Rhett and Link One Shots

Maybe Humans Aren't So Bad After All Part 2

Dedicated to LinkLikesYourBoots

Link swam back to his home, his heart light and happy after his encounter with Katy, a real human. Once he made it back to his home, he froze, someone was inside it. Suddenly, the figure he saw lurking in the shadows revealed itself. The merman was very tall and green, his wavy hair shooting straight up and he immediately tackled Link, in a hug.

"Link! Where have you been?! I've been looking for you everywhere? And you're bleeding, what happened?" It was Rhett, Link's best friend ever since he was a little kid. Link was relieved to see him and hugged him back quickly.

"It's okay, Rhett, I'm all right. I went out to the shore, and I met a human, Rhett! She's gorgeous.. Prettier than all the mermaids around here.. I got hurt from a shark, but it's fine. I can patch my fin up real easily. I want you to meet her tomorrow night. With me. She's so nice."

Rhett stiffened, the tales warning mermaids and mermen of humans coursing through his mind. "Link, you can't go back there... Remember all we were taught? They can't know you're real, humans can't. They'll take you away and hurt you. I won't let that happen. I won't let you go back there. And what if your father found out? You might make your step brother the heir to the throne and take it from you, banishing you away. Humans and merpeople are not meant to mix." Link backed up from Rhett a little.

"She's not like that, Rhett. She's different. You won't understand until you meet her." Link pressed his lips together and sighed, his eyebrows knit. "I trust her."

"But you shouldn't! Humans! Are! Dangerous! I-I.." Rhett sighed and raked his fingers through his deep green hair. "I don't want something happening to you, Link.. You're the best friend I've ever had. I'm sorry I yelled. I just don't want you making a mistake that could cost you your life." Link sighed and approached Rhett, placing his hand on his lifelong friend's shoulder.

"I appreciate your concern, brother, I do. But, I'm grown up now. I can take care of myself. Though, I still want you to come with me and meet her. Please. Even if you go just to make sure nothing happens. To make you feel better and maybe see that humans aren't as dangerous as we were told."

Rhett sighed and nodded. "I'll go, but only to make sure you're okay. If anything starts to go wrong, I'm taking you back immediately."

"I'll agree to your terms, though I'm confident we won't need to." With that, Rhett swam off for the day, not happy about this, but relieved Link agreed to leave when things got bad.

A couple hours passed, Link spent the whole time cleaning his gills and patching up his wound from the shark. He looked at himself in his mirror and smiled. "I'm ready to go find her again." Link swam off and found Rhett relaxing on a rock in the sun. "Hey." Rhett opened his eyes and they landed on Link's blue skin.

"You want to leave now?"

"Yeah. It takes a little while to reach the shore where she told me she would meet me again." Rhett slid off his rock and the two swam off again, Link leading Rhett. The younger of the two's movements were quick and excited.

"Link! Slow down! I can't keep up if you're moving so fast." Rhett grabbed Link's fins and the blue merman screeched to a halt. Link rolled his eyes and pulled his fins out of Rhett's grasp. The two griped at each other the whole way, but as the sun began to set, Link swam to the shore he was meeting his new friend at. Sure enough, she crept out of the nearby bushes and hurried over.

"Link! You came back!" Katy smiled widely, and Link swam closer, smiling too.

"I told you I would. I missed you. You're so fun to talk to." Katy smiled and sat down on the pebbled beach. Link reached out his hand and held hers, squeezing it lightly. "Katy, I'd like you to meet someone. I've known him almost all my life. This is Rhett." Rhett timidly swam forward and lifted his upper half out of the water.

"Hello, Katy. I'm Rhett," Rhett spoke quietly, eyeing the human girl in front of him warily. She looked kind, but Rhett was old enough to know that looks can be deceiving. What was on the outside could be just a facade to that which is inside. Rhett watched from a distance as Link and Katy talked and laughed together, about an hour had passed since they arrived at their destination, and Rhett started to relax. Katy was kind and sweet, she seemed fascinated by Link, but it was clear to Rhett that she cared about his younger friend.

"Look, Link,' Katy started, 'you can see the stars really clearly tonight. I used to come out here and look at the stars all the time. It's nice to have someone with me now. You're amazing, Link."

Link smiled at Katy. "I love watching the stars with you, Katy. And I'm glad Rhett is here too."

Rhett looked over, feeling bad for yelling earlier. Link was right, Katy was a good human. And while maybe not all were, Link was fortunate to befriend such a wonderful person. As the night slowly passed, the three became closer as friends, but it ended when Katy had to go home again.

She yawned quietly. "Will I see you two tomorrow?" Link nodded and hugged her gently. She hugged him too, and then waved to Rhett before running off into the darkness. The pale moonlight bathed the world around the two mermen. A comfortable silence overtook them until Rhett broke it.

"Link?"

"Hm?"

"I'm sorry. You were right. Katy is a lovely human being, I trust her too. I know she's not like the stories we were told as kids. She's different. A special human."

Link smiled a gentle, calm smile. "Yeah, she really is. I'm very lucky to have found her. She needed a friend, and I'm happy I've been able to be that for her. Even if I'm not even her species. I think she'd like you to be her friend too. Why don't you keep coming with me. Every night."

"Yeah. Yeah, I think I'd like that. I would like to be friends with her too."

And so the three continued to spend their nights together, growing closer and closer each passing night. And while they were always cautious, Rhett and Link both learned, that not all humans are so bad after all."