than once making her way to the Uchiha carrying a dinner consisting of rice balls, tuna and tomato with her. Even though Sasuke had stayed two years in Konoha now, Kakashi still didn't know everything that had transpired with him and Orochimaru during his stay away. He hoped that Sasuke would find someone to confine in before he'd be lost in his dark world again.

Now that Kakashi looked at Sasuke closer, he seemed nervous and a spontaneous smile would appear on his face every now and then. That made Kakashi worry.

“Are you drunk?” he asked with a hint of apprehension in his voice. The former ANBU member knew many shinobi who had fallen a victim to alcohol. It was an easy way out of the nightmares albeit a coward's way.

“What?! No!” was the quick answer from the last surviving Uchiha, who looked at him like Kakashi had grown a pair of tentacles from his head. “Whatever gave you that idea?!”

“Are you on sedatives? Drugs?” Kakashi tried to see if there were any needle marks on Sasuke's skin. “Painkillers? You know I'm going to drag you to Sakura to get you tested if you don't tell me.” A blush was creeping on the young man's cheeks and he seemed speechless. “Well, what is it?”

“I'm not taking anything!” Sasuke hissed while tugging at his sleeve. Kakashi still wasn't convinced. Sasuke usually was very well composed and right now the man in front of him was everything but composed. He had a wild look in his eyes as if he was thinking of escaping the situation. Kakashi couldn't help but to notice Sasuke had his other hand in his pocket.

“Give it to me,” he said sitting up. Student or not, Sasuke was still dear to him and he would do anything in his power to prevent his downfall. So would Sakura and Naruto, even though Naruto was busy now that his life was revolving around Hinata and her growing belly. Kakashi would never forget the smile Naruto had when he had told the former sensei he was going to be father. It had rivaled even Minato's when he had told Kakashi about Kushina's pregnancy. Kakashi remembered having a silly smile of his own back then.

He wasn't smiling now, though. Sasuke was staring at him with a bewildered look in his eyes that begged him to let him just be. Kakashi was having none of that. He would force the truth out of the Uchica if had to.

“Please,” Sasuke whispered. Kakashi shook his head and held out his hand.

“Give it to me,” he repeated with a tone that screamed authority. He had made many mistakes during his lifetime, but he wouldn't let this be one of them. Sasuke offered him one last look of pure pleading before handing the object in his pocket to Kakashi's reached hand. After that Sasuke refused to look him in the eye and seemed to be very interested in the hem of his blue shirt. The blush he had earlier on was now evident on his face, but he didn't look like he was going to escape so Kakashi turned his attention to the object in his hand.

For a moment he could do nothing but blink. He had to take a double look. No, the object was still the same. It hadn't mysteriously disappeared or changed into something else. No, he was still holding a small velvet box in his hands. It didn't take a genius to realize what was in there.

“I'm going to marry her,” Sasuke said when the silence threatened to swallow them. “I... I realized it last week when I saw Naruto listening to Hinata's belly and holding her hand. They both looked so full of love and Sakura was looking at them with this dreamy expression in her eyes. Then I knew I want her to be happy. And I...I want to be happy with her. I want to marry her. I want to be with her until we are both old and grumpy and our grandchildren are annoying the hell out of us. If I'll lose my eyesight completely, I want her to be the last thing I'll see. I love her.”

Kakashi was glad he was sitting because otherwise his legs might've given out. Out of everything he had been expecting this was the last thing! Sasuke had finally realized what sort of treasure the world was offering him and he was accepting it. Finally! A smile started to form on his face.

“Ah, Kakashi? Do you think she'll, you know, accept it?” Sasuke's voice sounded small to his ears, but now Kakashi knew the real reason why the young man had acted so strangely. He was terrified.

“Sasuke, she's brought you dinner for the past two years and has made sure you are alright with every chance she's got. She tried to get you back more than on one occasions! She loves you, even Gai can see that!”

“Why am I so afraid then?” Sasuke sounded like he was on the verge of a panic attack. “What if she doesn't want a man whose going blind? What if she doesn't like the ring?” The idea of Sakura disliking the ring made Sasuke's face go even paler than it had been before. “Oh gosh, what if she hates the ring?” Kakashi resisted an urge to roll his eye. He had went through this same ordeal when Naruto had panicked about proposing to Hinata. Back then he had thought he wouldn't face this same scenario again. Why wouldn't they like the rings anyway?

“Sasuke, I'm sure she'll like the ring just fine,” Kakashi tried to comfort but to no avail. Sasuke was being frantic now. He grabbed Kakashi's elbows and stared him right at his visible eye.

“You need to check it,” he decided. For a moment Kakashi was sure it was Naruto staring back at him, so similar was Sasuke to Naruto at that moment. Although, if he remembered correctly, Naruto had actually been shaking him rather violently.

Kakashi sighed in defeat. He knew that arguing with a nervous suitor wouldn't end well, because they couldn't be reasoned with logic. Naruto had been the worst, since he had the most peculiar ideas of why Hinata would hate him: he had taken her to a ramen stand in stead of a fancy restaurant, he had given her yellow roses instead of red ones, he had forgotten his wallet home and Hinata had to pay... The list had continued forever. In the end, when Hinata had actually said yes (who would have guessed?) a grin rivaling Gai's eternal smile had been plastered all over the blonde's face. Sasuke had said he wanted to punch that punk for wearing that idiotic smile everywhere he went, because it made him look mentally impaired.

Right now Kakashi would have given anything to get that Sasuke back.

“Why do I need to check it? I'm not a woman, I don't know what they like!” Kakashi complained although he was already opening the box. In truth he had a fairly good sense of women's tastes. He had dated quite many in his life and even though none of them had ignited a spark that yelled “marry that girl!” inside him, the times spent with them had been enjoyable.

Inside the box there was a simple silver ring, with three beautiful pearls on it. In the moon's light they shone as dark pink, but Kakashi could guess what they'd look like on better light.

