This is my first fanfic so please be nice and review.
Disclaimer: I don't own Dynasty Warriors. Though I wish I did...
Found Out Of the Water
Atlantica, a place for mermaids which no humans knew existed. Atlantica was ruled by the royal family Hosokawa which was blessed with many children, nine to be precise. Some of these children in the process of growing up, the eldest of the children was Cuifen. She was fourteen years old and was mature beyond her years. Since she had turned thirteen she had long inquired about leaving Atlantica to see the world beyond the sea. She had been to surface but never onto land, she would only put her head above water until one day when she was watching the humans on the beach she caught two people looking back at her, a man and a woman. She gasped and immediately dunked back under. The two people watched amazed when they saw her light pink glistening tailfin.
Cuifen came back the next day, she rose in front of a big slab of rock which people used to sit on when they were tired to swim. She smiled she was sure no one could be here. She froze however when she heard soft talking above her. She swallowed as she looked above her; two people were lying on the rock. Cuifen could just about see their heads through the shining light of the sun. She crept backwards an inch so her back was on the rock and made sure to stay quiet as she tried to listen to their conversation. She thought that they might have been the two people she saw yesterday. The man adjusted his glasses. "So, Lord Sun's still away?"
The girl nodded sadly before sighing and patting her stomach "Yes, I hope he comes back safe. To tell you the truth I don't see why he had to go in the first place, just to go to war"
Cuifen's face squinted at his words. 'War…?' having never heard of the term
He nodded in agreement "I know but when he comes back, you'll be married and all the conflict will be over. The land will be united under the Sun banner and a little child"
Cuifen's face went even more squinted at another term she did not recognise.
The girl nodded before adjusting her hair clip, she did not see it fall out and go over the edge "Suppose so…"
Cuifen looked at the clip in wonder having never seen one before; she lifted her hand gently to her taking the clip and looking at it as close as she could with out hurting her eyes. It was long and silver with shiny lilac butterflies. She let it gleam in the sun and it set out shines fascinating Cuifen. She gently opened it and placed one of her fingers inside and it snapped shut, catching her by surprise and cutting the finger where the clip was. She dragged the clip off and held it away from her looking at it like it was an enemy while sucking her finger. That was when the woman noticed her clip was gone and felt her long hair against the rock.
She grunted "I swear when I finally get married, my hair is getting cut short"
The man pushed up his thin glasses as he watched the beaming sun against the waves.
The woman sat up and looked around before huffing. "I think my clip went over the edge"
This made Cuifen's hand come back and she froze.
She looked over and gasped at the sight of Cuifen who in turn dived under causing a wave to hit her.
She gasped from the coldness causing the man to look just in time to see her tailfin. He watched the tailfin move around the rock to go deeper into the sea, before he threw off his glasses next to his friend before diving into the ocean.
His friend watched with a wet face. "Xuan what are you doing?!"
He didn't listen as he tried to follow her though she was much faster than he was.
Cuifen kept going until she stopped suddenly and looked around seeing no one, she sighed in relief before noticing that she still had that girls clip. She thought about what to do with it, she certainly didn't want to keep it, stealing was wrong and besides it hurt her in her eyes it was a bad thing whatever it was.
Due to her distraction she didn't see Xuan swim under her and come up directly in front of her making her scream in fear.
He gently took hold of her elbows to keep her from swimming away.
She cowered and closed her eyes in fear. "Please don't hurt me!" she cried with such fear it surprised him
He made gentle shushing noises when he saw her start to cry. "It's okay; I'm not going to hurt you"
When she heard his words she gently opened her eyes still cowering and weary of him.
"I-I'm sorry, I-I didn't m-mean a-any h-harm," she said so quiet he almost didn't hear
Her eyes suddenly shot open and she got all the courage she had in her before swimming straight "I promise I won't do it again, j-just p-please don't hurt me!" she gasped at her outburst and resumed her cowering position and closing her eyes.
He gently shushed her as he heard her start to whimper. He gently let go of one of her elbows and started to stroke her cheek hoping to calm her. "You don't have anything to apologize for; you're not doing any harm. Its fine, I'm not going to hurt you"
Cuifen slowly opened her eyes, he was really confusing her, "Th-then what do you w-want?"
He smiled softly at her "I just wanted to make sure you were okay"
She tilted her head in confusion.
