My Little Mermaid

Juliette didn't know how to deal with this. It was something new for her. She never really had friends. Just people that became her friend on a dare. But now, she had friends. She had people that respected her and cared about her.

But she didn't know what to do in situations like this. Nicolas was once again trying to win her friendship, but she didn't know if she would ever give it to him again. He had destroyed her trust in him without even trying.

So when she accepted his apology and was suppose to try to forgive him, Juliette found that she couldn't. Not really.

Although, he knew that. He knew that he would have to work hard and take everything slow for her to put any trust in him. But the curious thing was that he didn't mind. He relished the challenge. He wanted to prove that he could be trusted. That it was a one time thing. Juliette just didn't know.

And that led to the stroll they were taking now. Nicolas was showing her around the whole of Solatium. She was a few paces behind him, ducking her head. Nicolas had tried to converse with her, but she remained silent. Juliette didn't want to say something to upset him, but he seemed to be irritated by her silence as well.

She needed help on these relationships.

“Come on!” Nicolas whined. “Say something.” He really did not want to be the one that was doing all the talking. And his nerves were at their end. He wasn't showing it, at least to Juliette. Matt heard enough to last the rest of his life and the next. Matt was growing tired of his complaints, not that he said so. Nicolas knew. He always did.

Juliette glanced at Nicolas as he stopped. He watched her carefully, waiting for her to say something. He needed her to say something. “...where are we?” she finally asked. Nicolas turned his head, looking at the walls and the windows. He knew where they were. They were in the Storm District.

“You see that?” He pointed to a holographic screen on the wall, at a crossroad. It held just a symbol. “That tells you what district and providence you are in.” The symbol was a dark cloud with one jagged lightning strike. Beside it was a number.

“Providence?” Juliette asked. Her town was small. There weren't any Districts or Providences in it. Only the name of the town and the names of the shops.

Nicolas sighed. “There are twenty four providences in one district. We are in Providence three or the Third Providence. Or if you really want to shorten it: 3P or P3” He watched as Juliette just soaked up the information, logging it away. “I'll show you a map sometime.” She nodded, turning her gaze to the screen.

“What about Blue District? What symbol is that?” she questioned, remembering that from the time Faith took her to the market. “Or...or Sky?”

Nicolas saw a chance here. She wanted to learn and was willing to learn from him. He could use this. Get the others to help as well. “Blue is just a swash of the color. Sky is usually either a few clouds against blue or a sun. Really depends on what season it is on the surface.” Juliette tilted her head, wondering why they would care about what went on above the water. “I should bring you to the library,” he mumbled, trying to figure out if and when he could do it. Nicolas grimaced as he figured it would be best if he let Faith or Matt take her. He had too many responsibilities to take care of to take time off.

Even now he had only a limited amount of time. “Library?” Her eyes lit up.

Nicolas nodded. “Yes. I'll have Matt or Faith take you there, for I do not have the time now.” Her gaze dropped as did her shoulders. She had gotten her hopes up, but was let down. Again. “I promise you will get to go to the library.” He looked at her, guaging her reaction. It was a cautious hopeful look she gave him.

The soft golden lights created a golden hue upon her features and her dazzling eyes. Her blond hair was like gold with those lights. Her skin wasn't far behind. It too was a golden color, but darker. She looked beautiful.

The look was topped off with a black shirt.

She was slowly gaining some confidence. And it was showing.

“Shall we continue?” Nicolas asked. He was hesitant to say anything more, fearing she may retreat back into her shell. Juliette sighed, but nodded. The two of them moved along the corridor, watching the walls and the windows on the other side. Clearly, they were on the outer rim. The farther in, the less natural light and views there were. But now, it was nice to see the ocean outside. Even if she feared the monsters swimming in the depths of the water.

The two of them wandered around, barely talking. Nicolas had nothing more to say, or at least he didn't want to upset the delicate balance they had. Juliette was naturally quiet. She kept things to herself. Inside and bottled up. Together they just continued on.

Until Nicolas was called away. It was a ring and then a beep. Juliette stared at Nicolas as he shifted towards the wall, touching its smooth surface. Up came a sound wave. It jumped and lowered as the person spoke. The voice was deep, baritone, and a bit gravely. “Nicolas,” the male started. His speech pattern was slow, concise. “You are needed in the Council room. Five minutes. Good day.” And then the man hung up, leaving Nicolas there without saying a word.

A groan fluttered from his throat as he turned to Juliette. “I guess this is where I leave. Call Matt.” Nicolas ducked his head and swam off, cursing under his breath. She stayed where she was, speechless. She didn't know how to call Matt.

The sound wave thing was still up, but she had no idea how to work it. “...how...” Juliette moved closer, making out several words beneath the box with the straight line in it. “Call?”

Another box popped up. Startled, she jumped backwards. The box had names, listed alphabetically. At the top was a bar with the word “search” in it. “Um...Matt?” It popped up another box. This box had a bar that was filling in. The word “searching” was at the top.

The bar filled and put up another box, but this one had a list of names, all of them with the name Matt or Matthew. Some even had the surname Matthews. Juliette was overwhelmed with all of this. Just looking at all the names, her mind went blank on what Matt's surname was. She knew she knew it, but it wasn't coming. So the female just perused the list. She hummed softly, looking at the names, wondering if she would find him. It was a long list. It was the first time that she disliked that Matt had a common name.

Stopping, Juliette stared at the name. Matthew English. It was familiar. She wracked her brain for more details and clues, but it wasn't coming. Hesitantly, she pressed her finger to the name. A profile of some sort popped up. It showed a picture and occupation: bodyguard. The picture was a younger and no stubble version of Matt. The Matt she knew. “Call...” The first box came forward. “Matthew English?” Her voice rose in tone at the end, unsure if that was how this worked. All the boxes closed except for the sound wave one. It seemed to ring, but no one seemed to be picking up.

