Red Waves

From the first day he set sail as a young Prince alongside his father the King, James was glued to the sea like it was a lifeline. James admired how water runs on it's own inclinations, guided by forces older than time itself. The liquid shapes and bends and forms to any object in which it is placed. The colors range from clear as ice or as dark as a tropical night sky. There were brightly colored corals and ice covered waves that decorate the waters like embellishments. The entire ocean was mesmerizing and captured the hearts of many, including James. It only made sense that he'd eventually fall in love with a woman that loved the ocean as much as he did.

Coming from a fishing kingdom, the ocean was a part of James' persona. He's father fished, as well as his grandfather before that. The salty sea resided in James' veins, especially when he was the only Potter left to rule over the small Kingdom of Godric. James spent his free time as a king learning to sail in a boat alone since it was a nice step away from his Prince duties. Now that he was King James snuck away twice as often from the castle to sail.

He was constantly confounding the soldiers ordered to watch him and he bribed anyone who spotted him setting up the sailboat to keep quiet. The only place James felt free was when he was alone on his boat either coasting along the bay or when he was challenging his sailing power against the ocean waves. The afternoon was his favorite time to sail. James set out on his boat alone in the summer after a particularly long day and that's when his life changed forever.

After a pod of dolphins swam by the crabbing section of the upper east side of the bay James spotted the stunning seaweed amongst the dark blue sea. The red seaweed floated above the surface, moving with the slow currents of the bay. James investigated with interest, having seen nothing of the sort before.

James untied the sails and shifted his boat towards the outlandish seaweed. The waves splashed salty water into his face as he sailed. James' arm muscles adjusted to the weight of the sail pulling against the wind. By the time he'd made it so that his boat was over the red, when James looked down into the water, nothing was there.

He searched the rest of the afternoon but he couldn't find the mysterious red seaweed. Back at the castle that night James asked every sailor on his staff and they all agreed that James had imagined it; there was no seaweed the color of red that he described. James, who was never one to give up, went out every night that week to prove that the red seaweed existed. On his fifth night, he spotted it again by the crab traps. This time the red was moving, swirling so graceful and grand at the top of the surface while underneath something tugged and pulled at its drag. James sailed around the trap buoys and his eyes scanned the surface of the water as he drew closer. The seaweed was wrapped around a trap, perfectly braided down the side. As he got closer his fingers skimmed the surface of the water, grabbing the seaweed only to drop in disbelief.

Once the surprise subsided James saw that it was hair and the hair was connected to something pale below. Something was moving just below the surface and James tried to get a closer look by dropping his sail. Suddenly, a face rose at the surface and James scrambled back against his boat, terrified by whatever was in the water for the first time in his life. It was the pallid face of a woman with bright green eyes and bare shoulders. James was rendered speechless.

"If you're going to tug on my hair," the woman said tersely, "You might as well help untangle it."

James blinked twice and then uttered, "Pardon?"

"Oh Neptune." The woman rolled her green eyes and her fingers hooked onto the edge of his boat, "And they said you humans were smart."

James swallowed thickly, "Human?"

The woman smiled wickedly and threw her thumb back to her hair that was sticking to the trap.

"A little help?" she asked sharply, "I don't fancy having to cut it all off and explain to my sister how I got a haircut."

James swallowed thickly and stood up from where he'd positioned himself securely away from the woman in the water. As he inched closer, his eyes did as much exploring as hers did. James noted that her chest was bare save for a bit of green seaweed wrapped precariously about her skin. Her skin seemed to glow a milky white below the surface of the green and blue water that she was in. Despite how cold the water must've been, there were no Goosebumps on her skin.

James leaned over the bow of the boat, his stomach clenching against the sides as he used his hands to reach out and pull at her hair on the crab trap. The woman attempted to help, pulling the trap and her hair closer to the sides of the boat. James could see her kicking out underneath the boat as they both struggled to free her from the trap.

"What were you doing swimming in the bay?" James asked her rather coyly as his fingers worked the knots in her hair.

"Ouch!" The woman winced as his fingers worked a particular snag, "Easy please, or it'll look like a shark opened a barber shop and experimented on my hair."