It was then he noticed small drops of blood on his arm but knew he wasn't hurt; he looked down and saw strained blood near her hand. He took his hand off her cheek and loosened his hand on her elbow so it was just placed there making it easy for her to swim away if she wanted to. He smiled when she stayed put and watched his every move flicking from his hand to his face as he gently lifted her hand and looked to see a slight cut.
"It looked like you need a plaster" he told her
She tilted her head again making him smile; she was a little taken back considering he was a human. "P-laster…?"
He gave a small laugh which made her a little easier. "I guess they don't have them where you're from"
Cuifen shook her head with a hint of a smile.
"Well how about this then" he said softly before gently raising her hand to his mouth and carefully placing his lips to the cut making her go wide eyed.
She suddenly felt very hot and could feel her cheeks heating up; she quickly placed her free hand to her cheek and she turned her face away.
He smiled as he looked at her, "If I may ask what your name is?" he asked politely
She looked at him stunned before thinking he had some other motive "What's yours!?" she asked somewhat rudely though he did not take offence
"Qiao Xuan" he replied
Cuifen put her hand that was on her cheek to her chin as if in thought and forgot about him.
"Hm, Papa did always say to be polite" she said as she looked deep in thought, he opened his mouth to ask her another question before she carried on "But he said not to talk to strangers especially humans"
This caused him to chuckle and she turned to him abruptly.
"How old are you?" he asked nicely
She looked at him strangely "Fourteen"
"You're practically a child then" he cried
This was not the right thing to do as she snatched her hand from him she had forgot she was holding and took offence to what he said. "No I'm not. I'm almost fifteen, that's when I get married. Thank you very much!"
He was a little taken back, "I didn't mean any offence"
"I going now, don't try and follow me!" she cried moodily
He took hold of one of her arms gently. "Hey, wait please"
She looked back at her arm and then him. "What?"
"Will you be here tomorrow?" he asked subtly
She looked at him oddly "Why?"
He smiled at her "I would like to see you again"
Her eyebrows raised in surprise as she watched getting a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Um…I'll think about it, mister" she said before diving into the sea.
He watched until her tailfin went under before making his way back to his friend.
She watched him leave from the sea bed before noticing something shiny just in front of her; she picked it up to see it was that girls clip she had dropped. She looked at it curios as she made her way home she wondered about what to do with it.
When Xuan and his friend returned back to his house where she was staying and had a surprise when her fiancé was there in the hall, she blamed Xuan for not keeping up with the war. When he found she was expecting they were married that very night much to her delight.
The next day Xuan lay on the rock, the sun blisteringly hot. He was falling asleep due to his friend's late night wedding. His eyes closed and he was quickly falling asleep when a wave of water washed over him, he thought it was just the tide until he heard a girls giggles.
He opened his eyes and sat up to see Cuifen in the water.
She put her hands on the side and went down, so all he could was he eyes, so as she could hide her giggles.
He put his glasses on and moved straight to the edge and she looked at him funny with her eyes.
"Hello again, was that you?" he asked kindly
He could see her hide her giggles making him smile at her.
She slowly lifted the rest of her head and rested it on the top of her hands when she placed them on the rock.
"Thank you for coming" he said softly
"Its fine mister, I was going to anyway" she said carefully
"Please call me Xuan"
She let go of the side and started to float in the water.
"So, do you leave near here?" he asked
She nodded "Yeah, right at the bottom"
He sat back as he watched her. "What's it like?"
She stopped floating and faced him. "It's okay, I guess"
"What do you do?" asked Xuan
She sighed hard. "Nothing much, just school"
He gave a small laugh "You don't like it?"
She sighed before started to float again "It's not that, school okay though I have to do it with my brothers and sisters" she sighed again "I'm not allowed out much though, I just practice with my seashells and when I am allowed out, can't do anything fun people stop me and tell me to be proper, so I come here instead"
"Why aren't you allowed out much?" he asked continuing with his questions
She made bubbles with her mouth making her giggle before answering him. "Because Papa says that we must only talk to people in town when there is an event"
He looked at her in confusion "Does your father tell everyone what to do?"
She nodded "Of course he's the king"
Xuan nodded understanding "What about your mother?"
Cuifen shook her head "She got sick and died before I was born"
Xuan burrowed his eyebrows "I don't understand"
"What?" she asked distracted from watching people on the beech
"That she died before you were born. Here if the mother was still carrying the child when she died so would the child" he explained
She looked to him. "Oh, I don't know what carrying is but in Atlantica the mother lays her eggs and then they wait, my sisters were all born at the same time and they look the same too, no one else is like that"
He nodded "You said practice with seashells, what did you mean?"
