Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Water Love ❯ Swimmingly ( Chapter 4 )

Title: Water Love

Writer: Angela (orangeaura868)

Genre: Romance/ Fantasy… this is an Alternate Universe fic

Rating: PG-13 to be safe

Spoilers: None (because it is an AU)

Warnings: Well…there's yaoi…cute mermaid boys…water dragons…maybe some language.

Pairings: YYY with side SJ and mentioned BR MM…you should know who they are.

Disclaimer: This is a `disclaimer.' The point of having one should be blatantly obvious. Either way…I'll still say it…I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.

Summary: Yuugi is the ever curious merboy with an ill-fated arranged marriage to some unknown son of an ocean kingdom. Yami is a human deathly afraid of sea water. How could these two have possibly fallen in love? This is a love story crossing land and sea, proving that love indeed knows no boundaries.

Plot Bunny: LittleMermaid (thanks to whoever drew it and posted it!)

Let's begin now…

(o)(o)(o)

The moon was a beautiful thing. A silver rim was cast around it, illuminating the dark sky. Pure white leaked onto the soft rippling waves in high tide. Something broke the white stream running straight through the center of the ocean where there was light. It swam swiftly and gracefully, able to just dance with the waves but preferring to cut straight through. He was late.

Not a cloud was in the sky but he did not care. A skilled tail came up into the air to drive him deep into the ocean. It was brought down with a splash of cold liquid and he disappeared beneath the dark enigma. The sight of the water overtook that of the sky. His eyes took a split second to adjust. Funny how the moon is jealous of the ocean when the ocean itself turned crystalline and reflecting to better mirror the moon. The merboy did not care for their idle envy of each other. They could argue all they liked. He was late.

Even far into the night the water was filled with every fish imaginable. The ocean was remarkably still beneath the surface. To the merboy the water wasn't even that cold. To him it felt perfect. It felt like home. Hundreds of colorful reef fish moved idly back and forth and some less than others. Yuugi could sense that they were sleeping, or resting at least. Knowing exactly how sensitive the fish were in this state, he slowed his pace. The slower speed aggravated him greatly though. He was late.

Frustrated, Yuugi swam up higher up to be of less disturbance to the reefs below. Far enough out in the ocean he dived back down again. His speed was that of a swordfish's and soon he was rewarded with the site of the city below. The castle stood tall from the depths, an easy beacon to call him home by. The monument comprised of tall towers filled with rooms piled one on top of the other all intertwined with silver rings. The city was scattered below it in a way that the castle could be seen wherever you went. The place seemed to glow brightly in the night. Orbs of light projected from every angle, and deep beneath the surface the ocean had it's own sun and moon. At this moment the orbs were dim to allow the merpeople rest. Yuugi swam on by quickly. He'd seen the city thousands of times before and didn't bother contemplating the beauty of it anymore. He was late.

The rocky terrain of the ocean floor was already mapped in his mind. He skirted to the left to avoid a column of rocks and swam through a hole formed by the loop in another formation. He unconsciously thought back to all those bright early mornings where he played and raced with his friends. Yuugi put in an extra burst of speed just for them. Maybe he wouldn't be so late after all.

The vegetation soon cleared away to reveal the planned and orderly civilization of merpeople. The towns and buildings were arranged in a spiral like a conch shell. The buildings themselves were colorful and bright made of stone that was now covered in coral. In the center lay the castle, high over head. Yuugi swam straight through not bothering about following the main road that went in circles. Within a minute he was there. He slowed down, bringing his tail down. The stretch from there was well paved and finer than the towns. Nearing the castle Yuugi's pace slowed down considerably. He swam with a flawless grace into the palace. The young prince learned the royal refinement at a young age. It was drilled into him and slowly elegance became a habit.

Guards were dressed in a special armor with the royal seal, and lined the halls. They carried long spears that glinted as false light hit it. The weapon looked piercing. A guard at the door glanced at him as he came in. They knew he was late too. Beams supported arched hallways with open space between each column. Each floor was tall and magnificent. Yuugi took a left and moved down the fabulous stone hall. There ahead of him was the throne room and Yuugi tried to enter nonchalantly.

"Where have you been?" a voice spoke up behind him. Right next to the doorway was a mermaid. Her arms were crossed and her violet tail fin waved back and forth impatiently. Yuugi merely had to listen to the voice to know who it was. He turned tentatively to check her expression. Mai was deeply annoyed. Yuugi cringed inwardly at the image.

"Well, you see Mai…I was just going out for a little swim and…" Yuugi began nervously. He watched as Mai sighed exasperated and he paused in the middle of his sentence.

"Save it for someone who'll believe you." She replied. Then she tried another tactic, "I know you don't want to be here but please it's for your own good."