“They reminded me of her hair,” Sasuke explained with a smile that spoke volumes about his feelings. “They were exactly the same color. I first thought of getting an emerald ring, but then that one caught my eye. I doubt she'd like emeralds anyway. Sakura doesn't want to be too flashy.”

“If you were so sure that she'd like it, why did I need to check it?” Kakashi asked with a smile tugging at his lips. His hand had unconsciously checked that the pinkish pearl in his chest pocket was still in its place. The shinobi had found it in a pouch laying beside him in a temple after he had survived a pirate attack fifteen years ago. It was the first thing he had seen when waking up and had been always with him ever since. He still couldn't remember what exactly had happened and why of all things did he have a pearl, but burying it in a chest full of other memories seemed wrong. The pearl bothered him - he even saw it in his dreams. Dreams he couldn't make any sense of.

“Kakashi, don't zone out when I'm talking to you.” Sasuke seemed to be annoyed with him. Kakashi offered him a sheepish grin behind his mask before handing the ring back to Sasuke's waiting hand.

“I'm sure she'll love it,” Kakashi concluded. He was quite sure Sakura would love any ring if it came from the raven-haired Uchiha. If Sasuke's love had been Ino, the story might've been different. That girl loved jewelery a bit too much.

“Ah, well, that's good. Right?” The uncertainty still hadn't left Sasuke's features. It made him look younger than he actually was. For a moment Kakashi was sure it was the thirteen-year-old Sasuke standing in front of him. The moon cast strange shadows to his features and he looked almost ethereal to Kakashi. Then again, the whole situation was a bit absurd.

“Usually when the bride likes the ring it is a good thing, yes, Sasuke.”

“I feel stupid. I've never done this before. I mean, I've never,” Sasuke stopped his sentence in midway and seemed to blush even more. Kakashi hadn't thought it was possible.

“You've never?” Kakashi urged him to continue. His curiosity had been piqued.

“I've never.” Sasuke seemed reluctant to continue and was squirming under Kakashi's gaze.

“Never what?” he asked. Where was this going? He didn't understand why it was so hard for Sasuke to say whatever he wanted to say.

“Never done. Anything. Like. You know. With.” Now it was clear that Sasuke was once again looking anywhere but at Kakashi.

“With what?” he started to have a dreadful feeling in his stomach. Sasuke couldn't be a...

“Oh goddamn you, Kakashi, I've never been with a woman before!” Kakashi hoped with all his heart that a shinigami would randomly appear and take him away. He was not having this conversation! He wasn't! It was bad enough he had once had to explain to very oblivious Gai about bees and honey. Why was he punished this way?

“Why aren't you saying anything? And don't you dare to laugh!” Sasuke was frantic. Kakashi could understand why. He was happy that he was wearing a mask and it hid the embarrassing blush on his cheeks. He had been prepared that he might need to give the sex speech to his children someday, when he actually had children, but to Sasuke?

“Well,” he started, “you know that you have different parts than Sakura and when you combine those parts, you get babies.” Kakashi hoped with all of his heart that Sasuke wouldn't ask more. The only thing he received was a stern stare from the said Uchiha.

“I know the biological differences, but... I mean... What if she doesn't like it?” Kakashi was sure that if he'd hear one more “what if” combined with “she doesn't like it” he'd explode and start doing raikiri to everyone around him.

A sudden thought came to him. It was a good thought.

“Read this,” Kakashi solved the problem and handed Sasuke the Icha, Icha Paradise. “Enjoy!” With that he escaped the roof and left the bewildered looking Sasuke staring at the orange book.

/
/

He was having that dream again. Kakashi recognized it straight away, because the beginning was always the same. He was enveloped in darkness, flat on his back, falling. It was a peculiar feeling, to know you were falling down although you couldn't see anything. It had been frightening at first, but seeing this same dream more often than any other had made Kakashi get used to it.

The next stage would always catch him off guard though. He could see his pearl sailing through his vision but if he tried to catch it, it would dissolve into black smoke. Then he would start to suffocate. He would try to get air, gasping for it, clawing at his throat, ripping his mask off, but nothing would help. He was choking on something he couldn't see or feel. And always he heard the same petrifying plea:

“Help him! Help him!” The voice would be distorted, but it was so full of heart breaking terror it made Kakashi feel like he was really dying. He could see Obito in the distance, reaching for him, his only eye full of tears and mouthing “go back you idiot”. He could see Rin, dancing with flowers in her hair, but there was a weight on her feet, a sorrow in her eyes that made the picture more melancholic than joyous. The people were always different, yet they all had the same thing in common – they were all dead. He usually woke up at that point, drenching in sweat and gasping for sweet, sweet air. But if he could force himself to continue, to see where the dream would lead, then...

Then he would see her. She was smoke and wisps, mist and fog, yet at the same time she was something else entirely. When she appeared the pressure on his lungs would disappear and he could breathe normally. When she appeared the dreadful feeling of him dying would leave his head altogether and he knew he'd be alright. Everything would be alright.

When he tried to touch her she would dissolve and disappear. When he tried to look at her, concentrating hard to see who she was, she would vanish. And in the end he had come to a conclusion that maybe it was the miko, who had saved him and tended to his injuries in the temple. She had explained that his head trauma had been bad enough to cause him a mild case of amnesia and perhaps the dreams was his way to recover those lost memories. Kakashi had visited her often later on and the miko had gladly accepted his company, but his dream vision stayed the same.

He had stopped dreaming when the war started. Kakashi was sure it had something to do with the fact that usually he was too tired to see any dreams at all. His mind was constantly working on something, be it battle strategy or worry for his friends and his village, and it simply didn't have any energy to chew on his lost memories.

But the battles had ended two years ago and now the dream, after a long pause, seemed to be back. In a way it was like meeting an old friend, yet it bugged him to no end. He didn't understand why he was seeing it and why it was recurring so often. Why did it feel so damn important?

And it is exactly the same as before... He was staring intently at the woman, trying to see her features, to see even a glimpse of who she might be, but the harder he tried, to more vague she got. And through his dream-hazed mind he actually had a coherent thought. Maybe he was doing it wrong?

