I really gotta do this now, because I am screwing up a classic story here.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Little Mermaid, Disney version or original, or Death Note. I'm kinda just screwing with it here.
Mello found Nathaniel staring at the water blankly. His body sagged slightly in relief, and he willed his heart to stop its panicked racing as the blonde approached Nathaniel slowly from behind. He debated on calling Matt and telling them to stop searching, that he'd found their unexpected visitor and he was, in fact, still alive; but he didn't want to alert Nathaniel to his presence just yet.
The moonlight he was crouched under made Nathaniel look whiter, though it wasn't a bad thing. Whereas under the sun, the pale boy looked bleached out and faded, the moon's glow brought out the stark contrast of the boy against his dark background; his white hair and pale skin gleamed brightly, making him look as if he was glowing. Mello stopped silently just a few feet away from him, watching as Nathaniel traced his fingers in the water. The boy was so expressionless, Mello knew something was wrong with him. Not in the way that Nathaniel was emotionally dysfunctional, like Matt thought, but in a 'lost in the middle of nowhere with no familiar face in sight' way. It created this weird feeling in Mello's chest, like he wanted to help the pale boy with no voice and no feelings. The only frustrating part was that there was no way he could; Nathaniel, so far, made no attempt to help them locate where he could be from.
Though the way he was around the ocean could be a link between him and Mello. There was a longing to be close to the water, not in Nathaniel's face, but in the way he would return to the ocean again and again.
"Hey, kid." He said with a sigh, finally dropping down next to him. Nathaniel slowly turned his head and looked at him with his wide, black eyes. Mello noted that in the night, with his ethereal glow from the moon, his eyes looked like endless pools of black. He looked haunting, but Mello couldn't help but see the beauty in the face beside him. "You're out here again?" Wordlessly, Nate nodded slowly. "Even with what happened earlier?" Nathaniel stopped nodding, looking down and tracing his finger in the sand. The blonde realize that Nathaniel hasn't even bathed, though he'd changed clothes; he wore white pajamas, big and baggy on his thin frame, but his hair was still stiff with salt. Mello let out a soft chuckle. "You really love the water then, huh?"
Nathaniel shrugged one shoulder in response. Mello sighed again, watching him out of the corner of his eye. "Could you talk?" Nathaniel turned his attention to the blonde again, glancing up at him from the corner of his eye as well. His eye met Mello's and he ducked his head again. "Before, I mean." Tilting his head to the side, Nathaniel nodded. Mello tilted his head back, looking up at the star studded sky. "Wonder what happened, then..." He muttered. Without warning, Mello stood up, grabbing Nathaniel's arm and pulling him up as well. The pale boy scrambled to his feet unwillingly, having no choice but to follow after the much stronger blonde. "Come on." Mello said, dragging Nathaniel by his arm. He pulled Nathaniel easily back into the castle, by passing a frantic Halle with a simple nod. She visibly relaxed, moving at a brisk pace in the opposite direction. Nathaniel watched her with disinterest before returning his attention to Mello. "You gotta get some rest. Roger says we're supposed to take you out to see the rest of this place tomorrow." Nathaniel blinked and nodded, following Mello to the room he was given.
He entered, but Mello's hand tightened on his arm and prevented him from going too far into the room. Turning, Nathaniel brought his free hand up into his hair. The blonde smiled, an excited gleam in his blue eyes.
"I know sign language." He confessed quietly. Nathaniel leaned forward a bit, feeling like Mello was sharing some secret based on how quietly he was talking. He wanted to be the only one privy to the information the blonde gave him, despite being the only one in the room Mello could possibly be sharing with.
What was sign language?
"It's a language spoken with your hands." Mello had gone on explaining, as if he knew Nathaniel wouldn't understand the concept right away. As if to further his explanation, Mello's hand drifted down and grabbed a hold of Nathaniel's, tightening gently. "Tomorrow, I could teach you. And you can talk to me, at the very least."
Nathaniel's heart leaped in his chest, setting a thunderous pace. His legs wavered slightly, and his lips parted slightly. His finger stopped in his hair, and he could barely contain himself enough to give a small nod in response. Mello's smile, if anything, grew brighter in his silent agreement. The blonde bit his lip, his hand shaking Nathaniel's once; his teeth were not enough to keep his smile from growing, though, and Mello let out a small laugh.
