Chapter Six

Helpless

Amane hauled himself up over the window sill, landed lightly on the dry, crackling grass on the other side, and waited, arms held out to catch me. I chewed my lower lip, uneasy. it was a short drop, probably only ten feet, if that, but that was still quite a leap for someone who had only had legs for six hours.

"It's alright," his soft voice carried on the light breeze, "I'll catch you, I promise." I nodded, gripping the window frame until my knuckles bleached white, I sucked in a deep breath and jumped, landing against his chest with a muffled thump, His arms folded around me and I could feel the laughter vibrating in his chest, even though he was doing his best to hide it.

"What?" I demanded.

"Just the way you looked just now" he grinned, "sorry, it was cute." the blood rushed to my face and I turned away from him.

"O-oh…"

He let me go, and fumbled around in his pocket for a box of matches, cursing as the match refused to catch the first few times. Finally he lit the lantern, holding it up to his face so that the flames danced in his eyes. "Come on," he handed it to me, and grabbed my hand, "hurry."

It was much easier getting back to the beach than it had been getting to the castle, thanks to the light. Amane seemed to be in better health, though he still moved slowly, seemingly unsure of himself. He helped me over roots and rocks, talking and joking in a lighthearted near-whisper. Asking him for help, despite his previous weakness hadn't been my brightest, or most empathetic moment, but I hadn't known how else to go about it. Lost in my thoughts, I lagged a little behind, he looked over his shoulder at me.

"Are you alright, Mermaid-san?" my eyes narrowed at the sarcasm in his tone.

"you'll see, and I can't wait to see the look on your face when you do,"

"I hope you're right," he said, "I've always wanted to meet a mythical creature. And if you're wrong it means that I'm escorting a trauma victim with a head wound to the ocean to potentially drown, which is kind of a messy outcome for me." he turned to smile at me, offering his hand to help me over a fallen log, "not that I would let you drown, of course." his tone was light and conversational, but his smile didn't reach his eyes.

"Will you be alright?" I asked.

"If you drown?"

"No, when I go back home."

His eyes flickered in the lamplight, his expression unreadable, at last he smiled again, "No matter what happens, I'll be okay, I was okay before you after all, Mermaid-san."

"Are you going to call me that this whole time?" I sighed, "I regret even worrying about you."

"You were worried about me?" he asked, "what for?"

"Did you forget how we met already?" I asked, "you looked like you were about to die!"

"Oh that? I'll be alright, I have a weak heart, but I'm not helpless." he tousled his hair, sheepishly, "I've never had a girl worry about me before." he sounded pleased.

We walked in companionable silence for a small while, until I saw the glimmer of the ocean between the trunks of the trees.

"We're almost there," I said, pointing, "thank goodness, it's almost dawn." I pushed through the underbrush, scraping my bare ankles on brambles and tree bark. Finally I felt sand beneath my feet, and smelled the salt and iron smell of the ocean.

A cold wind rippled along my skin, and I hurried along, my mind concentrated on getting to the water. The horizon was glowing burnished silver where the sky met the water, the muscles in my torso were beginning to get sore. The soles of my feet burned in the sand, even though I knew it was cool, I staggered forwards, my knees buckling beneath me. The sun's rays were combing the sand like long golden fingers, I felt my lungs begin to shrivel, leaving my chest aching and hollow, I was so close to the water now, so close my fingers (the webs weaving themselves in between them like swathes of fabric), could almost reach the foam. Suddenly, I was lifted up into Amane's arms and cradled against his firm chest, my legs felt like they were on fire, and I couldn't breath. I scrabbled at his clothes, panicked, drowning in oxygen.

He was looking at me with an expression of astounded horror, and I could only imagine why. I could feel my gills unzipping themselves, my squared human teeth taking on their original piscene shape, My gills flared open and shut, raw as scraped flesh. Amane was carrying me into the water now, the tips of my fingers grazed the surf, and I struggled for him to let me go. He did so, and I darted away from the shore, lithe as a minnow, every pore drinking in the sweet saltwater that was my life blood. I surfaced again, only from the nose up.

Amane stood thigh deep in the surf, his large eyes wide and shocked, I couldn't suppress a smile at his expression, now that the painful transformation was done. The wind tore it's frigid fingers through his hair as he scanned the waves for any sign of me, surely he knew I hadn't drowned? I allowed myself a moment to catch my breath before raising a webbed hand to wave at him.

"Will you come back?" I heard him call over the crash of the waves. He looked so painfully sweet that I knew I would have to. I nodded, digging my nails so deep into my palms that they left marks. I had wandered into a pitcher plant, and it's hungry jaws snapped shut behind me. Such is the nature of curses.

xXxXxXx

Shijima was outside of the village boundary waiting for me when I came back.

"Has anyone noticed me missing?" I asked, keeping my eye on the village proper, waiting for Teru and the others to come tearing out ready to arrest me, or worse.

"Akane-san came looking for you, I told her that you'd been vomiting and I didn't know whether or not it was contagious, I hinted that it could perhaps be some sort of communicable land disease."

"Thank you, Shijima-san, you really saved me,"

"Please call me Mei," she said with a dazzling smile, "what took you all night? Did you wind up going ashore after all?" I guess she read my answer on my face, because she continued: "what was it like?"

"Sssh!" I covered her mouth with both my hands, eyes darting around, but the village was still sleepy. Mei pulled my hands from her mouth with a glare.

"Quit being weird, no one is up."

"I could get in really big trouble for this," I reminded her.

