Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Come on Mir! We're going to miss the show!" Zoey huffed as she swam circles around her lover.

Mira rolled her eyes but still smiled as she said, "You say that but all these shows are the same. Drunk sailors come out and have a riot of a party on their ship, singing and dancing the night away before falling asleep on the deck."

"And I love seeing it every time!"

Zoey had a fascination for all things human. Mira couldn't say she shared the sentiment, maybe just a mild curiosity at best, but she loved making Zoey happy, and if seeing the drunk humans made her lover happy, then by Poseidon she was going to accompany her towards the surface so they could people-watch.

They should have known this wasn't a simple merchant ship when they surfaced to survey the area. The wood of the ship was too new, the decorations too shiny, and the sails were way too intact to have been through its share of sea storms.

"Maybe we should watch this one from a distance Zo," Mira murmured.

But Zoey didn't share any of her trepidation, and actually vaulted out of the sea before diving back in, like the dolphin she'd befriended had taught her. Thankfully, the sun had set and they were hidden by the ship's massive height.

"Where's your sense of adventure?" Zoey asked, swimming closer.

"It's hidden under the mollusks, from the last time we nearly got harpooned because Davy Jones spotted you!" Mira hissed, hoping Zoey would get the hint and keep her voice down.

Zoey scoffed. "Davy Jones, funny. I'm pretty sure that's not his real name, and he was completely drunk."

"Not drunk enough that he didn't graze you!' Mira countered.

"Mira, he thought I was a seagull, we're fine! Now help me up."

Against her better wishes, she helped Zoey reach the rope ladder that hung from the middle of the ship. Zoey had once explained to her it was called a Jacob's ladder, but Mira regretted asking. Why all these ships had a rope master named Jacob eluded her, so she preferred to just call it a ladder, for her sanity.

Once Zoey was holding firmly with one hand, she helped Mira get on as well.

Climbing rope ladders was a bit difficult without those pesky human legs, but Zoey called it a good exercise for their arms, and Mira could hardly complain.

The higher they climbed, the livelier the music was, and Zoey was getting all the more excited.

They peered through the ship's scuppers, and saw a wild party underway.

People were dancing and laughing merrily, and Zoey was enchanted. She looked so happy it was hard for Mira to not see this all as very much worth the worry of getting caught. Even she was cracking a smile as she saw the festivities.

But then someone began to sing, and they were enraptured.

More mesmerizing than the voice of a siren, this woman with the most vibrant shade of purple hair began to croon and it made Mira's mouth dry.

"Still think it's the same show as always?" Zoey asked teasingly.

Mira grumbled something unintelligible, before admitting, "Yeah, she's nice."

"Nice? How about gorgeous?"

"Okay, fine - she's gorgeous, but she's also a human, tiny detail," Mira pointed out. "Therefore, out of bounds."

"You're no fun." Zoey pouted, but her attention was still on the beautiful singer.

As the song ended and people began to clap and cheer, the woman looked up and regarded the crowd around her.

Mira was watching her intently, but she froze when the singer looked right at her.

She gasped, and pulled Zoey back so they were out of the scuttle's sight.

"What happened?" Zoey whispered harshly.

"She looked right at us!" Mira hissed.

They heard footfalls, and Mira glanced above to see delicate hands grasping the gunwale.

"Hmm, must be imagining things," they heard, and Zoey grimaced. They were way too close, but they couldn't get back down without making any noise - using the ladder would make it hit against the side of the boat, and dropping would leave two large splashes.

"You know they're asking for an encore," another voice said, a man.

The woman chuckled. "I'll be right there, Bobby."

"Enjoying the view?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah, but I thought I saw something."

"Like?"

"Eyes!"

Bobby chuckled. "Okay Rumi, fess up. Which sailor let you into the grog?"

The woman, Rumi, let out a rich laugh. "None of them did, I swear I saw eyes. They were beautiful eyes."

Mira glanced at Zoey. Their eyes were nothing special, surely nothing to remark so fondly? Maybe this Bobby was right, and this girl had gotten into the grog. She'd tried it once when a bottle had dropped into the ocean. Her verdict? Yuck.

"Beautiful eyes on the outside of the ship? Like...merpeople?" Bobby seemed to be genuinely afraid.

"I don't know, but wouldn't it be wonderful? Exploring the seas and discovering all the secrets it holds?" Rumi's wonder definitely made Zoey's heart skip a beat.

"Yeah I'm not exactly looking to get up-close and personal with that."

"Coward," Rumi teased, and Zoey knew she liked her already.

Eventually - and thankfully - the pair walked away, thus allowing the two mermaids to drop back down into the water.

"That was way too close," Mira said as she let the water surround her once again.

"I know, wasn't it great?" Zoey said, eyes wide and excited.

"No, not great! We were almost discovered, Zoey! Yes, she was very pretty, but that doesn't mean she wouldn't hand us over to those weird humans who kidnap merpeople! Jinu's still missing, remember?"

That finally drove some sense into Zoey. "I know, but she didn't seem the type, I think she genuinely would have liked to see us."

They began to swim back silently, until Mira felt the need to add, "Well, it's over now. It was nice while it lasted, but it's unlikely we'll ever see them again."

BOOM!

A loud explosion rocked the water around them, and they looked at one another in trepidation.

They swam back up, surfacing just enough to watch the scene unfold.

No longer was the ship this majestic figure against the night sky, it was now on fire, and quickly deteriorating. Both masts were lit up, and the wood groaned and creaked as it fell apart.

Zoey pushed Mira out of the way as pieces of debris began to fall around them. "We should leave."

And for once, Mira couldn't agree more.

They were just about to dive back in when they heard, "Rumi! Where are you?"

The singer!

They both turned back around to look.

Most of the crew had piled into the dinghies the ship had been carrying, and they could see someone - probably Bobby - calling out for Rumi.

"I think she was still helping some people get out!" another sailor yelled back.

The mermaids looked up at the burning ship, and there, they spotted a flash of purple.

She was helping an older sailor climb over the edge and drop down into the water.

Just as she was about to climb over herself, Mira spotted the main mast beginning to move. She had to do something.

"Watch out behind you!" she bellowed, before hiding behind some debris and bringing Zoey with her.

They couldn't see where Rumi had gone, but they heard the wood of the mast creaked as it fell with a loud splash, generating strong waves that drove Zoey away from her.

