The purple-haired youth absent-mindedly made sure the wrappings around his limbs were intact. He had always done that around you, or more specifically, around the water. He had never told you why it was so important that he kept his hands and feet covered, and you never pried. He had his reasons, you figured.
''Hey... Umm,'' he started with the utmost elegance. ''Y'know, sometimes... Uhh...''
He clearly had no idea how he was going to put what he wanted to say. This wasn't a strange or uncommon occurrence. You just smiled and waited for him to spit it out.
The boy softly swore and began pacing on the rocks by the water's edge. You could practically hear the lightbulb go off in his silly, little head when he straightened up in an instant and turned to face you in the warm waters.
''Y'know how the oceans have high-tide and low-tide? During high-tide, the area gets flooded. The water is at its peak. And then it recedes into low-tide, leaving the water at its lowest. The high always returns to low; the low always returns to high. Most and least, in a little endless circle.
''So for me, you are the moon that has caused my low-tide to turn into the high-tide of love! But with the high comes the low, and my curse is...your...orbit?''
The boy made a face and swore again. You laughed.
''This isn't a very good analogy... I'm sorry.''
You smiled in encouragement. His eyes, though... They usually seemed so happy. Today they were darker. What was that he had mentioned about a curse earlier?
''I just--I...I can't think very straight right now, and I'm not really sure how to put it any other way. I'm terribly sorry. It's just that, the curse of the drifter means that once I've fallen in love, I have to... leave.''
He reached a hand into the pouch sitting on his hips and withdrew a small box. Then he did something he had never done before: he walked into the water to get close to you. In the past he had always floated just above the water's reach, to protect the wrappings. A gasp escaped your lips, and tears p***k at your eyes.
''It's not much, but it's still something to remember me by.''
The water turns the bandages soggy; they start to slowly unravel. Not that you noticed. No, you were too busy looking straight into his eyes, searching for some hint of doubt, half-heartedly expecting him to yell out ''Gotcha!''
But he didn't. He handed you the gift.
''Goodbye, my sweet mermaid.''
With one leap, he flew into the air fast, kicking up a salty sea spray. The bandages that had been around his feet fell off and lazily twisted in the water like snakes. Before you could even comprehend what had just happened, he was gone. There wasn't so much as a spec in the sky. Just...gone. The water suddenly didn't feel quite as warm.
You looked down at the gift he had given you. On the gift, there was a small tag, and written on the tag was single word that read: ''Floating''.