Disclaimer: Black Butler belongs to Yana Toboso. If I owned Sebastian...let's just say he would never leave my bedroom. Ever. He'd be my little sex slave...ahem...yea. Also, the image is not mine. And do you guys know how hard it is to find a pic of Bassy as a mermaid? It is neigh impossible, I tell you!

Songs Listened To When Writing: The Other Promise from Kingdom Hearts 2, Heavy Rainfall and Thunder Ambient Sleep Sounds, Romantic Flight from How To Train Your Dragon, My Hands by Leona Lewis

P.S. This ENTIRE fic was inspired by the song 'Virginia Company' from the movie, Pocahontas. Can you believe that? I sure have an imagination, lol

"We will never be able to make this up. Do you have any idea much is lost now?" William's seethed at the teen as Ciel pulled on his clothes from last night. Some of the material was wet from his earlier activities but he paid it no mind for now.

"Oh darling, is it all that bad? At least we got to see that scrumptious fish cake in all his glory." Grell said, staring at the naked ex-merman from next to his lover. "I can only imagine what kinds of naughty things these two did last night.~" Grell swooned, a puff of smoke coming out of his nose at the possibilities. "Will, why do we never do anything naughty like that anymore?" The redhead's query went unanswered by said businessman, whose attention was focused elsewhere.

Ciel's cerulean blue eyes focused on his mate as Hannah brought over a blanket to cover Sebastian with. Wine-red eyes locked onto his, neither of them being able to find the words to say to each other right now. They should have gotten out of here last night while they still had the chance...

"Now now." Lau said, waving his hand in a dismissive manner at William. "It wouldn't do us any good to make a fuss about it. What's done is done, right, Ranmao?" The captain smiled down at his first mate and she nodded.

"How can you be so nonchalant over this?" William scoffed, calming some and pushing up his glasses.

"It's certainly better than losing yer head over it!" The Undertaker cackled from the side, sitting a far distance between the two groups with a small fish skeleton in hand. He giggled as he waved the fish around in front of himself. "The fishy is already out of yer hands after all." He tossed the bones into the ocean nonchalantly, grinning.

"You be silent." William said stiffly. He glared at Ciel for a few moments before turning his attention to the navigator of the ship. "What happened, Claude? I thought you were going to destroy the creature."

Claude said nothing in response, his golden eyes glaring down at the ex-merman, gripping his forearm impossibly tight in his hands. If Sebastian was in pain, he didn't show it as he returned the gaze, his mystical red eyes sharp.

"See, this is why..." Ash said, sighing as he hefted Sebastian's other arm up higher into his grip. "You should have just let me kill him the other night. But no, you all wanted to wait for formality's sake."

"Wait, kill him?" Bard asked while Finny gasped from his side. "Who the bloody hell ever said anyfing about killin' him?"

Ash scoffed at this in response. "I would have thought that it would have been obvious-"

"Shut up!" Ciel shouted, throwing his arm to the side. "I've heard enough of this. Sebastian is no one's property to be disposed of!"

"This coming from the boy who captured him in the first place." William accused, crossing his arms over his chest, his fingertips on the side of his glasses.

Ciel grit his teeth, his fingernails digging into his palms as they balled themselves tightly into fists. Agni placed his hand on the teen's shoulder to comfort him, but to no avail. It was true that Ciel had been the reason Sebastian had been put through all of this. But that didn't mean that he couldn't make things right again.

"Ciel." Lau called, getting the attention of all passengers on board. The captain placed a hand against Ranmao's cheek before stepping away from her towards the teenager, hands folded inside the sleeves of his clothes. The happy expression he usually wore was now gone as he approached. "I have known you for quite some time, and, indeed, it feels strange that we should meet under these questionable circumstances." He stopped a few feet in front of the deckhand. "And I must say that I am quite disappointed in you."

"Believe what you like." Ciel said, frowning. "I will not let you have Sebastian. He is of no further use to you now, anyhow." Blue eyes met wine red for a moment before turning back to Lau.

"Now I do believe you'd be wrong there." Lau turned his head in the direction of the ex-mercreature. "I am sure we can make some use of him. But as for all of you..." He turned his attention back to the group in front of him before heading back over to his first mate, William and Grell. "I am afraid that you have double-crossed me, and one should know I do not take kindly to that."

"Lau stop this." Tanaka said, placing both hands on Ciel's shoulders from his position behind the youth. "You have to know that this is wrong."

Mey-rin agreed with his argument from the old man's left. "Sebastian is just like all of us now, yes he is! You can't kill im!" She tested out the merman's new name on her lips for the first time, her hands clenched into fists in front of her as she nodded.

"Mr. Sebastian has every right to live too!" Finny piped in after her.

"Oh, please!" Ash said, scoffing. "You three were all on board for selling him yesterday, what changed?"

"At least back then you weren't trying to bloody kill im!" Bard shouted. He, of course, had never wanted the merman here to begin with but that didn't mean he was just going to watch the other crew members kill him.

"That's right!" Agni shouted. "I will not just stand by while one of Kali's creatures is destroyed."

From the other side of the deck, Sebastian blinked in confusion. Aside from Ciel, he had not spoken one word to any of people defending him, and yet they were still willing to protect him? Humans were truly mysterious creatures indeed.

"That is enough." Lau said slowly, bringing a hand out of his sleeve and holding it up beside him. "Ranmao." He called and in an instant she was at his side, a stern look on her face as she was holding two weapons in her hands that had not been there before. Lau's eyelids opened to reveal serious dark brown eyes. "Dispose of these traitors." The Chinese girl nodded before hefting her weapons up and charging at them.

