Singto woke up with a smile on his face. One of Krist's arms was on his waist and his right leg was between the man's.
"I still can't believe it...", he told himself while, with one finger, he caressed the skin that was so close to him and that still smelled of the sea despite everything that had happened between them last night.
When Krist had told him to go on, he'd hardly believed it. He'd been so sure the man would end up rejecting him just like everyone else had done before that... for a second he didn't even move. As Sam, who had done it despite having been telling him for years how much he loved him, like his parents... who had left him with his sister because they couldn't stand what he had become.
But Krist...Krist had accepted it. He had been by his side all those weeks, helping him, advising him... and now... now he had given himself to him. He had wanted him back.
- "You have given me everything but I... I can't give you anything. I'm useless..", he whispered as he caressed the man's hair without realizing that Krist, with his eyes wide open, was listening without moving and without saying a single word.
A slight noise made Singto turn towards the bedroom door where, at that moment, his sister and the royal doctor were entering. Both of them, without having seen the two boys who were completely naked in bed, were talking about Singto and his illness, about how little he had recovered even after all the time they had been treating him.
It was then that, from Krist's lips, a slight grunt came out. A moment later the newcomers witnessed how Singto was now talking to Krist while trying to get him out from under the covers.
- "Kit, come on... it's okay... they won't mind..."
- "SINGTO!" - Emma exclaimed as the doctor, with a shocked expression on his face, almost dropped the potion that was in his hands.
He turned to his sister and, with a frown, pouted his lips.
- "Stop already. You're scaring my Kit!" - he recriminated her while sitting on the mattress and crossing his arms without realizing that, by doing so, he was letting them see all the scratches and bruises that were on his body.
Emma was speechless as the doctor, his face completely white, looked towards the wall as if it was the most interesting thing in years.
- "You... Your Kit?!"
Singto nodded and once again tried to lure the young man out of hiding. It was then that the door abruptly opened giving way to a man who, with a furious expression on his face, entered and stared at everyone present. Moments later, however, his eyes fell on the vial the doctor was still holding in his hands. He frowned, then, with a snarl, he approached the old man and tried to take the medicine from him.
- "I can sense Kit's pearl in it!" he exclaimed in a furious voice - "What the hell have you done with it?!"
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Krist sat on the bed and, with his hair completely tousled, looked at the old man in whose hands was the vial that Ming was currently trying to take from him. Emma, completely furious, had started to call the guards while Singto, with a shocked expression, was looking at them without understanding what was happening.
Finally, a couple of seconds later, Krist reacted...
He quickly hugged Singto's trembling body while his eyes didn't move from the small bottle that the doctor had in his hands.
- "ENOUGH!" - he yelled, causing everyone to freeze. Immediately afterwards he turned towards Singto and, raising his face, placed his lips on his cheek.
Emma choked.
-"Ming and I have come to look for my brother's pearl, the one he gave to Beam as a promise of marriage. Where is it?"
The queen paled as the doctor, who had started to look green, looked down at the bottle he was still holding in his hands.
- "You... Krist..."
Krist nodded without moving his gaze from Singto. No one else mattered.
-"My brother is ill, his life is fading. He needs his pearl...that's why we came here..."- he began to say when, with a shock, he noticed how Singto's body began to shake.
Krist frowned.
-"So you... you..."
Krist , finally understanding what he was thinking, sighted. Then, after kissing Singto's hair, hugged him tighter.
- "It is true that we just came with the idea of searching for my brother's pearl but... things have changed. You and what had happened between us changed everything..."
Singto bit his lower lip but, moments later, he smiled shyly.
- "I'm glad you found a partner, Krist... but what about Kit? He needs you... he needs his pearl. We don't have more time.. he..." - Ming then intervened, to which Krist simply shook his head.
- "Kit needs you and his pearl... nothing more," he said with a determined expression, "and for that matter...where is it? I can sense it near us but... "
Emma shook her head. Her eyes, fixed on her brother, showed fear and concern.
- "You can't take it back... you can't!" -she exclaimed as she ran to the bed trying to separate them - "Singto's life depends on it... I won't allow you to take it away, do you hear me? I won't allow it!"
Ming, with a grunt, turned towards the doctor. In front of the murderous gaze of the man, he dropped to the ground and, in front of everyone, began to beg for his life.
