Melody finished off her wine in solitude. She wasn't ready to go to bed yet, although it was getting late. It was funny, at the beginning of the trip, she was determined to give Jim the slip in protest of being assigned a bodyguard. Now though, she found herself missing his company after he retired to his cabin. She supposed it was due to the fact that she didn't really have friends. Not close ones anyway. So after spending the day with Jim, she had experienced what she had been missing, and she was disappointed when he left. There were so many questions that she had wished to ask him. What was it like being a lieutenant in the royal navy? How long had he been in service? What was his home like? She was certain that he could astonish and amaze her with stories of his adventures, and she envied that. She envied his freedom and the simple fact that he was able to choose what he wanted to do with his life. Her parents and royal obligations dictated most of her life so far, and she had a feeling that would continue despite no longer being a child.

That's one good thing about being on this trip, she thought smugly. With the exception of Jim, she answered to no one on this ship. How ironic, that the most freedom she had ever enjoyed was because of a Duke who sought her hand in marriage and would take that freedom away. She poured herself another glass of wine. Maybe it would help her sleep...

Jim finished hanging up his uniform in the small wardrobe of his cabin and pulled on a white nightshirt. He sat on the edge of his bed, processing the events of the day. This job was supposed to be simple. Protect the princess and get her to Arlington. Now, he suspected that she was in possession of one of the most powerful weapons in the galaxy.

One of the bedtime stories that his mother used to read to him told the legend of 4 elemental stones. There was fire, air, earth...and water. They were too powerful if wielded by one person, so they were scattered across the universe and hidden for centuries. Jim couldn't explain why, but he was certain that it was the Sea Stone Melody kept hidden in her locket. He had no idea how she would have obtained it, or if the legends were even true. It was just a gut feeling. There was also the fact that Captain Howell's scanner went off the charts at roughly the same time that Jim had snuck up on Melody in the rigging earlier. Perhaps her locket provided some sort of shield that blocked the energy source, and the moment she opened it the scanner was able to pick up its signature.

He had just blown out the candle when the ship suddenly lurched to one side. He was thrown violently to the floor, catching the corner of the nightstand. He stood shakily, his vision swimming. Something wet was running down the side of his face, but he ignored it. Shoving his boots on and stuffing his communicator into his pocket, he stumbled out the door and into the corridor. He struggled to keep his balance as the ship was rocked by the angry sea. Crew members were shouting and racing to their posts to tie down loose cargo and secure the rigging.

Jim made it to the upper level where Melody's cabin was and rapped on the door. No answer. He threw open the door as a crack of lightning lit up the sky, exposing Melody's empty bed. Where on earth could she possibly be? Then Jim remembered. The galley. He raced back downstairs, his heart pounding.

The movement of waves rocking her back and forth made Melody feel at home. At first, the waves were gentle, and she was comforted by the constant swaying. But all of a sudden, she was being carried atop a giant tidal wave, and as it broke, she tumbled through the air. Instead of splashing into the water, however, she hit solid ground.

Her eyes snapped open and she realized that she was on the floor of the galley. Must've fallen asleep, she thought groggily. She moved to stand up and was thrown back to the floor as the ship shuddered from the storm. Her empty chalice slid off the table and she rolled quickly to avoid being smashed by the glass. She was wide awake now.

Now on her hands and knees, she used the bolted down table to pull herself to her feet. Determined to stay upright this time, she reached out to the walls to steady herself and pressed forward. She had almost made it to the staircase, when the ship lurched tremendously and she flew forward. Her eyes squeezed shut in anticipation of hitting the wooden stairs, but instead she found herself in a strong embrace.

"Jim!" she cried out. "You're bleeding!"

"It's nothing, we need to get topside!" he wrapped his arm around her and pushed her up the stairs.

Once they reached the deck, they were blasted by icy gusts of wind and mist. Jim held Melody close to prevent her from being swept away. She clutched at her locket, rubbing it with her thumb. She had experienced storms at sea, but nothing like this!

"Hawkins!" shouted Captain Howell from the helm. "Go secure your lifelines!"

