--Flashback--

“Daddy, look!” A little boy cried excitedly, swimming towards the King who was busy with a meeting with his counsel.

“Tae,” The king couldn’t help but laugh as he lifted the boy and sat him on his lap. “Daddy is busy with a very important meeting.”

“But..but...LOOK!” Taemin nearly shouted, holding up a seashell he had painted with his Appa. Everyone in the counsel couldn’t help but laugh at the adorable little boy. He was just too proud of his painting on the shell. “Why are you laughing?” The mousy haired boy asked pouting. “I worked hard on this.” The fins at the end of his sunset colored tail turned a light shade of blue, indicating that he was sad.

“Oh baby,” The king’s eyes softened. “We aren’t laughing AT you, we are laughing at how cute you are.”

“I’m not cute, Appa says I’m a big boy!” The boy pouted again.

“That you are.” The king laughed and kissed his cheek. The boy blushed at his father’s display of affection. “But you’ll always be Daddy’s baby.”

“I GUESS that’s okay.” The boy informed the king.

“I’m glad,” The king snuggled his son closer. “Quickly show Daddy your painting.” At these words, the little boy’s eyes lit up.  

“Okay!” The boy smiled widely, making everyone in the room smile in response.

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

Taemin  couldn’t remember how exactly he got to the small ocean. It was much smaller than the palace he had lived in and much smaller than his ocean. He had to admit though, it was much more comfortable than the box he was confined in up until that moment. It took him a little while to get used to but he could be in a much worse place.

After some time (a few hours, maybe? Taemin had no way of tracking the time, there was no sun.) he heard footsteps coming close to his miniature ocean. Frightened, Taemin swam to the opposite side of his ocean and did his best to blend in. His parents insisted on him taking many classes; reading, writing, art, ocean geography, language of the different kingdoms, and his least favorite class, mermaid magic.

A chuckle told him that he was doing a terrible job of blending in. He sighed, scolding himself for not paying more attention to his instructor during his lessons. He never really thought he’d need to know any of the stuff he was being taught.

“Hello?” A voice he recognized as Onew’s called out. “You know we can see you, right?” Still frightened of the land demons, Taemin made no move to respond to the boys statement.

“What are you talking about, Jinki? I can’t see a thing.” A deep voice that Taemin hadn’t heard yet asked. Who the hell is this Jinki people are speaking of? Taemin thought to himself.

“You’re blind then.” Onew laughed. “You can come out now. I promise we won’t hurt you.” Taemin did not believe the boy. They had taken him away from his home and family, placed him in a small box, and now a small ocean. How could he trust these strange beings?

“Jinki,” The deep voice sighed. “I don’t see who you’re talking to. I feel stupid standing here. Can we please go back to the house? I want to eat this sushi you bought.”

“No!” Onew shouted making Taemin flinch. “Give me the sushi.”

“Why? You know what,” The deep voiced boy sighed, handing over a brown bag. “Take it you weirdo.”

“Thanks.” Onew said. He reached into the bag and pulled out a box. Opening it, he pulled out a raw fish. The smell of the raw fish caused Taemin to perk up, more focused on the two boys. “Yeah, you know what this is. You can have it if you come talk to us.” The boy waved the fish around. Taemin bit his lip. He didn’t want to trust these strange beings but he was really hungry at the same time. Sensing his hesitation, Onew stepped to the edge of the pool and tossed in one fish. Almost on reflex, Taemin swam to catch the fish, stuffing it into his mouth immediately.

“Holy !” The deep  voiced boy cried, stepping back. “What was that?!”

“I told you something was there!” Onew laughed and held up another fish. “Look, we aren’t going to hurt you. We just want to talk and if you talk with us you can have this entire bag of fish.” Taemin realized after a moment of debating that he had no choice. He was too hungry and this boy had food.

Taemin reluctantly swam to the edge of the tiny ocean and slowly raised himself so he could speak with the boys. The moment he surfaced, he looked at the boys. The boy he recognized as Onew was smiling kindly at him and approached him and squatted so he was eye level with Taemin. The other boy however, fell flat on his in shock. His already large eyes turned into saucers and his mouth hung open. Taemin almost laughed as he realized the boy reminded him of a frog.

“Hey there,” Onew said softly, not wanting to scare the merman. “I’m Onew and that freak over there is Minho. What’s your name?”

“I am Taemin.” The merman said softly.