"Excellent." He breathed quietly. Nathaniel nodded once again. "Well, then, we'll start tomorrow. Til then," the blonde glanced around once before leaning forward a bit, pressing a quick kiss to Nathaniel's cheek. The pale boy put his hand on the spot, the whole area feeling warm as Mello pulled away. "Good night, kid."
Nathaniel watched as he walked away before closing the door and leaning back on it. His eyes closed, and his face filled with a slight pain as a smile tried to break out on his face. Taking a deep breath, Nathaniel slid his feet forward and silently clambered into bed, ignoring Carter's questions on what Mello wanted.
XXXX
Matt pulled Nathaniel down the street, pointing out things to the bewildered boy. Nathaniel's gaze moved from the bakery to the librarian to a flower shop to the little girl who liked to chase Matt and give him flowers. His mind was racing from the information overload the red head was piling on him, and his legs had gone numb from the fast pace Matt had set up for them. Mello was following almost lazily behind, keeping a watchful eye on his best friend and visitor while they made their way through the town; Nathaniel was envious of the ease between the two boys, determined to have the same with the blonde.
At the moment, though, he could barely keep up with Matt, and was in a dire need of a rest. Matt's hand had slipped from his arm again, and without him as an anchor, Nathaniel had too much speed on his own; he'd tripped over a loose stone and hit the ground, landing on his already sore elbow.
"Matt, he can't keep up with you." Mello laughed, helping Nathaniel up for the third or fourth time. Nathaniel touched the inside of Mello's wrist in gratitude, and the blonde smiled down at him. They hadn't had a chance to get away, or be alone long enough for the blonde to begin teaching Nathaniel sign language like he'd promised. They had been with others at breakfast, and Matt had volunteered to come with them to explore.
Ahead of them, Matt laughed sheepishly.
"Sorry, sorry." He said, smiling. Just as he was about to continue, a group of kids nearby had caught Matt's attention and invited him to play a game with them; without waiting, the red head ran over to play. Mello shook his head at his overexcited antics, still laughing, and put his arm around Nathaniel's waist when he started to sway slightly.
"You all right, kid?" Nathaniel nodded, eyes blank as he took in the rest of the kingdom. He hasn't expected it to be so big; it hadn't looked so from his vantage point in the water. It was tiring trying to keep up, let alone with Matt's inability to slow down for him.
That was without the rush that came from being in the place he'd wanted to see for so long. Nathaniel was doing his best to remember everything he saw, heard, felt, smelled...it was a major overload to all his senses, and despite the headache he could feel pounding in his head, Nathaniel couldn't remember a time he'd ever been happier. As Matt rejoined them, then saw something else and went ahead of them, pointing out other things, Mello tugged Nathaniel's arm. Nathaniel turned to look at him, and his thoughts slowed.
Mello was beautiful in the light, with the sun at his crown lighting his vibrant blonde hair like a halo. The blonde was warm and alive in a matter similar to the sun, his heat racing from his body to Nathaniel's where they were touching. Nathaniel felt his heart stutter and stop at Mello's deep blue eyes boring into his own, his breath catch in his throat as Mello's tan fingers traced down his arm to his hand.
"Come with me." Mello whispered, tugging his hand. Bewildered, but not able to show it, Nathaniel followed Mello; he missed the warmth that had coated his side where Mello had been pressed against him. Grinning, Mello brought Nathaniel to a boat. "Get in, kid." Nathaniel glanced at him before stepping in, wincing inwardly at the pain in his legs and the unsteady rocking of the boat. The other boat wasn't as unsteady, was it? Nathaniel couldn't remember; it was much bigger than this tiny thing, that was for sure. Mello followed him in easily, pushing them off the harbor and into the water.
"It doesn't exactly go all the way to the ocean." Mello explained as he began rowing the boat. Nathaniel clutched at the edges, his heart pounding in his chest at the movement. Mello paused momentarily to place his hand comfortingly on Nathaniel's. Wide black eyes met his and Mello smiled comfortingly. "It takes us to this little lagoon or something. It connects to the ocean, but we can't actually go that far. Sound good?" Nathaniel nodded hesitantly, pulling one knee up to his chest and placing his hand in his hair to twirl his hair. Mello squeezed his other hand one more time before pulling back to continue rowing. This time, Nathaniel was prepared for the movement and it didn't startle him as much.
