Chapter One: The Storm

~ ~ ~

Okay, first of all, I'm sorry! I'm sorry and I'm sorry! Hehe...I just keep brainstorming up new ideas for new stories and I just can't help but start on another new Fruit Baskets fanfic...*sniff sniff* I'm sorry...

BUT I do promise I will finish Jyuuni sooner...or later...Better if You Didn't Know...hmmm, I was excited about that one and then the excitement just...died hehe...I'll keep it around and see if one day, I'll want to continue on it...but for now, I suddenly wanted to try a fairy tale sort of thing since I'm a really big sucker for those fics hehe...

Please read and review!!

~ Maeven ~

Honda Tohru brushed her long brown hair and tied it up with green ribbons of seaweed. "Tohru! Are you ready yet?" Uotani swam into the room and rested herself next to the girl, her long blonde hair billowing gently in the water. "We have to get seated before the royal brat comes marching in."

Tohru smiled at her friend. "Oh, Uo-chan...I know behind that talk, you really do miss your brother a lot."

Uotani rolled her eyes and then grinned lopsidedly, "Okay, maybe just a little. Can you blame me? It's been getting boring here without someone to pick on. I wonder if he'd changed since the last time we met...it has been nearly a year since he went off to fight the sharks."

Tohru patted her hand, "My princess, don't worry. As long as he's back now, safe and sound...everything's fine."

Uotani's little sister, Kisa, swam in with their friend, Hanajima Saki, in tow. "Onee-chan, hurry. Big brother will be back soon," the orange haired girl called out shyly.

"All right, let's go!" The four mermaids swam out of Tohru's cove.

* * *

Lightning flashed and water poured down heavily from the heavens. It was dark and huge gusts of wind sent the small ship careening around on the great sea.

"The big storm's hitting us pretty badly!"

A lavender haired boy leaped up to the deck, "Everybody, be careful! One minor mistake and we're all doomed!"

"How nicely put, Yuki!" a dark haired man called out cheerfully as he struggled to reel in the sail.

A brown haired man clung to a pole fearfully. "GOMEN NASAI!! IT'S ALL MY FAULT!! GOMEN NASAI!! THE GODS ARE ALL AGAINST ME AND IF I DIDN'T COME WITH YOU, THEN THEY WOULDN'T HAVE SENT THIS STORM TO KILL US!! GOMEN NASAI!!!!! I'M SO SORRY!! NOW YOU'RE ALL GOING TO DIE AND DROWN AND GET BLUE AND BLOATED AND..."

The boy ignored his cousins and stumbled to the steering wheel. Rain pelted down on him and his purple hair clung to his forehead; he squinted through the rain and tried to pinpoint some direction to head to.

"Yuki! I say we go that a way!" a black and white haired boy staggered over to him and pointed to the right. Yuki stared at his cousin warily and pulled the wheel with all his might to the left.

* * *

Tohru frowned up at the surface. "Guys, did you hear that?" A huge dark shadow passed over them and they stared up.

Uotani nodded grimly. "It's a human ship. What idiots! Going out in the storm like this...guess the kingdom will have to do cleanup duty again to get rid of the ruins tomorrow. Come on, let's go."

Tohru paused and then followed her friends after flashing another troubled glance to the ship.

* * *

Lightning flashed again and this time, Yuki could make out a huge black object propelling toward them. His eyes widened and he yelled at the top of his lungs, "HOLD ON! A COLOSSAL WAVE IS COMING TOWARD US!!"

As soon as he said this, the surge of water fell and the ship was smashed into smithereens by the forceful hit.

* * *

"Oh shit!" Uotani cursed. Pieces of wood came crashing through the water and the four mermaids darted around, trying to dodge the chunks.

A heavy item came barreling into Tohru's back. "Oof!" She fell forward and then spun around. To her shock, the propellant was an unconscious mauve haired boy, who began floating down to the depths of her kingdom.

"Oi! Get off me!" Uotani pushed a black and white haired boy away from her and he, too, began drifting down. Two other bodies came crashing down: a brown haired one and a black haired one.