Kakashi stopped pursuing her, because it always led to him waking up. Perhaps seeing her wasn't the key, but the surroundings. He had always thought there was nothing but darkness around him, but now that he looked, he could see lighter swirls. And when he listened very carefully, it wasn't silence he heard. At first he thought it was static, but the more he thought about it, the more clear it got. It was the sound of the sea. The waves, the currents, the cry of a seagull soaring through the air.

He had been drowning.

Kakashi opened his eyes when the realization hit him. He had been drowning and he had been saved by someone and that someone hadn't been the miko. And that particular someone was standing right ahead of him. He could see the strands of her flowing coral hair in the water that surrounded both of them. He could see her long alabaster hands, holding tightly to... to his silver bell. And when his eyes traveled lower, where her legs should have been, he could only see a iridescent yet at the same time colorless tail, like that of a fish.

Kakashi woke up abruptly sitting up, not quite believing what he had seen. He took a deep breath and then another. He had been rescued by a mermaid? A nervous laugh escaped his mouth. He knew the stories which the folk living near sea told their children and he knew some of them claimed to even have seen a real mermaid. But this...

This was even more absurd than Sasuke asking for sex tips.

“It must be because I ate fish before going to bed,” Kakashi said to himself. “My subconsciousness decided to put that fish in my dream too.” He didn't believe his own words, but coming up with a reasonable explanation made him feel a bit more sane.

The one thing that gnawed at him the most was the bell. When Kakashi had woken up at the temple, he had been one bell short. He had checked his every pocket and holster but found only two bells, when he had left with three. He'd thought it had been lost in the attack, perhaps dropped in the sea and was lost to him, but now...

Kakashi glanced at the pearl that was staring at him on his nightstand. He furrowed his eyebrows and did the simple math in his head. Losing an silver bell, but gaining an extremely rare pink pearl? It was too convenient to be a coincidence. Mermaids? Kakashi shook his head. He had seen too much during his lifetime to rule anything out of the equation. The more he thought about it, the more clear it became to him.

He needed to go to that village again.

The ground crunched under Kakashi's sandals, mixing and disappearing into the more livelier sounds of the streets. He sighed and hid his hands deeper in his pockets. The day had been gloomy for him from the start and he just did not feel like coming out from his house. It had been scorching hot during the day and he could hear the distant sound of thunder looming in the horizon. It would rain soon. It would rain a lot.

And of course he had forgotten his umbrella. Not that he minded rain that much, but he preferred to keep himself warm and dry if possible. He could always dash the distance between his house and Naruto's, but the lazy part of him argued with that.

But he had promised Naruto he would come over for a dinner and he didn't like betraying his promises - no matter how small they were. Kakashi knew he was late already, but he also knew Naruto and Hinata wouldn't mind.

Sasuke and Sakura were supposed to come over as well. Kakashi couldn't help but to wonder if the young man had already gained to courage to spurt out his proposal, but it had been two weeks already since he had had the talk with Sasuke.

Kakashi's head felt restless. He hadn't slept well since the last time he had seen the dream and realized it probably had mermaid in it. A mermaid. Of all the possible outcomes, it was a mermaid. He had considered leaving for the small village to talk with the miko immediately when he had woke, but realized he couldn't just yet.

Hinata would be giving birth soon and Naruto had made him swore he would be there to meet the new addition to the family. If it wasn't for the dream and the restlessness that had itched its way into his soul he wouldn't have minded at all.

But now... He felt annoyed and caged. Kakashi didn't like that all. He didn't like when things bothered him so much he couldn't sleep and eat properly. There was something bothering him right on the edge of his mind, but he just couldn't wrap his finger around it. He knew it was the memory and it annoyed him to no end that he just couldn't remember what had happened before and after the pirates had attacked.

He did remember his mission before it. Just standard reconnaissance: get there, observe, get out. Nothing out of ordinary. He vaguely could remember the ship, its captain that had given him the creeps with his half rotten teeth and the meals that had tasted like ash and saw dust.

But after that... blank. Nothing but blank before he woke at the temple to the sweet scent of incense and herbs. The miko hadn't been able to give him much of answers, but now he suspected he had had the wrong questions. He hadn't asked about mermaids sightings or anything like that.

He had visited the Konoha library to check whether the librarian would know anything. The librarian had almost laughed straight at Kakashi's face (and probably would have if he hadn't been the legendary Copy Ninja Kakashi) and pointed at the fairy tale section. He hadn't found anything of note there. Just standard fairy tales with mermaids as the damsels in distress.

His time had been utterly wasted there. However he had met with and old hag at the market place (who had tried selling him a basket full of flowers) who had tried to frighten the children pestering her.

“Mermaids will have you the next time you go swimming you maggots!” she had yelled. “They'll lure you in and drown you all!”

Kakashi's interest had been piqued immediately. The stories he had heard and read about where nothing like that. They didn't portray them as vicious and capable of killing.

“I'll buy that basket if you tell me about mermaids,” he had said, and the hag had smiled a crooked smile at him showing she had only couple of teeth.

“Why? You in love with one?” she barked out a laughter mixed with cough. Kakashi had felt himself tense and almost left the stall, but his curiosity was not sated.

“Just tell me the story,” he sighed and rummaged through his pockets for coins. He had figured he could give the flowers to Hinata later.

What he had heard was nothing like in the fairy tales. The mermaids were not pretty, but more fish-like than human. They had predatory teeth to make it more easy for them to swallow raw flesh. And they liked nothing more than human children. They lured them in with singing and playing and when it was already too late, they'd drown them and eat them.

What a waste of time. A tale to frighten children not to go swimming alone.

The smell of food woke Kakashi to present. He was almost at Naruto's place when he realized he had forgotten the flowers home. He argued with himself for a while. It wouldn't take long for him to get them, but he was lazy and the rain would probably start soon... Oh, well. They were a nice addition to his otherwise utilitarian kitchen.

He wasn't even able to open the door before Naruto burst out and almost tackled him to the ground.