"So it's really come to this, eh?" Bard said, spitting out his cigarette onto the deck and cracking his knuckles. "Agni."

"Jo Ajna." The indian responded back, removing the bandages around his right hand before both he and Bard ran towards the incoming first mate.

"Agni!" Mey-rin called out, removing her glasses and moving to chase after them. She didn't get too far before Grell intercepted her, grinning wickedly at her with his sharp teeth and holding his red whaling harpoon.

"Ah ah, toots!" The redhead chided, wagging his finger at her. "I agree: that hunky fish-sicle is delightfully delectable, but I have to also agree that I wouldn't mind seeing him doused in my favorite color red." Mey-rin's brow twitched at this and Grell shrieked and jumped back as there was suddenly a loud gunshot and a bullet-hole appeared in the deck where his feet had just been. "Will!"

"For heaven's sake." William said, fixing his glasses, running past the quarreling Ranmao, Agni and Bard to get to his lover's side. He quickly dodged a punch from the side as Finnian ran at him before he could get close.

"I won't let you!" The blonde exclaimed, trying to land a hit on William. He didn't get to in the end as Hannah came over and swiped at him with one of the spare harpoons, the teen barely dodging her advances.

"Everyone..." Ciel all but whispered as he watched the people who were defending both himself and Sebastian fighting for them.

He winced as he saw Bard get hit in the stomach by Ranmao, the force of her blow hard enough to break his ribs before she turned her attention to Agni to try and do the same. Finny screamed as Hannah sliced one of his forearms while he had been focusing his attention on William. Mey-rin had a few cuts and bruises as Grell proved to be almost as fast as her, dodging most of her bullets and counter-attacking when he could.

"...Don't you think you should take better care on what you are focusing on, Ciel?" The teen's blue eyes widened as he looked up to see Lau right in front of him. The captain had a crazy look in his eyes and was holding a large sword with a green dragon engraved onto the blade.

The teen frantically moved back as the Chinese man swiped at him. "Then again you always did have your head in the clouds. Ever since that abomination reared its head."

"Tee hee hee! This is so much fun!" The Undertaker cackled from his neutral spot on the other side of the deck, swaying and giggling at the chaos unfolding.

"ENOUGH!" Ash's scream penetrated the chaos and all eyes turned to him, Claude and Sebastian. Claude had a knife to Sebastian's throat and was holding the ex-merman's arms tightly behind his back with one hand. "Everyone drop your weapons or we'll tear his throat out!"

Sebastian flinched as the blade cut into his throat, red liquid sliding down his neck from the small wound. While it was true that he could defend himself when he was a merman, now that he was a new human it wasn't so easy. Half of his body was foreign to him now and he didn't know how to control it just yet. It was taking all of his concentration just to stand up, which made him easy prey in this situation.

"Sebastian!" Ciel screamed, glaring death at Claude.

"Quiet!" Ash shouted back at him, taking out a knife of his own to hold up against the ex-sea creature's neck next to Claude's. "Unless you want him dead."

Lau, who had stopped right in front of Ciel when Ash had first shouted, took this opportunity to slug the teen in the face with the back of his sword and he fell onto the deck from the force of the blow. The deckhand gripped his red cheek, coughing some as he looked up at the captain with fire in his blue eyes.

"Everyone put down your weapons." Lau commanded, staring down at Ciel as if he were a bug that needed to be squashed. "The game is over..."

Ciel winced as Undertaker secured his hands impossibly tight around the mast's pole behind him. He could hear the man giggling to himself as he finished tying the teenager up, Ciel not having any energy left to protest. Blood was dripping down his chin from his split lip and ocean blue eyes watched silently as the red drops hit the deck.

When the Undertaker was all done, his giggling intensified(if that were at all possible) and he swooned over to Ciel's side. The older male placed one hand over his eyes to block out the afternoon's dull sun rays as he looked up at the cloudless blue sky.

''Ah, it looks like there's a storm brewing.'' Was all he said and Ciel frowned and looked up at the sky the best he could without moving, lest he get a headache. There wasn't even a cloud to be seen. How could a storm be coming?

''It's gonna be a bad one, I can tell.'' The Undertaker cackled, swaying as he looking down at Ciel with his signature creepy smile. ''So if I were you I'd hold onto that pole real snug.''

The teenager raised an eyebrow at the old man but otherwise didn't respond, sinking down to sit on the floor. Blue eyes watched, uninterested, as the Undertaker scuttled away before disappearing around a corner and out of sight.

Everything was quiet on board. Everyone who had fought with him for Sebastian's sake were all sitting on the deckside opposite to him as Hannah and Grell kept watch. Their hands were tied behind their backs and their feet were bound to keep them from retaliating for now. The captain would decide what to do with them later.

Ciel licked his dry, abused lips before looking down at the floorboards, knowing that his Sebastian was somewhere down below. Everything was such a mess now...

"In you go!" Ash said, all but throwing Sebastian into one of the sleeping rooms below deck. The new human steadied himself by grabbing hold of one of the beds, legs quivering as he stood on his own for the first time.

"Honestly, how did it come to this?" William asked no one in particular as he followed the raven into the room, heading over to one of the bureaus to at least find the blackette something to wear.

Ash sighed, crossing his arms and leaning against the door frame. "So what happens now?" The white-haired male asked.