Matt seemed to realize that they were missing, and started calling for them. Biting his lip, the blonde motioned for Nathaniel to be silent. Amusement spiked through his body when he realized Mello was joking with him, and Nathaniel longed to be able to share in the blonde's wide smiles. Mello grinned back, wide enough for the both of them, and was so busy rowing he didn't notice the crab slipping off Nathaniel's shirt where he had been hiding and into the water.
XXXX
"What's going on?" Misa asked quietly. Carter made a 'shh'ing noise and pointed. With Kira next to her, they peered up to see the two boys in the boat. It was only too obvious who they were, though what they were doing was less obvious; it looked like Mello had Nathaniel's hands in his own. Every now and then, the blonde would lean back and examine the position of Nathaniel's fingers before reaching forward and touching again. Misa grinned in excitement, clapping her hands under the water. Carter shot her a glare that she pointedly ignored, spinning around and giggling. "What are you gonna do?"
"We gotta create a mood." Carter hissed. Misa turned to him, confusion tracing its way on her pretty features.
"A mood?" She asked, realization dawning on her as Carter began putting his plan in order. He nodded distractedly.
"Percussion." The percussion started, startling both Nathaniel and Mello; both boys glanced around briefly before returning their attention to each other. Mello was audibly voicing his confusion, but Nathaniel could do nothing but scan the water for a solution. "Strings. Winds."
"Words." Misa said. Kira wrapped his arms around her and she leaned back, smiling brightly up at him. The mermale smiled serenely back, his fingers tracing her side absentmindedly. Carter nodded at her, turning to leave the two alone.
"There you see him, sitting there across the way." He started, pulling himself out of the water and sitting on the wooden edge behind Mello. Nathaniel's eyes zeroed in on him right away, something the blonde didn't notice, and Carter bit back the shudder that went through him when Nathaniel's empty eyes met his. "He don't got a lot to say, but there's something about him. And you don't know why, but you're dying to try- - -You wanna kiss the boy." He slipped silently back in the water just as Mello turned around, a dark scowl painting itself on his features.
"What the hell... " The blonde muttered in aggravation, his hand reaching down and grabbing a hold onto the abandoned oar. Mello turned back to Nathaniel. "You hear that?" He asked Nathaniel. Nathaniel shrugged slightly, but was inwardly amused at Carter's idea of 'help'. His dark eyes glanced to the water beside them, unknown to Mello. Carter groaned in annoyance before looking up. A familiar crow caught his eye; he was flying in lazy circles in the sky, but swooped down long enough for the crab to climb on.
"Yes, you want him." Carter started again, from on top of Beyond this time. Nathaniel glanced up and got a wink from Carter, which made him bite his lip slightly. Mello looked up as well, but was unable to find anything out of the ordinary. "Look at him, you know you do. Possible he wants you too, there is one way to ask him. It don't take a word, not a single word- - -Go on and kiss the boy." He jumped into the water, running into a shaking Quarter Queen. Carter backpedaled a bit, staring in shock at the angelfish in front of him.
"What's going on?" She asked rather loudly, her voice catching due to fear; she'd never been this close to the surface without Nathaniel. Carter made a 'shh'ing gesture with his hand.
"Sing with me, now." He said. Stunned, but still confused, Quarter Queen followed his lead.
"Sha la la la la la, my oh my. Look like the Prince too shy, ain't gonna kiss the boy. Sha la la la la la, Ain't that sad? Ain't it a shame?" A whole group sang, seemingly appearing from nowhere. It brought a gleeful smile to Misa's face and calmed Quarter Queen down but Carter shook his head dejectedly.
"Too bad, he gonna miss the boy." He said softly, Quarter looking at him confused. Carter motioned for her to go further underwater and he followed, telling her of everything that had transpired in the past two days.
While he filled her in, Mello started talking to Nathaniel.
"I can't call you 'kid' all the time, y'know." Nathaniel tilted his head to the side, staring unblinkingly at Mello. Mello sighed heavily and stopped searching for the disturbance for a moment. "You don't know enough sign language to tell me your name yet, but I can't keep calling you 'kid' forever." Mello rubbed his jaw in thought. After a few seconds, he locked eyes with Nathaniel again. "Do you know who Near is?" Nathaniel blinked.
'Near?' He mouthed silently, completely confused. The pale boy wracked his mind, trying to remember if he had ever heard of any merperson with the name 'Near'. He couldn't think of anyone, though he carefully went over every single merperson he knew. After a long few seconds, he shook his head. Mello shrugged.
