Disclaimer: I do not own any of Kingdom Hearts. What else needs to be said, eh?

Author: Okay Riku, go ahead and shout the warning.

Riku: This is a Shonen-ai. Sora and me will be playing kissy poo and stuff. If you don't like stuff like this, you should not be reading the SECOND chapter of this fic, much less the first.

Sora: Kissy poo?

Author: I think he missed some pills.

Sound of someone being horribly thrashed.

Riku: dusts his hands Welcome to Chapter two of Pisces! Enjoy yourselves!

NOTE: (Please Read) This fic is a gift to all reviewers. You can leave requests for what you want to see happen in the fic and I will do my best to put them all in. However, YOU MUST REVIEW. I will ignore requests without reviews. You must tell me what you liked or didn't like or both. People who have reviewed my other fics have priority. This fic is just my thank you for helping me write better.

Chapter Two: Tropical Rescue

It was a day like any other day on Destiny Islands, the bright yellow sun was high in the sky and a few playful clouds were scattered about, white and fluffy.

A ways away from the island a small research ship was docked, a teenaged girl sitting on the bow, letting the sea spray her feet. She ran her fingers through her red hair, looking towards the sky with calm, indigo blue eyes.

"Kairi!"

The red haired girl jumped to her feet and ran down below the deck where her father was working. She went over to his desk where he was fiddling the with drawings of a strange sea creature; half of it looked like a man, the other half like a fish. Kairi's father called them Mermaids, even though the only one ever captured was male. Her father had seen one, out in the shallows surrounding the island, a fair distance from land. Since then, he had been obsessed with them, and caught one when Kairi was little. It had been monstrously strong, but Kairi's father has already guessed that they would be, seeing as though they could survive the water pressure of the sea. It was quickly contained and put into a special tank where it was observed daily. Kairi's father, Shu, had managed to learn a bit of the mermaid's language before it died. Shu was distressed about it; he had thought he had taken good care of the creature. He later surmised that it was the small tank that did it and possible isolation. He had had a large enclosure built on the island and set out to catch another one, preferably two or three. He almost caught one later, but in its haste to escape him, it died. Shu then set to work on better trapping methods, stronger nets and a tranquilizing agent that he felt sure would work. He wanted to catch a young one so he could tame it easier. Kairi wanted to help him; she was fascinated by the fact that there were creatures under the sea that sort of looked like humans.

"Yes, papa?" Kairi asked, as she looked over his shoulder at the drawings her father was carefully writing notes on.

"Help me get the nets ready. I picked up some clicking on the underwater radio today. They are back in the area, now is our chance to catch one."

"Great!" Kairi bounded up the stairs ahead of her father, reaching a large metal box attached to the side and pulling out yards upon yards of netting. Her father was busy preparing a large hook that was attached to a crane. It was necessary to pull the mermaid from the sea. They were much stronger then any mere person.

"All set, Kairi?"

"Yeah!" Kairi dragged the heavy nets over to the hook, and her father did all the rest. Kairi did help throw the net over the side, then clapped her hands and squealed with delight. Shu smiled and placed a hand on his daughter's head. She smiled up and him.

"We're gonna do it right this time, aren't we?"

"I sure hope so. If I can catch and tame a young one, I'll get all the funding I need. We'll have a real crew and a real boat, and times won't be as hard. I can send you to the big school on the main island…"

"Aw, dad, I'll just be happy that you get to do what you love." Kairi grinned up at Shu. "As long as I get to help!"

"Of course, sweetie. Of course. I couldn't have done anything if it weren't for my star assistant!"

"I'm your only assistant!" Kairi said, rolling her eyes. "I'll take the first watch, okay? You can take the rowboat and go get something to eat. I'll go when you come back."

"What kind of father would I be if I did that? You take the boat and eat, but bring me back something."

"But papa!"

"No buts. If we caught a mermaid while I was gone, could you get in on the ship alone?" Shu shakes his head. "It has to be this way."

"Well…okay…" Kairi sighed. She left to go get her boat ready. "I'll go get something for us both and we can watch together!"

Shu chuckled as she left. He had raised a wonderful child.

