A soft knock at the door of Maya's bedroom roused her from her deep sleep but wasn't loud enough to wake her fully. She didn't open her eyes, but she knew she was awake for she could feel the warmth of the sun on her face, the bedsheet over her body and the pillow beneath her head.
The second knock was harder and more rapid this time and Maya knew that it didn't belong to the person who had knocked first. She didn't have to cross the room and open the door to know that her younger sister Margaery and younger brother Loras were at the door, waiting for her to wake up. She never could figure out how they didn't seem to get why she slept later than they did. To be honest, Maya was always up the moment the sun was even if they didn't come to rouse her, but her two younger siblings were up before the rooster.
Maya would spend every evening singing the two to sleep, just as their mother did when they were little. By the time Loras and Margaery were asleep, it was late and even Maya's older brothers Garlan and Willas were in bed already. Ever since their mother had died two years prior, Maya had taken on the role of mother for her younger siblings. Willas was already 22, no need for a mother and was already attending jousting tournaments while Garlan was 13.
"Maya!" Margaery whined through the door. "You promised we would go to the lake today!"
"Come on Maya!" Loras called.
Sighing, Maya sat up and pushed her straight auburn hair out of her eyes. Maya was always described as different and special. She took after her mother in looks: fair but rosy tones, high smooth cheekbones, dented upper lip, adorable little nose and long black lashes. She matched her sister Margaery in petite but slender stature. As a ten-year-old, she hadn't begun to develop the shape of a woman, but her chest had begun to round out slightly. The one thing she did not inherit from her family were her eyes. Unlike any color they had ever seen, they were a cross between sky blue and lime green, making them appear to be a minty color. However, they were far brighter than any eyes anyone had ever seen and almost appeared to glow.
"Okay I'm coming," Maya called, climbing out of bed and preparing to change.
********
Margaery grabbed onto Maya's hand and practically dragged her sister toward the water. The sun was shining heavily down on their heads and even though Maya's hair was lighter auburn than Margaery's, she could feel how her hair attracted the sun and made the top of her head feel hot.
Margaery splashed into the water till she was up to her knees, picking up the ends of her dark blue dress so it didn't get wet. Maya chuckled as she grabbed her long hair and pulled it up, so it was out of her face.
"You wanted to come to the lake Margo," Maya pointed out.
The younger girl looked at her sister in confusion, "And?"
Maya smirked mischievously before she tore across the rocky shore to her sister. Margaery's eyes widened in shock when she realized what her sister was about to do. She tried to run the other direction, but Margaery wasn't built like Maya was. Her thighs and calves weren't lined with sinew and muscle, nor her core which was strong and well-built from hours of wrestling with her brothers and sword fighting as well as bareback horseback riding. Maya overtook her sister in less than a few seconds and wrapping her strong arms around Margaery's shoulders, pulled her deeper before plunging into the cold water.
Margaery came to the surface sputtering and squeaking Maya's name in protest. She looked around for any sign of her sister and spied Maya's mint green eyes laughing at her, Maya's whole body submerged except for her eyes up which were above water.
"Oh, you're asking for it!" Margaery laughed, scooping water into her hands and splaying it at Maya.
The girl ducked under the water to avoid the splash before she shot out of the water, splaying an armful of water at Margaery, the girl squealing when most of it hit her.
The two girls were running back and forth, sometimes coming mostly out of the water before charging back in to splash the other. Both girls were drenched and the sun was now no longer directly above them but more to the side so that Margaery had to squint to see Maya, who's head was the only thing blocking the sun.
Margaery ducked half under the water before shooting back up, attempting to spray Maya with an armful of water. Maya could see she wouldn't be able to avoid the water, so she lifted her arms to block the onslaught from her eyes. However, she didn't feel anything touch her and when she lifted her eyes, Margaery was staring with her mouth wide open.
Maya looked down, only to see what had caught Margaery's attention. Splayed up in front of Maya was a small wall of water.... Like a wave that was crashing away from her.... but it was froze in the air as if someone had pressed pause. Maya dropped her arms, about to reach out to touch it when the water receded back to its normal self, dropping back into the lake.
"What.... Was.... That?" Margaery whispered, her mouth still dangling.
Maya slowly reached forward and ran her fingers through the water. That was so weird.... Like the water was acting on its own. Finally, she shrugged, guessing that maybe the heat was getting to their heads and they were seeing things. However, as soon as her shoulders lifted in a shrug, the water around Maya seemed to rise.... like something was pushing it up. Maya froze, her shoulders still hunched up in a half shrug.
"Don't move," Margaery whispered, taking a step forward.
Nothing happened as Margaery moved forward, the water still high around Maya while the rest was low.... Like it was just a sheet of a bed and there was something bulging beneath the sheet. Margaery took another step forward before touching the water that was bulging around Maya. Nothing happened.
