Nick

There is absolutely nowhere else I would rather be than here with this beautiful mermaid. I can't help but feel like it's all a dream, it's so unrealistic. I've never kissed a girl before, and normally I wouldn't be so forward as to kiss her, let alone touch her the way I did, but I can't help myself. I'm drawn to her. I literally can't hold myself back. I need to touch her. The more I got to know her, the more this need grew. Tonight, it reached its peak.

We kiss fiercely, but I need more. I need to be closer. I cross ny fingers that she will allow me to move over to lay on top of her. Making my move, I am pleased to find that she does. It shocks me how cold her body is. I remember her shivering the last time she was out of water. I press my body into hers, hoping to share some of my heat. She moans a bit and shifts around. I feel her breasts against my chest and I'm pushed over the edge. Her beauty, her stunning, gorgeous, beautiful body is irresistible to me. I feel myself elongating and a sensation I vaguely recognize fills my body. Desire.

It's stronger than any other time I've felt it. Even when I walked in on Alison Ward while she was changing during the church Christmas play, it was nothing compared to this. Seraphina is just different. As I feel myself reach full length, Seraphina pushes me off of her roughly.

"I'm sorry," I begin quickly, "I couldn't help it, I'm sorry." But she's not listening to me. She's not even looking at me. Her face is stricken with horror. She's propped herself up on her hands and is staring at her tail, her mouth opening. Before I can move at all, she's screaming. My recently repaired ear, courtesy of Seraphina, throbs in protest. I slap my hand over my ears, but her piercing scream seems to reach right through my fingers

"Seraphina! What is it!" I lunge for her, cradle her upper body in my arms protectively. She stops screaming now and begins to whimper pitifully, never taking her eyes off her tail. I look as well, and although it's dark out I can see by the light of the moon that something isn't right. Her tail, which should be dry by now, looks as if its taken on the texture of jelly. I carefully stretch out a hand and lightly touch it. I was right, it does feel like jelly. As soon as I remove my fingers, it slips off Seraphina's body completely.

Her whimpering turns into wails of fear and sadness, and she pushes herself from me, dragging herself down the beach. She's rapidly speaking in some tongue I don't recognize, and it's a moment before I realize that it must be whatever language mermaids speak. I grab her arm and yell for her to stop. My eyes have just been drawn to her lower half. Where her tail used to be is a pair of beautiful legs.

Without thinking, I reach out to touch one and find it's smooth as silk. Seraphina starts when my fingers touch her and looks around, first at me and then at her new legs. Her eyes widen as she takes them in. I watch her, half worried she'll faint and half worried she'll start screaming again. I'm wrong in both cases, thankfully; after a good ten minutes I notice a tear streaming down her face. She wipes it onto her finger and looks at it curiously.

"What this is?" she asks for the second time tonight.

I smile a bit and take her hand, kissing the tear delicately. "It's a tear, my love. You're sad. I suppose you don't have those living underwater, do you."

She looks at her still-wet finger and puts her hand to her face again for a moment before reaching down to caress her legs. More tears spill from her eyes and I reach forward and hug her to my chest. She whimpers again, and I can tell she's crying harder now, though she makes no noise. I whisper into her ear and rock her back and forth a bit.

"Shh. It'll be okay. We'll figure this out. You're going to be fine. I'll teach you how to walk, and you'll be a proper human. You'll be okay. I promise."

Half an hour later, Seraphina is curled up in my arms, asleep. My own eyes are tired now too, but I can't sleep just yet. Scooping the girl into my arms, I carry her back to my shelter and lay her down. She's full naked now, the scales having vanished from her lower half and her breasts. I'm careful to avert my eyes from those places as I pull my discarded shirt from the ground and place it over her sleeping form. She shifts a little in her sleep, and I smile. She looks at peace now, no more distress over her lost tail. I settle down on the other side of the shelter and am instantly asleep.

The next morning, I talk over last night's events with Seraphina. Now the shock is over, she is quite level headed about it all. When she was growing up her clan told her about what would happen to mermaids who left the water. Once they dried off, their tails would fall of to be replaced with legs. Simply by getting wet again could she grow it back, and therein lies her dilemma. She wants to learn to walk as I do, but misses her tail as well. So the decision comes down to learning now, while she has her legs already, or going back into the water and having to lose her tail again at a later date. In the end she chooses to stay on land and learn to walk. I am pleased to have her constant company.

I've clothed Seraphina in my shirt. It's a long sleeved white button up, and thanks to her small size it falls nearly halfway down her thigh. She doesn't seem to think it matters either way, I suppose shes used to being naked all the time, but I insist it's improper for a lady to be completely lacking in clothes. A few more days go by and we're starting to run out of food. Obviously Seraphina can't go into the ocean, so I brave the depths to retrieve some of the foods she has managed to describe to me. While I'm gone, she promises to practice her walking.

Taking an enormous breath, I dive beneath the surface. Swimming as fast as I can straight down, I search frantically for something I recognize. Seraphina recommended I stick to plants, since fish would be too difficult for me to catch. Up until now I've been burying them under a layer of rocks to be roasted by the sun, but the weather has taken a turn for the worse and storm clouds are rolling in. Plants are our only chance.

I reach a ledge of rock and swim along it. There are a few plants, but not the ones I know. My breath is running out now and I'm getting nervous. Finally a plant I recognize catches my eye. Quickly ripping off some leaves, I head for the surface and gasp in the fresh air when I break through the waves. My eyes are burning from the salt water, but I've got some food. Climbing out onto the island, I look around for Seraphina.

"Nick," comes the half whispered voice of my mermaid, who sits huddled up inside the shelter looking scared. I hurry over to her.

"What is it, what's wrong?" I question hurriedly, hoping she's not hurt. In response she points out to my right, eyes wide. I turn to see a ship on the horizon.