Kairi rowed back as quickly as she could, running past all the kids on the island, ignoring their demands that she play with them. She ran straight home and excitedly asked her mother for some lunch she could share with her father. Her mother laughed and shooed her out of the house so she could make something, and Kairi went out on the top porch to look out at the sea. Her father used it at night to look at the stars, and his telescope was still set up for when he finally came home. He spent almost all his time out at sea; there was little time to stargaze anymore.

The porch faced in a different direction from where the boat was, at a large expanse of sea. Kairi looked through the telescope at the blue waves, grinning at swimming seagulls fishing for dinner. She turned the telescope a little ways to the right.

A silver head poked up from under the waves.

Kairi blinked, staring. No one on the island had hair like that! Besides, it was too far out for it to be a person. She watched mystified as it ducked back under the water, and a black and white tail flipping up before following. Kairi rubbed her eyes and looked again. Had she been seeing things? She looked again, but it was gone. Kairi turned to race back into the house. It was a mermaid! She was sure of it! Papa would be so excited to hear the news! She raced out of the house, but her mother called her back.

Shoot. Right. Their lunch.

Kairi ran back into the house and danced around, impatiently waiting for her mother to finish. Once she did, she accepted the basket her mother gave her and shot towards the docks like a ball from a cannon.

She had seen one. She had seen a real live mermaid.

When the silver haired Slaptail was a good distance away, Tidus pulled on Sora's fin to get him to slow down. Sora stopped and looked at his friend.

"Hey, what's up?"

Tidus frowned. "Are you sure about this, Sora? I mean, the guy's a Slaptail! They're all around troublemakers!"

"Its just one game, Tidus. Besides, we are supposed to be leaving in a couple of turns. He'll forget all about us by the time we come back."

"Well…"

"It'll be fine, Tidus. We both know the rules and just won't break them. He'll have to do the same or play alone."

"I guess…"

"Don't worry so much. Besides, I wanna know what this game is."

"That's what I don't get. After what happened to your parents, how can you want anything that has to do with Humans?"

Sora didn't reply. Tidus did have a point. Sora's father was caught when Sora was a tiny pup, only seven days old. He was looking for some shells to make a toy out of when he had been caught in a net. He was never heard of again. A year later, Sora's mother was searching for food when she was caught in a net and was killed trying to escape. She had cut herself badly in the escape and some Razorfins caught her afterwards. None of the other Dorsalbacks had been around to help her ward them off, and they ate her. Sora was then raised by the leader of the pack his mother came from, a blonde Dorsalback named Cloud.

Cloud had already been raising an orphaned pup, Tidus. Tidus's parents were Protectors, Dorsalbacks who scouted for possible danger. They were caught and killed by Razorfins, but at least they were not eaten. The community appeared to save them, but it was too late. Cloud took their pup as his own, and when Sora lost his parents, he raised the two pups as brothers, treating them as if they were his own. They became close, and were never seen without the other.

Sora finally shrugged. "It's just a new game to me. That's all."

Tidus rolled his eyes. "Fine. Whatever."

"Hey, what are you two doing?"

Tidus and Sora looked up. Riku was swimming back down toward them. "Having second thoughts, are we?"

"N-no! I…um…" Tidus stammered. Sora only rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, whatever." Sora said, imitating Tidus's tone perfectly. Tidus winced at the hidden barb. Fine, he could play too. He nudged Sora.

"Hey, betcha I jump higher then you."

"No way!" Sora shook his head. He was extremely competitive sometimes, and Tidus knew it. Sora looked over at Riku. "Mind being a judge?"

"No." Riku grinned. "It'll be fun seeing what you Dorsalbacks call a 'jump'."

Sora and Tidus both exchanged secret grins. Oh, he would find out all right. Sora and Tidus prided themselves on their jumping ability. All Dorsalbacks did. Slaptails could jump, sure, but no merperson could compare to a happy adolescent Dorsalback. Riku headed back up to the surface while the two Dorsalbacks backed away a bit.

"Are you ready?"

"I'm set."

"Then go!" They both shot towards the surface at a suicidal speed, Sora pulling ahead just as they broke the surface of the water with an agile leap.

Riku who was floating there with an amused expression on his handsome face, felt his jaw drop in awe as Sora soared high above his head, arms tucked tightly against his sides, his expression one of excited bliss. A little more then a half a foot below him, Tidus looked slightly disappointed at losing. Seawater sparkled like tiny diamonds in the sunlight as the two plummeted back down to the water's depths in a graceful arc, splashing Riku thoroughly when they hit the surface. They came back shortly, both of them grinning like idiots.

