Call of the Water (COMPLETE)

56. AZORA

The dawn came accompanied by the sounds of seagulls. Golden color of the waves changed into blue as our rented boat rushed to its destination. The waves were parting before its bow, white crests of foamy water raised on each side of its hull.

The kingdom beneath the waves would never be my home again. That was what I chose. But there on the boat, in a plexiglass tank, a Princess was yearning to return to the world that was taken away from her.

The boat engine was silenced when we came to the right spot. My father lowered the anchor ever so slowly. He had been lowering it in that manner ever since he heard about the tragic fate of my Aquantien mother.

The moment we had been waiting for finally came. I felt happiness mixed with sadness as we entered the cabin. Ms. Cyan's face was smiling through the glass, but her restless fingers let me know that she was nervous. I didn't know what to say. I just looked into her eyes as my own welled up with tears.

Everyone went silent, as if they were all rendered speechless.

"Can you hear that?" Ms. Cyan asked after a few moments of silence.

We all listened intently. The seagull voices were the first thing I heard. The seagulls were always loud this early in the morning. But underneath their shrieks, another sound traveled to my ears. I closed my eyes, allowing myself to get mesmerized by the whispers of the water. Smile emerged on my face as I listened to the soft song of the waves.

"I can hear it," I murmured.

"What can you hear?" Opal wanted to know. "Those blasted birds can't be that interesting. Why, only a minute earlier, one of them soiled the cabin window." Her forehead was wrinkled and so was her nose. "I'm not cleaning that!" She pointed her finger at a nasty speck on the glass when she noticed us watching her.

A chuckle escaped Ms. Cyan. She was submerged in the tank, so bubbles formed in front of her face. Lifting her head above the water surface, she said, "No, I wasn't talking about the seagulls. The waves. I was talking about the waves."

"Oh..." Opal wasn't impressed by them either.

Harper closed his eyes. For a moment he just listened. "They are singing your song," he said through a smile.

Nia followed his example and closed her eyes, trying to hear the song Harper was referring to. "It's as if they are calling you," she said.

"And this time you are able to answer their call," Ardea added.

I let my gaze fall on my schoolmates. The warmth in the eyes of my close ones filled me with gratitude. How lucky was I? Once a forgotten one, I found everything I could ever dream of. Whatever the future holds for me, I knew I wouldn't be facing it alone. I had parents who loved me, I had friends, and after thinking about my blessings, I also had tears in my eyes.

"It's time." Doctor Kasian's voice brought me back to present.

We all looked at each other, not knowing what to say.

"Allow us to thank you for the time you dedicated to us." Nia seemed to have found the words that were eluding the rest of us.

"And to wish you best of luck," Harper added.

Ms. Cyan stood up. She moved her hair away from her face, but said nothing. She just opened her arms.

Nia hugged her first. When she moved away, her both cheeks were wet, not just the one that touched Professor Cyan.

After she submerged to breath in, Ms. Cyan stood up again. One by one, she hugged each and every one of us. Mathias was the only exception. He remained standing at the stern, not allowing himself to take a single step forward.

"Come closer, Mathias," Ms. Cyan said. "Let me say goodbye to you."

He shook his head. "What if I hurt you?"

"You won't," she replied softly.

"How can you be so sure of that?" he asked while his hands were pressing the small package Doctor Kasian had given him earlier.

"I know you," our teacher said. "I trust you."

She had more trust in him than I did. Even though I knew him for months, a part of me was still on constant alert. How could it not be when every now and then his wolf side would surface?

"I don't trust myself," Mathias replied.

"Then hold your breath," Ms. Cyan suggested. "If I can do it, then so can you."

He looked at Doctor Kasian. There were no contacts in his eyes. He nodded, encouraging Mathias. We watched as the werewolf took a deep breath with the smelling salts under his nose, and then stopped breathing as he approached our Aquantien teacher.

He hadn't hurt her. He wrapped his arms around her so gently, as if she were made of glass.

"Stupid wolf," Opal mumbled next to me, using the sleeve of her blouse to wipe off her tears.

"Are you ready?" my mother asked when Mathias stepped away from the tank and Ms. Cyan dove in once again.

Our teacher nodded. Her hair swayed around her face like the delicate leaves of the seaweed.

Mr. August stepped forward. Several deep breaths, and Ms. Cyan was ready to exit her temporary watery dwelling. Our headmaster held her hand as she walked onto the deck. I wasn't even aware that I too was holding my breath until a splash was heard.

Ms. Cyan jumped into the ocean.

A laughter of pure joy traveled to us carried by the waves, letting us know just how far our Professor had swam. No, she wasn't our Professor anymore. She was an Aquantien Princess on her way home.

She dived in and surfaced again, this time by the hull of the boat.

"Goodbye Professor Cyan," Mathias leaned over the gunwale, not wanting to miss his chance for a final farewell.

None of us did.

Goodbye, Professor Cyan. The words were repeated like an echo.

"No!" I had to correct them. "Not Professor Cyan. That is not her name. That was the name she chose to use on land. But now she returned to the ocean."

"What are we supposed to call her, then?" Opal asked.

"I don't know," I said honestly. During all the time I had known her, it never occurred me to ask her about her Aquantien name. Therefore, I turned to the one I knew as Iris Cyan and asked, "What was your name in the underwater kingdom before you were taken to dry land?"

The one I knew as Iris Cyan smiled at me, her smile touching the corners of her eyes. "Azora," she said. "My name was Azora. You were named after me."

Having said that, she waved at us with her webbed hand one last time and dove under the shimmering surface of the sea. Somewhere under the waves, her people were ready to greet their long lost Princess of the reef.

THE  END

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