Summary: Dissatisfied with life as a merman and hopelessly in love with a certain human prince, Ichigo makes a dangerous deal with the Sea Demon, trading his voice for a pair of legs. Based on Disney's The Little Mermaid.

Warnings: AU, yaoi, GrimmIchi, some one-sided ShiroIchi, language, a little violence, mature and sexual content.

Disclaimer: We do not own Bleach, The Little Mermaid, or any of their characters.

.:Still Waters:.

~Part One~

Over the course of history man has always been fascinated with the ocean, the seven seas something to be conquered and explored. This curiosity stems from the human race's fear of and attraction to the unknown, for what was ever so mysterious and uncharted as those deep blue fathoms and what might be hidden within them. The luring power of the ocean is so great that no one has ever considered the possibility that while we wish to discover its secrets there just might be something or someone underneath the surface, staring back up at us and longing to do the same.

We begin our story on a perfect day to be at sea, the kind of day when the waves are gentle and smooth and the breeze is light and in our favor. A day when the clouds are a calm gray and shade us from the sun as a flock of seagulls soar down to the water's surface to greet four bottlenose dolphins that have surfaced for air. They squawk and chatter at each other until the looming shadow of a hulking ship appears, the white birds flapping their wings to fly overhead and the dolphins diving back under the waves in order to make way for the vessel's wooden hull.

Aboard the three mast schooner was the infamous, blue-haired Prince Grimmjow Jaegerjaques, a man of twenty one years and a wild virility despite his royal status. He was at the ship's bow, grinning broadly and holding onto one of the ropes as the wind blew through his mane and wrinkled his white shirt. Beside him was his exotic pet, an albino Savannah cat named Pantera who towered over other domestic felines, her head easily reaching the prince's thigh when standing on all fours. However, right then she was on her hind legs, front paws resting on the banister and predatorily eyeing the silvery fish leaping in and out of the water.

Ten feet down from Grimmjow was another man, an older brunette dressed in fine clothes more suited for a dinner party and currently slumped over the railing. When he wasn't green-faced and dry heaving, Aizen served as the prince's main advisor, which he had faithfully done ever since the king and queen passed away several years ago.

"Ain't this great, Aizen?" Grimmjow called to his elder, smirking devilishly. "The salty sea air, the wind blowing in your face - a perfect day to be at sea!"

"Oh, yes," Aizen said, straightening up and glancing over at his charge, clearly unamused. "Delightful." Then with that, he was doubled over once again, retching miserably.

"Ay, a fine strong wind and a following sea!" a creaky voice cried out, the blunette looking over to an ancient, one-eyed seaman wearing a navy and white striped shirt and a bandana on his head and sorting through a net full of the day's catch. "King Isshin must be in a friendly type mood."

"King Isshin?" Grimmjow said, arching a brow and deciding to entertain the obviously senile crew member.

"Why, ruler of the merpeople, lad," the sailor said, grinning to show off a mouth missing half its teeth. "Thought every good sailor knew about him."

"Merpeople," Aizen scoffed, turning away from the banister and looking disapprovingly at the elderly man. "Grimmjow, pay no attention to this nauticalnonsense."

"But it ain't nonsense, it's the truth!" the one-eyed, gray-haired sailor insisted fervently, gripping one still flopping fish by the tail and advancing on the prince's advisor. Shaking the fish in the other man's direction, he continued on passionately. "I'm tellin' you, down in the depths o' the ocean they live!" He gestured frantically with the thrashing fish that slipped out of his grip, fins flapping in Aizen's face before plummeting over the side of the ship and into the sea. Once under the water, the fish sighed in relief and swam away, leaving a trail of bubbles behind.

Deep down below the clear blue waters, fields of emerald green seaweed gave way to the vibrant, colorful coral reefs where a school of striped fish trailed through clusters of brightly hued anemones and sea cucumbers. Hovering above there were a mass of quivering jelly fish, their delicate tentacles swaying softly, and beyond them on the ocean floor were two blue whales, a mother and her baby gliding alongside each other, ripples of light dancing along their dark blue backs. And further still were the most magical creatures of the sea, swimming gracefully within a breathtaking underwater metropolis of towers made from shimmering, golden coral that could be seen sparkling from miles away - the home of the merpeople. But the real jewel was a magnificent structure at its center, the grand palace, where the royal family lived. It was also now where all of the mermen and mermaids converged, for today was a feast day.

The palace's great hall was packed, the entire population of merpeople filing into the space inside a circle of massive pillars. At the northernmost point of the hall was the king's throne, an opulent seat high above the crowd and carved in the shape of an open clamshell. To its right was a smaller version a few feet lower and to its left were two versions side by side and smaller still, all four seats vacant.

At the eastern end of the hall, separate from the buzzing audience, was a petite mermaid with shoulder-length, midnight black hair, fair skin, and big violet eyes, her seashells lavender to match the side and end fins on her indigo-scaled fish tail. Currently chewing her nails down to the cuticles and pacing the double doors of the private corridor she swam in front of, Rukia was the picture of anxiety. It was almost time for the celebration to begin and he still wasn't here - the king would have her broiled, shish kabob-ed, and served with a wedge of lemon! She was the 'responsible' one whom he himself had told her in confidence that he trusted the mermaid to help keep his impetuous, headstrong son in line - a herculean task for anyone in the entire ocean.

To her horror, that was when a line of sashed fish assembled before her and trumpeted the official start of the festivities. Rukia darted to the side and clear of the colossal doors that were now opening, an orange seahorse wearing a ruffled collar trailing through them. Heart made heavier by apprehension and dismay, it sank down to her stomach once she realized all she could do now was watch the disaster about to enfold.

"Ahem," the seahorse cleared his throat and the last of the chatter amongst the crowd died out, everyone giving their full attention to him. "His Royal Highness, King Isshin!" he announced, applause and cheers ringing throughout the palatial hall as a chariot pulled by three dolphins sailed through the open doors, its rider a muscular, dark-haired merman bedecked with a golden crown and trident. King Isshin smiled and waved to his subjects while his aquatic steeds carried him over to his throne.

"And Their Graces Princess Yuzu and Princess Karin!" the seahorse proclaimed, a similar, dolphin-powered chariot flying out into the hall much faster than the one before due to a young mermaid with a ponytail of dark hair like her father's being in control of the reins. Her twin sister was unfazed, graciously greeting the throng of merpeople as expected of a princess, and also differed from her sibling in coloring, her hair several shades a lighter brown and fashioned into two short pigtails. Once they reached their own identical thrones they took their place by the king, looking to the side corridor for the last member of their royal family and from her position at the edge of the crowd Rukia clasped her hands together, wringing them furiously.

"And finally, His Majesty Prince Ichigo!"

One could have heard a bubble pop in the silence that followed, all of the palace guests gazing expectantly at the open doorway and growing increasingly confused when not so much as a krill appeared in the portal. Unable to resist peeking at King Isshin, Rukia cringed at the stern expression on the merman's face, his anger simmering heatedly underneath his composure.

Ichigo had better be lying dead in a reef somewhere or she would kill him herself.

A mile or so outside the city walls in an area known as Shipwreck Cove, the missing merman was quite the opposite.

The name of the place, an abandoned underwater boneyard littered with sunken ships, was rather appropriate and it was completely void of life save for the two souls by a splintered, broken mast gazing out over the forbidden area. One was a seven-foot long shark of undetermined species, its hide a rare scarlet red patterned with jagged ebony stripes and equipped with rows of razor sharp teeth.

Beside him was the prince of the merpeople, Ichigo, who was best known for his vibrant mane of shaggy, golden tangerine locks that brushed his shoulders and his 'strange' pastime of disappearing for long stretches of time. No one knew exactly where it was the merman went on these mysterious trips except for his constant companion, Renji, and he liked it that way. Poseidon knows what would happen should anyone else find out.

Freshly seventeen, Ichigo had warm, dark amber eyes and an ebony scaled tail, his side and end fins bright crimson. Around his neck was his customary choker made of blackened shark teeth he'd found over the years and slung over his shoulder was a small, plain satchel he never left home without. Presently his arms were folded on the beam of the detached mast, chin resting atop them and expression soft in wonder while he stared at the potential treasure chest yet to be explored.

"There it is," he said. "Isn't it fantastic?"

"Yeah, sure... it's great," Renji agreed lukewarmly from beside him, not finding the same allure in Shipwreck Cove as the orangette did. "Now let's go." The shark began to swim away, but Ichigo caught him by his dorsal fin and smirked up at him in mild amusement.

"Not getting cold fins now, are ya?" the merman teased, chuckling when Renji broke away from his hold and scowled at him with narrowed eyes.

"No," the latter spat. "I just don't get why we have to search another sunken ship when you already have whatever's in there. In fact, I think it's time for anew hobby."

"Fine," Ichigo sighed, swimming up and around the decrepit mast and waving at his friend dismissively. "I'm going inside, you can stay here and... watch for sharks or something." The teen shot forward through the open water, descending upon the closest shipwreck. After a moment's deliberation, Renji huffed and raced after him, unable to ignore the fact that carnivorous sharks did tend to inhabit such places and if he stayed behind Ichigo would be on his own against the beasts.

They sped across the space between them and the hull of the ghost ship, closing in on a porthole on the side. Ichigo swam right up to it, prying the glass window open and then slipping inside easily. Renji followed his actions, his body fitting through the opening until he was brought to a sudden halt, stuck halfway in and out of the porthole. "Ichigo, I can't... augh..." he groaned, the other turning around and eyes widening once he saw the shark's predicament. "Ichigo, help!"

Clasping a hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter, Ichigo retreated back to where Renji was squirming around and grabbed his side fins, pulling them toward him using all his strength. A few seconds later, the poor creature slid free with a pop and immediately fixed the chortling orange-haired youth with a deadpan expression. Neither one of them noticed the menacing silhouette that drifted across the porthole.

"It's really not that funny," Renji said monotonously.

"Oh, don't be such a guppy," Ichigo replied, rolling his eyes and gliding away and further inside the dilapidated vessel, passing through an opening in the wooden board to the floor beneath them. He felt his lips part in delighted awe at the vast array of foreign objects and trinkets that lay there, unable to look in one direction for even a moment since there was just so much to discover and he began flitting from place to place.

"I'm not a guppy," Renji grumbled, casting a glance at the ship's contents. "Yeah, this is just great - excitement, adventure, danger lurking around every corner. This is not anything like the countless other shipwrecks we've been to, not at all."

Ichigo was deaf to the shark's sarcasm, especially when he stumbled upon something he'd never seen before sticking out from in between two warped floorboards - a little metal stick with three spikes, two straight one bent, at the end. He dashed over to the new find and gingerly picked it up, inspecting the object. "Look at this," he whispered breathlessly. "Have you ever seen anything like it?"

Renji peered over the merman's shoulder at the supposed cause for wonder and awe. "Wow," he said, his enthusiasm a bit lacking. "Er, what is it?"

"I don't know," Ichigo admitted, shrugging his shoulders and shoving the metal stick into his satchel. "But I bet Urahara will."

Just then, in the paned window behind them a fearsome shadow coasted by, unseen by either of the two. "Did you hear that?" Renji asked, uncertain if he even had, but his companion's attention was totally focused elsewhere, the teen flying up to a ceiling beam where he spied another interesting discovery. Lifting the unfamiliar object made of wood, Ichigo discerned its odd shape as a palm-sized cylinder that curved out and up from its base, thinning gradually to the other, much smaller end.

"Hmm, I wonder what this one is," he said, mind racing with ideas whilst he turned the artifact every which way.

"Ichigo..." came Renji's concerned voice from a few feet away, making him sigh in exasperation.

"Will you relax? Nothing is going to happen," he assured his friend, never looking away from the most recent addition to his collection. However, when the window's glass shattered into a million pieces as the Great White that had been stalking them opened wide and tore through it with hundreds of deadly sharp teeth Ichigo immediately took that back.

Stunned, the orangette gaped at the monstrous creature, frozen to the spot. It was only when Renji crashed into him that he was knocked against the wall and back to his senses in time to see the massive shark chomping his way through the wooden ship toward them. Kicking a nearby table at the thing's face with his fin, Ichigo pitched himself across the hull and up through the opening, Renji right behind him.

Shooting out of the portal, they swam for a few seconds until the Great White's gaping maw surged from below, broken pieces of wood flying everywhere. Whirling around and heading straight for the porthole they'd used to enter, Ichigo pushed Renji in front of him and, ramming against the red shark, forced the latter outside. He raced after the other, their pursuer's gnashing teeth barely missing his tail fin and a moment later bursting through the hull.

Swimming for his life, Ichigo spotted an antiquated, enormous anchor in the corner of his eye and thought of a plan. Grabbing onto Renji's fin, he urged his friend to follow him toward the huge metal entity and led them in a direct path to the circular ring at the top of the anchor. They flew through the ring and, as planned, the Great White barreled after them and attempted to do the same but, unfortunately for him, he'd packed on a bit too much blubber over the season and his pursuit was brought to a screeching halt as he got stuck not even halfway through. The shark thrashed and bared his teeth, all to no avail, and Ichigo breathed a sigh of relief.

"Huh, not bad," Renji mused beside him.

"Thanks," the merman said, kicking his tail and propelling himself upward. "Come on, let's go before it gets too late."

The two of them swam higher and higher until they reached the one place they were forbidden above all others to go. If anyone ever found out they made regular trips to the surface it would be disastrous. But nothing could stop Ichigo from swimming to the outlawed place, he was utterly addicted to that moment when he broke through the ocean's waves and took his first breath of fresh air. And this time was no different, that gasping lungful just as sweet as he rose above the watery barrier between the two worlds.

