"Sousuke, you're insane. I don't care how many pictures you show me— I simply refuse to believe in something so scientifically unsound!"

Rei laughed his haughty and obnoxious laugh. Sousuke groaned, taking a moment to slap his hands against his face and squeeze at the bridge of his nose, before throwing his arms up in a mock surrender.

"Fine, don't believe me." Sousuke's face darkened as his eyes flickered about the townhouse, skimming over the body of his friend lying unconscious on the sofa and instead coming to rest on the closed door at the end of the hall. "You won't, but I know someone else who will."

Rei stopped laughing, a sound akin to a sudden choke, and jolted in place, his expression somewhere between anger and fear.

"You wouldn't."

Sousuke made a point to look Rei directly in the eye before huffing in a deep breath.

"NAGI—"

"Shuuuush!" Rei ran forward and cut Sousuke off by forcing a hand over his mouth. He tugged the bigger man down to his level. "Alright, fine, I'll look after him. I still think you're crazy, but I'll take care of him, alright?!"

"That's all I wanted to hear," Sousuke said, his voice still muffled by Rei's hand.

It was dark outside, as it was quite late at night. Sousuke guessed that it was technically morning by now. The sun had been setting when Rei arrived at the beach, and they'd stopped by the hospital first to make sure Haruka didn't have anything that needed immediate attention. Rei had performed a number of tests and done some preliminary x-rays, and he'd found that Haruka seemed to be okay. He'd lost a lot of blood, and was simply fatigued.

"With proper monitoring and a stable diet, he should be fine within a few days", Rei had assured Sousuke. Sousuke had taken that as an invitation to explain Haruka's true plight. Surely adjusting to a new body was a painful and tiring experience. He needed physical therapy to help him learn to use his new legs.

That was when Rei had started insisting that Sousuke was delusional. They'd bickered the whole drive to Rei's home, even as Rei made room for Sousuke to carry Haruka in through the front door. He'd laid him carefully across the couch cushions and draped a blanket over him just to return to the argument a moment later.

Rei, defeated, sighed as he sat down near Haruka's feet.

"I'd think if you were that concerned, you'd want him to sleep in the hospital."

"He doesn't have a legal identify, for one thing," Sousuke argued. "And I don't want him getting overwhelmed. Going from a cave in the ocean to a modern hospital would be a pretty jarring change. Nagisa's a handful, but at least your home life is relatively peaceful."

Rei groaned and palmed his face so hard that he momentarily knocked his glasses out of place.

"You're still on about that?!"

"I'm not on about anything, and I already told you you don't have to believe me. I know what he is. Or, well, was."

Before Rei could offer a retort, Sousuke heard a quiet and pained whimper. He put up a hand to quiet Rei and rushed to kneel down beside his injured friend.

"Are you awake, Haruka? It's me, Sousuke. You're in a safe place now. Our friend Rei is going to take good care of you, and he has a very nice partner."

"I am nice."

The intruding voice was so unexpected, particularly because he had somehow gotten so close that Sousuke felt breath on the back of his neck, that Sousuke would have thought he'd just had a heart attack. Rei looked like he probably had.

"Nagisa! What are you doing out of bed?!" Rei choked. Nagisa snorted and rolled his eyes as he sat down on the floor beside Sousuke. He was now the one nearest Haruka's face.

"What, like you guys are sooooo subtle and secretive? I heard you bickering about a guy on our couch. And, I mean, I obviously had to see what that's all about." Nagisa smiled and giggled as he moved closer to the half-conscious figure. He lifted a hand and poked at Haru's hair. "Anyway, I don't mind taking care of somebody. If you're asking, it's obviously important."

Sousuke looked Nagisa dead in the eye.

"This is the friend that Rin thought he'd lost."

Nagisa's eyes widened with understanding before they flickered back to Haru's face. His amazement lasted only a second. He wrinkled his nose.

"First order of business for this guy is a thorough deep conditioning treatment. I mean, what has he been washing his hair with?!"

"Salt water," Sousuke said emphatically, glaring up at Rei. "But then, his hair wasn't like that before— the texture was different, and it wasn't dry. A lot about Haruka has changed since I last saw him." Nagisa turned to blink in confusion at Sousuke. Rei shook his head. Sousuke ignored him. "Haruka used to be a merman. I have pictures and everything."

Nagisa apparently didn't have to see the pictures to be convinced. He jumped up from the ground and started hopping in place, hollering at the top of his lungs while Rei begged him to be quiet and Sousuke retrieved the camera with all the photos. He shoved it into Nagisa's hand and laughed as he told him to calm down.

The noise was what finally woke Haru.

"...Sou...? Where am I...?"

Sousuke returned to his spot beside Haru and gently patted his head. His hair really was dry. It felt like straw.

"Do you remember Nagisa and Rei?"

"...Yes."

"Okay, good. Rei is a good doctor. You're at his house, and he and Nagisa are going to look after you until you're well enough to see Rin. Do you understand?"

"...I do."

Haru's eyes opened, and while they were still dull, they weren't as hazy. It seemed that he could focus on things, even if the overhead light made him squint. He removed his blanket, put a hand to his own forehead, and took a long, shaky breath, tentatively stretching out his new legs and wincing at the pain there. He watched his own toes as he cautiously wiggled them around.

"See, Rei? He doesn't know how to use them!" Nagisa declared, patting one of Haru's legs. Haru reflexively moved the leg away and hissed through his teeth at the effort it took. Sousuke gave him an apologetic pat on the head.

"...Can you stand?" Rei asked. Haru's expression turned thoughtful, and then he gestured at Sousuke.

"Help me... sit up."

Sousuke stood, obliging Haru and helping pull him upright on the sofa. Haru took hold of his hands and used them to pull himself up onto his feet. He cried out in pain as his legs wobbled and buckled beneath him. Sousuke held onto him, trying to keep him from falling down. It was clear after only a minute that it was too soon for him to be walking. Sousuke picked him up and laid him back down on the couch, ordering him to stay there and rest. He looked at Rei.

"Well?"

Rei shrugged, looking guiltily at the nearest wall.

"Seems he really can't use his legs just yet. Whatever he is, he'll need physical therapy."

"Can you do that?"

"I know enough. Besides, Nagisa and I were both athletes up through college, remember? We know plenty of stretches and exercises."

