Submerged || Langst Merman AU

;;Chapter Ten

           I waited for a few moments to see if the awkward silence would continue, then I finally spoke, "When... do you think I can go back to the ocean?"

          For a moment Keith was silent starting ahead and it seemed as if he had gotten sad. Almost instantly Keith had smiled, "We can probably go once you've fully healed."

          I smiled, and then we went back into silence. Once again, Keith looked somewhat sad for a few seconds.

          "Are you okay, Keith?" I asked, still staring at him.

          "Yeah.. It's just that I've.. uh, grown a liking to you I guess. I just, really like you?" He said, looking up at me, his eyes still showing a hint of sadness in them.

          I was embarrassed as I continued to stare at him, "I didn't really think about that.. I'm sorry."

          Once again, the awkward silence came back. I was left pondering about what I wanted to do, and how it would affect Keith and Shiro. Suddenly, Keith got up and climbed out of the pool drying himself off.

          "Keith?" I said. He left without saying anything.

          I looked at the back door, watching to see if he would come back. He didn't. I started to think about how I might have hurt his feelings, feeling bad. I ran over scenarios that might happen, things that would probably never happen. I was left to drown in my own thoughts.

          Eventually, the bright sky faded into a deep blue covered with stars and I could hear the bugs chirping. Still, no sign of Keith or Shiro. At this point, I was getting anxious, still thinking about things that could never happen- Shiro and Keith could have gone missing, I thought. Maybe they forgot about me. All of these thoughts seemed to drown in my head, swirling into an endless whirlpool of questions and assumptions.

          Soon, I had gotten tired and drifted to sleep. Once again, I had a nightmare like the one from before. My family and I were playing, then the helicopter towering over me. I seemed to relive this moment over and over, till it eventually tortured me.

          I woke up finding out that I had been crying once again, the black tears floating around me as I blinked the sleep out of my eyes. The sky was nearing dawn, fading into a pastel pink and yellow. The sun was rising. I had forgotten I had fallen asleep outside, and I was confused when I found myself floating in a pool instead of some tiny tank I'm stuffed into. It was refreshing. To be somewhere you don't feel trapped, somewhere you feel.. Free. To an extent.

          I spent most of the morning floating in the pool, doing nothing else. It was hot, so I went in and out of the water, but overall it was relaxing. Unlike in the ocean, I can come up from the depths of the water and admire the outside world and bask in the sunlight.

          Soon, I heard the screen door open from the house, and Shiro came outside holding a plate of food. My head popped up out of the water, staring at him. He handed the plate to me and I accepted it. He leaned on the edge of the pool as I ate, and then he spoke.
"Keith told me you'd like to go back to the ocean," he said, a smile on his face.

          "Yeah.." I mumbled, rubbing the back of my neck now remembering last night. I started to feel guilty again. "I mean, I like staying with you guys it's just been... A while since I've seen my friends and family. You know?"

          Shiro nodded. "We know how it feels, it's alright."

          I smiled a bit, "Is Keith okay?"

          "Keith's alright. He's grown a liking to you so I'm guessing he's just going to miss you, he knows what it's like to miss family though. His parents left him at an early age."

          For a few moments, I didn't know what to say. Now he felt even worse. Making Keith go through this a second time. Then, he made up his mind.

          "So.. uh, maybe I can come back then? I mean, once I see them for a bit," I suggested.

          "Yeah.. that might work out. But how? You're a merman."

          "At a certain age, merpeople begin to learn to transform from human to merperson at will. That age was a little bit ago for me. But I never got to learn how because I got captured."

          "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.." Shiro said, looking down.

          "No, it's fine. It's not your fault."

          "Y'know what? Your swimming pretty well and you seem like your getting better quickly. Maybe we can go later this week or next week?" Shiro said, smiling brightly.

          My eyes lit up, staring at him. "Really? I would love that!" 

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Hey guys! It's been a while. Sorry for not updating, life is a hassle. :')