“Appa?” Taemin asked from the floor he was playing on.

“Yes, Tae?” Jonghyun hummed, not looking up from his book. The two mermaids sat in the grand library.

They visited the library daily, Jonghyun and Kibum hoped that by doing so they would encourage their son to become interested in books. So far it was working but after an hour or so, Taemin would lose interest in whatever book he was reading and would play with his toys on the ground.

“When did you marry Daddy?” Taemin looked up at his Appa with curious eyes.

“Oh gosh,” Jonghyun put down his book to think.

“Twenty-eight years ago.” Came a voice from the doorway.

“Daddy!” Taemin shouted lifting his arms in the air to be picked up.

“Hey, kiddo.” Kibum smiled and picked his son up.

“Hey, baby.” Jonghyun smiled, kissing his mate.

“Hey,” Kibum smiled. “Should I be offended that you had to think about how long ago it was that we got married?”

“No. I was thinking about how long ago we met.”

“Good grief.”

“Too long.”

“YAH!” Kibum shouted before both mermen laughed good naturedly.

“Daddy?” Taemin asked again.

“Yes?”

“Do you think I’ll ever find my mate?” Taemin asked with big doe eyes.

“Of course you will, baby.” Jonghyun ruffled Taemin’s hair.

"Do you think he's going to be pretty?"

"HE?" Kibum cocked an eyebrow at his son's wording.

"Yes," Taemin nodded his head, his long hair falling in his eyes. "Girls are icky! I don't wanna be married to one of THOSE."

"Alright, sweetie." Jonghyun laughed at his son's scrunched nose and disgusted expression. "No one is going to make you marry anyone other than who you want to marry."

*******************

"Absolutely not!" Jonghyun exclaimed.

"Jonghyun." Kibum warned. He didn't like the proposal either but Jonghyun needed to keep his cool.

"No, Kibum! Do you hear what they want?! I will not just hand over my baby to them so they can marry him in exchange for peace!" Jonghyun was normally the even tempered one of the two but, when it came to his son, he'd stop at nothing to protect him.

"We have always had peace between our kingdoms, are you going to just throw it away now?" Sehun pointed out.

"Absolutely! If it means not having to marry my son off to yours then yes, I will." Jonghyun glared at the other king.

"Now, now. Let's think this through. No one can make a good decision in this state of mind." Luhan tried to calm the situation.

"I agree wholeheartedly." Kibum nodded his head. He'd always liked Luhan, he was levelheaded and fair. Suddenly, a feeling of calm washed over Jonghyun and Sehun. Sehun and Luhan visibly relaxed but Jonghyun just glared. He knew this feeling all too well. His mate had used his ability to calm situations many times around Jonghyun and Jonghyun refused to be manipulated.

"Quit it, Kibum." Jonghyun growled at his mate.

"Jonghyun-" Kibum started.

"No." Jonghyun glared at his mate. He rarely was cross with his mate, he loved him too much.

 They had their fair share of arguments but none of them were serious and they always made up promptly. So for Jonghyun to use his "king voice", one that dripped with authority and he never used outside of the meetings such as this one, shocked Kibum. Immediately, the feeling of calm receded.

"Thank you." Jonghyun said.

"It would be unwise for you not to agree with our proposition." Sehun began.

"It would be unwise for you to not withdraw your proposition." Jonghyun countered.

"If you don't agree with the terms tonight, then we will declare war on your kingdom." Sehun warned.

"Go for it." Jonghyun snarled. "Our kingdom is the most powerful kingdom in the ocean with the most allies. Your kingdom isn't even half the size of ours."

"That may be true, but our warriors are highly trained and ready at our beck and call."

"Bring it."

"Is that your final decision?" Luhan asked.

"Yes. I refuse to give my son to you." Jonghyun crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair.

"Well, that is unfortunate." Luhan sighed sadly. "I was hoping you'd agree and we could skip the battle."

"Nope." Was all Jonghyun said.

"WAIT!" A new voice rang out through the hall. Immediately, Jonghyun and Kibum shot out of their chairs.

"Taemin!" They both cried as they made their way to their son.

"What are you doing here?!" Kibum asked, reaching Taemin first.

"I went to find you because I had a bad dream but instead I heard you arguing." Taemin looked at his parents with sad eyes. "Are you really  going to war?"

"I'm afraid so." Jonghyun sighed, petting his son's soft hair.

"You can't!" Taemin exclaimed.

"Tae-" Kibum began.

"I'll do it." Taemin said, looking at the two Chinese Kings.

"WHAT?!" Kibum and Jonghyun shouted at the same time.

"I'll marry your son, Tao." Taemin said.

"Taemin, you can't." Jonghyun gasped.

"Yes, he can." Sehun smiled at the boy. "I am so glad you decided to marry him."

"If it's for the good of my kingdom then of course I'm going to marry Tao." Taemin's voice sounded distant and cold.

"Excellent."  Sehun smiled, pleased. "We shall contact you with the date of your marriage ceremony. We look forward to seeing you again. Come, Luhan."

Sehun bowed curtly as he left the room. Luhan stayed behind a bit longer.

 "I'm sorry." Luhan whispered as he left the room. "He's stubborn as a whale. I couldn't convince him not to do this."

"Thank you." Was all Taemin said.

"Taemin!" Kibum cried the moment the two kings had left. "What were you thinking?! Do you know what you just did?!"

"Yes, I saved us from war." Taemin looked at the ground.

"We could've handled it, Taemin." Jonghyun said to his son. "Besides, something tells me that they wouldn't have gone through with it. Sehun is all talk and no swim."

"What if he did?" Taemin asked.

"Then we would've fought them. They are so small it would have been nothing." Kibum sighed.

"Daddy, Appa, I only did what was best for the kingdom." Taemin raised his head to look at his two fathers. "Isn't that what I'm supposed to do?"

"Oh, Taebaby." Kibum sighed before taking his son in his arms. A stronger pair of arms circled both of them as they all cried silent tears of fear and sadness.

"Forgive me, Minho." Taemin thought to himself.

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E/N:

I wrote this chapter: you're welcome. So, quick reminder: I will be gone having fun in London and Paris in exactly a week (9th of March). Which means that there will be no updates for two weeks. Sorry. We'll update a few more times before then so don't fret :) Anyway, there's a poll at the bottom of the page so please be sure to vote as well as comment and subscribe (and upvote ;) ;D). Love you all!

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