Water and Wind

Chapter 20

Arian

It should take energy to keep up this amount of wind for this amount of time, but it doesn't. He feels no trace of tiredness as his hands keep Nimue up. They flicker when they need to. They turn and angle when they do. It's like the whole process is ingrained in his very bones. And all he feels is pure elation.

Meanwhile, Nimue has started her streams up again, faster, stronger, prettier. Her face glows as she catches one stream and bounces it up to clash with another. In his heart, he feels that Circe is seeing this, that she is watching from the above. And she is loving it.

Sirena's voice begins to lift, high and sweet, yet carrying a power far beyond its years, and then the children step forward one by one. The flowers, the vines, the sparks, the shadows, the lights, it's all there again, the whole shebang. The energy courses through him, and the wind moves faster and faster through his fingers.

Nimue

Ready Circe? She asks in her head, feeling her sister looking down with approval. She can feel Circe's nod. Okay.

With one deep breath, she spurts a stream of glittering water out of her mouth, where it dangles in midair and twists itself into shapes. She's never sure what shape it will make - it all depends on her moods - but she thinks she knows now.

An oval appears. Eyes carve. A nose. A mischievous smiling mouth. Bright cheeks and glowing eyes. And then a lightning bolt, carving into the back of her neck. Circe is smiling down at them. Her neck bends forward, fingertips stretching to meet the water, yet not quite touching it. "I love you sister."

Then the face fades, exploding into tiny fragments of crystal droplets that rain over the performers, yet not quite touch them. She feels Circe's happiness, her determination, her internal and external fire rain down with it, and she touches a droplet lightly. Her head is thrown back to the bright blue sky as she flings the droplet out along with a stream. In the stream, she places her love, her happiness, every good feeling inside her right now and sends it upward. Upward to Circe.

The wind beneath her slows, and before she knows it, she's being lowered by Arian's hands. Her toes touch the floor gently, and as gracefully as she can, she stands up straight and bursts into just about the largest smile in history.

She doesn't know what makes her do it next, but it must have been Circe's fire, still kindled inside her that lets her reach up and gently take Arian's face to kiss him. And in that moment, everything fades. The noise is gone, the children's shrieks and whistles quiet, even the adults' disapproving thoughts vanish. There is nothing, nothing but her and Arian. Even the Earth seems to have stopped moving under her feet. She feels a happiness greater than she's ever felt before, and a floating feeling that makes her time in the air feel like nothing at all.

They pull away gently, and his hazel eyes sparkle at her, the sun lighting up his face and his dark hair. And still the world is silent, unmoving. Almost dizzying. But that's before they both burst into smiles too big for their face, and together they laugh and laugh until tears are flowing from their eyes, before he reaches to her and wraps an arm around her waist. She can tell the adults are about to deliver a major mental scolding about propriety in public, but she doesn't care, and neither does he.

Arian

His arm is around her waist, and she turns her head to look him in the eye. Her golden brown hair is long and loose, her blue eyes sparkling more than the sun hitting the open ocean ever would, and she wears a smile that would shine through the dark. He wants to reach out and kiss her again. She leans against him, her head on his shoulder, feeling as if it belonged there this whole time, and then, he feels a hand slip into his. He looks down.

Jinx's little hand has slipped into his, his deep brown eyes staring solemnly into Arian's. "Did you really kiss her?" He asks excitedly. Arian squeezes his hand affectionately, laughing at the little boy's excitement.

"Yes. Isn't she pretty?" He squeezes Nimue gently, and she laughs, pushing him away.

"Stop." Freya's hand has slipped into Nimue's, and pretty soon, more children are connecting the chain, until they're standing in one line.

Shyly, he unwraps his arm to take Nimue's hand, so it's one long hand-holding chain. And Freya lifts her hands in the air, prompting laughter and imitation. The whole chain follows, all except Arian and Nimue, who glance at each other quickly, then down at their joined hands. Together, in one fluid motion, they lift it above their head, and nothing has ever felt so perfect.