Roderich and Vash reunite.

...xXx...

The early morning waters were nearly frigid being so deep down into the Great Alcazar, and it took until close to midday for the sanctuary to heat up. Many of the merfolk were used to such a temperature change, especially those who lived there anyways, and even the Sapphire Carven pod hardly complained. Most of their home was split between sunlit coral reefs and much cooler hidden cave systems.

The two leopard spotted siblings from the sunny Verdant Shallows, however, were having a harder time adjusting.

At least, that was the reason Vash told himself for why he was lying so close to his eel-tailed companion. The absolute only reason.

The two mermen were settled onto the cool sea grass in their tunnel hideaway, close enough to touch. Only the silk weave separated them as their tails hesitantly leaned against one another. The blond could palpably feel that the iridescent male was pleased when he didn't pull away.

The two of them ate in comfortable silence. Roderich let Vash have most of the fish, a fact that didn't go unnoticed. He wasn't complaining; his stomach had been regrettably gnawing at him all night and morning.

As he let his breakfast settle, Vash stretched with a groan as he felt his joints pop and his side sting. He blinked away the last bit of drowsiness from his mind as the merman beside him spoke up.

"How are you feeling?"

Vash settled onto his elbows and looked to the male. Those violet eyes seemed to bubble with interest.

"Sore, I guess," he admitted. He tugged the silk weave tighter around his shoulders, and he couldn't help the heat that rose in his cheeks as that long, eel-like tail leaned further against him.

"Could I," Roderich started, then stopped. He glanced around their little tunnel, waving a hand through the water as he formed his request. He waved towards the blond's hip. "Could I have a look?"

Vash shifted on the grass and ducked his head. What could it hurt?

He reached back to pull the silk away from his side. The injury was bound with fresh cloth, no blood soaking through it, and he leaned onto his right elbow to undo the knotting. Roderich waited patiently; and yet, with every second, Vash could feel his eyes lingering on his body. His skin, his scales, his sensitive underbelly that he was openly revealing to the other male, who was only a finger-width away. A flame lit up his spine.

"Actually, no," Vash blurted. "There's no need for you to see it." Face too hot now, his emerald fins flared and he immediately yanked the silk back over himself. He quickly rolled back onto his stomach and glanced away, ignoring the shock from the mauve male.

Really, what am I doing? he scolded himself, attempting to calm his wild heart. Why does he want to see it anyway? It's just a wound!

A soft breath tickled his shoulder, and the spotted male realized that Roderich was laughing at him. He bit his lip and gave the merman a sideways glare.

"Why are you laughing?" Vash grumbled, seeing the other staring at him intently.

"I apologize," Roderich said, and his voice was as smooth as stone. The brunet ducked his head and nudged the blond's green elbow. "I forgot how shy you are."

"Shy!" Vash rounded on the other and nearly bit his tongue at the amusement twirling in the others eyes.

"It's all right," Roderich added, quick to soothe the prickling male. "I won't pry."

Vash huffed and set his glare at the other's throat. He tried not to growl as his ears burned. "Oh? What, you think I'm a fool? Show me your stomach then, huh."

Roderich chuckled once more, and rolled onto his side.

Vash's pulse jumped.

"You've already laid on me," the violet male stated. "How does this make any difference now?"

Viridian eyes flicked from the other's throat to his chest, but went no further. There was a very faint, grey mark over Roderich's heart. Vash swallowed.

Flashes of darkness and an indescribable terror swam through his mind. The merman reached out and brushed the mark, feeling the warmth of the pale skin underneath his fingertips. Not the too cold touch that he'd felt there last time they were together.

A silver hand covered his own, and Vash lifted his gaze. Roderich was staring so thoroughly into him that the male was sure he was watching the nightmares in his thoughts.

Right. He can do that anyways.

"Vash." Roderich squeezed his hand.

"You're alive," was all he could say. He wanted to berate himself for the obviousness of his words, the redundancy to even say such a thing. But it was out now, the useless statement; floating in the water between them.