"Shark?" James questioned, "What is that?"

"You don't know what a shark is?" she questioned, "You know…big fish, big teeth, even bigger inability to see a half a league?"

Waves sloshed up and around James' arms as he worked her hair from the crab trap. While he struggled, she floated, using his boat as a floatation device. Seagulls cackled overhead but other than their squawks, all James could focus on was how the woman would take short breaths and then not breathe against for quite some time. He also noted how she kept extremely still for someone who was supposedly keeping afloat in water.

"Would this be easier if you came up into my boat?" James asked, "You know, out of the water?"

The woman laughed as if he'd just told a joke, "Out of the water? I've never tried."

James furrowed his brow as he worked on the last bit of hair wrapped around the buoy, "Never tried what?"

"Leaving the water of course," her fingers were growing red from holding onto his ship.

Finally, the last strand of her fiery red hair was dropped from the trap and James looked at her up close. Every feature on her body was starkly contrasted by another feature. Her eyes were emerald green and her lips were bright pink. Her skin was white but covered in little brown freckles that splattered her shoulders like seeds on a snowy backdrop. Most startling of all was her fire red hair that blazed against the blue of the water around her.

"I've never seen a human this close before."

James tilted his head at the woman, "What?"

The grin that stretched across the woman's face was sly, "Did you happen to wonder how I got attached to the crab plantations?"

"Crab plantations?" James snorted, "You mean the crab traps?"

"No." she said gently, "Plantations."

James watched as she lowered her entire body back into the water. Her hair spread out around her shoulders like a fan and her green eyes looked up at him, they were wide with wonder. It was an image James was longing to have painted to memory forever.

"Come on." James offered one hand over the side of the boat, "I'll pull you in."

The girl used her hands to push herself away from the boat, "I don't want to get in that." She eyed his boat with every degree of disgust.

James looked down at his sailboat, his pride and joy, and frowned, "Why not?"
"I've seen hundreds of these on the ocean floor with your skeletons in them." She blanched, "They're cursed."

James only managed to interpret one of the things from her reasoning, "You've seen boats on the ocean floor?"
She busied her hands, braiding her hair so that it wouldn't get caught in the buoys again, "You haven't?"

"I can't say that I've ever even been close to seeing the ocean floor." James chuckled, leaning off his bow again so that he was face to face with the odd woman, "How'd you see it in these murky old waters?"

"Off the coast of Grecianna," the girl told James, "The water is so clear you can see fifty feet down to the ocean floor." She shrugged her shoulders before adding, "Besides, I just dive down and look no matter where I am. How else am I supposed to find all the good squid for dinner?"

"You eat squid for dinner?" James was marveled every second by every word that came from her mouth.

"You don't?" the girl seemed surprised.

"No, we have chicken."

"What's a chicken?"

James half laughed, "Were you raised on the streets or something?"

The girl half raised a hand and smacked water towards him, "I was raised in a clamshell like any self respecting mermaid, thank you very much."

"Woah, wait, what?" James drew himself away from her again, "Did you just say mermaid?"

"What did you think these were?" the girl leaned back so that she was floating, staring at the sky. Below her navel, pale skin turned into tan scales that reached all the way to creamy white fins where he feet should have been. James' jaw dropped. The tale glittered almost golden around the edges and her fingers reached for the tail as she did a quick little flip to right herself.

"You—you're a—mermaids are real?"

"As real as they come." The girl responded brightly, "But most would prefer you use the term Siren."

"There's a difference?" James asked, leaning back over the bow to look at his new friend, the mermaid.

The woman nodded eagerly, "Oh yeah, Sirens are the mothers and pod leaders." She paused for effect and she received a worried look around from James, "Mermaids are the squid seekers and kindliest of the merfolk."

"So you're not a siren?"

"No, everyone knows I'm not ready for a little merkid." James just stared at her and she became nervous, "You alright?"

"I'm sorry." James pressed his fingers to his temple, "But I'm having trouble processing that I just helped save a mermaid."

"Don't worry," she assured him again, "I'm a little seasick myself from seeing a human this close."

"Mermaids get seasick?"

"One too many rides on the Northern Australian Current and anyone would be seasick." She laughed again and he laughed as well, even though he didn't get the joke.

