Élan

by Writer for the Tylwyth Teg

Eren is a graduate student who, after getting out a horribly abusive relationship, has sworn he will never love again. He's doing an internship at the Sina Aquarium, a rescue and rehabilitation center for aquatic animals, and the only aquarium rumored to have a mermaid. He soon finds out that it's no rumor, and that the mermaid is just as broken as he is.

1. Prologue: Where the Cliff Greets the Sea

"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever." – Jacques Costeau

If one asked Eren Jaeger's parents, they would tell you that as sweet and romantic as their wedding had been, and as passionate and fiery as their resulting honeymoon was thereafter, their love was merely a glowing ember compared to the roaring inferno that seemed to burn in their son from that very first moment he laid eyes on the sea.

It started when Eren had just learned how to walk, and they had taken him to the summer home Grisha owned by the beach. They had put the little boy in swim trunks, placed him in the sand, and immediately his eyes had locked with the water. Without even hesitating, he made a beeline towards it, tripping a few times on his unsteady, stubby legs, but never giving up on his goal. His parents snickered behind their hands. Even when he reached the water, the new sensation didn't even cause him to hesitate and adjust to it like other toddlers might. Hell, he had been afraid of grass up until just a few months ago, holding his feet above it and screeching whenever anyone tried to lower him towards it, so they thought water would scare him half to death. But nope, he just kept going, giggling like mad, arms extended and hands grabbing for the waves that kept crashing up onto the shore. They had promptly run over and scooped him up just as the water was about to reach his chest, laughing to cover up the heart attack he had nearly given them.

When they did finally get him in the water and started swimming with him, Carla and Grisha swore they had never seen their son's eyes light up so much. Everything was fantastic to him, new and exciting, and he played in the water like he had discovered heaven on Earth. When they took him out as the sun started to go down, he had cried and thrown a fit afterwards, calmed only when they promised he could go back in the next day.

Over the years, they returned faithfully to that beach house every summer, and every summer, Eren's love for the water only seemed to grow. It took him no time to become a strong swimmer, and the fish and creatures he encountered fascinated him to no end, seeming only to encourage him further. Carla used to joke that he had never had blood in his veins, but seawater. And therefore, it didn't surprise either of his parents at all when he declared during dinner one night when he mentioned that at school they had to write a short paper on what they wanted to be when they grew up and why, and declared that he wanted to study the ocean.

"Really?" Grisha had asked, sounding surprised, "I thought you were thinking of becoming a doctor like your old man."

Eren had shaken his head adamantly, and declared while signing at the same time, "I want to see all of the ocean! And you know all of those places that people say are too deep to dive down into? I'm going to be the first one. I'm going to see things no one has ever seen before."

Grisha had shrugged, ruffled his hair, and said, "I figured as much. Well, if that's what you want, we'll help you get there."

Carla had nodded proudly and kissed him on the forehead.

Then, just a few weeks later, the breaking story on the news had appeared that changed Eren's goals and course of action forever.

"Experts have confirmed that the creature captured in Trost Sound was indeed the long fabled cryptid countless authors from across the ages have referenced in their writings," the news on the t.v was saying, "Though no scientific name has been settled on for them as of yet, we know them most famously as mermaids."

Eren watched with rapt attention, his eyes widening with every word spoken. Ever since the new had come out about the possible mermaid a week ago, he had been on the edge of his seat, hoping that it wouldn't be another hoax. He could barely believe what he was hearing.

"Of course it's not a real mermaid," his father had said back then, "It'll be a fake just like all the others I'm afraid. I wouldn't get my hopes up, Eren."

"But we learned in science class yesterday that the surface of the moon has been explored more times than the deep ocean," Eren pointed out, "and you're going to tell me mermaids can't be real?"

But now, his every hope was coming true right in front of his eyes. Immediately, he turned to both of his parents, so excited that he forgot to sign so that his mother could understand him, and exclaimed, "That's what I'm going to do! I want to study mermaids!"

While his mother, only half understanding him, signed, "You want to what?" his father simply shrugged and said, "Sure. It would be great to see you as one of the pioneers of the field on mermaids."

Eren had grinned hugely at that, euphoric beyond comprehension at his encouragement.

However, that had been years ago, and of course there were updates on the field of mermaid science. Human history had to be rewritten, and truthfully it was extremely difficult to cultivate information on them, as mermaids were very elusive. Scientists mostly had to rely on legends, and that in itself was counterproductive. However, Eren devoured every piece of information he came across, which also wasn't much, considering that most of it was still considered classified, all the while dreaming of being able to add to it someday. However, what he had come across he studied just as much if not more so than what he was supposed to be studying in school.

First off, scientists had found that all of the specimens they had recovered had been female, leading them to wonder where the males of the species were. They also noticed that they were social, as remains of mermaids were often found together, and this high sociability, combined with the complex vocalization recordings they had collected revealed that they were intelligent. In fact, this level of intelligence had only been seen in humans and dolphins. This fact was only proven further by the company they seemed to keep, which were mostly dolphins of all different species, as well as pods of whales. It wasn't known how much they associated with the dolphins and whales though, or for what purpose. They were evidently also attracted to shiny objects, as it wasn't uncommon to see them wearing necklaces or even something in their hair with a reflective shell or a gemstone embedded in it. Not surprising, since shiny objects generally meant fish, which meant food. And most interesting, besides their normal vocalizations, just as the legends from the sailors claimed, they sang. Scientists had only heard it from afar, but they described the mermaid's song as truly haunting and beautiful, foreboding and comforting all at once. It was said to raise goosebumps on the skin while also drawing the person who heard it into a state of bliss, almost causing them to lose control of the higher functions of their minds without even being aware of it, a truly terrifying sensation.

"It's like being drunk and getting behind the wheel," one scientist described it, "You're thinking you're okay to drive, and your body goes through the motions on autopilot, but your mind is completely gone without you even knowing it."

However, despite being able to describe the sensation accurately, they couldn't for the life of them figure out what purpose the singing served. Only that it, for some reason, only seemed to affect the male scientists, while the women remained clear headed. But even the more frightening facts drew the little boy in. In fact, they seemed to draw him in more than the not so frightening ones did, because he wanted to find out why they were so.