"Drop your shoulders," Margaery whispered.
Maya obeyed and at once, the water receded.
"No way!" Margaery gasped. "It's like the water obeys you!"
"Don't be silly," Maya chuckled. "We're probably just imagining things."
Margaery pursed her lips together, not about to accept that it was just her imagination. "Splash me."
"Huh?" Maya inquired.
"Wave your arm like you're going to splash me, but don't touch the water," Margaery explained.
Maya bit her lip before glancing at the water between her and Margaery. Sighing, she threw her hand in Margaery's direction like she was throwing her sister a ball.... But what really hit Margaery was a huge tube of water that seemed to appear out of nowhere and hit her square in the face.
The girl was knocked off her feet by the impact but was up in an instant, a huge grin on her face, "SEE!? I knew it!"
"But wait...." Maya breathed. "Does this make the water.... I mean.... am I controlling the water.... Or is it expressing what I am doing?"
Margaery shrugged, "I don't know, but it is way cool!"
Maya frowned, looking at the crystal-clear water about her. She closed her eyes and placed her palms down, hovering on the surface of the water.
'Down,' she thought in her mind, 'Go down.'
As she kept repeating this in her head, she lifted her hands up slowly. She needed to know if the water was just reacting to her like a magnet.... Or if there was something deeper going on.
She opened one eye and looked down, only to see that instead of rising with her hands, the water had sunk down, making two holes in the water, one beneath each hand.
So, it actually obeyed her!
A thought suddenly came to her and raising her hands, she drove them down into the water. Usually it would just make two splashes.... but instead, two waves formed from her hands and crashed directly into her unexpecting sister. Margaery glared daggers at the girl who was grinning from ear to ear.
"Oh, this just got a whole lot more fun!" Maya smirked.
*******
Maya managed to be up before the sun the next morning so that she was up and dressed before Margaery rushed to her room. It was Loras's day for tutoring, so he wasn't there to bother them. Maya opened the door of her room and let her sister in, noticing the bag that Margaery carried.
"What's that?" she asked.
Margaery grinned, jumping onto her sister's bed and placing the bag in front of her. Maya climbed up so she was seated cross legged across from Margaery as her sister began to empty the contents.
The first thing she brought out was a small box which Maya recognized as the ink box. Margaery and Maya loved to write letters so for Margaery's last birthday, she had been given a box of writing ink that were a multitude of colors: red, green, blue, purple and black.
"I thought we could dye some water," Margaery said smiling, "It's cloudy out and father won't let us go down to the lake till it get sunny later."
Lastly, she pulled out a long dark blue ribbon and a dress.
"A dress Margo?" Maya asked, taking the ribbon from her sister.
"It's not every day that you find out you can control the water!" Margaery whispered. "You have to look the part!"
Maya chuckled, "The part of what? A mermaid?"
Margaery's eyes widened, and Maya could practically hear the gears turning in her brain. "Don't get ideas Margo."
Her sister chuckled before shrugging, "Not a mermaid. More like a water fairy."
Maya stood up from the bed and held up the dress to the mirror, getting a front and back view of it, "And I suppose water fairies wear this sort of thing?"
Margaery hopped up before taking the dress from her sister and beginning to help her dress, "It just encourages the idea. Now shut up and put it on!"
Chuckling, Maya obliged and got changed into the dress before sitting down on the bed so Margaery could pull her hair back and into a high ponytail on the top of her head, tying it with the ribbon but allowing plenty of wisps to fall about Maya's face.
"There," Margaery sighed, "Perfect!"
Maya turned around to see that her sister had gotten a glass of water and was carefully dropping a drop of green ink into it. Just a drop turned the water a lime green and Margaery held it out to Maya. Placing the cup between them, Maya placed her hand over the glass, inches from the rim before closing her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she drew her hand up, moving her fingers as she went.
"Woah!" Margaery gasped. "Look Maya!"
The older girl opened her eyes, realizing that the water had left the cup and had separated into five branches, each of them following her fingers in squiggly lines.
"Do you think you could make a shape?" Margaery asked.
Maya pursed her plump lips together in a straight line and furrowed her brow, "Give me something."
"A bird," Margaery said, clapping her hands in anticipation.
Her sister nodded before placing the water back in the cup. Picking the cup up in one hand, she poured the green water toward her hand, but it never made contact with her palm. The water began to move about and form into a ball of water which hovered inches from her hand. setting the now empty cup down, Maya began to move her free hand around the ball of water, drawing out two sides of the ball to make wings, doing the same for the head and the tail. Finally, she held up her creation.... A perfect water bird.
