"How's your fin?" Caren asked as she helped Aryl swim towards the land in the distance. Neither of them knew where they were at all, but Aryl had gotten hit by an arrow of sorts that has slashed up the side of her fin and was making it hard for her to swim.

"I'm… a-alright." Aryl winced. The two made it to the surface and Caren helped Aryl out of the water onto the abandoned beach.

There was a long cut all the way up the side of Aryl's fin and it was bleeding steadily.

"This isn't good…" Caren frowned, "But I can't go get a doctor or anything…" she was slowly going into panic mode.

"Calm down, Caren." Aryl said, "I'll be okay. Give me a few minutes."

"Is there a problem?" A clear female voice asked, as the two mermaids heard footsteps.

"Shit." Caren muttered.

"Go!" Aryl hissed.

"Not without you!" Caren hissed back.

"Hello?" The woman was getting close, "I can see you, you know."

"Nothing's wrong!" Caren said, "Thanks, though!"

The woman walked over and could see the two of them clearly now, "Well, that sure looks like a lot of blood. You sure nothing's wrong?"

Aryl looked up at the woman standing there, "M-mom…" she said, surprised, "What are you doing here?"

"Apparently, I'm saving your hide." Aryl's mother said, calmly. "Stay there. I'll be right back." With that, she started walking back up the beach.

"Your mother?" Caren asked, shocked.

Aryl nodded, slowly, "Yeah… I haven't seen her in a couple of years…"

"Why not?" Caren raised an eyebrow, surprised, "She's your mother, right? Don't you go and visit her?"

Aryl shook her head, "No… we never got along. I was so happy to get out of there that I moved in with Lexia the minute I could. I never went back."

"Oh…" Caren said, "But she seems nice…"

Aryl shook her head.

Caren sighed.

XXXX

"Still no sign of them?" Lexia asked, as Kiri walked into her apartment, shaking some sand from her hair.

Kiri shook her head, "None at all." She said, "I can't stay out there any longer, though- the water demons almost found me."

Lexia sighed, "I guess we'll go and look in the morning."

"How's Coco?" Kiri asked.

"Sleeping. We gave her your bed. I hope that's okay." Lexia said.

Kiri nodded, "That's fine. Did Rayza leave?"

"She had someone to meet, I think." Lexia said, "She said she'd be back tomorrow."

Kiri nodded again.

"Are you okay?" Lexia asked.

Kiri nodded, "Yeah, just a headache. Nothing to worry about." She assured Lexia.

"Maybe you should lie down…" Lexia said.

Kiri shook her head, "Nah, I'm fine. I'm gonna check on Coco." With that, Kiri left the room before Lexia could ask anymore questions.

XXXX

"Are you Rayza?" Sara asked, as the popstar jogged up to her.

"Yes." Rayza nodded, "I'm sorry I'm late. It's a bit of a long story. Anyway, what was this question you needed to ask so desperately?"

Sara frowned, "Well… I have the topaz gem from Uya, the warrior princess of my kingdom, and recently it's been… acting weird." She showed Rayza the pulsating gem. "Earlier it was burning, and… well, it'll be easier to show you." She took the bracelet off carefully and showed Rayza the words underneath.

Rayza's eyes widened. "What…" she took Sara's wrist carefully. "How long have you had her bracelet?"

"A while." Sara said, "Uya… died a few years ago."

Rayza frowned, "This makes no sense…"

"Do you know why it's doing this?" Sara asked.

Rayza shook her head, "No, but… I do know that you shouldn't be holding the bracelet. As long as the bracelet is in your care, the next topaz princess can't be born."

"What?" Sara asked, "I didn't know that… but I can't just give the bracelet away… It's Uya's…"

"Yes, I know." Rayza said, "But you need to bring it back to your kingdom. Just… not now. The water demons are pretty active right now." She sweatdropped.

Sara raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"It's a long story. We pissed off Gaito." Rayza pushed the question off, "So… hold onto it for now, and as soon as things calm down a bit… give it a week or so, bring it back to your kingdom, okay?"

Sara nodded, "I guess so." She said.

"Thanks." Rayza smiled.

"You… look familiar." Sara said.

