in the storm; mermaid AU. this one is incredibly long, so please give yourself some time for reading~

It was supposed to be a simple mother-son outing.

Instead, it altered the course of his life.

Hope hadn't wanted to go out on the damn boat in the first place. He'd never really liked it – all that wobbling always gave him motion sickness. But unlike with a car, if he felt sick, he couldn't exactly just ask someone to pull the boat over. The sea was rough and unforgiving.

Especially unforgiving.

Later, he would blame the entire thing on his father. After all, the man had been insistent that Hope and Nora take the yacht out together. The crew would assist them. All they would have to do was sit back and relax.

Though Nora had tried to get her husband to join them, Bartholomew couldn't. Work, he'd said. Hope hadn't been surprised – this seemed to happen every single time. It was stupid, really. What was the point of owning a yacht and being able hire a crew to handle it if you never got to enjoy it?

Hope had gone anyway. It was for his mom, who'd always loved being out at sea. He'd tried to enjoy the day, if just for her. The boat wasn't so bad, and if he didn't think about it too hard, his seasickness wasn't as awful either.

It'd been a bright, sunny day. That was always the strangest part, when Hope thought about it later on – there hadn't been a single cloud in the sky and the waves had actually been relatively calm. Sure, he'd been out here enough to know that the weather could change at the drop of a hat, but typically, there was some sort of prerequisite for it. Clouds. Choppy waves. Gusts of wind. The change was usually gradual.

Not this time.

"It's a freak of nature!" he remembered the crew calling out.

That was an apt description, because seemingly in the blink of an eye, the entire sky had gone dark. Angry looking clouds swirled close – too close. The sea grew furious and tossed them around like they were nothing.

"Hope!" Nora had cried. "You have your life vest on, right?"

"No!" There'd never been a real need to wear them…until now. It was stupid and reckless, but they'd always felt invincible on that yacht.

He remembered how Nora had stared, watching him until the vest was safely on before turning away. "I'll make sure the crew has them on. You just keep yourself safe."

"Mom!" he'd cried, but the storm was growing loud and vicious. Rain was starting to pelt down, obscuring his vision.

When the wave came, his one thought had been that he realized too late that his mother had neglected to put on her own life vest. Wasn't that a basic rule? Secure your own safety before tending to others'?

He'd screamed and cried out, but the wind and rain held him back. The wave – looking back, it had to have been at least twenty feet high – drew power and crashed into the yacht like it was nothing but a pebble in the way.

How he'd managed to hold on, he still didn't know. Maybe it was the shock that'd kept him in place.

Because when the wave left, it took his mother with it.

He couldn't scream or speak or make a sound. It would have been useless against the storm, anyway. That was why, later on, he knew the sound he'd heard as he watched his mother fall overboard hadn't come from him.

It was high-pitched, yet soothing at the same time, flowing like a song. Though something like that should've been barely audible over the fury of the storm, it sounded perfectly clear and buzzed under his skin like a living creature.

At least until the wave fell and his mother didn't come back to the surface.

The storm left as quickly as it'd come, taking its odd song with it. The bright day had returned.

But Nora did not.

–

"You've committed a sin."

"I didn't mean to. My voice was never intended to reach the surface."

"Your intentions don't matter. You caused a nearly irreparable shift here. If your sister hadn't stopped you…"

"Please, this will never happen again! I was singing in grief. My sister is all I have left."

"I know. But your song almost destroyed the pod. If something more had happened than one dead human and those who were cursed from you…"

"I swear, it will never happen again."

"Your promises mean little. However…it's not fit for me to be the one to punish you. Not when your discretion broke the surface."

"Then…what will happen?"

"The sea will decide."

"…When?"

"Likely when you least expect it. The sea can be dauntless. What I would be prepared for, though, if I were you…"

"What?"

"The ultimate punishment for such a sin."

"No…! You can't possibly mean…?!"

"As I said, it is for the sea to decide. Be on your guard. Your song cannot protect us any longer."

"It…it can only destroy."

–

For ten years, Hope hadn't been on any sort of boat. In fact, he barely even went to the beach, despite living less than a block away from it. He had absolutely no intention of ever going near the ocean again.

No matter how much anybody protested.

"Look man, I know you have a good reason, but you need to face your fear sometime," Noel said, trying to sound sensible. Honestly, he was sort of convincing. Hope supposed the guy just had that kind of voice.

"It's not really a fear, Noel," Hope said. "More like…an aversion. I'm much better off on solid ground."

"Well, yeah, we're human, of course we are. But haven't you ever wanted to spend a day fishing? It's hunting, but with way less work."

"No thanks. I don't even come with you when you go out hunting. Why should this be any different?"

"Because it is!" Noel said, sounding exasperated. "We haven't hung out in awhile, y'know? You're so busy with school and I'm busy with work. When's the last time we did anything that didn't involve just wandering around town?"

Hope sighed heavily, shuffling some papers around as he looked up at his friend. "You're right," he admitted. "I think I've just been so swamped with all of this research I have to do. I've got such an insane amount of work this semester."

"That's what you get for being a brain," Noel teased. "But hey, you know what I think?"

"I'm sure you'll tell me."

"That's all the more reason for you to take a break. You'll burn out if you keep going without any rest, you know?"

"I suppose." Honestly, he found all the work fairly soothing. It was something to think about – something other than his absentee father and his mother's accidental death.

Ten years had gone by, but it still wasn't any easier, even if he had spent most of that time in school, trying to distract himself. Studying was an ironically good way to keep him from thinking too much, which was why he'd decided to go for his doctorate. Maybe his mother would be proud of him. Maybe not.

He'd never know.

Ever since that horrible day, he'd avoided the ocean. Strangely enough, he honestly didn't really feel afraid of going in it – there'd been occasional parties over the years where he and some classmates would have a bonfire on the beach and then go swimming or wading. He'd always join him if they prodded enough, but never took the initiative to do so by himself.

No, it was more like…something inside of him was telling him to stay away. There was no reason for him to go into the ocean. Stay away.

Not that he could really explain this in detail to Noel. Sure, the guy was his closest friend and he knew about Hope's past, but he was a big believer in facing your fears; to just jump in and conquer them.

That was why all of Noel's prodding never really worked. It was hard to conquer something that wasn't exactly a fear.

"So you'll come with me then, right?"

Hope sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair. "Fine. But we're not staying out there the entire day. Just an hour or two, okay?"

"On the off chance we actually catch anything in an hour," Noel teased. "The water's supposed to be calm this weekend, so we'll go then. I'll text you with an exact time."

"Okay."

Despite his reluctance, a weird part of Hope felt oddly excited. It'd been quite some time since he'd been to the beach, even with living so close. Maybe Noel was right – some time away from the laptop would do him some good.

At least, that was what he tried to tell himself.

–

Long, webbed fingers clutched the length of a bone knife. The weapon didn't look particularly menacing when it was still, but that was exactly the point. If done right, you could lure almost anything in by controlling yourself, only to leap in at the perfect time.

The only motion was a nearly unnoticeable flick of her fins and the sea swirling her hair around her face. These were common movements, enough to lure an especially large dorado towards her. This fish in particular was prized for its sweet taste, so she'd gotten quite good at hunting them over the past ten years or so – a paltry offering for the suffering she'd caused the pod, but it was something, nonetheless.

Lightning's gaze followed the lone dorado, which was lazily making its way towards her. She had no idea if it was lured by her hair or the shine of her fins, but either way…

When it was close enough, as quick as a wink, she tossed the knife. Its heavy weight streaked the sea and landed right in the heart of the dorado, piercing its gills before the creature even had a chance to react.

All of the other fish in her radius quickly darted away in fear, but she paid them no mind. After waiting for the cloud of blood to thin out, she caught her prize and wrapped the fish in a thick layer of kelp. This was both to keep it fresh and to somewhat take away the scent and sight of blood, which would keep predators away.

Not that she couldn't handle them if she needed.

Once she'd finished, Lightning gathered the rest of her spoils and began swimming back towards the cove where her pod made their home – for this season, anyway. As always, a knot of worry formed in her gut. So many moons had come and gone since her mistake, and she was still waiting for punishment from the sea. As proficient as she was at it, hunting had grown to terrify her – what if one day, she wasn't able to return to the pod? What if the sea exiled her?

Sometimes, she wondered if that would be preferable to this…this waiting. As much as she did enjoy hunting alone, foraging alone, and just generally doing things on her own terms, Lightning was no fool. You had a much better chance for survival in the sea in many numbers, as opposed to just one or two.

It was partially why the thought of being forced to leave the pod terrified her.

Luckily, everything was still in order when she returned. With in inward sigh of relief, Lightning swam to the area where their food was kept, placing her offering among the other fish that had already been hunted.

"Sis!"

A bright voice broke through the water and Lightning couldn't help but smile. In all of her worry through this whole time, her sister was the one thing that kept her spirits afloat.

"Serah." Lightning turned to greet her sister. "Were you waiting for me?"

"I wanted to show you something! Come here!" Serah gripped her sister's hand, their webbed fingers sliding together securely. Together, they swam to just outside their pod's territory. All of the others that were around greeted Serah warmly, but averted Lightning's eyes. As usual.

She was used to it by now.

"Look!"

Lightning frowned in confusion. "Clams? You know there's plenty of better things to forage…"

"It's not that. Watch this." With a proud grin, Serah leaned down towards the pile of clams. Really, clams were nothing more than a stupid creature that didn't ever seem to mind getting eaten, so Lightning concentrated on her sister instead.

The only blood family she had left.

At a quite glance, it was easy to see. Their hair was a similar shade – a light color that, luckily, more brainless prey seemed to be attracted to – and their scales were nearly the same color; a silvery-blue shade with hints of green that blended perfectly with the sea.

But honestly, there were more differences than similarities between them. Serah was bright, smart, and fun – the perfect addition to the pod and the perfect person to boost morale when things were difficult.

Lightning, though…she felt like a stone that would not be weathered no matter how much times the waves crashed upon her. A lot of it had to do with the threat of punishment constantly hanging over her head, she knew, but…

Well, best not to think about that.

"Serah, what…"

"Shhh." Serah floated near the clams, staring at them for a moment before a long, steady hum came from her. Before Lightning realized what was happening, her sister's song flowed out – it was a caress, almost; a promise to be good and sweet.

Lightning couldn't hide the panic that suddenly gripped her. "Serah - "

Luckily, she saw what was happening before worry claimed her. Little by little, as Serah sang, the clams gradually opened. Though most of them only offered bubbles, a few of them relinquished their pearls.

When every clam had given in, Serah's song faded into something thankful before disappearing completely. She grinned and showed Lightning the pearls in her hand.

"See?" She sounded so proud. "Now we don't have to hurt them!"

Lightning had to admit that this was rather impressive. She'd only heard stories of others that could sing the pearls right out of the clams, as dumb as the creatures were. "That's…that's amazing, Serah. We'll be able to offer up much more to trade now when we start traveling."

"That's what I was thinking!" Serah smiled and deposited her newly-gathered pearls into a bag she kept strapped to her side – something from the surface world that had proved useful – and rummaged around in it. "In fact, I got so many today while you were out hunting that I made you something."

"For me?"

"Who else?" A moment later, Serah had pulled out a long necklace, mostly made of pearls, but also decorated with jewels and baubles that had likely come from shipwrecks. As much as Lightning loathed anything from the surface world, she had to admit it was a beautiful piece. "For you!"

"For…me?" she echoed.

"Yup." Serah took the necklace and gently hung it around Lightning's neck, making sure it didn't get tangled in her hair. "You always do so much for me, so I wanted to thank you."

"Serah…" The necklace was long enough to graze the bottom of her breasts, so she held the jewelry in her hand for a moment before bringing her sister close for a hug. "Thank you."

She did not deserve such a lovely piece of jewelry. It was likely that the pod would sneer at her for it, but Lightning didn't care.

More than the necklace, she did not deserve a sister such as Serah.

–

"See? Nothing to worry about, man."

"If you say so." Hope fidgeted with the straps of his life vest, making sure for the billionth time that they were secure.

"C'mon. It's a beautiful day and I'm sure the fish will bite." Noel cranked the motor of his boat, sending it further away from the dock and to a calmer part of the sea. "This sure beats staring at your books, right?"

"I…guess," Hope replied, having to shout over the noise of the motor. Honestly, he would have much rather been inside doing research. At least there was no chance of falling overboard.

No. Don't think like that. Nothing is going to happen.

It was just several minutes later that Noel stopped and slowed the boat, anchoring it with Hope's help. He was pleasantly surprised at how much he remembered when it came to dealing with boats, especially since the yacht of his childhood had had the crew and all.

Not that it made him any less nervous.

"All right." Noel dug through the stuff he'd brought, procuring two fishing poles. "And now, the hunt begins."

"I thought you said this wasn't like hunting."

"No, I said it was. Just with way less work."

Hope huffed in annoyance. Luckily, having watched Noel do this a few times, he managed to get his pole all set without much trouble at all. After hooking on some bait, he plopped his line in the water and waited.

And waited.

"This is why you can't catch anything in just an hour or two," Noel said.

"I'm sure after all this time, fish are evolving to not be distracted by a free meal."

"Yeah, yeah."

Hope smirked a bit in amusement, but honestly, he was just bored. Why did people do this for fun? And it wasn't as though Noel needed the potential food source – the guy just liked to hunt. Of course, he only did so during hunting season in legal areas. Personally, Hope didn't really understand the thrill of it.

Nor did he understand the…'thrill' of fishing.

He had to admit, though, that it was nice spending some quality time with Noel. It really had been a long time since he'd hung out with the guy. Plus, he'd been right – it was a beautiful day. The sky was clear, and although the sun was beating down, all he needed for protection from the chilly sea air was an oversized hoodie. Perfect for hanging out, really.

If only this get-together could've been on dry land.

"So I might get to go see Yeul next month," Noel was saying. "I've put enough cash aside to take a road trip."

"Not to mention take her out once you're there."

"That too, heh. Think you'd wanna come?"