Renji's head popped up a second later and they automatically began heading toward a lone, sandy slab of rock protruding from the surface to form a tiny island. This island's sole inhabitant happened to be an eccentric seagull named Urahara who always wore a green and white striped hat that somehow fit him perfectly. Yet, despite all of his quirks, he was still Ichigo's go-to guy when it came to humans and their curious culture.

Currently, Urahara was reclining in a little nest he made at the top of the rock and humming to himself while he scanned the surrounding area with a telescope... backwards. Once he spied a familiar head of orange hair off in the distance, the seagull instantly sat up, hearing his name being called by said orangette.

"Ah, merman off the port bow!" he shouted. "Ichigo, how are you this lovely afternoon?" Urahara lowered the telescope and hopped down from his nest, surprised to see his two visitors now right in front of him. "My, what a swim."

Ichigo smiled good-naturedly at the oddball and decided to cut to the chase, reaching inside his satchel and pulling out the first item he'd discovered on the shipwreck. "Urahara, look what we found," he said and held out the spiky metal stick for inspection, the excitement in his voice impossible to hide.

"Human stuff, hm? Here, let me see," the seagull said, plucking the object out of the youth's hand with one wing and squinting at it close up. "Look at this," Urahara murmured, holding the stick up to the sky. "Now this is very special, yes, very unusual."

"What is it?" Ichigo asked eagerly, leaning forward.

"It's a dinglehopper. Humans use these little babies to straighten their hair out. Watch and observe," Urahara declared, removing his hat and lifting the 'dinglehopper' to the tip of his head and twirling the spikes into his crown of feathers. "Just a little twirl here and a yank there and... voila! You have yourself an aesthetically pleasing configuration of hair that humans go nuts over." As he dictated Urahara had done and now tugged the dinglehopper free, his feathers fluffed up like there was a sea anemone on his head.

"A dinglehopper," Ichigo repeated reverently, taking the object back from the seagull and looking at it in a whole new light now that he knew what it was.

"What about that other thing you found?" Renji said and the merman hurried to open his satchel, trading the dinglehopper for his second find of the day, to which Urahara, upon seeing it, gasped theatrically.

"Ah, this I haven't seen in years... this is wonderful!" he proclaimed, holding it up on display like a rare jewel. "A banded, bulbous... snarfblat."

"A banded what?" Renji questioned warily, clearly having trouble believing the seagull's explanation.

"Yes, the snarfblat dates back to prehistoric times when people used to sit around and stare at each other all day - got very boring. So, they invented the snarfblat to create fine music during celebrations and whatnot. Allow me." Urahara lifted the instrument's stemmed end to his beak and blew into it, sand and seaweed bursting out of the other end instead of any musical sound.

"Celebration?" Ichigo cried out all of a sudden, his face falling as realization struck him. "Damn it, the feast! My dad's gonna kill me!" He grabbed the snarfblat out of Urahara's grasp and stuffed it into his satchel, ice cold dread washing over him.

"The feast was today?" Renji said, alarmed, but the teen didn't answer him.

"I'm sorry, I've gotta go," he said hurriedly to Urahara. "Thanks for your help."

"Anytime, Ichigo, anytime," the seagull said casually, putting his striped hat back on and waving goodbye as the other two dived back beneath the surface.

Barreling through the open waters, Ichigo couldn't swim fast enough, cursing himself in his head for being so careless and forgetting something so important. Not only would he surely have to face his father's wrath but this could've been the time when the king found out about everything, and that couldn't happen, not ever.

Undetected by the merman and the shark were two hammerheads lurking in the shadows, watching them with one eye each, black and gold melding together to form a perfect view of the swimming orangette - a view appearing within a floating orb and seen by someone not even there but in a cave of warped, spinous coral in the darkest parts of the sea.

"Yes, hurry home, my prince. Wouldn' wanna miss dear ol' daddy's celebration, now would we?" a distorted, silvery voice cooed from beyond the orb's illuminating glow inside that cave, its owner slowly slithering into the light. A pair of eyes whose irises burned like rings of molten fire against seas of the deepest obsidian were visible first, then a flawless, snow white face and long locks the palest ivory that glittered brightly in the murky waters. "Ha, if ya can even call it tha'. Now back when I lived in tha palace we 'ad some real fun."

A toned, porcelain torso slipped into the unnatural beam of light, a black pendant emblazoned with a skull dangling in the center of a defined collarbone, and finally a tail covered in luminescently colorless scales, translucent, jagged fins a glossy midnight. "An' oh how I wish I could show ya wha' I mean," the voice whispered wistfully, ghosting an alabaster, ebony-nailed hand over the orb almost tenderly. "No matter, I'll give ya somethin' ta celebrate soon enough... Getsuga, Tenshou!"

At the beckoning call the two hammerhead sharks instantly swam into the mouth of the cave and to that dusky chamber, parting so they could hover on either side of their master. "I wan' ya ta keep a close watch on this pretty lil' thing. Look but don' touch, ya understand?" Bizarre eyes staring intently at the enticing picture of the orange-haired prince's lovely face, the eerie voice chuckled wickedly. "He's mine."

An hour later, Ichigo was in the palace's great hall before the king's throne and not particularly happy to know he'd been right to fear coming home and facing his father after screwing up so royally. Renji was to his right and a few feet back but the scarlet shark could've been in the Arctic Sea for all the king seemed to care, his friend's presence not doing anything to lessen his chastisement.

"I just don't know what we're going to do with you, my son," Isshin was saying as he looked down on his eldest child with his chin in one hand while he shook his head for the nth time, his tone both angry and disappointed.

"Dad, I'm sorry, I just forgot, I -" Ichigo tried to explain himself yet again and, just like all his previous endeavours, he was cut off.

"Apologies are not acceptable from a future king, Ichigo! You must learn that every action you take will have consequences that no amount of 'I'm sorry's' will ever undo. As a result of your careless behaviour, the entire celebration was ruined for our entire kingdom! What do you have to say to that?" Isshin implored him, unrelenting, and before the teen could open his mouth to respond, Renji rushed to interject, dashing forward.

"It wasn't his fault," he insisted. Ichigo's eyes widened and he repressed the urge to clap his hands over the shark's mouth for Renji was known to every once in awhile speak without thinking beforehand in situations like these. "We... ran into a little trouble."

"Trouble? What happened?" Isshin demanded, frowning slightly as he leaned forward in anticipation of the answer yet didn't wait for it to jump to conclusions, albeit right ones. "You went up to the surface again, didn't you?" he seethed, his rising ire simmering behind his dark eyes and making his trident glow brighter. "DIDN'T YOU?"

At hearing his father yell at him, a rare occasion, Ichigo actually flinched and he knew it was of no use to even try denying it. "Nothing... happened," he said in a meek voice most unlike him, gazing at his crimson tail fin to avoid the disapproving eyes of his sire that made him feel about two feet tall.

"Ichigo, how many times must we go through this?" Isshin barked furiously, his fist slamming down on the arm of his throne and again sending a surge of power through his trident. "You could've been seen by one of those barbarians - by one of those humans!"

"Dad, they're not barbarians!" Ichigo shouted forcefully before he knew what he was doing, the comparison having struck a chord deep within him so strongly he'd reacted on pure instinct alone. He didn't show his surprise, however, not breaking eye contact with his sire.

"They're dangerous," the sea king said steadily, his voice unnervingly even. "Do you think I want to see my only son snared by some fish-eater's hook?

"I'm seventeen years old, I'm not a child anymore," the youth professed in a commanding tone befitting a future monarch, hoping his equally stubborn father would see that it was true but not expecting him to.

"Don't take that tone of voice with me, young man. As long as you live under my ocean, you'll obey by my rules!" Isshin decreed with an overwhelming sense of finality, driving the tip of his pointer finger against the arm of his throne as he spoke.

"But if you would just listen-" Ichigo started as he lifted his hands beseechingly, hardened exterior cracking and letting his desperation to be heard and understood by the older merman seep into his voice. His father never listened to him, never took him or his opinions seriously, and it was beyond frustrating. That was why he had to keep so much of his life hidden from his own dad, who couldn't ever discover his biggest secret of all even when it pained him to treat his greatest treasure like it was something to be ashamed of.

"Not. Another. Word." Isshin harshly cut him off, his expression fierce - jaw clenched, lips pressed together, nostrils flaring, and eyes blazing. "And I am never, NEVER, to hear of you going to the surface again. Is that clear?"

Ichigo didn't bother with a response, unable to form a coherent sentence with all of the anger and resentment and hurt storming through him. After glaring accusingly at his father for a few more seconds, he whipped around and swam out of the great hall as fast as he could, fists clenched by his sides. He was vaguely aware of Renji following him but he didn't much feel like saying anything to anyone right then.

He was just so tired of trying to get through to Isshin; the merman would never understand him or his beliefs about the world above the surface. No one down there underwater really did anyway, only him.

Ichigo had just passed between the coral pillars when he heard a voice off to the side hiss his name and paused, his head automatically turning in its direction. His eyes narrowed, scanning the area until he spotted a glint of lavender and promptly recognized it as the seashells of a certain petite mermaid. Quirking a brow, he glanced over his shoulder at Renji, who did a shark's imitation of a shrug, and then ambled to where said mermaid was beckoning him over.

"You wouldn't be hiding from my father, would you, Rukia?" Ichigo said teasingly, circling around the small brunette and dodging her vicious backhand, a minute, knowing smile appearing on his lips for a fleeting second.

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't have to if you'd listened to me the hundred times I told you today was a feast day," Rukia snapped, hands resting on her hips. "Now it's my tail on the line because you were off gallivanting about doing... whatever it is you do."

"Please, my dad loves you," Ichigo scoffed, folding his arms. "He'll probably apologize for any distress I caused you with my 'reckless behaviour'."

"I think you should be the one doing that, Your Majesty. Do you know what I go through covering for you all the time during your little disappearing acts? " Rukia quipped, pointing a finger in the orangette's face until she abruptly rounded on an unsuspecting Renji. "And you, you're just as bad, encouraging him. I mean, I knew sharks had brains the size of krill shrimp but don't you have so much as a lick of common sense?"

"Yeah, you're one to talk about tiny body parts," Renji retorted, not missing a beat. "How do your seashells even stay up?" Rukia's face turned bright red, steam practically shooting out from her ears and nostrils, and she shot forward so that she was an inch away from the shark. Ichigo sighed heavily, getting ready to bear witness to another one of their infamous shouting matches. Believe it or not, this was actually a pretty common occurrence, there was nothing those two loved to do more than argue endlessly with each other for hours on end.

"You're almost as repulsive as your breath, you know that? What in the seven seas do you eat - rotten kelp and barnacles?"

"More like annoying little mermaids like you," Renji growled, baring his sharp teeth that Rukia didn't even flinch at. "And it's almost dinner time."

Seeing that this was going nowhere fast, Ichigo left the other two to their regularly scheduled bickering, arching backwards into a series of flips that propelled him farther and farther through the water. However, he hadn't gotten more than twenty yards when Renji and Rukia saw him swimming away from the corner of their eyes and fell silent, heads swiveling in his direction. "See ya, small fry," the shark laughed, tearing after the black-tailed merman and leaving a cloud of bubbles that flew directly into Rukia's face, the mermaid irritatedly waving them away.

Staring at the silhouettes of the two males growing smaller in the distance, she had to admit to herself she was dying to know where it was they went on their clandestine trips. Up until now she'd done her best to respect Ichigo's privacy and somehow suppressed the burning curiosity. But... didn't she have a right to at least have an idea what it was she covered his tail for? And if Ichigo wasn't even aware she knew, then what was the harm in taking a little peek? Biting her lip, Rukia made her decision and, after looking around guiltily, she kicked her tail fin and sped off in pursuit.

She followed the oblivious pair at a safe distance outside the city limits and to the expansive coral reef just beyond, almost losing them in the various twists and turns they made in the maze of sculptured coral. Finally she saw Ichigo and Renji stop in front of a large rock formation, dashing into a cluster of seaweed for cover. Rukia felt her eyebrows rise and her jaw drop as she witnessed Ichigo roll a small boulder aside, revealing a secret entrance to a grotto she could see was filled with shelves holding all kinds of strange artifacts.

After Renji slipped inside, Ichigo did the same and the boulder moved back into place. Rukia waited a good minute that seemed like an hour and cautiously approached the hidden passageway, daring to press right up against the rock's surface so she could peer through an open sliver in the upper right corner. A silent gasp escaped her throat, now seeing clearly inside and unable to believe her own eyes. She'd expected to see something she didn't approve of, but this... this was bad.

Meanwhile in the grotto, Ichigo coasted up the dozens of circular shelves lining the walls all the way to an opening at the very top that allowed rays of moonlight to filter through from the surface. They were all completely covered in the collection he'd amassed over years of exploring and gathering, something he used to look at and swell with pride and satisfaction but... lately it just didn't feel like it was enough. And sometimes his cave full of other worldly treasures was only a cruel reminder of what he would never have.

"Hey, at least, no matter what, he can never take this stuff away from you," Renji said in an attempt to console him as he placed the dinglehopper on a stand with two other similar metal instruments, brushing his thumb along the smooth handle for a moment.

