Chapter 11

 

 

Thomas just laughed as he got up off the sofa, turned off the television, and threw the remote back down into the seat he’d been occupying. “You’re supposed to be studying,” He said teasingly,

“I know, but swimming is much more fun, besides, like I said, the pool is closed, which means, there are only two people who have a key, me and the super.” I said smiling. “I have the key because of being on the swim team, so that if I need to use the pool for practice, I can.” I shrugged, heading to the door, “Are you going to join me?”

Before the sentence left my mouth, he’d opened the door and was waiting on me to walk out into the hall first. “I take it clothes are optional, since you didn’t grab anything but towels?” He asked curiously, a small smirk playing at the corners of his lips.

“Well, what kind of Mer would I be if I thought we needed suits to swim?” I giggled as we walked towards the elevator to go to the roof.

It was late; the elevator took no time at all to get to us, and then straight up to the roof. The fence around the pool was locked with a padlock, I placed my key inside the tumbler, and undid the lock as quietly as possible, we didn’t need to alert anyone that we were up here this late at night.

The first touches of fall were in the night air, it was chill, too chill for most to be swimming, it was only September, but already the leaves were starting to die and turn when you walked through the park far below us now.

I turned back to the pool, it was lit around the pool, and it made the water glow blue against the paint of the walls. Thomas wrapped his arms around me, as if to keep me warm, but it was the closeness that we both craved of each other more so than the chill in the air that drove him. We stood like that together for several long moments, looking out across the view of the city; it was remarkable this late at night with the lights. Though not one of the tallest buildings in The Village by far, if you looked out at the skyline, you could see many of the notable buildings from where we stood. We both just looked on at the city in awe, having come from such uninhabited areas in our youth; it was amazing, even to me after these four years. I don’t know if it’s that I’d never noticed these things before, or it was the feeling of completeness of my life at the moment with Thomas being here, with me, away from the grotto, the politics, the pressures at home, for now at least. I wanted this to last forever, I didn’t want to find out this was just a dream that I was going to wake up from, that was my biggest fear, that none of the last two days were real.

I tuned around slowly, not leaving his arms, looking up in to his face, the blue of the pool playing strange shadows across his handsome features. I gazed deeply in to his eyes, as if looking into the stormy sea, what I wanted to see there, I’m not sure, maybe a glimpse of what Thomas wanted from me, from us, maybe it was just a reassurance that this was real. What I saw was distant, and unclear, as if Thomas himself didn’t know or was unsure, though he showed confidence on his strong, handsome exterior, it made me wonder if he was just as scared of what was going to happen as I was. For me it was a reaffirmation of his love, I could sense that it wasn’t himself he was scared for, but for me, and our love being able to pull us through this challenge unchanged. Change was bound to happen, I knew that I had changed, though Thomas still loved me, I wasn’t the same girl he’d left behind, nor was he the same young boy who’d left, we had grown, matured, and with that, so had our relationship, if you can call two days a relationship, it was deeper, more than it had ever been, not to mention what was riding on it working out the way it was planned.

To say I wasn’t scared would have been a lie, not just to world, but to me as well.

“Are you cold?” He asked pulling me closer.

“No, just admiring the view” I smiled, still looking up into his handsome, strong face. “Are you, you’re the one still fully dressed.”

A deep throaty laugh broke from his lips, his irrepressible grin shining through, “No, I was just thinking how perfect this is right now, like this, us.” I laid my head against his chest, I could feel his heart beating a strong steady rhythm, I closed my eyes and lost myself in that, imagining what it would be like to always be like this.

I slipped from his arms, I undid my robe, I had nothing under it, and I hadn’t put on anything but the robe after my shower. I slid quietly into the cool water, looking up at Thomas standing at the edge of the pool. He bent to kick off his boots, and then undid his belt, pulling the tee shirt from the waist of his pants, I caught the glimmer of his scales at his hips, and he unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans, sliding them to his ankles. He sat, and finished pulling them off over his feet, pulling off his socks, sliding into the water beside me.

