3 comments/ 17295 views/ 27 favorites Touch of the Ocean By: AquaticDreams The day was as black as night as the clouds blocked out the sun. I cursed a bit as the wind blew against my face, making it difficult to breathe. I fought against the wind and rain as the ship below me rocked and swooned above the bumpy sea. I'd stayed out a bit later than normal during this night on the cruise. But I had not been aware that our ship was going to be hitting some very rough weather. Had I known that, I would have tucked in early. But because I had decided to stay out later, do a little drinking, play some games with other passengers, I found myself battling near-hurricane force winds and torrential rain. I'm surprised I had not been stopped on my way out. There wasn't a guard to tell me it was unsafe or anything. Perhaps he had not yet gotten to his station or whatnot. I was starting to really regret setting foot out here, because it was absolutely deserted. It was dark, and it was wet. The rain cascaded off my hair like a waterfall, despite the hood of my hoodie being up, but little help that did as my clothes were thoroughly soaked, and so was I. My glasses were useless, and dotted with rain droplets. I was worried about my phone, and headphones which were wrapped around my neck, but I had an idea that at least the phone would be okay as it was marketed for being water resistant. The headphones however...probably not so much. Even the backpack I held probably did little to protect my belongings as I battled the rain. I cursed as I battled the rain and winds, as the lightning flashed and thunder roared. I don't know why I had come out here. There was likely some other way of getting to my room that didn't involve me going outside, but it was quicker this way, and I guess my head was bigger than my thinking mind at the moment. Now I was asking myself why I had come out here in the first place. The ship rocked, and it got harder to keep balance as waves battered the ship left and right. The ship, being state of the art, likely was in no real danger of sinking. The passengers might have an uncomfortable rest, or something, but they would be safe. Me on the other hand, well, the waves were washing over my feet, crashing against my knees, and I was already saying it was time to turn back and go the long way. It was stupid of me to come out here, and it was stupid to think that I could take on this weather. I turned around, but as that happened, a large wave washed over the side crashing into my waist, knocking me down. The ship lurched to the side as it felt the wave, and I rolled along with it, no longer on my feet. I tried grasping for anything that could keep me from just rolling free all over the deck, but if there was anything loose, it had long been washed away, and the secured furniture was already beyond reach. I felt my back hit the guard railing, and I felt myself turn to get back on my feet. The lightning flashed however, and illuminated the sea. There was another big wave just inches from me, and as it washed over the side, I lost my grip. The ship protested a bit at the amount of water now on the deck, but corrected itself as she straightened out. The water however carried me to the other side. I was struggling to breathe, and I didn't realize that I was now being washed over the guard rail, into the clutches of the merciless sea below. I hit the rough and churning seas below, and immediately moved to surface. The water was freezing, and I could barely think as I moved to surface. As I surfaced, I was given a little relief in sight as the droplets on my glasses were washed away by the ocean, but I had to act fast. I immediately began to shout for help. I already knew that was in vain. I was the only one crazy enough to have gone out here. And even if there was somebody, there was wind, rain, thunder and just the ocean that would easily drown out my calls for help. The ship sailed on without one person on deck glancing in my direction. I continued to kick and stay afloat, while waving my arms, calling for help, but no one heard me. I felt the waves wash over me, the salty water forcing its way into my mouth. I continued to shout despite knowing no one heard me, before I just began to tread the water to the best of my ability. I wasn't a bad swimmer, but I knew there was no way out of this. My clothes were heavy and saturated with the water, and my shoes weren't easy to kick off. They were actually boots, and I would have had to untie them to get them off. The only thing I could do to lessen my burden, was reluctantly let my backpack sink into the depths. I did my best to stay above the water, though the waves would wash over me constantly. I looked around, there were no lights of other ships in sight, and the ship I had been on was already out of sight. I wondered how they would react when they would eventually realize they had lost someone. I wouldn't know. There was no way I was going to survive this. Fear began to take hold of my body. I was in open water, getting tired, there was no touchable bottom, no land, nothing at all to grab hold of. And the weather was horrible. I could already begin to feel weak to the cold waters, and my movements began to cease. I felt my body begin to slowly sink beneath the water. I didn't even bother to take in much of a breath as my head submerged followed shortly, by my hands that were still clawing the surface, trying to keep me afloat. Time seemed to slow at that moment. I guess what they say is true, that before you die, your life just reflects before you. I looked back on the good times, and the people who were close in my life...the people I would never see again. I think I even smiled at a few humorous memories that drifted past my mind. Here I was, about to drown and be forgotten in life, and I was smiling at an old school memory. Smiling at some old prank my friends played on me. Just smiling at the good times. Life got hard, and right now it couldn't be harder. Didn't mean that there wasn't something to smile at. My lungs kicked my air out, and as I floated there, slowly sinking, lost in the moment, I just instinctively breathed in, and felt my body convulse a bit, bringing me back to reality. The frigid salty water rushed into my lungs, and it felt awful. The salt stung my lungs and throat, and burned my nose. I barely paid much attention to it. My mind was acting so slow that I almost completely forgot that I was in the midst of drowning. I was drowning, and just not piecing together that this was it. I coughed a few times, as my body tried to get some sort of oxygen to my body, but there was nothing. It was just me, coughing up bubbles, and sinking a bit faster as the water filled my body. I coughed a couple more times as the last air bubbles left me, just leaving my body to try and take weak and desperate watery gasps, and I felt myself sinking lower and lower. The surface of the water was barely visible to the occasional flash of lightning up above. Despite everything, I clung to consciousness for as long as I could, my feelings and senses already beginning to fade as I sank in the cold water...just trying to get that last thought across my mind. What I thought of life, how I felt I lived it, who I would miss, but each thought was harder and harder, to the point where all I could think about was how peaceful it was down here. There was no commotion, no noise...I truly was alone. Or so it seemed. I didn't know