Being blind wasn't so bad whenever Hinata thought about it. She hadn't been born blind, it had happened when she was an adult. She had swum into human chemicals when she tried to protect some children that had gotten to close.

At first, she had been devastated. Not being able to see the colors she loved that bloomed from the sea, the faces of those she cared for, and, worst of all, she became a burden to her pod. How could they move on and protect themselves when they were trying to protect her as well? She couldn't hunt for food, couldn't make things, or take care of the children. It all came down to one thing: she had to be abandoned.

Her family wasn't cruel though. They had taken her to a far off shoreline and reef where there were no humans or any other merpods. It was practically closed off and hard to get to- practically forgotten save for those that were old enough to remember or believe the old wise tales. Many didn't. But the Hyuuga's always did and even kept the secret of where it was located.

So she was left there for her safety. There was plenty of food and areas to sleep. No dangerous predators were here either- or at least none that were a threat to her.

It was... nice. Not what she ever expected for her life but okay. She often wept in the beginning, however. Wept at not being able to see the beautiful colors of the reef. How would the light above shine down through the water? What kind of life lived here with her?

She also desperately missed her family. Time was no longer a concept, but she wondered how old her father was now. Had he passed on leadership to her sister, Hanabi? Or would it be her cousin, Neji? How much older were they? Did they miss her too?

But the thing she missed the most though was the openness of the sea. Being free and able to swim with nothing between you. To feel the waterways rush over your skin and fins.

She had lost all of that. And for a time, she survived and wept- chest feeling crushed under the loneliness and forced abandonment she suffered from but still pushing through it every day.

She didn't know how long she was in her new home when she found a deep crevice. Well, more like a cave. There were runes around the entrance- though she couldn't identify what they were with just running her hands over them.

She hesitated, of course. With her blindness, who knew what was down there. But the reef was safe, right? So there shouldn't be any threats to her.

She found that it was somewhat case when she went inside.

When she was further down, a deep voice snapped at her and she screamed. She didn't even stay to find out what it was and just swam away as fast as she could with a ridiculous apology over her shoulder for invading their space.

She stayed away from the cave after that. She had just been thankful that whatever was down there hadn't decided to follow and eat her.

But as the days went by, she didn't encounter whoever or whatever was down there. She had some ideas, some that were wilder than the next. Finally, her curiosity got the better of her and she returned to the cave.

That's when she properly met Madara.

He snarled at her when she returned and, although she trembled and stuttered, she stayed when she explained that she lived in the reef now too. That they needed to share the space and she would be mindful not to disturb him. He had simply laughed at her and she felt like she was a child again.

Their acquaintance started off rough- and that was saying it lightly. He didn't seem to understand her and why she kept returning. She didn't understand it herself either but she kept at it every few days to check and talk to him.

In a dark voice, he threatened her and spoke down to her. Oh, she hated it and loathed how she would stutter over her words in a show of weakness. But in many ways, he fascinated her too. She didn't understand him either and, she supposed, she wanted to.

Even if she didn't know what he looked like, the air around him was menacing. It made her stay away, just at the edge at where he seemed to be and unable to attack her.

With him not being able to touch her, it gave her a bit more courage to keep returning. And because of it, she started to understand something. That, although he continued to speak to her as if he hated her, there was something in his voice- something hidden behind the venom of his words that she could recognize.

Loneliness and sorrow.

These things she knew quite well in her forced abandonment. They were now her constant companions in her new life. So even if he did actually hate her, she hoped it gave him something so he wouldn't feel as if he was so alone.

She didn't know when things changed with him. But she did notice it when she brought him some food she had caught one day.

It was the day she decided that she would get as close to him than ever before. Annoyingly, she still shook and stuttered. But it was nowhere near as bad as it was before and mostly caused by her own nervousness and excitement.

She planned to just leave the food next to him and then swim back to her safety to show she meant no harm. However, through slow and forced words, he admitted he couldn't eat it. She didn't understand until he told her to reach out to him and that's when she realized he was chained to the floor, completely immobilized.

Horrified, she tried to claw at the chains until he ordered her to stop. That this was his punishment for past deeds. At first, she didn't understand and Madara was unwilling to say more.

It wasn't until days later she remembered why the reef was so isolated. An old legend, that told of an epic battle between some of the first merfolk. The name of the villain of the story had been lost to the ages of time, while Hashirama Senju's name lived on.

When she visited again, she asked him about it. It became the first time she understood Madara's great power.

He hissed at Hashirama's name and the force of his magic that escaped him shook the cave. The air of rage he emitted choked her gills and she wanted to run away. But she pulled herself together and stayed.

She ran her hands along the cave floor until she was able to find one of Madara's and called his name. At her touch and voice, it seemed to bring him back to the present and everything stopped.

From that point, she understood him more. She knew she would never understand all of it, and doubted she ever would, yet it was enough to know his pains ran deep and he needed someone.

She supposed she should have been afraid- no, terrified. But, for many reasons, she wasn't and kept returning to keep him company. One of the main ones was that he wasn't the monster that the legend had made him out to be. And maybe that was more of the act of time, but she could see that beneath all the rough edges of his personality, he needed someone just as much as she did.

Then, against all odds, the chains broke one day. Hinata wasn't sure how but it was some time after she began sleeping next to Madara.

Surprisingly, the merman had suggested it, gruffly stating it made sense for her to stay since she visited so often. The act served to give them more time together and kept each other warm during the cold nights. And, secretly, Hinata was glad to be sleeping near someone like she once did with her family and not in the sad little crevice she had made for herself in the reef.