"Come on!" Jim shouted above the wind. They ran towards the center mast where there were dozens of ropes for securing passengers. He grabbed one and tied it around Melody's waist first. Then he grabbed another rope for himself, but before he could securely fasten it around himself, a monstrous wave rushed over the ship, sweeping anything loose right off the side, including Jim.

Melody had tried to reach his outstretched hand but the water was greedy. Jim was gone in the blink of an eye, swallowed by the sea.

"JIM!" she screamed. She struggled to untie the rope, but Jim had used a sailor's knot that she could not budge. Luckily, she had the forethought of strapping her hunting knife to her thigh when she changed earlier, which she quickly unsheathed. It took a few tries, but she finally sliced her lifeline. Using the swaying ship to fuel her momentum, she sprinted across the deck and leaped off the ship. Captain Howell, meanwhile, was struggling to keep the ship's bow pointed into the waves. He witnessed the entire incident.

"Man overboard!"

Jim wasn't sure what hit him. One moment he was tying his lifeline, the next he saw nothing but darkness. He gasped from surprise and immediately gagged on seawater. His arms were flailing about trying to find something, anything, to grab hold of. His fingertips grazed the railing as he went overboard. The force of the impact sucked him down into the ocean. He couldn't tell which way was up, so he had to stay still just long enough to see in which direction he floated towards. Bubbles escaped from his mouth as he struggled to hold his breath.

Finally, he made it to the surface. He inhaled air so sharply that it burned his lungs. No sooner had he taken a deep breath than another wave pounded him, pulling him under even deeper than before. His head was aching and he was feeling more and more sluggish from blood loss. No, I am not going down like this, he thought stubbornly. His limbs were quickly becoming exhausted though. The relentless cycle of trying to keep his head above water and swimming back to the surface each time he was pulled under was draining his energy.

What I wouldn't give for my re-breather, he thought as more debris was thrown from the ship. He moved to avoid being hit, but didn't notice the netting that was wrapped around one of the crates. It snagged his foot and dragged him down into the depths. The more he kicked, the more entangled his foot became, and the more tired he felt. His vision narrowed to a pinpoint of light as he descended into the darkness.

Melody dove into the raging waves and her eyes immediately adjusted to the dark, murky water. She anxiously scanned the area where Jim was thrown. Nothing. With the ferocity of the storm, she was afraid that he was lost to the sea. Her ears suddenly perked up at the sound of something nearby. Hoping it was Jim, she looked up to see a crate falling straight towards her! It was sinking so fast that she was caught underneath and dragged down with it.

After what seemed like forever, she finally hit the bottom, still pinned under the crate. Her breath was almost spent, and her lungs were on fire, begging for air. The instinct not to inhale water was rapidly being overcome by her body's need to breathe. On the verge of losing consciousness, she involuntarily took a breath, flooding her lungs with water.

This is it, Melody despaired. How ironic that the daughter of a mermaid would drown at sea. Then realization washed over her. She wasn't drowning? She actually felt relief from the intake of water. The sides of her neck tickled as tiny bubbles flowed out from almost imperceptible slits in her skin. Gills? That isn't possible! She laid against the sand, gulping in huge mouthfuls of water to recover from the lack of oxygen. As her head started to clear, she remembered why she was there in the first place. Jim!

She was still trapped and her legs had gone numb, crushed under the weight of the cargo. She looked around helplessly for something she could use as leverage to lift it. There was nothing remotely useful. Come on, move! she pounded against the wooden panels. As she did so, the water itself seemed to push against the crate in her behalf, shoving it off of her legs. She rose from the sand and stared at her hands in disbelief, before shaking her head. Too much wine. I'm hallucinating. She kicked her feet and headed back to the surface, searching for Jim along the way. A few more crates drifted past her, but this time she was sure to get out of the way. A flash of white caught her eye, and she immediately gave chase to the sinking debris. It was Jim!

