Day seventeen of MerMay prompt month.

GAH! I almost forgot about posting this! Sorry for any typos. I'll check through it again later tonight.

Cold - Ferb

After leaving the restaurant, Buford had decided to drag Phineas and Ferb with him to the gym. There, he had been so disappointed to learn that, even though Ferb was strong, his form was terrible. And Ferb was surprised to learn that there were some of his muscles that were not very strong at all—at least for certain types of exercises. While his legs could kick in the water for hours—days even, he couldn't do more than twenty squats before his thighs were burning. And don't even get him started on the weight machines.

As they left the building, Buford, with a gleam in his eye, stated matter-of-factly that Ferb was his new exercise buddy and they were going to be in there at least (at LEAST?!) three times a week. "Maybe more," the former jock said, studying him closely. "I'm not sure yet."

With a deadpan look, Ferb agreed. He was going to be sore the next day, but he surprisingly did have fun. Phineas, on the other hand, was panting and his shirt was sticking to his back.

Buford waved as he headed off somewhere else, so Ferb swung an arm over his brother's shoulders—which made the redhead groan and nearly collapse. "Don't do that, Ferb!" he whined.

Ferb chuckled. "If you stop now, you're going to feel worse tomorrow."

Phineas glared. "So people keep telling me, but I always end up just as bad."

Ferb, instead of answering, started pulling Phineas towards the former shack rather than their home. "Let's go for a swim instead. I promise, it will help."

For once Phineas didn't reply, focusing instead on each step. When they reached the former shack, Phineas didn't bother putting all of his scuba gear on. He grabbed one of the air tanks they kept there and pulled it on over his sticky tee shirt with Ferb's help. Slipping his mask over his face, he fell through the trap door that Ferb had pulled open into the water below.

Ferb laughed as he followed Phineas down, releasing his transformation as soon as he submerged.

The swim did help Phineas, but not near as much as the redhead had hoped. Two days later, when it was time for his next therapy appointment, he slowly stepped down the stairs and glared at the boy sitting at the table, eating some breakfast. Ferb grinned in response.

Linda walked over with a plate for Phineas as he practically collapsed into his seat. "Are you still sore, Phineas?" she asked with concern.

Phineas groaned. "Everything is stiff and achy." Ferb chuckled and his brother frowned. "I thought the swim was supposed to help me. You lied!" he accused overly dramatic.

Ferb raised an eyebrow. "It did help, but then yesterday you spent too long sitting at your desk. Your muscles stiffened back up."

Phineas blinked and then allowed his head to flop down onto the table. "Ow," he muttered.

Linda nudged him, bringing his attention back to his food. "Hurry and eat, Phineas. I'll see if we can get you in for a massage today."

"'Kay," he said, already taking a few bites of food.

Ferb bit his lip and brought his phone up, taking a quick picture of Phineas, who glared at him again when he realized what he was doing. He sent the picture to Isabella with the message: Still sore.

Linda walked back in and set a hand on Phineas's shoulder. He grimaced, but glanced up at her. "I got you in for a quick thirty minute massage, but it's before your appointment with Doctor Sanni, so we have to leave soon."

Phineas nodded and forced himself into a standing position. With a wince, he stretched his arms before heading up the stairs to get dressed. Linda shook her head, taking her son's half-eaten plate back into the kitchen. Grabbing her purse, she stopped to give Ferb a kiss on the top of his head.

Ferb beamed up at her, loving every little motherly gesture she would give him. He didn't think he'd ever get tired of it. Just as she was heading out to the garage, Phineas stumbled back down the stairs, dressed for the day. He followed their mom out to the car with a short wave.

Ferb glanced around the now empty kitchen—and empty house. It was so quiet with everyone gone—not that the house was generally loud. But with his dad at the antique shop and his mom and brother now heading into town, the lack of their presence was very apparent to Ferb.

His phone beeped with a new message and he glanced down at it.

Poor guy, Isabella had sent back. Yummy breakfast though.

Ferb chuckled and then realized something.

You busy right now? He left early so I'm feeling lonely. He sent that with a sad face emoji.

He got back an eyeroll smiley, but no message. Before he could do more than frown, his phone started ringing with a call. "Hello?" he answered.

"If you want to see the path I take to the beach, you better head out now. I'm not going to wait for you," came Isabella's voice.

Ferb jumped up and quickly placed his cleared plate into the sink. "Coming!" he blurted out into the phone, smiling when he heard her laughter before she hung up on him.

Running out the door, he could see her a few yards ahead. Even though she claimed she wasn't going to wait for him, she was walking obviously slower than usual. He caught up to her easily. She grinned at him when he held out his hands to take her beach bag. "It's a good thing you texted me when you did. I was unlocking my bike for the ride," she said while passing the bag to him.

He placed a hand to his chest, his mouth open in mock offense. She laughed at him again.

"Yes, I was going to leave without you," she told him, her face payfully stern, and she stuck her tongue out at him.

He poked her in the side, causing her to squeak, but then a thought struck him. "Were you going to avoid bringing me to the beach later, if you were planning on going now?"

Isabella shrugged. "I don't know. I wasn't really thinking about it. I just wanted to go." She smiled up at him. "Lucky break, huh?"

