As it turned out, it took her another day to actually accomplish the feat of going to talk to Dave. Around midmorning the next day, Jade hesitantly floated back into her atoll's achingly familiar, homey lagoon and slowly swam back into the cave where they slept. Dave was there, awake, sitting with his back to the sea and his head in his hands. Oh no, he looked like he was crying, this was going to be even more difficult than she'd thought... she just wanted to comfort him, she really did. Why was this so hard? She lingered in the mouth of the cave for a moment, uncertain and almost debating whether she should just turn tail and flee back into the ocean again because she wasn't ready for this, but then shook her head and steeled her nerves. She owed it to Dave to at least talk to him today.

"...Dave?" she murmured, her voice echoing slightly and mingling with the gentle sound of the waves lapping at the sides of the cave. He started violently at the sound and whirled around disbelievingly.

"Jade?" In just a few instants he had all but flown across the few yards between them to kneel at the water's edge and crush her in an embrace before he stiffened and awkwardly backed away, not meeting her gaze. "I—I'm sorry, I'm really sorry for that, earlier. Fuck, I shouldn't have—"

"Hush," she shook her head and studied him. He must have been crying, his eyes were red and his cheeks suspiciously wet. There were dark shadows under his eyes, too... had he not been sleeping well on top of blaming himself for chasing her off? Oh, no, he was probably worried about her safety, too, considering that she vanished without a trace and didn't tell him! Poor Dave... She lifted herself out of the water and onto the beach to hug him gently before she pulled back, biting her lip for a second in anxiety before speaking. "I... I won't say that I don't want you to say sorry, but not for the reasons you probably think."

He looked up from his feet to meet her eyes for just a second of cautious optimism before he dropped his gaze again. "What do you mean?"

"First of all," she took a deep breath to steady herself, "I'm just going to go ahead and say it. I love you, too, in the I'm-in-love-with-you romantic way." Dave had whipped his head up to look at her, and his red eyes were shining like rubies now, bright and glad, unadulterated happiness radiating out at her without those usual shields he put up. And she felt awful about it, now, because s was probably about to shatter whatever joy he had gained, though, with her next words, and it hurt to know that his face was about to crumple and turn back to grief and that it would be her fault when it did. "But... I don't think it'll work, with... with me and you."

Just like she'd thought, the joy vanished, but it was worse than she ever could have suspected. It was like she'd slapped him; he went completely still and the color drained from his face. "I see." Was he withdrawing into that impersonal shell that he'd hidden behind for the first few days, before she and John had seen him grieving for his shipmates? He knew she could see right through the mask, didn't he? But... but she didn't want him to have to hide himself away from her, she wanted him to still be her Dave.

"And by that, I mean... Dave, in a few weeks you'll be gone from here. I'll—" her voice trembled "I'll never see you again, forever. I—I can't bear the thought of that already, and I know it'll hurt you even more when you have to leave me behind and find someone new in Derse. Me, I can pine away after you as long as I want, because it's not like I have anything else to do, but you... you'll hurt so much, Dave, I don't want to look northwest and know that somewhere far from me, you're in pain and I can't help you. Is it really worth it?"

"You're worth it." His voice was the barest of whispers, scarcely audible over the soughing of the waves, but an immediate response before she'd even really finished speaking. Jade felt her breath catch in her throat.

"Dave..." she trailed off, not sure what to tell him. She wanted this, she wanted to be with him, but it was just going to hurt them both. They couldn't... could they? It wasn't going to work.

He came closer again, tentatively clasping her hands in his own and kneeling in front of her at the water's edge so that they were at eye-level with one another. "Jade, please..."

Her heart ached for him, and she wanted nothing more than to hold him. "I don't want you to hurt more than you have to," she started again, her voice soft and gentle, when he shook his head and touched a finger ever so carefully to her lips, hushing her before she could go on.

"That's not your choice," he said, leaning forward ever so slightly. "It's mine. May I...?"

Feeling a tear spill over, she closed her eyes and leaned in, kissing him this time instead. He seemed to relax against her, and his hands squeezed hers before letting go to slide around her back and run slender fingers through her hair gently, holding her close so very tenderly. When she pulled away, trembling with the effort not to let herself start crying—why did she feel so sad even though she was also so happy?—he hugged her close and rested his chin atop her head, his thumb stroking away the tears that escaped.

"We'll find a way," he murmured softly, so gentle and quiet that it was almost uncharacteristic. He must have truly been letting her see him at his most vulnerable, no masks in place. "And I won't stop loving you, either, no matter what comes. Sorry, Jade, you'll be stuck with me forever, if I have any say in the matter. Which I do."

She giggled a bit tearfully at that and held him tightly. "I think I'm okay with that." It wasn't the best thing, and it was going to be hard on both of them, that was for sure. But ... maybe she was okay with it. Maybe they would be okay. Maybe, just maybe, forever wasn't always a bad thing.

The next few days were surprisingly relaxed. Jade was keeping a countdown in the back of her mind, even though she sometimes wanted to pretend that there was no time limit and John would just come back, no boat in tow, and they could continue being a family, without losing Dave. But she couldn't really do that, and even as her heart knew the coming and going of the tides, she could tell the passing of days as the moon waxed in the sky. It was probably a mermaid magic thing, but she just... knew these things. The sea was an extension of herself. And it helped her keep track of time, even when she didn't always want to.

"John probably reached Derse by now," she commented to Dave as they ate mangoes one day.

"Already?" he asked in surprise, stopping with a piece of fruit halfway to his mouth. "Is ridiculously fucking fast travel another storm-spirit thing?"

