LOVE LOVE LOVE ♥

"You're horrible!"

"Am not!"

"What's going on?" A blonde haired boy sticks his head out from behind the door frame, normally baby deer eyes now narrowed as he stared at the two bickering kids in front of him. As if on cue, the little girl races to  him, black hair plaited down her face as her chubby cheeks shone with tears. Behind her trudged another little boy, heart shaped lips placed in a grudging scowl. Luhan sighed inwardly, shaking his head. Of all times, why did the twins just have to bicker and quarrel when he was baby sitting? It was always him that had to deal with the tantrums. Not Minseok, not Junmyeon, nuh uh, it was always him. He thought darkly, scooping the girl up into one of his arms and wiping off her tears before guiding the boy to the couch where he sat both of them on his lap.

"What happened?" Luhan asked patiently, watching as the little girl sniffled while her brother spun the other way.

"He," she hiccupped, "he won't show me how he became mummy!" There was a stunned silence before Luhan whipped his head to stare at the other child, eyes like a deer on headlights.

"You did what?!" He barked out, still staring wide eyed. At his tone, the little boy flushes and began to twiddle with his thumbs, ducking his head down shyly, much like Luhan's particular dongsaeng. Under Luhan's scrutiny, the boy finally got up from the couch and sat on the floor. Slowly, the air around him began to shimmer with light blue glitter, and if he hadn't seen the change so many time already, Luhan would have gasped as the boy's legs melded together, skin rippling and replaced with dark evergreen scales. Without hesitation Luhan broke into an applause, while the little girl on his lap squealed with delight, clapping her hands gleefully. The air shimmered again and then the legs were back as the boy flushed with embarassment along with pleasure, rubbing his neck sheepishly.

"Luhan ge, I want to know how to do it too! But he won't teach me!!" The little girl whined, pulling at Luhan's arm. Luhan opened his mouth to answer, but the little boy beat him to it.

"I told you, I don't know how to do it! Its just natural!"

"Bull !"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!" Luhan shrieked, clapping a hand over the little girl's mouth in horror and complete mortification, "Who taught you that?!"

"Sehun Oppa and Jongin Oppa!"

"Oh, my god, your appa is going to murder those two maknaes...." Luhan groaned, clutching onto the little girl in terror.

"Nevermind that Luhan ge, make him teach me!" The little girl whined.

"I already TOLD YOU-"

"QUIET." Luhan barked and both children snapped their mouth shut as Luhan's eyed glowed red for a second before he sighed, shaking his head in obvious fake agony.

"Your brother is telling the truth, he doesn't know how to do it, but you'll learn too, in time." Luhan soothed, petting the girl gently on her back as the little boy clambered onto Luhan's lap, cocking his head to one side, eyes wide like an owl.

"Luhan ge, why are we different from you? Umma is different too, why isn't she a wolf like appa and all the ges?" He asked, while his sister nodded her head, resting her head on Luhan's shoulder. Shifting slightly, Luhan chuckled to himself as he thought back to what had happened.

"No one told you the story did they? Let's see........"

A long time ago, before you, before your umma appa, before everyone was here, the world was split into four elements. Earth, Air, Water, Fire. The God of creation brought forth animals, but something was missing. Man. So from earth air water and fire, he made man and woman. But it was pointless to make man and woman, when they resembled nothing like the former elements. They didn't have the same power, the same elegance, the same belonging. And there and then, the God of creation realised, he would make the best from the best. From Earth, he chose the wolf, and melded their souls with man, and made them one. They were named the wolf changers, werewolves. From Air, he made butterflywings, and melded them into the backs of man and called them Faeries. From Water, he made tails, and melded them instead of legs onto man, and made the merpeople. And finally from Fire, he gave them a halo of burning flames, and called them Phoenixes. Now, part man and part element, the God of Creation left the world to them, in the thought of peace.

But it was never to be. From the start the elements had split into two groups. The Merpeople and the werewolves, against the Faeries and Phoenixes. A great battle raged between the Merpeople and the Phoenixes, for fire and water had always been enemies. But then the Faeries came, and the merpeople loss ground, and came to retreat. At the face of extinction and massacre, they turned to the wolves, begging for help. Upon sight of the Phoenixes and Faeries great army however, the werewolves turned their backs on the merpeople. Left to die, betrayed by their allies, the merpeople left their army to burn, while the merwomen and children left to go into hiding. From then on, the three elements lived in peace, Earth Air and Fire, Water forgotten. But the merpeople could never forget, never forget the way they were burned, betrayed, left to die. And in the murky depths of the sea where none could breach their stronghold element, they survived, and endured, until their strength and number returned. But still they feared to go onto land.

