Chapter Three

The ocean waves crashed against the vacant, sandy beach where the human and merman had met, and aided the other in their time of need. In the distance, Ai observed the beach from the safety of the water since he was afraid of castle guards escorting Syo to the beach. He had already been seen by one human, and fortunately he was trustworthy. To be seen by another would prove troublesome. Many humans could easily capture Ai while he was beached on the sand, and use the merman to gather attention, or even put him on display. These scenarios were not the worst that came to mind…

"Ai!" On the beach stood the young, blond man waving at the sea in Ai's direction. Rather than swim forward to meet Syo, he hid back under the water. No guards were present on the beach, but Ai still felt frightened and nervous, as well as a ridiculous sense of impending doom lingering around.

"Ai? Please, come out. There aren't any guards near, I promise." Syo approached the shoreline, and continued to call out, hoping his voice could be heard from under the water. Just as he hoped, the young prince could see a figure swimming under the water towards shore. Once Ai's face was out of the ocean water, the young man welcomed him with a smile, ans helped the merman sit on the sand.

"Thank you…"

"It was nothing. It just looked like you could use a bit of help. I imagine it's difficult getting out of the water, and dragging yourself to the sand."

"Just a bit…A tail is great in the water, but troublesome on land."

The two remained in silence afterwards. As interesting as they found each other to be, there was no doubt they were too different from the other. Syo wanted to ask about Ai's life in the water, but he didn't want the other to believe he was only fascinated with the fact that Ai was a merman. There was much more to his savior than just a tail. Equally, Ai was fascinated with humans, but he did not have any idea about them at all. It was true he cared little about the humans he saw drown in the water, but that did not mean he was not interested in the lifestyles they used to live. With the help of his new friend, he could finally begin understand them.

A heavy sigh broke the spell of silence between the human and merman, leaving the latter a bit startled.

"Listen…I want to know about you. Everything about you, Ai. If you don't want to talk about it, I understand. I just thought asking couldn't hurt." The prince looked down at the sand as if he already knew what answer would be. He would understand the other's choice knowing how mermaids lived in secrecy, and for good reason at that.

While Syo was left in his thoughts, Ai hesitantly placed the other's hand on his tail, which brought the prince back to reality. " I don't mind…So long as I'm kept a secret, I can tell you everything."

Syo simply nodded as he thought about what to ask first. He did not imagine Ai to agree, and as a result he did not prepare any questions to ask aside from a basic one. "Let me see…What do you normally do in the ocean?"

"Swim."

"I was asking about how you spend your time in the ocean…"

"Oh! I like to visit shipwrecks, and collect treasures like small trinkets. I have about half a bag full of strange oddities in my home." His face was bright red as he responded to Syo's question much to the prince's delight. "What about you? What do you do on land?"

"I don't really live a typical life…I'm a prince so I live better than most humans…" The merman's eyes widened at hearing the word prince. He had heard of them before, but he never would have imagined he would rescue a drowning prince one day. Syo could see the joy in the other's eyes, his hand gave Ai's tail a few strokes. The two continued to speak about their lives on the land, and in the sea. It was amazing how quickly the time passed by as they shared their lives. Hours passed as if they were minutes, and weeks passed by like days as the two continued to meet in secret to speak and share items from the ocean and land.

As the time passed, their attraction grew to until the point where they had fallen in love. Of course, neither of two admitted it, but they did have a slight feeling they held the same feelings regarding the other. This would change soon when Syo finally gathered all his courage to confess directly. He wanted the moment to be perfect so he prepared a small gift to present his hopefully soon to be lover. If it turned out to be a failure, at least Ai would still receive something nice.

Ai was patiently waiting for Syo at their usual meeting place, unaware of the other's intention to confess to him. As he saw the prince approach, and waved happily as he called his name out. Syo found this to be rather cute, and by the time he was sitting beside Ai, his cheeks were dusted with a bright shade of pink.

"Um…I…I…" Syo stammered for a few minutes due to his struggle to find the correct words to express his feelings about Ai, but not matter what he thought of it either sounded awful or tacky. When the words refused to come to him, he sighed and instead presented Ai with the small gift he had procured which was carefully wrapped in a silk cloth to protect it. "For you…"

"Me?" The merman took the gift into his hands, and carefully unwrapped the silk to reveal a gold bracelet. His eyes sparkled as he took note of the vine-like pattern carved into the gold.

"Allow me." Syo took the bracelet, and slipped it onto Ai's wrist. "It's beautiful…just like you."

"Wh-What?" he was taken back at the sudden compliment

"I…I love you, Ai. Ever since we started to spend more time together, I started to fall in love with you each and every day since we met. Every time I had to leave you to return the castle, my heart would ache from loneliness. The pain only stopped when I came here to see you," Syo's blush deepened a few shades as he confessed, while Ai's blush did the same as he continued to listen. "And I know you feel the same…Maybe less, or maybe even more."

"I…I feel the same about you, but I was afraid I might be wrong about your affection towards me…I didn't want to scare you away."

"You could never scare me away, Ai. You saved my life, and talk to me every day. You also treat me like a real person, not some important figure you have to impress because of rules." Syo grinned and held Ai's hands between his own.

"Does this mean we're lovers now?" he asked as he looked down at their hands.

"Yes, we're lovers now, and I wouldn't want it any other way." The two leaned their faces close until their foreheads met. They looked deep into each other's eyes until they placed their gazes onto the ocean before them.

"The ocean looks endless…Like our love." Syo commented as he closed his eyes, and rested his head on Ai's shoulder. Sadly, oceans do have ending points, but neither of the two wanted to say anything about it.


Kaoru had noticed Syo was missing from the castle more often now. He wanted to confront him about his disappearances, but he knew his brother would simply brush it of, or tell him a lie. He even thought about increasing security to make sure Syo would not sneak out, but Natsuki had advised him against it. Kaoru was told that Syo was happier than usual, and experienced less heart complications ever since he left the castle more often. He knew his brother hated being locked up in the castle, but it was all he could do to make sure Syo would live a long life.

One day he had finally had enough when heard from Natsuki that he found out Syo had bought a gold bracelet. His brother was not the type to wear jewelry, and immediately knew Syo had fallen in love. True, there were multiple theories explaining Syo's purchase of the bracelet, but something, possibly his brotherly bond, told him he was right. The same day Syo confessed to Ai was the same day Kaoru made plans to find out who Syo was seeing. He did want Syo to find love one day, but he could not risk it now. The emotion could be too strong for Syo's heart to handle. It would make his condition worse, or possibly even kill him.

"Natsuki, you and my brother are close friends. Not to mention you're the best guard in the kingdom. I want you to join me tomorrow when we follow Syo on his usual rounds. I need to know what he's up to."

"Of course. It would be better to follow and protect him than to keep him locked up here."

Little did Natsuki know that those were not Kaoru's intentions. As his brother, he needed to keep Syo alive, no matter the cost. Even if it was at the expense of his happiness, he would rather have Syo live to hate him than lose him forever.

Once Natsuki was dismissed, Kaoru slouched over the wall as the tears he fought before began to fall from his cheeks to the floor. "Forgive me, Syo. Whoever you are meeting, be it a lover or a friend, must go."