Then someone did. “Hello?” Juliette froze. She didn't know what to say. Her brain was slowly processing what happened and tried to figure out how it worked. “Hello?” came the voice again. It brought her back. She realized she needed to answer.

“Hello...” she mumbled.

“Juliette?” Her heart stuttered. “What do you need? Did something happen?”

She shook her head, not that he could see. “I...Nicolas...” Tears started to choke her as she realized just how lost she was without someone by her side in this place.

“Calm down,” Matt said softly. “Now, where are you?”

“I don't know!” Her eyes glanced up at the top of the wall. Just down the way, she spotted the familiar holographic screen. A symbol and number were up there. “Um...Storm...8?” she questioned.

“I'll be right there. Just stay there.” And he hung up. Now she was stuck in the hallway, waiting for Matt. She wondered if this day could get any worse. But then quickly shook that thought away. Juliette knew it could always get worse. Always.

She swam around, back and forth, up and down. She was bored and didn't want to move far from where she was in case Matt did come for her. Or that he needed her to stay in this area for some reason. Then her mind started to wander. It wondered if he knew where she was only because of the call she made. If she moved, would he know where she had went?

With that thought, Juliette stayed where she was suppose to and waited.

A few minutes later, Matt was coming down the corridor. Fast. He flipped his tail with so much strength that he propelled himself forward several feet with just one strike. And then he was in front of her, stopping with a twist of his tail. “Juliette,” he mumbled. Before either really knew what happened, Matt wrapped his arms around her. She froze, not expecting it and not knowing what to do.

Matt felt her muscles tighten and knew he over stepped some boundary. Letting her go quickly, he ducked his head. “I apologize.” He glanced at Juliette, searching her face for something that he could decipher. An emotion that would give him a clue as to what was going on in her mind. “I should have asked before springing on you like that.”

“No.” Juliette inhaled deeply, gathering herself. She knew she needed to get past the fear she had of people. Matt had proved, on multiple occasions that he wasn't going to hurt her. He wasn't going to yell at her for something she may have done. “It's fine.” She hadn't realized it, but her hands trembled as she clasped them together in front of her. For most of her life, she was use to being ridiculed and pushed away. She was an outcast. A dreamer.

This was her trying to break that form. That place that she had holed herself up in. Juliette knew she couldn't go on like that any more. She had to start believing in people that they did care about her and weren't there just to order her around. Or push her from their lives.

Matt stared at the girl—no—woman before him. He could see how hard it was for her to not break down right there. He recognized how much she was trying and accepted that. Reaching out, he took her shaking hands, clasping them in his own. “It's okay.” He looked into her scared, surprised eyes. “I appreciate the effort.” Her shoulders sank as they too started to quiver, but with something else. Tears floated away, spilling from her eyes.

The male knew she was holding onto so much pain that this was normal. He squeezed her hands. She shifted the grip, holding his own. Slowly, she sank down, crying softly. Matt followed, still holding onto her shaking hands. “...I'm sorry...” slipped past her lips. The man didn't know why she kept apologizing for something as natural as crying, but he didn't say a word. He just let her get it all out.

But he knew they would have to move. It wouldn't do her any good to be seen by anyone else right now. Most would question him and her for being out here and then that would bring up the awkward situation of she wasn't suppose to be here.

“Let's go back to Nicolas' room,” he whispered, slowly pulling her up. Juliette followed his lead. The two of them made their way through the halls and back to Nicolas' room. They entered and sat down on the couch. Still they clasped hands. Matt hadn't let go throughout the whole journey back. And Juliette was surprised. She had believed he would have let go to swim properly, but he didn't. The whole way.

She sniffled, turning away. Juliette knew how she looked when crying. It wasn't pretty. Her face tended to scrunch up as her eyes became red and puffy. At least she didn't get the streaks underwater. One blessing amongst the large mass of flaws.

“Juliette,” he said quietly. Reaching out, he grasped her chin, turning it to have her face him. “There is nothing to be ashamed of.” Her tears slowed. It was nice to have someone believe in her. Even when she didn't always believe in herself.

Taking her hands away, she wiped the remaining tears. “Thank you.” Matt gave her a gentle smile. “You've improved since last time,” she muttered, trying to joke. Trying to lift the somber mood.

A chuckle escaped his lips. “Of course.” He shook his head at the memory forming. “I had done some research and asked Faith for some tips.” Juliette nodded. She didn't say anything though. “You don't want to know how long I spent in front of the mirror practicing.” Juliette tilted her head, shocked. She hadn't thought Matt was that bad last time, but apparently he did.

“But thank you.” It was his turn to nod. “You've done a lot for me,” she let slip. Matt furrowed his brow in confusion. He hadn't thought he did much. Just his duty and possibly giving some information about things she didn't know. “You have,” she pressed.

He was starting to realize that she cared about those small things. That it wasn't all about a hero coming in to save her in the nick of time. It was about her hero saving her from drowning. Her hero was going to never let her go. That was what he was figuring out.

And just how much she was neglected, forced to live a life that had no real purpose.

He wanted to change that. He wanted her to be happy. For once. Matt wanted to see her smile brightly. His heart jumped at the prospect. All he wanted was her to live the rest of her life without problems, which wasn't realistic, and joyful as can be.

But that brought about a question that he didn't know the answer to. Was he the one to do that for her?

He left that thought for another time. A mystery for now, for he didn't know if he wanted to know the answer at this moment.

Right now, all that mattered was making Juliette content.