by Kaia Knight
Her hand brushed against his, tracing a trail of warmth that sent a jolt through him. “What can we do that will help?”
He took a deep breath, meeting her gaze again with a tight smile. “We swim.”
Wading out together, slipping into the tumble of the waves, they swam the half mile towards Otter Rock, fighting the rough surf and the insistent tug of the current. When they finally reached its smooth, rocky face, Kailani hoisted herself up, gripping the narrow, slippery shelves. Breathing heavily, Gabriel heaved himself onto its flat top after Kailani. He rolled onto his back, looking at the twisting clouds, circling above him like they sat in the eye of a storm.
Kailani was standing, and she leaned over him, her hair falling around her face like a waterfall. “Do you need CPR?” A playful smile twitched at her lips, and she crouched beside him, putting a hand on his chest, her hair a curtain around their faces. Heat surged through him, and he longed to reach up and pull her closer. Instead he closed his eyes and let his face go comically slack, trying to still his ragged breath.
“Yup, you’re dead all right.” He felt a gentle poke on his chest and fought the urge to smile. “Nothing a little mouth-to-mouth can’t fix.” His chest clenched and his stomach dropped as if he were in freefall. She wouldn’t...would she? Gabriel felt her lean closer, and a cool sensation brushed against his lips. His mouth parted instinctively, and he felt it again. But instead of the smooth warmth of her skin, something cold and slimy slipped between his lips. His eyes flew open in shock, and Kailani immediately burst into a fit of laughter, falling backwards to sit on her heels.
“UGH!” He wiped his mouth, flinging away something wet and stringy that was draped on his face. “What was that?” he cried. Clutched in her shaking hand was a fistful of kelp. “Ew, Kai!”
She dropped the seaweed in a heap, laughing so hard that she began shaking in silence, and only the occasional loud, high-pitched gasp told him that she was still breathing. She was wiping tears from her eyes and clapping her hands as she continued to laugh.
“You look like a seal,” he said, grinning despite himself. “I can’t believe you did that.”
She fanned her tearing eyes, still giggling as she said, “Hey, it brought you back to life, didn’t it?”
“Unbelievable.” He flung the seaweed at her so it landed on top of her head, one long, slimy tendril plastered to her cheek.
He expected her to squeal and quickly rip it out of her hair, but she just looked at him with a serious expression. “What?” She glanced around, the strands of kelp swinging in the air like a mop. “Don’t you like my new look?”
Her deadpan finally broke him open, and a belly laugh burst out of him. He tugged the green wig off her head and tossed it into the water below.
She grinned, and crawled towards the opposite end of the rock, facing out towards the open Pacific. She swung her legs over the edge, stretching so her toes were skimming the surface of the water. She patted the rock next to her.
He joined her, but kept his knees bent, his feet out of reach of the water.
She eyed him curiously. “Are you afraid of putting your toes in?”
He shrugged, raising his hands in defense, “Hey, I’ve had my feet mistaken for food before, I don’t want a curious fish coming for a snack.”
She frowned at the dark water. “It does seem somehow scarier on this side of the rock, doesn’t it? As if sharks will draw a line in the water right here, and not touch us from here to the beach.” Her voice grew quieter, “Swimming in the open ocean is one of the most terrifying, humbling things a person could experience. I usually have my surfboard with me, which always feels like a safe island, a no-tag-zone.” She chuckled. “As if a flimsy board would do anything.”
He watched her foot, still stirring the surface of the water. Anticipation made the hairs on his neck prickle, and the wind picked up as if in warning. “It doesn’t help that we’re dressed like seals; perfect shark bait.”
Suddenly, a dark shadow appeared near her foot, growing rapidly in size as it approached the surface.
“Kai, MOVE!” he bellowed, scrambling to knock her back from the edge of the rock. “Shark!”
She screamed as they heard the unmistakable, ominous whoosh of something large breaking the surface of the water, sending droplets like bullets toward them as they dove away from the edge.
