The next few days pass fairly quickly. Of course on the second day of the trip, everyone (except maybe Wasabi, who was the most reluctant of the group) wanted to try out their new tails. The two biological mers of the group ended up taking all of them down to the cove for lessons in using them, wanting to make sure that they were all confident in the new style of swimming before setting them loose in the ocean. GoGo was, not surprisingly, the first to pick it up, using her new tail to zoom around the cove at speeds the impressed even Tadashi, who had lived in the water for most of his life. Honey Lemon followed soon after her, although instead of focusing on speed she spent most of the day happily giggling and squealing over her tail and planning on how to accessorize the perfect swimsuits to go with it. Eventually the brothers even managed to get Wasabi in the water, and while he didn't stay in for long (he wasn't big on swimming), by the time he got out even he had to admit that he had had fun.
By the next day some of the novelty of the new tails had worn off, but they were all happily switching back and forth from regular swimming to mer style whenever they went in the water. There were also plenty of adventures to be had on shore, having sandcastle building contests, searching for shells, exploring the tidepools, and, of course, enjoying all the amenities of the beach house, which was constantly turning up new surprises like a room that they hadn't found the last year that was dedicated solely to spare swimsuits (Honey Lemon eagerly pounced on them, hoping to find a top that matched her tail better) and a smoothie making bar in the kitchen that must have been added in since their last visit. The only one who wasn't really taking full advantage of the house and the beach was Hiro who, despite Fred's promises, was still as addicted to the sea as ever, staying out in the water from dawn 'til dusk, only coming in for meals and when Tadashi absolutely put his foot down and insisted that he needed to stop being "antisocial" and spend some time with their friends. Ezra couldn't help but worry about his boyfriend-this wasn't normal behavior for him and every day the mer kept moving closer and closer to the boundary, staring longingly out at the open ocean. A part of him was starting to think that maybe the other teen wasn't even going to come home with them at the end of the week. What if Hiro just stayed in the water and refused to come out-or, worse, swam away from them all and disappeared into the sea for good? The only thing that was keeping him from completely losing his mind from worry was the fact that Fred's other prophecy about Hiro becoming more amorous also came true. Wanting to keep an eye on him and make sure that he didn't run off without saying a goodbye, Ezra did his best to stay close to Hiro every time he went in the water, even though it was starting to get physically taxing since he wasn't used to having to swim near this much. Still, it did have its benefits. At least once a day the mer would suddenly turn to him and, without a word, drag him off to the cove where they would have the most amazing makeout sessions the blue haired teen had ever had, leaving them both sweaty and decidedly rumpled but extremely satisfied. If he was lucky, sometimes Ezra could even convince his boyfriend to stay and cuddle with him in the sand for a little bit before they both went back in the water to cool off. It seemed that every time they started having a go at each other, they went just a little bit farther-in their most recent attempt, there had definitely some physical contact below the waist going on and the noises Hiro had made as the other man nipped and sucked at his neck had touched something in his very core. Ezra wanted to talk to his boyfriend-to find out what was going on in his head and where they were headed with all of this-but unfortunately Hiro was being pretty close lipped about everything these days and any time he tried to sit down and ask him any serious questions, Hiro would just playfully peck him on the cheek and then dart off into the water, forcing him to follow after him. By the time he'd finally caught up, usually he'd have forgotten what he wanted to ask in the first place. The next logical person to talk to would have been Tadashi since he knew Hiro best, but Ezra wasn't exactly sure how to broach the subject of sexual intimacy with his boyfriend's older brother-after all, he'd probably murder him if he knew just how far the two had already gone! Beyond that, he just seemed to be in a rather agitated mood most of the time now, constantly shooting looks at his little brother when he didn't think anyone was looking and making Ezra think that maybe he wasn't the only one worried about Hiro's strange behavior.
It was on the evening of the third full day of the trip that Ezra finally felt a little bit of relief. Fred announced that the next day they would all be taking a trip up to the village, and while attendance wasn't strictly speaking mandatory, it might as well have been with the way Tadashi very firmly said that both he and Hiro would be going, and any arguments to that were quelled by the almost death glare that the older man gave his younger sibling. As Ezra settled into bed that night, he felt himself breathing a little easier. Since they were going to the village, that meant no swimming for at least most of the day tomorrow, and no swimming meant no having to worry about Hiro going off and leaving him. Maybe, just maybe, if he could keep his boyfriend out of the water for just one day, he'd finally start acting like his Hiro again.