Because of you.

Vash blinked, eyebrows raising as he watched the iridescent male slide their fingers together.

"Cut it out," he mumbled, turning to look down into the Alcazar with pink striped across his nose and ears. "I'm not used to hearing you, ah, you know."

Roderich hummed and rolled back onto his stomach, pressing their shoulders together. "Well, there's only one way to get use to it." I think you know how.

Shut up.

Vash ignored the chuckling male as he tried to grab hold of his wild heart. Why did it threaten to wiggle away from him every time Roderich did something? Anything? All the male had to do was breathe and he was beyond coherent speech because of the beating lump in his throat. Not to mention that their fingers were still woven together.

Perhaps there was something more to this feeling. A something that he wasn't willing to entertain so soon.

Regardless, he felt that they should talk about what happened.

"So, hey," Vash said after his inner warring settled down. "What was that thing, anyway?"

"What?" Roderich asked. "That creature?"

Vash nodded. He glanced up to see the brunet looking thoughtful. He didn't miss the small wince in the other's expression.

A silent moment swam by, and the spotted male felt that eel-like tail twitch against his own as Roderich finally said, "I have no idea."

"It kept saying that you belonged to it," Vash added, shuddering at the memory of that horrid disembodied voice. Voices.

"I—what?" Roderich turned to him. His face was passive, but those amethyst eyes were dark.

Tucking some of his wayward hair behind his ear, Vash continued. "Yeah. That thing," he couldn't help his hiss, "didn't want to give you up. Even tried to bargain with me after I, well, you know." He thought back to the pearl.

The pearl that he'd plucked from the merman's throat.

The pearl that he'd snatched from the sand before Alexius carried him away.

The pearl that he'd buried under a pile of discarded bones in his cubbyhole.

"Have you told Diedrich about it?" the golden-haired male asked, referring to the object. Roderich picked up on the hint, and his shoulders shivered. He shook his head.

"I've tried to put it from my mind, honestly," the mauve male muttered almost in shame. "Do you think it would matter now?"

"I don't know. Maybe he would know what it was, or why it could speak."

"Definitely not a fish, at least."

"No." The leopard merman waved the tension from his tail, willing the memory of his companion dead beneath him away from his thoughts. "Maybe it's for the best that we don't say anything about that creature, or the pearl." That I still have.

"It's horrific." Roderich wrinkled his nose. "And I can't believe it tried to bargain with you, of all things."

Vash gestured to the male's chest, gaze caught by that grey mark yet again. "I didn't listen to it, obviously."

Silence passed between them, both males thinking on that wretched night in different ways. One with bitterness and anxiety, the other with rigid unease.

And hope.

Then a gentle purr rumbled through the water, and Vash was startled to see that the violet merman's cheeks were painted pink. Those gemstone irises had softened and there was even a slight curve to his lips.

"Thank you," Roderich murmured, his voice thoughtful.

The blond felt the lump in his throat reappear with new vigor, and his blush flamed up like before. He lowered his head onto his arms, trying to hide himself in the silk weave enveloping him.

"There's no need to thank me," he mumbled, spying the other through his hair.

"Nonsense," Roderich chirped, perking up. "I will thank you, and continue to thank you for the rest of my days!"

"You're joking." Vash blanched.

The violet male laughed aloud then, the sound strong and clear through the water.

"Don't doubt my persistence," he claimed through his amusement. "I owe you a life debt, after all."

Vash then remembered the hand within his hold, those slender fingers grasping his own, and he dragged their hands underneath his chest to yank the other closer to him. Effectively trapping half of the male's arm beneath him as that beautifully shaped face now floated a mere nose length away from his own.

He liked the surprise he saw in Roderich's eyes at that.

"You owe me nothing, Roderich."

Vash, however, disliked the way the male's face fell after he spoke.

Why does he look so upset? he thought, hackles rising. I thought he'd be relieved to not have to worry about paying me back.

