I first saw my love on a summer moon night.

How could I know for sure, you ask?

I just did.

Reflected in moonlight, framed in a cove facing the sea. The pure white disk looming above, brushing in swift pale across an inky canvas. A slash of color, rich red embers smoldering in the breeze.

I saw it instantly, beckoning me like a moth to the flame. I only heard of this phrase later, for there were neither moths nor flame in the Undersea. Perhaps, more like prey to the glow of an angler-fish. And I was baited. Oh was I baited.

More. Hair a deep burgundy, a face carved from marble with knife-like . Something fluttering between full, pursed lips. A haunting note resonated across a wine-dark sea, sending a trill of delight through me.

Not for nothing were we known for our siren song. I lift my voice in unconscious response, a high fluting keen that melded with the melody that had so ensnared me.

Belatedly I remember my sister Sojung's warning, and duck quickly back underwater, lurking just beneath the surface. I was dark of hair, and the sea was like obsidian. Surely the human had not seen me?

The song had stopped. I peeked through the water like a curious calf, eyes wide behind a barrier which was no barrier to me. The human was standing now, staring out at sea with eyes like a burning flame. Almost right at me, except it couldn't be, because I wasn't there to be seen. Or was I?

Eventually the human turned and left, the high ponytail of crimson swaying behind a ramrod straight posture. I watched as long as I could, until even the outline of that back vanished into the dark. I was holding a breath that didn't need to be held, and my hearts thrummed with a beat unfamiliar to me.

It was my 18th birthday that day. It would not be the last time I returned to the surface, to this very spot, to watch my human. I no longer sang to divulge my presence, and the human did not try to look for me. I just wanted to watch, to listen, at first. As the day passed, even that felt less than satisfactory, and I drew ever closer to shore, wanting to be closer. To be just that much nearer.

I wanted. Looking was no longer enough. What would it be like to touch my perfect human?

Yerin-unnie was the first to notice my change. Perhaps Sojung-unnie would have seen it earlier, but she was away visiting with a pod distantly kin to us.

"Why the sighs?" She bubbled with amusement as she settled on a coral next to me.

I flopped on my back, the glittering scales of my tail blending into the coral.

"Don't tell me you're already ready to find a mate~" The older mermaid warbled excitedly, spinning in a quick circle as she gestured. We communicated with both sound and movement in the Undersea, and I felt more than saw her amusement as the ripples came my way.

"Noooooo I'm notttttt!" I flicked my tail at her, but she was already away and hovering several feet above me, reaching out conveniently to tug at my cheeks. I puffed them out, and she resorted to poking them instead. I sighed, deflating. There was just no winning for me in this.

"You've been gone a lot these days, been seeing someone behind my back mmm? I thought you were going to marry me when you grew up?"

I huffed at the teasing and darted underneath the shadow of the coral. "Yerin-unnie is a meanie!"

"Yah! No respect for your elders!"

"You're not that much older!"

We playfully tussled for a bit, turning the reef into an obstacle course as we raced each other around. As the pull of the moon strengthened far overhead, I raised my head up in unconscious yearning. Yerin-unnie seemed to sense my mood, and with unusual seriousness for her usual carefree self, spoke up.

"We don't belong up there, Eunbi. You shouldn't keep rising to the surface. What if the humans catch you? We don't live long on land, away from Mother Sea."

I flinched. She knew? She knew.

"I know everything is fresh and exciting for you since you've been allowed to see the surface, but the sea is so much bigger! When you're a little older, we can go out exploring! The surface isn't that great, you know?"

She meant well, I knew as much. But my heart was drawn irresistibly to dark eyes and burgundy hair, with a voice not unlike the Sirens we were descended from. I couldn't stay away even if I wanted to.

My eyes darted guiltily away as I made my excuses. If Yerin-unnie was not convinced, she gave no sign of it.

It became harder to get away, but I always made the effort, just for the briefest of glimpses from far away. To be forbidden made it even more exciting to make the trip, and a few times I even grew mildly reckless, surfacing for longer than was wise to see my human.

