Disclaimer: I own nothing, no one sue me etc.
Warnings: Um, no real warnings this time, tad angsty in the last chapter, hopefully things will pick up now…. Oh yeah I decided I would do a 1+2 eventually so those of you that don't like 1+2 better not read this. (Do NOT blame me for the story line, not a very original one I know, my imagination is running away with me again.) I'm not very good at romance, so bear with me people. Now we have two options for an ending, you can have the happy ending, or the sad ending, vote now! (There will be at least another three chapters first.)
Every now and then,
We find a special friend,
Who never lets us down…
Who understands it all,
Reaches out each time we fall,
You're the best friend that I've found…
For days Duo didn't speak to anyone, he sat in his room, or next to Hilde's grave, plotting how he was going to find the murderer who had killed his sister.
After three days of complete in-attention to anyone else Duo reached a formulated plan.
***********
Early the next morning before even his father Treize has risen; Duo slipped out of the palace, dodging the guards he worked his way towards the surface.
As he surfaced near the shore, blinding sunlight struck his eyes, screaming with pain Duo lashed out to grab onto the nearest rock.
Further up the beach, a young man heard the screams and came running down to the shoreline.
As Duo blinked the flashing spots out of his eyes he cursed under his breath in every form he knew, until he became aware of a young man standing on the beach about ten metres off, looking at him in an anxious, but blank way.
Duo looked behind him cautiously, his tail was out of sight, and looking back he sized the other boy up.
Duo saw a slim boy with messy dark hair and startlingly blue eyes dressed in a pair of dark trousers and a plain white top that clung to his skin where he had become wet with the splashing of the waves.
The boy on the beach saw a slender boy no older than he was, with a long chestnut braid and vivid violet/blue eyes. The boy appeared to be in some sort of swimming attire, but he couldn't be sure as half of him was hidden behind the rock.
Duo blinked; maybe this human would know where to find the cold, hard voice from the ship. Before he could open his mouth however the other boy spoke.
"What are you doing out there? And why did you scream?"
Quickly Duo invented a story, he hated lying, but this called for a once off. "I'm out here because I swam down from over there," a vague wave of the hand indicated somewhere along a small inlet, "and I screamed because my foot became caught in the rock, luckily it's free now!" he added hurriedly as the other began to move even further into the water.
The cool blue eyes looked at him curiously. "Who are you?"
"I'm…I'm Duo Maxwell, I'm a prince from, a place."
"A place huh?" an amused look came into the other boy's eyes. "I'm Heero Yuy," He winced, waiting for the onslaught of recognition, but none came. The braided boy merely nodded politely as if to say, "that's nice."
"So, what place is this?" began Duo, curious as to where he was. The other boy looked slightly surprised, "This is Weybourne Hope, the largest kingdom in the North, didn't you know that? Where do you come from then?"
Duo winced; one question had sparked this unusual boy's curiosity. "No place that you've heard of I'm sure.
"Really, sounds interesting."
"Nah, I'm sure you wouldn't be interested in it, rather boring you know, not much there…"
Duo's stumblings were interrupted by an angry shout from further up the beach. "HEERO!! WHERE ARE YOU? COME OUT DAMMIT, THE KING'S GONNA HAVE MY HEAD!!" The boy called Heero winced, "that's Wufei, he gets kind of overprotective of me, you know, worried when I go missing."
"Why…?" Duo began, but before he could say anymore, another shouts issued, louder this time.
"I'd better go, he hates me talking to strangers, because…" Heero hesitated, should he tell this boy? He had only been talking to him for a couple of minutes, and already he felt like he'd known him a lot longer.
"Heero! There you are! What are you doing standing in the surf you stupid boy? You'll catch a cold!"
"I was talking to…" Once more Heero trailed off, the strange boy with the beautiful eyes had vanished, and there was nothing by the rock except empty water. "No one, I wasn't talking, shall we go in?"
As he turned away, hustled by Wufei he thought he caught a flash far out to sea, almost as though a large fish had caught the sun on its scales.
**********
"Heero. Heero dear?"
Heero blinked and looked up from where he had been staring at his plate for the last five minutes. "What is it mother?"
The royal family had been sitting at the dinner table for half an hour now without speaking, and if Heero had been his self he would have realised something was up. However he had been to busy thinking of the new acquaintance he'd made that morning, Duo Maxwell, the first human being to speak to him as though he was a real person.
Heero's mother squirmed a little uncomfortably under the steady blue gaze of her nineteen-year old son. "Heero…you're getting married."
