The Sea Calls Me Home

Untitled Part 2

How much longer are you going to make me meditate? Nya asks. She's not sure how long it's been since Nyad first brought back her consciousness, but she's starting to go stir crazy. This isn't like when Master Wu trained her to be the elemental master of water; her timeline is longer, more drawn out. The tantalizing possibility of seeing her family again lies just out of reach.

Becoming flesh and bone and leaving behind the sea, even for a short time, is not a pleasant undertaking. The more prepared you are, the less pain you will experience, Nyad explains patiently.

... the less pain I will experience? Nya repeats with a frown, that doesn't sound good.

You will be fine, ultimately, so long as you maintain adequate concentration. Otherwise, it will take longer for some parts of you to rejoin and form your full body and the process will be prolonged, Nyad tells her.

That's reassuring, Nya says, not feeling reassured at all.

I am glad to hear that! Replies Nyad, smiling serenely. Nya can't help but sigh. Clearly her companion is not fluent in sarcasm.

I'll just... get back to my meditating, then, Nya decides. This conversation is going nowhere, anyway.

Excellent. At this rate, you will be ready within another few weeks or so.

Nya groans. If she weren't currently manifesting as a girl made out of water, she'd face-palm.

A few days pass. Nyad teaches Nya how to sense the passage of time by tracking the high and low tide patterns. She grows stronger, able to keep herself stable for longer each day. Until Nyad starts throwing things at her, that is.

A seashell goes flying through her head one day while Nya is trying to meditate, and she temporarily dissolves into bubbles.

Hey! What was that for?! She demands once she's reformed herself. Though she cannot feel physical pain while merged with the sea, having her consciousness scattered about like that isn't a convenient thing to have to deal with.

It is essential that you are not only able to maintain your shape when things are calm, but that you are able to remain in control when there are distractions as well, Nyad says unapologetically.

And you couldn't have warned me first?

Nyad shrugs.

I would not have been able to catch you off guard if I had told you of my intentions.

Unfortunately, Nya can see her point. If separating herself from the sea is as strenuous as Nyad claims, she wants to be prepared. She chooses not to argue with her companion and sets about refocusing instead.

Nyad manages to surprise her with seashells, sand, and the occasional strand of seaweed a few more times before Nya is able to consistently ignore the attempts to distract her. As she grows more confident, Nya allows part of her consciousness to picture her family in her mind's eye. Do they miss her as much as she misses them, she wonders. It seems almost selfish to hope that they do, but... she's gotta admit how much she craves one of Kai's hugs and some quality time with her boyfriend and maybe-

Whoosh... a school of fish swims straight through Nya, forcing her to return her focus to holding herself together.

Ah, much better, Nyad tells her approvingly. Yeah, Nya's pretty sure those fish weren't a coincidence.

Will I ever get used to the sensation of fish swimming through me like that? She asks as she watches the fish swim away. They look so free, unburdened. Nyad thinks for a moment before answering Nya's question.

Perhaps in time... Did your ghost friend ever get used to similar things?

Well, Cole isn't a ghost anymore, but maybe? I remember him mentioning how convenient it was to be able to pass through floors and walls... Nya recalls. It's crazy to think about how long ago the fiasco that resulted in Cole becoming a ghost was. So much has changed. And yet... her situation parallels his quite fittingly. Suddenly, Nya has a much greater understanding of what Cole must have felt like.

Perhaps that is something you can ask him about once you have returned home, then, Nyad says as if sensing Nya's train of thought, but for now, how would you describe your ability to tolerate extreme pain prior to merging with the sea?