Swim with me?

For once...I'm scared.

Jasper

I walked out of my room and into the kitchen, still extremely tired. "Morning Jasper." I yawned. "Mornin' ma." I slumped down at the table. "You okay kid?" My dad asked. I closed my eyes and nodded. "Tired." I said. "I can tell." He said. My mum set food on the table. I muttered a thanks before digging into whatever was on the plate in front of me. "Here, drink some coffee." She set down a mug of warm coffee. 

By the end of breakfast I was less tired. "We're gonna go scuba diving today.' My mom said. This perked me up. Maybe I could see Merin again. I nodded and ran back to my room to get changed. "We don't go for another two hours Jasper." My sister called. "Does that mean I can't go fir a swim to wake myself up?" I asked. She sighed and walked off. I dove into the water the second I was outside. I swam to the last place I had seen Merin. I surfaced and sat on the rock and waited. Soon I saw a dark shape moving in the water. I smiled as I realized that it was Merin. I jumped back into the water where I was immediately met by him wrapping his arms around me and burying his head in the crook of my neck. "I mis- What's wrong?" 

His shoulders were shaking and soft whimpers and sobs came from his mouth. "J-Jasper..." He whimpered out. "Hey, shh, tell me what's wrong." I pulled us onto the rock and held him in my lap. "I-It's the neighb-boring kingdom." He sniffed. My eyebrows creased. He looked up at me. there's going to be a war. I-I tried to stop it. I did. I offered myself to be married off, I knew that if my father agreed I'd have very little time left with you and I-I'd feel horrible. But it would've been the only way to s-stop the f-fighting." He sobbed, clutching onto me. "hey, it's okay. I wouldn't have been mad. I promise. I would miss you a great deal and want nothing more to be in your arms, but, if it would've been the best for your kingdoms safety. I would understand." I said. I wiped the tears from his face.

"I....I have two weeks left to spend with you. Then, I have to prepare for battle." I pulled him close to me. "Please. Be safe, if there was something I could do. Anything. I would." I felt my own tears spring from my eyes. "I can't lose you." I sobbed. "I just can't." Merin's grip on me tightened. "You won't. I promise." He said quietly.  We sat there for a while before I put my hand n his cheek and lifted his face to mine. "I love you." I said. "I love you to Jasper." Merin said. I kissed him and wrapped an arm around his waist. "Hey, I have something for you." I said. "You do?" He sniffed. "Yeah, let me go grab it." He slid off my lap and I went back to our house. I ran inside and grabbed the necklace I bought. I swam back over to him and handed it to him. "This is for me?" He smiled. "Yeah. It's for good luck." I said. He wrapped his arms around my neck. "Thank you Jasper." He said. "Of course."

"Jasper! Where you at bro?" My sister called out. "Crap. You'd better hide. We don't want her seeing you." I said. He nodded. We kissed and he dove back into the water. I sighed, already missing him. "Jeez, are you deaf?" I turned to see my sister standing there. "You shush, I was under the water." I replied. "Yeah, whatever. Come on, we need to make sure the gear that mom got is the right size for you." She said. I looked back out at the water. I should've told him to be careful, that we were going to be scuba diving. 

I swam in and walked over to where my parents were, strapping on their gear. "Hey kiddo, come try on your stuff. We need to make sure before it's time to go." My mom nodded to a few things sitting in one of the chairs. I started trying on the harness and mask. Struggling, I finally got it on. It all fit nicely. I pulled it off and dried on the fins. The fit well, just a little big. I put it all aside. "Everything fits." I said. My dad nodded. "Good. You have about an hour before we eat lunch and then an hour after that we'll get ready and go." He said. I thanked him and ran back to the water. I dove in and looked for Merin. I turned and saw him swimming rather quickly towards me. In fear I let out the air I had in a quick burst and swam backwards.

We breeched the surface and I took in gulps of air. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He said with a smile on his face. "It's fine. I get spooked easy." I replied. "So, what are you doing today?" Merin swished his tail around in the water. "We're gonna be scuba diving. All of us, make sure you stay out of sight. It's not that I'm embarrassed that my boyfriend is a mermaid, it's that my mom would freak out and my sister would try and swim after you." I laughed. "Yeah, if my dad knew that I was hanging out and having a relationship with a human, he'd kill me and hunt you guys down as well." Merin laughed. "Yeah, I don't want to face the wrath of a king." I said. "My mom wouldn't let me back in the water if she saw you. We'd be out of here immediately." I said.

We swam around the small hidden are for a little while before we sat on the rock and cuddled for a while. "Hey Jasper, can I be honest with you?" He asked. "Of course you can." I said. "I've been in battles before, many of them." His fingers traced over a few of the bigger scars on his body. "But this time..." He trailed off. "This is a war, this is something much bigger than anything I've ever faced. And for once...I'm scared." His voice cracked on the word scared. "I'm really scared. I don't think I'm ready for this. I've trained for most of my life, but never for anything this serious. Just enough for minor battles and self defense." Tears were threatening to fall from his eyes. "But you're strong Merin. Stronger than most people. You lost your mother and are tormented by your brothers. You're the youngest and so far, I think you've handled yourself well. You've been training since you were how young?" I asked. "Six years old." He said. 

"When did your brothers start training?" I asked. "Age eleven." He answered. "See, you have five extra years on them. You'll do great. I know it. Fear is what breaks spirit. If you go into battle knowing that you are strong and knowing that you can win. You are sure to do so." I said. He smiled at me. "Thank you Jasper." I wiped the tears off of his face and held him close to me. "Jasper! Lunch time!" My dad called. "I have to go. I'll see you again later." I said. He nodded. "Okay. I love you Jasper." Merin said. "I love you too Merin." I cupped his cheeks and passionately kissed him. "Please, when the war gets here. Please be safe." I said. "I promise. I'll be careful. Otherwise I'd never hear the end of it from you." We laughed. "See you soon Merin." I said. 

With that he swam off and I went back to shore to eat lunch. I needed to help Merin in the war. But how?