Demonika: I really don't have much to say here... I explained all my stuff back in the 1st chapter. As it's not like I can add much else in since this is still in the re-write phase and will be for some time. I guess I'll just say I don't know when I'm going to get the time to do chapters, I'm trying to juggle other stories and ideas as well as other things in my life, so I don't have all the time in the world to write. Chapters will be out whenever they are out. And as a disclaimer: I do not own Mermaid Melody or any of the characters in it, but I do own any of the OC's who may appear later down the line.

Chapter 2: I don't want to say goodbye

Monday had rolled around after the events of the weekend. Hanon and Rina weren't very happy still, neither of them wanted to tell their boyfriends that by Saturday they would be gone for what would be forever. Instead of heading to school for their final lessons of that week, they instead had a meeting with the Principal just after school had ended for the day.

Nikora was sat down on the chair on the other side of the desk with the 3 girls and Kaito standing up behind her, waiting for Jacobs to fully read over their letter. Jacob was a man who looked roughly like he was in his 30's, had a mob of short but fluffy blonde hair with some of his tips fading into amethyst purple. His eyes were the same amethyst colour. He also had a silver necklace around his neck but no one had ever seen the item on the end of it as he kept it tucked into his shirt all the time.

Once he was done he took his reading glasses off and placed them down on the table. "I understand matters in life do happen. If you all have to return to your home town for business and Kaito is to return with you, then I have but little choice to accept your letters of removal from the school."

Nikora smiled and said a huge thank you to him.

"I must ask one thing though," Jacobs spoke up. "Your hometown has never been specified ever to us, except for Kaito. Any particular reason why?"

Everyone put on the straightest face that they could, as Rina spoke for everyone. "Security reasons. We can never explain fully but if our hometown was to be found out, and certain people found out where we are from, it could be bad for us. We hope you understand our reason to not put it down."

Jacobs sat in silence for a minute, allowing for that information to seep in. "I see. Well, if it's for security reasons, once again I have but little choice." He stood up out of his seat, Nikora rising up with him. "I hereby permit that Kaito, Luchia, Hanon and Rina will be removed from the school registrar. I wish you all the best of luck in returning to your hometown." He smiled at all four of them and shook their hands one by one as they left the office.

Once he had closed the door, Luchia let out a sigh. "I'm glad he understood."

"Nikora, I know we were all supposed to go shopping to get stuff for the last few days, but would you mind if I were to go and see Masahiro?" Rina asked.

"I don't see why not," she replied. "You spend all the time you need to with him."

"Thank you," Rina said with a cheery smile as she began walking back in the other direction to go out the back gates of the school.

Hanon watched as she left, and jumped a little as Nikora put a hand to her shoulder. "If you want to go see Nagisa then go."

Hanon too said her thank you and rushed off to catch up to Rina.

"Say Rina?" Hanon said grabbing her attention. "Are you going to tell Masahiro today that we have to leave?"

Rina's face sank as she brought it up. "I was thinking about it yes. He has to know before Saturday after all. I know the first time we told them it was a bit of a false alarm, but to have to say it again and for it to be true..."

"I feel the same way," Hanon replied. "But we don't have much of a choice, I have to tell him today."

Rina was amazed at how brave Hanon was being about it all. "Then I'll do the same."

Whilst the two of them went their separate ways out of the back gate, Hanon to go to Nagisa's house and Rina to go to Masahiro's boxing area, Luchia, Kaito and Nikora went to go get the last bits of food they would need for the week.

- At Nagisa's house -

Hanon rang to doorbell and was greeted with a big hug from Nagisa and a quick kiss. "What brings you all the way over to mine after school? And for that matter how come you're not in your uniform?"

"I'll explain everything in a bit, there's something rather important I need to talk to you about," Hanon said trying to keep it all together.

Nagisa was immediately concerned but let her in, making a cup of tea for both of them as they sat down on the sofa in his lounge.

"So, what's on your mind then?" Nagisa asked.

"Do you remember a year or so ago when I said I might have to leave, and that you would't see me again?" Hanon began, seriously trying to not start tearing up.

Nagisa's face dropped a little. "I remember, I'm just glad that it didn't turn out like that. I don't exactly know what I'd do if I couldn't see you ever again."

The words were like a nail to Hanon's heart, as she put down her cup of tea and started crying. Nagisa put his down and drew her into a cuddle. "Did I say something wrong?"

Hanon took a few second to get herself to a level where she could talk. "No you didn't, it's just-" she couldn't bring herself to tell him the words she had to say.