-"Sorry! I'm so.. so sorry... we just wanted Singto to be saved. After the accident he was dying and I... the sea witch said that if we crushed the pearl and gave it to him to drink, he could be saved"
Singto turned pale while Ming, with a cry of outrage, rushed at the doctor and began to beat him.
- "How could you? HOW COULD YOU DO THAT?!"
Krist, however, looked down at the man who was nestled in his arms. Moments later he turned to Emma, who was still trying to separate her brother from him. She immediately pulled away, causing Krist to frowned slightly before looking back at Singto.
- "I see... now I understand how we could ... could... when you are not from my race. You are no longer human, at least a part of you isn't ..."
A deathly silence fell over the room. For a few seconds no one moved.
- "I... I'm not human?"
Krist sighed and sadly looked over to where Ming was standing.
- "At least now we know why my brother is dying... when a merman loses his pearl, he ceases to exist."
Ming, his cheeks soaked in tears, slumped to the ground. With trembling hands he wrapped his arms around his legs, then buried his face between them.
- "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry Kit..." - whispered Singto, as he began to understand what was happening. Then he tried to get away from Krist. Kit, however, imprisoned him in his arms.
- "It's not your fault... none of this is...."
It was then that the doctor, with a terrified expression, looked at the bottle that he was holding in his hands and carefully lifted it up.
- "There's still a little left...would it help to save your brother?"
Ming raised his face. Moments later he was next to the old man, looking into it.
- "Maybe if we take it home our doctors can do something for him..."
Krist smiled, nodding. Yet Emma, with a cry, flung herself for the bottle.
- "NO!" -she exclaimed-"Singto will die if he doesn't drink it! I won't let you take it...I won't let you!"
- "Sister... Stop already. If I have to die I..."
Krist's laugh made everyone turn to him. The man, with his head resting on Singto's and a happy expression on his face, stared at them for a few seconds.
-"Singto is not going to die..."-he said, after a few seconds that seemed eternal-"not after bonding with me..."
A FEW MONTHS LATER...
Singto put down his charcoal and, with a cheerful expression, walked away from the picture he had been painting.
His eyes, alive again, observed the man who, without realizing that he was no longer being painted, continued to sit on his swing while trying not to move. All this while he caressed, over his clothes, the place where his son was growing.
Days had passed since that morning, but Singto still couldn't believe that Krist was with him...that he was going to be a father. His sister, who had been with him when the doctor informed them of the reason for Krist's strange fainting spells, couldn't have been any happier while their parents, with incredulous expressions, could only stare at the man who was sitting next to his son. A son who was over the moon.
-"It's a beautiful day and the sea is calm.."-Singto whispered as he sat next to Krist.
- "My father should be calmer..." Krist replied as he turned towards his husband and brushed his lips with his.
When Ming had left with what was left of the potion, Krist had thought that his father would show up, that he would force him to return to their kingdom... but he hadn't. Something that he was glad about... even if he was missing them like crazy.
He will visit them, but not now.. not until they finally understand that his place was with Singto and not with his fiancee...
Fortunately Godt hadn't shown up again, not after that afternoon when he'd arrived at the palace wanting to bring him back.
Singto's face, after knowing everything, had been something Krist would never forget... not after how Singto had made love to him that night. That same night that they conceived their beloved Kongpob.
- "I love you..." - Krist whispered, making Singto smile , happily. Then the man put his arms around his waist.
-"You know, I never thought that I would see again... much less that, after everything I had been through, I would find love. Krist... I love you more than anything"
Krist smiled and, letting his head fall onto his husband's chest, he gazed out at the ocean.
-"I still can't believe Kit and Ming are coming to live with us. My brother hates everything he has to do with humans, especially after what happened with Beam..."
Kongpob sighed and ruefully nodded.
- "Beam never got over it, he really loved your brother... he broke off his engagement and left without even knowing that Emma was expecting a child. If it wasn't for Joss, I don't know what would have happened to her... he accepted it, he even considers my nephew his own son..."
- "And you don't know what happened to him?"
Singto shook his head, which made Krist sigh.
- "I just hope that, wherever he is, he is now happy..."
Krist sighted and, taking one of Singto's hands in his, brought it to his lips.
- "I still don't like him after what he did to my brother but I really hope he did move on and is happy wherever he is now. But there is one thing I know...he cannot be happier than us... not as much a as I am when I am with you...."
Singto smiled and, after placing a kiss on the man's cheek, he looked towards the sea. The same 22 sea that had given him his most beautiful jewel... his Krist.
END