Prompt: Risa is bad at swimming. Satoshi is too good at it. How do you teach someone a skill you were born doing~?
"Remember what I told you," the mermaid prince said, stern as ever.
"Yeah, yeah--Feel the waves and--" the land-bound princess responded, tense and hurried as she inhaled and braced herself for the next wave crashing her way, "--and time the rhythm of my breathing to them!"
"Yes, but before that, there's one more important step."
"Uhh... blow--cough--bubbles?" Risa struggled to respond as another wave crashed over her.
"No," Satoshi held her steady and gently led her back toward shallower waters. It was late afternoon, and the tides were gradually rising. "Before anything else, you need to calm down. You're going to exhaust yourself with all that extra wading."
"Easier said," she responded, standing now where the waves won't reach her nose.
"Catch your breath," Risa's swimming instructor responded unfazed. "We'll try again when you're ready."
The princess only nodded and did as she was told. After a few deep breaths to regain her bearings, she let out one big huff.
"All right," she said with newfound determination. "Let's do this."
"When you're ready," the prince nodded, "Remember to keep the--" splash "--rhythm."
The princess dove into the water before giving him a signal. Nerves again, he figured. He did not swim along to keep his tail from disturbing the waters more than they already were, but his eyes followed with a laser-focus as she attempted to swim and breathe to the cadence of the waves.
Good. Don't panic. Move to the water's rhythm. Don't forget to turn and breathe. Breathe...
"Bwaaaaaah!!" Risa took one big gulp of air as soon as she surfaced, only to end up in a fit of coughing and hacking as she accidentally drank some saltwater. "Hohmygosh--cough--thought I was gonna die--cough--ack! Gross!"
Satoshi had scooped her out of the water when he saw her panicking and missing her window to take in air.
"You're fine. The water was barely up to your shoulders, Princess," The comment, done merely as a statement of fact, easily earned a glare from its receiver.
"Hard to take that from someone who physiologically cannot drown," she said, wringing her hair and wading with much effort against the waves and toward the shores. "A little sympathy won't turn you into seafoam, you know~"
"What I'm saying is you won't drown in this depth and with me watching over you," the mermaid prince responded.
"Then lead with that! Ugh, honestly! In this household, we speak our minds clearly!" The princess bundled her dress around her knees and slumped onto the shore, thankful to feel the security of solid ground beneath her. The sand was coarser with occasional sharp stones this side of the island, making it the perfect place not to be for anyone wishing to have a good and relaxing time. "Also, if you hadn't noticed, the waves here are wilder."
"You were the one who suggested this spot," he said again without a moment's pause, earning him one silently raised eyebrow that very clearly said 'Are you for real?'
Realizing how the words must've come off to her, he sighed and explained, "What I meant is, we could've practiced somewhere with more peaceful waters. I can think of a number of places where we would not be seen."
"Oho, explaining what you really meant~" The princess hummed, resting her head on her hands, "That's a start. Good job."
"I can't have you glaring at me all day," the mermaid prince grunted, crossing his arms over his chest, "Or worse, storming off on me where I could not follow you."
"Yeah, no. Walking away from someone who couldn't run after you ain't fun. There's just no... drama. You know what I mean?"
"Strictly speaking, I cannot walk out on anyone," the prince responded, mischief subtly curling the corner of his lips.
The princess snorted in laughter, and he snickered in return. The exchange turned into a moment of chuckles and more snorty giggling.
"Oh boy... I suck at this so much," the girl sighed hugging her knees close. "Honestly. Am I hopeless?"
The sun was starting to retire beneath the horizon, its blazes like fire spreading across the sea. Watching the changes in the waters and the land above as the sun sets would never be less than breathtaking to the prince who grew up in the depths, especially as it added a warm, more vibrant glow to ones complexion...
"Oh, huh?" Satoshi had not noticed his mind lingering on the spectacular scene painted before him until the princess prodded on the question he didn't hear.
"I said, if you're going to be honest, do I have the chance to learn?"
"Of course," he said, again without pause. "And I meant that."
"For real?" Risa asked, this time, in an almost somber tone. "But we've been trying this for a week now..."
Her eyes, even in a forlorn gaze that went past the mermaid prince and onto the fiery waters around him, were glowing ever more amber in the setting sun.
The prince of the sea glided through the waters to sit on the shore next to the sulking princess.
"What merit do I get from lying?" He said, rather more gently than usual that it sounded foreign even to himself.
"It would free you from the burden of teaching me, for one~" she said, chuckling though obviously upset.
"Hm. That's not entirely wrong," The prince said after a pause.
"Teaching you is not itself the burden, Princess," the prince explained calmly, solemnly. He looked off onto the expanse that was his home; the place that cradled him in birth and carried him through life. The very place that to her was a constant battlefield that could take her life in a moment's lapse. "But if I were to be honest, the anxiety of being unable to keep you safe does nag at me..."
Risa stared at her mermaid friend who had never once expressed fear of anything, and--in her eyes--could indeed conquer everything he set his mind to.
"Did you understand what I meant?" He asked quietly, shifting his gaze to her. There was a tinge of pink on his cheeks, and the princess started to feel her own face grow warmer. It was all the sun. Just the sun, she convinced herself as she shivered in the cool breeze of the falling dusk.
She looked away and nodded her head. She heard Satoshi take a deep breath and sigh.
"But don't worry about it," he said. "Next time, allow me to decide the site of our lessons. I'll find calmer waters so you can practice without fear."
"Mm... thanks," Risa smiled, feeling the warmth on her face seeping in and taking root in her heart.
bonus beach photo from years back because this is all I could think of while writing that sunset. thankss, Fugiii!
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