Warning: there's a time skip somewhere in the middle of the chapter. I graduated yesterday so I'm gonna have a lot more time on my hands now! :3 of course, I have three different stories to take care of so the update still might be a little slow for all of them. It'll mostly depend on my mood what gets updated next! Anyways, I'd like to thank xXlovinlavenXx, Guest, ARandomAuthor14, VeridianSoul, Usagi-Twins, FallenxLinkin, Allen WalkerCrown Clown, and Annabeth2011 for reviewing!

After waiting in the boat for what seemed like the longest time, Lavi slowly paddled back to the shore. He still hadn't gotten over the fact that Allen was a mermaid. A mermaid. He'd been hanging out with a mermaid! He could have been killed! If Bookman found out...he'd be in a hell of a lot of trouble. As Lavi tied up the small boat to the dock they owned, he paused. Did General Tiedoll know? Thinking about the man, his eyes darted over to the book Anita had written and he picked it up. He narrowed his eyes at the book. Tiedoll...sold this to him...wasn't too much of a coincidence that Tiedoll had sold that to him knowing that Allen was there as well? Lavi looked back to the harbor that was quite a ways away and then looked down at the book. Tiedoll had to know...but if he did, then why did he trust Allen? If Allen wanted something from him, couldn't he just kill Tiedoll for it?

Unless Allen isn't like the other mermaids...

That thought hadn't really struck him at all. What if Allen was different from the mermaids? But then again, what if he was trying to play nice to get them on his good side so he could go behind them and kill them? Bookman had always told him to be careful dealing with the sea because of the sharks, poisonous fish, and mermaids out there...the old man always said that he knew everything, and he said that there hasn't been one mermaid case where the creature was trying to be nice to them. Well at least it explains why Allen is so beautiful. Anita said that all mermaids you run into are beautiful...she also said that the gender for mermaids don't matter...all genders in the species can have babies; but I wonder...would the baby be born a mermaid or a human? Even she didn't know the answer to that one. And if there aren't any cases of mermaids being nice, then how did she get to know one so well without being killed? Maybe...in this book...Lavi looked down at the book.

Perhaps he could find his answers here...

The redheaded prince walked down to the end of the dock and sat down, kicking his sandals off so he could dip his feet in the water. The sun was starting to set, but food really wasn't on his mind, despite that he hadn't eaten at all today. Instead, his mind wanted to just know everything about mermaids now that he had met Allen. Lavi opened the front cover and almost skipped through the prologue had Anita not mentioned a mermaid. She too admitted that the mermaid she met was a guy who would always stay in the water and never come out. He would use his 'skills' as a mermaid to flirt with many girls there but Anita was a young woman that was really busy and found it dumb to waste her time with the man when he tried talking to her. Apparently, a long time had passed by and she found herself walking by the man and having talks with him. She explained that she didn't even know he was a mermaid until he confessed it to her. Being a mermaid hunter, she didn't know how to respond and she later told him to just stay away. But, the man explained that it was already too late and that he had fallen in love with her. The prologue ended there (which actually made Lavi quite irritable since it left off with a cliffhanger and he hated cliffhangers) and Lavi flipped to the first chapter:

True Love at First Sight

Mermaids are beautiful, yet odd creatures. In many legends, it is told that a mermaid's beauty has helped it out of situations with hunters and even gods. As the legend goes, only a real mermaid is beautiful (whether they're half-breed or not) and can get any human to fall in love just by smiling or even singing. In truth, mermaids are just like humans in a way. Their race talk to each other just as we do and even have similar ways of dates. Going to the surface is forbidden to mermaids and there are many reasons why. One of the reasons is because it's dangerous, but another reason is because if they see a human for the first time, they automatically fall in love with them. The love they feel cannot be erased, even if they do not know of it. If a mermaid feels love towards one of the humans, it can be seen watching the human from afar or admiring them often. Even if the human, to others, is very unattractive and has a terrible personality, as long as it is the first human the mermaid saw, the mermaid will love the human forever, even if it is told that the human hates it.

"Love at first sight? Isn't that kind of cliche?" Lavi wondered aloud.