"But umma wasn't! That's how she met appa!" The little girl interjected, while her brother listened, mouth agap in shock as Luhan struggled to explain the sad story, and how they had been the creation of two that had initially been naught.

Kyungsoo closed his eyes, breathing in the warm fresh air. He could taste the wind, and feel the warm soil at his feet. Over at the other side, Sehun and Jongin along with Tao tussled on the ground in their wolf forms, their forms flickering from wolf to man every blink of an eye. The entire pack was lazing around, Suho leaning under a tree, closing his eyes. Kris was talking to Luhan and Jongdae, while Minseok and Yixing were looking for herbs to replenish their medical cabinet. Baekhyun and Chanyeol on the other hand were playing catch, Baekhyun scampering onto the top of the boulder, grinning back at Chanyeol who swore. It was peaceful, normal-

"SUHO, KRIS!" Baekhyun hollered and Kris rose and eyebrow while Suho cocked his head at Baekhyun who stared in horror at somewhere in the distance on top of the boulder, the scent of fear wafting from him. The pack stilled and scrambled up the rocks, Kris shoving Baekhyun aside to take in what he had seen. For a second he didn't see anything in the lake, the water still. Then, ripples appeared and Kris inhaled in trepidation as a figure rose from the still depths. Checking behind her, the mouth of the sea, the figure suddenly did a somersault. And that was when Kris saw the tail, a deep shade of azure blue glittering and shining in the sunlight.

"A mermaid." Kris spat, and Suho's eyes narrowed while Baekhyun shook. Mermaid in their territory. It was never heard of.

"Right, we chase her down to the lagoon. Its a dead end there, she'll never see it coming. Run her down the river, whatever happens, don't let her get back to the mouth of the sea. Keep her in our territory." Kris ordered and Suho began issuing who went right flank, left, who stayed, who waited at the lagoon.

"What are you going to do once you run her to the lagoon?" Yixing finally asked, his eyes narrowed as he shouldered through the pack, challenging Kris. He was the healer, and hated anything harmful.

"We capture her. Minseok's frost would surely get her to cooperate." Kris replied tightly and Yixing made a sound of disgust, but grudgingly went to join Luhan's flank. Kyungsoo shrugged and joining Minseok, they headed to the lagoon, running in wolf form, before melting into human form, waiting at the edge of the lagoon, Jongin waiting patiently with them. Then they heard it. The long howls followed by the splashing of frantic swimming. With a great leap the mermaid dived into the lagoon before resurfacing. Her eyes scanned the clearing, and she froze as Kyungsoo and Minseok and Jongin stood in front. It was a lagoon, a dead end. Her eyes widened in realisation as the other members rejoined their pack, forming a semi circle around the lagoon. Trapped between them and a waterfall, Kyungsoo watched with the calmness of an unforgiving party as she backed away, diving into the water before resurfacing a minute later, making soft frantic whistles.

"Its a dead end mermaid. You should have known better, now come out so we can interrogate you!" Kris snarled and Kyungsoo watched, bored as the mermaid screeched in defiance, shaking her head, brown eyes furious. That was how they always went. Refusing to cooperate. Nodding at Minseok, Kris watched dispassionately as Minseok knelt and touched the water. Slowly, ice began to spread across the previous splashing running sound of water. The mermaid stared in horror, and Kris watched as she came forward to push against the ice. It was pointless, it didn't work. Kyungsoo waited for the mermaid to attack them with a water spell, and he watched as the mermaid covered herself with her hands, the air beginning to shimmer as the ice crept forward-

"STOP IT!" Yixing roared and concentration broken, Minseok jerked back in shock, the ice and frost retreating immediately.

"Yixing! Are you disobeying my order as alpha?!" Kris snarled, rounding on the healer who shoved him away.

"You idiot, can't you see she wasn't attacking?! That was the magic for-"

"It was a spell?!"

"IDIOTS," Luhan suddenly roared, " that was the magic of sacrifice. She was going to kill herself to prevent her own capture! Read up some history you dumb nitwits!" There was stunned silence before Yixing patted Kris who murmured a soft apology to the healer. Yixing stepped forward, but the mermaid panicked, letting out a sharp squeal she splashed water at his feet before feinting to the right, but Jongin was there on the right and Yixing shot Jongin a disapproving look at the mermaid have another screech and backed away.

"Can you talk?" Yixing asked in his best soothing healer's voice, and watched as the mermaid snarled in return. Yixing was about to ask another question when a rock from nowhere flew at the mermaid, and Yixing whirled around in shock, glaring at Kyungsoo.

"Why did you knock her out?!"

