Author's note: Still working on the plot and totally open to ideas and feedback! Thanks for reading and hope you check back for the next chapter, which should hopefully be out in the next couple days.

Disclaimer: I do not own +Anima.

"I'M A BOY!" Husky screamed, then turned and huffily started towards town, barely keeping himself from ranting.

Prince Lee froze for a moment, surprised, but quickly recovered. He turned and gestured for his guards to follow, then shifted his tail to a pair of legs to follow the pretty fish-boy before he got too far ahead. Fish-boy or fish-girl, Husky would be a fine addition to his household.

The red-haired prince quickly caught up. "I apologize if I offended you, Husky."

Husky stared pointedly at the town coming into view.

"I really am. I had no idea my question would upset you."

The fish-child sighed and shrugged. "Oh, whatever. It's not like you're the first one." Husky frowned and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Sheesh, even my friends put me in a dress," he mumbled, mostly to himself.

Prince Lee would've liked to see that, especially if it was a lace or silk dress, but he wisely kept that thought to himself.

"Thank you, Husky."

They walked a ways in silence for a minute or so, before Prince Lee got bored and spoke up again.

"Husky? I would like to get to know you better, if that's alright. Were you raised as a land-walker?"

"Yeah." He glanced over and saw the prince frowning, obviously not happy with such a brief reply. The fish +anima decided it wouldn't hurt to elaborate a little. Not too much, though.

"I didn't get my anima until I almost drowned a couple years ago. +Anima are slaves in my country, so I ran away."

"You have been traveling on your own since then?" Perhaps searching for a home?, the prince added in his mind.

"Not really. Most of my traveling was done once I met up Cooro. Before that… well, I… had a job, that's all."

Prince Lee sensed something was being left unsaid, something that brought a look of embarrassment, maybe even shame, to the beautiful child's face, but he let it go for now.

"It's too bad you didn't come to the sea earlier. If you had met another fish-person, you would have been eagerly accepted into a family."

"You make it sound like there's a whole underwater world of fish-people," said Husky, almost laughing at the thought.

"There is. Several thousand of us, in fact, divided into no less than 12 fish-man kingdoms."

Husky stopped walking and looked at Prince Lee in confusion. "No, there can't be. That's ridiculous."

"The fish source, or 'anima' as you call it, can be passed down to children if it is not lost. And the only way to lose it is to not use it, which is impossible living in the sea. Besides, for safety's sake, with the strange obsession land-walkers have with 'mermaids', it is much safer to live in the water than on land. And the sea is far more secure than a lake or river. Why is it so unbelievable that fish-people would head to the sea and create their own homeland?"

"But… you'd have to leave everyone behind."

"Most don't have anything or anyone to regret abandoning. The majority are even on the run. Do you not understand the way land-walkers look at us?"

Husky looked away, a blush on his face, and Lee knew he must have a myriad of stories about how land-walkers had treated him for being a fish-child. Especially such a stunningly beautiful one. He probably even faced problems in his human form.

Prince Lee was right, actually. Husky was thinking about performing in the circus as 'the mermaid princess', of the several times he'd been caught in fishing nets with people trying to haul him in, the boy that had fallen in love with the 'mermaid' who'd saved him, the slavers in his home country when Senri and he had been captured…

"I understand," said Husky quietly. "I can't leave though."

Prince Lee frowned. That was not what he'd wanted to hear. Perhaps the child would need more persuasion than he had initially thought.

"You had to leave your family because of your source, right? You've surely been chased, even hunted down for being a 'mermaid'. What is there left on land for you?"

"My friends," said Husky. "I wouldn't be able to leave Cooro, Nana, or Senri. We've been through too much."

Before Prince Lee could say anything, a giant black bird flew out of the air and smacked into Husky, sending him flying to the ground in a cloud of black feathers.

"Husky!" shouted a happy-go-lucky voice. "You're back! Yay! Did you bring fish?"

To Prince Lee's surprise, as the mass of feathers and Husky righted themselves, the giant black bird was really a black-haired boy with brightly colored feathers tied in his hair and large black wings coming out just behind his shoulders. A child with a bird source. The bird-men, at least the ones Prince Lee had heard of, were not known for forming family groups, but rather were usually fiercely independent. This child… was obviously not your typical hot-blooded loner of a bird-man.