She looked at him oddly "Why do you keep asking so many questions?"
He smiled at her "I'm sorry, I just don't want you to swim away"
She thought for a moment before giving a small nod "Okay, I'll be back in a minute"
Before he could stop her she went softly back under the ocean.
A couple of seconds she came back with two small shells. "Sorry these were the best I could find. It might not be very good; I'm used to sitting down when I'm doing it"
"Sit up here" he suggested
She put her shells down before trying to push herself but not being strong enough with her tailfin but Xuan held her just above her tailfin and helped. She sat on the edge and some of her tailfin was still in water.
"Sorry my fin's too heavy" she cried but he smiled at her and he noticed the tailfin still in the water starting to sway
He didn't know how she did it but she made beautiful music come out of the shells. He observed her while she played. She had the greenest eyes he'd ever seen with mousy brown hair, she was undoubtedly the most beautiful person he'd ever seen. He looked at her attentively until she suddenly stopped.
"I guess it doesn't work above water" she said before putting the shells down and facing him. "You look kind of breathless"
He nodded blankly "I guess you're right, but it was beautiful"
"Can I ask you a question?" she asked with an innocent face
He nodded "Please"
She thought about what to ask first "Okay, what's a war?"
He looked at her strangely.
"You were talking about something with some human and she said it…and conflict! What does that mean?" she asked
He thought for a moment "Well…it when lots of people called an army fight against other armies to get control of the land or to gain more, a lot of people get hurt"
She nodded "That's really stupid, there's no conflict at all in Atlantica"
"That must be nice" he said softly
She shook her head "No, everyone's so boring and nice; it must be good to be a human"
"Why do you say that?" he asked curios
"Because up here you can do what you want, there's so much more freedom. You're not told what to think and you all act on impulse. In Atlantica no one says a bad word against each other. I'd love to be human" she explained
He nodded understanding "I can understand why you would want to be"
She looked at into the ocean "You know when I first came up here and looked at the beech, the first thing I saw was this girl in this white dress, it was the nicest thing I'd ever seen before. I'd love to be human just so I could wear a dress and look as happy as she did, she was with a man and when he turned around and saw her he walked straight up to her with a really big grin and kissed her. I don't know how she breathed because he wouldn't let go and there was all these people round them standing in rows all smiling at them. Ever since then I've come up here and watched what humans do now every time when I wake up in my room, Atlantica just seems like a prison getting smaller every time I wake"
He looked at her concerned "You sound very unhappy down there"
She nodded looking away from him "Yeah but whenever I ask about being human, papa always says you are a princess, you must follow decorum"
"He's probably just concerned about you" he told her
She shook her head "No, he thinks I'll get bored after a day and he'll just waste his energy in turning me"
"Oh" he said simply
She faced him with sadness "Though I wouldn't! When I come up here I never want to leave it" she sighed sadly
He watched her with concern. "I forgot, this is for you"
She watched him take something small out of his pocket and pealed some paper off; he went to touch her hand before stopping a centimetre away.
"May I?" he asked nicely
Cuifen made no hesitation before nodding and he gently wrapped the paper which she assumed was a plaster round her giving a gentle shock when he touched her and she soon felt her cheeks going red again.
Before the two could say anything his friend jumped up behind him, trying to scare him but they weren't paying attention as he continued to watch her and she continued to blush.
She stood up straight getting a warning from her husband at the beech to be careful. She walked over to Cuifen and kneeled down near her. "Hey, I remember you from yesterday"
Cuifen gave a silent gasp before turning her attention to her. "W-what..?"
She smiled at her "Hi, what's your name?"
Cuifen looked at her in a daze and only just about heard what she said. "C-Cuifen"
"Nice to meet you, mines Li" she cried happily
Cuifen started to come back to her senses "Thank you" she said before remembering something "Oh this is yours" she said before opening a clam that was stuck onto a long string of pearls round her shoulder. She got out her clip and held it out to her "Here, you dropped it yesterday"
Li smiled at it "No thanks you can have it"
Cuifen shook her head "I can't accept it-"
Li pushed the clip back at her "I insist, I've got loads and I'm getting my hair cut short whether Sun Jian likes it or not"
"What does it do?" asked Cuifen
"It keeps the hair out of your face" replied Li
Cuifen nodded understanding "I have star fish that sort of do that but their mostly for decoration" she explained before showing her the starfish making Li's eye brows rise when she saw one of them move "And they sing to, though that can get tiresome"
Li laughed "They're pretty"
Li put up her hair using the clip before going to the side of her
"But can I ask something of you in return?" cried Li
Cuifen nodded "What is it?"