The surface grew colder in time, and I saw less of my human. From the accounts of our elders, this was what the humans called "winter". In the Undersea, we had the flow of different currents, and did not experience weather the way humans did. In any case, cold didn't affect me as much as the landwalkers.

I missed my human terribly. Several times I swam close to the shore, dangerously so, so much that most of me was exposed to the frigid air, to the cove beneath the cliff I had first seen my human. I sang alone in those nights, too cold for humans to be out, hoping beyond hope that somehow, somewhere, my human could hear me.

The cold season stretched like a yawning maw across my patience. I was restless, surfacing almost every day with my sisters to watch ships torn in wretched storms, their wrecks slowly sinking to adorn the floors of our domain. We felt no need to rescue them; humans were not our kind. I had my human, but the others were not my concern.

I floated listlessly on the surface, watching lightning streak across the sky like racing eels. A ship, much larger and more ornate than the fishing sloops that often trawled the bay, was plowing determinedly against the rolling tides that were forcing it further from safe harbor. I eyed it and the surrounding weather contemplatively. A great storm was coming, and at the speed that they were going, they would not make port before the jaws of the storm came clashing down.

When the ship was no more than 500 yards away from me, a wicked ball of lightning raced down and split the mast with the ferocity of a striking serpent. Even through the roar of thunder, I could hear the hull creaking and groaning like a wounded leviathan. Tiny figures raced around on deck, trying to control their tiny vessel that was little more than a toy in the arms of Mother Sea.

I stretched and prepared to dive down, already bored by the spectacle. But before I did, a shock of blood red on deck caught my eye, and I rolled back up to squint at the tall figure trying to keep order on some of the panicking men.

Before I could control myself, I myself forward with a few powerful of my tail, cutting through the waves far more easily than their lumbering hulk of wood and iron. The tiny figure grew clearer as I drew closer; a tall, powerfully built young human with red hair and sharp features. I went very still, lurking just beneath the waves as my eyes tracked the blur of red battered down by the rain.

It was only a matter of time when the ship hit a hidden reef, smashing apart an already battered hull and tossing humans like ragdolls off the ship. Again I moved before thought, diving straight towards where I saw the shock of red hit the water.

The sea was my home, I found the mass of red before it sank too far, and hauled my burden up towards the surface. I might be able to breathe underwater, but humans could not.

This close, I saw the hard angles of the young man's face, as if chiseled from stone. He was bigger and taller than me, but I was a daughter of the sea. In water, keeping one human safe and alive was not a problem.

He looked like one of the statues from the sunken wrecks, carved in living flesh and ruggedly handsome even if somewhat bedraggled from nearly drowning. My human had the same sharp planes in face and jaw, and the red felt so familiar...

I could not bring him directly to the port, for it was not safe for me to go. Instead I went south and west, powering towards a smaller settlement down the coast where I could leave the human to be found.

I didn't know how to feel around him. I had never been within arm's length of my human, and though I was towing him towards safety now, it somehow felt wrong to see him so helpless and vulnerable. In my memory, there had always been a comforting strength around my human, a peace that I shared in simply by being close. 

The shattering of that illusion by this incident shook me. Would he die? It terrified me to even imagine it. In the end, it was the red hair that kept me grounded, a reminder that I had to get him back on land where he belonged.

Even as strong as I was, it was a tiring journey transporting someone almost double my weight. When I caught sight of the stone structures that were my destination, I heaved a secret sigh of relief. Here, there would be people to save my human. I wasn't familiar enough with humans to know how their bodies worked, and this one had been unconscious the entire time. That could not be good.

With a lot more effort, I managed to roll him onto the shore without stranding myself as well. It was still raining, but not so heavily that I couldn't see too far. My human appeared to be shivering in the cold, which reminded me that I should probably draw some attention to him before he died of something other than drowning.

Our voices were tuned to resonate across the ocean, and I was no exception as I called out, mimicking the words of drowning sailors I had observed before. When I finally spotted motion, I ducked quickly back into the sea, surfacing partially a safe distance out to watch as a group of humans found the one I left on the shore.