It had been a very long time since we’d swam together. I remembered the river, the waves washing over us as we swam, I wrapped my arms around his strong shoulders, and I gently kissed his lips. I pulled away, pushing off the wall moving to the center of the pool on the deepest end.

Thomas followed, we hung there for a moment, suspended in the water, and he dropped the last of his illusion. I watched with envy at what happened next, without effort, his tail appeared, beautiful shades of blue green, playing in the light of the pool. It didn’t seem to bother him or hurt, as it did when I called mine. I let the last of my illusion go, and closing my eyes, I tried to summons my tail. The lower part of my body started burning, not as intensely as before, though still it burned. The burning subsided, within only a few seconds, looking down I saw my lavender silver tail was there. I gasped at the ease of summonsing it this time. Thomas assured me that the more I practiced, the easier it would get me to summons my tail on a whim, and that it would no longer hurt the better I got at it.

Thomas dove under the water, his hair and tail swirling around him as he swam the length of the pool to the shallow end and back. He was graceful to watch, though I was still treading water with my arms like a human, I wasn’t sure how to swim with my tail; I was used to having two legs to propel me forward as I swam. I watched and noticed he didn’t use his arms at all; it was all in the motion of his tail. I was so at home in the water, yet I felt so lost in this moment as to how to swim, me the star of the New York University Swim Team, Olympic hopeful for the 2012 Summer Games in London, I felt as if I stopped treading water, I would drown.

I watched as Thomas swam, back and forth across the pool staying submerged under water, it was if I was watching an intricately choreographed ballet that took place underwater, I was in awe of him, I wanted to swim like that, I wanted to look that graceful, that beautiful in the water. He emerged in front of me, smiling. “Join me?” he asked of me.

“I would, but I don’t know how.” I stated between mouths full of water.

“It’s easy.” He told me, “First, stop treading water, you’re wasting energy.” I did as I was told; it felt as if I’d slip under the water, unable to breathe. “Now, swish your tail, back and forth, side to side, get a small circular motion going around you, your natural ability to float will do the rest of the work.” He instructed, as he reached for my hand to reassure me that I would be fine. It took me a little while to get the motion right, I slipped under the water several times, coming up choking and gasping for air. I didn’t understand how Thomas could stay under water for so long at a time.

He let go of my hand, “See, you’re holding yourself up in the water, without treading.” Thomas smiled, “Wasn’t that hard to learn was it?” I shook my head still feeling a bit shaky on my own, but I knew he was right there, and wouldn’t let anything happen to me. “Now, move forward,” He said, “flatten your body in line with the water; use the same motions, now it’s up, down, side to side.” I was as inept as a baby learning to walk was, this was a lesson I should have learned from my mother but how could she teach a child that had no tail to swim like a Mer? I was no stranger to some one else telling me how to swim, I was more than used to Keith, telling what I was doing wrong, how to improve it, good thing when it came to water I was a quick study. I swam, back and forth above the water the length of the pool a couple times. It was Thomas’ turn to watch, and he did so with pride as he seen me use my tail for the first time. I swam back to him, moving my body upright as if standing in the water, swishing my tail as he’d taught me, I found it took much less effort than trying to tread water as I was doing before, it was a natural movement for my tail to hold me suspended.

“Now, to get you swimming truly like a Mer,” He said confidently. I looked at him, I wasn’t sure what he meant, I thought I was swimming like I Mer.

“You’re going to learn your first real spell,” He informed me. Panic rush through me, I almost forgot what I was doing; I started to slip underwater again. I caught myself just in time as to not get a mouthful of water.

“I don’t have any magic ability though.” I protested adamantly.

“Yes, you do, you do your illusion all the time, and you can summons your tail can’t you?” He asked.

“Well yes, but those things aren’t real magic.” I stated plainly. “Those are just things I do.”

