Luca was smaller than Marinus, but that only meant he was harder to hit. And Marinus was being careful with him. He preferred not to hit him too hard. Luca also didn’t play fair. He scooped some snow from the ground and hurled it towards Marinus’ eyes.

“Hey, that is cheating!” Said Theanore from the sidelines, but Esmer just placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze to keep her daughter quiet.

Whatever Luca had expected having to jump up because there was a stick close to his legs was not it. It seemed that Marinus turned on some of his merman features as soon as Luca scooped up the snow. He was used to seeing below water, he could easily protect his eyes from a bit of snow.

Then Marinus forced Luca to jump in the air a couple of more times, and his fun ended when Luca tried to jab him in the chest. It was Marinus’ turn to jump away. But, even as he was jumping, he extended his hand and poked Luca in the shoulder.

“Ouch.” Said Luca as Esmer cupped her hands in front of her mouth and said. “No wining. One to zero for Marinus.”

Marinus grinned and then did something that surprised everyone. He gripped Luca’s stick and broke it in half. He wielded the broken half in his other hand. Now Luca had to get in closer.

“One on one. Marinus, do this with a real enemy and not only will you lose your hand, you won’t be able to break the sword.” Said Esmer, as Luca regarded Marinus.

The merman was bigger than him and had a longer reach. But he was a child, in truth. Luca wanted to see if he was a hotheaded child.

“Say, Mari, am I invited to the wedding?” Asked Luca, and Marinus blushed as Theanore hid her face in her hands.

“You mean you’ll stay that long?” Asked Marinus. He miscalculated his jab and ended up hitting air, but Luca used the shorter stick he had to jab Marinus in the stomach and then to get away just as Marinus was trying to bring his sticks on Luca’s shoulders.

“You doubt? But if you can’t defeat me, how are you going to defend your bride? I am just two…”

A sharp jab was delivered at Luca’s knee, and he nearly doubled over. He pretended to be more hurt than he was, and Marinus came to check him out, sticks in the snow.

Luca quickly jabbed him eight times and then poked him with his finger on the nose for good measure.

“Marinus, why would you help an opponent? Is this the man I am leaving my daughter to?” Asked Esmer, and Marinus lowered his head. Theanore ran up to him and gave him a hug.

“I think you did the good thing by trying to help, Mari. And you Luca. You are mean for acting like you are hurt!” Said Theanore and Luca snickered.

“But I won, didn’t I? Don’t I get a hug too?” Luca was simply teasing. He had no interest in a toddler who was just a baby in truth. But Marinus didn’t see it this way. He grabbed the stick from the ground and stepped in front of Theanore.

“No hugs for you. You are more than a hundred years older than her.” Luca snickered again, but Esmer had seen enough. She scooped him up and kissed each of his cheek.

“There you go, the winner’s prize.” It was her turn to snicker when the boy looked down as the rest of the children began to laugh at him. He understood them. If he saw someone else get babied, he would have done the same. But it still hurt his pride.

Luca wiggled out of Esmer’s hands and wiped his cheeks clean. Still, the children laughed and Marinus the loudest. Theanore nudged him and he stopped. Luca had been trying to reel him up, he knew that.

“Can we go play with the pandas before dinner?” Asked a toddler, hopefully.

“Theanore, lead them to the lazy balls of fluff.” Said Esmer and Theanore marched the children to the pandas.

“They are either Pandaran or Pandita.” Said Theanore, but the children were naming them with their own names. Meanwhile, Luca approached Marinus and tapped him on his shoulder.

“I just wanted to win, no hard feelings, ok?” Asked Luca as he extended his hand towards Marinus.

“Ok, but you have to help me with hooking up Esmer and Crassus.” Said Marinus, shaking his opponent’s hand.

“They don’t need much help. You are little, so you don’t know. When adults like each other, you can tell by them talking.” Said Luca and Marinus looked at him.

“Is it obvious that I like Thea from the way I talk to her? Is it obvious that she likes me from the way she talks to me?” Asked Marinus, hopefully.

“Look, Marinus, you are both too young for love such as this. Theanore has to be explained what marriage is all the time. She keeps saying it is a super special best friend forever pact. And what you have is a strong feeling of attachment.”

Marinus frowned at Luca, but the boy hugged him and patted his back.

“That said, there is soil for love to grow and blossom with you two. But you both have to grow up. You sound silly when you call her your fiancé. Lay off, buddy. Let her see you in that light by herself.”

Marinus sighed. Luca was right. But still, when he first saw Theanore, he could only compare her to a bright coral reef that had served as his nursery when he was small. Back then, he still had a mother. A mother that Whitetooth had taken from him.

“I guess you are right.” Said Marinus, pushing the painful memories down. “But I won’t give up. One day, I will wait by the altar and Theanore will walk to me. In a pretty frilly dress with a tiara in her strawberry-blonde hair.”

“You know, Marinus, you might just be truly in love. Pity that it is with a baby.” Said Luca, and he went to scoop up a panda. He may not be a child, but the surrounding children didn’t know that. He could indulge himself.