So here's the last chapter of High Tides. I'm actually getting a little weepy; this story has been such a big part of my life for three years, even if I didn't update as regularly as I should. There will be an epilogue after this, which I'm going to try and write now and post at the same time, and you can thank my dad for that idea. The epilogue will be setting up some of the stuff for Dangerous Waters. On the subject of the sequel, I'll let you know when I've posted it by adding a temporary note onto the end of this fic, so anyone following this fic will hopefully be notified. Anyone following me will get a notification anyway. If you're interested in reading any of my other Ingo fanfiction while Dangerous Waters is being written, then I have a load of oneshots which you will find on my profile, as well as a multi chapter fic called 'Never Go Back'. I recently started another multichapter fic called 'Twisted Dreams & Broken Things', but whether I continue that or not depends on whether people like it and how many people are interested in it.

Thank all once again for reading this story, and thank you so much for your reviews and encouragement. You are all very dear to me, and I wish you all the very best! I will hopefully see you in autumn with Dangerous Waters!

Dedicated too DawnCat2476, Maraudette98, ingolover11, KindaWishIWasAnnabeth, Olivia Makinson, Guest and alohamiems. Thank you all so, so much.

Chapter Twenty One

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The sound is the only thing there is, apart from darkness.

Darkness in the tunnel, closing in, pressing, all consuming, eat me up, hide me, trap me…

No. No, I'm not there, not now. This darkness isn't pure black, it's dark red, blood red.

Blood swirling upwards from the man's back as I remove the knife and he sinks down, down, down into the depths…

No. I'm not going to think about that either. I had to. I had no other choice and now that's over.

Another sound begins to make its way into my consciousness, apart from the regular beeping. It sounds like a kick drum, thrumming in my ears, thump, thump, thump. It takes me a moment to realise that it must be my heart because it's in time with the beeps.

My heart thumping in my ears as I flail, lost in the maw of the cavern, as Mortarow charges me, ready to kill…

"Sapphy?"

I recognise that voice, but I cannot put a face to it. It's a woman's voice, sweet, full of honey, full of concern…

"Sapphy, darling, can you hear me?"

My eyes are stiff and sticky, and it takes an effort to open them. It takes even longer for the world to come into focus. I stare around, seeing nothing but a mad blur of colours until finally my eyes settle on a tanned woman with light brown, blonde streaked hair, a woman with kind hazel eyes, a straight nose and lips naturally inclined to smiling.

"Mum?" I manage to croak, but she puts a finger to my lips and holds a glass of water to my mouth. I drink greedily, before resting my head back against the nice cold pillows. "How long have I been gone for?" I finally ask, dreading the answer.

"Four days," she says gently, stroking a tangle of hair back off of my forehead, and I feel myself relax slightly. Four days. That's not that bad. I can try and find an explanation for theat. Better than months- or years. "How are you feeling?" Mum continues, tilting her head to look at me properly.

"Achy," I mumble, which is true; it feels like I have bruises covering every inch of my body.

"I'm not surprised," she replies, moving her hand to lightly stroke my cheek. "You've been through the wars. Can you remember anything that happened?"

I give my head a tiny shake. Best to play dumb.

"Well the coastguard think you were pulled out by a rogue current, or something of the like. You know how dangerous the waters are around here. They think you must have been dragged out, and by the looks of it, you got bashed around on some nasty rocks. You've got a bump on your head, which could be why you don't remember much. From the state of your hands they think you must have been clinging on to a rock for dear life for some time, and somehow managed to find your way back to shore." She takes my right hand and squeezes it. "You've been lucky to escape so lightly."

I glance down at my left arm, which is encased in a bright blue cast.

"Roger chose the colour," she adds, seeing the direction of my gaze.

"Good choice Roger," I murmur approvingly.

Mum smiles slightly, but after a moment her face grows serious. "Sapphy, I want you to promise me something. Please."

I blink and glance up at her again. "What is it?"

"Don't swim alone again. Promise me."

"But Mum-"

"Just promise me. Please Sapphy. I can't…I can't lose anyone else I love." Her eyes fill with tears. "Not to the sea. Not again. Promise me."

I sigh softly, but manage to whisper, "I promise."

"Saph?"

Mum and I both look up to see Conor poking his head around the door. I feel awful when I see his face; he looks like he hasn't slept properly in days. Of course, he knew where I was the entire time; he probably through I'd become Mer, that I'd left them all. It must have been hell for him, knowing where I was, but unable to console Mum and Roger, especially when he hates deceit so much.

