*****
The fire in my skin turned slowly to a gentle glow. My legs began to mold together as the scales I had missed for so many years began turning my exposed skin to a beautiful shimmering green. Air left my lungs as discreet gills broke apart behind each of my ears. My eyes began to adjust to the darkness of the deeper water and I rejoiced as everything began to come alive in front of me.
I didn’t even have time to wonder if the elders would punish me for this; it felt too good to think about anything else. Fish swam past me in schools; unafraid of me as I was as much a part of their world as they were of mine. Seaweed floated from floor of the ocean and began filling my soul with scents from my past.
Just across from me, the boy from the beach was staring at me with a flush highlighting his cheeks. “What?” I asked him.
It took him a moment and then he finally shook his head. “It’s just that you, um, well you’ve grown up since the last time you were in the water.”
I looked down in horror, realizing I was completely naked from the waist up. I crossed my arms over my chest and turned away from him, the sound of his laughter echoing behind me. I was mortified. Why hadn’t I thought of that?
From over my shoulder he handed me a few thick bands of seaweed. I quickly secured them across my chest and suppressed a shiver as I felt his fingers brush against my back while he tied them for me. “Thank you,” I told him, turning to look back at him.
A moment of pure electricity passed through us and for a few seconds I was sure that he was going to lean closer and kiss me. My lips tingled in anticipation and parted, welcoming his embrace. It never came.
“I, uh, didn’t really see much,” he said motioning to where he had been floating before. “I mean it was kind of murky and, um, your hair was covering most of you, and…” he faltered and then moved away from me.
My heart swelled with disappointment and I had to shake myself out of it. I had a BOYFRIEND. What was I thinking? “Oh, um, well thanks for your help.”
He motioned toward the heart of the sea, away from the shore. “Are you ready to go home?”
I shook my head. “That isn’t my home anymore.”
He smiled sadly. “It will always be your home Jane.”
I considered this and then shook my head again. “No. After what happened they took that away from me.”
He began swimming away, leaving me no choice but to follow after him. Every once in a while we would pass over what looked like fire at the bottom of the ocean, but he didn’t say anything about it and I didn’t ask. Things had changed since I’d been away.
“Why did they take them?” I finally asked eager to break the silence.
He shrugged. “I can only guess at the actions of the elders.”
I waited but he didn’t say anything more. “Well? What’s your guess?”
He stopped swimming and floated in place looking beyond our immediate surroundings. “I think they were baiting you to come back.”
I frowned. “Why would they do that? We’ve been asking for years for our exile to be lifted. Why now?”
He shrugged again. “Things have changed Janie. The wars have begun.”
If I could have sat down, I would have. My heart felt like a weight had been attached to it, dragging me down into the depths of the ocean; too far down for even those of my kind to visit. “Was it…” I began and then had to close my eyes for a moment. “Was it my fault?”
I felt his fingers intertwine with mine and looked down at our hands. “It was no one person’s fault. They may lead you to believe otherwise, but many mistakes have been made. The worst of them by those who strive to lead us.”
Again I was struck by a sudden and fierce familiarity of him. “Who are you?” I whispered.
“You wouldn’t remember me,” he said with a smile. “But when we were younger I followed you and Amara around like a tamed shark.”
I gasped. “Vander? But you must hate me!”
He laughed. “Why would you think that?”
“Because…because…Amara…” was all I could say.
“I didn’t follow the two of you because of the princess,” he said softly.
It took a moment for his words to sink in. Once they did, the meaning became clear. A flush spread across my cheeks and down my neck, centering somewhere behind my belly button. “Oh.” I looked down and watched as my fin swayed back and forth in the current.
His finger found my chin and lifted my face so that my violet eyes met his turquoise ones. This was the moment, once again here and waiting for once of us to act on it. Jake’s face flashed through my mind. The life I had learned to lead was the only one I knew now. I wasn’t here to come home. I was here to get my parents and go home. I turned away from him.
“We should keep going,” I told him.
He stared at me for a moment, neither sad nor happy, just as if he was figuring something out in his own head. When he finally nodded, I felt the first pangs of regret. “As you wish.” He pointed toward a path that was barely visible even to my well trained eye. “Atlantis awaits you.”
My Life Would Suck Without You Page 3