“You are late!” he yelled, but seemed to calm down after seeing the black circle around Kakashi's visible eye. “You're still not sleeping well?”

He decided to play nonchalant, like it didn't matter. He shrugged and dodged when Naruto tried to punch his shoulder.

“Idiot, you should sleep more!”

“Naruto!” Hinata reprimanded from inside. The light from inside gathered around her and with her light blue kimono, swollen belly and tea tray in hands she looked like a goddess of home. “Welcome, Kakashi-kun.” She bowed carefully.

She was always like this. Polite and a bit reserved. But Kakashi had seen her alone with Naruto, laughing with tears in her eyes and the happiness that radiated from both of them had been almost ethereal.

“Thank you for inviting me.” He bowed back and heard Naruto scoff next to him.

“I understand you being late, but not Sasuke and Sakura. Although, I have a feeling of why they might be late.” There was smugness in his voice that didn't escape Kakashi's attention.

“So Sasuke finally asked her?”

“Hopefully. I threatened the teme so badly, it's a wonder if not! And they are both missing, so they are probably having se...” Naruto's sentence was cut short by Hinata's disapproving cough. “Having babies.”

Kakashi couldn't help but to roll his eyes and Hinata sighed.

“Whatever they are doing is none of our business,” Hinata curtly said and tried to hide her blush while making room to let both of the males in. Kakashi couldn't help a sense of pride while following Naruto inside. He had a comfy home, a loving wife, child incoming and most of all – he was happy and loved. He had achieved everything Minato had hoped for him.

“Yes it is! They are both of my friends! I want them to be happy,” Naruto argued and sat cross-legged at the table, impatiently waiving his hands at Kakashi to follow his lead. He smiled his famous eye-smile when he noticed that the table was once again filled with everyone's favorite food. Hinata had outdone herself. Again.

“Yes, Naruto, but sometimes.. Sometimes people need to find happiness by themselves. Not everyone needs pushing in the right direction. Sometimes it might be a wrong direction,” Hinata explained while pouring sake in the small porcelain cups. From Naruto's face Kakashi could draw the conclusion the blond didn't understand at all.

“What do you mean wrong direction? I mean, they are practically made for each other,” Naruto said and accepted the cup. Kakashi took his own with a thankful nod towards the hostess and noticed a shadow passing in Hinata's eyes. Did she know something they did not?

“Well, sometimes when you love someone, you don't actually love them. You love the image you have made in your head. And then you realize it not real. It's not the actual person,” she tried to explain, but it made poor Naruto even more confused. Kakashi had to admit he was a bit at loss as well, but soon his confusion was replaced with realization.

“I don't get it,” Naruto muttered and took a large bowl of ramen. “Sakura has loved Sasuke since we were in the academy. And Sasuke loves her. No questions about it.” He continued his muttering until his mouth was filled with noodles and couldn't speak anymore.

Kakashi met Hinata's eyes and understood she had probably talked with Sakura. He nodded to her and tried to steer Naruto's attention away from Sasuke and Sakura. Because there wouldn't be a marriage. Sakura's answer would be no.

Luckily Naruto had always been easy to distract, now maybe more than ever because of Hinata's pregnancy. The two had been awfully quiet about the baby's gender and Kakashi couldn't help but to wonder if Hinata had threatened Naruto to not to blurt it out to anyone.

“Speaking of love,” he begun while taking some of miso soup for himself, “have you already decided on a name?”

“Neji,” Naruto answered without a second thought. Kakashi raised his visible eyebrow. He had thought the gender was supposed to be a secret until the baby was born.

“So it's a boy then?” Time seemed to slow down. Kakashi had never seen anyone grow as pale as quickly Naruto did.

“A girl can be Neji too!” he argued and tried to avoid Hinata's seemingly disapproving gaze. She huffed and then smiled.

“Well, you did better than I expected. I had thought you'd ruin the surprise the first day we knew,” she admitted and took a delicate sip from her ramen bowl next to Naruto. Naruto's face fell and Hinata giggled. Kakashi couldn't resist a small smile either.


Later, when the rain and thunder had already passed and his stomach was full of miso soup and ramen, he got into thinking again. Time had passed rather well after he and Hinata had managed to steer Naruto's thoughts away from Sakura and Sasuke. It had been actually quite easy, considering the blonde's attention span was legendary for it shortness. After admitting they would indeed have a son, they had mostly talked about mundane things, until Hinata had started to yawn and tried to hide it behind her sleeve.

Naruto had almost kicked him out after that. He was amused by how protective Naruto had become, but it fit him. And when their son would born, he would have tons of protectors. Everyone in the village looked up to Naruto and it was pretty clear he'd be the next Hokage after Tsunade. His only competition was Sasuke and maybe Kakashi himself, but the raven hair had politely declined, saying Naruto was more suitable for it. Kakashi on the other hand wasn't interested in the long working hours and making decisions on behalf of the every villager. And he liked his freedom too much. Sometimes it was nice to be able just leave the village and adventure around the country.

Kakashi's feet avoided the puddles on their own accord. Luckily the rain had passed. The distant sound of thunder could still be heard and he was sure it would soon rain again. He'd be missing rain soon, though. The summer was coming fast and with it the scorching heat would be upon them for a long time.

“No sleeping on the roof today, eh?” he asked from no-one in particular. His hand searched the pearl on its own and he sighed. He hoped tonight would bring more rest than the others.
Back at his house he noticed he wasn't alone. There was a lone figure sitting on the rooftop. After straining his eyes to be able to recognize who it was, although he already had a pretty good idea about it, Kakashi ran a hand through his hair and sighed before venturing inside to get a bottle of sake. Sasuke would probably need it. Or then Kakashi himself, because he was about to comfort a man with broken heart.

Why things like this always happened to him? Why did they seek comfort from him? He wasn't good at this stuff.

Because they are your family, a small voice inside of him answered and he had to admit it was right. Team Seven was his family, just like Obito, Rin and Minato had been. Of course they would run to each other. They had survived worse, together.

“I thought you might need a sip,” Kakashi opened the conversation with the raven head and offered the bottle. He tried not to comment on his soaked clothes. For how long had he sat on his roof?

