Kurt talked a little about school and his classes, but when Blaine asked about his friends and siblings he trailed off into silent shrugs.

"Are you going to tell your family about me?" Blaine enquired after a quiet moment.

"I don't know," Kurt sighed, fiddling with a small shell, "It's probably not a good idea. I'm pretty sure nobody saw what happened. They most likely assumed you drowned. And I think it's best we let them think that."

"What did happen exactly?" Blaine asked hesitantly, cautiously. He wanted the question answered, but part of him was reluctant to tread into such dangerous waters, terrified of what might be lurking beneath the surface. His memories of the incident were hazy at best and Blaine would just as soon leave them that way rather than find out in gory detail what had really happened to his friends. What had almost happened to him.

But another, larger piece of him was dying of curiosity. He needed to know. Needed to know why his life alone had been spared.

"Why am I still alive?"

Kurt shrugged, turning the seashell over in his hand, "Luck, I guess."

Blaine cleared his throat, face flushing red, "But you saved me...Didn't you?"

Kurt's eyes dropped, "Yeah, I did." He reached out and gently brushed the angry skin on Blaine's thigh, "Most of you, anyway."

Blaine flinched a little at the touch and the other boy pulled his hand away. It was still a little tender.

"Sorry."

"It's okay," Blaine breathed. Kurt didn't answer so Blaine swallowed and asked again, "So... What happened?"

Kurt bit his lip. "Santana got you," he explained.

"What?"

Kurt's curious gaze met his once more, "How much do you remember?"

I remember you holding me. I remember your eyes. "Not much. I remember the storm... and mermaids showing up and singing. The whole thing making me feel sort of... like they were sucking the will out of me or something." He shuddered, "I- I remember being attacked and...and this really evil-looking mermaid was after me and... I think I fell overboard but...I don't know... it all gets kind of fuzzy after that..."

"That evil mermaid's not used to being thwarted, you know," Kurt interjected, "I'm going to have to deal with Angry-Santana when I get back home, thanks to you. Not looking forward to that."

"... sorry?"

"You should be. If you thought she was scary eating your friends alive, you ain't seen nothing." Blaine just stared at him in disbelief. Kurt stared right back, all traces of humor slowly fading from his features. He seemed to debate something for a moment before he finally sighed, "Oh, what the hell. I'm already dead as it is." He rolled his eyes before launching into his explanation.

"The boys and I were hanging back, like we usually do," he began, "We usually wait for the girls to do their thing and then we help scavenge..." He paused at Blaine's expression, "The, uh, well, whatever's left." He finished quickly and Blaine's eyes widened, "But we were watching. Well, I was watching. I don't know what the other guys were doing. And, well, I saw you." Blaine could feel the heat rising in his cheeks. He hoped Kurt didn't notice. "I sort of noticed you because... well, you seemed different. It didn't look like you were... under our spell. As much as the other sailors... And I noticed you because you were really pissing Santana off," he added with a slight grin, "And anyone who can best Santana is okay in my book, even if they are human."

Blaine wasn't thrilled about the way Kurt said 'human.' It sounded an awful lot like a synonym for 'food.'

"So I was watching and the girls were singing and the boys joined in with their back-up vocals." Blaine vaguely remembered the low hum that had accompanied the mermaids' serenade. "They do that when they get excited," Kurt continued, "They say it's like a war-cry, but if you ask me it's just a bunch of hungry teenage dudes moaning for their dinner, " Kurt rolled his eyes. "...I never know what to do in those situations," Kurt added, almost as an afterthought. "My voice is too high to sing with the other guys most of the time, and I can't be out there with the girls..." He trailed off and shook his head. "Usually, I pick one group or another, but this time I didn't, I was distracted... " Kurt bit his lip and looked down, "I was just...watching." He took a deep breath, "When the girls attacked, I saw Santana go after you and I... I felt... something."

Blaine felt his heart rate speed up. Kurt nervously tightened his fingers around the seashell.

"I felt sort of... I don't know. I can't even... And then you got hit and and you fell overboard and I... I just..." Kurt squeezed the shell so fiercely that it cracked in two with a sharp pop, "I couldn't let you drown."

Blaine stared at the broken pieces of shell in Kurt's alabaster hands, processing.

"Wait a minute," said Blaine slowly, "I- I was drowning. I was drowned. I couldn't breathe. That part I remember. How...?" Blaine's jaw snapped shut as the realization suddenly dawned on him and he understood what the mysterious warmth on his lips must have been. He felt the heat rising on his neck. He dared a glance over at the merman who was staring at the rocks again, face beat-red.

Blaine's heart was hammering in his chest, "Did you...?" He trailed off, words failing.

Kurt's blush deepened even further, if that were possible, and he gave another jerky nod.

"You needed air," he whispered.

Blaine could only stare, his gaze now fixated on those, moist, plush, seashell-colored, perfect, lick-able lips. Suddenly all he could think about were those lips on his. About feeling them, tasting them, their softness, their warmth. He'd tasted that.

As Blaine fought to clear his head, the awkward silence between them lingered until the tension became unbearable.

"Do you guys even breathe air?" Blaine blurted suddenly. He frowned immediately after, and so did Kurt. It was kind of a bizarre question. Although, considering the circumstances, it could have been a lot worse.

"Um, what?"

Blaine stumbled a little over his words, "Um, well, you know, mermaids. You guys live in water and everything, right? I just didn't think, you know, I didn't know. If they, you... If mermaids could breathe air."

Blaine bit his lip to shut himself up. He wasn't usually one to ramble. But, then, the situation was anything but 'usual.' And the angel-boy was just making him so freaking nervous.

Kurt was looking at him curiously. "I'm breathing on dry land now, aren't I?"

