Morg: Heyo! We're going to finish this story!

Ikuto: Are you sure?

Amu: We really don't have to.

Morg: Of course we do!

Ikuto: I mean, I'd like a good ending for it.

Amu: Everyone dies. That would be a great ending.

Morg: And that is the reason you are not a writer.

Ikuto: Oh snap.

Amu: Then what's the reason for the fact that you don't own us?

Morg: Money issues.

~At the Water's Edge~

One bubble of air rose from where the ice cavern had sunk beneath the ocean. Yaya watched as the water became still. If they hadn't seen the whole thing happen then she would have thought it never had. There was nothing there to show any sign of anything but water.

Rima waited only a moment before letting out a frustrated sound and diving beneath the water.

Looking at the others for only a second, Nagi followed her.

Utau and Kairi looked at each other before eyeing the people in the boat. "You have to stay out of the water."

Nodding to Utau's words, Kukai gave the mermaid a salute. "Will do!"

Kairi shook his head before moving a bit away from the boat. "It isn't you, Kukai, that she's worried about jumping in."

Without another word, Utau grabbed Tadase's arm and forced him to dive with her.

Slinging his arm over Ikuto's shoulders, Kukai gave a nod to the merman before looking back at Yaya. The third human in their boat looked a little anxious. "It'll be fine, guys. They're just going to have a look and see what it is that we can't see from up here."

The words felt like they were playing with his ears but not actually entering his brain. Ikuto just stared at the softly moving ocean with a blank look. His mind was still. Everything was frozen just as Amu had been when everything had gone to hell. "I left her there."

Kukai turned his head to see that Ikuto was clearly not Ikuto at the moment. Moving quickly, he made his captain and best friend sit down in the bottom of the blown up boat. "Ikuto, we did everything. We're still doing everything. You can't give up hope yet."

Yaya took one look at Ikuto's face and felt her heart break for the man. "Yaya thinks we need to get him to the boat."

Kukai was not about to disagree. Getting Ikuto further away from the ocean would be a good idea. That and the boat that they were in wasn't good for much besides just sitting in. "I'll row us over there if you'll make sure that Ikuto doesn't do anything stupid."

Nodding, Yaya moved so that she was facing Ikuto and holding his hands. She knew that if he tried anything then she wouldn't be able to stop him, but at least she was there for him. "Yaya hopes they find Amu."

Whether or not she was talking to him, Kukai nodded his head as he continued to move them towards the yacht that they'd left behind to go into the cave. All the while, Kukai was aware that Yaya wouldn't be able to stop Ikuto. If the male in front of him so much as shifted wrong, Kukai would drop the oars to tackle him into the bottom of the boat. They didn't need to lose Amu and then Ikuto.

In fact, if Amu wasn't lost and returned to find out that they had lost Ikuto… Kukai shuddered just thinking about it. That wouldn't go over so well. Especially with a mermaid that had the ability to control the elements of nature.

Even when they reached the boat, Kukai did let himself relax. He worked to make sure that Yaya made it to the deck and then Ikuto before he secured their little raft and climbed up himself. He would pull the raft up later, but for now it was fine where it was since they weren't going to be moving.

Moving slowly because he felt like he had to, Kukai moved himself and Ikuto up the stairs and to the control room. Daichi was waiting for him in there, but Kukai shook his head at the bird and he stayed where he was. Making Ikuto sit down, Kukai looked through the glass of the windows and at the freezing water of the northern ocean. "There we go, the perfect view of everything."

Ikuto didn't respond. Kukai wasn't entirely sure if the other male could even hear him. It didn't matter so much, he could see that Ikuto was breathing. That was enough until Amu was found. She'd bring Ikuto out of whatever it was that he was in.

Spotting Utau and Tadase surfacing, Kukai placed his hand on Ikuto's shoulder. "Now look at that, those are the two royals. I'll go see what they've found out. You stay here and keep warm until I get back."

Kukai thought about locking the door as he left but didn't. In the end, it would have hindered him trying to get back in than it would have slowed Ikuto down getting out. That and looking at Ikuto, Kukai realized that nothing but the sight of Amu would make his best friend move.

Moving back to the deck, Kukai leaned over the railing as Yaya did. "What did you find?"

Shaking her head, Utau couldn't help but shrug. "It really doesn't make any sense. Ice like that would have floated and locked to form some sort of surface. Instead, it is just gone."

"What do you mean by gone?"

"She meant exactly what she said, idiot. The ice is just gone. There is nothing down there."

Yaya gripped the railing a bit harder than she intended to. Her knuckles were protesting, but all she could think about was the fact that nothing didn't just mean no ice. "Yaya wants to know where Amu-chi is!"

"We'd all like to know that, Yaya."

Kukai didn't really have time to process what it was that the two merpeople were telling them. Not with the way that Yaya was suddenly lifted into the air as if by magic. "Yaya!"

Flailing her arms about, Yaya tried to figure out if something had her. Then she tried to figure out if she could grab anything to stop herself from floating away. "Yaya doesn't understand!"

Sticking her head under the water, Utau screamed Kairi's name before surfacing once more and swimming for the boat. "Yaya!"

