This wasn't real...

It couldn't be...

Wooyoung knew he had to have died in his sleep because his eyes had to be deceiving him or he had officially lost his mind.

He opened and closed his mouth several times, unable to even comprehend how to form intelligent words.

Sitting before him, with some red moss still clinging to his waving blond hair, was...

Was San.

His San.

And... he had a tail.

"Wooyoung." San said softly, tilting his head to the side and smiling so brightly his eyes turned to crescents and his dimples showed.

He didn't care anymore. Let this be a dream. Wooyoung would embrace it fully and be forever grateful to Mother Atargatis for allowing him to see his love again.

Wooyoung lunged forward and threw his arms around San's neck, sobbing openly. He clung to his human as hard as he could, wishing he had his legs to wrap around San as well.

"Shhh, it's alright." San giggled while running his hands all over the younger's back.

"You're here."

"I'm here."

"This can't be real."

"It's real, my love."

"You were bleeding."

"I'm healed."

"You were hurt."

"I am fine now."

"You have a tail!" Wooyoung screeched and pulled away, his eyes darting all over San's body. He was still trying to process everything but...

This felt real. It didn't feel like his dreams usually did... all floaty and difficult and overly exaggerated.

Now San laughed, a joyous, high pitched laugh that shook his entire body and made him lean back a little. "I do!"

He took that moment to look down at himself and they both gasped at the sight before them.

San really did have a tail now, his own, glorious, tail. It was one tone, like Yunho's, but it was the most brilliant shade of deep yellow. Under the glow of the pyramid, if the light hit it just right, it almost appeared to sparkle a brilliant gold.

With a quick movement, San started to wiggle it back and forth, testing out how it felt much like Wooyoung had the first time he'd given himself legs.

"This feels so weird." San marveled, bending in half to stretch his long arms so he could grab the end of his fin. He yelped and jolted, making Wooyoung laugh.

They looked at each other, both smiling, for a long second. It was obvious that neither one of them knew what to say, so Wooyoung just lifted a hand to trace the places where San had been bleeding.

His skin was flawless, possibly even better than it had been before.

Wooyoung dragged his fingers up, mapping out the body he already knew so well, traveling over his chest, up his neck, and into his hair.

With a crooked smile, he picked the lingering red moss out. He could feel his nerves starting to rise for some reason, so he took longer on the task than was really necessary.

He froze when San's hand cupped his cheek. It was an action so familiar, yet so foreign now, so gentle and timid. "Woo?"

The younger kept picking at his hair. He was too scared to look at San's eyes, too scared to accept the reality, too scared to find out that this wasn't real.

"Woo, please."

So many silent phrases followed those two soft words.

Look at me.

Tell me what's wrong.

Are you ok?

What happened?

Wooyoung didn't know if he could answer any of them. He started to tremble, he could feel the water moving around him.

"You were dead." He breathed, still focusing on San's hair. "You were dead..."

San's arms pulled him close in a bone crushing hug. They clung to each other, fingers digging into skin, desperately trying to bring the other closer as Wooyoung began to cry again.

"You were dead!!"

"Baby, breathe." San whispered over and over.

"Why would you do that?! Why!!" Wooyoung tried to pull away, wanting to... to hit San or do something to help get his overwhelming emotions out. But San just tightened his grip to keep him close. "WHY!!!"

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." San started to press his lips to Wooyoung's neck. "I wasn't thinking. I just wanted to protect you."

Wooyoung wailed, his fingers curling to dig his nails into San's shoulders and back.

They stayed like that for some time. Until Wooyoung exhausted himself so much that San guided them to the mossy floor, still holding him close, as he slipped away into an uneasy slumber once more.

.

.

.

.

As San closed his eyes, savoring the feeling of Wooyoung pressed against his chest, he tried to wrap his own mind around that exactly had happened to him.

He remembered the cliff. He remembered that bastard Seonghwa shooting at Wooyoung and the others. He remembered running. But then... nothing.

A deep, never ending black is all his mind conjured up whenever he tried to think about what happened after falling over the side of the cliff.

That is, until he awoke under a layer of red moss. He's panicked instantly, sitting up and crying out in surprise, which had immediately turned to choking and fear when he realized he was underwater.

His mind hadn't been able to grasp what was going on before a giant mermaid drew his attention and helped him calm down.

She'd introduced herself at Mother Atargatis, then told San everything.

He'd been dead. For several hours.

He'd... He'd died... and was now only here because Mother Atargatis had seen fit to allow it.

San knew it was because of Wooyoung before she'd even explained her reasoning, but hearing her say that she'd grown to love Wooyoung and knew that he was pure of heart brought a loving smile to San's face as he gazed down at his love.

It only took a couple more minutes before he made the connection that he had also been blessed with a tail of his own.

That was the most unbelievable part to him, because now... if this was real... now he could stay with Wooyoung.

They could be together.

He's thanked Mother Atargatis several times before she eventually laughed and waved her hand to dismiss him. "Even though I try not to, I don't mind interfering with Fate if it means giving two pure souls such as yourselves a chance at the happiness you deserve."

"How can I ever repay you for this gift?" San pleaded, clasping his hands over his heart.

