"Hey, Kiri." Aryl said quietly into the phone that was nestled between her shoulder and her ear as she sat by the window of her old bedroom from when she used to live at her mom's house. She was surprised to find that her mother hadn't changed the room at all; she'd expected her to change it into an exercise room or a den or an office or something once she'd left.

"Aryl! Are you okay? Where are you? Were you hurt?!" Kiri's frantic voice filtered through the phone. Aryl yanked the phone away from her ear in an attempt to save her hearing as the other mermaid yelled.

"I'm fine, Kiri, stop!" Aryl said in a hushed shout, trying not to wake up Caren but get Kiri's attention.

"Sorry." Kiri said, her voice much calmer, "Where are you?"

"At my mom's house." Aryl sighed.

"What?!"

"It's a long story. I'll explain it later." Aryl sighed again. "I just wanted to call and let you know that Caren and I aren't dead."

"Were either of you hurt at all?" Kiri asked.

"I was, a little bit. That's why we're here, actually." Aryl said, "I'll be able to swim in a couple of days and we'll come back."

"Okay… call me again soon and let me know your mother hasn't killed you?" Kiri asked.

Aryl giggled softly, "I promise."

XXXX

Moiyu, Jay, and Rilene sat in the guest bedroom, almost completely silent.

"So…" Moiyu attempted to start a conversation.

Jay glanced over, "Hm?"

"Uhh…" Moiyu frowned.

Rilene scowled, trying to think of something to say. She leaned back on the pillow behind her, and then got an idea. She smirked.

Fwhmp.

"Wha-Rilene?!" Moiyu spluttered, pulling the pillow away from her face.

"Well, it was getting awkward in here." Rilene shrugged, chucking a pillow in Jay's direction.

Of course, this lead to a full blown pillow fight.

But at least it wasn't awkward anymore.

XXXX

Kiri sat in the kitchen, running her hand along her bracelet absentmindedly. She was worried about Coco and Aryl. She sighed, and stood up, leaving the kitchen. As she passed the hall mirror, she realized something.

"Ah! My necklace!" she said, surprised, racing out the door towards the beach without a word to the other people in the house.

She made it to the beach a few minutes later, panting. "I must have dropped it when we were escaping…" she panted, glancing around. Satisfied that no one was looking, she dove into the water, switching to her mermaid form immediately.

After about ten minutes of searching, she sighed, "Aww… I'll never find it at this rate…"

"Find what?" A male voice asked from behind her.

Kiri whirled around, surprised, to see a male water demon with black hair and green eyes standing there. She swam backwards a little, but the water demon's eyes widened, "Oh, no, no, no, don't worry! I won't harm you."

"Who are you?" Kiri asked, pausing.

"My name is Ilywd, my lady. It's a pleasure to meet you." He took one of her hands and kissed it lightly.

Kiri fought to control the light blush that was coating her cheeks.

"And your name is?" Ilywd asked her.

"I'm Kiri." Kiri answered.

"Well, as said. It's a pleasure to meet you." Ilywd smiled at her.

"You too…" Kiri said, still not completely convinced.

"You said you were looking for something?" Ilywd asked. "Perhaps I can help you find it."

Kiri was still unsure, but she nodded, "Okay… thank you. It's just a necklace, but it's important to me… my mother gave it to me before she died." Kiri frowned, not sure why she was telling all this to a complete stranger.

"Oh, well we'll just have to find it then." Ilywd smiled at her. "What does it look like?"

Kiri quickly described the necklace, and the two split up to look for it. It was about ten more minutes later, when Ilywd swam back over. "Kiri?"

"Yes?" Kiri poked her head out of the reeds she was looking in.

"Is this it?" Ilywd held a necklace out to the mermaid.

"Yes!" Kiri said, "Oh thank you so much!!" she swam out of the reeds.

Ilywd smiled, "Here, turn around." He said. Kiri, a little surprised, obeyed. Ilywd's arms wrapped around her from behind and hooked the necklace on. "There. Now don't lose it again."

Kiri lightly touched the necklace, "I won't. Thank you, Ilywd."

"It was no problem at all." Ilywd assured her. "But, now that I've helped you with something, I believe you owe me something."

Kiri's eyes widened, "What?"

"I want to show you something. It's one of my favorite places." Ilywd said, holding a hand out to her.

Kiri hesitated.

"Trust me." Ilywd smiled.

That's when Kiri realized why she was holding back. She wasn't scared of him- no, it was nothing close. She was scared of letting herself do something she actually wanted to do.

Well, it was about time she made a decision for herself rather than what was best for someone else. She reached out and took Ilywd's hand.

He smiled, "Thank you," and started to lead her somewhere.

And for once, Kiri went along with it, letting her instincts guide her the way her mother had told her to, back before she'd died.

XXXX

"Ughhhh…" Aryl clamped her hands over her ears, wincing. Her mother was on the phone with a business partner, and the same way that Aryl always remembered, she was shouting and cursing and doing unspeakable things over the phone with said person.

Caren, eyes wide, turned in Aryl's direction, "Is this normal?"

"Yes, unfortunately…" Aryl whined, "This isn't actually as bad as she usually is. I've seen much worse. Nothing's changed since I left home."

Both girls winced as a vase flew over their heads and crashed into the wall behind them.

"Still not as bad." Aryl sighed, wincing again as another flurry of curse words came out of her mother's mouth.

XXXX

"Isn't that her?" Noel asked Milli, pointing to Lycoris from the tree the two were sitting in.

Milli looked over, "Oh! It is…" she said, before smiling, "She looks like she's doing well."

"Well don't you want to go talk to her?" Noel asked, "I'm sure she'd love to see you."

Milli hesitated, but shook her head, "No, it's better I stay away for now." Milli insisted, "If I talk to her, I'll only distract her. She's busy."

"Milli…" Noel frowned.

"Really, it's better this way. Come on, we should get going before Jeredeau finds us." Milli said.

Noel nodded, "Alright."

XXXX

"Ilywd, this is beautiful!" Kiri said, looking around the coral reef that the water demon had brought her to.

"I thought you would like it." Ilywd smiled, "Though be careful. It's riddled with mermaid traps."

Kiri quickly swam backwards, away from the reef, "What? Why?"

"Gaito and his minions seem to think that places like this attract beautiful mermaids such as yourself." Ilywd smiled at her, "But don't worry. I know where they are."

Kiri nodded, "Thank you for warning me."

"Not a problem, Kiri." Ilywd smiled once more, "It would be horrible if you were captured. Now, I want to show you why they call this the Diamond Reef."

Kiri nodded and followed him into a small cave. She glanced around, but didn't see anything.

"Ilywd, I don't…"

Ilywd cut Kiri off, "Just one moment, Kiri. You'll see it soon."

Suddenly, out of nowhere, what looked like small crystals lit up throughout the cave as Ilywd lifted his hand to touch the wall. The small crystals, all shining and reflecting throughout the water looked like small diamonds, floating in the darkness of the cave.

Kiri looked on, awed, and suddenly incredibly happy that she'd gone with Ilywd.

"I'm glad you like it." Ilywd smiled at her.

Kiri turned to smile back.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ack, it's short, but… it's a chapter! And it's the third thing from me in three days! That just NEVER happens!!

Don't worry, Coco will wake up next chapter. I needed to do some Kiri character development, so that's what I devoted this chapter to. I'll get back to the plot next chapter.

Plus, Ilywd is WAY too much fun to write.

Anyway, please review!!

Next chapter coming soon. I have way too much time to write now. XD

Happy New Year, everyone!!