Chapter Seven- Loose Ends

"Kaiba's a merman too?" Yugi gasped.

"He is and it was a surprise to me as well. He didn't like to change mostly because he felt like a freak. I said he wasn't and changed to prove it."

"You said mostly. What other reasons did he give for not changing?"

"Once was his brother and he would sometimes feel lonely. I admitted that I feel lonely at times and why I like swimming in the ocean. The two of us are going out there Saturday and I think Seto wants to hear the sea life talking."

Yugi smiled wistfully. "I wish I could. It must be cool."

"It is but you would have to give up seafood. You'd be unable to eat fish again."

Yugi affected a look of horror. "Oh no! I love fish!" His comment generated gentle laughter from his family. Atem knew Yugi would gladly give up seafood to be a merman and talk to sea creatures. But, he'll settle for me telling him, just as Mokuba will listen to Seto.

"You'll tell me what they say, right Seto?"

"If you want me to."

"Do you think you'll talk like the creature you're talking to?"

"I doubt it. All Atem said was that he understood them." Kaiba was certain that he would talk normally and not like a sea creature. Kaiba steered the conversation to school and let Mokuba chatter about his subjects while Kaiba dwelled on asking Yugi for his friendship.

Yugi closed his locker and spun the dial before heading to his next class. Atem had told him and Grandpa this morning that the project was finished as the excitement of yesterday's events drove it out of his mind. Well, with the project done, Atem and Kaiba can hang out together and find more common ground, Yugi thought as he sat in Civics class. He had just gotten his binder and book out when a shadow fell over his desk. Yugi looked up to see Kaiba. The two exchanged looks of secret knowing. "So now you know about Atem and we know about you," Yugi said.

"Yes. I look back over the last five weeks and his weekly swims and exceptional photos are clear to me now. He really enjoys those times."

"He does, but he was lonely. I could tell even though he never said it until last night."

"I was lonely and there were times when I felt cut off from people which made my loneliness worse.

"Speaking of people, I would like us to be friends, Yugi." Kaiba extended his hand.

Yugi smiled brightly as he took the hand. "Sure we can be friends, but I'm still going to call you Kaiba."

"That's fine with me." The bell rang and Kaiba retreated to his seat, pleased to be friends with both Moto brothers. And in a few days I'll be swimming with the younger one and truly enjoying the side of me that I hated for so long.

Yugi glanced over at Kaiba before returning to his notes with a smile. Clearly accidentally exposing his secret had melted some of Kaiba's cold demeanor. Atem was right: Kaiba can be nice. Of course, accepting he's a merman and having Atem share the same thing also helped.

The rest of the week flew by and soon Atem was driving Kaiba and him to the beach to swim. It was another beautiful day and Atem was relieved. It had rained most of the week and he had been concerned that they would have to reschedule their swim and he would have to take a bath. Both wore swim trunks so when they arrived, Atem stashed his keys under the floor mat, both removed their shirts and shoes, and headed toward the water. They swam out a little ways before changing and simply ducking under.

Kaiba gazed at the boundless ocean before him. Yes, he had seen it before but he had been all business as he had had a limited air supply. Now, with his tail, he could stay underwater for hours and enjoy every moment of it. He followed Atem out to the spot where they took the pictures, performing acrobatic tricks along the way.

"Hello, everyone. I'm back," Atem called when they reached the spot with the coral. Kaiba stared at the coral, feeling breathless at the sight of it.

"Atem, your pictures of the coral just doesn't do it justice. It's prettier in person."

"Thank you, young merman," a voice said before a clownfish came up out of the coral. "We work hard to keep it alive and vibrant."

Kaiba nearly fainted at hearing the fish talk. He thought he had prepared himself for it but the actual moment was a bit disconcerting. "Uh, you're welcome," he said. He looked a little closer at him before saying, "Wait, I know you. You're the one whose picture was taken."

"That's me. What's your name?"

"Seto Kaiba."

"Oh, you're the one Atem spoke of when he talked about the project. He didn't say you were a merman, though."

"He didn't know until almost a week ago."

"Hey!" another voice cut in. "Don't keep our new friend to yourself." Kaiba looked to see that a dolphin had spoken,

For the next few hours, Kaiba spoke to several creatures and was given a tour of the area they called home. He saw the kelp field Atem had taken shots of and listened to an elderly manta ray tell stories of ocean life. He even raced the dolphins and listen to a whale singing in the distance before both mermen agreed that it was time to leave.

"Atem, this was one of the best days of my life. I'm glad I suggested this trip," Kaiba said as they swam.

"I am too. This was a lot of fun. I'll have a lot to tell Yugi and Grandpa."

"And I will have a lot to tell Mokuba. He's been dying to hear about this trip. He's spent the week speculating what it would be like."

"What were some of those speculations?"

"The one he kept going on about was his certainty that I would talk like a sea creature. I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint him."

Atem chuckled. "We may be half-fish but we're still half-human. Talking like a sea creature seems silly."

"Well, Seto? How was it? You were gone awhile," Mokuba said that night.

"It was great, Mokuba. A very good day."

"Did you talk to sea creatures?"

"I talked, I listened, I was shown around, and I had a race. I did not, however, talk like a sea creature."

"Aw," Mokuba moaned. "I was hoping you'd talk like a dolphin or something."

"Sorry to disappoint you."

"It's okay. Seto, can we go swimming in our pool sometime?"

"Sure. After school Thursday." Kaiba smiled as Mokuba cheered. He felt better than he had in years and all because he made a friend who turned out to be as special as he was.

The End