Chapter 19
Kailani
Kailani scrambled away from the rocky ledge, turning in time to see a dark, knobby fin recede as a wave washed over her toes. She gasped, her eyes widening as she stood.
Gabriel reached an arm in front of her like a shield as she took a hesitant step towards the water.
“Gabe, look!” she cried, pointing over his arm. Looming beneath the surface was an immense creature, and as it sunk into the depths, it pulled the water towards it like an unplugged drain. In the distance, a fan of water sprayed upwards as an enormous figure breached the surface.
“Whales?” he breathed. “But their migratory season isn’t until midwinter…and they’re so close!” His eyes were bright, and he reached for Kailani’s hand as they peered into the water, searching.
Kailani glanced down at where his hand intertwined with hers and felt a flutter in her stomach at how naturally he had grasped it. Smiling, she fixed her eyes towards the water.
The whales breached again, and a fin lifted in the air as if in greeting. Gabriel sighed, and Kailani looked at him sidelong, noticing a dimple as his smile widened in wonder. Reluctantly, she let her hand slide from his hold, an invisible force pulling her towards the water.
She inched forward and planted her hand down on the slick rock, swinging her legs over the edge. She leaned forward. “Hello!” she called to the rippling surface.
“Kai!” Gabriel said urgently, “Stay back, they can be dangerous.”
She glanced up at him, placing her hand over his. “They’re just curious, I don’t think they mean any harm. Here, come sit down.” She gave his hand a gentle tug and murmured, “Look! It’s a mother and her calf.”
He hesitantly joined her, and she could feel his gasp when the larger of the two whales surfaced within yards of them, an enormous eye the size of a baseball rolling towards them. Its gaze did not hold the glassy vacancy of a fish, instead seeming to carry a weary wisdom earned with time. It had deep, curving ridges below its eye, like the rings of a tree, marking the years that they had made the journey through these waters.
“Beautiful,” she sighed as it slowly parted the water, exposing its white breast, riddled with scars. The overwhelming pull intensified, and like the chord that connected them was struck, she felt its vibrating hum. Kailani began to lower herself into the water, but Gabriel grabbed her shoulder.
“What are you doing?”
“Shh, Gabe, trust me.” He must have seen something in her gaze because his eyebrows drew together as he slowly nodded, letting go.
Kailani treaded water using her legs and reached out a hand before her, waiting. Slowly, the enormous creature closed the gap, lightly bumping its knotty skin against hers. She felt the resonance of its haunting song travel through her hand as it rose, enveloping her in memories of her mother. Its melody dipped and waned, as if it had reached the end of its story, and she felt its final spellbinding note reverberate in her chest.
Just as suddenly as they had arrived, the two whales sank back into the depths, leaving a hush in their wake. Kailani backed up against the rock, finding a submerged ledge that let her sit with the water just below her chest. Gabriel slipped down beside her on the sunken bench, brushing his shoulder against hers.
“That was unbelievable, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Gabriel whispered, his head following the subtle trail of their retreat. “It’s like they came to you.”
She smiled as she met his sapphire eyes. “Maybe they did. There are plenty of Hawaiian legends about the connections between whales and people.”
“Can you tell me one?”
She bit her lip, hesitating. “I can tell you ours, if you want?”
“Yours?”
“My mother always told me about the legends of our ancestors. She told me the story of her great-grandmother, who was the only woman known to grow gills and breathe underwater.” She hesitated, looking warily at Gabriel, waiting for him to laugh.
He looked at her and smiled. “Please go on.”
She continued in a formal voice, repeating a story whose words were never written down. “She could stay underwater for hours at a time, and would shepherd the kuapio kohola, the humpback whales, as they migrated past our seas. The kohola were considered sacred to our people.”
Gabriel closed his eyes and leaned back against the rock, arms crossed behind his head.