The next day dawned bright and early, and Ezra was one of the first ones out of bed. He wanted to be up to make sure that his boyfriend didn't try to sneak out for an early morning swim, and he was gratified when Hiro came stumbling into the kitchen half an hour later and sat down at the table without glancing out at the beach. He looked slightly sullen, and Ezra would have been lying if he'd said that he hadn't vaguely heard bits and pieces of an argument going on between Hiro and Tadashi the night before. The blue haired teen couldn't say for certain, but he had a pretty good idea of what it had probably been about. Well, as much he would usually take his boyfriend's side on just about any issue, he couldn't help but hope that maybe the teen's older brother had finally gotten through to the younger boy-made him understand that all of his friends were starting to get worried about him and missed him. When Tadashi finally comes down and takes a seat a ways down from Hiro and the two refuse to make eye contact, however, Ezra has the sinking feeling that things hadn't gone nearly as well as he'd hoped.
Still, about half an hour later, walking along the dirt road leading up to the village, the blue haired teen can't help but feel his spirits lifting. It was a gorgeous day out-the sky a deep cerulean blue, not a cloud to be seen even on the horizon, and the sun was beaming down on them, just warm enough to be comfortable without burning them. Despite his rather surly attitude at breakfast, even Hiro seemed to be in a better mood now that the were actually on their way, and Ezra can't help but grin slightly when he feels his boyfriend slipping his hand into his own, swinging it back and forth and humming quietly. The teen risks a smile down at the younger man, who returns it with a gap-toothed one of his own, playfully nuzzling into him as they walk side by side. Maybe, just maybe, Ezra thinks, things were taking a turn for the better.
Once in the village, the group decides to set down the ground rules for the day-everyone could split up and go wherever they wanted, but they'd all meet at the little seafood shack by the pier for dinner at five before walking back to the beach house together. Honey Lemon immediately drags GoGo off to find the dress shop she'd fallen in love with the previous year, while Wasabi announces that he's just going to take a walk and stroll the streets for a bit. Eza honestly wasn't sure where to begin or even who (if anyone) would want to go with him, but to his great relief he finds Hiro tugging gently on his hand and asking him if he wanted to go check out the funny little tourist trap shops with him and the blue haired teen eagerly agrees. They spent a good part of the morning and early afternoon hopping from store to store, laughing at some of the more kitschy items while searching for gifts to bring home to their families. Along the way they would occasionally run into Fred and Tadashi, and they ended up all having lunch together at a cute little cafe covered in 50's memorabilia (Hiro commenting that it's a good thing that Aunt Cass wasn't there to see it because she'd either hate the decor or get some really ridiculous ideas for the Lucky Cat from it, neither of which would be good.) As they're leaving the restaurant, talking about going to find the ice cream shop Fred had mentioned on the trip over, suddenly the fanboy spots a used bookstore and Tadashi, laughing, tells the others to go on ahead, knowing that his boyfriend would probably want to spend the next couple of hours combing through piles of dusty old books in search of old sci-fi novels and comics. While Ezra was more than willing to wait around and maybe even check out the shop himself, Hiro wasn't, quickly dragging the other teen off down the street with him to continue their quest for ice cream.
It took them about another half an hour, but they finally find it, their frozen treats tasting just that much better from having to "earn" them (or maybe the ice cream was just that good!) They end up eating outside, watching the boats out on the harbor, laughing at the names on some, trying to guess the stories of how some of the others got theirs.
"See? Now that one's funny!" Hiro says, pointing to a nearby boat with "Seas the Day" painted on its hull. "I just don't get why so many of these ships have girl names on them!"
"I think it's kind of sweet that people name their boats after people they care about," Ezra answers with a slight shrug. "Like that one over there!" He points to a ship a bit further out in the water with the name "Abigail" painted on it in deep blue. "I could see someone like Professor Callaghan naming a boat after his daughter-y'know if he actually had a boat. Maybe it would make him think about her while he was out at sea so he'd always have a reminder to come home to her." Okay, so maybe he was projecting a tiny bit, but still, it was a decent explanation!
"Okay, granted," Hiro finally acquiesces. "But why does it have to be a girl? Why couldn't you name your ship after a son or a boyfriend or something?"
"I don't know-tradition?" Ezra speculates.
"It's a stupid tradition…" Hiro quietly grumbles.
"If it's any comfort, if I had a boat I'd name it after you," Ezra tells him with a warm smile.
