Back to Lavi's POV again. I had fun writing the last Lavi chapter, and I feel as though I should focus on the catalyst of the story a bit. (And I will write from the view of a minor character t0o!) I just wanted to give some insight into Allen's not-so-innocent ways last chapter. Dramatic Irony Plot Device is Useful. DIPDU. That sounds like a Pokemon...yeah, I'm really tired as I write this AN. My Author's Notes tend to be long and rambling, so you can skip to the story if you really want to.

It really does make me sad that I am having to put the Yullen off and concentrate totally on the other characters for a while. But, Kanda+Merman=Fish Kabob, and Plot+ Skewered Main Character=No Story. And that= le suck. So. I am thinking about throwing in a Kanda POV sometime. Not too soon, but it will happen, I promise. *bows to Yullen fans* Please spare me! Have patience, I beg of you! *cowers in a corner* Edit: I got a shitload of reviews in one day asking where the Yullen will come in, which provoked me to plan ahead a little. The next chapter will be in Allen's POV, while the one after that will be in Kanda's. Not exactly Yullen, per se, but definitely better than nothing. That will be when Kanda and Allen really start interacting.

Ahahaha, I went through and read some DGM fanfics for research purposes, and wow, just wow. THE GRAMMAR! IT BURNS! And holy crap, there are a lot of OCshippers out there...I don't like OCs myself, but I guess I can understand. I went and read one and it was positively horrendous. Maybe those stories would get more traffic if they were written with more care. *sad* Why do tweens with no literary conscience insist on defiling my fandoms? And another thing. Please stop girl bashing. In all fandoms, there are some people that portray the original female lead as a total bitch. And a lot of times, it isn't even used as a plot device to get their desired ship together, they just do it for no reason. This makes me :( . Lenalee and Kairi and Winry are awesome characters in their original formats, and I getting pretty sick of yaoi fangirls demonizing them simply due to pent up aggression at their favorite pairing not being cannon. Stop that. Just fucking stop that. Ugh. (PS to Allen-turned-girly-just-because-he-is-uke people: You need to stop that shit too.)

Anyway. On with the show.

One week.

It had been exactly one week since he had been charged with befriending the merman and getting information out of him.

Lavi had learned many things in that time, random interesting facts about merfolk and the sea in general. But, so far, he hadn't been able to extract any information pertaining to what he really wanted to know.

The red haired man found that he rather liked the merman's personality though. He had a sharp wit, a good sense of humor, he was extraordinarily smart, and shifted between hot and cold quite smoothly.

Lavi knew that he hadn't fully gained his trust though. Any time he even thought about bringing up magic, Allen would pull a verbal bait-and-switch move that left his human counterpart dizzy.

Allen had also proved to be a highly inquisitive, very quick learner. He asked questions about humans and their society that Lavi wouldn't have thought of himself. Fortunately, Lavi was also adept at playing the information game, and anytime the questions got personal, the red head would dance around them and toss Allen some intriguing tidbit that would divert his attention for a while.

It was all very interesting, this constant to and fro, the battle for a vague upper hand that neither of them could seem to gain. Lavi had to admit, as hard as this was proving to be, he was having fun.

This mostly made up for Kanda taking his constant paranoid irritation out on Lavi's rear end.

Damn, his back really freaking hurt.

The man sighed and questioned his sanity for what seemed to be the millionth time as he once again opened the door to Allen's room, basket of seaweed in hand as usual.

He got the tank open, and the merman emerged from his watery prison, grinning from ear to ear.

"Hey Allen. What are you smiling about?"

"The blonde man came in and changed the water again last night. I like it when it's fresher."

Allen flipped around some, somehow rearranging himself so that his tail fins flopped over the far side of the tank, and he folded his arms on the edge nearest Lavi and rested his head on them.

"I see." Lavi went ahead and put the basket on the water and sat down, having given up on formalities a few days ago. The merman didn't understand them anyway.

"So. What shall we talk about today?" The white haired one asked, a twinkle in his eye.

Lavi smirked. Somewhere along the way, they'd both come to realize that they were using each other, and they both knew that the other had ulterior motives. Allen wanted to find out more about his captors and how to get out of here, and Lavi wanted to find out more about magic and how humans could utilize it. They were both well aware of the fact that this was not a friendship as it had been originally intended, but neither really cared. Lavi was having a good time on this godforsaken boat now that Allen was around, and he was positive that Allen appreciated his company too. So, they continued to dance in this false waltz, if only for some enjoyment.