Heero's eyebrows shot up and he choked on the water he had been sipping. Once he'd recovered his breath he stuttered, "Who…who am I marrying?"
His mother smiled in relief, he didn't appear to be angry, in fact he looked interested. "Princess Relena of the Sanq Kingdom my dear, a perfectly lovely young lady who…"
Heero interrupted her, still maintaining his fake interest, "That's fine, please may I be excused? I have some important work to do in my room."
"Certainly dear."
Once in his room, however, Heero vented his anger. "Gods curse it!" He shrieked, kicking the wall before smashing a lamp. It was not his style to show true emotions around other people (particularly his parents) and so to most he came off as the good little prince who did what he was told, this time however, he was not going along with it, he would not marry Relena of the Sanq Kingdom.
**********
"Nights in white satin, never reaching the end, letters I've written, never meaning to send…" Duo sang, sitting on his white bed, an extremely large shell. He continued singing as he brushed his long chestnut hair, bits of it floating behind him in little eddies of currents, pooling in chestnut waves behind him.
He had a good voice, clear and low, but he never sang around anyone else, he often got embarrassed.
"Duo…" King Treize burst into the room, halfway through the door before he saw what had happened. "Duo, your tail, it's changed!"
"Huh?" Blinking Duo looked down, "Aw dammit, I liked silver."
"But Duo, don't you see? It's a bluey violet colour, the same as your eyes."
A mermaid (or merman in this case) is born with a silver tail, no matter what gender the children's tails are all the same colour, obviously someone found this was a good idea and decided to keep it that way. However, there is a legend in The Book Of The Sea that was written by the merpeople's ancestors. When a teenager's tail changes colour (usually at the age of nineteen) it is always different to the colour of that particular person's eyes, if a person has the same colour tail as eyes they are said to be a karalla an individual who has the spirit of the ancients and who will, in some way or another, change the lives of the race, or become a vital role in the annals of history, for better, or worse.
Now you can understand why Treize was just a tad excited, his own son, a Karalla.
Treize's last sentence echoed through Duo's mind the same as your eyes… "So what does that mean? Just because my tail finally changed?"
"What does it…what does it MEAN!" Treize sputtered in exasperation, "It means my boy, that you are a Karalla, an ancient."
Duo blinked, he had never paid much attention in history or religious studies. "Say what?"
"A KARALLA!!" Treize practically screamed at him, "You will change the fate of our people, oh wait till I tell your mother and grandparents, and we mustn't forget…"
His voice trailed off as he swam back down the long corridor that led to the main part of the underwater palace, leaving Duo utterly confused, bewildered and more than a little worried.
***********
For several days people avoided Duo, or, when he spoke to them, looked like they were about to sink into the floor or be zapped by lightning (which wasn't likely as they were under the sea.)
Eventually he became so sick and tired of this that he went to seek the advice of Trowa and Quatre who were several years older than him, but good friends all the same.
"And everybody seems to think I'm gonna destroy this entire race, and I didn't even have a clue what a Karalla was until you explained to me." He griped, sitting in Quatre's small sitting room drinking seaweed and salt tea, (the powers of which Quatre believed in greatly and it always cheered Duo up anyway.)
"Now calm down Duo, no one is thinking that…" Quatre began, while Trowa nodded in agreement.
"YES THEY DAMN WELL ARE!!" shrieked Duo, exasperation making his usually sunny nature disappear completely.
"But Duo…"
With a yell of frustration Duo wheeled around, spilling his teacup in the process, and swam out of the door angrily.
**********
Now it was not in Duo's nature to sulk or bear grudges for long and he did indeed realise that Quatre and Trowa had not really done anything wrong, he had just been too ill tempered. But however much he regretted being nasty to them, he still felt he was a little bit justified, if only there was someone to talk to, someone who'd understand…
There was, as soon as the idea popped into Duo's head, he couldn't ignore it, it just kept coming back to pester him until he acknowledged that it might be of some use.
Heero Yuy, the boy he'd spoken to on the beach, the only other boy who'd spoken to him like a normal individual, rather than a pet prize. (Trowa and Quatre still did it occasionally.)
Yes, Heero Yuy, you never know, maybe he would be able to see him again…
*********
When Duo surfaced beside the large rock situated about ten metres out from the shore it was dark. The only light came from the moon and surrounding stars that twinkled softly on the velvet black of the night.
Far off in the distance an orchestra was playing from a large well-lit building set on a cliff. Duo had hardly been up to the surface before, but he knew a human castle when he saw one.
Suddenly a rhythmic splashing from further up the beach indicated that another person was approaching.