"I win!" Sora laughed. "We didn't even need a judge!"

"I can't believe how much higher you got!" Tidus said, sobering quickly. "Are you training or something?"

"Nah, you're just slacking."

"Hey-!"

"That certainly was impressive!" Riku said sliding in between the two merboys, interrupting their playful banter. Tidus huffed, and crossed his arms.

"Of course." He says, eying Riku as if he was an idiot. "All Dorsalbacks can jump like that."

Riku ignored him, focusing only on Sora. "So, how far can you jump?"

"Oh, pretty far." Sora said in his best 'and-you-better-believe-it' voice.

"Well, let's see. I challenge you!"

"Uh guys…" Tidus sighed.

"You're on!" Sora grinned. "Tidus, you be the judge!"

"But-!" Unfortunately, they had both dived back down, and his protests went unheard. Tidus frowned. "What about the game?" He looked over at the small, white round thing Riku had called a 'ball'. Oh well, might as well wait. Mergames were more fun then Human games anyway.

Probably.

A short second later, Sora and Riku shot from the water's surface, both trying to stay as close to the water as possible. The jump wasn't as graceful looking as the first, but it was still impressive. When they finally came back down, they both rounded on Tidus immediately, demanding the results. Grudgingly, Tidus's said that Riku has won, and Sora blinked in shock, while Riku smiled smugly. Tidus was really getting very sick of that smile.

"So, not just Dorsalbacks can jump, hmm?"

"Yeah, yeah. It'll be different next migration." Sora sniffed. "I'll be better then you then."

Riku swam over to the ball and grabbed it as Tidus bobbed under the water. "If you say so." Riku tossed it into the air and caught it. "Well, ready to learn that game I promised you I'd teach?" Tidus surfaced up in front of Sora, eyes wide with excitement.

"What's up?" Sora asked his adopted brother.

"Duck under and see!" Tidus exclaimed.

"What? Why?" Riku looked confused. Sora's brow scrunched, but he ducked his head back under the water like his brother told him to. The others did the same, and they barely heard a distant, but high pitched sound.

"It's a scream!" Riku exclaimed. Tidus and Sora looked at each other, and then shot off toward the source of the sound.

"Hey! Wait!" Riku shouted, wide eyed. "That Dorsalback has good hearing…" He muttered to himself. Shaking his head, he followed after them, hoping he didn't lose them.

"Hurry, Kairi!"

Kairi blinked as she climbed back aboard her father's research boat, carrying their lunch with her. She dropped the pail on the deck and raced over to her father who was pulling at the nets that had somehow slipped off the hook.

"What happened?"

"Darn things are getting smarter or something. Twisted around so much that the net slipped right off the hook!" Shu struggled with the net. "Go lower the hook so I can get the net reattached!"

"Yes, papa!" Kairi ran over to the controls for the hook and lowered it enough to get the net on, ran over and handed it to her father. He slipped the net back on, looking back at her long enough to yell,

"Now go get the slack out! Hurry before we lose it!"

Kairi scrambled back over to the controls, making the net raise up slowly. She kept looking at her father, eyes wide with excitement.

"Alright, steady…just like that. Keep it up while I get the tranquilizer ready."

Kairi concentrated on her task while her father ran to the other side of the boat, to make sure the small tank was filled with enough water to accommodate a mermaid. Kairi strained to see the water from where she was; she wanted to see the mermaid. Was it the same one she had seen before, the pretty one with silver hair, or was this one different? Kairi could hardly wait to see what they had caught.

Below the waves, a young Tropi struggled against the nets, crying loudly. Tropies are merfolk with the tail of a tropical fish. The tail can have two or three colors and a wide variety of patterns. They are graceful swimmers, but not very fast or powerful. They can, however produce a poison that is deadly to predators. Friendly but shy, they often hid in reefs or seaweed forests in large schools.

The Tropi struggled harder, her beautiful gold and pale yellow fins working tirelessly to keep herself from going upward. She cried even louder, desperately hoping someone would hear.

"Please! Someone! I don't want them to take me! Please!"

