Shiro didn't have to search too long before finding out his father had left during his time out at sea with Lance. Figures that he'd leave right after an argument and miss the fact that his son almost drowned. Not that his father was around very often anyway, so Shiro wasn't all that torn up about it.

Rather, his thoughts were occupied by the rather incredible person he'd met the other day. The merman. Keith. Only a few words had been exchanged, and Shiro found that he couldn't get his mind off him. Where had he come from? How did he save Shiro? What were merfolk kingdoms like, and why hasn't anybody seen them before? And most importantly, would he ever see him again?

Shiro ran a hand through his hair, leaning against the frame of one of the huge palace windows. He could easily see the beach from here.

...what were the odds that Keith would be there if he went down there now?

Shiro quickly shook the thought from his head. Nah, that was impossible. As much as he hated the thought of it, his encounter with Keith was probably a one-time thing. And it was a real bummer too, because there was so much he wanted to say to him, to ask him.

There were footsteps behind him, and Shiro turned to see Katie, tinkering with something in her hand as usual and wearing a smile on her face.

Shiro grinned back, amused. "Afternoon, Katie."

"Afternoon," the teenager greeted back, taking the greeting as permission to go stand next to him. "Good to see you, Prince Shiro. I thought you'd be locked up in your study all day."

Shiro scoffed at this. "Even a prince needs a break once in a while. Feels like I just have more work to do each day, instead of less."

"Wow. What will you do when you're a king, then?"

Shiro groaned. "Don't make me think about that."

"Sorry," Katie giggled slightly, then turned to look up at him. "So...whatcha thinking about?"

Shiro turned back to the sight of the beach and shrugged. "Just...things."

"Your new boyfriend from the sea?"

"Katie," Shiro replied sternly, but the girl just snickered.

"Sorry," she said again. "It's just that everyone's been talking about it ever since you got back. Hunk and Matt don't believe that he's real, but I do."

Shiro gave a curt chuckle. "Yeah, I'm honestly not so sure myself."

"What was he like?"

"Well, uh..." Shiro paused, recalling the image of the young merman that had been engraved into his mind. "He had a sharp tongue on him, for sure, but he seemed friendly enough."

Katie noted the small smile on the prince's face, and she smirked. "Was he cute?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Sure, Katie. He was cute."

Katie tried and failed to cover up her giggle. "Hey, if you want, I can try and make something that can find him for you. Maybe Lance could help too, since he knows about fish and stuff."

"Heh. That won't be necessary, but thanks for the offer."

"Ok, well, I'm here if you need me."

Katie continued to mess around with whatever was in her hands, and Shiro absentmindedly turned to the seashore once more. Once again he wondered what would happen if he went down to the beach right now. Even if he wouldn't find Keith, a break from the palace walls would certainly be welcome.

"I'm gonna go out for a walk," he told

Katie, pushing himself away from the window frame and heading away.

Katie frowned. "Uh...shouldn't someone go with you, prince Shiro?"

"I won't be out long," Shiro replied. "If I'm not back in an hour, send Matt to the beach after me."

"Uh...okay."

Shiro slipped quickly out of the palace and welcomed the fresh seaside air. Waving hello to a couple people as they passed by, Shiro briskly walked down to the beach, mind wandering and taking in the nice view of the ocean.

...and then he saw him.

At first it was just a flash of red, and Shiro froze as he watched the familiar head of the black-haired merman emerge from the water, followed by the rest of his body as he slipped up onto the same rock that Shiro had found him at before. Keith was back.

Shiro's immediate reaction was to duck behind the giant stone structure nearby, out of sight. He tried to slow down his rapid heartbeat. He honestly hadn't expected at all to see Keith again. Heck for a moment there he'd convinced himself that Keith had been nothing but a dream. And yet there he was.

Taking a shaky breath, Shiro slowly turned to peer out at him again. Keith was frowning, seemingly looking for something, before muttering in annoyance and running a had through his thick hair. Then he turned around to sit facing the sea.

Shiro hesitated, before slowly walking toward him, heart still pounding. "Keith...?"

Keith whipped his head around in surprise. Then his expression turned to one of irritation. "It's about time," the boy snapped. "I've been coming here every day and you haven't been showing up."

Shiro felt as if a flower made of pure warmth was blooming in his chest. "I...I'm sorry. You were coming here to see me?"

"Why else would I be here?"

Oh. Shiro really hoped the smile on his face wasn't too goofy-looking right now. "I'm sorry for making you wait. It's good to see you again, Keith."

A soft smile broke through Keith's previous annoyed expression. "Same to you, Shiro."

The regular commotion of the castle suddenly felt too loud, too annoying for the queen as she passed through. She looked elegant and poised as usual to an outsider, but for someone who knew her, it was obvious that she was incredibly upset about something. And that's exactly what her manservant was thinking as she swiftly swam over to him, a frown on her face.

"Coran?" The queen called out, prompting the merman in question to turn toward her with a slight bow.

"Yes, Queen Allura," he replied. "Is something bothering you?"

"Yes, actually," Allura said. "Have you seen Keith?"

Coran frowned at the mention of the queen's younger brother, then shook his head. "Not since this morning, milady."

Allura grumbled to herself and swam briskly over to the balcony, where she leaned down on her hands grumpily. "Where could he had gone?" The mermaid snapped. "I told him to take a guard with him if he ever wanted to leave!"

Coran couldn't help but smile in amusement. "Oh, don't worry so much about Prince Keith. He might be a troublemaker, but he can take care of himself."

