When Norman opened his eyes he was no longer on the helicopter. His head has still sniping around in a crazy way but he recognized the room and place he was in...Yuugo's secret lab, really? How did he got there?

His mind was blurred. All he remembered was the way he felt his body faint and how noisy were the helicopter they used to escape from the government. Still, one single worry hit him and made him shiver: he looked all around his bed and couldn't find...

" Emma! I need to know were is Emma! Is Emma ok?"

" Don't worry Norman her wounds are fine! Remember? Mermaids, just like you said, can heal their own wounds way faster than humans! She is a tank that we prepared and she is all right" 

" Ah what a relief! Any trace of government forces? Did they follow us here?" 

" Gillian and Nigel keep a constant surveillance over the house so no need to worry, just rest Norman, please" 

Lucas pated Norman's hair hair: he was still a bit pale and the bullet he took in this body left a scar that he wasn't sure if would remain forever on his body. He smiled in a tender gesture. Norman was so frail in physical terms but his face indicated that he already had 300 different plans in mind 

He was thinking so loud that he cloud actually hear him

" Lucas...I can't thank you enough for this...if it wasn't for you I...that was actually kinda crazy hasn't it? I'm sorry if I just snapped and made a lot of trouble..." 

Lucas touched his lips slightly telling him to stop calling and smiled to him 

" You don't ever have to apologize for doing the right chooise, you know? I was actually glad that you asked for my help...it made me feel like a dependable father once again? You grew up so fast and you were able to everything on your own...Am I beeing strange?" 

Norman smiled as he drank the cup of milk Lucas handed to him

" Not really...you have a dad complex just like Yuugo...I guess you can say you were perfect for each other. I'm glad I was able to have to crazy science yet fantastic fathers!" 

" Well - Lucas said as he helped Norman getting up on this two feet- I can't said that you were a terrible kid. I'll handle the trouble your causing now since you were never a trouble child, unlike your father" 

" Oh really? That's great! I'm actually glad to be back at this place... I just have a few memories form when I was a kid and Yuugo and you spend your time here doing some experiments outside the lab projects from the enterprise...not much tough"

" Yeah...it's been a long time since I've been here too...- Lucas made a long pause to look around the old house with a nostalgic look on his face- but you know your father, right? We have thousands of security cameras here so we are safe for sure" 

Norman smiled: Yuugo had quite a obsessive personality but Lucas always loved that about him. Norman, even his distance heart could feel the height of the love Yuugo left behind, the sadness in Luca's eyes...how he loved every bad qualities Yuugo had to offer 

" Yeah...I want to look around the house when I do have the time...now do you think you can take me to Emma? I want to check on her" 

" Yeah of course! She was actually very worried about you! I'm glad she let us treat you and trust us with the task! She was even able to communicate with me and I was surprised by how well she does mimic the human tonge! You teached her well Norman!" 

Norman widen his eyes as they healed to the corridor of that great house 

" Really? She talked to you Lucas?" 

" Yeah...she asked me if you were going to be ok and until we arrived here and placed you in your bed, she was always lying by your side, waiting for you to wake up. Maybe she tough...that you were dead?" 

Norman used his hand and reached for his chest as they always towards the place Emma was. He gave her so much worries! Actually...did he? Did she actually cared that much for him? He knew that somehow she trusted him, but...was she really that concerned? 

For a moment he wanted to project himself from those feelings. A corner of his mind wanted himself to not mean that much to her, and leave the weight of meaning so much to someone else. Another corner of his mind craved the place Emma rearranged for him in her heart 

Rearranged in her heart? He was assuming to much to quickly...she was just being friendly and-

" There you are again overthinking Norman, just like your father. You are thinking so hard that I am afraid you step on yourself and slam for face on the ground" 

Norman looked at Lucas: he was always able to snap him out of this mind and still he was curious about how he took after Yuugo, just like Lucas always said, when he was adopted by them and never knew his real parents

" Did Yuugo used to slam in face on the ground when he overthink stuff?" 

Lucas was surprised by his question, right before opening the door to Emma's room. He smiled towards Norman and the silver boy smiled as he saw a tear fall of Luca's right eye 

" Yes he did...all the time" 

When Norman and Lucas entered Norman looked right into Emma's body in the deepest part of the tank. The room was actually really big and the tank was actually bigger than the one they had in the lab. 

For a second he wasn't sure that to do, or that to say. His throat went dry and words wouldn't come out as Lucas left the place reassuring Norman that he could call him anytime if he needed something. 

As Norman walked to meet Emma, he had the strange sensation that he was walking backwards to the past, as if he was meeting the test subject again without knowing anything about that strange creature and how much his life would change. 

He felt like he was meeting her for the very first time...and he was proud of his childish innocence of seeing the same always in a brand new and different way. A tear feel down his eye as Emma raised her head and widen her eye to look at him 

" Emma...I'm sorry I made you do this...but I couldn't think of another way to escape from that terrible lab...still, I'm not sure that they would give up on finding us that easily..." 

" Norman... - Norman shivered at the sound of his name in her clumsy voice and shaking hands - Emma is glad...Norman is ok. Emma thanks Norman for that he did..." 

Norman smiled as he placed his own hand over hers. A corner of his mind decided that her tender gesture was all the courage he needed to carry the weight of meaning so much to another life. Still, his heart was uneasy about the nature of her feelings 

Were Mermaids capable of loving? Did Emma even knew that concept? He was printing in her his own feelings and that made him feel even more selfish than he should ever be.

" Emma...I...may I ask you something?" 

" Norman...sure" 

" Do you know a word called " Love"?"

Norman heat knew it would hurt and still the question was necessary...at least for him to be able to rest at night. Did he even knew that love was? Was even a concept of love to begin with? Now he felt pathetic to ask a question that even he didn't know about 

" Love?" 

" Yes, love..." - Emma raised her hand from Norman's face and placed it on her chest. Mermaids didn't used the word "love" they didn't even have that term in their own language. Their "love" was in their voices in the songs they sang to express their feelings. To Emma put her feelings into words was a real challenge

Why did humans used words? Songs are abstract even more than words, perfect for addressing the abstract nature of feelings. To Emma, based on that she knew from the book she had read back in the lab, love was a precious feeling...a feeling developed when someone was precious 

Like a gem in the stone love was a song...the most beautiful song 

" ...the prohibition of being alone" 

" What?" - Norman widen his eyes as Emma proceed to turn her body into every shades of color

" Norman...love doesn't let you be alone" 

" What do you mean by that?" 

" Norman...thinks about the person he...so he is never alone. The person is always in your mind...so it never leaves your side...Norman understands?" 

It was terrifying how easy and clear that was and in a matter of seconds his hole world came crushing down in a flash. He imagined that Emma's tank glass broke and all the cold water came to drown him in the ocean. 

He smiled as he recognized indeed how stupid he was. He was able to get a perfect score degree but he wasn't able to realize something so elementar.

" You're right Emma - Norman reflected as Emma pulled him closer to her arms - it's so easy it scares me. You forbid me of being alone, Emma" 

Aware of how Norman was now a precious gem in her life Emma held him close and sang him the most beautiful song her voice could produce. 

That was her way of telling him that, just like he said, Norman forbid her from being alone

------------------------ O ---------------------------

Thank you so much for reading this chapter! All the credits for the art , cape and AU ideia and comics of this fanfic are to @stray_tori on Tumblr, Twitter and Instagram! Please go check her fantastic art!

Note: Mika-hime changed her name so please search her art by the new name of her account!

Thank you so much and see you soon!