"I wouldn't want to intrude." Noel's girlfriend, a sweet girl named Yeul, was a few years younger than Noel and went to a prestigious school that was about an eight-hour drive away. Between her coursework and Noel's demanding job, the two didn't get to see each other nearly as often as they wanted, so it was always a special occasion when they did.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'm glad you'll get to see her." And he really was. Noel and Yeul made a good pair. Hope himself couldn't imagine having a girlfriend at this point in his life, never mind a long-distance one.

"It's been forever! I just hope she hasn't…you know…" Noel sighed heavily.

"There's no way she'd ever find someone else," Hope said in a reassuring voice. "All you can talk about whenever you come back from visiting her is how excited she was to see you."

"…Yeah. I guess that's true." Noel grinned, but it quickly faded when the boat gave a noticeable lurch. "Hey, does something seem weird to…"

He trailed off when both men suddenly looked up at the sky, spurned on by the increasingly choppy sea. Hope's heart felt close to stopping.

The sky had gone unusually dark and he knew he'd seen this very thing before.

A storm was brewing.

–

The ocean could be uncomfortably silent at times. Though this was normal for Lightning, since the pod tended to ignore her, today, there was something…eerie about the lack of sound.

She frowned in thought as she watched several members of the pod return to their cove from whatever duties they'd had – hunting, foraging, and the like. As always, they would let the scales of their tails slide together as they swam past each other in a gesture of welcoming.

And, as always, no one ever performed that gesture for Lightning.

She understood. Really, she did. After all, she'd committed a sin and was still waiting to atone.

But she often had to wonder if the pod would bother to put up with her at all if it wasn't for Serah, and as much as she preferred to do things on her own, she couldn't imagine actually being…alone. There weren't many creatures in the sea that could survive alone, and of course, the ones that could had to be avoided at all costs.

A stream of bubbles escaped the tiny gills in Lightning's neck, the undersea sound of a sigh. The rest of the pod was murmuring to each other, but she couldn't really hear them. It was as though the walls of water were closing in and surrounding her, keeping her from the sound.

Maybe that was how she heard the whispering.

It was just a hint of a noise; something that would've gotten lost in all of the other sounds of the sea, but the silence she'd found herself in allowed her to hear it. Lightning whirled around, her fins twitching in anticipation to swim towards – or away – from the offending sound.

Just when she thought her mind had been playing tricks on her, it came again.

"You must pay….it is time to pay…you will pay for your sins…"

Horror seized her as the words registered in her mind. Though she'd always had her eventual punishment hanging over her head, the thought of the sea coming for her now was – was -

"Serah!" Lightning cried desperately, immediately whirling around and swimming as fast as she possibly could. Why did the cove seem so far off? Why couldn't she see anyone else in the pod?

Her attempt at escape did no good. The words circled her, the sounds manifesting into some kind of dark, stinging substance – it felt like a solid rock around her, but she could not physically touch it or push it aside.

She tried screaming for Serah again, but hear nothing except her promises of punishment.

"You will be taken away…"

Now she couldn't even scream or make a sound; all she could do was struggle in the confines of this trap, fighting every step of the way. She couldn't – wouldn't – leave Serah alone, not like this -

Pain suddenly erupted in her scales, causing agony like nothing she'd ever felt before. Her entire body went limp, helpless against her doom, and she let out one last cry of her song before succumbing to her defeat.

"…From everything close to your heart."

–

Hope's head jerked up in surprise as a high-pitched wail reached his ears, somehow audible even in this sudden rain. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Noel shook his soaked bangs out of his eyes, immediately forgetting Hope's question when he finally had the boat docked properly. "Geez, I thought it was gonna get away from us for a second there."

"Yeah…" Hope glanced out towards the ocean. It was strange – despite the dark clouds and the rain, the waves were relatively calm. He'd never seen anything like it. If it wasn't for the weather, he and Noel could've still been out there trying to catch fish.

"C'mon, let's get out of here." Noel jerked his head towards a nearby bait-and-tackle shop. "We'll wait it out."

The two ran into the homey little store. The clerk took one look at them and laughed. "Got caught in that, did ya?"

"Yep." Noel sighed. "But I guess it's okay. Fish weren't biting, anyway."

"Really? That's odd for this time of year. But then again…" The clerk waved her hand towards a window, "so are sudden storms like this."

"Yeah. Kinda weird how that one came on so quickly."

Hope didn't say anything and just stared out the window. His heart was pounding – not just from the race to attempt to escape the rain, but to how close he could have come to sharing his mother's fate. A shudder ran through him just a rumble of thunder rolled outside.

It's fine. We're fine. I can go home as soon as the rain lets up.

"You okay?"

Hope pretended not to be startled at Noel's voice and probably failed. "Yeah," he replied, burrowing his hands deep in his hoodie's pockets. "Just…wanting to get home."

"Sorry I dragged you out here." Noel gave him an apologetic smile. "I'll make it up to you. Eventually."

"Don't worry about it." Honestly, all Hope wanted to do was get home and dry off. He didn't really like being soaked to the bone – it made him shiver, and not just from the cold.

"You say that now." Noel smiled, raising his eyebrows a second later. "What the hell…?"

Immediately, Hope glanced outside, his eyes widening a bit as he mentally echoed Noel's statement.

The storm was completely gone. The sky was as clear as it'd been before and if not for the wet sand and raindrops still slithering down the shop's windows, he never would have believed there was a storm at all.

"Well, I'll be." The shopkeeper stepped out from behind the counter and walked up towards the window. "I've never seen anything like this."

"Me neither," said Noel, and Hope had to agree. While it wasn't too unusual for rain to be short-lived around here, the sky always remained cloudy and dark for a time afterward. It never completely vanished like it hadn't been there in the first place.

Normally, something like this might have fascinated him further, but Hope couldn't shake the feeling that he had to leave right now. "I guess I'll get going since it's dry."

"You want a ride back?"

"No thanks. It's not that long of a walk."

"Suit yourself. I'll call you later, okay?"

"Sure."

The two of them parted ways after leaving the shop. Hope couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Usually he enjoyed spending time with Noel, but something about that storm had just…triggered him, almost, though he knew that wasn't quite the word he was looking for. He just had an inexplicable urge to get away and look for something, though for what, he had no idea. It was trembling under his skin madly.

With a sigh, he decided to take the long way back. This route included a relatively abandoned section of the beach – it was too far away from town to be convenient to tourists and there were no homes nearby. It was the perfect place to be alone with his thoughts.

About a mile down, however, he realized that he was not alone.

His first thought was that the pale shape a few hundred feet away was some sort of dolphin that'd been tossed onto the shore during the storm – he knew there were several species around here that didn't have the color scheme of a typical one.

But as he walked closer, he realized he was incredibly wrong.

"Hey!" he shouted as he ran towards the body. They were lying facedown in the damp sand, and, Hope belatedly realized, was also completely nude.

That stopped him short for a second. Though it was possible that this person – who, upon a very quick inspection, appeared to be female – had lost her swimsuit in ocean, that seemed highly unlikely. Not even a tourist would be ridiculous enough to swim in an isolated area like this, and if she'd been surfing, she likely would've worn a wetsuit - especially this time of year, when the water could be quite chilly. The likelihood of her losing a wetsuit in the waves was basically impossible.

So how…?

Ugh, no. The wondering could come later.

Quick as a wink – and very pointedly trying not to look down – Hope whipped off his hoodie and used it to cover the woman as he gently rolled her onto her side. Though his first instinct was to perform CPR, he realized a moment later that she was breathing, but they were short and fast, almost like they were popping out of her somehow.

"Miss…?" he tried, unsure of what else to do. Oddly enough, any logical thoughts slowly slipped his mind the more he stared at her. For someone who had probably narrowly escaped drowning – because why else would there be a nude woman washed up on the beach? - she was…beautiful.

There was really no other word for it. Her hair was an odd shade of pink, with long waves that cascaded over one shoulder. Her skin was pale, and he could've sworn there was some sort of weird shimmer to it when the sunlight hit her just right. Though there were quite a few strange-looking circular scars on her and her body was streaked with salt, they didn't deter away from her looks at all.

But nothing compared to the sight that greeted him when her eyes fluttered open.

For one moment, it truly felt like the world had completely left him and they were the only two people left. He'd never felt anything like it before. Sure, the feeling could have been because her eyes were such a ridiculously gorgeous shade of blue, but his thudding heart told him it was more.

The feeling slipped away when her eyes widened and, to his shock, she slowly sat up. Her breathing quickened and for some reason, a hand flew to her neck like she was feeling for something.

"Um…"

Her eyes darted right back to him at his sound and her expression conveyed so much – but it was mostly fear. He'd never seen someone look so…raw before.

Before he could say anything else, she looked away, her eyes still wide as she stared down at her legs. He had no idea what was wrong, but the look on her face changed to absolute horror, and to his further surprise, she attempted to stand up.

"H-Hey!" he cried, but she ignored him as the hoodie slipped to the sand. Hope blushed and tried not to look at anything he shouldn't be. It would be just his luck that a cop or someone would come wandering by while he was alone with a strange naked woman on the beach. "You – You should probably put this back on and – I'm going to call you an ambulance, okay?"

She continued to ignore him as she stood on wobbly legs. Her breathing was getting even faster and he wondered if she was having a panic attack. He'd seen people have them before, but there was just something off about her behavior.

With a weirdly choked-gasp, she finally stumbled to her feet. Hope realized a second too late that she was making her way towards the shore.

"Wait!" He held up his hoodie – okay, maybe she didn't want to wear it because it was still soaked, but it was definitely better than wandering around nude. "Hold on, miss - !"

There was something weird about the way she was walking, he noticed a second later. It was almost as though she was limping, sort of, but with both legs. At the same time, she was clearly unsteady in the way a newborn deer would be. It was like she'd lost control of her legs. Hell, maybe she had and that was how she ended up here somehow.

When her foot touched the sea, she stared at it for what seemed like a very long time, but couldn't have been more than a few seconds, because Hope finally managed to get the hoodie on her. Luckily, it was long enough to reach past her thighs, so it covered everything it needed to.

"Look, I'll help you, okay? I don't know what's wrong, but I'll get you to a hospital." He stuffed her arms – which had gone limp – into the hoodie's sleeves, and as he zipped it up for her, he noticed that she was wearing something – a long, expensive-looking necklace made of pearls and various jewels.

Who wore something like that to the beach?

Before he could dwell on that thought further, the woman stomped her foot in the waves, making a splash. She did it again, over and over, like she was expecting something to happen, but of course nothing did.

"Are you - "

Hope's question was cut off when she made an ear-piercing shriek that chilled him to the bone and collapsed onto the shore, making noises that seemed strangely inhuman as he attempted to get her back to dry land.

He didn't know if it was just his imagination, but she seemed almost…ashamed.

–

The last time Hope had been in a hospital, he'd been fourteen, right after the accident that'd taken his mother's life. It was sort of like the ocean in a way – something he couldn't really say he was afraid of, but just took lengths to avoid when possible.

Therefore, there was really no good reason for him to sit on an increasingly uncomfortable chair for the past three hours because of someone he didn't even know.

Hope grimaced a little, thinking of that ambulance ride. Obviously, he couldn't answer any questions about the woman's identity…or anything else, really. He'd described to the EMTs about the state he'd found her in - once they'd given her some sort of sedative, that was, because she'd continued to shriek and flail around until they'd done so.

Someone wondered if she'd picked up some sort of parasite, especially since she'd been found nude, but the chances of that were highly unlikely. In fact, nobody on the drive to the hospital could make any sort of educated guess as to what was wrong with her. It didn't help that the woman hadn't spoken a single intelligible word.

Nobody had come to talk to him about her for the past three hours. He hadn't even been asked to leave any contact information. There was no reason he couldn't just walk away right now and let the authorities handle this.

And yet…

Even though it'd been hours, he could still recall the fear in her eyes when she'd first opened them like he was still looking at them. It'd been such a punch to the gut.

He could only imagine that he'd worn the same look on his face when he'd watched his mother go overboard.

"Excuse me?"

Hope glanced up after a pause when he realized that he was being addressed, sitting up straighter at the sight of a man in a button-down shirt and tie with a badge clipped to it. A cop?

"Yes, sir?"

"No need for formalities." The man smiled a bit and sat down next to Hope, extending a hand. "Sazh Katzroy. Are you the one that found that woman on the beach?"

"Yes," Hope replied as he shook Sazh's hand. The guy was squinting at him like he was trying to place him. "Uh…"

"Sorry! You just look sorta familiar. What's your name?"

"Oh, sorry." Usually he wasn't this rude, but he supposed he could blame the events of the past few hours. "Hope Estheim."

"Estheim…" Sazh murmured, rubbing at his beard. "Wait. Was your family involved in some sort of accident some years ago?"

Hope swallowed the lump in his throat. Even ten years later, it wasn't really any easier to talk about. "My mom, yes. She…she fell overboard while we were out on our yacht."

"Ah." At this, oddly enough, Sazh's expression seemed a little more…fatherly, somehow, and he actually reached out to pat Hope's shoulder. "Well, kid, call this fate or whatever you want, but I actually investigated your mother's case all those years ago."

Hope blinked in confusion. "What?"

"Yep. Someone – your father, I'm guessin' – ordered an investigation to rule out foul play, since you did have some crew on board." He sighed. "I only remember so clearly 'cause that storm coming outta nowhere was so odd."

"It…it was." It took everything he had for Hope to somewhat keep his composure, especially now since he could vaguely recall people – heck, maybe even Sazh himself – questioning him on what had happened. He'd been in such a state of shock, however, that he hadn't really been able to tell them much, which easily let him put the idea of any sort of investigation out of his mind.

Strange how it seemed to be happening all over again, in a way.

"That's sort of what happened now, I think," Hope continued, wanting to get off of the subject of his mother. Plus, something about Sazh's demeanor made him seem trustworthy. "I was out fishing with my friend when a freak storm hit."

"Is that where you found her?"

"No." Hope tried to contain his blush as he involuntarily recalled how he'd found the woman. "I was walking home after the rain died down. I pass by a really isolated section of the beach on the way, and, well…there she was."

"You don't know her or anything?"

