Hey guys, thank you so so so so much for the support and the lovely reviews! They mean the world, and are so helpful, inspiring and motivating! I love you all, and you can consider this chapter, heck, this entire story, dedicated to each and every one of you! I am going to try and go on a manic updating spree of all my fics (I am actively working on 3 right now, though there are two I should probably crawl back to with my tail between my legs... *coughcough* sorry Merlin fandom, I still love you) but this is one of the priorities! I have also (and this may be a premature announcement, so let's all hold our horses) started work on my own novel! I have literally written about 3 pages of it so far, and I may well abandon it, disgusted, in a week, but I have ideas, and it should be exciting, so I may keep you posted on that! By the way, there are a couple of Cornish (Mer) phrases used at the end of the chapter. If you want a translation, this website is useful. Oh yeah, one more thing: I NEED A BETA. I was rereading some old chapters, and there were some typos that made me want to poke my eyes out and burn my laptop... If anyone has any recommendations for a beta or would be up for beta-ing themselves, pretty pretty please PM me, as it would be unbelievably helpful! Anyway, enough of me now...

He knows. I can see it in his face, his face that I know better than my own, his brown, creased-around-the-eyes, angular face that is right now shifting with a thousand emotions, light sunlight on seawater. But nowhere near as gentle as sunlight. Aunt Saph tumbles down the stairs, looking breathless from running, she was obviously trying to beat him to the door. She froze when she saw him, her lips parted, her eyes wide. "Con..." she breathed.
"You promised," he says to her hoarsely, not turning away from me, "you promised me Saph." And suddenly, his body convulses with a shuddering sob that he tries to turn into a cough, and he pushes roughly past me, storming off behind the cottage somewhere. I feel numb. My Dad doesn't cry. He doesn't storm.
"Come in, you two," Aunt Saph says quietly. I step quickly over the threshold, but Carrow looks doubtful.
"Your father," he says, "he does not think I should be here?"
"Don't worry about that," Aunt Saphs says to him. She takes him upstairs to run him a bath. I sit down weakly in a chair, feeling nauseous. I don't even know how my Dad knew I'd been to Ingo, who Carrow was. It was like he looked at our faces, and read us like scientists read the rings on tree stumps.

Aunt Saph emerges a few minutes later. "He's sleeping," she says, "in my room. I'll take the sofa for a while."
"Dad..." I say.
Aunt Saph's face clouds. He arrived about an hour before you did. He and your mum got back early, but they wanted to stay in a hotel in 's, where they had the internet and landlines are more reliable, since they still want to check up on Grandma, even if she is well enough to be monitored long-distance."
I nod. "Why didn't we know?"
Aunt Saph gives a short, humorless laugh. "They wanted to surprise us."
I smile wanly. "I don't think he expected one in return. Where's Mum?"
"At their hotel, resting. The journey wore her out. It was her idea to keep you on here whilst they stayed there, she thought you'd enjoy it more."
"I would," I tell her honestly."
Aunt Sapphy smiles at me, a sad smile, but a warm one. "As would I. I'm not sure what your father will have to say about that now, however. I imagine he'll want to drive straight back off to London with you and not let you out of his sight."
I slump low in the armchair and let out a huff of air. "What's his problem anyway? He's always so angry, so hot-headed. His temper, he just flares..."
"He wasn't always like that," says my Aunt meditatively. I cock an eyebrow at her, and she continues. "When we were younger, throughout our childhood right up to when I was about sixteen, which made him... ooh, yes, about eighteen."
"That's specific. What happened, puberty?"
Aunt Saph gives one of her humorless laughs. "No, your Father, he... well, you could say he has a reason to be so... paranoid. About Ingo, at least." She pauses a moment. "I gave him one."
My head whips up completely. "What? What happened?"
She opens her mouth, but then shakes her head. "I think..." she glances anxiously to the door, "oh, whatever, he's already livid. It's probably better if I show you. It's time to visit my..."
"Boyfriend?" I hazard a guess.
She laughs, genuinely this time. "Yeah, him. His name's Faro," she reminds me.
"Do you think he can explain what happened to Carrow?"
Her eyebrows knit together. "I don't know. Maybe. We'll take him with us."
"No," I protest, "we should let him sleep! He just got... turned into a human. That takes a lot out of a person!"