Ducking behind the rock Duo waited for the human to pass, but instead of continuing with their walk along the shallows of the surf the person stopped. On the wind Duo could hear the soft breathing of someone and bit his lip, he didn't particularly want to be caught right now.
A soft voice issued from the form that stood black against the stars. "Alright, come out, I know you're out there."
Gulping Duo peeked out from behind the rock.
"Who…? Duo is that you?"
"Huh? Heero is that you?"
Laughter issued from the form on the beach, "Of course it's me, how've you been doing?"
"Terrible." Replied Duo glumly, "Just because something happened, my entire family and kingdom think I'm something special, that I'm gonna change their fates or something, I mean, how am I supposed to do that? I'm nineteen, I can't change an entire race!"
"I know what you feel like." Replied Heero sympathetically, "See that party going on up there?" He pointed to the castle from where the orchestral music was issuing, "That's to celebrate my betrothal."
"Oh…" Duo trailed off, unsure what to say. "Congratulations."
Heero grimaced, "Hardly, I've never met the girl in my life, my family set this whole thing up, and to top it all off, she's arriving two days before the actual thing!"
"So, that bad huh? Man in comparison my problem seems small!" Duo grinned, "Sure wouldn't want to be in your shoes right now." He paused as an idea occurred to him. "Heero, why don't you tell your parents you don't want to marry her?"
"Because all my life I've been the good son, the one who agrees with everything my parents have said, not questioning them, and the marriage is in the interests of the country."
"But you don't love her?"
"No."
"Then you're gonna have to tell them." Duo said emphatically, in a voice that left no room for arguments.
Heero blinked slightly, changing the subject rather quickly, "You know what's completely amazing?"
"What?"
"I've known you less than 25 minutes, and already I'm talking to you like I've never talked to anyone in my life, not even my closest friends."
"I know, it's so weird, I've never talked to anyone this way either, except Hilde…" Duo swallowed, blinking back the silver tears that had suddenly begun to pool in his eyes.
"Who's Hilde Duo?" Heero's voice was gentle, so soft Duo almost missed the question.
"Hilde is…was my sister."
"Was?"
"She…she died." Duo stumbled over the words, almost as though he hated saying them.
"But she's not really gone Duo, she'll always be there, whenever you think of her."
Duo could hardly believe that the man standing on the beach, with the salty waves spraying his trousers rhythmically was a human being. All his life he'd heard how humans were bad, humans were evil but now he knew, not all humans were.
Suddenly Heero took off his formal jacket and shirt, underneath, hard muscles gleamed in the moonlight.
"What are you doing?" Duo asked, trying not to look at the well-muscled chest.
"Coming out there to you," Came the reply, "We can't carry on the conversation with me standing on the beach can we?"
"I don't think…" Duo began, panicking now. But it was to late, a loud splash indicated that Heero had jumped in the water and was swimming swiftly out to the rock, which stood in water of about a twenty-meter depth.
Carefully Duo moved around so his tail was hidden behind the other side of the rock to where Heero was swimming.
Once Heero surfaced, shaking the water out of his eyes he blinked slightly, "Weren't you on this side just now?"
"Yes, I moved round to give you some room."
But Heero didn't appear to be listening very hard, instead he seemed to be staring at Duo, considering this was the first time he had seen him clearly, it was no surprise, but Duo's common sense flew out of the window at the sight of Heero so close.
"Why…why are you staring at me like that?" He asked, trying to keep his voice steady.
Heero grinned slightly, looking up into the Violet eyes that seemed almost black in the night. "I was just thinking."
"What?"
"Well, with the moon right behind you and all, making your skin look all silvery, you look like an entirely different species."
Duo swallowed nervously, "Like what?"
"I dunno, a nymph, or a water sprite, or maybe a kin to the merfolk."
Duo laughed nervously, "Merfolk, hah! There's probably no such thing!"
"There is you know, we found one, about a week ago."
Duo blinked, icy realisation dawning, crawling down his spine like horrible fingers, "We?"
"My men and I, we were on a ship and…"
But Duo interrupted him, "I don't really want to know."
"Ok, sure."
What Duo didn't tell him was that he didn't want to know if it had been Heero who'd ordered "That thing" to be thrown back over, he didn't know why, it was irrational, here he was, looking for Hilde's murderer and he may have found him, but instead of trying to kill him, he didn't want to.
Then Duo realised, with a new sense of understanding, a shocked but excited feeling settling in the pit of his stomach. He was falling in love with the enemy…
To Be Continued…