Tiare Apetahi

Disclaimers: No. I don't own rk or anything related to it.

It was a lazy sunday in the middle of summer. And this year, summer was hell bent on pouring its heart out on the poor earth, as such, neither the luxurious AC's nor the wonderful early morning natural breeze could keep Aoshi within the comfort of his silk clad king-sized bed. Rolling out of the bed, he peered out the window, it was barely morning. The sun was yet to shine and the weather was still , for lack of better words, tolerable. A quick look at his watch confirmed the time. 5:15. A perfect time for a morning walk on the beach. Dressing quickly, he walked out his small but elite duplex quarters just outside the busy city, half an hour walk from the beach. A bottle of water and his i-phone was all he carried with him, his ear-phones already in place, soft instrumental music flowing out, filling him with some much needed peace of mind. It took him about 20 minutes to lightly jog to the beach and like each time, he paused, taking in the wonderful scenery.

The sun was yet to get angry, a warm affectionate glow radiated from its early morning good will softly reflected by the calm surface of water. Gentle waves soundlessly hit the sand and flowed back in harmony. The vast kingdom of sand was barren, not many people woke this early on sunday morning. Which, of course, was a relief to him. Letting out a deep breath, he started to jog, enjoying his much waited leisure.

Shinomori Aoshi was a renowned physician in the city, working in one of the best hospitals in the country. He also offered a number of charitable services, money never a matter to him coming of a very rich business family. Apart from being the most sought after doctor in town, his faux celebrity image due to dating a super model and his insanely handsome looks, he was also a talented researcher. All that work left him with no time for himself, although it never bothered him much. But sometimes he needed break too. Like now. He was doing some lab work for a non-government company, which paid well and gave him ample free time from hospital though he did attend the emergencies. The hospital understood his limits and for that he was glad.

A small movement caught his sharply trained eyes. He stopped and looked around cautiously, all these years of martial art training finally paying off. It moved again and he focused in the direction of the slight disturbance. He studied the moving shape from behind, he couldn't see much though, just something dark like curtains shielding his view of the creature, his instinct identified it as the shape of a woman…..a girl, a young girl with very, very long hair. He stopped dead. A girl of her age , alone in the beach, at this ungodly hour of the day- it was suspicious. Was it a trap? Some new trick of low class muggers? What if she was just a victim? Someone who needed help and his medical expertise. Shaking his head of all thoughts, he stealthily stepped forward, his senses on alert for any sudden action.

Perhaps he was not silent enough, or may be she just turned instinctively revealing her entire form to his sight and he froze. She had such beautiful eyes, large, innocent and the perfect shade between sea-green and ocean blue. Aoshi was struck by her eyes, so open, so expressive, so inviting. He found her staring back at him with same intensity, if not more curiosity. Thrown off guard by her keen interest in him, he shifted his gaze and whirled around almost immediately. Except for her unbelievably long mid-night blue traces, she was completely bare. Not a single scrap of cloth covered her beautiful, young body covered with dried sand, proving the fact she had been here for longer than he had thought.

A soft touch on his shoulder, and he awkwardly glanced back to find her standing, not a single bit ashamed of her unclothed state.

"Are you hurt?" Did anyone hurt her? Unreasonable anger bubbled in his chest. She looked far too innocent to be tainted by some drunk bastard.

The provocative body walked around him to be back within his view. Curious eyes stared intently at his face, palm still placed on his shoulder but he received no answer. She did not appear hurt. Taking in her form to check for injuries proved to be a bad idea as he had a hard time controlling his desire. Want surged through his vein and he quickly averted his gaze. Shading his outer jacket, he wrapped it around her petite form and zipped it up, trapping her inquiring hands within the large cloth in the process. There. It wasn't much, but it at least covered some.

She stumbled back at his action and looked at his handiwork before returning her searching gaze to him.

"What's your name? What are you doing here?" Aoshi himself was a man of few words, but she really tried his patience. Was she mute?

"Can you speak?" He tried again. Was she mentally handicapped? That was a possible answer. He looked at her. There was simply no reaction from her other than curiosity. "Where do you come from?" At this, she looked towards the ocean and released a longing sigh. At last. Some reaction.

"Did you have an accident? A ship-wreck? Where is your family? Did you lose them in the accident?" She only returned to looking at him intently and struggled within the confine of his jacket. Aoshi watched curiously as she tried to free herself . Failing, she pouted softly, and returned her gaze to him, a silent request to untie her. Was she trying to communicate?

"I'm sorry. But you were indecent. I had to. Where are your clothes?" Now, Aoshi was getting impatient. Was she deaf too? Not possible. She did respond to one of his questions. God! What was he going to do with her? She was not hurt, yet she could not be left here. Everyone was not a gentleman as him. He ran his fingers through his hair impatiently and found her eyes following his every move. It made him uncomfortable. He shifted his weight to his other foot and sighed uneasily. People, one or two were visible. The sun was coming up. And he had to decide fast. What was he supposed to do with this weird, innocent, naked girl , hair matted with sand and water currently wearing his clothes, looking all the more inviting and eyeing him like the most amazing creature on earth?

In answer to his dilemma , the clouds shifted and revealed a burning sun instantly scorching them both with its blazing heat .With an animalistic cry, she jumped forward with eyes closed, trying to burrow deeper within his much larger body trying to seek refuge from the sun. He wrapped his arms around her in reflex, shielding her as much as he could from the harsh heat of the bright sun and took his decision. Picking her up swiftly, he sped towards the safety of his home before being spotted by any of the tourists and further damage caused to her by the sun.

tbc….

A/N: Tiare Apetahi is a very rare flower with a legend. But I'm not going to follow the legend, yet. You can google it.

Story inspired from "On stranger Tides", all the mermaid movies I've ever seen and lastly, stigmafan123's "Shimmer and Disappear"(sesh rin). Mermaid characteristics are mixed and gathered from whatever I have heard, known or read, mostly from a Shri Devi film.

I always wanted an AM mermaid fic, since there's none I decided to write my own. Though there's one with Misao as nymph, it's a battou-kaoru fic. Very minute Am presence.

Pls enjoy. And review.