Aunt Sapphy smiles at me. "I know, but I think he'd like to know what's happening him. Faro is his uncle, he trusts him."
"Fine," I say.
"We should go soon," says Aunt Saph glancing at the door, "before your Dad gets back."
I nod, "I'll go wake Carrow."

Carrow's attempts at conversation are pitiful. "You have shadows around your eyes," he says, "they are... different."
"Shadows? What? No I- Oh, the eyeliner!" I still have the stuff on from Rowan's torture session/makeover. I reach to my eyes with the back of my hand and rub until it comes off.
Carrow looks at me curiously. "What is that robe you're wearing? Normally, you wear the cleft cloth."
Is that what he calls jeans? I glance at myself. Oh lord, I'd forgotten about the bloody dress Rowan forced me into."I'm going to kill her," I mutter
Carrow has shifted his attention to my Aunt. "So this is the human who..."
"Befriended?" I suggest.
"Befriended my uncle." Carrow smiles tightly. He is leaning on me as we walk. I don't think he likes having to be so dependent on me just for walking, but hey, it's better than letting him walk till he knocks himself unconscious and then dragging him to the beach.
"Do you know how long they've been... close friends?"
"Carrow, I resect you curiosity, but- and I cannot express this enough- I will not discuss my aunt's love life with you... or anyone..."
Carrow looks genuinely confused. "Why not?"
"It's weird," I say, "and gross. And weird."
Carrow looks sidelong at me. "You humans are strange."
I choose to ignore this remark. "Anyway, haven't you met Aunt Saph already?"
"Yes, but not in close quarters."
Aunt Saph turns around from where she's walking a few feet in front of us. "I can hear you guys you know," she glances ahead, "wait here."

Aunt Saph walks down to stand on a rock on the beach.
"Why did she go alone?" Carrow asks.
I shrug. "She probably wants to greet Carrow alone."
He frowns. "Why?"
"Because!"
The conversation is cut short when we both glance over to the beach. Aunt Sapphy is crouched on the rock, her head bent very close to someone whom I assume is Faro. She is talking to him.
"Can we go there now?" asks Carrow.
"No, give them a moment."
"For what?" he asks, his voice heavy with puzzlement.
I glance at them, then whip my head away quickly. "Oh god, for that."
Carrow tilts his head to the side. "What are they doing."
To my intense irritation, I feel myself flush. "Kissing, obviously. More like snogging. And- oi, stop watching!"
"Why, what's wrong?"
"It's perverted- it's weird!"
Carrow snorts. "You think a lot of things are weird Kerenza."
Aunt Saph breaks away from Faro- finally- and waves us down.
"Okay," I say, "let's go find out what on earth is happening."

I didn't know what to expect from Faro- seriously, what does anyone expect from their Aunt's merperson boyfriend? He was bare-chested and tanned and built like a swimmer- hmm, I wonder why- with dark hair and eyes the colour of verdigris. That description could fit a human, but there was another quality to him, the same one as Carrow. It was something otherworldly and ethereal, and it made me wary of him- it was certainly more pronounced in him than in Carrow. I glanced at the ocean behind him. The enormity of it made me nervous.
"You are Kerenza?" he asks me, regarding me with cool eyes, "Conor's daughter?"
"Um, yes." Something about the intensity of his scrutiny makes it hard to speak.
His eyes flick to Carrow. For a merman who's nephew's tail has mutated into a pair of legs, he appears remarkably calm. "Koynt," he says, then turns back to me. These mer are so bloody cryptic.
"Shouldn't you be more concerned about him?" I ask.
Faro's face breaks into a broad grin. It's not much like a human grin, but it warms me to him. "I am concerned about him," he says, "but I have learnt that being cleft," he glances at my Aunt, their eyes sparkling with the light of a shared joke, "is not as bad as I once believed."
I shrug. "Fair enough."
Carrow frowns. "I am still puzzled."
Faro smirks at him. "Patience, nephew." Then he turns to me. "Sapphire tells me there is something you wish to see."
I nod. "Why does my father hate the sea?"
His expression darkens. He glances at Aunt Sapphire questioningly. She nods grimly. "Let me show you."
I frown. "How will you show me?"
"I will share the memory with you."
I recoil. "Share the memory with me? What is this, Google Drive?"