"Hmm. Well, I was discussing you with some of my colleagues, since they can't seem to muster up the courage to just come ask you questions themselves-"

"Does that make them cowardly, or does it make you particularly dull?"

"Oh, hush." Lavi rolled his eyes with a smile. "Anyhow. They asked some good questions, and I got curious."

Lavi thought back to Bak's heated discussion with the other Science Division nerds on board. All they seemed to be interested in was anatomy and composition. He was glad that Bookman at least understood the value of Allen's mind. However, the science team had brought up some good points.

"Curious about what?"

Lavi closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat a bit as he continued to speak. "Well, they can't seem to figure out how merpeople reproduce. Do you engage in sexual reproduction, or do you lay and fertilize eggs externally?"

There was a very pregnant pause.

Lavi opened his eyes and looked at the merman. His face had gone white as a sheet and his eyes had widened slightly. The normally calm, somewhat somber irises now had a sickly, horrified shadow dwelling within them.

"Allen?"

"U-uhm..." It seemed to take the merman a moment to gather his wits about him.

Lavi stopped and stared. Was it possible that he'd actually tripped Allen up?

"Allen? Are you alright?" the redhead tried again.

Allen seemed to shake himself a bit, and then nodded. "Yes. I'm fine."

Lavi squinted at him suspiciously. He thought for a moment, and figured that he might as well press the advantage while he still had it.

"Alright. So, are you going to answer my question?"

Allen pursed his lips and glared at the human for a moment before turning his head and looking away.

"No." he said curtly.

"What? Come on."

"I've never mated before, I don't know how it works." Allen mumbled.

"That's a lie and we both know it."

"It's not a lie...I've never mated before."

"But you do know how it works, I'm positive of that."

The merman clenched his fists and set his jaw, looking very much as though he was struggling with something. The troubled darkness in his eyes grew and expanded, threatening to engulf all the light around it.

Lavi got the strangest impulse to bat at the shadow just to make it go away. Without even thinking about it, he raised his hand to do so, hoping to rid the world of that horrible thing that was tainting such beautiful eyes. Allen caught the movement, glanced over while not quite looking Lavi in the eyes.

Lavi froze, held in place by his gaze. The human blinked several times to clear his head.

'What are you doing, dumbass? So far, you have completely avoided bodily contact! Don't touch him.'

The hand that still hung uselessly in the air twitched while Lavi wrestled with his own conscience.

Suddenly, Allen looked down again, and Lavi was freed from whatever spell he'd been put under. However, even though his brain kept telling his arm to draw back, the appendage seemed to have a mind of its own. His hand reached out without him telling it to, and touched the merman's cheek.

The red head distantly heard two people gasp, registering somewhere in his mind that one of those people had probably been him. But he was far too occupied with the sensations washing over him to really care about such trivial things.

Once again, there was a slight jolt, followed by a rush of coolness that felt more refreshing and fantastic than anything he'd ever felt before. The pain he'd been feeling in his back faded away, and all his worries suddenly seemed very insignificant. He idly wondered why this feeling was so much more powerful than last time. Lavi thought that it was sort of strange that the whole world had gone dark all of a sudden, then realized that he'd closed his eyes somewhere along the way.

Slowly, he opened them, marveling at what he saw.

Allen's eyelids were at half-mast, his face wearing a world weary, but pretty content expression. The impressive part was that the merman was actually leaning into Lavi's hand.

The merman raised his eyes to his counterpart's, and Lavi found himself thinking that it was very unfair for anyone to have white lashes that long to frame such pretty eyes. The horrid shadow thing had subdued somewhat, relegating itself to the edges of Allen's eyes.

Somewhere inside him, Lavi's inner voice of sanity was screaming at him that he was being an idiot, he was letting his guard down, he was fucking up. He knew that was probably true, but at the moment, he just couldn't seem to care, so he told the voice to take a hike.

Neither Merman nor human moved for several moments until Allen sighed. The shadowy ink staining slate orbs seemed to shift restlessly, as if responding to whatever it was that Allen was thinking about. Concern joined the wonderful feelings that the touch was giving him. Lavi opened his mouth to ask about it, but Allen beat him to it.

"I..." He heaved a single shaky breath. "I came here to kill you."

Lavi jerked back, his hand leaving Allen's face, feeling very much as if someone had just slapped him awake.

"Wait, wait, let me explain." Two white eyebrows drew together over pleading eyes, the desperate look stopping Lavi in his tracks.

