Siren Song - 4

Hizashi/Els AU
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Hizashi swam strongly through the water and had soon reached the area where he kept a locker at another beach. He slipped in unnoticed, got everything out and back into the waves as quickly as he had come.

Elly was delighted with his haul when he knocked politely on the screen door in the back. He held two huge lobsters and several fish, along with a woven kelp bag filled with clams. Her joy at seeing him, however, took precedence and he could clearly tell. She held him tight despite the fact that he was still somewhat damp from his swim and didn't let him go until he sneezed.

"Oops! Sorry!"

"Don't apologize," he chuckled, wiping his feet before tossing his catch in the sink. "I hope you do that every time I come home."

"I probably will, you know."

"Good." He tickled under her chin in passing, leaning close so their noses almost brushed. His grin grew as she became more flustered and he took another step, bringing their bodies into light contact. Elly swallowed very hard, her heart pounding. A long, golden strand of hair had come undone from his ponytail and brushed her cheek as he leaned down.

The doorbell rang and she closed her eyes. "Damn."

"S'okay, love. We can finish this conversation later."

She nearly started to hyperventilate at his boldness but managed to stumble over and answer the door. In her confused state she didn't check to see who it was first, and she swore inwardly as she saw her parents standing before her.

"Uh, hi guys..." Her mother and father were not physically imposing people, yet they managed to bowl her over in a rush to get inside. Her mother hugged her tightly and she sighed as she hugged back. "Let me guess. My ex told you something stupid about me."

"Stupid? No! We heard about this huge guy that threatened him. He was so scared for your safety that he came to us."

"Really?" She folded her arms, staring flatly at her parents. "Threatening him. So you believe if he says that, but not your daughter if I say he's the one that's been causing trouble."

Hizashi peered around the corner abashedly. "Hi, hi. I guess I'm the 'huge guy', huh?" He grinned and shook their hands as Elly introduced him. "I wanted to make a much better first impression than this. I would never do anything to hurt your daughter."

They apologized but her mother went on to add, "He just seemed so distraught, we wondered what had happened. We came right over to see if everything was okay. " The group moved to the dining room table and sat. Elly headed into the kitchen to finish preparing their meal.

Hizashi frowned a little. "She was sleeping and he started yelling, so I told him to leave. She doesn't want him around anymore. I thought that's what breaking up with someone meant."

"He was just so worried about her being up here alone..."

"My decision," Elly said firmly as she dropped the clams into boiling water. "I can protect myself. Do you guys want something to drink? We've got water and uh, some cranberry juice."

Her parents declined, but Hizashi got up to get some water. When he came back he smiled disarmingly and shrugged at them. "Well, she's not alone now."

"What do you do for a living?" Her father asked him. Elly opened her mouth and then closed it, uncertain how she could avert the impending disaster.

The merman did have an answer, however. "I'm an artist. I collect things off the beach or in the ocean and turn them into jewelry - " He shook his wrist out, showing the beaded coral bracelet he wore, "or fashion, like sandals."

"Oh. That's an interesting job for a man."

He smiled, spreading his hands. "It's profitable both in the tourist season and the winter months."

"Where did you two meet?" Her mom smiled at them both and Elly wished as hard as she could that this would go well.

"In the ocean. She went swimming and found me." He flashed her a grin as she had started waving her arms around in the kitchen to warn him. Don't worry, he mouthed silently. Of course he knew better than to tell anyone the entire story.

"Oh, I guess she went looking for that mystery song."

Hizashi took a drink from his glass to cover his confusion. Why would that cause such tension to drop in the room? It lay like a thick blanket over the table for an uncomfortable period of time before she spoke again.

"She keeps insisting she can hear it at night. We keep telling her it's not real, but..."

"Mom."

"You always have to be right!" The older woman laughed knowingly, rolling her eyes. Her father snorted laughter as well but didn't say anything.

Hizashi didn't mean to, but the pain in Elly's eyes ran deep. This was not light hearted teasing. These people who were supposed to be her support were hurting her with their distrust and cruel jibes. "It was me," he said quietly.

They blinked at him stupidly. "What?"

"I was singing, and she did hear me. You're right - it's exactly how we met." He stood up as Elly came to the table and wrapped an arm about her waist. "I knew instantly this beautiful woman was someone I wanted to be with."

"Oh. Well, good! I always told her she needed to find someone that appreciated her."

Elly flinched as her mother instantly flipped the conversation back to something to jab her with. He squeezed her gently in acknowledgement and they sat down together, him relinquishing her waist to hold her hand instead.

"She can be so pretty, when she's taking care of herself. More guys should have been interested in her, but, you know, she's such a handful." The stress on that one word and implication of the entire sentence was enough to render him speechless. In that little gap of chatter she made as if to get up and go into the kitchen. "Is everything all right in there?"

"It's fine!" Her daughter jumped and ran to check the pots, a reflex so ingrained she couldn't stop herself. It effectively separated them once more but he turned in his chair, smiling.

"It smells great, Elly," he called out. "Let me know if you need any help at all, okay?"

"Okay." Her reply back was much flatter, deflated from the happy, bright woman he had seen so far. And no wonder, for her mother was speaking further on her favorite topic.

"I mean, how long have you been together? You probably noticed she's living in a bit of a fantasy world." She craned her neck to try and see what the younger woman was doing in the kitchen. "Don't microwave the butter, it'll get all over the place." She elbowed her husband, pointing at the butter dish. It was, simply, a butter dish... but Elly knew. It had butter smeared on it and was chopped sideways - the pat wasn't immaculate. She also knew that they would talk about how "disgusting" it was, when she wasn't around (or possibly right in front of her). About how "messy" she still was, "just like when she was little".

"I'm not microwaving it, mom." She grit her teeth and tried to remain calm.

"I like that about her." Hizashi stood and stretched, ignoring the butter drama. "Well, you can see we're okay here, right?" He gestured behind his back for Elly, who gratefully rushed up.

"Right!" She pressed close to his side for strength. "We really didn't get enough food for everybody. If you had called, maybe..."

The older couple frowned, caught off guard, and allowed themselves to be ushered out. There were a few more thinly-veiled insults along the way, but it was eventually over. As her parents drove off down the road they both breathed a sigh of relief.

Hizashi was the first to break the sudden silence. "You want to take a walk before dinner?" The house smelled delicious but he could see she had very little appetite right now. He gently steered her to the kitchen, where he helped turn off the stove top and store some of the food that hadn't been cooked yet.

Elly moved woodenly at first, but he didn't leave her side. When she picked up the butter her hands started to shake so badly she almost dropped it on the counter.

"I'm okay," she reassured him, struggling to hold back the damning tears.

He took the plastic tub out of her hands and set it down. "No, you're not." His arms wrapped tightly around her from behind and he bent so his chin rested on the top of her head. "Those people hurt you."

"They're my parents!" She bit her tongue, her lip, and when the tears still threatened stuffed her hand in her mouth. He removed that as well, then turned her so she could burrow into his chest. He subtly encouraged this with some light touches on her back. It worked; Elly grasped the front of his shirt, hiding her face as she started to cry.

"Just because they raised you doesn't mean they did it right, you know." He picked her up, cradling her in his arms, and walked out to sit on the porch overlooking the beach. "Are they always like that?"