Depressed, Elly slept all day until it was around the time she usually met Hizashi at the beach. In fact, she would have overslept if her stomach didn't start to ache. Trapped in the water without the means of cooking food or going to the grocery store, she had to learn to eat food raw. She liked sushi, but was having trouble adapting to the fact that she had to catch and eat it immediately. Thus the hunger pangs that woke her as she lay curled up in her tiny, carved out reef section.
She shook herself awake and cleaned up, using her fingers to comb out her hair and what few health supplies she'd brought with her. The supply was dwindling and she fussed about that for a few minutes, gathering everything to stare forlornly at the small pile. Eventually she realized she couldn't think about that right now; she had to make her way to the beach. As she sped off through the water her mind was filled with thoughts of Hizashi.
It didn't take long to get to their usual meeting place. She was pleased to see he'd had a small area dug out and shored off on one section to act as a man-made tidal pool. This was admittedly bigger and could fit her standing on her tail as well as resting laying down.
"Did you have this done this morning?" Elly touched the side of the rocky wall. It was very sturdy and not yet covered in algae.
Hizashi's smile was huge. "D'ya like it? I want to maybe get the guys to extend a tunnel out towards the house. The bottom floors have a huge pool, and I could drain it and set it up with saltwater an' stuff!"
Her jaw dropped. "Really? You'd go through all that trouble for me?!"
"Trouble?" He scrunched his nose up, wiggling his mustache at her. "This isn't trouble at all. In fact I kinda thought you wouldn't like it... it's, uh, not really done yet. I want it to look as natural as possible -"
"It's <i>wonderful</i>, Hizashi."
He blushed and sat down in a chair beside her. "I'm glad, then. I wanted to make it easier for you to visit."
"I'd visit you even if I had to drag myself onto the beach dry, but thank you. Really." She held his hand and his blush grew darker.
Their visit that day was as simple as their others. They talked and shared a meal together until it grew dark.
"By the way, I'm off on the weekend," Hizashi told her shyly, digging a finger in the sand and pushing it around. "D'ya wanna, I dunno, do something different? We could swim together."
Elly smiled at him. "I'd like that," she said, forgetting for the moment the magic that bound her. A couple seconds later when she remembered her eyes grew wide and she panicked, not knowing how to stop him without giving herself away. "I - but is it safe? I know you swim a lot, but -"
"Oh? You know I swim a lot?" Hizashi's smile grew. "How long've you been watching me?" His tone dropped rich and low, and it caused a shiver to run up her spine.
"Um..!"
Hizashi chuckled, stroking a thumb over the top of her hand. "Just joking. I swim great! Plus if you're there I shouldn't worry, right?"
"Oh, yeah." She brightened at once. "I'll <i>never</i> let anything happen to you."
"Aww." He squeezed her hand gently. "Thanks, baby." He paused. "Can you get here like, around lunchtime then? There's less chance of random people trying to sneak onto the beach 'cause they're eating or just ate. We should be okay, but just to be safe."
"I can do that," she agreed.
"I guess you gotta go." Hizashi sighed deeply. "I <i>hate</i> this part. I feel like an idiot missin' you when we're going to see each other so soon."
"Me, too. How about a kiss good night?"
He wiggled his eyebrows at her and got up off the chair to sit next to the pool. Elly, in turn, hoisted herself partially out of the water onto a ledge apparently built for this purpose. "I thought you'd never ask."
Their kisses grew longer, lingering until he hummed softly in such unbridled pleasure that she forgot herself. Her fingers wove through the ponytail he fixed his hair in, finding the tie and unfastening it. He pulled back, a knowing smirk on his lips to go along with the mischevious glint in his eyes. As she watched he casually shook the golden tresses down so they fell over his shoulders and back, framing the dear, sweet face she'd fallen so hard for.
Elly's defenses fell as he reached for her. She shivered as his warm palms caressed her back, expecting a play for her breasts, but his fingers moved lower out of curiousity.
He kissed her again. At this rate he never wanted to stop, his mind clouded with desire but lucid just enough as his hands began to wander. All he could focus on was the kisses ...and the shiny tail close to his fingertips. Hizashi's hands slipped smoothly over the scales, gripping gently.
<i>This really is real</i>, he thought even as his arousal grew. <i>There's no extra layer here, no seam. This is skin</i>.
"H - Hizashi..."
"So beautiful." His fingers stroked, coming around towards the front of the massive fish tail. There was one spot where the scales didn't line up exactly, but his gentle fingers getting too close caused her to stiffen and jerk backwards.
"We should stop," she gasped.
Hizashi swallowed his disappointment, forcing himself to roll away. "Yeah. Yeah, okay."
"I don't know, um. I don't really understand my body yet."
"Ya don't hafta justify your decision, babe." He paused in thought, frowning for a minute. "Wait, you don't know? It's <i>your</i> body."
Elly took a deep breath. "I wasn't born like this, Zashi. It's not natural." Her heavy tail beat in the shallow pool once in agitation, sending a spray of salt water over them. "S - sorry. I'm nervous."
"Not natural? What?"
"I did this to myself." She dug her hands in the sand and blurted out, "it's magic."
Once upon a time the music professor would have laughed this off as a joke, but he was far less dubious now that his girlfriend was half fish. Still, he frowned harder. "Magic?"
"Well... yeah."
Hizashi sighed, leaning back on his elbows to stare up at the starry sky. As she waited nervously for his reply he absently sought out familiar star clusters and constellations that had been with him since he was small. "Magic," he repeated.
"I know it's a lot -"
"You're living proof, yeah?" He looked over at where she lay, his gaze lingering on her shining tail. He'd <i>touched</i> her there, and he knew what fish felt like. It was identical; a living, blood-coursing part of her. "I accepted that already. Shouldn't be a lot more to believe in magic."
"But it is?"
"Eeeehhh..." Hizashi rocked a hand back and forth. "I love music, yo. All kinds! Have since I was a kid, an' I remember listening to stuff like <i>In the Hall of the Mountain King</i>. Like, really seeing the troll king in my head." He grinned at her. "I had nightmares for a week."
She giggled a little. "I know what you mean. There was some classical piece this kid's show paired with a mummy skit and it scared the shit out of me! The music still kind of does, too."
He nodded. "But like, what I'm gettin' at is that it's kept me open-minded, I guess..? I dunno."
"I'm glad. But still nervous."
"Don't be." He took her hands in his, looking earnestly into her eyes. "You can tell me whatever you want. We can go slower, whatever. All I really want is to be with you."
Elly smiled gratefully at him. "Thanks, Zashi."
"Still on for that swim, right?"
She waved at him from the dark sea. "I can't wait!"
It wasn't until he was rinsing off in his shower before bed that he realized he had more questions.
"Wait, she said she did this to <i>herself</i>, didn't she?"
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