Chapter 1 

Calm.  
It’s what she’s feeling at the moment. Everything and everywhere around her is 
calm, peaceful. It is a beautiful day. The sky is cloudless, the sun shining against a wide blue 
canvas. She can see the majesty of her island from where she is, a bit far from its shore on 
her small rowboat but not too close to the other islands in the region. She sees the 
comforting sight of hills and foliage and land, but when she turns her head, her eyes can 
only wander to the vastness of the sea. 
Yena can feel timid waves nudging her boat and swaying it ever so lightly, while the 
gentle sea breeze tickles her skin. She is glad that she picked a great day to go out and 
observe the fish and other tiny creatures of the sea brave enough to brush against the 
clear surface of the water. Yena can only feel content as she takes scribbles down notes of 
the small school of guppies skimming about.  
But maybe she is too content, too serene, and it is too peaceful. She begins to stare 
off into the point where the sky dissolves into water and thinks about how her life on her 
small island is always quite peaceful, even if the sea is sometimes stormy, unlike how it is 
today. The only interesting things that happen to her as a quiet marine biologist are the 
times when she makes a new discovery in her research and when she makes a new friend 
at the mainland. These instances, however, are few and far inbetween.  
She is lost in these thoughts when her boat rocks suddenly as if it’s been slapped 
aside.  
Yena jolts in surprise. Her arms quickly reach out to grip the edges of her boat, 
steadying herself. It takes a while for the rowboat to cease its erratic swaying and even 
longer for her heartbeat to return to its normal pace. Her mind is racing. W​ hat in the hell 
was that?​ What could have possibly moved her boat with such a sudden force, when the 
waters are as mild as can be? 
After a few moments, everything is still and silent again. She thinks about it. She is 
not far out enough in the sea to encounter any whales or sharks, so she rules out these 
possibilities. She concludes the waters are not at fault, because the waves are still barely 
there. Her mind soon draws a blank. ​What could it have been, then? 
Yena cannot take stress very well, so she stretches her body and positions herself so 
she’s laying on her back against the narrow floor of her boat, her face towards the sky. She 
sighs. That’s as much surprise related stress as she can take for one day. She closes her 
eyes and considers drifting off to sleep, but decides against it, for she’d be a fool to remain 
a sitting duck for whatever it is that briefly attacked her boat.  

The Distance Between Oceans  

Li H. M. 
Copyright © 2018. All Rights Reserved. 
 She sits up again. She blinks away the urge to let slumber consume her by peering 
around. She sees nothing unusual in the waters, until she does.  
A head pops up from beneath to break the careful waves, and Yena lets go of a 
short scream before she gets properly splashed. 
“What the fuck! Oh my god! Seriously, what the hell…” Her colourful string of 
exclamations halts as she shakes off the drops of water from her sleeves and takes in the 
sight before her. There’s what seems to be a girl, or a woman, around her age or younger, 
staring at her curiously near the edge of her tiny boat with large, gray eyes, like a cat’s. Yena 
notices that this girl is very, very attractive, and so she dives further into panic mode. 
“Who...umm...who...who are you? W-What’s your name? What are you doing here? 
Are you from the uhh...the mainland?” Yena bites her lower lip to stop herself from asking 
too many questions all at once. She doesn’t want to overwhelm this stranger, even though 
she’s the one feeling undeniably, completely overwhelmed. 
How is she here? There are no other boats around, at least none that Yena can see, 
and although the neighbouring island isn’t too far, swimming from Kiriha to Pinsovan is too 
draining​— one would require a boat. And even if she swam, the waters were too quiet. 
Surely Yena would’ve noticed a swimmer’s splashing. It’s strange. This girl is strange. Yena is 
wondering a lot about her.  
The strange girl doesn’t respond right away, so Yena forces herself to calm down 
and wait. While she does, she stares back at the girl. She’s actually more of a woman, Yena 
notes. Only the woman’s head and her bare shoulders float above the water’s surface, but 
Yena can see lovely tan skin similar to her own, albeit a bit lighter. She has long, dark hair, 
strands of it sticking to her smooth neck. Her features are soft but commanding, with her 
regal nose and downy cheeks. Yena can’t help but stare a little longer until she realizes that 
she hasn’t gotten a response at all.  
She repeats her previous question.  
“Hey...what’s your name?” 
The stranger merely tilts her head, as if confused, although there is no change in her 
expression. Yena almost wants to coo at the cute action and pinch the stranger’s cheeks, 
but she reminds herself that this is a Grown Woman who probably wouldn’t appreciate 
being treated like a small child or a pet by a stranger like Yena. So she holds herself back. 
She belatedly notices that there’s still no response. 
Does she...not understand me, maybe? T​ his puzzles Yena for a moment, because the 
stranger looks like she could be a Dieuvin local, either from the mainland or the 
surrounding small islands like Yena’s own. She concedes that Dieuvin, being a tropical 
archipelago, attracts many tourists from all over the Aszien continent, so this woman could 

