It was when the sea air hit her face, when her senses came back to her. She knew her mind had drifted since they left the NIS compound, whether that was from exhaustion or the weird pain that encompassed her whole body, she didn't know. But it was probably a mix of the two if she had to be honest. And that was probably not a good thing.
As the smell of the ocean got stronger she finally realised they had actually made it there. Was she also losing her mind? Even in her delirious state, she could tell that Nikolai had no idea what to do now that they reached the ocean.
"Find… quiet…" was all she managed to get out, her mouth not wanting to cooperate with her.
"You want me to find a quiet area?" Nikoali asked, briefly looking around before looking down at Aiko once more. She weakly nodded, before adding on, "No….. peo…ple," before her body slumped further into his arms. Nikolai nodded once more and started to trek down the stretch of beach. The beach was quite big, there was at least one group of people occupying an area of the beach. It was once they got closer to one end of the back did they find a very rocky area. There were absolutely no people in sight, so it was perfect for the no people part. But the only thing that was going to be an issue was the fact that Nikoali not only had to get himself through the rocks but get Aiko across as well.
Taking a deep breath, Nikolai put his first foot onto one of the many rocks. He then braced himself as he lifted his other foot up and placed it onto the same rock, leaning slightly forwards to keep his balance. First rock down, many, many more to go.
Nikolai stepped onto the final rock, thank god that part was over. And also the fact that on the other side of the rocks was a small stretch of sand, that was then followed by another set of rocks.
Now that that was over Nikolai had no idea what to do now. What was he meant to do?
"Wa…ter," Aiko whispered. Nikolai looked down then out to the ocean. Did he really have to put her in the water? What could that possibly do? Deciding to trust in Aiko, Nikolai walked over to the waters edge, and braced himself for the cold transition into the freezing ocean.
He took a few steps in, and Jesus Christ that is cold! For the sake of his sanity he did not let out a small squeak as the water brushed up against his ankles. He walked far enough out until he was waist deep into the frigid waters. It was then that he slowly lowered Aiko into the water.
The cold was a welcomed feeling for Aiko. Compared to all the pain she was currently experiencing, it was much better, and more familiar. She wriggled out of Nikolai's grip as soon as a majority of her body was submerged in the water. Once she was out of Nikolai's grasp, she fully submerged herself under the water.
She called upon her tail, hoping that through all of the pain, her transformation would still work. She kept thinking of her tail, and all of her features that made her, her. After a few moments she felt the tingling feeling in her legs. She continued to think about her tail until the tingling stopped, once it did she looked down at herself, smiling as she saw her tail once again.
In her excitement she swam out a little and jumped out of the water, laughing as she did so. The slight breeze brushed up comfortably against her body as she lept. It felt so good to be back in her original form. She arched her body and flawlessly submerged back into the ocean. The cold water welcoming her back.
She breathed a sigh of relief, the pain from earlier was completely gone now, along with the raw skin on her wrists. She stayed under the water for a few more moments before she remembered Nikolai was still waiting for her, and was most likely very confused.
With one flick of her tail, her head popped up out of the water. Once her eyes adjusted to the harsh sunlight, she looked for Nikolai. It wasn't hard for her to spot Nikolai, as both he and herself were the only ones occupying this area. Once she spotted him she realised she was a bit too far out to have a conversation with him, so she made her way back, keeping her head above the water to keep an eye on Nikolai.
Once she was within a distance that Nikolai would be able to hear her, she yelled out to him "Nikolai!" She lifted her hand out of the water and waved, making sure Nikolai knew where she was. She received a small wave in return. She swam closer, until she was right in front of Nikolai.
"Hi," She said shyly, suddenly feeling a little self continuous about herself. No human had ever seen her in this form before, well besides the people who trapped her and burned her with that weird pink substance, but that was besides the point. No one had seen her before.
"Hi," Nikolai said back quietly. A moment of silent bliss washed over the two, the only sound being the water lapping up against the rocks, and the silent sound of the sea spray flying through the air and combining back with the ocean.
"So…, um, what's our next move?" Nikolai asked, rubbing his hand on the back of his head.
Aiko was stunned, was he not going to comment on what she looks like right now? She shook her head lightly, now was not the time to be thinking about such trivial matters.
"Uh, I don't know, I guess we need to find Taekjoo?" She said, shrugging her shoulders. She really did have no idea on what to do now. Sure, they had escaped and seemed to have sloved Aiko's problem with the pain. But where in the world are they going to find Taekjoo? Sure, he could be in one of his usual places, but with the fact that her last memory with Taekjoo was with the NIS people raiding his home. Who knew if he escaped or got captured?
