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“About what?”
“About why my siren side wants me to push you away.”
“First, tell me…Do you love me?”
“More than you know,” I whispered. “I would do anything for you.”
Milo took my hands in his, and we stared face to face with our torsos barely above the water. “And that’s why your siren side hates me. Because loving someone—truly loving someone—means being selfless and caring about someone other than yourself. And that goes against a siren’s very nature.” He paused and brushed away a wet strand of my hair sticking to my forehead with his thumb. “So that’s how I’ve known all this time that the real Katrina must really love me.”
“I do love you. All of you. Even the scars and hidden parts you keep tucked away in the shadows,” I said, holding his gaze. “I do love you. And I’m not scared of it anymore. I’m not scared to need you anymore.” I wrapped the end of my tail around his ankles. He jumped, and then reached his hand down into the water to feel the scales covering my hips.
“That’ll take some getting used to,” he chuckled, his smile illuminated by the moon’s soft glow from above. He squinted down at the water, studying what he could see of me, and slowly brought his gaze upward, roaming over my bare stomach and chest. “You’re beautiful,” he added, his eyes settling on my lips.
“I’m a fish,” I teased. “A magic fish.”
He laughed with me, but soon lowered his voice again. “No,” he sighed, “You’re a goddess.”
A response lingered on my lips, but I decided silence was better. I dipped my hand into the water and used it to wipe away the blood on Milo’s face and neck. He watched me in the most affectionate way, letting me clean him without a sound except the water trickling off his skin.
“What’s this?” I asked, noticing a thin chain looped through a tiny gold band hanging around his neck.
“I forgot I had this. It was…my mother’s wedding ring,” he said, reaching up to touch it, “I found it in my father’s things and…and well, I took it. Maybe because it’s all I have left of her. If I didn’t take it, it’d be forgotten here with everything else.”
“It’ll be nice to have something of hers to take back with you when we finally get back home.” I reached up to examine it more closely. It was so delicate—nearly as thin as a wire—with the tiniest single blue diamond set in the center. I patted it against his chest where it hung, blending in against his canvas of tattoos.
“I wonder how long it will take to get my legs back,” I finally said, changing the subject as we bobbed in the water, suspended in this crisp moonlit pool.
“Not long,” Milo’s brows tensed. “When Valdez was ready to ‘harvest’ a mermaid, there was a very brief window of time she could be out of water long enough to cut off her tail. The crew couldn’t let her dry too long.”
The way his face fell made my heart heavy. “Stop beating yourself up for things you couldn’t control,” I uttered softly, pulling him nearer to the waterfall.
“I was a coward,” he said. “An irredeemable coward.”
“Shhh,” I held a finger to his lips. “We can’t hold on to the past…even if we’re living in it.” I looked around, taking in the serenity of our surroundings in this ethereal piece of forest. “Though some things about the past are beautiful.”
“I’m learning that I can’t control everything,” Milo smirked sadly. “You wouldn’t think it would take 300 years to figure that out.” He paused, looking down at the ripples dancing past us from the waterfall’s rumbling. “Can I show you something?” He finally uttered. I assured him with an eager nod.
He let go of me, and swam toward the base of the waterfall, diving down underneath it. I followed, my underwater vision as perfect as on land in broad daylight. We surfaced behind the cascades, facing the entrance to a shallow cavern hidden in the stone cliff behind the water. It was shallow enough to wade in at the very edge of the wall.
“Cool little cave,” I cooed, splashing a bit of water with my tail fin.
“It was one of my favorite places to go after my mother died. I never told anyone about this spot.”
“Can you carry me?” I asked, still gawking in wonder at the enchanting cave-like structure.
“Wherever you need to go.” He scooped me into his arms, one arm tucked beneath my tail for support and the other behind my back. I leaned into him, keeping my grip tight as I laced my fingers around the back of his neck. He stood up out of the water and hoisted me high enough that I could reach the waterfall cave with my hands outstretched. Supporting my upper half, I positioned myself as he pushed me up to the opening.
Once secured on the stony surface, I threw my head backwards, nearly exhausted from the weight of my tail out of water. Milo climbed up with ease, and I once again found myself ensnared by him as I studied his nearly naked body with desire. But my tail was too heavy to move, and I could do nothing about it but rest against him when he sat beside me.
I nodded off for a moment or two as we sat in silence in the cave, but the night chill returning to my skin awoke me. My skin tingled, and my tail began to feel lighter—and drier. I tried to move it, but realized I was changing before my eyes, and I had maintained very little control of my lower half. The sensation of my fins ripping in half tore upward through my hips and waist, and I grasped at Milo in surprise at the pain. He gently lifted me, talking to me softly as I grimaced from the hurt. He pulled me further into the grotto, just enough so that I could lie down as he held me. And with a blinding glow that covered my entire lower half, I became fully human again.
Milo gently lowered me down into a soft mossy spot cushioned further by leaves. And I smiled, content in this haven where no one else could find us. The flowing waterfall hung like a curtain, just enough to protect our hideaway, but still sheer enough to let in enough moonlight and bioluminescent glow to see our surroundings.
The pain subsided, and I watched as the last of my scales morphed back into skin and a refreshing sensation overtook my spirit. I felt like me again. Oddly enough, lying naked, damp, in a cave in 1720 was where I felt like I’d found myself again. The siren inside me had been silenced for now. And I no longer found myself battling a voice telling me what I wanted or needed.
This time, there was no longer confusion or question about where my heart lied. I looked at Milo. I wanted him. Fully. It was always him and only him. I needed him. And I knew I could never lose him again.
His eyes wandered me, from my bare chest down to my toes. He reached for me, running his hand across my chin and down my neck, between my breasts, and down to the core of me. His fingers gently danced along my skin, lower and lower...