As she cried, a brown haired Dorsalback came toward her with a powerful speed. He grabbed part of the net and tugged back on it. A second later another Dorsalback grabbed the net also, adding his strength to the first.

"Don't worry!" said the first Dorsalback, "We'll get you out!" The second Dorsalback began calling with loud clicking noises, trying to get help.

"Oh, oh, please! Don't let them get me! I don't want to die!"

"We won't let them!" He pulled back on the net with all his strength, but the net continued to go upwards. Out of the corner of his eye he saw two other merfolk swim over to help, but he was a little too busy to make out who they were.

"Hey, Dorsalback pups! Keep that net tight! Tropi pup, stay as close to the Dorsalbacks as possible!" A commanding voice said.

"What-?"

"It's okay, Sora." Riku swam behind the brunette, reaching around him to help pull the net back. A second later, the net fell slack and they all tumbled back, Sora falling against Riku's chest. The Slaptail's arm went around him immediately.

"Whoa there." He said softly, almost tenderly. Sora blushed a bit, but didn't even try to pull free. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Um, thanks again…"

"I guess it didn't occur to you to catch me too, huh?" Came Tidus's angry voice.

"No, not really." Riku said, grinning back at him and tightening his hold on Sora.

"What happened?" Sora asked, blushing deeper. He pulled free from Riku and picked at the piece of net that was still floating in the water.

"This happened." A long, sharp, silver object was thrust a few inches from Sora's face. Swallowing gingerly, Sora's eyes traveled up the length of the object till the met with the eyes of another Slaptail. A fully-grown Slaptail. Sora backed away cautiously. Riku laughed and swam past the intimidated Dorsalback.

"It's alright, Sora. This is Leon. He's the leader of the pack I swim with. He's okay, he's just like me."

"Then I'm really scared." Tidus muttered. Sora had to fight with himself to keep from nodding.

"You should be." Leon glared. Riku swam between them.

"Hey, hey! Right now we should worry about the pup we just saved, right?"

"Whatever." Leon turned away; the strange object laying over one shoulder.

"Right." Riku turned to the Tropi with the gold and pale yellow tail and helped untangle her from the rest of the nets. "Hey, are you alright?"

Finally freed from the netting, the Tropi made a beeline for Sora, tackling him with a hug that would crush lesser men.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! You're my hero! That was so brave of you to come to my rescue like that! You are soooo wonderful!"

"Uh, uh…I really didn't do that much…really!" Sora stammered.

"That's right. It was Tidus over there that heard you and called for help." Riku said in a tight voice.

"Oh?" The Tropi blinked at Sora and slowly turned her head to look at Tidus. Her eyes got huge and she tackled Tidus, the poor Dorsalback struggling in vain to get away. Riku laughed loudly, holding his stomach and pointing at the spectacle. Though he was also amused, Sora decided to rescue his adopted brother.

"So, um, what's your name?" He asked, trying to get her attention.

The Tropi released Tidus and swam back over; her fins were like silk banners under the water. She danced around him, giggling, playing with her long brown hair.

"My name's Selphie. Pleased to meet you…Sora right? And the cute Dorsalback over there is Tidus, and the silver haired grouch is Riku. She turned and swam over to Leon, circling him while he tried to ignore her. "You must be Leon, leader of Tsunami, the pack of Slaptails who are against the humans!"

"There is a pack like that?" Sora exclaims. "I never heard of it!"

"Me either." Tidus shrugs.

"You're probably too young to have heard of us." Leon sniffed.

"I am not!" Sora fumed. "I've seen fourteen cycles, thank you."

"Still a pup." Leon sniffed.

"Hey, you Dorsalbacks never hang around long enough to hear stuff like this. You guys are all out of the loop." Riku laughed, swimming backwards. "You should quit with the migration and find one area like the rest of the mer population."

"We could use you!" Selphie piped up. "You guys would be great protecting these waters."

"My parents tried to do that…" Sora sighed, "But my father just got caught by humans and my mother was killed looking for him. So-"

"Wait a minute. You're that Sora? Gou and Iki's pup?"

Sora's head snapped up at the mention of his parent's name. "You knew my parents?"

"Knew them? Your father, Gou, swam with my pack. He was a great lookout. No one could jump as high as he could…"

"Sora seems to have inherited that from him, then." Riku said waving a hand. "I saw it myself. Cleared my head by more then a tail."