Li looked at her cheekily "Can I touch your tailfin?"
"Huh?" was her immediate reaction before seeing she was not joking and turned slightly "Uh…sure" she replied surprised
Li smiled before touching it slightly "It's a really nice colour"
Cuifen smiled a little "Thank you"
The two sat talking about things and when Li asked for Xuan's opinion he gave one worded answers making her conceal her laugh when she saw it was because of Cuifen. True he had been unable to take his eyes off her the entire time though she did not notice most of the time.
"Can I ask why you keep doing that?" asked Cuifen as she noticed her continuously rubbing her stomach
Li smiled "I'm expecting, I'm five moths gone"
Cuifen nodded "Oh how long have you been bonded for?"
Li chuckled making Cuifen think she was somewhat of a manly woman with light brown hair and dark brown eyes. "We call it a marriage up here and it was late last night"
This made Cuifen's eyebrows rise quickly "That's forbidden in Atlantica, but then again so is coming up to the surface and talking to humans, so I'm not much better"
Li grinned at how she thought the two situation were the same "True, up here it is a scandal that's why we're staying here until the baby's born then we'll go to the palace"
Cuifen nodded understanding "You're so lucky he would do it, boys in Atlantica are so shy it's annoying"
Li smiled before noticing something in the distance "What's that?"
Cuifen looked to see what looked like just a wooden box without a top on and she tilted her head in confusion.
"Xuan, go and see what it is" requested Li
"…" came his reply
"No it's to far for any of you, I'll go" she cried before diving back into the sea though she thought it was nothing, she didn't know that much about humans and if they made such a big deal about a box who was she to question
Li watched the pink tailfin until it disappeared before turning to Xuan "What are you doing?"
He looked straight ahead "What do you mean?"
Li rolled her eyes "You know what I mean…Xuan you know it can't end well she's a mermaid"
Xuan shook his head "I don't know what you mean"
She scoffed "Yes you do, you've been staring at her ever since I came and you've forgotten your own language, you're probably scaring her"
Before he could reply Cuifen came back with the medium sized box.
"I don't know how you saw it, but there is something" she cried
Li looked to her "What is it?"
Cuifen pushed the box up to the side from the water and placed it on the rock.
Li looked inside "Oh my, I didn't think there was actually something in there, let alone children"
Cuifen smiled at them, inside were two baby girls, they couldn't have been more than ten months. One of them was asleep and the other giggling as Cuifen played with her.
"There's a note too but I can't read it" said Cuifen before picking it out and holding it out to them
Li took it and read it aloud "Sorry" she looked at them sadly "Those poor children, their mother probably couldn't keep them. I'll take them back with me if that's okay, they might be hungry"
Cuifen nodded in agreement before Li picked it up and turned to Xuan "I take it you're staying"
Xuan nodded.
Li sighed "Okay, don't be to long, the tides coming in" she cried before turning back to Cuifen "Bye, I hope I meet you again"
Cuifen smiled widely before waving innocently and Li left shortly after with the two girls.
Cuifen took the clip out of her hair letting her hair loose, she examined at the clip. "You're not meant to put your finger in it. Hm guess it's not bad after all and it is shiny" she said to herself
Xuan didn't know why he did what he did next; he blamed it in her innocence she so obviously bestowed. He stood up and kneeled in front of her making her look at him surprised. He placed his hand on her cheek and kissed her making go wide eyed in surprise. He thought he had scared her and was about to stop when he felt her react, so he moved closer and put himself in the water with her. He put a hand behind her neck feeling her wet hair and the other on her waist just above her tailfin while she put hers on his shoulders. He continued to kiss her until she felt his tongue on her lips and she wasn't sure what to do until she felt it come into contact with her own sending shocks all the way down her making the bottom of her tailfin slightly jerk and it felt like she was getting tickled and she had to stop herself from giggling.
This continued for a year, he continued to see her everyday despite Li's warnings about how she was mermaid. He told her things about the humans making her want to become one even more. Li gave birth to baby boy, and almost immediately after was pregnant again, she looked after the two girls giving them a home feeling like they were her own two daughters.
