Mermaid
It was lucky for me that when I got closer to the island I was spotted by the sailors. Gale and Finnick took Peeta from me and dragged him from the water. I pulled myself along behind them, cradling the precious salve. Finnick pulls a knife from his pocket and helps me cut away the leg of Peeta's trouser which clings to the damaged leg. I spread on the salve over the furious gash. A part of me wants to flee, to get far away from the gruesome scene, but there is a much larger pull that keeps me grounded here. Unable to move from his side.
Hours pass since I first applied the salve. I can feel myself drying out. The last drops of water are evaporating from my skin. Finnick has begged me more than once to get back in the water. But I won't move. He's even gone so far as to stand in the shallows and attempt to splash water on me.
"Katniss please." Gale stoops down beside me. Briefly he looks over at Peeta's unconscious form. "You need to get back in the water."
"I'm not leaving him." I say with great conviction. The salve is working but slower than I would like and Peeta still hasn't awoken. He has occasionally twitched and when I applied the salve a scream was ripped from his throat and the sound tore at my heart.
Never had I imagined that such feelings were possible. Never had it occurred to me that our two kinds could live in peace much less to love. I would never have imagined that humans could be anything but prey. Never dreamed I would look upon one with love and feel a deep sense of anguish at the suffering of one. Yet here I am, on the beach where my heart is lying unconscious on the sand. Finnick keeps bringing me cool water for Peeta from the ocean using a strip that he tore from his shirt as a rag.
My skin has begun to tingle and itch but I can't bear to leave Peeta's side for even a moment. His color is returning and his breathing is slow and peaceful. I find myself combing my fingers through his salt crusted curls trying to smooth down the unruly mess. My eyes drift over his sun kissed face, wishing to see his kind blue eyes, and admiring his strong features. To think I ever thought that humans were evil, Peeta is living proof that such prejudices are wrong. Just because he is different from me doesn't mean he is evil as I was taught my whole life.
The itch seems to be burrowing under my skin and is growing ever irritating. Even after I scratch the itch is persistent. Like something is under my skin trying to force it's way out.
"Katniss!" Finnick's voice is filled with alarm as he charges from the shallows up the beach to where I lay next to Peeta.
His sudden shout draws my attention to his worried face. It takes a moment before I notice where his gaze is fixed. My tail.
Looking down at it now the scales look dry and cracked. The color is lackluster and dull. Much like it was whenever I shed them as a growing child. They've started to peel away but it looks different than it did when I was young. Instead of simply sliding away it seems that the lack of moisture is causing them to flake. I reach down and brush my hand against the rough, hardened scales. The scale moves under my touch. It twinges a bit and the sensation turns my stomach. It's an unusual feeling, it almost feels wrong to peel away my own tissue like this. But I push forward, curious. As each scale falls to the sand it reveals an entirely different flesh. Not the bright colorful scales as I expected but instead the same olive colored skin of my torso.
"Hell's teeth." Gale breaths nearby.
"Legs." Finnick stutters in disbelief. The same feeling resonates deep within me, that feeling of impossibility.
I continue to peel the last remaining scales from my legs. I stare at them in astonishment, not quite sure that what I'm seeing is real. Waiting for the moment that the hallucinations stop and my tail is back.
"Woah now!" Finnick startles me from my daze and the same time that Gale lets out a curse. I look to them confused but neither wants to looks my way.
Finnick strips off his worn white shirt and without glancing my way hands it to me. Confused I reach out for it not knowing why I should take it or what use I have for it.
"You should...uh...should cover your..." Gale stutters, clearly uncomfortable although I can't fathom why. His cheeks are stained red. He gestures to my waist and I can't help but furrow my brow in confusion.
Finnick gently grabs the shirt from my hands and drapes it across my newly uncovered skin. He guides my arms into the sleeves and my head through the tattered neck hole. "You'll need to cover up your arse now Katniss. Humans are rarely so...exposed."
Finnick grabs hold of my wrists and pulls me to my unsteady feet. Finnick's shirt drapes down around my thighs. Thighs. The thought is still so unbelievable.
The moment he lets go my new legs give way and I collapse with a thud and a mouthful of sand.
"You'll get it soon enough." Finnick chuckles as he lifts me up to try again.
…::::::...
Man
The pain begins to ebb and my mind begins to clear. I no longer feel like I'm on fire instead it's more like a heaviness that encompasses my every limb.
My hearing returns first. And the sweet sound of humming and occasional laughter enraptures my foggy mind.
Next comes smell, the familiar smell of salty sea air. The smell of trees.
Then taste, my mouth tastes unbearably stale.
