Herakles's family are so open and supportive and just nice. They're really close so it figures.

If this story were to be split into two stories, this would be the last event in the first. By which I mean that the first 'arc' is coming to a close.

When Herakles returned to the pod that evening, he immediately rounded on Sadik. "What was the meaning of that earlier?" He demanded, swimming up to the other merman.

"Come on, I didn't mean anything by it. I just wanted to mess around a little… I never would have brought any harm to that human," Sadik shot back, clearly angry at the accusatory tone in Herakles's voice.

"You made him uncomfortable, you jerk. I don't care if it is a joke to you… I care about my friends enough to not want him to have to feel that way," Herakles hissed.

"Heh, friends huh? You seem a little too invested in that boy to be just a friend to him," Sadik sneered, snorting before Herakles pushed him harshly, turning to swim off.

"Shut up," Herakles answered, not feeling in the mood to talk, but at the same time with a racing mind and pounding heart. More than a friend…? Did Sadik really mean something like that? Herakles had to find out.

"Mama?" The merman called into the coral, swimming around the usual resting places his mother frequented, his hands wringing together nervously. He wasn't sure about this, but he knew that he couldn't keep it in any longer. The others had said that his mother wasn't out hunting, so she should be here somewhere…

"Herakles? Is that you?" Helene called from deeper within the formation, swimming outwards to meet her son. "Is everything alright? Did something happen?" She asked, noticing his nervousness through his voice, his face, the movements of his hands.

"Well, I'm not really sure how to describe it…" Herakles began, wanting to try to get these strange feelings out of himself before they got any more serious. His heart was still pounding after his fight with Sadik. "I feel strange…"

"Is everything okay? Are you sick?" His mother asked worriedly, pulling closer to Herakles, placing her hand carefully onto his cheek.

"I don't think it's that… Although, I'm not sure…" He replied, shaking his head. He honestly didn't have any idea what was going on. "My heart is beating really fast, and I can't stop thinking about things… I suppose lately I could be acting more irritable too…"

Helene frowned, nudging Herakles's cheek with her forehead, trying to check him over. "Why don't you think you're sick? Is there anything that's happened that explains this?" She pressed, really wanting to help her son as much as she was able to.

"Well… I was speaking to Sadik earlier… He suggested that one of my friends… Could be more than a friend to me. At first I thought he was totally wrong… But now I just don't know." Herakles sighed. What was getting into him?

"A crush on someone? I suppose those kinds of feelings can cause you to feel strange and irritable sometimes… And they can certainly make your heart beat faster…" Helene smiled. "You're fully grown now Herakles, you're old enough to get a mate if you want. You should tell your friend how you feel about her."

"Ah…" Herakles looked down before he spoke in reply. "Him, mama"

"Oh, of course." Helene blinked. "Is that what you were worried about? I really don't mind, nobody would think any less of you…"

Herakles was almost entirely sure that if he told everyone he was talking about a human male, they actually would care. A lot. But he didn't want to talk to his mother about that at the time. "It's not really that… I suppose I was just confused about it all. But it seems clearer now." He told her.

Helene nodded knowingly, embracing her son in comfort. "It's alright, I understand. Young mermen your age often feel confused… Working out who you want to be with… it can be difficult. I'm always here to help you figure out any feelings you may be having," she reiterated her support.

At this point, Loukas swam into the coral, looking for his brother. He saw that Helene and Herakles seemed to be talking about something, and got a little more curious.

"Ah, you're all in here. Has anything happened?" He asked, swimming closer to his family.

"Herakles was telling me about a crush he's developed on someone," Helene answered, frankly.

"Ah. Have you told them yet?" Loukas inquired simply. Their family was normally open about this kind of thing, so he didn't see a problem with talking like that.

"Well, not yet…" Herakles sighed. He did want to talk to Kiku about it… But he really wasn't sure how the other would react. His mother's words had left him confident in the assertion that he did like Kiku that way, but he was still unsure how to proceed.

"Okay. You should just tell them though. It's better that they know. Getting the feelings out in the open instead of bottling them up is important. Even if they don't feel the same way, it'll be better for your friendship if you don't keep it hidden," his brother offered in advice, smiling slightly.

Helene nodded in agreement. "He's right Hera… Your friend won't think any worse of you for it, I'm sure of that."

Herakles nodded, reassured. "Okay then," he agreed. "I'll talk to him when I can."

"That sounds good," Loukas concurred. "Be sure to keep us posted on how it goes. We'll help you more if we can," he added.

