Epilogue

Rei was suddenly awoken by the bed shaking so vigorously that he almost fell out of it.

"Rei, wake up! It's morning! Today's the day!"

Rei blearily opened his eyes and could see the blurry outline of Nagisa's bright, smiling face staring right at him. He rolled onto his side to reach over to the bed side table to grab his glasses. He looked over at the window after putting them on and noticed that it was still very dark outside.

"Nagisa," Rei yawned. "The sun isn't even out yet. We don't need to be ready until after sunrise."

"Yeah, but we gotta get up and ready! No harm in being at the a little early, is there?"

Rei smiled. "I can't really argue with that." He threw the covers off of him and stepped out of bed before noticing Nagisa was already dressed. "You didn't waste any time did you?"

"I'm just so excited, Rei! It's been months since I've seen everyone, and you get to see it all for the first time! I can't wait to show you everything!"

Rei smiled again as he made his bed and started to get dressed as well. He was excited too, probably not as much as Nagisa, but that's probably because he couldn't help but feel a little nervous. Today was the day they were going to visit Nagisa's family for the first time since Nagisa left them to live with Rei; meaning that Nagisa was going to be turned back into a merman and Rei…Rei was going to be turned into a merman for the first time. He was diving, quite literally, into something completely unknown to him, so of course he'd be nervous.

"We should probably eat something before we go." Nagisa suggested. "I'm not sure how you'll like the food we have down there."

"Well, we're going to be there for a few days. I'd have to eat whether I like it or not."

Nagisa giggled. "That's true. You can always just stick with fish if that's the case. I hope you will enjoy it, though."

Rei finished getting ready and the two of them headed to the kitchen where Haru was already leaning against the counter and eating his usual mackerel-on-toast breakfast. He saw them enter and pouted grumpily as they joined him. Haru was still annoyed that he hadn't been invited to go with them because if anyone would enjoy being turned into a merman and living under the sea for a few days, it would definitely be Haru; but Nagisa promised him he could go the next time they arranged a visit.

They ate their breakfast in silence and were later joined by Rei's brother, who was loud as usual and excited to see Rei and Nagisa off soon so he could have the castle to himself without having the "two annoying lovers being all lovey dovey 24/7" around.

Rei's parents asked if they could see them off as well, but Rei didn't want them to come because he wasn't ready for them to meet Nagisa's father when Rei hadn't even met him for longer than a few minutes; he just wanted to make a proper first impression without his parents there to embarrass him. So he promised them they could come next time when he was more comfortable.

Rei noticed that Nagisa was getting antsy once they were finished with their breakfast, so he figured it was okay to head down to the beach now, even if they had to wait a bit for the king to show up. Nagisa took Rei's hand and practically dragged him out the door and down the stairs to the beach, but Rei had gotten used to this by now, so it didn't catch him off guard like it used to.

The sun had just barely started to peak over the horizon once they stepped onto the sand and sat down to wait close by the shore and watch the sunrise. Rei brushed his thumb softly over Nagisa's hand as they sat, and eventually Nagisa leaned against Rei's shoulder and nuzzled into it. This earned a loud groan from Rei's brother.

Rei turned and gave his brother a look. "Why are you so annoyed with us all the time now? I thought you loved romance?"

"I do! But it gets old after having to see it every single day."

"Don't worry about it, Rei." Nagisa smirked. "He's just bitter that he's still single."

Rei's brother opened his mouth to retort, but he closed it and crossed his arms in a huff.

Rei chuckled under his breath and went back to stroking Nagisa's hand. His nervousness started to melt away as they sat there, only to come rushing back once Nagisa jumped to his feet and yelled about seeing his dad in the distance. Nagisa ran, fully clothed, into the water to give his dad a hug.

"It's so good to see you, Dad!"

"It's great to see you too, Nagisa! We've all missed you so much."

Nagisa led his dad to the shore and Rei stood up awkwardly and brushed the sand off himself before he stepped forward to greet the king.

