Page 98 of The Sixth Spring

Itori was speaking in his own tongue, rapid-fire and smooth. It was so different that Will became aware of just how stilted it had been in English. How Itori must have struggled with the differences in dialect to make meaning.

“I’m, I’m good,” Will said, trying out Itori’s language. Despite his knowledge, the sounds were awkward in his unpracticed mouth.

Itori’s face twitched in amusement. Will understood that better now too, what his facial expressions meant. “Are you happy, love?”

“I think so,” Will said honestly. “It’s just–it’s a lot of change.”

“It is. But you take it beautifully,” Itori said. His hand was on Will’s cheek, rubbing at the scales there.

That were sensitive. Very sensitive.

Will wound their other hands together, smiling. “Did we do it?”

“We did,” Itori said. “That’s where I was while you were sleeping. I wanted to check for myself. Do you want to see?”

“Is it safe?”

Itori inclined his head. “There are men at the edge of the water near the grocery, but there are a few places we can come up and look.”

Itori’s hand tightened in his, like he was going to tug Will under the water, but paused.

“The journey might be… less smooth than before,” Itori said. “I had to give you some of my scales and some of my lungs, so it’ll take adjusting.”

“What? You gave me…? What do you mean?”

“Creation energy can make anything, but it asks a price. It was easiest to share lungs so you could breathe, and the scales of my tail.”

“Your tail?” Then Will’s hands were on him, moving around to see.

With Will’s new eyes, he could see down into the water, and the absence of Itori’s tail.

“Oh my god,” Will gasped in horror. “Itori–!”

But Itori was already turning back around and taking hold of his hands. “Dear heart, I gave willingly. You needed scales, and a tail’s a small price to pay for my mate’s freedom. You will swim now, with me, always.”

“But your tail…” Will said helplessly. Itori had told him about the costs, about how things had to balance in the exchange. He should’ve thought to ask what that meant on Itori’s end. It had been stupid and selfish not to. If Will was going to gain, then Itori would lose something.

“No, no. Don’t do that,” Itori pet at his cheeks. “I gave of myself, and you gave the whole of your human life. That was the cost. I was and continue to be happy to pay it. Can you accept that?”

His eyes met Will, straight and true. Itori did look healthier than he had been last night, even without a tail. He oozed with fae beauty, his scales glimmering iridescently in the morning light, throwing off opalescent color. Even the weed of his hair looked better, sleek and shiny and vibrantly green.

He’d been close to death, and they’d reversed that. Saved him and Will and the town.

“Okay,” Will said slowly. What was done was done, and it wasn’t like he’d go back and make a different choice. He was sad for Itori’s tail, but it had been his life on the line. “I can accept that.”

“Good,” Itori said, and drew him in for a kiss.

“We’ll learn how to swim in these new bodies together,” Will said when they parted.

“We will,” Itori said. He pulled Will in closer, their foreheads touching. “Now let me show you what we’ve done.”

###

The travel back to the construction site was, as Itori had warned, slow and awkward. The water was easy to move through, but now that he wasn’t distracted by getting to Itori as quick as possible, Will kept trying to swim like a human, which sat clunky and wrong in his body.

Itori, clearly used to using his tail to propel himself, moved less gracefully than before.

Will tried not to feel anything about that.