Sasuke accepted the bottle silently and stared at it with blank eyes.

“I don't usually drink,” he said after a while, but took a long swig anyway. Kakashi shrugged and sat next to him, realizing too late that the roof was still wet. He winced at the feel of wet pants and took the bottle from Sasuke.

“Me neither,” he commented and followed Sasuke's example. His brand wasn't as refined and tasty as Hinata's and Naruto's had been, but it served its purpose.

There was a long silence between the them. Kakashi decided it would be best just to wait for Sasuke to open up. Trying to ask him what had happened would only serve to chase him away. The bottle traveled between the two of them in a silent agreement while the thunder lazily rumbled in the background.

“She said no,” Sasuke finally said and took another sip. There was no emotion in his voice, but Kakashi could see his hand slightly trembling. Or maybe it was because he was soaked from sitting in a cold roof. He was probably freezing.

“I know,” he answered and leaned back looking at the black clouds hovering above the Leaf village. There was a humorous 'hmpfh' from Sasuke. “Did she tell you why?” He couldn't resists asking that. He had been so sure...

“Not really. But she's been more distant lately.” Hinata's words came back to Kakashi. Sakura had been infatuated with Sasuke for so long and hadn't really spend time with him before he came back to village. Maybe it was that she had conjured up her own image of him and loved the image more than the real man. She must have realized that herself and decided to let him go.

“Hm,” he decided to answer. He didn't know what else to say.

“Do you know what is surprising?” Sasuke suddenly asked. Kakashi raised his visible eyebrow. “I'm actually... kind of relieved. Like I knew from the start that this was a bad idea. Does... does this make any sense to you? But at the same time I'm... angry. And disappointed. This just doesn't make any sense to me.”

Kakashi couldn't resist a bitter laugh.

“Matters of the heart never make any sense,” he comforted his pupil. He and Obito had both loved Rin and now Rin was dead. Because of him.

Yet he still visited her grave and told her everything. Just like he did with Obito.

“Kakashi-sensei?” Sasuke asked after the silence had stretched on for a bit too long.

“Yes?” Kakashi couldn't help but to feel pleased at the honorific. He missed being called a sensei on daily basis.

“I think I'll leave the village for a while.” It didn't surprise Kakashi. Sasuke was confused and seeing Sakura everyday would not help. And who was he to blame him? He was leaving as well.

“I'm leaving too,” he confided in him. He hadn't told anyone else yet.

“What? You are?” Sasuke raised his eyebrows. “Where?”

“To the fishing village,” Kakashi explained. “It's been a year since I was there anyway. I should check up on them.”

“Oh, you are going to visit the miko.” There was a knowing undertone in Sasuke's voice and Kakashi couldn't help the annoyed sight that escaped him. He had to admit the miko, Hiromi-san, was beautiful and generous and they got along great, but... There was something vital missing. And something about her rubbed him the wrong way. She had shady connections he knew that, but it was something beneath her beautiful surface that had always made the hair in his neck stand up. But he always tried to be polite. In the end, she had saved him.

“She might have answers,” he explained to Sasuke. “There's nothing else between us.” Clearly something was wrong with Sasuke, because he was pestering Kakashi's love life.

“Answers to what?”

“I'll tell you when I know,” Kakashi said mysteriously and chuckled behind his mask when he heard Sasuke's answer:

“Pfft.” The raven hair took another long gulp and sighed when he realized the bottle was empty. Kakashi noticed his footing wasn't as stable as normal when the youngster stood up. “Thanks for the sake.”

“Anytime,” Kakashi answered nonchalantly and debated himself whether he should comment on Sasuke's swaying. He himself was feeling slightly buzzed. “Be careful on your way home.” That was good enough. Sasuke was an adult, he knew how to take care of himself.

Sasuke just nodded to him and the next second he was gone. Kakashi could make out his silhouette for a while, until it disappeared in the dark.

He sighed. Why couldn't anything in life be simple? He let his eyes rest for a moment, but when he felt a drop of wet on his nose he sighed again, this time longer than before. Damn rain.

Inside his house he didn't bother with the lights. After getting rid of his damp clothes he jumped on his bed and stared at the ceiling. His head started pounding again. For a while he thought about summoning his ninken to keep him company, but their snoring would probably keep him awake for the whole night. Then again, he would probably be awake the whole night either way. Damn that dream. Damn his missing memories. Damn mermaids.

Damn life.

Chapter 5: A Turning Point

Sayuri could do nothing but stare at Kei. Was... was she serious? She expected her to start to her bubbly laugh any moment now and call Sayuri silly for falling for such an obvious thing, but she didn't. Moments passed and still she couldn't find her words.

They get human legs when out of sea water. Human. Legs.

Oh, holy First, had she heard right?

”Sayuri? I know it might be a bit unbelievable, but,” Kei managed to look even more sheepish than before, which was a feat in itself, ”I might have found it out by actually going on land...”

”You... You went there?” Sayuri found her voice to be quivering. This was unbelievable. Kei – the silent one, the obedient one – adventuring on her own on real land. With humans.

Sayuri didn't know whether to be proud of her courage or faint from horror of what might have happened. It amazed her a bit, because she had never felt protective towards her sisters before. And why should she have? They were all safe. And life was dull and boring.

Until now.

”Well, yeah, I mean, I don't come here often and one time I just wanted to know how the land feels like. And then...” Kei explained and smiled at the memory she was reliving now. Her teal colored eyes brightened and her mouth fell apart in wondrous smile.

”Then?” Sayuri urged her on feeling the tight tension in her gut tighten. She couldn't remember the last time she was this excited. Well, maybe the time when her father had promised she was allowed to go to the surface with Eri had come close, but this...

This was just on a whole new level.

”It just happened. My scales started to vanish and this soft skin appeared instead. And legs. That was so strange. I actually had legs. And toes!” her sister continued on her gaze distant, as if she could see in the past and how it had happened. Sayuri frowned at the strange word. Toes. Toes. The word tasted funny on her tongue.

