Disclaimer: I own nothing. Now, honestly, how many of you were scared that I was going to leave you with that cliffhanger? Next chapter up, themes were spur of the moment picked. Read and review.

Chapter 21

Falling is a lot like flying, but with a more permanent destination in mind. The only thing I could feel is the sheer weightlessness of rushing to the floor as gravity pulled us down, the trapped scream I refused to let bypass my throat and Tony's warm hand in my own. Air rushed past my ears at alarming and thrilling speed.

Then all to soon we hit the ocean, not as the pancake we should have been, but with the feeling of someone catching us. Water from where we his flew up so high that it was almost like a tsunami and we sank. Bubbles rising to the surface.

"Don't think about air," I told Tony, "Let go of everything on the surface, it's okay." He opened his eyes as we glanced around the sea.

"It's beautiful," he said in awe, "I can feel it. I… this is amazing." I'll say, he slipped into the ocean like he was meant to be here. Carefully I let go of his hand. He was still fine.

"You slipped into Ingo," I said in a hushed voice.

"Into what now," he replied. I bit my lip, trying to think about how to explain this to him. I didn't have a clue how he could be doing it unless.

"Somewhere in your family line there must be Mer," I said, "Some humans can slip into the sea like you have. I'm not doing anything to help you. I just showed you the way in."

"Then I can breath under the sea," he said, eyes crinkling in amusement. I nodded. "So, freaky family heritage that I had no idea about besides, how do we get around down here?"

"There's a current not far from here," I said "We can take that." He frowned when I told him the exact distance.

"For humans, swimming there will take a while," he said calculating. I threw him a smirk.

"You know how most little girls dream about being a fairy or a mermaid?" I asked him.

"Sure," he said nodding, before he froze, "No. No way?!"

"It went much better for me than it did for most little girls," I said with a smirk and focusing. My legs melded together, leaving a sleek powerful tail behind. The colour of jewels, bluish-green scales that shone in the sunlight.

"This is so cool," Tony said deadpan, "But I think we should get out of here. Venice?"

"Yeah," I agreed. It took half an hour to reach the current. It churned and spun about dangerously, making you dizzy if looked at it for to long.

"Are we really going in there?" Tony asked. I nodded.

"Remind me to take you to the East Australian Current," I said chuckling, "The sea turtles there speak like surfer dudes. Always saying sweet, dude and totally. It's hysterical."

"Now that I would pay to see," he chuckled, "It depends on how long S.H.I.E.L.D takes to realise that they can't touch you."

"That it does," I agreed, "Now ready? Steady? Go?" I pulled him into the current and we hurtled through the sharp bends and crazy turns, half way between being on a roller coaster or stuck in a tumble dryer. About half an hour later I pulled us out with a sharp flick of my tail. Tony looked at me with wide eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Lets do that again," he said, the water around him almost vibrating with his enthusiasm.

"Down boy, we have a few more until we get as close to the Venusian coast as we can," I laughed. I wished we could stay down here. Be free as the seven seas, but I had a responsibility and eventually my dad would figure it out.

"So how are we going to make it to the coast," he asked, when we had travelled all that we could by current. It had taken us half a day and we were both getting pretty tired.

"I'll call some friends," I said matter of factly. I opened my mouth and the language of the sea poured out. A minute later I heard the clicks a whistles of a pod of dolphins.

"Perci," they cried in excitement. I could see Tony didn't understand what they were saying, but heard more than dolphin noise. I wouldn't be surprised if he made me teach him Mer. He had that 'Oh, something unknown and new… teach me, teach me, teach me,' look I had come to recognise so well.

"Hey, do you mind giving us a ride to shore?" I asked, not that I thought that it counted. They were always happy to be doing stuff for me. Some of them did it because I was my father's daughter and others because I was a friend.

"No problem," the chirped. Tony's eyes widened like saucers.

"No way, were getting a lift from dolphins?" he asked in awe. I nodded and we lay against the back of a couple of friends of mine. Tricia and Sparks.

"Not like that," I instructed him, "Mould your body against there's. Grip firmly but not too tightly." He nodded once he gotten the hang of it and we were off. We'd been travelling for so long that the sun was setting. Colours lighting up the sky spectacularly as we broke through the surface, each time they jumped out of the waves.

I felt nothing more than peace and happiness as we made our way to the shore. Tony's serene expression brighter than the setting sun itself. All to soon we were saying goodbye and climbing on to the banks, in the shadow of the bridge. My tail became legs again, much to Tony's regret.

"Tell them goodbye and thank you for me please," he requested politely. I nodded and conveyed his request, drying us both off with a touch of my hand. "I didn't want to leave," he admitted softly, "I wish we could stay in Ingo." I took his hand as we walked through the crowded city and sang softly.

"I wish I were away in Ingo,

Far across the briny sea,

Where love,

Nor care,

Nor anything there,

Ever bothered me,"

The second time I returned to the chorus he joined me, while we found the hotel that we had booked in last time. Tony owned it, he was a fan of Venice, so we had no trouble getting a room and no payments to trace.

I looked around the familiar suite with its soft sea green walls, cherry wood furniture and slivery silk sheets and sighed. It was good to runaway.

Oh, so what did you think of that. All mentions of Mer and Ingo are taken from 'Ingo' by Helen Dunmore and if you missed the 'Finding Nemo' bits, shame on you. I hope you enjoyed. Review and let me know.