"Because there's too many possible loopholes and if we want to interrogate her its better to do it in our house swimming pool. So, I knocked her out." Kyungsoo replied calmly while Yixing raged.

"Relax, I controlled my strength."

"Appa hit umma with a rock?!" The boy gasped and Luhan chuckled, nodding his head while the little girl mouth dropped open in surprise.

"Yup he did! He knocked her unconscious."

"You sure you didn't kill her? Its been two hours." Luhan said to Kyungsoo teasingly as Yixing glares at the younger.

"She should be coming round now-" Kyungsoo's words were cut short by Sehun's panicky scream and Kris howled in horror as the maknae was pulled under the surface of the swimming pool. Letting out a furious snarl, Jongin was about to shoot forward when Suho stopped him, Minseok's eyes flashing red as he reached down to touch the water. Suddenly, the water splashed into his face, repelling them backwards, followed by Sehun, who was spat out from the water.

"Are you alright? Gosh she nearly killed you-"

"Actually I don't think she wanted to kill me," Sehun coughed, shivering as he stared at the water, "She was feeding me air bubbles. I think she's marking her territory." Glancing down, Kyungsoo watched in surprise at the perfect arc, one metre away from the swimming pool that formed perfectly. Suddenly, a head popped up from the water and the mermaid's eyes met Kyungsoo's. For a second Kyungsoo was stunned by how human those eyes were, soft wide brown, and that feeling was gone as she snarled and hissed.

"Damn it mermaid, can't you speak?! All you've done is screech snarl and hiss!" Kris roared, but the mermaid shook her hair and was about to turn away when Yixing called out.

"At least tell us your name? Anything? Speak to us?" The mermaid tilted her head at Yixing, before she dived back into the water.

"I think Hyung, that was mermaid silent language for no way in hell." Chanyeol said helpfully.

"You think?" Yixing snapped, eyes trained on the water as Sehun was fussed by all the pack members. They needed her to talk, to find out what she knew, if the merpeople were alive. If a war was coming.

"Umma threw Sehun Oppa into the water!" The little girl gasped, giggling slightly while her brother snorted.

"Well if you asked me, he was asking for it." Luhan chuckled.

He was on watch the surprisingly existent mermaid duty again, with Minseok. It had already been a week of contact. They left food at the edge, but never saw her take the food, just found the tray empty the next day. How that happened they had no idea, but at least that meant she was alive. But really, it was entirely boring on mermaid watch. It was watching still water for any signs of ripples but like that was going to happen. Sighing, Kyungsoo sat on the bench a metre from the swimming pool beside Minseok and began to sing, careful not to let his feet touch the arc; who knew what magic was embedded in that?

"Forest trees in this place called home

The pretty view of lights

Watching the sunrise and sunset

Life couldn't be better

I want this to be forever-"

"Kyungsoo." Minseok nudged him and Kyungsoo snapped his mouth shut, and watched in disbelief as the water surface a metre away from him rippled, and a head slowly broke the surface. With her long wet brown hair, the mermaid floated, hesitatingly, staring at both of the stunned boys.

"I think, you should sing." Minseok whispered and Kyungsoo nodded, before clearing his throat and singing again.

"Maybe one day we could run

Run and see what its really like

Out there in this world

Where there's mountains and lakes-"

"And under the sea is where my heart lies

In the soft lullaby of home with my people

Whatever you want I can't say willingly

Take your time but death is easy"

Kyungsoo frozen as the mermaid sang a perfect rendition of his song in her own lyrics, her voice the sweetest one he had ever heard. Slowly, she swam backwards, and throwing Kyungsoo one last searching look, she vanished beneath the water.

"We need to-"

"Get the others." Minseok finished and leaping off their seats, they raced to the door and to the library where Yixing and Luhan were doing research with the rest.

"This book is centuries old, you don't even know if-"

"The mermaid, she talked." Minseok broke out and every member of the pack froze, staring at Minseok.

"Well she didn't talk to me, well she talked to Kyungsoo but it wasn't exactly talking more of-"

"Minseok!"

"She sang to Kyungsoo after he sang." Minseok rushed out and there was stunned silence as Kyungsoo awkwardly shuffles his feet. Why on earth had the mermaid even singled him out?

"Because umma and appa are soulmates!" Both kids yell and Luhan laughs aloud as they bounced on his lap excitedly.

"But they didn't know it yet." Luhan pinched both kids' cheeks.

"OF COURSE! We're such idiots!" Luhan shrieked while Yixing fact palmed into the stack of books, groaning while Jongdae shrieked about flipping through thousands of books when the answer was right in front of them-

"What?" Kyungsoo interrupted Jongdae, fixing his Hyung with a level stare.