"This is unbelievable." James pushed a hand through his black curls as he stared in awe at the beautiful woman leaning onto his boat with a smile brighter than any sunrise.

"What's unbelievable is how many crab plantations you have in the bay." Lily crossed her arms over her chest and glared at James, "Do you have any idea how often I have to rescue my friends?"

"You're friends with the crabs?" James questioned.

"A mermaid is a friend with every sea creature." She smiled before frowning and saying, "Except clown fish because their jokes just aren't that funny. Of course, you'd never tell a clown that…they're awful criers. Now sea lions, those guys have the best jokes. "

The mermaid swam back a bit to get a better eye on James who was stuck in one spot, the shock of seeing a mermaid rendering him senseless. She kept her fingers floating on the surface of the water, like she was about to call the power of the sea to her will. James watched as her tail lifted to the surface of the water. Curiosity got the best of him and he leaned over the edge of the boat to stare at the glittering scales that made up her tail. The long fins at the base of her tail were partially transparent and James wished I could reach out.

As if she could sense what he was thinking, her tail rose a little way out of the water and splashed back down, "Don't touch it," she warned, "The oils on human hands can make my scales rub off."

James looked down in surprise at her, "Really?"

The mermaid flounced forwards, "I mean, that's what the Pod Mother tells us."

"My mother told me that mermaids are a myth."

"I promise I am as real as you." She said with a quirk to her smile.

"I'm James." He stuck his hand over the ship and close to the water.

The mermaid eyes his hand precariously, "Swimmingly James, I'm called Lily."

James chortled as she continued to stare at his outstretched hand, "You shake it."

"Shake it?" she questioned.

James leaned farther over the side of the boat, "Give me your hand."

Lily looked unimpressed but slowly her fingers reached for his. With a little push from her tail, her fingers clasped into his and he beamed. James softly shook her hand up and down to show her what to do.

"See?" he said, "Shake it!"

"Oh!" she said enthusiastically, as if he'd just explained everything to her.

Her eyes perked up and James only had a second to react when she yanked his hand down in attempt to shake it…and then Lily tugged him into the freezing cold ocean water. It felt like the air was knocked out of his lungs and he opened his eyes, bubbles swirled around him. The water was dark blue and in front of him a pair of green eyes set into a pale face were glowing at him. She was laughing underwater, her hand still gripping James' hand despite them both being underwater.

She opened her mouth and spoke; the sound sharper and more direct than her soft tones above water, "Did I do it right?"

James kicked up and towards the surface. When his head cracked the surface he took a breath and then started laughing a deep-throated laugh. Lily surfaced in front of him and looked troubled.

"What?" she pushed at his shoulders in the water.

"You just shake it!" he splashed water at Lily and she scowled.

"I did shake it!" she splashed him back, her water aim much better than his, "You're the guppy that fell in!"

James splashed Lily one more time before shivering and looking behind him. His boat was slowly drifting away from their spot. He swam over to his boat; aware the mermaid was on his heels. Literally. She was staring at his feet in awe and examining them from every angle that her tail could give her.

"You have fingers on your feet!" she said as he grabbed onto the side of the boat.

"What?" he snorted as he pulled himself up onto the ledge and sat, letting the water drip off his clothes.

Lily swam over to the edge of his boat and pointed her finger at his feet, "You have fingers on your feet!" she exclaimed.

James looked down and saw that one of his shoes had disappeared when Lily had pulled him into the water. James wiggled his toes and the mermaid inhaled with utter wonder. James snickered when she reached out excitedly to grab his foot and examine it further. Her fingers were warm and they tickled his feet.

"They're not fingers," James laughed even louder as she compared her hand to his foot, "They're called toes."

"Toes." She was mesmerized and then she dropped his foot and looked at him, "I want toes."

"Okay?" James rolled his eyes, "How to mermaids get toes?"

Lily pointed at the darkening sky above them, "It has to be a full moon."

"A full moon?"

"The moon changes the tides." Lily responded simply, "The tides control mermaid magic."

James slipped his legs back over his boat and shivered, the breeze cutting through his wet clothes. The mermaid reached up to pull herself to a better position on his boat so she could stare at him.