who this was, but above me, I could make out the outline of some female figure. I didn't know who it was, and as it was, I couldn't really see in the darkness of the water anyway, but I didn't think too hard on it. Maybe it was a figment of my imagination, or some spirit here to guide me to the afterlife? I really didn't know what to say. But she got close as I felt the darkness finally starting to take hold of my body. She got close, and kissed me. It was the sweetest thing I'd ever felt...and it was something I was thankful to experience before I drifted into total unconsciousness... ... I don't know how much time had passed, but I felt so strange right there. I'd never felt so strange before. Breathing was difficult, a bit, and I felt pleasantly warm. I was laying on my back, and the ground beneath me was very soft. I was feeling a little weak, yet could feel my strength slowly returning. I was still sleeping, but was starting to piece together what had happened. I remembered going out on deck of the ship. I remembered the rough seas, the wind, the rain, and I remembered being washed overboard. Wait...I had drowned! I felt the need to open my eyes, because I still felt wet. I felt like I was submerged. Did I still have some life in my body? Was there a chance I could survive? Was there a chance that I was already being rescued? I opened my eyes slowly. No way... I couldn't exactly see, because my glasses were gone, but with my eyes opening and my senses returning, I confirmed something...I was underwater. And I was breathing. No way! How could it be possible? There was nowhere near enough oxygen to keep a human alive in water. I lifted my arm slowly, and saw that I was still clothed. Fully. I felt my jeans and boots still on beneath my torso. I had my t-shirt on, my grey hoodie over the top was still on, even my blue plaid jacket which was unbuttoned was on me still. However I then realized, that my watch had gone missing. So along with my glasses, my watch was gone. I also noticed my headphones were gone, as was my phone, wallet, and keys. I finally had to figure out what was going on. I slowly sat up to get a glimpse of my surroundings. The water was dark, but there were a few orbs or something providing a little illumination and light. I felt the soft sand beneath me and began to push up, when who would show up and grab my hand, but the female that I thought I had seen not so long ago. She was naked, to my vision, and though she looked blurred, the outline was just too familiar. She put a hand against my head as if to tell me to remain resting. I heard a divine sounding "Shhhh..." coming from her lips as she slowly pushed me back down. There was no way this was real. I was dead, and this was some weird experience I had of it all, as it happened. There was no way two people were underwater, breathing comfortably, and suffering no ill effect...I was pushed gently back down, accepting this reality, before she kissed my forehead, and I fell back asleep... ... More time passed and I once more woke up...nothing had changed. I was still in this underwater habitat. I was still breathing, I still couldn't see too clearly as my glasses were still missing, but I felt stronger. Earlier when I had first woken up, I had noticed that the act of pushing water in and out of my lungs was hard, as the liquid was heavy. Breathing underwater wasn't the same as breathing air. Air was light and empty. Water was heavy, and took effort to push in and out when I first realized I was breathing the stuff. I blinked and rubbed my eyes. I was unsure how long I had been out, how long I had been sleeping, if I was still alive or whatnot. On cue once more, the female figure appeared above me, her eyes gazing into mine. She was still naked to my vision, but I could see her a bit better. Her skin looked a little paler than a normal human...almost light blue, but not quite. Her eyes were a deep blue and her hair seemed to be like a white star color, with highlights of light blue. Her exposed breasts were petite, and she looked like an angel to me. She gazed into my eyes for a moment, before her voice, a voice so sweet and innocent asked me, "Are you okay?" I wasn't sure exactly how to answer her, and she likely knew that, but I rubbed my eyes again, finding it strange that this salt water, which I could taste, wasn't bugging my eyes, burning my lungs, or even cold to the touch anymore. In fact, I didn't know if I was deep underwater or not, but when I had fallen, the water was freezing. Now...it was perfect to me. It wasn't warm, or cold...it just felt perfect, like I had jumped into a pool of cool water on a hot summer day. I opened my mouth, watching a tiny air bubble escape my mouth toward the ceiling of...wherever we were. The water was still dark, but the same orb-like things were providing light. I tried to speak and ask for my glasses, but I quickly realized, that I wasn't exactly going to get the art of speaking underwater right off the bat. I sounded a little muffled and gargled. I rubbed my throat as if trying to warm up the vocal chords which were probably wondering how the heck to work in this environment and she got closer to me, and put her hands on the hand on my throat. "I know...this must be very strange to you, just try to relax..." I looked to her once more and opened my mouth. "Wh...where...where are my glasses?" I managed to speak. I had to put some effort into it, but I finally managed to get a sentence out. It felt strange, but she helped me as I sat up. She frowned at the word though. "What...what are glasses?" she asked. I frowned a bit. She didn't know what glasses were? I pointed at my eyes, and said slowly, "They...they were on my face..." "Oh...you mean these things?" she asked vanishing from my sight for a moment. I looked around as she vanished, but I just couldn't see properly. However after a moment, she came back and sure enough, she held my glasses. I slowly nodded and she put them on my face a bit awkward, but I didn't bother correcting it now...strangely...I could see better. I mean I knew glasses were made to see better, but being underwater, I was skeptical they would have worked at all. But I was seeing pretty clearly. I had to say this was strange. That was when it came to mind again. "How...how am I breathing...?" I asked looking to her. But I couldn't exactly finish, because I was finally able to get a good glimpse of this person...who wasn't so much a person as I'd thought. Her hands were webbed, and her forearms had a couple fins on her side. The sides of her chest had gill slits, and beneath her torso...oh my God. She was a mermaid! My eyes widened a bit at the shock. A real live mermaid! She saw my shock, and came closer, laying one of those webbed hands against my face. "Please don't be afraid..." she said softly. "I just saw you in the water and..." "You...you saved me?" I asked. This was literally The Little Mermaid all over to me. I was thrown off a ship in a storm, nearly drowned, and was saved by a mermaid. Only I was still underwater, and not on the beach, with her singing to me. She gave a small smile and nodded. "I can save someone from drowning with a kiss." I blushed a bit at that statement. So that kiss I had felt, it wasn't some out of body experience, or near death thing. It was an actual kiss from a mermaid. It had saved me. I looked at her tail. Her tail was a beautiful blend of color, that almost went with her torso skin