"Mum, can I talk to Sapphy, please?" He says, not taking his eyes off of me.

"Of course you can," Mum replies, still holding my hand.

Conor sighs. "Alone, I mean."

Mum blinks, looking surprised, but after a glance at my face, she gives a little nod and gets to her feet. "I'll be outside if you need me," she murmurs, before leaving the room.

Conor slowly moves over to me and sits in the chair she's just vacated. "How are you feeling?" He asks, slightly awkwardly.

"Better than I was." I can't meet his eyes. I feel awful for causing everyone so much hassle, although to be fair I didn't ask for my baby brother to be kidnapped.

"I thought you were gone. That this was it. That you'd chosen." His voice is ever so slightly unsteady.

"If I did chose Ingo, you know I'd tell you. I wouldn't just…"

"Disappear?"

"Yeah." I stare down at my hands.

"Then I thought you might just have lost track of time. Got too sucked in by Ingo time."

"I guess that happened in a way," I reply, "although I didn't really have much choice other than to stay."

"So what happened then?" He says, and when I look up I can see him taking in my battered appearance. "A rogue current?"

I sigh and shake my head. "Mortarow happened, that's what."

"Mortarow?" I can hear the surprise in his voice. "The one who…" His face darkens.

"Yeah. The one who stabbed Dad in the back," I say, slightly bitterly. Even though Mortarow's dead now, the memory of Dad's death is still raw and painful.

"He did this to you?" Conor's voice fills with rage, and I quickly motion for him to be quiet, in case Mum hears him. He nods, trying to calm down, but I can see his fist shaking. "I'll kill him."

"Faro's one step ahead of you there," I say in a slightly shaky voice.

Conor blinks. "How…"

"You don't want to know. It was messy." I must have grimaced at the memory, because Conor only nods. "He's been causing trouble in Ingo for a while, stirring up supporters for his 'pure Mer only' club. And he wanted to get Faro and I out of the way. Remember when I fell off the cliff? That was him. He sent a seagull to attack me."

Conor calls Mortarow something very rude. "So did he attack you when you got to Ingo?"

"No. He kidnapped Mordowrgi and threatened to kill him if Faro and I didn't give ourselves up.

"Sapphire Trewhella, if you're trying to tell me you and Faro exchanged yourselves for that child…"

"Don't be stupid Conor! We weren't just going to give ourselves up! A party of Mer attacked his forces and then Faro and I snuck in on a rescue mission and to cut a long story short, we succeeded."

"Yeah, after you'd been beaten to a pulp! You could have died, Saph!"

"Conor, stop yelling! Calm down!"

He simmers down slightly, but still looks furious with me.

"What was I supposed to do; leave my baby brother in the hands of a man nuttier the squirrel poo?"

"He's not our brother!"

"Is Rowan our sister?"

He hesitates.

"Exactly. Just because he's Mer, it doesn't mean he's not family. He wasn't responsible for Dad leaving us, Con. Dad is responsible for Dad leaving us. Mordowrgi's just a baby. We can't blame him for Dad's actions."

Conor sighs, but doesn't argue, which means that I've won.

-x-

Despite the fact that, as far as most of the world is aware, I've been dragged out to sea by a rip current, clung onto some rocks like human barnacle for four days, and then managed to swim back to shore, life seems to go back to normal fairly quickly. People make a bit of a fuss at first, and give me flowers and chocolate (I'm not complaining about that; a bit of choccie is always welcome) and stuff like that, but after about a week it's yesterday's news. Sadly this applies to my teachers as well, and they're soon wondering why I haven't caught up on the work yet . Apparently being stranded at sea for a good hundred hours or so isn't a good enough excuse.