Sousuke nodded and returned his attention to Haru. Haru was curled up in the center of the long couch, so Sousuke sat on the cushion near his head. He took Haru's shoulder and gently shook it. His eyes opened to flicker up and focus on Sousuke, who was definitely frowning now.

"I have to ask you something."

"...What is it?"

Sousuke gulped. He wasn't entirely sure that he wanted an answer to his question.

"You said Makoto. ...What's happened to him? What did he do?"

Haru's eyes widened, and he suddenly looked very guilty. He couldn't look directly at Sousuke's face. He made a sound like a hiccup before he bit his lip and rolled over to bury his face in the cushions behind him.

"I'm sorry."

"...D-don't tell me he's—"

Sousuke was unable to finish the sentence, if only out of fear of giving life to the thing he was now dreading. He stared at Haruka's back, waiting for an answer, and resigned himself to the fact that he wasn't going to get one. Not yet, anyway. Haru was neither ready nor willing to talk about it.

"Who's Makoto?" Nagisa asked gently, sitting on the arm of the sofa and putting a hand on Sousuke's shoulder. Sousuke stiffened.

"You remember when I got rescued a while back, right? That was my first encounter with one of them. Turns out he's a friend of Haruka's... a prince. His name is Makoto. He told me that when he saved me."

"...Has something happened to him?" Nagisa prodded. Sousuke shrugged.

"Sounds like it. It was the last thing Haru said before he passed out. And... Well. You saw that just now."

Sousuke let out a long, irritated huff and buried his face in his hands. He felt Nagisa patting his back and rubbing soothing circles into his shoulder blades.

"I'm sorry," Nagisa offered. Sousuke scoffed. He felt rather foolish.

"I guess..." He started, trying to place the sentiment in words. It was one he hadn't realized he had until just now, making it difficult to explain. "I guess that deep down, I was hoping I'd get to see him one more time. Just once would've been enough!"

"Did you never get to thank him?" Rei asked. Sousuke wasn't sure when Rei had gotten so invested in the story that he had always insisted he didn't believe, but that didn't matter now. He huffed out a sound between a breath and a laugh.

"That's the strange thing— I did. When I caught Rin with Haruka, I promised to keep quiet in exchange for Haru relaying my thanks for me. But... The more I learned about Haru and his kind, the more questions I had."

"Like what?"

"I... Well, Haruka made it pretty clear that Makoto wasn't supposed to have any contact with humans at all. Makoto himself obviously knew next to nothing about humans, that much was clear just from talking to him. He didn't even know what a life-jacket was. So... What was he doing out there, so close to the road and human civilization? How did he know what to do? And why?!"

"He wasn't supposed to do that."

Haru's voice was more of a tremble than true speech, but Sousuke heard it and turned to face him. He hadn't moved from his earlier position, and his face was still hidden. His shoulders shook. Haruka took a deep breath before he continued.

"I hadn't been... to that beach in nearly a year. But then Makoto told me what he did, and... I wanted to see the wreck. I wanted to find some trace of his story. That's why I was in the cave that evening. ...I was resting after several hours of searching."

Sousuke felt a cold shiver run down his spine. Rei and Nagisa both seemed like they were afraid to breathe. Haru choked down another sob.

"None of this would have happened if it wasn't for him," Haru continued. "Rin and I never would have met, and you wouldn't even be here. ...Neither would I. And now... Now, he..."

Haru trailed off again. As frustrating as it was, it seemed he couldn't say just what had happened. He didn't have to. Sousuke had gotten the message loud and clear: he was never going to see or hear from Makoto again, and neither was Haruka.

"You have to believe that Rin is worth it," Sousuke muttered. Haru went quiet and still. "Whatever it is that Makoto did, he did it on purpose. He wouldn't have done it if he didn't want you to be happy here. ...It's the least you could do to repay him."

Haru didn't respond for a moment. Eventually, he sniffled and nodded. Sousuke could see him furiously wiping at his eyes. When he didn't say anything more, Sousuke stood to leave.

"I've got a lot of work to do," he explained to Rei and Nagisa. "Haruka will need some documents if he's going to live and work here. I'll try to keep it as legal as possible, but I'll have to make some things up."

"Just don't do anything stupid," Rei warned. Nagisa nodded his agreement as Sousuke threw on his jacket and shoes. He stopped with one hand on the doorknob and turned to cast one last look at Haruka.

"...Take good care of him."

----------------

Haruka decided, rather quickly, that both Nagisa and Rei were strange, even if he was nearly overwhelmed by their care and affection. He was also certain that they were very nice people.

They bickered a lot. At first Haruka thought they had a troubled relationship, but he learned that the bickering was almost always playful, that they rarely had real arguments. Sure, Nagisa sometimes exasperated Rei with his impulsiveness and boundless energy, but Rei swore that he wouldn't have it any other way.

They both worked a great deal, and yet they somehow both had the energy to fill their entire day with activity. They'd get home from work around the same time and then immediately talk about watching a movie or playing a board game or going to the park. Haruka was never bored in their absence, as he was given free reign of the house when they were away. Haruka usually played with Nagisa's pet rabbit for at least an hour before going to watch TV. When he had the motivation, he would read with the radio on in the background, trying to absorb as much information as he could. Then his caretakers would get home, and the house would be full of energy and activity once again.

The taller one, Rei, was a doctor. Haruka knew what doctors were, as they had similar roles underwater, but doctors on land were much more blunt and used strange metal instruments that were cold against his skin.

"Your skin is very sensitive. Perhaps some traits of your kind have remained, and you had more nerve endings as a merman," Rei commented once, watching Haru flinch and squirm under the soft press of his stethoscope. He scribbled the thought down in his notebook when he was finished his routine check of Haru's "vitals"— a word the former merman still did not understand.

Rei had insisted on not believing Sousuke for as long as possible, but eventually Haru's relative ignorance of the human world combined with Sousuke's continuing to affirm the story changed his mind. Once he'd decided he believed Sousuke, Rei started testing Haru in various ways, trying to determine in which ways his body was still different. The main difference was lung capacity. Haruka could still hold his breath underwater for over six minutes with little effort.

"I wonder if I can still communicate with marine life," Haru mumbled once. Rei perked up at that, and soon forced Haruka to explain the dynamics of underwater relations. Haru swore he'd never seen someone write so fast.

