When Water Burns

by Lani Wendt Young

  She flinched at his nearness and carefully pulled her hand away from his. A wall shut down between them and her tone was polite. Distant. “Thank you. That’s very nice of you.” She wiped her face on the sleeve of her hospital gown in a vain attempt to hide the fact that she had been crying. And still wanted to cry buckets more. “I’m sure that I will be fine by myself until he gets here. You can go - Daniel. That is your name, right?”

  He nodded, unwilling to trust himself to speak. To have her speak to him with the neutrality of a stranger hurt more than any pain he had ever experienced. “Yeah, that’s right. I’m Daniel.”

  I’m Daniel Tahi. I know what your lips taste like. I know your favorite snack is Diet Coke and Doritos. I know that you’re scared of needles but you were brave enough to get a malu tattoo. I know you roll your eyes when you think someone is an idiot. I know that you wish you were six inches shorter so you wouldn’t be taller than most of the boys you’ve ever met. I know you would give your life for the people you love. I know I have your fire, your name tattooed on my heart.

  I am Daniel Tahi. I am telesa vasa loloa.

  I am yours.

  And you can’t remember who I am.

  She seemed troubled by the look in his eyes. They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity but couldn’t have been longer than a few seconds. For one wild moment Daniel considered leaning closer and capturing her mouth with his. Forcing the memory of their past into her with his kiss.

  But before he could do anything so stupid, there was a sound at the doorway. Keahi.

  “Can I come in?”

  Daniel pulled back, stood, feeling his every nerve tingle with the liquid ice of hatred that always seemed to well up whenever Keahi was in his vicinity. “No, you can’t. I thought we agreed that you couldn’t come anywhere near Leila.” He flexed his fingers, aching to wrench water from all its hiding places and lasso it around Keahi’s neck. Resisting, knowing that something like that would definitely be way too much for Leila to handle right now. Heck, she couldn’t even remember who he was, let alone the minor detail that he could summon water and talk to fishes.

  Daniel and Keahi faced off. The Hawaiian was still bandaged, an open button-down shirt revealing the swathes of white wrapping the full length of his torso. Daniel noted with some satisfaction that he also had a couple of band aids on this neck where he had last marked him with a water coil.

  “Well?”

  Keahi’s response was low – muttered for Daniel’s ears only. “I heard she was awake. I want to apologize. Can I talk to her? For just a minute?”

  “Like hell. No. Get out.”

  That’s when Leila peered from around Daniel’s bulk, trying to get a glimpse of whoever he was talking to “Who is that?” She caught sight of the lean, lithe boy in the doorway. “Oh.” An abrupt sound, soon followed by a greeting. “Hi. Did you want to see me?”

  Keahi’s smile was immediate. And laden with relief. “Yeah. I came by to see how you are. It’s good to see you awake.”

  He took several steps inside the room and Daniel’s eyes narrowed at him warningly. Careful, don’t push it. Keahi ignored him, so intent was he on looking Leila up and down. A big smile. “Wow, you look great. I mean, you’re skinnier and kinda washed out but you look way better than I thought you would. I mean after what happened to you…”

  “Shut up, you idiot.” Daniel’s command was a whispered one but still clear enough for Leila to hear him. She frowned at him and immediately smiled again. At Keahi. A really big smile. What the f…?

  “Thanks. My head hurts but yeah, I’m fine.” Another smile. “Thanks for checking on me.”

  What’s with all the smiling? Why is she so happy to see this freak that almost got her killed? Hello?!

  Daniel interrupted. Brusquely. “I think you gotta go. The nurse said Leila isn’t supposed to have visitors. Until she’s stronger.”

  She frowned at him. “But you’re in here.” She looked back at Keahi. “I’m sorry, what’s your name anyway?”

  Keahi raised an eyebrow. Not the bloody Khal Drogo eyebrow again… He looked back and forth from Leila and then at Daniel. “Wait a minute. Are you kidding me?” He stopped, looked at Daniel for confirmation and then leaned in to whisper. “She doesn’t remember anything?”

  Daniel shook his head and Keahi continued, “How about you? She must remember you.”

  “Not yet.” It hurt to even say the words.

  Keahi grinned. “Aww shit, man that bites.” He leaned against the doorway and for a minute, he looked sympathetic. “That’s gotta hurt dude. How are you holding up?” Then the attempt at sympathy faded as a thought ran like wicked fire through him. “Wait, that means, she’s technically not even in love with you anymore is she? How could she be? She doesn’t even know who in hell you are.” He laughed. Long and loud. “Guess I don’t need to apologize for what she can’t remember!”

  Daniel spoke through gritted teeth. Hushed but deadly. “Get out. Before I throw you out that window.”

  Keahi’s laughter ceased abruptly and his expression darkened as he leaned in close. “Yeah? You and what ocean?”

  Every nerve, every muscle, every sinew in Daniel tensed taut and wired as he drew himself up to tower over Keahi. “I don’t need any special powers to hurt you. Just like I don’t need to leech fire off someone else to kick start my own gifts. You parasite.”