He kept reading and was starting to get quite bored when Anita rambled on about why they did that. It had to be because of some chemical within their tail that recognized the human as it's superior or something like that. He didn't really understand it and actually found himself skipping a lot of paragraphs for the first time in his life. As he neared the end of the first chapter, he thought about Allen. Who did Allen see first? Didn't this book say that it was forbidden for the mermaids to go to the surface in the first place? Lavi sighed and looked around, noticing that the moon was reflecting in the water. How long has it been? The prince wondered incredulously. Honestly, Lavi wanted to find this Anita person and confirm what she was saying. Was she writing this for the hell of it or was it really true? He looked up and instantly pulled his feet out of the water when he saw a shark fin.

Lately, there have been more shark sightings; which was why Lavi hadn't been surfing as much as he used to. The sharks that populated their island were very rare and dangerous sharks called Akuma. Legend has it that the sharks are born inside a mermaids corpse, which is why they were so strong. The Akuma inherit the strength of the mermaid and grow even stronger as they age. This being said, they were much more harder to kill and Lavi saw on the news once that an Akuma had to be stabbed by a harpoon thirteen times before it was actually killed. They also said that the Akuma wasn't even fully grown yet. They were becoming more tedious and were stronger and faster than some mermaids. The only mermaids that the sailors believed to be able to defeat the Akuma were silver-finned mermaids.

"Wait..." Lavi muttered and narrowed his eyes. Wasn't Allen's tail silver? Or was it just a darkish white? Lavi closed his eyes and remembered the look of fear and guilt that had plagued Allen's expression when he outwardly showed the fear in his eyes. He felt ashamed that he had shown Allen he was scared of him...after all, what if people were scared of him? He'd feel terrible...Lavi sighed and watched the shark circle around in the water. The redhead narrowed his eyes. Why is it even hanging around here? He wondered and backed away from the dock just in case the shark tried jumping out of the water at him.

"Allen!" Lavi's eyes snapped open and he looked around. Where did that even come from? It sounded almost like it echoed from...the water? The shark moved towards the voice and Lavi then realized why the shark was circling the water in front of him...it was chasing after something...or someone! The teen quickly stood up and leaned over the wooden bridge. "Oi, kid! Get your head away from the water, are you an idiot or something?!" Lavi looked up and tilted his head to see a man with long, red hair in the water staring at him as if he was an idiot...which he probably looked to be...

"Er...okay...?" Lavi sat up and stared at the man. Didn't Anita say she was in love with a mermaid with long red hair? Then again, there are probably a lot of mermaids with long red hair...the man with red hair gave him an odd look before looking around for what Lavi might have thought was the shark. Then again, this guy could always be a shark hunter, or a scuba diver...not all the people in the water are mermaids. Lavi reminded himself. Not to mention there is more than just one person in the world with the name 'Allen.'

"Kid, you should probably leave." The man snapped. Lavi frowned and crossed his arms stubbornly.

"Why should I? This is my property and you are breaking the rules by crossing it." He remarked.

"Tch, brat." The man muttered and reached his hand under the water to grab a hold of something. "I'm leaving anyways." He scowled and swam off quickly. Lavi looked around and noticed that the shark was gone. What's up with that? He wondered and grabbed his book as he stood up. The prince made his way back to the palace and laid in his bed, many thoughts swirling in his head. One question remained on his mind:

Would Allen come back?

A few weeks had passed since Lavi had found out about Allen's secret and the white-haired mermaid was nowhere to be seen. Lavi had actually asked General Tiedoll about him a few times and the man said that he came to the harbor everyday...but didn't Allen pass through his shore to get to the harbor? Things for him weren't looking up and Bookman was starting to press brides on him. He really didn't want to get married yet - he was too young for that! He wanted to just sit back and enjoy life how it was until he was ready for love. All in all, Lavi felt that he would just be more relieved if he saw Allen again. If he saw him then he could apologize about doubting him...but then again, shouldn't he doubt Allen?

Yes, the mermaid seemed like a good person, but many 'good people' tended to stab you in the back. He wanted to be friends with Allen, but he didn't want to risk getting himself killed. It was a shame that Allen was a mermaid, because if he was a human, Lavi would definitely hang out with him a lot. He was a funny person, he was polite, kind, and even cheerful from time to time. Lavi had only gathered his personality from their date and he seemed like a good person...if only he was a human, though...the sullen thoughts were disbanded when he saw a small boat enter the area. It was Komui and it seemed as if he was getting back from an island he ventured to by himself. There were many small islands around this one, after all. But, what had truly caught his attention was Allen, who seemed to be swimming alongside the boat.