Every morning Haruka ate the breakfast that Nagisa made, and then Rei checked his vitals and his legs. Then, they worked on what he called "physical therapy", which usually meant a great deal of pain. At first Haru did not understand the purpose of it, but soon enough he was able to stand, even if he was still wobbly, and everything made sense.

Rei was quite literally teaching him how to walk.

In the afternoon and evening, Haruka iced his legs or wore heat patches as he studied. Rei told him that he would need a "GED" to get a decent job, and that it was best for Haru to have a basic grasp of subjects like science and history. Haru already knew enough about math and language, and had learned a lot about the modern world and its culture from Rin.

Every night, Haruka took a long bath (he constantly craved the feel of water on his skin now that he was so often away from it), ate the dinner that Rei and Nagisa usually prepared together, and then went to sleep on the couch, where Rei always made sure he was comfortable and warm.

The shorter man, Nagisa, was training to be something called an astronaut. He had to explain the entire concept to Haru, as Rin had been unable to find the right words to make Haru truly understand. Astronauts were scientists, and had to have fancy degrees from good schools. Then, they had to train to survive in space, where the air is different ("oxygen pretty much doesn't exist there", Nagisa said) and there isn't any gravity. Then, if they're lucky, they get to go on an enormous machine called a rocket ship into outer space.

"Space is where all the stars are?" Haru had asked to clarify, thinking of a particular night beneath a sea of stars that he now knew to be the moment Rin realized that he loved him. Nagisa had nodded excitedly, saying something about his telescope and planets that was too jumbled for Haru to understand.

"Someday, I want to walk on the moon! Or meet an alien... Or live on the space station!" Nagisa declared. Haruka thought that he seemed indecisive. But he was friendly and kind, even if he was too rambunctious.

Nagisa made it his job to help teach Haru about the modern world in terms of culture. He'd already learned a great deal from Rin, but things had changed in the months he'd been imprisoned— Nagisa said that the modern world changed very quickly. He gave Haru a smartphone of his own, something that Haru argued was too expensive to give him as a present. Nagisa had insisted he keep it, and they had worked together to fill it with apps and music and games to Haruka's liking. Nagisa was quick to describe Haru's taste as "eclectic".

The nicest thing that Nagisa did was collect photos of Rin and Sousuke from their various social media accounts and send them to Haru. Haru smiled as he chose the picture of Rin that best reflected the man he knew and loved and set it as his "lock screen". Nagisa tried to explain what "Twitter" and "Snapchat" were, but decided that the Internet was too complicated a concept to learn in one sitting.

Nagisa also decided that he wanted to teach Haru how to cook for himself and how to do household chores. Haru learned to operate a laundry machine and a dryer and a dishwasher, and learned to sweep and to mop and to scrub. Nagisa taught him how to cook simple things ranging from omelettes to pasta, and educated him in the basics of spices and kitchen hygiene. Haru learned that he liked doing these kinds of chores— or, at least, that he liked doing them the way that Nagisa did.

For a man, Nagisa made an awfully good housewife, Haru noticed. Rei laughed when Haru said as much.

Rei told Haruka that he and Nagisa had known one another since high school, and had started dating not too long after becoming friends. They had been living together in this fancy townhouse for a little over three years now. Rei's older brother had not spoken to him since then, but Nagisa's whole family had been very supportive.

"Then why haven't you gotten married yet?" Haruka asked innocently one afternoon. Underwater, marriage wasn't something that needed legal certification for most folks. Anyone could marry who they pleased. Here, apparently, things were different.

"Well, we consider ourselves married, but same-sex marriage isn't legal here. Not yet, anyway," Rei explained with a sad smile. Haruka felt his heart sink.

"I can't marry Rin?" Haru glumly realized. Rei patted his head.

"I'm sure you can someday soon," he reassured him. "Besides, you don't have to be married to want to spend the rest of your life with someone. At the end of the day, it's only a slip of paper."

That managed to make Haruka feel a little better.

The relief lasted only a moment, as Rei then announced that it was time for his daily leg stretches.

----------------

"This one would look nice, but I think it's a little too big."

Nagisa was going through Rei's closet, where he'd already divided his clothes into two halves: the things he liked and wanted to keep, and the things he didn't mind letting Haruka have. "I'm sure he's tired of wearing the same three t-shirts," Rei had said with a shrug when he'd agreed to the arrangement. Rei and Haru were close enough in size that they could share certain things, even if Rei was taller.

Every so often, Nagisa would find a garment and toss it onto the bed. It was Haru's job to try it on if it looked like something he would like to wear. He was told not to bother doing so if he didn't like it. So far, he'd formed a small pile containing a couple of button-downs, a few jersey knits and tees, and a sweater or two. They hadn't yet gotten to pants.

"So I don't want to overwhelm you," Nagisa began, his tone careful, "but Rei and I want to take you outside today. You need some shoes, and you'll have to get your feet measured if you want those. That, and Sousuke's about done with your paperwork, and they'll need to photograph you for your ID."

Haruka gulped. He'd been expecting this. It had been a little over a week now, and he could stand and walk for short amounts of time, even if it left him feeling very tired. Still, he hadn't yet left the house. The world outside was enormous and unfamiliar, and in that regard it was terrifying.

"I know it's scary," Nagisa added when Haru didn't say anything. "You've been underwater your while life. But you have me and Rei, and you'll get to see Sousuke! We won't let anything hurt you!"

Haruka managed a nod and a hesitant smile. It was hard to be grouchy around Nagisa. He was so happy all the time that it was almost ridiculous.

"By the way, you have a last name now! Sousuke picked it out with Rei."

Haru quirked an eyebrow.

"Oh? ...What is it?"

"Well, they didn't actually tell me that yet. It's supposed to be motivation to get you out of the house. Sousuke will tell you when we go out to eat!"

The mention of food caught Haruka's interest. As much as he liked the food that Nagisa made, he was curious about what humans ate when they went to "restaurants" and was excited to try something new. That, and seeing Sousuke would be nice. The man had been calling every day, usually more than once, but he didn't want to tip Rin off. He hadn't found time to visit without making him suspicious.

