Epilogue

The moonglade sparkled on the ocean like a white waterfall, illuminating the dark waters. Most would be afraid to swim at night, they feared what might be lurking beneath the surface.

But the waves had been calm the last few months, both literally and in life. Since all of the missing documents from the lab had been on Reinhardt's boat, a boat that had sunken down the cavernous throat of the ocean, there were no records of mermaid experiments ever recorded at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, nor anywhere else. With Marcus' brilliant computer skills, combined with Sean's surprising knowledge of hacking security software- I didn't want to ask Allie where he'd learned it- we confirmed that the police reports reflected nothing but a murder and multi-kidnapping from several scientists suffering from delusions of grandeur.

Kai and I searched through every room in that broken hull after it settled to the seabed, finally finding Dad's tracker, or rather, its broken pieces. It was a bittersweet moment, but Dad agreed it was for the best when we returned that evening. He dropped the blueprints he'd recovered from his room into the burning fireplace, and with it, any hope of finding my mom.

Even Kai hadn't known where to start looking, and he had no idea where to start with me. He'd been frustrated that none of my supposed ‘normal' merfolk abilities had solidified with my transformation, and the ones that did were unpredictable at best. I could, in theory, recover my tentative siren song, but given that I was only half-mermaid, it was unlikely I'd ever possess the same speed, strength, or mental prowess that Kai did. I was okay with that, there was plenty to adjust to as it was.

I'd taken to humanely experimenting on myself, testing how much saltwater it took to bring about my tail, how long I could hold my breath. So far it had involved dives to bottomless depths, salt encrusted towels in the bathroom, and one hilarious incident of my flopping down the stairs. It was messy and uncoordinated, but I was taking comfort in the realization that no one had life figured out. We were all wandering, wondering, and constantly feeling out the limits of the environment around us, seeing how far we could go, what we were truly capable of.

I wasn't the only one pushing the envelope. I rubbed at the hem of my favorite blue dress, now completely fixed with some added designs of shimmering tail fins embroidered into the fabric. Cee's eco-line was well under way, and thanks to the promotional photos featuring myself and a stunning, elusive model, everyone wanted to get their hands on them. Her success had sparked a wildfire in other areas of her life, and a compelling speech to her father on an ocean-inspired beach line exclusive to his resorts prompted an unlikely business venture between father and daughter. Cee would've preferred he cut back on tourism altogether, but they were small steps in the right direction, and that was all she or I could really hope for.

I accepted Juno's offer as a teacher's assistant. He didn't know about Kai"s secret, or mine, past my unexpected kidnapping by a mad scientist, but he'd been thrilled to keep his favorite student on board, and to officially meet a renowned scientist like David Saunders when he'd joined us for celebratory dinner. Becca and the slim black number she'd delicately chosen for the night had nearly knocked the nautical socks off his feet, and Dad, Kai and I spent the entire meal biting back smiles as they awkwardly stepped around each other.

Love, it does the craziest things to people.

Juno had once told me to create the path I wanted to travel, to inspire change in order to find what I was looking for. It had taken me an embarrassingly long while to figure out that the biggest changes weren't happening around me, but within myself. As soon as I'd realized I'd fallen in love with Kai, I was able to embrace those changes in a new light.

Yes, the tail was the biggest outward transformation, but I was still human in freshwater, and a few spills of saltwater wasn't enough to trigger the shift, though it brought some scales to the surface and itched to high hell. The other scales, those coating my forearms and over my breasts, were smooth to the touch, but tough as a turtle carapace, and they shimmered like fire opals in the light. Since I'd had ample time to observe them, I could appreciate how beautiful they were, how beautiful I was. And it had given me even more options to explore the ocean I loved-my research had never been more prosperous.

Kai had been right to visit the surface, despite his people's warnings. No one would fight for what they didn't understand, and the only way he could do that was to become a part of this world. I wondered if there were other curious mermen who, like their king, felt the same way about humans. Or if there were other half-merfolk like me, living normal lives on land until they recklessly fell in love with a sweet and sarcastic, merman.

Maybe that last bit was a little on the nose.

True to my original assumption, I thought of Kai every time I was in the water. His stormy eyes, the grin he gave me when he knew he was pissing me off, and the way my blood heated when he'd used them both at the same time.

I missed him. Gods, how I missed him. The urge to look for him was strongest in the water too. I replayed our parting words over in my head, our last night together after spending the day gliding over the reef, where he"d made love to me right there on the sand as we shifted back.

"I will always come for you."

But he'd had to go, and I couldn't go with him. He'd once told me I had his heart, but the ocean was his home, where he'd belong before anywhere else. And while I loved the sea with a fierceness rivaled only by my love for him, I was needed on land, to be the bridge my mother had hoped I would become, and to repair the damage of this world from the human side, while Kai returned to do the same with his people. Then, maybe one day, we could bring them together.

"Maren!" Becca's voices reached me over the crashing surf. "Dinner!"

"Coming!" I stood, brushing sand off my backside. She'd already retreated inside the house, knowing I would take my sweet time with my newly developed routine. I'd like to think my ass had a permanent imprint in that sand dune from sitting on it each morning and night. Sometimes Dad would join me, no longer lost to the madness that had stolen years of his life. But there was a sadness behind his eyes that may never vanish.

Some scars were meant to be carried. It proved that we lived.

I'd just returned to my room from a delicious dinner of Becca"s famous pesto pasta when I felt it, drifting in through the open window with the breeze. A small tug, calling me towards the water. It wasn't an ‘ocean craving', that potent urge that called all merfolk back to the water, reminding them they'd been on land too long. No, this tug came from the center of my chest, from the thin golden band tied around my heart.