"Mira!" Zoey yelled.

"Hang on Zoey, I'm coming!" Mira began to swim, but the currents were too strong. She dove under the surface to try to make things easier for herself.

She saw Zoey had also submerged, but her lover was swimming towards the wreckage.

"What are you doing?" Mira asked, swimming after her.

"Look! Rumi's there."

And true enough, Rumi had fallen into the water, and was quickly sinking.

Zoey caught her, slipping her arms under Rumi's armpits.

"is she okay?" Mira asked as she approached.

"Of course she's not, humans can't breathe here, remember?"

Mira did, of course she did, but had foolishly forgotten until Zoey reminded her. "We should try to float her back up so the other people from the ship can grab her."

"No way, she'll sink." Even Zoey was having trouble staying still, so Mira took Rumi in her arms.

"Come on, there's a coast nearby, we can take her there."

They swam as quickly as they could, making sure to bring Rumi up to the surface periodically so her lungs wouldn't fill up with water.

Eventually, they washed up on shore. There was no one around, so Mira propped up Rumi to lay against her back, while Zoey fretted over over the singer in front of her.

"I don't think she's breathing," Zoey murmured. "She must've swallowed too much water..."

Mira wrapped her arms around the human's chest, and firmly pressed. She'd seen other sailors do it when someone was choking.

The figure in her arms tensed before she began to cough and heave water, and both mermaids breathed a sigh of relief.

When Rumi sagged against Mira again, Zoey brought her hands to cup the human's cheeks.

"Mira..." Zoey breathed, glancing at the nasty wound on the side of Rumi's head.

"She's hurt," Mira remarked. How they had missed it was beyond them.

Zoey began to hum a melody, the fingers from her right hand weaving the air near the wound. Mira joined in, watching as their song began to heal the gash.

The first thing Rumi noted was the beautiful and haunting melody. What had happened? Where was she? She didn't want to open her eyes, afraid of losing this beautiful song that was clearly part of her dreams. No one could sing so beautifully in real life.

Next thing she noted was that her clothes were very soggy, sticking to every pore of her skin, to the point that moving was much harder to do.

So she decided to just lay there, listening to the music, feeling scales beneath her fingers-

Wait, scales?

"I think she's waking up," said a voice from somewhere close by.

A hand, that had been previously keeping her right cheek warm, moved. Rumi hoped her whine wasn't too pathetic. Another voice asked, "Should we leave her? I don't want to leave her."

And Rumi didn't want these two to leave. She cracked an eye open.

Blearily, she regarded a beautiful young woman, and she flashed what was hopefully a smile.

"Hi," she croaked as she opened both her eyes properly, and gods did her voice sound horrible.

The woman's face flashed in a slight panic, before she smiled softly. "Hi, how're you feeling?"

"Like I went through quite an ordeal, what happened?" Rumi groggily explained, wanting to sit up straighter.

But then she felt the scales again, and she froze.

"Shhh," whispered the first voice. "Don't try to sit up too fast, you swallowed a lot of water."

Rumi's head lolled back and she looked up. If the first woman was beautiful, this other one was gorgeous.

"Did I die?" That would be a logical explanation for why she was surrounded by beautiful women.

The woman who was holding her from behind chuckled. "I hope not."

Chapter Text

“How did I get here?”

Rumi felt two warm hands cup her cheeks and she looked towards the beautiful woman in front of her. “We pulled you out of the water. What’s the last thing you remember?”

They were all dancing and singing, having a great time, until… “There was an explosion somewhere, and then fire everywhere . I was helping someone get to the lifeboats and…”

Rumi stopped as she recalled hearing someone yelling for her to look behind her, how she narrowly missed the mast crashing on top of her. Then falling, darkness, water filling up her lungs…she began finding it hard to breathe.

Rumi clutched at her chest, shirt crumpling beneath her hand.

“Hey, shh,” the beautiful woman said soothingly. “Just relax, you’re safe now.”

“Focus on our voices,” the gorgeous woman behind her added. She seemed to be a woman of few words, so when she spoke, there was a clear purpose.

There was so much care in their voices that Rumi began to relax, her breath slowly evening out.

Thumbs began stroking her face. “You’re okay, see?”

Rumi hummed, and closed her eyes, heaving a big gulp of air. “Thank you for saving me,” she murmured.

Someone began to hum a lovely melody, and Rumi felt herself getting lost in the sound. Oh how wonderful it would be to have this every day? Lounging with these two beautiful women, sand around them, the water gently lapping at their toes. 

It felt perfect.

The next thing she knew, she was being shaken violently, and a familiar voice was yelling, “Rumi! Oh gods, please be alive, your mom will kill me otherwise!”

Blearily, Rumi cracked one eye open and immediately regretted it. The sun was high in the sky, her lips were beyond dry, and she felt sand everywhere . She groaned.

Mercifully, Bobby was there, like an angelic vision with his head offering her some much needed blocking of the sun, while also showering him in a halo of light. “Oh thank goodness you’re alive. Though I still think your mom is going to kill me. Or us. Well, she’ll likely kill me, then you, then bring me back to life to clean up the mess, and then kill me again.”

There were way too many words for the headache she was feeling, and she just tried to wave him away, but she clearly miscalculated the distance between them and ended up smacking him painfully.

“Ouch! Okay! Sorry for coming to rescue you,” Bobby huffed jokingly, rubbing his cheek where Rumi had made contact.

“What-” Rumi tried to ask, but her voice wasn’t just raspy - it was destroyed. She felt like she’d gargled a few gallons of sand. She groaned.

“Whoa, easy there.” Bobby smiled, hand coming to rest on her shoulder. “We’re lucky you somehow floated here. That means we’re all accounted for.”

Rumi now heard other voices, and she turned to see the crew from last night pulling the lifeboats further inland, talking animatedly, clearly powered by the gratefulness of having survived.

Someone began to approach them. Roman, the apprentice healer who’d been aboard the ship. “I’m glad to see you’re alive, Princess,” he said with an easy smile.

“Yeah, but she’s been out in the sun for hours,” Bobby pointed out. “Can you make sure she’s not addled or something? The Queen’s going to be livid when she finds out what happened, but she will be apoplectic if she hears her daughter wasn’t properly rescued, and that she only survived because of some stroke of luck.”

