Don't Leave Me Behind

Six

Okay, I haven't got a clue how I managed to keep my word and make this chapter almost double the length of what I normally write (6,300+ words, excluding this Author's Note), but I did! Hopefully this is well worth the pain currently wracking my arms from all the typing between last Night and since I woke up today! LOL!

        And I'll add pictures of a couple things I mentioned at one point in this chapter at the very End, just so anyone curious can see what I meant for themselves.

~Banshee

Once settled in the still-fairly warm Waters of Lover's Cove so he was submerged up to his hips, Bobby took a deep breath to settle his nerves. Having those couple shots and beers in his system helped with that, but he was still pretty nervous about what he was about to try. He knew that either this attempt at getting Rina's attention'd work, or it'd be a miserable failure–and he certainly hoped it wasn't the latter.

        With another deep breath, he started singing the song she'd been singing the Night she saved him in this very Cove, then again last month up at Pirate's Cove. He'd practiced it under his breath the whole drive to Long Beach, then on the ferry ride here to Santa Catalina Island. Since he hadn't been able to hear himself very well, especially on the ferry, the bassist hoped that whatever key he managed to get it to come outta his mouth in didn't sound too bad. Beyond that and that this even worked, his only other Hope was that he got the rhythm pretty close to what he remembered since he'd only heard it twice.

Down in her submarine Cave, Rina's head jerked up from where she'd been categorizing all the Crystals and tumbled Stones she'd collected over the Years. A noise that didn't sound like it was coming from beneath the Surface'd floated to her ears, and it almost immediately caught her attention. After all, it was a foreign Sound down here in her Cave, and anything foreign to this spot was bound to catch the attention of her or any other nearby Merfolk.

        After listening Intently for a moment, the Mermaid realized that the noise that'd caught her attention was actually someone singing. Listening even more Intently for a moment made her realize that the song was familiar–after all, it was the one she'd sang the Night she'd saved Bobby. Since he was the only other one who knew that song and about this Cove, that could only mean one thing, and she couldn't help her grin.

        Once her Crystals and Stones were tucked away in the little boxes she'd bought and waterproofed so they wouldn't get stolen by the currents, she spun and gave a couple hard flicks of her tail. Those flicks sent her rocketing outta the mouth of her Cave–which was actually in the rock shelf that Santa Catalina Island formed from just under Abalone Point's bigger boulder–and up toward the Surface. A quick peek above it confirmed her suspicion of someone sitting just a couple feet into the Water closer to the Natural ramp where she'd seen Bobby cross the street that first Night. Without making a Sound, she quickly ducked back beneath the Surface and closed those few hundred feet with only a few more flicks of her tail.

        If whoever was sitting at the top of that Natural ramp wasn't the man she thought so gorgeous, she'd pry off her own scales and make a stew outta them. From what little she'd seen before ducking back beneath the Surface, the person was definitely a man, although the long hair being teased by the Breeze woulda convinced anyone else otherwise. That added to the musician being the only other one to know about the song she'd written, herself and that she came to this Cove only Strengthened her suspicion of who it was. And upon Surfacing closer to the bottom of that Natural ramp, she certainly wasn't disappointed in seeing that familiar face.

        "Well, well, well–look what the Cat dragged in."

        The man's head shot up from where he'd lowered it to stare at the Water between his raised knees, and she was thrilled to see that it was definitely Bobby.