Sleep forgotten, I rushed down the stairs and out of the house barefoot. The last thing I needed was shoes. Back down the stairs, past the sand dune that had become my personal throne, and straight to the water's edge My toes tingled as the surf reached up to kiss them, and I strained forward, leaning as far as I could as I scanned the black water. I heard it, I know I heard it.

Then, I saw it. A flash of iridescent scales reflecting off the moonlight, and familiar words warming my mind like cognac. "Hello, little star."

I sprinted into the water, clothes and all. Well, dress and all. I'd stripped out of my underwear before bolting out the door.

Kai met me at the knotted rope that divided the refuge from my backyard. We slammed into each other, nearly falling on a bed of sharp coral before he flipped us, landing on his back in the sand. He laughed, bubbles trailing from his lips "That was quite the welcome."

And I kissed him, I kissed his forehead, his smiling cheeks, and each eyelid, before my mouth fused to his.

He held me, those familiar warm bands of steel around my waist that promised eternity within them. "I should go away more often,"

I gripped his hair, tugging hard. "You'd have to drag me with you because I'm never letting you go again."

"I'm okay with that," he chuckled, and it sent shivers down my body.

Despite what I'd just said, I did pull back, and I suddenly had the urge to slap him. "Where the hell have you been?! You were gone for over a month!"

He hesitated, I could see it in his eyes, even in the dark and under the water. I could feel it in the hitch of his breath. "What is it?"

"I had some loose ends to tie up…" he trailed off. "I'm sorry I was gone for so long."

A deep sense of fate stirred within me, and I knew whatever he had to say was bound to shake the fragile truce I'd signed with change. Still, I asked, because it was inevitable, and if he'd come back to tell me, then it must be important. "What loose ends?"

His gaze bore into mine, those beautiful, otherworldly blue eyes, ready to weather the coming storm, in whatever form it took, with me. Then, he released a tidal wave.

It was dawn, as beautiful and full of hope as any other I'd seen in my life, and with my habit of morning swims, that number was plenty high. Yet it looked different, like the tiny fingers of sunlight were gripping the horizon line, peeking over in giddy anticipation.

I wiggled my toes in the sand, wringing my hands until Kai took them in his, bringing them to his lips. One simple gesture that had peace flowing through me like cool water.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked him for the millionth time.

"No," he said, as he had each time. Then added, "but you are."

I heard the yawning of the back door, and footsteps padding down the stairs.

"Alright, Starfish. You got me up before dawn and you're not even dressed?!"

"I got distracted." I apologized, listening to the waves behind me as they shifted and sighed.

Dad gave Kai and I a wry look, "I can see that. Good to see you again, son. Maybe you can help us out today. Those coral polyps aren't going to check on themselves, and we could use…"

I heard it then. An interruption to the wave's patterns behind me, a tell-tale splash. I held my breath. Dad dropped his equipment onto the sand, and turned just enough to see the scene unfold before us.

She was every inch a goddess from my fairy tale books, with a pale ring of blue around her irises so bright they looked like chips of ice. Her dark hair, which fell to her waist, was wet and pooling in the water around her, soft strands sticking to her cheeks. Her scales, an exact match to my own, shimmered in the dawn like fireflies. She gazed at Dad with unwavering fealty, and even from this distance, I could see the pools of relief gathering against her lower lashes.

He didn't hesitate, running straight for the water just as the mermaid dove beneath the waves again, meeting him just before it reached his chest. He threw his arms around her with an incandescent shout, their foreheads touching and tears mingling and instant before their lips did, an offering to the sea in gratitude for a reunion long overdue. After his boat crashed against the rocks, his ankle catching in the wreckage, and she'd done everything she could to save him, even as it broke her heart to leave him to his fate. A fate that only Kai, her king, could save him from. And so she"d been traveling the world to find him. Only, he"d found her first.

The scene blurred as my own eyes shimmered with tears, and I wiped them against the back of my hand. Kai rubbed my shoulders, and I turned in his arms to press my face to his chest.

"Thank you," I whispered against his shirt.

"You never have to thank me for this, little star. You know I would do anything to ensure your happiness."

I sniffled and nodded, watching my parents' reunion with a heart so full of joy it was about to burst. "Have you ever seen anything so perfect in your long life?" I asked.

"Yes," he says, a strange note in his voice. When I looked up he was staring at me.

I rolled my eyes. My smug, perfect, merman. "You know," I sang. "This plan of yours just won you boyfriend of the year."

"Oh really?" he replied, coyly, playing his fingers along the exposed skin of my waist, "I'm intrigued. Tell me, what is my prize?"

I smirked, extracting myself from Kai to face the ocean. I pointed towards the shore, to the lapping waves kissing the surf in a union as steady and sure as Mom and Dad's embrace. He watched in bemusement as I widened my stance, narrowing my eyes and scrunching my nose and lips into a focused pout.

I stood like that for a moment, watching from my peripherals as Kai crossed his arms, but didn't interrupt, his questions stifled by his curiosity.

Then, a thin stream of water rose from the sea. As it floated towards us, it began to form the shape of a heart. Some awkward wiggling of my fingers and more nose scrunching had the outline of my name swirling through the brine. It hovered in front of me like a glass Christmas ornament, just a few inches above my shaking palm.

Kai's hands dropped to his sides, his face a mask of delighted shock as I turned to him. "Here," I said, palm outstretched with his prize, "after all, it"s always belonged to you."