"Well isn't that wonderful. At least someone knows that I don't want to be here. Besides, Mai, you know just as well as I do that doing something for your own good was just another form of persuasion. Don't you turn against me now too."

Mai grinned. Her long blond hair flowed over her shoulders as she swam closer. "Never would even think of it, Yuugi. But sometimes you just have to do some things whether you want to or not. That's what it's like living life as a merboy."

"Mer-man." Corrected Yuugi, he tried to look disappointed and stern. His attempts were complete failures and to Mai he looked like he was pouting. She ruffled his tri-colored hair.

"Whatever you say, kid." She smiled, "go on now. They're all waiting." She gave her little brother a hug and a slight push in the general direction of the chamber.

The chamber in which the King sat was large and colorful. Numerous deep-sea plants were placed in jars and large flower pots at each end. The actual chamber was several floors and seemed to stretch endlessly. The floor was smooth rock, a marble slab from long ago. Huge thick pillars held up the room with more arches in between. The general color was a pale blue with a calming atmosphere to it. Yuugi was far from calm though as he swam closer to the throne.

There were fewer people than there should have been. He was supposed to meet the prince of Atlantis tonight. He was supposed to be surrounded with unfamiliar faces all from Atlantis and his father's own kingdom. There were supposed to be spectators eager for the two kingdoms to be joined by their marriage. He was supposed to have someone to focus on hating -there was supposed to be merfolk who did not understand him who he could at least be angry at. Strangely, the room was near empty and he swam on ahead, more curious than ever.

The king sat on his throne frowning darkly straight ahead. His elbows were leaned on the arms of the throne. He was obviously disappointed at something. His fingers were crossed, just barely, and his chin rested on top. To Yuugi, the image of his father like that only scared him more. He swam to his side undulating his pale blue tail fluke slowly, and calmed himself. Nearer and nearer he was and he was still just as frightened -until another voice spoke up.

"His majesty is deeply regretful that his son could not attend today's celebration."

"He better be." Yuugi's father voiced. The older merman usually didn't look quite so old, but the way the lines on his face creased as he spoke seemed to add ages far past the reality. Yuugi was only glad that he was not angry at him.

The messenger was a young boy as well. Right now he was bowed slightly before the king and Yuugi could not see his face. His hair was a strange shade of white that Yuugi had never seen before. His tail was a dark blue and the scales shined in the open room. By the sound of the merboy's voice he couldn't have been older than Yuugi himself. A pity that he was thrown into this huge mess as well.

"Again, his majesty of Atlantis hopes for forgiveness." The pale boy spoke. He was growing more and more nervous. The king was annoyed by this ill twist and made no effort to try and hide it.

"What was his exact message?" Yuugi's father asked. His gray hair was unsettled, and his silver tail fin waved back and forth across the marble.

The messenger boy seemed to hesitate if for only a second. "He said - My son is not ready to marry and would like to request a further date to meet. His majesty even brought a gift as a consolation to missing this call."

"A gift?" Yuugi spoke up. That seemed to break the spell of concentration between his father and the younger merboy. They turned his way. Yuugi blushed and made a small wave at his father. He mouthed the words `I'm sorry I was late.' A nod from his father returned.

"A gift, you say?" His father questioned returning to the boy.

"Yes." His white hair spun as he turned behind him. A guard from his own kingdom, Atlantis, came forward with a small box. "He wishes you except this as an apology." Soft, gentle fingers opened the dark box. "It's a gold necklace -it doesn't rust or corrode. There's a gold starfish beaded on it. His majesty worked hard to gain it from a human trader."

Yuugi was interested in the necklace now. How had they done it? Not many people frequented Atlantis, none at all to be precise. Besides which, the human kind always interested the mermaids. They were inquisitive that way. Obtaining something from a human was a highly difficult task involving tricky magic to cast a memory spell. The gift was certainly appreciated.

By now the necklace was already out of the box and Yuugi came forward to except it. No words could describe how happy he was that the other prince had missed this date. He was overjoyed and worked hard not to show it. It would be highly disrespectful should he laugh at their misfortune to come.

"Thank you…?" Yuugi questioned the messenger's name with a curious tone.

The other blushed. He was in the king's court! Surely his name was of not importance to them? Had he done something wrong? The messenger was hesitant again.

"Ryou." He finally said.

"Yes, thank you Ryou!" Yuugi smiled politely at Ryou and soon Ryou smiled shyly as well.

"Now about this incident…" The old King cut in, "the prince is not ready to marry?" It was a rhetorical question. Father looked at son.

"He's more like you than you think." The sea king's small smile was sly and devious.

Yuugi blushed, pouting again.