"Really?" Hiro flashes him a smile.
"Really!" Ezra agrees, weaving his fingers a little tighter through his boyfriend's before adding quietly, "I… I wish I could put my name on you… So you'd never forget about me and you'd always have a reason to come home…"
"Wait, what?" Hiro looks up at him in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
"N-Nothing!" Ezra blushes and looks away. "Forget I said anything!"
"Ezra, no-something's bothering you," Hiro says, frowning and refusing to let go when his boyfriend starts to try to pull away. "Tell me what's going on!"
"I-It's nothing, I'm just being stupid-"
"Your emotions are, in no way, stupid," Hiro tells him flatly. "Come on. Please. If something's bothering you, I want to know about it."
"I just…" Ezra lets out a low sigh. "Ever since we've gotten here, you've been acting… Different. Like, you hardly ever talk to me, all you want to do is stay out in the ocean all day! I'm trying to be supportive because I know how important this is to you, but some days… Some days I'm scared that I'm going to lose you… That you're just going to swim away and not come back and I'm going to lose the best thing that's ever happened to me…" Damnit, he had promised himself that he wasn't going to cry and yet here came the waterworks, like it or not.
"Oh, Ez…" Hiro breathes, looking absolutely stunned and a bit heartbroken to see his boyfriend this choked up about his recent behavior. Within moments, he's wrapping his arms around the other man's waist, pulling him into a kiss and just holding him tightly.
As many times as they'd kissed during the last week, Ezra finds himself melting into this one-it was the first one that had felt real and he allows himself to feel all the warmth and love his boyfriend was pouring into it.
"I am never," Hiro says firmly once he finally pulls away, leaving poor Ezra feeling slightly dazed, "leaving you. And I'm sorry if I worried you. I know I've been acting a little… Odd this week. I don't know what it is about being near the ocean that's just making me act a little crazy. I remember Tadashi acting kind of strange last year and I couldn't understand it-I promised myself that I'd never get this way, but I guess I got sucked in before I could even realize what was happening…" He gives the other boy a somewhat guilty smile before adding, "But I promise, no matter what's happening or how I'm acting, you are my Ezra, and I'm your Hiro. And I will always come back to you."
"Really?" Ezra feels a huge wave of relief washing over him, as if all of his stress and worries had just been washed away by the tide.
"Really," Hiro promises, pulling him into another kiss which his boyfriend more than eagerly returns.
"So… What do you want to do now?" Ezra asks softly when they finally break for air.
"Dunno," Hiro admits, smiling up at him. "Any ideas?"
"Hm…" Ezra glances around, searching for inspiration before his eyes land on the water below them. "Feel like a swim?" he asks playfully.
"I thought you basically just told me that you were sick and tired of swimming," Hiro points out, raising an eyebrow.
"Maybe I was," Ezra admits. "But now that I know that you're staying here, safe with me… I'm not scared like I was before. And besides, you just did something really nice for me so I want to do something nice for you!"
"Well…" Hiro looks out at the sparkling blue water-even though they were near the bay, it was surprisingly clear. "I'm not going to lie, I'd love to go swimming… But do you think it's safe to do it here? Tadashi said that I shouldn't go swimming past the barrier…"
"It looks pretty dead around here, and as long as we stay away from any boats we should be fine," Ezra answers after giving the area a quick glance over, starting to tug gently on his boyfriend's hand. "C'mon. I want to do this for you-for both of us!" If he could show himself that he could trust Hiro to stay with him even in the open water, he could prove his faith in his boyfriend to both of them.
"...All right then, let's go for it!" Hiro agrees, too eager to get in the water again to be able to find it in him to really argue with him. Beaming, Ezra leads him to the end of the dock and, after doing one last cursory check, they dive into the water. The next two hours were probably the best ones Ezra had had so far on the trip. They had to stay underwater the entire time just to be safe, but that didn't matter. They swam and played and flirted, enjoying just being together. Ezra could have almost sworn that he was falling in love with his boyfriend all over again as he cuddles him against his chest in the sand, his hands tracing over every one of his perfect features, tangling in his thick black hair. He could have stayed there forever, but eventually they realized that they needed to get heading back if they didn't want to miss meeting the others for dinner and so they start swimming back for shore.
It was on the way back that they had the accident that almost changed both of their lives forever. Both giddy from their secret, slightly illicit date, the teens weren't paying as much attention as they should have been to where they were swimming. Consequently, shortly outside the bay, Hiro suddenly found his tail caught in something.
