The Waves Are Ours

18-Moving Along

Luke was practically running down the beach towards the shore one afternoon a few days later. He'd been like that the past few days. It was no longer a struggle for him to even put his feet in the water. Michael was proud that Luke was getting a lot better at swimming. It made him feel as though he'd properly achieved something with his time on land.

Ashton had band practice today so he couldn't drive them, so they'd caught the bus instead. Calum and Ashton come down with them all the time anymore. So, they'd started just catching the bus to the cove when they didn't.

Yet as he dove in after him, Michael couldn't help but be nervous again. Since the encounter with the palace guards. He hoped that Luke's appearance would keep them away again for a little while. He lived in fear that they'd told his father about Luke or the fact that he was on land. No, he probably would've whipped up an entire storm for that.

The cool thing was though since that day the two of them had been swapping magic tricks. Luke may not have learnt to swim but he had learned to use his powers. Perhaps even better than Michael could. He could make excellent whirlpools and bubbles. Though Calum hadn't appreciated the trick where he'd ended up soaked in water when Luke had misfired.

Michael swam out after Luke who was moving much faster today. It had been raining a lot the past few days so the small waves that were washing into the cove were a lot stronger than usual, yet it didn't seem to be slowing him.

He didn't even really need to be taught how to swim; Michael was there to keep an eye on him while he practiced so that he could build up the strength in his tail. Michael was hoping that someday soon Luke might even be able to have a go at swimming in the proper ocean rather than just this small isolated cove.

Right now, though Michael was just content to swim around the small area. He loved the taste of the sea salt on his lips. It was much better than the chemical taste of the chlorine that they added to the pool water. He had so much room to move and there was a certain relief that came with gaining back his tail after walking around on human legs all this time. He knew he wasn't ready to go back yet. But he knew this was the closest thing to home right now, and even if it was short lived, he intended to enjoy it.

That was when Michael heard a distinct yell from under the water. He turned and spun his head towards the noise, noticing that Luke's silvery tail was thrashing about in the water up ahead.

Panic struck him; he knew merpeople couldn't drown but thrashing about was never a good sign. It could mean sharks or worse yet, fisherman's nets. He flicked his tail quickly powering through the water to help. He could hear Luke's yells and screams as he drew closer. Yet by the time he reached him, he noticed the tangled mess Luke was in.

He was covered in a spikey mess of seaweed that had wrapped its way right around his arms and tail. He must've swum right through it. Working quickly, Michael attempted to pull the seaweed off Luke. He tried his best to hold back the fits of laughter as Luke emerged from underneath. That was all?

Though his laughter stopped as he saw the genuine fear in Luke's eyes. There were tears in his eyes. Michael took a small wad of seaweed in his hands and showed it to Luke hoping he'd know what it was. Luke's face fell even further.

"I lost it over a bit of seaweed?!" Luke groaned looking at the greenish slimy substance in Michael's hands.

"Yeah..." Michael agreed. "I must admit that seaweed did look pretty terrifying under the water if you didn't know what it was."

"Really?"

"Really." Michael agreed, "Hey I've been spooked by the odd bit of seaweed in my time too. Just nothing as dramatic as that."