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Chapter Text

Sarah’s head breaks out of the water, shivering slightly as the cool air hits her skin. But she barely cares, too busy admiring the beautiful sight that greets her.

The big blue sky, a much prettier blue than the sea in Sarah’s opinion, went on as far as the eye could see. The puffy clouds enthrall Sarah and she just floats on her back for a few moments, taking in the sight. After a few minutes of just floating, she giggles and ducks under the water again, coming back up many feet away.

As she swims about at the surface of the ocean, her attention is drawn to sounds of movement, sounds drifting over the sea. She tilts her head and quickly goes back underwater, swimming towards the noises.

The noises are apparently…oh, dear. It was a human ship. A ship full of humans, with all of their things. Sarah could hear her father now. ‘Sarah Jacobs, you leave immediately. Humans are dangerous!’ She could also hear Davey’s voice. ‘Sarah, this is a bad idea, we’re secrets for a reason.’

But Sarah had never listened to people well, and she was pretty sick of just swimming around all day…

She swam up to be near the ship. And she saw the most beautiful woman to ever exist. Sarah hadn’t seen many humans, actually this was the first time, but she knew that woman was the most beautiful woman, person, to ever exist. She has fiery red hair, bright eyes, and a determined look on her face as she speaks that makes Sarah want to listen to everything she says, no matter what she was saying or how long she had been saying it.

She watches the woman in amazement, until the ship moves again and she ducks under the water to keep up. She pops back up as the ship stops, the creaking of the sails stopping, and then she can finally hear what some people are yelling about.

“No, I will not marry someone my father sets me up with.” The woman was saying to a man with dark hair, his arms speckled with some colors. “I love being on the ocean, and no prince or princess ever wants to come with me. And I will not bow to my father’s will if he is disregarding my ambitions and feelings.”

“Katherine, you know I agree with ya completely.” The man says, holding his hands up in surrender. “But I’s just saying, your father is stubborn. You’s stubborn and you two have been arguing about this for weeks.” His voice has an accent that Sarah is unfamiliar with, but it sounds as if it comes from a place less fancy than Katherine’s.

“So?” The woman-Katherine, Sarah thinks fondly-says. She sighs and waves at the sea. “Jack, how can you look at this beautiful sea and think of what the land holds? I mean…” She takes a deep breath. “If I could find someone I love as much as the sea I would marry them immediately. But that has yet to happen, and I doubt it ever will.”

The man, Jack apparently, chuckles. “Kath, come on. You know I love sailing, but the land has so much for us.”

Sarah ignores their conversation in favor of admiring Katherine. She startles suddenly as Jack slams his hands on the railing and whirls around to storm farther into the boat, shouting something. Katherine sighs and leans on the railing.

Sarah takes a deep breath. “Ah, ah, ah.” She sings softly. She doesn’t know why, she just…She wanted Katherine to know she was there.

Katherine suddenly straightens up, looking around. Her eyes have widened and she looks almost…hopeful?

Sarah opens her mouth to sing again, but is suddenly yanked down by her tail. Her yelp is thankfully muffled by the water.

She glares down at her baby brother, ‘We are twins’ she could hear him protesting, David, who yanked her down. “Dave? What the hell?”

Davey glares at her. “Sarah, what are you doing?” He snaps back. “Are you trying to get caught? By humans or Father?”

Sarah rolls her eyes. “I was doing fine, thank you. Besides, Father wouldn’t even notice I was gone. Neither would any other merpeople, just like if you went missing-“ She cuts herself off and hangs her head. “Aw, Dave, I’m sorry. That was…”

Davey sighs. “It’s alright, Sarah. I know what you meant. Besides, you’re not wrong. Still.” He grabs her arm and tries to pull her away.

She tugs back and scowls. “Don’t be stupid, Dave. I’m fine, you’re fine, Father won’t even know, and I’m not doing anything dangerous.”

Davey scowls back at her. “It *is* dangerous, Sarah.” He replies. “What if they catch you? And don’t tell me they won’t, I heard you singing.”

Sarah smirks. “Was it pretty?” At Davey’s worried frown, she sighs and swims down a bit to be at his eye level. “Davey, I promise I am being safe. Just…don’t tell Father. Please.”

She watches him think it over, holding her breath until he nods slowly. “Okay.” He says quietly. “Okay, I won’t.”

She grins and kisses his cheek. “Thank you. Go see Les or something.”

Davey rolls his eyes and goes to swim away, but jerks back when their clownfish friend, Finch, swims up to them anxiously. “Your father is looking for you!” He squawks. “The-the royal meal, or the-“

Both Davey and Sarah’s eyes widen and they curse. “Thanks Finch!” Davey yells as he and Sarah start moving their tails and move as fast as they can towards their father’s kingdom.

“Shit, shit, shit.” Davey mutters as they swim. Sarah shared those sentiments. Every week their father insisted on having a lunch time meeting with nobles, and they and their brother were required to attend. It didn’t sound too exciting, because it wasn’t. It was their father just being a king while trying to look like a good father.

Whenever Sarah said that though, Davey would say she was being unfair. Their mother had left a few years ago, their father was just trying to hold things together. Sarah agreed, she guessed. But their father also had been restricting where they could go, what they could do, even what they could read, which Sarah knew Davey hated.

“Swim faster!” Sarah yells over her shoulder at Davey, taking over him and getting far ahead of him.

Davey huffs and pushes himself to go faster.

---

Meanwhile, the woman Sarah had observed was pacing on the deck of her ship. She looks around at the crew and gives one of them a small smile.

The day was coming to an end. Which meant that soon she would have to head back to her kingdom, to land. To her father and her life. A hand on her shoulder makes her startle and she whirls around to face Jack, who is giving her a smile.

“Your Highness?” He asks playfully, making Katherine grimace.

“Jack, don’t call me that.” She complains. “You know I hate it with everything in me.”

He laughs and slings an arm around her shoulder, tugging her up to the helm of the ship. “I know, I know. You’s very sensitive about it.” She lightly whacks him and shakes her head affectionately.

“Whatever, Kelly.” She teases. “You’re just jealous of me.”

Jack gasps dramatically. “And why is that?”

“Everyone wants to date me.” Katherine playfully flicks her hair over her shoulder, hitting Jack in the face. He wrinkles his nose and laughs.

“You are ridiculous.” He teases back. “Now, help us lead the ship.”

She laughs as well and joins the pilot at the steering wheel. “May I?” She asks the pilot cheerfully.

---

While Katherine cheers up, Sarah is scowling at a wall as her father yells at her and her brother. After almost twenty minutes of yelling.

“You are both so irresponsible!” He shouts. “I ask you to do one thing-“

“You ask us to do so much more than one thing!” Sarah finally snaps back. “We are twenty years old, and you won’t even let us talk to people! Davey and I haven’t actually been friends with anyone in almost four years! We miss one thing, that we aren’t needed for by the way, so we can have at least one good time-“

“That is enough!” Their father snaps. “Sarah, David, both of you go to your-“

“Your Majesty! King Mayor!” The king’s advisor, a lobster, comes rushing in. “A-a very large storm! You need to come quickly, make sure that the seas do not become too disrupted!”

King Mayor sighs. “Fine. Both of you, we will discuss this later. To your rooms. Immediately.”

And with that he swims away to deal with the storm. Davey sighs and turns to Sarah, only to see that she’s swimming upwards and away from the direction of her room.

He shouts in surprise and quickly follows her. “Sarah! Sarah, come on! Father said to go to our rooms, what are you doing?”

“Away!” Sarah shouts back, swimming fast. She could feel her head swimming, pun intended, with her frustration and hurt. She had so many motives for swimming away. Getting out of the horrible stuffy castle, away from her father, and yes. She wanted to make sure the ship she saw, with Katherine, was okay. She wanted to protect Katherine.

Davey sighs and quickly goes faster, catching up with her. “Fine.” He mutters. “Fine.”

She looks at him in surprise, not slowing down. “You’re coming?”

“Of course I am.” Davey sighs. “Not letting you act this dumb without supervision.”

Sarah smiles at him happily and they hurry towards the surface.

---

On the surface, the ship is battling with the raging storm. Water splashes onto the deck, the winds are blowing them back and forth, and sailors are cursing up a storm as they work.

Katherine grips the steering wheel tightly, holding the ship as forward facing as she can. Even though she’s terrified, there was something she loved about the adrenaline.

Jack was tying a knot on something, she couldn’t see what, but she could see that he was soaked to the bone, the paint splatters that usually covered his body completely wiped away.

She grits her teeth and focuses on steadying the ship. A large wave comes and rocks them back and forth, sending Jack backwards so his back hits the floor of the ship. Katherine winces and watches him scramble up, reaching over to help him.

The next few seconds are somehow slow and incredibly fast at the same time. A large wave hits the side of the ship and Jack tilts. Katherine grabs him to steady him and suddenly they are hitting the railing and Katherine is going overboard. She can hear Jack screaming her name as she hits the water and sinks down.

Then there are arms around her waist and she’s being carried to shore by a woman with beautiful eyes. And that’s all she knows before she’s passed out.

Chapter Text

“We’re dead! Oh, we’re so dead.” Davey bemoans.

They were sitting on the beach, the beautiful woman laying on her back in the sand.

Sarah had expelled all of the water from her lungs, Davey had quickly made sure she was still alive, and they were still sitting with her almost twenty minutes later.

“Don’t be dramatic, Davey.” Sarah says, leaning over the woman. “We’re very much still alive and breathing.”

Davey glares at her and ungracefully pulls himself higher up to sit closer to Sarah. “If Father catches us, we’re dead. If a human catches us, we’re dead. If we stay up here too long we’re dead.”