"We will have to wait until we reach land for now, it seems." William responded, making his way over to the ex-merman.

"Hey can you even change back?" He asked, turning his attention to Sebastian, who chose to remain silent. "Oi!"

"Stop that." William chided, now holding a pair pants and a dark shirt. "You will only make matters worse, no doubt." The businessman placed the clothes on the bed Sebastian was leaning against, red eyes looking at the articles of fabric silently.

"You two stand guard and at the very least make him look presentable." William ordered before leaving the room. "I've got to do some damage control..." He mumbled calculations under his breath as he ascended up the stairs.

When the three of them were alone, Ash turned to Claude immediately. "So why didn't you kill him?"

"...Mind your own business." Claude said in response, sharp eyes boring into the ex-merman's back as Sebastian shakily stood, looking out the porthole window. The blackette gazed up at the cloudless blue sky, an uneasy feeling coming over him.

Night overcame the seas slowly, the sound of the waves crashing against the ship was heavy as the water slapped against the wood. Ciel stared up at the sky, thinking, as he slowly watched all of the stars be engulfed by clouds, leaving the night filled with only endless black.

The other prisoners had been moved down below deck for the night and he was left all alone up on deck to brood. All of this was his fault. He should have stayed awake last night and gotten both he and Sebastian off of the ship. The longer Ciel pondered, the more hecame to realize though, that trying to escape would not have worked. They would have had to take one of the ship's small adjoined boats to make their getaway, and it easily took three men to load those boats into the water. With Sebastian having had no strength to help last night(and probably not having much now as well), it would've been impossible.

Ciel leaned back against the pole he was tied to, his thoughts turning over to other things. What was going to happen to him and Sebastian now? Would he ever even see him again? Would he never be able to hold him in his arms again? Ever be able to kiss those soft, pale lips again or see the cocky smile that came along with them?

The teen was brought out of his musings when he suddenly felt something wet land on the back of his head. Ciel frowned and turned his attention back up to the sky just before a few more drops could be heard landing on the deck. He shivered as the air seemed to drop in temperature around him. The teen's arms tightened instinctively around the pole they were tied up against, a sinking feeling forming in his chest as he bit the inside of his lip.

"So what it comes down to is that we will not receive anything for the merman now, all things considered. We will be lucky to even receive a quarter of the original price mentioned." William sighed as he stood in front of the captain's desk. They still had the whale they had harpooned before, but that was hardly enough to cover the loss of how much they could have made. "If there was a way to change him back, then that would be a different story."

"And I am guessing that would be impossible now?" Lau said from his captain's chair, stroking Ranmao's back lazily as she sat on his lap. The smile that he always wore was now gone and replaced with a questioning frown.

"More than likely, yes." William said, pushing up his glasses with his fingertips. "But I will have Ash and Claude confirm this, just in case."

Lau sighed at this, taking up his pipe from its spot on the table. "We shall see, then." He said, moving to take a hit of his tobacco when a hand was brought to his face. The captain turned his attention to Ranmao, whose gaze was directed out the window. Fat, heavy droplets of rain splattered against the glass as the sky pelted them with a downpour.

"Yes, what is it, Ranmao?"

"...Hurricane."

Ciel shivered as his wet hair stuck to his face. His clothes were drenched and his wrists were raw and throbbing from being forced into an awkward position for so long. A few moments ago, William had all but ran from the captain's quarters to below deck, his arms up over his head to shield him from the rain.

The teen frowned as William came back up on deck with Claude, Grell and Hannah following suit. Ash must have been left below to look after the prisoners for the time being.

"Oh why did it have to rain now of all times?" Grell complained as William started shouting orders above the noise of the harsh rain. "My hair shall never recover~!" He pawed at his drenched red locks in frustration.

"Quit complaining Grell and do as I say!" William shouted back at the flamboyant redhead. "Lest we may all very well perish in the seas!"

Ciel perked up at this. The rain was coming down hard, yes, but did William really mean that? The sea was raging, but not more so than all the other storms they had encountered on their journeys.

"Oi!" Ciel called out as Hannah ran past him, trying to get her attention, but she ignored him in favor of working on securing the sails.

"Hey!" The teen tried calling out to Will as the businessman tried to do the same thing, but he was ignored once again. "What's going on?!" Ciel shouted over the pelting, cold rain, but his call went unanswered.

Sebastian frowned from his position below deck, having heard Ciel's plea, but unable to do anything about it. He was unable to communicate with the teen through his thoughts, as he had found out when he had tried to warn his love about the storm as soon as it had started to rain. Humans, it seemed, were very inefficient. At least, however, he was able to keep his keen hearing and other senses.

"Oi! What in the bloody hell is going on out there?" Bard asked, clutching his injured ribs with his tied hands as best he could. Himself, Agni, Meyrin, Finny and Tanaka had been moved below deck to the same room Sebastian had been staying soon before the storm started. The cook stared out the window at the roaring waves that only seemed to grow more agitated as time went on.

"I wouldn't worry about it if I were you." Ash said from his leaning position against the door-frame, absentmindedly picking at his nails.

"Mr. Ash." Agni spoke up from his spot next to Meyrin on one of the beds, getting the white haired male's attention. "It looks like the beginning of a hurricane is starting."

"Hurricane?!" Finny piped up, frightened, but Agni paid him no mind for now.

"Wouldn't it be better if we all helped to secure the ship?"

"Hm, I suppose so." Ash said, seeing his point, but not moving to release them.

"William seemed very worried, yes he did." Mey-rin piped up, trying to help persuade the other whaler. "We can help."