(o)(o)(o)

A/N: All I can say for this chapter is that I think my writing may be deteriorating. Ah shucks. I was getting into the story line too! The chapter was hard to write because I wanted to finish it soon. I guess it could use a bit more imagery but that can be saved for later. There are still plenty more places for it. Yep, plenty. (That means a long fic! Rejoice!) It was also hard because I had to imagine the underwater city first, thus the difficulty. I tried to add originality so please let me know if it worked. Also, refer to The Little Mermaid should you ever need a good image! Then just mix it in with the glory of the Mexican reefs. You'll learn more next chapter. This was just a brief introduction to also capture the rush that Yuugi was in.

Another note is that Yuugi's father is NOT Pegasus. I can't imagine it being him. So for now he's just an old sea king. As for Mai being Yuugi's sister…I needed someone to chastise him and she fits the description. She's also one of the only females that I enjoy on the show. It just fits. Does anyone agree? Personally I can't imagine someone like…Rebecca doing that. I'd be rather disgusted. (I have strong opinions on some characters that just don't budge.)

More of the arranged marriage will also be introduced next chapter. There's a lot to be said about the subject too. All you need to know for now is that Yuugi does NOT want to be married. I'm going to brainstorm for a while how I can have a smooth transition back to Yami on land. Also…look for foreshadowing! Hints! Anything! I'm still keeping that thing…continue on with your lovely guesses!

I actually went and did research for this chapter. Mainly about merpeople and their uh…anatomy. (Author blushes.) Some of my friends were curious… (Apparently their lungs work underwater and can filter oxygen from water without gills. Their larynx also works in water so talking is clear even underwater. Some people argue that mermaids are hybrids but others strongly believe that they are of their own species. I'm on their side. Also…mermen are um…well…their genitals are inside the tail and come out when they need to…yeah. Like birds! And dolphins! And whales!) Still on the subject I'd like to note that I despise some of the things written about mermaids and such. I'm not going to stick to it at all. Go originality! I also did research on fish sleeping and got quite a lot of interesting things from that. Surf the web asking questions…it does the mind good.

Thank you for reading yet another chapter!

Thanks also to my reviewers for chapter 3!

Pharaoh Atemu's Angel: Wow! Thank you for reviewing so soon. I was quite shocked to get a review so quick. Please continue reading! (And enjoying!)

Yana5: Yes. I agree! The ending will be most magnificent and quite rewarding! Stick with me until the end! Thank you for your review.

Master Elora Dannan: Such enthusiasm! Thanks for reviewing. I'm following the request…and viola! Here's Yuugi!

Lady Shinigami: My. Dear. Ra. Your review was absolutely HILARIOUS! I loved it! And yes, poor ickle Yami is feeling left out! Wonderful plot idea that you came up, I'm just sad that mine is different…oh well! Thank you very much for reviewing! (And doing such a fabulous job as well!)

KNT: Your wish is my command! Yuugi has been brought in! Also, whipped cream and hot chocolate? Great idea! (Author leaves to go get some…) Thanks for reviewing!

Dishonesty: Oh wow! I'm so happy! Your review was really inspirational. I'm glad that you like this fic so much. Thank you! (Very funny as well!) Also…yes, merboy Yuugi is a cute idea.

Carmen5-Nemrac: Yes, which is only so far for this fic though. Thank you for the review!

Hopeless Case: Oh yes! A drunk Seto and Jou! A drunk anyone is hilarious…not to even BEGIN to go into those two. I'm glad you like how I'm taking this fic slowly though. Thank you!

Death: DEATHY! (Glomps you.) I'm really glad you're reviewing this. How's Thanksgiving? I know you already know what will happen but please…don't spoil things for everyone else. (Glares at you.) And yes, the anatomy of merpeople…I did some research on that…quite interesting.

Hikarinotenshi15: Thank you and I will!

Ksaturn: Yes! I feel accomplished! I just got another person saying that this was cute! I'm officially a cute-fic writer! Thank you!

Sugar-Kat: (Takes Pocky.) Thank you very much! The review and pocky was much appreciated. Please keep reading! And don't hurt the poor author! (Is so scared that author is referring to herself in third person.)

Hyacinthus: Yay! Now I'm a sweet-fic writer too! Thank you for reviewing.

Happy Dragon: AKA? (Looks at you strangely.) Where's that? (Looks around confused.) The only other place this fic is on is a finished contest section on a Yahoo group as well as Mediaminer. Don't know what you mean by AKA… Please clarify? About the review itself though -I know exactly what you mean. Sadly I can't tell you anything about future things…so keep reading to find out! Also thanks for calling this fic cute! (The third one to do this, might I add.) Thanks for the review!

My Gosh those are a lot of reviews for just three chapters! (Now four.) Please review everyone!