Jade laughed and nodded, licking juice from her fingers. "He can literally turn into the wind, you know. So he can travel pretty fast! It'll just take forever for the return trip because your ships are soooo slow."

"I'm pretty sure everything we humans can try to do on the water is slow to a fucking mermaid," he pointed out, harsh words assuaged by the fondness she could hear underlying them.

"And you'd be right about that!" she laughed again, reaching out to playfully poke his shoulder with one of her less-sticky fingers. "But I give you permission to make fun of my ability to walk."

"Oh, please. You might just throw seashells at me or something until I did. Or coconuts. Damn, I bet getting hit by a coconut would hurt like a bitch." He scoffed lightly and took another bite of his mango slice.

"It does," Jade agreed thoughtfully. Dave leveled a stare at her.

"You've been hit by a coconut," he said disbelievingly, raising one eyebrow.

"One word: John," was her only comment.

"Oh." It was a monosyllabic answer that held all the question in the world. He shifted his posture, too, indicating just as clearly as if he'd said it that he wanted to hear this story.

"Oh, indeed," she giggled. "My brother is such a silly boy, I swear! He didn't mean to do it, to give him some credit, he just didn't notice that while juggling a bunch of winds he was rustling a tree that was above the tide pool where I was looking at some barnacles, and kaboom! Coconut attack." Accentuating the kaboom with wide gestures from her hands, Jade accidentally flung a slippery piece of ripe mango straight onto Dave's face, where it comically stuck for a second before falling to the ground. She burst into laughter.

"Really," he sighed in exaggerated consternation as he wiped the golden juice from his cheek. "Dammit Jade, this shit is sticky."

"But delicious," she contended, holding up a finger. "Never forget how good fresh mangoes are." Oh nooo, she had just reminded herself of one of their first conversations, when he told her he'd never had fresh mangoes because Derse was too cold to grow them! Now she was going to make herself sad again.

"Dersite mangoes will be a fucking disappointment," he said drolly, most likely thinking of the same thing. "But don't worry. How could I ever forget my first day with you?"

Aw, he was being cute and sweet again! Jade scooted over the sand to rest her head on his shoulder. "Eating mangoes will be so lonely without sharing them with someone so cool, I bet."

"I'm so cool it's surprising that your mangoes even ripen when I'm around," she heard him say, his voice light with a smile in it as he wrapped an arm loosely around her waist.

"Maybe ... Maybe you're so cool that they wouldn't ripen except that your influence makes them want to be as cool as you so they do," she tried. Irony was Dave's thing, but she wasn't very good at it. It didn't stop her from making attempts, though!

He laughed at that, shaking his head. "I'll give you credit for trying, but oh my god that was so bad! Just stick to... whatever it is that you do in the future." Apparently her attempts at ironic circular reasoning... unreasoning, rather, were extremely amusing. Oh well. Jade stuck out her tongue at him impudently.

"Well, at least I can swim," she pointed out, poking his knee.

"At least I can walk," he retorted with a similar poke to her tail, though there was no heat in his voice. (He was too cool for that, right?)

"Wow, Dave! So mean!" she teased, laughing as she playfully smacked his shoulder. It was easy to fall back into their little happy leisurely routines, so she didn't even think before adding "But I love you anyway," and pressing a kiss to his cheek.

It was only a moment later that she froze and wondered if she shouldn't have said it, but it was already said and done so she should just move on, and pretend it wasn't a big deal, shouldn't she...? Hurriedly she forced a giggle and said, "You taste like mangoes."

Dave either had wordlessly agreed to pretend there was no problem between them—the unresolved issue of what they were going to do, even though they knew they loved each other in the I'm-in-love-with-you-romantically way, not the I-love-you-like-I-love-John way, still loomed ever closer as the days drew on—or really not noticed her hesitation, because he just said matter of factly, "That's because you threw a fucking mango at my head, remember?"

"Oh, yes, how could I forget the face you just made?" Just like that, her laughter was genuine again. "You're so silly, Dave!"

"I make silly the epitome of fucking cool though," he contended, sucking the last bit of juice from his fingers.

"Yes, you do," Jade laughed. "Now, I don't know about you, but I do not like being all sticky from mangoes! I'm going swimming. Wanna come?" She held out a hand, already shifting back towards the enticingly wet and cool waves rather than sitting on the sandy, uncomfortably dry beach, even if it was under the shade of a palm tree.

"Yeah, sure," he placed his hand in hers, and both of them splashed into the ocean with bright, carefree laughter.

The next few weeks passed quickly, far too quickly for Jade's liking. She enjoyed every moment, but wished they would at least last longer! It was strange—as soon as one wanted to hold onto time, it just started slipping away all the more speedily. Both she and Dave somehow reached a wordless agreement to keep pushing the discussion they really needed to have away and focus on the here and now and the happiness they could have in the moment, not what they needed to do in the future.

It was blissful while it lasted, at least, but one early, early morning—Jade was awake to go check on her tidepool organisms as the tide went out, just after dawn, while Dave was still sleeping away in the cave—there was a yell from a voice she hadn't heard in far too long, and suddenly a gust of wind scooped her clean out of the water into John's arms, where he spun her around with a great big grin and laughter while she squealed in first surprise and then glee.

"John! You're home!" she gasped, flinging her arms around his neck and hanging on tightly even though she knew he wouldn't drop her.

"Yup, I'm home!" he agreed brightly, enthusiasm radiating from him like light from the sun. "I missed you so, so much!"