"I've never seen her before in my life." Though this was true, he had the nagging feeling that he had and just couldn't place her.

But that was ridiculous.

"Hmm…" Sazh rubbed at his beard again with a sigh. "Honestly, everybody's kinda at a dead end here."

"Why?"

"She's not talking, for one thing. They actually had to sedate her again because she kept makin' these high-pitched noises like she was trying to scream."

"She did that on the beach, too."

"It's because of that that some of the doctors are thinking she might have some mental problems." Sazh glanced around like he was expecting to someone to be listening in, but saw that the room was empty. Even so, he leaned in and spoke in a lower voice. "Truth be told, I don't believe that for a second."

Hope had to agree. Though he didn't particularly have any experience with someone mentally disabled, his limited interaction with the mystery rose-haired woman suggested that her mind was sound. "Do you know who she is?" he asked, though he was fairly sure of the answer.

"Not a clue." Sazh paused and looked around again. "That's, uh, the other thing."

"What other thing?"

For a second, Sazh's face twisted into something weird, like he was debating on whether or not to actually say this, but he must have decided he could trust Hope, because he continued. "I tried gettin' fingerprints so I could run 'em through the database."

"And?"

There was a long pause before the answer came. "…She doesn't have any."

Hope stared like he wasn't sure he'd heard that right. "I…what?!"

"There's something there, all right, but it sure ain't normal fingerprints." Sazh heaved a sigh. "The skin's sorta rough there, like they were previously scarred. I actually did try to take a print, but it wouldn't pick up any of the ink."

"What the hell?" Hope blurted out. He knew it was possible for people not to have fingerprints on a finger or two – but to not have any at all?

"My thoughts exactly." There was a pause, but before either of them could say anything else, a familiar high-pitched scream came from down the hall, audible even though the thick walls of the hospital.

Hope shuddered. "Are they going to sedate her again?"

"Don't know. I'm guessin' they want to avoid it, especially since she didn't really take so well to it the second time around."

For whatever reason, the thought of doctors poking and prodding at her fanned a weird flame of anger in Hope's heart. He wasn't really sure why, considering there was still no need for him to be here at all.

And yet…

"Can I see her?" he blurted out before he could even think about what he was saying.

Sazh raised his eyebrows. For a horrible minute, Hope thought he would be denied, but to his surprise, Sazh replied with, "Y'know, that's actually not a bad idea. You're the one who potentially saved her life, after all. If there's anyone around here she'd gonna trust, it's you." He got to his feet. "Follow me. Lemme just check with the doctors first."

Hope quickly stood as well, his heart pounding as they walked down the hallway. The screaming had stopped, but there were still brief noises that seemed to echo through the building once in awhile. It was as though she was trying to communicate but just didn't know how.

When they got to her room, Hope obediently stood to the side while Sazh chatted with a doctor in the hallway. After a moment, he turned and nodded. "Let's go."

For some reason, his heart was pounding as he followed Sazh into the small room. It was a private one – odd, considering she probably didn't have insurance or anything like that, but he was grateful all the same. Having an investigator there in the room was nerve-wracking enough, never mind if there'd been other patients.

He couldn't help but stare once he'd spotted her. She was, of course, on the bed, dressed in an ugly, standard-issue hospital gown….but there was still something so striking about her. Maybe it was the way her eyes immediately darted to him, or the way her skin still shimmered even under the harsh florescent lights. Who knew?

"Um…" Now that he was here, of course he had no idea what to say.

"Huh. This is interesting." Sazh was flipping through the chart that'd been clipped to the side of the bed.

Hope managed to tear his eyes away from the rose-haired woman to look at him. "What is?"

"Normally they'd just call patients like this Jane Doe." He seemed amused for some reason. "But they actually gave her a name."

"What name?"

"Claire."

At the sound, the woman – Claire? - shifted her eyes towards Sazh and made a high-pitched humming noise. He and Hope glanced at each other, and Hope decided to take a chance.

"…Claire? Is that your name?"

Her eyes went back to Hope and she blinked a few times before making that same sound, looking frustrated. He had to wonder if she was still drowsy from being sedated, because besides her staring, she didn't make much effort to move.

"Guess it's as good a name as any." Sazh shrugged. "I just hope they keep it once everybody figures out what to do with her."

Hope glanced at Sazh for a second, but was soon more compelled to look at Claire again, especially since she was still staring at him. "What do you mean?"

"C'mon, kid." He sighed. "A woman without fingerprints who can't communicate? She'll probably be placed in a home somewhere. I just wish I had more clues or something that might help tell me where she came from."

Immediately, he was reminded of something he'd seen on her at the beach. "The necklace."

"'Scuse me?"

"She was wearing a necklace when I found her." Hope looked around, wondering if someone had set it aside somewhere. "Have you seen it?"

"No."

When he didn't spot it in the immediate vicinity, Hope thought that maybe she was still wearing it for whatever reason. "Um – Claire, do you still have your necklace?"

She just stared at him blankly. Weirdly enough, she looked almost exasperated with him and he couldn't help but wonder if it was actually with him or if that was a default expression of hers.

Then again, maybe it was because they both knew they couldn't understand each other, and yet here he was, asking questions like this like a dumbass. He sighed to himself.

"Uh…" He made a sort of looping gesture around neck, hoping that would be enough.

To his utter surprise, after repeating the gesture a few more times, her expression grew a bit wary as she slowly lifted the necklace out from under the gown. A part of his shock was from the fact that she was still wearing it, but also because…

She'd understood him.

Yes, it was ridiculous and they'd basically played charades, but still…

"Oh, damn." The sparkle had caught Sazh's eye and he came around closer – but not too close – to peer at the necklace. Claire was holding it tightly in her hands like a lifeline, even though clearly neither guy was attempting to take it from her. "That's some incredible piece."

"Yeah," Hope agreed. "I mean, I don't know much about jewelry, but those pearls look real to me."

"Hmmm." Discreetly, Sazh took out his phone and snapped a few pictures of the necklace. "If they are real, maybe we can find out whoever made this piece and get some info. It's a long shot, but at least it's something."

"I guess so."

Not long after that, both he and Sazh were sent to leave by a nurse who said that visiting hours were over. As he was hustled out of there, Hope glancing over his shoulder, something inside of him just wanting to stay.

It didn't help that Claire stared at him the entire time without blinking, like she somehow knew exactly what he was thinking.

–

For almost a week after he found Claire washed up on the beach, Hope managed to distract himself from thinking about her by diving into work. Sure, he was technically on vacation and didn't have to do any schoolwork if he didn't want to, but crunching numbers and going through equations kept his mind from wandering.

He did give in a few times and tried to look for any news on her. Oddly enough, no matter what he searched, there was no mention of a rose-haired woman anywhere. No article, no blurb, no random post on social media – nothing. There wasn't any mention of shipwrecks or boating accidents either, which made him wonder again just how she'd ended up on the beach.

It's not my problem, he kept telling himself. He'd saved her life, told Sazh everything he could – what else could he possibly do? Claire was the authorities' responsibility now.

Why didn't that sit right with him?

His phone suddenly rang, startling him out of his thoughts. When he glanced at the screen, all he saw was an unfamiliar number. The only person who ever called him was Noel, so this was likely a telemarketer…and yet…

"Hello?"

"Hope? It's Sazh Katzroy."

"Oh, hi." Hope frowned to himself, wondering briefly how Sazh had gotten his number, but then recalled how he'd been made to fill out a form of confidentiality before leaving the hospital a week ago, which included contact info. "What can I do for you?"

"It's about Claire."

Hope barely realized that he'd sucked in a breath. "Yes?"

"I – look, I feel really strange talkin' to you about this, but I don't know who else to ask." There was a sigh that sounded like static. "Claire's physically fine, besides the whole not-talking thing. Nobody knows what to do with her and I don't want her to go to some institution somewhere. And I can't make any sort of plea for family to come forward because of the whole no-fingerprints thing."

"Is that why I haven't seen anything on the news about her?"

There was a pause, and then a chuckle. "You've been keeping up?"

"Sort of." Hope was glad nobody was here to see his blush. "But anyway…what does this have to do with me?"

"I'll be frank – I've been here every day since you found her, tryin' to find any sort of info, but I've got nothing yet. And every single one of those days, she's pretty much figuratively bitten people's heads off. The calmest she's ever been was when you were here."

For some reason, his heart fluttered. "Do you want to me to visit regularly…?"

"Actually…" After a long pause, Sazh sighed again. "I was wondering if, maybe, you'd be willin' to let her live with you."

"…" All that came out of Hope was a strange croaking noise before he responded. "E-excuse me?!"

"You'd get compensation to make up for bills and whatnot," Sazh continued. "And of course I'll keep you updated on anything this investigation turns up about her."

"Why me, though?"

"Well, you heard me – the calmest she's been is when you were here. And besides all that, I don't really want more people than necessary knowing about those lack of fingerprints and whatnot. If they place her elsewhere, word's gonna get out."

"Most likely," Hope agreed. He contemplated his options for a moment. "Can I see her before I make a decision?"

"By all means. Just come on down and give me a shout."

"Will do."

Hope was halfway out the door before hanging up. Thankfully, there was a bus down the road that had a stop right in front of the hospital, so he took that and made it in record time. Sazh was wandering around the waiting room, his head buried in paperwork, but he glanced up at the sound of footsteps, looking pleased.

"Hope, you made it!" He tucked all his papers in a folder. "I'll take you to her."

For whatever reason, he hadn't really thought about what, exactly, the visit was supposed to do. After all, there was no possible way he could have some practically mute girl without fingerprints stay in his tiny apartment. So what was the point of this?

But as they got to Claire's private room and Sazh opened the door, Hope's gaze fell on the figure still lying in the bed and his heart sped up ridiculously.

Oh, yeah. That's the point.

"Um…" Hope awkwardly shifted from foot to foot. Claire's piercing gaze was already on him and she didn't seem inclined to look away. It made asking about her more awkward, but what else was he supposed to do? "Has there been any change?"

"Not really," Sazh replied. "She's still not talkin' or anything. Haven't found out anything about that necklace, either."

Hope glanced at said necklace, which was sparkling even in the dim light of the hospital room. Yet another mystery nobody could unravel.

Who are you, Claire? Where did you come from?

She was still staring at him, even as he sat down on a chair beside the bed. There was something…odd about her gaze, like she was trying to say something, but he wasn't getting the message. He wished with everything he had that he could understand – that he could figure out who she was.

Too late, he suddenly realized that Sazh had started speaking and blinked a few times, glancing away from Claire. Whoops.

"…And like I said, they'd be willing to help out with bills and whatnot while we investigate. All you'd really have to do is keep her safe."

"I, um…" Hope tried to stall for a moment. It was difficult to look away from Claire, but he somehow managed it and tried to come up with a good answer for whatever the heck Sazh had been talking about. "…Right."

Sazh raised an eyebrow. "So? Do you need more time to think about it, or you think you'll be up to the task?"

Hope looked back at Claire, who was giving him that exasperated expression again. He wondered how much – if any – of this conversation she understood. It was pretty doubtful that she grasped any of this, and he should've just walked right out of here and forgotten about all this insanity. Get back to his life, his studies, hanging out with Noel…

He couldn't. He had no idea why, but he just couldn't.

Without tearing his eyes away from Claire, he answered Sazh. "I'll do it."

For just a second, he could've sworn he saw a shadow of a smile on her face.

–

It took a couple of days to get all of the necessary paperwork in order, but Hope was soon back at the hospital to pick up Claire. Someone – maybe one of the nurses – had given her some clothes from the lost-and-found bin, and even though it was just a white turtleneck sweater and khakis, she somehow looked a thousand times better than before.

Then again, everyone looked a bit sickly in hospital gowns, he supposed.

"I don't think she knows how to dress herself," a nurse commented as she attempted to get some sandals onto Claire's feet, but Claire seemed to having none of that. She was tugging at the khakis, too, like she wanted to take them off. Hope remembered finding her nude on the beach and somehow managed to hide a blush.

"Maybe it's just not her style," Hope said. "But it'll have to do for now. Here." He took the sandals from the nurse and knelt down, ignoring the nurse's muttering as he looked up at Claire and held up the sandal. He made a gesture like he was going to put it on her foot.

Claire stared at him, looking somehow both annoyed and amused, but mostly annoyed. It was really unnerving – she looked like that around him all the time. Did that mean she liked him? Hated him? Barely tolerated his presence?

They were going to be living together, so he supposed he'd find out one way or another.

"I'm going to put this on, okay? You have to wear it until we get back to my place." Gently, Hope slid the sandal onto Claire's foot. Instead of kicking it off like she had been with the nurse, she just stared at the offending garment and then made a high-pitched noise in the back of her throat. He got a weird feeling that if she could speak, she'd be something something like, "Ugh, fine."

"Well, well, well," Sazh drawled as he came into the room. "Looks like this'll all work out just peachy, if this is any indication." He grinned at Claire. "Givin' the nurses a run for their money, huh?"

Claire rolled her eyes, though whether that was a reflex or because she'd actually understood Sazh, nobody knew. Hope got to his feet. "Is there a problem?"

"Nope. Just gotta get you to sign some stuff."

It was all very standard – release forms, non-disclosure agreements, and all sorts of legal stuff that honestly went right over his head. Sometimes he wished he'd gone into law instead of science, but he'd always vastly preferred doing fieldwork. Law didn't really offer too much of that.

Hope just scribbled his signature where it was needed, his hand cramping a little by the time they were finally done. Claire just sat on the bed the whole time, staring at her sandal-covered feet as though she had no clue what they were. He again recalled when he'd found her and how she'd stumbled around so much. Had that been just a fluke?

Apparently not, because when they were finally clear to leave and he offered his hand, she ignored it and slowly got up herself. At first, he wondered if her stumbling was due to lying in bed for so long, but the more she attempted to walk around, the more Hope realized that there was something more to it than that.

"Here!" He grasped Claire's hand and looped it onto his elbow. "Hold on to me, okay? I'll keep you from falling."

She gave him a strange side-eye, but he didn't take any offense. Sazh was watching the whole thing with interest.

