Prompt: Fairy tale AU
Based off the "The Little Mermaid" art featuring Jem and Tessa by Cassandra Jean!
When one is a mermaid, she gets used to shipwrecks. Tessa was no exception. Oftentimes, she would swim over to the site in order to see if there were any still alive.
The answer was usually no. In fact, the answer was always no, until that one day.
The ship was still sinking. Tessa swam closer, then paused for a second. Floating up was a violin, almost certainly from the ship. Lowering her gaze a bit, she saw a boy with silver hair slowly descending beneath the surface.
Swimming closer, she could see his long fingers and markings on them, where one would hold the bow of a violin.
The mermaid couldn't believe her good luck with this shipwreck… She'd always been partial to music.
Grabbing the front of the boy's shirt, she watched as his eyes flew open. They had stared at each other for barely any time when Tessa grabbed the violin and started swimming upwards.
Never before had she saved someone in a shipwreck, but today, she could.
They emerged to the surface, the boy gasping for breath. Tessa swam towards the shore and deposited the boy onto it. He crawled further onto the sand and continued taking deep breaths.
Tessa would have loved to hear the sound of his violin, but she knew she could not stay longer. As she turned to swim away, she heard the boy call, "Wait!"
Hesitantly, Tessa turned to face him once more.
"My name is Jem," the boy said kindly, a small smile on his face. "Thank you for saving me. Who are you?"
"...Tessa," she whispered.
"Come visit me sometime on this beach," he proposed. "I'll play for you."
And before she could think any better, she said, "I'd like that."
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