But now, nine year old Eren stood on the familiar earth of what he considered to be his home away from home. It was just the beginning of summer, their beach house was several hundred yards behind him, and the beach itself was spread below him several hundred yards down. It was very early in morning, so early that the stars in the sky were mingling with the pink dawn light, and his parents were still in bed asleep. But truthfully, he was so excited to be here after waiting all year once more to see it, that he found it impossible to sleep. And honestly, these mornings where he could be by himself and explore was his favorite time of the time day. He took in a deep breath, allowing the heavy, humid, salty air to flood his sinuses once more and root him. The seagulls were calling out over his head, and the waves were crashing against the bottom of the cliff he was currently standing on top of. His hair was fluttering past his face as the wind blew it, and the overly long grass tickled his bare legs.

Eren found himself fingering the pendant he wore, pulling it away from where it sat on his chest and holding it up to the dawn light. He smiled, wishing he had his mom's phone so he could take a picture. The necklace had been a present from his parents for his birthday this year, and it was a black, braided cord that held up a chunk of aquamarine. Not only was it his birthstone, but it was the color of the sea in the Caribbean. Even more special, it was rumored to be a favorite gemstone of the mermaids, and Eren had always secretly hoped that if he ever met one out here, it might be attracted to his pendant and come up to him. The way the light shone through it and around it made it seem otherworldly, even more like it belonged to a mermaid, and reinforced itself as his most beloved possession.

For another summer, the sea had caught him in its net again, and for another summer, Eren found himself helpless against the spell it cast.

He lowered his pendant back to his chest, but didn't get the chance to relax again, because he heard a soft, strange sound coming from below him. At first, he thought he was just hearing things. Perhaps it was an errant shriek of a seagull. Yet, a moment later, he heard it again, a piercing whistling sound, rising even over the sound of the crashing waves.

Eren froze. He had only ever heard that sound on t.v. It sounded eerily like the call of a dolphin, and yet, not. He scooted closer to the edge of the cliff, peering over it. Was there a dolphin on the beach?

The boy gasped when he heard the sound again, except this time, it was several short, sharp screeches. It sounded like an animal in pain. Had a dolphin beached itself overnight? Without hesitating, he backed away from the cliff and raced across the grass and down the path that led him to the beach. Eren skidded to a stop, the sand spraying at his feet, and let his eyes rove up and down the beach. At first glance, he didn't see anything except seagulls picking at dead fish that had washed up. Then again, the light was still low, making things hard to see, so he couldn't rely on his eyes so much. He strained his ears, listening for the crying again, and when he heard it, he took off running towards it. Luckily, it was much more sustained this time, and it wasn't coming from the beach itself, but underneath the cliff where he had been standing. Perhaps the dolphin was stuck under there; the rock didn't meet the sea right away as it descended toward it, leaving a large hollow space underneath, almost like someone had taken a scoop out of it, that Eren would often explore, though the slippery rocks often made it hazardous. It could be entirely possible that something had swum up in there and gotten stuck.

Once he reached the cave, he realized he was going to have to hop into the water in order to go further. So he quickly took off his shoes, left them on the beach, and stepped in, shivering at how cold it was. Luckily, the water wasn't too deep here, not even reaching his knees, and he navigated his way in carefully, staying alert for the source of the sound.

He didn't have long to wait to see it. It was quiet for a brief moment, before the shrieking picked up again, loud and piercing, echoing off the rock walls all around him. It was accompanied by violent splashing near the edge of the wall, right by the stone shore. In the low light, Eren could see that whatever was stuck was pretty large, and that by its tail, which was thrashing around in the water, it certainly looked like a dolphin. However, there was some odd lump stuck on its tail, and by the way it shone, it looked like the lump was made of some kind of metal. Stomach sinking, Eren stepped out of the water and made his way carefully across the slippery rocks and over towards the creature.

But when Eren got close enough, and the animal lifted its head out of the water, he saw immediately that it was no dolphin.

The boy gasped and leaped backwards, slipping on the rocks as he did so and landing hard on his rear. However, over the noise of its struggling, the mermaid didn't notice him. For it was indeed a mermaid. The tail looked like a dolphin's, as it was smooth and darker in color, but the upper body was most certainly human in shape, complete with dark hair on the top of the mermaid's head. Eren trembled there for a moment in combination of shock, cold, and most of all, excitement. Here was a real mermaid at last!

Before he could say anything though, the creature at that moment caught sight of him, freezing in place once it locked eyes with him. Its eyes widened with terror, and Eren could hear it panting in the quiet of the cave, see its chest rising and falling in the faint light. As it paused for a moment, the boy noticed that it wasn't as big as he originally thought. In fact, it seemed to be no bigger than he was. He sucked in a breath when he got a better look at its face and what he could see of its body; this was just a young mermaid, a child, perhaps no older than him.

When it processed the new situation it was in, it let out another ear-splitting wail and began struggling again, trying desperately to get away from Eren, however it seemed like it couldn't, like something was hindering its movements. Then he remembered the metallic lump stuck to its tail, and his heart began to race in apprehension. Was it trapped? He remembered an article online mentioning something about how it was becoming common for people to set traps for mermaids like they set traps for animals on land, luring them in with food or shiny trinkets before the trap snagged them around their tails, arms, or hands. From there, they would do all manner of horrible things with them, ranging from selling them live to aquariums or marine parks, or killing them and selling their body parts for large profits. Eren highly doubted that the trappers would spare even a young mermaid from such a fate.

Making up his mind about what he had to do, he quickly got to his feet and slipped back into the water, trying hard to block out the horrible sounds the scared mermaid was making, and instead spoke to it, struggling to be heard over its cries and splashing.

"Hey, hey hey!" he called, "Hey, shh, it's alright! I'm not going to hurt you! I want to help you, okay? Shh, easy, hey, calm down."

The mermaid's struggles slowed at hearing his voice, or perhaps it had just exhausted itself. Either way, after a moment, it regarded Eren with wide, scared eyes. The water it was stuck in was very shallow, so shallow that it was able to sit on the bottom and its torso cleared the water. Eren approached it slowly, keeping his body angled away from it so that it could see he wouldn't suddenly lunge at it, and his hands lifted, palms up. He kept up a soothing string of words the entire time, words he might use to approach a cat or dog that was scared of him.

"Shh, shh, it's going to be okay," he told it softly, "It's all going to be okay. Just relax for me, alright? I'm not going to hurt you. I promise I won't."

