Swept Away (ch4)

EARLY RELEASE FOR MY $20+ PATRONS!

To save her or not... It's gotta be an obvious choice... right?

Disclaimer: I do not own Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight.

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														Chapter 4. Rescue

Mahiru's heart nearly stops altogether. The plan she'd been executing all day long with such wonderful success in the form of the human girl's smile suddenly comes crumbling down in a few split seconds.

The timing is all wrong.

The tuna bites the line just as the girl gets to her feet. The fish pulls her down at the same time the wind bowls her over and the rainwater makes her slip.

Mahiru watches it all unfold from above the surface, her face contorting with horror as she watches the girl slam against the rocks before hitting the water with a deafening splash, her scream cutting off abruptly.

Mahiru hasn't used her voice to do anything but sing since her family had gone. But now she cries out in a shrill shriek of terror.

"Oh no-!"

She dives down instantly and pumps her tail, heading straight for the rocks. Adrenaline courses through her, burning like acid in her blood, mixing with searing pangs of fear and dismay. She propels herself as quickly as she can swim, cutting through the water at top speed, faster than she ever knew she could.

And then she sees her.

That human girl whom Mahiru had been so enchanted by, so curious about.

The girl who had always been singing and smiling on those rocks…

Now, she is quiet and still. Her eyes are closed, and the precious air is escaping from her lungs in dozens of bubbles as she sinks lower and lower.

Mahiru swims a few strokes toward her-

And then she forces herself to a halt.

This is forbidden. Mermaids are never supposed to interact with human beings in any way. Even something as harmless as sending her pretty fish to catch would have earned Mahiru a serious punishment if she'd ever been discovered.

She'd been told this from the moment she was born - that they were not to interfere with the ways of man. Hundreds of humans are left to drown every year who could have been otherwise saved by merfolk; such actions would reveal their existence and endanger them all.

Mahiru doesn't budge for a long, painful moment.

She can't do this. She can't put her family and every other mermaid at risk because of one human girl. She can't be that foolish…

But as she hovers there, surrounded by all of her her conflicting emotions, she watches the girl sink further into the combers.

There are no other humans around to find her or even know she is missing. Maybe if there had been, Mahiru would have left her. Maybe if the girl had been conscious and able to swim a little. But as things are…

This was my fault-!

She needs to take responsibility.

So Mahiru swishes her tail and thrusts herself downward after the drowning girl. She begs forgiveness from her family as she reaches her and pauses for one more second. This girl can't even open her eyes. She'll never see Mahiru. Absolutely nothing would be gained in letting her die here like this.

So with her heart hardened by resolve and a few other things she can't really name, Mahiru reaches out and scoops her arms around the human girl.

A shiver runs through her as she makes contact - the forbidden touch of mankind. Mahiru had been told their skin would burn a mermaid.

But she feels no such pain at all.

She hugs the girl against her chest and beats her tail, pulling her up toward the surface. The second she breaks it, Mahiru struggles as she tries to lift the human girl above-water. She's hoping she might gasp for breath. But she remains eerily silent.

The heaving of the water and the hiss of the rain roar all around her as Mahiru frantically searches the shoreline for any other humans. But the storm had likely driven them all indoors. She can't just hope some humans will come by and swim or take a boat out to collect this girl while Mahiru swims off. She's entirely alone out here with her, and she has to fix this on her own.

So Mahiru commits the taboo act second only to making contact with mankind; she swims toward the shore.

A mermaid bringing herself toward a beach with a known human population so close nearby is equivalent to taking a nap in a fisherman's net. The risk of her being spotted increases exponentially with every inch closer to shore she travels.

But the mass of her guilt weighs more heavily upon her than the physical weight of the girl sagging limply in her arms.

Mahiru swims into the shallows, closer to a human beach than she'd ever ventured in all her life. As the water recedes and her stomach and tail begin brushing sand, she strains to keep going. She can't leave the girl here, as the undertow would still be able to sweep her away and cover her.

So Mahiru does the unthinkable.

She turns from a skilled, smooth swimmer, into an awkward bumbling seal, heaving the girl onto the sand far enough away from the tide where it won't be able to reclaim her.

Mahiru lies her down at long last, panting from the effort of the journey. Her tail swishes awkwardly in the rough sand, grains of it getting lodged beneath her scales. Unlike the sand underwater that is soft and squishy, the sand on-shore is hard and dry beneath her palms.

She shivers, not from the rain or the raw air hitting her delicate skin, but at the feeling of being so harrowingly exposed. The comfort of the ocean's ubiquity has vanished in seconds, and now the air is sharp and harsh all around her.

But her concerns for herself are pushed aside as she gazes down at the girl once more.

She still hasn't moved - not even a little bit. Her eyes remain closed, and there is no air going in or out of her lungs. Mahiru longs to hurry back into the water, but for some reason her fear for this girl is far greater than the fear of some other human spotting her. She almost wishes one of them would, if it meant they could come save this girl, but there aren't any other humans to be seen.

Mahiru knows she can't just leave her like this. The water in her lungs will drown her before long if it hasn't already.

I have to do something…

She's scared. She's so scared. But she knows she'll never forgive herself if this girl dies because of her.