He was in good hands. I sank beneath the waves, feeling accomplished.

I came every day thereafter to watch him from afar. Perhaps he would know that it was I who had saved him, and perhaps spare a glance towards the sea where I lurked. But as the days wore past, all I saw was him staying by another young woman, his eyes following her everywhere she went. He never once looked at the ocean, as my human always did. Indignant, I swam closer, and heard him address her as his savior.

But I saved you! I protested internally, indignation burning within me. But he never saw me, and I couldn't reach him on land. Despondent, I tried to think of ways that I could join him on land. But I couldn't grow legs. No mermaid could do that. Not unless...

There was a way. But...I hesitated. No one goes to the Witch without paying dearly for her service.

But I needed to get to him. I couldn't just lose him to some other girl without even trying!

I was young. I was stubborn. I went to the Heart of the Dark, seeking a solution.

The Witch was young. I wasn't expecting that. The tales were all varied; some called her an ugly old crone, others saw a beautiful maiden. I saw someone who was no more than my own age, with ancient eyes that betrayed her true nature.

"Jung Eunbi. Welcome."

I was not surprised that she knew my name. The Witch knew everything. I stated what I sought, legs to go on land.

She looked amused.

"That will not come cheap, little mermaid."

I took a deep breath. "I will pay what I have to give."

She circled around me, shaking her head slowly. I thought she would not accept my bargain, but then she spoke again, in a measured tone.

"The mermaid with a crystal voice. I have heard you sing, it is reasonably beautiful. If you should desire legs to go on land, I will take your voice in payment." I fidgeted nervously under her piercing gaze.

"Also know that should you take this bargain, you will no longer be able to return to the sea. You will lose your fins and gills, little one." Her voice trailed into the shadows as she busied around her shelves filled with mysterious concoctions. 

"Even then, my magic has its limits. Each step you take on your bartered legs will cut like knives through flesh." She paused as I paled, taking in my reaction with a sardonic twist to her lips.

"But, I will allow you a little freebie. You will be able to dance as beautifully as the one who last owned those legs..." Her eyes darkened in a hard flash, and I took an instinctive step backwards.

"Will it hurt?" I whispered before I could help myself.

"Every step, little one. That is the price you pay for something that was never meant for you."

My lower lip quivered. I was afraid. Who wouldn't be?

"I..."

The Witch held up a hand.

"Do let me finish, little one." She circled around me again, nodding to herself as if engaged in some silent conversation.

"The potion I will give you for your legs is not permanent, little one. The only way to seal the bargain will be to win the heart of your true love. Should your love marry someone else, you too will dissolve into foam upon the waves at dawn of the next day."

My eyes opened wide. "What happens then? I mean, after I..."

"You're dead if you're foam, stupid girl." The Witch snapped. Then, a sardonic grin.

"But I suspect you mean if you do win your true love."

She studied her nails in casual indifference, drifting in and out of the looming shadows of her lair. "You become human, little one, entirely and truly, and the legs will eventually hurt less as you grow into them..."

She looked up and prodded at my throat before I could flinch away. "Your voice would still be mine though. That's just payment for services."

I swallowed. No more sea and song, nor the gentle caress of the waves upon my cheek. Away from Mother Sea and my sisters. Everything that I had ever known.

And yet, the surface loomed. New things, new faces, new experiences. A whole new world ripe for discovery. A place no daughter of the sea had ever been. I could go. I could be there.

Darkness loomed all around me, whispering with voices I couldn't catch. The Witch had retreated to a corner, as if she did not care what became of me. She probably didn't. 

One moment, as I remembered the sun reflecting off hair smooth as silk, not unlike the rich copper of fresh blood. Calm eyes staring off into the distance, stories untold swirling in dark orbs. A quiet companionship, me too far to reach, but together at heart.

I wanted to touch that. To cross the meager distance between us, to hold hands, to watch the sunset side by side. To walk a new world with a song in my heart, even if the price was for it to never pass my own lips.

I didn't want anyone else taking that away from me. If he could not come to my world, I would go to his. 

The sea would always be there. 

"I accept."