Cuifen sat next to Xuan on the rock, her tailfin laid limply without the water.
"You know he said he'd consider it soon" she told him
Xuan nodded somewhat distant "If you were human, I'd marry you in an instant"
Cuifen looked at him surprised but by the way he said it and the way he looked she was sure she wasn't meant to hear it. Instead she looked out at the ocean. The sun reflected onto it making the ocean look like it was on fire.
"Beautiful" she breathed
Xuan smiled at her "It's looks good when the moons out too"
"I'd love to see the moon properly, I can only see glimpses of it from my room" she told him
"Why don't you? There's a full moon tonight too" he asked her
She thought for a moment "I guess I could though it's be scary on my own"
"I'll be here" he cried
Cuifen smiled and nodded "Okay then, I'll come"
That evening she approached her father in the throne room. He smiled when he saw her until he saw the look in her eyes and he sighed.
"Cuifen, everyday must you ask?" he asked tiredly
Her father had a light green tailfin with light brown hair and light green eyes.
"Papa I'm going to ask until you say yes" she replied determined
He looked at her determined face "If you really want it but there are a lot of terms here"
She nodded eagerly "I'll do anything"
He shook his head "No, you don't have to do much"
She looked at him confused "What do you mean?"
"It's on the table over there, bring that piece of cloth to me" he requested
She swam over to a small table by the entrance of the room and picked up the piece of paper before squinting her eyebrows "I can't read it, it's in their language"
"I know it is, bring it here and I will. I got it out days ago, I knew you wouldn't forget about this" he cried
His daughter complied wondering how long he'd been able to read the human language.
He sighed as he looked at the list "I warn you its long" Cuifen nodded understanding and he began "Okay, the only part concerning you is when you go into our ocean, this ocean only your fin will come back"
She looked at him "Will it be permanent?"
He shook his head "No as soon as you go back onto land it'll go"
She sighed in relief "Is that all?"
"No, the rest concerns any children you have" he replied sadly
"What makes you think-"she was cut off when he started to chuckle and she looked at him in confusion.
"To be honest if there wasn't someone who would take care of you I'd wouldn't let you go, as long as he looks after you" he cried
Cuifen couldn't help but smile "He will, I promise and he's real nice too but um I didn't mean to disobey you papa"
He smiled at her "Its okay dear, as long as you're happy"
"Thank you papa"
"Okay, now the rest of it," he said "first thing, you can only have daughters"
She nodded "Okay" she cried chirpy
"Like you anytime they go into water their fins will come but this isn't just our ocean it's any water anytime"
She nodded "Okay" A hint of the chirpiness gone
He sighed "Now here's when it gets worse"
"I'm ready" she told him
He looked at her "Next your eldest daughter will have to find her voice"
"I don't understand…" she cried confused
"You will someday. Next they must spend three months of year in Atlantica until the eldest or only daughter turns five then they must stay here until the youngest or only daughter turns fifteen, then they must three months of the year until the eldest or only daughter finds her voice and her true love" He explained
Cuifen didn't know what to say to this "Um…Is that it?"
He shook his head "There's a bit more, are you okay with it?"
She nodded with some determination "Yeah"
"If there is a younger daughter or daughters, then she cannot be married until the eldest has found a love willing to accept her, but the men must know of Atlantica and of their heritage" he explained
Cuifen went silent "Is it finished?"
He nodded "But when they come of age, I'll help the very best I can"
She gave him a small smile and it did help knowing he would help "Thank you"
"You might want to talk to him about it before finally making up your mind" he suggested after he swam to her and put his arm around her
She looked at him straight "Papa I still want to do this, nothing going to change that"
He looked to her surprised "B-but-"
She shook her head "No! Papa I don't to wait to do this, I've wanted this to long"
Her father looked at her stunned before quickly composing himself "Okay, Okay just go and talk to him then"
She nodded determined "Fine I'll go right now but I'm taking this, I'll forget otherwise" she snatched the cloth form his hands and started to swim out before he shouted to her.
"How do you know he'll even be there?
She turned around "Because he said he would be!"
When she arrived at the surface she found him already there, he helped her up and she sat her fin over his knees. She shivered from the cold.
"Here" he cried softly as he put his overcoat round her
"Thank you"
He looked at her concerned "What's wrong?"
