Falling In The Deep Blue

~48~ Hidden Kiss

Keith's P.O.V.

"Give him to me, I can carry him." Eleazar said, his voice sounding so different from how I remembered him. His blue eyes seemed a lot less bright than they used to.

"He's dead, Eleazar. There's nothing you can do about it." I replied, trying to swallow the overwhelming wave of sadness and disbelief that was trying to get the better of me.

"No. No, he's not...he..he can't be!" Eleazar sobbed, tears running down his cheeks as he lifted Trystan's body up into his arms. I had to fight to keep back my own tears. This felt unreal. This shouldn't have happened. Victor had said that it would be dangerous, that Trystan could end up being hurt, but this...how could this have happened?!

We had reached the beach by now and I had pulled the boat onto the safety of the land. The mermen who had followed us couldn't get to us here.

Trystan was still lying down there on the wooden planks of my boat, still not breathing, still no pulse.

I had tried, over and over again, to reanimate him, but it hadn't worked. He was gone. Gone.

Eleazar, who had changed into his human shape by now, let go of the steering wheel and stumbled to the back of the boat. I shook my head, looking away. I couldn't see this. It was too much.

"Trys...Trystan..." I heard Eleazar whisper behind me.

I couldn't help but turn around.

Eleazar was lying next to Trystan, their faces only inches apart. The merman's teardrops were falling onto Trystan's chest and rolling down his stomach until they reached his belly button.

"I need you to come back to me, my love." Eleazar whispered, pressing his forehead onto Trystan's cheek.

"I need you to come back and open your eyes and smile at me with those perfect lips and tell me how much you missed me an-" Eleazar's voice broke.

"You know they wanted to take my powers down there. But I don't care about my powers, Trys. I only care about you. I'd give them all up for you any second. What is the ocean worth without you to surf in it? What is being able to breathe air worth if you don't breathe it, too? What is all of it worth without you, huh?!"

Warm tears started rolling down my cheeks. I stared at the merman, confessing his love for the dead boy that tried to save him.

"I'd give it all up for you." Eleazar whispered one last time, before pressing his lips onto Trystan's.

The afternoon sun was casting its awfully beautiful light onto the tragic scene in front of me. It reached Eleazar's body, causing his skin to reflect the golden glow.

The longer the kiss lasted, the more it seemed their bodies started to glow in the sunshine. But was it really the sun causing this?

I narrowed my eyes, taking one step closer to the two boys. No, this couldn't possibly be the sunlight. If my eyes weren't conceiving me, it looked like there was some kind of energy flowing from Eleazar into Trystan. It kinda reminded me of that Peter Pan scene, where Wendy had kissed Peter and he started glowing.

"That was no thimble." I mumbled to myself, looking at the two boys in awe.

Eleazar broke the kiss and looked at me.

"What did you say?" He softly croaked, his eyes all red and puffy from crying.

"That...was the hidden kiss." A weak voice whispered, making both Eleazar and I turn our heads so fast that I felt dizzy for a second.

I couldn't believe it. Trystan had opened his eyes, he was looking at Eleazar, who yelped in surprise and cupped Trystan's cheeks with both of his hands.

"You're back, you're alive, oh thank Poseidon!"

Trystan opened his mouth to reply something, but instead he started coughing and a good amount of water came out of him.

"T, you scared the shit out of me!" I said breathlessly while kneeling down next to him, patting his back while he was still coughing.

"S-sorry..." he stuttered, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. His face regained some color.

His eyes found Eleazar's.

"Elay.." he said softly, reaching out his hand to touch the merman's chest.

"I...remember you."

"Of course you do, stupid. I mean, have you ever met anyone that is more unforgettable than me?" Eleazar smirked, pressing his lips onto his boyfriend's palm. His sad tears had been replaced by happy tears by now.

"But how?! How is this possible?" I asked, looking back and forth between them.

"It was you, Eleazar." an old, wise voice said behind us.

Aquinnah was resting her chin on the boat, a warm smile on her lips. She looked tired and had a few scratches on her cheeks, but still so happy.

"This kind of magic only comes to those who most desperately need it. And it will only ever work in exchange for something really, really powerful."

Eleazar looked at her, a questioning look on his face.

"You gave your powers, little starfish. You gave your powers in exchange for Trystan's life."

"What?"

"You said it, didn't you? You said that you'd give it all up for him. So that's what happened."

"You did...what?" Trystan asked, his voice still weak, but I could clearly hear the shock in it.

"Does that..does that mean..?" Eleazar asked, first looking down his legs and then back at his Grandmother. She nodded.

"You won't be able to change back. You won't be able to swim like you used to or talk to creatures of the sea anymore. You will forever be like a human."

Eleazar and Trystan both gasped at the same time, their eyes finding each other.

To my surprise, a bright smile spread on Eleazar's face. But Trystan frowned.

"No, no...this isn't right! You are a merman! You shouldn't have given that up for me!"

"Hey..." Eleazar whispered, taking his hand. "Do you think I would have wanted my powers, in a world where you don't exist? Do you think I would have wanted to live down there, without my family, banned from my home, all alone?"

Trystan shook his head, "but...but your family, they...you won't be able to see them like this, you..."

"We're right here."

Another head popped up next to Aquinnah's. It was a girl, she looked like a younger female version of Eleazar.

"And we won't go back there." a middle-aged mermaid said, who had now appeared next to the girl. She had brown eyes and looked unusually tan for a mermaid.

"We'll stay on land, with you, my son. We can build a life up here. A better life than the one we had in that awful cave down there."

Eleazar's smile got even brighter, as he leaned over to his mother and sister and wrapped his arms around them, squeezing them so tightly that all three of them started laughing.

"I have told Andora everything." Aquinnah explained. "About her father, why she is the way she is, about you and Trystan and that the King is my brother. And that he doesn't want us to find out that we can all transform into human shape."

Eleazar's mother nodded, pressing a kiss to her son's forehead.

Then she looked up to Trystan, a warm smile on her lips.

"It's so nice to meet the boy that makes my son so happy." she said, and Trystan began smiling as well.

And then I started smiling, too.

And then, every one was smiling; Aquinnah, Meriel and Andora, Trystan and Eleazar, and I was pretty sure that even some of the fish down there couldn't help but smirk from gill to gill.