title Fishing (2/2)
summary What do you mean that's my reflection? I'll kick his ass too.
pairing sasusaku

The waters warmed as they continued to travel up the coast. Sasuke steered with one hand, the other always curled around his thermos. The coffee fumes bathing his face and neck.

"I think that's why you have such great skin," Sakura confessed one night. He turned his head to give her the world's flattest stare. Without saying a thing, he rolled onto his other side.

She pressed her cheek to his shoulder blade.

"Hey."

No response.

"Heeeey," she whined, nudging harder.

"I'm going to sleep," he declared.

"No. Pay attention to me!" she continued to wheedle him. Poking and prodding. Calling his name in strange voices until he finally rolled over again.

"What."

Sakura gave him her sweetest smile. She pecked him on the nose before she said: "I love you."

Sasuke mumbled something under his breath that sounded like annoying as he wrapped his arm around her. Pulling her close to his chest. The ocean rocking the boat back and forth like a cradle.

They hugged the coast. Sasuke raised his thermos in greeting as they passed other mariners. Sometimes Sakura stood with him. Other times, she sat at the stern, her feet stuck in the water. And if she willed it, she let just her ankles and feet phase. Let the bones lengthen and the scales rise to the surface.

At times, the water grew a little choppy. Sneaking peeks to make sure that no one was watching, Sakura dipped her hand into the water. Muttering ancient words as she twisted her hand around. A faint golden glow pulsed through the waves. And whatever storm had been brewing on the horizon calmed itself.

And inevitably, no matter how careful she was, Sasuke came out to yell at her about her indiscretion.

("Someone's going to notice, you moron!"

"No one is going to notice. Humans are about as observant as a bunch of polyps," she snorted in return.)

And then she would placate him with some half-hearted apologies and several more kisses.

When they entered a familiar bay, Sakura slipped straight off the back of the boat. Sinking feet first into the sun-warmed waters. She surfaced just to throw her clothes onto the deck. Dove down again.

Felt her blood rush down to her legs. The scales rising to the surface of her skin. Shimmering and blue as they grew to coat her calves and thighs. Her ankle bones stretched and twisted until they were powerful enough to propel her through the water. The sides of her neck stung as her gills opened up. She opened her mouth to push the saltwater across them. Sighed when the oxygen filled her lungs.

She flipped once before she swam straight downwards. Down, down, towards the seabed. Where bright fingers of coral grew up from the black, porous rock.

Sakura ran her fingers through the fine sand. Poked a few curious fish who swam up to her. And then she trailed her fingers over the rough volcanic rock. Bubbles cascading upwards from her open mouth. After a while, she realized that the black shadow of the boat above wasn't moving anymore. And as she watched, the anchor sunk down, coming rest in the crevices between the bigger rocks.

Sakura squinted. She could see his silhouette shimmering above. With a few powerful kicks, she rose back up to the surface.

"You scared the shit out of me! How many times do I have to tell you not to do that, Sakura?" admonished Sasuke, crouching on the lower deck. He wore just joggers and a pair of flip-flops. And when Sakura sunk the lower half of her face into the water to blow bubbles at him, he lowered his sunglasses to give her a look.

"Very mature," he snorted.

Scowling, Sakura sealed her gill flaps so that she could speak. "I forgot. And don't talk to me like I'm a kid." And before Sasuke could respond, she opened up her gills again and dove backwards into the water. Making sure to slap the surface with her tail, spraying him.

She circled the boat a few times. Her sides skimming against the white fiberglass. And when she surfaced again, Sasuke was still crouching there, raking his wet hair out of his eyes. He lifted his sunglasses and perched them on top of his head. Setting his thermos down, he rolled his pants up. Stuck his feet into the water. And when she stopped circling, he held his arms out to her.

"Okay. I'm sorry. Can you just come here?" Sasuke sighed.

Still glowering, Sakura slowly drifted over to him. She stopped just out of arm's reach.

"Sakura."

Her eyes narrowed. He sighed again.

"Sorry. Sakura. Come on."

She inched closer and closer. And finally, she grasped the edge of the deck and lifted herself up on her elbows. His eyes going all soft and sad. And she gazed back at him for all of five seconds before she nipped the tip of his nose.

"I want to enjoy the water while I can. You can go on without me and I'll catch up," she announced, pushing off the boat. Floating off in the water with a splash.

Sasuke stood up. Cupped his hands around his mouth.

"You asshole. Why would I go on without you?" he yelled at her. And Sakura twisted, around to flash him a brilliant smile. The sunlight reflected off the water and the iridescent patches that dappled her shoulders.

She said nothing else as she dove back down under the surface.

The brackish water in the bay took a little getting used to. The density was much different from the cold ocean water. It tasted different. Even the light refracted in it in alien ways.

As the sun began to set, she saw patches of light flowing down from the surface. And knew that Sasuke had turned the lights on inside the boat. She lifted her head out of the water to find him sitting at the stern again, his bare feet dangling in the water. The pink and gold sky made his eyes glow as he caught sight of her.

