The sound of the ocean waves was soothing. The rhythmic motion and rolling of the water eased tortured souls. Kenmei was sure that was all she was by now, a tortured soul, bound to the ocean as her eternal resting place. She could feel nothing, but she could sense it. The smell of the sea, the sound of the waves, and even a taste of the salty air. She wondered if this is what death was, eternal blackness with nothing but the sound of what took your life. In truth, she couldn't complain. She found it better than rotting in some fiery hell for all eternity, or singing happy praises in some heavenly plane.

Kenmei was content with this. She felt it was what she deserved in the end.

As a new set of waves rolled in, Kenmei felt a new sensation. A warmth coated her legs, spreading up to her thighs before being pulled back with the rolling sound of water. Back and forth the warmth went, synching up perfectly to the soothing sound of the waves. Though it never traveled any further up her body than her thighs, a tingling feeling began to spread through her body. Soon enough, she could feel other things around her, her mind beginning to clear. Grains of sand tickled her fingertips, and wind brushed her hair across her face. As she suddenly felt the urge to breathe, pain erupted through her body, and she was pulled back into reality.

Her attempt to pull air into her lungs set off a violent coughing fit, feeling as if her airways were blocked with water. Struggling to breathe, she rolled over onto her side, water and other bodily liquids pouring from her mouth and nose as her body did its best to expel the blockage. Bringing a hand up to her neck, she coughed and wheezed until she nearly passed out again, resting her forehead into the sand. Taking a moment, she let her body fall limp as she gasped for air, her lungs and stomach burning from the exertion. As she calmed, she rolled back over onto her back, forcing her sore eyes to open. Vision nearly black at first, her sight slowly returned, and she was shocked that, instead of seeing the blue sky, she was met with worried crimson eyes.

"Judar!" She shot up, immediately thrown into another coughing fit. Covering her mouth with one hand, she wrapped her other arm around her stomach, doing her best to calm the attack. Once she could open her eyes, she glanced around her, noticing that she was alone. For a moment, she thought she had imagined it, until she saw him in the water. He had put quite a lot of space between them, his posture tense and on the verge of taking off. Moving herself to sit on her knees, she called out to him, her throat burning.

"Wait, Judar, please come back!" As she tried to force herself to stand on trembling legs, she lost her balance and fell back, wincing. Looking back out at him, she noticed that he hadn't moved, but his expression did show his concern and discomfort. Rather it was concern for her, or concern for his own safety, she didn't know. Either way, it tore into her heart, and she knew she needed to talk to him. "Please come back, I can't go out there!"

Judar shook his head, moving even further back. "You're safe now, you need to just go home." Gathering her energy, Kenmei crawled into the water, trying to get to him. "What do you mean? Please come talk to me."

Staying put, Kenmei saw the contemplation cross his features, but the betrayal he felt must have been too powerful for him to get over. "Mei, I need you to just go home. You saved me, and I saved you. It's over."

Kenmei could feel her heart breaking with every word, struggling to keep herself up as the waves crashed against her chest. "I don't understand what you mean. I risked everything to save you, and you can't forgive me?" She was finally able to stand, though it took all of her energy to stabilize herself. "I almost died for you!"

Judar backed further away, anger beginning to take over his expression. "You did more harm than good! So many of my kind died trying to escape. It was supposed to only be me!"

No longer able to control her sobbing, Kenmei tried to make her way further out, but found it quickly got too deep, so she backed up. "I-I thought I was doing the right thing! I didn't mean for that to happen, I-" She was cut off as a larger wave pushed her back, and she almost slipped under the surface. Coughing, she steadied herself. "Please come back to the shore so we can talk about it, I can't be out here!"

Her stomach bubbling with anticipation, she could only wait as Judar eyed her. Finally, with a sigh, Judar turned away.

"Go home."

With that, he vanished beneath the waves, sending Kenmei into a panic.