Haru agreed to the terms, and then he got to trying on pants. Rei was a bit too tall, so the only things he found that really fit were a pair of old jeans and a couple of pairs of sweatpants. That is, until Nagisa found a pair of long khaki shorts that looked more like capris on him.

"This is Australia. It gets really hot! You'd be better off wearing those."

Haru grumbled about it, as he thought it must make his legs look silly (he was admittedly self-conscious about them because he hadn't had them for very long), but agreed to wear the shorts with a t-shirt. Nagisa fussed over him and fixed his hair before guiding him towards the front door.

Haruka froze in the doorway. The sun was bright enough that it hurt his eyes. The world outside the house's walls was loud— he could hear cars, and birds, and people, and the wind rustling through trees and bushes. It was the kind of sound that Nagisa probably didn't notice, but it was deafening to Haru, who was used to hearing only the dull hum of the sea.

"Come on. You can do it."

Nagisa extended his hand with a reassuring smile. Haru carefully tested his legs against the first step, then the second, then the third. His feet, currently protected by loose-fitting sandals, hit the driveway, and soon he was at the door to Nagisa's car.

"...You have to get in on the other side, Haru-chan. I'm driving."

----------------

"Nanase."

"Nanase?"

"Yep."

"Why that?"

Sousuke didn't answer at first, instead picking at the bread of his grilled chicken sandwich. He always removed as much of the bread as possible if he ate any at all. Rei said that Sousuke wasn't fond of "carbs", but ate lots of them before working out. Haruka didn't yet understand the complexities of the human diet.

Haru had gotten his photo taken for an ID card, and he'd gotten his feet measured. Nagisa had convinced him to get fitted for pants, and he now had a proper pair of cargo shorts that just barely hid his knees. Haru didn't like his knees. Knees were strange-looking.

Now, he sat with Nagisa and Sousuke and Rei at a table in the "food court" of a "mall". It was exciting— so many different places to eat, so many different things to try. Haruka had settled on something called a burger, as Nagisa had insisted that it was a staple of the human diet. The burger was a little too greasy, but he did like the fries.

Sousuke finally finished pulling apart the bun of his sandwich and handed Haruka a stack of papers, papers with a name and a date and place of birth. He recognized his mother's name— Nanako. Sousuke had invented a father for him.

Haruka Nanase, nearly 26 years old, was now a person, a human, that legally existed.

"We decided to play off of your mother's name and choose something Japanese. Nanase fits well with your first name, and it means seven currents, which is a nice homage to your original home," Sousuke explained. He swallowed a bite of his sandwich. "By the way, you've been disowned. ...And if anyone asks, you were born here and your parents moved back to Japan. We can't have people looking up your family to find that it doesn't exist. Your papers are mostly legal, but we still don't want anybody asking too many questions. Got it?"

Haru stared for a moment as he tried to process the weight of having a human identity. After a long minute of silence, he nodded.

"Got it."

"Good. Now..." Sousuke put down his food, laid his hands gently on the table, and smiled. "Just one more week, and I'll take you to see Rin. Rin arranged to see his parents for the last day of his break from work. We're gonna stop by the beach first, where we'll surprise him with you, and then we'll take you to meet his parents."

Haruka felt his face redden. He hadn't expected things to move so quickly. He wanted to meet Russell and Lori, as Rin had nothing but wonderful things to say about them, but he was afraid that they wouldn't like him.

"Do they... know about me?" Haru asked. Sousuke laughed awkwardly.

"They do. It took us a long time to convince them that we were telling the truth, but they know who you are. More importantly, they know what you were."

Haru nodded, intending to move ahead in the conversation, and then noticed something odd. Sousuke had let something slip that he probably hadn't meant to.

"...Why is Rin not working?"

Sousuke's smile vanished. Rei cringed.

"Rin..." Sousuke began, his tone tentative. "...Rin didn't take the news well. I guess it's best that you know beforehand, so he doesn't have to tell you later—"

"What happened?!" Haruka demanded. Sousuke's frown hardened.

"...Do you know what a gun is?"

Haruka gulped at the way Sousuke asked that question. He felt like his insides had turned cold all of a sudden.

"I do. Rin showed me his and explained what they do."

"So you know what it means to be shot?"

"...D-Don't tell me that he was—"

"Three times." Sousuke was unable to look Haru in the eye when he relayed the information. "...And he endangered everyone else in the process, so Captain Mikoshiba made him take six months off. He was... It wasn't good, Haruka."

Haru clenched his fists so tightly that they turned white at the knuckles and bit his lip. Nagisa did his best to comfort him with a gentle pat of his arm.

"But he's okay, isn't he?!" Haru demanded. He felt like he'd taken a punch to the gut. This wasn't what he had wanted their reunion to be.

Sousuke pondered the question for an uncomfortably long time. Then, to Haruka's surprise, he smiled.

"He is okay," Sousuke laughed. "He stumbled, and it was hard on us both, but... I was sure, just before I found you, that he'd be whole again someday. He's ready to go back to work, and he's seeing a therapist. He got to see the housing project come to fruition, too."

Haruka tried to smile at that. It was too hard, knowing that Rin had taken things so badly that he'd been hurt. He couldn't help feeling like Rin could have been killed because of him, because of his actions.

"...I'll have to make it up to him," Haruka said, louder than he'd meant to. Sousuke smirked.

"You promise?"

Haru looked up at Sousuke with wide eyes and felt his cheeks turn pink. After he'd recovered from his surprise, he smiled.

"I promise."

----------------

Haruka sighed as he was finally allowed to set his legs down. Nagisa laughed at the frustrated expression on his face.

"I hate the stretches," he grumbled. Rei paid him no mind. After all, he had asked for this— had asked to increase his exercise during his last week staying with Rei and Nagisa. He wanted to be as mobile as possible when he met Rin.

He was now able to jump and to run, even if he couldn't do so for very long. Rei had taken him to his local pool, where they'd found that Haruka could still swim as strongly as he could before. It seemed that humans found him very impressive, and asked what his secret was. Haru could only smile somewhat mischievously.

No matter how strong he got, Haru found that his legs still ached at the end of the day. His remedy for this was taking long baths. Rei was beginning to complain about his water bill. Nagisa was confused as to why Haru always wore his new bathing suit in the tub, and Haru refused to admit that it was because he didn't like the way some of his new body parts looked. Sure, Rin had shown him diagrams of the human body, but it was still jarring for him to look down and see things that hadn't been there before. He'd have to get used to it.