"Are you feeling alright?" he asked.

She nodded. Sealed her gills when she saw something in his expression.

"What's wrong?" she queried. Reached out to him. Met his fingers, tangling in the surface of the water. And then Sakura sighed. She finally understood his expression. She shook her head.

"Just a couple more days. Be patient, Sasuke," Sakura said.

And he looked so alone. Even when she pulled him down for a kiss. Those beautiful, long eyelashes sweeping across the top of his cheekbone.

"Just a little longer."

She kissed his chin before she slipped back under.

The bedroom sat at the bottom of the boat. The queen-sized bed was too big for the small cabin. So it was crammed into the corner. Barely squeezed in next to her desk covered in books and unwashed coffee mugs. Sasuke lay alone on it that night, his arm draped over her pillow in her absence. And Sakura swam past the porthole several times, silvery-blue scales glinting as she smiled in at him. Luminescent jellyfish and squid drifting after her like a procession of nightlights.

In the morning, he jolted awake when Sakura rapped her knuckles against the porthole. She waved at him and then pointed upwards.

Pulling on a t-shirt, Sasuke stumbled up the stairs. Out onto the stern. And Sakura heaved her body aboard. Her shimmering tail still half-submerged in the water. Sakura dropped several pieces of sea glass onto the floor. Sasuke squinted around, a little blinded by the all the sunlight. He looked down just in time to see Sakura's gills sealing up, leaving just the faintest marks on the sides of her throat.

Sakura wrung the water from her hair, panting just a little.

"Did you know... that there's a really small pod of merpeople living here?" she told him between gasps. Sasuke walked away. Returned several seconds later with a fluffy towel. He plopped down onto the floor with her, not minding the water soaking the back of his pants. He rubbed the towel over her hair before he wrapped it around her bare chest and torso.

"A pod? How many?" he asked. Her muffled answer was lost in the towel. She peeled it away from her mouth.

"Five. There's a little cave towards that end of the bay," Sakura told him, pointing.

And then he noticed a few drops of blood. And then a gap where one of her gleaming scales was missing. Sasuke stopped drying her hair, glaring.

"Sakura."

"I had to!" she insisted. "Humans love to snorkel around here. They would have been discovered some day." Sasuke's shoulders sagged.

"Couldn't you just do what you do for your family? Cast a spell every year or whatever?" he suggested.

"That's a a really old seal and it keeps wearing down. That's why I have to renew it. Blood magic is permanent. I won't need to come back to fix anything." And as Sakura explained, Sasuke's hand stroked the area around the missing scale. His lower lip jutting out.

"It'll grow back," she reminded him. And as they both watched, her scales receded. Reabsorbing back into her bloodstream. Leaving just her white legs. A tiny, scabbing wound marking her right thigh.

"But it hurts now, you idiot," muttered Sasuke, kissing her temple. He got to his feet, muttering complaints about her under his breath. Sakura turned to admire him. Especially the jut of his hip bones over his waistband as he twisted to scan the horizon. He caught her staring. Scowled.

"Stupid sea witch," he scoffed.

Sakura blew him a kiss.

"Love you too."

The boat continued up the bay, into the mouth of a big river. Sakura spent most of her time off the boat. Occasionally dumping her treasure on the back of the boat. An odd variety of stones, dead coral, and glass rubbed smooth by the currents and sand.

She twisted along the grainy bottom of the bay. And when that transitioned into stones, she felt the composition of the water shifting. The amount of salt decreased as they left the bay. She could taste it each time she gulped down a breath.

Eventually, she knew it was time for her to leave the water. She climbed back onto the stern. Letting her toes shift back as the water ran clear. She stared, marveling at how something could look the same, but be so different. After a while, she went to join Sasuke. Snuggling under his arm as he steered the boat along.

They continued up the river for a long while. Following the bends and forks until they reached a wide spot in the river. The currents here were much calmer. And when Sakura squinted upstream to investigate, she could see why. Several trees had fallen, slowing the flow of the water to a sluggish crawl.

Before she could call out to Sasuke, she spotted him on the stern. Already struggling out of his clothes. Throwing his shirt and pants aside. He dove headfirst into the water. Cutting a clean angle. Bubbles exploding underwater upon impact.

Sakura took her time walking to the stern. She stooped to pick up his discarded clothes. Folded his shirt and then his pants and left them on the sun-warmed bench. Water splashed onto her feet. And when she looked, there he was.

Swimming in slow circles as his gill folds opened up. His long, crimson fins trailed out behind him. Almost like a flowing veil chasing him with every movement. She admired the way those fins rippled like they were made of liquid too. And when he turned to look at her, a smirk pulled at his mouth.

Sasuke's head broke the surface of the water. He dragged his hand through his sopping hair. The red and black scales scattered down his forearm glittered.

"Having fun, pond hopper?" she asked, leaning on the railing.

He laughed. White teeth gleaming as he raked his arm through the water. Splashing the tops of her feet.

"Don't call me that," he called back. He dove backwards into the water. Crimson tail flicking under after him.