Under the sea, there was a little people living down there as far as anyone could remember. These people looked like humans, they have the head and upper body of humans, but their bottom was a tail of a fish. They were called mermaids and mermen. Most of them had a tail of a casual fish, but others had a tail of a shark, such as a brown-haired kid named Sora.
Unlike most of the other children, Sora was not liked by everyone. He was mostly hated because of his shark tail. The boy loved social interactions, but most of the people ran away every time he tried to talk to them. Being rejected each time didn't help Sora at all. He felt hurt whenever he saw people running away from him and this pain made him lose his self-confidence. But the boy didn't give up: he was always hopeful that someone will accept him one day. He never stopped smiling and being nice to every person he meets.
One night, the brunet decided to head to the surface. His parents often reminded him that he shouldn't go up there, but Sora didn't care anymore. He was just too curious and wanted to know what the world above the sea looked like. Perhaps he could find someone who wouldn't reject him?
When he arrived at the surface, he poked his head out of the water and looked around. The brown-haired boy had never seen something that beautiful before. In front of him was standing an island. It didn't look really big, but Sora thought it was gorgeous. There were palm trees, a waterfall, a small wooden boat, some flowers and some plants. There was a smaller island linked to the bigger one by a wooden bridge. On this tiny land, there was a big tree with yellow star-shaped fruits. The brunet wondered if he would be able to try one of these on day, but they looked a bit too high up for him.
After admiring the island for several minutes, Sora swam to the island's shore and lied down on the sand, his shark tail staying in the water. He crossed his arms behind his head and started to observe the sky. This night was a beautiful night, the sky was clear. Many stars could be seen and the moon was there too. The brunet even got the chance to witness a shooting star. The boy closed his eyes and enjoyed the warmth of the sand, the freshness of the wind, the sound of the waves.
Sora only realised he fell asleep when he heard a voice near him. He slowly opened his eyes and wondered where he was. He had forgotten that he came out of the water, that he was now in the human world. His blue eyes were now wide open, looking at this tall human with silver hair and blue-green eyes. The boy gasped, realising he had been seen by a human, which was strictly forbidden by his parents. The silver-haired hardly had time to say 'hello' that Sora was already back into the water.
'What was that?' The boy asked himself. All he wanted to do was explore this new world, perhaps become friends with the humans, but he got so scared that he couldn't stay. He didn't expect to be surprised by a human and he just acted following his instincts. His parents had always warned him about humans, about what they did to mermaids and mermen. Sora's body instinctively remembered these conversations and thought it was best to escape before anything bad happened.
When the brunet came back to what he would call his home, he didn't talk to his parents. All he wanted was to be alone and think about what happened. He put his hand on his chest, he could feel his heart beating really fast. He had never felt that way before, he had never felt so scared before. What if the human wanted to kill him? He knew his parents were right, he knew he shouldn't have gone to the surface. But still, he wanted to go back. This human didn't kill him. Perhaps he could become a friend?
The brown-haired boy was also confused. In addition to his fear, he felt something weird in his body, in his heart. Earlier, when he woke up, he saw the face of this human. A beautiful face. He had never seen such beauty before. His eyes were coloured with a pretty shade of blue, his silver hair falling in front of his eyes. So beautiful that he wanted to go back to see his face again. The boy found himself thinking about this human's face and couldn't help but blush. Fortunately, he was all alone and nobody could question him.
What would he do if this happens, if he gets questioned? He couldn't lie. The brunet would never lie to anybody. And even if he did try, people would find out too easily: he blushes and stutters whenever he has to hide something. The boy took some deep breath to calm himself. What could happen? No one would find out. He didn't have any friend to talk to and he didn't share his life to his parents, therefore, this would be his little secret.
The day after, Sora came back to the surface at nightfall, at the same time as the day before. He discretely poked his head out of the water, showing only the top of his head. That way, he could watch the island without being seen. He looked around and noticed the silver-haired human sitting in the sand, looking up to the sky. The brunet's eyes followed the human's ones and he admired the darkness of the night.
His gaze came back to the human. What should he do? The silver-haired seemed harmless. He was wearing a grey shirt and black pants, sitting down on the sand, looking at the sky with a gorgeous smile on his face. Sora wanted to approach him, to talk to him, to become friends with him. But for once in his life, he did not know how to do that. He was mostly panicked. 'What if it ends up really bad?' He thought, his brain couldn't stop imagining different plots.
The brown-haired slowly closed his eyes and took some deep breath. He couldn't handle these thoughts anymore, he had to find a way to make them leave his mind. He put a hand on his chest and decided to listen to your heart. 'What do you really want?' He asked himself. He couldn't let his brain and the crazy thoughts prevent him from doing what his heart desired.