Roman nodded, and held out a waterskin for her. “Here, drink some water first. You must be parched.”

And Rumi couldn’t lie, she was . She greedily drank big gulps, not caring that she didn’t look very refined. She was sure Byeol, her etiquette tutor, would be having a conniption if she saw her now. 

Roman and Bobby chuckled. The latter said, “I think parched is an understatement.”

Only once Rumi had drunk the entire thing did she look worriedly at the crew. “I’m so sorry, did everyone-”

“Don’t worry, everyone’s well-hydrated and taken care of,” Roman reassured her. He checked her over, and concluded, “Everything seems to be in order. Thankfully you seem to have gotten rid of all the water you probably drank on your journey here. But I still recommend you rest once you get back.”

Rumi nodded, relieved that nothing seemed to have gone terribly wrong.

“I mean it,” he added. “No adventuring, Princess.”

“Fine,” she grumbled. And then she began looking around as if she’d noticed something missing.

“Uh, Rumi?” Bobby asked, also looking towards where Rumi would look, as if he would see what she did. “What’re you looking for?”

“Where are they?”

Bobby and Roman looked at one another. “They who?”

“The girls who rescued me,” Rumi said, as if it were the most obvious thing on the planet.

“Girls who-” Bobby began to repeat disbelievingly. “Rumi, there was no one here when we found you.”

“But they pulled me out of the water. I saw them, they were right here and they helped me…” Rumi let her sentence taper off. She sounded crazy.

Bobby certainly looked at her as if she was. “Maybe you imagined it?” He turned to Roman as if he could offer guidance. “That happens when people take in a lot of water, right?”

“S-sure, yes, it’s possible,” Roman stuttered, unsure if that’s the answer Bobby was looking for.

“See? I promise you, there’s no one here but us,” Bobby said. “Now come on, before the Queen’s guards find us.”

It turned out that the Queen’s guards, and indeed the Queen herself, were quite aware of their haphazard arrival back on land. And judging by her glare once the entire crew clambered out of the beach towards the road to the castle, she was ready to dole out punishments.

The Queen’s glare was infamous, and she was putting it to good use. “Captain, please take the crew to the infirmary to be looked after, I’ll decide what to do with them later. Meanwhile, I’ll have a chat with my daughter and her friend about obedience and rules.”

The Captain demurely agreed, and began to shepherd everyone towards the castle’s infirmary. The Queen just glanced at Rumi and Bobby before turning and walking away, fully expecting them to understand they had to follow her.

Only once they were standing in her private office did the Queen finally unleash her fury. “What the hell were you two thinking?”

“Mom, we were just-” Rumi began.

“No! No excuse can justify why you expressly went behind my back and out to the ocean.” The Queen let out a shuddering breath. “I have always let you do whatever you want. You wanted to learn swordfighting? You wanted to spend a summer climbing that impossible mountain further inland? You wanted to learn how to work the forge, sing, and spend a summer in the circus? I let you, because I know how suffocating it can be to be pigeonholed into a perfect porcelain princess.

“But I only ever asked you to heed one thing. What was that thing?”

“Never go out into the ocean,” Rumi mumbled, looking down, hands fidgeting with the hem of her now sundried linen shirt.

“Never go out into the ocean,” her mother repeated. Then she set her sights on Bobby, who was hoping he’d been forgotten. “And I counted on you to help her keep to that!”

Bobby floundered, unsure of what to say to justify his role in all of this. But Rumi came to his aid. “It’s not his fault. He tried to dissuade me by every means. I was just too stubborn, and he followed me to make sure I was okay.”

The Queen looked between the two of them, as if trying to discern whether Rumi was just covering for Bobby. Eventually, she decided to let sleeping dogs lie, and said, “Well, whatever the case was, I hope this shows you why I have that rule in the first place. The ocean is dangerous. It takes and it takes…just like it took the love of my life.”

Rumi felt a pang. She never met her father, and her mother never spoke of him. All Rumi knew was that he had drowned at sea shortly after she was born, and that it was the reason why her mother was so adamant she stayed out of the ocean. She knew she couldn’t ban seafaring for the entire kingdom, but Rumi hazarded a guess it had crossed her mind more than once.

“I’m sorry mom,” Rumi sincerely said, taking a few steps closer. “I never meant to worry you. I just wanted to know what it was like…I didn’t think something like this could happen.”

Her mother flashed a small smile, hand coming up to squeeze her daughter’s shoulder comfortingly. Then she frowned as she asked, “Which begs the question: what happened?”

Bobby shrugged, secretly glad they were out of the emotional aspect of the conversation. “No clue. One minute everything’s fine, we’re all singing and dancing the night away. Then we heard an explosion and everything was on fire.”

Rumi hummed. “Maybe someone was smoking near the gunpowder?”

“That’s ridiculous!” Bobby harrumphed. “That’s the most basic rule of seafare.”

“Most basic rule for sober sailors maybe,” the Queen riposted. “I’m just glad everyone survived.”

Bobby began to open his mouth, and although Rumi wasn’t too certain if he was going to rat her out, she felt the need to loudly interject, “Yep! We all got onto the lifeboats and made it back safe and sound!”

It was quite a well-known fact that Rumi was a terrible liar. She had no poker-face, and made it entirely too obvious that she wasn’t being honest.

As the Queen looked to Bobby and saw his flabbergasted expression, she then narrowed her eyes as she stared daggers back at her daughter. “What aren’t you telling me?”

Rumi shrunk under the glare. Queen Miyeong had always been fierce, and had zero tolerance for liars. She’d raised Rumi to hold those values as well, which was the main reason for her horrible inability to lie properly.

“Well?” Miyeong set her sights on Bobby. She knew quite well he was incapable of withstanding her wrath for very long.

And she was victorious once again when Bobby blurted, “Rumi fell into the ocean! We thought we’d lost her until we found her washed up on the shore!”

Rumi barely had time to properly give Bobby a look that spoke volumes on betrayal, before she was wincing at her mother’s renewed glare. “Would it help if I said I was trying to save someone?”

“No!” the Queen immediately exclaimed. Then she took a deep breath and began more measuredly. “Of course, I am glad you were able to help someone, but not at the cost of your own survival!”

“I’m fine!”

“By a stroke of luck!” Miyeong fumed. “If the current had gone in a different direction, or if you had sunk, you’d be dead!”