My family appears to have recovered from it as well, all though I strongly suspect this is a front put on so as not to try and help me settle back into school life, especially which exams approaching fast. I go on study leave on the seventh of May, and the week after that my GCSE's begin. Apparently they make take my recent trip out to the sea into 'consideration' when marking my papers, which sounds like a big bonus, but I'm pretty sure I'm still going to fail everything. Fun times. Conor's helping me out as much as he can, but his A2 exams start in June, so he has revision of his own to do. Rainbow's a massive help too. Because she's home-schooled, she's taking her exams with me, at the big senior school in St Pirans; my tiny school in Senara doesn't have the room. We're always round each other's houses these days, revising together, although she's a lot better at it than me. She's had to develop a system where I get a piece of chocolate as a reward for every ten minutes I can spend focusing on work, otherwise I drift off into a daydream, staring out of the window at the sea. I try to work, to please her and to try and stop her worrying about me. I keep getting little anxious sideways looks from her, the sort I get from Mum, and I know that she thought that I was dead as well, when I disappeared. I feel even worse when I notice that she appears to be more afraid of the sea than ever, not even going down onto the beach any more. I feel awful for worrying her, and wish more than anything that I could tell her the truth, but I don't know if that would scare her even more. Besides, the secret of the Mer is not mine to give away. And on top of that, she'd probably think that I was off my rocker.

Speaking off the Mer, I haven't see Faro since the day I came back from Ingo. It's too hard to sneak away these days, what with Mum, Roger, Conor and Sadie all keeping an eye on me. Sadie's slept on my bed every night since I came back home, and howls every time I leave the house, even if I'm just going to school. At least she isn't ill again, like when I was twelve; if I'd have done that to her again, I'm sure she would have died. And when I'm finally trusted enough to stay home on my own, I'm normally in change of Rowan, and like hell am I going to leave a month old baby on her own. It's not until study leave has begun and I'm on my way back from Rainbow's that I finally have an opportunity. Mum's out at a check-up with Rowan. I called her to tell her that I was on my way home, as she often monitors my whereabouts these days, but when I finally arrive back at the cottage I find that Conor and Roger have gone out to collect some diving gear from Sennen, or so the note that they've left says. I quickly dump my bike in the garden, and run along the costal path until I find the bushes that hide the secret track from sight. I wriggle through them, and then I'm darting down the trail, through the brambles and gorse and the long grass, then over the cliff edge and down, scrambling over the boulders and rocks until I reach the sand. I squint against the afternoon sun, and feel a grin spread over my face when I see a familiar figure sitting on the rocks, waiting, and that's when I start to run. I quickly reach the boulders and scramble up as best I can with my arm in a cast, although thankfully it's been broken for over two weeks now, and it's healed to the extent that I can put some weight on it.

"Sapphire, what on earth is that strange thing you have on your arm?" Faro says as I finally reach the top of the rock and begin to move along them towards him. "Human fashions are extremely odd…"

"It's a cast, you ninny," I say, flopping down next to him. "Because the bone's broken. It helps it heal correctly."

"Hmm…" He takes my arm and examines it. "You mean your healers can't heal it?"

"We don't have healers like you do. We have doctors and nurses. They set the bone and then the body heals itself."

"But it's taking ages!"

"We can't accelerate healing like the Mer can." I shrug.

He smirks. "Not even with all your wonderful human technology?"

I resist the temptation to push him off of the rock, and ignore the jibe. "How are you feeling anyway?"

"Right as ramen," he replies with a grin.

I snort, and he looks offended.

"What? What did I say?"

"As right as rain! Ramen is a type of Japanese food."

"What is 'Japanease'?"

"Japan is a country in Asia, which is a continent."

"Ah, more of your human labels? Where does it say on the 'continent' that it is 'Asia'? Surely all land is one?"

"Most people don't think it is one though. They say that this bit of land here belongs to them and name it, and other people say a different bit of land is theirs and that it belongs to them, and then they draw lines on maps to separate the land and then all of the land has names."

"How can you draw line that separates one piece of land? Humans are so arrogant, believing that land can 'belong' to them. How can something as puny as a human own something as ancient and powerful as Norvys?"

"You think you own whatever land you land on…the earth is just a dead thing you can claim…but I know every rock and tree and creature has a life, has a spirit, has a name…" I sing, grinning, unable to stop myself.

He blink at me. "What song is that?"

"'Colours of the Wind' from a film called 'Pocahontas'. You reminded me of it for a moment."

"What is your human 'film' about?"

We've had the whole 'film' explanation already, so I don't have to go into detail on that aspect.

"It's about humans from England landing in America and claiming that it belongs to them, even though there are already people living there. A native American girl called Pocahontas tries to settle things peacefully. It's a good film; I watched it a lot as a child. She tries to teach one of the Englishmen about Norvys."

"Well she was obviously a human with sense."

I smile slightly. "Yes she was, although I don't know how true to history the film is; Pocahontas lived over four hundred years ago."