Tohru panicked. "Uo-chan! We must help them!! They'll die if we don't!!" Kisa nodded in agreement and the little girl tried to pull one of the humans up by the collar of his shirt.

Uotani sighed, "Fine. Human scum, it's your lucky day!!" The girls began diving to the boys.

Tohru went after the one who crashed into her. The boy looked like he was sleeping, his lilac hair fluttering around his pale face, framing his elegant features. She stretched out her hands and wrapped her arms around the male. *POOF* She blinked in surprise as she stared at a white soft object in her hands. It floated out of her grasp and she grabbed it by its long tail. "Uo-chan, what's this? The boy turned into this...is this normal for a human?"

The princess shrugged, "Eh. I don't know. Humans are always weird like that. It's sort of cute though...maybe we could use it for a pincushion if it's dead."

Tohru stared at her friend, horrified. "Kidding, kidding! I'm just kidding!" the girl raised her hands.

Hanajima grabbed the brown haired man's collar shirt and dragged him up, kicking to the surface. Uotani seized the black haired man and like the purple haired one, he too *POOF*...except a small black thing appeared instead. The blonde girl shrugged, "Eh...easier to carry then. Kisa, try doing the same to that octopus hair guy!"

The girl bit her lip and hugged the boy. *POOF* A humongous black and white thing with four legs appeared and Kisa yelped in surprise. "Onee-chan!! Too heavy!!" They began sinking like a rock.

Tohru took the black thing from the princess and cradled the white one closer. Uotani dived to help her sister and with each holding on to one pair of legs, they managed to reach a beach.

Everyone collapsed in exhaustion on the golden sand. Slowly, the mermaids' tails dried and transformed into long shimmering skirts.

"Stupid *gasp* dumb *wheeze* humans," Uotani coughed.

Tohru panted and rolled over to her side. "Hana-chan, your person didn't transform."

The other girl nodded, "Oh, maybe it's because I didn't embrace him like you guys did. I sort of just dragged him up by his shirt and choked him with his collar."

*POOF* *POOF* *POOF* All three "objects" turned back to their human form...minus clothes. Tohru averted her eyes, blushing. "What are we going to do? They're still out cold!"

"CPR!" Hanajima suddenly said.

"Excuse me?" Tohru asked, bewildered.

"See P R," Hanajima slowed down, pointing to the brown haired man's shirt. "The letters P and R are engraved on it. Wonder what it stands for..."

"Really? Let me see." Tohru got up and still unaccustomed to her human legs, she wobbled and fell straight forward onto the very warm, very firm, and very naked body of the lavender haired boy. Her lips connected with his soft ones and she pulled back quickly, eyes widened in shock.

The boy groaned and opened his eyes slowly. He blinked and gaped at the brown haired girl perched on his chest, her lips two inches from his. "What the -?!"

She whispered timidly, "See P R..."

His brows furrowed and he lowered his eyes; he flushed. "Miss, um, who are you and, uh, why are you half naked?"

She got off the boy and stared down at herself. She was wearing the common mermaid style: a bikini top of two pale pink seashells and her tail had disappeared into her orange dress; there was nothing wrong. "Huh?"

The boy reddened even more and he averted his eyes, gesturing blindly. "You - you're not wearing a shirt..."

Uotani snickered, "So says the boy who's currently in his birthday suit."

The boy turned bright red as he became aware of his own lack of clothes. He quickly turned around. "Uh...um, you ladies saved our lives...and saw us in our animal forms?"

Tohru nodded and then realized he couldn't see her, "Uh, yea! Uh-huh...so what you turned into are called animals?"

The boy turned slightly in confusion and then remembering his situation, quickly resumed staring forward. "You don't know what animals are?"

'Oh, stupid Tohru!! You can't tell him we're mermaids!!' She thought as she stared in alarm at her friends. "Uh, ah, well -" A groan broke into her stammer.

They turned to see the black haired man struggle to sit upright. He blinked as he saw the four scantily clad girls and grinned, "I must have died and gone to heaven."