The words hung heavy in the air. Of course, there was no way Rumi was going to mention the girls who’d helped her. After all, like Bobby and Roman had said - she’d probably imagined them.

After all, it was impossible two women as beautiful and gorgeous as they were could actually be real.

“We should have stayed with her,” Zoey finally said, breaking the silence as they continued swimming back home.

Mira sighed. She had wanted to too, but… “We could see the other sailors approaching. They would’ve seen us otherwise.”

“I know, I just feel bad,” Zoey added in a small voice.

Reaching to her side, Mira took Zoey’s hand in hers and kissed the back of it. “Hey, we saved her, that’s what’s important.”

Zoey giggled at the gesture, and hummed. “I guess.”

“Besides, we won’t ever see her again,” Mira added in a more serious tone.

“What? Why?” Zoey immediately stopped and straightened herself, getting Mira to do so too via their joined hands.

Mira looked at Zoey, baffled. “Uh…because of the clear and obvious reasons?”

“Which are?” Zoey egged her on, clearly not seeing what her lover was talking about.

“Zo, come on. First of all, need I remind you that she’s human, and we’re clearly not? If we’re very lucky, she didn’t notice we’re mermaids, and we won’t have a human armada fishing for us…”

“Okay, but Rumi didn’t seem-”

“Secondly, I know you, and I know you have a crush on her,” Mira interjected. “And you know humans don’t do polyamory, right?”

Zoey pouted. “I guess, but-”

“Lastly,” Mira interjected once again, “She nearly drowned. The chances she’ll be in the vicinity of the ocean ever again are nonexistent.”

Shoulders sagging, Zoey had to admit defeat. Mira was right, there was no way that would ever work out, she was naive for thinking otherwise. She took her hand back from Mira’s grip, and began to swim again. Everyone was right, she was silly and naive. She always wanted what she couldn’t have.

“Zoey…” Mira called out. Shit, she’d fucked up. “Zo, please don’t be mad.”

But Zoey just kept swimming, so Mira rushed forward to block her lover’s way. “Hey! I’m really sorry Zoey, please don’t be mad at me. I just don’t want you to get your hopes up and-”

Now it was Zoey’s turn to interrupt Mira, but by kissing her, while their tails intertwined.

Once they parted, Zoey had an adorable blush on her cheeks. Normally, she still got giddy that she got to kiss Mira. “I’m not mad at you, I know what you said is true, but I just…well, you know.”

Mira did. Zoey hated being told no. Especially for arbitrary or stupidly vain reasons. It had defined her for her entire life, and Zoey had gotten fed up with the treatment.

One such example was their relationship. She and Mira came from different economic backgrounds, and Mira’s parents were very much disapproving of Zoey’s intention to court Mira. Nevermind the fact that Zoey wasn’t financially well-off, she also was a shark mermaid, and that made her even less worthy in their eyes.

In fact, not only did they disapprove of the pairing, they actively forbade it. But that only made Mira more determined to take Zoey on secret dates while she figured out how to confront her parents.

“I’ve always been too much for people, you know - too excited, too clingy, too much like a shark…too much everything,” Zoey continued in a small voice. “And then when I tried to control myself, I was not enough. But the truth is I want to love people like they deserve to and I…I don’t see why there are all these stupid rules!”

She sank deeper into Mira’s embrace, nuzzling against the warm skin of her neck. She felt as Mira’s much longer oarfish tail swirled around hers.

“How about this?” Mira began after a moment. “We can try to approach the beach in a few days, see if she’s there?”

Zoey actually squealed. “Yes! Oh that would be perfect!”

A new voice sarcastically added, “Oh yay ! What’re we doing today? Braiding each other’s hair?”

Mira glared at the newcomer. “Fuck off Abs.”

Abby rolled his eyes. “You wound me. Here I am, patrolling and protecting our waters, while you two are gallivanting who knows where.”

Zoey bared her teeth. “None of your business.”

“Whoa, hey, relax sharkmaid, I was just- whoa!” Abby swerved to avoid a very angry Zoey about to snap at his tail.

“Word from the wise: calling her that? Horrible idea,” Mira huffed, ready to punch him.

Before they could descend to full-blown violence, someone else approached. “There you are.” 

It was Taemin, Mira’s brother.

Chapter Text

Mira gritted her teeth. “What are you doing here?”

Taemin shrugged. “Whatever I please. But it looks to me like you’re actively going against our parents’ wishes.”

Swimming to place herself protectively in front of Zoey, Mira intoned, “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll leave us alone.”

“If only, but the thing is they tasked me with finding you because they want to talk…and you know they don’t like to be kept waiting.” The smirk plastered on his face was predatory; he was relishing this!

Zoey really didn’t like Mira’s family, but she had a special hatred for Taemin and his arrogance. She pushed past Mira and swam up so she was in his personal space, finger jabbing against his chest. “Listen here, why don’t you back off? We all know exactly what you and your parents think of me, and if you think I’ll be intimidated, you’ve got another thing coming!”

Abby immediately pushed the two of them apart, but his wrath was exclusively for Zoey as he intoned, eyes boring holes in hers, “If you’ve got a problem with someone, you can discuss it civilly, but it’s forbidden to try to intimidate or get up in someone’s space.”

Zoey swerved back, face contorted in anger. “Oh sure, protect the golden child.”

“I’m not protecting anyone, you clearly instigated this by swimming up into his personal space!”

Mira, who had been surprisingly quiet until now, pointed out, “Taemin’s the one that came in all antagonistic!”

Taemin brought a hand up to his chest in mock surprise. “Me? I was looking for my sister, fulfilling my parents’ request like a dutiful child does.”

Now Zoey had to be the one holding Mira back, because she looked ready to attack her brother.

“Say that one more time, you coward!” Mira yelled.

“Enough!” a new voice boomed with the power of the Honmoon, the invisible tendrils pushing all three of them apart and holding them there.

They had attracted the attention of none other than the Queen, who was approaching at breakneck speeds.

Flanking her were Mira’s parents, causing Zoey to let out an almost imperceptible groan.

Queen Celine was considered by all a fair but strict ruler, with the latter attribute very evident as she approached the four of them.

“What in the seven seas is going on here?” Celine demanded, looking at everyone in turn. She then focused on Abby. “Why didn’t you control this?”

