AN: time period is unspecified.

It was the middle of June, which meant it had been almost a year since Blair had changed. A year since she and her mother had taken a cruise around the Alaskan coast. They had taken the trip to spend, as Eleanor put it "mother daughter time together", but just as Blair had suspected, as soon as they set sail Eleanor was on her phone with some crisis at the atelier. It didn't surprise Blair; Eleanor had ignored her almost her entire life and when she did pay attention to her it was only to criticize something- her clothes, her hair, her weight, or her relationship with Chuck. Eleanor was still adamant that Blair should be with Nate; she insisted they were the perfect couple. He was a gentleman: polite, gracious, handsome, well bred and his family was old money which in Eleanor's book was everything.

But at that point Blair hadn't cared what her mother thought. She hadn't cared that her mother was convinced Chuck would dump her after he "got what he wanted". Eleanor kept telling her that a boy with his reputation and past, one filled with endless women, alcohol and drugs wasn't capable of real feelings. Blair had thought about telling Eleanor that he had already "gotten what he wanted" and still wanted to be with her. She had thought it would be amusing to see the shocked and horrified look on Eleanor's face when she found out her daughter wasn't the pure and pristine little girl she thought her to be.

Blair had called Chuck every chance she got in the days before the ship sunk. They had to be very careful when they talked over the phone. The week before, Eleanor had pressured Blair into breaking up with Chuck and going back to Nate. Blair had lied and told her she had broken up with Chuck and she would talk to Nate when they got back from their trip.

One day after breakfast Blair and her mother had gotten in a fight when Eleanor had found out that Blair had lied. Eleanor had yelled at her until her cheeks were red and she was out of breath. She had hit Blair twice. After her mother's hand collided swiftly with her cheek the second time Blair had had enough and dashed out of the room and out onto the deck of the ship, tears slipping down her stinging cheek.

Standing out on the deck she had heard the music. It put her into a sort of trance so that she didn't realize the ship was speeding towards a rocky cliff face, she simply stared down at the mermaids in the water below the ship as it raced to towards the jagged rocks. There was a loud crunch as the hull of the ship smashed into the rocks and she had had the sensation of falling and then everything had gone black.

All that was a distant memory. Blair now lay on the shore of the cave where the tribe lived, quietly humming to herself and swaying slowly as the water lapped at the pebble beach. Her long silver, cerulean and cyan tail stretched out in front of her, the sensitive, transparent fins at the end rippling and waving absently.

She wasn't alone in the cave. Victoria and Crystal, two of the youngest girls in the tribe, were to her left talking and playing patty cake. Miriam lay floating on the surface of the water about three feet in front of Blair, her eyes closed and her hands resting behind her head. Everyone else; Samantha, Caterina, Kaylee and the other dozen or so girls were at the dining beach.

Suddenly Samantha popped up next to Miriam, making her jump and sprays of water sprinkled over Blair, Victoria and Crystal. Samantha was smiling.

"There's a yacht! Caterina and the others are already swimming out to it, come on!" she cried, motioning for them to follow. She dipped back under the water, her tail flicking as she dove.

"Thank god. I am so bored." Blair turned to look at Victoria and Crystal as she slid into the water, her tail spiraling out behind her as she zipped through the curving tunnel and out into the open sea. Miriam, Victoria and Crystal were right behind her. Samantha was at the mouth of the tunnel waiting to lead them to Caterina and the others.

Blair and Samantha were at the front of the small group as they sped through the cool, smooth water. They were giddy with excitement and spun and twirled as they raced along. It had been months since they'd sunk a ship and they were restless and craved the thrill. As they neared the ship Blair could hear Caterina already singing; her soft, satiny voice rippling through the water.