"Not as much as I missed you," she bubbled with joy, grinning. "So where's the ship?"

"It'll be here soon, in a couple of hours or something like that! I flew ahead because I just wanted to get home," John said with an air of sorry-not-sorry as he beamed. "Where's Dave?"

"Still sleeping, that lazyhead," she giggled, casting a look down at the water below for a moment before looking back to John's face. "We can go wake him up, if you want, or you can come check tidepools with me—"

Her sentence was cut off when John said, "Let's wake him up!" and zoomed higher into the air. Jade shrieked, clinging to him.

"Jooohn! Put me down, mermaids do not flyyyy!" she screamed as the ground grew more and more distant as the wind rushed by, whistling in her ears. John just laughed.

"Don't worry, I won't drop you!" he assured her with a cocky grin that she just wanted to smack off his face, except that she didn't dare release her grip on his shoulders to do so. "But here's the fun part!"

"Fun part? Oh no, no, no no no—" her words were once again swallowed by a scream as John stopped flying, laughing loudly as he let them both fall freely down towards the crystalline lagoon far below. As the water neared, faster and faster, Jade readied herself for a painful impact, but just before they made contact with the surface John caught them both, slowing to a stop so that her tail and his feet were just barely skimming the surface of the waves. Jade took a deep breath and slowly, slowly relaxed her death grip on his shoulders, feeling her heart pounding.

"Well, between us both—mostly you, though, I didn't even know you could be that loud—I guess that should have woken him up," John said cheerfully. Jade did smack him this time.

"You and I are going to go for a swim sometime soon," she informed him and watched gleefully as his face took on a worried bluish pallor.

But he was right, because Dave did come stumbling out into the sunlight, frantically looking around for her—probably worried because she'd been screaming like she was going to die, thanks a lot, John—until his gaze swept over the lagoon, and he saw a mermaid floating above the water in the grip of a storm spirit. That was probably one of the weirder things to wake up to, especially for a human.

"Aw look, he's probably about to tell me hi," John said with a goofy grin as he watched Dave's posture change from worried to bewildered.

"John?" echoed the voice from the shoreline. "What the fucking hell?"

Jade laughed. "Nice greeting," she murmured to her brother, who huffed.

"Don't make me drop you," he jokingly warned.

"Oh, please! As if it'd be a big deal if you did, we're literally right above the water, silly!"

John let go of her just for a fraction of a second, smirking as she squeaked and clutched at him.

"You big jerk!" she giggled, ruffling his hair. "Let's go meet Dave—oh... and there's something I need to talk to you about, too."

The teasing grin dropped from his face, replaced by concern. "Is something wrong?"

"Uh... kind of," she admitted. "I'll tell you details later, but... um... jeez, this is awkward to say! Um, me and Dave sort of... I mean, Dave and I are like... oh gosh, how do you say it?"

"Jade," he interrupted, incredulity growing in his expression. "Are you trying to tell me that you guys, like... are a couple?"

"Um, yeah, pretty much," she hung her head, leaning against his chest. "But he's leaving, you know... and I don't know what to do..."

"Oh man, Jade, how do you even get yourself this kind of problem? I leave you guys alone just for a little while, and then suddenly this..." he sighed. "Okay, we'll figure something out, I guess. We'll get something worked out that's good for everyone!"

"I hope so," she said. "But that aside, I'm just so happy you're back!"

"I'm really happy to be back!" he smiled.

John flew back to shore, placing her gently in the water when they got closer, and they both approached Dave with matching grins.

"Hi, Dave!" John greeted excitedly, gliding straight up to the other boy to hug him tightly. "How's it been on the island?"

"Uh, interesting," Dave hedged, looking at Jade with a delicately raised eyebrow over John's shoulder, as if to ask did you tell him?

Jade shrugged, making a "kind-of" hand gesture before adding a I don't really know motion helplessly.

"What do you mean, 'interesting'?" John asked, pulling away and still grinning brightly. "Did you guys have fun without me?"

"Yes," Dave said with a straight face. "We had so much fun, you can't even imagine. Eating mangoes and all sorts of super enjoyable shit, and swimming because that's pretty much what mermaids are good at—"

"Hey! I'm good at other stuff too," Jade interrupted, narrowing her eyes playfully. "Don't make me come over there, mister!"

Dave just flashed her what she had come to realize was his signature smirk, a cocky half-smile that seemed to fit quite naturally on his pale face. "Whatever you say, Jade."

"Jo-ohn," Jade complained. "Dave's being rude!"

As the banter continued, the mermaid slowly fell silent and just contemplated her brother and her—best friend? Romantic partner? What was Dave to her now, anyway?—as he and John went back and forth in front of her. It was much easier, she'd found, to pretend that they would just click back into place and become a happy trio again, rather than to acknowledge that in a few hours Dave would be leaving, forever. Couldn't she just hide behind illusions and cling to their last few moments together?

It was confusing because she didn't know what she and Dave were to each other anymore. They cuddled a lot, they kissed sometimes, which was definitely new to her but pretty enjoyable, and sweet, and it was pretty much like they were romantically involved, but would they stay that way? She really wanted them to, but he was leaving soon. There was no way. So were they just going to never see each other again? It would be really sad, but it was probably for the better. No, no it wasn't, she was going to miss him so awfully much even if they were just friends, which they weren't. They were some sort of ... significant others, if that was the right word, to each other, and it was going to be absolutely terrible when he left!

She'd never really noticed how lonely the island was before. John was her brother and she loved him with all her heart and she never wanted to let him go, but... she dearly longed for a larger family, a larger circle of friends. But this island was her home, and she should be happy here, right?