Abby gestured fruitlessly to Zoey, Mira, and Taemin. “I tried!”

Taemin decided to further complicate things by adding, “I was just here trying to fetch my sister, it was this shark who decided to antagonize me-”

“Okay, you know what? I’ll give you something to antagonize about!” Zoey roared, baring her teeth.

But the Honmoon didn’t give her any leeway to smack him silly as she intended. Instead, she only floundered in place.

“I said, enough,” Celine repeated, her voice now cool and even, demonstrating that the right conviction was more powerful than raising one’s voice. “I imagine the Kangs have things to talk about amongst themselves, and I’d like to speak to you privately, Zoey.”

Zoey felt herself let out a small whine involuntarily.

Mira’s father swam forward and bowed before he said, “Yes, my Queen. I’ll take my children and leave you to it?”

Celine hummed, undoing the Honmoon’s tendrils to let them all go. Mira’s mother levelled both her children with a crushing glare, getting even Taemin to hunch his shoulders in shame.

Once the Kangs were gone, and Celine assured Abby he could return to his duties, Celine turned to Zoey and said, “Come with me.”

They swam in silence, and Zoey wondered what was lying in wait for her. It was no secret that she wasn’t the most popular person in the kingdom. In fact, when she’d arrived, a lot of people asked the Queen to deny her entrance. But Celine responded by saying “Unity is how we keep the Honmoon strong,” and everyone left it at that.

But if word got around that she got all up in the perfectly golden Taemin’s personal space, Celine would certainly reconsider Zoey’s place in the kingdom. And then she’d have to return to the colony broken and defeated, much to her parents’ smug satisfaction.

“You’ll never make it far in the kingdom Zoey,” her father had cautioned. “Everyone is prejudiced against sharks, but more so there than here, and living there without a friend or ally by your side will mean you’ll be blamed for everything.”

Zoey’s mother had echoed his sentiments by adding, “I don’t know what possessed you to think you have to do this, but you’ll see how quickly they’ll get to you, and you’ll be swimming back here ashamed before long.”

That had been five years ago, and she had managed decently enough thus far. Admittedly, it was hard at first, but Mira had been the sunlight breaking in through the water after a stormy day. 

But now, as she swam with the Queen, she wondered if her residency had ended.

Eventually, they reached the palace and Celine led them to a quiet area. Zoey guessed it was a study of some kind.

Once the door was closed, Celine exhaled, bubbles floating out of her mouth. “How are you?”

That certainly wasn’t how Zoey was expecting this conversation to start, so she was thrown into a bit of a loop, but she recuperated enough to squeak out, “Fine!”

Celine nodded, and after a moment, launched right into it. “Look, I know it’s hard, being seen as an invader, especially when they goad you. But you can’t let them get to you.”

Zoey hummed her understanding. She figured it was easier to just get through this as painlessly as possible. Wait- “You believe me?”

“That Taemin purposely antagonized you in order to bait you into almost attacking him? Of course. I’ve seen that tactic used many times.”

She could hardly believe her ears. “You have?”

“Do you know what kind of mer I am?” Celine asked, gesturing to her long and striped red tail with spiky fins. 

Zoey had never been good with biology. She could name over 100 different turtle types and sea anemone, but when it came to identifying her fellow mer, she floundered.

When Zoey shook her head, Celine said, “Lionfish, notorious for being poisonous if agitated or provoked.”

Zoey was gaping slightly. So that meant she knew what it was like to be prejudiced against - that was why she was so open to letting Zoey stay in the kingdom! The revelation was illuminating for her.

“Before I became Queen… well, you can imagine the snide comments I would get. People loved trying to get me to react, to turn venomous. They didn’t care that I was the princess, in fact that spurred them on even more.” Celine seemed to get lost in her memories, before she cleared her throat and straightened her shoulders. “But like my parents had taught me, and I try to instill in everyone: the Honmoon needs us to remain steadfast and united. Try not to let Taemin get to you, it’s what he wants, and you shouldn’t give him the satisfaction.”

“Yes, your Majesty,” Zoey acquiesced, if a bit dejected. She could try all she wanted, but Taemin used all his influence to get what he wanted. And he’d yet to fail.

Sensing Zoey’s mood, Celine added. “I know it’s easier said than done, but I believe you can be the bigger person here in this conflict. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some other business to attend to.”

So Zoey headed back home, relieved she had a powerful ally on her side who would go to bat for her. But she was worried about Mira. Her parents would be livid about everything that had transpired, and Zoey wasn’t sure they wouldn’t take drastic measures to try and curb Mira’s more rebellious nature.

A day passed, and Zoey was getting increasingly more agitated. She hadn’t been able to see her girlfriend even once, and it worried her.

After 3 days, she was beside herself. She needed a distraction.

She recalled Mira’s idea - to check in on Rumi. If anything, the swim there and back would help her burn through the built-up energy.

Rumi felt the sea calling to her before she’d even realized that she was walking to the beach. The past few days had been an endless barrage of meetings as they geared up for their annual kingdom-wide celebration next week. As princess, Rumi was obligated to attend the meetings with her mother, and she was about ready to crawl out of her skull by the end of them.

Shucking her boots off, Rumi let her toes touch the warm sand. She approached the edge, just beyond the water’s reach, and sat down, wrapping her arms around her knees. Every now and then, the water would tickle her toes, and Rumi felt content. She closed her eyes and just let her thoughts wander.

Despite her best efforts, Rumi hadn’t been able to find out more about her rescuers. She didn’t know their names, and she could hardly go around the kingdom to try and find every woman that remotely matched their description. Stupidly enough, she didn’t think to come back to the beach, maybe she’d find them here.

But as she sat there alone, she cursed. This was the palace’s private beach, no one could get in unless they were part of the royal family, a guest of the palace, or they had snuck in. Chances were that the girls wouldn’t return, afraid they’d get into trouble.

And then, she sensed something. A glint in the water by a large rock a little ways away from the beach.

Rumi looked up and focused on the sea, noting ripples by the rock. Standing up, she walked into the water, and towards the rock. 

“Hello?” she called out.

No one answered, but still Rumi waded out. Her pant legs were getting increasingly wetter, but she didn’t care. 

Just as she was getting closer to the rock, hips deep in water, a head popped up from behind the corner.

“You!” Rumi gasped. It was the beautiful woman from the other day!