Sarah ignores him in favor of admiring the woman, Katherine her name was. “She’s beautiful.” Sarah says in wonder.

Davey pauses his rambling to look at her. “She is very pretty.” He says softly. “I’m proud of you.”

Sarah smiles at him. “You are?” She asks quietly.

Davey nods and leans over to examine Katherine as well. “She seems to be royalty.” He comments, carefully picking up a necklace around her neck, holding a gold charm with a crown and a paper imprinted on it. “A princess, one would assume.”

Sarah grins. “She didn’t seem pleased about it.” She says, grinning. “Seemed to like the sea more than her land.”

Davey shakes his head. “Why would anyone want to be on the sea when they could be here? The land? There’s so much…everything. Libraries, museums…”

“We have those in our kingdom.” Sarah teases. “But I know what you mean, the ones up here are…beautiful.”

Davey sighs. “It’s really no use complaining.” He mutters after a moment. “Nothing will change.”

Sarah looks back at Katherine and starts to sing again. “Ah, ah, ah. Ah, ah, ah.”

Katherine’s eyes start to flutter, but she doesn’t wake yet. Suddenly a voice comes from some rocks surrounding the beach. “Katherine? Kath! God, please be okay! Katherine!”

Sarah recognizes it as the voice of the boy Katherine was talking to on the ship. His accent is much heavier right now, and Davey quickly yanks Sarah away and into the water before the man can see them. Not before Katherine’s eyes snap open and she and Sarah make eye contact for the briefest moment.

Jack kneels by Katherine as soon as he sees her laying down and starts checking on her. “Katherine?”

“Hi, Jack. I’m fine.” She says, coughing a bit. “Just…confused. And cold.”

“I’ll bet.” Jack wraps his arms around her and holds onto her tightly. “I was so worried. What the hell happened? How did you get to the beach? Do you need anything?”

Katherine shakes her head. “I don’t need anything and as for how I got here…someone saved me. A-a woman saved me. She had beautiful blueish greenish eyes, her voice was as soothing as the ocean against the beach-“

“’old on, hold on, there.” Jack holds his hands up. “Two questions. A woman pulled you out of the water? And you talked and saw her?”

Katherine shakes her head. “Yes. I-I think so. But…no. But I saw her eyes and heard her singing-“

Jack interrupts her again. “Kath, you might have a concussion. I don’t mean to be rude or nothin’, but let’s get you to a doctor. Then tell me ‘bout this. Plus your father wants my head for this, so having you back would save my sorry ass.”

As Jack helps Katherine up and they start to walk away, Davey and Sarah peek out from behind a rock sticking out of the ocean they’d hidden in. Sarah’s eyes stay on Katherine, though Davey‘s are drawn to the man with her. Jack, his name was.

As if on cue, both Katherine and Jack look back at the ocean, seeming to sense eyes on them. Davey and Sarah both duck back behind the rock and hold their breath.

They hear footsteps retreat, wait, and then glance back out again. Davey sighs in relief when he sees that the humans are gone and slides back into the water. “Oh, thank goodness.” He mumbles. “We were so close to being caught.”

“They wouldn’t have hurt us.” Sarah replied, her voice certain. “They wouldn’t have.”

Davey opens his mouth to disagree, but his mind jumps to the man with Katherine. He hadn’t seemed…bad. Neither had Katherine. So, he nods. “Yeah. Yeah, they would’ve been alright.” He agrees.

Sarah laughs and follows Davey down into the ocean. “I think I’m in love.” She says happily. “Did you see her, Davey? She’s gorgeous. And she’s so kind and funny.”

“You haven’t even talked to her.” Davey laughs. “How do you know that?”

“Because. I am in love and in tune with her.” Sarah laughs with him. “How else?”

“Yes, how silly of me.” Davey grins as she does some flips, twirling around gracefully. “I should have known.”

“You should have.” Sarah pokes his shoulder, making him swat at her and then race after her as they start racing through the ocean.

They eventually get back to their castle and slip into Sarah’s little grotto. Davey lounges on a rock and Sarah pulls something out from her shell bra that makes Davey sputter indignantly.

“You took a…a-“

“Yes, I stole something.” Sarah holds a fork up to the light. “Isn’t it pretty?”

“It’s silverware.” Davey tilts his head. “Why did you steal…silverware?”

“Because.” Sarah says happily. “It was hers. Her silverware.”

Davey laughs. “I think you’re a little obsessed. It’s been, what? A day?”

Sarah nods and lays on her back, twirling the fork in her fingers, admiring how the silver shines in the light, bouncing off walls and being distorted in the water.

After a few moments Davey looks up and smiles. “You know, I see what you mean. Humans certainly aren't awful. At least, not to look at.”

Sarah laughs. “You’re thinking of the man with Kath, aren’t you?”

Davey makes a face at Sarah. “So? You're thinking about Katherine.” He sighs and lays on his back as well. “Sarah, do you think they would even want to talk to us?”

Sarah frowns and turns on her side. “I don’t know. I would hope so. I thought you thought it was dangerous, though?”

“It is.” Davey mutters. “It’s just…wishful thinking, you know?”

Sarah sighs as she rolls back onto her back. “I know.”

Sarah leads the way to her grotto. As they pass a school of merfolk, several of them stare and point. One of the mermen in the group even smirks at them and makes a particularly rude gesture. And all Davey and Sarah can do is swim away to avoid a conflict that their father would be angry over, though Sarah feels the ache of being ostracized and sees the hurt on her brother’s face.

---

“You are never going to sail again. Never!” King Pulitzer snaps. “It’s far too dangerous, I can’t believe that you’ve never listened to me before!”

Katherine huffs and slumps in her throne. Why her father insisted on lecturing her in the throne room, where they were alone save for her father’s butler and Jack, she would never know.

“And as I said before. This has gone on long enough.” King Pulitzer says. “I am grateful you are alright, somehow. But it is time. You are twenty years old and will take the throne someday, you need to find a husband.”

“Father-“ Katherine immediately protests, but he holds up his hand.

“Or wife, if that’s what you want.” He mutters.

Katherine shakes her head. “I would prefer a wife…but that’s not the point, Father! I do not wish to be forced into a marriage. I want it to be natural. Something I pick when I’m ready.”

“Well you can pick. On your birthday.” King Pulitzer says shortly. “Lewis!” He turns and scowls at Lewis, his poor butler who couldn’t seem to catch a break from the man’s constant nagging.

Lewis hurries forward, looking as stressed as Katherine had ever seen him. Even Jack seemed a little concerned about the poor guy, and Jack was known for teasing Lewis enough to cause a degree of stress. “Yes, Your Majesty?” Lewis says quickly.

The king clears his throat. “In four days time, I want all eligible, royal, women and men to come to the kingdom so my daughter can pick a partner.”

The butler nods and writes it down in his notebook, then hurries out of the room to go and send out the invitations. King Pulitzer nods at Katherine and walks out of the room.

Katherine just sits there for a moment, too shocked to say anything. Jack carefully approaches her. “Kath?” He asks softly.

She slowly shakes her head. “Jack…I can’t pick my life partner in this way. I just can’t.”

---

Sarah and Davey had fallen into a comfortable silence. Sarah was thinking about Katherine, and wondering if Katherine was thinking about her. She had no idea what Davey was thinking about, though knowing him it could be anything.

Her mind continues thinking about Katherine and she starts to get an ache in her chest. She wanted to walk up there. She wanted to be in the sun, she wanted to leave the sea. She wanted legs.

Suddenly, there was a loud knock from the entrance and both twins sit up in shock. Davey’s tail pushes him back a foot or so and Sarah’s lifts up to float in front of her.

Before either can say anything, their father swims into the grotto and scowls at both of them.

“Father, hi, what-“ Davey starts but is cut off by their father holding his hand up. Sarah tries not to snap at him for the hurt on Davey’s face.

“Sarah and David Jacobs.” Their father snaps. “You both went to the surface?”

They exchange worried glances and Sarah swims slightly closer. “How did you know about that?”

“A shark saw you.” Their father glares. “But what’s more important is-“

“Wait, sharks don’t generally swim around the area we went to.” Davey says thoughtfully. “Why would a shark…oh.” His eyes widen at their father. “You had us *followed*?”

Sarah gasps. “Father! How dare you? We are twenty years old-“

“You are reckless!” Mayor shouts. “You are reckless and inconsiderate and ignorant!”

Sarah scowls and Davey pulls her back slightly. “Father, she did a good thing, saving that human. That is a heroic-.”

Mayor aims his glare at Davey. “David, do not think you are clear of punishment. You went up with her and put you and her in danger.”

Davey’s mouth opens and closes for a moment and Sarah steps in. “Father, maybe we wouldn’t need to swim up to the shore if you wouldn’t restrict everything we do!”

“Humans killed your mother!” King Mayor snaps. “How dare you-“

“You don’t know that! She just vanished one day. Maybe she was just done with being under the sea all day!” Sarah snaps back.

Their father’s face darkens and then his eyes land on the silver fork Sarah had brought down. “What is that?” He asks, his voice thick with anger.

Sarah sees what he’s looking at and flushes in anger. “It’s a piece of *human* silverware!” She waves it in front of her. “That I got from the ship.”

Davey’s mouth drops open and he shakes his head subtly. Their father’s face turns red in anger and he lifts his trident, which makes Davey yank Sarah back. But Mayor wasn’t aiming for them, he was aiming for the walls of the grotto.

“You!” He demands, blasting a wall down. “Will never go up there, or leave the palace, again!” He knocks down another wall, taking everything on the walls off and causing the grotto to fall apart. Sarah and Davey watch in horror, holding onto each other to offer some form of support.