"If I could just make him understand," Ichigo said, swirling back down in circles along the grotto walls until he was beside where one of his favorite pieces - a miniature pair of humans holding each other in a graceful pose atop an ornately decorated box - rested on the shelf ledge. He lifted his hand to the side of the box and carefully turned the little key a few times, letting go so that the pair of lovers began spinning around and a delicate, sweet melody started to play. "I can't see things the way he does. I can't see how a world that makes things like this could be bad."

The orangette listened to the pretty and somehow sad tune, watching the dancers rotate atop the stand wistfully. "Besides, all of the whatzits and thingamabobs in the sea can't make up for the real thing," he said softly, smiling bitterly. "What I wouldn't give to spend one day up there, to walk with my own pair of legs just once in my life. If I could know for even a single moment what it's like to be part of that world, I..." Ichigo trailed off, frustrated with himself for rambling on about something that wasn't even possible.

Silence fell upon the grotto, lasting a minute or two at most before a murky silhouette crossed overhead, dimming the space for a few seconds as it passed. Ichigo gazed up at the opening above them and felt his breath hitch when he saw stars created from colorful sparks bursting around the dark shape. "What in Poseidon's name is that?" he heard Renji nearly shout below him.

"Come on," the orangette insisted ardently, already soaring up toward the strange lights. He stopped just short of the portal in the grotto's ceiling, shooting an expectant look at his friend. "Don't you want to find out what it is?" he asked, pleased when Renji took the bait and quickly ascended to join him.

Still stationed in front of the secret entrance, Rukia watched in horror as they made their way to the unidentified sailing object and bright flares of light. Had they completely lost their minds? Or perhaps recently developed a deathwish? Because those were the only plausible reasons they would do something so blatantly life-threatening. And if the king ever found out about this... Rukia listed to the side as she grew faint at the mere thought.

Amidst the rolling waves of the ocean's surface, Ichigo rose out of the water so that only his eyes were visible, his excitement making them glitter like stars. He barely realized Renji had also surfaced, enraptured by the wondrous vision he couldn't believe he was fortunate enough to witness so close up.

It seemed that the colorful blasts lighting up the night sky around the three mast ship were supposed to honor some occasion the humans aboard the vessel were celebrating, the merman able to hear their merry music and laughter. Without thinking twice about it, Ichigo shot further up in the air so his waist was at water level and used his arms to paddle closer to the ship until he reached the side of the rocking hull. Laying a hand on the damp wood, his blood sang with the rush of euphoria at doing something he'd thought impossible.

The heat of the moment supplying him all the bravery he could ever need, Ichigo spotted a ladder carved onto the hull that led to a passageway cut out of the banister for easy access to the deck and grabbed ahold of the first step. He swiftly climbed the entire height of the ship, lifting himself out of the water completely, and stopping right below the ledge. Then, he cautiously moved himself higher the tiniest bit so that his fingers and eyes were level with the floor of the deck.

Taking in the cheerful sight he was greeted by, Ichigo's gaze swept across the similarly clothed human men dancing and playing instruments he'd never seen before to make music. Subconsciously he allowed his whole head to rise over the ledge so he could get a better view, wondering what the humans were celebrating.

Suddenly, as if out of thin air, there was a soft thud as a blur of white jumped from overhead and landed on the deck directly in front of him. Ichigo had to bite his bottom lip to stifle the startled yelp in reaction to the surprise arrival of an unfamiliar, furry creature who stood on four legs and had triangular ears and a long tail that swished back and forth. He kept perfectly still under the animal's eerily intelligent gaze and when its whiskered face leaned forward until their noses were practically touching. Then a rough, pink tongue darted out and licked his cheek, the ticklish sensation making him choke back a peal of laughter.

"Pantera, c'mere girl," sounded a voice unlike any Ichigo had ever heard; husky, melodic, and undeniably masculine. The white creature whirled around and padded across the deck, apparently heeding that call, and the teen followed its path to the one with the alluring voice, his breath hitching.

Ichigo hadn't known someone could be so beautiful that it was somehow terrifying. As he laid eyes upon the human, his chest tightened unbearably and breathing was almost impossible. The man was sculpted into the image of virile perfection, tall, broad-shouldered, and muscled in all the right places, his skin bronzed from the sun. He had a face meant to break hearts, his ruggedly handsome features a defined, strong jawline, sharp, perfectly straight nose, angular cheekbones, and full lips - absolutely devastating. His tousled hair was the color of the morning sky, blindingly blue, and even at this distance Ichigo could see the man's jewel-like, glittering sapphire eyes. The man was dressed in a white shirt whose collared neckline showed off a tantalizing glimpse of tan flesh and the sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, the fabric on his legs light gray, and his foot apparel reaching mid-calf and fashioned out of a black, textured material.

The white animal who'd licked the orangette bounded playfully around the blue-haired man, stopping in front of him and reared back on its hind legs, resting its front two on his thighs. The man then lowered a hand to the side of his pet's head and scratched behind its ears affectionately.

"Hey there, Ichigo!" a familiar voice shouted from the sky, Ichigo snapping his narrowed, vehement gaze to a certain seagull soaring toward his hiding place.

"Shut up, they'll hear you!" the merman hissed through his teeth, shooing the bird away and turning back to face the ship and its appealing cargo.

"Ah, I get it," Urahara said suggestively, flapping his wings and perching beside Ichigo so he could also have a front row seat to the show the young merman was so clearly enjoying. "See something you like, do you?"

"I've never seen a human this close before," Ichigo confessed, his heart aching painfully as he watched the strikingly good-looking man entertain his animal companion who preened under his attention. "He's... fascinating," he sighed, unaware he'd actually spoken his thoughts aloud.

"Yes, he is quite fascinating," Urahara agreed, waggling his non-existent eyebrows at the youth who was in another world entirely, his dreamy, hooded eyes and blissful smile were telltale symptoms of a sudden onset case of lovesickness. It would've been obvious to the blind how far gone Ichigo was.

"Silence, silence," another male voice called out, this one mild as a spring afternoon and yet easily commanded the attention of the other humans on board. The musical din died out, everyone deferring to the speaker - an attractive, brown-haired man whose clothes appeared much more formal than everyone else's. "It is now my honour and privilege to present our esteemed Prince Grimmjow with a very special, very expensive, birthday present," the brunette announced, gesturing to where something enormous was veiled by a heavy brown canvas and wrapped in a colossal red bow.

"Grimmjow..." the name fell from Ichigo's lips in a soft breath, a thrill coursing through the orangette at the simple pleasure of just knowing it.

"Aizen, y'old son of a gun, you shouldn't have," the blue-haired prince said in his deep, rumbling voice, clapping a large hand on his advisor's shoulder and nearly knocking the man over. Leaving Aizen to regain his balance, Grimmjow strode over to his gigantic birthday present while one of the sailors scampered up to promptly remove its coverings, the canvas slipping off and revealing a fifteen foot tall statue of... himself.

His statue self was bedecked in full royal regalia befitting a prince who lived two or three centuries ago - puffy sleeves, drawn sword, cape, the whole nine yards - and he was posed standing with one foot atop a crest bearing the letter G in calligraphy style and a fist over his heart. A chorus of snickers and chortles burst out from the crew, Grimmjow's lip curled and his thin, blue brows creased together, his reaction to the thing mimicked by Pantera who growled and hissed at it furiously.

"Happy twenty-first birthday, Grimmjow," Aizen said, staring approvingly up at his handiwork.

"Yea', it's... it's really somethin'," the blunette forced out, unable to say anything else as he was truly at a loss for words, a rare event for the free spoken man. He was vaguely aware of the crew returning to their own devices, spurring his longtime advisor to cross the distance between them, coming up beside him.

"Yes, I commissioned it myself. Of course, I had hoped it would be a wedding present... " Aizen trailed off and as soon as he said the 'w' word Grimmjow visibly bristled. Sneering in vexation that this subject was being brought up yet again, he immediately turned on his heel and began walking away. His escape route ended up leading him to the opening in the banister currently occupied by two unknown stowaways. Acting quickly, Ichigo grabbed Urahara by the beak and rolled them into the safety of the shadows. A moment later he released the struggling bird and slowly swiveled his dark amber orbs up to the side where not five feet from him, Grimmjow leaned his forearms on the railing and looked out at the sea.

"Don't start with that bullshit, again," he warned the advancing brunette, his tone menacing and had it had been anyone else but Aizen they would've immediately obeyed.

"Grimmjow, it isn't me alone," Aizen insisted, not even sparing his charge the pain of another lecture on his birthday. "The entire kingdom wants to see you happily settled down with the right person."

"Yea', well I haven't found 'em yet, savvy?" Grimmjow grumbled, refusing to meet the other's gaze behind him.

"Perhaps you aren't looking hard enough," Aizen suggested and the blunette rolled his eyes, repressing the urge to throw the older man overboard.

"'ey, when I see 'em, I'll know. It'll hit me like lightning or somethin'," the prince said and the instant the words left his mouth a blazing bolt of lightning struck in the distance, illuminating the swelling waves and the blanket of treacherous, dark gray storm clouds that proclaimed the arrival of a powerful storm. Roaring thunder rumbled deafeningly and rain began to pour from the sky, violent winds filling the mainsails and thrusting the ship on a course of its own volition.

"Hurricane a-comin'!" a shipmate declared from his position within the crows nest, his hands gripping the protective wooden railing for all their worth as the sea vessel roiled on the turbulent waves. "Stand fast, men! Secure the riggin'!"

Grimmjow and the rest of the mariners needed no further instruction, and quickly set about their individual tasks, the twenty strong crew tearing across the deck in chaotic fashion as fear and panic began to seep in. Although each man knew where he should be and precisely what he should be doing – ensuring that their efforts banded together for maximum efficiency – it was much easier said than done when Mother Nature was so apparently livid.

With enough men having made the hazardous climb up the mainmast to secure the sails, Grimmjow stayed on deck with the rest of his men, teal locks drenched and whipping about his face as he grit his teeth and pulled the rigging taut. Amongst all the bedlam and alarm, Pantera found herself jostled from side to side by both man and wave, her sharp claws finding little to no purchase in the rain-slicked wood as she keened and mewled for her master.

Below, upon the frothing surface of the ocean, the scene was no better. Large, angry waves crested high and crashed hard into each other, constantly submerging a cursing Renji beneath the water whilst strong currents dragged Rukia, whom had surfaced shortly before the formidable storm broke, further and further away from her charge.

Back on the hull, Ichigo and Urahara were also clinging against the ship for dear life, the icy rain and furious rocking of the ship giving rise to gooseflesh all over Ichigo's naked torso and ruffling more than a few of the seagull's feathers. As was the prince's luck of late, the tempest took a dramatic turn for the worse; the searing flashes of lightening and clamorous thunder seemingly much closer than before, the raging waves mounting to frankly terrifying heights, and the winds picking up momentum, mutating from blustery to gale force.

Bracing himself against the platform on which he sat, Ichigo could do nothing but watch as Urahara was literally swept off of his webbed feet by the whirlwinds, the lightweight gull only just barely managing to anchor himself on a length of rope hanging just beyond the orangette's shoulder.

"Yare, yare! The wind's all of a sudden on the move!" Urahara exclaimed, trying his damndest to hold on but a second longer. "Oh, my…" Feeling the elements getting the better of him, Urahara struggled fervently to keep his grip on the rope, but it all proved for naught as a particularly fierce gust loosed his grasp and sent him spiraling high up into the air, his swift departure marked with a flurry of feathers and the shrill cry of, "Ichigo!"

At the helm of the ship, the laboring captain, an aging seadog whose strength and prowess had long since seen better days, suddenly lost control of the large wooden wheel, a weary grunt escaping his lips as it was wrenched from his clutches and knocked him several feet back. With the steering disabled, the ship veered violently to the right, the bow taking a nosedive over the edge of a bloated wave and allowing for another to crest up and heave over the starboard side, easily sweeping several shipmates right off their feet.

Ignoring the screaming and yelling erupting from all sides around him, Grimmjow made for the helm, stopping just short of the wheel and carefully picking his timing to grab hold of the flailing handles. A furious burst of lightening highlighted his features for nary a moment, though if one just so happened to look, they would see pearly white teeth bore in grim determination, wild teal tresses and a sodden white shirt beating against sun bronzed skin, and thin blue-tinted brows knotted together under physical duress. Though, even at such a young and healthy age, the virile prince was really striving to keep the enormous vessel on a straight and steady course. He would be damned if he gave up, however, being the tenacious and headstrong man that he was. Come hell or high water, he would see every single member of his devoted crew out of this.

Meanwhile, Ichigo felt his own strength waning. When the ship peaked on the very apex of a frankly colossal swell, he was thrown back and off of the platform he'd done well to remain seated on for so long, attempting desperately to brace himself on the very same rope that Urahara had used earlier. He couldn't quite explain it, even to himself, but he just had to hold on. He needed to be close to Grimmjow, to make sure he was okay and to help in any way that he could should the occasion arise. He couldn't leave the man to fend for himself, not when the human was up against such unpredictable forces of nature… He could get seriously hurt!

In spite of his very best efforts, Ichigo was simply no match against Mother Nature, her passionate and lawless temperament proving too powerful as the orange-haired merman was jerked from his hold and sent tumbling mercilessly into the dark, frigid waters many feet below. Plummeting far beneath the surface, Ichigo swiftly righted himself and launched back up, breaking through the surf and now facing the ship's stern. Amber eyes widened in a mix of horror and morbid awe as a crackling fork of luminous lightening tore from the ashen clouds, striking with deadly accuracy the mainsail, the synthetic material igniting and bursting into flames almost immediately after impact.