"Good morning, your Majesty." He said with a bow.

"Good morning, Rei." The king replied, gesturing for him to raise his head.

Rei did so and gulped uncomfortably as the king stared him up and down, giving Rei the feeling he was being judged.

"I'm sorry we haven't had the chance to meet properly before now," The king smiled. "But I'm happy that you'll be joining Nagisa for his visit so we can get better acquainted."

Rei filled with relief and returned the smile, happy that he had one less thing to worry about. He was still worried about one other thing, however.

"So, shall we get this going?" The king asked.

"Yeah!" Nagisa practically jumped out of the water in excitement. "You ready to go, Rei?"

Rei gulped, not even sure if he would be okay, but nodded anyway. Nagisa picked up on Rei's expression and assured Rei it would be alright and that he would go first. Nagisa swam a few feet away from his dad and Rei watched while the scepter started to glow. The king pointed it at Nagisa and soon he was covered in a bright gold light and started to change back into his original form. Rei's eyes sparkled as he watched Nagisa's legs turn into that lovely pink and yellow fin that Rei had only seen once before, but through the chaos of that night, he hadn't gotten the chance to really appreciate just how beautiful it was.

Nagisa laughed out and starting splashing about once his transformation was complete. "Ah, it's been so long since I've had this. It's actually kinda nice! Swimming with legs is a lot more exhausting than swimming with a fin."

Haru grumbled. "Must be nice…"

Nagisa laughed again. "Next time, Haru. I promise!" Nagisa swam up to the shore and looked up at Rei. "Okay, Rei. It's your turn now."

Rei gulped again and took a deep breath before stepping forward into the water, Nagisa not leaving his side the whole time. He stopped once he was about waist deep and figured that was enough and looked over to Nagisa. "What if it doesn't work because I'm human?"

"It'll be fine, Rei. He was able to turn me into a human, wasn't he? Just relax, and I'll be right here, okay?"

Rei nodded and looked to the King to indicate that he was ready. The king lifted his scepter and it started to glow like before, and he pointed it at Rei once it was all charged up. Rei clenched his eyes shut and felt a sudden warmth envelope him and a light so bright that he could still see it through his closed eyes. He felt an odd tickling at his legs and arms, where he assumed his fins were forming, and his fingers and ears even started to tickle. It was a weird sensation, but definitely not unpleasant, which was relieving because Nagisa's sudden transformation on the ship that night looked extremely painful.

A few more seconds and he felt the warmth leave him and heard a small gasp come from Nagisa. Rei finally opened his eyes in fear that something went wrong, but was only met with a look of pure amazement on Nagisa's face.

"Rei...you're beautiful! I mean, you've always been beautiful, but your fin…it's so pretty!"

Rei looked down at himself and nearly fainted at the initial shock of the fin being there, but he calmed himself so he could have a better look. His eyes widened at the shimmering purple scales that had a hint of red in them when in the right lighting. He then brought his focus to his arms where he had fins similar to Nagisa's, but a lot more flowy-looking, like a betta fish.

"Woah…" was all Rei could manage to say.

"It really suits you, Rei!" Rei's brother called from the shore.

"It really does!" Nagisa chimed in happily. "Your fin matches your eyes like mine does!"

"Did you do that on purpose?" Rei asked the king.

The king shook his head. "I have no say in how your fin looks, or what kind of fin you'll get. I just use my magic to change you."

That meant his fin was this lovely all on its own? Rei's eyes sparkled and he gave a bright smile before thanking the king for letting him have the opportunity to share this with Nagisa. The next few minutes were then dedicated to Rei trying to figure out how the fin even worked and was able to get the hang of it pretty quickly, but swimming under water would be an entirely different problem.

It was now time for them to go, so they waved goodbye to Haru and Rei's brother before departing. Nagisa took Rei's hand in his. "Just dive in and breathe like you normally would. The gills will take care of it. It might be weird at first, but just relax and you'll be fine. On the count of three?"