The trident glows, something Sarah had always found beautiful. She finds it beautiful now, though the beauty only hurts. Why should something so gorgeous, so stunning, be the cause of her pain? Why should something she had always found comfort in be the thing to destroy her place of safety and solitude.

Mayor glares at them and then swims away without another word.

Sarah stays in one place, her mind clouded with her anger and her pain. Her body felt locked, as if she couldn’t access her limbs in any way. A hand on her shoulder startles her, and she looks around, surprised to see that some of the grotto had been picked up, and Davey was handing her the silverware.

And yet she couldn’t even thank him. She just bursts into tears and swims away. She just swims to get away.

Chapter Text

Sarah stopped deep in the sea. She was on her back, the ocean dark on top of her. She closes her eyes and screams angrily.

After a moment, she takes a deep breath. She was fine. Perfectly fine.

She starts to swim back when two voices float their way to her ears. “Sweeeeet child…”

“Poor chiiiild…”

She whirls around and frowns at the sight of two eels swimming towards her. “Who are you two?” She asks suspiciously.

“Oh, no one special, Your Highness.” One hisses.

“Yesssss, no one worth your precious time.” The other says sweetly.

“But we know someone who issss.” They say together.

Sarah eyes them suspiciously. Honestly, she really didn’t want to go back to her palace. She didn’t think she could face Davey’s worry or her father’s anger. She especially couldn’t face it if Les was going to be there looking sad.

“And who would that be?” She asks them coldly.

“Wiessssel.” They both singsong.

Sarah frowns. Wiesel. That name sounded familiar. She racks her brain for what she is thinking of when it clicks and her eyes widen.

“Wiesel? Weasel? The sea witch?” She gasps. “Absolutely not, you leave me be!”

They both coo at her, which makes her scowl at them angrily. She wasn’t a child.

“Now, now. Your father spread that lie.” One of the eels says. “Isn’t that right, Morris?”

“Correct, Oscar.” The one names Morris says. “*Wiesel* has never wished anyone harm. You believe your father? Who scorns humans?”

“You’ve seen how beautiful it is up above.” The other eel, Oscar, says, swimming closer to her. “Why would your father lie about that? What else could he be lying about?”

Sarah’s eyes flash. Her father. Who yelled at her and scorned her and denied her the freedom that she’d been begging for.

“Take me to him.” She finally demands.

Chapter Text

Sarah really didn’t like Oscar or Morris. They were kind of mean, slippery, and altogether we’re making jokes that weren’t very funny.

But they arrived at some cave and they mercifully shut up as they led her inside.

It was a shockingly nice cave, actually. There were little gems everywhere and a big cauldron in the middle of the cavern.

“Welcome, welcome.” A loud, booming voice echoes through the cave, reverberating through her skull and making her wince.

“Masssster.” The eels say together. “The princess of the sea, Ssssarah.”

“I can see that.” The voice says, sounding almost annoyed. But when he steps out, the speaker has a large smile on his face.

Sarah eyes the man. Or…octopus…man thing. She honestly didn’t fully know, but what she could see was that he looked like a merman, only with an octopus bottom.

Whatever. She could work with that. She could still feel her anger, her desperation, her pain under the surface, clawing to get out.

She swims closer. “Wiesel. You can help me?” She asks him suspiciously.

The octopus man, Wiesel, nods. “I can. Tell me, dear. What is your greatest desire?”

The words burst from Sarah before she can stop them. “I want to be free.”

Wiesel nods sympathetically, clicking his tongue. “I can free you. And I can help you join your princess up in the world above.”

Sarah blinks. “How did you-“

“Know?” Wiesel laughs and swims closer to her. “Darling, I’m magic. Of course I knew. I knew all about your grotto and your dreams and even your little trips to the surface.”

Sarah gapes at him and then shakes off her shock. She wasn’t going to drop her guard around him. “And why should I trust you?” She asks skeptically. “I’ve only heard bad things about you. That you’re evil and-“

Wiesel clicks his tongue and shakes his head. “Now, dear, haven’t my eels already reminded you that your father lied about what the human world is like? Wouldn’t you like to go up there? Wouldn’t you like to be with your princess?”

He waves his hands and the cauldron in the middle of the room suddenly lights up, showing flashing images of happy merfolk swimming around. One of the images shows a mermaid delightedly stumbling upon a large pile of gold, another shows a merman proposing to a mermaid to a wide smile and a frantic nod. Sarah slowly drifts over, her mouth parting slightly in shock. “Whoa…”

“These are all people I’ve helped!” Wiesel cries. “Poor unfortunate souls, in pain, in need. They needed help. And I helped them. I can help you. And the only way to do that…is to make you human.”

Sarah frowns. Did she trust him? Did she really have a choice if she wanted to escape from her father’s grasp? Could she really leave Davey and Les?

But then her mind jumps to the beautiful woman that was on the ship. How the sky stretched on and on forever. The warmth of the sun on her face and the beauty of the land. The world above just felt right. It called to her. She nods.

“I want your help.” She says decidedly. “Get me to the surface. Make me human.”

Wiesel laughs loudly, gleefully almost, and waves his hand. Oscar and Morris, Sarah still kind of hated how they looked at her, swim over, carrying a shell between them. Sarah’s eyes widen. “Is that…”

“My magic shell. I see you’ve heard of it.” Wiesel says, grinning at her.

Sarah doesn’t like his smile either. It seems leering and almost slimy.

“Father says that it’s the source of your magic. That if it broke you would die.” Sarah breathes.

“What nonsense!” Wiesel cries. “Why-why that’s ridiculous, it’s merely a shell.”

“And why do you need it to make me human?” Sarah asks, frowning in confusion and tilting her head to the side.

Wiesel chuckles. “Because, dear, it needs to hold my fee.”

Sarah pales. She should have expected this, she should have known Wiesel would want something in return for making her human. “I don’t have anything.“

“I want your voice.” Wiesel says, still smiling, though it is starting to look strained. “That is all.”

Sarah shakes her head. “My voice? Without my voice I can’t…how would I ever…”

“Fall in love? Make your beautiful girl fall in love with you?” Wiesel interrupts, raising an eyebrow. “You’ll have your looks, you are very attractive, darling. You can flirt with your eyes. Your hips.”

“Don’t talk about my hips.” Sarah mutters.

Wiesel laughs again, which Sarah was getting sick of, though she didn’t want to say so.

“Now, one more thing.” Wiesel hums, floating even closer to Sarah. “Obviously my magic isn’t perfect.” He pouts slightly, sending a small shiver down Sarah’s spine. “You get three days. Three days to get your beautiful little princess to kiss you, and then the spell is permanent.”

“And if I don’t?” Sarah asks suspiciously. She already had to give up her voice, this seemed much more difficult and stressful than it seemed fun and exciting.

“Oh, barely anything.” Wiesel chuckles. “If you don’t, your soul is mine. Forever. And you’ll basically be a servant. But don’t worry, everyone else who can’t complete their…contracts seems to love it.”

That seemed unlikely. The hope for freedom was draining out of her, the hope for the princess was vanishing. Sarah would remain stuck. Trapped in the sea where she had no agency and no friends besides her brothers. Slowly, Sarah pushes herself backwards, towards the entrance and therefore exit of the cave. “You know, I’m not sure this is-“

“Point is, do you want your princess or not? Do you want your freedom or not? Five, four, three, two-“

“I want it!” Sarah shouts.

Her mind immediately flooded with doubts, instantly sure she would regret it. But she didn’t feel the regret. She felt relief. She felt happy. She felt ecstatic, actually. She was finally making a choice for herself, one she didn’t have to hide from her father. She was making the choice to go after something that she wanted, not what her father was telling her to do. And she was certain.

“Good, good.” Wiesel says, smiling at Oscar and Morris, who both seem to smile back. “Now, all you have to do is sing. Sing your voice to me and you’ll become human. Sing, sing!”

Sarah opens her mouth and starts to sing. She sings a simple tune that her mother taught her, the one she had used to get Katherine’s attention when she was on the boat and out of Sarah’s reach. But she wouldn’t be out of Sarah’s reach now. So Sarah sang her best, she sang her heart out.

In awe, she watched the shell light up, her voice a beautiful silver stream from her mount all the way to the shell. The shell brightened even more, a beautiful sight to behold as it sent shadows dancing across the walls of the cavern. The light seemed to burst from the shell, surrounding Sarah and she could hear Wiesel telling, shouting at her, to swim, swim away, swim up.

So, she swims. She swims as hard as she can, suddenly feeling a push from the water and then everything goes black.

---

When she comes to, Sarah is on the sand. The sun is streaming down on her from above, a slight breeze ruffles her dress, and she can faintly feel the ocean waves brushing against her feet.

She pauses.

Slowly, very slowly, she sits up and blinks. And then jumps up, almost falling over herself. But she didn’t care. Feet! She had feet!

It turns out that walking is harder than she anticipated, because she falls almost immediately. Still, she sits up with a large grin and tries again. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, walking might take a little while to adjust to, but it would be worth it. She could get a beautiful, clearly kind, obviously intelligent princess to kiss her. Would a cheek kiss count? It should. She couldn’t think of any reason it wouldn’t.

“Sarah!” She hears a voice hiss. Immediately, her heart drops. Her father had found her, hadn’t he? He would reverse the magic or force her to go back to Wiesel and the magic would be undone or…

“Sarah, what the hell happened? How do you have legs? Why do you have legs? When did you get legs, you were gone for two hours-“

She sighs, her entire body draining of tension. It was just Davey. Davey. That she had agreed to leave behind for this new life. He must see the guilt rise in her expression, because his voice stops and she can hear him dragging himself onto the shore.

