Tal wasn't really sure what he was getting into as he followed Elle out of the house. Sure, he knew the plan, but what would they find? He hoped the answers about Elle's father would bring her peace, and not hurt her further. Tal suddenly realized that he didn't want her to feel any pain over this. Earlier that day, she had been threatening him and he feared her wrath, but now they were united to reach one goal.

His initial fears about humans were ebbing away, like the waves gradually eroding rock, the more he saw what they were like. He at first thought Elle was cruel and cold, but she was weighed down by her father's absence and the mystery of it all. She didn't understand what was going on with him so he couldn't really blame her for being upset. He did like her spirit, which was a fiery as her hair. The only thing that made him squirm was her hatred of the sea, something she was not shy about in the slightest. He hoped that before he left, he could change her mind.

There was that one detail, though, that he noticed in the photo of her father. He could not tell her what it was without exposing himself and ruining everything. If she knew, he had no idea what would happen. Part of him wanted to protect himself, but another was saying Elle deserved the truth.

Tal was silent, thinking it over, as Elle rummaged under the deck looking for something for them to ride to town on, she said. As he waited, he could hear the gentle roar of the sea in the distance. Tal trembled slightly as it was calling him to come back, where he would be safe and happy forever. It was his instinct to return to the sea and it was getting harder to fight it now he was outdoors. He could smell the salt in the air and he closed his eyes as he breathed it in.

"Are you going to stand there all day?" Elle's voice abruptly cut in to his euphoric state. "Come on!" She had wheeled out a battered, metal contraption with seemingly two of everything, Two wheels, two handles, and two things that might have resembled seats.

"What is that?" Tal asked cautiously. There were so many strange contraptions on land.

Elle rolled her eyes. "Its a tandem bike! Did you ever see at least a picture of one before? Or maybe the song, A bicycle built for two?"

Tal was embarrassed and a little frustrated. He had no idea what Elle was talking about and he couldn't explain to her why. "No," was all he could say.

"Have you at least ridden a bike before?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow.

He took a deep breath. "You're not going to like this, but the answer it still no."

Elle sighed in defeat. "I'll teach you. I'll ride in the front and you second so it easier. Come on." She swung her leg over the first seat and waited for him to follow.

Tal just stared at her. There was no way he could do this! He was just getting used to walking and he didn't know how a tandem bike worked. "Can't we just walk?" he said, his voice higher than usual.

To his disappointment, Elle shook her head. "It'll take too long to walk." She got off the bike. "I'll show you." Elle was very kind in showing him how the bike worked. He had to keep his balance by holding the handlebars and work the pedals with his feet so the wheels would turn. Elle tried to demonstrate by riding the bike by herself, but almost fell over. Blushing, she said, "It works better with two."

Tal agreed to try it. When they were trying to cycle through the grass, he was pedaling so slow the bike was twisting and threatening to topple over. Elle called over her shoulder, "If you peddle faster, you're less likely to fall!"

Thirty minutes and four falls later, the pair were moving as quickly as possible down the dirt lane. Elle was definitely doing more of the work, but Tal congratulated himself on being able to keep his balance on the bike. He wasn't worried about his injured leg as merpeople healed fairly quickly compared to humans. It was probably pink and forming a scab by now so he wasn't worried about it bleeding through the bandage anymore. He was glad because that meant he would soon be able to travel safely home.

The ride to town was peaceful for the most part. Sometimes, Elle's long hair would hit him in the face or get in his mouth but he didn't make any mention of that to her. The world seemed so peaceful after the storm the previous night. The vegetation around them glistened in the sun and the air had a fresh, steamy smell of the rain evaporating back into the sky.

Their bumpy ride on dirt smoothed tremendously as they moved onto a dark solid path. The small town quickly came upon them. It had a charming, weathered look with many structures on stilts. They were brightly colored and cheerful, unlike Axel and Elle's home, which seemed lonely on the patch of land by the sea. Here, there were plenty of people and a friendly feel in the atmosphere.

The two of them began to ride by the docks, passing boats, until Elle violently swerved the bike to head deeper into town. Tal nearly lost his balance and the bike wobbled dangerously beneath them. Elle led them to a space between two buildings and stopped the bike.

"You almost knocked us over!" Elle said, exasperated, as she swung of the bike. "If you fell, so would I."

Tal got off much less gracefully but he didn't focus on that at all. "What were you thinking, swerving so fast? It was your fault!" he accused.

The girl huffed impatiently. "I nearly forgot that Uncle Axel goes his boat tours at the dock. I didn't want him to spot us, okay?"

Tal would have preferred a little warning next time, but Elle didn't seem to think it through. Or anything for that matter. He felt a pang of guilt because he was nearly the same. Did he think of the consequences of his actions? He could only imagine the kind of chaos he left created for his colony. So, he could forgive Elle.

"Okay," he agreed. "Where to?" he asked.

Elle bit her lip. "Umm, I don't really know. Maybe we can find a map?"

Tal stared at her. "You don't know where these records are kept?"

"Well its not common knowledge!" Elle retorted. "And I don't live here either!"

It felt like all Tal knew was being flipped upside down. "What? You don't live in that house? Then what are you doing here?"

"I'm visiting my uncle," Elle explained, not without a roll of her eyes. She seemed to do that a lot as well. "Don't you do that, whatever mysterious place you come from?"

"No," Tal answered, though he had a feeling she wasn't looking for an answer. "Others don't really visit us and we don't visit other colonies."

"Colony?" Elle asked. "What colony?" Her expression made it clear that humans didn't refer to groups as that.

Tal wished that he had been paying closer attention to his words. "Nothing," he said quickly. "We should go ask someone where the records are before your uncle goes home and realizes we're gone."

Elle squinted at him curiously. "Fine, but don't think for a second I'm going to let this 'colony' thing go."

After asking a friendly receptionist at the Town Hall, they were escorted to a room that was full of birth records, marriage licenses, and death certificates.

"Anything that happened in this town was recorded and stored right here," the guard proudly, as he showed them the room. He was young-looking, burly, but had a good-natured face that showed he liked being in a place that protected town history.

"That's actually a lot more than I expected," Elle commented, her brown eyes wide as they looked at the rows of folders and boxes that filled the entire room. Their task seemed incredibly daunting.

The guard chuckled at the expressions on their faces. "Maretown is small but old, missy. We have records that date back to the late 1800's."

"Can we look at some of the records?" Elle asked him eagerly.

Tal felt his stomach sink as the guard shook his head. "No can do. Those records are incredibly old and are in special storage to preserve-."

"No not those!" Elle interrupted. "One that are more...recent."

"Is this for a school project?" This question was more directed at Tal, as he had been quiet this entire time, mostly because he had no idea what to say. Luckily, Elle was quick to reply for him."

"Yes, sir, it is," she said. "We're doing a project on genealogy and we have family in Maretown so these records would help us a lot."

This sounded impressive and the guard seemed to think so as well, because he smiled and said, "That's alright then, but you can't take anything home with you okay? I'm going to wait outside and give you twenty minutes. Still smiling, he left and closed the door, leaving them with the entire recorded history of everyone who have been born, married, or died.

Elle smiled at Tal weakly, as she too, was thinking how long this would take. "Let's get to work!"