After thinking about it for a few moments, Sora opened his eyes again, but a disappointed expression appeared on his face. The human was not here anymore, he must have left when the boy was lost in his thoughts. He looked around and realised the boat wasn't there anymore, meaning the silver-haired probably went back to where he lived. The young merman sighed and came back to his home as well.
The next day, the brown-haired boy came back to the surface at the same time as the days before, hoping to see the human. When he had his head out of the water, he looked at the island but nobody was there. He looked around and realised the human's wooden boat was here. He had to be here too, Sora thought.
The young merman decided to swim towards the boat. He slowly approached it and looked in it to see a tall and gorgeous human sleeping. The brown-haired boy was awed by so much beauty, he had never seen anyone that beautiful. He carefully moved some strands of hair to admire the human's face.
Unfortunately, this woke him up. He opened his blue-green eyes and looked at Sora. The latter's eyes widened and he immediately swam away from the human and his boat. The silver-haired man straightened up and tried to grab the merman's arm but he was too slow.
"Wait!"
The brown-haired boy stopped moving at the sound of his voice. His heart was beating so fast, he was wondering what was going to happen. Would he die tonight? He was talking to himself in his head, thinking that he regretted not saying 'I love you' to his parents. He slowly turned back and looked at the human with puppy eyes that said 'Please, don't kill me'. The silver-haired man moved his boat towards the young merman and looked at him with a big smile on his face.
"I... I'm not going to harm you, don't worry. I just… I've never seen a merman before, I was curious."
"You-You're not going to kill me…?"
"Why would I do that? It would be a shame to try to hurt such a beautiful creature."
Sora felt his face getting hotter, his cheeks were turning red. He would have never expected to be called a 'beautiful creature', since he was always being rejected by everyone.
"You're a beautiful creature too…" He said, not really knowing what to say.
This made the human blush as well, his face was now red like a tomato. He looked away and rubbed the back of his face. The brown-haired merman had a little smile on his face. He was looking at the human and thinking that he was cute when he was blushing. That was what made him smile.
An awkward silence set up between them for a few minutes. They did not know what to say exactly, they did not know how to socialize. Sora was usually the one who talked to people easily, but this time, he was a bit shy, not really knowing why. The silver-haired decided to broke this unbearable silence by asking the merman's name.
"I'm Sora. What's your name?"
"The name's Riku. Nice to meet you".
The days went by, Riku and Sora had now the habit to meet every night at the same time. They would lie down on the sand and watch the stars together. There was a night when the human pointed at several stars which had the shape of some objects, but after a few moments, he realised that the merman might not know what were the objects. Indeed, the brunet didn't know what he was talking about, but he was amazed that stars had the shape of human objects.
Another night, Sora asked many questions about the human world: how it is, what they usually do, what they eat. He also questioned Riku about walking. He was wondering how it was, how it felt like to be standing on the ground thanks to two legs and feet. He even grabbed one of the human's feet and looked at it with an impressed expression on his face.
One night, the silver-haired man decided to show the brown-haired around. Sora had wanted to explore the islands for a long time, but it was hard for him without legs. Fortunately, Riku came up with an incredible idea: he would carry the merman in his arms just like a princess. The human walked around the tiny island with Sora in his arms; he went to the wooden shack, to the waterfall, to the other side of the island where there was a small wooden raft.
Then, Riku took the merman to the part of this island where there was the tree with star-shaped fruit. The young merman asked about this fruits, he was wondering what it was called. The silver-haired told him that it was named 'paopu fruit' and he let slip that the fruit had a legend. Curious as he was, Sora wasn't ready to give up and asked hundreds of questions to know what the legend was. The human had turned to a tomato once again, he was embarrassed about telling him the legend of the fruit.
"Well, um… It says that if you share a paopu fruit with someone, your destinies become intertwined…" Riku said, too embarrassed to look his friend in the eyes.
The young merman was looking at him with big eyes and an innocent expression on his face. He secretly wanted to say that he would love to share one of these fruits with Riku, but he dared not telling him out loud. He thought that it was maybe not the perfect time to share one.
Next, the human walked to the secret place where he used to go when he was little. This place was special to him and nobody else knew about it. When they arrived in the place, the brown-haired boy looked at the walls. There were many drawings, including many drawings of mermaids and mermen.
Sora was actually surprised and amazed. He felt something in his heart, something he never felt before. He looked at his human friend with a friendly smile on his face. He was happy for him, he was happy that he had such a passion for the creatures who lived under the sea.
