Beyond the Sea

"Do you think you love her?" Jack asked Alex, as he supported the newly-human boy on his first attempt to walk. Holding hands, Alex leaned into Jack, already tired from the few minutes of practice that they had gone over. Jack had asked Alex to sing a bit while he taught Alex how to walk, stating that he would miss Alex's voice after it was gone. Alex stopped once Jack asked him the question, though, thinking it over thoughtfully.

"I suppose so," Alex responded, mulling the question over in his head, "She intrigues me, so yes, I suppose."

"Well," Jack decided with a raise of his eyebrow, "You have three days as a human then, until you turn into an excuse of an existence, like the creatures you see lining the walls, and your voice is mine. The only way that this spell will last forever is by the magic of true love's kiss."

"Really?" Alex asked with a roll of his eyes, "True love's kiss?"

"Yes, its easy." Jack explained, joining the other boy where he now sat cross legged on the floor.

"Have you ever been in love?" Alex asked Jack, chin resting in his hand as he stared up at Jack curiously.

"I don't know," Jack considered truthfully, "Maybe."

"Oh, well, I think you know that you are when you feel-" Alex went off, smile dropping as Jack cut him off sharply.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Now that you've got the walking thing down, it's time for your voice." Jack spoke impatiently, a twinge of guilt being felt in his chest as he saw Alex's defeated expression.

Jack simply waited for Alex to nod, before he demanded that the younger boy sing. Alex began to hum a small melody, before he eventually was belting out a full on tune for Jack, eyes closed as he sang. Alex's voice became hoarse as he continued, until it ceased to exist at all. All of the beauty of Alex's voice was stored in the shell hanging around Jack's neck on a thin piece of string, of which the older man looked down at with a grin. The smile was wiped off of his face, though, when he noticed how truly lost Alex looked.

As Alex sat before Jack, he thought about how truly weird it was to not be able to talk, nevermind sing. He was stuck with the thoughts inside his head, and found it extremely hard to not ask questions every few seconds. As well as that, it confused Alex as to why Jack would need his voice, or why he would only give him three days and a condition such as true love's kiss to be able to keep his legs. Alex thought that he and Jack were getting along rather well, and could not comprehend why Jack would want to make it so hard for him to be happy. Realizing that Jack must have had a motive from the beginning, Alex rationed that this made sense, but was still confused as to why Jack would want to continue with his plans, when the pair had become so close.

Kneeling in front of Alex, Jack whispered, looking down at the shell hung around his neck, "I'll keep it safe, yeah?"

Alex nodded in response, and with that, Jack was sighing, "Now go find your princess, yeah?"

Jack sat alone for the following several hours, waiting for Alex to come back. He had promised the boy a place to stay while he was on land, as he did not really expect that Alex could balance his quest and looking for a home, as well. Rian and Zack walked into the room not long after, only to find Jack moping on the floor.

"What's up with you?" Rian asked, taking a seat beside the dark haired man.

"Yeah," Zack added, "You're acting as if you're totally not getting what you wanted."

"No," Jack groaned, "I am, and that's the thing. I don't know if it's what I want anymore."

"Who wouldn't want to rule the entire ocean?" Rian sputtered, surprised by Jack's confession. Ever since he'd known the older man, having met two years ago when he and Zack were both eighteen, Jack had always been after control of the sea. Neither boy had any doubts that Jack would be able to achieve his goals, either, as he was skilled in both magic and manipulation. Observing King Triton's youngest child was a good start for Jack, and led him to devising a plan of how to get the rule of all of the waters of the world into his own hand. Specifically, Jack wanted the triton in his possession. Although he had grown up with mysterious powers that he had never discovered the origins of, Jack knew that it would be foolish to use them to gain control of land, and instead focused his attention on the sea. Alex's obsession with humans made Jack's plan so much easier for himself. First, he would find a way to get Alex on to land, and make him an offer that he could not refuse. Alex's end of the deal would be impossible for him to complete, though, leaving him a mere speck in Jack's collection of souls, which was revealed to be what was hidden in many of Jack's bottles. King Triton would have no choice but to ask Jack for his son back, along with his songs voice, as his magic did not work on land. Eventually, he would have to sign the ocean over to Jack to finalize the exchange, a decision Jack knew the King of the sea would make in a heartbeat.