"Jade? Helloooo?" John waved at her. "You're just staring out to sea again!"

"Sorry, sorry," she quickly shook her head, laughing. "Just thinking about stuff! What were you saying?"

"I was saying," John repeated, "that the boat is going to be here in a few hours! Oh, Dave, your sister came, too. She seemed really, really happy when she found out you weren't dead!"

"Most sisters probably would," Dave shrugged, but he looked happy. "Did she talk your ear off about random creepy shit?"

John laughed. "Only a little. I think you'll like her, Jade! Her name's Rose."

With a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach though she didn't know why, Jade smiled wanly. "I hope so, I'd like to meet her."

As it turned out, Jade did indeed like this girl Rose from Derse. She was very literary and also was one of the few humans with a gift in magic, being a seer, from what Jade knew of her from Dave. She was also quite pretty, with short, light hair that floated gracefully about her head whenever she moved and a dark dress tied with a lavender sash.

The first thing she did when the ship arrived was jump into the shallows, run onto the shore, and hug Dave tightly. He seemed frozen for a moment, but only for a moment, and he held her close, resting his cheek against her temple.

"It's good to see you alive," she told him when they released each other.

"Man, you wouldn't believe me if I told you how nice it is to be alive," he replied in his usual cavalier fashion, shrugging as if to say no big deal.

Rose raised one of her delicately arched eyebrows, her bright smile diminishing to be replaced by the slightest of frowns. "Oh, really? I think you might find that statement untrue, dear brother mine. I don't know how much you can comprehend how happy everyone was when a storm spirit of all people showed up after eight months and told us that you were not only alive, but also perfectly fine and having the time of your life on a secluded island!" Her lips were thin, pressed together in anger as she regarded him. "No matter how glad I am that you're alright, Dave, I am also furious that you took eight months to even bother to tell us that you were alive."

Jade and John hung back a bit awkwardly, exchanging glances. In front of them, Dave flinched, holding up his hands placatingly.

"Hey, hey, I'm sorry, Rose!" he said defensively. "I wasn't thinking straight, I admit. For a long time I didn't even know if I wanted to come home again. But can we save the arguing for later, just this once? We have all the damn time in the world on the way home to yell at each other."

Rose crossed her arms, pursing her lips, and finally nodded. "I'm not going to yell at you. I just want to talk. But yes, we can do that later." She paused, and her expression gentled. "Dave... I am glad to see you again."

He smiled, just barely, and squeezed her hands. "Yeah. I'm glad to see you too."

The Dersite princess turned then to face John and Jade, offering them both a smile. "So, you must be Jade," she said. "I've heard a lot about you."

Jade wrinkled her nose. "I hope it was mostly good!" she joked.

Rose laughed. "Yes, it was. Your brother seems to care for you a great deal."

"He'd better," Jade teased, looking up at John fondly. "Because the seas know I love him way too much for someone who drops coconuts on my head."

"That was only twice!" John objected.

"John," Rose said with amusement, "dropping a coconut on your sister's head is not the best way to make her happy with you. Especially not twice."

Jade laughed. "I like you," she told Rose. It was too bad that they would be leaving soon, because she was pretty sure that she and Rose could have become best friends or something if they had more time!

"Thank you," the other girl said with a demure smile. "I find your company enjoyable as well, and you certainly do have a nice place to live, even if it is ridiculously hard to find without a guide." She paused. "There's something, though... I can't put my finger on it..."

"What do you mean?" John asked. "Is it your seer thingy acting funny?"

Rose's eyes danced with mirth as she laughed. "I suppose you could put it that way, yes."

"What's up?" Dave asked, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"I'm not completely sure," the blonde confessed. "Something about..." she trailed off, examining her surroundings, before her focus settled on Jade. "Something about you."

"Me?" Jade asked, taken aback. "What did I do?"

"I don't know, but something seems off. I don't mean to say that it's your fault... give me a moment." Rose closed her eyes, going completely still as the wind gently tousled her hair. After a moment, she opened them again, an expression of shock crossing her face. "I—I can't believe this! But the visions have never been wrong before, even when I doubted them..."

"Rose," Dave interrupted. "What did you see?"

"She's not supposed to be a mermaid," Rose said slowly. "She's supposed to be the long-lost princess of Prospit."

There was a moment of absolute silence save for the wind and the waves, and then Jade shattered it by diving back into the sea with a splash.

To say that Jade was thunderstruck by this revelation might have been an understatement. It was preposterous! She was a mermaid and not a princess, and she had lived with John almost all her life and before that she'd lived...

...off the coast of Prospit.

Oh.

And now that she thought about it, as she sat underwater where she had immediately fled before anyone could say anything, just so that she could be alone to think before rejoining the conversation, it really did make sense. It explained why she didn't know much of anything about her family that she'd always assumed she had lived with in the town of merfolk, and it explained why her earliest memories that she'd always thought of as dreams involved running down great golden halls that had windows opened to the blue skies.

Was it true? Was her whole life some kind of set-up? But if she was supposed to be a human, and a princess of Prospit, too, why did she have a tail instead of legs? It made absolute sense one moment, and then it didn't. Maybe Rose had more answers.

With a sigh, she straightened her tail and pushed off from the sandy seafloor, breaking the surface quietly and swimming back to shore. Dave, Rose, and John were still sitting on the beach now, even though it was late evening and the stars were starting to shine off in the east. She swam into the shallows and then let the waves carry her forward onto the sand, pulling herself forward to sit next to John and dripping all over him.