The Distance Between Oceans  

Li H. M. 
Copyright © 2018. All Rights Reserved. 
be a tourist visiting from one of the countries in the north east. Besides, how could she be 
from around here? Her stormy gray eyes are quite unusual… 
One of Yena’s hands slowly, carefully reaches out to hover near the stranger’s face. 
Yena has no idea what she’s doing, can’t justify her current actions. She does, however, feel 
a slight, unexplainable tug towards this stranger, as if every fiber of her being wants to get 
closer. She cannot comprehend it, for it’s beyond mere attraction, infatuation.  
This woman is... Yena can’t explain it, but she’s really something else. 
Just as Yena’s fingers are about to brush a strand of wet hair from one cheek, the 
stranger’s eyebrows knit together. She’s angry. Yena draws back her hand quickly as the 
stranger drifts a short distance away from her rowboat, and completely submerges herself 
underwater. 
It doesn’t take long before something almost unbelievable happens right before 
Yena’s eyes. 
A wide, shimmering tail fin is the first thing her mind registers, rising out of the sea 
and creating an impressive shower that manages to splash Yena’s face. It’s attached to a 
long fishtail covered in shiny purple and green scales, each glinting in the sunlight. Yena 
has never seen anything like it before, and she’s appropriately flabbergasted. 
The long fishtail swoops down and disappears under the sea. Yena’s boat sways 
once again, not as much as last time, but enough for her to grip the edges so as not to fall 
off. She turns her head and sees the stranger, the woman, who just swam beneath her 
boat and has her head above the water once more, the clear surface showing the majestic 
fishtail attached to her torso.  
It takes but a second for Yena to realize what she’s seeing. 
A mermaid. The strange woman is a mermaid. 
Holy fucking shit. 
Yena’s mind explodes, and for a moment she feels as if she’s ascended into an 
entirely new plane of existence. This is all too much for her, so she sputters like a fish, then 
babbles.  
“Wait...ohmygod you’re​ - you’re a - you’re a mermaid holy fuck. I - wow I can’t belie— 
I mean I can, sort of, because Aunt Mirh did say…” at that point, the mermaid quietly shifts 
closer to her boat. “But still, I - I’m still surprised...this is just, wow, all these years of 
studying marine biology and... I don’t know what to— oh…”  
She pauses her babbling because the mermaid’s hands suddenly reach out to touch 
her lips and caress her face. She rises close to Yena’s eye level so that most of her torso is 
exposed from above the water. Yena’s eyes flicker down her body for a bit before averting 
them, a faint blush creeping to her cheeks. 

