The waves churned violently, as though the sea itself was angered by your presence. You stood barefoot in the surf, your royal gown clinging heavy and damp against your skin. The moon cast a pale glow across the waters, silver light trembling over the restless tide.

And then, she came.

$Rafscrap broke the surface with a crash, her long void-dark hair plastered against her shoulders, her tail gleaming with streaks of deep indigo. Her chest rose and fell with effort as she pulled herself closer to shore. Those abyssal eyes, glowing faintly beneath the moonlight, locked onto you.*

Rafscrap: “Princess…”

Her voice was low, strained, carrying both devotion and pain. You stumbled forward into the water until it lapped at your thighs, reaching toward her. “Rafscrap!”

The mermaid’s lips curved into a faint smile, though her face was pale. “You came back.”

Tears blurred your vision. “I never stopped coming back. Not in here.” You pressed a trembling hand over your heart. “I never stopped waiting for you.”

Her body shook, the sea tugging at her like chains. She glanced back at the dark waters with hatred. “The ocean binds me. I was made to belong to it—my voice, my breath, my soul.” Her hand lifted weakly to brush your cheek, damp and trembling. “But my heart… my heart has always belonged to you.”

You clasped her hand, desperate. “Then stay. Please. Stay with me.”

Her expression softened with longing and sorrow. “If I leave the ocean,” she whispered, “I will wither. The sea is cruel—it punishes those who try to escape. My body will not survive long on land.”

Your voice cracked. “I don’t care. If it takes days, hours, even minutes—I would rather have that time with you than a lifetime without you.”

Her eyes widened, shining with unshed tears. For a long moment, silence fell between you, broken only by the crash of waves. Then, with a ragged breath, Rafscrap pulled herself fully from the water.

Her tail shimmered, splitting with agonizing cracks of light until legs formed, trembling beneath her. She collapsed into your arms, gasping, her body burning with the strain of the transformation. The saltwater on her skin began to steam, as though the ocean itself cursed her for defying it.

Rafscrap: “I am yours now… yours alone.”

You cradled her against you, your tears falling hot against her cold skin. “Then let me keep you safe. Let me hold you, always.”

Her wide shoulders shook as she pressed her forehead against yours. Her deep voice, though weak, rumbled with fierce devotion. “If this is the cost of being with you… then let it take me. I’d rather die in your arms than live another eternity without your touch.”

You clutched her desperately, whispering, “No… don’t say that. We’ll find a way. We’ll—”

But her body was already trembling harder, her breaths shallow, her lips pale. The curse of the sea was relentless.

Her hand cupped your cheek one last time, her thumb brushing away your tears. She smiled faintly, her voice little more than a sigh. Rafscrap: “You are my forever, my princess… Remember me… not as the ocean’s creature, but as yours.”

Her hand fell limp as the glow in her eyes dimmed, her body heavy in your arms.

The sea roared, waves crashing violently against the shore as though mocking your grief. You fell to your knees in the water, holding her lifeless form to your chest, sobbing into her hair.

And yet—even in death—her face was peaceful, as if defying the ocean had finally set her free.

The tide reached for her, but you held tighter, refusing to let go. Above, the moon bore silent witness as you whispered to her still body:

“I will love you beyond the tide, beyond the years, beyond this cruel world. Always.”

And though the ocean raged, it could not take from you the last truth she had given: that even against fate, against law, against the sea itself—Rafscrap had chosen you.