Being the intrepid, curious soul that he was, Ichigo had oftentimes wondered what fire was like; what it looked like, how it moved, smelled, felt… but at this precise moment in time, he could honestly say he felt nothing but sheer terror at the mere sight of it – as did Grimmjow and his men, if the frenzied yells and general hysteria was anything to go by.

Momentarily stunned by the sudden blaze rapidly spreading between the sails and licking down the masts, Grimmjow refocused his attention ahead just in time to see that they were sailing straight for a jagged rock structure jutting out of the ocean. With no time to react before the inevitable and devastating collision, Grimmjow did the only thing he could do at this point; warn his crew.

"Look out!" he bellowed, his masculine baritone cutting through the roaring thunder and carrying to the few sailors at the bow, giving them time enough to scurry across the deck.

The glorious ship smashed with a sickening crunch of splintering wood into the rocks, the force of impact sparing no one as Grimmjow, Aizen, and their entire crew went barreling over the edge and plunged into the icy seawater. Gasping for air and struggling to keep himself afloat, Aizen caught sight of the prince's birthday gift being swallowed by the murky currents and, pride be damned, made to swim after the grand statue before it was forever lost to Davy Jones' locker. His efforts were in vain however, when a commanding voice called out to him moments before a large, work callused hand grasped the back of his saturated coat.

"Oi, Aizen! Hang on!"

Hoisting the brunette up into the small rowboat a few of the men had managed to commandeer before the storm had raged completely out of control, Grimmjow give the elder man a few harsh pats on the back, forcing up what little seawater he'd accidentally gulped down when he first hit the frigid waves. About to ask his trusted advisor if he was feeling alright, the young prince instead found his entire focus drawn back to the burning wreckage of his vessel upon hearing the distressed yowling of his beloved pet. Sapphire pools immediately spotted the frightened feline standing on the upper decking of the bow, his heart leaping into his throat and a worried crease etching onto his forehead.

"Pantera!"

Without so much as a pause to even consider the consequences of such a reckless action, Grimmjow leapt from the rowboat, executing a perfect dive and leaving Aizen and the others to look on in shocked apprehension. Heavy, waterlogged clothes and the torrential rain that was beginning to feel like searing needles against his skin made the climb back up to the deck quite difficult, but Grimmjow persevered, fuelled alone by the absolute necessity to get his treasured Pantera to safety. Most would call him some very choice things if they knew he'd risked his life for an animal, but Grimmjow seriously couldn't care less about the haters. To him, Pantera was more than a simple animal, a devoted pet, she was family – and for that, the blunette would do anything.

Vaulting over the thick wooden banister and onto the deck, Grimmjow made a move toward the mewling feline, only to freeze in his tracks when he heard an ominous creaking come from somewhere behind him. Whipping round, he barely had time to duck and roll out of harms way when the mainmast, still burning and crackling, fractured around the middle and came hammering down, smashing straight through the wooden flooring the blunette had been standing on mere seconds beforehand. Thinking he was more or less in the clear now, Grimmjow ventured on toward his pet, completely unawares that the fire had now spread into the storage compartment of the vessel where they kept arms, food, booze… and barrels upon barrels of gunpowder.

Aware that there was no way up with all of the fragmented debris and scorching walls of fire blocking his path, Grimmjow positioned himself as close as he possibly could below where Pantera stood and threw out his arms, beseeching her to bite back her fear and come to him.

"Jump, Pan!" he pleaded, trying not to let the desperation he felt on the inside bleed into his tone. "C'mon girl, jump! You can do it, baby!"

Hesitating for only a brief second, Pantera put all of her trust and faith into her master and did as she was told, bravely leaping from the platform and into strong, burly arms. With little more than a burdened grunt upon the initial catch, Grimmjow quickly but cautiously carried the trembling feline back toward the edge of the ship and their awaiting rescue. Unpredicted by either one of them, the board beneath Grimmjow's boot gave out with no warning, the blunette acting fast and using the momentum to quickly toss Pantera over the side of the railing. Grimmjow cringed when he heard the poor cat's startled mewl on the way down, but didn't exactly have the luxury of time to dwell on it and instead set to work on grappling with his trapped foot, tugging heartily at his leg as he tried to free himself.

Aizen was laboriously hauling a thoroughly drenched Pantera into the rowboat when he noticed that the blue-haired prince was not right behind her as he'd expected. Glancing up, chocolate toned eyes bugged out of their sockets when they caught sight of Grimmjow's perilous predicament.

"Grimmjow!" he called, sapphire pools painted with worry looking down on him an instant before a cataclysmic explosion roared out for the heavens to hear and lit up the atmosphere in fiery shades of red, yellow, and orange.

Aizen and the men gave a collective gasp, every single on of their expressions tainted with dread, but none looked quite as horrified as the orange-haired merman who had also witnessed the terrifying detonation.

Heart racing furiously against his ribs, Ichigo reared back at the initial blast and swallowed hard. He had never, in all his seventeen years of life, seen an explosion before, let alone been so close to one. His ears were ringing, his vision dancing with spots of white, and his stomach churning, feeling about as heavy as a manatee. How in all the seven seas was any living being supposed to survive something like that? And that's when the realization hit him… Oh gods, Grimmjow!

With a harsh dose of reality, Ichigo quickly scrambled forward, diving under the surface and re-emerging closer to the burning remnants of a once imposing and beautifully crafted ship. Flaming chunks of rubble rained down all around him, hitting the water with an audible sizzle as he guardedly picked his way through all the floating fragments of wood, sail, rope and even a barrel or two that were somehow still intact.

Amber eyes, large due to a potent fusion of adrenaline and panic, wildly scanned over the wreckage, the orangette's hands shaking as he sifted every goddamn inch of the waters surface in search of the missing prince, of the man who had so effortlessly stolen his heart. Frantically turning this way and that, he finally spied of a flash of shocking teal blue in his peripheral, the color a striking contrast to the usually crystalline clear hue of the ocean that was now a dark and frothy grey.

Grimmjow was rapidly losing consciousness – firsthand experience with highly volatile gunpowder will do that to a man – and was using the last of his depleting strength to hold onto the small plank of wood currently keeping him from a watery grave. As his eyes slipped closed and the muzzy darkness clouding his mind completely consumed him, his numbing fingertips lost all power and he promptly blacked out, weary fatigue and a possible concussion winning the battle over his debilitated body.

Ichigo watched as the blue-haired prince passed out, no longer possessing the awareness to even try and keep himself adrift as his muscular body slipped off of the plank and sank into the murky depths. Not stopping to think of the inevitable ramifications, Ichigo immediately pitched after the blunette, his tail thrashing madly through the chilly water as he propelled himself toward the sinking prince. There was no time to pause and admire the fact that he was actually touching the man of his desires as he wrapped lean arms around Grimmjow's broad chest to stop his descent, hefting the larger male back up toward the surface with one arm locked under his armpit and the other helping to paddle them back to fresh air.

Breaking through the watery barrier between their two worlds, Ichigo painstakingly began swimming away from the disastrous ruins of the blazing vessel, his attention so intensely focused on the blunette that when the remaining fireworks onboard started illuminating the skies in pretty, fluorescent shades of red, blue and yellow, he didn't even bat an eye.

He had to get Grimmjow to safety, and he wouldn't let a single damn thing stand in his way.

Shortly after sunrise found Ichigo exhausted and lying on the slowly warming sands of a small beach alcove. He'd used the very last reserves of his strength to successfully haul both himself and the still unconscious Grimmjow on to the sandy shoreline, but his ever growing concern for the handsome blunette wouldn't give him even a second of reprieve. Leaning over the blunette, Ichigo felt his heart drop like a stone at the man's unresponsiveness. Was it too late? Did he not make it to the shore on time? Poseidon help him; what was he supposed to do?

A high-pitched squawk announced the sudden arrival of Urahara, the flamboyant gull having followed the merman's grueling trek across the sea. Coming in to land by the blunette's head, he felt his gut twisting wretchedly at the devastated demeanor of Ichigo as the sea prince cradled the human's head with one hand and laid the other over a seemingly unmoving chest.

"Is he… dead?" Ichigo asked, his voice cracking due to weariness and dismay of the possible answer.

Prying Grimmjow's left eyelids open for reasons unknown to the nervous merman, Urahara sighed. "It's hard to say." Biting at his thumbnail, Ichigo watched as the gull ambled down to Grimmjow's now bare feet, the man's boots having fallen off somewhere along their journey. Hoisting up the right leg, Urahara pressed the sole of Grimmjow's foot to his ear, listening intently for a few moments, before his face fell and he shook his head somberly. "Oh my, I… I can't make out a heartbeat."

Ichigo balked at the news. No heartbeat? So that meant… Oh no, it couldn't be… He couldn't be… Slight movement caught Ichigo's full attention, and he felt relief swelling in his heart as he noticed the subtle rise and fall of Grimmjow's sculpted chest.

"No, look! He's breathing." Allowing a small, grateful smile to touch his lips, Ichigo gazed down upon the living prince, tenderly brushing a rebellious bang of teal hair away from his forehead. Not aware he was even speaking out loud anymore, let alone that he still had an audience, Ichigo breathed out a wistful, "He's so handsome."

Dipping his head so that rascally grey eyes were shaded under the brim of his hat, Urahara decided to leave well enough alone, keeping his beak shut as Ichigo lost himself to the alluring call of his washed up affections.

Laying his palm flat against Grimmjow's lightly stubbled cheek, Ichigo gently turned the man's face toward him, amber eyes shining with warmth and an undeniable fondness in spite of not knowing that the beautiful stranger even existed until a scant few hours ago.

"What I wouldn't give to live where you are," he told the inanimate Grimmjow, his fingertips tracing lovingly over his strong jaw and knuckles brushing tenderly over his cheek. "What I wouldn't pay to stay here beside you, to see you smiling at me…"

Unbeknownst to the awestruck Ichigo, a humble wave rolled and broke against the shore, bringing with it a dazed Renji and a fatigued Rukia, the two sea creatures having spent the majority of the night scouring the ocean for the elusive orangette. After the almighty explosion, both had been sick with worry, fretting that perhaps Ichigo had been caught in the blast and was laying bleeding out on the seabed somewhere. To find the young prince not only in perfect health, but crooning all over the blue-haired sailor, was both an immense comfort and a startling revelation.

Rukia's jaw dropped in stupefied astonishment; she was literally gaping like a fish out of water. Urahara, who had quietly sidled up beside her, used a feathered wing to snap her mouth shut again, pronouncing, "It's most unladylike to gawk so ardently, Miss Kuchiki."

Back on the sandy beach, Ichigo continued with his monologue, his excitement and the sheer pleasure of being close enough to establish skin-on-skin contact with the blunette giving him a bad case of loose tongue syndrome.

"If I was a human, if I had legs and could walk and run like you do, I wonder where we would go. We could spend all day in the sun together, just you and me…" As if answering his innermost wishes, a warming ray of glittering sunshine suddenly burst through the early morning clouds, showering both merman and human in a pool of golden light.

The almost ethereal glow stirred Grimmjow from the dark recesses of his comatose state, his brows furrowing and eyes clenching as he tried to piece himself back together again. Where was he? Why did his mouth taste of salt, his nostrils burn with the smell of sulfur and his head pound like Pantera had knocked him through a brick wall?

Taking a brief mental catalogue of everything that hurt – which was just about every damn bone and muscle in his body – Grimmjow gingerly came back to himself, and that's when he heard it; another voice murmuring somewhere above him. The tone was as smooth as silk and as sweet as honey, Grimmjow discerning from the pleasing tenor that it was most definitely masculine. Thinking that he would rather like to put a face to the exquisitely beguiling voice, Grimmjow arduously cracked his eyes open, shimmering pools of sapphire squinting against the intense sunlight spilling over his features.

Delicately reaching up with his left hand, he laid it upon the satiny soft skin of the hand caressing the side of his face, a intoxicated grin tilting his lips as his bleary vision slowly began to clear, revealing the most beautiful being he had ever laid eyes upon. Although shadowed slightly from the blazing aura of heavenly sunshine, Grimmjow could make out gorgeous orbs of glittering amber gazing back at him, full lips of carnation pink parted in a dazzling smile, and a fiery halo of… was that orange hair?

"Just you and me, Grimmjow," the bewitching voice was humming pleasantly to him. The disorientated Grimmjow had no idea what this enchanting man was talking about, and yet found himself agreeing internally regardless. "Then I could be part of your world."

An animated series of loud mewings broke the spellbinding trance between the two males, Ichigo whipping his head up to see that great white cat bounding over the sands towards them. Left with no other option, the orangette took one last longing look at the wakening Grimmjow before reluctantly tearing away from his side and scarpering back into the welcoming embrace of the deep blue.

After a loving lick to her master's face – she had spent all night practically molting with stress – Pantera turned slitted blue eyes toward the ocean, catching a parting glimpse of black and crimson scales disappearing under the surf.

"Grimmjow? Grimmjow!" Moments later, Aizen appeared from around the corner, the elder man rushing to the blunette's aid as he tried to sit himself up. Hooking his hands under the younger's armpits, he helped haul him back onto his feet. "Dear boy, you really delight in these sadistic strains on my blood pressure, don't you?"

Staggering unsteadily, Grimmjow ran a callused hand through his hair, shaking away the cobwebs mussing up his brain. "There was a man… he rescued me. He was lyin' over me, talkin' to me…" Stumbling his way closer to the shore, he gave a dramatic sigh. "Gods, Aizen. He had the most beautiful voice, like the call of a siren."

