"Uh-huh..." said Sakura politely but boredly as Yue droned on about the fine dolphin he recieved for his twenty-third birthday. He was a nice enough person, but he was dull, normal, and so old.
"Say!" she said suddenly, cutting into his monologue, "Do you believe in humans?"
Yue smiled and snorted, "I might have when I was little, but I've since learned that they're just a myth. Everyone knows that."
"Right." stated Sakura in annoyance, "Well Yue-ouji. This was a really great conversation! Talk to you some other time, okay?"
"But Sakura," protested her father, "You've only been talking for three hours." he tapped his pocket watch to make sure it was working.
"Yes, and I'm so tired, I feel I could faint." she replied dramatically, holding her hand to her forehead
Touya noticed her irritation and decided to use it against her, "We haven't had dinner yet." he added with a smirk. Sakura gave him a glare, but quickly turned it into a pleasant smile. He would suffer.
"Of course! We must have dinner!"
"You were... expecting me?" asked Syaoran as the woman walked up to him.
"Yes, you have a dire wish to be with that girl." she replied, "And I will be the one to help you!"
"Can you really do that?" he was skeptical. What kind of woman was she?
"My darling boy," she chuckled laying a hand on his cheek, "Of course I can! I am the Wonderful Tomoyo!"
Tomoyo pulled Syaoran to her seeing pool and snapped her fingers. Princess Sakura's bored image appeared. Syaoran's heart leapt.
"That's her!" he cried excitedly. Tomoyo smiled widely as she reached into a cabinet under the pool. She placed a few vials and glasses on the surface and let them sink slowly, each giving off a different color. The final color it turned was a bright fusia.
"Now, boy, I will gladly grant your wish. However, there are a few rules and conditions we must go over!" she stated proudly, "First off, how far are you willing to go to see her?"
"I'll do anything!" Syaoran said, gaining more confidence with the situation.
"Wonderful!" Tomoyo pulled out a full length mirror from behind a curtain and held it in front of Syaoran, "Now, in order to see her, we're going to make you one of them."
"One of..." before he could finish speaking the Syaoran in the mirror fell to the ground as his legs were replace by a single emerald fish's tail. Syaoran looked to his own legs to make sure they were still there as mirror Syaoran's tail flipped up and down.
"Now it gets complicated. You've got exactly one week from when your fins hit the water to woo your girl and get her to love you. She must verbally express her love to you and mean every word. But, if you can't get her to love you within those seven long days," she waved her hand in front of the mirror and his reflected self stood, clad in shackles on his limbs and neck. Syaoran rubbed his neck uncomfortably as if expecting to feel the cold iron under his fingertips, "You become my servant forever."
"Either way, if I become a merman, I'll never see my mother and sisters again." he said sadly.
"But you'll have your woman. If you don't, you'll be doomed to misery for the rest of your life." Tomoyo countered, her smiled widened, "That's right. We also must talk about how you're going to pay for all of this. This is no simple work you know."
Syaoran began rummaging in his pockets, "I want nothing monetary," she added, "Just a simple little thing, you won't even miss it! All I want is that sweet little voice of yours!"
"My voice? How am I supposed to tell her who I am?"
"Excuse me, but if you had your voice that would give you an unfair advantage! You're cute and incredibly sweet and sensitive. If you had your voice, she would fall in love with you like that!" she snapped her fingers for emphases, "So, I'm incredibly busy this time of year, I don't have all day."
Syaoran looked at his mirror image in shackles and thought about his dull life on land.
"I'll do it!" he said with confidence. Tomoyo grinned. She snapped her fingers and the mirror became etched with the conditions like a giant glass contract and handed him a glass quill. Syaoran knelt to his knees and scribbled his name at the bottom of the document. The ink began to eat at the glass until, it too was etched into the mirror.
"Splendid!" cried Tomoyo as she tossed the final ingredient into the seeing pool. The fusia light that had incased them before turned blood red. Red lights shot from the pool and wrapped themselves around Syaoran like ropes and chains, covering his legs and melting away his clothes. Only the cowry shell he found remained. He felt like he would be blinded with the red light until it disappeared and he crashed to the cold floor. He grabbed his neck as he choked, oxygen was painful and made his throat feel like it was on fire. His eyes watered as he gulped for something that would ease his pain. He tried to cry out but no sound came to his lips.
"Eriol, take him to the ocean. Quickly, he doesn't have much time if you dawdle." Tomoyo instructed. Eriol nodded and helped Syaoran stand. He pulled his hand up the stairs, running as fast as their legs would carry them as deep green scales began to form down Syaoran's thigh. Once they reached the outside Syaoran's legs were completely covered in scales and were beginning to fuse together.
"Just a few more meters!" consoled Eriol as their feet hit the sand. Syaoran wondered if this was the last time he would ever feel sand between his toes. Eriol heard a thud as Syaoran's lower limbs became one and watched as toes became fins. He hefted him by his shoulders and dragged him to the water. Syaoran felt instant relief as the salty liquid entered his body, like breathing after holding one's breath for a long time. By the time he sat back up, Eriol was nowhere to be seen, so he dove deep beneath the surface.
Sakura woke up that morning refreshed and energized as she changed out of her nightgown into a cheery and loose pink dress. She pulled her hair up and secured it with a sea shell, deciding to take a swim. The sun shone on the sandy floor and the water was warm as Sakura swam out her front entrance. She decided to visit the stable to check up on the dolphins. She wasn't expecting to find a boy completely devoid of clothing, unconscious on the floor. Sakura did the only thing she could think to do, she screamed loudly.
Syaoran opened his eyes to another pair looming over him. He sat up strait and looked around. Had he really done it? He looked down to see he was wearing a soft blue nightshirt and reached for the cowry shell. It was still there.
"Ano, excuse me..." began the girl who was watching him. That hair, those eyes. This was the girl! The one he gave up his legs to meet. By the way... Syaoran lifted the blanket, a blood-chilling shiver running down his spine as he flipped his green tail up and down. He got out of bed and examined the soft pink scales Sakura showcased. He swam all around the small room, picking up various trinkets made out of materials he had never seen before.
"You certainly are curious," mused Sakura as Syaoran ran his hand along a potted coral, "You seem really familiar, like I've seen you before." Syaoran looked up and bobbed his head up and down in excitement. She remembered him! "What's your name?"
Syaoran's lips formed to his name but no sound came out. That's right, he had no voice.
"You can't speak, can you?"
Syaoran shook his head.
"I see... I thought for a moment you were someone I knew, you look just like him, but... no it's silly."
Syaoran cocked his head to the side with an expression that seemed to say, "Tell me." Sakura turned a little pink.
"Well it's kind of stupid and childish, but... he was a human. Like the ones your parents read to you about in story books!" she explained. Syaoran nodded vigorously.
"You believe in humans?" finally someone to talk to! Syaoran continued to nod.
"Well, anyway, the human boy I saw would always stand by the bank and sing the prettiest song I ever heard! I would sometimes listen for hours, but usually I had to leave in a few seconds."
Syaoran's heart was practically beating out of his chest! She remembered him! She just had to put two and two together.