"Y'know, they didn't find any sort of diseases or anything. Nothin' wrong with her legs or anything that'd be causing her to walk like that."

Hope frowned. "Really?"

"Yeah. Of course, it's not like she can tell us what's wrong, so there might be other symptoms we don't know about." He sighed heavily, but then waved towards the door. "Anyway, get outta here. Just keep an eye out for anything unusual and give me a call anytime, okay?"

"Sure."

Hope slowly made his way out of the room with Claire on his arm. He wondered if a wheelchair would be better, but dismissed the thought. It was clear that Claire was capable of walking – she just didn't seem to be any good at it, for whatever reason.

She looked around and he watched her. It was odd how wide-eyed she was – if he hadn't known any better, he would've thought she was either a child or had spent her life in a cave. She seemed hesitant but interested in everything around her.

Oddly enough, every single person they passed turned to look at her. At first he assumed it was because of the way she was holding onto his arm like he was some kind of human cane, but he realized that even doctors or nurses who'd been busy with other tasks would stop what they were doing to stare. Even people in mid-conversation would trail off when they passed.

Maybe it was that necklace, which stood out against her sweater and kept catching the light, but somehow, he didn't think so.

Huh. He wondered if he should report this to Sazh as something unusual.

–

The human world, Lightning thought, was a mess. Was it any wonder that this was her divine punishment?

She shuddered at the thought of living the rest of her time here…though of course, that was considerably shorter now that she had legs instead of her tail and soft skin that shimmered instead of gills that could take the harshness of the sea.

Despair had struck her when she'd first woken up on the sand. When her horrible human legs had remained once she'd touched the sea, Lightning knew that this was for good. There was no turning back. Had that human not taken her away, she might have drowned herself…which might have been preferable to this.

Maybe.

She glanced in the direction of the room where he was sleeping. Bedroom, he'd called it. He'd offered it to her when they'd arrived to this place, but it was so small and closed-off that she'd immediately retreated to this piece of furniture in a much more open area. He'd seemed confused by that, but had let it go when she'd rolled her eyes at him.

How did humans live like this? Sure, pods often had caves under the sea where they slept or stored things, but the ocean was so…open and free. Humans confined themselves to such small spaces.

Then again, she supposed it made sense. There was much more water than land, if ages of calculations were correct, and yet many more humans.

And yet somehow, what she'd done was enough to warrant a punishment. This punishment, no less. Wasn't that delightful irony?

Lightning frowned to herself, looking around. The room was honestly rather plain – it reminded her of the place she'd been before, when people would poke and prod at her with needles and hook her up to wires. Hospital. It was interesting to see those things in action and not covered with rust and salt, like she sometimes had at home. The same could be said for a lot of things around here and she couldn't help but wonder if humans threw their garbage into the sea because the spaces they made for themselves were so small and they wanted more room.

She didn't quite get that feeling here, though. The man gave off the impression that he didn't live all that lavishly just because he didn't want to. Maybe he lived like they did at home, where survival was the most important thing.

With another frown, Lightning looked towards the man's bedroom again. Quite honestly, she had no idea why she was here with him and had understood very little of the human language around her. Any attempts to communicate were met with winces and the humans putting their hands over their ears, and she knew it would only get more frustrating the longer she was forced to stay here.

…Which, of course, was forever.

Ignoring the lump that'd formed in her throat, she glanced around the room again, her thoughts wandering away. How long had she been human? Would she ever get used to this…indignity?

Would she ever see Serah again?

She hastily wiped away the tear that had escaped the corner of her eye. Crying was a rare thing for a mermaid, especially for her, and she wasn't about to start now. Instead, she clutched onto the necklace her sister had made for her, holding onto it like a lifeline, much like she had until now. The pearls and jewels were a comfort under her weirdly soft fingertips, and she actually had to concentrate to be gentle with the touch so that she didn't break anything.

She closed her eyes, trying to imagine her life back home. Could she even call the sea 'home' now? Was it lost to her forever? Would she always remain here on the surface, with all these humans staring and yet not understanding her for a moment?

As her fingers grazed over the pearls of her necklace, a sudden memory came on so strongly that it nearly blind-sighted her.

"Do you know why humans scavenge the sea for an oyster's pearl?"

"'Cause it's pretty?"

"Yes, Lightning – they certainly are. But that's not the only reason."

"It's not?"

"No. Legends from many moons and seas ago say that they're still trying to learn our language."

"How can they do that with a pearl?"

"The legend states that if a human consumes a pearl that a mermaid has sung to, and if they have heard a song themselves, they'll be able to understand us. All is contained within the pearl and they only need to take it within themselves."

"Wow! Is that true, Mama?"

"It's only a legend…but one you don't need to concern yourself with, my silly, spoiled girl."

Lightning shook her head, trying to dispel any lingering thoughts. She hadn't thought of her mother in so long – this was certainly no time to start. So why…?

Wait.

She glanced down at the necklace she'd been fiddling with in her hands. Her pod hadn't had the need to sing to oysters – they were always just pried open, both for the pearl and the meat inside. It was what practically everyone did; it made the most sense, after all.

But Serah had sung to these particular pearls.

Lightning bit her lip, wondering if she wanted to waste something so precious on a human. This was the only remnant she had left – the only proof that she'd once belonged to sea. Surely, she thought as she glanced back at the door where that man was, she shouldn't take such a risk to see if mere legend was true. Plus, she had no idea if Hope had ever heard a song from her people.

But at the same time, she had to face the facts. This was her life now. She was stuck in the human world, with horrible legs she still stumbled on like a crab trying to escape from a predator. Maybe if someone could understand her, she could tell him to leave her near the surf somewhere. Serah was probably worrying, after all; maybe she'd come visit and bring her sister food. They'd get through this.

Somehow.

But there was no doubt it would be easier if there was someone who could understand her, and that someone might as well be the person she was stuck here with.

Silently, Lightning rose to her feet, gathering her bearings. Though people had taken her to walk around in that other place she'd stayed, she still wasn't used to having…feet. Legs. She looked down and scowled at them, like that would make the disgusting appendages go away.

When she felt a bit more steady, she made her way to the human's bedroom, unconsciously humming a little. It was the song she'd made under the sea to keep predators away, but on the surface, it was nothing more than an annoying sound.

No matter. The human was sound asleep and she was able to walk right up to him. What a fool, letting his guard down like that.

But then again, it made doing what she needed to a lot easier.

She stared at the human for a long moment. His hair was a rumpled mess, his brows slightly furrowed and his lips parted in sleep. It didn't look all too restful to her, but then again, how could humans truly rest in such a state? Even after however much time she'd already spent on land, she still couldn't get used to the stillness.

Lightning kept her eyes on the human as she slowly lifted the necklace over her head, fiddling with the pearls. This human she was stuck with – she had to admit that he was fairly handsome, as far as humans went. And he'd been kind to her so far.

So far, she reminded herself. Hadn't she learned that humans were not to be trusted? No need to get swayed in by one treating her like more than a shiny bauble.

Quickly, she undid the knot holding her necklace together and slipped off a pearl, mentally apologizing to Serah as she did so – but surely her sister would want her to communicate with humans if she was to be stuck up here, right? Besides, she wasn't even sure if this would work.

After knotting the necklace and putting it back over her head, Lightning stared at the pearl for another moment. It was now or never.

Slowly, she set the pearl on the human's lips, somehow keeping her hand still when he made a confused sound. Eventually, she managed to slip the pearl into his mouth. To her surprise, it instantly dissolved and there was a short, sudden glow before it disappeared. The human grunted and turned over, huddling into his pillows.

Lightning stared, waiting to see if something else would happen, but when the human only made low rumbling noises through his nose, she figured she'd have to wait until he woke up to see if the legend was true. She sighed and went back to the other room, spending the rest of the night staring out the window, trying to find the stars that would tell her how to get back home.

–

Hope had never been much of a morning person. Noel had always joked that Hope never woke up until it was noon and all the coffee was gone. Sadly, this was pretty close to the truth. What could he say? He got his best work done at night.

But that morning, he was alert. Maybe it was because of the stunning blue eyes that were on him the second he stepped out of his bedroom. Hard not to be alert after remembering that you were hosting a gorgeous woman who couldn't communicate.

He stared at Claire, who was watching him curiously. There were dark circles under her eyes that were nearly unnoticeable due to the shimmer in her skin. Had she slept at all? Why hadn't she taken his spare bedroom? Sure, it was a little dusty in there, but…

"Uh." He cleared his throat. "Good morning, Claire. Did you sleep okay?"

Her eyes widened a bit, but she didn't move. He wasn't sure whether this was good or bad. Why, oh why had he agreed to this? He had work to do! Trying to figure out some mysterious woman wasn't part of that!

He tried again. "Did you want some breakfast? I'm not much of a cook, but I'm sure anything I make will be better than what they were serving at the hospital. I don't think they're big on taste there." He headed to his kitchen, not because he was hungry, but Claire's stare was starting to get unnerving. Was she even blinking? "And I've got coffee, if you wanted any. Or, well, I will once I brew it."

There was the soft sound of footsteps. Claire was somehow still a bit wobbly on her feet, but she made her way closer to him, still staring with that weird gaze. He couldn't help but meet her eyes this time, as though something was drawing him there.

"Dorado."

Hope yelped and dropped the mug he'd been holding, though luckily it was on the counter so it didn't shatter into pieces. His mouth fell open and he croaked out a few weird noises before he finally managed to speak. "I-I'm sorry, what was that…?"

"Dorado." Claire gave him that unimpressed stare. "That's usually what I eat after I wake."

"Uh…" Hope was too flabbergasted to ask what the heck that was, though he vaguely recalled hearing the word in one of his classes ages ago. Marine biology, maybe? "You're – how…?"

"And my name isn't Claire," she added. "Though I guess whoever made that name came close."

"Huh?"

"My name is Lightning."

Hope stared some more, unsure if he was even breathing. What the hell? For the whole time Claire – Lightning – had been in the hospital, she could only screech and make weirdly inhuman noises. They'd thought she was mute or somehow otherwise disabled, for crying out loud, but here she was, speaking in full sentences in his kitchen at nine in the morning.

And…Lightning? How the heck was that even remotely similar to the name Claire?

Whenever he was presented with a problem in his studies, Hope had trained himself to break it down. Little steps were much easier to tackle than the whole picture. Clearly he needed to apply that here.

"Okay…Lightning," he finally said after a long silence. His breath came out in a whoosh. He ignored the urge to ask what the hell her deal was. Too early for that. "I'm afraid I don't know what a dorado is, but I can try and come up with a substitute, if you'd like."

She stared at him, head cocked a bit to the side. "It's a fish."

"A fish?"

"Yes."

"Oh." A stray memory finally snapped into place. Maybe those marine biology classes had come in handy. "Wait, you mean – the mahi-mahi? A dolphinfish?" Lightning shrugged, and Hope continued, certain that he was right, "You have that for breakfast?"

"Yes."

Hope stared some more. While the mahi-mahi fish – or dorados, according to Lightning – were actually fairly plentiful around here and served in a couple of seafood restaurants, he didn't know of anyone who ate them for breakfast, much less mentioned as such so casually.

Maybe he should've taken up more of Noel's offers to go fishing.

"Um, well, I'm afraid I don't have any handy," he said, running a hand through his hair. "How about eggs? That's usually what I end up having."

She eyed him suspiciously. "Fine."

He met her gaze for a long moment, torn between demanding to know how the hell she could suddenly speak with him and just forgetting about it in favor of staring into her eyes. It was kind of unnerving how often she managed to hold him so still with just a glance, especially since they barely knew each other.

"Right." He cleared his throat and opened the fridge, grabbing the carton of eggs. Huh, almost empty. He probably should've thought to go grocery shopping before harboring a mysterious woman in his apartment. Maybe they could go later. Or go fishing, apparently. "Scrambled okay?"

"What?"

"For your eggs?"

Lightning snapped her eyes to the pan on the stove, where he'd already cracked out a couple for himself. She visibly recoiled, looking as confused as she'd been when he'd first found her on the beach. "What are those?"

"…Eggs?"

"No." She frowned. "Eggs are smaller. They come in little clusters."

Hope stared at her. "I don't know what you mean," he admitted. Weren't eggs the same all across the world? Maybe not. "Where are you from? Maybe we can find a similar thing around here."

Clearly it was the wrong question to ask, because Lightning went completely still, her face a stony mask. There wasn't even a hint of that exasperation he'd come to know. Eventually, she muttered something under her breath and wandered away to the window, staring outside. There wasn't that much to see, but she was clearly focused on something on the horizon.

She didn't say another word, even when he ended up scrambling some eggs for her. She ate them primly, holding her fork like she had no idea what to do with it.

Or maybe her mind was just a million miles away in a place that he couldn't reach.

–

Over the next couple of weeks, Hope only found out one thing for sure about Lightning: that he knew absolutely nothing about her.

No matter how much he tried to ask, he never got an explanation as to how she could suddenly speak perfectly, though the few times she saw people other than him, they still looked confused like they couldn't understand her.

What was really strange, though, was how she seemed to know nothing about anything. She seemed incredibly confused as to why she had to change her clothes every day…which had eventually led to an extremely awkward evening of teaching her what a shower was. She didn't seem to care for it, but she loved taking baths and would often spend hours in there. His water bill was creeping up.

She didn't seem to know what anything around his house was. The strange thing was that she did appear to recognize certain things, but the first time he'd turned on the TV around her, she'd backed away like it was a wild animal out to get her.

And apparently the mahi-mahi had been just the start, because she didn't eagerly eat anything except seafood. If he convinced her hard enough, sometimes he could get her to try something else, but he'd taken to stockpiling frozen fishsticks and ordering sushi from a little place down the road. Even all of that didn't seem to be good enough for her – everything was tainted with a weird expression of disdain, like she couldn't believe she was eating this or doing that. Attempts to get her to explain never led anywhere, either.

"So, Lightning…how come you like seafood so much?"

"I grew up with it."

"Oh, yeah, I guess there's a lot of places overseas that mostly eat fish. Are you from overseas…?"