Nagisa ran something back through his head a minute. Why on earth would she bring up that conversation from last year, and why would she be in utter tears? It took a couple of seconds for it to click into his head, and when it did, he wasn't too happy about it.

"Are you trying to tell me that it's going to happen again?" Nagisa asked in a low tone, now trying to hold it in himself.

Hanon almost burst at that point, but managed to get her words out this time. "Yes, and this time it won't be a false alarm. By Saturday, I'll have to return to my hometown, and there's no way you can return with me." Hanon buried herself into his lap, crying her heart out, making Nagisa start to cry to.

He was praying that she was joking about it, but it seemed this time that it was real. He wasn't going to pry today about why he couldn't go with her today, but before she had to leave he wanted an answer. He let her cry as he tried to stop himself from crying too.

- Over with Masahiro -

Rina had arrived just as a match was finishing up in the ring, with Masahiro declared the winner. Rina cheered for him, and he immediately spotted her, hopping out the ring and running over to the stairs to catch up to her.

"This is the first time in a while you've come here," Masahiro stated. "Any reason why?"

"I was hoping we could have a chat, there's something I really need you to know," Rina replied, Masahiro wondering what on earth it could be. He took her down into his private changing room and changed back into some more normal clothing, sitting down beside her on the bench in there.

"So what's up?" He asked.

Rina didn't quite know where to start really. "Do you remember how last year I said I might have had to leave you, and how it ended up being a false alarm?"

Masahiro wondered why she was bringing that up but went along with it. "I do yeah, I'm glad it wasn't real."

"What if I told you that by Saturday this week I was going to have to leave again, with no return, and no way for you to return with me?" Rina was desperately trying to hold back any tears from coming out.

Masahiro's eyes widened in shock of her words, his mouth dropping open, trying to comprehend what she'd just said to him. "Are you serious about it this time?"

"I don't want to be but I have to be," she replied, unable to hold back the tears. "It's been too long since I've been back to my hometown, we got a message that we have to return, and for good, we can't stay here anymore."

He pulled Rina into a hug, letting her know it was safe to cry. He wasn't too happy with what he'd just heard. Seemed like this time it was the real deal. "If that's how it has to be, we'll just have to spend the rest of your days here together and make them special." Masahiro finally let out the tears he was trying to hold back and all.

- Back at the Pearl Piari -

Luchia, Kaito and Nikora had finished putting all their shopping away, and their minds began to wonder over to Hanon and Rina. They all wondered if they were going to tell them today that they were leaving. If so, they would be in a right state when they got in. Not long after thinking this, Nikora and Luchia both received phone calls, one from Hanon and one from Rina.

Nikora left the kitchen to go and take her call whilst Luchia put her phone on speaker.

When Nikora had finished, she walked back in to find the pair just finishing up their call as well.

"Rina said she would be spending the night with Masahiro, she told him about the leaving and they said they wanted to spend some time together," Kaito said.

"Hanon pretty much said the same thing," Nikora replied. "I don't blame either of them in the slightest, they should spend all the time they can together. I never asked either of you yesterday, but how do you both feel now about the situation?"

Kaito was the first to speak. "Honestly, it was a huge shock, but I think it's going to be okay. It's in the best interest of the kingdom after all."

"Same thing here," Luchia joined in. "I'm still not totally okay with it all, but once I'm back home I'm sure it'll be different."

Nikora had a huge smile on her face. "Good to hear, I was worried after how the conversation went 2 nights ago."

The next day, Rina and Hanon returned home from their overnight stays. Both of them were still not okay with the situation they were in, but as princesses who had no choice, they manned up about it. Kaito had told Daisuke last night that he was leaving to go back to Luchia's hometown, and at school today, there was a formal announcement about their leaving. Whilst a lot of people were surprised about it and would have loved to known full details, Jacobs had forbid them to find them and talk about it. After all they were getting ready to leave the country.

Two more days past and before anyone knew it, it was Friday, the day before they had to leave. Whilst Hanon and Rina were desperate to spend their final night with their boyfriends, they opted against it, knowing it would bring too much pain for them. Both had had their breakfast and were sat down at the table in the kitchen in a slump. Luchia and Kaito had just woken up and headed down to get some food for themselves only to find those two like they were.

"Let me guess, still not over the fact they can't come with us?" Luchia asked.

"No, nothing of the sort..." Hanon began to say, her voice sounding kind of drone and monotone like.

"Yeah, it's nothing like that," Rina finished off. Both of them looked at each other with panic in their eyes, knowing that Luchia had hit it right on the note. They'd been trying so hard to hide their sadness from everyone else.