She turns to sit by him, smiling at the sight of his blue tail. Her tail used to be the same color, but given that she now had no tail…

Davey frowns at her, but behind the anger she could see him trying to summon he was clearly worried. “Sarah, what did you do?”

She shrugs and gives him a small smile. Davey furrows his brow. “You aren’t giving me the silent treatment, are you?” He asks.

She shakes her head and takes her hand, motioning something coming up from her throat and out her mouth, then flicks her fingers to indicate magic sparks. Poor Davey just seems more confused. “To my knowledge it is impossible to vomit your voice out.” He says helplessly, staring at her.

She shakes her head and holds up her hands. She wrinkles her nose and thinks, then holds up eight fingers and points at his tail.

Davey frowns. “Eight tails?” She nods and he shakes his head. “Sarah, you aren’t making any sense…”

She frantically waves her hands and holds up eight again, pointing at her legs.

“Okay.” He sighs. “Eight legs or tails, like an octopus.”

Sarah remembers that she didn’t quite recognize Wiesel and sighs soundlessly. She needed a new tactic.

Until another voice pipes up. “Wiesel! She went to see Wiesel.”

Their heads snap over to the sea and Davey gasps when he sees their little brother’s head poking out. “Les! What do you think you are doing?”

“I followed Sarah.” Les says innocently. “I saw what happened. Kind of.”

Davey and Sarah exchange unamused looks. “Les.” Davey says slowly. “…What happened? Why does Sarah have legs and why isn’t she speaking?”

Les pulls himself onto the beach, with some help from Sarah and Davey, then sits up as best he can. “Okay! Davey told me that Sarah swam away because Dad yelled at you two! So, I swam out to follow her. She went to her usual spot, deep into the ocean.”

“Les.” Davey interrupts, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Do you follow Sarah and me often?”

“Yep!” Les says cheerfully, flicking his tail slightly. “Now, as I was saying, I saw her swimming away with two eels. I followed them and they went into a cave! I could hear from the entrance, so I…ease…dropped?”

“Eavesdropped.” Davey nods.

“Yeah.” Les pointed at him. “I eavesdropped. And I heard some guy named Weasel make a deal with Sarah. She traded her voice for legs and she’s gotta kiss a princess in three days. Or she loses her soul.”

Davey pales significantly, looking at Sarah in horror. “Sarah…”

Sarah swallows and looks back at Davey, hesitantly reaching for him. He lets her touch his arm, and she gently squeezes his elbow, trying to convey how terribly sorry she was for leaving him. Davey, after hesitating a moment, reaches up and takes her hand, squeezing her hand.

“You’ll figure it out.” He says quietly. “Come to the beach every day. At sunset. I’ll…We will figure something out. Just…focus on getting that kiss.”

Les pulls himself further up and wraps his arms around Sarah’s legs. Sarah would laugh if she could, and she sits down all the way, scooting closer to the water to properly hug Les back. Davey smiles at the sight but stiffens when he hears voices starting to come closer.

“Les.” He hisses. “Les, into the water, now.”

Les whines. “No, I wanna stay with Sarah, I’ve never been on the surface before…”

Davey shakes his head and Sarah gently pushes at Les, who pouts. “Now, Les.” Davey says urgently.

Sarah kisses Les’s head and he sighs, flopping gracelessly back into the water. Davey is close behind him, glancing back at Sarah once more. “Bye, Sarah.” He says softly. And then he’s gone.

Sarah watches the sea as the voices get closer. Her back straightens and she can feel her stomach knot as she recognizes them, the voices making her stumble away from the water and towards a few rocks higher up on the shore.

“Kath, please.” The man, whose voice Sarah recognizes as Jack’s, says. “I really don’t think you should be walking so much. You’re still recovering-“

“Jack, I need the fresh air.” Katherine interjects. “I was cooped up!”

“It was maybe a day.” Jack sounds amused. “You were in there for maybe a day. At most.”

“…Fair enough.” Katherine acknowledges. “I’m sorry, I’m not trying to be irritating and rude, I just…I’m so frustrated. I shouldn’t take it out on you.”

Jack chuckles. “You’re fine, Kath. Ya don’t need to apologize. I understand.”

There’s a sign and then Katherine scoffs quietly, finally approaching the area that Sarah was sitting in. “Jack, look at this. Someone’s been here. And things have been dragged across the shore…”

Her eyes look up and lock on Sarah’s. Her mouth parts slightly and she takes a small step forward. “H-hi.” She breathes. “My name is Katherine. I’m sorry…have we met before? You look familiar.”

Sarah shakes her head and slowly stumbles up, almost falling again. Though she recognizes that this time it may be because of her nerves. Katherine’s eyes widen and she rushes forward to catch Sarah, steadying her by putting her hands on Sarah’s shoulders.

“Whoa.” She says gently. “You alright?”

Sarah nods and that’s when Jack jogs up to join them, frowning in confusion. “Hey. What’s your name?” He asks.

Sarah opens her mouth and flushes slightly when she remembers she can’t speak. Sarah had always prided herself on being friendly and Davey would occasionally call her bold. But in the face of sudden freedom and quite possibly the love of her life, she felt frozen. Still, she had an opportunity, she reminds herself. Make the most of it. Make this work. And don’t lose your soul.

She smiles at Katherine and gestures at her throat, shaking her head. Confused, Katherine tilts her head. “Uh, you…what does that mean?”

Jack’s frown turns thoughtful. “Uh, she doesn’t like…something?”

Sarah shakes her head and points at her throat again. Katherine’s eyes light up and she grins. “Oh! You can’t speak!”

Sarah would laugh if she could, excitedly nodding and grinning even wider.

Katherine laughs and pats Sarah’s shoulder. “Well…we’ll have to figure out where to take you then. Where do you live?”

Almost immediately, Sarah sobers, which Katherine and Jack catch immediately. “You don’t have a place?” Jack asks cautiously.

Sarah shakes her head, swallowing.

Katherine looks at Jack and whispers something about taking Sarah somewhere and feeding her, maybe getting her new clothes.

Jack nods after a moment and Katherine grins at Sarah. “So. How about you come back with us to the palace, hmm?” She asks lightly.

It was exactly what Sarah needed. She nods and Katherine slips an arm around her waist. “Here, I got you.” She mutters. “Let’s get you out of here.”

As Katherine and Jack lead her towards the edge of the beach, towards what looks what Sarah thinks must be a road, Sarah takes one glance back at the ocean, smiling as she sees two heads popping out of the sea.

Chapter Text

“…And here is where you can stay.” Katherine ends the, fairly long, tour of the palace.

Sarah nods and grins as she looks around the room Katherine had presented to her. It was a very gorgeous room, almost everything seemed to be some shade of blue. The bed was large, with light blue curtains around it and dark blue bedding. The carpet all along the floor was so light blue it was almost white, which matched the curtains and the walls. Slowly, Sarah spins in a circle and looks over every inch of the room.

Katherine laughs as she watches Sarah, leaning against the wall. “I hope it’s to your liking?” She asks teasingly, her smile widening as Sarah flops onto the bed.

Sarah sits up and nods enthusiastically. She hurriedly gets up to skip over to Katherine and hold out her hands to offer to Katherine. Happily, Katherine takes Sarah’s hands and lets Sarah squeeze them gently, before Sarah spins them both around, causing Katherine to squeal in surprise and pull Sarah towards her to make them topple over, Sarah landing on top of Katherine.

If Sarah could, she would be laughing breathlessly. As it is, she just rolls off of Katherine and lightly hits her shoulder affectionately. Her heart was practically leaping out of her chest. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that thiswould be what the world was like. Or what Katherine would be like. Katherine, that Sarah was falling more and more in love with every moment, hadn’t stopped talking.

Since learning that Sarah couldn’t speak, Katherine had taken to talking as much as she could, to keep things from being awkward. Not that Sarah minded, she was already in love with Katherine’s voice and responded with hand gestures or facial expressions as best she could.

Katherine sits up and grins at Sarah. “Okay.” She giggles again and helps Sarah stand. “Phew. Dinner is in about an hour, do you want to dine with me?”

As she speaks, a beautiful rosy tint appears on her cheeks. Her smile widens slightly and she ducks her head.

Sarah’s own smile widens and she taps Katherine’s shoulder. When Katherine looks up, Sarah nods excitedly, giving her a thumbs up. With an excited laugh, Katherine spins Sarah around one more time and then takes a deep breath to calm down.

“Okay. Okay.” She says, giggling. “You remember how to get to the dining room?”

Sarah nods and Katherine pats her shoulder. “Fantastic.” Katherine says warmly. “At 5:30, dinner will be served. You should be there by 5:25, just to impress my dad.” She winks. “I’ll see you there.”

Sarah beams and if she could talk then she would help in surprise as Katherine pulls her into a hug. Katherine quickly pulls back and hurries out of the room, waving at Sarah as she leaves.

Sarah waves back and when the door shuts behind Katherine, she giggles excitedly and twirls around, falling onto the bed. After barely a moment, she jumps up and starts examining every corner of the room. There’s a nice white desk with blue trim in one corner that Sarah goes through. There is nice paper, she couldn’t have paper under the sea, and beautiful pens made out of bird feathers. Giggling silently, Sarah draws a few fish.

Seeing a door, she pokes her head in to see a bathroom. It had what looked like a big tub with knobs, which must be a bathtub. She would figure it out.

Then she skips over to examine the beautiful curtains. Then the bookshelf in the room. Davey would like that, she thinks wistfully.