“They are real magic Amy, as for ability, you have it, it’s just untrained.”

“If you say so, I think you’ve got the wrong sister,” I said teasingly.

His face hardened a bit, “I haven’t got the wrong sister, I’ve got the sister I’m in love with, and you are going to learn how to wield magic if it’s the death of us both.” He stated, not seeming to get the joke. I guess I must have touched a nerve with what I’d said, I didn’t mean he should be with my sister, I wanted him here with me.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…”

“I know, I guess I’m just a little touchy about it after all that’s happened,” he said a bit dejected.

“Let’s move down to the shallow end of the pool,” Thomas instructed, “It is easier to learn in shallower water” I followed him to the shallow end of the pool, where we could sit on the bottom not having to keep ourselves afloat.

"If you're going to learn to breath water, you're going to have to learn there are hundreds possibilities. The School of Alteration is all about possibilities, changing patterns, making things is what they could be.” Thomas stated. "I will teach you a powerful spell for breathing water," he said. "But you must become a master of it. As with all spells and all skills, the more you practice, the better you get. Even that isn’t enough. To achieve true mastery, you must understand what it is you're doing. It isn’t simply enough to perform a perfect thrust of a blade -- you must also know what you are doing and why."

"That's common sense," I said, nodding my head as he spoke.

"Yes, it is," said Thomas, closing his eyes. "But the spells of alteration are all about uncommon sense. The infinite possibilities, breaking the sky, swallowing space, dancing with time, setting ice on fire, believing that the unreal may become real. You must learn the rules of the cosmos and then break them."

"That sounds ... very difficult," replied I, trying to keep a straight face.

"There is one last thing I have to teach you," he said. "You must learn that desire is not enough. The world will end your spell no matter how good you are, and no matter how much you want it."

With that he set me to practicing breathing water, how to imagine that the water was air, to take it into my lungs, I spit and sputtered many times, finally after a few hours I started to get the hang of it.

It was nearly dawn, I had classes, with little sleep, and I was starting to feel the pull of the energy I had exhausted in the course of learning how to swim and breath water. I wanted a cup of coffee, and maybe something to eat. I was hungry and tired, and it was making it increasingly difficult to concentrate on what I was doing.

“Thomas, we need to get back down to the apartment before dawn, otherwise we might run into some one in the hall.”

“Ok, you’ve learned more than enough for one night’s work.” He said with a smile, “I’m proud of you.” He placed a kiss against my lips, as I closed my eyes to make my tail disappear. To my surprise, it didn’t hurt at all; it was just gone when I opened my eyes.

Thomas was already out of the pool, his jeans back on, belt hanging undone, and the rest of his clothes in his hands, with the towel draped around his neck. I walked up the steps and grabbed my own towel, throwing my robe over my still wet body. Our illusions in place, we left the pool, locking the gate behind us, heading back down the elevator.

We took the elevator down to the third floor, when the car stopped, and the door opened I looked both ways to see if anyone was in the hall, sure enough Mr. Jenkins was coming out of his apartment coffee cup in one hand and briefcase in the other. I’m not sure what he did for a living, but he was always in a suit and tie, and always left relatively early in the mornings, I only knew this because of having early practices during the summer when I would work more at the club. His back was still to us, we managed to get around the corner to my apartment before he’d noticed us. It wasn’t that I thought I’d get in trouble so much with the super as I wasn’t supposed to have the key at all to have access to the pool after closing, the super only did it after he’d found out I was practicing to try out for the Olympic swim team. I didn’t want him to get into trouble for letting me have the key, he’d been nothing but nice to me since I’d moved off campus and into my apartment. I’d lived in this same apartment, my apartment, my home for nearly two years now. It had the feeling of home to me; it was mine and no one else’s. The fact that Thomas had decided to stay with me didn’t change that, it was still mine, if I hadn’t wanted him here, I would have told him no to stay in the hotel.

 

Chapter 11