"Jade," he complained, tossing a lock of her sopping hair from his shoulder, but with no real annoyance.

"I apologize," Rose told her, lavender eyes full of contrition. "I should have phrased that more gently rather than dropping it on you."

"It's okay," Jade shrugged. "It probably would have had the same effect on me either way! I just don't understand. It kind of makes sense, but... if I'm supposed to be a human princess, why do I have a tail?"

Rose sighed. "I don't know, to be honest. I tried to See more closely, but all I could glean right now was that it would make more sense if I went to Prospit. Which is why, actually, I would like to ask you... I realize this is a bit sudden as well, but do you want to come with us?"

Jade was silent for a few moments. John gave her a side-hug and murmured, "I'll come if you decide to go."

There were too many unanswered questions now, and someone with a mind as analytical as Jade would never be able to rest with the knowledge that she'd had the opportunity to find things out and had passed it up. Plus, she was curious now about ... did she have another family? What was her past now? Her interest was piqued, and she knew her mind was already made before she said a word.

Jade cast a quick look at Dave. He gave her a reassuring half-smile coupled with the barest of nods.

"Okay," she said finally. "I'll do it—we'll do it."

They began preparations to leave for Derse late the next morning, as soon as Rose dragged Dave back from the realms of slumber by enlisting Jade to splash him, which the mermaid did quite cheerfully.

"Augh! God, why did anyone think it was ever a good idea to let you two meet?" he gasped, sitting bolt upright as Rose and Jade laughed.

"John was right," Jade said with a grin. "I do like your sister, Dave! And we get to travel back together. I bet we'll be great friends, too!"

Rose looked down at her with a little smile. "I think so as well. Dave, don't give me that look, I'm perfectly allowed to befriend your mermaid beloved."

"What?" Dave squawked, the indignation at his rude awakening completely forgotten by this stunning revelation that surely left everyone present amazed and blown away. "You know about that!?"

Rose sighed, shaking her head, a small smile playing about her lips. "Seventeen years you have lived with me, and yet still you forget. Dearest brother mine, I am a seer, remember?"

"Fuck you," Dave huffed, crossing his arms as water dripped from his hair.

"And also," Rose continued cheerfully, "Even if that were to be untrue, Jade and I do have the ability to talk to each other, you know. We've been spending all morning getting to know each other! You miss things like that when you sleep in so much."

"No, really. Fuck you."

"Dave!" Jade scolded, flicking more water at her friend-romantic-interest-whatever-he-was-to-her-at-this-point-if-there-was-even-a-word-for-it (this was so confusing!). "That is not how you talk to your sister if you haven't seen her in eight months. Be nice!"

"Have I yet mentioned that I think the two of us will be the best of friends?" Rose laughed, looking down at Jade again with a smile.

"I'd like to not think about that, thanks," Dave replied sardonically. "I figure it won't end well for me." He shook his head to one side to toss the wet hair from his forehead, which wasn't too effective.

Jade flicked water at him again, giggling, before she reached up and stroked the hair aside. "Best friends!" she agreed. "Are we about to leave? Because otherwise, I could show you the mango grove, Rose!"

Looking over to her new best friend, Jade beamed. She'd thought about it a lot, but she hadn't realized just how much she loved having new people to meet and be around. Yeah, she just totally wanted a large family! John and her and Dave and Rose and a bunch of other siblings, that would be perfect. But even just right now, she was so happy to have made another friend! Rose was pretty much the only girl Jade had really ever talked to, about anything. They'd been up since about sunrise, and they'd just talked about everything under the sun, from life on the island to court dances in Derse to different books, though Jade admittedly had limited experience there. But Rose had promised to lend her several, for which she was glad! Books were amazing. Jade loved books.

"Mango grove?" Rose asked, tilting her head to one side ever so slightly. It was a habit Dave had, to a degree, and Jade recognized it as interested curiosity. "We scarcely ever get fresh mangoes in Derse."

"So Dave has told me," Jade giggled. "It's such a pity! They are so good. You poor people in Derse don't know what you're missing. Come on, we can have breakfast over there and then leave!"

"That sounds sublime," the human girl agreed. "It won't hurt if we take a few minutes. But we have to leave with the tide."

"Even if we miss it by a little, it won't be that big a deal," Jade shrugged as she began to back out into the main lagoon to lead the way to the grove. "I can help with that, you know."

"You can?" Rose inquired, her head tilting to the side again. Jade giggled at that.

"Yeah! It's mermaid magic," she grinned, wiggling her slightly-webbed-fingers mysteriously. "I can manipulate water, to some extent! It's how I keep my books dry and stuff."

"Really?" Rose asked, intrigued. "I wonder if... hm, no, we can discuss that at length later. Let's go see this mango grove."

"This way!" Jade beamed, floating into the sunlight that danced dazzlingly on the waves.

When they returned from the mango grove, happily having eaten a great number of sticky golden fruits and carrying several more to take on the trip back to Derse, too, John was waiting. The tide was about to start going out, and it was almost perfect timing—Jade had counted on it, really, because she knew the tides on her island. She had lived here all her life, and she was a mermaid, jeez!—as they boarded the ship and prepared to sail. Jade remained in the water below, eagerly examining every inch of the craft from the surface and under the water.

"Excited?" John asked when her head popped up again. He was once again perched just above the waves, looking completely at ease as he reclined on thin air. Jade grinned up at him.

"Yup!" she beamed. "This is like when we went out before, but more... more adventurous! And more friends. It'll be so fun! I wonder how long we'll be gone."