Neither of them knew how it happened. Only that one day, when both of them woke up, Madara was wrapped around her and Hinata's body grew so hot she thought she would actually die.

Of course, she had been ecstatic for him. He was free! He could once again go out into the ocean and see the world!

The only thing that hurt her though was that he would leave her behind. Once again, she would be alone.

She didn't mention this to him though. She refused to dampen his wonderful mood. But that still didn't make the heavy feeling in her chest any less painful to bare.

Madara swam around the reef for a few days, getting used to using those muscles again. Here, Hinata learned how much of a powerful hunter he was. With sharp claws and muscular form, he was built to be a top predator. She could easily see him taking down the largest of sharks or even a giant squid. And that was all before the mighty strength of his magic, so strong that it helped him maintain his body as it was in his prime- even after so many centuries.

(She knew all this because he had allowed her to touch him so she could get an idea of his face and shape. And although the touches were innocent, her face was very hot for the rest of the day that left Madara laughing at her. She had gotten back at him by not helping him as well as she could have when a school of fish tried to make a home in his unruly hair the next day.)

On the day he was going to go out and leave, Hinata forced herself to smile. She fought back the scream of words that wanted to escape her throat that wanted to beg him to not leave. But that was a selfish thing to do and she did not want to tie him here. Not like he was before. And although she often missed the open ocean, she had come to like her small peace here in the reef. For once, she felt like she was truly happy, truly free to be herself.

So it was a stunning turn of events when he grabbed her wrist and started to swim away with her in tow. She quickly broke away and stared off into the direction where he was.

That was the biggest argument they had. She reminded Madara that she was blind, that she would only be a weakness to him. He countered that he could protect both of them. But Hinata refused to be a leech. She had grown used to living off the reef and providing for herself and the merman that she didn't want to go back to the way she was before.

So she shouted hurtful words she didn't mean and, although she couldn't see it, she could sense Madara's mounting anger and frustration with her as he yelled back at her. But she just wanted him to leave, to finally be free! Couldn't he see that?

In a last-ditch effort, she tried to swim away from him. Madara was twice her size, so he couldn't reach her in the smaller areas of the reef that she could fit into. She forgot though that Madara was faster and easily caught her before she could do anything.

She struggled at first. But then abruptly stopped when Madara asked her if what she had done was all a game to her? Was she only nice to him when she hated him? Feared him?

That had struck her like a stab to the chest. Everything she tried to keep inside suddenly rose up, nearly suffocating her, and she wailed. She confessed everything. All her doubts and fears. What she wanted for Madara in the future even though she would not be there. How she was happy in the reef even though she longed for the open sea too.

She was met with silence. Yet Madara's arms were unbreakable and unmovable, kept her locked in place against his chest. She was too tired to try and fight it but her wailing had turned into soft mournings. Then when Madara spoke, voice like iron and in his usual deep tone, it left her speechless.

"Then I will stay," he pulled them both apart and cupped her face. She leaned into his callused hand and savored her companion's touch. "Because how can I go without the one person that can help me see how beautiful the world is."

Hinata didn't know how to respond but when Madara pulled her into a hug, she let out a happy wail and burrowed herself in his arms. The merman just scoffed and gently chided her but made no indication of moving away.

Who would have thought all this would happen just because she had gone blind?

Hinata sat at the edge of the reef, feeling the current from the open ocean flow around her. She closed her eyes and saw the steep drop off in her mind- the cut off between the reef and the ocean beyond. She imagined the color of the water as the sun filtered through it and the wildlife that swam out there, living their lives.

"Hinata."

The mermaid opened her eyes and turned to where the sound of Madara's voice came from. She smiled when there was a touch on her hand. She turned it over and gave Madara's a squeeze in greeting. "Madara."

"Are you feeling the song again?" Madara asked.

Hinata giggled sheepishly and shifted. "Ah... yes..."

Madara huffed. His hand went up and grabbed her wrist. He then pulled her into the open ocean. "How long do you think we will be out there this time?"

The mermaid hummed as she closed her eyes. "As long as I feel like it?" she giggled.

"Then let us see how far we can go before we return home," Madara chuckled.

Her companion helped her wrap her arms around his neck while she laid on one side of his back. She was mindful of the fin there but held on tightly as Madara's tail moved back in forth in preparation.

She laughed joyously with the first powerful swish of Madara's tail. The water was cooler in the ocean but Hinata's had no time to enjoy it as the merman swam farther and farther, the water rushing over them and made her fins feel free. She closed her eyes and had her tail match Madara's as they began to swim farther and faster away from their home.

This was the compromise they made so long ago. This was just enough to have their taste and feel of exploration- to heed to the song of longing to swim with no constraints. Sometimes they would swim for a short while, other times they would swim out for a number of days. On the longer excursions, Madara would hunt for them and they would bring back their catch to have later. They also would explore the sunken treasures and Madara would help Hinata find some trinkets or other items so she could bring back to the reef. But to both of them, it didn't matter what they did during those times as long as they were together.

But when they had their fun they then would come back to their reef. To the safety of their home and the life they had made with each other there. Where the world didn't bother them and they could live as free as they pleased.

Hinata never expected her life to take this sort of turn. But she couldn't regret it. Not a single bit of it. And while there were still many days she missed her eyesight and the open ocean, she also was happier than she could ever remember. As long as Madara and her stayed together, then there was nothing more she could ever ask for.