"…"

Even though all of her weird habits and lack of answers would've usually added up to something dangerous or suspicious, he never quite got that vibe from her. Every couple of days, Sazh would check in and ask if Hope had found out anything important, but there was nothing. Not even an investigation into Lightning's necklace – which she never took off – had led anywhere.

Hope glanced up from his laptop with a sigh, his eyes immediately seeking out his mysterious houseguest. When she wasn't turning her nose up at frozen fish or in the bath, she'd taken to staring out the window. He wasn't exactly sure why, since it really wasn't much to write home about. His place faced the general direction of the ocean, but it wasn't like he had beachfront property or anything. There was mostly just more homes and buildings in the immediate view.

But it was the way she stared that had him so intrigued, like she was seeing something that he couldn't, even when there was nothing to look for. At least, he assumed there wasn't anything she was looking for. Lightning had absolutely zero interest in dealing with people that weren't himself, and Hope got the feeling she just put up with him because she had to.

So why the staring?

"The shore."

Hope jumped, startled by Lightning's voice even though he'd been staring right at her. It was still unnerving to hear her speak, for some reason. "I'm sorry?"

She turned her head away from the window. "The shore. I want to go."

"Uh." It took him a minute to process this request. "Right now?"

"How do I get there?"

"Wait, hang on. I'll take you." Hope closed his laptop and immediately went to go find his shoes, halfway in them before wondering if this was really such a great idea. As far as he knew, Lightning hadn't been to a beach since he'd found her washed up. The last thing he wanted was to accidentally cause some kind of relapse. Maybe he needed to talk to Sazh or someone at the hospital.

But when he walked back out into the living room, Lightning was standing away from the window and staring at him with expectant eyes. Oddly enough, it was the softest expression she'd given him so far. That alone was enough for him.

If anything bad happened, he'd face it later.

It was a quick walk to the beach, but Lightning didn't really seem satisfied once they were on the sand. It was likely because of all the tourists and beachgoers, which frankly he could understand.

"Where did you find me?"

"What?"

"When I came here. Where did you find me?"

"Oh." Why would she want to go there, where she'd been screaming and alone? He was about to ask as much, but instead he relented. "It's further down. This way."

They walked in silence, Lightning's eyes never leaving the ocean. Though he didn't really have much love for the sea – for obvious reasons – he knew it always provided quite a view, especially during clear evenings when the sunset was perfect.

Lightning's reason for staring seemed different, though. It was almost as though she was looking for something. If he squinted, he saw maybe a slight hint of a dolphin fin, but that wasn't what she wanted at all. There was clearly more than he could comprehend.

"Almost there," he said after they'd been walking for about twenty minutes. Though she'd managed to stay upright this whole time, Lightning stumbled over nothing at his voice, gasping as her legs wobbled dangerously. Hope instinctively reached out and grabbed her hand and waist, holding her upright.

For a minute, they just stood there, not daring to breathe as though the world would tilt and she'd stumble again. His fingers unconsciously gripped the fabric of her shirt, the hold tightening when she looked up at him.

Even the shimmer in her skin couldn't compare to her eyes.

All of a sudden, he was very, very aware that Lightning was a beautiful woman. It was ridiculous, considering he'd seen her naked several times and had been living under his roof for what felt like ages, but no. It was right now, when her strong, scarred hand was holding onto his and they were so close that he could feel her breath on his cheek…

She was trembling.

"S-Sorry!" he stammered and quickly let go, holding on just long enough to make sure she was standing upright before making a hasty retreat. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," she answered, not looking any worse for wear, though she had that oddly soft expression on her face again. Or maybe he was putting too much thought into it. "You can leave."

Yep, definitely putting too much thought into it.

"Huh?" Hope blanched at the sudden demand. "Wha – why? There's nothing out here!"

The familiar exasperation came back. Weirdly enough, he'd missed it. "Just leave."

"Are you sure? I mean, I don't want you to get hurt again," he said quickly. "Tourists usually don't come out this way and if something happened - "

"Nothing's going to happen." Lightning crossed her arms under her chest, sort of hugging herself as she stared out at the waves crashing on the sand. "I'll come back. Just go."

"Do you want me to come pick you up…?"

"I'll find the way back."

"Lightning - "

"Hope." She turned and stared at him, her eyes less exasperated and more annoyed. "Just go."

Stunned, he turned on his heel and obeyed without another word. It wasn't until he was practically back home that he realized that, even after so long, this was the first time that Lightning had said his name.

–

You will be taken away…from everything close to your heart.

Lightning's human lungs stabbed with pain as she broke the surface of the disgusting human water she was bathing in and gasped for air. Even after all this time, her inability to stay underwater was a harsh slap in the face. No matter what she did, what she tried, nothing was going to bring her fins back.

She watched the water slosh over the side of the tub and onto the floor before closing her eyes in some attempt to relax. If she couldn't have the sea, at least she had this.

Even if going into any sort of water made the words of her punishment swirl in her mind over and over.

It was because of that that she wished she still wasn't so drawn to the ocean. She supposed it was only natural, considering she wasn't really human, but something buzzed within her to constantly go back to the shore. It wasn't just from her desperation to see Serah again, either – quite frankly, she could understand if her sister was ashamed and never wanted to find her. This was something different. Something primal that she couldn't quite put a non-webbed finger on.

Hell, maybe it was because it was the only place to get away from…

"Lightning? Are you okay in there?"

"Fine," she called out, rolling her eyes even though Hope couldn't see from the other side of the door.

Hope. She was slowly starting to find him quite tolerable. Sure, the food he brought her was disgusting and he was constantly trying to speak to her, but she had to admit, it was nice to have someone look out for her for a change. For so long, Lightning had taken on the burden of worrying about herself and taking care of Serah while distancing herself from the pod. Nobody had watched out for her since her mother…since her transgression…

Lightning blinked the water out of her eyes and abruptly stood up, remembering to put on the cloth called a 'robe.' The first time she'd left the bath, she hadn't put on anything and Hope had been ridiculously flustered for some reason. She knew from all the bodies she'd seen floating in the sea over the years that humans always clothed themselves, but she hadn't expected them to be so…modest.

When she'd let the water in the tub drain and left the room, her ugly thoughts had swirled away as well and she felt much calmer, even moreso when Hope in her direction and gave her a tentative little smile.

Perhaps it was because he was the only human who could communicate with her, but over these past few moons, she'd found herself growing rather attached to him in addition to her tolerance. It was a foreign feeling, considering she'd kept herself at a distance from everyone for so long.

She didn't like humans. She didn't trust them.

But Hope, he…he was more than that.

"Hey," he greeted, his cheeks dusted with red for some reason. "Did you have a good bath?"

"Yes," she replied. The whole concept of bathing continued to elude her. Feelings of salt water flowing through her hair and surrounding her fins were still fresh in her mind. "I'm going down to the sea."

"What? Now?"

"Yes." She was already grabbing the necessary garments. Different ones to go outside? So strange. "Is that a problem?"

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

Lightning arched her eyebrows, giving him an exasperated look before disappearing into a separate room to put her clothing on. Every time she went down to the water – which was nearly every day now – she was somewhat grateful for things that covered her legs. If any of these visits ever amounted to anything, at least there would be something to hide her shame.

When she was clothed, she glanced at Hope again, who was still watching her curiously. It almost the same sort of look a dolphin would give her – inquisitive and smart, but with no intention to harm, only explore.

Whereas the people she'd seen at the hospital were more like killer whales – enchanted and too eager to consume her.

"I'll return," she said as she headed out the door, mostly because she knew Hope would've made some comment otherwise. She heard him calling out to be safe and smiled to herself for a moment before a more determined expression took over.

Over the past few moons, she'd managed to find the quickest route to the empty spot on the shore. Even better, it was away from heavily populated places. Being around humans other than Hope made her nervous and she knew she wouldn't be able to communicate with them, anyway. Better to look out for herself.

As always, when she reached the sand, she scanned the area for others. Though of course she'd lost a lot of her underwater senses now that she had legs, she was still a lot more perceptive than a normal human. Or maybe it just came from ages of habit – the sea was vast and anything could show up at any moment to swallow you whole.

The coast was clear. Time for her second ritual.

Lightning wandered the side of a large rock, slowly inching her way towards the front of it. There was a small, hollow area that was out of sight and was perfect for her to sit down and hide while she tried doing the impossible.

Calling for Serah.

There wasn't much hope in doing so, she knew. Not only did she not quite sound the same – though whether it was from becoming human or being forced to speak this surface language, she wasn't sure – but even if Serah could hear her, the chances of her sister leaving the pod to find a sinner was astronomically small. Even if Serah could sneak away, would she want to bear the burden of seeing Lightning like this?

But Lightning had been torn away. If she could only see Serah one more time, just to say goodbye…maybe then she'd find some peace. Even if it was a selfish wish, it was all she wanted.

She clutched the necklace she never took off, trying to remember how to call her sister's name.

The longer she spent up here on the surface with her horrible human legs, the more she forgot how to speak the language of the sea. Maybe it was because she'd only been conversing with Hope all this time, or perhaps it was some effect from being human now, but the words never sounded quite the same up here. They were ugly and distorted. It was really no wonder no one was able to understand her.

If not for Hope, she'd be completely alone.

Serah, she tried to speak to the water. The sound was harsh and squeaky. Serah, please, if you can hear me, I just want to see you one more time. Serah…my sister…

How long she sat there was anyone's guess. Patience was often rewarded in the sea and was, in fact, a way of life for her people, but human time seemed so…frantic. It was more apparent than ever that if she didn't see Serah before the seasons changed, the pod would travel and she may lose her sister forever.

That was why…

"Sis?"

Lightning's eyes flew open at the familiar sound. Though there didn't appear to be anything at a first glance, a lifetime of living in the sea drew her eyes to barely-visible ripples on the surface of the waves. There was something under there.

Or someone.

"Serah?!"

A shock of pink startled the waves. Lightning's mouth fell open as, little by little, her sister broke the surface, looking stunned and amazed and -

"Lightning!" The name sounded harsh above the water, but it didn't matter. Serah flung herself up out of the sea, fins slapping the water and not giving Lightning a chance to meet her halfway as their arms flung around each other. "I thought – you just disappeared and I - "

"Serah," Lightning replied, knowing the words would sound slow and strange coming out of this weird human mouth, even more now that her eyes were filled with tears and there was a lump in her throat. "I thought I'd never see you again."

"The pod said you'd accepted your punishment and that you weren't coming back," Serah murmured, still not letting go. "But I had to know if you were okay. I've been skimming the surface every night looking for you!"

"What?!" At this, Lightning pulled away from the embrace to look at Serah, but didn't dare let go. "Serah, that's dangerous! You should know better!"

"It was under the moon, sis. Away from humans until I heard you just now. But…" She trailed off, finally taking a good look at Lightning.

And her legs.

"…But the sea saw fit to make me one of them," Lightning said. It was only natural if Serah was disgusted or saw her only family as an abomination, but that didn't matter. "Listen, Serah, you need to go back to the pod. All I wanted to know was if you were safe, that the sea didn't do anything to you, too." She brushed aside a wet lock of Serah's hair. "You'll be okay with the pod. Just stay with them."

For a long moment, Serah just stared at Lightning's human legs. When their eyes finally met, Serah's were full of tears. "How am I supposed to do that?"

"What?"

"How am I supposed to be okay without you, sis?" Serah took one of Lightning's hands, as she often had when they'd been under the surface. The hold didn't feel right with Serah's webbed fingers against Lightning's strange human hand. "You're the only family I have left. Losing mother was hard enough – how am I supposed to lose you, too?"

Serah was crying by the time she stopped talking, the words dissolving into a sound that was alien to her human ears. But it still sent a stab of guilt and sympathy through her that she wanted to fix, which was always her instinct when it came to her sister.

"I'll be okay," Lightning promised. "I'll survive up here. Somehow." For some reason, Hope's face popped into her mind and she ignored the strange fluttering in her chest. "Please just know that I'm okay and that I'll never forget you." She used her free hand to hold the necklace she constantly wore. "See? I'll always have a reminder of you and what my true home is. Can you go back to the pod knowing that?"

"Not without you!"

"You'll have to." This was their new reality now. Maybe seeing Serah had made the inevitable separation worse, but at least she had some peace of mind. Now she just had to get Serah to think the same way. "The sea did this of me. It took away everything close to my heart."

Serah sunk into the water a bit at that, though she didn't let go of Lightning's hand. The two of them stayed there for awhile, listening to the waves crash around them. The longing to leave this filthy surface, to go home, bubbled in Lightning like nothing she'd ever felt before.

The past seasons where she'd been shunned for her sin were tough, but at least she had Serah. And now she had…

"Please, Serah," Lightning murmured. "I'll be okay. I promise."

And that was the strange thing – she really did feel like things would turn out okay. Perhaps they wouldn't be ideal, since ideally she'd be home with the pod, but up on the surface, she had Hope. Somehow, his easy, non-threatening presence had come to mean far more to her than she realized.

"I know you'll be okay," Serah finally said. "But that doesn't mean I want to leave you."

Lightning squeezed her sister's hand, relishing in the feel of proper hands – not these weird human ones. "How long until the pod moves on for the season?"

"It's getting close, but the whales haven't moved on yet," Serah replied. "It'll probably be another two full moons or so."

"Then how about you keep coming to see me until then?" Lightning knew this was a crazy idea, but if it made Serah happy, she'd do anything. "No humans ever come along this stretch of shore, so we'll be safe. I'll always come at this time. Okay?"

Serah smiled brightly. "Okay! I can just tell the pod I'm foraging. It's easy now that I can sing them to me." She glanced at Lightning's necklace. "I'm so happy I gave that to you before the sea took you away. Now you won't forget where you came from."

Lightning brushed the pearls with her free hand, aching for the sea and its familiarity in a way she knew nothing on this surface world could ever provide. "I would never."

–

Something was different.

It took Hope a couple of days to put his finger on it, but as he watched Lightning race out the door, it finally hit him.

She was excited.

The realization startled him enough to drop the pen he'd been toying with. He'd been doodling random circles while answering texts from Noel – his friend had finally gone on that road trip to see Yeul, just a month or so later than planned – but now he ignored his buzzing phone and let his mind wander.