"You could if you were stupid," she reached out to touch a strand of my hair, "ooh, it's so soft. You have to tell me what happened! I'm dying here."

"Well," I began in a hushed voice, "there was this landboy…" I told her the story of my night, of the twin landboys and their servants, of the castle, and the bath, and our daring escape, I suppose I spent too much time talking about Amane, because she interrupted me to ask.

"Who is this boy? Is he cute?"

"Cute?" I asked, dumbfounded, "we're different species, Mei-chan,"

"Barely," she said with a shrug. "and for a while there, you were the same species, did human Nene think he was cute?"

"I-that's-I mean..." I cleared my throat. He wasn't NOT cute, but my idea of cute was typically more akin to a Teru Minamoto type, tall, powerful, but still a little bit pretty.

Amane was not tall, perhaps even a little shorter than me, and his body from what I had seen was slender and weak. But his eyes were unlike anything I had ever seen before, I couldn't get them out of my head.

There was chatter from the direction of the village, the merfolk were waking up to start their day. Mei ducked her head close to mine.

"So when are you going back?" she asked.

xXxXxXx

I spent the majority of the day curled up in my bed, catching up on some much needed sleep. Everyone left me alone, presumably due to my contagious land illness, and I was glad for it. I didn't want to talk to anybody, especially not Aoi, she made me feel guilty, guiltier than I already did.

I was thankful for Mei, having no one to talk to about any of this would have made it ten times harder.

As evening approached I settled in at the mouth of my cave, watching the ocean darken around me, excitement kindled like a fire in my belly, and fear coursed like an electric current up my spine. I watched my village fall asleep, one, by one, by one.

At last, Mei appeared, my alibi for the night. She pressed a small, clay bottle into my hand, "for the change," she whispered, "it soothes the muscle aches." I thanked her with a smile and a hug, and headed out, not thinking to ask how she knew about that.

xXxXxXx

I tucked the bottle of medicine in a small leather pouch I wore around my neck. I also brought a small bioluminescent sea-star, the compass, and Kou's knife. Better safe than sorry after all.

The ascent got easier every time, partly because I knew what to expect, and partly because the island was now directly on top of my village, it was practically a straight shot upwards. It swam through the water like a gargantuan turtle, moving faster all the time, but always along the same smooth course, like a bead on a string.

It was a foggy night, the wind whistled through my hair as I crested the waves, scanning the shoreline for any activity.

The sand reed seemed to have grown over night, what was dry and scraggly yesterday was now tall and green, crawling up the sand and up the rocky cliff-line. Pastel pink and yellow moss rose blossomed in between cracks in the rock. The trees, which had been brittle, and shedding pine needles like a lobster sheds it's skin, were now thick and dark emerald, giving off an earthy, spicy smell, it was like I was looking at a completely different island. But there, on the beach, was the boy, Amane, looking out to sea with his hands shoved deep in his pockets, the starlight reflecting off of his golden eyes. Was he waiting for me? I didn't know if that made me feel happy or not. I was beginning feel that now familiar tingling sensation in my fin. It was time.

I couldn't call out to him until I had lungs, so instead I waved my arms around like a fool. He startled, almost tripping in the sand, but when he saw me, his face lit up, and he waded out to meet me.

"Yashiro-san," he lifted me out of the water in one fluid movement, his strength had returned ten fold from last night. My fin beat feebly at the water as he carried me, dripping, to shore. The change had already half finished by the time I hit the sand, and my lungs were steadily expanding with air, I reached into the pouch at my neck, and pulled out the ball of bitter medicine that Mei had given me, cramming it in my mouth. At once, the searing transformation aches began to recede.

"Yugi-san, hello," I tried to sound aloof and mysterious as befitting a mermaid, but because I was hunched up like a seal in the sand, and breathing like I had been punched in the solar plexus the attempt was pretty much moot. He smied, but made an effort not to look at me. So it would be this song and dance.

"You're naked, again," he said.

"I am not naked," I motioned to my roughspun top, "I'm just under dressed for the shore. Back home we don't cover ourselves below the waist, because there is nothing there."

"The effect is the same on us humans though, unfortunately," he chuckled. Without preamble he turned towards the crags and jogged a little ways up the beach to a small pile of drift wood. He returned with an oiled leather bag, and skidded to his knees in the powdery gray sand in front of me flipping open the top, and pulling out a long, silky dress the color of an abalone shell, shimmering in the faint starlight. "I came prepared."

"It's beautiful," I held out my hand to touch the cool fabric.

"Do you know how to put it on?"

"Pull it over my head?"

"Um…" he blinked, "yes, let's start with that, afterwards I'll have to button you up," he offered and awkward smile, and turned away, giving me privacy. I slipped the dress over my head, yelping as a button got stuck in my hair, once I tore it free, the dress fell in a pleated waterfall to my calves, ending in a foamy spray of lace. It was a little tight in the chest, but I wasn't going to complain and risk having to change out of such a beautiful gown.

"I'm ready," I called, once I was confident I was covered enough. He turned around, and beamed.

"It looks beautiful on you, just as I suspected," he said, he asked me to turn around, and carefully swept my hair over my shoulder, goose bumps broke out where his fingertips brushed my skin. He took his time buttoning up the back of the dress, slipping the small pearl buttons into their tiny holes, (there were a dozen at least). I was relieved when he was finished. For some reason, close contact with him made me feel funny. "all done," he offered me his arm, "are you ready?"

"For what?" I asked.

"Why, for the adventure of your life time, of course."