And now we get to the longer chapters involving both humans and merpeople! Yay! And let's have some fun with storms, shall we? *evil grin*
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Demyx smiled, still thinking about Zexion as he, Sora, and Roxas swam back down to the palace. "So is that why you go to the surface?" Sora asked with a smile as they all swam into Demyx's room, resting on his bed. "To see Zexion?"
Demyx blushed softly, sitting on the edge of his window and twisting his hands where they rested near the top of his tail. "Roxas was eying Axel the whole time," Sora teased, looking over at the other blonde floating in between him and his older brother, his arms crossed and a light blush covering his cheeks.
"I was not!" Roxas muttered, keeping his eyes on the floor. "I was just…glaring at his lack of fins, that's all."
"Yeah," Sora snorted, still smiling. "That's why your eyes were glued to his face, not his legs."
"Shut up," the blonde growled, tossing a glare in the brunette's direction. "At least I wasn't drooling over one of them."
Now it was Sora's turn to blush. "So, Roxas likes Axel and Sora likes Riku," Demyx said, grinning.
"And you like Zexion," Sora added, making Demyx blush even harder.
"Demyx. Roxas. Sora."
The three mermen turned to see Xemnas floating in the doorway, Saix right behind him. "Father," they chorused together, bowing their heads slightly.
"I want you three to stay near the palace until tomorrow," the silver-haired merman said, his hands crossed behind his back. "There's a storm approaching and I don't want you to get hurt."
"Yes, Father," the three teens said together, watching as Xemnas and Saix swam away.
Demyx smiled, turning to swim out of his window. "Where are you going?" Sora asked, he and his twin following close behind.
"To the surface," the blonde replied, still smiling. "The sky is the best after a storm. I don't wanna miss it."
"But Dad said to stay near the palace," Roxas argued, frowning even as he followed their older brother further up toward the surface.
"Well, we won't be gone that long," Demyx said. "Besides, when did you ever follow all the rules, Roxy?"
"Don't call me that," the younger blonde muttered, glaring at his giggling twin as they broke the surface of the water.
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"Remind me again why I'm here?" Zexion turned a page in his book, blowing a strand of hair out of his face. He was sitting on a barrel of water with a book, slightly sick from the gentle rocking of the ship he, Riku, and Axel were on.
"Because you lost a bet," Axel smirked, crossing his arms as he leaned against the side of the ship.
"And because of that," Riku continued, standing next to Axel, "you had to come with us because without you, we get bored."
"Glad to know I entertain you," Zexion muttered, closing his book and setting it on the barrel next to the one he was sitting on.
"Looks like a storm coming," Riku noticed, looking at the clouds in the distance. "Probably should head back to shore soon."
"And miss a storm?" Axel teased. "I thought that was what you lived for, Ri."
"And there I thought you would be the first one to turn back to the shore at the very mention of rain," Zexion smirked, turning to look at his friends.
"I'm on water now, aren't I?" the redhead asked, motioning at the waves around them. "I can handle a little rain."
"Oh, I think I felt a drop," Riku said seriously, holding out his hand.
"Not funny," Axel muttered, glaring at the silverette.
"I'm not kidding," he said, watching as another drop landed on his outstretched hand. "It's starting to rain."
"Shit," Axel cursed, Zexion zipping his book into an inside pocket of his coat.
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"Uh, Demyx?"
The older blonde looked over at Sora, noticing a few drops of water falling from the sky. "I think the storm is coming sooner than we thought," the brunette said, looking up at the almost black clouds coming over their heads and the rain rapidly starting to pour down.
"Oh, no," Demyx whispered, feeling the water around them start to roughen as the wind picked up and thunder sounded.
"Under!" Roxas yelled, his voice almost overcome by a large clap of thunder.
Demyx and Sora didn't even think. All three of them dove underwater, ready to wait the storm out in the safety of the waters below.