color. It was primarily a blue color, but against the light, it could show a greenish hue and whatnot. On the tail where her hips would be were a couple more similar fins to what she had on her arms. All of these fins shared the light blue color of her skin, as did the flukes at the tail-end of her tail. As nonhuman as she was...she was very beautiful. An underwater goddess. An angel by all means. I was so dumbfounded in the moment, that I heard myself repeat "...you saved me..." She shushed me softly, and said, "You still need to rest..." I was still shocked that I was in the company of an actual mermaid, and as she pushed me back against the sand, I felt just a thousand questions in my mind, but not one of them escaped my lips. She just leaned me back, and kissed my forehead again. I blushed heavily as she did so. Was that a common thing she did? Like a greeting? "Please...rest..." After she said that, she swam off, and I watched her swim off gracefully. I wouldn't argue. I did after all narrowly escape death, and my body probably needed to get used to whatever it needed to get used to in this...aquatic environment. So after her flukes left my sight into the darkness of the cavern, I felt it relatively easy to shut my eyes and fall into another deep sleep. A real mermaid...she was a real mermaid... ... I once again lost all track of time as I slept in that underwater haven. I was out like a light, but there were times I could feel the mermaid, touching me. Nothing bad, I just felt her rubbing my chest, or picking up my arms or something. I guess she'd just be examining me or something. Making sure I wasn't hurt. I must say, that when she would rub, it felt wonderful...even if I was fully clothed. There were times she coaxed a pleasant moan and a smile out of me, despite being asleep. I didn't know how she would react to this, but occasionally, I'd feel that kiss on the forehead, as if she were kissing me goodnight. Those lips felt cool against my skin, and it was just...heavenly... I don't know how long it was before I felt myself awaken again, and I pushed myself up. I don't know how long it had been since I'd fallen overboard. I wasn't doubting being dead or alive anymore, I was obviously alive, just in a stranger world now. There had been times she'd woken me to feed me some strange foods that tasted of fish and of other things, and despite what you might think, they weren't half bad. I wasn't fully awake when she would feed me at those times, but seeing her care for me was just...I don't even know how to explain it. Why was she doing this for me? It wasn't like we knew each other or anything. I opened my eyes, and sat up. She wasn't in sight, so I decided to try and find her. I straightened out my glasses, for she had put them on a little awkward when she'd given them to me, and I'd not really bothered with them since, and began to slowly "swim-walk" I guess through the tunnels. It wasn't really much of either. I could kinda walk, but also had to use my arms to get myself moving. I moved through the dimly lit tunnels, and just thought about how strange this was. I could feel the water in my lungs, and it was strangely pleasant. The water carried echoes and sounds through the depths that I could hear from a distance. The pressure down here had to be unbelievable, yet I felt absolutely no discomfort from it. In fact, I felt beyond peaceful down here. Maybe that was one of the reasons it was so easy to relax down here...it was peaceful. Quiet. I turned a corner around one of the rocky cavern walls, and came upon a "room" illuminated with the pinkish light that dotted the cavern. There she was, just floating above some rocky surface, looking at some items, which I quickly recognized as my belongings. I didn't care too much that she had it, it's not like it was worth anything anymore, or worth anything at all down here. My guess was that she was just naturally curious. I spread my arms out as I regained my balance and looked at her, as she picked up item after item with a look of wondering how each item worked. She held one item up, and I just said, "It doesn't work anymore." My voice startled her into dropping the item, which was once my phone, onto the rock. "Oh...I didn't know you were awake...I would have checked on you." she said perhaps with a small bit of guilt. Maybe guilt that she had been caught with my things or, guilt that she hadn't been there for me waking up. Either way, I just gave her a small smile. "You're okay, I literally just got up...you've been more than kind to me in my time here..." She returned the smile accepting the compliment before her eyes went back to my things. Her pale blue webbed hand picked up the phone, and she just held it up, wondering what on earth it was, and she looked to me. "You...your kind has the most peculiar items..." she said. "I've never seen anything like them." "Well, sadly none of them probably work anymore, or would work down here..." I said, making my way over to her doing my awkward swim-walk movement. I chuckled a bit, saying "There's six hundred dollars to waste." Touch of the Ocean She frowned a bit. "Dollars? I'm sorry...I know a bit of your words, but..." I shrugged and smiled, "It's okay, it's not a big deal...I can help you out a bit...dollars are basically currency, or money. You know what that is?" She nodded. "Money, like coins?" I shrugged a bit. "Yeah, there's also bills and stuff. I'm guessing mermaids aren't exactly caught up with the times..." I replied. She frowned a bit. "Mermaids?" I blushed a bit. Did she not know the term we used for her? "Sorry...I hope I didn't offend you. Mermaid is the word we use to call...well...one like you...a woman of the ocean." She giggled a bit at that, and replied, "It's okay, you didn't insult me." "I wasn't even aware that your kind even existed..." I said, a bit dumbfounded. "We've mainly kept to ourselves." she replied. I shrugged. "I guess that makes sense...but if you want, I can tell you about these things." She lit up at that statement, and held the phone to me. "What is it? What does it do?" I accepted my dead phone, and held it in my hand. "It's my Samsung Galaxy S5. A cellphone. If it weren't underwater so long, it would probably be working, but underwater, it won't work. We use these things on land to talk to other people over a great distance." "You can do that with that thing?" she asked in awe, laying her webbed hand on the blackened screen of the device. I chuckled a bit, and nodded. "Yeah. They have a lot of functions, but mainly just communication. They're really expensive, and just don't like the water...I don't have a need for it anymore." I said, and handed it to her. "I don't know if you have some sort of collection, but you can have it if you want it." She heard those words and looked at me as if I'd just given her the best gift in the world. "Really?" she asked. I shrugged. "Well, yeah. It won't work for me ever again, so why not? You can have it." She smiled and held it to her chest as if a dead cellphone was the best thing she'd ever been given in her life. She grabbed my hand, as if she were eager to know more and she said, "Please! Tell me more! That are these things?" she asked, as she touched my glasses. I'd nearly forgotten that she had taken my glasses off, and had been confused when I had asked for them. I guess they were one of the many items she had been curious about. I took them off and once more, felt my vision get