It was early in the morning when Wooyoung felt his skin start to prickle. He hated leaving San's side, especially after their confessions, but he couldn't risk using more magic than his body could handle.

He pressed a quick kiss to his human's cheek before wiggling down the blanket. San made it very hard to get away. He kept tightening his grip, which made Wooyoung want to stay even more.

But he was able to slip away after a couple of minutes and hurried into the cool lake water.

The transformation hit him almost right away, forcing him to dive forward with a loud splash when his tail slapped against the surface.

He swam a little deeper before twirling around and returning to the shallow waters so he could be as close to San as possible.

Surprisingly, San was sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

"Oh!" Wooyoung lifted himself up on his arms so his chest rose out of the water. "I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

"Mmmmm, yes. But 'ss fine." San yawned and tried to flatten his very fluffy and messed up hair.

Wooyoung couldn't help but giggle at the sight. There were so many cute things about being human.

"Shush." San narrowed his sleepy eyes, then fell back on the blanket.

"Don't go back to sleep!" Wooyoung whined. He just got a hand flop in response, which made his tail twitch in slight irritation.

Then a mischievous smile crossed the merman's face. He brought his tail around to support his weight so he could lift one arm out of the water. With it came a ball of water about the size of his fist.

He could feel the magic coursing through his body, filling him with a strength he hadn't experienced since before being taken.

It was so easy for him to move the water until it was floating over San's chest.

"Sannie!" Wooyoung called out. "Wake up!"

His human showed no sign of moving, so Wooyoung's grin grew and he released his hold on the water.

It fell with a glorious splash, running over San's smooth chest and soaking the blanket beneath him. San sputtered and shot up while making a high pitched noise in the back of his throat that had Wooyoung falling forward with laughter.

"Why would you do that?" San whined. He was holding his arms out to the sides and had the biggest frown on his face.

"Because I want attention!" Wooyoung stuck his tongue out and flicked his tail.

Then his eyes grew wide when an idea flashed across his mind. He opened his mouth to speak, but San was going on a mini rant about everything being soaked.

San crinkled his nose while sliding on what looked to be a thin pair of shorts. "I hate wet boxers. Youngie..."

"You whine a lot when you're tired." Wooyoung's forehead furrowed in concern. "Are... Are you upset with me?"

"Oh," San instantly stopped what he was doing and ran to the edge of the lake, "No, Woo, I'm not. I promise."

The merman looked at him with round eyes. "Are you sure? I was just trying to play."

"I know." San's shoulders dropped in defeat. "I have no excuse. Yeosang always says I'm harder to wake up than a rock..."

"But rocks don't sleep..."

San's lips twisted in an amused smile. "Exactly."

The merman still didn't understand what his human meant, so he decided to move on and ask, "Do you want to go for a swim?"

For a moment, he thought San would call him crazy for even asking. Thankfully he didn't, but he could see the way San hesitated. "I would love to, but I don't have anything to protect myself from the cold."

Wooyoung tilted his head to the side and looked up. There was no way he was strong enough to heat the lake, but maybe he could form some kind of bubble around San.

He closed his eyes and searched his magic, willing for a solution to present itself. It started to flow through him, filling his body with a buzzing warmth that he had missed.

It wanted to help him, he could tell, so he let it take over.

Wooyoung slowly lifted his arm once more. A small column of water came with it, flowing gently through the air.

"What are you doing?" San asked, but he didn't get an answer.

Instead, Wooyoung molded the water around San so that it formed a protective shell around him that not only would keep him warm, but it should also allow him to breathe underwater.

Once done, Wooyoung opened his eyes and noticed his human seemed to glow a little now. He looked even more beautiful, if that was even possible.

He watched as San lifted his hands up and wiggled his fingers. His lips formed an 'O' shape while his eyes filled with wonder.

Wooyoung waited as patiently as he could, but he was anxious to get started. He could feel the tip of his tail wagging slightly, which drew a smile from San when he noticed it as well.

"Is this really going to work?" San lifted a foot and let it hover over the water.

"Why do you come here and see." Wooyoung smirked and pushed himself backward. He could see San's stunned expression as he fell into Wooyoung's trap, and it was wonderful.

San lowered his foot into the water and yelped a little in shock, then made a small noise when his eyes widened. "It's warm!"

Wooyoung nodded a few times and kept backing up. "That's not all it will do."

"What do you mean?"

"Come here and find out." Wooyoung teased before slipping below the surface.

He heard each movement San's body made as he pushed his way through the lake, getting slower and slower the deeper he got. Soon there was a loud splash and the human dove below the surface of the water.

For a moment, all Wooyoung could do was watched with a tilted head. Humans looked so silly with their legs flailing behind them to propel them forward! Tails were so much more natural, and powerful too.

He giggled when San started to look around for him with his cheeks all puffed out. Wooyoung darted forward to hover in front of his human. They were deep enough that he could extend his body to its full length, which meant that while he and San were the same height as humans, his tail made him a lot longer now.

San dragged a hand up to gently caress Wooyoung's cheek first, then his gills. The motion tickled. Wooyoung shivered and went to grab his human's hand.