He nodded, smiling back at her. He started looking around as they walked—it was a different path than he would take to and from the old shack. "Are you taking me to your super secret spot that you won't tell anyone about?" he asked her.

She looked at him in surprise, but caught the teasing twinkle in his eye. She nudged him. "No, not today. Maybe someday, but today is so nice, I want to go lay on some sand."

Ferb nodded. As they passed by a new flower shop, he pointed at it curiously.

Isabella told him about the elderly Mrs. Patterson, whose husband died a couple of years ago. She couldn't live in that old house by herself anymore, and had sold it for a low price to a couple of young people who had wanted to open the flower shop. Mrs. Patterson now lived with her daughter in Iowa, but the owners of the flower shop still sent her a potted fern every year for mothers day.

This happened a few more times, where Ferb would see something that had changed in the years he had been gone, and Isabella would do her best to tell him all of the old gossip. There were only a few times where she didn't know something, but instead of admitting it, she would tell him something so outrageous that he'd have to call her out on it.

(And a couple of times, when he would call her out on something that he thought just couldn't be real… well, it turned out it was real, and he was reminded of how random Danville could be sometimes.)

When they arrived at the beach, they grabbed some fruit smoothies from a stand they passed by, and Isabella pulled the large towel out of the bag hanging off of Ferb's shoulder while he held both cups. They settled down on the oversize towel, enjoying the sunshine and the salty air.

"How often do you do this?" Ferb asked her. Isabella turned from where she was facing the warmth of the sun and blinked at him, silently requesting he rephrase his question. "I know you come here frequently, but how often do you sit here on the sand?" He had seen her so many times sitting on the dock in the past week—almost every day, sometimes in the mornings but most often he would see her in the evenings.

Isabella tilted her head, watching him behind her darkened glasses, and he realized she didn't know that he knew where she spent most of her time at the beach. Oops, he thought. Oh well, too late to take it back now. He sat there not moving, allowing her to take her time answering.

"Hmm…" she hummed, turning to look back out on the water. "You know, I don't usually. Not when I'm alone. If I have someone with me, though, then sitting here is great." Isabella grinned at him and sipped some more of her smoothie.

Ferb's brow furrowed in thought. "You have a towel…" he murmured curiously.

"Of course I do," she said with a smirk. "This is the beach. There's a little bit of water over there—" she pointed at the ocean and he snickered at her understatement. "—and I don't like riding my bike when I'm soaked."

"Do you go into the water often?" he asked her.

Isabella shook her head. "Not really. But you never know when a big wave might come along and splash you."

Ferb nodded—that made sense. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye, watching her carefully. "You really enjoy it here," he remarked. She nodded, smiling up at the sun again. His toes clenched in the sand and had to force himself to act calm. "Did you ever find that thing you told me about?" Was I seen again?

Isabella sighed. "No," she said sadly. "I haven't seen it again. I like to think that maybe I will, but I'm content to just sit here listening." She smiled at Ferb again, who was watching her with intense eyes.

"Listening?" he asked.

Isabella's eyebrows rose as if she hadn't meant to say that, and she sat up straight. "Ah, well… Okay." She turned to face him directly and he gave her all of his attention. "Sometimes…" She shifted in her spot and sighed.

She glanced up at him with a hopeful expression. He continued to watch her, willing to wait for her to either tell him or to decide not to.

She realized this and sighed again. "Okay, this might sound really silly, but…" She turned once more to look towards the horizon, the sunlight glinting off of the lenses of her glasses. "Sometimes it's like there's something calling to me out there," she finished softly.

Something… calling? He didn't know what that might mean, but realized it could simply be her finding a comfort there. Ferb smiled down at her. "Well, maybe someday whatever is out there will trust you enough to reveal itself to you," he suggested.

She turned to look at him, her eyes wide with hope and wonder. "Do you really think so?"

His face softened. "Yeah," he said softly. "I really do."

If he was going to tell anyone about his true ancestry, Isabella would likely be one of the first.

She smiled warmly at him before turning her eyes back to the ocean. Ferb watched her for a moment more before following her example. He lifted his face towards the sunshine, feeling the heat of it soaking into his skin.

He had spent five years swimming around the Celtic Sea, where it was rather chilly. After spending so long in the cold water, sometimes it felt like he would never get warm. But, sitting there on the beach next to Isabella… The cold receded and Ferb felt truly warm for the first time in a long time.

Mami Wata

Mami Wata (also called Mammy Water) is a water spirit originating in West, Central, and Southern Africa. They are usually depicted as female, but sometimes male ones are found. In some tales, Mami Wata is described as a mermaid-like figure with her lower half being either fish or serpent. In others she is fully human in appearance (though never actually human).

She often carries with her expensive baubles such as mirrors, but also sometimes combs and watches. Legends tell of the spirit abducting her followers, or random people, whilst they are swimming or boating; bringing them to her paradisiacal realm which could be underwater or in the spirit world. Should she allow them to leave, the travelers usually return wearing dry clothing and with a new spiritual understanding. These people often grow wealthier, more attractive, and more easygoing after their encounter.