Rei nodded and clenched onto Nagisa's hand a little tighter. "One…"

Nagisa returned the pressure on Rei's hand. "Two…"

"Three!" The two of them dived under together and Rei automatically held his breath and clenched his eyes shut out of habit. But he heard Nagisa's voice as clear as he would have on land and immediately opened his eyes to look at him.

"Don't hold your breath. Let it out. You'll be fine."

Rei knew Nagisa was right, but still took a second before he slowly let go of his breath and inhaled back in. It felt really weird, almost heavier, like when you go to a higher elevation.

"It might take you a while to get used to, but I'm so excited! There are so many things I want to show you!" Nagisa took his hand again and pulled him deeper into the water as they followed the king. "Just wait until you see our palace!"

Rei smiled softly as Nagisa pulled him along, starting to get excited himself. After they had been swimming a few minutes, Rei opened his mouth in an attempt to say something, and it was a lot easier to speak than Rei had expected. "H-how much longer?"

Nagisa looked back at him with a huge smile. "Not much longer!"

And Nagisa was right, only a few more minutes and the palace finally came into view and Rei's eyes widened in amazement; it wasn't as big as his own, but it was far more stunning and Rei couldn't wait to see inside. As they swam closer, Rei noticed all the different fish and merfolk that swam past, some bowing and waving at them, and greeting the returned prince. Before Rei knew it, they were already at the palace entrance and the guards nodded to them before letting them in.

Once inside, Rei stared in wonder at the beauty of everything and he almost wanted to swim off and explore, but he knew Nagisa would give him a tour when it was time. For now, they met up with Nagisa's sisters and greeted them. They complimented Rei's fin and even seemed envious of how pretty it was, which definitely made Rei feel good about himself. Rei also was able to thank the oldest sister for saving him again and he received hugs from all three of them.

After that was done, Nagisa began the grand tour and Rei was in utter amazement. He finally now understood how Nagisa must have felt that first day he saw Rei's castle and why he wanted to run off every time he saw something interesting, because he wanted to do the same exact thing. Nagisa showed him everything, the throne room, the ball room, even their library, which definitely caught Rei's interest and he probably spent way too long looking at how merpeople documented everything. He recognized the symbols as the same language Nagisa had written in back when he first tried communicating with Rei, and he wondered how hard it would be to learn; he'd have to ask Nagisa that later.

After spending a good 30 minutes in the library, they were ready to move on to the next place and Nagisa shyly took Rei's hand. "I want to show you my room now."

Rei's eyes lit up again. "Of course!"

Nagisa then led him to a fancy door on the second floor of the palace and opened it to reveal a rather small, but cozy room with a lovely view of the mervillage from Nagisa's window. It was a lot different from the room Nagisa had back at Rei's, but it still suited him and Rei could totally imagine Nagisa growing up in this room.

"Unfortunately our beds aren't nearly as comfortable as yours, so I hope you'll be able to get some sleep tonight."

"I don't think I'd be able to sleep regardless. I'm far too excited to be here."

Nagisa giggled and continued to give Rei the tour of the rest of the castle before they had to meet everyone in the dining hall for lunch. Rei was happy to see that Makoto had come to join them and he pulled both Rei and Nagisa into a tight hug before they all sat down at the table and were ready to eat.

The food definitely looked weirder than it tasted, and Rei was thankful for that, although there were a few dishes he was probably too scared to try because they looked like they might bite his hand off if he picked any of them up. Dessert, however, looked and tasted delicious, and it was the first time Rei had enjoyed dessert that much because he was never a huge fan of sweets.