Jack did truly feel bad about his plan, now, though, as he had formed a bond with Alex that was quite unexpected. He hated hearing about Alex's plans to find the princess, but not because he simply did not care. Jack cared, so much, in fact, that it almost made him sick hearing about how Alex was after this girl that he barely knew. Although unsure of why it bothered him so much, Jack decided that he had to do something about it as the second day came to a close, and he set off to find Alex. It was not hard for him to locate the younger boy, as he had been following him for a large portion of Alex's life, but the sheer panic and worry that flowed through Jack's veins were making sure to freeze him up whenever they could.

Meanwhile, Alex was having a lot of success in finding princess Evelina. He had found the girl not long after he had set out on his journey, and she had immediately recognized him, inviting him back to her castle. Although slightly confused as to why Alex could no longer talk, Evelina was delighted to see him again, and set out on showing Alex around the country side, which she had informed him was, in fact, France. Throughout the first two days of Alex being on land, princess Evelina took him out on plenty of adventures, like horse rides and boat rides, until he went back home to a cold, silent Jack every night.

On the third day, Alex began to panic. He was not advancing in his relationship with princess Evelina in any way whatsoever, and he was unable to communicate his sense of urgency with the girl. It did not help when, as evening began to approach, Alex could hear the singing of his own voice out of the window. Watching helplessly as princess Evelina bolted down the stairs and out the doors of the castle to a figure of which he assumed was Jack, Alex stood in place by the window, feeling more hurt than he had ever felt in his entire life. It made no sense to him why Jack would help him out with his situation, only to rip the possibility of it lasting from right out of his finger tips. Alex knew that it was too late, too, because he was sure that having Alex's voice would draw the princess to Jack for sure, and she would never kiss Alex. Alex's voice took up quite a bit of the information that princess Evelina talked about during her few days with Alex, and it was obvious to the boy how much she had missed it from the day he had helped her out on to the land and sung to her.

Alex watched in confusion from where he stood by the window as princess Evelina reached Jack. The girl disappeared before Alex’s eyes, and soon enough, he could see Jack sprinting towards the castle. Legs carrying him in the direction of the stairs, Alex met Jack in the foyer, where he stood with a concerned expression on his face. Jack jogged towards him, wrapping him in a hug, while tossing the shell from around his neck into the floor.

“What are you doing?” Alex asked, voice croaking yet laced with panic, “Where did you send her? What am I supposed to do now?”

“Don’t worry about that,” Jack panted, “I’ll deal with her later. Worry about this,”

Suddenly, Jack was pressing his lips to Alex’s, giving the younger boy a moment to comprehend the situation, before his lips were melting into his. Jack held Alex tighter against his chest, taking the smaller boy into another hug as he pulled away from the kiss.

“I’m sorry,” Jack murmured, before leaning over to stomp on the shell, cracking it even more, “I love you,”

Alex grinned as he continued to gain his voice back, eyes sparkling as he was finally able to say, “I love you, too.”

Jack and Alex were married three months later, after King Triton had granted his son the permanency of being able to switch between legs and a tail. All of their friends were in attendance, including Rian, Zack, Flounder, Sebastian, Alex's six sisters, and even princess Evelina. Alex had explained the situation to the girl once Jack had brought her back again, and she had simply laughed it off, stating that she was happy for the two boys. King Triton was also present, although it had taken a bit of convincing for him to accept Jack as Alex's husband. Although they had refrained from telling King Triton of how their relationship came to be, Alex's father was still hesitant of letting Jack marry his son, as he was a land boy. The fact that he was so young and had so much power was also not helping his case. King Triton had finally decided that he liked Jack when the latter had stopped various storms and waterspouts taking place about the ocean, though, as Triton could not control weather patterns above water. Jack was terribly worried that the natural disasters would disturb Alex's friends and family, and King Triton was ever so grateful for his actions. After that day, Jack was welcomed into Alex's family, and the pair lived happily ever after.