"Wow, more then a whole tail?" Selphie cried. "I would like to see that!"

Leon turned his gaze on Sora, thoughtfully appraising the boy. "I looked for you after your mother died…I was going to raise you myself. Your father was a good friend of mine."

"No, the leader of the community I was born into took me in as his son. We left on migration immediately, even though I wasn't really old enough."

"Well, neither was I." Tidus yawned. "He had taken me in first."

Sora rolled his eyes. That didn't matter; they were still the same age. Leon swam over to Sora, towering over him, still giving him that piercing gaze. Sora gulped and backed away a little.

"You know, Sora, you could always decide not to go on migration. I could train you to fight against the humans. This'll be your chance to avenge them." Selphie clapped her hands.

"That's a great idea! Then I could see you all the time!"

"Hey!" Tidus cried out, moving in front of Sora. "Stop putting ideas into Sora's head! He's not old enough to even think about leaving the community. Our leader would look for him and drag him along by the fins if necessary."

"…That's right, I would."

All eyes turned to a blonde Dorsalback floating with his arms crossed, looking just as imposing as Leon.

"Cloud." Leon said frostily.

"Leon." Cloud said just as cold. He swam over and put a hand on both Sora and Tidus's shoulders. "Just what stupidity are you filling these two pup's heads with?"

Sora looked from Leon to Cloud and back to Leon. "You two know each other?" Cloud silenced Sora with a firm shake.

"Well?"

"Just offering Sora a chance to swim with my pack like his father did. He was supposed to, you know. But you ran off with him right after his mother died."

"Sora is a Dorsalback, not a Slaptail. He should be raised by his community."

"My pack was his community!"

"His father's community, maybe, but not his his! Sora was born in my community, and that is where he belongs!" Cloud growled. "Isn't one…no, two Dorsalback deaths enough for you? No more, Leon. I won't let you take any more Dorsalback lives."

"How can you ignore what is going on? The humans are a real threat, Cloud! We should all be fighting them! Sora should also have the chance-"

"He is only fourteen cycles old!" Cloud bellowed. "He's not even an adult yet! Stay away from him, Leon, and keep those in your pack away from him, or I swear by all I hold sacred I will make you sorry you even looked in his direction." Cloud pushed Sora and Tidus ahead of him, following after them closely. Riku watched them go, and then looked back at Leon. Selphie had had her hands pressed to her mouth in shock at the whole conversation. She blinked rapidly, looking in the direction that the Dorsalbacks had gone.

"Wow…that was a little intense…" She said softly.

"I have to agree. That didn't go too well, Leon." Riku said, crossing his arms.

"He'll be back this way." Leon shrugged, turning to swim away. "If he's Gou's son, he'll be back this way. Come on, we had better get this little Tropi home."

Riku grinned and followed him, glancing back at where the Dorsalbacks had left. 'That's good, cause that means I don't have to go kidnap him or anything necessary like that.'

Aloud, he only said, "I guess we had better."

Author's Nonsense:

Dolphins have amazing hearing. They can hear things from incredible distances, and Dorsalbacks can too!

This is just like Morse code! If you know it, you can actually talk to Dorsalbacks! Er, if they were real, that is.

Wow, where am I going with this? I mean, really? Whew. THIS is what happens when you guys don't send me your requests with your reviews! GRRR! Okay, I'm over it. Anywho, I think I will make things easier for you all. I will leave stuff for you to choose. How about that? Whichever gets the most votes will happen, K? Here we go!

A) Sora goes back to find Leon (this will lead to more backstory and more characters!)

B) Sora runs into Riku again (this will lead to more flirting…but then, so will all the other choices)

C) Cloud ties Sora up to some kelp to keep him away from Leon (don't you dare choose this one!)

D) Sora gets caught by the humans (wow, that would so totally suck! It will also cut the length of the fic)

Okay, hop to it! You can still leave requests if you like. BUT YOU MUST REVIEW.

Okay, I am going to get back to work. Mind you I have one other update, the fourth chapter of "When All Things Come Back To You". I also fixed up the first three chapters of this fic, so you don't mind if I take a break for a month, do you?

EH?!? You DO?!? SLAVEDRIVERS!

Okay, back to work then…

Ciao! flips over a shell