"James?" she asked as she adjusted her flimsy seaweed top.

"Lily." James smiled at her as he grabbed a blanket from the floor of his sailboat and wrapped it around himself.

The mermaid turned her head and all her red hair tumbled over her shoulder as she gazed at him, "My sister warned me humans are dangerous but you seem about as dangerous as a nurse shark."

"A nurse shark?" James half laughed, "What is that?"

"They're sweet and docile creatures." Lily said, "They often sit little mermaids during migration season."

"How many mermaids are there?" James asked.

Lily shrugged her shoulders, "Fifty in my family group."

"Fifty." James whistled, "And where are they?"

"Offshore many leagues under the sea." Lily replied, "Not many of us come to the surface very often. The sunlight hurts our skin."

"Then why are you at the surface?"

"Someone has to free the crabs from your plantations."

"Free the crabs?" James snorted, "Lily, humans need to eat these things to survive."

"And my ocean needs the crabs to eat so that we survive."

James tilted his head at the mermaid, "What do the crabs eat?"

Lily replied delicately, "They keep our ocean floor clean of the departed."

"That's gruesome."

"The ocean isn't always merciful." Lily said, "It can create life just as quickly as it can destroy it."

James leaned over the bow of the ship again, listening to the waves lap against his boat as she stared at the mythical creature that'd changed everything in just a few minutes. Her fingers were red from gripping the sides of his boat. Their faces were inches apart as they both examined each other with precise calculation.

"I might be able to cut back on crab fishing for part of the year when the bass returns to the streams up in the hills." James whispered.

Her green eyes smoldered, "You can do that?"

"I'm a King." James puffed out his chest greatly, "I can do anything."

"A King!" she placed a hand on her forehead, pretending to swoon, "Sweet Neptune, I'm the luckiest Mer alive!"

He deflated his posture but he was still ginning from her fool hearty teasing, "are all mermaids this witty?"

Lily winked at him, "Only the redheads."

"You must be the cleverest of them all."

"And the prettiest." She winked.

"Wow, modest too."

Lily laughed again and the sound matched to the sound of waves that flowed around them. They had floated far out past the sanctuary of the bay. The sun was starting to set in front of them. James glanced back where the castle was awaiting him, the king, to return from his soul searching. James looked back down at the water, half expecting Lily to have disappeared like some trick of the light. She was still there. Her chin was placed on the wood edge of his boat and she watched him curiously, as if she couldn't get enough of him.

He couldn't get enough of her either.

"I live in the castle on the bluffs." He told her, "Perhaps if you get a hankering for dry fins on the full moon I could show you my kingdom?"

The mermaid blinked precariously, "You want me to go on land?"

"I want to show you my world." He encouraged her, "The books and the bakery. You'll love the little seashell stand and my mate Sirius bakes the best strud—"

Lily furrowed her brow; "Even if I can get away from the other mermaids on the full moon, I don't actually know if my magic will work and give me legs like yours."

"Try." James begged her, "I have to go back to the castle now, and there's so much more I want to talk about with you."

She seemed unsure but then he smiled one more encouraging smile and she gave in, "Okay. I'll try."

James was excited to see her again. Keeping his mind in politics and kingly duties was harder than it ever had been before. No matter what he was doing his eyes managed to drift from the paperwork to the windows that showed a glistening sea. When the sun hit the water just right, the ocean turned the color of Lily's eyes.

On the night of the full moon James threw a feast for his subjects in hopes that a little red haired mermaid would waltz through his great hall doors with a witty smile all for him. He made the band play soft lyrical pieces and he had his cooks prepare a fish-less feast. The table was lined with bread, nuts, cheese, and delicacies from the otherworldly countries surrounding their kingdom. James dressed in his best clothes and his eyes kept glancing to the double doors of the great hall.

Finally, halfway through the night he saw the doors swing open and the girl of his dreams walked through wearing a dress the color of sea-foam. She was gripping the door handle and seemed frozen in fright as her green eyes looked about the great room. James saw her long pale legs were wobbling beneath her, not used to walking on land. James rushed down the steps from his throne to the doors. Everyone paying attention watched as King James met the inadequately prepared woman stumbling through the castle doors. When the woman spotted James though her face lifted into a smile that was so joyous the room almost lit up.