The woman, for her part, looked mortified at having Rumi spot her. But then her face softened impossibly so, and shyly waved. “Hi!”

“Hey! I’ve been looking for you and your friend,” Rumi said with a smile, wading closer to the woman. But as Rumi got closer, she noted the other woman seemed to be backing away slightly.

“Oh…y-you have?” There was a nervous tinge to her voice, and Rumi faltered.

The apprehension…did she know Rumi was the princess? Was she afraid she’d get arrested? Rumi stopped trying to inch forward, took a step back, and put her hands up placatingly. “You’re not in trouble…I just wanted to thank you two properly for saving my life. I thought maybe I could treat you two for lunch! O-or dinner, or even just coffee!”

“Oh…that’s very sweet!” 

The nervousness seemed to be giving way towards confusion, and Rumi was growing frenzied on how to not screw this up entirely. “I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to make you worried, I’m just so grateful for you two saving my life, and keeping me company until everyone found me.”

The woman let out a sound that Rumi couldn’t quite identify. Was it a whimper? A sigh of relief? Rumi decided not to press. “You’re swimming all alone today?”

“Oh! Mira’s…busy! With family stuff, so yep, just me today.”

Rumi assumed that Mira was the gorgeous woman from the other day. Which just left Rumi with finding out the name of the beautiful woman in front of her. She gestured back to the beach. “Do you maybe want to come sit with me for a bit?”

For some reason, that idea seemed to put her companion in quite a tizzy. She grimaced and then laughed nervously. “I can’t actually! I need to complete my laps!”

“Your laps…around the ocean?” Rumi haltingly asked. Was she really that terrified of being seen with Rumi? It wasn’t like the beach was super populated, maybe a guard would pass by.

“Yep! Got to get healthy.”

From the little Rumi could see, the woman was the picture of health. She could just barely see ab lines peeking out from above the water.

They began to speak at the same time:

“Well I should get going…”

“Can I know your name?”

They chuckled, and Rumi looked softly at the other woman, hoping she’d get an answer.

“My name’s Zoey,” the woman responded with a bright grin.

“And I’m Rumi,” she added, because she was taught it was polite to give a name when someone gave her theirs.

“Oh, I know.” And Rumi felt a pang. Of course she did, Zoey was clearly well-aware of who she was talking to, hence the apprehension.

But there was no maliciousness in Zoey’s response. In fact, there’s even a playfulness to it, like there’s a secret that Rumi hasn’t yet fully caught on.

It made Rumi want to try again, and see if she could get Zoey to spend a few minutes with her on the beach. Until…

“Rumi! What in the world are you doing there?! Get out of the water!” It was Bobby, and he looked frenzied. “You have a meeting in five minutes!”

She looked at Bobby and yelled back, “Just a minute!”

“Make that 30 seconds!”

Rumi chuckled, she had just turned back and was just about to make a quip to Zoey when she noticed that the other woman was no longer there.

“Wh-Zoey?” Rumi looked around, but didn’t see anyone there. It was like Zoey had disappeared.

Had she imagined her? Was her mind playing tricks on her?

“Rumi! Get out of there now!” Bobby yelled, sounding beside himself.

“I’m going!” she called back, hoping to see some sign of Zoey.

“No! There’s a shark!”

That made Rumi jerk. Sharks were bad news, she knew that much. So she took big strides to return to safety on land.

Once she was beside Bobby, she let herself relax and looked back to the water. There was nothing there. She glared at him. “Did you make up a shark to get me to come back faster?”

She had been expecting Bobby to guiltily confess, but was surprised when he shook his head vehemently. “No, I swear I saw a shark fin near the rock you were at!”

That made Rumi worry. What if it went after Zoey? But she couldn’t see anything or anyone, and if she tried to tell Bobby that she’d seen one of her saviours - who had conveniently disappeared when he’d shown up - he’d think she was still a bit out of it. So she left it at that.

She could always go to the kingdom’s records office and search for Zoey and Mira. There couldn’t be that many people with that name, right?

Back near the rock, Zoey resurfaced. As she watched Rumi leave, the mermaid let out a wistful sigh. Rumi was so lovely to be around, even though Zoey had been completely terrified Rumi would see her shark fin, or her sharper molars.

Thankfully, that hadn’t happened, but she could just hear Mira’s voice cautioning her about how this had been really risky. But she just had to see her again, so the risk was well-worth it.

Though Zoey did have to admit humans were very peculiar. What in the seven seas was a coffee anyway?

Chapter Text

“Fine, I suppose you can leave the house, but you are forbidden from seeing that…shark friend of yours,” Mira’s mother dismissively stated.

Mira gritted her teeth. “She’s not just my friend and you know it.”

Her mother let out a mirthless laugh that grated in Mira’s ears. “Hardly. Or did you already forget that your father and I have arranged for you to be married to the Kim couple?”

No, Mira definitely hadn’t forgotten. She only wished she could. “How can you guys be so callous about this? I mean, your hatred for Zoey just because she’s a shark is already stupid enough, but your solution is to send me off to some colony far away to get married to people I never met? Why don’t you get Taemin to do it instead?”

“Taemin doesn’t misbehave nor does he actively try to jeopardize our family’s reputation!” Her mother shot forward, leaving a trail of angry bubbles in her wake. There was a time that seeing her mother approach like that would have made Mira cower, but no longer.

“I’m just trying to live my life! I’m an adult, and can be with whoever I fucking please!”

The slap echoed around them, Mira’s head jerking from the movement.

She didn’t say anything, she wouldn’t say anything. She couldn’t give her mother the satisfaction, and just swam away.

Her mother didn’t chase her, nor did she have to. The Kang family had the Marlin Security Group retained; they would dispatch someone soon enough, and as an oarfish, she couldn’t swim that fast. She had to go where no one would find her.

Mira’s breath hitched. Zoey. She had to see her.

She swam to the outskirts of the kingdom, where she spotted Abby. 

Sure, he was an asshole, but he was one of the more tolerable people she knew, and one of Mira’s only friends before she’d met Zoey.

“Abby, I need you to do something for me,” she began before she’d even finished approaching him.

Turning to her, he rolled his eyes good naturedly. “‘Oh hey Abs, sorry for the other day when I nearly got you in trouble with your superiors for that whole scene with my brother and my lover, not to mention pissing off the freaking Queen! I know I have to atone for a lot, but is there any chance I can ask for a favour right now?’ would’ve been the better opener.”