"All I'm saying is that it's not necessary!" The emerald merman tried to calm the other as quick as he could, before the lingering silence consumed them again. "Of course I wouldn't have just sat by and let that thing kill you, or take you, or whatever you! Just what do you take me for? A shark? A human?"

"No," Roderich admitted. His expression was solemn, but it held a glimmer of affection that wasn't there seconds ago. "You're not cruel."

"Then stop thinking that you need to repay me for something so obvious." Vash snorted and finally released the hand he held hostage. When had he become so comfortable with touching him in the first place? The blond ignored the way the silver limb stayed right where he left it, and instead gazed down into the coral amphitheatre.

Several colorful tails caught his eye, but none were any that he recognized. There were close to half a dozen merfolk idling about the granite steps in varying shades of golds, reds, and blues; and they were all unfamiliar.

Vash instinctively huddled away from the edge, clutching his sea silk closed in front of his collar. Roderich at last pulled back his hand and he followed the spotted male's attention into the coliseum.

"Have you told any of the others?" Vash asked. "About what happened?"

"Not really," the violet male said. He gave a shrug at the look the blond shot him. "Only the basics. 'We were attacked by a large creature in the night and Vash saved all our tails by morning.' You know, the bare minimum so they'd let it go."

Said merman huffed and gave the other another look, but Roderich now seemed to be in better spirits. Or, at the very least, he wasn't looking at him like he wanted to cry.

Ridiculous.

"Emma hasn't said anything else either, or the pups. We didn't want to worry everyone even more, you know." Roderich nodded down into the open area before them as some new tails arrived. Vash did recognize them as his brothers, Gilbert and Abel.

"I think Killian has forgotten all about it by now," he continued. "He's carrying on like normal, babbling about and trying to sneak away to explore around with some of the older pups. Lilli has been playing with him a lot, too, though she's mostly stayed by me."

Vash glanced over to see the male's face torn between fondness and some kind of melancholy.

"She's had a few nightmares," Roderich said carefully, and quickly continued when he saw the emerald merman go pale. "She's okay, don't worry. I woke her up each time, and she fell back to sleep right afterwards with no problems. Though, I'm sure it's because of what happened."

"Where is she?" the blond asked immediately. He didn't like the thought of Lilli experiencing nightmares without him there, nor the reminder of his own that he'd had every night since.

Vash pushed himself up onto his palms, mind brushing over the bond shared between him and his sister. She was bright and flickering like sunbeams on seagrass in the back of his heart, and he could feel that she was just waking up in a vague direction before him.

"It's all right," Roderich answered, also pushing himself up. "Emma and Elizabeta are looking after her today, along with the other pups."

"Why is she not with you, though? You said you've been looking after her, right?"

Vash didn't mean to snap at the other merman, but he was overcome with the need to see his sister like a starvation had set into his bones. He was almost sorry for his abrasiveness as the brunet looked sheepishly at his silver scaled fingers.

"Ah, I'm sorry. If you'd like, I could bring you to her," Roderich offered quietly. The eel-tailed male wouldn't meet his gaze. "Or I could ask Emma to bring her over."

Vash bristled. Not at the offer, but at the other's tone. "What in all the seas are you apologizing for?"

The brunet dipped his head and slithered off of their mossy step, twirling around in the open waters. The sunlight from far above glittered across his skin and scales, alighting him with a radiant glow. Once he spun around, Roderich held out his webbed hand to him with a blinding smile that, combined with everything else, caught the emerald merman off guard.

"Nothing at all," Roderich sang, sending sparks through Vash's belly. "Come on, I'll take you to her."

Before he even had the mind to object, his grass green hand had already joined with that silvery one and he was lead from the tunnel hideaway.

Even though he had assistance, it still hurt to fully move his tail. The stiff muscles and the burn in his side kept their pace slow as they swam from one side of the Alcazar to the other. It was much harder to move once there was no ground within his grasp, no kelp he could grab to pull him forward. When Roderich wordlessly moved beneath him, Vash was simultaneously grateful and ashamed.