"Well its-"

"Merpeople! Voice of the sea! Sirens, love for music! Its in that damn chapter," Luhan began flipping frantically through the pages while Yixing wildly shouted out page numbers before Luhan finally found the page, "There!"

Kyungsoo and the other members gathered around the wooden oak table, curiosity flooding through them. And then they saw the elegant cursive script. Merpeople loved music, and only deemed others worthy of their words if a voice appeals to then musically. A gift to them, if they accept, would mean a gift returned, in honour of good music. Eyes scanning the pages, Kyungsoo felt himself flush as the other members looked at him with newfound respect.

"Lets go talk to her."

"She'll only talk to Kyungsoo." Yixing pointed out evenly and there was a pause before Kris reluctantly gave Kyungsoo the  alpha stare. The stare that meant, don't screw up, please ask for useful information and don't scare the crap out of her like I do. Gulping slightly, Kyungsoo nodded, before heading down the stairs, his heart hammering in his chest. What was he to say? To do? His voice... He had trained it since young unknowingly, just from the fact he was passionate about singing. Hesitating outside the pool room, he took a deep breath before pushing the door open. Almost immediately he heard the soft splash, and he knew she had dived back into the pool. Nervously, he took a few steps, as close as he could to the barrier.

"Hello? Its.. Its Kyungsoo." He was met with silence, before the water rippled and a face appeared from the water. Silence stretched between them, and Kyungsoo felt himself fidget as the mermaid stayed where she was, a picture of complete stillness. Then, she moved, as silent as the water, propelling through, her human hands clutched at the sides of the pool, and she tilted her head to meet him. Red lips, brown eyes and pale skin the colour of moonlight sent his heart racing. But that was not what froze him.

"Hello."

Her voice was perfect. Serene and quiet with a soft ringing quality, light and teasing with the perfect timbre and pitch, not too sweet and yet mysteriously angelic. Her hair was rumpled, and she smelt of the sea, salt and breeze. Their pool was never made from chlorine water; that was obvious. For one the smell stank and wolves were very aware of scents. Two, no wolf was stupid enough to enter the sea, so they kept to land and formed a mini sea in their swimming pool. Frozen in time, Kyungsoo just swayed on the spot before recovering his train of thoughts.

"We have some questions for you." Kyungsoo said quietly, while the mermaid just looked at him, eyes wary as the water lapped around her.

"What's your name?"

"I cannot say."

"Are the merpeople alive?"

"I cannot say."

"Why are you here?"

"I cannot say."

"Is there anything you can tell me?" Kyungsoo finally asked exasperatedly, frustration etched across his handsome face while the mermaid stared at him coolly. Finally, she tilted her head and patted the edge of ths pool. Kyungsoo hesitated. Was she going to drown him? But he didn't have s choice did he? If he wanted answers, he'd have to take the risk. Slowly, he cautiously put a foot across the barrier and warily made his way across the barrier to the edge of the pool, settling there and ignoring how his pants got wet from the water. Suddenly, the mermaid heaved herself up, leaning on her forearms such that her face was inches from his face. Behind her, her tail flicked, the azure shade of blue startling and surprisingly beautiful. Kyungsoo held his breath, insides shaking with fear and wonder.

"I gave you a gift because you gave me a gift I respected. Your voice. But a gift of respect doesn't mean a gift of trust. If you want your answers," the mermaid leaned closer and Kyungsoo shivered as her cheek brushed his, her lips inches from his ears, "You'll have to force me." Slowly, she slipped back into the pool and Kyungsoo finally let out the breath he was holding, watching as the mermaid swam away, tail flicking.

"Maybe you can join me in the pool sometimes." She called out as Kyungsoo turned to leave. Kyungsoo didn't know what she was playing at, he thought warily as she stared at him, waiting for an answer.

"I don't like sea water." Kyungsoo finally replied, choosing the safest answer. At his words, ths mermaid dived into the pool and resurfaced from a cartwheel in the water, eyes shining and water dripping from her bare skin.

"Don't like, or too scared?" She called out, and Kyungsoo shut the door, palms sweating, heart racing. Because this mermaid was everything mixed into one. Dangerous, fierce, scary, but mysterious, beautiful, and most importantly, special. Already, he could feel a tug of fascination, but he drove that thought away, heading upstairs.

"Wow, umma and appa finally met in person alone!"

"That's considered a date, Junmyeon Oppa said so!"

"Shh, do you want to hear the story or not?" Luhan scolded and the kids fell silent immediately.

Welcome to Part One!  Feel free to in the mean time, badger me with questions as well as curiosity oh and as well as prompting me to write (you could swing a frying pan at me but that's my favourite weapon too so nah) Well, tata for now ^^ /blows a kiss/