Faro and his nephew both look utterly mystified. "You humans," murmurs Faro, shaking his head, "always you talk of these strange Googles or your Driving, and yet you think sharing a memory, like shoals of fish have been doing since the birth of Ingo is strange."
"It is strange!" I protest. "I don't even know what you're going to do to me! Are you like Professor X or something?"
They really do look baffled now. Aunt Saph is pursing her lips to keep from laughing, but she turns to the merman. "Perhaps you should show her now, Faro."
He nods. "You must enter Ingo with me now, Kerenza."
I stare at the green waves hammering the rocks. The spray is cold and icy. "No thanks."
"Kerrie..." there's a slight warning note to my Aunt's voice.
"But- ARGH!" I shriek as I feel Carrow's hands on my shoulders, shoving me hard off the rocks. I can just see his grinning face as I break the water's surface. Oh dear lord in heaven, it is freezing. I can feel my lungs contract, but before I have time to panic, a pair of strong fingers encircles each of my wrists.
Let go of Norvys, says Faro's voice in my head, let go of the air.
Quite frankly, hearing a voice in my head shocks me out of any coherent thought. I'd forgotten the Mer could communicate telepathically.
I am going to share my memory now, his voice says, let my thoughts meet yours- open your mind to me.
Um... sure? I think back at him.
A very peculiar sensation begins to form in my head then. It feel like there is a drizzling raincloud in my head, like several drops of rain are dropping quickly and gently into my mind. An image starts to form, and suddenly, I am awash in what can only be the memory.

A storm rages on the coast. It is a violent, angry storm, which has ten-foot waves pounding themselves into a froth against furiously jagged rocks. A girl of about sixteen runs down to the seafront, battles her way into the sea, until she is neck deep, treading water. She wants to go deeper, yearns to, but Ingo is angry tonight. She should wait for him. Her dark hair billows around her like a curtain, whipped violently by the ocean wind, and her eyes search until she sees whom she's looking for.
"Sapphire!" He swims up to her, a powerful flick of his seal tail taking him to her side in an instant, and he takes her hands and pulls her closer to him, pressing her against his chest, enveloping her in his arms. His eyes are alight with excitement, with power, with the love and youthful passion he feels when he looks at her.
"Faro," her voice is quiet, but it seems like all he can hear over the roar of the storm. Her chin is resting on his strong shoulder, her hands wrapped around his neck, and when she speaks, he can feel her cracked lips moving against his ear. It is this, and not the harsh northern air, that sends chills down his spine- foolish. Wonderful.
She pulls back slightly, just enough so that she can face him, but is still pushed closely against him. "You wanted to meet?"
He grimaces, tightening his arms around her. "I should not have asked you to come. Ingo is angry tonight, and it is dangerous."
She smiles. "I'm no stranger to danger, as you're well aware."
Faro smiles at her. "I know. That does not me I want to endanger you further."
She tuts. "What did you want to tell me."
He lowers his face, presses his forehead to hers. He longs to raise his hands and hold her face, but he daren't let go over, lest Ingo tear her away from him. "It is hard," he whispered, "we have to be separated so much. Your life in Air, mine in Ingo... Ty a fyll dhymm."
She closes her eyes. "I know. God, I know. I wish... I wish it were easier."
He presses his lips to the skin between her eyebrows. "It can be," he says, "I want it to be. I want... Choose Ingo, Sapphire. Come to Ingo."
She is silent for a moment. "I... Faro, I..."
"You have family," he says, his throat contracting, "they need you. You can't leave them."
Another moment of silence, and then a short, husky laugh. "No," she says, "I mean yes. Wait... urgh. I love them," she explained, "but maybe... maybe if there was ever a time to leave them..." she stops to steady her voice. "Mum has Roger now. She'll be okay. Con's there. And Conor... he and Rainbow are so happy." She closes her eyes a moment. "I love them. But they don't need me for them to be whole anymore. That's okay. But I..." her voice drops until he can only hear it because it's the sound he listens for the most, "to be whole Faro, I need Ingo- I need you."
His breath grows ragged. "You choose Ingo?"
She smiles. "No. I choose you."
He closes eyes. "My a'th kar," he whispers, "my a'th kar, Sapphire."
"Sapphire!" both their heads snap sharply upwards, towards the voice. Sapphire twists in Faro's arms to face the shore.