A sudden head rush from regaining mobility too quickly had Grimmjow fighting to remain upright as he swooned backwards into Aizen's waiting arms. Aizen huffed as he caught the well-built male, scoffing derisively at his fanciful notions of a daring rescue from some handsome stranger that was nowhere to be seen.

"Ah, Grimmjow, I think you've swallowed a tad bit too much seawater." Slinging a burly, bronze skinned arm over his shoulder for support, he steered the delirious prince away from the sea and back toward civilization. "Off we go. Come along, Pantera."

Said feline, who was parading around in the shallow waters of the surf, mewling and purring at the unseen merman concealing himself in the shadows of a not too distant rock platform above the sea's surface, hesitantly padded away and trotted off down the beach to catch up with her disorientated master.

From his hiding place, Ichigo let out a sigh of relief, watching with a heavy heart as the object of his desires slowly faded into the distance. Beside him, skimming upon the surface of the water, Renji and Rukia also gazed after the retreating figures, though they had very different emotions roiling in the pits of their stomachs. Renji was irrefutably glad that the blue-haired human had not woken sooner and discovered a lovesick Ichigo hanging over the top of him, the consequences of such a thing didn't even bear thinking about, but he couldn't deny that he felt a pang of guilt over the crestfallen visage of his best friend. Rukia on the other hand was having major palpitations! Ichigo not only saving a human's life and in the process endangering his own, but also dragging him ashore and damn near confessing his apparent infatuation for the man? This was bad… oh so very, very bad.

"Okay, so here's how this is going to go!" the raven-haired mermaid exclaimed, punching a fist into her palm and startling Renji who threw a withering glare her way. "We're all just going to forget that this ever happened. King Isshin doesn't ever need to know. You won't tell him," she demanded rather than implored of the red and black striped shark, Renji disapproving of her tone but agreeing with a nod nonetheless. "I won't tell him. I will stay in one piece."

Rolling his eyes when the delusional mermaid clasped her hands together in semblance of a prayer, Renji turned his attention to Ichigo who had remained rather quiet throughout Rukia's whole spiel, only to find the orangette clambering up the flat rock surface.

"Uh, Ichigo…?"

"I don't know when, and I have no idea how, but I know something's starting right now…" Ichigo declared, a faraway look glazing his eyes and a salty sea breeze ruffling his hair as he stared determinedly after Grimmjow. Renji frowned, unaware if Ichigo was even talking to him – or was conscious that he was talking at all. "Just watch and you'll see… One day I'll be part of your world."

Renji's frown furrowed deeper at that, a tingling sense of foreboding gnawing at his instincts as a large wave crashed into the bottom of the platform Ichigo was lying on and burst into an impressive watery spray behind him, almost as if punctuating the merman's declaration and cementing his resolve.

'Oh well, at least Rukia didn't seem to hear him,' Renji thought, shrugging to himself. 'Thank Zeus for small graces, ey?'

Not ten feet away from the oblivious trio of sea creatures, Getsuga and Tenshou prowled sinisterly within the darker depths, keeping a close eye as instructed on the orange-haired prince. Gold on obsidian orbs glowed eerily, transmitting what the two hammerheads saw back to their porcelain skinned master watching the events unfold from within his debauched cave of withering coral.

A malevolent smirk twisted pale lips as molten pools gazed at the orangette in the mystical orb. "Oh, no. No, no, no, no. I can't stand it. It's too easy!" Lazily gliding back to lounge out on a large slab of coral shaped like an open flower, midnight tailfin curling to and fro, the wicked entity chuckled with mirth. "So the boy is in love with a human, ey? An' not jus' any human – a prince! Heh. Papa Isshin will love tha'."

Lucent scales shimmering hauntingly as he rolled onto his front to pillow his chin in his hand, the alabaster merman sneered at the lingering picture of Ichigo still sitting up at the shore, flashing a sliver of dauntingly sharp canines. Oh yes, everything was falling so neatly into place it was giddying. Soon enough he would know firsthand just how silky those spiky orange tresses felt as they poured through his black-polished fingertips, how soft those luscious lips would feel as he devoured them with his own, how that beautiful peachy skin would feel shuddering and writhing beneath him…

"Mmm, yes." He could almost taste him now. "The king's headstrong, lovesick son would definitely make a charmin' addition ta my cosy empire…" A predatory grin worthy of a great white snaked across snowy lips, a manic cackle echoing eerily around him. "Soon, my little prince. Soon…"

A few mornings later, back in king Isshin's palace in a large, dome shaped room located just a short swim from the royal family's sleeping quarters, the more tomboyish and irritable of the twin princesses was gliding back and forth in front of a door made of green kelp, her mood crabby as she waited impatiently for her brother to make an appearance.

"Move your tailfin, Ichigo!" she snapped, folding her arms over her still developing chest. "You've been in there all morning, dammit! Other people live here too, ya know!"

"Please don't yell, Karin," the meek and kind-hearted sister, princess Yuzu, pleaded, her slender fingers skillfully pulling her honey-brown hair into an elegant braid. "It's still early, and not all of the palace is up yet. And besides, I'm sure big brother will be done soon."

"'Done soon' my left dorsal fin!" Karin retorted, her hands pinning to her hips. "He's been in there for nearly an hour already, and I still have to–"

The young mermaid trailed off when the wall of swaying seaweed parted and the subject of her ire came drifting out, a goofy grin plastered on his lips and ebony scales seeming to glitter majestically in the early morning rays of sunshine pooling through the water.

Humming softly to himself, Ichigo paid no heed to either of his little sisters as he passed them by and absentmindedly set about trying to tame his uncooperative spiky mane in front of one of the many mirrors in the centre of the room. He wasn't being ignorant or rude or anything of the sort – he was just so wrapped up in his own inner musings of wild teal hair and sun-kissed flesh that he honestly didn't notice they were even in the room. Karin frowned at his scatterbrained antics, so unused to seeing anything other than a scowl littering her brother's features that she was rendered speechless, whereas Yuzu delicately arched a sculpted brow, genuine curiosity and a warm sense of adoration swelling within her at Ichigo's recent bout of happiness.

"What the hell is with him lately?" Karin asked of the brunette sister, knowing full well that in the delirious kind of state Ichigo was in, he wouldn't acknowledge her existence even if she smacked him square between the eyes.

Yuzu shrugged, a dreamy smile of her own making her eyes almost sparkle as she watched their brother practically dance around the room. Karin merely huffed out a sigh and rolled her eyes, all too aware that she had now lost both siblings to the infectious aura surrounding the young prince.

Deeming himself respectable for the day, Ichigo pushed away from his seat at the underwater vanity, so lost in his own little fantasy world he didn't notice the arrival of a certain dark haired king – until he swam smack-dab into the elder man's chest. Shaking his head lightly, Ichigo grinned up at his bearded sire.

"Oh. Morning, Dad," he announced distractedly, patting a broad shoulder as he continued on his way down the corridor, humming contentedly once more.

Isshin gawped after the retreating prince, his jaw dropping as he witnessed the usually quite brusque orangette twisting and twirling through the water like he hadn't a care in the whole seven seas. When they had collided, Isshin had been so certain his fiery son was going to rip him a new gill or two he'd actually began to raise his arms in defense of the attack – only to get the shock of his life when his strapping boy laid his hand on him in greeting rather than aggression.

"Ichigo's got it so bad," Karin commented from over his right shoulder as she diligently finished braiding her sister's hair.

Isshin continued to stare down the corridor, long after his son had vanished around the corner, his eyes wide and befuddled. "What? What has he got?"

"Isn't it obvious, daddy?" Yuzu sighed in a romantic tone, clasping her hands together under her chin and fluttering her thick eyelashes. "Ichigo's in love~"

This seemed to snap Isshin out of his stupor, and he gingerly ran his palm over the area where Ichigo had pat him, a beaming grin slowly tilting his lips. "Ichigo? In love?"

Rukia was fretting again, hands wringing and slim dark brows knotted together as she tormented herself over recent events. Sitting upon the bottom of a little rock structure about a mile out from the palace, she agonized over the story she'd fabricated for king Isshin to explain why his "pride and joy" had been absent all night long during the day of the storm. Had Isshin really bought it? Or was he simply waiting her out, waiting for her to slip up and get the story muddled before he pounced and turned her into a platter of surf and turf? Dear Zeus! She was too young and beautiful to die!

"Damn it, Rukia, pull yourself together!" she chastised herself, pulling a hand through her short bob of raven hair. "Okay. So far, so good. I don't think the king suspects a thing…" Frowning in annoyance when a bright yellow flower petal landed on her nose – and not for the first time – she irritably blew the thing away, glaring in the general vicinity above her before launching back into her morbid meditation and biting at her fingernails. "I've managed to pull the algae over Isshin's eyes for now, but it won't be easy keeping a secret like this for long…"

In a completely different mindset altogether, Ichigo lay on the same reef where Rukia sat, only he was lounged out on the smooth, curved arc a few feet above her head. Totally oblivious to her frantic ramblings, the orange-haired merman was studiously picking the petals off of a pretty sea flower growing from the colorful coral.

"He loves me," he recited to himself, resting his head in his left palm as his right fingers set about plucking the next bright yellow blade. His utopian-esque smile faltered upon the next petal however, his nose scrunching up as he more or less ripped it from the stalk, tossing it away carelessly and muttering, "He loves me not." His enchanting grin was back in full swing when he realized that he was now on the last one and he eagerly snatched it up, rolling over onto his back and clutching the silky petal to his chest. "Ha, he loves me! I knew it!"

Rukia, having finally had enough after hearing the fanatical – if not completely absurd – exclamation, ceased in her nervous grumbling and swam up to where Ichigo lay, leveling the yearning orangette with a particularly icy glare and a stern countenance. "For the love of all things amphibious, Ichigo! Will you stop with all this crazy talk? You're grinding on my last nerve."

"I have to see him again," Ichigo said suddenly, sitting up straight and ignoring Rukia completely. "Urahara knows where he lives…"

Rukia could only flail her arms as Ichigo glided past her, not even bothering to look her way. "Ichigo, please! Will you get your head out of the damn clouds and back into the water where it belongs? You're going to give me a conniption!"

Again, Ichigo neglected her plight. "All I have to do is swim up to his castle, then I'll get Renji to capture his attention – I mean, he is a shark, that's sure to get us noticed. And then we'll go…"

Ichigo abruptly cut himself off as he turned around only to come face-to-face with a very unimpressed looking Rukia. "Down here is your home! Ichigo, listen to me. The human world, it's… well, it's a mess. Life down here under the sea is way better than anything they've got up there!"

Feeling an impending lecture coming on, Ichigo sighed, slowly floating back down to sit on the curved coral. Pillowing his chin in his palm, beautiful amber eyes began to glaze over even before the hard-boiled mermaid launched into her longwinded pitch.

"Look," Rukia began, tentatively broaching the subject to the teenage thorn in her side. "I know you're young and everything seems so wonderful and mystical up on land, but let me tell you, the seaweed always seems greener in somebody else's lake. I know that you dream about going up there, that you want to live and interact with the humans…" Rolling her amethyst eyes at the ambitious longing with which Ichigo gazed toward the surface, the raven-haired mermaid quickly maneuvered herself in front of the prince, grasping his chin between her slender fingers and forcing his attention back to her. "But that's a big mistake! Take a look around you, Ichigo! Look at the beauty and splendor that exists here; you're the prince of a glorious kingdom and are surrounded by people who love and care for you. What more could you possibly want?"

Ichigo quirked a brow, having thought that the answer to that particular question should be pretty obvious by now. Rukia grit her teeth, nostrils flaring and petite hands balling into fists as she repressed the overwhelming urge to throttle the orangette to within an inch of his life! Just as she opened her mouth to at least verbally abuse the obstinate merman, she found her scathing reprimand cut short as a deep (obnoxious) voice called out from somewhere close by.

"Ichigo? Oi, Ichigo! Where the hell are ya!"

Ichigo could have kissed the shark for his well calculated interruption. "Over here, Renji!"

Seconds later a rubbery smooth hide of scarlet red covered in bold lines of jagged black appeared, the carnivorous beast giving a sharp-toothed grin of triumph when he caught sight of his orange-haired pal. You know, for having such loud and luminous colored hair, the slippery little bugger was incomprehensibly hard to locate at the best of times.

"There ya are! I've been lookin' all over for ya, buddy. I've got some excit–" Renji trailed off and frowned at the other unexpected companion. "Oh. You're here, too. Great."

With an air of offense to the obvious cynicism, Rukia shot Renji a contemptuous glower and rested her fists on her hips. "What do you want, you overgrown fish? Can't you see I'm trying to school Ichigo here?"

"Well then it looks like I got here just in the nick of time, A-shells," Renji jeered, rows of lethally pointed teeth gleaming hungrily. "Me and Ichigo got things to do, so why don't you go bore someone else to tears, yeah?"

"What 'things'?" Rukia asked suspiciously, letting the insult slide for the time being in favor of sating her now growing concern.

"That ain't none'a your business," Renji easily evaded, already trying to coax an exasperated Ichigo into leaving with him.

Rukia was quick to intervene, seizing the colored shark by the pectoral fin and hindering their escape. "I think you'll find that it is most definitely my business," the petite mermaid seethed, pushed well beyond the limits of her thinning patience. "Being royal advisor to the king makes everything Ichigo does my business! If that boy," here she thrust a slender finger in Ichigo's direction, causing the teen to physically recoil, "so much as sneezes I wanna know about it! And furthermore–"

"Rukia! Rukia!"

