The weather was stormy for the next few days, so Jamie couldn't go out to see Bones after work. Instead, She contented herself with reading about the Mer customs and biology. It was quite fascinating. The anatomy chapter was very informative, she thought, giggling like a teenager. So that was where he kept his-um-equipment. Retractable, of course.

And the belief that mermaids wore nothing but strategically placed clamshells? Complete nonsense, Archer declared. Mermaids were fond of light airy gowns that covered them, but did not impede their progress when swimming. Even mermen often wore tunics on formal occasions.

Then she reached the chapter he had urged her to study. It was highly informative. When two mers mated, they formed very powerful bonds that were incredibly difficult to break. Their souls were literally intertwined. Very few mers lived long after the death of their mates, unless they had originally been human, like Christine.

Bonding took place when a Mer and their prospective mate kissed for the first time. If the mate was human, the power of their bond turned one of the lovers to match the other species and allow the two to live together. No one was able to predict which way the pair would go, though there were many theories.

Jamie sucked in a breath reading this. No wonder Bones hadn't tried to kiss her. It would basically make them married and change one of them forever. Could she ever be ready to do something that permanent and life changing? Spock had been afraid to even discuss it with her, so vocal had she been about taking it slow.

What would life be like as a mermaid? Would she have gills? What would she eat? She had many questions. Maybe this Gaila could answer them. Jamie willed the weather to change.

The next sunny day was very warm so Jamie put on her swimsuit and headed for her favorite spot. Even if the water was cold, she could do some sunbathing and maybe spot some mers. She felt very playful in her halter tankini top and matching swim skirt. Jamie had given up wearing bikinis in public a long time ago. They were more trouble than they were worth.

She was soaking in the Suns rays, when she heard a splash and a voice. "If that's her, Len, you're a lucky Mer all right!" The voice sounded Scottish.

Jamie sat up and shook sand out of her suit. Three tails were busily propelling their owners towards the shore. One was Leonard's gorgeous green-gold, the second was silver, evidently Scotty, and the third was jet black, attached to a female with green skin and red hair.

She waved and waded out to them, the water feeling good on her toes. "I see you've brought some of your friends today!"

Bones was looking at her very intently. She realized he had never seen her in beachwear before. Well, she had him flustered already. Interesting. He recovered himself and introduced Scotty and Gaila.

"Pleased to meet you, Miss Kirk," Scotty said, beaming as he shook her hand.

Gaila gave her a hug, gushing,"You're even prettier than I imagined! No wonder Leonard is so smitten."

Bones blushed. Jamie laughed. "I'm flattered, Gaila, and I can assure you, I'm fairly smitten with him as well. I'd never met a merman in my life before. Now, I'm reading books about their culture and history and meeting some really cool people."

"We're all up and down this coast. I'm surprised you haven't run into any of us before," Scotty noted with surprise.

"That's because I never took the time to do so much as breathe between court cases", Jamie admitted regretfully, "my career was fantastic, but I let everything else fall by the wayside. When I lost my job, I was left flailing at the empty air. I met Leonard at a very low point."

She impulsively dipped into the water and came up spluttering, dripping wet. "Wow, that's cold!" Jamie spluttered, "I have no idea why I did that."

Bones laughed. "You've been swept up in the lure of the ocean, Jamie-girl. Better be careful, or you'll never wanna go back, even if it is full of disease and danger."

"You never know, Bones, I might just take you up on that. It's looking mighty appealing from where I'm standing." She was pointedly gazing at him again. He flushed.

"Oh, goodness, it's worse than I thought!" exclaimed Scotty, pretending to gag.

"Or better," sighed Gaila, watching them with glee.

Jamie frolicked with the mers for a while before she got cold and was escorted back to the beach by Bones. Scotty and Gaila said goodbye and headed back out to sea, giving them some alone time.

Wrapped up in her towel, Jamie snuggled up to Bones and watched the light dancing off his scales. Yes, she thought, if it came down to it, she wouldn't mind staying here forever. She wondered if Bones would feel the same about becoming human.

"So I read the rest of that book about Mers," she murmured, tracing a finger down his back.

"Really? Learn anything interesting?" Bones asked, raising his eyebrow. Jamie thought it was amazing how expressive they were.

"Well," she smiled, "I was relieved to discover mers DO wear clothes, and the anatomy chapter was rather informative."

He rolled his eyes at the way she smirked. "Course you'd look that up first," he muttered.

"Yep." Jamie was unrepentant. "But the chapter on the bonding part kind of blew my my mind. Both a human and Mer have to be willing to give something up if they want to be together forever. That's intense."

"It is," agreed Bones seriously, turning to look her in the eye, "but it has to be that way for us to be compatible. It certainly separates true love from infatuation."

Jamie was silent for awhile. "Would you be okay with risking becoming a human?"

"Depends on who the human I'd be with is." He looked at her meaningfully. "But with how cute you're looking right now, if I were human, I'd have kissed you already." He winked at her and Jamie knew she had fallen hard.