"I've written up a guide for you, so that you can continue to work on your leg strength when you go to live with Rin. You'd best follow the instructions carefully. I know it's hard, but if you focus on it now, you won't have to worry about it in the future," Rei explained. Haru tried to smile, even as he felt nervous butterflies in his gut.

Tomorrow, he would finally reunite with Rin. He and his roommates had decided to relax for now. They would get all of their packing done tomorrow. Haru didn't have to be at the beach until the late afternoon, anyway.

Rei placed heat patches on Haru's knees and gave him permission to stop stretching, and Nagisa clapped his hands together and perked up.

"I wanted to make you something special for your last night here! I'm making your favorite!"

Haru's eyes glistened. Rei laughed at the visible hunger there.

"Mackerel?"

"You got it! I'm grilling it, and we'll have it with some rice and miso."

Haru chose to watch as Nagisa grilled the fish, as always. His eyes always sparkled with curiosity and delight at watching the flesh slowly cook all the way through. He still enjoyed it raw, usually in the form of sushi, but mackerel was something that he would eat in any form.

It wasn't until after he had eaten his fill and Rei had washed all of the dishes that Nagisa finally asked the question.

"So, we really want to know... How did you end up like this? How did you get here?"

Haru stiffened. Whenever he was reminded of the sea, his eyes got wide and strangely child-like. There was a very human fear and anxiety there that he had yet to address.

Nagisa began to open his mouth to retract the question, fearing that he'd only upset Haruka. Before he could, Haru offered an answer.

"...Okay," Haru mumbled. "...I'll tell you."

----------------

Execution day had arrived.

Haruka had refused to eat anything the night before, even when Aysha had appeared to ask what he'd like for his last meal. She had promised that she could bring him anything he wanted.

"I want Rin," he'd murmured. She only sadly shook her head.

"I'm afraid I can't give you that."

As soon as the sun shone its feeble morning rays through the bars of his cell, Haruka heard the guards approaching. Makoto was among them. He didn't say anything to Haru, only directed the men, who shackled his arms and his tail to prevent him from swimming in any direction but the one he was guided in. He kept his head down as they roughly moved him out of his cell.

He was guided through the streets of the city surrounding the castle. A guard with a horn loudly announced the occasion. Merfolk left their homes, whispering about Haruka's crimes. Some, apparently, couldn't disagree with his actions. Others loudly comdemned them. Before long, the procession had acquired a following. Haru heard several children ask their parents what "that man" was in trouble for. Their answers differed greatly, and some chose not to respond at all.

People bowed to Makoto as he passed. Haruka had so rarely seen him interact with others that he forgot how they usually treated him— like he was a god. Haru was the only person who'd ever treated him normally.

When the procession finally stopped, it was because they're arrived at something like an arena. It looked like a more thin and hollow version of the coliseum, a big building that Rin had shown him pictures of. It was carved from blue-toned rock, and the open arches all around were simple walls rather than seating areas. At the very center of the flat ground was something like a column jutting out of the earth. It was flat on top and sloped slightly back, a slanted pedestal.

Haruka knew what it was.

The man with the horn riled up the crowd as Haru was forced to lay his back against the slab. His old chains were removed, and replaced with the ones permanently attached to the structure. His arms were pinned in place above his head, while another shackle held his tail and kept him from squirming. The only thing he could freely move was his head. In a way, this was cruel— he was free to see the crowd surrounding him.

The voices quieted. Makoto approached slowly.

His face was turned downwards and obscured in shadow, leaving Haru unable to read his expression. The air— the water, rather— around him felt unbearably thick. In Makoto's hands was his father's trident, too large and imposing in contrast to the prince's (previously?) gentle nature. Its razor-sharp tips glistened. Haru gulped as he looked at them.

He could only imagine how many lives had ended on the points of those blades.

Around them, the gathered crowd seemed to hold its breath. The KI got had fastened his stern gaze on his son, his arms crossed over his broad chest, while the Queen turned her eyes away. Her shoulders stiffened as she braced herself for what was to come. The young twins, thankfully, were nowhere to be seen. Haru barely caught a glimpse of Aysha. For whatever reason, she lingered far behind the other royals. She watched from a great distance.

Haru stared intently at the man he'd once considered his only friend.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, if only to break the deafening silence.

He found that his throat felt clogged. He hadn't noticed that he'd begun to cry. In water, the tears always dissolved quickly, always joined the rest of the water to add to it, a meaningless couple of drops. At the moment, the salty water all around him felt like it was made entirely of tears.

At Haru's quiet apology, Makoto lifted his head just enough to allow Haruka a glimpse at his eyes. To his surprise, they weren't sad, or bitter, or angry, or even guilty.

What is he...?

Haru blinked. His head spun with a thousand questions.

Makoto's bright green eyes were determined.

"...Makoto?" Haru questioned aloud, almost an accusation. Makoto acted as if he hadn't heard him and straightened his back, finally beginning to raise the trident. The resolute gaze hadn't left his face.

"Haruka. For your crimes against the kingdom of Oceania and all merfolk, you have been sentenced to death by public execution..."

Makoto began to recite Haruka's crimes and his sentence. The words were delivered with no emotion attached to them, and they bounced off the edges of the dome around them and bounced back louder and more clear. As the crowd began to murmur, Haru's mind continued to race.

Something wasn't right. Makoto's expression was all wrong. He was about to execute his only friend— why did he look so calm, so collected?

"...Any last words?"

The question brought him back to his senses. Haru looked around at all the eyes fixed on him and swallowed the lump in his throat. His tears stung the corners of his eyes.

"I never meant to hurt anyone," he sobbed.

Some faces in the crowd seemed to change to expressions of pity, while others hardened. Makoto's remained unchanged, and he lifted his arms fully above his head. The trident began to glow, and Haruka forgot how to breathe.

The terror of his fate struck him all at once, and Makoto's expression was still so unbearably wrong.

"Very well," The young royal casually responded as the trident continued to brighten.