When the young merman came back to his home this night, his parents were surprisingly waiting for him. His father had his arms crossed around his chest and looked angry, his mother was more worried than anything. Sora looked at them with puppy eyes, he did not understand. Did they find out that he was hanging out with a human?
"Hey Mom, hey Dad… W-What's wrong?" He asked, afraid of what they might answer.
"What are you doing every night? We see you leaving and you only come back when we wake up in the morning. Are you hiding something from us?"
The brunet took a deep breath. Okay, they did not know about the human… yet. He could handle this. He would tell the truth, but he would not talk about Riku. It wouldn't be lying, right?
"I- um, I just go… to the surface to watch the stars… They're beautiful, you know?" The boy said, looking away.
His father squinted. Crap, he shouldn't have looked away. He always looks away when he's trying to hide something or when he is lying. His parents knew this habit and this didn't escape his father. His mother was not saying anything. She knew how angry his father was and she couldn't manage to make him calm down.
"We told you to never go to the surface," his father started, raising his voice. "It's dangerous, you could have been captured by those… humans. I won't let you go back to the surface another time. Now, go to your room."
"C-Come on, Dad… I'm only watching the stars, there's nothing to be afraid of…"
Sora felt his heart racing. Was he trying to stand up to his father? He knew he had no chance of winning this, but he couldn't agree without trying to make him change his mind. No surface meant no Riku. The brown-haired couldn't live with that idea of never seeing the silver-haired human again.
"Enough!" His father shouted to him. "You're grounded, Sora. Go to your room."
The young merman felt tears coming to his eyes, he never liked when his father yelled at him. Especially for stupid reasons. He looked at his mother, asking for help. Unfortunately, the mermaid couldn't do anything about his father's temper. She swam to her son and hugged her, telling him that he's angry because deep down, he is more worried about his son than anything.
After making sure that his parents were not around, Sora silently left their home. He swam to the surface and lied down in the sand of the tiny island, the same place where he lies down with Riku every day. His heart was beating fast, maybe too fast. Tears were rolling down his cheeks, tears that he could not hold back anymore.
The brown-haired boy was hurt and upset. He never liked being shouted at and thinking that he could never see his human friend again was just too much for him. Unfortunately, it was morning right now, therefore the silver-haired man was not around. But the young merman did not care about his father's warning. If this was his last chance to see Riku again, then be it. He would wait on the sand until night falls, crying himself to sleep.
The young merman opened his eyes when he felt something soft stroking his cheek. The silver-haired human was sitting there, in front of him. He didn't realise who was there at first, still a bit woozy. He rubbed his eyes and straightened up, he was now sitting on the sand, looking at Riku with red eyes due to the tears.
"Riku! Riku's here!" He said, jumping towards him to pull him into a hug.
"Wow-" The human was not used to hugs, therefore he just awkwardly patted his friend's back. He broke the hug and looked at the brown-haired boy before putting his hand on his cheek. "A-Are you okay, Sora? Your eyes are red…"
"I feel fine now that you're here, Riku. I missed you…" Sora said, pulling the silver-haired into a hug once again, trying to hide his face. He did not want to receive tons of questions right now, he only wanted to spend time with his best friend.
"I missed you too…" The silver-haired replied. He knew his merman friend was not alright right now and he wanted to show him that he was there for him, therefore, he hugged him back, holding him tightly into his muscled arms.
Sora moved a bit apart from Riku, he just wanted to look at him, afraid he couldn't never admire that beautiful face again. Both of them were lost in each other's blue eyes, their cheeks were a bit red, but they did not mind. Their noses were touching, their faces moved forward and they did not realise it, they did not realise what was happening.
The silver-haired human's lips touched the brown-haired merman's ones, starting a soft kiss to which the young boy immediately replied. Both of them closed their eyes, enjoying this pure moment. Riku's lips were soft and they tasted like watermelon. How does a moment last forever? Sora wondered. He didn't want this to end, it seemed so perfect, so good; he was happy, he was smiling. Seeing his friend every day always made him smile a lot because he was now his source of happiness.
They moved apart when a random big wave broke on them. They both looked at the sea, wondering what happened. It was calm, there was nothing to worry about. But the young merman saw a silhouette, in the distance. A silhouette that looked just like his father. Sora sighed, he knew he was go through a rough time when he gets back home. But he didn't want to make Riku worried about him, thus he stayed silent about what happened earlier and why his eye were red.
"Riku, I…" The brown-haired was hesitant, his voice sounded like he was about to break down. He looked at the human, seeking courage in his blue-green eyes. "I want to share a paopu fruit with you."