The creature's apprehensive stare was so intense, so fixed on him that it was unnerving, but Eren couldn't blame it. It most likely couldn't understand him, so it had nothing to go off as to what his intentions were but the tone of his voice and his body language. So he ignored the stare as best he could, and kept inching towards the mermaid.

"Good job, very good," he praised it when it remained still. He was only a couple feet away now, and it this point he decided it would be wise to make himself look even smaller and less like a threat. He crouched down, ignoring how the water seeped into his shorts, and slunk forward. "Good job, you. Easy now, okay? I'm going to help you. I won't leave until I do."

He chanced reaching out his hand. The mermaid flinched away, and Eren flinched in turn, but kept his hand steady. When it did nothing else, Eren chanced getting closer. He turned his hand so that the back of it was facing the mermaid, hoping it would look even less threatening that way. It stared at his hand as he approached, back ramrod straight and its whole frame trembling in terror, but otherwise didn't move.

"That's it, shh, shhhh," Eren continued, keeping his tone light, "Good. Thank you, you're doing a good job. I know you're scared. I am too, don't worry. But it's alright, see?"

When his hand was hovering just a few inches over the mermaid's skin without it reacting any further, he took the chance, and touched its upper arm with the back of his hand. It whimpered and screwed its eyes shut for a brief moment, and Eren flinched and pulled his hand back for a second, before putting his hand back, letting it get used to the new sensation. When the pain didn't come, the mermaid cracked its eyes open, allowing itself to take in this small human's face. It was smiling at him, gently, no teeth bared, and its green eyes were lit with the orange light of the strengthening dawn. It remained in place, not knowing what it should do next, but it didn't appear that this human was going to hurt it.

Eren felt the mermaid relax fractionally under his hand, and, encouraged, he turned it around and stroked its skin with his fingers. It stared at his hand, but then lifted its eyes so that it could look him in the eyes, and Eren felt his breath leave him in a rush. The mermaid's eyes looked like a normal person's eyes, and if it weren't for the tail, Eren felt like he could have been looking into a human face. The only betraying features were that its nose was shaped just the slightest bit differently so that its nostrils were smaller, probably to keep water from going down its nose. Its eyes were a dark color, and at first they looked grey to him, but upon close inspection, Eren could see that they were in fact a very, very dark blue.

"Huh," Eren noticed once he got over his surprise, "Your skin feels warm and…soft. A little tougher than mine, but not rubbery, like a dolphin's. That's…wow. You're, um…"

Before he could go on, the mermaid lifted a hand out of the water, and in return, touched Eren's arm. There was a thin webbing between its fingers, Eren noticed, but other than that, it looked no different than his own hand. It even had fingernails. It felt along Eren's arm as well, trailing its palm up and down, and the boy remained still. He watched the mermaid's face, and though its expression was still tight and pained, the fear seemed to leak from its face just slightly. Satisfied, Eren withdrew his hand, and the mermaid did the same, placing it back into the water.

"Good, thank you for letting me get so close," Eren said with a nod, letting his smile get bigger. The mermaid didn't return it, but its eyes never left his. "Listen," he continued, "I need to see what we're dealing with here, okay? I need to look at your tail, see what kind of trap this is. I'm going to try not to hurt you, and we're going to see if we can get this off of you, so just…stay still. Please?"

The mermaid continued to stare at him, and Eren figured from the blank look it was giving him that not a word of that had been comprehended. So instead, he backed away slowly, going down towards the mermaid's tail, where he could see the shiny thing attached to it beneath the water. He hesitated, his hands hovering over the water.

"Okay," he exhaled, "I'm going to need to lift your tail so I can see what kind of trap this is. I'm going to try and be careful, but it might hurt a little. I'm sorry, um…okay, alright, here we go."

Slowly, purposefully, he reached under the water, and the instant his hands made contact with the mermaid's tale, the creature flinched again, and let out another cry. It tried to pull away, scooting backwards on the rock. Eren pulled his hands away and tried to calm it down again.

"Shhh, hey, it's okay, I'm sorry," he apologized, "I'm sorry, but I have to look at it, or I can't help you. I'm trying to be as careful as I can, I promise. Please, hold still."

The small mermaid tired quickly again, panting, and Eren used that moment to carefully lift its tail from the water. For the boy, it was quite heavy, and though he was as careful as he could be, the mermaid still whined with distress, and feebly tried to pull its tail out of Eren's grasp. However, it was far too tired to struggle much, so he was able to keep a hold of it. He gasped when he saw that yes, a trap was definitely the reason the mermaid was stuck here. Even worse, the trap that held it was a snap trap, and the teeth were digging into the flesh of the poor creature. Blood was leaking down the sides of its tail, and Eren hissed looking at it.

"Alright, okay," he told himself, "Right. We need to get this off you. Maybe I can..."

He tilted his head, looking at the trap from a few different angles, before deciding to come at it from the top. Eren tried to pry the jaws of the trap apart, but it wouldn't budge. He tried until a sweat broke out on his brow, but it still wouldn't move. After a few tries, he saw another pair of hands appear on one side of the trap, and he looked up to see that the mermaid was looking at him, its expression unsure and still full of fear and pain, but also determined. Without words, they repositioned their hands so that they each held onto one side of the trap, before they began to pull in unison. However, even then, the trap refused to give. They gave it a few more tries, grunting with exertion, but it was as if the trap was locked in place.

Finally, Eren and the mermaid let go of the trap to catch their breath. However, now Eren was beginning to grow angry, refusing to give up. He pulled up the mermaid's tail again, grumbling to himself, "There has to be some way to get this thing off. Usually they just pull apart, so what is up with this thing?"

He examined it from all angles as best he could, trying to figure out the trap's secret. It was on the fourth scan that he noticed a tiny keyhole at the base, and comprehension dawned. The trap must have a key that went to it that would unlock it.

"We need a key for this thing," Eren said out loud, "Alright then. Okay. I'm going to need to get my parents. They'll be able to help."

He put the trap down again and started to stand up, but before he could get very far, surprisingly, a webbed hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. The mermaid was looking him with wide, pleading eyes, shaking its head, begging without words, Please don't leave me. I hurt and I'm scared, please don't leave, don't leave me alone.

"I'm so sorry," Eren said sincerely, falling back into a crouch, "But I'll be right back. I'm not leaving you."