“Her name was Kai’imipono, which means the ‘seeker of righteousness.’ She would swim the reef, warning the pods to stay away from the wooden ships of the colonizers. They had discovered the kohola would come to calf in the warm shallows of our coast and would trap them. Kill them. They wanted the fat of the kohola for oil lamps, and its bones for corsets. They would leave the rest of the body to rot.” Her voice grew somber, an ancient ache echoing in her voice.
“Kai’imipono told them to stay away from humans for one century, and that only when the people learned the treachery of their actions, would they be safe to return. As she predicted, almost a hundred years went by as men drove most sea mammals almost to extinction and clogged the waters with their filth.”
“It was not until the last fifteen years that we’ve started seeing them come back to our reef. My mother had said that the kohola will always thank our family for what she did, and that they are our guardians. She said that Kai’imipono probably took the form of the kohola when she passed on and became an ‘aumakua, a spiritual ancestor. My mother had always said she wished she would become one, too. I think...now I know for sure that she did.” Her voice wavered as she finished the story, the warmth of its words settling around her like a blanket, she glanced over at Gabriel.
His eyes were open, and he was looking at her with an odd expression on his face.
“What?” Kailani asked, blushing.
“You are…enchanting.”
“I thought you were going to say weird.”
Gabriel laughed, “Maybe that, too. But only because you have some kind of magic in your blood that lets you hold your breath that long. I’m just glad I know how you were able to do that the other day. It somehow feels more fair!”
“Nope, just years of practice.” She fidgeted, looking for an escape route, the way she always did when she was given praise. “Should we head back now?
“I don’t know, if animals are flocking to you like a Disney princess, I think I’ll stay here for the show.”
She laughed. “We already had one shark scare, I think I’m good for the day.”
They gazed out at the sea, the rhythmic slap of water against the rock lulling them into comfortable silence.
Gabriel was chewing his lip before he suddenly spoke up. “In your story, you mentioned your mother…in the past tense?” he said softly.
“Yeah. She died my senior year of high school. Lung cancer.” She dappled her fingers along the surface of the water, drawing symbols on the surface. “She’s the one who made me fall in love with swimming.” Her chest tightened as memories washed over her.
“Kai, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay. I can still feel her with me every time I swim, whether it’s in the ocean or at practice. But mostly at swim meets.” She paused, smiling. “She would always be the one cheering me on the loudest, on her hands and knees at the end of my lane. Sometimes when I race, I swear I can still hear her voice when I turn to breathe.”
“She sounds wonderful.”
“She was.” She looked out at the waves once more. “And what about you? You said your parents got divorced?”
“Yeah, when I was in high school. The years of Dad being gone finally added up. He was in the Navy.” he added, seeing Kailani’s confused expression.
“That must have been hard,” she said softly. “Was your dad the one who got you into swimming?”
“Yeah, we grew up in a little cottage on the coast, so we were always on the dock, playing in the water. Dad was an amazing swimmer…he had hoped I would join the Navy, too, but it just wasn’t for me.”
“So, why rescue diving then? Isn’t that pretty similar?”
He shrugged. “I just want to help people,” he said simply. He paused, his brows furrowing. “I don’t need medals on my chest to make myself feel like a hero, when I could actually be making a difference, saving lives right here. But that will never be enough for him.”
Kailani watched the bitter twist of his mouth as he said the word ‘hero’. She wanted to reach out and wipe away the lines on his brow that traced his grief.
Gabriel moved closer to Kailani, and she could feel the heat radiating off his body through the water. His eyes were ignited against his tanned skin. Leaning closer, she saw flecks of gold dancing among the deep blue, like a Hawaiian sunset, burning specks of sunlight skipping over the azure sea. Her hand raised unbidden to brush back a dark lock of hair that fell across his eyes.
She traced a finger down the bridge of his nose, feeling the slight bump that was the only flaw on his face. She tilted her head to the side. Did he get into a fist fight?
“I have Eli to thank for that,” he murmured with a smile, as if he had read her thoughts.