Lightning had been going out to the beach every day, no matter what the weather. It never seemed to change her mood until recently, when there'd been a tiny little shift that he hadn't noticed until now.

What had changed?

He had no idea why the heck Lightning always walked the trek to that specific area of beach – the place where he'd first found her. Technically, he wasn't supposed to let her go anywhere alone, at least according to Sazh, but she always came back. Typically, she always seemed annoyed, dejected, and just so…flat.

But now…

Hope abruptly got to his feet, suddenly having the brilliant idea to follow her and find out what was up. It was technically what he should've been doing all along, right? He'd just see that she was okay and then leave her to her privacy. Nothing wrong with that. He was just being a good caretaker, that was all.

Yeah, right, he thought as he locked the door behind him and started walking. There was no denying now that he was drawn to Lightning. How else would he have noticed such a subtle shift in her moods without her saying anything? Who else did he buy that stupidly expensive sushi for? Why was her smile so important to him?

The walk took a good twenty minutes and Hope had to wonder why he hadn't just taken a bus. Duh. More proof that a certain rose-haired woman had put his head in the clouds lately.

When he got closer to the beach, a weird buzzing feeling thrummed under his skin and all he wanted to do was turn around and go back home. What the hell was he doing, chasing after some crazy, fingerprint-less woman like this? There wasn't even anybody out on the sand – either he'd beaten Lightning here or she'd been lying to him this whole time and was secretly going somewhere else.

But wait – there it was again, that weird buzzing feeling. It prickled at him, though oddly enough, it was urging him away.

Stay away…stay away…

He couldn't! Lightning was around here somewhere, right?

Just then, he heard it – a sound that hadn't reached his ears since that morning Lightning had stared at him and spoken like nothing was the matter. It was that weird screechy, humming noise she used to make. That was silly. She could talk now, so why the heck would she go back to making those sounds?

He tiptoed across the beach, ignoring the buzz to stay away from the shore. It was silly, since he couldn't see anyone for miles, but he'd heard Lightning. Where was she?

Hope's eyes darted towards an enormous rock that jutted out of the water, a couple of feet from the sand. He'd never really dared to go near it because it always looked like something where a leggy, poisonous creature with pincers lived. Plus, if he ever climbed it, he'd probably fall off and crack his head open or something.

And yet…

He wandered a bit closer. The sounds got louder, as did the buzzing, though it became less irritating and far more soothing. It was like listening to someone speak fluidly in a language he didn't understand.

Somehow, he was able to climb around the side of the rock, trying to be as quiet as possible. The sound of waves drowned him out as he continued to head towards that buzzing and what sounded suspiciously like Lightning's voice. It drove him on, and soon enough, he was able to peek over the rock.

He could just barely make out the sight of someone's legs, but more importantly, there was a girl in the water.

His eyes widened as she lifted herself out of the waves a bit. Her pink hair – not quite the similar shade he'd grown used to seeing, but close enough – was held off to the side with what looked like a clump of seaweed decorated with seashells and hung in a wet rope over her shoulder. The top half of her body shimmered, all the way down to what appeared to be…

"…Scales?"

There was a sharp, musical gasp and the girl immediately dove back into the sea. Hope wanted to scream out and apologize, that he hadn't meant to say anything out loud, but the blurry sight of an enormous fin disappearing into the waves shut him up.

Ha. No. No way. This was not happening!

A screech of rage brought him out of his stunned thoughts, but of course his brain went right back to la-la land when whoever was hiding in the rock scrambled to their feet and poked their head out.

"Lightning…?"

A thousand emotions flickered in her eyes – annoyance, rage, and relief among them – before she suddenly shot out of her hiding place and jumped down, running along a well-worn path he hadn't seen before.

"Hang on!" he cried, somehow making his way back to solid ground. "Lightning, wait!"

Though she'd gotten a head start on him, Lightning still wasn't quite as steady on her feet, so he managed to catch up to her, keeping a grip on her arm even though she struggled to get away. "Let go of me!"

He did, but immediately spoke. "What the hell was that back there?! I actually did see a girl with…with…"

Scales. And a fin.

"You ruined everything!" she yelled, looking like she was about two seconds away from tossing him into the sea to be shark bait. "If she doesn't come back after this, I'll…I'll never - "

For some reason, the distraught look on her face shoved his shock aside and all he wanted to do was calm her down. Hope lightly gripped her shoulders, making her face him. "Lightning, whatever the hell that was, whatever the hell is going on – tell me. Please. I won't tell anyone, I swear."

Not that it mattered. Who the hell would believe him? How could anyone logically explain how Lightning had found a…a…

She stared at him, the rage in her expression gradually fading away a bit as she stared into his eyes. Whether it was because she sensed his genuine sincerity or something else, her tense posture finally loosened somewhat. She seemed defeated, almost.

No, that wasn't quite right.

She was ashamed.

"…Her name is Serah," Lightning finally said in a voice so quiet that he had to lean in to hear, even though there was nobody else on land for miles. "She's from below the sea. And…she's my sister."

Of all the things in the world, Hope had not been expecting that.

"But…" he said after a full minute, "I saw – I mean – she had scales - "

"Yes." Lightning looked out towards the horizon, at the calm sea that gave nothing away about what was underneath. "I think humans have a name for creatures like that."

He didn't want to say it. Saying it would make it real.

But then again, he'd already seen the evidence for himself, hadn't he?

"…Mermaids."

Lightning crossed her arms, still staring out at the waves. "It doesn't sound right coming from a human."

"Excuse me?"

"The word we use is - " She said something in that screechy voice that made him wince, but something else she'd said struck him.

"'We'?"

She finally glanced away from the sea, obviously tense again. Maybe she hadn't expected him to pick up on that or hadn't meant to say it at all.

That hardly mattered now. He sighed heavily and touched her shoulder, hesitating for a second before he reached up and brushed a damp lock of hair away from her face. Oddly enough, she didn't flinch.

Maybe she knew it was time.

"Lightning," he said quietly. "I meant it. I won't tell anyone anything that you don't want me to. It's kind of obvious that you didn't come here under ordinary circumstances, so please, let me help you. I'll do whatever I can."

Their eyes met again. Vaguely, he wondered what she saw when she looked at him. A jailer? A friend? Some annoyance that she was forced to put up with? None of that seemed quite right, especially when he compared it to the look in her eyes.

"Many seasons ago, I committed a sin," she finally said. "The sea saw fit to punish me for it in the cruelest way known to us."

"The sea?"

"The waves have an energy all their own. Every drop, every turn of the tide…" Lightning wandered away a bit until her feet were right at the shore, the waves crashing around her. Hope stood behind her, not watching the ocean, but this strange, mystical woman. "It's the life that sustains us. And when my transgression endangered so many, I…"

"You mean, you…" Only then did his eyes gaze to the sea, though they quickly snapped back to Lightning. "You're a mermaid? And the ocean made you human?!"

"Yes."

He continued to stare, mouth halfway open in shock. Honestly, it wasn't so much the fact that she used to be a mermaid – after all, her sister was one, so it wasn't too hard for his brain to put together the pieces there – but it was the fact that something like this could even happen. Science didn't work like this! Hell, there wasn't even any evidence or logical explanation for mermaids existing at all! Maybe this was all one huge, elaborate joke and that Serah girl had been one of those performers that held events in aquariums or something!

Lightning suddenly turned around, looking him in the eye again with a slight frown. "You don't believe me."

"I'm trying to." He desperately wanted to. It would actually explain…well, everything, but the logical part of his mind wanted nothing to do with all of this oddity. It was magical, almost. Yeah, magic and mumbo-jumbo. A budding scientist didn't believe in stuff like that. "Most people don't believe that mermaids exist. I mean, okay, yeah, I'm sure there's some out there who do, but you'll find someone who will believe in anything you search around enough."

He was rambling and he knew it. Lightning was giving him that exasperated stare again, and now he had to wonder if that was her default expression when she didn't understand something. Or maybe he really was just that ridiculous.

"I'm going to try and see if Serah will come back," she finally said, making her way back towards the rock. "Stay away for a minute. If she returns, I'll let you meet her."

"Oh." Hope blinked a couple of times, watching Lightning stumble her way back into that hiding spot. "Um…yes. Okay."

Was he seriously sticking around to agree to meet a mermaid?

As crazy as it sounded, he had to obey and plopped down behind the rock, out of sight of any potential…mermaids swimming up to it. This was also so he could shoo away anybody who came, though he knew that no one ever wandered down this way. Except him.

How many times had he passed this stretch of shore on his way home? How often had there been something completely unthinkable under the waves while he carried on none the wiser?

In the midst of all these crazy thoughts, Lightning started in on those weird screeches and hums. He was about to jump up and ask if something was wrong, but he stayed put as the logical part of his mind tried to put the pieces together. After all, he hadn't been kidding himself earlier – this revelation really did explain a lot.

These weird screeches had been the only way for her to communicate when he'd found her. Now, despite being able to talk to him perfectly, she was making those sounds again – the sounds that she claimed would call back her mermaid sister.

Were those sounds her language? A mermaid language?

He'd never really given much thought to mermaids before. The only real exposure he'd had to them was animated cartoons and fairy tales his mother would read when he was younger. Of course, in all of those adaptations, the mermaids spoke English, so it wasn't radical for him to think that there wouldn't be any language barriers if they did exist.

But it made sense that they did have their own language. He didn't know of any human that could clearly speak underwater and there were definitely more to mermaids than their legs simply being replaced by a giant fish tail. In fact, the more he listened to Lightning's screeching, the more he realized that it somewhat resembled the sounds dolphins made underwater.

And then came that buzzing under his skin.

A much smoother sound joined the noises Lightning was making. Hope barely realized that he wasn't even breathing as he vaguely heard a loud splash. The noises grew more frantic and he had to resist the urge to get up and see for himself if there really was a mermaid on the other side of this rock. There had to be a logical explanation for all of this. There had to be.

"Hope?"

He jumped, startled at Lightning's voice suddenly calling for him. She was standing at the side of the rock, her eyes narrowed at him – but even more than that, when he stood up and walked closer, he could see it all too clearly on her face.

Nerves.

"Lightning?"

"I hope you meant what you said," she interrupted, eyes raking over his face. "You can't tell anyone about this."

"Of course I won't." Who would believe him anyway? Instead of saying as much, however, he impulsively reached out and took one of Lightning's hands, holding it in both of his while he looked her in the eye. "Whatever happens here stays between us. I swear."

She seemed more stunned by the touch than his words and stared at their joined hands for a long moment. Hope somehow managed to keep himself steady so he didn't let go…not that it would have been difficult, because he really didn't want to let go.

Eventually, she nodded ever-so-slightly, and to his surprised, maneuvered their hands so that their fingers laced together. He ignored the thudding of his heart as she led him around the rock, where there was a space that seemed juuuust big enough for the two of them to sit, hidden from the rest of the world. He'd get his pants wet, but who cared?

When they were seated – much more closely together than either of them anticipated, but neither of them seemed to mind – Lightning stared out at the water. Hope didn't see anything but waves until Lightning made a low, squeaky, humming noise in her throat. And then…

"Oh my god," he gasped, eyes wide as saucers as the girl he'd seen earlier lifted her head and broke the surface. Up close, he could see the resemblance to Lightning, though this girl – Serah – seemed a little softer, somehow. Honestly, she looked like someone he would've waved to on the street if not for the seaweed in her hair and the gills on her neck and – were those webbed fingers?!

Lightning ignored his startled reaction and Serah's wary expression, instead making a few of those squeaking sounds again. Serah responded with a low humming that made his skin shiver, confirming his theory that this was a mermaid language. But as Serah and Lightning continued to speak, it occurred to him that he'd felt this weird buzzing before today and long before he'd ever met Lightning.

Before he could dwell on that too much, Serah lifted herself out of the water a bit and Hope's eyes widened again. There was a smattering of scales around her waist and hips that formed a V-shape that gradually formed into a long tail. She lifted her fin out of the water, the translucent blue-green color of it catching in the sun.

There was absolutely no denying it now: mermaids were real.

Lightning nudged his side and raised an eyebrow. "Do you believe now?"

"I…yes," he managed to stammer out. "How can I not?" He paused, watching Serah. "Can she understand me at all?"

At this, Lightning said something to Serah and they exchanged private, wistful smiles. Weirdly, she touched the bejeweled pearl necklace she never took off. "You should be able to understand each other."

"Really?"

Serah lowered herself back into the water, cocking her head curiously. "Have you really been looking after Lightning all this time?"

Hahaha, ohhh god, he was talking to a mermaid.

Well, he supposed since apparently Lightning had been one, he'd been talking to a mermaid for all these past months…but that was a little different compared to actually seeing the tail and fins and gills. "Y-Yes," he finally stuttered. He cleared his throat and nodded, trying to make himself sound a little more normal. "I was the one that found her on the beach."

Serah's eyes widened a bit, though whether it was from his words or that fact that they could converse, he didn't know. "You did?"

"Yeah. And I guess I've been watching out for her ever since." He glanced at Lightning, daring to give her a tiny smile.

To his surprise, she returned it. "As much as you can, anyway. I still don't like human food."

"At this point, I don't think most humans don't, either." They shared a chuckle and Hope saw Serah flick her eyes between them curiously.

"You really don't mind that Lightning's human?" she interrupted.

At this, Lightning's smile faded and she stared out towards the water, sort of tucking her legs underneath herself, like she wanted to hide them. It made Hope's heart ache for some reason. "Of course not," he said. "I wouldn't know her otherwise. I didn't even know that…mermaids even existed until now."

"What if she got her tail back?" Serah asked, sounding way too innocent. Lightning made a low noise in her throat, but Serah didn't seem at all deterred by it. "Would you mind that?"

The answer was obvious. "No." He glanced at Lightning before looking back at Serah. "It'd be an honor to know her no matter where she lived or if she had legs or not."

Silence surrounded them as the sisters took in his words. He couldn't tell because it wasn't quite bright enough, but he could've sworn that Lightning's cheeks had turned pink…which didn't make his heart pound, nope, not him.