So she sweeps her tail and moves closer to her, leaning down to lay her head over the girl's chest. She closes her eyes for a moment and tries to listen. She hears water stirring in her lungs, and beyond that the very, very weak pulse of a fading heartbeat.

"Oh no, please…"

All hopes that this girl might pull through on her own are instantly dashed, and as Mahiru sits herself back up and looks around the deserted streets, it's obvious no other humans will be coming anytime soon.

Therefore, with trembling fingers, Mahiru reaches out toward the girl and touches her cheek. Very softly, very gently - not like the desperate force she'd grabbed her with earlier in order to pull her out of the water. Her skin is soft and smooth, but terribly cold.

She moves closer still, until her scales brush against the fabrics of the girl's clothes. Mahiru cradles the girl's face in both her hands now and draws in a deep, shaking breath. Then, she dips down and presses her lips to hers, pushing all the air she can manage into her body.

She feels the girl's chest move ever so slightly, just for a split second. When Mahiru has no oxygen left to give her, she eases back and listens for her heartbeat once more. Not much seems to have changed. Her pulse is still very faint.

"No…"

Mahiru's chest is tight. She feels as though the entire ocean is pressing its whole weight onto her shoulders in guilt.

She'd done this. This sweet, cheerful girl who had done nothing but sing and smile.

Mahiru feels the sting of tears like she's never felt them before. And now, without the ocean all around her, they actually fall, slipping down her cheeks and dripping into the sand along with the raindrops.

"No…" She wipes her eyes, but more tears keep coming. "Please… please don't die…"

She tries one more time, pressing her lips to hers and breathing into her once again. When she has nothing left to give, Mahiru pulls away with a pain in her heart, burdened with more sadness than the sea has raindrops. She hangs her head and watches two more tears drip down into the sad.

And then, a sound.

It's small at first, so small she almost can't hear it over the wind and rain and waves. But then the little whimper turns into a loud, gurgling cough.

Mahiru snaps her head up just as the human girl's body suddenly convulses. Her boots kick into the sand and her hands fly to her chest as she rolls herself onto her side and retches mouthfuls of seawater.

Mahiru yelps - shocked, happy, and terrified all at once. She sweeps her tail and turns herself around as quickly as possible, digging her hands into the sand to help pull herself back into the water. The girl continues coughing and spitting behind her, making agonized sounds that sting Mahiru's ears. But she's just glad to know she's alive.

As soon as she reaches the water, Mahiru scrambles to pull herself off the sand and begins to swim, her tail making a splash behind her. She has to get away. She has to leave this cove for good and never come back-

"P…Please… Wait…"

Just before her head bobs completely underwater, she hears a thin, rasping voice. The plea is followed immediately by more and more violent coughing and choking.

Mahiru's instincts are all telling her to keep going, to disappear from sight as if she'd never existed at all.

But something else makes her turn back.

The human girl tries to lift herself up, but her arms buckle and she falls back into the sand, panting, gasping, and clearly in immense pain. Her eyes flutter open briefly, dizzily, and come to rest directly on Mahiru.

Pink.

Mahiru can't pull away.

Only seconds later, the girl's eyes fall shut again, and one last cough expels more water from her chest. After that, she lies very still.

Mahiru hovers there in the shallows for a long moment. But eventually her heart wins over her mind. She draws herself back onto shore, back to the girl's side. Her arms are crossed loosely over her stomach as if trying to put pressure on the terrible ache that must have resulted from her hitting the rocks. Mahiru can only consider it a blessing she hadn't hit her head or neck, and she doesn't see or smell any blood even now that they are out of the water.

But that doesn't mean this girl is out of harm's way. Far from it.

Mahiru drags herself close to her once more, extending her hand to cautiously brush the wet hair out of her face. At the very least she's breathing on her own now. But with the rain still falling and night fast-approaching, Mahiru knows she'll die of exposure before much longer.

"I'll save you." She doesn't even realize the words have come out of her mouth, but she means them. "I'll save you. I promise."

She pulls her hand away, leaving one last brush of the backs of her nails against her skin before heading back into the water. She swims in until she no longer feels the sand underneath her, to a spot where she can move freely.

And then, Mahiru begins causing the biggest commotion she can possibly manage.

She thrashes her tail, making loud splashes that echo off the shoreline and all around the cove.

"Help!" she screams. "Someone, help me!"

She splashes and splashes and screams and screams, until she can see the lights of a car rumbling to a stop just beyond the beach. The humans inside step out, having taken Mahiru's voice and splashing for the injured girl's. She quiets down and ducks underwater, only keeping her eyes above the surface to watch.

Two humans women venture out into the rain from their car and hurry onto the beach. Mahiru watches them run to the girl and pick her up before taking her away with them.

Mahiru goes all but limp with relief and lets herself sink several feet into the water.

With all of this over with now, she swims slowly back to the cave where she'd hidden her treasures here. She curls up in the sea grass her family had used before they'd gone, and folds her tail fins over her face.

She knows she can't stay here any longer. She's caused enough trouble and endangered more lives than just her own.

Tomorrow she'll leave this cove and never return.

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A/N: Finally, dialogue! I wanted to only have them speak when it was in regards to each other.