Luchia left the room and knew today had to be the day she would do what she'd been planning. She ran upstairs to prep what she needed, leaving Kaito confused with the girls.

"Listen Kaito," Rina called grabbing his attention. "We know full well that there's no way Masahiro or Nagisa could come with us. I speak for both of us when I say you have no idea how lucky you and Luchia are. It's incredibly painful for us to sit here and know that Luchia has you to take back with her."

Kaito was taken back a bit by their words, but he understood where they were coming from. If they hadn't have ever found out that Kaito was a being of the sea, Luchia would be in the exact same situation they found themselves in and he could see how painful it was for them.

"I'm sorry that there's nothing I can do about it," Kaito replied sounding quite sad.

"Don't be," Hanon pipped. "We're sorry for even bringing it up. But we just wanted someone to understand."

"Kaito!" Luchia called from the top of the stairs. "Do you think you could come up here?"

"Coming!" He shouted back. "Sorry but I gotta go." He felt bad for leaving the girls in the state they were in. He rushed upstairs to find Luchia outside her room with the door closed. "You called?"

Luchia smiled at him. "Ever since Monday, I've been thinking about something. I know both of them are really down about the whole situation, and I wanted to find some way to try and cheer them up. Yesterday, I found the answer." She opened the room to her door and stepped inside, letting Kaito follow her in.

He wasn't quite prepared for what he saw. Propped up against the back wall was a massive book almost as large at the back wall itself, with images and text in a foreign language. But even taking one look at it, he could identify what it was written in. "Isn't this text ancient mermaid?"

"It is," Luchia replied. "The oldest text of our people. Any person from the sea can immediately recognise what it is, but rarely are their people who can read it. I'm one of those rare few." Kaito looked to her in pure shock, but let her carry on.

"There's something I should tell you before I go into details about the book and my plan." Luchia sat Kaito down on her bed and prepared herself for what she had to say. "There are secrets in the sea world that certain mermaids are sworn to secrecy with. The mermaid world is not just females, but also males as well. In other words, there are mermen out there."

Kaito wasn't quite sure what to make of her words for a minute, but before he could say anything, she carried on her explanation.

"I've known for a long time about the secret. When I was young, the upper officials of the Kingdom introduced me to the higher ups from you clan, the clan that serves our Kingdom in times of need. And when I met them, there were a couple there that had tails just like us. It was quite a shock to find out there were men out there just like us, but for some reason it was to be kept a secret."

Kaito digested the information as best as he could. "As cool as that all is, why tell me if it's a secret you're not meant to tell?"

"It ties into what's written in that book," she replied. "There's a legend as old as time in our world, of a mermaid who revealed herself to a human and turned into bubbles as a punishment for doing so. Think back to our school play."

Kaito began thinking about it, they had played out a very similar tale, and he remembered how true the words Luchia spoke back then were, feeling pretty bad about it. "Yeah I remember it."

"There is some truth to the legend, but most of it is all a lie," Luchia revealed, watching as Kaito's eyes went wide in shock. "I didn't find out about this until a couple of days ago, it was written down in the book. The legend was mainly all made up by the founders to scare mermaid away from ever possibly revealing the secret to humans. A mermaid did once reveal herself to a human, but the outcome was much different." Luchia took a small breather to tell him the last bit she needed to say. "As for the book, when I'd gotten lost in Gaito's castle, I'd stumbled into a library and found that book. The whole front cover was written in ancient mermaid, the book being called Forbidden Rituals. It was just a tiny thing but when I opened it to read its contents, it grew to the massive size you see it in. I used magic to keep it with me even after we left and kept it locked away in my desk."

She gave him a minute to let all of it sink into his head. "You know even after all that I didn't really get my answer Luchia," Kaito said with his brain hurting a little.

"I'm really sorry," she replied in a flustered tone. She stood up and went back over to the book. "I know it was a long winded story but I kinda needed to tell you all of that. You see, there's a ritual in here that can turn a human into a merperson but with a cost. A mermaid must reveal themselves to a human, and within 24 hours, that human must either accept or not. If they don't accept the offer, then the mermaid who revealed herself will turn into bubbles, essentially dying. If they do accept, then the human is bound in death to the mermaid and is turned into one of them."

Kaito completely froze up at her words. "That's seriously a thing that can be done?!"

"Yes seriously," Luchia replied with a smile.

"So... you plan on telling Hanon and Rina and get them to reveal themselves to Nagisa and Masahiro so that they can return with us?"