”Toes?” she asked. What were toes? They sounded like a very small fish.

”Those wriggly things humans have at the end of their feet,” Kei told her and spun around in the water, her earlier embarrassment gone, “and you could dug dig them into the sand to feel the coldness of the earth fighting the warmth of the sun.”

”I don't think I've ever seen those,” Sayuri contemplated. “Toes, I mean. I've only seen one human before. He didn't show me his toes.” For some odd reason Sayuri found that thought a bit sad. She would have liked to have seen toes.

”Well, they are a lot of fun.” Kei nodded vigorously. “And useful!”

”Were you scared?” Sayuri suddenly asked. She would have been terrified! Imagine yourself, trapped on land with... with legs! And no one there to tell you what was happening and what was going on.

Kei looked at her with an eyebrow raised like Sayuri was the dumbest person in the whole sea. Then again, Kei looked at her like that a lot, so it didn't really bother Sayuri that much. At least, not now.

Legs. L-E-G-S. She could walk on land. She could befriend a human maybe!
How wondrous and utterly awesome would that be!

”Duh, of course I was! I thought I'd be human forever! But then I just wriggled my way back to the sea and – poof - I turned back!”

So they got legs when not touching sea water. And they got their tail when going back.
Piece of fish.

”That is so unbelievable,” Sayuri took a small pause to breathe, “I want to try it too!” She could already picture it. She touching all those strange things she had heard about: flowers, grass, trees...

”I... I don't think we should,” Kei interrupted her daydreaming. Sayuri's head snapped in Kei's direction quicker than she could say megalodon.

”What? Why?! You said yourself you have gone to the shore! So why can't I?” There might have been a whiny undertone in her speech, but Sayuri justified her actions on the fact that she really, really wanted to go on shore now.

”Because you are a stranger! They've grown used to me, but if you appear suddenly they might grow suspicious!” Kei's eyes widened in amazement in sync with Sayuri's when they both realized what Kei had left out of her mouth.

”They?” Sayuri stuttered. Kei couldn't mean... Could she?

”I think I've said enough.” Her little sister shook her head, making her hair form a cloud around her head where she could escape from Sayuri's penetrating and accusing gaze.

”No, Kei! Who is 'they'? You mean the humans? You actually talked to them?” Sayuri surprised even herself when she realized she sounded just like her father when he milked information out of Sayuri. She found herself disliking that thought. She really, really didn't want to become her father. “I'm sorry, Kei. I don't mean to be like father. But... this is important to me! You know how much I like the stories of humans and their customs and their cities and how some of them can use magic!”

Kei squirmed until she finally sputtered out:

”I talked to them, yes!” She let out a long sigh, as if a hard burden had been lifted from her shoulders. “But only after they discovered me!” she added in her defense.

”They found you on the shore?” Sayuri pressed on. This was vital information. If she ever wanted to visit the land, she didn't want to run into humans head on. She wanted to have a different approach. Study from afar. And maybe, when she knew enough about their customs, she might even reach out and talk to someone.

Yes, she would like that. She would do that.

”More like on the outskirts of the town... But I said I was a daughter of a fisherman, who was a hermit and didn't like other people! And he has sent me to the village to take care of his things. Like selling pearls. And fish. So nowadays I visit the village sometimes,” Kei explained. Sayuri almost stopped breathing. Kei actually... Kei actually...

”So you... actually... interact with humans. And... And they believe you are like them?” Sayuri's thoughts were running around like a wild crab. This went beyond her wildest fantasies and that was something.

Fishtastic!

”Yes, although I think they might still be a bit suspicious with me, but they tolerate me. And they let me buy sweets and honey!”

Honey. She couldn't remember the taste of the treat she had gotten so long ago anymore, but what she could remember was the feeling of her mouth coming alive with taste she had never experienced before. She had been grinning for the whole week after that.
And she had been very, very young.

”What are sweets?” she asked and tilted her head. They sounded like something she would like.

”They are little round things which taste better than honey,” Kei explained with a happy grin.

”They can't!” Sayuri blurted out before realizing she was yelling. She let out a nervous giggle when Kei glared at her.

“They can't,” Sayuri whispered like she was a conspirator.

”They do!” Kei sounded offended. “I wouldn't lie to you.” She took a pause when Sayuri gave her a pointed look. “Well, not about this at least.”

”I want to taste them too! And I want to taste honey again... Oh, can we go already! I can't wait! Humans and sweets and honey and a whole new world! Oh, oh, do you think my legs will be silver like my tail?” Sayuri spun around showing off her tail which now glistened in the sunlight, making her eyes sting if she stared at it for too long.

“It'll just be the color of your skin, Sayuri,” Kei said like it was the most natural thing. “Humans don't have colorful legs. Except when they have colorful clothes on.”

Clothes. She had heard that somewhere before... From the tales. And that boy had wore something on him...

“Oh yes, humans cover themselves with fabric! What are the those things called... the things you put on your legs?”

“Trousers?” Kei suggested.

“I want silver trousers!”

“You are such an idiot, Sayuri.”

“You would know.”

“Baka!”

**

Sayuri had the creeping feeling her father would lock her in a cell for the rest of her long life if he would ever find out what they were doing. And because she was older than Kei, she should be the reasonable one and talk them out of this.

Hah! Like that was going to happen.

She did another spin of joy, just because she could and followed Kei towards the beach. Kei had learned so many new words and seen so many new things Sayuri couldn't help but to feel a bit jealous. But then again, Kei had promised to teach her too!

The newfound friendship from a sister she hadn't paid much attention to was a welcomed welcome thing in her daily boredom. Not that her life would be boring anymore. Secrets, hidden passages, human village and keeping that all from her father... She couldn't resist another spin.

She felt alive again.

“Could you stop that?” Kei asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice. Sayuri giggled and her sister couldn't hide the small smile that tugged her lips too.

“No! I want to jump and somersault and scream at the top of my lungs and... I feel alive!”