Rukia whipped her head round at the call of her name just in time to see king Isshin's announcer, the little orange seahorse with the ruffled collar, swimming frantically toward them. Heaving an aggravated sigh at the poorly timed interference, Rukia pivoted to inform the two troublesome sea creatures that their conversation was far from over only to find the disastrous duo strategically absent. For the love of–!

"This isn't over, you hear me!" she cursed out before turning her attention to the small seahorse. "What is it? This had better be good…"

"I've got an urgent message from the sea king," the small critter informed her, giving a formal salute as was customary for those serving under his royal highness.

"King Isshin?" Rukia reiterated, panic blooming in her chest.

The seahorse nodded enthusiastically. "He wants to see you right away. Something pertaining to Ichigo."

Rukia felt full-blown terror claw at her insides, violet eyes growing wide and heart stuttering to a halt. "Oh gods… He knows."

In a grand and splendid throne room sculpted from green coral and shimmering finely, sat upon an elevated throne carved to perfection and as smooth to the touch as polished marble, was none other than the great king Isshin, his glorious golden crown shining regally on his head and devastatingly powerful trident gripped loosely between the fingers of his right hand. Twirling the stem of a beautiful pink flower reminiscent of a lily that his dear sweet Yuzu had picked for him earlier that morning in his free hand, the mer king chuckled heartily to himself.

"Hm, let's see now," he spoke, his bearded face beaming with a distinguished grin. "Who could the lucky mermaid be that stole my strong and red-blooded son's heart?"

Lavender and indigo snared his attention and Isshin quickly shoved the flower out of sight behind his back, roughly clearing his throat to cover up his lackadaisical daydreaming as he gestured to the pretty mermaid hovering hesitantly by the entrance. "Please, come on in, Rukia."

Rukia flinched at the mere sound of his voice, audibly gulping as she imagined just how loud and furious it was going to sound when he flayed her alive over his impulsive son's most recent activities.

Fingers trembling lightly, she took as deep a breath as she could possibly manage and let it out slowly trough her nose. "Okay, I mustn't overreact," she croaked quietly to herself, taking several more erratic breaths in and out. "I must remain calm…"

Swimming over to the regal throne with an outward appearance of poise and grace, yet inwardly cringing with anxiety, Rukia stopped at the foot of where Isshin sat and bowed her head respectfully.

"Yes?" Her voice came out at least a whole semitone higher than normal, causing a faint blush to decorate the bridge of her nose before she swallowed thickly and attempted a redo. "Ahem… Yes, your Majesty?"

If Isshin noticed the cute little blunder, he didn't call her on it. "Eh, Rukia. I called you here because I'm concerned about Ichigo," he began, absentmindedly twisting his trident. "You didn't happen to notice that he's been acting peculiar lately, hm?"

Rukia felt her heart stammer melodramatically, feigning innocence by scratching idly at the back of her head. "Uh, peculiar…?"

"Why yes!" Isshin's smile was perky and proud, but still curiously subtle. "You know; mooning about, daydreaming, humming to himself…" He quirked a dark brow at the petite mermaid. "Don't tell me you haven't noticed?"

"Oh! Well, I… that is, he… uh…" Rukia hemmed, her heartbeat throbbing somewhere in her throat as she racked her brain to come up with a suitable excuse for the prince's odd behavior lately. The piercing, inquisitive stare from her superior and king really wasn't helping the process, not one bit.

"Oh, Rukia." Tailfin practically quivering, the raven-haired mermaid turned amethyst orbs toward Isshin to find him crooking his finger at her, beckoning her to his side. Unable to do anything but obey, Rukia drifted up to hover by the king's left side, her small hands curling up into tight fists just to keep them from shaking with nerves. "I know you've been keeping something from me."

Rukia forced a shaky smile upon her lips even though all she really wanted to do was book it from the room and hurl in a dark corner somewhere. If she had had legs, and subsequently knees, she just knew they would be quaking right about now. "Eheh, k-keeping something?"

"About Ichigo," Isshin prompted, a wicked gleam in his eye as he tried his damndest to get the pretty young maiden to give up the goods. He knew that Rukia and his son were good friends, and not far off in age. If he was going to get anything from her, he would have to up the ante a little more. "In love, hmm?"

Okay, now Rukia was positively about to start hyperventilating, that deadly, three pronged weapon looking mighty intimidating as it was pointed lazily in her direction. How on earth did the king find out? She hadn't breathed a word of Ichigo's love struck obsession with the blue-haired surface walker to anybody! And, though stupidly slow on the uptake, she knew Renji had more common sense than to go around blabbing that their prince was falling for a human of all things! Poseidon save her; what was she supposed to say?

"Well…?" Isshin urged, leaning in close to the mermaid boarding on some sort of seizure.

'Self preservation,' Rukia immediately thought, her whole body shivering. 'A pre-emptive strike! And, of course, pleading for mercy.'

"I tried to stop him, sir! He wouldn't listen!" Rukia exclaimed, clutching desperately at the elder merman's broad shoulders. "I told him to stay away from humans, that they're bad news! They're nothing but trouble!"

"Humans?" Isshin frowned, a seething rage boiling within his veins as he abruptly rose from his seat, fury potent in the atmosphere surrounding them and trident glowing with a furious energy. "What about humans!"

Quickly realizing her egregious oversight of the situation, Rukia gave a nervous laugh and slowly backed away from the enraged king. "Humans? Ahaha… Who said anything about humans?"

A large, callused hand nabbed her by the back of the neck, trailing her back before she could make a hasty retreat, the last thought entering her mind a somber apology to her orange-haired friend.

'Gods, what have I done? I'm so sorry, Ichigo…'

"Renji," Ichigo complained with a whine as the duo made their way back to the covert grotto, the young prince dutifully holding back the heavy bolder securing the entrance to allow the brightly colored shark to swim in first. "Why can't you just tell me what this is all about?"

Honestly, Renji had dragged him away from Rukia – not that he minded that aspect all too much – but had refused point blank to tell him for what purpose.

"Ugh, will you stop asking me that and c'mon already?" Renji huffed but with no real annoyance behind the words. "It's called a 'surprise' for a reason, yanno."

With a toothy smirk, Renji led them to the centre of their secluded little rock den, his grin growing exponentially upon hearing the hitched breath from the orangette when the reason for their travels was finally revealed. Ichigo quickly forgot he was ever frustrated with the secretive shark, his amber eyes growing wide and lips parting in bewildered delight.

"Oh god, Renji…" he breathed, scarcely daring to believe what he was seeing as his transfixed gaze eagerly drank in the sight of Grimmjow's celebratory statue sitting dead and centre within his little slice of heaven. Clumsily hugging his arms around his marine friend, he squeezed him tight in the sincerest gratitude. "I… I don't know what to say!"

Renji smugly puffed out his chest, watching as Ichigo eagerly dashed forward. "How's about, 'Renji, you're the greatest bud in the entire ocean!'"

"It looks just like him," Ichigo admired in a breathless tone, obviously not paying the least bit attention to Renji any longer as his fingertips traced the cold, sculpted stone in reverent strokes. "It even has his eyes…"

"Well, it was modeled off of the guy," Renji scoffed playfully.

Ichigo didn't comment, too absorbed in his fanatical worship to give a second thought to the other living presence in the space. "Oh, Grimmjow," he sighed, his hands skimming down the statue's arm and chest. "If only we could run away together. I'd never want for anything for the rest of my life as long as I had you by my side." Slowly floating behind the sculpture, Ichigo slung his arms around its neck, imagining warm, tawny skin in place of smooth mineral as he pressed his body flush against the man's back. "I'd love you for all eternity, Grimmjow…"

It wasn't until he eventually managed to tear his eyes away from the captured perfection of the stone-Grimmjow's face that he became aware that they were no longer alone, the unmistakable outline of king Isshin's figure looming menacingly within the shadows instantly grabbing his full consideration. Gut churning and face turning ashen, Ichigo swallowed. "D-Dad?"

Renji whirled round at the revelation, swiftly scarpering from view to cower behind the very same rock Rukia was using as a shield between herself and the borderline manic mer king. Holy sea-cow, he'd never seen the usually eccentric male so damn angry before. Although his ego would never allow him to admit such a thing out loud, it was absolutely terrifying.

"I consider myself to be a reasonable merman," Isshin began in a low and serious tone as he came forward into the light, which did little more than highlight the frightening glower etched into his face. "I set certain rules, and I expect those rules to be obeyed."

Ichigo shrank backwards as his father advanced until he found himself bumping into Grimmjow's memorial, cornered, flustered, and with nowhere to hide. "Dad, please listen, I–"

"Is it true that you rescued a human from drowning?" Isshin demanded, his irritation leaving no room for his son's feeble attempts at explaining himself.

Ichigo bit his lip, knowing there was no gain to be had from lying now. "I had to."

Isshin felt his blood simmer a notch higher at the admission. "Contact between the human world and the mer world is strictly forbidden! Ichigo, you know that! Everybody in the kingdom knows that!"

"He would have died," Ichigo was quick to defend, feeling his own irrational anger spiking at his sire's blatant disregard for another's life – regardless of species.

"One less human to worry about," Isshin easily dismissed.

"You don't even know him!" Ichigo spat before he could stop himself. Before he could even think about what he was saying.

"Know him?" Isshin rounded on his boy, his facial expression as dark as thunder as he cornered the young prince behind the large statue. "I don't have to know him! They're all the same; spineless, savage, harpooning fish-eaters incapable of any feeling–"

"I love him, Dad!" Ichigo suddenly blurted out, his brain-to-mouth filter completely malfunctioning in a moment of true despair.

For a long, unbearable minute there was nothing but silence. It seemed to stretch out between all present, thick and heavy and utterly suffocating. Ichigo could practically feel both Renji and Rukia's collective cringe of shock from where he cowered, though neither compared to the burning intensity of his father's absolute condemnation.

"No!" Isshin bellowed in outrage. "Have you lost your senses completely, boy? He's a human, you're a merman!"

Grasping tentatively around the statue's shoulders, Ichigo scowled, burying his face into the hard stone. "I don't care."

Isshin was above and beyond breaking point now. He had tried his best to reel in his free-spirited boy, and thought he might have been getting through that stubborn skull of his at one time or another, but this… this was something else entirely. This was unbelievably foolish, exceedingly dangerous, and completely unforgiveable. Yes, he had tried his best, but enough was enough, he would stand for it no longer. It was clear now that the young prince needed to be taught a severe lesson, and, if reason and leniency wasn't going to work, then he was going to have to learn it the hard way.

"So help me, Ichigo, I am going to get through to you," Isshin growled, the sheer animosity in the man's voice causing Ichigo to visibly flinch and shy away from his vastly larger physique. "And if this is the only way… so be it!"

Ichigo felt dread grip him tight as the king's trident began to glare a fierce and menacing reddish-orange, almost as if reflecting the anger of its wielder, a horrid clamor resounding from the mystical weapon as the king swung it around in a seemingly random direction. A blinding bolt of pure energy shot from the prongs, cutting through the water like a crack of lightening, striking its target of a world map globe. Bile rose in Ichigo's throat as the large sphere exploded in a flash a brilliant white light, the shattered pieces falling listlessly through the water to rain down upon them.

"No, Dad! Stop!" Ichigo begged, but it was much too late for words as Isshin rounded on his next target; a finely crafted candlestick holder. And then the next; this time an entire row of old paintings, books, and photo frames. "Don't! Please, stop!"

His son's anguished pleas fell on deaf ears as Isshin proceeded to obliterate every damnable trinket and possession within the once serene grotto. Nothing was spared from his wrath; beautiful ornaments, delicate bird cages, chests filled with pearled necklaces and glittering jewels, an old clock, painted vases…

When Isshin eventually ceased in his chaotic destruction, Ichigo had thought it was finally over – until he caught the vindictive flicker behind the king's eyes as he glared ferociously at his last and largest target. Ichigo followed the man's line of sight, his jaw falling slack and panic spreading like poison in his chest so that his heart skipped a beat.

Frantically swimming over to his sire, Ichigo clutched at his arm, amber eyes clouded with misery and heartache as he implored his father to spare his one remaining, most beloved treasure. "Dad, no!"

Isshin didn't listen.

Ichigo could only watch on in total heartbreak as Grimmjow's beautiful gift was struck in the chest, almost exactly where the living man's heart would be, long cracks and ruptures marring the glorious statue in glowing beams of light before the figure exploded with a deafening boom. Shielding his eyes against the searing whiteout that temporarily engulfed the entire cave, Ichigo felt his chest pang wretchedly when amber eyes fluttered open to the sight of raining debris, the memorial reduced to nothing more than randomly sized chunks of rubble.

Distraught, Ichigo threw himself upon the platform where the proud stony figure once stood and buried his face in his arms, his shoulders shaking with resentment and sorrow. King Isshin clenched his jaw at the sight, the inbred desire to comfort his upset son tugging violently at his heartstrings. With no small amount of effort he refrained, instead turning his back to the boy and stalking silently from the demolished ruins of the grotto.

Renji and Rukia shrank back from their monarch's retreating figure, both shocked and appalled at what they had just witnessed, only summoning the courage to approach the orangette when the king was completely out of view. Choking past the growing lump in her throat, Rukia tentatively reached out for the prince.

"I-Ichigo, I–"

"I don't want to hear it, Rukia," Ichigo snapped, his voice laced with more hurt than anger and his face still concealed from sight. "Just… go away. Both of you."