The crate was sinking fast, taking Jim with it. Melody reached him and attempted to pull him away, but soon noticed that his foot was trapped in some sort of net. She still had her knife; she could cut him free, but there was no telling how long Jim had been under. Thinking quickly, she locked lips with him and exhaled all the oxygen her gills had filtered from the water. She knew it wasn't much, but it would buy him some time. After doing this a few times, she reached down and sawed away at the netting, finally releasing his foot. By this time, they had sunk to the bottom. Melody's lungs were adapted to the pressure at this depth, but she feared what might happen to Jim if she couldn't get him to the surface soon.

She wished her aching legs would move faster! They felt like they were being pricked by thousands of pins and needles. She paid it no heed and concentrated on reaching the surface, driven by pure adrenaline.

Judging that they still had a minute to go, she paused briefly to give Jim more air. She hoped it wasn't in vain. I have to move faster, she thought as she drew her legs together and starting moving them in unison to try to pick up some speed. She hardly noticed when her legs started to stretch and fuse together. All she knew was that she was nearly to the surface and she was swimming as fast as she could.

They broke through the surface at breakneck speed and were greeted by a roaring wave. Melody threw an arm up in a futile attempt to block it. To her astonishment, the wave actually obeyed her and reversed direction! That definitely wasn't an illusion...

A large piece of driftwood was floating nearby, which Melody used to prop Jim up safely above the water. He was still unconscious and his lips were turning blue. She had to get him breathing again! She tried chest compressions, but without a solid surface, all she succeeded in doing was making him bob up and down. Frustrated, she slammed her hands against his chest, tears streaming from her eyes. Then she noticed something. Water seemed to be flowing out of Jim's mouth and nostrils, as if attracted to her hands. She wasn't sure how she was doing this, but she didn't stop until every last drop had been siphoned from his lungs. Then she pinched his nose and placed her mouth over his, creating a seal. With short, steady breaths, his chest finally began to rise and fall.

Jim jolted upright, coughing violently. The last thing he remembered was being ripped off the ship and thrown overboard. Melody was squeezing him tightly.

"I thought you were dead!" she sobbed. Jim could only respond with wheezing. His eyes and throat stung terribly, and his whole body felt so drained and tired. He started shivering uncontrollably as he realized that they were floating in the middle of the ocean. The Rising Tide was nowhere in sight.

The next thing he knew, Melody had wrapped her arms around him, like she was attempting to cover as much of his body with hers as possible. He would have blushed had he not been so out of it. Finally, he felt like he could manage to speak without having another coughing fit.

"W-what are you...d-doing?" he asked hoarsely.

"I'm sharing my body heat. If you get too cold, you could go into shock," she explained. "Although it's rather pointless as long as we're in this water."

What happened? Jim wondered.

"You were thrown overboard before you could tie yourself to the mast," Melody seemed to read his mind. "And you were underwater for at least 4 minutes. You're lucky to be alive."

Wait, had the princess saved him? He vaguely recalled the sensation of Melody planting her lips on his. His thoughts were interrupted when he felt something scaly brush against his legs, making him nearly jump out of his skin.

"Jim, what's wrong?" Melody asked with concern.

"Just a f-fish or s-something," he replied. He just hoped it wasn't a shark since he could still feel his forehead oozing blood.

Melody drew back and looked around, scanning the water. She seemed to catch sight of something and froze.

"Mel?" Now it was Jim's turn to be concerned. Her tan complexion had drained to a sickly pallor. What had she seen?

Melody was speechless. There was no explanation she could come up with for what she saw, and what she saw was a bright coral colored tail complete with translucent fins where her legs should have been! She flicked it back and forth, still doubting that she could trust her eyes.

"Jim, I don't, er..." she began. There were no words. She would simply show him.

"What is it?" he was looking at her intensely.

"It wasn't a fish..." she sighed and curved her tail upward so that her fins broke the surface, right between she and Jim.

His eyes widened, still red from the saltwater, and he opened his mouth to say something. After a minute of unbearable silence, he finally spoke.

"Have you...always been able to do that?"

"It's not the first time this has happened, but it's a long story," she began.

"We've got nothing but time," he half smiled. Prompted by his positive change in demeanor, Melody began to tell him everything.