impaired slightly, much to my confusion. Did her kiss do more than just give me the ability of aquatic respiration? I felt my senses just tweaked. I had little trouble seeing down here (provided I still had my glasses), I could hear, the water wasn't cold...I didn't know how else to explain it really. I handed them to her, and she slowly and carefully held them. "They help me see. I'm what they call "near-sighted" which means I have trouble seeing things far away. These help me see further away." She listened and looked at the small glasses from all angles, and even put them over her own eyes, before taking them off. "They make my vision strange..." she replied, somewhat disappointed and she placed them back on my forehead. I chuckled as she awkwardly put them back on my face, and I straightened them out again. "Well, they're made specifically to fit my vision needs. They will disjoint any one else's vision..." I replied. "But without them, I wouldn't have learned for a while exactly...who you were." I said with a bit of a blush. She smiled and her webbed hand grabbed my wrist as she pulled me through the water toward her makeshift rock table, and I was actually impressed. All my belongings were neatly arranged on the table, in some orderly fashion. It almost was like some archeologist find, if my things were of such value. She had all my belongings. She had even found my backpack, and emptied it of all its contents. My Headphones were neatly arranged with the cord spiraling around the earmuff design, my wallet was emptied next to my keys, with my cards, and cash neatly arranged underneath it, everything that had been in my backpack, books, my iPad (also dead), sketchpad, pencils, a few CDs, everything was just here. "I see you found my backpack." I replied, holding up the empty black bag. She saw what I held and nodded. "I saw it sinking in the water. and after I found it, I saw...I saw you..." So that explained how she found me. There was a little coincidence, but I guess if she'd never found my backpack, which I had forced myself to drop, she never would have found me. I smiled and blushed a bit, because I don't know how, but I just now remembered that she was naked, and I was fully clothed. Did she even care that her breasts were exposed to me? Did she care that she was exposed? Did they even care about nudity or whatnot? Mermaid culture was just going over my head right about now, but I said nothing. It wasn't appropriate. If she was comfortable...I could be comfortable. She picked up my watch, which was the only thing still working, as it was waterproof, and asked "What does this do?" I held my watch, and looked at it. Dang...I had been down here a week?! At least according to the date on the watch. Well, if no one knew that I was in trouble a week ago, they knew now. "It tells time." I replied. "It's a watch. Just tells you what part of the day it is, day, afternoon, night..." She didn't even hesitate to move to the next item which were my headphones. "And these?" she asked like an excited child on Christmas. Just eager to know what my strange items were. I put the watch in my pocket, as it still worked and I kinda liked my watch, and took the headphones in my hands. "They amplified sound, like music or other things, in order to help you hear the music or sound better. You wear them over your ears, like this..." I stretched the headphones apart, and moved to her face. She seemed a bit hesitant, or nervous, as if something I would do might hurt her, but she didn't move, as if in silent trusting. I gently placed one end of the headphones over one of her ears, which were shaped slightly different than that of a human. They were more pointed, and jagged in a way, yet soft to the touch. At my touch, she flinched just a bit, but relaxed as I set the headphones over her ears. She closed her eyes as if she were expecting to hear something, before she opened them. "I can't hear anything." I held up the other end. "I doubt they'd work down here, but you'd need to connect this end into a certain device or player of some sort. None of which would work underwater." "Does anything you have work underwater?" she asked. I gave an embarrassed chuckle. "Not a lot of the fun stuff." I replied. "You can have those too, if you want them." She smiled, "You're too kind to be giving me such wonderful things." I shrugged, "I just wish I could say they would work...and besides...you've been most kind and generous to me...it's the least I can do, and I wish I could do more." She heard the words, and the look on her face seemed a little...well I couldn't read it. Like there was hidden sadness behind her eyes. She looked to me and said, "You should get some more rest..." I frowned. "I only just got up..." "I know, but...you should rest...you still have to recover from the shock of your accident...Once you're ready, I will return you to your world above..." "My world? You mean you'll...you'll take me to the surface?" She nodded and simply took my hand by the wrist as she began to pull me back to where I had always been resting. I looked to her, just unsure what I should say. I just felt like she wasn't sure what to say, or almost didn't want to say something. I didn't know, but I had to break the ice somehow! Make her feel comfortable. I didn't want her to think there was anything wrong. There wasn't, was there? "What's...what's your name?" I asked. She looked at me. "It's Oceana." she said with a small smile. I smiled in return. "That's...that's a beautiful name." I said. I mean yeah, it was practical. Oceana, and she lived in the ocean. Yet I just felt like her name was just divine. "Do you have a name?" she asked, interrupting my thoughts. I came back to my senses, and blushed. "Forgive me. My name is Travis...nothing special I know." She smiled and continued to pull me into the area I would rest, and she lay me on the soft sand mound I had been resting on all this time. "Wait here..." she said as she lay me down. I watched her swim off and after a moment, she returned, with what looked like an old sheet, and she began to cover my body with it. I wasn't sure why. I mean I was comfortable on the sand, and not cold in this water...maybe it was just her way of showing me a small comfort of home? I didn't ask as she brought the old blanket over my chest, and floated above me, before leaning down once more, and giving that kiss on the forehead. For the first time in my life, I almost wanted to reach up and kiss her back, but I didn't. She just smiled and said, "Rest well, Travis...you're a very kind person..." I felt my eyes getting heavy as if on her command, and I smiled at her words. "You have been kinder than I could have asked..." I said softly. I felt her webbed hand brush my forehead, and I took a long watery inhale as I felt that gentle and cool touch brush my skin... And I wasn't sure if I was just experiencing déjà vu or something, but I could have sworn that I felt another kiss on my forehead... ... A few days passed, and occasionally I would venture out of my room, and engage with her. She had taken a lot of interest to the items that had sunk with me, and she loved learning about each and every one of them. I wasn't even the best person to be teaching her, but I did what I could. She liked it, and as the days went by, and I felt my strength returning, I couldn't help but feel something else. Like there was something neither of us were saying to one another. I'd been