In Abigail and Mateo’s sleeping quarters, I paced the floor, as much as a tentacled mermaid could pace. Mateo was there too. I knew he was on “babysitting” duty.

  “Watch Pearl and make sure she isn’t discovered.” Rose had said

  “But I need some new cookware!” he had whined in response.

  Regardless, we were stuck together anyway

  I tried to think of a way to avoid the horrible fate of being left out.

  I paced the floor thinking to myself. Rose was right. Last time I had been on land…it hadn’t exactly gone well. But even so, I didn’t want to stay here alone. If only there were some way…

  Suddenly my entire being was encapsulated in a sparkling glow, the same one from the night my current form emerged from that monster. Mateo jumped back and we both squeezed our eyes shut .

  When he opened them, it seemed I was not there, replaced by a human woman. It didn’t take us long to catch on.

  The pale seafoam green of my skin was replaced by a rich dark brown and where before tentacles had floated through the air, thick black dreadlocks now hung from my head. I stood on two long legs.

  The two of us stared at my new form, then at each other in shock.

  What on earth just happened to me?!

  “You can do that?!”

  “Uh…yeah.” I said, quickly masking my shock with an easy smile. “Don’t you know anything about mermaids?”

  Now was not a time to panic, I could figure out what was going on later. For now though…

  I took a shaky step towards the door.

  “Whoah whoah whoah” Mateo said, attempting to shield his eyes from me. “I don’t know…what just happened, but It was one thing when you were a calamari but you’re showing off way too much now.”

  True, no part of her was clothed other than what Rose’s sash still covered, but I huffed in annoyance

  “You humans are so fussy, I’m not showing off any more than before! I bet Abby wouldn’t mind!”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of.” said Mateo

  Now I was even more confused than before “Whatever. Where does Abby keep her clothes?”

  I quickly dressed and when Mateo started down the gangplank onto the docks I followed closely behind.

  Rose quirked an eyebrow, sneering at the seeming intruder. “And you are?”

  “Pearl?” Abigail cried out in shock from next to her “…Are those my clothes?”

  I couldn’t help but grin with pride. I tried to run to meet her, but stumbled on shaky legs, fortunately being caught by Mateo. “Isn’t this great! And you thought I was going to have to stay behind.”

  I finished my descent slowly and carefully until I was next to Abigail holding her hand.

  Abigail twitched a bit at the contact.

  For a moment, she seemed a bit lost, gazing at me.

  She did the same when we first met as well. I suppose I now I had a whole new appearance for her to get used to.

  Even though I now looked more human, she still had the same look of enchantment in her eyes.

  Rose clapped a hand on both of our shoulders. “Well, girls, we’ve all waited a long time for this, we best get going.”

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  With that, Rose led the procession of criminals to the inn where we’d be staying as we resupplied.

  As they walked along the bustling street, I noticed a mostly inconspicuous building. “What about that one,” I said, pointing “Why don’t we stay there, it looks a bit nicer.” It certainly looked like an inn and the pink decoration on the walls made it more attractive than the inn and tavern they were heading towards.

  Abigail blushed and squeezed my hand tighter as Rose laughed boisterously.

  “If you’d like to get a room there, I’d be happy to oblige otherwise, but I don’t think our quartermaster would take too kindly to that.”

  “Oh.” I said. I was immensely confused. What could Abigail have against this place of business?

  I looked back at the building curiously as I was led into the inn.

  The crews paired up two to a room to save on space and coin. Abigail and I of course paired up together.

  As everyone filed into their rooms to settle in and drop off their luggage, I flopped down on one of the beds, propping my head on one hand and grinning at Abigail.

  Abigail blushed and shuffled on her feet.

  “This is so comfortable! So much softer than a hammock.”

  “Mhm.” said Abigail, clearly distracted.

  I swung my legs over the bed and took Abigail by both hands. She twitched again.

  “I want to explore the town more. I saw so many interesting shops.” I said.

  I could see the gears turning in her head, trying to figure out if this was a date.

  As far as I was concerned, it was, and I couldn’t be more excited when Abigail nodded in agreement.

  I flitted around from shop to shop, eyes sparkling with delight at all the different wares.

  My favorite by far was the table by the docks selling handcrafted jewelry. I picked up a smooth stone set in silver, marbled with different shades of cool greens.

  “What’s that one?” I asked the shopkeeper.

  “That’s a malachite.” said the shopkeeper “Just be sure to keep it away from water.”

  I pouted, setting the pendant down.

  The shopkeeper chuckled, “If you want something you can swim in,” she gestured to another smooth stone in a similar shade of green, though this one sported pinkish tan rings and swirls and resided on a string of pearls instead of a chain “might I suggest this ocean jasper.”

  My eyes sparkled in delight. “It’s beautiful.” I said.

  I was content to simply windowshop, though it would be a shame to leave such a beautiful trinket behind.

  Then Abigail did something unexpected.

  “How much for it?” she asked.

  I looked at her in surprise, as Abigail exchanged the necklace for coin.

  Timidly, she clasped the necklace around my neck.

  I looked at the necklace, then back up at her.

  I could not be more elated. Not only did Abigail want to buy me a gift, she wanted to adorn me, thought me to be something worth adorning with stones and jewels and pretty things to let the world know I was hers. This gesture, it had to be as intimate for humans as it was for my kind, right?

  I threw my arms around her and squeezed her tightly. I leaned in, bringing my face close to hers.

  But then she placed a hand on either one of my shoulders, applying gentle pressure and looked around at the faces passing by.

  I looked too. Some were pinched in discomfort, others all too excited.

  I pulled back. Had I read her wrong? Or did she just not want strangers to witness my love and gratitude? But she wanted them to know about us, wasn’t that why she gave me the necklace?

  Abigail took me by the hand and led me back to the inn.

  Back in the tavern on the building’s ground floor, dinner was already starting for the two crews.

  The captains sat together accompanied by Mateo, who waved for us to come join them. Rose’s inner circle as it were. Plus me.

  The food arrived shortly and a feast from the old world and new world alike with names I quickly tried to memorize. Slow cooked beef stew with root vegetables and plump sausages with mashed potatoes were devoured with great enthusiasm along with jerk chicken and lechon asada. Everyone was grateful for the change of pace of eating foods not available to them at sea.

  Mateo groaned in satisfaction over the remains of his ropa vieja. “It’s so nice to not have to cook every once in a while.”

  Rose and Darcy grinned at each other conspiratorially before they both pushed their chairs away from the table and headed towards their rooms hand in hand.

  “You kids have fun without us for a while!” Rose winked over her shoulder.

  “Don’t do anything we wouldn’t do.” said Darcy

  Quickly, I popped the last of my sweet plantains into my mouth and grabbed Abigail by the hand “Come on!” she said, dragging Abigail off “Let’s go to our room, I wanna sleep with you!”

  “That doesn’t mean what you think it does!” Abigail cried as I dragged her off.