"Hm, we'll see."

Outside, the wind rattled on and the waves roared higher, only strengthening the unease of everyone below deck.

Ciel coughed harshly as the boat rocked and salt water tumbled up onto the deck, drenching him even more so than he already was. The teen struggled against his bonds as the reality of what was going on set in. His blue eyes winced as a crackle of lightning came down and struck the raging sea.

Captain Lau and Ranmao had now appeared on deck to help with controlling the ship through the stormy weather, but their help wasn't nearly enough needed to get them all through this. The ship's sails had come loose from the wind and whipped around frantically in the storm.

"Captain Lau!" William shouted over the rain as he and Claude pushed at the ship's steering wheel, trying to control the vessel as best they could. "We have to do something! Or else we're all done for."

Lau's piercing gaze stared at the businessman for a few moments before turning sharply to Ciel, whose head was bowed as he coughed up water. He then looked to Ranmao, who stood by his side. The Chinese man's eyes softened, and he brushed a few locks of wet black hair away from her face before leaning down to her ear. "Go release the prisoners, won't you, Ranmao?" He said and she nodded, disappearing quickly below deck.

"You two go and help her." The captain ordered Claude and William, cracking his knuckles before taking hold of the steering wheel. "I shall handle this."

Water sloshed from the deck to the rooms down below, and by the time that everyone was freed, the water had reached up to everyone's ankles. William wasted no time in barking orders as everyone ran upstairs. Before Sebastian could make his way up on deck with the others, he found his path blocked by someone he really didn't want to see right now.

"You did this, didn't you?" Claude asked Sebastian, obscuring the blackettes' way out of the bedroom before he could head upstairs.

Sebastian was silent for a moment before a frown came on to his lips. "...I may have been, and may still be, many things, but I have never been able to control the weather." His voice was quiet, going almost unheard over the raging storm outside and water pouring down below the deck. He had never wanted to give this man the privilege of hearing him speak again, but he could see no other way if he wanted to get past the navigator.

The blackette winced as suddenly Claude pinned him to the wall of the bedroom by gripping Sebastian's shirt tightly. "Do not hazard to toy with me." The navigator hissed, voice like venom. "I now know what you are. It all makes sense."

Sebastian did not respond as the navigator glared at him.

"You were never a merman to begin with. You are a siren, a creature made to entice humans before leading them to their deaths."

Wine-red eyes widened at this. He had never heard of such a being before. "You are wrong." Sebastian said firmly. "Those creatures do not exist."

"More lies." Claude said, harshly pushing Sebastian back against the wall before releasing him. The blackette coughed some when he could breathe comfortably again. "You knew this would happen from the start."

"No." The blackette said, bringing a hand up to his stinging neck. Being gripped like that had irritated the wound he had gotten on his throat earlier, and he could feel warm liquid coating his fingers as he touched the tender spot.

"If you really can't turn back into what you were, then I hope you drown in the very waters that birthed you." Claude said harshly before shutting and locking the door and running upstairs.

Sebastian slid down to the floor, water soaking his dark pants and part of his black shirt as he sat in the water, trying to catch his breath.

"Ciel!" Blurry blue eyes looked up slowly, coming to focus in on Tanaka's frantic face as the old man knelt down in front of him. "Are you alright?"

The teen breathed harshly before having a coughing fit, his heart pounding loudly in his ears as his vision shook. If he hadn't been tied to this pole, he was sure that he would have been thrown overboard by now. He had no strength in his limbs to keep him upright and probably would have been carried away by the waves sloshing on and off the boat easily. "...Asthma." The teen said, wheezing. "...Where's...Sebastian?"

Tanaka shook his head before reaching around to untie the youth frantically. "He must be around here somewhere."

Ciel's blurry vision looked past Tanaka at the chaos unfolding. Everyone was trying to control the ship, but the rising panic of what was going on could be seen in their faces. William tried to keep their focus but it was proving to be a fruitless endeavor as more and more water was tossed onto the ship from the roaring waves.

The teen sat up straight and took long, deep breathes when he could. This attack was not as bad as the ones he used to have when he was little, but he knew that he should try and take it easy as best he could for now. Once his arms were free, Ciel pressed his fingers onto the acupressure points on the front parts of his inner shoulders. He let out a deep breath as this seemed to help some of his muscles that had tightened up due to his condition. With this, he could endure it for now.

"Can you stand?" Tanaka all but shouted just before the ship was rocked harshly to the side and Ciel had to hold fast to the older man to keep himself upright. The teen winced as a bright light filled his vision for a moment, another strike of lightning attacking the water around them.

Grell and Finny's frantic screams could suddenly be heard over the deafening noise of the storm. Ciel looked up and gasped when he saw what they were pointing at. That stroke of lightning had apparently struck the ship's mast and it, along with some of the sails, were now on fire.

William caught sight of this as well and his frantic green eyes turned from the fire to the parts of whale carcass that was still secured on the deck. If the fire reached down to the carcass, the whole ship would go up in flames easily due to the whale oil inside the blubber...

Down below deck, the water reached to Sebastian's chest and was rising higher and higher by the second. The blackette had tried the door numerous times, but it was impossible to open from the inside when locked. The only other option was the porthole windows in the room, but they were proving to be extremely hard to open seeing as the lower half of the ship was underneath the waves now.

Sebastian stopped pulling at the window for a few moments, taking deep breaths and looking down at the water that was nearing his shoulders. He had never thought a day would come when he would fear the water, but lo and behold, here it was.