with her almost two weeks, under her generous care. She'd fed me, cared for me, made sure my recovery was smooth, and I was just left in awe of this whole situation. I'd been living underwater for almost two weeks. No one could say that they have done the same thing. And all this time, she'd just treated me like a special guest of honor. She'd been naked all the time I'd seen her, which made me jump to the conclusion that her kind did not wear clothing. But that wasn't what had been on my mind the past few days. She had told me she would take me to the surface when I was ready to leave. Truthfully, part of me was already feeling good enough to return to the surface, and perhaps Oceana knew that, because she was kinda distancing herself from me, almost painfully. At one point I had found her carefully flipping through the pages of my waterlogged, and ruined sketchpad. I'm honestly surprised some of the drawings survived. But she seemed to treasure the book, which I said I'd give to her, whether or not I returned. It wasn't like I'd be able to use that sketchpad again, and I wasn't the best artist anyway. I'd given her a majority of my belongings. Though with each thing I gave her, the more she seemed to be pained. I asked her one day why she seemed to be feeling like that, and I got no answer. It was as if she didn't want to speak about it for fear or crying or something...if that was possible for her underwater... I felt her one day as I rested, and she woke me. I saw her tugging on my clothing, in curiosity. I had nearly forgotten that during my entire stay here, I'd not removed one article of clothing. I'd not really felt uncomfortable or anything to feel the need to undress. When I saw her tugging on my blue plaid jacket, I'd been reminded that, she might not be familiar with clothing. I saw her, and she saw me, and kinda blushed. I smiled a bit when I saw her blush, because I had to admit, she looked cute. She didn't answer for a moment before she said, "I...I'm curious to why you wear these...garments." she said.. "What's it like?" I wasn't sure I knew how to answer a question like that. I mean, I wore clothes to clothe myself. Human beings were not pretty things to look at. Did she not know that? "Multiple reasons really...warmth, fashion, and just to hide our...well...hide our skin." She frowned in confusion. "Hide your skin? Why would you do that?" I blushed. "Well...we don't exactly look at ourselves in favor...in such ways..." I honestly didn't know how to answer that. I didn't just wanna straight up tell her, that it was inappropriate in our eyes to view each other naked publicly. I didn't want to just straight up tell her we didn't like looking at other people's manhoods, or that women didn't always feel comfortable showing their breasts off. What if she got uncomfortable? She was always swimming naked around me, and she wasn't uncomfortable by it. I don't think she was even trying to show off or anything. She was just in a natural state. I didn't want her to think that it was something wrong or anything. She craned her head in confusion as she floated closer, just looking at the clothes I wore. After swimming around me, examining the strange garments, she asked, "May I see what it's like to wear them?" I frowned. "You mean you want to try on...my clothes?" She looked at me. "Is...is that okay?" I thought for a moment, but not because I thought it a bad idea, I just wasn't sure about certain things I guess. She was just curious, so I guess there wouldn't be any harm. I said, "Sure, do you need help getting into this thing?" I asked chuckling as I took off my blue plaid shirt, exposing my grey hoodie that I wore beneath it. The jacket I slipped off floated in the water as I held it out with both hands. I nodded, beckoning her to come closer, and she gracefully came over, unsure what to do. As best as I could, I draped the jacket around her shoulders, and with hesitation, guided her arms through one sleeve, then the other. She looked at herself in it, even floated in circles as she looked at it. "It looks nice...but feels so rough on the inside..." she said, moving her arms. I chuckled a bit as she said so, and I replied, "It might just be my size. It's a little big on you, but it might also have to do with the water...but...yeah..." I had just realized that she was very close to me. She didn't notice me seeing this and she just kinda continued to admire herself in the jacket, before looking at my pants. "I wonder what it would be like to wear those." I was shaken from my trance in that moment and I just kinda replied, "Well...I don't think they'd fit you." I meant that in a joking manner. I mean, I had two limbs that fit into each small legging, while she had one giant limb she controlled, which looked so beautiful, I wouldn't even dare think of covering it up. Oceana giggled and even felt the black jeans which I wore. Oh man, was I glad she didn't see my blush right there. After a moment, she came back up, and smiled. "Travis...I've never had such an experience with surface items before..." "Well...that makes two of us in a way," I replied. "I've never had an experience with anyone like you before..." I replied. She placed her webbed hands on my shoulders, and pushed herself up and kissed my forehead. I smiled and I finally asked, "Why do you do that so often?" She smiled and, blushed before saying, "It's just a small greeting we do. It's a way of saying good fortune, good health among a few other things..." I was curious as to what exactly she meant by "a few other things", but I smiled and said, "I...can I be honest?" She looked to me confused, and said, "What? What about?" Honestly, I was unsure how I wanted to approach this, because I was still a bit uncertain of some thoughts. I was just beyond grateful for her taking care of me, making sure I didn't die that night, keeping me healthy, fed, just all around great. The experience down here had been beyond amazing. It was like the surface world didn't even exist. There was no noise, no commotion, no anything. For a long time, it had just been...me and her. Me and Oceana. "Every time you've kissed me..." I said, softly. "Well...every time...I've just loved it, and...well..." She heard my words, and that look came back to her face. That familiar look. No, I didn't want her to say it. Not now. Not when I was feeling ready to speak a bit to her about what I was thinking. It was like she could see through me though. "You should get some rest, Travis..." she said softly, taking off my jacket and turning away. She let the jacket go, and I didn't even bother picking it up as I made an awkward move to keep her from going away. "Oceana, please! I really want to speak to-" "Tomorrow," she said, "I'll take you to the surface. You are ready to go home." "What?" You're going to take me...home?" Oceana just turned and looked to me before she said, "Please get some rest..." before she just darted out of the cave, leaving behind a swirl of tiny bubbles in the room. I immediately felt my self try and run after her, as if I were still on land. It was awkward, and I was clumsily slow. I looked around, calling her, begging to wait. I checked every area of the cavern, until I found myself at the very entrance of the cavern. I looked around, but she had vanished. The water outside was still pretty dark, but I could make out the surface light up above. I didn't know how far up above it actually was, but I could tell