Disclaimer: Don't Own.

Word Count: 1618

Pairing: AoKuro

I'm sorry, this is probably insanely weird. AU to the max. Idea has been floating around in my head for a little over a month so here we go. Title entirely random, but do my titles ever have anything to do with my story usually?

Unbeta'd, will get around to looking over it.

Once upon a time there was a young boy. He was born sickly and frail, growing up shunned and practically invisible by the tribe he was born into. The boy could do very little and any attempts at manual labor generally led to him collapsing weeks at a time. He would venture off through the woods that separated their tribe from the sea and sit on the beach for hours watching the water and the birds that flew freely. He would watch as they dove into the ocean, retrieving one of the many fish that swam in its' waters.

He would often daydream, contemplating a variety of subjects as the waves lapped at his feet, wonder what it would be like to be healthy. However, the boy had a single wish; one that he's dreamt of since he was a child. That wish was to one day swim in the sea.

X.x.x.x.X

Warmth poured through open windows as a breeze swept the small sea-lining village, the sun high in a blanket of light blue and fluffy white clouds. Many villagers were long awake since dawn, foraging, fishing, and hunting. Some working the fields, while others cared for animals, made clothing, repaired homes, and other tasks required to keep the village alive and thriving. The elderly villagers taught the younger children history, teaching the legends of the world, and of a civilization that thrived on technology.

They would teach that thousands of years ago, the gods had become unhappy with human kinds advancements. They condemned the technology that they'd built over thousands of years themselves, and so punished them by melting the polar caps and sending down a never-ending sheet of rain. They taught that the science of that period had managed to enable humankind to breathe beneath water, and that is why they, the villagers, existed. After the gods had been satisfied, they'd taken the rain away, made volcanoes erupt, and once more created land masses.

The water people began to slowly come out of the water all across the world, bringing vegetation from the sea to spread across the lands. The gods granted the water people with new trees and animals and the land began to turn lush and green with trees and vegetation once more. The water people began to use these trees to make villages in fields, in forests, on beaches, and deserts. Tribes began to form and after several generations they became solely land-dwellers without the ability to breathe beneath water once more. However, not all the water people ascended to land, and so it is still legend today that they exist beneath the oceans' depths.

It was a story akin to a fairytale, and being the oldest tribe in existence, the Teikou tribe was looked up to and well-believed. Of course, there were also tribes that disregarded any of this or simply didn't care. They generally kept to themselves.

Another ripple of wind fluttered baby blue bangs, closed eyes opening to reveal just as blue eyes as the pale occupant sat up from bed. A soft sigh escaped his lips as he eyed the sun bearing through the window, lighting the floorboards of the small home. He shivered despite the warmth of the day before crawling out of the bed, changing his clothes, eating a little, and cleaning up. The first step outside of his small home had him squinting his eyes against the bright sun before he moved forward unnoticed. He walked to another building and entered, watching the children learn for some time before greeting the elder man when he dismissed them for an hour.

"Good morning, Tetsuya. Did you sleep well?"

The boy, Tetsuya, gave a small smile with a nod, "I did, Grandfather. I'm feeling well today."

The elder man gave a smile. It was sad, but the boy had been born sickly. The others' of the village claimed it a curse of his mothers' vivid curiosity. She often wandered to the sea and came back late at night. They claimed that Tetsuya was not her husbands' son, but the son of a water person and that the gods cursed her and he'd been born terribly fragile; they had not expected him to live more than a few days.

But now the boy was seventeen, and despite never growing better, had his mothers' very same curiosity. He looked nothing like his father, obtained his mothers' eyes, but she'd been quite a few shades darker in color than him, and her hair a rich black. His father also looked entirely different, darker than his mother yet with black hair and brown eyes. Another reason they believed that he was not his fathers' son.

The rumors did not bother Tetsuya, however. Instead he enjoyed the freedom of people believing he was the result of a curse—he himself cursed—and enjoyed their blindness to his coming and going. He would wander to the ocean and remain there all day; his Grandfather would sometimes come to him, bring him food and water, and sit there with him for a time. At times they'd talk, but more often than not they'd sit in silence and listen to the sea and the wildlife.

After an hour the elder man would stand, gently place a hand on Tetsuya's pale blue hair, before making his way back to the village. Tetsuya would smile but his eyes would remain riveted to the deep blue in longing. The stories always piqued his curiosity; he would see the fishers go into the water, would stay beneath the surface for minutes at a time, and it made him curious.

He wanted to swim in the ocean, see what was beyond the surface. But he knew that he'd be unable to stay under for long, that with his weak constitution he'd be unable to carry himself through the water, and so the farthest he could truly go was to his knees.

Tetsuya bid his Grandfather a good day after sitting with him until the children returned. Leaving the building, he headed to the water as usual, knowing that even if he offered help he would be turned away and asked to find someone else to help. Such was a normal occurrence to him. He seated himself on the beach, watching birds dive before coming back up, as the water lapped at the shoreline in a gentle tease, and foam spread across the surface of the sand.

His Grandfather visited him sometime in the afternoon as per usual, sat with him in silence as they both ate a late lunch according to the sun that was beginning to cast an orange glow as it crossed the sky and every so slowly began to descend. The elder man kissed the top of Tetsuya's hair before murmuring, 'Don't stay out too late.' He omitted the known words of 'it's not good for your health', Tetsuya was already plenty aware of them. Then he was gone and the bluenette was left to his devices yet again.

Lying down, he crossed his arms beneath his head, eyes slipping shut as the gentle breeze caressed his skin, fluttered his hair and loose robe-like clothing. He hadn't realized he'd fallen asleep until he stirred hours later, sun beginning to dip, the ocean reflecting the sky and looking much like a blazing fire. Tetsuya sat up, recalling his dreams of swimming beneath the surface and he made a decision.

He stood, fingers deftly untying the robe. It dropped to the sandy beach, leaving him entirely nude as he walked forward in curiosity. He shouldn't do this, but, he felt he had to. The pull felt particularly strong after that dream, and he gave in.

The water was warm as it lapped at his feet, kissing his skin as he walked further and further; ankles, shins, knees, thighs, hips, waist, stomach, chest, shoulders. Inhaling softly he went under, feeling the water gently caress his body as he moved down, deeper. Opening his eyes was odd at first, the salt in the water strange, unusual but it did not burn. Not like when some of the villagers had ventured out for the first time, opened their eyes beneath and had come up with a gasp and eyes watering.

He smiled, seeing streaks of sunlight flashing through the water, seeing blue and orange and pink beneath the surface. He could see how vast and open it truly was, seeing several fish swim by before disappearing into the distance just as quickly. As the need to breathe grew, his smile fell flat and he moved to swim back to the shore. However a semi-large wave pushed at him, pulled as it drew back out to sea and left his limbs tired as he tried to force himself back to the surface, back to the shore.

Tetsuya reached for his throat, clasping his hand around it as if it would help keep what was left of his breath inside. Another wave hit him, though, knocking the breath from his lungs as he tried to claw to the surface. His vision grew dark, could see that the sky was growing darker as the sun set.

Tetsuya briefly thought of his stupidity; he knew he was too weak. Knew he'd lack of breath, knew that if the tide rose he would be unable to pull himself out. He shouldn't have gone deeper than what he usually did; but the moon had already begun pulling, strengthening the waves that gently lapped the beach during the day. He tried to breathe again, feeling the water choke him as his vision went completely dark, a single thought flitting through his mind as he fell unconscious.

'Am I going to die here?'

A/N: Should I continue? Or is it just too weird?