"Exactly my plan," Luchia cheered.

"It's awesome and all but are you really going to run the risk of them saying no? It's a life or death ritual you're talking about there," Kaito warned her.

Luchia thought on it for a few seconds, but asks Kaito a simple question. "If I was going to have return to sea, and you were just a normal human, say I'd revealed myself to you and put this ritual on you, what would you say?"

"Of course I'd say yes, after all-" Kaito began to say until Luchia interrupted him.

"My point is proven," she said with a huge smile on her face. "The love they have for each other is just as strong as ours, there's no way they'd say no to it."

Kaito realised she was right about it. They loved each other all too much to let one of them go. Sure it was going to be a life changing proposition, but one that would be for the best. "I do just have one question though, how exactly is the ritual performed."

"I've known for a while know that I'm Aqua Regina's eventual successor, her blessing is a way for me to activate the rituals. I plan for Hanon and Rina to see them both and reveal themselves. When they do, my blessing of knowing this ritual will start the 24 hours they have to say yes," Luchia explained. "Think you could head back downstairs to grab them?"

Kaito smiled and rushed off downstairs to drag Rina and Hanon up into Luchia's room. Once they were in there and both in the same shock Kaito was when he saw the huge book, he decided to leave them to it.

As he headed into the kitchen to finally grab a bite to eat, his mind began to wonder to what Luchia had bought up. Why was the existence of mermen a secret to only a select rare few? Why was it such a bad thing? Lucky for him, Nikora had just appeared from her slumber.

"Nikora, can I ask you something?" Kaito asked as she came into the kitchen.

"I've just woken up but go ahead," she replied sounding very groggy.

"It's just... is there any real reason why the existence of mermen is kept a secret?"

"Oh that," she responded nodding her head. "You see, there was this war when the clans were all founded, it didn't make mermen look very good sadly. Overtime though, people had become more accepting of them, realising most of what happened wasn't their fault. Even I'm not sure why it's still kept a secret, if you ask me there's nothing wrong with it all nowadays. I guess it's just tradition."

"I see, well thank you for the information," Kaito said as he stuck the kettle on for her.

*Hang on just a minute,* Nikora thought. *Why is he asking about this all of a sudden? Furthermore how the heck did he find out? Sure he's a clan member but there's no way he would have actually known of their existence.*

It was far too early in the morning for this but she headed upstairs to try and find the girls. To her surprise, none of them were in their rooms, and by the time she headed back downstairs, Kaito seemed to have gone as well. She'd twigged that Luchia must have been the one to tell him they existed, and if they were all gone, it might have had something to do with Nagisa and Masahiro. She would just have to wait until they got back to find out just what was going on, especially since they were leaving tomorrow.

Kaito had finally caught up to the girls when they were only a couple of minutes away from Nagisa's place.

When they arrived, they let Hanon step forward to ring the doorbell. She hesitated before pressing it, but did so. Nagisa appearing almost straight away.

"Hey, what's the occasion for all four of you turning up to mine?" Nagisa asked. "I thought you only had one more day before you have to go anyway." He tried his best to hide his feelings about it all still.

Hanon took a step forward. "Nagisa, we need to talk," she said with a rather affirmative voiced.

Nagisa was a little shocked by this. Hanon never usually spoke like this unless something was really serious, and with only 1 day before them going, he really questioned what they could possibly need to talk about. He let all of them inside and got them all sat down around the couches in the room. It was very quiet as Hanon was having trouble getting herself to speak. Nagisa decided that silence needed to be broken.

"Hanon what's going on here? You never come over with Luchia, Rina and Kaito, plus you seem kind of nervous. I know you have to leave tomorrow and I know you must be feeling awful, but whatever's wrong you need to tell me." He slung his arm over her shoulder to see if she would respond.

"Listen Nagisa, I'm not who you really think I am..." Hanon began to say but paused, afraid to go any further.

"What do you mean?" Nagisa asked as he removed his arm off of her.

"I'm not actually a human. In truth, I'm really a... mermaid!"

Demonika: Phew... took a few detours there from the original version but man I am happy to have that play out like this instead. I'm not kidding when I say it's taken me like half a year to actually start writing this again, the ideas were all sat there in a little notepad document just waiting to be written out, so man am I happy that I did it.

Luchia: I'm happy for you as well. We were starting to feel all lonely and left out.

Demonika: I am sorry but when life gave me all those lemons I couldn't make that into lemonade (I actually do hate fizzy or sour drinks seriously), but now I'm back on a decent path, writing every now and then is back on the cards.

See you all for chapter 3!