"Hiro, what's wrong?" Ezra asks, turning to his boyfriend in concern when he hears him calling out his name.
"I-I'm stuck!" Hiro answers, trying fruitlessly to disentangle his fins from the fishing net he was stuck in.
"Hey, hey, calm down!" Ezra says, trying to soothe him as he comes over to join him. "If you struggle, you'll just make it worse!"
"O-Okay," Hiro agrees, doing his best to stay still while his boyfriend works to free him. They were so concentrated on that, in fact, that they didn't even see the sides of the net rising until it was too late.
"Shit!" Hiro cries when he realizes that they'd been neatly trapped, the net starting to rise. "E-Ez!"
"Hiro!" Ezra returns his panicked look. "Quick, you have to change back!"
"I-I'm trying!" Hiro answers, squeezing his eyes shut but opening them again and looking at his boyfriend in complete and utter terror. "I-I can't! Ezra, I'm stuck!"
"I-It's going to be okay!" Ezra tells him, trying to sound calm despite the felt that he himself was on the verge of a breakdown. He was trying to dissolve his own tail, but it seemed like, much as Hiro's panic was keeping him stuck as mer, his own was jamming the neurocranial transmitter holding his own tail together. The transmitter had been programmed to hold the tail together in the water under even the roughest of circumstances, and you had to be able to fully concentrate in order to make it form or dissolve. Right now, his main concern being on Hiro, there was no way that he was going to be able to do that. "M-Maybe if we swim down, we can break the net, like in Nemo!" he cries, deciding to instead focus on a more achievable goal-breaking free!
"This isn't a Disney movie!" Hiro shouts at him.
"Just do it!"
Unfortunately, even with both their efforts, they couldn't break the net and soon they found themselves being lifted out of the water.
"Just hang onto me," Ezra whispers, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend who was tightly clinging to him. "I've got you. I won't let anything happen to you!" He didn't know how much he could actually do, but he wasn't going to go down without a fight!
The net eventually stops rising and they're left swinging over the deck of the ship, shivering together and awaiting their fate.
"Well, well, well," an old, creaky voice says from somewhere nearby, making the two jump, "let's see what I've caught!" Suddenly the net drops and the two slam painfully to the deck, Ezra's skull connecting with the hard wood and causing small sparks of light to flash in his vision. By the time he could see again, he looks up to see an old man standing over them and looking like Christmas had just come early.
"I'll be a jellyfish's uncle-I can't believe it!" the man says, an eager gleam in his eyes. "I-I've actually caught two mers!" He lets out a rather eccentric sounding laugh. "And they said I was crazy for believing the myths! They said that I was an old fool! Well, look who's laughing now!"
"Please, sir!" Ezra says cautiously, not liking where this was going, "T-This is all a big misunderstanding! If you'll just let me explain-!"
But instead of answering, the old man suddenly starts wrapping the net tightly around them, tying it in knots that were going to be impossible to untie. "I'm going to be rich!" he says, his expression absolutely rapturous. "I can retire in comfort now! Just imagine the money I'm going to make, putting these two on display!"
Hiro lets out a panicked squeak, and Ezra cries angrily, "You can't do this! We have families-you can't just take us away from them! We are people, you can't treat us like property!" If he'd been thinking straight, he should have been pointing out that his tail wasn't even real, but all he could think of was his beautiful, sweet Hiro, who was so scared and stuck in mer form and how he was going to do whatever he could to stay with him and protect him.
"Yer my property now," the man answers, giving him a grin full of rotten yellow teeth. "Don't worry, I'll take real good care of yeh-and look at it this way, at least you'll be with your girlfriend!"
"G-Girlfriend?!" Hiro sputters. "I'm a boy!" Okay, so maybe that wasn't really important right now, but still!
"Really?" The man looks him over curiously. "Well, we can fix that with the right clothes. You'll draw more crowds if at least one of yeh is mermaid!"
"Oh my gosh, this can not be happening!" Hiro quietly moans, and Ezra hugs him tighter.
"You. Can't. Do this," the blue haired teen growls. "Our families will find us and make you pay dearly if you so much as lay a hand on us!"
"Yer families will have a bit of a rough time gettin' to yeh if they live yeh in the sea, won't they?" the man chuckles. "Besides, I'll be takin' you two far away from here to someplace where they'll never find yeh!"