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"Zexion!" Axel and Riku yelled as a bolt of thunder struck the mast of their ship, the violent jerk of the hit sending the slate-haired teen overboard and into the waters below.
"Axel!" Zexion sputtered, coughing up water as he held onto a small expanse of wood that had broken off the ship to keep him afloat in the choppy waters. "Riku!"
Of course, they didn't hear them as another strike of lightning hit the ship. The slatenette saw two bodies fly overboard, immediately recognizing them as his friends, but there was nothing he could do as he just watched the ship slowly burn and break away, finally losing consciousness in the rapidly churning waters.
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"I think the storms over," Roxas said, Sora, who had been cowering in his arms, finally opening his eyes and unplugging his ears.
"D-Demyx?" the brunette stuttered softly, wanting the comfort only his older brother could give. "Demy?" The two mermen looked around, but their brother was nowhere to be found.
Demyx swam up to the surface, his eyes sparkling at the sight of the sky above him. While Roxas had been busy comforting his twin, he'd swum a little ways away, wanting to watch the storm alone like he usually did. He heard something hit a wave nearby and he twisted around in the water, gasping lightly when he saw Zexion passed on a piece of wood. His hands finally gave out and he slipped into the water, sinking deeper and deeper.
Zexion! the blonde thought frantically, diving underwater and scooping the slatenette up in his arms, dragging him back up to the surface and toward the shore that he knew wasn't that far away.
Demyx drug him onto the sandy beach far enough that the tide wouldn't take him back into the ocean. He leaned over the slatenette with a smile, using a finger to brush his bangs out of his face. "Zexion," he whispered, still smiling when he saw the teenager twitch slightly.
"What would I give to live where you are," Demyx sang softly, using a hand to gently cup Zexion's face. "What would I pay to stay here beside you. What would I give to see you smiling at me. Where would we walk? Where would we run? If we could stay all day in the sun. Just you and me. And I could be. Part of your world."
Zexion's eyes gently fluttered, opening just slightly to see Demyx's face and chest. Demyx smiled sweetly, his teal eyes starting to sparkle when he noticed the other was waking up. He panicked slightly at what the other would think of him, leaping back into the water before the slatenette woke up and saw what he truly was. The blonde smiled again from his hiding place behind a rock as he watched Zexion slowly wake up.
Roxas looked around when he broke the surface of the water, a small frown on his face. He and Sora had split up to look for Demyx and so far, he was having no luck. He spun around at a sound and saw Axel before the redhead sank into the water, his eyes closed and his arm outstretched. As much as he hated to help a human, Roxas couldn't help but dive underwater, grabbing Axel and pulling him back to the beach.
Axel groaned softly, coughing up a bit of salt water that he'd swallowed during the storm. His eyes slowly opened, his jade green ones catching Roxas's clear blue ones almost instantly. The redhead found himself mesmerized by the color, never wanting to look away. But when he closed his eyes to try and clear his head, he opened them again to see the sky above him. Roxas was gone.
Sora wiped his eyes a little with his arm when he popped up at the surface of the water. He didn't like being alone without his brothers and especially without his twin. Something splashed in the water behind him and he spun around in fear, calming down slightly when he saw an almost unconscious Riku sinking slowly into the water.
Sora built up his courage and swam quickly over to the silverette, bringing him into his arms and half-dragging, half-swimming back to the beach. He pulled him as far up the sand as he could, smiling a little at the sight of the boy he'd saved almost 10 years ago.
Riku moaned softly, his eyes fluttering open to see the boy he'd dreamt about for almost 10 years. Sora smiled again, but when he noticed Riku was waking up, he panicked a little and dove back into the water, watching the silverette from a distance to make sure he wasn't hurt.
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Aw, how cute. All the humans found mermen and all the mermen found humans. Isn't that adorable?
Anyway, at least the chapters are longer. It's kinda like how "The Bet" started out. Short chapters that gradually got longer and longer. Cool. : )