"I was sent here..." The merman's voice was barely above a whisper, so quiet that Lavi had to lean forward a bit to hear clearly. "They always told me that humans were bad. They said that you deserved to die. They said your sacrifice was worth it. But...that day that I attacked you, I just couldn't...I couldn't do it. You didn't seem any different than us."

Lavi's chest tightened at the merman's tone of voice as he continued to speak. "I don't know what to do. I've been charged with taking your life, but my magic doesn't react adversely to you at all. If you were really a terrible creature, it would've hurt when you touched me."

"That...that was magic?" Lavi stuttered, glancing at his still tingling hand.

"Yes."

"You came here to kill me?"

Allen hung his head and mumbled another affirmative.

"Why are you telling me this now?"

"I don't really know...I didn't quite believe it a week ago, but...my magic has never lied to me. You aren't the monster that my people make you out to be. I was reluctant enough before, but...I don't think I can kill you now."

"Well, that's comforting...why in the world would the merfolk force you to...kill humans?"

Allen turned his head away slightly and Lavi could see that he was starting to clam up.

"Allen, come on. You've already told me this much, you may as well tell me everything."

The shadow in his eyes swam about, swirling in time with the merman's thoughts.

"I wasn't commanded to kill humans. Actually, we are usually told to avoid the surface...I was told to kill you."

"Me?"

"Well, you and Kanda."

"Why?"

"That's how new merfolk are born. We take your lives and use your souls to form a child."

Lavi swallowed. "That's horrible."

Allen shook his head. "Long ago, the humans mated willingly with us. It was considered an honorable way to go. But then, they betrayed us, hunting us to the brink of extinction and driving us to the depths of the ocean. That's what's really horrible. That's why we are forced to attack humans now."

"So...you came here intending to kill me in order to...create a kid?"

"I...didn't want to. I've never wanted to take a life, but I was forced to come. I know that making a merchild would be for the good of all my family and would help with the continuation of my race...but I just can't kill. I can't. Especially not now. My magic likes you. It doesn't even react that way for my own kind." Allen covered his face with his hands.

"And now I've been captured." His voice came out slightly muffled. "And I can't hurt my captors, or get away, or give my people children. What am I going to do?"

Lavi felt like the world was spinning out from under him. He prided himself on being able to take in information, break it down, and figure out what to do with it. But, for some reason, none of this would compute. Part of him realized that he had Allen right where he wanted him-upset, off balance, willing to talk. Part of him was shocked at this new information and questions whirred throughout his mind-how do they mate, why did humans initially agree with the act, why did humans change their mind, what is the cultural significance, why did they choose Kanda and me? Yet another part of him was going over plans for what he would tell his comrades and how they should handle the new information-explain their mating habits, devise a way to prepare sailors, perhaps find a way to turn this magic that they use into a useable resource.

But Lavi was surprised at which part spoke the loudest-the part that said he absolutely did not want Allen to get hurt.

Distantly, he wondered if the merman had charmed him into submission, and found that he didn't really believe that and didn't really care even if it was true.

"Let's get you out of here." Lavi said, standing up.

"Huh?" The merman's head snapped up from its perch on his hands and he looked at Lavi with wide, confused eyes.

"You said that you didn't want to kill anyone?"

Slowly, Allen nodded.

"Well, the people on here want to kill you. And the time they've given me to get information out of you is already half over. We need to get you off the ship before we reach land, or you will never be able to get away."

"But...why? I tried to hurt you and...I haven't given you any answers."

"Why? Well, that's what friends are for, that's why. We are friends, right?"

A smile grew on his face, bright and beautiful, like dawn breaking over the horizon. For a second, the human had the crazy thought of shielding his eyes from its brilliance.

"Yes."

Oliver Ditson was tired. And bored. So very, very bored. Life on the open ocean was so utterly monotonous. He'd thought that this bit of sailing would be interesting-especially when he learned that the crew had caught a mermaid. But he hadn't even seen the damn thing yet. He was beginning to think that they'd pulled the wool over his weary eyes.

He wiggled a bit in his place between some crates. He was supposed to be tending to the rigging, but it was so calm tonight that nothing was shifting, so he ignored it. No sense in fixing what ain't broke, right?

He reached down for a good scratch and sighed in contentment. Nice night, no higher ups barking orders, no worries. The only things that could make this any better would be a bottle of wine and a pretty wench. He closed his eyes and drifted through the waves of boredom-induced fantasies featuring barmaids and feasts.

Just as he was starting to drift off, a sound startled Ol' Ollie from his drowsy spell.

