Chapter 13

Thirteen

Alys surveyed the devastation with a sense of detachment. It was almost like she wasn't here at all. Looking over what had once been a home, and she'd only gotten a small glimpse of it.

Had it ever really been here? Had she made it up in her head?

All the machines had left. The droids that were made to landscape and terraform had completed their job. And now, she came back with Imber and his people to see the decimation of what had once been a beautiful coil of nests.

The little stone patterns were gone. Just dust in their place. They couldn't even swim too close to the ground because all the dust left over from the machines was so fine that it would puff up and darken the water. So they stayed far above the home of the undines, even though she could see how badly they wanted to visit it. Even just to touch the ground with their hands, so they could feel connected to this place one last time.

Her heart broke for them. With them.

And when another undine appeared out of the foggy water, his face dirty and his hands shaking, she knew there was still more to grieve.

Imber held her tight to him as they sped through the water. They fairly flew to another group of undines who had somehow gotten injured. She wasn't sure how or what had happened. It didn't matter in the end. They were injured. She had two good hands. If she could help, she would.

So she spent hours doing whatever it was that the undines needed. Alys patched people up who had scrapes or cuts. She smeared foul feeling liquid onto their wounds and held their hands while others stitched them together. She did whatever was required of her, because it was the only thing she could do.

Her people were the ones who had caused this. She felt like she owed them so much, even if all she had right now was her time.

Imber sat behind her, doing the same thing. Their backs touched often. He would reach behind him and gently trail his fingers over her hip sometimes, just to let her know he was still there. Still with her.

But it didn't help. Nothing she did helped.

No matter how many people she bandaged, patched, or just sat and held their hands, it didn't change what had happened. Their homes were gone. Their hopes were drenched underneath years of fear that her people had breathed into them.

Though not all of them knew she could understand them, she could. She listened to their fears and their worries. How they still hadn't found one of their dear friends who had fled. What if one of those metal creatures had gotten ahold of them? There was blood in the water. They could all smell it. Something had happened and now they couldn't put themselves back together.

Maybe it would change soon. Maybe these people were hardy and strong. They'd come out of this as better versions of themselves, having survived something difficult together.

But she looked at them and she thought... this was her fault.

"Alys?" Imber asked. His tail came around her like a giant snake, circling her entire body and pushing away those who had been close to her.

"What are you doing?" she asked as the other undine's hand slid out of hers. She narrowed her gaze at the thick muscle suddenly banding around her waist. "Why are you circling me?"

He reached for her hands, lifting them and holding them in front of her eyes.

Her fingers were bleeding. Red bloomed in the weak light, and then his entire body lit up. Bright, sparkling points of green up and down his form. It only illuminated the blood even more.

All the help she'd given, every moment of her trying to make up for what her people had done, she hadn't realized she'd been risking herself so much. Staring down at her fingers now, she realized that she was going to die very soon if they didn't do something. Somehow, in all of this, Alys had forgotten that humans can't stay in the water for so long.

Her skin was wrinkled and pale, skin cracking on her palms, and then she suddenly realized there were far more effects of staying underwater this long. She hadn't noticed because she was so upset that it had been easy to ignore how badly her body hurt. Now, seeing herself injured, it hit her like a sledgehammer.

Her body ached, all of her muscles feeling tired in a way that they'd never felt before. She was so thirsty and had a headache blooming behind her eyes that had only happened once before when she'd gone too long without water. But this time it was so much more intense right between her eyes, like her brain was warning her about... something. Her stomach clenched in hunger, but she didn't know how long it had been since she'd eaten anything.

She didn't even realize that her body was listing to the side until Imber gently propped her up. He pulled her pale, wrinkled hands out of her eyesight. "What is happening to you?"

"I think the water..." Alys lifted her shaking hands again, just so she could see the damage. So it wasn't entirely made up in her own head. "I can't stay in the water this long. How long has it been?"

His concerned gaze focused on her hands before he cleared his throat. "I don't... I don't know."

"How many sunrises?"

"Three."

"How deep are we?"

He shook his head. "I don't know what that means. There is no measurement for me to give you."

She looked up at the surface, her mind ticking through all the possibilities. She didn't think she was deep enough to get the bends. It wasn't likely, anyway. What if all of this made her sick? What if going to the surface made her blood boil and her body just gave up?

"Slowly," she finally whispered. "I need to go to the surface very slowly. Just in case."

"Just in case what?"

With a wide-eyed stare, she hoped she conveyed how terrified she was. And to his credit, Imber didn't question her any more. He just gathered her in his arms and started their ascent.

They weren't that far down, come to find out. It only took them a few minutes to get to where she could see the surface clearly. But she could also see there wasn't any land anywhere near them.

"I need to get out of the water," she said. And everything in her hurt. She needed food. She needed fresh water. She needed...

Not to be here.

Her heart broke. She wanted to be with him and now, it was startlingly real that this might not be possible. They were creatures from two very different places in this world, and neither of them could change that.

He swam with her all the way to the surface, holding her head above the water so she didn't have to kick or swim. She was limp in his arms, allowing him to do all the work as she stared up at the cloudy sky.

Almost delirious, the only thing she could think to say was, "It looks like a storm is coming."

"There are always storms, Alys."