Knowing that there was nothing she could hope to do, or even say, in order to set things straight again, the dark-haired mermaid turned large violet eyes full of regret toward Renji, the shark offering no words as he cast his gaze to the seabed and wearily made his way back toward the mouth of the cave. Rukia was torn between following Renji and attempting to mend bridges, staring solemnly at the prince's trembling form before reluctantly deciding it was in her best interest to join Renji outside. Ichigo would be in no mood to talk, especially to her, and so she would just have to be patient and wait until he had time enough to mourn his losses.

Back inside the decimated haven, cunningly obscured from view within a shaded alcove situated above Ichigo's head, Getsuga and Tenshou gave matching sharp-toothed grins at the prince's beneficial misfortune. The mer king had only gone and done all the hard work for them! How deviously delightful.

Now that the coast was clear, they slithered out from hiding like a pair of venomous serpents, casting two large, dusky shadows over Ichigo's body as they circled him from above.

"Poor child," Getsuga commented, followed swiftly by Tenshou's affirmation of, "Poor, sweet child."

Ichigo frowned at the presence of the newcomers, gingerly lifting his head to see to whom the eerie, raspy voices belonged. He couldn't help the chilly feeling of mistrust flooding his veins when he caught sight of the two hammerheads, one with a body as black as toxic ink, the other the color of waxed ivory, and both with an eye of molten gold and rows of ruthless, scale-stripping teeth. Needless to say, Ichigo was instantly put on guard.

"He has a very serious problem," Getsuga continued, purposefully avoiding Ichigo's wary gaze as he leisurely swam by.

Tenshou nodded in agreement, passing on Ichigo's other side as he joined his brother. "If only there was something we could do…"

With a wicked smirk, Getsuga glanced at his comrade. "But there is something."

"Who the hell are you?" Ichigo demanded to know, never once taking his eyes from the slinking duo. He wasn't an idiot, in spite of others' personal opinions, he knew better than to let the two hammerheads swim all over him. They were big trouble; he could feel it in the very marrow of his bones.

"Don't be scared," the ivory colored shark insisted, somewhat contradicting his words as he got right up in Ichigo's face, causing the orangette to cautiously lean away.

"We represent someone who can help you," Getsuga informed him, gliding in from over Ichigo's right shoulder as Tenshou curled his body around the cagey prince in a twisted parody of a playful nuzzle.

"Someone who can make all your dreams come true," Tenshou attested, smirking cruelly as Getsuga mirrored his actions by wrapping himself around the orangette's shoulders before sidling up beside his brother.

"Just imagine…" they rhymed off in unison, coiling around one another to form a twisted helix of black and white. "You and your prince… Together. Forever."

Ichigo scowled, his temples throbbing as his mind struggled to comprehend what in the world the two sharks were trying to tell him. "I don't understand. What do you want from me?"

Getsuga snickered, pinning distrustful amber eyes with a bewitching gaze. "Shirosaki… He has great powers…"

"The sea demon?" Ichigo asked, his throat constricting harshly at the mere mention of the creature's name. "What's that got to do with me? I mean, I couldn't possibly…" Shaking his head to rid himself of such insanely brainless notions, Ichigo lips tugged into a dark frown. "No! Get the hell out of here! Leave me alone."

With an air of indifference, Tenshou shrugged his head, casting a sly look to his brother as they both about-turned and swam toward the exit. "Suit yourself."

"It was only a suggestion…" Getsuga echoed, artfully flicking his tail to cast a remnant of Grimmjow's statue in Ichigo's direction, the piece clattering across rock and sand before strategically landing right next to the orangette's ebony tail.

Ichigo furrowed his brow at the noise before turning to investigate, only to have his breath catch in his throat at the sight of Grimmjow's handsome face staring up at him. Reaching out with a shaky hand, he picked the broken slab of stone up, biting his lip as he gazed into the man's eyes and delicately traced his fingertips over the cold features of his face.

Licking his lips, he knew he would seriously live to regret the next word out of his mouth, yet found it impossible to stop himself. "Wait."

Getsuga and Tenshou exchanged a knowing grin, before carefully schooling their expressions to one of complete ignorance and turning back to the young prince. "Yes…?"

"Shit," Renji grumbled to Rukia, pacing nervously back and forth. "I feel so bad for Ichigo."

The two were lingering not far from the entrance to the grotto, Renji's face downcast whilst Rukia sat on a rock nearby with her head in her hands and her brows firmly knotted.

"I didn't mean to tell…" she apologized for what felt like the billionth time over, her violet eyes welling miserably. "I swear it, Renji. It was an accident!"

Renji huffed out an aggravated breath, about to tell the crestfallen mermaid exactly where she could stick her damn apologies, when a series of dark shadows shrouded them from overhead and effectively fenced his reprimand. Violet and russet orbs turned skyward, both their mouths gaping open as obsidian, ivory and orange floated on by without even sparing a glance in their direction.

"Ichigo? Where do you think you're going?" Rukia grilled, lavender tail pumping as she hastily took off after the trio, Renji hot on her fins as she swam in front of the orangette. "Ichigo, what are you doing here with this bottom-feeding scum?"

Getsuga and Tenshou bore their teeth threateningly at the remark, but otherwise remained impassive. Ichigo didn't stop, or even slow down, he simply gave a haughty frown and continued onward.

"I'm going to see Shirosaki," he replied, keeping his voice as calm and casual as he could possibly muster when his heart was fluttering madly and his every scale and pore prickled in apprehension.

Rukia was almost too shocked to be angry. "Ichigo, no!" she begged, grabbing a hold of Ichigo's crimson tailfin as she tried in vain to stop him. "He's a demon! A monster!"

"Why don't you just go simpering to my father?" Ichigo growled, glaring at the mermaid over his shoulder before easily casting her away. "You seem to be pretty good at that."

"But Ichigo, I… I…" Rukia watched helplessly as the trio faded further and further into the distance, frozen to the spot as a flurry of different emotions whirled around inside of her.

Renji swam up beside the raven-haired female, tempted to roll his eyes at her flabbergasted demeanor before butting his head against her shoulder. "Come on, shark-bait!" he scorned, already propelling himself in Ichigo's direction. "Someone's gotta look out for him!"

With a deep breath in through the nose to calm her rattled nerves, Rukia gave a determined nod and speedily took off after Renji.

Ichigo shivered, his skin erupting in gooseflesh and his nerves anything but steely. He'd never ventured this deep into the ocean before. Out here everything was so different, so dark and dreary and… dead. The water was a cloudy shade of navy, decorated not with teeming plant life and shoals of vibrant marine animals, but rather with decaying seaweed and brittle coral shaped like malevolent, outstretched fingers. Searing hot springs cast his body in heinous shades of red and he more than once started at the gruesome creatures with jagged fins, sharp teeth and grotesque appearances that slithered past them.

Amber eyes grew heavy with doubt when they eventually reached their destination; a large skeletal structure that looked like the bony remains of a once colossal and fearsome predatory sea beast.

Getsuga and Tenshou swam right up to the gaping mouth of their master's lair with nary a care, glancing back at the orange-haired merman as he hesitated to go any further. "This way…" they instructed with their hissing, serpentine tenors.

Choking back his thoroughly transparent fear, Ichigo guardedly followed them through the snarling jaw and deep into the underbelly of the great beast. Everything was highlighted in ghoulish shades of plum and fuchsia, allowing Ichigo to see that what he thought was a bed of haggard seaweed was actually something far more sinister. Grisly and frankly nightmarish faces stared up despairingly at Ichigo, the resonance of wailing moans and desolate cries making him want to cover his ears against the awful sounds. One brave corrupted soul saw a chance and sprang up, wrapping itself around Ichigo's wrist in a desperate bid for help. Ichigo cursed in shock and fright, frantically pulling free off the wretched thing before a haunting, echoic voice called out to him from somewhere up ahead.

"Come in. Come in, little prince…"

Ichigo anxiously did as he was told, rounding a corner to a sparsely decorated space effectively right in the centre of the beast's belly. Against the far wall he noticed a large design not unlike a conch shell, the quality to the other's tone suggesting to Ichigo that that was indeed from where the velvety voice was originating.

"We mustn' lurk in doorways, pet. It's awful rude." Ichigo was proven right in his assumptions when not two seconds later a lithe and beguilingly beautiful form glided out from the opening of the grand shell, the figure covered from head to waist in flawless porcelain skin and sporting a beautiful tail of shimmering pearly scales and glassy midnight fins. Pointed, carnal teeth were displayed through a vicious smirk, enchanting facial features alight with wicked mischief as long flowing locks of silver tinted ivory danced around muscular shoulders and cascaded down a toned back. "With manners like tha', one migh' question yer imperial upbringin'."

Ichigo chewed on his bottom lip as he coolly ventured forward, carefully approaching the grinning demon. Shirosaki narrowed gold on obsidian eyes and met the boy halfway, circling him like a ravenous wolf before the kill.

"Now then," Shirosaki proclaimed, Ichigo dully realizing that the echoic quality to the demon's tone had nothing to do with where they were. "You're here 'cause ya have a thing for this human, this prince fella, ne?" Placing his hands on the peachy planes of Ichigo's shoulders from behind, Shirosaki grinned, leaning forward to speak directly into the orangette's ear. "Not tha' I blame ya – he is quite the catch, isn' he?"

Chuckling at the irresistible shiver elicited from his pretty prince, Shirosaki brushed past Ichigo, intentionally rubbing against his side as he perched himself on a seat in front of a vanity mirror embellished with spiraled coral and small shelves harboring bottles and charms Ichigo couldn't hope to decipher.

"Here's how it is, angelfish," Shirosaki cooed from where he sat, running black varnished nails through his long hair as he deliberately avoided eye contact. "The solution ta yer lil' problem; y'know, without all the hassle of a ridiculously long distance relationship, is really quite elementary. The only way ta get wha' ya want," orbs of liquid gold cast Ichigo an insidious look through the mirror, "is ta become a human yerself…"

Ichigo drew in a sharp breath, his motor functions short-circuiting as he drifted up behind the sea demon, amber eyes brimming with hope if not a hint of skepticism. "Can you really do that?"

Shirosaki's smirk was nothing short of feral. Gods, it was almost too easy.

"Aa, my dear, sweet prince – tha's what I do!" Shirosaki exclaimed, manic glee coursing beneath the surface as he pivoted to face his beautiful prey. "It's wha' I live for; ta help unfortunate merfolk, like yerself. Poor souls with no one else ta turn to…"

Ichigo couldn't quite believe his ears. With Shirosaki's help, he could become a human! He could walk and talk and breathe up on land – he could find Grimmjow and finally confess his true feelings for the man. They could start a life together, be happy and laugh and love together. The prospect of such a dream-turned-reality was so simply wonderful, he could feel himself thrumming with anticipation already!

And yet… He couldn't help but question this supposedly selfless act of altruism. If life had taught him but one thing, it was that if something seemed too good to be true, then it most likely was. There just had to be a catch in there somewhere; after all, nobody got something for nothing. Shirosaki would be no different, would surely have a price of his own – he was a demon, for crying out loud! It was sheer idiocy to assume he wouldn't have an angle to play.

And so the question begged; what did he want in return?

"I've heard the stories about you," Ichigo told him, folding his arms across his chest as he scrutinized the demon under furrowed brows. "Why should I trust in anything you have to offer me?"

Shirosaki's grin merely tugged wider, golden pools glittering as he sashayed over to Ichigo and clutched a hand over his heart in mock offense. "I'll be the first ta admit tha' I was somethin' of a troublemaker, a heretic if ya will – they didn't call me 'demon' fer nothin', ya know. But tha's all in the past, my prince. I've recanted all my old ways; repented, seen the light, made a switch – take yer pick."

"If all that's true," Ichigo responded, wisely maintaining his distance, "then why are you living all the way out here? Why not come back to the kingdom if you're truly a changed man?"

"Because your father is a cowardly worm an' a piss poor excuse for a king!" Shirosaki hissed before he could stop himself, the bitter sting from exile and abandonment temporarily getting the better of him. When golden orbs spied amber pools darken in trepidation however, he quickly reined himself in, plastering a charming grin on his lips as he slunk up beside the orangette. "But tha's neither here nor there, pet. As for righ' now, ya might wanna listen up. Fortunately for you I happen ta dabble in the dark arts; it's nuthin' ta fret about, jus' a little talent I've possessed since birth."

Ichigo watched with cynical eyes as the sea demon circled around a strange looking stand, running an alabaster hand over the top until the black porous thing opened up at the top to reveal a glowing, bubbling cauldron, the rim edged with sharp points that scarily resembled teeth of some sort.

"So lately, an' don' make fun, I've been usin' my Poseidon-given gifts on behalf of the miserable, the lonely an' depressed… The pathetic…" he muttered to Getsuga and Tenshou who were floating close-at-hand, the two sharks sniggering as he turned his attention back to his little prince. "All those poor, unfortunate souls in pain an' need, who d'ya think they come flockin' ta when they have a problem, ey? Tha's right; me."

"And those… things, stuck out there in your doorway?" Ichigo inquired with a cocked brow and set jaw. "What about those 'poor, unfortunate souls'?"

Shirosaki morphed his features into one of scruple and remorse. "Aa, yes, them. Okay, so its happened maybe once or twice; someone was unable ta pay up when their time came, an' am afraid I had no choice but ta rake 'em across the coals…" The alabaster demon shrugged, the action elegant in its heartlessness. "I've had ta deal with the odd complaint, it's true – but this is business, sweetheart, not a charity. Don' do the crime if ya can' stomach the time an' all tha' jazz."

"You really are a monster…" Ichigo growled in distaste, suddenly not feeling so confident about his rash decision to come here.