Finally, she goes to the wardrobe. Her jaw drops when she sees everything. While obviously a guest room, this wardrobe had everything a person could ask for. There were suits and dresses. And, oh, were the dresses wonderful. Sarah’s eyes were practically popping out of her head.

She hesitantly reaches out a hand to touch some of the fabrics. There were beautiful reds, greens, purples, blues, anything. There were dresses that had a train and some with lace. It was a selection that Sarah had only been able to dream about before.

She slowly reaches her hand into the wardrobe to take out a simple dark blue dress, with lacy sleeves and sleek silver details all throughout the skirt, outlining small patterns of leaves and flowers. It was gorgeous and took Sarah’s breath away.

Sarah just hoped it would take away Katherine’s as well.

“What happened to your sister?” King Mayer snaps at Davey, who holds his hands up pleadingly.

Les shakes his head and gets in front of Davey, crossing his arms. “Wasn’t Davey’s fault! Sarah went to the Sea Witch all on her own and turned into a human by herself!”

Davey covers his mouth and stares at his father, who is suddenly looking more scared than angry. “Sarah did what?” He asks worriedly. “Why did she…what did she do? What did Wiesel want in exchange?” His trident pulses with magic as his voice gets louder and louder, more frantic with every word he speaks.

“Her voice.” Les says shakily after a moment. Davey puts a hand on his shoulder to offer some support. Les swallows and continues. “She traded her voice for those legs. If-if a princess doesn’t kiss her by three days then her soul belongs to the Sea Witch.”

Davey muffles a pained groan behind his hand as his father turns a glare on him. “Your sister is in danger!” He snaps. But the undercurrent of fear in his voice makes it obvious that he is more worried than angry. “And you let her go?”

Davey still shrinks back, ducking his head to hide his flushed cheeks. “Father…I did, but if I hadn’t let her go then she couldn’t be kissed…”

“You saw her? Afterwards?” King Mayer demands. Davey winces, realizing that his father had not, in fact, meant that he had seen her after the deal was made.

Davey nods and swims forward, feeling his cheeks flush even more than they already were. “Y-yes. I did. I didn’t want to leave her, but she needs to get that kiss, Father. Otherwise her soul belongs to the Sea Witch, I had to leave her.”

“No. I see your point.” King Mayer sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. He thinks for a few moments before he nods. “Okay.”

He looks back up at Davey and narrows his eyes. “You are going to keep an eye on your sister. You are going to make sure she is safe and make sure that she gets that kiss. Understood?” He narrows his eyes and Davey swallows, nodding.

“I understand, Father. But…how? I’m still down here. And she’s a human.” Davey says cautiously.

“Simple. I will turn you human as well.” His father explains, his trident suddenly lighting up. “And this won’t remove your voice so you can actually communicate.”

Davey’s eyes widen and he gently pushes Les back. “Alright.” He says quietly.

King Mayer gives him a rare smile. “I trust you, David.”

Davey nods at him. “T-thank you, Father.” He says nervously. Glancing at his little brother, he gives him a shaky smile. “I’ll see you later, Les. Be good and don’t cause too many problems.”

Les nods and crosses his heart with his finger. “I promise, Davey.”

Davey looks at his little brother and shakily ruffles his hair. He wouldn’t lie. The idea of going to the surface was enticing, it seemed much more exciting and welcoming than here. But he also wouldn’t have any suppory besides Sarah, who had her own problems to deal with. And it was so sudden. It was really terrifying.

But his sister might need him, so despite his own reservations, and he definitely had many, he let go of Les and swam a little closer to his father.

His eyes follow the trident as his father lifts it up, the metal starting to glow as his father summons his magic.

“Now, I’m afraid once you are up there you are stuck. You can only turn back into a mermaid once, then I would have to turn you back into a human. So stay up there for the full time, please. It’s difficult magic.” His father instructs.

Davey nods and swallows. He holds his head up high and winces when the trident is pointed right at his chest. Magic swirls around him, beautiful gold streaks swimming through the water and wrapping around his tail. Suddenly, he feels a push and he’s being pulled up, to the surface. To his sister.

Sarah was panicking. And she would admit that.

She was dressed nicely. She thought. She had done her hair and put on the beautiful dress and even found some makeup products that she put on. They worked so well when they weren’t underwater. A gong strikes somewhere, reminding Sarah that dinner is soon. Taking one last look at herself, she nods. She could do this.

And she hurries to get to the dining room. Katherine had shown her where it was hours ago, so she was sure that she could figure it out.

It does end up taking her much longer than she expected, but it’s worth it to see Katherine.

Who is dressed in a beautiful forest green dress, which perfectly brought our her eyes and complimented her fiery hair. The dress had gold accents that brought attention to the necklace around Katherine’s neck, who’d brought attention to Katherine’s neck and by extent her face.

It was incredible. If Sarah hadn’t already known she was in love, seeing Katherine now would have convinced her.

Katherine looks up and her eyes land on Sarah. There’s a pause where they both just stare at each other, before Katherine clears her throat and looks down, her cheeks slightly pink.

Gesturing for Sarah to walk over, which Sarah does, Katherine stands up and puts a hand on her arm.

“Father, this is my friend. Umm, lovely, this is my father, King Joseph Pulitzer.” Katherine introduces Sarah to a man sitting on her right side, dressed in a snazzy suit. He had a harsh face and seemed a bit uptight. Still, Sarah’s focus was on that Katherine had called her lovely, and she remembers that she has no way of telling Katherine her name.

Sarah still nods politely and offers her hand to the king. He accepts it and gives her a polite smile, though he almost seems reluctant to do so.

“I hear my daughter helped you.” He says carefully. “She said she found you on the beach.”

Katherine flushes and shakes her head. “That makes it sound so…crass, Father, please, she probably doesn’t-“

Sarah quickly shakes her head and pats Katherine’s arm to get her attention. She gives Katherine a smile and shrugs, trying to convey that she didn’t mind what he had said.

Katherine laughs softly and nods, helping Sarah sit down on the chair next to Katherine’s other side. “Well, Jack will be back in a minute or so with dinner.”

“Mm. So he said.“ King Pulitzer says, tapping the arm of his chair and giving Katherine a look.

Katherine glares at her father. “Jack is very responsible with this, Father.” She says coldly. “Do not speak ill of him to me, please.”

Sarah looks at Katherine, a bit concerned. It sounded like this was a conversation that had been had before. She looks down at the ga me as the sound of a door opens and Katherine makes a soft sound of relief and what sounds like a ‘thank goodness’ escapes from her perfect lips.

Not that Sarah was thinking about how perfect Katherine’s lips were.

“Well, Your Royalnesses. And the wonderful young guest.” A cheerful voice that Sarah recognizes as Jack’s rings through the large room. “Dinner is served.”

And suddenly plates filled with magnificent food are laid out in front of them. Sarah eagerly looks up to see more, but her heart sinks when she sees the seafood options. She knew that humans ate fish, eels, and other aquatic life, her father had drilled that fact in, but seeing it hurt a shocking amount.

Katherine immediately noticed her distress, however, and a hand was placed on Sarah’s arm. “Do you not like seafood?” Katherine asks softly.

Hesitantly, not wanting to offend the beautiful woman in front of her, Sarah shakes her head.

Thankfully, Katherine is not offended and merely takes a few plates away from Sarah. “Then you won’t have to eat it.” She says firmly. “You can eat anything you like here.”

Jack grins and winks at Sarah over Katherine’s shoulder. “And by anything she means anything.”

“Thank you.” King Pulitzer tells Jack sharply. “My daughter had already said that, however.”

“Apologies.” Jack says, though he doesn’t sound very apologetic.

“You may leave.” King Pulitzer dismisses him.

Jack’s eyes widen slightly and Katherine frowns, looking almost insulted. It was a very abrupt dismissal, Sarah could tell that it was meant to completely disregard and disrespect Jack.

Katherine opens her mouth to speak, probably to argue against her father, but Jack puts a hand on her shoulder. “It’s alright, Kath.” He mutters. “I’ll take a walk.”

They exchange a look and then Jack is gone. Sarah swallows nervously and Katherine looks at her apologetically. ‘I’m sorry.’ Katherine mouths at her.

Shaking her head, Sarah gestures at the food, giving Katherine a small smile that she hopes is reassuring. It apparently is, because Katherine visibly relaxes. Even King Pulitzer seems to calm down, though that can probably be attributed to Jack leaving the room.

“Eat, Katherine.” His voice speaks up again, though it’s slightly softer this time. “It is a good dinner.”

“Yes, Father.” Katherine sighs softly. She leans closer to Sarah, her eyes suddenly seeming to brighten. “Say, I’ll trade you my green beans for your seafood.”

Sarah’s face breaks into a wide grin and she happily nods, handing over the seafood in front of her.

The first thing Davey decided about the surface, after he woke up because apparently getting legs knocked you out, was that the sand was awful. His new shirt and pants were full of it and it was all over him.

The next thing he decided was that the sky was beautiful when the sun set and he liked it more than the sea.

The third and final thing he decided was that he did not like being alone. He had no idea how to get to Sarah. And even if he did she was in a castle with a princess. He couldn’t just waltz in, there was no way that would ever be allowed. But maybe if Sarah found him somehow and let him in…

The sound of someone walking grabs Davey’s attention and his head whips around to face the whoever the footsteps belonged to. It was the man that had been with Katherine the few times Davey had seen her. Or them, he supposed. And since he had been with Katherine, maybe he could help Davey find his sister.

And the man was extremely good looking, so who wouldn’t want to talk to him.

But before Davey can even think all of that, the man, Davey had forgotten his name, was kneeling over him and looking concerned.

