My mother was stronger than me, a fact that I never remembered until she had to prove it. Her face was all I could see before I latched onto her again, like a little kid aiming for a piggyback ride. My bottom half still tingled. I didn't bother to check how far along it was in turning into a useful and functional tail. 

I tried to swim in the opposite direction of my mother, but just about everything went wrong. My grip slipped at the same exact moment I felt the water start to vibrate excitedly with the anticipation of a siren's song. I went tumbling at the moment my tail finished morphing, slapping myself in the face with my fins. 

I took a deep breath. The saltwater had finally stopped stinging to breathe. On a not so bright note, I was now alone. 

I desperately swam towards the swarm of sirens. A hand grabbed at my arm. I looked over to see Juniper's pale face. Her fingernails dug into my arm, so I had to pry her off me. 

She looked away from me, her tail flicking in nervous circles. I almost felt bad for prying her off, but when I could still see little crescents on my arm, the feeling abated. 

She continued to flick her tail, but without an arm to clutch, she started biting her nails. I sighed.

I tapped my mother's shoulder and she turned around, looking quite annoyed. 

My throat felt dry and scratchy, even though I was breathing in water. "Why?" I signed. 

Her nostrils flared. I took a deep breath. 

"What?"

"Why?" I repeated. 

"Why what?"

"Why do any of this?"

She looked at me funnily. "What do you mean?"

"Why do all the stereotypical siren things? Why try to drown people? Why do any of it?"

She looked at me, almost like she was pitying me. "That's your father talking."

"Still. Why?"

"You're too human to understand. Too attached. Next, you're going to berate me for eating fish!"

"No, I'm not. Just answer the question."

I was glad and worried in equal measure that everyone was watching me closely. 

"Why does anyone do anything?"

"I'm not going to answer that."

"It's fun! It's natural. It's healthy."

I sighed. "Well, it's not healthy for everyone for one. I can't see how its fun. And lots of things are natural, but we don't do all of them all the time, do we?"

She frowned. I couldn't read her face. 

"Can you tell everyone to leave it alone for today?"

Her frown deepened. 

"They'll listen to you."

"I know that."

She looked at me doubtfully. Like she wasn't sure how to treat me. 

"So?" I asked, flicking my tail unconsciously fast. I looked down, and took deep breaths, slowing my motion. 

"I'm thinking."

My mother was gorgeous when she did anything, but especially when she stared into space, specifically avoiding looking at me. There was something about her when her eyes were fixed on you, that it didn't matter if she was a proper goddess, you wanted her on the other side of the world from you.

Her eyes did eventually focus on me again. "Why shouldn't we do this again?"

"Is it not enough that I asked you not to?"

She pursed her lips. "I was never the good parent. I'm not suddenly going to be now."

Any lesser woman might have showed human emotion or apologized, but my mother was neither human nor the type to apologize. 

She turned away from me, effectively terminating the conversation. 

I wanted my hammock on the Red Revenge. I wanted the gentle rocking of the boat. I wanted my father to have the worst morality in the family. I wanted those cannonballs flying through the air to be the most destructive weapon my parents were willing to use. 

I wanted his twisted sense of justice over my mother's lack of anything. I wanted his failed logic over her whims. 

I wanted to go home.

Juniper was doing something on the edge of my line of sight. Her and my mother were yelling at each other. 

I needed the salty air from the deck. 

The water vibrated with siren's song. Every particle in existence seemed to tremble exultantly. Every fiber in my body knew it was in the wrong place. I stayed where I was, even as the sirens suddenly spread out from the boat.

I stayed where I was dazed, as everything around me rippled as though with an electric shock. Then, I realized, there was blood in the water.

Who was hurt?

 My mother met my eyes with terror. She was clutching at her arm. I realized she was the one who was bleeding. 

I wanted to go home where no one was looking at me and no one was hurt. 

Sharks would come if my mother kept bleeding. 

Everyone looked horrified as though they'd all been invincible before, but now whey were mere mortals. 

I blinked, forcing myself to be present in the moment. My mother was bleeding and that was a bad thing, I reminded myself. 

My mother was bleeding, and I needed to help her. 

Something about the voice repeating: my mother is bleeding, my mother is bleeding, didn't help me to actually realize that my mother was bleeding. 

I swam over to her reluctantly. 

She grimaced and signed to me with a bloody hand, "I'm bleeding."

"Let's get you home," I signed, still not fully registering the situation. 

She nodded, still looking horrified. How did she even get cut?

Then, I realized. The men hadn't taken kindly to her murder attempt. 

I almost laughed to myself, but I held back. 

The other sirens, all much better family for her than me, immediately, as though my recommendation had made it possible to move, flocked around her. 

Slowly, they started to leave around her, a few looking reproachfully back at me. 

The longing for home left with them. My father wasn't an angel, and I needed to getaway. Maybe I'd come back. Maybe I wouldn't. Either way, I needed to leave. 

Juniper was at my shoulder. Then she was swimming to the surface. She was several feet away from the boat, and I joined her. Her hands were raised over her head. 

I didn't bother with the formalities. I wanted to leave. 

I swam to the bottom of the boat and pushed it from the underside.