The ex-merman knew that he couldn't change into a merman again. He had tried biting his own ring finger and licking the blood, but it didn't work. Consuming the blood running from his neck also did nothing. He was forever a human now, it would seem...

Sebastian frowned in frustration and planted his feet against the wall and tried to open the window again. The adrenaline from his predicament must have been helping him, as controlling his lower half was becoming easier and easier. He could only hope that it would be enough to save himself.

With the added leverage, the window opened some and suddenly the entire room was filled with water. The blackette had almost tried to breath in the liquid instinctively but he quickly stopped himself. He couldn't breath water anymore, it would only hurt him now.

Sebastian kept pulling at the window until it was open all the way before moving to swim through the opening. His waist got caught against the window for a moment and he wriggled some before he broke free and headed to the surface.

"Hah!" Sebastian breathed in and out frantically as broke the surface of the water, taking a moment to gather his bearings. The waves around him were violent and rough, making it hard to stay above tides. He closed his eyes and focused all of his strength to his legs, keeping them together and kicking in a way much like he had used to do when he was a merman.

"Ciel..." Wine-red eyes widened as he caught sight of the ship and the fire that was engulfing it. He had never seen fire before in his entire life, but had heard about it from the teen when he had explained why the crew had killed the whale in the first place. Oil from inside the whale's fat was used to create fire, which human's used for light and warmth. This fire did exactly that as Sebastian brought up a hand to shield his eyes from the intense fiery glow.

The heat permeating the air was unbearable as the blackette swam through water littered with debris from the ship, calling for his mate frantically. "Ciel!" Sebastian's gaze shifted everywhere aboard the ship in search of the teen as he circled around the vessel, being tossed under the waves a few times by the rough sea. He finally found his love still atop the ship, helping to lower one of the ship's small boats into the water.

Wine-red eyes met blue and Sebastian moved to go to his mate's side, a look of relief overcoming him when he saw that the teen was unharmed. He couldn't get any closer, however, as the entire ship suddenly burst into flames, the red hot blaze engulfing everything in it's wake.

Sebastian shielded his face from the heated glow for a few seconds, gritting his teeth and shutting his eyes before looking back at the scene. Sounds of frantic screaming could be heard as the crew abandoned ship and jumped into the water to escape.

He saw Mey-rin and Agni hold each other amongst the wreckage as they watched their ship burn from a safe distance away. Grell and William were doing the same thing, or at least trying to, since Will was more focused on making sure everyone was safe at the moment by getting the lifeboat up and ready. Finny was helping Bard swim to the lifeboat as the cook clutched at his injured ribs, where Hannah was already there and waiting. Claude and Ash had apparently jumped off the other side of the ship and were making their way towards the lifeboat. Lau and Ranmao were nowhere to be found but the blackette could have sworn he saw two figures embracing within the flames near the ship's wheel.

There was no sign of his mate anywhere and Sebastian called for him again, eyes shaking as he looked everywhere he could manage to see. He finally caught sight of the teen atop the burning ship.

Ciel coughed while trying to remove a large piece of burning wood off of Tanaka's lower half. The piece of debris had fallen on the old man in all the chaos, and the teen absolutely refused to leave without him. Tanaka was like a grandfather to him and had been the first one he had opened up to since joining the ship. Ciel wouldn't leave him behind.

"Ciel..." Tanaka wheezed as the teen continued to try and free him. "You have to...escape."

"Don't go getting sentimental on my now, old man!" Ciel shouted over the noise of the storm and fire, managing to get some of the wreckage off of the old man. The Phantomhive grunted and hefted the last piece of debris off of Tanaka, who wheezed and coughed when he could respire unhindered again. Ciel took shaky breaths of his own as he pulled Tanaka up and on to his feet.

Unbeknownst to them, the whale's blubber was melting in the red hot flames, stoking the fire stronger all around them. Some of the boiling whale oil slipped through the cracks in the wood to the store room just below deck, one level higher than the bedrooms. Everyone's belongings were stowed there, including Mey-rin's guns along with the flammable gunpowder that came with them. With each passing second, more drops of hot whale oil splashed dangerously closer and closer to the waiting powder.

"Tanaka!" Finny yelled, diving under the water after the old man as Ciel all but pushed him off the flaming boat to the safer waters below. The blonde quickly popped up from the waves a few moments afterwards, Tanaka in his arms, as they swam together to the lifeboat.

Ciel coughed painfully, closing his eyes at seeing that the older man was safe. The deckhand brought the back of his wrist up to his mouth, coughing as he gripped onto the side of ship, preparing to jump off as well. 'Damn this asthma!' He thought to himself, gritting his teeth as he swung one of his legs over the railing. His body was aching all over, and his head was spinning from the fumes of the fire.

"Ciel!" The Phantomhive quickly opened his eyes and searched for the source of that sweet voice calling his name. Blue eyes softened as they came to rest on Sebastian, who was swimming amongst the waves by the side of the ship, waiting for him. The raven looked just as beautiful as the first time he saw him, wet black locks framing his handsome face, soft pale lips slightly parted as those striking red eyes looked up at him with love and longing.

"Sebastian!" The teen called back, his own hair whipping about his face as he reassured his mate that he was safe.

The raven swam back some from the side of the ship to give Ciel room to land, wanting nothing more to envelop the teen in his arms and never let him go. This day had been long and terrifying for the both of them, neither having spent so long apart since their first meeting. In all his years, Sebastian had never thought he could grow so attached to someone, let alone a human, yet here he was: waiting for Ciel to come to him like a little love-struck puppy waiting for his master.

