Falling In The Deep Blue

~37~ Nude

Eleazar's P.o.v.

The faint rays of sunlight that were seeping through the dark blue water were gently wandering over my tail, making each scale shimmer in a light green.

Lost in thought, I let my fingers run over my tail, remembering the feeling of having legs instead. The first time I had changed, it had been really weird and had just felt wrong, unnatural.

But with every time I transformed, my legs had felt more and more like an actual part of my body. I had learned how to walk properly, learned how to sit down and get up again and learned how to untangle my legs after cuddling with...Trystan.

A sharp pain went through my body, followed by an uneasy feeling of sorrow.

I could see Ovicto's big, understanding eyes in the back of my mind, when he told me that he knew that Trystan was safe and that he saw him get away.

My human studies teacher had explained how he had followed me to the shore, how he had witnessed the reunion of Amias and my grandma, the man that had shot us and that he had made sure to save my grandma and me.

To my surprise, he wasn't angry with me for breaking one of our most important rules, having contact with humans, and promised not to tell anyone. He had warned me not to go looking for Trystan for a while though, because the man might still be waiting to ambush another one of us.

And yes, that made perfect sense. But now, after two whole days of waiting and waiting, I could literally feel myself being drawn to the surface. I needed to know that Trystan was safe and that everything was okay between us.

I had visited my grandma Aquinnah twice, who was now in an even worse state than before she had met Amias.

The feeling of pure bliss and happiness when seeing Amias, shortly followed by shock and realization that he had set up a trap, had been too much for her.

I had thought a lot about Amias, too.
I believed that my grandfather had never believed, that he had truly loved this mermaid that I'd told him about, up to the moment when he had seen her and remembered everything. The look of regret on his face had been real, as well as the desperation in his voice when he begged the man not to attack us.

I didn't know what had happened to Amias, all I knew was, that my life now seemed a lot more complicated than it did two days ago.

One of my teachers, Ovicto, knew about Trystan and me. Together with Meriel and my grandmother, that were three merpeople who could slip up and accidently, or purposefully, tell someone, causing me to be banned from the pod.
I had also managed to reunite my grandmother with her long-lost love, only to have them being separated again.
But most importantly, I didn't know what was going on with Trystan.

I was swimming back and forth in my cave, my body just as restless as my mind. My mother and sister weren't home, something about teaching Meriel how to make jewelry out of pearls.

Luckily, school wasn't beginning for another three weeks, allowing me to be as useless as I wanted to. There was no way I could have stayed focused, when all I could think about was that stupid, beautiful, amazing human.

And then, my eyes following one ray of golden light that was leading out of our cave and up to the surface, I made my decision.

I would go on land and search for Trystan. I would find a spot where no one would be able to see me, far away from Palmtree Bay and the man with his arrows.

About an hour and a lot of pain later, I found myself stranded on an abandoned little part of the beach. I quickly gained control of my new pair of legs and stumbled into the shielding shadows of some palm trees.

The weight of reality suddenly came crashing down on me, when I realized, that I was completely naked, with no money and no idea where I was.

I knew that I had to follow the beach eastward, to get to Palmtree Bay and from there, I knew how to get to Trystan's home. But how would I do that naked?

I looked down my body, my chest, my abs and that...whatever it was called. Biting my lip, I tried to find a solution for my little nude problem.

Did I have the patience and means to get clothes somewhere? No, definitely not.

Not thinking twice, I used the strength of my legs to jump, my fingers wrapping around one of the huge palm tree leaves.

I managed to break it off the branch and wrapped it around my waist, holding the edges together with my hands. I shrugged. It would have to do.

And then, I ran.

Instead of forcing the muscles in my tail to work harder and harder, push forward in powerful waves, I was now forcing the muscles in my legs to lift and fall, my feet hitting the ground again and again.

I ignored all the humans that were staring at me, holding their little black devices in my direction and shouting stuff. All I was focused on, was Trystan. And, holding the leaf around my waist, maybe.

My chest was lifting and falling heavily and drops of sweat were running down my temples, when I finally stood in front of Trystan's apartment door.

I pressed my index finger onto the bell and counted down the seconds. One, two, three, four-

"Eleazar?!"

Keith stood in the door frame, his eyes widening at the sight of me.

"Uh..hi." I said, the fact that I was standing there, only covered up by a huge green leaf, was causing my cheeks to redden.

"This uh..." I pointed down onto the lower part of my body, "this is for a photography project." I gulped, hoping that Keith would stop staring at it now. So uncomfortable.

Keith's eyebrows were steadily rising up his forehead, until they almost disappeared in his hairline. "Right." He began, his eyes finally meeting mine.

"I suppose...you're here to see Trystan?"

Keith looked confused while asking that.

I nodded. "Is he home?"

"No, but..he told me this morning that he would go out to lunch with you and this other guy..uhm..what was his name? Victor?"

"I..what?" Now it was my turn to be confused. Why had Trystan lied to Keith about where he was going? And why was he doing things with some boy that wasn't me, his boyfriend?

I could feel my heartbeat starting to rise, images of different scenarios playing out in my mind. Had Trystan met someone new? Someone who was better, smarter, more attractive than me? Had he already forgotten about me?

Keith must have noticed my shocked expression. Taking a step into my direction, he placed a hand of my upper arm.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked gently, a concerned look in his eyes.

I was silent, I couldn't talk.

"Look, just come inside, okay? We'll get you some clothes and talk about what's going on, okay?"

I nodded, letting Keith's hand guide me inside.

I had to blink a few times, just to see clearly again and not to be blinded by the pain of uncertainty of what was going on.

Keith went to get me something to wear, while I sat down at the kitchen table. My fingertips were relentlessly tapping onto the light brown wood.

A few seconds later, Keith came back, placing a black t-shirt and some sweatpants on the table in front of me.

"They're Trystan's, I'm sure he wouldn't mind." he said, while sitting down next to me.

I felt a lump building in my throat.

While putting on the t-shirt, the sweet smell of my favorite human hit me like a white shark.

My mind immediately took me back to our cuddle sessions, falling asleep in his arms, nuzzling my nose into his chest.

What if I would never be able to do that again? What if Trystan had grown tired of all the secrets, all the risks? What if I had lost my love?