He tried to pull away again, but the mermaid's grip was firm, and he whined again. To Eren, he looked and sounded like a sad little puppy, and the combination pulled at his heart strings. He bit his lip, wondering what he should do next, before an idea occurred to him. It wasn't one he wanted to enact, but he didn't see any other option at the moment. With his free hand, he reached behind his neck and unclasped his necklace, before holding it in front of him. Seeing this, the mermaid let go, its eyes focusing on the pretty blue gem.

"Here," Eren said, clasping the necklace around the mermaid's neck, "This is my favorite necklace. I'm not going to leave it, and I'm not going to leave you. I promise I'll be back for the both of you."

He tapped at the pendant sitting against the mermaid's chest to solidify his promise, before he backed away again, the mermaid letting him go this time. He spared one last look at those pitiful gray eyes, before he scrambled out from underneath the rock cave. He pushed his way through the water and then scrambled up the beach, before racing to up to his beach house, forgetting his shoes on the sand entirely. He flew through the front door, and pounced on his parents' bed once he reached the bedroom.

"Get up!" he said desperately, bouncing on top of them, "Dad, get up, there's a mermaid on the beach that needs our help, please!"

His dad grunted awake, followed closely by his mother, both of them sitting up slowly and regarding him with confusion. His dad rubbed his eyes and asked in a gravelly voice, "Eren, what are you on about? What's the matter?"

"A mermaid is stuck in a trap on the beach, under the cliff," Eren explained a little more slowly, "We need to go and get it out now, before the trappers come back for it. Please dad, please! It's just a little mermaid, probably a kid, and it's really scared. I promised it I'd be back to help it. The trap has a keyhole on it and we can't open it."

At this, Grisha woke up further and glanced at Carla, who had gotten the gist of what Eren was saying by reading his lips. They knew Eren had a penchant for lying sometimes, as most children do, and especially most bratty children like Eren did, but they also knew that when he lied, his ears always turned red. His were free of red, and his eyes were far too sincere and scared looking for him to be making up what he was saying. So, both of them wasted no time in hopping out of bed. Grisha immediately went into doctor mode, throwing some medical supplies in a bag that he always carried around just in case, and he instructed Carla to grab the key off the dresser that he always wore around his neck, but had taken off for the night. She did so, placing it over her own neck, before the three of them dashed out the front door, not even bothering with their shoes.

Eren led them hastily down to the beach, running as if demons were at his heels, constantly checking behind him to make sure that his parents were following. They stayed close behind him, and plunged into the water behind him when Eren led them underneath the cliff. However, they froze when they saw the trapped mermaid, saw that it was sitting up and staring at all of them, that it looked relieved when it saw Eren come back, and that its tail was still above the water, resting against a large rock that most likely had the trap chained to it and that the snap trap their son had mentioned still had it in its clutches.

Shaking off their surprise, they raced forward, ignoring their wet clothes. Grisha knelt down in the water beside the mermaid's tail and the trap, and Carla stood by him. Eren was standing by the mermaid's head, rubbing its shoulder and speaking soothing words to it while the mermaid in turn rubbed his upper arm. Grisha examined the trap for a second, finding the little keyhole Eren had mentioned quickly.

"Carla, my skeleton key," he signed, and Carla quickly nodded, kneeling down next to him. She leaned forward, and without taking the key from around her neck, slid it into the little slot. When she turned it, they heard the trap click, and knew it had worked. Grisha and Carla then each took a side of the trap, and pulled at the jaws of it. They separated with a creak, and the mermaid pulled its tail free.

"Now hold on," Grisha said, "It can't go anywhere yet. I have to treat its wounds, or else they're going to get infected."

The mermaid was wiggling, trying to move away, but Eren put both hands on its shoulders, bracing an arm against its upper back, and soothed, "Hey, not yet, keep holding still. My dad is a doctor, and now he's going to clean out your cuts. He's also going to check and see if there's anything wrong with your tail before he lets you go, okay?"

The mermaid was shaking, but otherwise went still, not because it comprehended Eren's words, but because the pain in its tail was so immense that it physically couldn't get away even it wanted to. It looked to Eren surprisingly for reassurance, and when Eren gave it a smile, it shuddered, and simply dropped its head into the crook of his shoulder, too exhausted to fight anymore. Eren's lips parted in surprise at this sign of trust, and took the creature's hand, squeezing it softly.

When Grisha saw that the mermaid had calmed, he went to work, gently lifting its tail again and setting it in its lap, while Carla went up by the mermaid's head with Eren. It glanced up at her, fearful for a minute, but when it took in her kind face and gentle smile, it relaxed once more, even more so when she placed a hand on its shoulder and stroked it. These people weren't going to hurt it otherwise they wouldn't be working so hard to keep him calm and comfort him.

However, the brief moment of respite was torn to pieces the moment placed the antiseptic-soaked pad against the injury, and the mermaid screeched loud enough to make everyone's ears bleed. It began to struggle again, tears welling up in its eyes and rolling down its cheeks in huge, fat droplets.

"Hey shh, stay still, I know," Eren soothed, "I know it hurts, my dad has done this to me too. It's not fun, is it? The more still you stay, the faster it'll be done though."

The creature's cries died down into whimpers, and it shook with pain, pushing itself further against Eren. It buried its face further into his neck, sobbing, and the sounded so much like how Eren did when he was upset that the boy pulled the little creature closer, squeezing its hand even harder and laying his head over the mermaid's. Carla looked down at her son proudly, still unable to believe that her bratty, stubborn little boy could flip a switch so easily when he wanted to and become this empathetic, soothing presence.

Grisha worked as fast as he could, cleaning out the injury, deciding fast that it was going to need stitches, and giving the small mermaid a shot of a numbing agent for the area. The mermaid cried a little louder at both the prick of the needle and the sensation of the lower part of its tail going numb, becoming just as scared as when the trap had first clamped around it. It felt the human boy squeeze him harder when its crying grew louder, and it found the strength to stay still, even though the panic was choking it. It couldn't exactly get away now anyway, not when it couldn't feel its tail.

Continuous pressure plagued its tail, not painful, but severely uncomfortable, and it looked down to see a sharp, shiny object attached to a piece of clear string disappearing in and out of its skin. It felt the blood drain from its face, black pulse around the edges of its vision, and for a moment, Eren felt the mermaid grow limp.

The boy looked up at his mom in a panic, and Carla in turn leaned over, examining the mermaid's face. She peeled back an eyelid, checked its pulse, and concluded, "I think it fainted, sweetie, it's okay. Give it a minute, it'll wake up again."