"Jade," he frowned slightly. "Did you just forget the part where we're going because you're actually a missing princess or something?"

"Oh," she said. "I actually kind of had... oh no, do you think we'll never come back?" It was a kind of frightening prospect, and in her enthusiasm she hadn't really thought about it. But this island was... this was their island! They would come home soon. They were just going to go figure things out, and then they would come home. Right?

"I don't know," John said. "It's possible."

"I want to come back at some point," she shook her head. "This is home. This is our island! We can't just..." Uncertain, she didn't bother finishing the sentence. She was a princess, from Prospit, which was far away from here! If and when they figured out what the whole deal with her not having legs was, there would really be no reason for her to come home to her island anymore. She would be staying there instead.

As she trailed off, Rose's head appeared over the railing. "We're leaving now!" she called down. "You have everything that you need to take, right?"

"Yup!" John called back cheerfully. "I already stuffed our things in with Dave's."

"Brilliant," Rose smiled down at him. She had a very pretty smile, Jade noticed. Dimples and everything. Was this going to be a long trip? Hopefully not, but all the same, it would at least provide a good opportunity to get to know the enigmatic princess of Derse better. They'd joked to tease and poke at Dave, but she was earnestly sure that they could be the best of friends!

Jade drew a bit away from the ship as they set sail, knowing that it was generally dangerous to be too close to a sailing vessel, even though she was a mermaid and could have easily swum alongside without too much trouble. But she just wanted a little bit of alone time, or at least her-and-John time, so they could catch up and talk, just the two of them. It would be nice to spend some time with her beloved brother again. They had a lot to discuss.

Dersite waters were significantly cooler than the ones Jade was used to. This was the first thing she noticed when they arrived, or at least when they had almost arrived—it wasn't so much that Derse was a lot further to the cold north, but rather that a cold current from the north circulated much cooler water around its coast, while a warm jet stream kept Prospit, just across a relatively narrow sea, nice and warm.

"Oh, yeah, I probably should have warned you about that," John laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head, when she popped above the surface, shivering, to complain.

"How am I supposed to stay in this water the whole time?" she asked, wrapping her arms around herself to futilely try and retain whatever body heat she could. It wasn't her fault that part of her was endothermic and the other half wasn't! "It's way too cold! And it's autumn, so it's only going to get colder the longer we're here!"

"Uh... maybe we can get you into the palace in a hot tub or something," he blinked.

"Would anyone be offended if I just swam to Prospit?" Jade huffed, looking across the water longingly. The Golden City, also known as Prospit City or just the capital of Prospit, wasn't too far away, at least not as the mermaid swam, and she could make it after a night's rest. And it would be sooo much more comfortable there! She could feel the currents winding around in the ocean around her, and the warmth of Prospit's waters were beckoning enticingly.

"You're not swimming to Prospit tonight," John said, crossing his arms and frowning down at her. "You are already way too tired for that and—hey, don't you give me that look, I know you well enough to say you need to get some sleep!"

As much as she might have wanted to complain, it was true. Exhaustion was weighing her down, and she just wanted to curl up with a warm blanket of some sort and close her heavy-feeling eyes and just rest for a few days. Swimming from the island to Derse wasn't the worst part; it was having to pace herself and almost swim laps to keep from outdistancing the ship too much.

Later in the day as the ship docked, she drew herself onto a beach near the harbor, still shivering from the cold water. It was going to be awful staying here for a while... Her homesickness was increasing already. John was over talking with Rose, and Jade sighed, pulling her tail up against her body as closely as she could to conserve warmth and wrapping her arms around herself again.

She was surprised, but pleasantly so, when a warm jacket was draped about her shoulders, accompanied by a warm arm attached to a warm body.

"Nice to see you too," Dave chuckled as she hurriedly drew the jacket around herself and snuggled into him, leeching all heat possible. When she settled into a comfortable position, he gently slid his other arm around her, too, holding her close against his chest. A heartbeat of quiet passed relatively comfortably before he broke the silence, saying quietly, "You've been avoiding me."

"I..." Well, it was honestly kind of true. She'd talked to Rose a little bit almost every day, both of them laughing as Rose leaned over the side of the ship and Jade swam alongside, or that one time that Rose had looped a rope around her waist and climbed overboard to swim along with her. And of course Jade had spent as much time as she could with John. But she hadn't known what to say to Dave, not really, so she'd just... swum away from her problems. But now they had caught up with her, and there was no swimming away this time, not in that cold water, no thank you!

So she sighed, resting her head in the crook of his neck, and nodded slightly. "Yeah. I have."

"And?" He seemed almost hesitant to ask, afraid of her answer. Was he worried that she was going to tell him that she didn't love him anymore or something?

"And..." she sighed again. "I don't know. I guess this is a good a time as any other to talk, huh?"

"We probably need to figure our shit out at some point," he said, leaning his cheek against her sopping hair for a moment. It was a tender gesture, and a little seed of warmth blossomed in her core, affection for her beloved Dave gently rushing through her like a growing wave on a calm day.

"Yeah," she nodded again, feeling a slight thrill of anxiety zing through her. If things didn't work out, might this be the last time she and Dave sat together like this and held each other and—no, she shouldn't worry like that. "So? What do you think we should do?"

"My opinion has not changed one fucking bit," he replied. "I'm still pretty damn in love with you and I'm willing to break rules or whatever shitty stupid things here might prevent me from being in love with a fucking mermaid. I told you, you're stuck with me forever. Being back in Derse hasn't changed a thing."