"I, well, yeah," Blaine felt like a total idiot. He looked down, feeling Kurt's eyes on him.

The merman apparently took pity on him and decided to answer. "We need both, actually," he said, "air and water."

Blaine looked up in surprise.

"Oh."

"Yeah..."

"I- I didn't know that."

"I'd be amazed if you did. We don't normally go around sharing trade secrets with humans," Kurt frowned, "Come to think of it, we don't normally go around talking to humans at all."

"Do you talk to humans ever?"

"No. No, not really. This'd cause quite a stir back at home if they found out."

Blaine nodded. He could only imagine the reaction back in the real world if he told anyone what had transpired here today. If anyone believed him, that is.

"Well, then," he said after a moment of contemplation, "We'd better make the most of it." At that, Kurt's face lit up in his most dazzling smile yet.

And so they talked.

They talked about everything and nothing. The important and the nonsensical. About their hopes, dreams, fears and about the weather.

Kurt told Blaine about his family. About his brothers and his sisters. About school and home. About his love of singing and his fascination with human clothing. He told Blaine how he'd even tried fashioning a garment of sorts for himself once, only to have it stolen and be mercilessly teased for it. He talked about sharks and how it was always great sport catching and killing them. Blaine was still having a tough time wrapping his mind around that one but, listening to Kurt talk, it was apparently a most enjoyable pastime with a delicious ending.

And Blaine talked too. He told Kurt about how his father had gotten lost at sea when Blaine was eight. How he'd lived alone with his mother until she'd died four years later. How he'd snuck on board a fishing vessel that same night and never looked back. He talked about his friends and his passion for performing. He talked about his love of the ocean and sailing. How the sea had always seemed to call to him, how he couldn't imagine living any other life.

They talked and they laughed and they joked and they sighed, stretched out next to one another on the cooling blanket of golden sand. And as the sun drifted lazily across the sky to kiss the water, Blaine found himself wishing he'd never have to leave this island. That he and Kurt could just stay here, frozen in this perfect moment forever.

"Do you think this has ever happened before?" Blaine wondered aloud, wiggling his toes in the damp, squishy sand.

"Has what ever happened before?" Kurt didn't break his gaze away from the gently crashing waves.

"This. A human and mermaid meeting without trying to kill one another."

"I don't know. I don't suppose we'd hear about it if they had."

"True."

Kurt oscillated his incredible tail along the water's edge, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"What is it?"

"I did hear one story...We're not supposed to talk about it. I don't even know if it's true."

"Tell me."

Kurt shook his head, "It's probably not true."

"Tell me anyway." Something in Blaine's earnest expression must have convinced him, because Kurt shifted slightly to face him.

"The thing you have to understand," Kurt began, lowering his voice like it was a secret, "Is that we don't always have tails. Sometimes we can grow legs."

Blaine's eyebrows shot up. Just when he thought he'd seen it all. Will-sucking melodies, killer mermaids, shifting blue eyes, magic blood. But this? Blaine shook his head, unable to process.

"You can grow legs?" He sputtered.

Kurt nodded. "Once every full-moon if we want. Anytime after our two-hundred and twenty second lunar cycle."

Blaine blinks, completely uncomprehending. Kurt gives a small smile. "It's about eighteen and half years," he amends.

"Oh."

"There's this whole rite of passage thing when we turn eighteen, a big ceremony where we all grow legs. But it's just tradition. We don't keep them... Usually."

"Usually?"

"Well, there's this story. About a boy. Way before my generation. The story goes he grew legs and decided he liked them. He never gave them up."

Blaine knew he was staring in disbelief, but there wasn't really a whole lot he could do about it.

"So... he, what, became human?"

Kurt shook his head again. "He was still a mermaid. But he could pass for human. The legend goes he deserted the clan, ran away to live with the humans and never came back."

"Holy shit."

"I know."

"I guess I can see why they wouldn't want to talk about that."

"I know. It undermines everything we stand for. And can you imagine what would happen if humans found out?"

Blaine could. He could imagine the witch hunts that would ensue were word to get out that mermaids could be walking among them. He shuddered even to imagine it.

"Anyway," said Kurt after a moment, "It's probably not true."

"Probably not."

It was getting dark, the sun slowly dipping below the horizon casting purplish hues across the sparking water and painting the shoreline in all manner of oranges and pinks. At the same time, the tide was rolling in. Blaine hadn't noticed it at first, but when Kurt splashed his illustrious tail in shallows he realized the sea was now mere feet away from his toes.

"I'm so glad I met you," said Kurt, eyes shining in the dying light, "I wish this day could have gone on forever."

He was reading Blaine's mind as easily as a book and he shuddered at the intensity of the connection.

"But, I guess it's time to say 'goodbye'," Kurt sighed reluctantly as he turned around and started shifting back into the ocean.

"Wait!" Blaine called, "Where are you going?"

Kurt looked back at him, "Um, home? It's late. They'll be wondering where I am."

"But- you're just going to leave me here? I don't even know where here is." Blaine hated how needy he sounded. He wasn't even sure where the panic in his chest was coming from. All he knew was that something inside him was desperate not to let this boy out of his sight.

"We're in the Caribbean," said Kurt, "La Isla de Coraje. Merchant ships come by here all the time. You'll be fine."

"But-"

"I can't stay here with you, Blaine. Have courage."

Blaine tried to push down his rising fear.

"Will I ever see you again?"

There was a long pause.

"I don't know," said the merman, eventually, "...But I doubt it." He paused and met Blaine's earnest eyes, "Take take care of yourself, Blaine. I'll always remember you."

And with a splash, he was gone.

A/N: Been a long time, I know. Thanks so much to anyone still following! :) Review!