"Oh, this" she said before giving him the cloth to read "It's in your language, it'll happen if I become human"
He nodded as he took and read it; after he was done he looked at her sad face. "It's not that bad you know"
She looked up to him "You don't mind?"
He shook his head "No, besides it can all be fixed"
She smiled at him before tackling the best she could without legs. "Thank you" she whispered
He smiled as he put his arm round her.
There was a crash in the sky causing Cuifen to scream and hold on to him tighter.
He stroked her wet hair as she whimpered "its okay, its just thunder"
"It's scary, does it always happen?" she whimpered
"No, we rarely get them, but look over there" he said quietly
Cuifen looked to where he was pointing to see lightning she smiled "What's that? It's pretty"
He smiled at her "It's lightning, it comes with thunder"
She nodded before they heard thunder and she went buried her head in his chest. "I don't like thunder"
He put his arms around her as if to protect her making her feel safe. They sat like that for awhile until Cuifen knew she had to get back
"I should get back, I want to do this real soon" she cried
He slowly let her go, though he didn't like letting go of her. He smiled at the thought of being able to hold her whenever he wanted.
"Papa told me once, it takes a couple of hours so…"
"It's okay I'll be here in the morning" he cried
She smiled at him before getting ready to jump into the water.
"Wait" he said softly and waited until she had turned her head to face him "I love you"
She immediately brightened up even more than she usually was "You do?"
He nodded smiling.
This made her practically glow "That's good because I love you too"
He didn't waste anytime in kissing her which she gladly returned before she had to go.
When she returned she went straight to her father.
"Papa, please can we do it now?" she asked eagerly
Her father looked at her uneasy "Cuifen, I just don't think I can let you go that easily"
Her face fell "But you said I could do this!"
"I just feel that you shouldn't leave your home and your family for a human" he reasoned
"But I want to, I've wanted this long enough to know its never going to go away" she cried
"Cuifen I just don't feel right doing this for you please understand" he told her
Tears immediately started to pour out and she turned away to swim out.
"Cuifen, wait" he said concerned when she didn't stop he got slightly annoyed "I'm talking to you!"
She stopped abruptly and turned her head "This place really is like a prison" she quietly but he still managed to hear her
She immediately swam outside and cried on a seating clam.
After a while she noticed someone start to pat her back.
"Papa go away!!" she shouted from her arms
"I'm not your father" said a soft female voice
Cuifen looked up to see a octopus, well a human top off with octopus legs, if it had been in different circumstances she would have been friendly but she was just to upset.
"I heard about your situation and I can help" she told her
Cuifen sniffed "What do you mean?"
"Well introductions first princess, my name is Ai" she cried nicely
Cuifen nodded not in the mood for niceties and Ai could sense this and felt sorry for her.
"You know your father isn't the only one who can make you human"
Cuifen got a flicker of hope "He isn't? Then who else"
Ai concealed before raising her hands "Why me of course, but I would to ask something in return"
Cuifen nodded hurriedly "Yes, yes anything"
"My sister has had her first child, a girl just born today. I should stay the terms of the spell will be same as what your father told, if he did?" she cried
Cuifen nodded "He told me, but what is it?"
Ai smiled "Well, when your daughter comes down here, she will leave when she is fourteen, I wish for you to take my niece. As much as I love my sister, she is cruel to cruel. Will you promise me this?"
Cuifen immediately nodded "I promise, you have my word I will do it, just please turn me as soon as possible"
Ai smiled "Thank you, we'll do it now then" a sceptre appeared from no where and she concentrated. The king came out just in time to see a green light come out of the sceptre and hit Cuifen.
He immediately went up to his daughter.
When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was her tailfin and she burst into tears.
Ai went up to her "Princess what's wrong?"
"It…didn't…work" she said between sobs
Ai smiled "It takes a few hours princess, don't worry by dawn you should be human but be as close to the surface as you can, if you're to far away you could run out of air"
Cuifen nodded understanding before she noted her father's hurt look beside her. "Papa…"
"Are you going to apologize?" he asked her
She shook her head "No, you knew this is what I wanted and you ignored it, but if I really am going to be human then you should make your piece with this now"
He sighed sadly "I hope he's worth this"
"Why don't you tell the king about him? When I went up there I could see he cared about you. Your father told me to follow you and make sure you were safe" explained Ai
Cuifen slightly shook her head "I didn't know um thank you" she said as Ai smiled at her before turning to her father "Papa he's real nice you know"
Her father managed a nod "Why don't you tell me then?"