Luckily, as soon as Carla spoke those words, the mermaid's eyes were fluttering open again, and it was letting out a long, low, moan of pain. It shivered in Eren's arms, cold from the lack of blood flowing in its limbs, and Eren squeezed it tighter, trying to share his body heat with it.

Eventually, Grisha finished, hastily tying off the stitches and even giving the creature a shot of antibiotics. The mermaid didn't even seem to notice when they were done at first, that the doctor was no longer holding its tail and that its tail was in fact floating limply in the water. It simply lay panting in Eren's arms, letting out weak whimpers, its face drenched in snot, tears and saliva. When it had fainted, its bladder had given out and it had urinated on itself, but luckily the humans didn't seem to notice that.

As it worked to calm itself down, both Eren and Carla set on soothing it, Carla shushing it with her soft voice and Eren snuggling it close, trying to help it regulate its temperature. They all sat there for several long minutes in silence with nothing but the sound of their panting filling the cave space, the sound of the crashing of the waves against the rocks and the seagulls crying over head. The dawn had almost given way to the morning, and the yellow light was much stronger now.

After a few minutes, the mermaid began to regain the feeling in its tail, and the blood began to return to its head. It began to writhe and squirm, pushing itself away from Eren and Carla. However, the boy only gripped it tighter, and Grisha told him, "No, Eren, let it go, let it go if it wants to go."

So Eren did so, backing away from the mermaid, and watching as it pulled itself along the rock until the water began to deepen, before it ducked under the waves. Eren watched the pale shape of its body swim out of the cave, before it disappeared into deeper water.

They let a beat of quiet pass all around them, before Grisha broke out into relieved laughter, followed up by Carla clapping. Eren simply stared at where it had disappeared, going over to stand by the mouth of the cave.

"You did a great job, Eren," Grisha praised his son, "You saved that mermaid's life. Who knows what might have happened to it if you hadn't told us it was here."

Carla signed to her husband, "He can add it to his resume someday."

Grisha laughed, and walked up behind Eren, placing a hand on his shoulder. When the boy didn't react, the smile fell from his face, and he asked, "What's the matter?"

Eren sighed heavily, and looked up at his mom guiltily when she came over and placed a hand on his other shoulder. He spoke, and signed to her, "He was wearing my necklace. The one you guys gave me for my birthday. I gave it to him to wear as a promise that I'd come back. And now he's gone."

They clucked sympathetically to him, but he didn't hear their reassurances, could barely feel their embrace as they both kneeled down to hug him. All he could do was stare out into the open sea, looking helplessly for something he knew he wouldn't find.

000

The next day, Eren was once again up at dawn, and once again down by the beach. He had decided to check and make sure that the trap was still empty; it was, and he knew his dad was going to speak to someone about having the trap removed, if for no other reason than besides a mermaid, a person could get caught in that trap and get themselves hurt.

But now the boy had wandered out on the dock where he would often leap from when he swam out here, practicing his dives, as it was very deep on the far end. He knew it was a bad idea to be out here by himself, and that his parents would scold him later for it, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Once he had gone out halfway, he sat down on the edge of the dock, taking off his shoes and letting his feet dangle in the chilly water. He watched the sun rising over the horizon line for a bit, watching the stars disappear and the pink light turn orange, watched it light up the clouds, and wished that it would take away the sad feeling that had settled in his chest since yesterday. His parents had promised him that they would get him a new pendant, but he had loved that one and didn't really want a replacement. He sighed, splashing his feet carelessly, amusing himself with the splash patterns he created.

The wind was calmer today, so the waves weren't as big as they had been yesterday, making things much quieter. Perhaps that's why he heard the faint splash a few feet away. Eren froze, ears and eyes straining as he looked around. A few moments of quiet passed, and then he heard the splash again, and then saw some ripples and bubbles at the end of the dock.

Eren took his feet out of the water and stood up, watching beneath his feet for the source of the sound. And to his utter shock, a pale shape appeared beneath the water, rising until a familiar head broke the surface, and cautiously looked up at him.

Eren blinked, and breathed, "It's you."

The small mermaid blinked back, and it was then that Eren realized that the creature's eyes were the same color of the water that it swam in. It tilted its head, and Eren saw that its hands were moving purposefully around its body; it was treading water, much more easily than Eren ever could. It didn't even look tired as it did it. It was also now that the boy noticed that the mermaid's ears, which poked out from under its wet hair, were slightly pointed, and that under the early light, there was a slight, bluish, green tint to its skin. Most likely to help it blend in to its surroundings, to help balance out how pale it was.

When Eren didn't do anything further, the mermaid slowly lifted one hand from the water, and clutched in its fist was-

"My pendant!" Eren gasped. Excitedly, he took it from the mermaid, took a quick look at it, and saw that it looked just as pristine as it had yesterday, before he tied it back around his neck. He then grinned down at the creature, saying, "Thank you, oh my gosh, thanks so much for bringing it back!"

The mermaid smiled back, seemingly encouraged that Eren wasn't angry with him. And then, to Eren's surprise, it lifted its other hand from the water, and presented Eren with the prettiest conch shell the boy had ever seen.

Eren looked between the shell and the mermaid for a moment, and when the mermaid didn't make a move to put the shell down, he pointed to himself and asked, "For me?"

The creature seemed to understand his gestures and therefore the question, because he made an affirmative little warble, before pushing the shell insistently towards Eren. The boy slowly took it from him, turning it over in his grasp. It was so big that he had to hold it in two hands, and so pretty; he had never even seen anything like this in the gift shops around here. It was the same color as the horizon at the moment, and Eren began to wonder if the mermaid had chosen it for Eren especially for that reason.

"Thank you," he breathed, and looked up at the mermaid, "But um, why? Why give me this?"

He saw the mermaid screw up its face in thought for a moment, as if it were trying to figure out what Eren had asked. But since the human boy was still looking between the shell and the creature itself, it figured that he was asking why he had been given the shell. So, it shifted in the water to hold up its tail, and pointed at the stitches standing out prominently against its skin around the base of its tail, just above its flukes.

Once comprehension dawned, the boy said softly, "Because I helped you get out of the trap?"

The mermaid pointed more insistently at its stitches, and nodded, and Eren guessed that was confirmation. Deeply touched that the mermaid had wanted to thank him with such a nice present, Eren just stuttered awkwardly, "Well, um, thank you. It was nothing, you know, I just did what any decent person that found you would have done. This is really pretty though, I'm going to take good care of it. After all, I don't think a lot of people can say they got a shell from a mermaid because they helped one."