“It’s nice to meet you, Taemin.” Onew smiled and threw a fish into the water which Taemin eagerly took. “I’m sure you have a lot of questions.” Taemin nodded at this. “We do too. Mind if I ask you some questions.”

“I guess that’s okay.” Taemin said reluctantly. “As long as you continue to give me fish.”

“Sure,” The boy smiled. “First question: how old are you?”

“I have been alive for 18 years but in mermaid years I am approximately five.”

“How is that possible?” Onew asked confusion washing over his features.

“Mermaids age slower than your kind. We can live for many more years than you.”

“How long?” The boy asked remembering to throw in another fish for Taemin.

“Approximately three hundred years?” Taemin said. The mermaid life span depended on the individual so that particular question was difficult to answer.

“Wow,” Onew said. “That’s a really long time! Well, I am twenty-two and that pabo over there is nineteen.” Taemin nodded in acknowledgment. “Do you have any siblings?”

“No, I am the only child in my family. My parents had trouble carrying children so I am somewhat of a miracle to them.” Taemin said. As soon as he spoke, memories of what the women had said rushed over him making his tail change from clear to blue.

“So you have a mother and father?”

“Of course.”

“Are all mermaids as pretty as you?”

“Not always,” Taemin laughed for the first time since his capture. “I have very attractive parents. I get my height, bone structure, smile, and body shape from my ‘mother’, everything else is from Appa.”

“Your mother gave you a lot.” Onew smiled warmly as he threw in another fish. “She must be very pretty.”

“What?” Taemin asked, surprised. “My ‘mother’ is not a girl, he’s a man.”

“What? How?” Onew asked genuinely surprised.

“In our culture, both boys and girls can bear children. It can be very difficult for men to carry children, though. It isn’t uncommon for there to be same- parents.” Taemin said as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

“Kind of like seahorses?” Onew said.

“In a way, yes. Though pregnancy lasts for about six months and typically we can only have two children at a time. But like seahorses, the pregnant male is able to produce milk in most cases though that doesn’t last long.”

“So, how long do you stay with your parents?” Onew asked curiously.

“The shortest amount of time I’ve ever heard of was thirty years. Merchildren are very attached to the parent that gave birth to them especially. We don’t like to leave our parents. They protect us, feed us, and care for us. Why would we ever want to leave?”

“Sounds nice, actually.” Onew continued to give him more fish.

“It is.”

“How come we never see more merchildren? All we hear about is full  grown adults?”

“Protective pouches.” Taemin said casually. “Merchildren are able to shrink themselves. So if we feel threatened or our parents want to hide us, we hide in a special pouch on their tails.”

“Interesting.” Onew smiled kindly. “Do both parents possess this pouch.”

“Mhmm.” Taemin nodded. “They will carry us around in them sometimes. It’s quite convenient.”

“Like a kangaroo.” Onew laughed.

“A what?” Taemin cocked his head to the side.

“It’s a land animal.” Onew explained. “I’ll pull up a picture for you sometime. What are mermaid parents like.”

“Protective.” Taemin laughed. “They are very attentive to their children, especially my parents. Since they had many miscarriages, my parents spoil me. Most parents prefer to have their children close to them at all times. It’s not uncommon to find a child sitting on their parents’ laps or resting in their pouch. We are a very affectionate race.” Taemin explained.

“That’s interesting.” Onew said. “I ran out of fish, sorry. But I’ll come back with more tomorrow. I have a lot of questions.”

“Okay?” Taemin frowned, a little disappointed.

“Sleep well.” Onew smiled kindly. Taemin had to admit that he kind of liked Onew’s smile. “Come on, Minho. You look like a retarded fish.”

“Retarded fish do not exist.” Taemin said. “Only extremely careless fish.”

Onew just laughed before pulling his tall friend out of the room with him.

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

A/N:

Look guys a long chapter!!! Hopefully we answered a lot of questions in this chapter (E/N: To sum up this chapter: 1. Mermaid parents are obsessive about their kids. 2. They have kangaroo pouches that they stuff their kids into. 3.Mermaids age slower so Taemin is literally Key and Jjong's baby 4. It was hard for JongKey to get pregnant though it was-obviously-possible). How do you guys like the story so far? I have to say, I'm really enjoying writing this.

So, anyway...thank you to everyone who is supporting our story!! We love you all!

PICTA SPAM!!

I ING FOUND WALDO OMG

Father and son <3

I'd tap that, too. , did I just admit that??

Can we all just admit this is the best ing thing ever???