She leaned closer, her fingers moving to lightly trail across his cheek, feeling the transition from his smooth skin to the prickle of his unshaven jaw. His eyes closed, and she heard him inhale deeply.
She wasn’t sure how long she sat there, tracing out the perfection of his features. Her fingertips continued to graze along the hard line of his jaw, and she let her thumb brush his bottom lip, which parted under her touch.
His eyes suddenly opened, his lips moving under her touch. “God, Kai, I want to kiss you so badly,” he whispered, his voice rough with emotion.
Heat pulsed through Kailani’s body as her breath hitched. She drew her body closer to his in the water, pressing against him. “What’s stopping you?” she said softly. A deep longing rose inside her, bathing her in a warmth that fizzed in her veins.
He closed his eyes once more, as if trying to break her hold on him. “Well, I can think of a few reasons.”
“Like what?”
“Well, for starters, I’m still your coach…” His arms wrapped around her, contradicting his words.
“And?” Kailani said breathlessly, fighting to keep her voice level as his hands trailed down her back, “We’re in the middle of the ocean, hidden from the world. Nobody would know.”
A smile played at his lips as he continued. “That leads us to the more immediate issue.”
“What?” she asked impatiently.
He made a clicking noise with his tongue. “In a rush, are we? Now you know how it feels.” He leaned towards her ear, his breath sending a shiver down her spine. “I won’t forget about earlier. That’s twice now that you’ve teased me.” He lightly kissed just beneath her ear, and a soft, involuntary moan escaped her lips.
“Gabe, please—just kiss me!”
“But you’ve made it impossible for me to kiss you,” he murmured, brushing his lips down her neck, to the hollow of her throat. The wind began to pick up suddenly, blowing her damp curls across her face.
“What?” she gasped as she began to tremble, unraveling under his touch. “How?”
“Well you see…I’ve already had my nose broken once, and given your track record, I can’t afford another hit if I try and kiss you.”
Kailani drew back quickly in shock. An incredulous giggle burst out of her as she looked into his eyes, lined with laughter.
He shook his head, a playfully mournful expression on his face. “I’m sorry, I just can’t risk it.” But his hand grasped the back of her head, knotting in her damp hair. The ev
er-present drizzle of rain began to pick up, thick drops bouncing off the water between them.
His lips were so close that she could feel the warmth of his breath as she shivered in anticipation. The hairs on Kailani’s skin stood on end as the charged air between them crackled, and she leaned to close the gap.
Suddenly, a piercing boom shattered through the sky, a bright white filling the air.
Kailani yelled, bolting back from Gabriel as she looked around in panic.
“Lightning! Head for the shore!” Gabriel yelled.
Kailani slid into the churning sea and threw every ounce of strength she had into swimming towards safety. She fought to keep her course straight, lifting her head every few strokes to lock her eyes on the shore, blinking furiously through the pelting rain. She used the tide to their advantage, quickly powering through the surf as she rode the swells in.
Gasping, Kailani threw herself onto the sand, searching for Gabriel. Another deafening crack of electricity made her duck as she spotted him wading in a dozen yards down the beach. She joined him, sprinting for the tunnel under the road that led to the parking lot. They stood under the large archway, panting heavily as rain came down in sheets behind them.
Kailani met Gabriel’s eyes as they both stood panting and shaking, the enormity of what could have happened hovering over them. She raised her voice so it would carry over the roar of rain and thunder. “Well, I think I might have just set a new personal record, I don’t think I’ve ever swam that fast. Also, I might need a defibrillator…”
“That was terrifying, I don’t know how we didn’t notice the storm picking up.”
“I do. I think we were a little…preoccupied.”
He laughed shakily. “I guess nature had something else in mind for us. I don’t think we could have gotten a clearer sign if we had been struck dead on the spot.”
Kailani looked up at him with wide, serious eyes. “Oh! Yeah, I forgot to tell you—my great-uncle takes the spirit form of lightning. That was probably him telling us that we shouldn’t kiss.”
