Sakuno took a deep breath, happily enjoying the sun on that morning. She was naked, laying on a sheet at the beach, her belly down and eyes closed. Five days had passed quickly since Ryoma and her had returned from Kitakama and everything was well. Together they fixed Ryoma's garden and they would have vegetables soon.
Her husband had bought her five new colorful yukatas and she was more than happy. He also bought new plants and herbs to prepare and stock medicine. Because of the mermaid's needs to be near the sea, they only stayed one more morning, traveling back home after the sunset. On the empty road at night, she was able to dive into the ocean and let her tail out. Ryoma would wait for her, carefully guarding his wife's modesty.
Ryoma was on the front porch of their house, watching her with a small smile on. How someone who lived on the water could enjoy the sun so much was beyond him. Her pale skin had obtained a soft golden color and she was even more beautiful.
He returned his eyes to his reading. While she was trying out the new clothes, there was a small stand near, selling old books and his attention was caught by an antique manuscript with a merman painted on the cover. Ryoma asked to the seller was that about and he said it was more than 50 years old story of a human that fallen in love with a merman. The elderly woman said it was sold to her by someone who said it was a true story, but she was certain it was nothing but delusions of a crazy person.
Ryoma had bought the manuscript and was reading on his private times. The protagonist, Aki, was a 20-year-old woman who lived in a town near the sea and encountered a merman with dark blue eyes and hair. He was trapped on some rocks during a bad storm and she saved him, treating his injury on the next days.
Aki named the merman Toshio and even when his tail was well and he returned to the sea, he would come back to see her frequently on his human form. Then, they fell in love. She lived with her parents but abandoned her family to live with him on a remote island inside of a cave their transformed into a home.
"Today we celebrated 5 years together and my love for Toshio continues to grow. I can feel the time pass on my body, even though there is no change on his face. No expression lines, no wrinkles. His skin continues to be perfect and smooth. I wonder how many seasons he had seen with those deep blue eyes of his.
He tells me his memories of the snow falling for many times and the winds and rain crashing outside the sea. Before us meeting sometimes he would adventured himself away from the water and walked into a field of flowers. He told me he swam for many years and his family was somewhere beyond our sea. Some years ago I asked him if he regretted to stay in just one place with me, but he said he was waiting for a place to call his own. I am his mate and his home."
Ryoma felt the weight of those words on his chest and he realized there was still so much he didn't know about Sakuno. Would they be able to grow old by each other's side? Would she even able to do it? He looked at his wife again and she didn't appear any older than his own age. Would she remain young forever and someday time and death would take her away from him?
"Every day he whispers sweet words to me and when our bodies meet, I feel the same thrill and happiness of our first's times. I noticed Toshio's desire becomes deeper on full moon nights and I wonder if there is some need merpeople feel on those days. He holds me constantly and we barely stop to eat or sleep. I can always sense a slight desperation on his kisses while I surrender my body to him."
The young human blushed after reading that paragraph. On that moment he remembered that their honeymoon happened on a full moon night and after they return to the bedroom, his wife demanded him one more time.
When they arrived home, she removed his clothes between passionate kisses and they didn't even reach the futon. As soon as they finished she was about to climb on him again when Ryoma had to stop her and explain that it was not a automatic thing and he needed some time to catch his breath because it was a tiresome activity. Sakuno kindly kissed his cheek and patted his hair, allowing him to sleep the whole night.
On the first three days, nakedness was a natural state for most of the time. Ryoma had lost all sense of time inside that small house when Sakuno demanded his attention and affection. He was relieved she didn't experience any discomfort on her human form while they were making love and the mermaid was proud for quickly discovering the ways to please her beloved husband.
There was a morning that started with his wife kissing his navel, wanting to investigate him better and Ryoma froze completely, terrified with the possibility of his wife, accidently, use her fangs on him. It took him a while to relax, but soon Sakuno's lips, tongue and fingers around him made the human unable to think about anything else.
"When the full moon was done, she was okay with only holding me to sleep." He noted, already worrying about the next making love marathons and the health of his heart. "Well, at least I am young for now." He smiled to himself.
"Although I love our live together and I will forever remain by his side, there is something I miss dearly. I keep my feelings a secret from Toshio. I do not wish to make him worry about my desires. But, every month, I wish and pray my womb gets filled with his child and the two of us can create a family. I yearn for a little one with his face and smile, so I can nurse and raise the proof of our union. I keep telling myself I am the one with the inept body, but I cannot stop wondering if it is even possible for us to make a child together. I will continue to hope, even if it becomes nothing but an unfruitful dream."
He read the paragraph again and his heart raced. What did she mean with that? Ryoma turned the pages and his eyes desperately looked for any mention of them being able to have a child. The golden eyes were wide in shock when reaching the last page.
"I can feel the pieces of my heart breaking one by one. I cannot eat or sleep and everything seems like an eternal void. I already lost so much weight and my will to live. 3 months passed by since Toshio went to swim on that winter night and he never returned to me. I tried to find him, but I did not have the strength to defy the cold sea for more than some minutes. I kept calling his name into the frozen nights, into the empty days and loneliness continues to be my only answer. My eyes are heavy and I hope that, if I am able to see another day, my beloved Toshio comes to me and saves me from this darkness."
Ryoma's hands were trembling and he couldn't believe the words he just read. Aki had died, completely abandoned and alone in the middle of the nowhere, forever waiting the merman.
He took a deep, long breath, trying to calm himself. Maybe the old lady was right and it was just a silly story. He looked at Sakuno and now she was sitting, looking at the ocean, her long red hair moving with the wind. If someone told him months before he would find a mermaid and they would get married, he would laugh at the person's face and call her crazy. But, there he was, completely in love with a mythical creature.
Sakuno poured all her love, care and attention on him, so naturally, like the tides bathed the white sand of their beach. The only thing she ever asked was a child. "Let's make a baby." Her words echoed on his mind and he felt extremely useless.
Even if he also was skeptic about the possibility, on the back of his heart, he was still a little hopeful. For someone who lost his home and family once, being able to find Sakuno and create a family with her would be a second chance of complete happiness.
He entered the house and opened a drawer, putting the manuscript deep inside the objects. There was still some things he wanted to learn from it, but, for the moment, he didn't want to see that anymore and he didn't want Sakuno to find it either.
Ryoma walked towards his wife and hugged her from the back, tightly. Sakuno smiled and held his arms.
"Ryoma, what's wrong?"
"Nothing." He said, making the embrace tighter. "I just missed you."
"I am right here." She giggled.
He continued to hug her, wishing that deep sadness on his heart could be erased inside her warm embrace.