Chapter 11: Cleo

  I watched him, hidden away from his sight, unable to look away from his sapphire gills.

  That color reminded me of sunny days playing with my siblings, the warmth of Mom’s love, and her dying breaths.

  A memory of humans with metal tubes stuck behind them stabbing Mom over and over again while she screamed at me to go ran through my mind with clarity. I remembered the sea turned sapphire blue when she died, as if it was honoring her. I remembered the ocean turned sapphire blue when Messenger’s voice coaxed me into his arms when I was only a calf. I remembered his hands tenderly embracing me while nudging a bottle of milk into my mouth. He told me that I was special, different from the other sea animals. I wasn’t born here like they were.

  Messenger rescued me, and in time, my fondness grew into adoration.

  But, he never shared that adoration with me.

  I wasn’t even old enough to fully become a partner, but one day I built up the courage to go to him and offer to be his partner. His eyes watered and I could see the tears drift away with the ocean current as he told me that he couldn’t.

  I am sorry, Cleo, but we were never meant to be partners.

  He refused because he could never abandon Adrah, his clymene dolphin partner who died protecting him in the First Ocean War. He said that if we became partners, we would only become a fragmented, broken version of what a bond was.

  My heart was torn into shreds as his refusal left a hole in my heart that I couldn’t fill up, no matter how many moments we spent together after that.

  “My Little Sorrowful One, what is troubling your heart?”

  Master Eldoris’ low rumble startled me from my thoughts.

  “Just… wondering who Altair might be,” I stuttered, and he sighed.

  “Your heart might be torn now, but it can mend. Time won’t mend your heart, but stepping forward and letting go of your adoration for Messenger will. He is not fit for you, My Little One,” Master Eldoris gently spoke.

  “But, how do I know if I will find the right person as my partner?”

  I looked up at him, lost and confused.

  “This person is the person that you will protect for the rest of your life. This person is the person that you will swear your life to. If you want my advice, Little One, ask yourself this: would you like to protect this special person for the rest of your life? Would you mind spending the rest of your days with them, sharing every moment with them? If you can answer these questions, then you know who to choose. And, don’t be afraid of rejection. For how can you move forward if you’re afraid of the shadows of the past?” he said, kindly teaching me.

  “But, I don’t feel like I’m ready yet. It still hurts when I see him, like I don’t know how to act around him. If I bind myself to another person, will I forget Messenger? Will I forget all the memories that I spent with him? Or, will I be tortured by his waking figure everytime I am with my new partner? I don’t know what to do, Master. What should I do?” I blurted.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “If you don’t know what to do, look. Look around you, Cleo. You will never forget your Teacher, and if you choose the right person, you will never look back on your decision. See for yourself, Cleo. Then, you will know,” Master Eldoris murmured, gliding away for me to think and decide on what to do next.

  “Hi, I’m Altair. Who are you?”

  It was the boy from last time. I saved him when he was unconscious. What was he doing here? Had he healed already? His head wound must have healed super quickly, because he was swimming about like a normal hybrid. I watched the scene with rapt attention, watching him talk gently to Estelle, the little seahorse.

  His face was so gentle in comparison to Messenger’s, yet there was still a hint of sadness etched deep into his pretty green-amber eyes. What happened to him? How was he so kind and gentle yet his eyes looked so sad?

  If you don’t know what to do, look.

  I peered through the kelp, listening to what they were saying.

  “You’re not the only one who feels useless, Estelle. I feel like that too. I don’t know how to live down here, and even breathing down here is hard for me.”

  “...Let’s learn how to be useful together, okay?”

  Together?

  He wanted to do things together. He didn’t want to do things alone. I wanted to do something together.

  I wanted to spend my days protecting someone who wanted to share everything, even their lives, with me. I wanted to look over and watch this boy’s gentle face every day. I wanted to see his kind face look up to me like he looked at Estelle.

  Would he want to do that with me? I didn’t want to be rejected anymore. Most importantly, I didn’t want to be alone and useless anymore.

  I slid out of the kelp to meet my future partner.

  “You’re the one,” I blurted, hoping to keep him there.

  “Um… me?”

  His eyes widened not in fear, but in surprise.

  “You’re the one I want to protect,” I blurted out again, wondering what in the world I was doing.

  How did they do this properly? Was I supposed to ease this, or go straight for it? Surprisingly, the boy brought his hand up to my nose, an act that I didn't see coming.

  “Hi, I am Altair. What’s your name?”

  “I’m Cleo.”

  “Cleo. What a pretty name,” he beamed, and my heart melted.

  Up close, he was beautiful. His brown hair gently framed his light face like a halo, while one eye was a cool emerald green and the other a warm amber. His sapphire gills gracefully floated behind him, but the most beautiful thing about him was his smile. It was a melancholy yet innocent and sweet smile, a smile I never saw from Teacher. I wanted to be his Guardian, to protect this lovely person.

  “Will you allow me to be your Guardian?” I blurted out, shocking the entire Aquarium.

  Everyone fell silent, waiting for his reply.

  “Don’t you think it’s a bit too quick, Cleo? Why don’t you get to know each other-” Amber spoke up, but Master Eldoris gently stopped her.

  “Amber, Cleo has made up his mind. And at his age, he’s supposed to have a partner already. The only thing that’s left is for Altair to state his opinion. Child, a Guardian worthy of your potential is asking to be your bonded mate. What do you say? Do you accept it?”

  “I don’t think I understand this entire situation, but I… I am glad you want to be my friend. If that is what being partners means, then I will absolutely accept it.”

  His gaze softly traveled to me, and I flipped, squealing with joy.

  “Congratulations, Altair. I didn’t think we would find a partner so soon, but let’s find Dr. Liam after lunch. We’ll ask him to bind your minds together to fully complete the Guardian bond,” Amber explained to him, but I could only focus on Altair.

  To me, he was a beautiful and precious existence that needed to be protected.

  And, I wanted to be the one who shielded him.