"I like you," Serah finally said, lifting herself up out of the water a bit. It took one tiny glance for him to notice that the cartoons were wrong and mermaids didn't wear seashell tops. "You've been good to my sister and now that she can't come back home, that's all I can ask for."

"Thanks." While Hope was genuinely pleased by the praise, Serah's words tugged at a thought that'd been nagging at him since he'd been discovered here today.

For better or worse, Lightning was stuck on land. Given her confusion about human life, the shame she seemed to have about being on the surface, and Serah's wariness, he could gather that mermaids getting legs wasn't exactly a common thing. During that explanation, all she'd told him was that she'd committed a sin, which made him wonder.

What had she done? What atrocity had she committed that was so awful that the sea would throw her from the only place she'd ever known and condemn her to a life she wasn't prepared for? It was basically a death sentence. If Hope hadn't found her that day…he shuddered to think of where she'd be now or if she'd even be alive to see what happened.

It was pretty clear that Lightning wasn't about to offer up this information and even if he had Serah's approval, he doubted that she would, either. No, he just had to take this one thing at a time – after all, it was crazy enough to really register that mermaids were real without trying to make sense of everything else at the same time.

"I should probably go back to the pod now," Serah eventually said. She took Lightning's hand. Hope couldn't help but stare at the mermaid's webbed fingers. "Will you be back here again?"

"Of course." There was a soft expression on Lightning's face. "I'll come back for every moon until the seasons change."

Serah grinned, then looked at Hope. "Will you come too? I had no idea live humans were so fascinating!"

Ignoring the second half of those words, Hope smiled and nodded. "I will if Lightning lets me."

"We'll see." Lightning smirked, teasing him. Probably.

With another smile, Serah squeezed Lightning's hand, webbed fingers sliding through soft human ones until the mermaid was back under the sea. There was a large ripple and he could just barely see the flash of glittering scales, but other than that, there was no indication there had been anyone there at all.

It blew his mind.

Lightning stared at the waves with a wistful expression for a minute, as though making sure Serah was safely on her way. Eventually, she nudged him and they crawled out of the rock, leaving that magic behind and coming back to the real world.

Well, sort of. There wasn't anybody on the beach and there was someone beside him who was a living, breathing embodiment of magic.

"Light?"

She blinked, either not used to nicknames or just lost in thought. "Yes?"

"Thanks for letting me meet Serah."

Lightningvisibly swallowed and nodded, going quiet as they crossed the sand to get back on the road to his place. It wasn't until they were halfway there that she took his hand, softly twining their fingers together like it was the most natural thing in the world before she answered him.

"Thank you for saving me."

–

Over the next few weeks, Hope fell into a routine. After getting any needed work done, he'd take Lightning down to the empty beach to see Serah. If he was invited to stay, he'd do so gladly, but sometimes Lightning shooed him away and he'd end up wandering around the shops a block over waiting until sunset or so to go back to her.

Sometimes Noel would text or call, but he'd gotten good at ignoring him. It wasn't that Hope didn't want to talk to his friend, but…

But nothing, his mind would say. You'd just rather be with Lightning.

It was stupid. Surely he could have more than one friend!

Lightning feels like more than just a friend, his conscience would retaliate. And even if it is only that, it's too difficult to explain to anyone now that you know the truth.

And that was the heart of the matter, wasn't it? Before he knew Lightning's secret, it would've been much easier to tell someone that she'd simply washed up on shore somewhere and that he was helping her out. Not that that wasn't the truth even now, but Hope had never been a very good liar. The enormity of this secret was sometimes too much to bear, so he stuck to just keeping close to Lightning. Luckily, she didn't seem to mind at all.

The only other person he really spoke to was Sazh, but those conversations were stilted and formal. He couldn't very well tell someone in law enforcement that Lightning hadn't been human before washing up on shore – he'd either get branded insane or people would take him seriously and start bombing the waters or whatever.

He was perfectly fine with keeping this between the three of them – himself, Lightning, and Serah. The days he got to join in on those conversations were incredible, not just because he was talking to a mermaid, but because doing so was opening up a world that he never could have possibly imagined was real. Serah spoke so casually of swimming with dolphins and whales, of migrating with the seasons, of using their voices to find food and shelter. She described how often she'd had to swim away from predators much worse than sharks and how she long to explore the whole sea.

Lightning would often add on to these stories, but as the days went on, he noticed that she looked more and more worn when it came time for them to part ways. He had to wonder if seeing Serah was actually doing her any good. After all, Lightning was stuck here and Serah would eventually need to move on with her pod.

Then again, after Serah did move on, who knew if the sisters would ever see each other again? He couldn't really relate since he didn't have any siblings. His father spoke to him maybe once a year and his mother…

Thoughts of Nora had been plaguing him more than usual lately. Maybe it was because he was spending more time around the ocean in the past few weeks than he had for the past ten years or so, but he often found himself wondering about his mother and the day that had taken her away forever. It had all happened so fast and so long ago that sometimes he thought he was remembering things wrong.

It was during one night when his brain was particularly loud that there was a soft knock on his door. He stared up at it and squinted, confusing that he might have been dreaming before there was another knock. Of course, there was only one person it could be.

"Lightning?" he called softly, his voice rough like he'd been asleep for hours.

She pushed his door open. In the dim moonlight that shone through his windows, he could see that her hair was a mess and her clothes were rumpled. Had she been tossing and turning on the couch?

"Sorry," she said, inching her way into his room. "I know this probably sounds silly, but would you mind if I slept with you?"

He could feel his face immediately grow hot. "E-Excuse me?!"

Clearly the words didn't have the same insinuation underwater, because she just gave him an odd look before continuing. "I was so used to having the pod close by, even if I didn't sleep in the same area. And it helps, having you close by, but I think seeing Serah again so often, I just…"

It took his sleep-deprived mind a second to sort through her jumble of words. "You're used to sleeping next to someone?"

"Yes. Usually Serah. Obviously you're different, but…" She trailed off again, her cheeks dusted with red.

Hope had to smile. Wordlessly, he scooted to the side and pulled back the covers, an obvious invitation. Lightning smiled at the edges of her lips and crawled into the bed, fussing with the covers for a moment. "It's so strange."

"What is?"

"That you wear all this stuff - " she pulled at her pajamas, "to sleep, and then cover yourself with more cloth. I don't know how humans do it."

It was pretty strange when she put it like that, but he just chuckled. "Yeah, I guess, but I think it's also a security thing for a lot of people."

"Security?"

"Yeah. People feel more comfortable when there's something they can hide under or burrow themselves in. I know of some who keep their homes really cold just for the excuse to cover themselves with more blankets."

"Hmmm." Lightning turned onto her side, facing him. "I guess that's not so different than what I'm doing."

"I guess you're right."

She hummed, sliding one arm under the pillow. Her other hand reached for him and he had to hold his breath as she brushed some hair out of his eyes. "It's not that cold in here."

"W-What?"

"You heard me." She flickered her eyes towards the pile of blankets Hope was covered in. "So you need comfort from something else. Is that right?"

He wondered if it was a mermaid thing to be so intuitive. Maybe it was just a Lightning thing. Not that he would know, considering the only other mermaid he'd ever met was Serah, even though sometimes he wondered.

"Does it…" He had to word this carefully, especially since Lightning never talked about whatever sin had lead her here. "Does it ever happen in reverse? What happened to you?"

She frowned a bit, her hand falling from his face. "What do you mean?"

"Do you know if it's possible for humans to become…mermaids?" The thought hurt his heart. It seemed so impossible to think that maybe, just maybe, his mother had been given another life in the sea.

But then again, there was someone impossible made possible right next to him in bed.

Lightning blinked a couple of times, more startled by the question than he thought she'd be. "Why would you ask?"

Though he didn't really want to dive too far into his memories, with all that Lighting had given him, she deserved some sort of explanation of the truth. "About ten years ago," he said quietly, swallowing the lump in this throat, "I was out on my family's boat. There was a sudden storm out of nowhere and my mother, she..she went overboard. She didn't come back up. I saw everything."

Lightning completely froze, eyes widening as she took in his words. He was about to ask her if everything was okay when she abruptly shook her head. "No. I've never heard of a human becoming one of us. The sea wouldn't do such a thing so lightly."

"Oh." Unexpectedly, tears rose in his eyes. Lightning wouldn't lie to him about something like that. And even if he knew the whole thought was farfetched – that Nora could still be alive somewhere – hearing that it was impossible broke his heart. It was like losing her all over again.

He might have stayed like that all night, just blinking tears from his eyes, but only one escaped when an arm suddenly slid around his waist. Lightning scooted a bit closer and he instinctively readjusted himself so that her head was on his arm. "Light…?"

"It's a comfort thing, you said." She looked up at him through her eyelashes. "Right?"

"R-Right." His arm gently wound around her and she seemed to find comfort in that as well. Amazingly, he did feel a little more relaxed. How long had it been since he'd held someone like this? Had it ever been so gentle, so natural?

Despite having Lightning so close, his thoughts still wandered, both to his mother's death and the fate of the woman nestled in his arms.

Neither of them slept much that night.

–

Something was wrong.

He didn't know this because he'd asked or because Lightning had said anything. No, he could just tell that there was something on her mind – just the way she ate her sushi a little more aggressively or the tense curve of her shoulders. Sometimes he thought about asking, but something always stopped him. Maybe it was because she'd taken to sleeping beside him way more often now and he didn't want to mess that up.

Which, Hope realized, was a stupid reason. But then again, smitten people didn't have much in the way of reason. Noel did stupid things all the time because of Yeul.

He wondered what it said about him that he used those two as basis for comparison. Hope knew he was somewhat popular among his peers and he wasn't oblivious to the way other girls – and some of the guys – looked at him. But while he wasn't exactly inexperienced, the desire for anything more had never really occurred to him. He usually blamed his work.

Lightning, though…she was different. It wasn't just because they lived together or that he knew her secret or because the shimmer in her skin dazzled him like nothing else. There was something more that he knew he would always be drawn to in a way no one else would ever compare.

So when he knew that something was wrong, all of his instincts were telling him to go fix it somehow. Which would've been fine, except, of course, he had no idea what was bothering her.

It didn't help that she was seeing Serah alone more often lately, like she suddenly couldn't stand to have him there. According to Serah, it was nearly time for the pod to move on, so Hope couldn't really blame Lightning for wanting some final memories with her sister.

Was that what was the matter? Maybe the finality of the situation was finally getting to her. Lightning and Serah didn't have the same names for the oceans or landmarks that they had here on land, so it wasn't like Hope could get Lightning on a plane so they could follow each other.

Not that he wanted to let her go.

He knew that Lightning missed the sea desperately, but he was selfish enough to be happy that she was here – that he was the only person she could really communicate with. If she had to stay on land, he wanted her to be with him, if that was what she wanted to.

But of course, he couldn't really ask as much when she was so agitated. Confessing anything outright would probably get him a punch in the jaw. It had to be enough that she kept crawling into his bed and clinging to him like she didn't want to let go.

Right?

Ugh, maybe he did need to say something. If it wasn't a confession, he could just ask her if something was wrong. No harm in that.

It was a few days after this thought that Hope finally even started to muster the courage to say something. He wasn't really sure why he was so nervous, but Lightning's agitation was growing more and more obvious and it was worrying him.

"Light?"

She glanced over at him, skin just barely shimmering in the relative darkness of the room. They were both lying in his bed, not touching and nowhere near sleep. "Yes?"

"Is something wrong?"

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I…" Hope sat up a little and she followed suit, since clearly neither of them were about to drift off. "You've seemed kinda…I don't know, angry or something for awhile now." He paused. "Is it about Serah?"

"No." Lightning hugged her knees close to her chest. "Not really. I knew the pod would have to move on eventually."

"Is there something else, then?"

She paused for a long time, but when it was clearly he wasn't about to drop it, her hands clenched ever-so-slightly, appearing to debate something in her mind before she finally asked, "…Could you tell me about your mother?"

Hope sat up a littlestraighter, clearly not expecting that. "Huh? Why?"

"I just…I want to know."

There was obviously more to it, but he knew better than to push. Instead, he went quiet, gathering his thoughts of the long gone, steeling the pain in his heart. Though he didn't particularly like talking about Nora, if doing so helped Lightning with whatever she was going through, than it was worth it.

"We were really close," he finally said in a quiet voice. Lightning edged a bit closer. "My dad was always more interested in work, so I never really got to know him. We still don't talk at all. I think I remind him of her."

"You looked alike? You and your mother?"

"Yeah. I got this from her." Hope tugged on his hair, to which Lightning gave a faint smile. "Maybe that's why we had such a strong bond. She was the one who told me that I could be a scientist someday. She supported and believed in everything I wanted to do. I was a teenager when she died, so sometimes I think that might've just messed me up for life. It's kind of a pivotal time in a person's life up here, so when she was gone, everything just kind of…stopped for a long time. I don't think I ever really recovered, to be honest."

It was the most he'd said about Nora in years. None of it was new information – not to him, anyway – but tears still pricked out of the corners of his eyes. He hastily wiped them away.

Lightning remained quiet for another long moment. "You told me she drowned, yes?"

"Yeah." He was surprised that a mermaid even knew the concept, but given what Serah had said a few times about seeing human bodies in the water, he supposed that someone living in the sea would eventually come to know about it. "I think I told you, but there was a freak storm when we were out on my family's boat. A huge wave crashed into it and she was the only one who went overboard."

"I remember."

"You do?"

There was a pause before she nodded. "You told me once."

"Oh." Hope sighed a rubbed a hand over his face. "Hey, do you mind if we continue this conversation later? I just remembered that I've got a paper to write tomorrow." While that was true, he didn't mention that it was practically done. He just suddenly felt weary to his bones, like talking about Nora for just those few minutes had completely worn him down.

Lightning nodded and he smiled slightly as they both lay back down. She scooted up to him and their arms seemed to instinctively wrap around each other. It was comforting enough for him to eventually drift off to sleep.

His slumber meant that he didn't notice that Lightning's eyes remained open the rest of the night.