After lunch, Nagisa wanted to show Rei the village and Rei was having a weird sense of déjà vu except this time the roles were reversed. Rei agreed and the two of them swam down to the village together where many merfolk happily greeted them and Nagisa introduced Rei to as many of them as he could. They all smiled and bowed kindly, some even shaking Rei's hand and complimenting his fin as well. Rei started to feel a bit flustered at the attention and eventually Nagisa had to pull him away from a crowd of admirers, and he couldn't help but laugh to himself at Nagisa's small pout of jealousy as he muttered to himself about Rei being his boyfriend.

After doing a bit of shopping and a little more greeting of some of Nagisa's closer merchant friends, Nagisa had one more place he wanted to show Rei before they finally headed back to the palace. Nagisa led him to a large mass of rock with a smaller, strategically placed rock at the bottom that looked like it served as a door.

"It's definitely not what it used to be, but when I came back home for that month before we saw each other again, I was able to fix it up and start over. Makoto told me at lunch that he's been trying to keep it up for me too."

Rei lowered his brows in confusion as Nagisa pushed the smaller rock out of the way and revealed that it was, indeed, a door! Nagisa took Rei's hand again and led him into this small cave-like room with tons of various human items. Rei's eyes glinted in realization.

"Your collection!"

Naigsa smiled. "That's right. I wanted to start it again, even if I won't really be here that often and I have all the human stuff I could ever ask for back on the surface. I just wanted it to be a kind of…memory of what drove me to be able to meet you."

Rei's stomach flipped and he gazed at Nagisa softly before swimming over to him and placing a soft kiss on his lips. "It's wonderful, Nagisa. Maybe next time we visit, we can bring some items from home to add to it."

"Really?! I'd like that." Nagisa nuzzled his face into Rei's chest and Rei kissed the top of his head. "You know, I never got the chance to tell you this before, but your merman form is very beautiful."

Nagisa's head sprung up from Rei's chest instantly and a bright blush spread across his face. "W-what is this all of a sudden?"

"Well it's just that night when you turned back, everything was so chaotic that I never got the chance to say anything. But now we're here alone together, in a place that's important to you…it seemed like a nice time. Besides, it's true. Your fin is lovely, and so are you."

"Reeeiiiii!" Nagisa buried his face in Rei's chest again. "Don't say such embarrassing things."

Rei laughed. "You're always so good at complimenting other people, but as soon as someone compliments you, you get so embarrassed."

"That's only because it's you, Rei. As soon as you compliment me, I turn into a blushing mess for some reason."

Rei laughed again and let Nagisa stay with his face buried in his chest until they were ready to leave.

"So," Nagisa said as they began their swim back to the palace. "How did you like everything today?"

"Oh, everything was wonderful, Nagisa! I'm very happy that I was able to experience all of this with you. Thank you for showing me your home."

Nagisa smiled and twirled around happily, his fin flipping gracefully through the water. Nagisa then somersaulted back over to Rei and grabbed his hands again. "I'm so glad, Rei. Showing you this…it was very important to me. And it's so nice to be able to swim together!"

"It really is." Rei moved closer and rested his forehead against Nagisa's. "My whole life I have never been able to swim, but now I get to swim with you…albeit in a non-conventional way, but it's swimming nonetheless. And it's even more amazing than I ever could have imagined. So thank you, Nagisa. It means a lot to me too."

Nagisa's eyes grew teary and he pulled Rei into a hug. "I love you so much."

Rei's heart never failed to swell when Nagisa said those words. "I love you too."

Nagisa nuzzled Rei's neck for a few more seconds before pulling away from the hug. "So what do you want to do tomorrow? We can go visit Rin, Gou, and Ai! You've never met Ai before, but he's really nice and I'm sure he's heard a lot about you already."

Rei chuckled. "Sounds like a plan to me."

"Ooh great!" Nagisa continued to tug Rei along. "Now that I think about it, it's been so long since I've seen them. I have so much to tell them! Oooh, and after that we could—"

Rei smiled as he listened to Nagisa ramble on about the rest of the plans for tomorrow and he sighed contently. He had an amazing day and everything was so incredible. They definitely had to come visit more often.

The End.