Ciel hefted himself up and over the railing, and cast himself into the chilly waters below.

Before he could come up for air, however, one drop of boiling oil managed to fall, as if in slow motion, onto the deadly gunpowder, causing a powerful explosion to suddenly rip the remainder of the ship asunder, with Ciel still painfully close to the ship.

From the lifeboat, everyone gasped in shock, frozen, as burning pieces of wood rained down from the sky into the crashing waves.

"CIEL!" Sebastian screamed, immediately diving under and swimming frantically towards the wreckage. When his keen eyes couldn't spot him underneath the water, the ex-merman came up out of the liquid, breathing erratically, looking anywhere and everywhere for the teenager.

The raven's fine hearing picked up on the sound of coughing in an instant and Sebastian pushed a floating barrel and some debris out of his way as he swam towards the noise. He found Ciel farther away from the fiery vessel, floating among the burnt pieces of ship and clinging onto a rather large piece of drift wood.

"Ciel..." Sebastian called tenderly, bringing a hand up to his mate's cheek. The teen's skin felt warm against his palm, and small, warm puffs blew against the ex-merman's hand as he breathed. Ciel opened his blue eyes after a few moments, bringing his own hand up to cover the raven's.

"...I told you." Ciel said quietly, gripping Sebastian's hand in his own. "That I wasn't going anywhere..."

"I believe you..." Sebastian answered back, copying Ciel and resting his arms against the driftwood, entwining his fingers with the teen's. His free hand stroked back a few locks of his love's hair, much like he had done when the two of them first kissed.

Ciel closed his eyes, relaxing at the familiar feeling. "We should get-" The teen stopped in the middle of his sentence as more coughing wracked his frame. Sebastian clutched the other male's hand harder in his grip, confusion and concern overcoming his eyes. He had never heard Ciel make that sound before. What was it?

"I am fine." Ciel answered before the raven asked, pulling on his mate's arm to bring him closer. "We shouldn't stay here for too long. Where's the lifeboat?"

"I do not know." Sebastian said, raising himself up and looking around. It would seem that the waves carried them a ways from the burning ship while they were not paying attention. The storm was dying down, making it easier to see, as the sea started to calm, but even so, Sebastian could not spot the small boat among the tides.

Ciel watched Sebastian silently, not having the strength to move just yet. "Can you hazard to push us to shore? If we head where the ship is pointed, we might be able to reach it."

If they were still aboard the ship, it would've been at least another two days before they arrived on land. The chances of them having enough strength to swim all that way before exhaustion set in were slim to none. Especially since it would be mostly Sebastian carrying the two of them through the waves seeing as Ciel would still need time to recover from his asthma attack.

While it was true that they were still near tropical waters, the night had cooled the water significantly and hypothermia was still a very real possibility. If they stayed too long in the sea, they might not be able to cling to the wood any longer...

Sebastian slowly turned to stare down at his mate, sensing the unease coming off of the teen, even if he did not show it outwardly. "...I can." He said after a moment, taking one last look at the burning ship before starting to swim the two of them towards the shore.

The moon was high in the night sky when Sebastian finally stopped swimming. Ciel had managed to find the strength to swim in small spurts to help the raven, but his energy didn't last long as he had to keep taking breaks to cough and breathe slowly.

Sebastian panted harshly as he leaned his weight against the wood, his arms wrapped around his head as he lay there, trying to regain his strength. They had been going for so long, and even though he had been a merman less than two days ago, even he had his limits.

"Sebastian..." Ciel called, shifting to envelop the tired raven in his arms. "You've done enough."

"I will have us there soon."

Ciel shook his head, resting his forehead against his mate's shoulder. This was looking to be a fruitless endeavor. They would never make it at this rate. His legs were numb already from the cold, and he could only imagine what Sebastian was feeling like right now. Especially since his lower half was still so new to him.

"It's alright."

"But..."

"I love you." Ciel said suddenly, stopping all protests from the other male. "Don't push yourself."

Sebastian blinked, raising his head to stare his mystical red eyes at his mate. Love? He had heard the word before, had even said it himself when he had turned into a human, but did he understand it? No, he should say not. He understood that it was a feeling shared between two mates that was strong and unbreakable. But if asked to explain what it was, he would have no idea how.

The raven opened his mouth to answer back, but was silenced as Ciel spoke again. "I do not want us to try doing the impossible in what could be our final moments."

"Really now. You are being melodramatic."

"If I am, it is only for you." Ciel said, smirking as he held his mate tighter in his arms.

"Such originality. But I do believe I have heard those words before." Sebastian teased softly, wrapping his own arms around the other male as exhaustion overcame him.

"And here I thought you never listened."

"I always listen when it comes to you." Sebastian said, pulling back some to stare his wine-red eyes into ocean blue. "From the moment I first heard you play, I have wanted nothing more than this."

Ciel closed his eyes and pressed a kiss against Sebastian's forehead. "The feeling is mutual."

At this, Sebastian leaned up some to kiss his mate's mouth, a shaky sigh leaving him at the familiar feeling of those soft lips pressed against his. He could never tire of this. Kissing was still something foreign so to him.

His species was one that was never intimate with one another, so everything Ciel did to him, and with him, were still new and exciting. He wanted to know more, wanted Ciel to teach him everything there was about 'love' and the feelings that came with it. And have the chance to return those heartfelt words that his mate had said to him only moments ago.

