Okay, so, this was a longer chapter originally, but I had to rewrite it several times when I realized I was in a corner; as a result, it got shorter because elements of this chapter got pushed to the next one.

For a longer explanation, filled with woe, about why this chapter took so long, read the author's note at the end.

This chapter title brought to you by the Zac Brown Band, and their song, 'Jump Right In'.

Island Lullaby

Lovino sighed as he picked up the pants and boots that were some of the clothes Alfred, Bella and Kat had liberated from the remains of the Pirate Ship, and ignored Bella and Kat bickering over whether or not Kat should spend some time wearing clothes and walking.

There was evidence that there were pirates on the Island, and Alfred had pushed for him to take a couple knives or even an axe with him when he went away from the beach to gather fruit. Lovino had conceded the knives, but he was liable to take his own head off with an axe or actual sword.

The boots were because his attempts at sandals had never actually succeeded, and if he got trapped on the rocky beaches, he wanted to be able to run without worrying about cutting his feet on the rocks.

"I'm going to go for a swim!" Kat yelled, breaking Lovino's concentration, trying to escape Bella, who had gotten the blouse on the struggling mermaid, and was trying to lace up the bodice, much to the overly busty mermaid's dismay. "Alfred, Lovino, help me!"

" . . . Hahaha, um, there's no way that'll end well for either of us." Alfred looked at Lovino, who finished changing into the less frayed pants and was trying on the boots.

"Stay still, Kat! This won't hurt!"

"I need to find boots that fit- oi, help me out here." Lovino got Alfred's attention, and the merman pulled himself out of the water and over to where Lovino was sitting.

"Nn- this is very uncomfortable!" Kat burst into tears. "Lovino! Alfred! H-help!"

"Will you stop crying? You always complain your breasts hurt your back out of water, but with proper support, it will be fine!" Bella huffed, miffed at her best friend's actions.

"Kat . . . I know you don't like wearing clothes, but she's got a point." Alfred absently grabbed Lovino's leg and put it in the boot he'd picked up.

This unbalanced the Italian, who ended up face first in the sand, and came up glaring at merman, who was focused on the crying mermaid.

"Watch what you're doing!" Lovino growled, and Alfred blinked, looking at him in a completely clueless fashion. Lovino was ready to try and throw the boot at him, but the look stopped him.

"Doesn't the boot fit?" Lovino's face once again met the sand- this time out of frustration. "Lovino? Did I do something wrong?"

"The boot fits." Lovino muttered into the sand. It did, so he couldn't take it off and throw it. Damn it. Lovino looked up again, this time to see Alfred beam a smile at him as the merman put on the other boot on his still bare foot. Lovino felt his lips twitch to return it.

"I'm going to go with Lovino, then!" Kat grabbed onto the startled Italian, who turned a shade of red that Alfred had never seen before.

"Wha-?" Lovino blinked, as Kat easily picked him up and pulled him along. A stray cloud blocked the sun. And it was a few minutes before the mermaid stopped. "What was that about?" The sudden turn around was confusing. Hadn't she been crying about not wanting to walk?

"You have to stop it." Kat looked at him.

"Stop what?" Lovino was really confused. "What did I do?"

"Oh! I forgot to explain . . . Bella explained the shells, yes?"

"Yes, they help you use your magic to walk on land."

"They help us control our magic, yes, but not just to walk on land. They keep it from flaring up when we're angry, or happy or well, experiencing any strong emotion."

" . . . Alfred doesn't have a shell, what does that mean for him?" Kat became even more distressed at Lovino's question.

"I'm not explaining this right . . . Merfolk are all possessive by nature- we love things that are unique, one of a kind. Treasure, stories told well, songs, sea creatures . . . when we find something unique, we can't help but do everything we can to keep it, for as long as we can. Alfred . . . Alfred thinks you're something special, he'd do anything for you, and without control of his magic . . . it causes problems."

"How?"

"The storm. When the pirates captured you, the storm was caused by Alfred's emotions. Didn't you see how quickly it dissipated when Alfred got you back?" Kat took Lovino's look of shock as her answer. "Alfred's kept the weather calm around the island, because he's been happy to be with you. But we can't interfere with the natural weather patterns for long, and Alfred can't reign in his magic with his emotions being so strong."

"So what did you mean, I have to stop it? Stop doing what?"

"You have to stop giving up."

"Giving up what?"

"Giving up getting off this Island. You keep doing that. You stop preparing for leaving, you swim more, you spend too much time with Alfred, and all you're doing is making it harder for when you have to say good bye." Kat's eyes started to water up. "You must think me horrible for saying this, but you have to stop getting distracted."

" . . . Can you put spells on people?" Lovino frowned up at the cloud cover that was forming. He hadn't gotten much information from Alfred (he had a feeling Alfred hadn't thought the information worth explaining, and had just left out magic entirely).

"No. That's just an excuse some sailor came up with to explain why he jumped overboard to try and catch a mermaid. Men don't like to admit they were being fools, so they say they were bewitched to cover up being drunk or too stupid to realize they couldn't catch a mermaid by swimming."

"Oh." That made sense. He knew some idiot sailors that would try something like that.

"Yes, so please, promise me you'll stop giving up?"

"I'll try." With that, they headed back to the beach.

Gah, sorry for the wait. Y'see, I wrote myself into a corner with this story, so while I was trying to fix this chapter, I went back to an old fandom and decided to write some more there, to try and get my mind off the fact that I'd gotten into a corner.

Then I got into financial issues, got a job at a bistro that requires me to work all day (two shifts, they're low on people) a few days a week, online college courses, Real Life . . . and then some really cruel friend of mine, knowing full well that I have a plot bunny generator in my head, suggested I watch Rise of the Guardians. Despite being an adult, I figured I'd get back in touch with my inner child again and watch it with my mom, as we do not spend a lot of bonding time. (I'm a Daddy's girl. Pretty much the son he never had.)

We both loved it. And I decided to check out that fandom, read some stories, see how crazy the fans are (admit it, you have been a crazy fan for something at least once in your life), check out the history of why the movie was made, y'know, normal fanfic author behavior.

I never learn. That's how I got into most of my fandoms, and ROTG just sucked me in. I have a story planned out for that fandom now.

Then, just as I start fighting my way back to the fandoms I have to finish stories for, I discover they're re-doing Max Steel. Now, I only saw one episode of the original show, did not follow the plot all that well, cause while I could tell who was a hero and who was a villain, I didn't know the characters, but I thought it was a cool sort of show. So I checked the remake out.

I never learn. I now have a story outlined for that fandom (of which, there is practically none, so . . .) too.

At some point, I'm just going to start posting the first chapters of planned fics, see which get a nibble so I know if I have any good ideas left.

So, like I said, I have no idea where this story is trying to go anymore. I'm trying to keep it short, because I no longer have the patience (or time) for long stories. 15 chapters is going to be the limit.