Mira leveled him with a glare. “Yeah I’m not saying any of those words. Now, will you help me or not?”

Abby feigned thinking. “Depends, what’s in it for me?”

“Urgh!” Mira huffed. “I don’t have time for this! Just…tell Zoey that I’m by the shipwreck yard okay? And don’t tell anyone else where I am.”

“Fine,” he drawled, a smile creeping onto his face. “For lovebirds like you two-”

“I’m serious Abigail!” Mira intoned, smacking him on the shoulder.

“Ouch! Okay, geez, don’t need to pull out the full name and the punches,” Abby harrumphed, rubbing the impact area. He hated being called by his full name. “Go, I’ll get the message to your little shark.”

Mira began swimming away, but turned back to say, “I mean it! Or I will personally smack you…again!”

A few minutes later, Mira arrived at the yard, feeling more and more dejected. How was she going to get out of this?

And there…could it be?

“Zoey?” Mira called out, spotting a familiar figure swimming nearby. Her heart certainly didn’t flutter at the sight of her lover, nor did she breathe a sigh of relief.

“Mira! What are you doing here?” Zoey asked with a squeal, rushing to hug her and spin them around.

“Long story…but I am curious how you’re here.” There was no way Abby was that fast, and Zoey was coming from the opposite direction…wait, she didn’t, did she? Mira’s eyes widened.

“I visited Rumi!” Zoey confirmed excitedly. She was, admittedly, more than a little bit giddy after hanging out with Rumi. 

“Y-you did?” Mira stammered. “Why?”

Zoey nodded. “Yeah! Remember we said we would? She was actually by the beach where we left her. I swear I tried to hide, but she spotted me and came towards me-”

“She saw you?” Mira realized with a yelp. “Zoey that’s-”

“Relax! She didn’t see my tail at all! I mean, sure, my heart was in my throat the entire time, but Rumi was totally oblivious. If anything, she was the one that seemed kind of nervous, though I can’t imagine why.”

Despite the situation and her worries, Mira was endeared by her lover’s infectious enthusiasm. 

“Also, do you have any idea what caw-fee is?”

Mira frowned. “Not a clue, why?”

“Rumi invited us. She said dinner or lunch, or that caw-fee thing. Maybe it’s a human friendship ritual?”

“Maybe?” Mira said with a shrug.

“Anyway, I want to know what’s been going on with you Mira, I can see your cheek’s red…so don’t try to deflect.” Zoey’s voice turned stern. She wanted to give Mira her space, but she was very worried for her love.

Mira’s answer was to kiss her soundly, her long tail wrapping around Zoey’s, as if she were afraid Zoey would slip away. 

Once they parted, Mira had no choice but to tell Zoey what had happened. “My parents are sending me to the Seamount colony to get married to this couple…”

“What? That’s ridiculous! Just because of yesterday?” Zoey huffed.

“It’s more than that. The Kims are a powerful family in Seamount, she’s the mayor and he’s got a company there that my father really wants to get a deal with…”

Zoey gritted her teeth, incredulous. “They can’t use you as barter!”

“You’ve met my parents, they do whatever they damn please,” Mira pointed out. Her tail was still woven around Zoey’s caudal fin, it grounded her.

And yeah, Zoey had officially met with them once, when she and Mira were still naive in thinking that maybe, just maybe, the Kangs would accept Zoey. Their derision towards her had been the worst feeling in the world for Zoey, and she could only imagine all the pain Mira had gone through over the years.

She inched ever closer to Mira, hands moving to cup her lover’s face. “Hey, I won’t let them take you anywhere.”

Mira let out a sigh of bubbles, letting her head hang. “It’s no use. The Marlins are probably trying to hunt me down as we speak.”

“Then we’ll go where they can’t follow,” Zoey cryptically said.

Mira was intrigued to say the least, and she slowly raised her head. One thing she loved about Zoey: she never gave up, and she always had an idea ready. “I’m listening.”

“We go stay with Rumi!” Seeing Mira’s incredulous expression, and the beginning of a retort, Zoey added, “We can go to the sirens and ask them to turn us into humans.”

If anything, Mira looked even more terrified than before. “You know I love you with my whole heart Zoey, but have you completely lost your barnacles? Sirens are dangerous! They’re the whole reason we have the Honmoon-”

“And yet, year after year, countless mer ask the sirens for help.”

“That doesn’t make it right! They’re terrifying.” Mira was usually never frightened, or at the very least, she did a good job of hiding it. But here, her eyes were wide and the bubbles she let out were frantic.

The tensions between the mer and sirens had been going on as long as anyone could remember. In fact, there was no record of the two species having ever gotten along. There were some obvious points that underscored their tension, such as the fact that sirens were at least twice as large as mermaids, and twice as terrifying. 

“Have you ever seen one in real life?” Zoey asked.

Mira shook her head. “But I’ve heard enough, plus I’ve seen the skeleton in the museum.”

Sometimes Zoey wondered if more people saw a real live siren, would they then understand that Zoey wasn’t as dangerous as they thought she was? Sure, Zoey had a few more pointy teeth than other mermaids, but sirens only had pointy teeth. And terrifyingly sharp claws, plus eyes that looked like they were staring into your soul. She shuddered. “I did once, when I was moving here. Thankfully they didn’t see me.”

“See, you’re scared of them too,” Mira pointed out.

“But they can get us what we need! We just go to them and do a trade and get legs! Easy.”

Mira let out a mirthless laugh. “Easy? Their barter system is shit. You’ve surely heard the horror stories about people who couldn’t pay their steep prices, and the consequences of not being able to pay that price.”

Zoey waved her hands. “Well I don’t know, it’s an idea. Besides, everyone likes to exaggerate a bit.”

After letting out a stream of even and calm bubbles to ground herself, Mira said,“You’re right, I’m letting my feelings of the whole situation with my parents get in the way. I really appreciate you trying to help.”

That made Zoey beam. “I’ve got you babe. You know that I’m with you no matter what happens.”

“And I love you for it,” Mira admitted. “But maybe we can leave that as a last resort?”

Zoey nodded. “Sure! So how about this: I know there’s an opening in the research center to work at the Ocean Ridge colony far from here. I’ll try to get transferred there, and we can go. No way the Marlins will chase you there.”