"Really?" Rayza asked, "Maybe we've met before." She lied, "Well, anyway, I should get going. Call me if there are any more problems." With that, she hurried down the street, quickly vanishing from sight.

Sara blinked. That was quite an odd encounter.

XXXX

"There." Aryl's mother finished stitching Aryl's fin up, "Just don't overdo it and you'll be fine."

"Thanks." Aryl said, sourly.

"You know, I did just help you. The least you could do is SOUND grateful." Aryl's mother stood up, rolling her eyes.

Caren, who had switched to human form, was sitting on a rock, and interrupted before an argument could happen, "When can she swim? We need to get back to the apartment."

"Not for a couple of days." Aryl's mother answered, "You two can stay with me."

"Thank you, Mrs. Talaver." Caren bowed, respectfully.

"Call me Demi."

Aryl tried her hardest not to look annoyed.

XXXX

"Coco?" Kiri asked softly as she poked her head into her bedroom. Coco was fast asleep. Kiri walked into the room, sighing softly, and took a seat in the chair. Even asleep, Coco was a mess. The girls had clearly tried to brush her hair, and by the mess that Coco's hair still was, had clearly found it hopeless. Kiri would have to bring the girl to a hair salon and see if professionals could help her, instead of her wacky friends who could barely manage their own hair.

There was a soft moan from the bed, and Coco turned over onto her side, curling up a little. Kiri smiled. She was like a little kid, all curled up in bed, and Kiri couldn't blame her. Stuck in that cell for as long as she'd been…

Kiri frowned again. Now that Coco was saved, the first problem in her mind was once again Elik. She had no idea what to do… if she broke up with Elik, she'd be out on the streets- she wasn't exactly doing much to pay for this apartment. That was all him and his fancy job that kept him at work for weeks at a time. But she couldn't just keep stringing him along, either.

Kiri shut her eyes, sighing.

XXXX

"So, you're going to put the bracelet in your kingdom?" Tadewi asked as she and Sara walked down a street towards Sara and Tarou's apartment.

Sara nodded, "Yeah… in a little while. Rayza said to stay out of the water for a week or two." She explained, "But… I don't want to…"

"It's just a bracelet." Tadewi said, "It's not Uya herself, Sara."

"I know…" Sara said, "But I kept the bracelet as a memento… a reminder. It's the only thing of Uya's I have left."

Tadewi hugged her friend.

XXXX

Because of all the weirdness and reminders of Uya that had occurred throughout the day, Sara found Uya plaguing her dreams as well.

To be specific, Sara found memories of the day that Uya had lost control plaguing her dreams.

It had seemed like a normal day, but what other day that something catastrophic happens doesn't?

"Uya!" Sara swam over to the slightly older mermaid, who was sitting in her room, brushing her hair.

"Hello, Sara." Uya smiled.

"Is something wrong?" Sara asked. Uya had a pained look in her eyes.

Uya shook her head, "No, no. Of course not." She assured the idol mermaid, "Why don't you head downstairs. I'll be down in just a minute."

"Okay." Sara nodded. She swam out of the room, but was forced to stop and turn around when she heard Uya scream a moment later. "Uya!!" she shouted, swimming back into the room as fast as her fin would take her.

Uya was glowing a deep orange, clutching her head as power flew around her, "Sara, get away!"

"No! Uya, what's wrong?!" Sara shouted to the mermaid, struggling to swim closer.

"Sara, now!" Uya shouted, screaming again. The power was increasing.

Sara didn't have time to answer, as she power lashed out and struck her. She hit the wall, falling unconscious immediately.

Back in her bed, Sara woke up, panting and screaming.

Tarou, who was woken up by the sound of Sara screaming, pulled her into a hug, "Shh… it's okay…"

Sara sobbed into his shoulder.

When she'd woken up from Uya's power hitting her, all that had been left was Uya's bracelet and her hairbrush lying on the floor of her room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

And that is a sad way to end a short chapter. Buuuut, at least it's a chapter.

I am really sorry about the wait on this! But, I finished my novel, so updates should be speeding up.

A little bit of Sara's backstory there. That'll eventually lead right into Luchia's, so it was fun to write.

I wrote this entire chapter while listening to Simple Plan's party song, so I blame that for anything weird in this chapter.

Will update soon.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

Reviews will be a nice way to honor the season!!