The mermaid before him shook her head and smiled. "Live, Dear One, live."

She left with a flurry of bubbles after mentioning she could sense Wooyoung was starting to wake.

Now, as San smiled into the top of Wooyoung's purple locks, he knew he'd be forever in debt to the Goddess. He'd do what he could to always honor her.

He still had too much adrenaline pumping through his body to be able to sleep, so instead, he took the time to try to learn his new body.

If he concentrated only on them, San found he could feel water passing through the new gills behind his ears. It was so strange for him when he thought about it, mostly because part of his mind still expected him to breathe through his nose.

He could also control his tail with a lot more precision that he'd ever imagined. For the longest time he though it would just bend at one point like his knees, but no, he could do so much more than just that. His entire tail had the ability to curve in an elegant arch.

Even just the simple action of tightening the muscles, something the felt should have been much harder than it was, showed him just how much power he had over the new addition to his body. Yet it was effortless.

He couldn't wait to go swimming, to feel the strong tail pushing him forward through the water, to explore this new world that had been previously unobtainable.

And he'd get to do it with Wooyoung by his side.

An idea suddenly came to him and it took all of his self control to not sit up and startle Wooyoung. His heart raced and he bit his lip, trying to contain his excitement for what he wanted to do.

San passed the time trying to think about how he wanted to execute it. He knew nothing of this world, but hearing how resourceful merfolk are from Wooyoung gave him confidence that he'd figure out a way.

Though he shortly discovered that he wouldn't need to.

Mother Atargatis must have know this wish too, because a short time later, a long, white eel swam into the room and deposited a package wrapped in seaweed.

San sent her a silent thank you, then waited for Wooyoung to wake up again.

Thankfully it wasn't too long before the younger started to stir. San smiled when he heard a quiet hum come from Wooyoung right before he started to nuzzle into San's neck.

"Mmmmmmsannnnie?"

"I'm here, love." San kissed the top of his head.

Wooyoung blinked a couple of times, then sat up and looked at him with wide eyes. "It- It wasn't a dream. You're... You're alive!!"

He darted forward, flinging his arms around San's neck and sending both of them rolling over the moss. It was a little clunky with their tails, but that almost made it even better.

They laughed. They cried. They exchanged passionate kisses. They made silent promises to never be apart again.

When they finally took a moment to just think, San sat up and pulled Wooyoung with him so they could sit facing each other.

"Woo." He cupped Wooyoung's cheek and smiled at him. "I don't want to waste another minute with you. So before we leave, I have something for you."

"What are you talking about?" Wooyoung tilted his head.

San couldn't help but giggle, feeling very proud of himself that he remembered this important tradition.

He reached for the seaweed wrapped package and handed it to Wooyoung. "Here. We can thank Mother Atargatis for this too."

Wooyoung pushed his lower lip out in a pout and slowly started to unwrap the package. As soon as a flash of gold caught their eyes, he gasped and brought a hand to his mouth. "San..."

The older leaned forward, biting his lip nervously.

Sitting on the seaweed was two golden necklaces. The chain wasn't too thin and looked to be solid and strong, while the pendants... the pendants were the perfect embodiment of their love.

Each one had two smooth, oval stones set into golden rings and hanging at different lengths. One stone was a sparkling yellow color, the other was a mixture of purple and red.

The stones matched their tails. They were perfect in every way.

"I don't know if there's a proper way to do this." San rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "But as a human, it would be a ring and I'd get down on one knee and ask you to marry me. Here, I know marriage isn't a thing, but you choose mates. I know neither of us fully understand what has happened, nor do we know what the future will bring, but I do know that I never want to be apart from you."

"You did it just right." Wooyoung whispered. When their eyes met, Wooyoung was beaming. His cheeks were a beautiful rosy color and his eyes all but disappeared with how widely he was smiling.

They leaned in for a long, passionate kiss before they worked on putting their necklaces on each other.

San looked down at his and marveled at how heavy it was. The chain had to be solid gold and the stones, truthfully he didn't know what they were, but they were gorgeous.

Part of him was curious as to how much these would cost if he'd bought them from a jewelry store, but the other part knew he'd probably faint once he heard.

Wooyoung held onto his necklace and closed his eyes. "Thank you, Mother Atargatis. Thank you for everything."

The pyramid around them seemed to glow a little brighter, as if answering him, then a series of clicks came from outside.

"Time to go." Wooyoung said. He held out is hand and pulled San with him.

Then they started to swim.

San felt the rush and loved the feeling of his new tail gliding through the water. It was pure freedom. He had no other way to describe it.

He was so happy, the shock of seeing a gigantic sperm whale waiting for them didn't even phase him.

Everything felt so natural, as if this was always meant to be his life.

He didn't question things when they hitched a ride from the magnificent animal. Mostly because he was anxious to see the others and make sure everyone else was alright.

Neither one of them had any idea what had happened after they fell, but San prayed they hadn't been hurt.

Even so, that fear couldn't eradicate the pure joy he felt when he glanced over to see Wooyoung next to him.

His mate.

Wooyoung was his chosen mate, and their symbols to show it would always be around their necks now.

His new life was about to begin. Both literally, and in so many other ways he couldn't wait to explore.