Though, as he rested himself along the warm, firm back of the violet merman, the blond couldn't bring himself to care too much.

The pair made it halfway across the open clearing when a burst of bubbles erupted in front of them and Roderich swiftly dodged to the side.

"Abel!" the brunet hissed, more out of momentary fright than anger. "You nearly scared my scales off!"

The large merman in question hardly reacted to the scolding; his long, tawny and blue speckled tailfins splaying around him in a show of exertion. His short blond hair floated upwards like a rising kelp frond from his sudden stop.

Vash narrowed his eyes, and kept his claws from digging into the shoulders he balanced on.

The interloper opened his mouth to speak and said nothing. He looked between the two mermen, seeming like he wanted to say something, but then those hazel eyes landed on Vash's glare. He went still.

"Well?" Roderich spoke up again, more confused now at the other's appearance than before. "What is it?"

"I, uh—" Abel stuttered, blinking. It seemed he couldn't look away from Vash, and now the leopard-tailed male was even more on edge.

What does he want? he reached out to Roderich despite himself. He could palpably feel the other's surprise.

How should I know? A heartbeat later he received another reply. Please don't fight him.

Vash rolled his eyes and decided he better end the situation. Whether it turned into a fight was hardly any concern of his. There's no way I'm going to be pushed around. By anyone.

He pressed his palms against Roderich's shoulders to raise himself up from behind the merman further and bared his teeth with a low growl.

"If there is a problem," Vash barked, his words more a threat than a concern, "then spit it out."

Abel, to his credit, looked taken aback—sheepish. The tawny male hunched his shoulders, his brown and blue webbed hands fiddling in front of his chest, and he looked much younger than he was.

"I wanted to apologize, and say thanks," he exclaimed, words cracking. He didn't meet either males' gaze. "For saving Emma, and Rod. And Killian, too."

The unexpected words swiftly knocked the force from Vash's aggression and he deflated at once. He shared a glance with Roderich.

"Wait, what?"

"Abel," the violet merman said, voice thick with brotherly tenderness.

"I just, uh," Abel huffed and ran a finger down the length of the scar along his forearm. "Forget about this, yeah? That current has passed." With that, the male flicked his tail and sped off down into the rings of granite.

Roderich lifted a hand up to brush against the verdigris arms resting around his neck and watched his brother disappear through one of the carved tunnels beneath them. "That wasn't what I was expecting."

"You're telling me." Vash allowed his muscles to uncoil and he laid atop the iridescent male like before, letting out a breath in relief.

The violaceous merman pet along his wrist and began to move them on. "I'm glad you two didn't get into a spat," he added. "Not that I would have let it happen, of course."

"It's not like I want to fight your family," Vash muttered, his words muffled as he spoke against the other's shoulder.

"That's reassuring," Roderich chuckled, and he slowly twirled them around in a spin as he paddled forward.

The blond held him tighter, letting himself roll along with the lackadaisical male through the calm waters. They passed through a graven archway and entered into a forest of vibrant coral. Tall crimson branches arched above and around them, blooms of yellows and greens and pinks grew between them, and fish of every hue darted to and fro. Vash felt the urge to chase them, yet he was complacent right where he was.

Being carried again.

Deep down, he let himself admit that it was comforting to be looked after. His bones and scars knew just how long he's had to take care of himself, and his sister. The past several cycles felt like an age.

Roderich began humming to himself, and Vash nibbled on his lip as he rest his chin on the other's shoulder. The mellow sound reverberated through the merman's chest and into his own, and he closed his eyes. He couldn't be bothered to move at all, nor did he want to.

There was a particular scent that filled his palette the closer he sank on top of his companion. A smell that stood out from the rest of the environment. Something refreshing and thick, something that weighed upon him like a second silk weave.

A faint, very faint shiver ran through the male beneath him as Vash pressed his nose behind a silver tipped ear.