"There's a story people tell their kids." He said. His finger traced the wooden edge of the boat nervously, and Nathaniel watched the movement in fascination, almost unconsciously mimicking the movement by curling his hair around his finger. "It's about an underwater kingdom, and merpeople." Nathaniel wanted to snicker- - -people thought that they were just stories? The very idea of their supposed non-existence would have been insulting if it wasn't so funny. He wondered briefly on how far humans must have evolved from their sea roots, but abandoned the though as soon as the blonde opened his mouth. Mello continued. "Some of the most-told ones are about King Watari, and his family."
Watari? Nathaniel was even more confused now- - -he had never heard of this Watari, and it put him on edge slightly. Wammy had sole control of the ocean, though Nathaniel knew of other kings and kingdoms of merpeople. The ocean was quite big, but as long as the other kingdoms kept to themselves, there was no reason for any worry. Merpeople were generally well behaved and gentle folk.
However, for such a story to be local meant that this Watari was close by, much too close for Nathaniel's liking. The pale boy made a note to bring such information up with Misa and Kira when he spoke to them next; peaceful though the merfolk may be, a battle for kingdoms was always a possibility. Nathaniel tore out a few strands of hair, pulling his finger away from his head to stare impassively at it. Mello, still talking, didn't notice.
"You look like the youngest son, Near. He was pale like you are." He looked at Nathaniel, his full attention on the boy once more. Nathaniel wasn't paying attention to him, and Mello reached out to place his hand on Nathaniel's. The pale boy's head didn't move, but his black eyes flickered up to meet Mello's blue. "Would it be all right if I called you Near? I don't think I'll be able to get your name any other way any time soon. Besides, you act like him a lot- - -all silent and emotionless."
There were no other mermales like him, Nathaniel knew, even if he was human at the current moment. Still, the description and name sounded completely foreign to him. He loathed being known to Mello by another's name, but he also saw the point the blonde was making; he couldn't speak his name, and the sign language alphabet Mello was teaching him was surprisingly hard to learn. He hadn't realized that his vocabulary was so different from a human's, and his hands were clumsy despite his ability to handle his objects with care. After a few seconds of confused musing, Nathaniel managed to nod. Mello smiled.
It was that moment that Carter came up, continuing the only bit of 'help' he could manage to offer.
"Now's your moment." He crooned romantically. "Floating in a blue lagoon." Mello looked around, confused a bit. Nathaniel glanced to the side, surprise filling his body when Quarter Queen followed, providing a gentle back up with her voice. Guilt consumed him as he realized he had left his best friend out of the loop, but it was assuaged when she sent a subtle wink his way. "Son, you better do it soon. No time will be better." Nathaniel turned his attention back to Mello, who was still glancing around suspiciously. Slowly, almost uncertainly, Nathaniel inched his hand forward to cover Mello's. "He don't say a word, and he won't say a word until you kiss the boy." He froze, his hand inches from the blonde's; the words had blindsided him. Pulling his hand back, Nathaniel ignored the flare of pain around his eyes as he forced them to roll- - -Carter just had to add that part, didn't he?
"Sha la la la la la, don't be scared. You got the mood prepared, go on and kiss the boy. Sha la la la la la, don't stop now. Don't try to hide it how you want to kiss the boy." He had gained an entire chorus, the pale boy noted dimly; even Beyond Birthday had joined in, albeit somewhat reluctantly. The crow was caught in the hands of Misa, who had broken surface and stayed hidden in the shadows. Her clear voice rang out, as did Carter's, Quarter's, and Beyond's- - -a side effect of being around them for such a long part of his life, he supposed.
Nathaniel watched the assortment of fish that seemed to be visible only to him; his gaze landed on Carter briefly before the crab motioned to his right. With a soft sigh, he glanced at Mello to find the blonde staring at him. They locked eyes, onyx black on sapphire blue, and Nathaniel felt something catch in his throat. "Sha la la la la la, float along. And listen to the song, the song say kiss the boy." Nathaniel noticed that each word brought them closer together, their movements almost trance-like.