just how deep it looked like. It was strange. I hadn't seen the surface world for so long, and for the longest time, I hadn't even been aware of this underwater world for so long. Heck, I was no biology expert, but I knew that everything we knew kinda pointed away from the existence of mermaids. It just didn't seem logically possible. None of this did. My ability to breathe, the fact that I wasn't freezing in this water, to just...Oceana herself. She was like an angel to me the first time I saw her. For all I knew, she really was one. She seemed very sensitive, and delicate in nature, and not only was that just beautiful, but I just wanted to hold her and protect that delicate nature. I called after her, but she was gone. I gave a watery sigh, as I felt myself just sink to the sand bed. This wasn't what I wanted to happen at all. I wanted to talk with her because...well... I knew it was crazy thoughts, and knew she probably saw that it was crazy too, but I wanted to at least tell her how I felt...she'd saved me! That meant something! I wanted to show her that! I'd been gone from land for almost two weeks! How exactly was I supposed to resume life? Everyone thought I was dead! There wasn't anything I could do now, I just slowly "walked" back into the cavern, slowly, my boots kicking up small clouds of sand with each step. I walked back, and picked up my jacket, and put it back on. I had a mind to give it to Oceana as much as I did so many of my other things, but I just didn't think anything was enough for how she'd cared for me and made me feel overall. I wanted to give her more...I couldn't say anything now, so I just slowly made my way to that same room where she'd always taken me, and sank to the mound on the sand, and drifted to a deep sleep... ... The sleep didn't last however, because it wasn't long that I felt myself being pulled through the water. I'd not felt that before. I'd felt her rubbing me, kissing me, taking care of me, but never quite this. I opened my eyes, and was surprised to see that we weren't in that cave, but we were in open ocean, going through a forest of what appeared to be kelp, and she was pulling me through the water by one hand. I woke myself immediately. I knew what was going on, and I didn't want it to happen. "Oceana!" I said, surprising her. I had surprised her so much, that she had actually stopped swimming, and looked to me. Touch of the Ocean Her eyes softened, but had that look of sadness. "I'm taking you to your world now, Travis. I believe you are strong enough to-" "Oceana...I don't want to go back." I said. Oceana heard my words, and was surprised at them, but also a little skeptical. "Travis, don't be silly. You're not meant to live down here. Your world is so much different than mine. The gifts you've given me are wonderful and I will always treasure them, but as you've said, they don't work down here. How do you expect yourself to work down here? You cannot just throw your old life away, and live down here, we're just too different." "This has nothing to do with my old life. I shouldn't even be alive, Oceana..." I replied. "There is only one reason I am alive today, and that is because you saved me. Oceana...you may not realize it, but that means so much to me...I don't want to leave you. I love you..." I said it. I finally said it. Those words hit her like a rock and I wasn't sure what she thought right there. So I continued speaking. "I know we're different, I know we come from different worlds, but I don't want to leave yours. You've become a part of my life, and I don't want it to go away. My old life is gone. This place for all I know is just like Heaven with you. Please Oceana...don't make me leave you..." Oceana bowed her head and let go of my hand. I felt myself sinking and so I managed to get myself in front of her. I put my hands on her arms, and looked at her. "Please say something..." Oceana looked to me, there was a look of confusion yet I could see a hidden happiness behind her. "Travis, the truth is, I have such feelings for you too...you've showed me a new world, and I wish to learn more about it, but...are you really sure you'd sacrifice that world to be with me? Would you even be comfortable?" I didn't even bother to answer. I just looked into her eyes, before I put my mouth over hers. I gently suckled her lips and pushed my tongue into her mouth. I'd been wanting to do this for a few days now, with every kiss she'd given me, and though I could see her eyes widen at my actions, I was relieved when I saw them soften, and just give in. I felt her webbed hands embrace around my back and I felt us both sinking toward the seafloor not too far away from us. Her tongue against mine was just amazing. The taste was sweet and I could have mingled with it forever, but I wanted to show her more. After a moment, I gently broke the kiss, and we just stared into the eyes of one another, before I said once more, "You saved my life, Oceana...please...let me show you how much that means to me...I know there are conflicting thoughts from us both. We are of different worlds. But I want to be part of your world. Let me show you..." We were different. For a long time, as I contemplated these thoughts, the thoughts drifted in and out of my mind. If humans actually did know of mermaids, could they coexist? Was this reverse tale of The Little Mermaid really possible? Would a human willingly give himself to a mermaid? How would humans view such an activity? How would other merfolk view a mer engaging with a human? Would it be accepted? Strange? To me, it didn't matter anymore. I loved Oceana. She just said she had such feelings for me. Of course...I was unsure if we could engage in certain ways, as it was a mystery to many humans just how merfolk...procreated, but I didn't care. I just wanted to be with her... Oceana smiled at me, and asked, "How do you mean?" I got closer, and kissed her softly on the lips. "Let me show you..." I said in a watery whisper. "Please..." I said. Oceana smiled at my words, and to my pleasure, she whispered back, "...show me..." My heart leapt at those words, and as we sank, I turned her back to me, and just began to gentle stroke, and massage her neck and back area. I heard her softly moaning as my hands began to touch and rub her back, in a gentle massage. She turned her head as if to try and see my, and I just brought my face toward her neck and shoulder and gently began to kiss it. I felt my boots hit the sandy bottom of the seafloor amidst the large kelp forest, and I moved my hands a little lower, careful to avoid her gill slits. I heard her gasp softly as my hands graced her sides, gently. I moved to kiss her cheek softly, and she gently and slowly moved, just bathing in what I hoped was pleasure. She smiled as she felt me continuously kissing her, and I blushed and felt something stimulating as I felt her tail slowly wrapping around my legs. I had no idea that she was so flexible with that tail. Despite wearing jeans, it felt smoother than I could imagine. But I felt her tail unravel as she turned her body to face me, and she planted a kiss on my mouth. I took a watery gasp, as I met hers, and closed my eyes, and just continued to stroke her sides. I could feel her gorgeous white and light blue hair brushing against my face with the currents of the water, and I gently brushed it to her side, as if I were petting a cat gently. Our tongues mingled, and played with one another, and I coaxed