Here I am! Now, before I even start, I have to say two things. 1. Go read KaylaDestroyer's new little one shot, Tarntula-Phobia. I laughed till I cried! It's awesome! Seriously, don't even bother reading this until you've read that! Secondly…

Mothering. Is. HARD! You're up at obscure hours of the night, always running around and busy and… grrrrr. I'm functioning on about 10 hours of tsleep for the past four days. I'M LOOSING MY MIND!

Ahem.

Anywho, enjoy!

The little otter chattered at her meaninglessly, a cheerful sound that could have been mistaken for giggling. In its paws it clutched an open oyster, the fleshy insides clear and watery, half gone. It circled her curiously, its sea blue eyes full of intelligence. Its fur, matted down from the water, was creamy brown, a white tummy accented her tone. She watched as it suddenly squealed like a dolphin and did a back flip into the water, revealing its tail. From the waist down, where its legs should have been, was a long elegant blue fin; a long fish tail. "M... M..." Raz stammered, tripping over herself as she scrambled backwards to the shore. The otter leapt above water again, still chattering like a dolphin, doing a twist midair so it landed on its back and sank beneath the waves. It continued doing this, still clutching its oyster.

"A mermaid." Zalim confirmed with audible distaste. "Joyful teenagers that never grow up and never speak. They inhabit the reefs around this and the surrounding six islands. Harmless I think... though they ARE rather strange."

'Look who's talkin.', she thought.

Needless to say, she was very surprised when he said "I heard that."

Still a bit stunned by the mermaid leaping out of the waves ten feet out, she jumped a bit. "H-How..."

"Telepathy."

"What?"

"Never mind." his eyes moved to the sunrise. She watched him, his face blanket but eyes admiring. "Is... is the sunrise always so..."

"So... what?"

"So... colorful."

"Yeh." she shrugged, turning to watch as well. The sky was a bold shade of magenta, streaked with hues of purple, yellow, and orange. "Real pretty, ain't it?"

"Indeed."

She breathed in the salty breeze coming in from the sea, the familiar scent comforting her. She closed her eyes, and if she listened, she could hear someone whispering her name. She jolted, going stiff, at the feeling of a hand on her shoulder. Goosebumps rose on her skin and a shiver wracked her body; suddenly, an arm slid around her shoulders. Gasping, she stepped away from her company, slapping his arm hard enough to bruise.

"Ow!" startled, he stepped away as well, turning to look, only to find the tip of her sword nearly touching his nose. "What? What did I do this time?"

"Don' try tha on me!" she snarled. "I fel' ya touchin me- think jus cuz ya saved mah life you can jus put ya hands all ova me?!"

He looked offended. "I did no such thing!"

"Oh yeah?!" she scoffed. "Then who did?"

He opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, there was a hand on her shoulder. She shrieked and whirled around... but there was nobody there. "Wha in the..."

"Are you... quite alright, my Raz?"

By now she was so spooked she didn't even care he'd claimed her 'his'. "Who's there?!" she demanded shrilly, just as there was a breath in her ear. She shrieked against, spinning wildly. "Who's doin tha?!" she threw a glance to the snow white jack still standing five feet away, watching her with an inquisitive expression. He didn't know what to think- it was painted clearly on his face. Brows arched, corners of his mouth turned up just the tiniest bit. He was amused!, Raz realized in offense, face growing hot. He was laughing! He was actually laughing! How dare he?! "It ain't funny!" she growled.

Instantly his face became passive again, and he cleared his throat. "Of course not. I... I find no humor whatsoever in your, ah... situation here."

"Liar." she grumbled irritably. "Dirty liah'." but she didn't really care. Was she losing her mind? Had she just imagined someone touching her? Someone whispering her name? Someone breathing in her ear. 'Raz...' no! There it was again!

"Perhaps…" he slid up next to her. "Perhaps… we should… go inside." He suggested carefully. She was still stiff, eyes narrowed and wild, sword pointing at nothing, scanning the horizon wordlessly. "Perhaps the salt has, ah, troubled your mind."

"No." she insisted, though shoving her sword inside her pouch. "Ah know I heard something. Somethin- someone touched me."

He folded his arms. "I am not to be blamed for this."

"Yeh… Ah'm gettin tha feelin…" she took one last look around, eyes landing on the mermaid still out in the bay. She blew out a breath, suddenly exhausted. "Ah'm ready fer bed. We was up all night."

He nodded. "As you wish."

…

"Woah woah woah! Slow down a minute!" Alleigh had to make sure she heard right, sticking a finger in each ear to clean them out, just in case. "You guys did what?"

Raz frowned, still sitting in front of the mirror, Alleigh, Lela, and Opal, along with about three hundred other sprites, brushing her fur. "Ah said we talked all night."

"But that wasn't all you said." The older sprite grinned deviously, giving her ear another gentle stroked with the tiny brush. Though it wouldn't seem effective, the tiny brush that was as big as Lela was perfect for getting out those tiny tangles. "Where did you say you two were?"

"We was jus in 'is room."

"Aaaaaaaand?"

"Aaaaand" she drawled. "Tha was it. Enda story."

Alleigh smirked easily, shaking her head. Raz could see her mean, teasing grin perfectly clear in the mirror. "You're a liar."

"I am not!"

"You are!" the princess insisted. "You said you guys were in his bed-"

"No we weren't!" she insisted. "We were just layin! Thas all."

"Uh huh, sure. Sure you guys didn't-"

"Alleigh! There're kids in the room!"

"And… your point?"

"Ca- can we jus change th' subject?" Raz begged, her cheeks so red Alleigh could see the faint glow of it through her fur. "Please! Anythin but this!"

"Alright" she grinned again, beckoning a couple of her fellow sprites to help her grab a pretty white silk ribbon. As they brought it up, looping it around her ears twice before criss-crossing and pulling tight, she asked "So what didja do after that?"

"Well, we- ow!"

"Boys, that's too tight!"

The ribbon loosened, and Raz reached back to rub her ears a moment. "Careful! Those're tender!"

"Sorry." Alleigh gripped one edge and began forming a loop carefully, a squirrel sprite across from her doing the same thing with the other part. "Now what were you saying?"

"Oh right." She winced a little as they tightened the ribbon, but it wasn't too bad."Well, we wen' down to th' beach, watched the sunrise. Iss' real pretty fr'm the north side."

"Wait, what?!"

Raz sighed, exasperated. "I said-"

"No no, you guys watched the sunrise?!"

"Yee-eeeees… and?"

"And… you watched it together?"

"Yes." She was admittedly beginning to get annoyed.

"Hel-lo!" the teenager shrieked, leaping up in the air and twirling around. "Hello hello hello hello HELLO!"

"What?!"

"Um, hello!" she shrieked, hugging her arms. "That was a date!"

There you go. Just wait, it gets better. Anyone want to guess what the voice was?