"Did the Englishmen stay in this 'America' then?"

I nod and sigh softly. "Yes, they did. Lots more people came, from France and Spain and the Netherlands. The Native American populations were massively reduced and they had a lot of their rights taken away. I don't know the details though; I don't know much about American history."

Faro snorts. "Humans. All they can do is destroy."

"That's not true!" I say, sitting up straight. "Now you sound just like one of Mortarow's supporters!"

A deep flush spreads over Faro's face, and it's a moment before I realise that he is actually ashamed of what he said. "I'm sorry, Sapphire. You are right. I should not be prejudiced. I know not all humans are bad."

I nod, before giving him a smile to show that I forgive him. We sit in comfortable silence for a moment, gazing out across the sea, watching the frothy white waves dance.

"I should get back soon," I say after a little while. "I'm not really meant to be here…"

Faro blinks, turning to look at me. "Why not? Who says?"

"My Mum, and I think she has good reason; I did go missing for four days. She's asked for me not to come down here alone. I can probably come after my exams though, if Conor agrees to come with me…"

"Does he have too?" Faro frowns. "Can't you slip away? It won't be the same if Conor's here…"

I sigh. "Faro, I made a promise not to swim here alone again. And I know that I'm not alone with you, but Mum doesn't, and if she catches me she'll be so upset…"

"But if you're careful, she'll never know…" He reaches out and grabs my hand. "Come at night, or when she's not there…just…please come. Alone."

"Faro…" I protest, squeezing his hand, "I can't, I-"

Before I can finish the sentence, he slips and arm around my waist and pulls me towards him. My breath catches in my throat as he puts one hand on my face, brushing a strand of hair off of my cheek, before guiding my face closer towards his. He closes his eyes, and I quickly close mine as well, my heart thumping and my stomach doing the rumba. I wait with trepidation for our lips to touch but before they do, I feel my nose bump into his.

"Ow!" We break apart, both of us rubbing our noses, and before we know it we're both laughing, clutching each other for support. That's a relief; I'm glad that things didn't get really awkward; that wouldn't have been great.

"Sorry…" Faro chuckles, looking ever so slightly embarrassed. "That has certainly never happened before. But uh…I take it you were…urm…well…"

"Okay with kissing you?" I offer, and he grins. "Yes I most definitely was. So I take it that you…urm…"

"Like you?" His grin widens. "Maybe a little bit. Definitely not as a 'little sister'."

"That's good to know…" I trail off, smiling up at him. "So…"

"So…did you want to try that again?" He asks, still grinning down at me.

"Does this answer your question?" I tilt my head up and close my eyes again as he leans in once more, this time taking care to tilt his head to the side to avoid any nose collisions.

His lips are soft and gentle, and he tastes like salt and the promise of summer. His arm tightens on my waist and his other hand slips up to cup the back of my neck, and I feel my heart speed up in my chest, an electric thrill running through me. This is better than flying with dolphins or speeding through currents; no current has ever made me feel this alive, like lightning has struck every nerve in my body, sending white hot heat tingling through me. Faro kisses me more deeply, more desperately, and I can feel all of my thoughts unravelling, and all there is him and me; it's like the feeling I get in Ingo, when everything is far away, when my family are blurry images in the back of my mind, where nothing matters but the songs of the sea. This is like a song, like the songs of Moryow where every note is impossibly sweet, impossibly perfect, when it's so beautiful it cuts you too the core, and I could stay here, singing our song in perfect harmony forever. But I know, deep inside, that I can't.

Gradually we break apart, both of us breathing deeply. He smiles that familiar smile, running a hand down over my shoulder before kissing my nose lightly and making me laugh.

"Well that wasn't that bad, I suppose…" he says nonchalantly, smirking, making me swat at his arm. He laughs and moves out of the way in time, before flicking up his tail and splashing me. I shriek with shock at the cold water, before trying to swat him again, but once more he easily dodges, still laughing at me.

I laugh as well, but after a quick glimpse at my watch, the laughter fades. "I should really be getting back…" I sigh, glancing over at him.

"You don't have too…" he says, taking my hand again, his voice inviting, reeling me in like a fish on a line, as alluring as the sons of Ingo. "You could come back with me…stay in Ingo…"

For a moment, I'm tempted, my head still full of the taste of salt on my lips, but instead of diving into the waves I find myself shaking my head. "I can't. We talked about this Faro. I have responsibilities here. I can't make that choice yet. You know I can't."