"Oh my god, Sapphy, is that you? Are you okay? Are you with someone?"
"It's Rainbow," she hisses at Faro, "you have to go!"
"I can't leave you out here! Ingo will tear you apart!" he protests.
She touches his cheek tenderly, the deublek on her wrist brushing his chin. "I'll be fine, I swear. But you have to go- she mustn't see you!" She breaks from his grip. "Go!"
"My a'th kar," he repeats, and casting her a final, wistful glance, disappears beneath the waves.
"SAPPHIRE!" cries Rainbow again, "are you okay? Oh my god, are you drowning! Oh god..."
"I'm fine!" Sapphire yelled, but somehow her voice doesn't carry. She waves her arms in the air, trying to signal that she was okay.
"Oh god, okay, okay... Hang on Saph, I'm coming!" She starts towards the water.
"No, Rainbow, NO! You can't swim!" Sapphire is frantic, trying to get to Rainbow, who has begun to thrash as soon as she enters the water, but the waves beat against her, pulling her away, forcing Rainbow's head underwater.
"Rainbow!" Sapphire squints through the misty air, and she sees him, Conor, running towards the sea, frantic, as he spots Rainbow. Her light head is appearing sporadically, surfacing only to be submerged again. Her flailing is slowing, and she is gasping for air, but water is filling her lungs, cold, cruel water that doesn't want to play with her or protect her, water that wants to kill her. He is strong enough to push against the smaller waves at the edge of the beach, and he reaches Rainbow. "I've got you," he says, "why the hell are you out here?"
"I found Saph!" she gasps.
Conor's head whips like a bullet to where Rainbow is pointing. He grabs Rainbow and pulls her with him, kicking as hard as he can until he finally leaves her at on the sand. She collapses, shivering and cough, copious amount of brine spraying from her mouth each time she gives a hoarse, harsh cough. Conor starts back in the water. "I'm going to get her!" he yells.
Years of living in Zennor come to Conor's aid, and he swims towards Saph, but Saph is already struggling. She can only tread water with waves like this for so long, and she doesn't know which way to go. She can see her big brother swimming desperately, furiously towards her. But behind her, that's where she knows Faro is. "Faro." She calls his name in her head.
In a moment, a hand grips hers, and Faro is back by her side. He sees Conor, struggling through the violent waters, and his jaw tightens.
"Please," says Sapphire, "we have to help him."
Faro looks at her for another moment, before surface-diving, still hand-in-hand with Sapphire, and swimming to Conor. He is careful to keep hidden, pulling Conor just far enough away so that Rainbow could not see them.
Conor's eyes dart from his sister to Faro. "What's going on Saph?" he asks, a note of warning seeping into his voice.
"Con..." she can't bring herself to speak.
"I will take you back to shore now," says Faro to Conor, "come on."
Conor pulls away. He appears to reach a realisation, and his eyes widen with pain. "You were going to leave."
Sapphire stays silent. "It's her decision," says Faro, but his voice lacks the usual challenging edge that it usually holds when he talks to Conor.
Conor grabs Sapphire's shoulders, his eyes wild. "No. NO. Dad left- I can't lose you too."
Sapphire swallowed the bile that had risen in her throat. "Conor, you have Mum, and Rainbow, and Roger..."
"So do you! We need you! I need you!"
She threw a panicked glance at Faro. Conor noticed it. "You," there was no rancour or anger to his tone, just shock, "you want to take my sister away from me. My girlfriend almost died, and my sister was going to leave, thanks to you."
"Sapphire wanted to come, Conor," argued Faro, "and I did not know that your girlfriend would dive in after her."
Conor turned back to his sister. "I always thought you might choose them," he whispered, "that you might go. But you weren't even going to say goodbye? Not even to me?" To Sapphire's horror, she saw a single tear roll down his cheek. Her big brother. Conor, who used always looked after her, watched out for her. Conor was supposed to be unbreakable.
Faro looked at her, and he looked hollow and desolate. "Go," he whispered, "I won't stop you."
She clung to his hand. "I don't want to leave you."
He smiled weakly. "You don't have to. We can just keep on..."
"Doing what we're doing?"
He nodded. "And Sapphire?"
She had taken Conor's hand, but looked back quickly.
"I need you to make me whole too."
She nodded, and then turned away.