Words whispered like the seals before them had, taunting her, reminding her that swimming up or taking this risk wasn't worth it.
Her mind fizzled, and yet she couldn't find a name for the 'cat' that haunted her thoughts, calling at her, tempting her.
'He's human, he's human...' Drifted over her head like some unforgotten maze, and she couldn't quite catch her breath.
"Lilly," Breathed a voice next to her, "It's time to move on. Not everyone has a right to their soulmate."
Wouldn't the Keeper know that well though? Her brown hair despite being wet and dripping down her back as much as it could underwater and her tired eyes spoke volumes. How did she come to rule this roost, to have a life so important in the sea, and to be beaten down harder than you could imagine by it?
Lilly bit her lip and wondered now for the millionth time if her name fit her: Waterlily, named for the plants that grew closer to the shore and yet never shed their watery home.
"What do you mean?" Lilly moved with just a flick of her tail, and her mind carried away with it flecks of fantasies, images of what soulmates, and histories became here for the Keeper now though her mind wasn't afraid of wandering.
"Lilly, do you think I'd be with my soulmate if I could?" The Keeper's voice was that soft inflection except there was a hardness beneath it, one that bit and chewed, demanding attention.
"Everyone would be with their soulmate if they could." Lilly recited it like a mantra as she thought over her options; she'd only came here for the clarity that the Keeper provided. She helped everyone see clearer images, but like usual, she never revealed names.
"Humans are weak, Lilly. It won't last." The Keeper's eyes pleaded with her, but Lilly couldn't quite meet them.
"Do you think people call him, cat?" It seemed simple enough; he had fake cat ears and a belt tail. He even had claws!
It didn't matter that he wore a suit, a costume in a way. and she'd be happy to meet him regardless; Lilly didn't quite follow the rules the way that she was supposed to.
"Lilly, trust me humans are dangerous." The Keeper reminded Lilly of how her life must have gone once upon a time ago.
"Lilies are weak. I don't think it fits." Lilly spoke up softly, "They only stay near the surface, on top, they don't just leave and be their own best selves."
Lilly's eyes sparkled like forbidden gems on the shore, and the Keeper cursed, "You'll regret this."
"Regret may be short lived for this." Lilly sent a smile her way before she flicked her tail and took off; she'd spent her whole life wondering about her soulmate, worrying, and being different species never stopped her from knowing that they could make it work: Mers and humans weren't forbidden to see each other after all, there were ways, and besides just being strongly discouraged, it would be okay.
Lilly went home to find her mother sound asleep, a letter clutched in her hand, and Lilly smiled sadly, "I'm sorry, Mom." She hated leaving her too, hated that her dad may take longer yet to come home to them, and that Rose might not even be here when he did.
She moved around the 'Living Room' with a sense of ease, a familiarity that clung to it, to her.
Lilly reached for a few of her things and blinked when she stumbled upon a letter from her dad addressed to her, 'Don't worry, pumpkin. It's just taking a little longer up here, just tell your mom that I love her and not to worry. I know that you'll wander off in search of your soulmate like we did, and that you're nearly old enough now, just don't do anything stupid.'
Her dad's half human and while exploring his family roots on land, he's picked up a lot of weird phrases and words; Lilly loves them, but it hurts that he hasn't came home as of yet.
The young mermaid's eyes flicker over towards the bottom of the note, a pink flower takes up a part of the page, and she glances down to find a word just off to the side in English though it takes her a stumble or two to read it: rose.
She likes it like she likes the words that her father says, like she likes her soulmate though she hasn't met him in person yet. Rose would be a pretty name, and that's when she decides that it will be her name when she meets her soulmate, her name when she's on land, since it's hard to explain who she is at first.
A flower for a flower: there's no finer name for her after all.
'We'll be Rose and Cat together.'