“Just remember: when we get to the shore, you don't yell! No matter what happens, don't yell! There aren't usually people in this part of the beach, but with humans you never know. They sometimes have really strange thoughts and urges.”

“So do we!” Sayuri laughed and started spinning round and round and round until hear head was spinning too.

“You will never grow up, will you?” Kei sighed. “You know that father has talked about how you should be starting to take your life seriously. He wants you to be a proper princess.”

“Pfft, father has said that for years now! He's tried to do something about it, but has yet to succeed.” Sayuri sent a mischievous smile towards her sister.

“Well, as long as you are there to cause trouble, he doesn't pay any attention to me.” Kei shrugged her shoulders. “So I guess it's a good thing you are still childish.”

“I'm not childish!” Sayuri exclaimed and threw her sister a hurt look. Kei just stared at her. Sayuri found that she didn't have the patience for having a stare down with her sister. She just was too excited right now. “Alright, I'm childish!”

They reached the beach quicker than Sayuri would have thought. Kei looked like an expert when she calmly sat on a rock drawing her tail out of the water with her.

The next thing took Sayuri's breath away. Kei's scales shimmered in the sunlight before slowly dissolving and unveiling the soft flesh underneath. It was magic. It couldn't be anything else.

Now Sayuri knew what toes were. Kei's were small and round and she wiggled them at her.

“See, they're fun!”

Sayuri was about to answer to her when she looked up and saw Kei's hair.
Kei's light brown hair.

“Wha-what?” Sayuri asked and pointed at the hair that had before been a light pink.

“This?” Kei pointed at her head and Sayuri nodded. What on the endless sea had happened to her sister's hair? “I don't know what causes this. It turns back to normal when I'm back. I think my skin also looks a bit gray. And my eyes aren't as vibrant as before. But it helps when dealing with humans!”

“Will that happen to me too?” Sayuri asked and looked at one coral colored lock she had on her hand. She liked her hair this way.

“Probably,” Kei said and stood up. “This always feels so strange.” She shook her head like trying to orient herself better to the task at hand. “You won't probably learn to stand up right away. It took me quite a few times too. And then there's the walking bit. It's harder than finding a room without mother's handicraft.”

“I'll keep trying until I learn how,” Sayuri said feeling newly found determination in her. She had gotten herself this far. She would learn how to be a human. And she would explore and her life wouldn't be a waste.

Maybe when she was older she would tell stories about her adventures and they would live on as tales like the ones about the First and his adventures.

“You are daydreaming again,” Kei pointed out.

“Because this is surreal!” Sayuri exclaimed with her mouth wide open. “This is so...surreal!”

“And this might be your only chance. If father finds out about this...” Kei didn't need to finish her sentence for Sayuri to know what would happen.

“We'll never get to be here again, I know!” she answered a bit annoyed. She wasn't stupid. Well, not always at least.

“Swear to me Sayuri.” Kei's look was so stern Sayuri didn't recognize her as her little sister. She looked so much older. And wiser.

“Swear what?” she asked, still wondering about the change she saw in her little sister. Little sister she hadn't paid that much attention to. Maybe she should've.

“That you won't tell father.”

“Why would I tell him?”

“I don't know! Just... Swear please? I don't want you to ruin this one for me too.”

“I'll swear on kraken's unholy bottom that I will not tell father about our adventures!”

“Thank you. I'll go find you some clothes. You can't go around naked. I'll be right back. You just practice.” Kei jumped down from the rock on the land. “And if you see anyone but me, leave. Immediately. Wait for me somewhere near the tunnel.” And then she was gone, jogging towards green something. Maybe trees? Trees were green and big.

Right?

Sayuri looked around her. Everything looked strange to her. When they had saved the boy, she hadn't been allowed to come this near. Eri had continued along alone and left Sayuri wriggling her hands on what he had called a safe spot. She couldn't help but to feel a bit afraid. She was all alone now.

The rock ahead of her looked menacing now. Yet at the same time she felt so excited she was afraid her heart would jump out and swim to the sunset. Were hearts able to do that?
Sayuri shook her head. Stupid thoughts.

Kei would ridicule her if she hadn't climb on that rock when she came back. Sayuri was sure of that. If they were in reversed positions that was what she would do.

So in the end her pride, stubbornness and curiosity won her fear of what might happen. As she sat on the rock, free of the confinements of the sea, she felt strange. It felt oddly liberating to feel the wind in every part of her body. And the sun.

She didn't know which part of her body started to tingle first, but in no time it had spread to every fiber of her being. Sayuri wasn't sure if it was a ticklish sensation or pain, it just felt strange. Looking at her scales disappearing under newly formed skin made her nauseous so she closed her eyes instead. She had seen Kei's transformation. She didn't need to see her own. Especially when it felt so strange.

It ended quicker than she had thought it would. One moment the sensation was there and then it was gone. Just like that. Sayuri opened one of her eyes. Leg. Another leg.

And toes! She had toes! She tried wriggling them like Kei had and found that it was harder than she had thought.

How did humans live with these things? She tried moving her legs and they both seemed to move uncontrollably. The other went to right and the other to left and ow!

She inspected the scrape she had on the other one now.

“Great,” she muttered. “I hope you won't show in my tail...”

But how in the forsaken seas did humans live with these things! They didn't do anything she wanted. She wanted to stand, not to fail her limbs around!

And why was her hair the color of a murky water now? It looked like mud mixed with water.

“This is just stupid,” Sayuri decided. “How do you work?! And why do you look like someone threw a bucket of mud on you! And why does my skin look like a sick crab's!”

There was no one around to answer to her. Which probably was good.

Sayuri sighed. She just wanted to see humans. And walk on land. And learn new things. And taste sweets. It shouldn't be this hard!

When she finally got the hang of it and managed to stand up, she lost her balance and fell to the sea with a might splash. It was strange, to be back on the familiar water just floating with your tail whisking lazily instead of trying your hardest to use weird limbs you shouldn't even have.

Sayuri also noticed the scrapes in her legs were transformed to her tail. She cringed. Those would be hard to explain. She'd probably need Kei's help to convince her parents of them being a result from an accident in the palace.