Maya then concentrated on the water in the washing bowl on the other side of the room. Drawing the water toward her, she moved her hand away from the bird and blew at it. The bird's wings began to beat and fly around Margaery's head. Taking the washing water, she created four balls of water, moving her arms in a rhythmic pattern before a butterfly, a fish, a bunny and a cat made of water burst from the balls of water, prancing about the girls' heads.
Margaery let out a joyful laugh, jumping up and down on the bed to try and grab the water animals. Maya laughed as she made the animals duck out of the way just in time every time her sister went for them. However, there were five animals and only one of Maya, so there did come a time when Margaery managed to grab the water: the bunny, and the water burst, splashing everywhere.
The two girls froze, Maya quickly putting the water back in the cup and the washing basin, looking at her sister who was now soaked from head to toe.
Margaery was silent for a moment, trying to comprehend what had happened before she laughed, "Let's do it again!"
Smiling, Maya shook her head, "If we're going to do it again, we need to do it outside by the lake."
What the girls didn't know was that when they went tumbling down the hallway and outside to the lake, they were followed.
Coming to stand on the rocky shore next to the lake, Margaery, seated herself a good distance from the water while Maya walked to the edge, so she was about ankle deep in the water.
"What are you thinking about?" Margaery asked, noticing that her sister was staring at the water with a concentrating expression.
Maya turned to look at her sister, "Margo. If I am able to control water with my hands.... Do you think I could control it with my whole body?"
Margaery's eyes widened, not expecting that, "What do you mean?"
"I mean...." Maya sighed. "When I move my hands, I can make the water move.... But what if I moved my whole body rhythmically?"
"Like dancing?" Margaery asked.
Maya nodded which earned her a huge grin from her sister, "Try it!"
Sighing, Maya turned back to the water. She didn't know many dances to be honest. She hadn't yet been taught many and she wasn't the type to ask to be taught like Margaery. Taking a deep breath, she raised her hands slowly, so they were stretched out perpendicular to her body. Then drawing them all the way up above her head, she clapped them together. Water from the lake had followed suit, rising from the rest of the lake in a long tube. When she clapped her hand, it exploded, water spraying everywhere.
Maya immediately kept her hands together before twirling on one foot. The water froze midair before becoming two long spirals, spiraling to the rhythm of Maya's twirls.
After a few twirls, Maya stopped and planted both feet on the pebbles, firmly keeping them apart before she let her arms down, moving them in a waving fashion, keeping her rhythm slow and smooth but steady.
She repeated the sequence again, but more determined and a little more confident, making the movements sharper and demanding. The water did the same pattern over but this time it grew larger and whenever Maya moved sharply, water would spray and splash slightly but keep shape.
Maya was just about to go into another round, deciding to change some of the moves when she froze. She had turned around and had stopped mid spin to see Margaery smiling behind her.... but Maya's eyes fell on something beyond Margaery.... Loras, standing about five meters behind the unexpecting Margaery.
Margaery followed her sister's gaze and she jumped at the sight of their brother who was staring with a dropped jaw and wide eyes. Maya considered rushing over to her brother, afraid he would faint like he had when he had barged in on Maya and Margaery dressing one day. Not the manliest day for Loras who had steered clear of his sisters for almost two days, afraid he would faint again if he got too close.
"Loras...." Maya started but Margaery jumped to her feet, taking a few steps toward Loras who had slowly approached them.
"It was my idea," Margaery cried, "I insisted that we come out today. It wasn't Maya's fault... please don't get angry...."
Loras looked at his sister, his face looking like he was in a daze, but he managed a soft smile, "Why would I get angry? I'm just shocked is all."
Both girls let out relieved sighs while Loras walked past Margaery over to where Maya still stood. He looked at his oldest sister then at the water that was still suspended in the air. Slowly he approached the water before touching it. He let out a soft chuckle before turning to Maya, a huge grin on his face.
"How...."
Maya shook her head, "We don't know. It started yesterday."
Loras looked back at the water before walking back to Maya, "It probably was something you always had.... You just didn't realize it till now. Show me."
Smiling, Maya turned back to the water and began to dance again, changing the moves to make it more interesting. She was halfway through another sequence when she felt a hand touch her shoulder and turning, she saw Loras standing by her but not looking at her. His eyes were looking up at the top of the bank, a firm look on his young face.
Maya turned around to see what Margaery and Loras had noticed.... the rest of the Tyrell kids: Garlan and Willas stood at the top of the bank, both still garbed in their training attire, having probably come in search of their siblings after sparring. Garlan's jaw was almost touching the ground while Willas had a firm look on his face.... almost determined. Maya quickly reached out and placed a hand on her youngest brother's arm, making him relax and look at her.
"It's okay. Everything will be fine," she whispered.
However deep down, Mayaka Lelisa Tyrell, knew that from now on, things would never be the same for her.