The silver-haired man started to blush, but he wanted that too. Therefore, he silently nodded and carried Sora in his arms to the tree. First a kiss on the lips, and now they were going to share a paopu fruit together? This was like a dream for both of them. They didn't know what to say to each other, but did they have to say anything? The two of them knew what the other was thinking just by looking into their eyes. They were connected, their hearts were connected.
Riku put down the young merman on the curved tree and grabbed one of its star-shaped fruits. Then, he sat down next to the brown-haired boy and hold the fruit between them so they could easily take a bite out of it. The both of them didn't look away, they kept staring into each other's eyes as they were eating the fruit. This moment felt magical to them, they didn't know if the legend was true, but they hoped it was. Neither of them wanted this night to end, they would have wanted to stare at each other for more hours.
Unfortunately, they both had to go back to their home when the sun showed up. Sora didn't say anything about his argument with his father, but he was afraid this was the last time he would see Riku. Though, he did not want to make him sad or upset, therefore, he decided to stay silent on this subject.
After a goodbye kiss on the lips, the brown-haired boy went back to the ocean and swam to reach the deep water. As expected, his father was there, waiting for him, looking angrier than he had ever looked. The young merman chose to keep a low profile and go to his room without saying anything, but that did not work.
"I forbid you to go to the surface, and what do you do?" His father started. "You disobeyed me, Sora. And more, you… You were with a human. I don't recognise you."
The brunet tried to pull himself together, but all he wanted to do right now was to burst into tears. What was wrong with being in love with a human? Riku was not a bad human, he was nice and caring and precious. He would never hurt him. He had to find a way to make his father realise this.
"But, Dad…" Sora started, trying to be brave enough to face his father. "You don't know him, how can you tell? Riku is actually nice, he is not like the humans you talk about. He would never hurt anyone and all he wants to do is to protect me. You have no reason to be afraid of him."
"Humans are all the same!" His father shouted, making Sora cringe. "Don't you remember what they did to your brother, Roxas?! Don't you remember that he is gone because of these humans?!"
The young merman cringed at the name of his twin brother. He lowered his head and tears slowly started to roll down his face, but he did not make any sound. Indeed, a human had killed his brother, but one bad human didn't mean they were all bad.
His mother, who had listened to the conversation since the beginning, stepped forward. Just like Sora, her eyes were red and she was crying. She was still not over the fact that her son was gone, but she needed to do something.
"Look, you made your mother cry!" His father yelled again.
"No, he did not." The mermaid shook her head and looked at her husband in the eyes. "You can't blame every human for the loss of our son. Only one did that, and he is gone too. Not all the humans are bad, and you know that. You told me how Sora was happy with his human friend. Don't you want your son to be happy?"
The young merman looked at his mother, his eyes full of hope. 'Thank you, Mom' he thought. He then turned to his father to watch his reaction. The old merman was not talking anymore. He knew his wife was right, but he just couldn't admit it.
"I…" His father started, lowering his head. "I'm sorry, Sora. I guess that if it makes you happy, you can continue to see this human… But-"
His wife was glaring at him because of the 'but', which made him stop. He knew he shouldn't say anything. He was being a jerk and that was not acceptable, his son was old enough to hang out with whom he wanted to.
"… Fine." He finally said, going away.
Sora's mother came closer to her son and pulled him into a hug. The brunet started crying; his tears were tears of sadness but mostly happiness. He couldn't hold them back anymore, all this pressure on him. But he was happy that they finally succeeded and changed his father's mind.
Riku was in his wooden boat, tying it up to the wooden dock of his island. He had just arrived and was excited to see Sora again. Last night was… crazy. His brain couldn't really process, he was still feeling like this was all a dream. They kissed, they shared a paopu fruit. What could go wrong? He was so happy to have met this amazing merman, he was definitely the best person that came into his life.
The wooden boat pitched out of nowhere. The silver-haired man looked at the horizon, but there was no wave. He then looked at the water and saw a shadow. What could that be? He leaned forward to see what it was, his head was almost touching the water. Could it be a big fish? He was ready to take his spear and catch the fish, but two hands came out of the water and grabbed the human's head, pulling him toward somebody's face. The brown-haired mermaid pressed his lips against Riku's like it had been a long time since the last time they saw each other. It took a moment for the man to realise that it was Sora, but then, he replied to the kiss with as much passion as the other one.
A few moments later, the merman and the human were laying down in the wooden boat, in the middle of the sea. It was not as comfortable as the sand, but Sora did not mind. Being with Riku was priceless to him. The silver-haired man gently planted a kiss on the brown-haired's head and pulled him a bit closer to him. He did not want to let go of him, never. In this moment, they were happy together, they felt like nothing could break them apart.
Fin.