When the ocean meets fire

~~~~~~~~~~~Loss~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yes- I know Up's a Commander in Starship, but when they first met, he wasn't. Enjoy!

Thank you so much for reading,

ThoseSunsetEyes

Xx

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Her nightmares had started again. They'd now had a week on the ship, travelling to the first planet, and Taz hadn't had more than four hours sleep each night. Yet again she'd woken up holding back a scream and struggling for breath. She shut her eyes and collapsed back against her pillow, and despite how tired she was, she tried not to get sucked back into sleep. She couldn't face the horribly vivid nightmares which alternated between her Quinceañera and Qu'Onos.

Unfortunately she couldn't keep out her conscious memories from invading her head. The nightmare she'd just woken up from had been of her Quinceañera this time, and she shuddered as she still remembered every detail of it...

                                 ***

"Ta...uh, Taz!" she heard her mama downstairs, making an effort to say her chosen nickname because it was her birthday. She rolled her eyes at her mama's panicked tone- she always had to have everything perfect.

"Si mama?" she called, showing her annoyance obviously.

"¿Has probado el vestido todavía?" this time her mama sounded expectant; she'd searched long and hard for a dress that she hoped Taz wouldn't be completely disgusted with  like all the other dresses she'd suggested for her previously.

"Si." Taz mumbled, almost to herself as she turned to look at herself in the full-length mirror in her bedroom.

Who stood before her was someone so unlike her normal self it was like a completely different person. Her jet black hair ran in soft curls down to just above where her shoulder-blades ended, and was pinned back slightly on her right side with a single red daisy. Her already long eyelashes darkened her eyes so they looked almost black, and a sweep of dark eyeliner outlined her eyes so they looked like near-perfect circles. Her lips had the slightest extra colour to match the daisy, and the deep red sash which was tied around her waist.

Then there was the dress. Taz hadn't worn a dress since she'd been able to dress herself, and she still had an aversion to all things pink and fluffy or frilly, but she had to admit... this dress was... not bad. Gathered at the top in a subtle white lace pattern at a scoop neck, the dress was cinched in at the waist; the sash accentuating that. It flowed down to the floor but didn't look like a wedding dress, as the white was broken up by a slit over her left leg, which showed ruffled red material with the same lace pattern.

She tried not to smile at this girl in the mirror that was now more of a woman, but she couldn't help a small smirk. Taz couldn't believe that a- she was wearing a dress, b- she didn't mind wearing it, and c- she looked so... so... she couldn't think of a word. Different, she supposed.

A loud and over-excited squeal interrupted her thoughts from her mama downstairs, and Taz went back to normal-mode: she rolled her eyes and sighed.

“Tu puede venir abajo- todo el mundo está a la espera!” her mama called, ending in the same squeal she’d just heard when she said she’d tried on the dress. Taz shuddered at her words- everyone’s waiting. She didn’t know if she could face that many people; she knew her mama liked huge family gatherings and had probably invited as many people as she could fit in the house and more. Seriously- are jou going to be scared of jour family? She thought to herself, now go down dere and face dem- be tough! With that, Taz breathed out suddenly and determinedly, and strode to the top of the spiralling staircase which would take her down to where her family was waiting.