sleeping beauty [the originals]

l.

The next morning, Isla came downstairs to see Klaus, Elijah, and Hayley gathered around a table filled with food. 

"Where'd you get the food?" She asked, grabbing a handful of grapes. Klaus sighed, showing her the note he was holding. She gently grabbed it, looking it over. Raising an eyebrow, she looked up at him. 

"It's from our mother." Isla groaned, tilting her head back. Could they go more than a few months without Esther popping back into their lives. 

"What's wrong?" She heard Adair's voice from behind her. He walked up to the table. 

"Our mother is coming here for dinner tonight." Elijah answered. "As you can probably tell, we aren't thrilled." Adair nodded, understanding the situation. Hayley sighed, walking upstairs to her room. 

"So..." Isla turned to her dad. "We have all afternoon until she shows up. Is there anything you want to do that you couldn't on the other side." Adair thought about it for a moment, then it hit him. 

"I haven't been in the water in a long time. And what better way to teach you about being a mermaid than to actually swim in the water." Isla's eyes lit up. She immediately pulled out her phone, looking up directions to the nearest body of water. Lucky for them, it wasn't too long of a drive to get to the Gulf. 

The two got into a cab and headed for the beach. The entire drive, Isla was buzzing with excitement. This was the first time she was gonna be able to actually swim with her tail. She looked out the window as the landscape changed. 

When they arrived at their destination, they thanked the cab driver and asked him to wait for them, promising him  they wouldn't take too long. 

Stepping onto the sand, Isla felt a rush of familiarity. She couldn't explain it, but she felt home. Adair closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He took his shoes off, and Isla followed him. She took her bracelet off and placed it inside her shoes so it wouldn't get lost. 

"Are you ready?" Adair asked, and Isla nodded. 

"Absolutely." The two walked toward the sea. As soon as the water reached her feet, Isla prepared herself for the inevitable change. Meanwhile, Adair had already dove into the water. Sighing, Isla ran further into the ocean, plunging into the water. 

It was incredible. The feeling of the water all around her. She looked down and saw her tail shining under the sunlight. She looked over at her father, who had a tail similar to hers. The part she was most nervous about was breathing, but as she breathed out, she found she could breathe in water as easily as oxygen. Taking another breath, Isla marveled at the sight around her. 

Swimming with a tail took a bit longer to master than she thought it would, but she got it down. She swam over to her father. 

"I missed this." He exclaimed. "Being in the water, breathing it in." He sighed, spotting something in the distance. "Follow me." He swam off. Isla swam after him. 

Another thing she learned was she could swim at incredibly fast speeds. It only took her three seconds to catch up with Adair. When she poked her head above water, the shore was only a speck in the distance.

"Whoa." She whispered before diving back under the water. At the bottom, she saw a school of fish swimming around. Her eyes widened in fascination as she stared at the fish. "This is amazing." Beside her, Adair chuckled. 

"Have you ever been in the ocean before?" Isla shook her head. 

"We didn't exactly live near water, so I never learned to swim." She sighed. "Looking back, part of it was probably to hide what I was." She swam down to touch the sand. 

"Are you alright?" Adair asked, noticing the melancholy expression on her face. 

"I just don't understand how she could keep this from me for so long. I mean, this is one of the best days of my life, and I could have experienced this sooner. A thousand years sooner. Hell, she could have brought you back sooner, but she didn't." Adair sighed. 

"Well, it was different back then. She was terrified of what Mikael would do when he found out. I think she didn't want Mikael to find out you weren't his, so she tried her best to hide it. That doesn't make it right and she definitely went too far, but on some level, I do believe she was just trying to protect you." Isla nodded, looking up. She didn't know how long they had been down there, but the sky was starting to change colors. Her eyes widened.

"We have to go back." She looked back at Adair. "She's coming to the compound at 8. The sun is starting to set." Adair looked up.

"You're right." The two sped back toward the beach. When they got out of the water, they had to sit on the sand for a minute while they dried off and their legs came back. Isla felt the happiest she had ever felt. She quickly put on her bracelet and shoes and they went back to the cab. 

As they drove off toward New Orleans, Isla made a mental note to go back to that beach as soon as possible.