The mermaid took in Eren running his fingers over the shell, the flush of color on the boy's cheeks, and the soft smile curving his lips, and its eyes lit up. It warbled again, excitedly and several times in rapid succession this time, before it turned around and dove back under the water. Before Eren even had time to wonder where it had gone, it had reappeared above the surface with another conch shell in its hands, and was holding it out towards Eren. This one was white that faded into a rosy pink color, smaller than the other. Eren took it slowly from the mermaid.

"Um, thanks," he said, laughing awkwardly, "You're very kind, and these are really pretty."

Earning another smile from the human boy, the mermaid dove down again, and a minute later, came back with yet another shell, then left and got another, and another, giving them all to Eren, who didn't know how to say that one was fine, that he didn't have to go through all of this trouble, but at the same time, each shell was so pretty, each one a different shape and color. He sat down again on the edge of the dock, watching the creature swim back and forth, and the mermaid didn't stop until Eren had a small pile sitting next to him on the dock.

The mermaid watched as he looked at them all, its expression pleased that Eren seemed to enjoy them, and the smile didn't disappear from its face as Eren looked back up at it. The boy was still smiling at him in turn, and the mermaid watched as the boy pointed at himself and said, "I'm Eren. What's your name?"

The mermaid of course didn't answer him. Instead, it tilted its head like a confused dog, and the boy replied more slowly, "Er-en." He even signed his name, signing an E over his chest, where his pendant sat, and then pointed at himself again. The creature blinked for a moment, and Eren could practically see the gears in its head turning, before it repeated the sign over its own chest, and then pointed at the boy.

"Yes," Eren praised, his eyes lighting up, "That's me. Eren. It's nice to meet you."

The mermaid made the sign for Eren's name again, its grin growing bigger as it understood. But for some reason, it didn't try to verbally repeat his name, and it made the boy wonder why. He knew it could speak, as it had certain cried loud enough in the cave.

"Can you speak?" Eren wondered, "I'd like to know your name if you could tell me."

The mermaid blinked up at him again, but once it seemed to understand his question, it opened its mouth. However, before it could answer him, to their combined surprise, yet another pale shape appeared in the water next to them, causing Eren to gasp as another mermaid rose from the water, much bigger than the other mermaid in front of him. This one, from the shape of its face, Eren could tell was definitely female, and he was sure that, though greatly reduced from the size of a human's, it did have breasts hiding under the surface of the water. This mermaid's hair was also dark, and its face and eyes were so similar to the smaller mermaid's, that Eren could only conclude that this mermaid was the little one's mother.

That fact was only confirmed when a moment later, the adult mermaid pushed the younger one behind her, and snarled at Eren. The boy backed away rapidly from the edge of the dock, his heart hammering in his chest. Once it deemed that Eren wasn't a threat anymore, she turned back to her child, and began whistling and growling at it. Though Eren couldn't understand what she was saying, he had heard that tone of voice from his own mother enough to know that she was chewing her child out, scolding it. The boy watched them argue, watched the little one gesture wildly, at its tail, at Eren, at the shells even. Its tone turned from insolent to pleading, and at one point, it looked to be on the verge of tears.

Finally, he heard the mother mermaid give a long, suffering sigh, before she turned back to Eren, her eyes narrowed and her arms crossed. She then, to Eren's astonishment, began to sign to him.

"Do you know this language?" she asked.

"Yes!" Eren replied, out loud and in sign, "Yes, I do. My mother is deaf, so we speak it all the time."

"Good," she replied, "My son tells me that you and your family helped him out of a trap yesterday, and that's why he was gone so long. He also says that he came back to return something special to you, as well as give you a thank you present for helping him. Is this true?"

"Yes," Eren confirmed, surprised to learn that the mermaid's child was in fact male. Here was a male mermaid at last, something even the scientists hadn't discovered! "He was returning my pendant." He tapped at the necklace on his chest. "I heard him crying under the cliff yesterday, and my parents and I got him out. We don't know who set the trap, but I know I couldn't let him be caught by whoever did."

She fixed him with a hard, steely stare for a moment, seemingly glaring right into his soul. Eren gulped under the weight of that stare, before she broke it, and replied, "Fine. I'll believe you. And if my son says you're his friend, then I'll believe him too. I suppose it doesn't surprise me he's done something like this. I try to keep him away from humans, but it's like trying to hold back a tidal wave. He's a stubborn brat, this one."

Eren's eyes widened in surprise. The small mermaid considered him to be his friend? And what's more, it sounded like they were awfully similar.

He filed the thought away for later, and instead looked between the two of them, asking hesitantly, "If I may, can I ask for your names? My name is Eren."

The mother mermaid smirked wryly. "Unfortunately, our names can't be translated into a human tongue, and our tongues can't form your language. However, I've used the name Kuchel on land in the past. Thank you for telling us your name, Eren."

"Oh," Eren replied, disappointed and intrigued all at once, but then brightened again, "Well, that's alright, I don't need to know your son's name to play with him. If that's okay with the both of you."

Kuchel turned to her child and spoke to him, relating Eren's request, and her son positively beamed up at Eren, nodding his head rapidly and whistling shrilly with excitement. He immediately leaped up at the dock, landing on it to sit next to Eren, and pull him into an enthusiastic hug. Eren felt the breath being knocked right out of him, and he swore he could feel his spine crack, but he hugged his new friend back anyway. He looked at the mother mermaid over the younger one's shoulder, and saw that her suspicious expression had turned into a serene smile. Eren's shoulders sagged in relief at that.

The young mermaid back out of the embrace and began tugging on the boy's wrists insistently, backing away towards the edge of the dock, and Eren got the message quickly that he wanted him to get in the water with him.

"Okay, okay," he laughed, "hold on, I'm coming."

The boy stripped off his shirt, luckily already being in his swim trunks (he pretty much always wore them on vacation, because he was almost always in the water), and didn't hesitate to hop in the water beside his new friend with a splash. He almost instantly shot back up, shivering and rubbing his arms. He laughed in exhilaration, even more so when he saw that the small mermaid was laughing too, as well as making little chirping noises.

"Alright, see if you can catch me," Eren challenged, before diving under the water.