He sighs, and I can tell that he wants to argue, but after a couple of deep breaths he seems to get himself under control. "Fine…but come back soon, Sapphire. When you can. And don't bring Conor."

If we're going to be doing some more of what we were just doing, I definitely won't be bringing Conor. "Okay. I'll come when I can. When exams are over."

He nods, squeezing my hand. "When exams are over."

He leans in once more, and I close my eyes in eager anticipation-

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! GET OFF OF MY SISTER!"

Faro and I jerk apart, turning around to see a horrified Conor staring at us.

I glance at Faro, who's beginning to chuckle slightly under his breath, and elbow him, hard. "Conor…uh…what are you doing here?" I say, brushing my rather tousled hair back behind my ears and trying to look innocent.

"Don't play innocent with me, Sapphire!" He says, looking furious, storming over to the rocks. "Just what do you think you were doing?"

"She was kissing me," Faro says, grinning all over his face. "She's actually an all right kisser, your sister ."

Only all right?

You'll get better with practise.

Oh, thanks!

You're welcome.

"Well…well she shouldn't have kissing you," Conor says angrily, folding his arms. "You're not even the same species!"

"Hasn't stopped humans before," Faro says lazily, looking down at Conor.

"Saph, get down here. We're going home, before Roger starts to wonder where-"

"Where you both are?"

We all look up and see a man walking towards us, his arms, like Conor's, folded. Conor and I glance at each other in horror; we were so wrapped up in the argument that we can't have noticed him climbing down the cliff…

Roger comes to a halt in front of the rock, and quickly spin around to look for Faro. He's gone, so he must have seen Roger…but how much did Roger see of him? Maybe he didn't notice him, just thought he was a funny shaped rock…

"Your friend dived off into the water, Sapphire," Roger says in a cold voice, looking up at me. "And yes. I did see what he was."

Oh God. Oh my God… I quickly scramble down off the rock and onto the damp sand, chewing my lip like craze. If Roger tells Mum…then we'll have to explain about Dad…

"This certainly seems to explain a lot," Roger continues, staring out over the sea, looking ever so slightly shaken. "Seeing you underwater all those years ago…you knowing about the tidal surge…all the times you've disappeared in the cove…" He gulps. "Just what are you, Sapphire? Are you…are you a mermaid?"

I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. In truth I'm not sure what to say.

"No," Conor says, answering for me, to my relief. "No she's not. But both of us have Mer blood. Like our father."

Roger stares at him for a moment, before slowly nodding. "So Mathew…"

"Dad fell in love with one of the Mer. Seems to run in the family…" Conor says, ever so slightly bitterly. I try not to blush at that, and quickly look down at the sand.

"Like the first Mathew Trewhella," I quickly add. "The one that ran off with the Zennor Mermaid."

"Right." Roger looks like he's beginning to wonder what on earth he's married into. "So…he's alive?"

"Not anymore," Conor says softly. "He died almost two years ago."

"Oh." Roger says, and I detect a note of relief in his voice; that was before he married Mum. "I'm sorry."

Conor just shrugs.

"Come on," Roger says, changing the subject. "We need to get off this beach before the tide comes in. You can explain this all to me over a cup of tea." He glances from Conor to me. "And believe me, both of you have got a lot of explaining to do…"

All of us begin to walk up the beach, towards the cliffs. But just before I'm about to climb, I think I hear someone call my name.

Saaaaaaaapphiiiiiiiire…

I turn around, staring out across the sea. It isn't the voice of Moryow, nor is it Faro. It's a voice I've never heard before, and it makes the hairs on the back of my neck prickle. A sudden cold gust of wind sends goosebumps down my arm; I shudder and zip up my jacket right to the top. But the cold feeling stays with me all of the way up to the top of the cliff, and when I turn to look out over the sea, all I can see stretching into the distance are storm clouds.

I really hope you enjoyed this chapter; I was freaking out when I was writing it because it's a) so, so long, the longest I've ever written and b) I'm terrified of letting everyone down by having a rubbish last chapter. Also, kissing scene…sorry if that's not very good! My romantic experiences have all kind of sucked, I'm afraid; the only guy I've kissed was very lovely, but a very bad kisser. So I was going on accounts of some friends, as well as online research XD

As ever, reviews would very much be appreciated xxx