Haruka thought of Rin, of Sousuke, of Blitz, of Rin, of police officers, and firefighters, and paramedics, and Rin. He thought of animals, of trees, of art, and of Rin. He thought of music, of dancing, of feet and toes, and of Rin. And then he thought only of those fiercely red eyes and that toothy grin.

Just then, everything froze. Makoto's face finally changed. His features set more firmly, and his eyes flared. Then he let out a powerful scream as he brought the trident down.

Haruka waited for the pain.

It did not come.

Opening his eyes, he saw that the blade had been swung not at him, but in a circular motion towards the many guards gathered around. The devastating blast had sent them and most of the audience flying, many sent hundreds of yards away.

"What are you doing, boy?!" The King roared. Haru could barely hear him over the terrified screams of the audience. The Queen, startled, looked at her son with her lips parted and eyes wide. The blast had sent the two of them away as well, but they seemed too shocked to react to having been struck.

The protests came too late. Makoto was already preparing his next strike, and it seemed he'd created some kind of temporary barrier that the guards could not yet cross. As he raised it once more, the trident glowed with a different kind of light, a power tinged a mysterious blue, and he once again focused his attention on Haruka.

"Do you trust me?!"

Makoto shouted above the deafening uproar of the crowd and the quickly gathering guards who threw their weight against the barely-visible golden barrier. Haruka, still stunned, took a moment to take it all in.

Makoto had asked him the same question before, on a night when he'd visited his cell alone, and when he'd asked it then, Haru's answer had been no. Now, he felt that he was finally beginning to understand. He gave a firm nod, feeling his heart race.

"I do!"

Haruka was confident in his answer, and ashamed at himself for thinking otherwise for even a moment.

Makoto swung the trident straight downwards. It didn't strike Haruka directly, instead sending a flash of solid light through the center of his body. For a moment, he felt nothing, and then his tail began to feel strange.

His body felt like it was on fire. It was concentrated down the center of his tail. He saw, and he felt, his skin begin to glow brightly. A searing, tearing pain ripped through his center. Unsure what to make of it, he looked at his aching tail and reeled back in shock.

It was splitting open. Starting from the center of the fin at the very end, it was splitting in half down the center, the separate halves slowly forming into human feet.

Sirenia's trident— the King's trident. One in the same, and Makoto had known this all along. This has been his plan from the very beginning— to trick his father into allowing him to use it. Haruka looked at Makoto with eyes full of both astonishment and gratitude, but his friend only shook his head and, in one final swing of the trident, shattered the chains that held him down. He gestured upwards.

"Go— Now! Get to the surface!" Makoto shouted over his shoulder as he turned to hold back the king and his guards. The gathered crowd was in a frenzy, and the guards were forming cracks in the barrier. It wouldn't hold for much longer. Haruka managed to push through the intense pain and launched himself up, towards the sky.

"I'll never forget this, Makoto! I won't forget you!" Haruka screamed as Makoto's figure grew distant.

Haru was just barely able to see Makoto nod before he faded into the ocean's endless blue.

----------------

"He sacrificed everything for me," Haruka said, concluding his story. His eyes flowed freely with tears, and Nagisa moved to find a box of tissues for him. Rei pretended to be cleaning dust off of his glasses and discreetly wiped the corners of his eyes.

When Sousuke had found Haru, all that he had managed to say was the name of his friend. Everyone knew that Makoto was involved, somehow, in his transformation, but never in their wildest dreams had any of them expected this. Already Rei wondered who would relay this to Sousuke, and how he would feel to learn that his rescuer— the one who had inadvertently started all of this by saving Sousuke's life— had likely been imprisoned... Perhaps worse.

Nagisa, apparently, had the same fear that Rei did. He could see it written on his face. He opened his mouth to ask, and Haru's eyes narrowed the second he heard the fearful tone in Nagisa's voice.

"...You don't think that they—"

"They wouldn't kill him," Haruka interrupted harshly, "because he's still a crown prince. But... But..."

He swallowed thickly, unable to continue. Nagisa pulled his chair up beside his and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. Rei, sitting across from him, patted Haru's knee.

"The dungeons," Haru managed to say after a while. "It's a terrible place, and he doesn't belong there. The other prisoners would destroy him, but is solitary confinement any better? He'll never be free again!"

Rei hummed a low, sad note. Makoto's position meant that he would be spared execution, but he'd committed the highest possible treason. It could only mean a lifetime of imprisonment. He couldn't hope to console Haruka in that regard, but he knew what to say.

"No one forced him to make that decision."

Both Nagisa and Haru seemed startled to hear Rei speak, and looked at him curiously. Rei did his best to smile, though he was still trying not to cry.

"He did what he did because he wanted you to be happy more than he wanted his own freedom. You understand that, don't you?" Rei said reassuringly. He squeezed the hand that he still rested on Haru's knee. Haru glanced down at Rei's hand and nodded.

Just as Rei was about to stand, planning to give Haruka a quick hug and announce that they should all head to bed, Nagisa piped up.

"Besides, you shouldn't be so negative, Haru-chan! He could be set free!"

Rei didn't know how to respond to that. Haru looked at Nagisa like he was insane, shaking his head, while Rei fumbled for words.

"B-but that's imposs—"

"You used to think it was impossible to have your own legs, right?!" Nagisa interrupted. Haru kept taking too long to respond, always taking a few seconds to blink.

"...Y-yes," Haru stammered, looking embarrassed. Nagisa giggled as he nodded.

"So anything could happen! The people know the truth now. For all you know, there'll be a revolution soon! Anything could happen!"

Rei couldn't help but laugh and shake his head at Nagisa. Always an optimist, that one, he thought.

But then, Haruka had more than earned a little bit of optimism.

----------------

Rin woke on the morning of the last day of his break from work to find that Sousuke had woken already, and had prepared a massive breakfast. The sight of pancakes told him that the man was in a good mood, as he wasn't avoiding sugar in the way that he usually did.

"What's the occasion?" Rin asked through a laugh as he took his seat. Sousuke shrugged.

"You're heading back to work tomorrow. Guess we're celebrating your last day of freedom?"

Sousuke made it clear that he didn't intend to explain himself. Rin allowed it, and they spent their breakfast guessing what the reactions of their various coworkers would be to seeing Rin again.