The Distance Between Oceans  

Li H. M. 
Copyright © 2018. All Rights Reserved. 
 Yeah...she’s definitely a woman. I wonder how old she is in mermaid years. 
As soon as she finishes the thought, the mermaid lets loose a mild chuckle, and 
Yena smiles; she can tell that she owns a clear, strong voice. She even says something for a 
while, but the melodious notes sound more like singing. It’s a song Yena doesn’t know, or 
rather a language she doesn’t understand. It’s nothing similar to anything she’s heard 
before.  
There’s an obvious language barrier between them, but Yena doesn’t mind. She 
thinks it hardly matters, anyway. It’s not everyday that she gets to meet a rare, mythical sea 
creature, and it’s not everyday that said mythical creature laughs and sings to her, like she’s 
teasing Yena about her silly thoughts because she can read her mind. Yena seriously 
wonders if mermaids have the power to do that. 
She has so many other questions, but they all dissipate as the mermaid’s face gets 
closer to hers. Both of them are smiling faintly, and Yena’s nervous. The day is so 
picturesque, and the waters so still, it feels like they’re the only two creatures on earth. 
They’re simply face to face, getting lost in each other’s eyes, and Yena’s heart might be 
bouncing off the walls inside of her chest, but her soul feels content. It’s like the two of 
them are right where they’re meant to be. 
The mermaid’s eyes are intense as they flicker down to Yena’s lips, and Yena feels a 
tinge of heat in her belly at the simple action. She notices that her eyelashes are so long, 
and her lips are a pretty pink. Yena wants to kiss her. 
Fuck it​, Yena thinks. 
Her eyes flutter close and she presses her lips to the mermaid’s pretty pink ones 
before she can talk herself out of it, and she savours the soft, warm feeling of a chaste kiss 
for a few long moments. She pulls back slightly and looks at her kissing partner, whose 
eyes are wide open, looking surprised. The thought passes through Yena that she might 
have had her eyes open during their kiss, and Yena huffs out a short laugh. She wonders if 
mermaids usually do things like kissing. She thinks it might be too bothersome to do 
underwater. 
She raises a hand and uses her fingers to gently smooth down the mermaid’s 
eyelids so her eyes remain closed, then her fingers move to brush away a strand of hair 
from her face. Yena tilts her head to the right, then connects their lips again. 
At first, it’s similar to the mere press of lips they shared earlier, but it progresses 
when Yena takes the initiative to move her mouth against the other’s, tugging at the 
mermaid’s lower lip, biting when she can. Her partner catches on quickly and responds 
with an eagerness that makes Yena smile, hands hot and damp around the nape of Yena’s 
neck and teeth scraping her lips. She tilts her head to the left, then pulls and pushes, taking 
control— but Yena wants more. 

The Distance Between Oceans  

Li H. M. 
Copyright © 2018. All Rights Reserved. 
 She lightly squeezes the mermaid’s shoulders as she swipes her tongue at the 
other’s lips, asking for entrance. She licks a bit more before she can feel her partner’s 
tongue against hers, and their mouths meld together, wet and hot and open. She tastes of 
sea salt, and she’s soft and lovely.  
They take their time, exploring each other languidly. One of the mermaid’s hands on 
Yena’s neck slides down, down her chest, until Yena feels a cupful of a breast being 
squeezed, hard. She gasps, then moans at the pleasure. Her hands roam over her partner’s 
smooth, wet skin and draws her closer. 
They do nothing but touch and kiss and press and squeeze until they have to pull 
away because they both have to breathe. Yena immediately misses the warmth of her 
partner’s lips, which are now pulled into a small smirk. Yena wants to kiss her again, just to 
wipe it off her face, but then her mermaid is speaking again, in the same sing-songy lilt, 
while she looks at Yena with her intense eyes. Yena imagines she’s saying, ‘Thanks Yena, 
you’re a really good kisser; I’ll see you around’.  
Her hands gently cup Yena’s face and pulls her in for one brief kiss, before drawing 
away from her, and her boat, smiling and singing her goodbyes. She floats away, leisurely, 
until she disappears underwater. Her tail fin is the last thing Yena sees before she’s gone.  
Yena’s brain still isn’t functioning. She almost can’t believe what just happened, 
except her lips are still tingling and she touches them gingerly in an attempt to calm down 
and savour the feeling of her kisses. For a day that started out so calmly, it turned into a 
whirlwind. Yena’s struggling not to let it take her apart as a single, frustrating fact sticks out 
amongst her millions of thoughts about her new mermaid ‘friend’.  
She still doesn’t know her name. 
 
 
 
 

The Distance Between Oceans  

Li H. M. 
Copyright © 2018. All Rights Reserved.