"I'd love to know who it is that you like," Helene pondered. "Even if you do seem a little reluctant to talk about it."

"I suppose you could say… That for now at least, it's a secret," Herakles responded. His family seemed okay with it on a whole, respecting his decision.

"Okay, so long as you know we're always here to talk," Helene summed up, Loukas nodding to affirm.

Herakles nodded, his mind already forming plans for how he was going to tell Kiku. Tomorrow, he would make his feelings known.

Kiku walked out towards the rocks the next morning, yawning happily from the good night's rest he had enjoyed. The day was warm and sunny, and seemed perfect for meeting Herakles again. Kiku wasn't to know what was going to happen. As he sat carefully at the usual meeting place and waited for his friend to arrive, the human took the time to look out over the sea and admire the view, wondering if he should paint it. Overall, the day so far seemed slow and peaceful.

Herakles broke the surface soon after, spotting Kiku immediately and swimming over to him. He felt nervous. Despite however many times he had gone over it in his head, he still found himself unsure as to what exactly he was going to say, as if the words had flown out of his head at the last moment. Trying to steel himself, and above all to not show his nerves, the merman smiled at the human before pulling himself out of the water. He could do this.

"Good morning," he began, smiling still.

"Hello Herakles. It is nice to see you again," Kiku replied fondly. Herakles nodded, taking a few deep breaths, convincing himself he had nothing to lose.
"It's good to see you too Kiku…" He looked down at the sea. "Can we talk for a moment?"

The human looked puzzled at his words. "Aren't we already talking? I thought that was why we were meeting up today," he pondered, trying to grasp what Herakles meant.

"Well, I guess we are… But I meant that I wanted to talk to you about something important," Herakles continued, his voice faulting a little as nerves started to show through again. He tried to swallow it down.

"Oh? If it's important, then of course we can talk about it," Kiku replied, eyebrows raising a little. He wasn't sure what was so important that Herakles would want to talk to him of all people about it though. Surely he would go to his brother for help with most things?

"Well…" The merman began, nerves really starting to show as he began to speak. "I've been thinking a lot about things recently… I spoke to Sadik after yesterday, and he told me his opinion… On certain matters. And then I asked my family too, and came to a kind of conclusion…" He fell silent for a moment, trying to calm himself.

"About what?" Kiku encouraged, noticing that Herakles seemed nervous about something, and trying to reassure him. At the same time, he felt slightly anxious about it as well. If Herakles was this emotional over it, in his eyes it had to be important.

"About… The way I feel about you. About our relationship… Recently, I've been feeling strange a lot of the time," he confessed, wringing his hands together. "I've been more on edge, and at first I thought that was just because the rest of the pod was getting suspicious, and I didn't want to put you in harm's way. But after what Sadik said, I've started to realise that it's more than that. It's been building up over time, and after talking to my family about it I thought it was best that I tell you now, rather than keep this secret for any length of time," Herakles realised he was rambling, and looked up at Kiku concernedly.

"What… What feeling are you talking about? What do you mean?" Kiku asked, his heart starting to beat faster. He didn't understand this sort of thing much at all. What was going on?
"Well, these feelings… My heart beats faster at certain points, especially times like this, and when you're around… And my face heats up and I feel all nervous. I didn't know what was happening to me. I was also getting a lot more irritable when I felt there were threats to you. And I kept thinking about my feelings." He described. Kiku nodded, feeling increasingly on edge. He was almost starting to feel the exact things Herakles was describing.

"And then," Herakles continued, "When I spoke to Sadik, he suggested that we actually weren't friends at all. I felt confused, and so I talked first to my mama and then to Loukas. And then I came to the conclusion about what this all could mean." He took a deep breath, realising that he was dragging this out, but needing this much time to get the courage for what he was going to say.

"What was that conclusion?" Kiku felt just a little giddy, almost being able to guess at what was going to happen, but still not quite believing or understanding it. He still didn't want this to eat Herakles with worry though. Overall, he was conflicted.

"That I… Like you more than a friend would. That I have a crush on you," Herakles stated, blushing quite a bit. It was hard to say, but he was relieved just to get it out finally.

Kiku meanwhile, stammered incomprehensible nonsense for a few seconds, still unable to process what he'd been told. He didn't know how to react. He didn't know how he felt about Herakles, and he wasn't sure what to tell him. He hadn't really seen it coming before today; he had always just assumed he and Herakles were friends. He wasn't used to this. Unprepared. So he did the only thing he could think of.

Kiku ran away.