From the side, Misa watched, her hands grasping Kira's hopefully. Beyond Birthday had escaped her grasp, but didn't fly too far away. He sat in the tree, head tilted to the side as his crimson eyes kept a wary watch. Carter smiled, knowing his plan was working and that Nathaniel would be 'normal' again. "Sha la la la la, the music play. Do what the music say, you got to kiss the boy. You've got to kiss the boy." They were close enough that Nathaniel shut his eyes, heart thumping against his chest violently. Mello's hand traced a simple pattern on Nathaniel's face, causing his heart to stutter in its violent race. "You wanna kiss the boy. You've gotta kiss the boy. Go on and kiss the boy..." He reached forward as well, twining a few strands of sun kissed hair between his fingers. The blonde sighed quietly, though he didn't move to stop Nathaniel. Just as Nathaniel felt Mello's breath on his lips...
...the boat tipped over.
"Whoa!" Mello yelled as he went to one side, Nathaniel went the other. The shock of the water was enough to immobilize the both of them.
"Whaaaaa-?" Misa yelled. Kira ducked under the water, Misa following a split second behind, her brown eyes searching out Nathaniel. She automatically moved to dart forward before Kira grabbed her and put his hand over her mouth. His eyes, instead of watching the two boys, looked through the water around them. Something, someone, was there to prevent the two from kissing, and Kira was sure that he didn't want whoever it was to find him and Misa. Whispering in the blonde's ear, he dragged her back into the shadows under the water. Carter hit his face with his hand, following the two as he cursed the interference.
Nathaniel sank under the water.
The water was cool around him, silent and peaceful. It soaked his white clothes, the pajamas that he had worn the night before and hadn't bothered changing out of before they left the palace. The water weight dragged him down a bit further than he would have otherwise sunk, but it didn't bother Nathaniel until he felt a shift in the water around him. Opening his eyes to look around, something caught his eye, and he turned instantly to it.
"I didn't think- - -I mean..." The mermale in front of him sighed, rubbing his temples. Nathaniel wished that he could scowl as darkly as Mello, rage filling his veins and causing his heart to race faster than ever before; he had been so close! "What on earth are you doing, Nathaniel? How could you do something like this? Why?" Nathaniel opened his mouth to respond, forgetting that he couldn't speak, forgetting that he couldn't breath, and started choking as sea water rushed down his throat.
'Mikami...' He thought angrily, hands flying forward and covering his mouth. As an extra measure, Nathaniel made sure to plug his nose as well; he didn't want to take the chance of having the salt water burn its way up his nose. Mikami darted towards him, clearly concerned, but Nathaniel freed a hand and waited for the darker haired mermale to get close enough to hit. He'd been so close, so close, and this idiot's foolishness had ruined it for him.
"Nathaniel!" The pale boy shook his head, swinging wildly when Mikami managed to get close. He didn't land a hit, but the other mermale drew back as if he had; his face contorted in betrayal, and Nathaniel felt his rage intensify. How dare he feel betrayed when Nathaniel could have broken this curse at this very moment. Mello was caught, he was entranced, they could have kissed; the pale boy could still feel the warmth of Mello's lips, the gentleness of his fingertips against his cheek, Mello's soft hair. They had been so close, but Mikami stopped it with one simple act. Nathaniel drew his arm back to try hitting the older mermale again, but stopped when he felt someone grab his arm. Mikami swam back, propelling himself backwards with fluid movements using his arms and his tail, then disappeared.
Nathaniel turned to face Mello as the blonde pulled his head above the water.
"You all right, Near?" Mello asked. Blinking a few times, he nodded slowly. Mello smiled. "Good." He pulled him up to stand, and Nathaniel made his way through the chest-deep water to the over turned boat. Together, they pushed the boat upright. Nathaniel stood by the boat until the blonde wrapped his arms around his waist and easily picked him up. He turned his head to the side as Mello placed him carefully in the boat, then climbed in after him. They sat in silence, just floating in the water, for a long moment. Nathaniel watched water drip from Mello's blonde strands while the other boy decided on what to do. He seemed to be battling with himself, emotions racing across his face faster than Nathaniel could read. Then Mello sighed, shaking his head. "Come on, let's go back."
All right, chapter 10. XD so close! and still, so far...originally, Lawliet was going to over turn the boat, but then my sister was like, 'no, L cant do that!' so i made it Mikami instead. XD
methegirl: you have to wait and find out. XP here's the difference between 'Near' and 'Nate', though. haha, humans are stupid sometimes.
emo-nerdy-insane-writer: i think from this point on, it won't follow the movie, if only because Nate was smart and realized it might take more than three days to get what he wants.
the munch: does it really mean that much to have Matsuda as Chef Louis? XD