"This one looks worse than normal," she whispered, before turning her tear filled gaze to him. "I'm so sorry, Imber."

"Why are you apologizing?"

"Because I've only been down here a few days with you and I'm already breaking apart. I'm in pieces. I thought we could..."

Imber let out a little grumble before drawing her closer. He pressed their foreheads together, above the sea. The waves caressed her cheeks, and the air made her shiver, even though he lent her some small amount of warmth.

Gently, he pulled the cord out of her neck and held onto the back of her head with a fierce grip. "You and I were meant for each other, my wave song. That doesn't mean this will be easy, or that we will not have to fight for each other. But we will be fine, Alys. You and I are more than the sea and the sky. Will we fight through this, just as we have fought through everything. Now, tell me what you need."

She didn't want to tell him what she needed because it meant they would be parted. She didn't know if they would ever see each other again if she did what she knew had to be done.

"I need to go back," she whispered, her voice breaking on the words. "I'm so sorry."

"Back?" he asked, his eyes searching hers. But then he blew out a long breath and nodded. "Because you can't survive very long under the ocean, can you?"

"I can't survive in water for so long." She didn't want to disappoint him. She didn't want to disappoint herself, but everything was so clear. "I have to see my father. Maybe..."

They both stared at each other and she knew he was thinking the same thing as her. Her father wasn't the safest person for her to go, but there was no one that was safe.

Sighing, Imber nodded. "I trust you. Wherever you need me to take you, I will bring you there. And we will continue on as we always have. You and I were meant to be together. I have no fear that we will not find each other again after this."

Grabbing onto his face with her worn and torn hands, she squeezed as hard as she could so he would know she was serious. "I will come back to you, Imber. There is nothing on this planet that can stop me. I will be back, and I will come home. Do you hear me?"

"Home?"

"You are my home." She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his, wondering if even her face wasn't the same as it had been before. "You will always be my home."

Words pressed against her lips. Words that would bind her to him far more than anything else she'd ever said before.

Did she say it? Did she tell him how she really felt when he hadn't said the same? She'd never been the first person to admit feelings in a relationship, but then again, this could very well be the last time she'd ever seen him.

So with no one but him to hear her, with the waves crashing around their shoulders, she said bright and clear, "I love you, Imber. More than I can really say. You have changed my life for the better and I refuse to go back to how it was before. I'd rather die. Without you at my side, the world is colorless and bleak. I don't know if you feel the same way, but I don't think I really care either way. You are everything I have ever wanted."

He smiled at her, then pressed a kiss to her palm before swimming them toward what she could only assume was her old home. "Haven't you been listening, Alys? I've called you my mate more times than I can count. I chose you for life, whether you will have me or not. I am yours, my wave song. All yours to do with as you wish, and that will never change."

With that thought warming her heart, she laid back and let him do all the work. He kept them both above the water so she could get some fresh air, but she also wondered if it was because he wanted to slow them down. If he didn't rush through the water toward her people, then he could hold her a little longer. What were a few more moments when it came to the end they feared?

Still, they reached her old home far too soon. She could sense it. Even though her eyes were turned up toward the sky, she knew the moment he tensed underneath her back that they were close. Even his clawed hands flexed on her waist, as though he wouldn't let go of her after all.

Alys knew the turmoil that ran through his mind. There was so much he wanted to say. Or perhaps that he wanted to do. His people were fighters, and his hands tightened around her waist. Perhaps he was thinking of keeping her, and not let her return.

But if he kept her, then he was the one hurting her. It was a struggle he did not know how to win. Unfortunately, she didn't think there was any winning in this situation.

"Here we are, wave song." The nickname shifted into one that warmed her cold bones. It made almost everything all right as he turned her in his arms and pressed their foreheads together again. "Come back to me."

"Always."

"You promise?"

She took a deep breath. "I more than promise. I vow to you, here and now, that I will not leave you for any longer than I have to. I will come to our home and I will figure out a way to fix this. I love you, Imber, and I will not be parted from you any longer than is necessary."

He nodded, seeming to understand that she needed him to know that she was telling the truth. Every ounce of her being wanted to be with him, and she suspected it was the same for him.

He took them underneath one of the docks, the one nearest to her home. She didn't ask how he knew where she lived. It just seemed right that he did.

There was a small ladder underneath the dock near her home. Her father had put it there just in case one of the submarines ran out of fuel and had to be serviced close to them. It took every ounce of her energy to put her hands on the rungs and pull herself up. Hand by hand. Movement by movement. By the time she got onto the dock, she wanted to lie down on it and catch her breath. But she also knew that Imber was watching her.

Anyone could be watching her. The last thing she needed was the General or his men realizing that she had come home with one of the undines. They would take him. Exploit him.

Or perhaps they would just kill him. Without questioning why or how he was at their home, they might just shoot him on sight.

So she rolled onto her hands and knees, breathing so hard she could taste metal in her mouth. But she still poked her head over the edge and attempted a smile down at him. "I'm all right," she said. "I'll be back soon. I will find you, Imber."

He pressed his hand to his heart and then reached the webbed fingers out to her. "My heart is yours, Alys. Take good care of it."

And then he sank beneath the waves as she forced herself to her feet and staggered toward her home. There was a side door she could slip into if she was careful and quiet.

Then maybe she could find her father.