The hot sand against my skin and the light stinging from my wound are refreshing after the unending heaviness. And the subtle caress of someone's hand on my skin is close to heavenly.
Finally, after it felt like my sight may never return I can see the bright sunlight behind my eyelids. With a bit of struggle I open my eyes and blink rapidly into the light of the setting sun. A deep groan rips from my raw throat.
"Peeta." A beautiful voice calls out with worry. I squint my eyes and look upon the most beautiful face. "How do you feel?" Her soft hands brush the hair away from my eyes. He hands and eyes are searching every inch of my face.
"Katniss." My voice is raw and weary. "What happened?"
She explains is great detail the events since the last moment I remember and as she talks her hands wander down to my wounded leg. Inspecting the area she seems pleased with what she sees and I take that as a great comfort.
"And then..." She hesitates after telling me the amusing tale of how Finnick tried to splash her with water, which I can see is a fair distance from where we lie, in order to keep her from drying out. "When the moisture was gone from me my tail started to itch. So I peeled away the dried scales and in place of my tail were legs."
She states it with such whimsical nonchalance that for a minute I don't quite comprehend the impossibility of it all.
"Legs?" It takes me a few long moments to come to my senses but when I do I'm sure the look on my face suggests that I think she's gone mad. Like how you'd look at someone as if they'd grown a second head.
She nods simply and so I turn my gaze down to where her tail would be and and amazed to see she does indeed have legs.
"How?" I stutter out stupidly.
"It seems that as long as I am dry I can have legs but the minute water touches my skin my tail will grow back. Finnick and I realized that when he got tired of teaching me how to walk and thought I should learn to use my legs for swimming. It turns out I won't need that particular skill." She chuckles and smiles down at me. So breathtakingly beautiful is she.
"So you have legs?" I dare to acknowledge the hope blossoming in my chest.
"I do."
"You can stay on land if you so choose. Or return home to the sea I guess."
"I'd like to stay on land." She says almost wistfully. "There is a lot to explore up here."
She looks off over the horizon where the sun is setting over the ocean. The soft hue of sunset, my favorite color, reflecting in her molten eyes.
"Would you like some company on your adventures?" I dare to ask, dare to hope, and hold my breath just waiting for her to break my heart or give it wings.
"Would that company be you? Or will I be forced to ask Gale and his mood swings to show me this new world?" She gives me a wry smile. Daring me to ask for what I desire.
"I would like it to be me. If you'll have me I would love nothing more than to show you the world. To stay beside you forever." I say in earnest, catching her gaze and holding it steady. I want her to see every desire of my heart revolves around her.
"I'll allow it." She says as her cheeks stain red with a blush. Her hand brushes against mine and not willing to miss another moment I capture it.
"Finnick and Gale should be back soon." She says after a quiet moment filled with peaceful bliss.
"We should get you up. They went in search of a safer place than this. You're finally well enough to move. Although I suspect you won't have full use of that leg yet."
With the minimal strength I can muster from my tired limbs and her assistance I find myself seated against the nearest tree. She fusses over me worrying that I may have hurt myself moving but I'm fine. The best I've ever been. So to stop her worry and to appease my own overwhelming desire for her I grasp her face firmly between my hands stopping her movements. My thumbs caress her cheekbones and the fine wisps of hair at her temples. I let myself get blissfully lost in the storm of her eyes before placing a firm kiss to her parted lips. She sighs before allowing herself to mold her lips with my own. Firmly I kiss her, pouring out all the tenderness and love, the hunger and desire, and allowing everything that is her, us, to consume me. Refusing to break away until the need for a deep breath of fresh air is to strong to ignore. Even then I refuse to let her go instead I rest my forehead against hers and allow her gentle panting breaths to wash over my face. She curls into my side and I am contempt.
We plan and dream together for hours. We kiss. We touch. We are wholly consumed by one another.
The ocean is painted with the light of the moon and stars when Finnick and Gale finally return to us.
We hear their cheerful shouting long before we can see them. It gives us a moment to right ourselves and avoid their teasing.
"We found the others!" Finnick cheers.
Gale and Finnick help me to my feet. My injured leg gives me a pronounced limp and I can't walk without aid yet. But I gladly lean into my friends for support as we make our way to the cove where the others took shelter. It'll be good to be reunited again. To see everyone alive and well after all that we endured these past days.
I can hear Katniss humming behind us as we trek across the sand. That sweet siren's song that began the greatest adventure and brought me the great treasure. A life together and a love worth more than gold.
The End
A/N: Wow! Sorry that this took so long! I got a promotion at work and then all of a sudden it was April! Thank you all for the support and love for this little story. Thanks for all the support for my writing I really am always giddy to read your comments. Follow me for more stories coming soon!