As they'd decided to do the day before, Rin and Sousuke spent most of the morning and afternoon cleaning the apartment. They each packed up clothes they didn't wear anymore or had outgrown, books they had finished reading, and other unnecessary items and put them in boxes to be donated. By the time they'd finished, the sun was getting low in the sky, turning everything faintly orange.

While Sousuke was carrying the boxes to the car, Rin took one final look around the room and found a duffel bag under the table by the door. When he looked inside, he found several familiar items that tugged at his heartstrings. It was everything from Haruka's cave— his camera, his phone, all of his sketchbooks and towels. Rin frowned. Hadn't Sousuke agreed to leave everything there?

Sousuke noticed Rin peeking through the bag as soon as he got back inside. He started fumbling for words almost immediately.

"That, um... S-See, I think some other people have been poking around there lately. I didn't want it getting stolen."

Rin blinked at him for a moment, unsure what to think, before he managed a smile. If that was true, it was nice of Sousuke to have made an effort to keep everything safe. Even so, it seemed a bit strange. How had other people found the cave? Even when they'd been quite noisy, Rin and Haru's meetings had never attracted others.

But, then, why would Sousuke lie about that? Rin shook the suspicion out of his head and stood up. He would dismiss it for now.

"So I wanted to go to the beach before we head to your parents' place," Sousuke said suddenly. The suggestion came out of nowhere, prompting Rin to raise an eyebrow. He chuckled.

"Did you want to go for a swim, or just walk around and get a snack or something?"

"We can decide when we get there," Sousuke replied. He wasn't normally so spontaneous. Still, he was quite adamant about it, leaving Rin no choice but to agree. He threw his and Sousuke's swimsuits into his jogging pack and headed out the apartment door.

Rin tried prying information out of Sousuke on the short drive. He was being strangely tight-lipped, and his eyes shifted around a lot, like he was looking for something. They got to the beach to find that it was practically empty, as it often was. It would have normally been unusual for this time of year if not for the odd chill in the air that made beach-going seem less inviting.

"So what do you wanna do? We have the whole place to ourselves," Rin teased. Sousuke still didn't say anything.

"Follow me," he said after a while. Rin raised an eyebrow, but did as he was told. He left his jogging pack in the car and followed behind Sousuke.

They approached the edge of the beach. Rin could see the cliffside, off in the far distance, that marked Haruka's hidden cave. At first, he didn't notice anything else.

Then, as they walked, approaching the center, Rin noticed a single figure. The person stood still, almost like he was watching them. Rin couldn't make out the details of his face from this distance. All that he could tell was that he had dark hair.

Rin felt a strange energy. He didn't know why, but he felt the need to keep his eyes on that strange figure, felt a need to keep walking until he was close enough to see who it was. With every step, the face became clearer.

...Wait, didn't he know that face?

Rin stopped, and heard Sousuke stop behind him. Rin's eyes were telling him a story that he couldn't possibly believe. He opened his mouth, muttering to himself.

"...That's... But... No, that's not poss—"

"What, you don't recognize him?"

Sousuke's interruption was casual. Rin turned to look at him with wide and pleading eyes. He was afraid to ask the question for fear of having his fragile hopes dashed.

"...Is... Is that...?!" Rin managed to croak. His eyes were already stinging.

Sousuke smiled, the kind of wide and warm and genuine smile that he didn't show terribly often.

"That's Haruka," he said.

Rin turned to look at the other man once more, a hand covering his mouth. Haruka smiled. He looked changed, somehow, and in more ways than just the inexplicable fact that he had legs. The important things were the same. His eyes were still a deep, shining blue, full of enchantment and mystery. He was a little bit shorter than Rin had guessed he would be.

Rin had imagined him as a human many times. He'd never expected to see it.

"...Well, what are you just standing there for?" Sousuke prodded. "Go say hello!" When Rin stared back at him, still not moving, Sousuke chuckled. "...I'll turn around, okay?"

Sousuke did just that, turning nonchalantly to look at the waves.

Rin's first few steps were slow, deliberate. There were so many questions spinning around in his head that it made his entire body feel heavy, and his legs wobbled beneath him. Then Haruka moved, and everything about the way that he moved made it more clear to him that it really was him, that he was alive, and Rin felt his pace quicken as the first sob escaped his throat.

Rin ran, and he ran, kicking up sand and nearly tripping. Haruka ran slowly, as he still wasn't used to his legs. The distance seemed to go on forever, and Rin was too frantic to pay attention to the way that he was breathing. Before he knew it, he felt like his lungs were on the verge of bursting, but he kept running.

They didn't meet— they collided. As soon as they could reach one another, Haruka fell into Rin's arms, and Rin squeezed him so tightly that if the occasion were any different, Haru would have told him that it hurt. Rin lifted him up and spun him around. He laughed joyously through his tears.

When Haruka's feet hit sand again, it became too much. Rin found that he could no longer stand. He fell to his knees, burying his face in his hands. He tried to apologize. He was sobbing too hard to speak. Haru laughed as his own tears spilled over and knelt down to join him, wrapping his arms around Rin's crumpled frame and whispering about how much he had missed him and apologizing for having been gone so long. He could see Sousuke approaching behind them, staring out at the sea and pretending that he had gotten something in his eye.

Rin looked up after several minutes of crying. He tried to speak, but still couldn't form words. Haru shook his head and joined their hands together. He leaned in to plant a kiss on Rin's forehead. This time, it wasn't a goodbye. Rin came back to life, cupping Haruka's face in his hands and finally crashing their lips together.

This time, when they kissed, neither pulled away. There were no questions about what would happen to them, and no feelings of fear or shame. This time, when Rin said "I love you" (and he said it over and over again, in every short moment that his lips were his own), it didn't hurt, and he wasn't afraid of what it meant. Rin kissed him until his little human lungs betrayed him and he was forced back by his need for air, and then he pulled him into another hug. He heard a clearing of the throat behind him.

Rin looked incredulously at Sousuke, unsure which of his thousand questions he should ask first. He stood and helped pull Haruka back to his feet. Even when he was talking to Sousuke, his eyes kept flickering back to Haru.

"How long have you been hiding this from me?!" Rin eventually managed to sputter.

"It's only been a couple of weeks," Sousuke laughed. "I started getting messages from his phone, and I went to the cave and found him there, legs and all."

"And where have you been?!" Rin demanded, shaking Haru by the shoulders.