–

Guilt thrummed through her veins even louder than her longing for the sea. It always got a thousand times worse when Hope looked at her or smiled at her or did something ridiculously sweet, like buy her her favorite fish she'd grown accustomed to here on the surface.

Lightning had never imagined anything like this would come from her punishment. When she'd woken up that day, wobbling around on the shore with human legs she'd imagined…well, nothing, because what kind of life was this? Life would simply stop once she was thrown from the only home she'd ever known.

But meeting Hope and getting to know him…

It was clear from the start that he had a good heart. She'd just been too deep in her own agony to realize it. And of course, now that she realized he was someone she could see herself always being with, fate decided to punish her even further.

You will be taken away from everything close to your heart.

Would he still want to be with her if she told him everything? Or would he toss her aside, back to more humans that would never understand her? Maybe meeting Hope was a part of her punishment – just when she finally thought she could be okay with being human, at least with him, he'd leave and she would be alone.

Maybe she would go back to the sea if that happened. Lightning was used to being alone and shunned, but being by herself when the pod was nearby versus being completely alone and unable to communicate here on the surface were two completely different situations. If she found herself without anyone in the world, perhaps the ocean would take her back and she could sleep forever under the waves – maybe with these horrible legs, but at least then she'd be home.

Or as home as she could be without Hope.

Still, perhaps this was all a little preemptive. Maybe he'd be understanding. That was something she liked about him, after all. She could explain and somehow make amends and everything would be fine.

When she approached him, he was staring at a screen and making tapping noises – computer, he called it. It was one of the more fascinating things here on the surface, but she just couldn't wrap her head around everything it could do.

But no matter. She cleared her throat and he immediately glanced up, giving her a soft little smile that she was sure he wasn't even aware of. "Light?"

The nickname made her chest hurt in the best and worst ways. It always had. "I need to tell you something."

"What is it?"

She instantly knew it would take much more to get the words out than mere guilt. It didn't help when Hope closed his computer and stood up to lightly grasp her hands. She squeezed them a bit before looking away. Staring him in the eyes would take too much.

"When I was very young, I lost my father," she finally said. Hope made a confused sound, but just continued to listen. "But that didn't matter so much to me, because I had Serah and my mother. She was the backbone of the pod. We traveled to the best seas, had the best food and weapons, and Serah and I were treated incredibly well because of her."

Perhaps he thought he could guess how this would end, because Hope made a sympathetic noise and reached for her again. "Light - "

She turned away. "Many moons ago, when I was starting to be seen as a productive member of the pod, I wanted to do right by my mother. I wanted to impress her and the rest of the pod, to show that I could be just as good." Lightning swallowed a lump in her throat. She'd never said any of this out loud – she'd never had to. Everyone she'd ever known had seen it.

"I tried to hunt for a special school of fish that's prized among my people, but there were so many. Schools of fish can suffocate one of us if it's big enough of one, and especially if they're panicking." She let out a trembling breath. "As they tend to do when humans are hunting them."

Hope was still watching her. Guilt continued to rise when she saw the soft look on his face. "What happened?"

"They surrounded me," Lightning said. As young as she had been then, it was easy for the school to overwhelm her. The memory still made her shudder in fear. "I was starting to panic as well, because I saw the net some humans were using. Usually one of us can get out of them easily if we happen to be caught, but in the state I was in…"

"No way that was happening?"

"No." Lightning clenched her fists when she saw her hands were shaking. "I don't know how she found me, but my mother came and rescued me. She didn't see the net. I was dazed and confused and was still scared from such a big school nearly suffocating me. I didn't see it." Her voice was shaking now. "I didn't see the net wrap around her neck until it was too late and it happened so fast and it crushed her gills and it was all my fault - "

"Light," Hope interrupted. He reached for her again, and this time she let him hold her. The relief was so immediate that she fell to her knees and he followed, the two of them a pathetic, crumbled heap on the floor. "Lightning, I…I'm so sorry. I…"

I don't deserve your forgiveness, was what she wanted to say. Instead, she kept going. "I cut her from the net, but by then, it was too late. I knew it was my fault, but I also blamed humans for having the net in the first place, for making the school so scared. I wanted them to pay." She looked up, not quite at him. "So I sang."

"You sang?"

"Yes." Serah had explained to Hope over the course of their visits how their people could use their voices to gather food, to find safe places, to communicate – it was what gave them such power in the seas.

But none of them sang of revenge.

"I was angry, so I let my voice go." Lightning shuddered again, remembering how that voice had felt coming from her – powerful, otherworldly. Dangerous. "I wanted humans to pay for what they'd done."

"Light…" He still didn't get it. Not yet.

"It was enough to summon a storm," she said quietly. "A sudden storm out of nowhere."

Hope gasped.

Now he understood.

"The waves felt my fury. They let loose my anger. It rose and rose and there were some humans nearby on a boat – in my rage, I turned my voice to them. They heard my song." A tear escaped her eye, unnoticed by either of them. "And the waves that I made, because of my song, took one of the humans from the boat."

Hope was shaking. He was still holding onto her, but his grip had slackened and he was staring at Lightning like she was the very thing she'd always felt like she was since committing such a sin.

A monster.

"Both my pod and the sea were furious with me for letting humans hear my song, that my voice caused a casualty. People drown often, but not because…not because of something unnatural." She shook her head, just wanting to get away from that look on Hope's face. "I caused an unnatural shift in the waves, and for that, I had to be punished."

He was still staring at her. It seemed like hours before he finally croaked out a response. "You…you made that storm? The storm that killed my mother?"

It took every ounce of strength Lightning didn't know she possessed to respond. "Yes."

His hold on her completely fell away. It didn't matter why she had done what she did, not to him. She could tell that all that mattered was that now he knew, and like when he'd first discovered that she came from the sea, his world was forever changed.

Only this time, it was in the worst way possible.

She couldn't stand seeing that stunned, heartbroken look of betrayal on his face. It shattered her heart into a thousand pieces, reminding her of that moment she saw the net around her mother's neck too late.

"I'm so sorry," she eventually whispered before getting up and racing out the door, to be anywhere but close to endless agony.

–

Hope had no idea how long he sat there completely frozen with shock. It was a wonder that he remembered to breathe at all, that his heart still remembered to keep beating and time actually moved forward.

He'd always thought there was something strange about that day his mother died. Everything had felt off-kilter since then, though of course that was easy to blame on losing his mother at such a young age.

But he hadn't gone and tried to destroy anyone else's family!

…Then again, if he'd had the ability, the thought was too tempting. Eye for an eye. It almost made sense why Lightning had done what she did after losing her mother right in front of her eyes, all because of a mistake she'd made.

And the song. That explained the weird noises he'd heard over the fury of the storm. Maybe that was even what he'd heard that day he was out on the boat with Noel, right before he found Lightning.

Had a mermaid's song been buzzing under his skin all this time? Lightning's song?

This was too much to take in. He could barely keep his thoughts straight. He just needed – he need to get out, get away, or maybe sleep for a year so he could have time to process everything -

Wait.

"Lightning?" he croaked out, stumbling to his feet. The room had gone dark with the passing of sunset. Twilight dimmed the sky and he had the prickly sensation of being alone.

Lightning was gone.

His immediate instinct was to panic, since she was technically under his care and Sazh would be furious if she was missing. He went to check all the rooms, but his heart thudded with nerves every time he came up empty.

How long had she been gone? He wasn't even sure how much time had passed. With the state of shock he still felt like he was in, it could've been minutes or days since Lightning had left.

But as he wrestled open the door and shot out of there, it occurred to him that there was only one place she would go.

So he ran.

At this time of night, all the tourists stuck closer to the main city, so when he got to the abandoned stretch of beach, it felt even more empty than usual when he couldn't hear any murmurs in the distance. But that hardly mattered, because when his feet finally hit the sand, he saw the one person he'd be hoping to see.

Lighting stood at the edge of the shore, the gentle waves lapping around her feet as she stared out at the horizon. She didn't seem to see Hope as he slowly made his way over to her. The sea breeze lightly ruffled her hair, and despite the anguish in her expression, she also seemed weirdly calm. The tense hold that'd taken her body was gone.

Even though she had legs, even though she was covered in human clothes and had no gills or scales or webbed fingers, she was still otherworldly. Beautiful.

And all this time, she'd been just as broken as he was.

"I forgive you."

She turned her gaze away from the sea, blinking a couple of times. She didn't seem all that surprised to see him there. "How can you?"

"Because…" He wished that he could sing like a mermaid, because a song from his heart was the only real way to explain, but words would have to do. "Because I might have done the same if I were you. Everything happened so fast that day, and I was just a stupid kid who couldn't convince his mom to put on her life jacket before she made sure mine was on. I didn't have any power at all, but you did. You did something about your pain, and even if it was the wrong thing, it was all you could do at the time."

"If it wasn't for me, your mother would still be alive."

"Neither of us were wearing life jackets before that storm hit. If one of us had to go under, I think she would've been okay with it being her instead of me." He dared to reach out and take Lightning's hand. To his surprise, she didn't resist. "Light, it's been over ten years. Yes, it hurts, and yes, I was shocked and mad and I don't even know what else. I still don't think I've processed all of it properly. But none of that matters."

"How can you say that?!"

He pulled her a bit closer. "Because no matter what you did, you didn't deserve to wait around so long for the ocean to punish you. You didn't deserve to feel like a sinner and then be tossed aside like nothing. Lightning - " Hope let go of her hand to instead cup her face. She remained still, her feet still firmly planted in the waves. "You were angry and you were in pain, and even though you made a mistake that changed my life, I still forgive you because I understand why it happened." His voice was desperate now, begging her to understand. "I still forgive you because I love you."

At those words, her hands flew to cover his like she was going to pry them off of her face, but she did no such thing. Lightning stood there, him in the sand and her in the sea, with only the salty air and each other for company. She didn't say anything, but she didn't have to. The way her eyes softened told him everything.

She believed him. Finally, she'd also forgiven herself.

The comfort in this revelation lasted but a second before she let out a screech of horror. Hope instinctively jumped away as something dark and smokey rose from the lapping waves and pulled Lightning towards the water, despite her obvious struggles to get away from it.

"Hope!"

"Light!" Words stopped him like a physical barrier as he tried to get to her.

You will be taken away…from everything close to your heart.

The words were a song that sounded older than time itself, of life and storms and depth that was incomprehensible.

Was that song…coming from the sea?

Had that been the truth of Lightning's punishment all along? Being taken from what was close to her heart? Did that mean…?

The smoke and water continued to pull her into a whirlpool, dragging her from the land and back to where she came – back to a place where he could never be, where he'd never see her exasperated face or give her bland sushi or experience her soft smile in the light of dawn after they'd spent the night cuddling close.

So Hope did the only thing he could.

He jumped in after her.

The vortex claimed him and at first he was surrounded by anger at his defiance, but that quickly passed and something close to forgiveness filled him instead. The wisdom of the oceans remade him, giving him new instincts, molding his body into one of their own.

Time no longer had any meaning. It could have been minutes, days, years that he was remade, but such words meant nothing here. He ebbed and flowed like the tide, counted by the moon, moved with the passing of the seasons and changes in the sea. Everything was brand new, yet somehow ingrained in him in a deep part he could never hope to reach until now.

When the dark was done overshadowing him, he woke to the light of a new dawn in the form of a song.

"Hope."

His eyes blinked open. Lightning was right in front of him, wearing nothing but her necklace, her hair billowing around her as she reached out and touched his face. His skin felt hard and rough under her scaly fingertips and he suddenly had the oddest sensation that he wasn't standing on his two legs.

Slowly, Hope looked down. Lightning did as well, though her reaction was nothing to the high-pitched yelp he let out.

Instead of his legs, he now had a silvery-green tail, complete with shimmering, translucent fins.

He held up his hands, spreading his webbed fingers. All at once, he was aware of the gills in his neck, his enhanced vision and how everything just seemed…bigger than himself. And when he spoke, his voice came out in a primal language he somehow just knew.

"Light…" he said, finally looking at her with wide eyes. "Am I…? Are you…?"

"I was supposed to be taken away by what was closest to my heart. At first, that was Serah, but…" She reached up and brushed some hair from his forehead. "I don't think the sea expected that to change. And I don't think it was ever thought that my heart would try to save me when I caused him so much grief. My sin has been repented."

It took a second in Hope's shock to process the words. "You mean…your punishment's over? You don't have to worry anymore?"

She nodded in agreement, a smile he'd never quite seen before gracing her face. It was like he was finally seeing the real her, without any of the confusion and secrets. A second later, however, it faded when she glanced down at his tail. "I didn't think this would happen, though. I never expected the sea to take me back, much less for you to come after me. I don't know, but…I mean, I'm sure we can find some way to reverse it if you wanted to go back."

Though of course he wanted to say yes, something stopped him. What did he have on land? An estranged father and one good friend? A lifetime of work and loneliness ahead?

Whereas here in the sea, he could live a life that he literally hadn't known was possible until Lightning had come into his life. Sure, it could be tough – hell, a shark could show up right now and bite their heads off – but would he trade this amazement and wonder for a life he otherwise knew would be mediocre?

And besides all that…

Hope cupped Lightning's face again. He had no idea if things were done here the same way they were on land, but judging from the way she smiled when he leaned in to capture her lips, he could guess that it was one similarity land and sea shared.

"If it's all the same to you," he murmured in his new language when they'd finally pulled apart from the kiss, bare inches between their lips, "I think I'll stay."

Lightning slid her arms around his waist, a calm, confident smile on her face. "Serah and the rest of the pod started their migration already. We might be able to catch up if we hurry." Her hold on him tightened a bit. "Think you can keep up?"

He smiled, daring another kiss before her took her hands, their webbed fingers sliding together as he gave his tail a few kicks, reveling in the sensation, the power of ease to move in the water like this. "Lead the way."

The sea had once forsaken him and taken away all that he held dear. Yet somehow, life had twisted around him and now he had everything he could have ever wanted.

The ocean had brought him home.

lol did you think I forgot about this challenge so close to the end? heck no! it took me about a year to write this one...I'm sure you can all guess why lmao. one more to go!

please leave a review if you would all be so kind!