"James!"

Lily let go of the door and tried to walk towards the King only to wobble on her land legs and trip. James lunged forward to catch the mermaid in his arms. She was laughing and blushing all at once. Her fingers gripped his cloak and her laughter spilled into his chest.

"Sorry." She said rather boisterously, "I can't get the hang of these things. I tried practicing on the beach but the gulls were laughing at me the whole time."

James kept his arms around her waist to help support her as he leaned back to take in her full appearance, "I love your dress."

"I found it in a sunken ship." Lily replied happily.

"You found the dress in a ship?"

She nodded eagerly, "We're supposed to avoid the ships but ever since I met you, I'm not afraid to explore them so that I can learn more about your world."

James heard the band strike up a lovely tune and he knew he wanted to dance with her.

"Will you dance with me?" he asked breathlessly.

Lily blinked, "Will I what?"

"Dance?"

"James, I can't even walk."

"I'll help you."

"Bullshark, you'd drop me as revenge for me pulling you over the side of your ship." She reproached and he just ignored her.

James guided her to the center of the great hall. He kept his hands firmly planted on her waist to support her. She slowly but steadily followed his foot movements. James noticed her face was screwed up into concentration even long after they'd made it to the middle of the dance floor. James looked down and bit back a larger smile when he saw that she was barefoot and her toes were dancing nervously.

"Do your feet hurt without shoes?" James teased her as he slowly started to sway them to the soft music playing from the band.

Lily glanced down at her feet worriedly and then back up to James, "What are shoes?"

"Clothes for you feet."

"The dress is itchy enough."

"You look so beautiful in the dress." He told her, "Like it was made for you."

"And I like the shiny decoration atop your head." one of her hands found its way to the nape of his neck, her fingers digging into his hair below his crown, "But I like your hair better wet."

James leaned in, dropping his forehead against hers, "I can get you a crown for your hair."

She looked interested, "A crown?"

He loved her naivety, so childlike despite her words that rendered him speechless. James let go of her wrist with one hand and guided her hands at the base of his neck to the crown on his head. They stopped dancing so she could lift the crown from his head and several watchers nearby gasped audibly. James ignored them and instead watched as Lily tore herself away from James so she could examine his crown better.

"Kings wear them." James paused, "and Queens."

"Where is your queen?" Lily's eyes gazed around the hall for a stately woman wearing a crown similar to James' crown.

James lifted the crown from her fingers to place it back on his head. The gold fell heavy against his skull and slid to the left side of his head gawkily. The crown never fit his father properly either. James wore the crown like his father proudly, always hoping he'd be half as good a king as his father ever was.

"I don't have a queen yet." James' fingers slid back to Lily's waist, "A queen must be smart, caring, and wise."

"All of those things at once?" Lily asked, "That's an awful lot to expect of someone."

"I already know someone who fits the description." James replied back.

"Oh?" Lily teased, "Is she here?"

"Yes." James caught her off guard.

Lily looked put out and she lowered her head, "oh."

James chuckled and tucked his fingers under her chin to force her to look him in the eyes, "Who cares deeply for all the residents of my kingdom, human or crab? Who wisely teaches me about the ocean and all it shares with us? Who was smart enough to figure out how to get human legs on a full moon to dance with a forlorn Prince at his ball?"

Lily flushed, "me?"

"Yes you." James replied brashly, "I fell for you, quite literally, when you yanked me off my sailboat."

James chuckled and leaned in to press his lips heartily against Lily's much to the surprise of his royal court. Lily kissed him back quite keenly, her fingers finding their way back into his hair. In the end it was James who had to break away from the kiss, as it seemed mermaids did not have to breathe as much as humans. When he drew away to look at her expression, Lily was positively enraptured under his gaze.

"I hope to keep knocking you out of that sailboat," she confessed, "If only to keep you in my arms both on land and in the sea."

James had always cherished the oceans unpredictable nature, so it made sense that he'd fall in love with a mermaid who embodied the wild spirit of the ocean.