"No, Cooro," huffed Husky, shoving the other boy off him. "I didn't go to the sea to get dinner. We get that with the room at the inn, remember? I just went for a swim to cool off after fighting with Nana."

"Oh, yeah. She's still mad at you, by the way. Said she didn't care if you never came back."

Prince Lee's eyes snapped towards Husky to see his reaction to that comment, and sure enough a quick flash of pain went through those huge blue eyes, but quickly hid behind a show of what probably was supposed to be apathy, but came across as more of a foolish stubbornness.

"Hmmph. Well, same to her."

"What did you guys fight about anyway?" asked Cooro, though his expression was less curious and more 'I want everyone to get along'.

Husky blushed bright red. "It's none of your business! She'll get over it."

"I dunno, Husky. She's reallyangry this time."

"Well, so am I! She had no reason to call me a—," Husky froze, remembering they had company. Cooro seemed to notice Prince Lee at the same time.

"Who are you, mister?" asked Cooro, tilting his head as he looked up at the man. He saw black markings on the man's neck that were similar to Husky's. "Oh, cool! You're a +anima too! Are you a fish like Husky? I'm a crow, Nana's a bat, and Senri's a bear."

"Yes, I'm a fish… +anima." Prince Lee frowned at the unfamiliar term, but didn't want to have to continuously have to explain what a 'source' was, or why he used the term 'fish-man'. "My name is Lee. Just Lee."

Husky shot him a curious look, wondering why the prince was not comfortable identifying himself as such. The red-haired prince shrugged slightly, and perhaps the fish-child remembered some of Prince Lee's comments about 'land-walkers', because he seemed to accept it. Or maybe it was something deeper and more personal to the child, as there was a strange look in his eyes before he turned away.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Cooro," he added to the bright-eyed bird-boy.

"Would you like to meet Senri and Nana?" asked Cooro, excitedly, flapping his wings a couple times before making them disappear. "And maybe exchange stories? We've never met another fish +anima before! You guys are really rare!"

Lee laughed. "That sounds like fun, Cooro," he said, his eyes glancing over to watch Husky's reaction. The child looked slightly anxious about something, but was trying to hide behind another stubborn expression. The set of his eyes and the way he stood and clenched his hands into fists gave him away.

"And I wouldn't say we're rare. Just difficult to find."

"We should head back," Husky said to Cooro, reluctantly looking towards the town.

"Oh! Right, let's go," said the bird-child happily.

Husky glanced worriedly at Prince Lee, then at his guards still in the distance. I don't want them to make things complicated, he thought to himself. Things are already... strained. Nana and I can't seem to get along at all lately. Well, yeah, it's kinda my fault, but I don't… I don't want to think about things like that. Like the future, like my past, like… ever having to split up. It's scary.

The beautiful fish-child sighed, not noticing Prince Lee's eyes glance his way at the slight sound.

If only we hadn't had that stupid fight. All because she was so excited about me being a prince. Why? It's not like I have any claim to the title anymore, being a +anima effectively dropped me to the slave class. Why can't she see that? It's not some fairy tale, and it's not like anyone is ever going to come looking for me.

Husky frowned, staring at his feet.

I shouldn't have called her a bratty witch, though, Husky admitted to himself. And I certainly shouldn't have told her that she was being a stupid girl who could never be a princess even if she HAD been born into royalty. That was going too far. She was just talking. No wonder she started calling me stupid and rude and mean.

He fingered the small pouch around his neck, the one holding the river-polished stones he had found. I need to apologize, but I can't just SAY I'm sorry. That… that's weird. And she was mean too. But I could give her something, something made from these stones. Maybe another necklace? She loves that last one I made her. Well, Senri made the pendant, but I got the stone for it… Or maybe she'd prefer some sort of hair-pin? Something really pretty that she could wear if we ever dress up? For sure it had to be a flower pattern, Nana looks good in flowers…

Cooro's words floated into his mind. "Said she didn't care if you never came back."

She didn't mean it, he thought desperately. Of course not. Yeah, we've been fighting a lot since…well, since we met, really… but we always got over it. She knows I didn't mean it, that I'm just a bit of a hot-head. Just like I know that she does care what happens to me, even when she's mad at me.