“Hey. Hey.” The man said, snapping his fingers in front of Davey’s face. “Hey, you in there?”

“Yes.” Davey says, shaking himself mentally and batting at the man’s hands. “What are you doing?”

“You weren’t waking up.” The man explains, sitting back on his heels. “Wanted to make sure you’s was okay.”

“Oh.” Davey sits up and feels his head on instinct. He supposed it’s possible that he hit something, but no. He was fine. Thankfully. “Yes, I’m alright. Just a bit dazed, but thank you.”

“No problem.” The man smiles at him and Davey smiles back. “So, what’s a pretty thing like you doing out here on the sand? It’s getting late.”

“Oh.” Davey’s face flushes when he realizes that he needs a backstory right now. And the man had just called him pretty. “Uh, just…got lost.”

“Got lost?” The man asks, raising an eyebrow. “Well, from where? Can’t help you if you don’t tell me anything.”

Davey shakes his head and forces a small laugh. “Uh, from…the sea. I was on a ship and it crashed into some rocks and…”

The man makes a sympathetic sound. “Oh, that’s no good. I’m sorry to hear that.” He holds out his hand. “Well, my name is Jack Kelly. Why don’t I help you out a bit?”

Davey accepts the hand and smiles at Jack. “I…would really appreciate that.” He says thankfully.

Chapter Text

“Keep your eyes closed.” Katherine implores Sarah.

Sarah nods and squeezes Katherine’s hands. She liked the way Katherine’s hands felt in hers, they were soft and would gently rub the back of Sarah’s hands.

Once they finally stop, Katherine lets go of Sarah’s hands in favor of resting a hand on her arm. “Okay. Open your eyes.” She whispers, her voice excited.

Sarah does and her jaw drops. Even if her voice hadn’t been taken she would have been speechless.

Katherine had taken her to the gardens. The night sky was above them, the moon illuminating the trees and flowers that surrounded the small area, creating a wall between the world and the two girls standing. Sarah lets her hand drop and intertwines her fingers with Katherine’s almost instinctively.

“I wish I knew your name.” Katherine murmurs. “Can you spell? Or write?”

Sarah nods in response to the first question and shakes her head in response to the second.

Katherine frowns in confusion and tilts her head curiously. “How can you spell and not write? Did you only learn words and such verbally?”

Sarah nods again. Writing at the bottom of the ocean was hard. Obviously paper couldn’t be down there, but carving into rocks was just inconvenient. And even if there was a way to write, it wasn’t widely known, and Sarah had always been too bored to go to the lessons her father tried to arrange for her and her brother. Davey probably knew how to write, Sarah finds herself thinking.

She hoped Davey was okay. He was a bit paranoid and always stressed, but surely knowing where she was would help keep him at least somewhat relaxed.

Hopefully Les was alright too. Les was a bit too young to understand why she did what she did, and he possibly thought that once she got kissed, if she got kissed, they would still see each other again often.

And Sarah didn’t even want to consider what her father was feeling or thinking about her.

“Excuse me?” Katherine’s voice interrupts Sarah’s thoughts. “Are you alright?”

Sarah shrugs and gives Katherine a small, weak smile, attempting to motion ‘so-so’ with her hand by rocking it back and forth.

Katherine nods, looking sympathetic. “I see. You-you probably miss wherever you came from?” She seems hesitant to ask, but her touch on Sarah’s arm remains steady and warm.

Sarah nods slowly. Did she? She definitely missed her brothers. She mourned her grotto. Maybe it was just because she was new to the surface and everything was exciting, but she was finding herself having more fun up in this world in the small amount of time she had been with Katherine than she had in the sea.

She wanted to explore. She was excited to go places and to look around, in a way that she had never been excited about things in the sea.

“Hmm.” Katherine murmurs thoughtfully. “Is there anything I can do?”

Sarah smiles ruefully and shakes her head. Katherine needed to kiss her, but she couldn’t mime or convey that. It would be hard and she didn’t want to pressure Katherine into anything.

Smiling apologetically, Katherine squeezes Sarah’s arm. “Well, if you ever want to leave, we’ll make sure you have supplies and get to your designation safely. I’ll accompany you if you want, of course.”

Sarah silently laughs and links their arms together. That seems to make Katherine happy, as she laughs as well and they keep walking.

“So, what do you like to do for fun?” Katherine asks Sarah.

Sarah shrugs and waves her hand, making Katherine blink in confusion. Sarah smiles sheepishly and puts her hand over her eyes, turning her head back and forth to mime looking around.

Katherine thinks for a few moments and then gasps. “Looking? You like looking. So…” Sarah nods encouragingly. “You like…exploring?”

Sarah nods enthusiastically and excitedly pats Katherine’s arm. Squealing, Katherine jumps up and down. “Oh, we are so good at communicating.” She says happily. “I mean, you can’t speak and I feel like I understand you perfectly.”

Sarah flushes at that, ducking her head shyly and smiling at the ground. Katherine was so much more beautiful, intelligent, funny, and wonderful than she anticipated.

Giggling, Katherine taps Sarah’s chin to tilt her head up again. “Don’t hide your pretty face from me.” She teases. Sarah rolls her eyes playfully and gently shoves Katherine with her side.

Katherine makes a show of falling and starts giggling as she pulls Sarah with her. For the second time since they met, Sarah lands on top of Katherine and rolls off of her to lightly hit her shoulder affectionately.

This time, however, Katherine pulls Sarah close to her side and smiles at her, holding onto her hand. “You are just beautiful.” She murmurs. “Has anyone ever told you that? I imagine that they must have.”

Sarah flushes happily and nods, pointing at Katherine.

“I’m beautiful too?” Katherine guesses. Sarah nods and Katherine flushes as well, her cheeks turning a lovely red that Sarah thinks she could stare at for hours and hours on end.

They end up staring at each other for a few minutes, lost in their own thoughts. Until Katherine stands up and pulls Sarah with her.

“Let’s dance.” Katherine announces, putting her hands on Sarah’s hips. “That is a good way to bond and communicate. And you needn’t say a single word.”

Sarah silently laughs, it seems that she did that a lot with Katherine, and puts her hands on Katherine’s shoulders. She shrugs helplessly and smiles at Katherine, trying to convey her slight hesitation.

Katherine, who was too wonderful, picks up on what Sarah is saying right away. “It’s okay. I’ll teach you.” Katherine assures Sarah. “Look. My left foot will go forwards and your right foot will go backwards…yes, just like that. Then step back again…good, you’re a very quick learner. Now, step to the side, good, and step forward with your left and you’ve got it!”

Sarah beams as they dance. They could have danced for minutes, hours, or even days and she wouldn’t have noticed.

But soon a bell tolls, signaling that it’s midnight and Katherine sighs. “We should head in.” She murmurs.

Sarah nods slowly. The second day already. She felt the time creeping up on her slowly, reminding her that if Katherine didn’t kiss her by the end of the third day, then her soul was Wiesel’s. Singing her voice to him had signed her fate. Unless she kissed Katherine.

But then a voice was ringing through the night towards them.

“Kath? Kath, hey!” Jack’s voice called.

Curiously, Katherine turns to face him, intertwining her fingers with Sarah’s. But Sarah’s eyes widen significantly and she lets go of Katherine to rush over.

“Sarah?” Davey gasps as she crashes into him, knocking them both to the ground, which she really needed to stop doing. “Ow!” She points at his legs frantically. “Sarah!” Davey protests when her hand hits his leg.

“Sarah?” Katherine echoes. “Is that your name?” Sarah nods and stands up, pointing at Davey. “And who is that?”

“Uh, my name is Davey. Davey Jacobs.” Davey says a bit awkwardly, standing up and stumbling a bit. Sarah raises an eyebrow when she sees how he has taller legs than her, crossing her arms and sticking her tongue out at him. Which he happily reciprocates. “I’m Sarah’s brother.”

“Was she on the ship with you?” Jack asks Davey curiously, tilting his head. Sarah watches Davey’s eyes flick over Jack and she resists the urge to punch Davey’s arm affectionately.

“Uh, she was…” Davey starts. He glances at Sarah, who gives him a quick and small nod that only he would catch. “Yes. She was.”

Katherine holds up a hand and looks at Jack who smiles sheepishly. “Wait a minute. You two are siblings.” Davey and Sarah nod. “Okay. Last name is Jacobs. You two were on a ship.”

“It crashed.” Jack adds helpfully. Sarah gives Davey a look and he rolls his eyes at her.

“Okay.” Katherine nods slowly. “Okay. Sarah cannot talk.”

“Uh, she could before the ship crashed.” Davey says slowly. “But…now she can’t, apparently.”

Sarah nods to convey that she approves of the story to Davey, and to look like she is corroborating the story to Jack and Katherine.

Katherine nods again. “Got it. So…” She suddenly looks much sadder than before. “Are you here to take Sarah home?”

“Umm…” Davey flushes and looks at Sarah who narrows her eyes. ‘You’ll tell me everything’ she tries to convey with her glare. Davey smiles sheepishly and nods.

Then looks at Katherine and shakes his head. “I’m afraid I-I can’t quite remember where our home is.” He says softly.

Katherine makes a soft noise of surprise and automatically reaches out to touch Sarah’s arm. “I’m so sorry, Davey.” She says softly. “Sarah, do you remember where your home is?”

Sarah’s lips part slightly as Katherine calls her by her name. The way it rolls off of her tongue and stays on her lips for a moment after, hovering in the air.

She shakes her head once Katherine’s words register in her mind. She could see what Davey was doing, letting her stay. But why was Davey here? And why did he have legs?