"First I think we ought to get off of this beach first," Nikolai said, gesturing to the rocks and small beach behind him. Aiko nodded. If they wanted to find Taekjoo, they were definitely going to have to get off of the beach. And to do that she was going to have to have her legs back for that. She gently closed her eyes and thought of having her human legs back, feeling the tingling sensation she knew it was working. Once her legs were back, the two wadded their way back to the small stretch of sand.
"Which way do we go?" Aiko asked, walking to stand directly in the middle of the two ways. Nikolai brought a hand up to his chin, deep in thought. After a moment he pointed to the left side of the rocks, the opposite direction in which they came from.
"That way," he said, walking over to the rocks and beginning to climb them. Aiko, trusting in Nikolai, walked over to the rocks and started to climb them as well. Surprisingly the rocks weren't too slippery and they two made their way over them in record time. Once they made it over all of the rocks they were met with another beach, people scattered all over the place. Smiling, she took a minute to take in everything. The smell of the sea water, the way sand picked up off of itself every time a gust of wind hit it, the way children ran back to their parents squealing when seaweed brushed up against their legs, the way the water glistened in the sun's rays, the way Takejoo was trying to hide himself from the prying eyes of the people on the beach, the way…
…wait a minute…
"Taekjoo!" She yelled, forgoing her day dreaming and rushing down the rest of the rocks, and splashing into the water and embracing Taekjoo in a bone crushing hug. She nuzzled her head into his neck, taking in the scent of him. She missed him so much in the time that they were separated.
The two stayed that way for a moment, Aiko reveling in the fact that Taekjoo was finally back and was ok, and Taekjoo, well she had no idea what was going on in Taekjoo's head. As the embrace continued she felt Taekjoo lift one of his arms away, but it quickly came back and wrapped itself around her waist. It was after a moment that she heard Taekjoo speak, it wasn't directed at her just yet, so she blocked out what she assumed was Taekojoo's and Nikolai's conversation.
As their small conversation continued she tightened her grip around Taekjoo's waist, further taking in the comfort of being his arms. She was taken out of her bliss by Taekjoo asking her a question.
"Are you okay?" It was a simple question, but god was it a loaded one at the same time. She mulled it over in her head for a moment before answering.
"Yeah," She mumbled quietly, pulling herself in closer to Taekjoo, as if she believed they could fuse into one. It was then as she was pulling herself in closer that she realized that Taekjoo felt different, almost slimy and scaly.
"Why are you slimy?" she asked, clearly saying her thoughts allowed. As she did so she pulled away from Taekjoo slightly, just enough to see his face.
"Um, I am?" Taekjoo asked. She watched as Taekjoo looked down at himself, her eyes following his movement. As she looked down she noticed that Taekjoo looked very different from when they last saw each other.
He now had a dark purple tail, with orange blobs scattered over it. It was a beautiful coloured tail, one of the most beautiful tail colours Aiko had ever seen. The more she looked the more she noticed. As she kept looking she noticed he had a few spikes along the bottom of his tail. He honestly looked stunning.
"I-I'm… purple!" Taekjoo exclaimed, bringing Aiko out of her stupor. It was then that she realized she was still hugging Taekjoo. Feeling like she may have stepped too far over Taekjoo's line of physical contact, she moved back to an acceptable distance away but still close enough that she could reach out to him.
In the time Aiko moved back, Nikolai must have said something to Taekjoo to anger him as the next thing she notices, the both of them have flipped the middle finger at each other. With how casually they were doing it to each other, she assumed it was a fairly normal occurrence for the two. It was after her observation about the finger flicking that she noticed they were about to get into a heated argument and have her watch the entire fiasco. So she faked a cough to divert their attention towards her.
The two heads turned quickly towards her, and in both of their eyes she watched as a range of emotion flicked through them before it swiftly went away, as though the wind picked up a stray piece of rubbish before you could pick it up.
"Soooo, what are we gonna do about this," she said, gesturing to Taekjoo's new form. It was at her words that the two once again looked at Taekjoo, taking in his new siren appearance with what to do next in mind.
It was while the two were at a loss for words that a sudden exciting thought crossed Aiko's mind. A small smile graced her face as she lightly jumped up and down like an excited child.
"OH MY GOD TAEKJOO! I CAN SHOW YOU MY HOME!" she practically screamed, her jumping becoming faster. She came closer once more and grasped his shoulders, shaking him aggressively in her excitement. In her excitement she must have been mumbling incoherently as it was the cold wet fingers on her arm that brought her out of her stupor.
"That will never be happening, I'm not going in the fucking water any further!" his voice seemed to shake as he spoke, it honestly broke Aiko's heart that the water terrified him that much, but what could she possibly do to help him?