Yaya could do nothing as she felt her clothes disappearing from her form. She wasn't left naked, but they were mostly gone. Then she was forced to watch as Kairi's head broke above the surface of the water. "Kairi-koi!"

Though he hadn't known why he was being called for in the way that he was, Kairi was beyond surprised by the sight that greeted him. "Yaya! Kukai! Get her down from there!"

"I can't! I don't even know how she got up there!"

"Kairi-koi, it hurts!"

Yaya wasn't sure when it happened but her legs were hurting something awful. She stopped swinging her arms and kicking her legs in an attempt to curl up into a ball.

"Yaya!"

Watching it didn't make it seem any more real to him. Kairi felt his eyes widen as he watched Yaya's form change. One minute she was wearing next to nothing and curled into a ball in the air. Then scales erupted along her back and her legs were caught and bound together by them. When her feet turned into fins, Kairi finally realized what was happening. Yaya was being turned into a mermaid.

Kukai couldn't help but swear as Yaya moved from over the deck of the ship to the water. She was definitely no longer human, but the water was still freezing and he wasn't sure how she'd respond to it. "Kairi! Be ready! I think she's gonna fall!"

Yaya let out a shrill scream before going limp. The pain was too much for her mind.

Kairi never swam as quickly as he had in his life. It didn't help that Yaya began to fall towards the water before he was quite to the spot that she was in. He made it just as she was fully lowered. It didn't help his heart that she was no longer awake. "Yaya! Yaya, my love, wake up for me."

Kukai surged to the railing to watch Kairi catch Yaya just as Utau let out a scream. "What the fuck!?"

Utau knew after watching what happened to Yaya what was going to happen to her. "The clothes, Kukai! Get Yaya's clothes! They fell on the deck! I'm gonna need them!"

Though he wasn't entirely sure what was happening, Kukai scrambled to do exactly what Utau was telling him to do. "What's happening!?"

"Amu is using the Tear! Yaya is a mermaid and I'm gonna be human!"

Rima and Nagi surfaced just in time to witness Utau screaming as her scales fell and her fin split into legs. "We couldn't find her! How can Amu be doing this if she isn't here?"

Nagi could do nothing but hug his wife.

Utau didn't pass out but she was shuddering and crying for the first time in her life when she dropped onto the deck. Her new legs were sprawled around her as Kukai started wrapping her in the clothes that had just come off of Yaya.

"You're okay, Utau. I've got you."

The exact spot where everything had sunk started bubbling harshly. Waves were sent away from seemingly nothing until everyone was far enough away to turn and see that the island that they'd found in the cavern was back. On it, Amu stood next to Mirene.

They were no longer facing each other, but were looking out at the merpeople and the others in the boat. They were also smiling.

Amu looked back at Mirene before bowing her head. "This gift that you have given them, I thank you for it."

"You're thanking the wrong one. I didn't do anything. The Tear is yours now, Amu. Use it carefully."

Looking down in her hand, Amu found that she was holding the stone. She didn't know when she'd gotten it or how she'd used it on her friends, but she had. "What do you mean?"

Smiling, Mirene looked up to the sky and let herself breathe free air for the first time in a very long time. She was ready to let go of her pain and join her love. "Other people can only be changed once. What is done is done, but you and your love, Amu… As long as your love stays pure, you'll have the power of the Tear forever and always."

Amu slipped into the water with knowledge of what Mirene had just told her and the Tear in her heart and hands. Two pairs of arms quickly wound around her as laughter met her ears. Hugging Rima and Nagi back, Amu couldn't help but laugh with them. "Guys, I'm okay!"

"Amu!"

Looking up just in time to see Ikuto trying to jump into the water, Amu stopped him. She held up her hand and used her power over the air to stop him mid dive. "You idiot! Do you want to freeze to death!?"

Smirking at the pinkette, Ikuto did his best to shrug from the position that he was in. "If it means getting to hold you in my arms one more time, then sure!"

"This fucking idiot." Using the water to push herself up, Amu pushed Ikuto back with the air until he was on the deck and she was just on the other side. "You're such a fool."

"Yes, but this fool loves you."

The words didn't at all surprise her. Amu had known. Her heart had recognized the feeling that she had within her own in his. "I know, but that doesn't make you any less of any idiot. I'm so angry that you would think killing yourself would be okay!"

Ikuto still couldn't move because she was holding him in place with her powers, but he was more than content to just stand there and stare at her. "I didn't think it was okay."

"You better not have! I don't know what I'd do if you did die! Probably find some dangerous way to bring you back to life so that I could kill you myself."

"Amu," Ikuto said with his voice lowered. "Why are you so angry right now?"

The softness of his tone caught her attention. Amu wished in that moment that she could be in his arms, but she knew that she was still too cold for him to touch. "Because I love you, too."

Ikuto wanted to kiss her and hug her and whisper again and again how much he loved her, but he knew why she wouldn't let him. "Everyone get on this boat! We are sailing south for warmer weather! Let's go!"

There was a cheer as everyone scrambled to do as Ikuto commanded so they could be on their way.

Through it all, Amu couldn't help but smile every time she caught deep blue eyes staring back at her.

.

Morg: The epilogue is all that is left.

Ikuto: Make it a good one.

Amu: Just have it say nothing.

Morg: You're both idiots.