Ezra's heart rate speeds up-he was full on kidnapping them?! Even if Hiro managed to get back into human form, this psycho was probably going to still lock them up and it would take them forever to get home, even if they managed to get free!
"Better get the two of yeh below decks before someone spots yeh," the old man chuckles, starting to tug on the net holding them. "Don't want no one stealin' yeh away from me!"
Hiro lets out an alarmed cry, and both he and Ezra start struggling against their bonds, desperately call out in hopes that whoever found them would be better than this insane person.
"Put a sock in it!" the old man growls, stuffing a rag from his pocket into Hiro's mouth. He appeared to be looking for something to shut Ezra up with, and the teen desperately keeps shouting, knowing that he probably only had seconds at most.
And then, by some miracle, he saw a nearby boat, the one he and Hiro had seen earlier called the "Abigail" slowly moving towards them.
"HELP!" he cries at the top of his lungs, hoping that whoever was captaining it could help him. "WE'RE BEING KIDNAPPED! RAPE! PEDOPHILE! FIRE!" Okay, so at that point he was just shouting whatever came to mind-whatever it took to get rescued!
"SHUT IT!" The old man slaps him hard across the face, a dark glint coming into his eyes as he finally finds another rag and starts trying it tightly around Ezra's mouth.
No, no, they were so close! Oh God, please, don't let them be actually be taken away by this psychopath!
"Ahoy there!" a deep, oddly familiar voice calls, and although Ezra couldn't place it, he almost cried in relief. Despite the fact that they were both gagged and bound, he and Hiro start struggling harder-whatever they could do to make their situation clearer.
"Shove off!" the old man keeping them captive shouts, looking enraged at being caught. "Mind yer own bloody business!"
"You're making it my business-it looks like you're holding those two teens against their will!" the other voice answers sternly. "Do you know how many child abuse laws you're breaking right now? You could spend years in prison on that alone, let alone the kidnapping charges!"
"These aren't children! They're monsters-creatures of the deep!" the old man snaps. "And I caught 'em fair and square, so yeh can't try t' take 'em from me!"
"Sir, I will ask you once more to let them go or I will be forced to radio the coast guard," the other voice answers firmly. "And you should also know that I am currently armed and I am not afraid to use whatever force is necessary to make you let those children free." There's the sound of a gun being armed, and a look of panic crosses the old man's face.
"L-Looky here! I-I'm just an old man trying to make an honest living!" he stammers.
"By imprisoning and dehumanizing innocent living beings? That is not, by any definition, 'honest'," the other voice says coldly. "Now I'm giving you until the count of ten to give them to me, or you will force my hand."
"F-Fine," the old man finally sighs, shoulders slumping in defeat. "You can have 'em…"
"A wise choice." There's the sound of wood lightly bumping against wood, and the boat rocks lightly beneath them, leaving Ezra to think that the two boats had just connected. The old man starts dragging at the net they were still tied in, pulling them up the the railing and heaving them upright. Then another strong pair of arms suddenly takes hold of them and hauls them over the side and onto a different deck. Despite not knowing for sure what was going on, both teens could only hope that they were in a better situation than they'd been with the crazy old coot who wanted to put them on display like a circus side show.
"Now, you are going to sail away, and as far as you're concerned, none of this ever happened-got it?" the voice of their savior growls.
"R-Right…" the old man mumbles, and soon there's the sound of a motor starting up, growing slowly more and more distant until they can't hear it anymore.
"Well, at least that's over," their rescuer sighs before saying in a much kinder, if somewhat tired voice, "Don't worry, you're safe now. Let's get you out of those nets and then I'll take you wherever you need to go, all right?"
"T-Thank you," Ezra manages to get out, extremely relieved. It finally hit him that he probably should have tried dissolving his tail again long before now, but he couldn't change the past and, given he was going to be free any minute, he decides to just wait and do it when it'll be easier to manage, unencumbered by all these ropes. If anything, it might help for their unexpected savior to see it happen, so he can explain about the robotic tails (hopefully giving himself and Hiro a perfect excuse as to why the guy thought they actually were mers.) He was so caught up in his relief at being saved that he didn't even think to look up to see the face of their savior as he leans over to start cutting their bonds until he hears Hiro gasping loudly next to him. And then he finally does look, and he ends up having an involuntary sharp intake of breath himself. No way-No way, this wasn't possible! It couldn't be him-could it?
"P-Professor Callaghan?"