So...Komui and Allen have met? Doesn't Allen know he's scientist? Isn't he scared? How can he trust a human so easily when we can barely trust his kind? Lavi was left to wonder as Komui and Allen smiled at each other. Allen pulled something out of the water and it looked to be some kind of net. Komui excitedly took it into his hands and Allen laughed. The older of the two pulled out a knife to test it's durability and was quite delighted when the net didn't break. The atmosphere around the two seemed to be quite cheerful...until the man from last night appeared. He didn't appear right away; Allen was dragged underwater and resurfaced with him. The glare on the redhead's face was truly petrifying. He held his arm out to protect Allen from the man.

"I wonder who that man is...is he Allen's father?" Lavi said aloud as he watched Komui and Allen both try to explain their friendship. Lavi stood up from the shore where he sat on the sand and quickly walked into their rather large shed, pulling out his surfboard. He needed to talk to Allen. If Komui and General Tiedoll trusted him, then he should too and he needed to let Allen know that.

As Lavi paddled over there, he noticed clouds loom overhead, darkening the light around him. Allen looked up confusingly and the redheaded man seemed to be on edge from the sight. Komui frowned and spoke under his breath. That was when the youngest of them spoke to what Lavi guessed to be his guardian and the man scowled in return. As Lavi neared closer, he heard the boy plea to the man and it took him around five minutes to actually get the man to agree. By the look on Allen's face, even that seemed to be impossible. The guardian and Komui disappeared and only Allen was left.

"Yo! Get out of the water!" Lavi froze and turned behind him to see Daisya waving his hands around wildly. He looked at Allen and noticed that the boy hadn't even heard the shouting boy despite his good hearing. "Hurry! There was an Akuma sighting five minutes ago! You know how fast those things are?! Come on!" The brunette shouted and Lavi nodded at him. He turned his head back to Allen worriedly. Both teens froze to their spot whenever they saw the peculiar shark swimming towards him quickly. Lavi let out a strangled cry and fell off his board. "LAVI!" Daisya called, catching Allen's attention.

"Lavi?" He whispered and looked over. His eyes widened when he saw a shark near the board Lavi would surf on. He swore his heart stopped when he saw blood rise from the water.

Quickly, Allen swam over and almost felt relief wash through him when Lavi had climbed on his board. Almost. He could feel his heart speed up quickly when he saw blood spill out of Lavi's leg. Thinking for Allen didn't even seem possible anymore as he raced over to Lavi and tackled him off the board before the shark could jump up and eat him. In the process of saving him, the shark nipped Allen's tail, but the boy didn't cry out. He didn't even feel the pain, right now the adrenaline coursing through his veins seemed to be telling him to get Lavi out of there. Daisya was already running to the palace and calling for Bookman to get out there since he was a doctor.

Bookman came sprinting towards the shore and almost gaped at what he saw. For Bookman to even gawk was a rare sight and he felt like doing so when he saw a mermaid swimming around and away from the Akuma, which were starting to appear from all sides. A few seconds later, sharks had circled around the two. Bookman knew that it was just smarter for the mermaid to let Lavi go and dive deep in the sea and swim away; to be honest, that was exactly what Bookman thought he'd do. Allen held his breath and took the left band off of his arm to morph it into a weapon and swam towards the shark in front of him, ignoring the sharks around him that tore into his tail. He completely shredded the shark in front of him to pieces and quickly swam out of the other sharks' grasps and to the shore. Once on the shore, Allen put the band back on and collapsed on top of Lavi. The two before him were left to stare in shock. The mermaid was bleeding from all sides and could barely move because of it.

Despite his state, Bookman knelt to Lavi's side and pulled the mermaid off of him, receiving a whimper from the creature. His eyes widened as the wound started healing. Bookman narrowed his eyes and realized that the blood that was everywhere wasn't Lavi's...it was Allen's...he watched as the mermaid's blood dripped onto Lavi's wound and it completely closed up. He dropped the creature in surprise and Lavi slowly opened his eyes. "Ugh...what...?" He groaned and looked at the shocked faces of Bookman and Daisya. "What...?" He repeated and sat up, feeling a weight on his chest. He looked down and shouted with surprise when he saw a twitching and bloody mermaid on top of him. Allen whined at the shifting and trembled.