"It changed the water temperature," she said sadly, staring out to sea so mournfully that Dave began to laugh.

"What do you think?" he finally asked after a moment, trepidation underlying his voice just slightly. Jade hugged him reassuringly.

"I... I still love you too. But I want to find out what Rose was talking about when she said I'm supposed to be from Prospit. And I don't know if we can make future plans until that's figured out." As for Dave having to leave her behind, well, that apparently wasn't really happening after all, was it? She'd followed him back to Derse, after all. It would take more than a sea voyage to rid him of his mermaid! "But until then, I still love you, and I'm happy with us being... us," she added with a smile. She liked saying that, really. I love you, I love you, I love you.

"So until we figure out said shit, we're still good?" he asked, seeming much more at ease.

Jade smiled, nodding once more in his arms. "Yup. We're still great. I'm... I'm happy."

"Me too," he said, and she could just tell he was smiling, one of those rare smiles of his that was an actual, real true smile, not that little cocky smirk. Not wanting to miss it, she twisted around in his grasp to face him, sliding her arms around his waist under the jacket and thin cloak. He was smiling indeed, just like she'd suspected, and it made her smile too. When he kissed her, soft and gentle like he always did, she couldn't help but break away to laugh joyfully, just feeling an overwhelming surge of happiness.

"We're going to be okay," she told him, and he pulled her closer again for a quick second kiss.

"Yeah. Better than just a measly okay. We're going to rock this shit, just you wait."

"You both are really sweet together," Rose's voice observed thoughtfully, and they both jumped, Dave emitting a surprised squawk of indignance that elicited a bright laugh from Jade.

"Holy fucking shit, do you have a sense of timing or not?" he complained. "How long were you standing there, anyway?"

"Long enough," John grinned, forming out of a small gust of wind beside her. "But seriously. You guys are pretty cute. I never thought I would ever say that about anyone and my sister, but it's true!"

"Thanks, John," Jade said wryly. "Now, can I have that hot tub?"

In the end, Jade was brought to a warm pool in the Dersite palace itself. It felt weird, not being in open water with push and pull of the waves, but it was definitely preferable to the cold water outside, so she wasn't about to complain!

She also found out that she was going to meet Dave and Rose's older brother, Crown Prince Dirk. He was nineteen years old, two years older than all of them, and when he turned twenty he was going to be coronated as King of Derse. It had to be a title that came with many responsibilities, Jade thought. Ruling a kingdom must be hard! Even if it did mean that you got a palace with a heated pool.

"What's your brother like?" she asked Dave eagerly one morning, her arms over the edge of the pool as she looked up at him, while he sat dangling his legs in the water.

He tilted his head ever so slightly in thought for a moment. "I dunno. He's pretty fucking cool, I guess. And also a goddamn badass if he can help it. He likes tinkering around with anything and everything, and he's also a fucking weirdo."

Jade laughed at that as she shifted to rest her chin on his knee, lacing her fingers in between his. "Sounds like you look up to him a lot."

"What? No, not really. He's awesome and all, but—"

"You've got that right," a new voice said. Jade looked up brightly to see another young man, though he was a little older than Dave, walking into the room gracefully. "Don't let Davey here fool you. I'm pretty sure I'm actually the center of his world." He sat down next to Dave, cross-legged, and smirked ever so slightly.

"Shut up, bro," Dave muttered. Was his face turning red? His face was turning red. Aw, he was blushing!

"You're sooo cute," Jade told him, and then giggled when he reached into the pool to flick water at her. Turning to his brother—this must be his brother, after all—she waved with the hand that wasn't holding Dave's. "You must be Prince Strider! Or, um, the other one at least. I'm Jade!"

"I hear you're the reason my idiot of a little bro—" he hooked an arm around Dave's shoulders, sending a pointed look his way before gracing Jade with a small smile "—is still breathing," he said. "Thank you. Our house is in your debt. And you can call me Dirk."

"Nice to meet you, Dirk!" she beamed. "And really, I'm happy to have at least saved someone." Her smile faded a bit as she thought about that awful night, but at least some good had come of it, right? Even the darkest storms brought something good out of the waves. And for her, that had been Dave!

"I have to ask, though, little bro," Dirk turned his head slightly to look at Dave, "exactly why you decided to take the better part of a year to let us know you were alive."

Jade slipped away a few feet, sliding under the water up to her chin, feeling like she was intruding on a conversation that should have been private. But if they were choosing to have it in front of her, well, then that was their decision, wasn't it? Nonetheless, she didn't want to stick her fins where they didn't belong. Dave cast her a plaintive look, as if to ask why are you abandoning me with him? as she did, but she just gave him a nervous smile and flicked her tail under the water a bit.

"Uh..." Dave ran a hand through his hair. "Fuck. I... Fuck, bro, I made a mistake, okay?"

"Damn straight you did," Dirk said flatly. "And you owe Rose an apology, big-time."

"Why do I—oh," Dave suddenly paled, the indignant attitude draining from his frame to be replaced by shock and guilt. "Oh god. Shit."

"Yeah. Go talk to her. She's upset." Dirk released Dave, ushering him away, and waited until he had run from the room before he turned back to Jade, who was awkwardly drifting a few meters away from the pool's edge, uncertain. "My apologies that you had to see that," he said. "I had to come find Dave because Rose sure as hell wasn't going to."

"Siblings can be such a pain, huh?" she laughed slightly, giving him a cautious smile and floating closer to the edge again.