In her worry, she watched as Taekjoo released his grip on her arm and made his way to get out of the water. It truly did break her heart that a child of the sea was so afraid of their natural home. She continued to watch in sorrow as she watched as the tail became his legs once more, she continued to watch as she witnessed Taekjoo try to stand and move himself further away from the water; but failing to do so, crashing back down into the sand.
She continued to watch as Taekjoo went over to Nikolai seeking some form of comfort as he placed his head on his shoulder. She continued to watch as Nikolai asked if he was okay, and Taekjoo responded by shaking his head. She continued to watch as Nikolai looked her in her eyes, a silent plea for her to help. A plea asking her what to do. A plea she did not know how to answer.
After a stretched moment of their sheared eye contact, she made her way over to Nikolai and Taekjoo, slowly sitting down, so she was on her legs. She truly didn't understand why Taekjoo hated the ocean, if anything she was more confused as to why he didn't love it and pursued to get closer to it.
"Taekjoo?" she asked softly, moving her hand to rest on his shoulder, but refrained from doing so. She watched as Nikolai turned his attention from her to Taekjoo, slightly anxious for his reply. The best she got was Taekjoo's gaze landing on hers, taking that as she had received his attention she continued.
"Why do you hate the ocean?" She gently prods, because she really wanted to understand where Taekjoo was coming from. Why must he be so afraid of the ocean when he was one of her children?
"I… don't… know…" he started, shifting himself to no longer be leaning all of his weight onto Nikolai.
'I don't know but I fucking hate it," he continued, casting his gaze past Aiko to glare at the ocean with all his might as if his stare to blow the ocean off the planet.
He then added on, "and I hate everything to do with it," his gaze then turned to look at the sand beneath his hands, his fist clenching and unclenching the sand in his confused anger.
Aiko's heart painged at his confession, from what she understood of Taekjoo's statement he hated the place he came from, and not only that. But that he hated her. With Taekjoo's confession he buried his head back into Nikolai's shoulder, as if he was now avoiding her. She paused and sifted through her thoughts for a moment before she ultimately decided to switch forms.
Willing herself to gain her tail and mer features back, she watched as Nikolai stared at her in shock then concern as her transformation completed. She then waited a moment then spoke,
"Do you hate me?"
There was a moment of hesitation before Taekjoo looked back up at her. He had never seen her in this form before, not when they met nor when she was rescued, so the shock of him seeing her new form was immediate. He stared for a moment before uttering, "Well if you're a part of the ocean then yes, yes I hate you," His expression then morphed into one of pure anger.
Aiko's heart shattered, tears welling in her eyes as she thought back to all the time they spent together, the first time they met in the hospital, the time she essentially stalked him and broke into his house, the fact that he shielded her from seeing her father, the fact that they went from strangers to friends. And now that was all for nothing. Everything they built together now washed away because of some fear Aiko had no idea where it stemmed from.
Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath in and out, she willed her legs back and shakily stood up. Small tears fell down her face as she looked down at Taekjoo and Nikolai. She then turned and walked towards the ocean. Once she was submerged enough she willed her tail back and cast one last glance towards Taekjoo and Nikolai. Taekjoo seemed indifferent while Nikolai looked as if he was on the verge of calling out to her. With one final push she uttered the words she wished she never had to say to Taekjoo,
"I guess this is goodbye then," She then ducked under the water and swam away, trying to find her way back to her little cave when she first arrived. Trying to forget what Taekjoo had said to her. As she swam she ignored all the colourful coral and fish she usually would have stopped to admire and play with. Once she made it back to her cave she belied for her seaweed bed and collapsed, letting all of the emotions of the past few days wash over her. One thought that kept plaguing her mind was the way Taekjoo looked at her after she switched forms, the way he looked at her as if she was a complete monster. A monster who knew nothing about what emotions were, a monster who only killed to live, a monster who saw no humanity.
The more she thought about it the more she realised she was a monster. In fact she had been told that was how to survive, how to live, how to thrive. And now all that was thrown out the window because some siren guy who didn't know he was a siren showed her how humans lived, thrived and survived. Her thoughts were thrown through a loop as she sorted through all her thoughts. In conclusion she came to realise that she was indeed a monster, but what could she do about that? She was told that was how to survive and in all honesty it's what's kept her alive for 25 years, so why did Taekjoo think it was so wrong?
She mulled the thought over in a head for a while, but ultimately shoved it to the darkest depths of her mind to forget about. If Taekjoo wanted nothing to do with her, then she wasn't going to grace him by thinking about him. So she rolled over and tried to let sleep take her away.