Allura stared downward with a frown, but she couldn't deny that Coran's statement was true. "I guess you're right..."

"Good," Coran replied in satisfaction. He swam slowly over to her and put a hand on her shoulder, gently pulling her away from the balcony. "Now, you should probably get some rest. You've got a long evening ahead of you."

Allura nodded and allowed Coran to lead her over to her quarters. "I just...hope he hasn't gone and done something stupid."

"So...first I'd like to apologize," Keith began nervously, wringing his hands nervously in his lap.

Shiro, who was now sitting next to him on the rock, looked up at him in confusion. "For what?"

"The other day. I was messing around near the surface and I guess I angered a giant octopus...he went on a rampage and when I accidentally flipped you over he just grabbed you cause you were the nearest thing..." Keith bit his lip. "So, I...I'm kinda the reason that happened."

Shiro blinked, then gave a nervous laugh. "Ah, well...it's alright, it's really not your fault. And you did save me."

Keith shrugged. "I guess."

"...so, you were nearby here, huh?" Shiro ventured. "Does that mean you come here often?"

Keith was quiet, flicking at the water with his tail. "You could say that."

Shiro smiled softly at him. "Is it to get away from the palace? That's why I'm usually here."

Keith finally looked back at him and mirrored his smile. "That's part of it. But I guess I'm just curious about the surface world too." He shrugged. "I'm not actually supposed to be anywhere near here. Allura doesn't like humans, so she'd throw a fit if she found out I was talking to one."

"Allura?"

"My sister," Keith clarified. "She's kinda the ruler of Altea, so I'm supposed to listen to her, but..."

"You're a rebel," Shiro smirked at him and Keith shot him a glare. "Must be nice being the younger one. I would never get away with something like that."

Keith scoffed. "I mean, Allura's nice and all, but she can be a little...much."

Shiro chuckles slightly. "So...your kingdom. Altea, right? What's it like?"

"Wet."

"Seriously?"

Keith laughed softly. "It's pretty great. The folk are nice for the most part, and the views are amazing. And Allura's a great queen, so pretty much everyone is doing well. But it just..." he frowned. "Sometimes it's kinda boring. There's nothing new to see at this point, and I've got nobody to talk to, so I just kinda come up here."

"No friends?" Shiro asked, frowning.

Keith shook his head.

For the life of him Shiro couldn't figure out why anyone wouldn't want to hang out with Keith, but it was probably best not to ask. So he just nodded, staring down at the water that Keith was still flicking at with his tail. The conversation lulled for a second and Shiro tried to figure out what else to say, but Keith beat him to it.

"So you're...the heir, huh? What's that like?"

Shiro raised an eyebrow. "You mean you don't know? You're a prince too, right?"

Keith blinked at him before looking away quickly. "Uh-well, yeah, but uh...Allura is the queen, and when she has children they will be next in line so...nobody's ever thought of me as the heir. That's why I'm asking."

"Huh," Shiro mused, leaning back on his hands. "Merfolk must do things differently, then." He scoffed. "Consider yourself lucky. It's...stressful."

"Mm. I can imagine." Another pause. "You haven't told me what your kingdom is like."

It seemed that Keith was also trying to keep the conversation going as long as he could, and the the thought made Shiro smile. "It's pretty lively. Especially around the palace, a lot of people gather there."

Keith was smiling thoughtfully. "It sounds nice. I wish I could see it."

"You'd probably like it. There's always something crazy going on, and you seem like the adventurous type."

"What gave you that idea?" Keith smirked in his direction, and both of them laughed.

There was another pause, a nicer one this time. Both of them stared quietly out into the sea, Shiro trying not to be too obvious about sneaking glances at the merman every now and then.

"Are those the fishermen?" Keith asked casually, nodding toward the boats in the distance.

Shiro glanced at the boats himself and nodded. "Yeah. I guess it's about time for them to be heading out again." Then he frowned. "Which means I should probably be heading back. I've been out for a while."

For the first time Keith actually seemed to drop his facade of neutral coolness, as he looked quite disappointed when Shiro hopped down from his seat next to him. "You're leaving?"

Shiro bit his lip and stared apologetically back at him. "Yeah, well...if I don't go now, Matt will probably show up and drag me back anyway."

"Right, you're probably busy," Keith murmured. Then he turned to Shiro again. "Are you coming back tomorrow?"

Shiro blinked. "Why do you ask?"

For a second Shiro swore he saw Keith's face turn slightly pinker, but the merman quickly looked away and shrugged. "I mean...we're friends now, right? It's...kinda nice talking to you. Makes things less boring."

Shiro was stunned for a moment before feeling that unnaturally giddy smile on his face once more. "Oh, yeah. Uh, sure. I'll be back."

"Okay," Keith replied with a grin, his usual attitude back again. "See you tomorrow then."

Before Shiro could say anything more, Keith took that as his cue to leave and soon disappeared underwater. Shiro, on the other hand, took a second to remember how to move again. By the time he got back to the castle, though, he was in a much better mood than before.

A/N: hey so disclaimer, making Allura Keith's sister in this is NOT meant to be a jab at Kallura, I promise. :'D As you can probably guess, this story takes some inspiration from The Little Mermaid-Keith is Ariel, Shiro is Eric, and I juggled through a lot of characters to be King Triton and eventually settled on Allura. Because come on, Allura as the badass queen of the seas? I couldn't pass that one up.

Nevertheless, if you don't like it, it's not present in any of my other stories. So you do what makes you feel better. ;D