Heart of the Sea

“So you don’t actually catch the fish?” Isla asked Quinn as she followed him to the docks. He was trying to explain exactly how the fishing net worked.

“I catch them,” he said. “In the net.”

“Then doesn’t the net catch them?”

“I didn’t know mermaids were so keen on semantics,” he chuckled. “The fish are caught in the net and I pull them up.”

“This fishing business seems very odd,” Isla said. She was happy to tag along with him anyway. She had never thought she’d enjoy being on land so much, but it was nice to be with Quinn and nice to be going out on the water.

“I’ve never actually been on a boat before,” she remarked as he helped her onto the deck. She glanced around with interest. She noticed some other people on the docks looking in their direction with curious expressions as she followed Quinn around and watched everything he did with fascination. He seemed amused by her excitement.

“It’s just fishing, not a grand cruise,” he said, gently flicking her nose.

“I know that,” Isla said, swatting his hand away and smiling. “I just like being in the water. And I like being with you.”

He lowered his gaze a little as his face turned red. Isla reached out to touch his face.

“Why do you turn red when I say things to you?” she asked curiously. “I’m not making you sick, am I?”

He was still red but he laughed, gently pulling her hands away from his face.

“No, you're not making me sick. It’s just a reaction to you saying nice things.”

“Oh. You feel warm when people say nice things,” Isla said, feeling like she was on to something. She remembered feeling warm when he said she was beautiful and that he liked having her around. She propped her arms on the railing as Quinn navigated the boat out into the water. She’d been thinking a lot since he told her the story about Dexter and his love for Charlotte. Isla didn’t know very much about love, but mermaids had once been eager to fall in love; before they began hiding from humans.

“Mermaids used to fall in love with sailors sometimes,” she said. “Sometimes when they rescued them from drowning. That’s how people figured out that mermaid hearts are magic, you know. Men who married mermaids always had longer lives and better luck than anyone else. Eventually someone figured out that it was because of the mermaids and people started taking their hearts. It still works, having a mermaid heart. But catching a mermaid and cutting out her heart doesn’t work as well as when a mermaid gives you her heart.”

“No, I don’t suppose that it would,” Quinn said. When they were far enough out to sea, he began readying the net to drop into the water. Isla walked over to watch.

“So this is what catches the fish?” she asked.

“Yes, this is the net I use to help me catch the fish,” Quinn replied.

“It still seems like the net catches the fish,” she said teasingly, giggling when he nudged her.

“I didn’t realize you were going to be so sassy when I agreed to bring you out here,” he said and she just grinned at him. He tried to show her how to throw it over the side and in her attempts to help she almost went over with it.

“At least we know I won’t drown if I fall in the water,” Isla said when Quinn pulled her back to safety.

“I’d still prefer not to throw you overboard.”

Quinn showed her how to make knots in between hauling up nets of fish and laughed at the look of wonder on her face.

“Are you sure the rope isn’t magic?” she asked, watching him tie an intricate knot in almost no time at all.

“There’s nothing magic about it,” he assured her. “Just practice. Here, I’ll show you.”

He attempted to show her how to replicate the knot but somehow Isla just got the rope looped around her wrist.

“That’s a very good first try,” Quinn said as she made a face. After the third time she helped him pull up the net and fell over in the process, she stood up with a huff.

“Okay, your way of fishing is weird,” she said. “But I know of a way I can be helpful.”

“You’ve been a great help,” Quinn said. Isla got that warm feeling in her chest again.

“Well, I know of a way to help better,” she insisted. Making sure there was no one else in sight, she started undoing the buttons on her dress. Quinn was facing away from her but turned around just as she was getting ready to push it off her shoulders. He made a choking sound and turned quickly away.

“Isla, can you please warn me when you’re going to do that?”

“Sorry.” Isla cocked her head, preparing to hop over the railing. “Quinn, I meant to ask you something. Is my human form weird?”

“What?”

“Is it weird,” she repeated. “I don’t know how to tell if my legs are wrong or something.”

“Um. No.” Quinn cleared his throat awkwardly, still not looking at her. “You don’t look weird.”

“So you just act all cute and weird because people usually have their clothes on?”

“I-uh-yes. I guess. Did you say cute? Nevermind. I’m not acting weird.”

Isla laughed before she hopped over the side of the boat and splashed down into the water, her legs transforming into her tail. She stuck her head up out of the water.

“I’ll be back in a little bit,” she told him. She flicked her tail and dove beneath the waves, swimming hard for her favorite pearl hunting ground. It wasn’t far from here, and she drifted down into the depths to hunt for black oysters. She carefully selected only the very best pearls she could find, and some more shells. By the time she wrapped up her search and headed back to Quinn’s boat, she had a whole pile of shells and five large pearls in the kelp bag she’d fashioned. She stuck her head out of the water, peeking around cautiously to make sure there was monôme else around.

She swam up to the boat and launched herself out of the water, catching the rail and pulling herself up. She let out a squeak as she almost toppled onto the deck. Quinn caught her arm and kept her from falling. She flashed him a smile and then dried off and put her dress back on. Then she opened her kelp bag and handed him the shells.

“They’re very pretty,” he said. Then she handed him the green and pink pearls she’d found. He did a double take and his eyes went wide.

“Isla…I can’t possibly take these.”

“Oh.” Isla deflated. “I thought they were good ones…but I guess I don’t really know what humans want. Are they not good enough? Is the color wrong?”

Quinn glanced at her face and quickly shook his head.

“No, that’s not what I meant. They’re beautiful pearls. They’re just…these would be worth a lot.”

“That’s good though, right?” She looked up at him and he sighed.

“Yeah, that’s a good thing. But these are worth-“

“If they’re good pearls then I want you to have them,” she said firmly, shoving them into his hand. “I found them for you.”

He reluctantly took the pearls. “Thanks, Isla.”

She tagged along with him as he took the fish into the market to sell, and again she noticed people looking at them and whispering.

“Is there a reason people keep watching us?” Isla asked.

“They don’t see a lot of new people,” Quinn said, seemingly trying to ignore the stares.

“Thank you for taking me with you today,” Isla said when they returned home. “It was fun.”

He laughed lightly. “Fun, huh? Not the word most people would use.”

He stoked a fire and then moved into the kitchen to make some dinner. Isla stood in front of the fire for a few minutes, warming her hands. Then she looked over and studied Quinn while he fed Tubbs and started dinner. She thought about what he’d said about flutters and feeling things in your soul. She didn’t know much about how all that worked but she definitely thought she felt something about Quinn.

“Quinn?” she said softly. He turned to find her watching him intently.

“What’s the matter?” he asked.

“Um. I need to figure something out,” she said shyly, moving closer to him.

“Oh. Is it the fire? Cause I don’t know all the technical stuff about how it works. I know there’s something to do with oxygen-“

“No, it’s not the fire. It’s actually something about you.”

“About me?”

Isla nodded, playing with her sleeves a little nervously. His face turned red again as she gazed up at him.

“Well, uh. What do you need to know?” he asked. Isla raised up onto her toes and caught his collar to gently pull him closer before she kissed him. He froze with shock, but Isla definitely felt a flutter in her chest.