That did sound tempting, but… “I thought your dream was to live here? In the kingdom?”

“It was never really about the kingdom itself,” Zoey began with a shrug. “I just really wanted to work with turtles, and the research center’s headquarters is here. Besides, you’re more important, so that comes first, every time.”

Mira made a strangled sound in her throat. Whenever Zoey said things like that she would get emotional. She wasn’t used to having someone put her first, and it always threw her in for a loop.

“What about Rumi?”

Zoey stroked Mira’s cheeks. “Like you said, it wouldn’t work out, and besides, I don’t want to lose you.”

Knowing that Zoey had been so giddy about the human just a few minutes ago, she doubted Rumi would be that easy to forget. But she didn’t press. Zoey was trying to reassure her, and she appreciated it more than words could say.

Rumi was going mad. It felt like her mother was purposely keeping her occupied with all the celebration planning, and now that the celebrations were happening in two days, it was like the chaos had compounded.

There were decorators and caterers and artisans all over the castle, meaning that Rumi was hard-pressed to find a single place in the castle from where she could relax and try to read.

But now, she had found a nice little alcove on the third floor by a bay window where she could sit and let the sun and sea breeze soothe her as she read.

It was a fascinating read about mermaids and pirates, and she was enraptured by the story.

“Rumi! There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you.” 

Thankfully, it was just Bobby, and not one of the dozens of planners currently littering the castle. But still, she groaned at the interruption. “For a reason! I haven’t had a moment to myself all week, even my room has been invaded with some sartorial nonsense about my dress for the celebration. If someone is looking for me, tell them you couldn’t find me.”

Bobby approached her and blinked. “But I did find you, I’m looking right at you.”

Rumi loved Bobby, but he was sometimes too literal for his own good. “Right. Anyway, who exactly is looking for me?”

“The professor! He said he has something interesting to show you!”

Well that was certainly more interesting than another endless question on which colour they should use on some random decoration. “And this is definitely a legitimate thing he wants to show me, and not you just wanting to go visit your lover?”

Bobby smiled sheepishly. It wasn’t the first time he had brought Rumi along only because he was missing his love. “Promise it’s not, he said it was something fun and exciting, and told me to bring you in as soon as I found you. So come on!”

Interest piqued, Rumi left her book there and followed him.

The trip to the professor’s workshop was delayed by the very people Rumi had spent the entire day trying to avoid.

After the fifth interruption, Bobby thankfully came to her rescue. “Sorry everyone, she has an important meeting to get to! We’re sure whatever you decide will work wonders.”

That proved to be magical, and Rumi flashed her friend a grateful smile. “Thanks. I’ve been trying to get them off my back for days, and nothing has worked.”

Bobby preened. “That’s what your friend and advisor is for.”

As they continued to their destination, Rumi remembered something. “Oh by the way, did the professor get the approval for his research expedition?”

“He did! Found out just this morning, he’s ecstatic. Two months on a ship exploring all the ocean has to offer.”

Rumi smiled fondly at Bobby’s clear happiness to his lover’s good fortune. Then she had a sobering thought. “What about you?”

“What about me?” Bobby asked.

“Well, he’s going to be travelling for two whole months, while you’re stuck here. Aren’t you going to miss him?”

Bobby smiled sadly. “I won’t lie, I’ll miss him something fierce, but he’s been wanting this for as long as I’ve known him, and I wouldn’t dream of abandoning my post as your advisor.”

Rumi gave him a sideways glance and chuckled. “Oh yes, a role of paramount importance, I wouldn’t be able to survive two whole months without you advising me.”

“Laugh it up. But seriously, we’ll manage it. If everything goes well, this is hardly going to be his last expedition, so we better get used to it.”

She was going to leave it at that, but then she got an idea. “Not if I manage to go on the expedition too.”

Bobby froze and turned to her, getting Rumi to stop as well. “How in the world are you going to manage that? The Queen was ready to combust when she found out about your sea trip the other day, and that was just for a night! Do you seriously think she’ll approve a trip for two months?”

Rumi let out a world-weary sigh, but then she straightened her shoulders and confidently stated, “I’m an adult, and this could be informative! I’ll get her to approve it.”

In Bobby’s opinion, he thought it was more likely he would spout wings than see Queen Miyeong approve Rumi’s excursion, but he knew it was pointless to try to argue that point.

Ten minutes later, they were entering the professor’s workshop. To this day, Rumi wasn’t too sure what his speciality was, just that he did research on anything and everything, while also operating a store for various odds and ends.

“I’m back! And I’ve brought Rumi with me,” Bobby greeted the empty store.

From the back, Roman appeared and grinned at them. “Hey you two. Professor’s in the back.”

“I’ll go fetch him,” Bobby immediately offered, going through the same door Roman had just come from.

Roman came to stand near Rumi as he said, “Those two lovebirds are going to be the end of me.”

Rumi chuckled and bumped shoulders with him. “Oh ease up. It’s cute seeing them so in love with each other. It’s the kinda love I think everyone wishes for.”

“Oh yeah? You’d want that?” His question wasn’t mocking, but as if he genuinely wanted to know her answer.

“Don’t you? Someone who supports you in all you do?” Rumi asked.

“Sure, if I was doing something worthwhile, rather than this.”

That made Rumi frown. “You don’t want to be here? I thought you wanted this apprenticeship.”

Roman grimaced. “More like this was the only place that wanted to hire me.”

Rumi had always wondered why a trainer healer had joined a research professor, but she always assumed the latter wanted the expertise of someone well-versed in human physiology for some reason. “Really? No one else would take you? That’s ridiculous, why-”

“Because our dear Roman is not very adept at his craft,” came a new voice. It was the professor. He was wearing a labcoat, his dark auburn hair messy, looking very much like he’d been in the middle of an important experiment when Bobby - who was trailing behind him - had come to fetch him.

“Gee, thanks for that, professor.” Roman’s grimace deepened, thoroughly embarrassed.

The professor, with his piercing eyes, regarded the two of them. “I would assume the Princess appreciates the honesty.”

Rumi floundered. “O-oh, yes, but if Roman doesn’t want to share, then it’s okay, professor.”

“Please, as I've said before, you needn’t call me professor. Just Gwi-Ma is fine.”