In Water, you have one mate, soul-linked, married, love of your life. That's it. One. I liked the idea because you weren't forced into it. You didn't have a special connection with the person that drew you to them without a second thought. There wasn't any weird glowing or mind matter. You just loved them. That's how my parents were and that's how I wanted to be. So, when I saw the look in Zen's eyes, I had an idea of what he was thinking. He likes me.
Tria and Hera keep excitedly chatting with him while Mire and Clarisse are off in their own world. The wind ruffles our hair slightly and the sun beats down on our backs, but none of us think about moving. I sit quietly, enjoying the view. Truthfully, I could get used to living in the Center. It was a beautiful place, even without color. The silver gleamed and the white shimmered. Even the in between gray seemed to have some beauty. In all honesty, I loved it here. Of course, I would love it more if there weren't any Fires.
Currently, there was a group of them playing at the other end of the field, but their voices carried. Through the wind, they almost sounded musical, like they were calling to me. I could see them all playing Touch, but there wasn't any distinguishing feature to any of them. They were just silver blobs dancing in the distance.
“Maia? Maia!”
I quickly turn around to an aggravated Tria.
“Why don't you join our conversation?” she asks, now back to her normal self. “Zen was just telling us about Sky City.”
I nod and scoot over so I'm sitting beside Zen and across from Hera. Tria soon realizes the predicament and sits on the other side of Zen. I notice she makes sure their knees touch. Hera, who notices as well, rolls her eyes at her cousin. It was an interesting sight. Zen makes no acknowledgment of the gesture and instead turns to me. I find that his eyes are interesting. They seem to have different shades of gray outlining the iris like sun rays. I'm so entranced that I forget that he was speaking for a minute.
“I am sorry, what did you say?” I question him, embarrassed.
“He asked you where you came from,” Hera says.
“Oh,” I mumble. “I'm from Water, but I didn't live in the city. More I lived in a small cave in the wall by a waterfall. It was a very nice home.”
“That sounds wonderful,” Zen breathes. He still hasn't lost his Wind accent. They speak in a very wispy way, even the men. Their voices almost sound like air and breaths. I smile at this small touch. It fits his physique, somehow. Zen is well built, but even so, his voice somehow fits him. Wind was most certainly his Element.
“Could you fly?” I suddenly blurt. Zen makes me nervous and I can't seem to act normal.
Zen nods, smiling. “I could. It was an amazing experience. I'm going to miss it, even after the Ceremony if I get transferred. Nothing beats feeling the wind in your face with nothing holding you up but yourself.”
I could almost picture myself there, in Wind. The city is gleaming behind me as I weave my way around the clouds and other people who live around me. I can feel the wind whipping my hair side to side and it biting my cheeks. The cold doesn't bother me, as it is with all Wind. I can see flocks of birds heading towards Earth as they make their way back from their migratory lands. I don't know where they fly from, but I know they are beautiful-
I snap out of the dream just long enough to hear Zen's next question.
“How do you get around in Water?” he asks, genuinely curious.
I smile at him. “Simple really. We grow gills and fins, like a fish. We can swim through water and deep depths. We don't need air underwater like you do in Wind. We have to be careful, though. Our fins could get snagged in a loose kelp piece and hinder us. It takes a while to get kelp off once it's on.”