Katherine nods and looks at Davey. “So you need a place to stay. You’re welcome to stay at the castle of course, we wouldn’t separate you and Sarah. Not after a shipwreck.” Jack nods in agreement.

“Thank you very much, but I couldn’t possibly-“ Davey starts, looking between them and shaking his head.

“Nonsense. You need somewhere.” Katherine waves a hand. “Jack, take him to a room. There’s a spare one next to yours, isn’t there?”

“There is.” Jack confirms, taking Davey’s arm. “Come on, Dave. You look exhausted.”

Davey opens his mouth as if to protest and then nods. “Oh, alright. Thank you very much, Your Highness. Jack.”

Sarah smiles at him and they quickly hug, pressing kisses to each other’s cheeks. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Or later today.” Davey murmurs into Sarah’s ear. She nods and kisses his cheek once more.

Jack offers his arm to Davey, who laughs softly and takes it.

Sarah watches them go and shakes her head fondly. Katherine chuckles and intertwines their fingers again. “I didn’t think Jack could be so fond of someone after less than a day.” She says, clearly amused. “You Jacobs certainly are something.”

Sarah shakes her head affectionately and leans against Katherine. She points back at the gardens and turns to Katherine again.

Katherine laughs and nods. “Yes. Let’s go back into the gardens.”

---

Jack leads Davey through the castle. He may or may not take the long way for various reasons.

“That’s gorgeous.” Davey comments about a painting they pass.

“Mm.” Jack acknowledges. “You know, you’ve said that about several pieces of architecture already. You appreciate the fine arts?”

Davey nods and flushes lightly. “I do. But I always appreciated stories as well.” Jack’s eyes trace over his pink cheeks and his smile grows.

“Sorry.” Davey murmurs after a moment of quiet. “I-I didn’t mean to, uh…sorry.”

“No, no, don’t apologize.” Jack laughs, patting Davey’s arm. “Stories, hmm? Do you like to read?”

“I can’t read.” Davey says, flushing deeply. “Well, I can recognize the alphabet, but-but I’m not good at reading.”

“I ain’t good at reading.” Jack winks. “But Katherine sure is. When we were kids she would make me read with her. Tomorrow I’ll show you the library.”

Davey’s eyes widen. “A library.” He breaths. “I’ve always wanted to see a library.”

Jack chuckles and suddenly glances at a clock on the wall. “Well…we could just go now.”

“Now?” Davey laughs. “Shouldn’t we sleep? Don’t you have to work tomorrow?”

“Oh, who cares about my work?” Jack scoffs. “When I’s could spend time with a pretty man like you? I don’t have to go to work til the mornin’.” And Davey’s cheeks turned that wonderful pink color again.

---

The library is beautiful. It has rows, rows, rows, and even more rows of books, going all the way up to the incredibly tall ceiling. There were numerous long ladders attached to the various shelves.

Jack watches Davey pick up a fairly simple book, meant for younger people but still fairly enjoyable. His eyes track as Davey starts reading, slowly, but excitedly.

After a minute of Davey standing and reading, Jack laughs softly to himself and walks over, gently taking Davey’s elbow and leading him to a table in the library. Davey glances up to thank him and then goes back to reading, which Jack finds makes him smile at the man.

A sudden thud from the other side of the library makes Davey jolt and drop the book. Quickly, Jack stands to catch the book before it can fall to the ground and hands it back to him and pats Davey’s shoulder.

Which was absolutely worth it to see the light flush on Davey’s face again.

“Who’s there?” Jack calls out, leaning back against the desk, watching Davey hold the book to his chest out of the corner of his eye.

“Is that Jack Kelly?” A boisterous voice calls from behind a bookshelf.

“Race.” Another voice sighs. Davey looks up at Jack, who just grins at him.

“Racetrack Higgins and Spot Conlon.” Jack calls out. “You’re scaring my guest. Come on out here.”

“Someone wants to hang out with you, Jack?” The first voice, who must be Racetrack, says cheerfully. The two men step out and one skips over to them. The other rolls his eyes as he follows.

“Dave, this is Race.” Jack says, pointing to the tall man who skipped over to them. “And that other one, the mean one, is Spot. They work in the stables.”

Davey turns around fully to face the two men. “Hi.” He says, giving them both a slightly nervous smile. “Uh, My name is David Jacobs.”

“Davey.” Jack says, amused. “You never said you had a full name.”

Furrowing his brow, Davey opens his mouth for a moment and then shakes his head. “I-I didn’t realize that it was a big deal.” He settles on.

Jack laughs and ruffles Davey’s hair, which makes a smile grow on Davey’s face and that pretty flush spread across his cheeks again.

Race clears his throat. “Nice to meet you, Davey.” He says cheerfully. “Now, I’m sure you don’t want to know what Spot and I were up to in here…”

“You basically just implied it.” Spot mutters.

Pointedly ignoring him, Race continues. “But what are you and Jack doing in here at such a late hour?”

“He wanted to see the library.” Jack shrugs. “So I showed it to him.”

Davey nods and Spot snorts. “Well, alright. But when Katherine is glaring at you because you tripped and got paint all over her dress, it’s on you.”

Race whacks Spot upside the head. “I think it’s great that Jack has a friend.” He scolds. “And he doesn’t just carry paint around.”

“I will be painting tomorrow, thank you.” Jack says, grinning at them. “Say, Dave. Would you like to see some of my work tomorrow?”

“I’d love to. I didn’t know you painted.” Davey says earnestly, tilting his head up to see Jack better.

With an easy smile, Jack brushes Davey’s chin with his hand and turns back to Spot and Race. “You see? I am very likeable.” He tells Race factually.

Race rolls his eyes and turns his attention to Davey. “I always tell him he’s unlikable and he insists on proving me wrong, the intolerable….”

He waves a hand and Davey chuckles. “Imbecile?” He offers Race, making Spot crack up.

Jack gasps. “Dave. I found you and showed you the library! You’re supposed to be on my side.”

“Never be on Jack’s side.” Spot tells him seriously. “You’ll always lose.”

“Don’t influence him!” Jack squawks before Davey can respond. “Please! He’s my favorite person alive!”

“You just met me.” Davey says in amusement, covering his mouth to try and stifle his laughter.

And he had to acknowledge the fact that he was feeling happier, more included, than he ever had in the sea.

---

Katherine and Sarah slipped back into the castle at what must have been four in the morning. Sarah was already feeling more and more natural on her feet, and she suspected that the hours of dancing with Katherine had contributed to the sudden gain of gracefulness.

Katherine had tried to walk Sarah to her room, but Sarah had shaken her head, holding up her hand and motioning at herself until Katherine laughed and agreed to let Sarah walk her to her bedroom.

Which led to them, squeezing each other’s hand in the doorway of Katherine’s room. “I’ll take you out boating tomorrow.” Katherine murmurs to Sarah. “I’m afraid I’ll be very busy with preparations for the arrival of all ‘eligible lords and ladies from all over the kingdom’.” Katherine rolls her eyes with her air quotes. “Father insisted that I pick a partner on my birthday. I’m turning twenty in…well, I suppose it’s tomorrow, technically.”

Sarah gasps silently and feels her heart drop down to her feet. It felt like her whole world was crumbling all of a sudden and time was creeping even closer and closer, making the hair stand up on the back of her neck.

“I’m sorry.” Katherine says, shaking her head. “I shouldn’t burden you with my issues. And you have your own.” She reaches over and squeezes Sarah’s hand. “I will help you find your home, Sarah. I promise.”

Sarah nods and gives Katherine the best smile she can, relaxing as Katherine pulls her into a tight hug. But her unease remained, right under the surface, a constant reminder of the deal she had made.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Davey finds himself cornered by Sarah at what must be about seven. Jack had dropped him off after showing him around for a bit and explained that his room was right across the hall, so if Davey needed anything all he had to do was ask. And somehow Sarah had found him.

“How did you find me?” He yelps as Sarah storms into his room and locks the door.

She points at the door and makes a face as she thinks about how to mime it.

“Umm.” Davey blinks. “Did someone show you?” She nods. “Okay. Was it Jack? Because to my knowledge he’s the only person who knows where he put me.” Sarah nods again. “Cool.”

Sarah storms over and motions for Davey to sit which he hastily does, because when she gets her voice back he didn’t want her scolding him about how what he did was incredibly dangerous. The hypocrite.

Sarah points at Davey’s legs frantically. “Oh!” Davey blinks. “Oh, you want the story. Okay. Umm, I didn’t go see a sea witch, if that makes you feel better.” Sarah glares at him and he clears his throat awkwardly. “So. Father was very upset that you were gone and Les may have told him what you did and he may have gotten very upset with me for letting to happen so he may have sent me up here to make sure that you get kissed.”

He smiles awkwardly and Sarah face palms. Then she wraps her arms around Davey and he laughs, hugging her back.

“Are you angry with me?” He mumbles into her ear. Because she was his twin sister and he did care what she thought, even if she did make dumb decisions that endangered her soul.

Sarah shakes her head and leans in to press a kiss to Davey’s cheek. Honestly, she had never been too angry with her brother, just the frequent teasing or arguments that came with being siblings.

With a fond smile, Davey kisses her cheek in return. “Go flirt with your lady. You have today and tomorrow to get that kiss.” He says, reaching over and squeezing Sarah’s hand.

Sarah makes a face and shakes her head, making Davey frown in confusion. “Why not?” He asks curiously.

Sarah hops up and mimes stringing something up on a wall. “Uh, she has to…put something up?” Davey guesses.

Sarah makes a so-so motion with her hand and mimes setting a table. “She has to…set something up?” Davey questions. Sarah nods and points at him. “Okay, what does she have to set up?” Davey asks.