"N-no, Judar! Wait-" Completely fueled by emotion and grief, Kenmei made her way out into the water. She found that she struggled to touch the sand below, and without any warning, she slipped off the edge of a drop off. The force of a wave pushed her down and her back slammed into the rock wall behind her. Disoriented and weak, she tried to look around, but the water was too murky to tell up from down. Before she could even think about how to save herself, Judar came up from below and took her into his arms, quickly swimming away from the drop off. Kenmei had to shut her eyes tightly as they moved quickly through the water, latching onto him.

When they finally breached the surface, Kenmei gasped for breath, keeping herself latched tightly onto him with her arms around his neck and legs around his waist. Cursing in his native language, Judar tried to get her off. "Damn it, Kenmei, you're so fucking stupid! Why would you come after me like that, you can swim-"

Before he could finish talking, Kenmei gripped onto his face, holding his head in place as she kissed him. In seconds, his entire demeanor did a one-eighty flip, wrapping his arms around her tightly. The passion between them was the most intense it had ever been, the love and longing swelling so violently within Kenmei that she couldn't contain herself. She could tell it was the same for him as well by the way his hands caressed her body and how he kept her snug against him. When he finally pulled away, Kenmei moved one of her hands back to his cheek, wanting to keep his attention as long as she could.

"Judar, I love you," she spoke with a trembling, hoarse voice. It pained her to talk, but she knew she had to before he tried to leave again. "I love you, and I hope that you can forgive me. I know I made mistakes, and I know I hurt your kind… Everything that happened is because of me." She hung her head, hiccuping with her sobs. "They had tried to trick me, telling me that you had died from being shot. I had given up." Taking a few deep breaths, she hid her face in his shoulder, the cool surface of his scales soothing her flushed skin. "I don't want to give up on you…"

There was silence between them for a long time, the only sound coming from Kenmei's sobs. When she finally calmed, Judar reached up and stroked her hair gently, leaning his cheek against the top of her head. "I hated you, you know. They pulled my scales out while I was still awake, and I heard that man's voice the entire time. He told me that you gave me up for money, and… I hated you." His nails against her scalp suddenly felt omnious to Kenmei, though she kept still and quiet.

"But when I saw you that first time, I knew that he had been lying." Judar continued, and Kenmei could have sworn she heard a quiver in his voice. "You had come to save me. And still, I couldn't forgive you. Alone in that cage, though, all I could think about was you. Mei…" He lifted his head from hers, prompting her to look up at him. He placed his hand on her cheek gently. "None of this is your fault. It's mine. I made the risk of coming to see you every day, and not making a move sooner. Stop blaming yourself. You couldn't have known what your father was."

Kenmei felt her stomach churn at the mention of Keneiji, and the memory of what she saw in the water came back to her. "Did you…?" Judar let out a short chuckle, shaking his head. "No, no I didn't get to. I had to get to you. Others took care of him." Kenmei nodded, feeling a bit of relief that Judar hadn't been the one to do it, though she was sure he had wanted to.

"What about Sinbad?" Kenmei felt her face flush as Judar stroked her cheek back and forth absentmindedly with his thumb. He gave another small shake of his head. "I don't know, I had to get you to the beach." Kenmei rested her head back against his shoulder, starting to feel the chill of the water getting to her. "Judar… Do you forgive me?"

Judar moved his arms back around to hug her tightly, once again stroking her hair. "Mei, there's nothing to forgive." Kenmei couldn't help but to begin sobbing once again, holding onto him tightly. All this time, she had blamed and hated herself for what happened to him. Now, she had gotten his forgiveness.

But what of his love?

Feeling her chest grow tight with anxiety, she lifted herself back up from him, catching his gaze with her own. "What do… What do we do?" Judar sighed, looking away from her and out at the shore. "I know you broke the bottle. I saw you fall on it when I was taken… My kind, my family… I don't know if they'll accept you anymore." Heart growing heavy, Kenmei cast her eyes downward, trying to control her emotions.

