Water Touched - A Dragon Tribe Origin

Chapter Seventeen - Tai

I need to get out of here because I think I'm going crazy. No, I'm positive I already am. Sometimes I pinch myself to remind myself that this is real. Most of the time, I'm disappointed when I don't wake up, but the first time I wasn't disappointed happened this morning.

It scared me. Only a couple of days have gone by and I'm already starting to acclimate, to accept, what happened. I don't like it. What does that say about me? That the only thing keeping my heart at home is my mother? If Darien had gone about this in a better way, I don't think I'd be so attached to the idea of going back to her. Not to say I don't love her more than life, because I do. Getting her blessing would have gone a whole lot further than faking my death. I want her to rest easy and be able to move on with life now that I'm gone—not grieve. Losing me in this way could become the end of her. How can he expect me to be okay with that?

Being off of the island, though... I hate myself for feeling like I can breathe easier here in the city. Maybe I was born to be a city girl. When I look out the window, I see a world of opportunity, not an overwhelming labyrinth of glass and steel. The first time I looked out at Oceina City I felt more at home than I ever did on the island. Then I told myself it's wrong to feel that way because of what he's done to me. I should not be comfortable here or with him.

Someone help me, if he hadn't been the cause of my being here, I'd have turned into one of those girls I hate. The ones who get so wrapped up in a guy they can't think anymore. Because I could have turned him into my whole world, easily. My brave, beautiful, savior of a man who was going to kiss my boo-boos all better. Brain cells were saved when he admitted he was a dragon. I've been able to at least maintain something resembling a clear head. Key word is resembling. His not hovering over me, demanding I agree with him, has helped with that too of course. Clearly, he wants me to understand why and to come to an acceptance of it. I get that message pretty loudly. But I can also tell he wants me to come to these conclusions on my own through his honesty.

He's so weird.

All of this is weird.

What am I supposed to be feeling, anyway? Because I think part of me still wants him to kiss my problems until they disappear—to let him make everything better. He's easy to fall for.

His gentleness creates this light about him. I'm not sure how to explain it, but it's inviting. It's the one thing that makes me want to get to know him, to give him a chance. Again, it's only been a couple of days, and already I'm drawn to him. I don't like it. Is there a way to accept him without accepting the fate he's thrust me into? A way we could get to know one another and not let him think he has all of the control? That I'm a pushover? Can I keep fighting him without pushing him away completely? Is there a way for me to have it all?

Darien believes he's in love with me. Knowing he's been following me around for a while leaves me more than a little unsettled. When I don't think about that detail, my want to open up to him is a whole lot greater, that's for sure. I believe him when he says he didn't spy on me through the window curtains and all that. Just strange for me to think he's been in my life for so long and didn't bother to try and say a word to me? Was he afraid? I don't know a lot about dragon life. The few things I've learned from him seem to indicate there are a lot of ancient rules to follow. I also get the impression they're not rules to be taken lightly.

Ugh, I shouldn't be empathizing with him, right? That's wrong, right? This is all so wrong.

And yet, when he looks at me, I feel...warm inside. Tingly. That smile. Wow, that smile. When we're together, it's like he's the eye of my storm. Where I'm a tempest, he's the part that calms me and keeps me centered. Even when we're fighting, I feel his peace. Never have I ever experienced anything like it.