With a splash and a delighted squeak, the mermaid followed him.

The two of them played like that all morning, chasing each other around in the water, playing hide and seek, sneaking up on each other and frightening the life out of the other, even finding objects on the sea floor. At one point, the mermaid pretended he was a shark coming after Eren, and after Eren pretended to swim away, the mermaid pounced on him and pretended to bite his neck, to which Eren pretended to bleed to death and sink under the waves, leaving the mermaid to giggle at him.

It was of course like this that Carla happened to come upon the three of them.

After looking all over for Eren in the house, she figured she'd be able to find him by the water, mostly because he was a little turd that did the opposite of what she said, and if she said don't go near the water until she and his dad were there to watch him, then of course he'd plot a course for the dock. And lo and behold, here he was. However, he wasn't alone. She slowed down as she approached him on the dock, seeing that not only was the mermaid child from yesterday there, but yet another mermaid was too. Both her son and the young mermaid were clearly playing, huge smiles on both of their faces as Eren pushed the mermaid off of him and splashed him in the face, to which the other child returned the splash tenfold with his tail. Eren growled playfully after recovering and dunked the mermaid under the water, laughing his fool head off as the other squirmed underneath him.

"Eren?" Carla spoke aloud to get his attention.

Her son whipped his head around in the direction of her voice, and his eyes widened. He got off of the mermaid and brought his shoulders up his ears, trying to make himself look smaller, all the while signing timidly while speaking, "Heeeey mom, fancy seeing you here. I was just…I mean I was"-

"Save it, young man."

Eren flinched, lowering his eyes guiltily. "I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have gotten in the water without you and dad, but the mermaid from yesterday came, and he returned my necklace and brought me a pile of shells as a thank you present, then he said he wanted to be my friend, and we started playing, and technically I do have parental supervision because his mom is here too"-

"Eren, Eren," she halted his rambling, "Loo' a' me."

He did so, looking to see that she wasn't angry, as there was a fond half-smile on her face. "You'll be in trouble later, but for now, you're fine. You're right, you do technically have parental supervision, and I suppose I don't really have to worry about you drowning if the supervision is a mermaid."

She looked at the female mermaid and waved hello, and the mermaid signed "Hello" back. Carla gasped in delight, and asked, "You know sign language? How?"

The female mermaid gave her a kind smile, and answered, "I've traveled many places and met many people. And we mermaids have a gift for picking up different languages easily."

With that, the two of them started talking, Carla even sitting down on the dock to converse with her. Eren smiled approvingly, happy to see that his mom had a new friend as well; she had so few because of her disability. No one had the patience to learn sign language, or write or even text in order to communicate with her. Based on what they were signing, Carla was asking Kuchel about the places she had gone in her travels, and Kuchel was answering eagerly. Eren nudged his friend on the shoulder, saying, "Come on, they're going to be talking for hours now, let's keep playing. I'll be the shark this time."

Understanding the general gist of what Eren was saying (Kuchel had been right when she said mermaids picked up new languages quickly), and giggling at the wink the boy gave him, he followed him eagerly out into the deeper water.

They played like that for the rest of the day, so engrossed in their games that their mothers had to remind them to stop and eat. Eren's father showed up a little later in the morning and hung around the dock for a bit, also having a conversation with the young mermaid's mother while the boys played. When it finally started to get late, Eren's parents told him that it was time to get going, and the young mermaid's mother told him the same thing presumably, because they let out twin groans of displeasure.

"You can play with him again tomorrow, okay?" Grisha promised, "If they'll still be here tomorrow, that is?"

Suddenly nervous, Eren swung his head around, giving both mermaids a hopeful look. The smaller mermaid gave his mother a pleading stare, and she in turn threw up her hands and signed, "Alright. I suppose if I don't let you come you'll just sneak away anyway."

He leaped up and hugged his mom in thanks, before swimming over to hug Eren goodbye, before leaping on him to dunk him under the water one last time. Eren came up, sputtering, ready to retaliate, only to see that he was already several feet away and waving goodbye.

"I'll get you tomorrow for that!" he called out. His new friend kept waving, before both he and his mother dove beneath the water, their tails against the sunset the last thing he saw.

On the way back to the house, Eren chattered nonstop about how amazing his new friend was to his parents, about how great of a swimmer he was, about how even though he didn't know his name and they couldn't speak the same language he was still loads of fun to play with, and he was picking up on sign language and spoken English very quickly. He told them during dinner about how he knew Eren's name and a few words already, and how he couldn't wait to teach him more tomorrow, about how they were going to play lots more games tomorrow too. He kept talking a mile a minute until his mother laid him down in bed and told him it was time to shut his mouth and his eyes, and he did so, passing out almost immediately.

For the rest of that summer, Eren slipped into a new routine, visiting his mermaid friend that next day, and the day after that, and the day after that, playing in the water together, teaching each other about their world (Eren learned the mermaid was just as keen to learn as much about the human world as he was to learn about the ocean) and watching the sun rises and sunsets with each other.

It was one evening during one of these conversations that Eren learned that he was the only friend the mermaid had.

"You don't have any other friends?" Eren asked, disbelievingly, "Not one?"

The mermaid shook his head, but smiled, and signing shakily, "You're enough. Like you."

Eren laughed, "Well, I like you too. Maybe someday I'll have to introduce you to my friends."

The mermaid brightened at those words, clearly excited at the prospect.

Sadly though, of course the summer couldn't last forever, no matter how hard Eren secretly wished it would. Soon enough, they had to go back home, as school started in only a couple of weeks. However, it didn't make Eren feel like any less of a monster when he had to break the news to his mermaid friend. He had told him before that he would have to leave eventually, but he didn't think the mermaid completely understood the concept.

"I have to go back home today," he said sadly on the dock, the mermaid floating in the water beneath him, "So I can go back to school."

The mermaid seemed to mull it over, before he decided, "Go to school today, come back tomorrow?"

Eren's face fell, and he answered softly, "Oh, no. I can't come back until next summer. School lasts most of the year and…yeah."

He let the words sink in, his heart breaking as the mermaid's face fell further and further. When Eren heard him sniff, the boy began to panic when he saw a tear glisten on his face. He leaned down and placed his hand on his friend's cheek, holding it there and letting him feel its warmth.

"I'm sorry," Eren apologized again, guilt filling his whole body and making him feel sick, "I'm so sorry."