"Allen is..." Daisya whispered softly and stared at the boy before him. The brunette looked between the gawking relatives and flipped. "He's going to die if he doesn't get help!" He scolded, snapping them out of their daze. He had a point and Bookman shifted his gaze from Lavi's body to Allen's and gently touched a rather deep would on his tail. The young mermaid cried out and clenched Lavi's shirt tightly. The pain that was evident on Allen's face lightened up and he slowly opened dull gray eyes. They were half-lidded, and he managed to look up to see Lavi's worried face. His eyes twitched and threatened to close but he kept them open and slowly pushed himself off of Lavi.

"D-don't move, Allen, you're hurt." Lavi said and moved forward but Allen inched away from him. He looked between the three of them fearfully and darted his eyes around to find a way out of this. The pain was settling in fiercely, causing him to fall back down on the sand and curl up into a ball. When mermaid's pass away, they curl up and wait for death to come...Lavi remembered those words from Anita's book and shook his grandfather, demanding him to help out.

"Let go of me, boy!" Bookman snapped but walked over to the mermaid before him. "Come here." He instructed and Lavi walked over. "Pick him up. We need to move quickly." Bookman said and Lavi quickly held the mermaid in his arms, wincing at the red liquid that spilled onto him. Daisya followed anxiously until he realized that he needed to tell his father about what happened. "Put him there." Bookman said, pointing to a rather large coffee table.

"Gramps...his tail is getting dry." Lavi informed worriedly. Bookman nodded and told him to go get some seawater from the shore. As quickly as he could, Lavi retrieved a bucket and came back, spilling a lot on the way.

"Be careful with that!" Bookman snapped as he applied cream to Allen's tail carefully. The boy spurred to life and wailed loudly, thrashing around.

"What are ya doin'?!" Lavi shouted and held Allen down to keep him from hurting himself.

"I don't know, I'm not a mermaid specialist!" Bookman shouted back.

"Don't put it on his tail then! He still has human skin, don't he?" Lavi asked.

"Actually, Lavi, it's 'doesn't' not-"

"Gramps! This isn't the time for that!" Lavi scorned and the old man growled but nodded. He looked around and spotted the large aquarium they used for their seawater fish.

"Pick him up again." He said and Lavi nodded, obeying his grandfather's words. He sweat dropped at Bookman's idea but place Allen's bottom half in the tank. The boy visibly relaxed a little and Bookman tended to the top part of him, bandaging up his abdomen and his right arm, eyeing the left arm mysteriously. He finished bandaging his neck and put his kit away. All three of them relaxed and Allen was now sleeping soundly in the tank. Lavi was trying his best to ignore the pink-tinted water, but it really didn't sooth his nerves. "If it's bugging you that much just get the filter from storage." Bookman growled as he rubbed his temples. "I honestly can't believe you, hanging out with such a dangerous creature..."

"I didn't even know what he was until a few weeks ago! This is the first time I've seen him since then too!" Lavi reasoned as he walked out of the room and into another nearby room. He returned with the filter and sweat dropped when he saw Bookman studying his fins. He had two smaller ones attached to his sides and two triangular shaped ones near the end. Lavi plugged the filter up and placed it inside the tank. Within a few minutes, the water was clear and Allen's injuries had stopped bleeding. The injuries on his tail weren't as bad as the ones on his torso. Allen shifted on his side in the water and laid his head against the side of the tank. "How is that even comfortable?" Lavi found himself questioning aloud as he stared down at the boy.

"Are you seriously wondering about that? How about thinking about more important things, like what's going to happen when he wakes up!? He could try and kill us for taking him away from the water! Do you know how much danger you just put us in?!" Bookman scolded.

"I don't think he'd hurt us. After all, he can't go back if he does. Plus, he's not a violent mermaid; honestly, I think he's just more scared of us." Lavi said quietly.

"Whatever, Lavi. You're in charge of this thing. I have a lot of work to do. Don't you dare get yourself killed over him." His grandfather growled before leaving the room. Lavi continued to stare at Allen for awhile. He sighed and took a strand of Allen's silky hair through his fingers.

Why did you risk your life for me?