Why, it was his cabin-mate, James, grinning from ear to ear.

"Up with you, lad. They're a lettin' us mangy dogs see the beastie."

Ollie blinked a couple times, his brain taking a moment to catch up with what his friend had said. Finally, he smiled and stood, following James below deck.

They wove their way into the belly of the massive ship, eventually coming to the door of one of the private rooms.

James opened the door and Ollie followed him in, to find himself among a few other members of the ship's crew, including Bookman Jr.

Ollie wrinkled his nose a bit. Junior seemed like a decent enough fellow, but there was something a little...off about him. Then again, there was something a little off about most of the bookish types.

"Alright, Gentlemen." Junior began, "I have work for you. I've assembled some of the finest crew members on board because I believe I can trust you with the delicate task with which we've been assigned."

Ollie blinked. He heard the word 'work' which he wasn't too fond of, but he also heard 'finest crew' which made him swell with pride, so he straightened a little and waited for the man with the eye patch to quit rambling and get right down to it.

"As you may know, we have a...special guest on board. The merfolk we caught has been a point of insight for all of us, but we feel as though it can be better observed elsewhere."

"So..." James spoke up, drawing all eyes to him. "Ye want us to move the bugger? Why?"

Junior pursed his lips for a moment, as if unhappy with the question, and then his usual smile was back in place. "The science team and I have come to question the nature of its scales. We wish to observe it under the natural light of the moon to judge the fluorescent properties of its tail."

Ollie cocked his head, unable to follow all those fancy words. He glanced at the other shipmates and saw that they seemed to be just as confused as he was, so he shrugged it off.

Another man spoke. "Are we to move it to the deck, then?"

"Oh, no, no. No need to go through all that trouble. We just need to move the tank to the stateroom-has a big window, you know the one."

Ollie nodded in understanding, even though he wasn't being directly addressed.

"I must warn you though: this task is to be preformed in silence. The beast is easily agitated by noise, and while it can't escape by itself, it can bewitch and injure a man through the glass. Best not to tempt fate."

Again, Ollie nodded, not questioning the logic. Better to keep quiet and keep his head than the other way around.

Junior grinned and gestured for the group to follow him, and they did, each man keeping quiet in case the sea creature could somehow hear them coming.

The red headed man stopped at a door with a few too many locks on it and fiddled with them for a second, opening them all faster than Ollie would have believed possible. He opened the door and held it open for the crew. Ollie thought that was quite nice of him.

They filed quietly into the room. Upon seeing the being in the tank, a look of disappointment crossed Ollie's face. It was pretty and had fins, to be sure, but it was clearly male. And here he'd hoped to catch a glimpse of a sea beauty, but all he got to see was a fish man. Oh well. He internally shrugged. He supposed that this was still a rare enough occurrence that he could go home and brag to his family about it later.

The group moved around the tank. It was latched to the floor through a series of hooks to keep it from moving around as the ship tossed. Bookman Jr. came and undid all the latches, motioning for the men to pick up the tank. They shuffled a bit, each taking a different position alongside the glass box. Ollie was unlucky-he seemed to have lost the silent lottery, because he got stuck with the spot right by the thing's head. It looked at him with strange grey eyes and Ollie grimaced a bit, then remembered that he didn't want to anger it. So, he turned his head away, and bent down to pick up the tank with his comrades.

They grunted a bit as they picked it up. Turned out that a glass box filled with water was fairly heavy. Who knew?

Each man hoisted the tank onto their shoulders uncomfortably, hoping that they hadn't disturbed the sea-devil too much. When nothing seemed to happen, Junior nodded and opened the door, which was fortunately made large enough for people to haul crates though, so they got out just fine. There was a bit of rearranging to be done in the hall as they rounded a corner to head to the stateroom. They didn't see anyone on their way, which wasn't too unusual. The science people were always off somewhere discussing something, and the rest of the crew was probably eating dinner right about now. No one wanted to waste their time on this end of the ship when there was work to be done elsewhere.

Once again, Junior opened the door and motioned for Ollie and the others to put the tank on the floor near the rather large picture window.

The redhead cocked his head in contemplation for a bit and then nodded. He shooed everyone to one side of the tank as he fiddled with something. Ollie shifted restlessly. He wanted to go eat and boast to his friends that he was chosen for this venture. Now that he'd seen the merman, he really had no interest in staying around it, but he knew that one could get in trouble if they left before they were dismissed.