a few soft moans, which sounded divine out of her. She was just so gorgeous. As we kissed, I worked up a little courage, to take one of my hands and move it up. I wanted to make her feel good. Her breasts were right there. Pressing against my chest. I moved the hand up and my finger just gently grazed one of them. She broke the kiss as it happened, and gave out a stimulating gasp. At first, I was a little scared that I had done something wrong. Was she uncomfortable? But she took my hand, and placed it on it, as if telling me to do it. Her eyes were closed and her body was filled with pleasure. I didn't ask twice. I took a watery breath, and began to gently rub the skin of her breast with the tips of my finger, to give her a small tingling sensation. Honestly, I wasn't exactly sure if this would work or not. One thing that I hadn't said was that I'd never been intimate with another woman before. I wasn't really in a rush to be as such, and I had never expected my first session of intimacy to be under the ocean, with a mermaid of all things. So I was very much acting just on pure instinct. Unsure if whatever I did would provide stimulation or not. It was a learning experience. But part of me would have it no other way. This whole experience was just amazing. The feel of her skin, her kisses, everything paired with the feeling of the water all around me, in my lungs, and the fact that I was alive in it all provided some small stimulation for me. I don't know how, but I didn't question it. She gasped at the feeling I gave to her, and she got closer to me as I continued to gently rub her breast, and kiss her shoulder and neck area, gently suckling the skin, massaging it with my tongue, and just bathing in her gasps and moans in pleasure. I took a bit of a watery breath before I decided, to just sink a little lower. I went to my knees, and lay Oceana down in the soft sand. I lay over her slow squirming body, which looked so graceful and full of beauty on in the water.I kissed the upper chest of her body, before I went lower, and began to kiss, and suckle the area outside her breast. As soon as my tongue touched the area of her breasts, her tail squirmed underneath me, and brushed my lower groin area. I was still clothed, but it still stimulated my member beneath. I could feel myself wanting her more and more. I heard her moan and I continued to kiss and suckle the breast, until I reached the very tip of it. I suckled it, my tongue played with it, and I bathed in her moans of pleasure as she stroked my short hair and held me over her chest as I continued to work them, kissing, suckling, and massaging the other with a free hand. Oceana moaned and squirmed as I worked, and I just shut my eyes as I began to kiss and play with both of her breasts, and just make her feel as good as I could, before I began to feel something...cooler down below. I stopped when I heard a moan come from her that I'd not really heard from her before, and then I realized what I was feeling. She was...aroused. That answered my question. I wasn't looking at it, but she had an opening. I smiled in my head, because that meant I could try and make her feel more pleasure than I knew perhaps. I took the opportunity, to move my hand down toward the area, and I began to feel her tail. I'd not felt her tail before, and though in appearance there were scales like a fish on her tail, to the touch, it felt nothing like that. Her tail was cool, and very very smooth, almost like a dolphin. It was smooth, slick, and I could just picture myself hugging it and getting that feeling all over my body...it felt amazing, and I was just gracing it with my fingers. I began to massage the area, feeling for a slit. Oceana felt everything and her tail began to wriggle and squirm beneath my body like nothing else. She moaned and gasped with each touch and massage, and then I felt it. It was cool to the touch, and my fingers gracing it, made her moan loudly. I heard the moan, and I just lost myself. I weakly kissed her skin, but focused on that area below. My fingers traced the outline, and probed the insides, slowly but surely digging in. A sea of moans and heavy breathing followed from Oceana. I looked up to her, as I rubbed her insides, and sucked on her breast, and I asked, "How...how does that feel?" She gasped again, before I heard her answer, which made me blush heavily. I feel something poking my tail..." I immediately stopped what I was doing. My fingers weren't so much "poking" her tail...something else was. She could feel it. I slowly sat up, red in the face, "S-sorry, was I making you uncomfortable?" She opened her eyes, and sat up to meet me. "What? No...that felt wonderful, Travis...but...it is strange that..." "Strange that...we're different?" Oceana giggled and said, "N-no...it's strange that you...you're wearing so much of those garments." I blushed. I was once again reminded that I had pretty much been clothed the entire time I'd been down here. I moved to take my jacket off, but then I paused. I remembered the reason I wore these clothes. Humans weren't pretty to look at. I could look at Oceana all day without a single piece of clothing. She looked so natural down here. She looked normal. Like she belonged. Me...I'd be like an apple in a barrel of oranges. I wasn't the prettiest guy to look at. I was pale, where she was colorful. My body was pretty dang hairy and rough where hers was smooth and pleasant. Heck, even the inhuman features she had; her webbed hands, fins on her arms, gills on her chest, the whole aquatic tail was beautiful on her. I looked in her eyes. "Should...should I undress?" She smiled playfully, as if she were sensing or reading my emotion and fear, and said, "Don't be so afraid..." "It's not that I'm afraid," I replied. "It's just that as much as I love you and want to be with you, I...I feel rather ugly compared to you." Oceana heard my words and giggled playfully. "Travis, long have I been curious of your kind. Long have I wondered what they really look like...how they feel, how they react...when you fell into the sea, I brought you to my home. I was hoping you would be okay, and I was hoping I would get to know more about you. I would love to know more than what you've already shown me..." she said, before giving me a reassuring gently, and soft kiss. I felt that kiss and found myself playfully nibbling her lips and returning the passion, before she broke it, and sat there waiting. I realized that if we were serious, she wouldn't mind what I looked like. I slowly nodded, and stoop up on the sand bed. I took off my blue plaid jacket, and grey hoodie, letting them float down onto the sandbar. I then removed my black t-shirt with a bit of difficulty. I'd never actually undressed under the water, I have to say it's quite weird. Your clothes almost stick to you, probably because of the pressure, but I managed to get the shirt off and let it sink to the sand. I then sat, and brought one of my legs up. As I began to untie my boot, Oceana took the opportunity to swim around me in circles. I was only half-naked, but already she was taking in fascination. I worked at the laces, and I felt her cold webbed hands drape over my shoulder, and run across my chest. The hairs on my chest bristled, and I took a watery gasp at her touch, but relaxed. She continued to touch me and examine me as I removed the first boot and sock, before moving to the next one. She lay her head on my shoulder as she