"Heh. Compared ta the old days, I've been a saint, baby," Shirosaki purred, wrapping an arm around Ichigo's waist and giving him a hearty squeeze as he guided them over to the effervescing cauldron. He could smell the sweet, delicious aroma of the boy's scent, the silky feeling of his skin beneath his fingertips and the warmth radiating off of that slender body in waves giving the demon the overwhelming urge to chain Ichigo down for eternity right here and now. But alas, it would be in his best interests to see the plan through, to make it more legal and… binding. "Here's the deal; I'll make ya a potion tha'll turn ya into a human for three days. Ya got tha', angel? Three days."

Ichigo gave nothing more than a hardy scowl and averted gaze from those exotic eyes to show that he had heard and understood. Shirosaki licked his lips hungrily. If the boy didn't stop acting so damn tempting, he'd have no choice but to devour him before they even got their covenant underway. Not that he would in any way dispute the idea, heaven forbid…

"Listen dollface, 'cause this is important." Waving his hand over the cauldron, Shirosaki conjured up three small orbs of radiant yellow, explaining to Ichigo as they rose and fell in succession, "Before the sun sets on the third day, ya've got ta get yer dear ol' princie ta fall in love with ya. By which of course I mean, he's got ta kiss ya." Seeing Ichigo dumbly nod along, Shirosaki frowned and elaborated. "Not jus' any kiss, now. It has ta be the kiss of true love."

A little ways behind them, where Ichigo had first entered into the belly of the skeletal lair, Renji and Rukia covertly peered around the corner, eavesdropping in on the conversation with no small amount of dread mounting within their guts.

"If he does kiss ya before the sun sets on the third day," Shirosaki went on, perfectly aware that they had company but in no way concerned that they would be interrupted – especially not with his loyal pets lurking around, "ya'll remain human permanently. But be warned, if he doesn't give up the goods, then ya'll turn back into a merman… An' then, my beautiful prince, you belong ta me for all eternity…"

"No, Ichigo!" Rukia protested before Ichigo could respond, Renji growling lowly beside her as her outburst simultaneously captured Getsuga and Tenshou's collective attention, alerting them to their intrusive presence. Not caring in the least that their cover had been effectively blown, Rukia made to dart forward, determined to drag Ichigo out of the evil clutches of the porcelain-skinned demon before it was too late. She got no further than her initial outcry though, as herself and Renji suddenly found themselves impeded by the black and ivory hides of the two hammerhead sharks, both of whom made it abundantly clear that they would not hesitate to tear them to chum should they attempt to interfere.

"Have we got a deal?" Shirosaki pressed, cupping Ichigo's chin in his hand as he redirected his focus away from his pesky friends and back toward himself. He was so close to sealing the deal he could taste it on the tip of his tongue, he couldn't afford to allow the orangette to lose focus now.

Ichigo was hesitant to answer, unable to sort through the muddle of warring and conflicting emotions competently enough. "If I become human," he began, his voice carrying low and heavy with uncertainty. "I'll never be with my father or sisters again…"

"Tha's right!" Shirosaki concurred, pillowing a fist under his chin and knitting his brows as if the thought had only just occurred to him at that very moment. "But on the other hand, ya'll have yer man," he pursued, a slow smirk snaking across his lips as he leaned provocatively over his cauldron. "Life's full'a tough choices, ain't it? Oh! An' there is jus' one more thing… We haven't discussed the subject 'a payment. Ya can't get somethin' fer nothin', ne?"

Ichigo felt his chest tighten considerably at that. He knew it!

"But I don't have any–"

"Am not askin' much!" Shirosaki was hasty to interrupt, pressing an alabaster finger to Ichigo's petal soft lips to silence him. "Jus' a token really; a trifle. I promise ya'll never even miss it!" Gently tracing his finger down over those luscious lips to hook under a peachy chin and tilt the boy's head back to eyelevel, Shirosaki gave a licentious purr. "What I want from you, little prince… is yer voice."

Ichigo blinked, tearing out of the demon's hold as he wrapped a hand delicately around his throat. "My voice?"

"You got it, babycakes," Shirosaki affirmed with a salacious wink. "No more talkin', singin'. Zip!"

'Singing?' Ichigo grimaced to himself, wrinkling his nose. 'What does this guy take me for?' Casting the thought from his head, he instead said aloud, "But that doesn't make any sense. Without my voice, how am I supposed to–"

"Ya'll have yer looks! Yer pretty face!" Shirosaki ventured before Ichigo could dwell too long on the negatives and potentially back down. Gliding over to the indecisive orangette, Shirosaki coiled his limber body around Ichigo's, making sure to touch and pet as much of him as physically possible, before coming to rest behind him. Molding the entire length of his body up against Ichigo's back, he skimmed his hands down his arms and – apparently quite sensitive – sides to curl around slim hips, undulating them to a beat that neither one could hear. "An' don' ever underestimate the importance 'a body language…"

Delivering a swift elbow to the demon's ribs, Ichigo wriggled out of Shirosaki's grasp, putting some much needed distance between them. If Shirosaki took any umbrage toward the attack, he didn't care to comment on it. In fact, Ichigo thought, he looked somewhat amused with that immoral, carnivorous grin.

"Heh! Ya'll fit in jus' fine up there, pet!" Shirosaki crowed triumphantly, more than pleased about his future mate's fiery spirit. "Surface-dwellin' men don' like a lot'a blabber. All tha' gossip an' idle prattle does nothin' but piss 'em off." With a swish of his tailfin he made his way up to a clam on the wall, the two hinged shells sitting open to expose shelves full of bottles small and large, some filled with viscous liquids whilst others appeared to imprison living organisms. Without even having to look at what he was grabbing, the demon started tossing bottle after bottle over his shoulder, the clear vials dancing past Ichigo's face and somehow finding their way into the now smoldering cauldron with a bang and plume of smoke. "A true gentleman will dote an' swoon an' fawn over those who're distant an' withdrawn. Mystique an' intrigue; tha's wha' they go nuts fer, darlin'! Up there, it's he who holds his tongue tha' gets his man!"

Renji, Rukia, and even Ichigo, all balked as Shirosaki threw yet more potions and vials into the crackling cauldron, his echoic voice reverberating with a sinister hum all around them.

"C'mon, Ichigo, ya poor, unfortunate soul!" Shirosaki sneered, his left hand clamping down on Ichigo's shoulder whilst his right carded through and fisted in soft, sunset tangerine spikes. "Go ahead, little prince – make yer choice! I happen ta be a very busy demon, an' I ain't got all day ta sit around an' wait fer ya. It's not like it's gonna cost ya much, jus' yer voice…" Slithering around behind the stalling orangette, Shirosaki smirked against the shell of his ear as he conjured up a golden and glowing contract. "If ya wanna cross a bridge, sweetcheeks, ya've got ta pay the toll. If ya want yer happily ever after with the human of yer dreams, then go ahead; jus' pick up the pen an' sign the deed. It's tha' simple…"

Renji and Rukia could do nothing but spectate with panic-stricken eyes and terror gripping their insides as Ichigo determinedly snatched up the fishbone writing implement, scowl still etched deep into his brow and teeth worrying his lip as he signed his name in neat, looping letters across the dotted line at the bottom of the floating contract. There, it was done – and there was absolutely no turning back now.

As soon as he lifted the pen from the parchment it rolled up on itself and flew into the ebony tipped fingers of Shirosaki, the demon letting loose a bone-chilling cackle as he grasped the scroll and it disappeared with a blinding flash into thin air.

"Excellent choice!" Shirosaki declared with a ravenous, lopsided smirk, eyeing Ichigo up like he was a tasty morsel laid out upon a silver platter. "An' now ta seal the deal an' collect on my end of the bargain…"

Ichigo's every nerve end buzzed with adrenaline and, admittedly, fear as Shirosaki closed in on him, that skull pendant hanging around a marbled collarbone shimmering forebodingly in the dim light. Long, alabaster arms enclosed around his back and waist, hugging him firm against the demon's body so that his senses were flooded with smooth flesh, molten pools encased in toxic obsidian, and a hypnotic, citrusy musk. With his fight-or-flight instincts kicking into overdrive, Ichigo began to resist against the hold, only to have those strong arms envelop him tighter.

"Don' struggle, little prince," Shirosaki warned with a carnal glimmer to those mesmerizing eyes, an inky blue tongue flicking out to lick a pale bottom lip. "Ya'll jus' make this all the more fun… fer me."

That being said, Shirosaki promptly brought his lips down to crash against Ichigo's own, the young merman so startled he couldn't have put up a fight even if he wanted to. Shirosaki purred hungrily against those carnation pink lips; they were everything he'd ever hoped they would be – and more. Ichigo was absolute perfection and, in just three short days, he would be all his to sate and adore as he saw fit.

Ichigo thought he saw a flicker of light from behind his closed eyes, but before he could investigate Shirosaki adequately distracted him by tracing his tongue over the seam of his lips, beckoning him to engage in their passionate embrace. Ichigo's jaw slackened, though not by choice. This was his first true kiss! Stolen by a demon, no less. In spite of his age, he had never really expressed much interest in any kind of romantic intimacy, far too caught up in the wonderment of exploration and adventure instead to bother. Then, after having his heart swept away by Grimmjow and his ethereal good looks, Ichigo had naïvely believed that it would fall upon the handsome human to take his first kiss, his first love… his first everything.

Shirosaki was rather disappointed in Ichigo's lack of acknowledgement, especially after he managed to part those beautiful lips and swipe his tongue inside for a deep taste of his soon-to-be mate, but he shrugged it off figuring they would have more than enough time to explore and please one another after Ichigo returned home to him. With this in mind, he kept casting the phrenic incantations this particular spell necessitated, slowly but surely achieving his goal. No sense in rushing these things, eh?

When Ichigo first felt an inexplicable scratching at the back of his throat, he believed it might have something to do with the arduous kiss being lavished upon him. He soon realized that this was not the case however, and that it was in fact Shirosaki, quite literally, sucking a precious piece of his very soul from his body. When Shirosaki finally released him, disturbed amber orbs looked on in dismay as the demon's pendant began to shine and hum from the paranormal power incarcerating his voice.

Shirosaki held the pendant with both hands, his thumbs stroking over the skull design as his lips parted into a razor sharp smirk and his head tossed back, loud, psychotic barks of laughter filling the tumultuous ambience swarming down around them. With no time to react, Ichigo was snatched up by a large golden pouch of air, the cauldron hissing and spewing torrents of noxious gas as his form twisted and thrashed within the capsule, supernatural forces at work as diabolical tendrils of energy encased his tail and split it into two lean, athletically sculpted legs.

With no warning whatsoever, the pocket of air surrounding Ichigo suddenly popped and the orangette, not thinking clearly in all the chaotic commotion, tried to take in a breath. But alas, all he got for his efforts was a deep lungful of seawater, the realization that he could no longer breathe under water hitting him like a blow to the gut – he was drowning!

Acting fast, Renji and Rukia rushed to the prince's aid. Not used to his newly acquired limbs, Ichigo tried fruitlessly to swim upward, he needed air! But his legs wouldn't coordinate with the rest of his body. Luckily Renji and Rukia were right there beside him, Rukia guiding Ichigo to grab hold of Renji's dorsal fin and securing him there with her petite body before Renji shot up and out of a craggy gap in the lairs ceiling, propelling all three of them swiftly toward the water's surface and leaving an insanely cackling Shirosaki behind in the murky depths.

Breaking through the surf, Ichigo took a long, greedy gulp of precious oxygen, his body arching high out of the water and sending a spray of glittering droplets that sparkled like diamonds against the early morning rays in every which direction. Feeling incredibly lightheaded now that his lungs were suitably replenished, Ichigo sank back down into the water, Renji and Rukia hooking an arm each over themselves as they helped the dazed prince off toward the shoreline.

Both friends could feel Ichigo tiredly kicking the new extensions to his body as they gradually verged upon the beach, but neither could bring themselves to voice their concerns on the matter. Their minds were still reeling, still aimlessly trying to comprehend what the hell had just transpired between the monstrous demon and the orange-haired merman. Well, that wasn't exactly correct anymore, as was blatantly obvious with the addition of two fleshy, peach hued legs paddling between them…

…Ichigo, their beloved prince and dearest friend, was now a living, breathing human man.

Toringtino A/N: Ahoy there, me hearties~ Welcome to "Still Waters"; the first official collaboration piece between myself an' the too talented for words, caribouandcake!

In case y'all hadn't already guessed, Belle an' I are bonafide Disney nuts. Like, proper ga-ga. Writin' this with Gabrielle was an absolute pleasure, an' after her glorious rendition of this classic tale at the beginnin', I can only hope I did my Aibou proud :3 I know tha' this is quite the long one (an' by my standards, tha's really sayin' somethin'!) but I had awesome fun mixin' it up ta fulfil the ever ravenous GrimmIchi spot in our hearts (: Mhmm. I encourage y'all ta please do enjoy at yer own peril, mah sweets, an' ta rest easy in the assurance tha' there is plenty more where this came from~ Oh, yes.

Over ta you, Aibou ^^

Caribouandcake A/N:Ah, I really do feel Tori said it all. We're Disney freaks right down to the core, we listen to the soundtracks and everything. Not to mention Disneyworld in Orlando pretty much happens to be my favorite place in the whole entire universe. For real. Bringing these classic love stories to GrimmIchi life with my lil' partner in crime... what more can a gal ask for? Ah. it's gonna be good. That much I can tell you.