But San pulled it away and started swimming toward the surface.

Wooyoung was quick to grab his ankle and pull him back down, which made San shake his head back and forth in a panic.

"Sannie, it's alright!" Wooyoung pulled him close. "Breathe."

San looked at him like he was crazy. He opened his mouth as if to talk, then brought a hand to his throat in shock. Wooyoung knew he was worried about the fact that he most likely just swallowed water, but it would not harm him.

Not with the magic protecting him.

"You're safe." Wooyoung said gently.

San blinked a few times, then his mouth opened in shock once more. "How?" He asked. "Oh my god, I can talk!"

"Yes." Wooyoung smiled and watched the way San's hair flowed around his head. He had to be the mot beautiful thing wooyoung had ever seen. And yet he couldn't help but wish, deep down, that San had a tail.

When the human was finally comfortable with the magic protecting him, he took a moment to look around the lake before he started swimming forward.

Wooyoung joined him, basking in the beauty the early morning had brought to them.

The sunlight pierced the top layer of water, giving it a majestic, sparkling glow. Fish danced just below the surface, engaged in a never ending game with the bugs that chose to rest on the gently swaying waves.

Further down, the larger fish were starting to awaken. They mouthed at each other in greeting while trying to find their own breakfast.

Some of them swam over to Wooyoung, investigating his tail. Their touches tickled. He did his best to contain himself so that he didn't hurt any of the curious creatures, but it was so hard when they kept brushing up against him.

"This is incredible." San whispered next to him. "You're incredible."

Wooyoung felt himself blush at the praise. His heart felt so light as he took his human's hand in his own and pulled San behind him for their first swim together.

It was a truly magical moment for him, and for this short time, Wooyoung could pretend that this was how things were meant to be.

Swimming next to the creature he loved most in this world.

"MINGI!"

The prince opened his eyes and sat up when he realized he had been dozing in his throne after a long meeting with his scouts. While looking for Wooyoung and the others, they were also trying to keep track of the increasing shark population.

It was all getting to be too much...

"Mingi!!" Yunho came swimming in with a flurry of bubbles. His blue tail was almost a blur behind him as he swam straight to Mingi.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"Look!" Yunho slammed into him, sending them both spiraling over the side of Mingi's throne and into the sand below them.

The prince groaned and shook his head, then paused when he saw the scroll in Yunho's hand. He recognized the handwriting instantly. "Is that?"

"It has to be! I didn't want to open it without you." Yunho's giddiness was almost contagious. His tail was curled up beneath him, allowing him to bounce in place a little while waiting for Mingi to open the letter.

But Mingi was trying to keep his hopes down. They had no idea what this letter was going to contain... Even if it did look like Wooyoung's handwriting there was no telling what would be written on the scroll.

"Where did you get this?" He looked up at his chosen mate.

"Hyunjin found it on his patrol. He said it looked like it was coming down from the surface, but it was too hard for him to tell."

Mingi swallowed and started to slowly unroll the piece of paper. The first thing he noticed was that it was different than anything they used.

That was the first warning that had Mingi tensing.

He felt Yunho shifting anxiously next to him. It was his way of telling Mingi to go faster, but he just couldn't...

Because the faster he went, the sooner he'd find out what horrible things had happened to his people.

Once he started reading, he couldn't stop himself from shaking.

The attack... the humans...

Yunho started sobbing next to him and soon they were holding onto each other as the realization and pain of what had happened to their friend hit them.

So many emotions were flowing through his mind that Mingi didn't even know how to process them...

There was anguish from learning of Wooyoung's fate... Terror from finding out that humans knew of the existence of his kind... And joy from hearing Wooyoung was trying to get back to them and wanted to be with them.

How was he supposed to keep himself composed with this news?

Knowing that Wooyoung was safe helped a little, although he held no trust for whoever it was that claimed to be Wooyoung's friend.

There was also an underlying current of anger... How could Wooyoung lie to them for so long about this? How could he put all of them in danger by spending time with a human?

The more he thought about it, the angrier Mingi became.

All of this could have been avoided if Wooyoung wasn't such a free spirit. He should have controlled Wooyoung more. Then everything would be the way it should be...

"Mingi." Yunho said gently. "Mingi, we need to decide what to do. He's alive. Shouldn't we go look for him?"

"How are we supposed to do that?" The prince asked, lowering the letter to look at his mate. "It's not like we can just-"

"I think we can. This is important." Yunho reached up to cup Mingi's face and brought their foreheads together. "He needs us."

"And how are we even supposed to find him."

"You're the crown prince." Yunho smirked. "You have access to magic that no one else does. I'm sure you could find him with your eyes closed."

Mingi knew Yunho had a point. As a merman of royal blood, the magic of their race was much stronger for him.

"I can't just leave... Not with father..."

Yunho turned to tuck his head into the crook of Mingi's neck. "I know it's hard. Talk to him. See what he says. You know he loves Wooyoung too."

"Yes, he does. So if I bring this to his attention then he's going to hold out for Wooyoung's return. I can't do that to him..."

"So what are we going to do?"

Mingi shook his head and pulled Yunho as close to him as possible. "I don't know, Yunho... I don't know."