Sebastian moaned softly as Ciel entangled both of his hands into the raven's wet hair, cradling his head as he deepened their kiss. Tongue's entangled between their open mouths sensually, slowly savoring the intimate moment as half lidded wine-red eyes met loving blue.

The two of them broke apart, shaky breaths left them, as they stared into each other's eyes, more emotion being passed between them than mere words could describe. Their exhaling was visible against the cold night air as they leaned against the drift wood. fatigue finally catching up as they clung to each other for what could be the very last time...

Unbeknownst to them, a large sea creature swam underneath them among the depths.

The sound of birds chirping was the first thing Ciel heard as he slowly regained consciousness. Second was the almost unbearable heat of the sun coming down onto his closed eyelids. The last, and best, was a pair of soft pale lips pressing against his own, molding over his to rouse him awake.

Ciel groaned and wrapped his arms around the figure that was laying atop him, flipping the two of them over as he opened his eyes to stare at Sebastian. The raven chuckled some and combed his fingers through the teen's bangs.

"Did you really have to do that?" Ciel asked, laying his head down against Sebastian's chest.

"I did not think you would have minded, personally." Sebastian said, stilling his hand and quietly waiting for Ciel to realize...

The teen shot up suddenly, fully awake as he realized where they were. He grabbed a handful of sand and letting it run through his fingers absentmindedly. "What?" Ciel asked, turning over to lay on his side against the hot sand, eyes taking in the scenery of waves crashing against the shore behind them.

"My my, I never knew I had such a slow mate." Sebastian smirked as he observed Ciel stand up.

The deckhand frowned down at the raven's teasing, inwardly very glad that the two of them were bantering like they used to. He had never thought they would get the chance again...

"How did we make it here?" Ciel asked, bringing a hand up to his hair and pushing it out of the way as the wind blew it before his eyes.

Sebastian was silent for a long moment before sitting up some and staring out at the ocean. "Watch."

The teenager blinked slowly down at the other male before turning to the shoreline and waiting. After a minute or two of staring, a large figure jumped out of the calm waves. Ciel's blue eyes widened when he caught sight of the creature's shimmering silver tail...

"Is that?"

"My grandfather." Sebastian said, a small smile on his lips as the two of them watched the tail disappear underneath the waves again. He did not know how the older merman had come across the two of them, or even how he must have known that he was human now. But then again, the centuries old merfish did always manage to surprise him in mysterious ways.

"Ciel! Sebastian!" The two mentioned turned their heads as they heard voices calling out to them. Further down the beach was Mey-rin, Finny and Bard screaming at them, arms waving to catch their attention. Behind them was the lifeboat, which rocked back and forth a bit in the shallow waves. Agni, Ash, Hannah and Claude were pulling the lifeboat further up on the beach as William stood in front of them on the shore, mouth moving as he was probably explaining what they would do now. Grell was at the businessman's side, clinging to him comically as if the other man would disappear if he let go.

Ciel smiled as he looked at the lifeboat and saw the old, nostalgic chibi form of Tanaka sitting aboard the lifeboat. He was wrapped in a few different ripped pieces of clothing from the other crew member's outfits that acted as makeshift bandages for his wounds from the fire. The old man waved at him, no doubt saying his usual santa impression in greeting.

The deckhand waved back before turning to Sebastian, who had not moved and was staring at the scene. "So are you ready to start living on land?" Ciel asked, grabbing the ex-merman's attention as wine-red eyes came to stare up at him.

"Only if you are ready to have me." Sebastian said and blinked when Ciel held out one of his hands to him.

"Of course." Ciel said as Sebastian took his hand. "I can assure you of that, in more ways than one."

"You are too kind." The raven said as he was pulled up and into the security of his mate's embrace. He wrapped his own arms around Ciel's neck as his new human feet came into contact with the land for the first time. It crunched underneath him and he sunk down a little in the warm sand.

"Only for you, Sebastian." Ciel said, cupping the other's chin in his fingers and lifting it up to press his lips against his love's, both of them sighing at the feeling. The spark between them would only grown stronger and stronger as time went on. Ciel would teach him everything there was to know about being a human, and love him unconditionally until the raven couldn't get enough of him. "I love you."

Sebastian closed those beautiful red eyes that Ciel never got tired of, and rested his forehead against the other male's, a soft smile falling onto his lips, liking the sound of those words. He knew that all being human would take some getting used to, but for Ciel, Sebastian could do anything. And although those shimmering silver scales that led them together were now gone from his body, they had not disappeared from their memory, and would continue to shimmer as long as the two of them were one.

Well my lovelies that is it! I can not apologize enough for being so late with this but I will not lie to you. I went through some really depressing times in my life and was unable to write, and also unmotivated to. You can throw your knives and hate mail at me all you want, but that does not change the fact that I was unable to write for you back then.(If I had it probably would've been a really rushed, crappy ending.)

I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless! My favorite scene to write was probably the ending, cuz I listened non stop to Destiny Islands from Kingdom Hearts and the sound effects of waves crashing against the shore. I could have turned this fic dark and killed everyone on board aside from Ciel and Sebastian, but I didn't want to kill them. I love them so much(except for Claude. He was very bad in this fic. Shame! Shame!)

Well leave a review please if you liked! If you wanna yell at me for taking so long that's fine too. I will not argue, since I agree. I was thinking about writing a small epilogue chapter after this but we'll see how that goes. But until then! Ja!~

~Migoto Nami

~Random Short 1~

"Hey Bard..." Finny called to the chef as they secured the boat onto land.