Because accidents happened so often in the palace. She rolled her eyes.

Stupid rock. Stupid legs.

“Sayuri, you here?” came Kei's voice from the surface, strangely distorted by the water.

“Here,” she answered and bothered not to move. Stupid, stupid, stupid legs.

“Sayuri?!” There was a slightly panicky undertone in Kei's voice now. Sayuri sighed and swam to the surface. Was Kei deaf?

“What? I'm right here,” she said, slightly annoyed. This was supposed to be the greatest day ever and instead she couldn't even walk. And she had scrapes on her tail.

Her father would surely realize something was amiss.

“I couldn't see you! I thought you'd wait on the rock, like we agreed!” Kei's eyes were huge and accusing. And she was wearing clothes. Brown ones. Sayuri didn't like them.

“I fell from it,” Sayuri muttered and tried not to look at Kei. She felt angry but she didn't know towards who. Maybe towards the rock.

“And you didn't try again?” Kei sounded amazed. Well, Sayuri didn't want to try again. It had taken ages just to get standing and then – she – had – fallen. Fallen. From the cursed rock.

“It's so annoying! They don't work as I want them to work!” she spat out and the immediately regretted it when she realized how she sounded like – her sisters when they had broken a nail.

“You are so whiny sometimes!” So, even Kei had noticed. Sayuri tried not to wince.

“Am not!” she muttered.

“You are! You'll never get to the village if you don't learn how to walk,” Kei tried to reason with her. Sayuri knew Kei was right, but...but...

“Well, maybe I don't want to go to the village!” she finally worked out and felt even more stupid than before. Why couldn't she go back in time and erase that one sentence?

“Gosh, you are so childish! And spoiled! I didn't succeed on the first try. Or the second. Or the third!” The look Kei gave her was disappointed. Sayuri didn't know what to answer to her.

“I just thought... It'd be easier.”

“That you'd magically learn to walk immediately and then we could waltz together to the village and everyone would be your best friend?” Kei offered, with her eyebrow raised high. Well, not that Kei spoke Sayuri's thoughts out loud, they did sound kind of na�ve.

“Well... Yes,” she admitted. Kei just sighed. Long.

“We could come back later and try again, you know? We don't have to do everything now. I think someone might miss us anyway,” she suggested. Sayuri thought about it for a while and realized that she was the only one currently not having a personal guardian.

“What did you do to Shin-san?” she asked horrified. If Shin-san knew that Kei was missing...

“I have a deal with him,” Kei answered with a wicked smile on her face. “I won't tell father that I saw him and Chiyo kissing and he lets me wander off without him.” Sayuri could feel her mouth fell open. Chiyo? As in her sister Chiyo? As in the most prudent of them all?

“Chiyo?! And him?!”

“Oh yes. And more than once!” Kei seemed to be very proud of herself. “I have caught them more than just once.”

“What?!” Sayuri's mind was reeling. Really? Chiyo? Chiyo was the first one to act on father's orders and always did what she was told. And spent her time knitting. She was always knitting. Or reciting whale-poetry.

“You should've seen their faces when I popped out and said 'hi' when they had just lip-locked.”

“You are horrible,” Sayuri giggled, her previous bad mood all forgotten.

“And you wouldn't have done the same?” Kei pointed out.

“Well, yes, but...” Sayuri tried and gave up. “Alright, you are absolutely right, I would have done the same. Except that Eri-kun wouldn't have kissed Chiyo.”

“I don't think he would have kissed anyone. He was so...” They both tried to search for the right word.

“Eri,” Sayuri suggested.

“Yes.”

“Do you think father will be mad about the scrapes?” Sayuri changed the subject. She still missed Eri terribly. Even thinking about him made her heart ache. Leaving without even a good-bye...

How could he have done that? He had been her best friend.

“He rarely even meets you, I don't think he'll notice,” Kei assured her while stripping out her clothes.

“Well, hopefully. I don't know how to explain these.”

“Just say that you were bored and ran into some rocks while daydreaming. It's exactly something you would do.” Kei winked at her and dived into the water. Her hair instantly was radiant pink again and her familiar tail almost slapped Sayuri into the face.

“Geez, I'm not that stupid.” She rolled her eyes.

“You totally are. Last one at the tunnel is a ugly cat fish!”

“I'm not an ugly cat fish!”

They spent most of their way home jabbing at each other and trying to make up even worse words to call each other. Kei had won the swim to the tunnel and had dubbed Sayuri the queen of the cat fishes. Kei then had become a sleazy manatee.

It didn't end until they reached the palace and they both realized things were eerily quiet.

“Where are everyone?” Kei whispered to Sayuri who shrugged her shoulders. She didn't know. She didn't like this at all. Usually silence meant something very unpleasant.

“Kei-san!” Kei's head immediately whipped to the direction of the voice. Sayuri didn't recognize the hushed voice, but the dark red hair she knew.

“Shin-san! Where is everyone?”

“Where in the name of the Leviathan have you been? I've been looking everywhere for you while trying to avoid everyone! Luckily your sister warned me ahead of time. You should all be in the courtroom!” he quickly explained while trying to rush them inside.

“Why? What is going on?” Kei asked, her brows furrowed in worry.

“A prince has arrived from the Shadow Lands,” Shin explained and sighed when both Kei and Sayuri stopped in their tracks and asked in unison:

“A prince?”

“From Shadow Lands?”

“Yes. Apparently your father had invited him here. To look for a bride. Move along now, you are in a hurry!”

“A bride?!” Sayuri blurted out. This was not good, this was not good...

“Yes, your father had originally thought of giving Chiyo's hand to him, but apparently he has changed his mind.”

“Yes?” Even Kei was worried.

“He thinks you should settle down.” Shin looked straight at Sayuri. Sayuri swallowed.

“Me?” Her voice was barely above a whisper. She wasn't ready for marriage! She didn't want to marry a prince! She didn't... She didn't want any of this!

“He is to become your fiance.”

Sayuri couldn't help herself. She fainted on the spot.