"But-"

He released her with one arm, and she felt his hand brush her leg, which was still wrapped around his waist. She could feel something else against her leg that she hadn't noticed before, unable to help but give a small jump as he grabbed it and yanked it free. He brought it up from the water, presenting to her a small brown bag, much like the one he had giving her originally. Though, it was not filled up like the one before, but Kenmei had a suspicion about what was inside it. With him still holding her, she removed her arms from around his neck and took the bag, opening it. Inside was a small vial, with the same red liquid as before.

Taking it out carefully, Kenmei looked up at him. "But, how did you-"

"I had an extra. In case I... broke the other one before I got it to you." Judar's face flushed a bit at the mention of his own clumsiness, reaching up to rub the back of his head. "Your father had you for a long time. I went home to check my wound, and before I went to our spot, I grabbed it… When you didn't show up, I knew something wasn't right. My kind found the boat first." His hand came back down to caress her neck gently. "Mei, I don't care what my family thinks. I never have, even before you. If they make us go live off on our own, then whatever. But I want you with me… More than I did before." Swallowing the painful lump in her throat, Kenmei looked down at the vial, running her finger along the cork. The thought of drinking it still terrified her, both because of what it was made of and what it was going to do to her.

Though he was too proud and still had not said the words, Kenmei knew that this gift was his expression of love. He seemed to want her to be with him badly, and she knew that he would not wait any longer. It was too much of a risk, and she didn't want him to get caught again.

At this thought, she remembered what had been said to her, and she looked up at him. "Judar, before they tried to throw me over, they told me they had placed tracking devices in all of you." Judar raised his eyebrow at her, obviously confused, both at what she had said and at the change of subject.

"I don't know what that is. What is it for?" He looked at his arms, and Kenmei assumed he was looking for any marks on his skin. "It means they can find you, with a electronic device they put in you. In all of you."

Judar frowned, glancing back behind him at the horizon. "I have to tell them, then. Mei-" He looked back down at the vial, before his worried gaze came to rest on hers. "You're sure about this?" Kenmei nodded, holding the vial close to her chest. "Yes, because I saw them do it to one of your kind that was recently caught. I didn't know what it was at first, they wouldn't tell me. But it is true." Judar observed her face as he tightened his grip on her, his hand running down her back. It was obvious to Kenmei that he was fighting with himself, to stay with her or to help his kind. Finally, he sighed. "Let me take you to shore-"

"Wait!" Kenmei stopped him, pulling the cork from the vial carefully, so as not to spill. "I don't want to go back there. I want to stay with you." Judar fell silent, watching her closely and waiting for her to continue. Kenmei trembled as she stared down into it, hoping she wouldn't vomit. "Judar, the company is going to be in chaos for at least a few weeks." Without another second, she downed the liquid in the vial, instantly covering her mouth as she almost lost it. The coppery taste of blood made her almost vomit, but she kept it down, looking up at his shocked expression once she felt her stomach was under control.

Dropping the vial into the water, she wrapped her arms back around his neck, kissing him again passionately as she felt warmth beginning to spread through her body from her stomach. As she slowly pulled away, she smiled up at him, the adoration and excitement in his normally stern gaze filled her with joy.

"You seriously just sucked that down?" Judar couldn't help but to laugh, leaning his forehead on hers as he held her closer. His cold body felt unusually warm, and his wide toothy grin was infectious. Kenmei ran her fingers through his hair gently, unable to help tears of joy from running down her cheeks. "Of course I did… I wanted this more than anything. I should have said yes the first time right away, but… fear stopped me. I can't let fear hold me back anymore." Kenmei felt her face flush at the tender way he wiped the tears from her cheeks, though she found it quite silly, as ocean water merely replaced the wetness. Still, she savored every touch, knowing that the next few days were going to be difficult. Though the change terrified her, she knew that she was going to be okay, as long as he was by her side.

"Judar… Take me somewhere… and when I wake up, we will save your kind. Together."