"Yea?" The other blonde asked, scratching the back of his head as he looked up at the sky. It was fricken hot out here.

"You know I've been thinking..." Finny started, looking around their group of survivors, which missed the presence of the captain and first mate, knowing that Lau and Ranmao had probably gone down with their ship. Lau had always said that he would if the need arouse. The thought of them gone truly saddened him, even though he had tried to kill them near the end.

Everyone else was here: Himself, Bard, Hannah, Tanaka, Claude, William, Grell, Agni, Mey-rin, Ash, Ciel and Sebastian. But one thing was bugging him. "Where's the Undertaker?"

Bard grabbed onto the cigarette in his mouth and frowned as he turned around to look at the other blonde when all of a sudden he caught sight of something gliding among the waves.

"Tee hee hee!" The Undertaker cackled as he road the waves while sitting on top of a piece of drift wood, a dead fish skeleton in hand. "So much fun! So much fun! Fishy fishy!" He giggled as he surfed, doing magnificent tricks with his makeshift surfboard.

"What the hell?" Claude frowned before screaming as a large wave crashed over him and the Undertaker and the board fell on top of him, sending him falling on his back in the sand. The Undertaker grinned as he sat on top of the trampled navigator's stomach as the what's left of the wave retreated back towards the sea.

"Undertaker!" Finny exclaimed happily.

"You survived." Bard said as they approached the old man.

"Tee hee! Of course me lads!" The Undertaker said, getting up and jumping from Claude's back to on top of his face with his high heeled shoes. "For what kind of butler would I be if I couldn't survive this?"

"Ow!"Claude exclaimed, arms flailing in the sand.

"Eh what?" Finny asked, clueless as he and Bard ignored the navigator's pain.

"Oh nothing!" The Undertaker giggled before skipping away.

"Ow how ow!"

"Quit being a baby." Bard said, crossing his arms and throwing the hot remains of his cigarette onto Claude's face.

"Ow!"

~Random Short 2~

The Phantomhive manor was quiet, only the sound of the grandfather clock disturbing the silence. The servants were silent as they stared up into the rafters from their positions in the main hall. Tanaka sipped his tea as he sat atop the stairs where the picture of Ciel's mother and father used to hang.

Ciel's one blue eyes was sharp as he watched his oponent, tapping his fingers against the railing in front of him, occasionally glancing down at his servants below him. Sebastian lay in the middle of the main hall in a pool of red liquid, motionless. The demon's red eyes were closed and he didn't appear to be breathing.

The silence stretched on and on and however patient Ciel was he could stand it no longer. "Lizzy! Just take your turn!"

"Don't rush me!" The blonde shouted back, holding a petite finger up to her chin as she stared down at the servants in the main hall below her from the other balcony opposite Ciel. "A lady as adorable as me needs proper time to think. So shush!" Elizabeth chided her fiance before sighing to herself as she made her decision.

"Mey-rin, do be a dear and move to the library." Lizzy said and Mey-rin nodded, moving a few paces to her right into a large square that was painted on the floor that said 'Library'. "Now." Lizzy said, bringing up her notepad in her hand and checking it over one last time. "I choose Bardroy, in the library, with the candlestick."

"Blood hell!" Bard called up to the girl as he reluctantly moved into the library with Mey-rin. "Why do you keep pickin' me! I told you I didn't do anyfin!"

"Don't lie to me!" Lizzy hissed, waving her notepad in her hand, as if that was all the evidence she needed. "You killed Sebastian! I know it!"

Said demon's closed eye twitched at the sound of his name, a frown on his lips. When will this silly game be over?

"Now Tanaka, will you show me your card, dear?" Lizzy asked, smiling at the old man as she knew he couldn't possibly have any of those cards.

Finny ran from his spot on the bottom floor up to Tanaka, who gave him a card, which he then ran to Lizzy with and showed to her.

"Oh fiddle sticks!" Lizzy exclaimed, tears in her eyes as she crossed off something on her notepad. "I thought I had it!"

"Finally it is my turn." Ciel said and gave out his orders, not even looking at his notepad to know what to do. "Bardroy, move to-!"

He was cut off suddenly as the sound of clocks chiming could be heard as the time for lunch finally arrived.

"My lord." Sebastian said, sitting up in the pool of ketchup. "It is time for dinner, perhaps we should-"

"You stay there!" Ciel exclaimed, a crazy look in his eye. "You are dead, and dead people.." He paused suddenly sniffling and looking as if he were about to cry. "Stay dead." He brought a shaking arm up to his eyes to wipe away his shame.

"Oh but Ciel, I'm hungry." Lizzy whined, pouting. "We can always start up again later!"

"HE IS DEAD!"

"Well he might be I'm not." Bard said, taking a drag of his cigarette. "Finny, Mey-rin, let's serve lunch."

"Right!"

"Oh goody!" Lizzy clapped and left the balcony to follow them to the dining room. "Come along, Ciel!"

"Fine, but Sebastian stays there."

The demon frowned from his position on the floor. "But my lord..."

"You are dead!" Ciel shouted, making his way towards Lizzy. "And dead people..." He paused again, sobbing. "Do I even have to say it?"

"No my lord."

"Good!" Ciel shouted. "Oh where's my blue gluestick when I need it?!" Lizzy comforted Ciel as they left the room, leaving Sebastian laying on the floor covered in ketchup.

"I hate my job..."