"They took care of me," Haru said simply, looking past Rin's shoulder. He turned, and just then noticed Rei and Nagisa. They stood beside the car that they'd parked up on the grassy hill. Nagisa had a camera on a tripod and waved furiously when he noticed Rin looking. Rei seemed like he wanted to hide.

"Thank you," Rin shouted at them, laughing and shaking his head in disbelief. He couldn't believe that Nagisa had managed to keep his mouth shut for that long.

"Nagisa was forbidden from seeing or talking to anyone outside the four of us unless it was necessary," Sousuke said in response to the question Rin hadn't asked.

Rin still looked shocked. Sousuke couldn't help but snicker at his expression. Rin's hands tightly cupped Haru's face, constantly touching and searching it as though he was expecting it to change or disappear. Haru laughed under his breath.

"...How did this happen? When?" Rin whispered. Haru's eyes flickered somewhat sadly, even as his soft smile remained.

"It was Makoto," he said. "He set me free so that I could be here with you."

Haruka's eyes watered, threatening the verge of tears once more. Rin noticed that, at the mention of Makoto, Sousuke looked out at the sea, something oddly unsettled and searching in his expression. It seemed that neither of them intended to elaborate right now. But that was okay. They would all have plenty of time to talk about the specifics later.

Haruka was back. Rin was finally able to keep him where he had always belonged— safe in his arms. And now that he had him, he didn't intend to let him slip away ever again.

No matter what happened, no matter what hardships came their way, Rin promised himself that they would withstand it. After all, they'd already faced so much together, hadn't they?

Because of Haruka, Rin had owned up to his deepest and darkest feelings and shared pieces of himself that he'd previously thought too buried to ever explain. He'd found purpose and fulfillment in the form of nonprofit work and had given more of himself than what he'd known he had. He'd mended his broken relationship with his parents, and he'd learned to truly appreciate the family that he'd found in Sousuke and his squad.

Because of Rin, Haruka had faced his conflicted feelings regarding humans and overcome all of his fears, and he had finally learned to talk about and accept what had become of his mother. He'd opened his heart and his home to another, later allowing Sousuke into his world as well, and when his world had threatened to take them away from him, Haru had risked his very life for the chance to join them on land.

Rin smiled. Together, he was certain that he and Haruka could do anything.

Before they left the beach, Rin ran to Nagisa and Rei to hug them and thank them for all of their help. Nagisa handed over a suitcase full of clothes and other things that they'd chosen to give Haru, while Rei gave him a pile of papers detailing Haru's physical therapy routine and dietary needs and preferences. Sousuke said that he had the rest of Haru's paperwork at home, and admitted that the real reason they'd cleaned up was so that they'd have room for Haru in the apartment. Rin eagerly agreed to let Haru stay in his room with him.

With everything put into place, all that was left was to visit Rin's parents. Rin chose to sit in the back seat of the car instead of the passenger's seat so that he could sit beside and hold (and kiss) Haruka, and while Sousuke grumbled about it at first, he eventually laughed and ignored his passengers, keeping his eyes firmly focused on the road. Rin was sure he hadn't cried so much in years. He didn't mind it, as they weren't unhappy tears.

"What if they don't like me?" Haru whispered as soon as Sousuke had parked the car once more. Rin laughed and shook his head.

"They'll like you because I love you. They want me to be happy."

Rin rang the doorbell and then took Haru's hand, squeezing it as he waited for his parents. He had half a mind to burst through the door without being let in, as it seemed like they took ages to get there. He heard his mother fiddling with the lock for a few seconds before the door finally creaked open. Haruka's hand tightened so much over Rin's that it nearly hurt.

Lori and Russell stared in shock for thirty full seconds when they saw the third man on their doorstep. Lori was the first to react. Without a single word, she stepped forward and pulled Haruka into a hug. Rin was left to laugh and explain things, as briefly as possible, to his father, until eventually the whole group moved inside and Rin spent most of the evening explaining at length. Haru told the whole story of what Makoto had done, making Rin cry all over again. Then, Lori had insisted that Sousuke divulge everything he had been hiding and where they planned to keep Haru and what they all wanted to do together first.

It wasn't until well after dark that the happy trio left.

Haruka was excited to enter the apartment. As soon as the door closed, Sousuke commanded Rin to get Haru's things unpacked and let him have a look at what would become his bedroom.

"I know it's getting late, but come back here as soon as you're done," he said vaguely. Rin normally would have pressed him for details, but he, too, was eager to get Haru settled in.

Rin rushed into his bedroom and cleared a drawer of his dresser, not bothering to fold Haru's clothes as he stuffed them inside. He also moved all of his knickknacks to one nightstand and let Haru use the other to store his phone and camera and other things. He decided that he'd have to invest in a larger bed— not that he minded it being cramped for a little while. After losing him for so long, Rin wanted to be as close to Haru as he could.

When they returned to the living room, Rin raised an eyebrow. Sousuke had cleared the couch and coffee table, made a bowl of popcorn, and fetched a blanket. He was currently popping a DVD into the player and fiddling with the remote. He saw the couple and signaled for them to sit down and get comfortable. Rin guided Haru to the couch and sat down beside him, and then he looked suspiciously at Sousuke.

"What are we watching?" Rin asked, smirking.

A movie would be a nice way to wind down, but Sousuke seemed downright insistent on this particular film. As soon as the screen changed and Rin recognized the menu, he laughed. Sousuke smiled knowingly as he sat on the other side of Haru. Haru looked at him and furrowed his brow. He still didn't understand.

"Why do you want to watch this movie so badly?" Haru asked. Sousuke snickered.

"Well..." he smiled as he pressed play on the remote. "I figure it's about time you found out why I keep calling you Ariel."

----------------

Author's Notes:
THE EEEEEEEENNNDDDDD
I've had a lot of fun writing this and learned a lot doing so! If I could go back I would change some things (mostly Haruka's characterization in the early chapters, as he's a bit too talkative/cheery), but I'm happy with the overall story and pretty proud of me for making it this far. I've never been able to commit to projects. *sweats nervously*
Thank you SOOOO much to everyone who accompanied me on this journey and kept reading all this time. I love all of you!!!
Now, those of you who are subscribed to this tale, stay tuned for a special announcement in the next couple of days. ;)