"Yeah," he huffed a laugh. "Your brother is the storm spirit, right?" He looked genuinely curious, and Jade found herself warming to him.

"Yes!" she answered with a grin. "His name is John, and he is a total dork. And I need to remember to take him swimming at some point."

"A storm spirit in the water?" Dirk raised an eyebrow in an expression Jade could tell Dave had picked up from him. "I was under the impression that storm spirits are most uncomfortable if they're not in the air. Unless I'm wrong, they aren't meant to swim."

"And mermaids are not meant to fly," she replied, crossing her arms. "So yes, I'm taking him swimming."

"That sounds like an interesting story," the crown prince commented after a moment. "Does it happen a lot?"

"Not a lot, but it has happened before," Jade laughed. "We didn't have a lot to do out on our island every day, so we resorted to pulling silly pranks. Sometimes he thinks it's great fun to take me up in the wind and go fly really high, and then drop back and almost hit the ocean. I think it's much more fun to take him in the water and go swim down into the coral reefs and see the fish."

Dirk snorted, his amber-colored eyes dancing with amusement. "Sounds like a party out there on middle-of-fucking-nowhere island."

"Yup! It's great fun," Jade grinned. "Sometime maybe you could come visit, too!"

"Oh, I don't think that'd happen anytime soon, however nice it might sound," he shook his head. "There's a lot of shit to get done in Derse, and sometimes it feels like I am literally the only guy here who can get shit done. It'll be a while until I can get a break long enough to do that. Eight months off sure would be fucking amazing, though."

"Oh, yeah... about that," Jade asked a little bit hesitantly, fidgeting with her fins, "um, why did Dave leave in the first place? If there's a lot for you to do, then couldn't he have been helping you?"

"He usually did," Dirk shrugged. "He was running away, actually. Did he not tell you?"

"No, and I never asked," she said thoughtfully. "I always had just assumed it was a general traveling ship and he was just going somewhere, but... John mentioned to me that when he'd been talking to Rose that she gave the impression it wasn't. Why was he running away?" The idea of abandoning home and family was kind of a deeply unsettling one to Jade. It didn't sit well with her and she couldn't for the life of her understand why Dave would do such a thing.

Dirk sighed. "I honestly don't know. He was confused, he didn't like being a prince, because it meant he was tied down to one particular destiny or whatever bullshit, and he just wanted to go off and do his own thing. The way he did this whole thing was stupid as hell though. He could have just talked to me, and it would have been fine. Hell, he wouldn't have hurt Rose so bad, too."

"Hurt Rose?" Jade asked anxiously. "Is she okay? She did seem kind of prickly..."

He laughed slightly. "Well, she's always a bit prickly. That's just how she is. She's told me that you know she's a seer, at least, and that should clue you in. She and Dave are twins, so she's pretty sensitive to him normally, but the last she Saw of him was the storm and the ship breaking apart, and when we tried to find records that would make that a bad dream, we instead found out it was true and that the ship went down with no recorded survivors."

Jade's eyes widened. "I'd... I'd never really even thought about that... oh, no. That's awful!"

"Which is why I sent him to go apologize. The least he could have done is mention that he was alive before eight months passed. We were both pretty damn sure he was dead until your brother showed up."

"I'm glad we could help," Jade smiled. "But, um, on the note of Rose being a seer and all that, did she... mention that she had a vision about me and all that?"

"Yeah," Dirk nodded. "Princess of Prospit and all that. But she has no idea why you're a mermaid. You know, I do vaguely remember you from some state function years ago, and I'm pretty sure you had fucking legs, not a tail."

"I have no idea," Jade shrugged. "I've had a tail most of my life! I barely remember anything about Prospit." It was kind of disconcerting to know that she was going to return to a home she hardly knew, but she was kind of excited, too. And she did have a few scarcely-there recollections of gold and glitter under bright blue skies, people garbed in colorful clothes, and sometimes a hand in hers with bright laughter echoing through the rooms.

"I'll arrange passage for Rose to accompany you to Prospit in a few days, as soon as I get a response from Jake. Dave, however, will be staying here. Little bro and I need to have a nice, long chat." Dirk shook his head, glancing once at the door that Dave had exited through.

"Please don't beat him up too much," Jade requested hurriedly, remembering how Dave had once mentioned that he had always "had his ass handed to him by bro" every time they got into some sort of fight. Dirk laughed.

"Not too much, fine. I guess I can agree to that."

Jade laughingly nodded. A moment of silence fell between them until she looked up at him curiously again to ask a question that was nagging at her. "By the way, who's Jake?" she inquired curiously. Another vague memory of golden halls drifted through her mind, and the name tugged at something she could barely recall, the memory of that same laughter and a hand in hers, tugging her about for some game or other... she knew Jake somehow.

Dirk gave her a strange look. "You don't know? Jake's your older brother. He's the Crown Prince of Prospit."

AN: Oh my gosh, thanks to everyone for support and reviews and everything! I didn't quite expect such an outpouring of love for this little story, but wow was I blown away by you guys being so nice. Thank you so much once again, you're all wonderful people, and in keeping with my theme of virtual food for people who are nice to me, I'll gift everyone with ripe sweet lovely mangoes. Mangoes are so good.

Anyway, here's part two! :D I hope you like it, too! I had a lot of fun writing all the fluff. Soooo much fluff. It's adorable.

Part three is probably going to take a few more days because I haven't written it yet, haha! It's about 10k words too, just like these two, so it's going to be a little bit. But rest assured, it will happen! If I don't have it out by Saturday, well... I will be a bad person. I really want to have it out by Saturday. ;D