continued to rub and touch me all over, and her tail draped around the area I sat as we sat there. I removed the second boot, and sock and stood up, with a bit more ease. With the weights of my boots gone, I floated up further and sank slower. I stood there on the sand, and unbuckled my belt, sliding it out with ease, before I slowly unbuttoned and unzipped my jeans. Oceana drifted around to the front, of me, looking up from below my waist, wondering what I was hiding. I saw her eyes, and began to slide my jeans down with a bit of difficulty. The water saturated fabric was rough and didn't seem to move that much as I slid it off, past both my feet, and I let them sink off to the side amidst the scattered remnants of my other articles of clothing. My boxers remained. Man oh man... I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, felt the top of the boxers, and began to slide them off. I knew full well she was looking at me, and I knew full well, that I had boxers on for a reason. Now the most beautiful being I'd ever met was looking at that area, straight on, and I didn't know how to feel. My face was probably beyond red at the moment as I felt myself lose balance and sink back a bit as I slipped my boxers off. I slowly opened my eyes, and she was right there. My manhood stood erect, as if it were saying "How do you do?" to the mermaid's face. Her webbed hand was extended, and before I could think, she gently grazed it with her fingers. It throbbed at her touch, and I gasped involuntarily. She giggled at it's movement. "It's so funny looking..." I blushed even deeper at that statement but before I could reply, and just said, "Not in a bad way, it's just that the shape of our kind, the male area is shaped differently...yours is...longer." I blushed. Now I knew my manhood was nothing at all special, but I couldn't even begin to imagine what a merman's girth could look like. It just sounded like she was praising me for some silly reason, but all I could get myself to say in reply was, "It's not too...weird...is it?" She touched it again, and I felt myself gasp and felt my length twitch at the touch. She wrapped her webbed fingers around it and she began to massage it. I began to breathe deep, taking in big lungfuls of water, and pushing it all back out as she worked my member. I squirmed, my legs, brushing her tail, the hairs giving a brisk sensation to my head. I moaned and grunted as she continued to rub it, and my eyes went wide when I felt her tongue lick the shaft. I didn't know how to react! Was she comfortable doing that? It felt wonderful, but I just didn't know how to feel. She licked it again, and began to suck on the tip of the head, slowly pushing herself on top of it. I gave a gurgled moan, and felt my lower body squirm. I was now laying flat on my back on the sea floor, my knees getting pushed up as I lay there in ecstasy. My worries began to slip away. If she was comfortable doing this, why couldn't I? I let her do what she wanted. She was the one curious about my body. Was this perhaps just a way of learning? She continued to work wonders with her mouth over my member, and my member throbbed and twitched with everything she did. I couldn't take much more! Everything was just so pleasing, and my body was beginning to send me signals of an incoming release. What was I supposed to do? I groaned a little louder, as she continued to work her tongue all over my girth, and I began to claw at the sand. I tried to push myself up, only succeeding in performing a weak pelvic thrust, and I grunted a bit, and I found myself actually holding my breath despite being able to breathe as I felt the climax get closer and closer...and... I heard her cry a bit in surprise. Oh man... I finally breathed again, and I opened my eyes. She no longer had my member in her mouth, but she was eyeing it. I took one look at it and could feel and see why she was surprised. It was pumping the white seed into the water, and I blushed in embarrassment. I really hope I had not just released into her mouth. "S...sorry...did I just...you didn't get any in your mouth did you?" She looked at me and shook her head before replying "It just surprised me...you didn't take long to release..." I blushed and said, "I guess I got excited..." "Are you okay?" she asked. "Should..should we...stop?" I immediately heard myself say "No..." I swallowed hard at those words, before I added on. "Oceana...I...I want you..." She heard me say that and she smiled, but asked, "Are...are you sure?" I just finally sat up and pulled her close for a kiss. I may have released, but I was still up for more. I wanted to give her all I could. We kissed passionately, and I felt her tail drag along my legs and groin. My girth slid along the length of her tail, and I moaned at the feeling through our kiss. Her tail against my manhood felt fantastic. Divine. We continued to kiss as I felt her tail slide along my still...pretty wet manhood (and not just because of all the seawater around me). She broke the kiss, and smiled, before she grabbed my hand and took me up. She took me up passed all the kelp and far above the sand bed. The sunlight in the water got stronger, and I could see all the ripples and waves up above what was now a much calmer ocean than the one I had fallen into. We stopped and she said, "This was where I found you." I smiled a bit and despite being fully naked, for the first time, I didn't care. I could have swam up twenty feet or so and broken the surface, but...I had drowned, and I now decided I wanted my life to be here. I treaded the water with her, and smiled. "And this is where I will say how much I love you Oceana...I want to stay with you..." She smiled and embraced me, and I kissed her passionately. I felt my member brush against her tail and I gasped as I felt our bodies wrap around each other. I wrapped my legs around her hips as we floated there, slowly sinking back to the bottom of the sea, but slower. I kissed her deeply, and began to move my pelvis, trying to find her opening. My member brushed against her tail. The head of my member, sliding all along her smooth tail provided me with stimulation and pleasure. If I could, I would just drag it all along her tail , but I wanted to give her pleasure too. I moaned a bit at the feelings I got, before I felt the slit right at the head of my sheath. It brushed the area and Oceana gasped. I took a small breath in as we floated there, and felt my legs loosen, as I tried to get in position. She looked into my eyes, and whispered, "I'm yours, Travis..." With that, I began to slowly push my member inside. I found her opening was decently smaller than I would have thought, because though her insides were naturally lubricated, giving my member an easy time entering, I realized that her opening wrapped tightly around my shaft. We sat there gasping and moaning softly as I slowly pushed in. Her insides were pleasantly cool to the touch. I didn't know how I felt to her, but I guessed it was somewhat warm for her, as she gasped and I heard the words "...so warm..." I pushed in more, anchoring myself to her body, before I felt a little resistance. I wasn't in fully, so I didn't stop, but I didn't force. I continued to press against her body softly and I felt my member push past the resistance. I heard her yelp a bit, and I realized that I must have penetrated her. I sat up and ceased moving. I looked at her concerned. "Are you okay?" I asked worried.