Ocean Blue Eyes//A Garmau AU

27

The group decided that they would enjoy breakfast first before diving into discussing plans. Besides, Zianna didn't seem to be in a serious mood. Instead, she was ecstatic seeing Garroth and Aphmau kiss when she walked into the door. She wouldn't stop giggling about it, making Jay even shake his head at his wife as he tried his best to contain himself. Vylad tried to calm her down by saying; "Mom, they probably are new to this so by you doing this, it's not helping."

"Oh hush!" She brushed him off, swaying away his hand that was on her shoulder. "I'm just so excited! You know, I always told Sylvanna-"

"That you thought Aphmau and Vylad would get together," Garroth finished for her, since she had said it five times at this point. Everyone chuckled, including Zianna who just replied; "Yes. But, in all honesty, as they got older, I didn't see it. They were too good of friends."

"Heh and Vylad is just a massive dork," Aphmau added, taking a bite of her scrambled eggs. The brunette rolled his eyes playfully. "Trust me Aph. If he's anything like Mom, he'll be probably more dorky then me."

"Not possible," The short girl said. Everyone just continued chatting around, laughing here and there. Once things were coming to a close though, Katelyn offered to take Ein a plate up since she assumed no one else in the room was going to do it. She didn't blame them either. After what happened, she wasn't too far away from attacking him as well.

"I'll be right back," Katelyn whispered gently to Aphmau, who just shot her a grateful smile in return. She was glad it wasn't her going up there. She couldn't possibly imagine facing Ein after what happened last night.

"Now...Gar," Zianna said, sounding a bit more serious. "We need to discuss this plan. The way Jay and I did so many years ago is that, I would transform late at night. That way no one saw me. But, due to the guards on the beach, I believe it would be more difficult. We might have to have someone help us with that."

"I have a friend at the docks who we can lend a boat from," Jay suggested. "He's a good friend and wouldn't question anything. He owes me one too."

"Okay Dad. Got any secrets you'd like to tell me," Vylad asked, not liking the sound of that. Jay shrugged, teasing his son who just huffed and sank back into his seat. Zianna continued, ignoring the banter. "I have enough to transform you only once so, we have to make this right. If not, it took take days for Hyria to make another batch. The ingredients are very hard to gather."

"I see," Garroth frowned. For one, he was stressed with the new added pressure...but also the fact that there seemed to be enough for just one. Aphmau rested his hand on his' under the table and gave him a reassuring smile. They didn't need to make a decision now but, it was something the two needed to work out. She knew it was hopeful thinking though...

Zianna also seemed to noticed the two's disappointment, saddened for them since she knew from personal experience the choice they had to make. She just hoped they'd make the right one...

"G-Guys?", They heard Katelyn call from upstairs. The worried tone in her voice was enough for them to all go upstairs at once and when they found her in Ein's room, the man was gone. The window was wide open and when Aphmau rushed over to look out, he was nowhere to be found. She cursed at herself for not thinking of this sooner.

The window. The stupid window. How couldn't I have thought of that?

As her frustration grew, Aaron was the first to try and calm her down, saying, "He probably didn't go far. Besides, what could he do?"

"He could go straight to the research center and tell them what he saw," Aphmau clarified. Aaron had to admit that it sounded bad but, he wasn't going to let her freak out over this. So, he urged her on saying, "That's what you think. Why would they believe him? He's got no proof that he saw you two last night."

Aphmau wasn't really listening. She knew that he was just saying it all to make her feel better and it wasn't working. Her heart was racing and the thoughts of what could happen were filling her head. Aaron realized that he wasn't helping much so, he looked back at the others. They didn't know what to do either...

Garroth though, looked at everyone and motioned for them to leave the three of them alone. They were the ones who Dr. Vick was most likely after. This is something they needed to discuss. Not them...

Katelyn, Vylad, and his parents left the room, Zianna looking back sympathetically before closing the door behind her. Garroth was the first to say; "Aph, we all need to just calm down and think about this clearly. There's no reason to freak out yet."

"Exactly," Aaron said. "Look...we'll just have to be more careful. We definitely can't stay here either."

Aphmau frowned deeply, looking down at the floor as she held herself. She was the only one who knew what they really needed to do...and it hurt her to say.

"No...Garroth needs to go home," She says, finally looking up. "That way, he won't get taken away again and there's no way to prove that we took him."

Aaron and Garroth stood there in shock. Aphmau was surprised of herself too. She didn't want Garroth to back...she really didn't. At least not now. Not when they could still do so much. She wanted him to stay and spend a few more moments with her. But, now she knew the danger of this. If he didn't leave soon, he might get hurt or worse. On top of that, Aaron and her could get into serious trouble. Now with Ein on the loose, they had to launch their plan into action. Unfortunately, all three of them knew that, as much as they were in denial. They didn't want to be separated since they had already been through so much together but, the blonde also didn't want them to get in trouble for him.
Aaron and Garroth looked at each other, the blonde motioned for him to leave for a moment. The raven-hair man understood, slipping away like the others. The blonde was then left alone with the small girl once again. He went up to her slowly, not knowing what might be the final thing to set her off. He gently unraveled her arms, holding them tenderly in his arms instead. He looked down at her longingly, asking her; "Are you okay?"

She shook her head, saying; "No...because of me, now you're in danger. If I would've stood up to Ein and said that you weren't the creature he wanted to see, we wouldn't be in this mess."

"Aph...the only one who put me in danger was myself. If I never went to the surface, I wouldn't be here so please," He begged her, shaking her gently to get her out of this state, "don't blame yourself. The only one to blame is me and my idioticy."

"Garroth...I'm terrified of what they would do to you if you got caught again," She said in a squeaky voice, tears starting to come to her eyes again. "They are monsters...and I don't how to stop them."

She buried herself into his chest, hugging him tightly as she began to sob. The blonde was quick to hug her back as he ran his hand across her soft hair. "Okay...so I'll go. I'm just...I'm going to m-miss you."

"I'm going to miss you too," She said. Her fingers gripped onto his arms as she began to sob into his chest. He leaned down slightly, kissing the top of her head. He hated seeing her like this...how does such a happy, positive person become so sad? Just thinking about it and feeling her tears stain his shirt caused tears to come to his eyes.

But, both of them knew. They knew from the beginning. This love...this feeling that they had for each other wasn't meant to last. They were from two different worlds and there was no way they could stay together, satisfying both of their dreams. As much as they cared for one another, it still wasn't strong enough to stay.

"Hey Aph?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you look up at me?"

She did and when her caramel eyes met with ocean blue, they felt a spark once again. Garroth leaned down even further, connecting their lips once again. Aphmau still had to reach up on her tippy-toes, wrapping her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. Once they parted again. they wiped away each other's tears. She made direct eye contact with him again, both her hands caressing his cheeks as she said; "We're gonna figure this out. I promise."

"I know we will," He smiled, picking her up in a hug.

But they will sure damn well try to make this work. Even if all the odds seemed against them.

"You ready to go talk to Zianna?", Aphmau asked, still holding his hand. He grinned, nodding his head and guiding her out of the room.

Word Count: 1573