Heart of the Ocean

Chapter 3

Steve and Y/N sat on the beach, watching the dark shape swiftly swimming towards them. Soon a dark head appeared above the water, swiftly followed by a tanned, muscled torso and a powerful blue tail that glittered silver in the light. Y/N tried to pull her hand from Steve's grasp, not wishing to offend his mate, but Steve's grip held firm.

The merman, Bucky, she remembered Steve saying, scowled angrily when he saw their intertwined hands and bared his teeth in a hiss. Y/N cowered into herself as much as she could, looking at her feet in the surf to avoid his eyes.

"Bucky!" Steve said sharply causing the merman to stop hissing at the woman and instead stare at his mate incredulously. Steve stared back in a mix of exasperation and adoration.

"Sorry..." Bucky mumbled as he dragged himself out of the water to snuggle into Steve, his tail covering the blond's grey fur tenderly.

"It's okay," Y/N replies softly before all three of them fell silent, enjoying the sound of distant waves crashing against rock.

After a few minutes, Bucky turns to ask a question, however as he opens his mouth he lets out a startled gasp of pain. Instantly two pairs of eyes, one cerulean blue, the other y/e/c, turn to him in worry. That is when they notice the deep gash in the young merman's side, blood slowly trickling from it in a stream. "Ow," he mutters as he pokes at it.

"Buck, why didn't you tell me you'd gotten hurt?" Steve's voice was a mix of anguish and anger, anguish that his mate had gotten hurt, and anger at whoever had the gall to lay a finger on his Bucky.

"Gee, I don't know. Maybe because I didn't realize I had until now?" Bucky said sarcastically while rolling his eyes.

"That looks really painful," Y/N said causing both men to jump in surprise and Bucky to wince as the movement pulled at his wound; they had not heard her move until she spoke from Bucky's other side. She wanted to reach out and inspect it, but did not want to offend the brunet who had helped rescue her so she refrained. Instead she said, "I don't know much about merfolk, and I don't have any of my usual tools with me, but I do know a fair bit about plants and herbal healing. If you'll allow me, may I bind it for you with a paste that will help with the healing process without leaving scars?" She chewed on her bottom lip pensively as Bucky eyed her with suspicion.

Finally he heaved a sigh and asked, "What would you need?"

Y/N could have jumped for joy, but instead, she tamped down her giddiness to answer him, "I already see most of the herbs I need, but I do require seaweed and fresh water."

"I can get the seaweed, but I don't know where to find the fresh water," Seve said, trying to be helpful.

"The boat I was on, there was a large container of fresh water on it. As far as I could tell, I was just a half-mile north of the coral reefs. I'm not sure if the boat would still be there but it's worth a try," Y/N tells Steve with a smile.

"I know exactly where it is, we were going to explore it this morning before we found you. I'll be back as soon as I can," Steve started pushing himself back into the water when Bucky caught his arm and pulled him in for a searing kiss which had Y/N looking away so she would not intrude on their private moment while heat flooded her cheeks.

Moments later she heard the splash of Steve returning to the water. Bucky cleared his throat before asking conversationally, "Why the freshwater? Why not just use ocean water?"

"Because the salt in the ocean water will burn the wound and cancel out the healing effects of the herbs," y/n explained patiently as she started to get up to gather the herbs she would need.

Bucky waited until she was back with the herbs before asking cautiously, "You mentioned tools earlier, what is it exactly that you do with them?"

"I'm a marine biologist and aquatic veterinarian. I study the ocean and its inhabitants, and I also take care of them when they are sick or injured then release them back into the ocean when they are healthy again," she said with a small smile. Sure many of the people in her life hadn't understood her love and passion for the ocean and didn't think that her job was important, but nothing gave her greater joy than nursing a sick or wounded animal back to health and seeing it swim off into the sunset.

"You don't hurt them?" Bucky asks, trying desperately to mask the hope in his voice. Y/N simply shakes her head.

Now that she had gotten all the herbs she realized that she didn't have a mortar and pestle. She did, however, see a tree bearing coconuts and a longish stone that she could use. She was so intent on picking a coconut that she did not hear Steve's return, nor the sound of him shedding his tail. It was only when she felt his solid, warm chest at her back as he reached up for the very fruit she had been trying to reach that she turned around in shock and...oh, he was completely naked...

She quickly averted her eyes, taking the coconut from his outstretched hand with a soft "Thank you," before she returned to the beach where Bucky was waiting with a thoroughly amused smirk painting his features.

Steve had managed to find the container she had mentioned and thankfully it was not leaking so she knew that there had not gone any saltwater into it. After breaking open the coconut and scooping out its contents, she meticulously prepared the herbs by mixing them with a small amount of water and coconut flesh and grinding it into a paste with the stone. Then she gently applied it onto the wound and wrapped it tightly with the seaweed while both men watched her work with wonder in their eyes.

They spent the rest of the afternoon trading stories and getting to know one another better after Steve had (thankfully) pulled his tail back on. Once Y/N had fallen asleep on the sand, exhausted from the day's events, Steve and Bucky sat discussing what they would do next. It was clear from the stories the young woman told them that she was alone, without any friends or family nearby that would miss her. They knew that they had to take her back to her home, but they didn't want to leave her side; she had crept into their hearts in less than a day with her kindness and tender heart. Finally, they decided that it was something that they should discuss with her in the morning.

As they lay together on the beach with their tails in the water and Steve cuddled into Bucky's arms Bucky thought to himself that Steve had been right, there was something very special about this girl and he would go to the ends of the earth to protect her, but neither she nor Steve needed to know that just yet. And with that thought, he drifted off to sleep, a smile on his face and peace in his soul.