He breathed in that scent. It was unlike anything else he'd ever smelled before. One breath was like tasting fresh shoots of seagrass, the next a savory tongue swipe along an oyster shell. He couldn't pinpoint exactly the feeling it gave him. Only the pool in his lower back grew from the heat dripping down his spine with every breath he took, rippling throughout his waist and gills.

The scent was enough to calm his heart into a steady rhythm, and he felt a neighboring heartbeat match his own.

Vash.

The emerald spotted merman opened his eyes, pulling away from the dark hair tickling his eyelids. He leaned upwards to look around, noticing that the violet male had stopped swimming.

"What is it?" he asked, wondering why his throat sounded thick. The blond scanned around himself to gather his bearings.

The brunet rumbled underneath his grasp, tail swishing against his own.

Roderich perched on top of a smooth, wave-worn rock—more like a pillar, in a forest of similar rocks. There were a handful of long kelp strands clinging to the slopes of the stone, partially obscuring the pair at the top. A bright ray of sunshine filtered through the water to directly touch the top of their particular pillar, warming them considerably. Vash looked over the edge to see an open meadow of seagrass below them, and a plethora of sparkling tails swam around the clusters of small boulders and coral.

It was a large group of pups. Pups of varying sizes and tail lengths, colors and ages. All of them were lounging in pairs or groups, chattering, and rushing around each other in a game of hunters and prey.

Vash easily picked out his sister from the bunch—the only green shade in the cluster—and a stagnant weight melted from his chest. Lilli was dashing from one spot of sand to the next, seafoam and leopard spotted fins fluttering cheerfully as she did so. His muscles, that had automatically tensed up at seeing her surrounded by so many strangers, relaxed.

She looks happy.

The golden-haired merman recognized the little periwinkle merboy hanging off her arm, white hair waving about with his tail as he hurried to keep up with her sprinting from here to there. He also spied the slate grey and brown siblings from Roderich's pod, though he didn't know their names. There were three older pups congregating around the pair with varying shades of blue tails, and another group of three mermaids with cream-colored pale tails and hair were playing the hunting game in the nearby coral forest. Off to the far side of the clearing, he saw Emma laying on a flat slab with the other Sapphire mermaid, Elizabeta. The two of them were overseeing the cluster of younglings and talking.

Vash looked back to his sister, and then to Roderich. Amethyst eyes were already watching him.

"When did we get here?" the leopard merman asked after clearing his throat of the remaining roughness there.

"An hour ago," Roderich told him.

"What!" Vash slid off of the other's back and laid beside him on the rock. His mind was whirling like a wayward current. "What do you mean an hour?!"

The silver scaling along the male's shoulders and spine shimmered as he shrugged. Vash noticed that Roderich's whole demeanor was peaceful, a far cry from his earlier gloom.

"I think you fell asleep," the brunet suggested. The merman reached out to straighten out the weave over the emerald male's back, running a hand over the silk and causing the blond's pulse to quicken. Bright irises lifted to meet his own. "I couldn't bring myself to wake you."

"I did not fall asleep," Vash scoffed, unable to help his eye roll. He remembered every tail stroke beneath him, every breath he took. "You're imagining things."

"You did, I swear it. I suppose you must have been rather comfortable," Roderich purred, eyes crinkling in amusement.

Vash wanted to sink off the side of the pillar and away from the insufferable merman. The red in his face was just the sunlight reflecting on him, that was all.

"Well, then." The blond snorted and waved a hand towards the pile of pups below them. "Thank you for bringing me this far, at least."

"It was my pleasure. I would have dozed off with you, as well," Roderich went on, "but I figured you wouldn't have appreciated that as much."

The emerald male stared at him. Stared at the undercurrent of self reproach the other had laced through his words. He frowned.

Sunlit golden locks swayed through the water as Vash leaned over and rubbed his cheek against the violet male's own, painting the pale skin there a pretty pink.

Rest, then.

Vash pushed off the rock and swam towards his sister.

...xXx...

These fish dorks, I swear.

Also, wow, I can't believe this story is two years old already. Thank you all for sticking with it!