Sarah makes another face as she thinks about how to describe it. She gestures to her head and wraps her hands around it.

“Uh, crown?” Davey guesses, patting himself on the back when Sarah nods. “Okay, so you are…Katherine?” Sarah nods again. “This is irritating. The miming.” Sarah shrugs and goes back to her miming. She points her finger as if deciding something. “Katherine has to decide something?” Davey asks. Another nod and Sarah stands where she was pointing miming crowns again. “Oh!” Davey gasps. “Katherine is picking a prince of princess to marry!”

Sarah jumps excitedly and jumps to hug Davey, knocking them both back onto the bed. Davey laughs and hugs her back, patting her shoulders. “Maybe go see if you can help her set up?” He offers as a solution.

Sarah seems to think it’s a great idea, because she jumps up again and kisses his cheek before rushing out of his room.

There’s a laugh and Jack walks into Davey’s room. “I almost ran into your sister.” He says cheerfully. “She going to see Kath?”

Davey laughs and stands up, quickly brushing himself off and straightening his shirt. Nothing was wrinkled or even noticeable askew, but for some reason he wanted to look nice right now.

Jack seems amused and reaches over to brush his hand over Davey’s shoulder. “What’s with all the adjusting? You look fine, Davey. Want to come help me out with some preparations for the upcoming event?” He asks cheerfully.

Davey nods and smiles at Jack. “Uh, yeah. That sounds fun.” He clears his throat and Jack seems pleased about something.

“Great.” And then Jack throws his arm over Davey’s shoulders and pulls him along. “I’m going to need some support for this. I have to go to a nightmarish man to plan the food. Let me tell ya, this man is not afraid to stab me. He’s got beady eyes and…”

Jack cuts off and laughs when he sees Davey just awkwardly nodding. “Sorry. Sorry. He’s not that bad. He just likes to boss me around. He’ll probably be nice to a pretty boy like you. At least his nephews will be.”

Davey flushes, but almost immediately frowns at Jack. “Are you just bringing me alone so you’re less likely to be yelled at?”

Jack winks. “If you could see your face, you would understand why I think that.”

Davey averts his eyes and flushes a deeper shade of red. He should probably compliment Jack back, but his mind was blanking, so he just shrugs. “Uh, thank you.”

“No problem.” Jack grins at him and pulls him down a few flights of stairs.

Once they go down several levels, Jack pulls Davey into an extremely messy kitchen and looks around.

“Albert?” Jack calls. “Al, where are ya? I got some questions for you.”

A slightly younger man sticks his head out from behind a stack of crates. “He’s in the fridge right now, Jack.” The man says, sounding amused. “Stop yelling.”

“Crutchie!” Jack says happily, letting go of Jack and walking over with his arms wide open.

When Crutchie steps out from behind the crates to accept the hug, Davey can see that he does, in fact, need a crutch to walk.

Crutchie sees Davey looking at the crutch and laughs. “Yes. My nickname is very on the nose, but I think it makes me tough to accept it.”

“Nothing will ever make you tough.” Jack snorts. “You’re a little too cheerful for that.”

Crutchie punches his arm and fully turns to Davey, holding his hand out to shake. “Hey. My name is Charlie. But, as you heard, you can call me Crutchie.”

Davey smiles at him and takes his hand. “Nice to meet you. My name is David.”

Jack had wandered away. “Dave, Crutch, come on. I gotta talk to Albert.”

“Is that the ‘nightmarish man’?” Davey calls after him as he hurries to catch up with Jack.

“‘Nighrmarish’?” Crutchie scoffs. “Yeah, Al’s a bit annoying, but Jack was probably just tryin’ to scare you. Jack!”

“He’s a nightmare to me, Crutch.” Jack pouts. “He yells at me.”

“When you mess with the food.” Crutchie retorts.

Davey laughs quietly and Jack skips over to wrap an arm around his shoulder. “He won’t yell at me with Davey here.”

“Nah, he would.” Crutchie snorts. “But good luck with that.”

Jack laughs and Davey wraps an arm around his waist when he trips over a crate and falls down, pulling Davey with him. “Who just fell in my kitchen?” A voice shouts from across the room.

“Jack Kelly.” Crutchie calls back. “But he brought a friend!”

“Jack has friends?” The voice yells, wandering over to peer at them. It’s a man who looks about Jack’s age, with red hair and what looks like an amused frown on his face.

Crutchie points at where Jack had thrown flour on Davey’s face and Davey was sputtering in protest, but laughing at how Jack was struggling to hold him down.

Albert stares down at the sight and snorts. “Alright, Kelly. I know why you’re here.”

“To check on the catering for the princess’s choosing of her suitor? Her future partner? Her-“

“Shut up.” Albert laughs. “Idiot. Yes. And it is almost completely prepared. We have trays and carts set aside and have finished planning out what will be served.”

“Great, that’s all I needed to know.” Jack says cheerfully. “Bye, Al!”

“I’m Davey, it is nice to meet you.” Davey quickly tells Albert before following Jack, who links their arms.

---

Sarah had managed to find Katherine and, after almost ten minutes of miming, understood that she wanted to help set up.

Which was what they’d been doing for the past two hours now, filling the time with as much conversation as they could in the circumstances.

“Let’s take a break.” Katherine announces. “I want to gake you to a special spot. If-if you want to, of course, I just-“

Sarah nods excitedly and loops her arm with Katherine’s, who beams and pulls her towards the door.

Chapter Text

The lagoon was beautiful. Not nearly as beautiful as Katherine was, of course, but it may have been close.

Sarah admires the sight as Katherine stops rowing and then looks back at Katherine, who leans forward and smiles at her happily.

“I love this place.” Katherine says softly. “It’s so calm and beautiful.”

You’re beautiful. Sarah lets the thought fill her mind.

Katherine beams at her. “You know, I’m so glad I met you, Sarah.” She says warmly. “I know it’s only been a few days, but you’ve honestly made my life so much brighter. Made it easier to deal with my father and what he’s trying to make me do.”

Sarah nods and reaches over to squeeze Katherine’s hands. She gives Katherine the best understanding smile she can, gently swinging their hands before gesturing at herself and then Katherine to try and communicate that she cares about Katherine as well.

Katherine, miraculously, seems to understand exactly what Sarah is saying. A bright smile breaks across her face and she squeezes Sarah’s hand back. Her eyes seem to soften as she looks at Sarah, words being passed between them that Sarah wasn’t even sure she fully understood. But it felt good, if the way her heart was fluttering in her chest was any indication.

Sarah leans a bit closer, tilting her head. She hesitantly taps her lips and then motions with her hand talking, her hand mimicking a mouth. Then she points at Katherine.

Katherine blinks. “Are you…asking me something?”

Sarah nods and taps her lips again. Katherine nods slowly. “Okay. Your…lips?” Sarah shakes her head. “Your mouth?” Sarah nods and Katherine beams.

Then Sarah moves her hand to mimic a mouth again. Katherine thinks. “Talking?” Sarah tilts her hand in a so-so motion. “Okay.” Katherine thinks again. “Uh, lips…moving?”

Sarah nods excitedly and gestures at her mouth again, then moves her hand to convey talking and points at Katherine. Katherine’s eyes light up and she excitedly points at Sarah. “Oh! Oh, uh, you are going to mouth something and I am going to try and read it!” She says.

Sarah nods happily and Katherine squeals, leaning forward to wrap her arms around Sarah, which Sarah happily reciprocates. They stay like that for a minute, both of their heartbeats speeding up slightly, before pulling back.

“Okay.” Katherine says breathlessly. “Go ahead.”

Sarah thinks. ‘I love you’ was definitely too forward and ‘please kiss me’ was a bit odd. So, she settles for something simpler.

‘I appreciate everything that you’ve done for me.’ Sarah mouths.

Katherine blinks and flushes. “Uh, one more time?”

Sarah mouths it again and Katherine smiles awkwardly. “I’m sorry. I have no idea what you’re saying.”

Sarah just shrugs and sinks back. Oh, well. So much for conveying anything with that method.

Katherine reaches over and squeezes her hand. “Hey. Don’t worry, I promise we will figure out a better way to communicate. Or I’ll just get better at understanding your hand motions. I feel like I’m doing better and better anyways.”

Sarah nods and gives Katherine the best smile that she can. Katherine seems to brighten even more at that and flushes at the same time. Her eyes flick to Sarah’s lips and she swallows. “Uh, this might sound crazy, but…”

She hesitates and then leans in again. Sarah’s breath catches in her throat and she feels her own face flushing against similar color to Katherine’s.

And she leans in. Katherine was so close that Sarah could have counted all her eye lashes and every small freckle on her nose.

Their eyes flutter closed at the same time and Sarah’s heart flutters. This was it.

She would speak again. She would be human forever. She could explore the world with Katherine and…

Their boat rocks suddenly, which makes Katherine fall backwards with a small yelp. Sarah wants to scream, and she maybe would have if she could was able to.

Briefly, Sarah hopes that they could go back to where they were. That the rocking boat hadn’t ruined the moment for Katherine and she would still be willing to try.

But Katherine glances at the sky and winces. “Oh, no. I have to go back to the castle. We have to go back.” She laughs nervously. “I suppose we are stuck together.”

Stuck together. Sarah wishes they could always be stuck together. But maybe she was just a hopeless romantic.

Katherine starts rowing back towards the shore and gives Sarah a small smile. “I…don’t know how tomorrow will go.” She admits quietly. “But I hope that we can stay together. In whatever way.”

Sarah nods and gives her as wide a smile as she can. But her heart aches, because if Katherine didn’t kiss her by sunset tomorrow…

She would never see Katherine or her family again.