  Keahi seemed unmoved by Daniel’s disdain. He smiled his ever-ready mocking grin “You just can’t stand it, can you?”

  “What?”

  “You can’t stand it that me and Leila share a bond that you never will.”

  Daniel flinched. “You share nothing. You’ve got no right to be here. Because of you, Sarona almost killed her.”

  Finally, Keahi lost his smile. “I got every right to be here. Because of me, Sarona is dead.”

  Leila interrupted, irritation coloring every word. “Excuse me, would one of you please tell me what’s going on? What am I missing?”

  Daniel answered her but with his fierce gaze still on the other boy. “Nothing’s going on. I’m just telling Keahi that it’s not a good idea for people to be here bothering you while you’re still not better yet.”

  Keahi took a step closer to Daniel in deadly intent, “And I’m telling Daniel nicely, that at times like this, you need your best friends around you. Friends who you can relate to and connect with.” A sly smile. “In all sorts of explosive ways.”

  Leila looked confused, “So you and me, we’re close? We’re friends?”

  Keahi side-stepped Daniel and walked over to stand by Leila’s bedside. “Oh yeah. We’re best friends.” He reached out with one hand and gently, slowly, tucked back a loose strand of her hair that covered the side of her face, then trailed a whisper soft caress on her cheek.

  Daniel’s voice was harsh, “Don’t you touch her!”

  It was too late.

  Red patterns glowed on Keahi’s skin, like coils of heated steel wire. Leila’s eyes widened in disbelief. She shrunk away from his hand. And then her taulima armband seethed with an answering fiery burn. “What’s happening?” The terror on her face spurred Daniel into action. He wrenched Keahi away from the bed, slamming him up against the wall, one forearm jammed at his throat.

  “I said, don’t touch her.” Rage unlocked power. The tattoo that stamped the full length of his arm, sparked with iridescent blue fire and where it met with Keahi’s neck markings – it hissed and smoked. As water burned.

  Before Keahi could react, Leila made a muffled sob of terror. Both boys turned.. She sat bolt upright on the bed, staring at the evidence of their angry Gifts. Horror. “What are you?”

  Panic unlocked power. The arterial current of fanua afi lit up her malu and her fingers sparked with cindered light. She held out her hands. Fear. “What am I?”

  Keahi shook loose from Daniel’s restraint. A triumphant smile at Leila. “I told you. We’re friends.” A sideways glance at Daniel’s cold blue fur
y. “All of us. We’re the same. We’re telesa.” Laughter. “There’s a couple more of us out there. We’re a team. Like the X-Men. Right Daniel?” His wry grin dared Daniel to contradict him.

  But Daniel only had eyes for Leila. As molten tears glistened and ran down her face, a trail of ruby fire. As she looked helplessly at the strange sparks that lingered at the edges of her being. Regret consumed rage. He calmed the ocean within him. Walked to her and took her hands in his. With delicate precision, he summoned water from the jug on the bedside table, so that it rippled through the air with silken ease and lightly entangled about her fingers, stilling the hints of flame. He wiped away her tears with hands of water. Leila stared at him wide-eyed and questioning but somewhat soothed.

  “I’m sorry we frightened you. Keahi’s right. We are your friends. We care about you. Very much. And we’re going to help you get through this. Help you to get your memory back.”

  Daniel placed a delicate kiss on her forehead before backing away. “We’re going to leave you to rest now. I’ll be back later.” He spoke to Keahi. “Let’s go.”

  Keahi didn’t want to leave, but he felt like he had won the war, getting Daniel to admit that he had been right after all. He threw Leila his careless smile. “Later Leila. We’ll work this out.” He followed Daniel out into the corridor and together, the two of them walked out of the ward and towards the parking lot. Past a line of concrete water tanks.

  Keahi shook his head as he walked, amazement coloring his words, “I gotta admit, I didn’t think you had it in you - agreeing to help Leila together.”

  Daniel didn’t answer. And so Keahi kept talking. “I can’t believe that her memory got wiped. But then, she went through a lot that day. What she did? Taking out that plutonium battery like that? That took a lot of courage. She could have died. Wonder how long it will take for her to remember everything…”

  And then Keahi wasn’t talking anymore. Because Daniel had turned, grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him against a concrete tank. He gripped the back of Keahi’s head and smashed his face into the tank wall. One, two, three times. Blood gushed from Keahi’s nose and mouth. He swore. Spat out chipped tooth fragments. He broke free and spun around. Dazed and in pain, Keahi’s training kicked in. He struck with a straight foot-thrust kick to Daniel’s mid-section, knocking him off balance.

  But Daniel had started this with the element of surprise –which goes a long way. So does the element of water. In answer to his command, water ripped through the top of the tank, spraying chunks of concrete into the air.

  Before Keahi could execute another kick, a thick coil of water encircled him, yanked him off his feet and into the air. He struggled. Shouted. “What – are you scared to fight me fair? Let me outta this.”

  With outstretched hands, Daniel manipulated water, slamming Keahi into the concrete wall, again and again. He watched with impassive eyes as Keahi fought – and failed to get free. Pain. Ribs cracked. Flesh bruised. Blood smears stained the tank wall.