Cuifen nodded "Well um…he's two years older than me and he's got real dark black hair and real blue eyes. He's kind and so clever. He's funny, sweet and he said he loves me and…"
Her father chuckled "That's enough, I'm sure he's wonderful"
"Oh yeah and that too" cried Cuifen excitedly
"Why don't you go say bye to everyone?" suggested Ai
Cuifen nodded before going to find her siblings.
The king sighed "Why did you do that?"
She put a hand on his shoulder "You were keeping her here against her will and you know it; now she can choose what she wants"
He knew she was right but he still didn't want his daughter to go.
She said goodbye to all her family.
When it was a minute before dawn all her eight brothers and sisters stood watching along with her father and Ai. She suddenly went unconscious and a bright light surrounding her and her tailfin separated before producing two legs fitting in size with her body. Before the light dissipated her seashells turned into a one strap dress going halfway down the knee and flowing down the right side to her knee before light went out.
"Quickly get her up there!" ordered the King
Her two oldest brothers grabbed her and started swimming as fast as they could up to the surface.
Xuan was walking along the beach when he saw a man holding her girl and placing on the sand. He was quick to see the man had a tailfin a bright yellow one and as soon as he placed her, he saw Xuan but almost immediately after dived into the ocean with another that was with him.
When he saw the girl, he knew it was Cuifen, he ran straight to her and skidded to her and removed any hair that was on her face and as soon as he did she coughed up seawater. He grew a smile quickly when she opened her eyes softly and smiled at him.
"Xuan…?" she said just above a whisper before she noticed her toes and started to wiggle them making her giggle in happiness. She sat on her elbows as she watched them. She looked at Xuan "What do I do now?"
He continued to smile at her "Do you want to try and stand?"
She nodded before putting weight on her hands and trying to transition it to her feet but not sure how, before Xuan gently pushed her forward so she could do, he chuckled when she made a high pitched 'oh' sound in realisation. She gently tried to stand before quickly losing her balance and falling into Xuan who was more than happy to catch her.
She put a finger to her mouth blankly "What happened?"
He smiled "You just lost your balance but you did very well for a first time"
She giggled as she looked up to him "I did?"
He nodded "Why don't I carry you for now"
She carried on giggling as she nodded. "Okay, where are we going?"
He picked her up in his arms "Home, I'll help walk and stand there before we go and get you some clothes"
She blushed "Home…?"
He nodded at her "Of course"
"Okay but can we come back here I didn't feel the sand properly, but not when the waters all the way in" she said happily as he smiled at her
She looked around with eager eyes for new things before her mouth widened. "What's that?" she asked as she pointed to something
He looked to where she was pointing and continued to smile at her "It's a flower"
Her mouth formed an 'o' shape "Looks strange for a flower"
He walked over to it and bent down; keeping her enclosed to him he gently picked it up and gave it to her. She started to feel it.
"It feels…different, I guess coz it's not wet, right?" she asked to make sure
He nodded as she gently started to smell it. "Smells nicer up here too not of salt"
They carried on walking s she asked him what things were.
"What's that?" she asked excited
"Grass, you can sit on it and other things you'll find out" he replied
She nodded "And that?"
He looked at her with squinted eyebrows "Rocks"
She smiled stupidly as she raised her shoulders and turned them round continuously trying and succeeding to look innocent which only endeared her to him more.
"It's okay, you have all the time you need" he told her
Cuifen's face glowed like a star as she practically bounced, clapped and giggled in his arms excitedly.
Xuan taught her how to be a human and they married making her dream come true of wearing a white dress and she thought her wedding as he told her it was called was so much better then the woman she saw. It was a thin white going to halfway of her knee on the right side and smoothly flowing down to the floor on the left like the dress she wore on her first day with small starfish that gently swayed in the breeze and sang through out the ceremony making Li laugh. Li, her husband and her six month old child were the only ones present apart from the priest.
A year later she became pregnant when her father found out he made his first and he highly hoped his last visit to the surface and asked her from the bottom of his heart if she could be born in Atlantica. When he did ask so sincerely Cuifen never could say no since he ever occasionally did and this was no exception. Unlucky for the king and lucky for Xuan he had not been there so he could not interrogate him for taking away his eldest daughter.
Just an introduction to the story, the story will begin properly next chapter but you can guess who the couples are.
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