Blair took her position on the starboard side of the yacht and near the bow. Since Caterina had dubbed her second best singer, Cat liked her to be in the front. She opened her mouth and let out the death song. It leapt from her throat as if it were alive, sweeping through the air and melding with the other mermaids' songs. She had noticed not long after her transformation that her song sounded very different from the other mermaids. It was melancholy and still had the enchanting thrum that the others had but it was more mournful and gentle. It promised undying love, unconditional love, like no matter what you did she would still love you, but also told you she missed someone, deeply and with every fiber of her being.

There were four or five people out on the deck. They stumbled over to lean on the rails, gazing at the mermaids. Blair heard the throbbing of the engine as it sped up, pressing the yacht faster towards the rocky island.

The yacht crunched as it crashed into the rocks, the passengers falling overboard and splashing into the water. But as usual none of them panicked, they were happy to die. It was if they thought dying would bring them closer to that sweet, hypnotic music.

Through the confusion Blair saw a man- probably in his early to mid 40s- swimming for the shore, trying to resist the singing. He was making poor progress in his quest for land, mostly splashing around in circles.

She went to him- singing more softly now- and looped her arms around his waist, letting herself sink deeper into the cool green water.

Within seconds he stopped resisting as she pulled him farther into the enchantment. He clung to her, his fingers digging into her milky moon kissed shoulders, his blue black eyes staring lovingly into hers. She kept singing, letting her voice take hold of him and caress him into a deep eternal sleep. His eyes drooped and finally closed and Blair watched as a stream of silvery bubbles gushed from his lips and his hold on her weakened.

When she was sure he was dead she reduced her song to a hum in her throat and pushed his limp body forcefully away from hers and down, watching it sink. She started swimming for the surface; she had sunk deeper than she realized and her chest was starting to ache from lack of oxygen. As she rose she watched a necklace sinking nearby. She could have sworn it was the Erickson Beamon necklace Chuck gave her.

She had her head turned back watching it sink, so she didn't see the body of a teenage boy falling towards her. Blair rammed headfirst into him and reeled back, shocked. She shook herself and rubbed the top of her head. When she opened her eyes after a second and looked at him, she had to clasp her hand over her mouth to keep herself from gasping and ingesting lethal amounts of water.

Chuck Bass's pale face looked up at her; his eyes were closed and he was partly hidden by shadows, but it was unmistakably him. She quickly reached out and grabbed hold of his wrist to keep him from sinking any further. She just stared at him for a moment in disbelief, trying to figure out what to do next. She had to think fast.

Blair knew it was a violation of the Timahk to save him; he'd obviously heard the mermaids singing, but she couldn't leave him- after all she did love him. She pulled him against her long body and swam for the surface. She wasn't sure if he was dead or alive but she hoped to god it wasn't too late.

When she surfaced she was still too close to the sinking yacht for comfort; someone from the tribe could see her. She looked down at him. His head was tilted back at an uncomfortable angle. She took advantage of this and used her free hand to feel for a pulse under his jaw. It was slow and faint but it was there. She knew she couldn't dive again- he needed air. She'd have to tow him along on the surface, which would slow her down but she didn't have a choice.

It was more difficult than she anticipated. The dead weight of his unconscious body made it difficult to keep both of their heads above the water. She swam on her back with him lying face up on her chest, his head resting in the crook of her neck. Blair knew she had to find a beach before she tired out, but one that was far enough away from the sinking yacht that no one from the tribe would see her.

Luckily it was a small island with lots of little beaches hidden by rocks. By the time she'd found one and placed him facedown on the rocky beach, she was exhausted.

Blair laid on her back breathing heavily, her heart pounding and the muscles in her tail aching.

She turned onto her stomach and shook him. "Chuck? Chuck, wake up". He didn't move. "Dammit, Chuck, come on wake up!" She shook him harder, still no movement.

She turned him over onto his back and placed her hands on both sides of his face.

"Chuck can you hear me?" she patted his cheek, he didn't move, nothing- not even an eyelid flicker. "Damn you," she muttered under her breath. She felt tears welling in her eyes.

She leaned up and covered his parted lips with hers, blowing air into his lungs. She was relying only on her instincts and what she'd seen in movies in years past. Blair continued this once, twice, three more times. As she pulled back the third time he finally started coughing. She rolled him back onto his stomach so the water in his lungs could drain out.