  Finally, Daniel forced Keahi to a kneeling position beside him, still bound in ropes of liquid. Keahi stared up at him. He was a battered mess. But still defiant. He choked on bubbles of redness as he cursed again.

  Daniel spoke. “When it comes to the girl I love, I don’t care about fairness. I will do whatever it takes to keep her safe from you.”

  All of Daniel’s tattoos burned with steel blue intensity. “Know this - we are not the same. We are not friends. There is no team. You are not her friend. You will stay away from her. Or I will kill you.”

  And then Daniel Tahi walked away.

  Acknowledgments

  I pay tribute to the generosity, commitment, and fortitude of those who work with survivors of domestic violence and sexual abuse – particularly in Samoa. I honor the strength and endurance of all those women and children who are daily survivors of horrible things. If you are one of them – I hope you will seek the help you need to change your situation. Please know that you are not alone and there is support available in your community. The first step is often to break the silence and talk about it.

  If nothing else, I hope this book can get more of us talking about issues that we are, too often, far too quiet about.

  It’s not easy for a book written by a Samoan author to find a global voice. Thank you to all those readers who took a chance on the first ‘Telesā’ book and then were generous enough to share it – review it, blog it, tweet it, Facebook it, email it, harass their family and friends to read it. The Telesā series has the bestest readers in the world. I am in awe of your passion, enthusiasm, and fiery creativity as you have embraced this Pacific story. It is always a joy to connect with you, whether in person or in the virtual world.

  This book could not have been written without the unparalleled imagination of my daughter Sade who spent many hours dreaming up Leila’s adventures with me. Daniel would not be who he is without the creative input of my husband Darren. And there would be way more fantastically impossible things in the book if not for my son Jade who battled (often vainly) to have the story make more ‘scientific sense.’

  Usually, editing is a painful process – but not when you have an editor like Anna Thomson who makes me laugh even as she’s pointing out inconsistencies and casting a doubtful eye on my overly fanciful leaps of the imagination. Thank you for taking on the Telesā books and refining them. There is no-one else I would entrust with my chaotic manuscript.

  I owe much of the inspiration for the spiritual-environmental themes in the book to Zita Martel, the ‘Nafanua of the Ocean.’ Thank you for sharing your insight into the ‘teine Sa’ mythology.

  Einjo! To Tim Baice and Sefa Lematua who generously acted as linguistic consultants so that Simone could take a feisty, witty lead role.

  Thank you to Cam Wendt and the Pualele Club for allowing me to showcase the magnificent thrill of the traditional sport of outrigger canoeing. My apologies for any technical errors that may have crept in. (Perhaps like Simone, I was distracted by the paddlers.)

  The character of Lesina Agiao was created with the help of Kutoli Tanielu and Leitu Peseta Filo.

  Grateful awe to fashion designer extraordinaire, Lindah Lepou for making a guest appearance and inspiring Simone’s Pacific Couture dreams.

  Jordan Kwan, Faith Wulf, Ezra Taylor, Talia Brown, Stacie Ah Chong-Levi and the ‘Covenant Sisterhood’ models – the team that brings the Telesā characters to life in color and on screen – you take our breath away.

  The Telesā writing journey has taken me to meet some amazing vibrant Pacific women, especially my sister bloggers throughout Samoa, New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii, and the USA. Love and gratitude to the Brisbane Telesā Sisterhood for a book week that surpassed all others. Huge admiration for the women of PACIFICA NZ that continue to inspire so many of us. Thank you Sina Wendt Moore for not giving up on me!

  I’m grateful for the friendship and example of many amazing independent authors who are so willing to share their publishing journeys and experiences with me. Thank you Elizabeth Hansen Reinhardt and the fabulous and fearless FP team. Thank you Jillian Dodd and the Destiny Makers.

  Love and appreciation to all my family and friends who continue to support and encourage my writing journey. Especially my mother, Marita Wendt and my big sister Tanya Samu who generously try their hardest to ensure that I don’t look like a hermit cave writer when I go out in public (because yeah, pajamas or sweats are just not a good look for a book event…)

  I am grateful for the opportunity to be living my dream. It is a blessing to be an author, blogger and writer of Pacific stories.

  Fa’afetai tele lava.

  Lani

  About the Author

  Lani Wendt Young was born and raised in Samoa. She completed her tertiary education in the USA and New Zealand before returning to Samoa to teach high school English for ten years. She now lives in Auckland, NZ, with her husband and five children. Lani’s award-winning short fiction has featured in collections publi
shed in Samoa, NZ, Australia and the United Kingdom.

  Other Books by Lani Wendt Young

  The Telesa Series

  Telesa – The Covenant Keeper

  When Water Burns

  I am Daniel Tahi

  The Bone Bearer

  Stories from the Telesa World

  Ocean’s Kiss

  Embrace of Earth

  The Scarlet Lies Series

  Scarlet Lies

  Scarlet Secrets

  Scarlet Redemption

  Pacific Tsunami – Galu Afi (Non-fiction)

  Afakasi Woman – A Collection of Short Fiction