The mermaid sniffled heavily, and signed with trembling hands, "Only friend. Don't go. Don't go, please."

"I know, I know," Eren sighed, feeling tears sting his eyes as well, and wiping away the tear that rolled down the mermaid's cheek with his thumb. "I don't want to go. All I can do is promise I'll be here next summer to play with you again. If you'll be here too."

The mermaid wiped his nose, leaning his face into his friend's hand and holding it there with his own hand. He looked up into Eren's face, his eyes still glistening with the threat of more tears, and tapped at his chest. Confused for a moment, the boy finally comprehended. No, it wasn't the official word for "promise," but he supposed it could become their word. He tapped his necklace in return, offering him a watery smile.

"Eren, the car's packed!" Grisha called from up the beach, "Time to go!"

"Coming!" Eren called back.

He regarded his friend steadily for a long moment, watching as the young mermaid nuzzled his hand morosely, like he was afraid he'd never see him again. Maybe he wouldn't; the ocean was a dangerous place, and though he had his mother with him, she could only protect him from so much.

"Stay safe," the boy whispered, "Please. I'll meet you where the cliff greets the sea next year, just like where we first met, okay?"

The mermaid nodded, and then they both looked up when they heard the whistle of his mother calling for him in the distance. With a mournful warble, the mermaid started to back away, but then thought better of it. He patted at the dock with his palm, causing Eren to raise an eyebrow in confusion. However, when the mermaid kept patting the dock, the boy asked, "You want me to lay down?"

His friend nodded. Eren shrugged and did as he was asked, laying down on his front on the dock. The mermaid then stretched up and pressed their foreheads together. Eren was surprised at first, but when he realized what he was doing, relaxed. He remembered him telling him that this was how mermaids said hello and goodbye to each other, and he felt honored to be included in such a tradition.

"Bye," the boy whispered thickly, and the mermaid nuzzled him a little more insistently, chuffing softly.

Eventually, the mermaid backed away from the dock, sorrow making him look smaller than Eren had ever seen him. He kept the human boy in his sight the entire time he swam away from the dock until he reached his mother's side, and even then, after she finished waving goodbye to Eren and dove under the water, he hesitated for a moment more, waving one last time to Eren, and chirruping out what the boy thought was a goodbye, before he too disappeared soundlessly under the dark water, leaving Eren staring out at the sea.

Alone.

000

A year later, ten year old Eren stood on top of that cliff overlooking the sea once more, standing outside of his home away from home. The dawn was just breaking, and he was awaiting the return of his mermaid friend eagerly. He smiled to himself when he remembered how he had urged his dad to drive faster, afraid of being late. But of course they hadn't been too late; he had run out to check under the cliff the moment they had arrived, and his friend hadn't been there yet. So Eren had woken up bright and early the next day, already changed into his swim trunks in anticipation for a long day of play.

As soon as the sun began to peek above the horizon, Eren descended the cliff, and headed underneath it, moving to stand by the very spot where they had met. Luckily, he noticed that the rock that had had the trap chained to it last year was barren this year. So he decided that this would be a great place to sit. He did just that, bouncing his leg eagerly, and settling in to wait.

And wait.

And wait.

And wait, in silence, with nothing but the waves crashing on the shore and the occasional small, silver fish that wandered in for company.

He sat there for a long time, until the orange light had faded and true morning light began to creep in. Confused, Eren finally left the cliff and walked up the beach a ways, thinking maybe he was waiting for him by the shoreline. But a search of the beach revealed that it was empty of everything except seagulls and dried seaweed. Shrugging, he decided to head onto the dock, stopping once he reached the end and letting his bare feet dangle in the water, keeping his eyes glued on the horizon line for strange ripples or any sign of a dark tail breaking the water's surface. He also listened for the familiar squeaks and chirps that the mermaid like to greet him with. He would wait for hours if he had to, but the fact remained that he would wait for as long as it took.

However, no one showed.

Eren groaned in frustration, watching as the sun moved further and further overhead. At one point, he even must have fallen asleep for a bit, because the next thing he remembered was his mother waking him up and telling him it was time for lunch. However, he wouldn't leave.

"What if he comes while I'm not here?" Eren explained.

Seeing the desperation in his eyes, Carla had relented, and let him have his lunch on the dock. And later, his dinner as well. When the sun began to set, Eren was still waiting, but Carla was telling him it was time to go in.

Eren followed her dejectedly, agreeing, but telling her he was going to come back out first thing in the morning again, staring at the dock dejectedly as he walked away from it.

True to his word, Eren returned to the beach the next day. And the next, and the next, and the day after that. However, his friend didn't show. Half of the summer passed, three quarters, and then the whole thing, and Eren hadn't seen hide nor hair of him.

"He promised," he whispered to himself, standing on the dock his last day there that summer and ignoring the sprinkling of raindrops that had started, "He promised he'd come back."

Something bad had happened to his friend, he just knew it. And the worst part was, there was no way to find out what, or if he was even still alive. That thought alone made tears run down Eren's face right there on the dock, and made him shiver under the weight of his grief.

"It's not fair," he whispered to himself, "He told me he'd stay safe. He told me we'd play again this summer. It's not fair."

So for that summer, Eren remained alone, yet he retained against all logic, a spark of hope, that the small mermaid would return, that he had just lost his way to the beach somehow, or gotten held up. But for each summer that passed with no sight of him, that spark of hope grew dimmer and dimmer. Until, with a heavy heart, the boy had to accept it.

He was never going to see his mermaid friend again.

A/N: Hi everyone! Welcome to another fic! I hope you've enjoyed the first chapter so far. I've been planning this fic since I was typing the last third of Federkleid, and it was inspired by several things. First of all, I'm a huge animal nerd, and this fic is going to let me explode that love and knowledge for critters all over the place, lol. Second of all, I've read many mermaid Ereri fics and wanted to take my own shot at it, but the main fic I'd say inspired this this one was 30 by A26. However, I will try my very hardest to make sure this fic is not too similar to that one. This fic is also a culmination of merLevi headcanons between myself and GammaRays, so I must give her half of the credit for this mess lol.

Many of the songs that I listened to and will help shape this fic are from the Lilo and Stitch soundtrack, and the entirety of the Moana soundtrack. Just think of Eren as Moana in this fic haha! The title of this fic is taken from the title of a Nightwish song, and so is the title of this chapter.

Next chapter will be up soon! I hope you all enjoy this ride!