She rubbed his back as he coughed and spluttered. Blair looked around nervously; she had to get back- someone was bound to notice she was missing.

She looked back at him, her brow creased with worry. His eyes were closed and he was panting, his dark hair matted to his forehead and watery spit dripping from his mouth.

Chuck slowly opened his eyes and looked into her worried countenance. They stared at each other and she realized that in his confused and exhausted state he probably wouldn't recognize her immediately. She knew she looked different from the last time he'd seen her. For one thing she was far more beautiful than she had been as a human; all the mermaids had an unearthly beauty to them and even though she hadn't seen her reflection since she changed, she knew she had it.

He pulled his head back slowly to get a better look at her and squinted as he tried to place her. Suddenly his eyes grew large and he scrambled up the beach away from her.

"Take it easy," she soothed, reaching out to grab him. She was afraid he would try to stand. If he stumbled up the beach and fell she wouldn't be able to get to him; already he was almost out of her reach. He pulled back from her extended hand, gazing at her wide-eyed.

He'd recognized her then.

Blair didn't say anything for a few moments, just watched him. The longer she looked at him the more sure she was of what she was seeing. She squinted. No, it couldn't be- he had the Indication- the dark shimmering around his head and body that the mermaids had. She didn't have to look to see why he had it, she already knew. She then reached out her hand and softly brushed his shin. "Chuck?" she whispered.

He pulled back from her touch again and looked at her. "What are you then? A ghost? A hallucination?"

Blair looked down at the pebble beach, thinking, "I'm uh, kind of all of those things and none of them. I'm not a figment of your imagination if that's what you mean."

"What I mean is that I know you're not real- you're not my Blair, the real Blair is dead," he explained.

His Blair, she liked the sound of that. "I'm her, I wouldn't lie to you."

"Tell me something I only ever told her," he challenged, looking her dead in the eyes.

Blair paused and glanced down at her hands, trying to think of something that would be convincing, her tail flicking with concentration.

She looked back up at him, confidence flashing in her eyes. "Three words, eight letters, I love you."

He had told her he loved her the week before she left with her mother; they had been together 2 months at the time. He had taken her out to dinner and been a perfect gentleman, of course- until they'd gotten in the limo to go back to the Palace. It was there in the safety of that sacred vehicle that he'd pulled back from kissing her senseless and said, "Three words, eight letters, I love you."

Chuck didn't say anything he just stared at her in bewilderment. Was this really the girl he loved, who was thought to be dead for almost a year?

He scooted down the beach and into the waves a little. He reached out a hand and brushed her cheek softly.

"Oh my god. You look so different, I mean- you're gorgeous, and here I thought you couldn't get any prettier", he breathed. His hand traveled from her cheek down her neck and over her shoulder.

"Really it's weird, you're so beautiful it almost hurts my eyes", he whispered, taking in every inch of her stunning face.

"Wait a minute this doesn't make sense," he snapped out of his daze and pulled his hand back.

"You died."

The words burned her, made her heart ache. But before she could answer him she heard Caterina's voice calling her from a short distance away.

She glanced nervously in the direction from where Caterina's voice had come and slid backwards into deeper water. "I'll be back, just, just... stay there ok?"

"Wait" he called. But it was too late- she had already dove, her silver tail flashing above the water.

Blair knew it wasn't the best idea to leave him alone on the beach after he'd almost drowned, but if Caterina saw him, she'd kick Blair out of the tribe and kill Chuck.

She raced back towards the wrecked yacht. She was in such a hurry she almost ran into Caterina's bright tail. She reeled back and surfaced.

"Where were you? We were worried", Caterina asked gently.

"There was a man, he was trying to swim for it- I took him down". Blair- always cool under pressure, lied- but it wasn't a complete lie. There had been someone trying to swim for the shore, she just conveniently left out the part about Chuck.