Junior stood, looking quite satisfied with himself. Before anyone could react, he pushed the lid off the box, and the beast rose from the water.

"Thank you, Gents." Bookman Junior chirped.

Then there was a bright flash of light, followed by a comforting darkness.

Lavi tentatively opened his eyes in the wake of the blinding light to find that all the men he'd coerced in here had slumped to the floor and were pleasantly snoring away.

"How long until they wake up?" he asked, voice barely above a whisper.

"Not long. When they do, they will remember none of this. You need to get out of here, so no one will suspect you." Allen replied.

Lavi nodded and looked at the merman. Allen had bags under his eyes and was breathing rather hard.

"Are you alright?" The redhead was slightly concerned.

"I'm...I'm fine. Just...using that much magic really taxed me. Messing with people's minds isn't easy. I'm glad you thought to get the weak minded people on this ship for this."

Lavi chuckled, then moved to unlatch and open the window. From behind him, he heard a soft sigh.

"I can't believe that I am finally going home."

"Uh huh." Lavi found that he was having trouble working around the lump in his throat.

Once the window had been thrown wide and the light ocean wind had teasingly run its hand through his hair, Lavi turned around and walked toward the tank. He simply looked at the merman for a moment, then bent down and awkwardly picked him up, ignoring the indignant squawk, and noting that merfolk were surprisingly heavy.

"Ready to get thrown out a window?" He joked, hoping that he had just imagined his voice cracking.

Lavi brought him to what would serve as an exit for the merman, and took a deep breath, holding onto the wonderful feeling of cool bliss that ran through him as he held the merman, knowing that this was probably the last time he'd ever feel such a thing.

He looked into Allen's eyes one last time and saw, with a sort of grim satisfaction, that the shadow in them was writhing in it's death throes, unable to keep a hold on the merman now that he was finally free.

"Lavi...I can never thank you enough for this."

"No need to thank me. Friends, remember?"

Allen smiled, and it was the sad smile that always comes with the parting of two hearts that are attached to each other. Lavi opened his mouth to say his final goodbye, but the words just wouldn't come. Allen laughed, the sound a magical chime that Lavi was sure he'd never forget, and stretched up in the human's arms, bringing his lips to Lavi's ear.

"Thank you, Lavi. This is an act the sea will never forget."

With that, Allen briefly pressed his lips to Lavi's cheek, a quick kiss that tingled in ways that the human had never experienced before. Then, the merman shoved off his chest slightly, launching himself backwards, out the window.

Lavi leaned out over the windowsill, intent on waving goodbye and making sure that Allen got away safely, but the only things he saw when he looked out unto the ocean were a small splash and a quick flicker of silver. Then, all was calm.

To My Reviewers:

Forgottenpassword- Yay for awesome points! I was so, so tempted to say 'I lyke turtlez' all throughout writing that chapter. XD

shely12- I am soo happy you like my story!

Kayday- *giggle* Well, if it makes you feel any better, the over all story will be pretty long. I just have too short of an attention span to write long chapters. This one is about as long as I get. ^_^

Jasper-Jazz- I can't wait for that either. I am seriously considering making a Kanda POV chapter within the next couple of installments so he can get some action. ^_~

LizluvsSpongebob- Yay, thanks for picking up this story. I really do try to make my uke's not too girly, because that drives me batshit when I am reading other stories.

vinecaper- Here you go!

sweetkakes35- I am a little too impatient to write really long chapters, but I do tend to update often-ish...most of the time, at least. I can't wait to bring Kanda into it either. *drools*

TotalAmuto-Yes, poor Allen. Although, I feel more sorry for Lavi and Ollie this chapter. ^_^

XxGothicXxXLolitaxX- Random, random. ^_^ I am happy you like the story so far tho.

Felnore- Kanda is an ass, be he's a hot one, so that is forgivable. Thank you so much for your review!

King Rabbit- I am so happy that you feel I keep them in character...that is something I try really hard to do. ^_^

scrletfyre- I can't wait for the steamy scenes either. Yummy.

JayPay- Allen plotting is so cute, ne?

RBO- I would really like it if you would volunteer your services! If you are still interested, PM me so we can exchange info and such. *huggles*

Pawliine- I am so glad you like it!

fan-fan31- I've never thought Allen to be helpless or dumb, and I wanted to make sure that I didn't portray him that way...bit of a switcharoo in this chapter, eh?

Kuurazill- Are there really two people on the other side of your screen? *giggle* Your review was cute. I am happy that Kuu-tan and Razill-chan like my story! *runs away*