Tying up loose fins

The Return part 1

 Even under the water, Sirena could hear the giggles of hatchlings and the cheerful chatter of young mermaids. It was an exhilarating feeling that made Sirena wonder if she was dreaming, every time she swam through the reef, once a ghost town, now bustling with her pod once again. There was a time where she was as clumsy in the water as she was her first time on legs. She kept swimming into mermaids. She has just gotten too accustomed to being the only one in the water that she found it easily to get lost in thought, not looking where she was going. Sirena wouldn't give anything in the world for the pod's return... except -maybe- David.

Why was there, then, this feeling of emptiness? It was nonsensical. She'd gotten back all that she'd lost - her sister, her pod- and gained so much more like new friends, land life and her dear David.

Sirena surfaced in her moon pool. It had been a long day and she was ready to spread out on her comfy rock bed. She had to sleep off this grumpy feeling she had before she said something ungrateful. Sirena felt the water ripple as she closed her eyes. She flung them open in slight annoyance to see Ondina and Mimi coming in for the night. Right, she shared the pool with them. 

The council usually grouped mermaids into pools based on their age, which is why every pool tends to adapt itself to the mermaids it houses. Its simply magic. Mimi and Ondina pooled with her however, after they too got kicked out of the pod for that painful period.

"Good night," Mimi said in a sing-songy tone.

"Good night," Sirena grumbled as she relaxed again.

"Are you ok, Sirena?" Ondina asked as she combed her hair.

"Yes, I'm just-" Sirena felt her voice catch in her throat as she looked at the seashell comb,"...tired."

Her two friends shrugged it off, exchanging concerned glances as Sirena shifted and went to sleep. However, Sirena wasn't sleeping, but remembering. The grumpy feeling had tugged her heart at the sight of the comb... Lyla's comb. She understood now what she was feeling. She was missing Lyla and Nixie. 

The night they left was the worst part of being exiled. It had happened in the very pool Sirena was now laying in. It was a full moon, and their moon rings were fully charged. They were settled, relaxing after the day, combing their hair and making bracelets.

Lyla was the first to break the silence, " We've waited long enough. The pod isn't coming back. It's time we move on." 

Sirena's stomach flipped over," What do you mean?"

Lyla's voice cracked,"they have made their decision. We told them Zac isn't a threat, with the destroyed trident as proof. But the pod still hasn't returned. We're still outcasts."

Sirena argued, "They just need time."

"It takes only a few days to swim here from where they are. How long has it been? What? A few weeks?" Nixie deadpanned.

"So what do you suppose we do?" Sirena pushed.

"Find a pod that will accept us," Lyla stopped combing her hair as the words sunk in.

"Find a new home," Nixie mumbled.

Sirena's eyes dashed between Lyla and Nixie, but there wasn't much to see. Both had the same mile long dead stare as their minds were far away, focused on battling their hearts down. He pulse began to raise to try to catch up with them however far away they were. This couldn't be happening. They couldn't leave Mako. The pod loves them. The pod was going to come back.

"NO!" She shrieked, snapping Lyla and Nixie back to the moon pool.

"Sirena... we have to face the fact-" Lyla tried to calm her.

"No," Sirena choked, "We can't. My sister is still there, and she's waiting for me."

"We're the ones that are waiting!" Lyla shouted.

"We're all waiting on the council! They're the ones to be mad at," Nixie's voice elevated with frustration.

"So we will wait one night more. We will go to the grotto tomorrow, and hear what Rita has to say. We can't just pick up and leave everyone: Zac, who needs our help with his merself. Rita, who cared for us like her own hatchlings, and David! How could you expect me to just leave him without goodbye?!" Sirena got so worked up that her tears threatened to raise the water level of the pool.

Sirena had come to love all these people, although it was against the very rules instilled in her by the pod. Land people were the enemy. Even though only one of the people whom she mentioned was human, they were still considered wrong to the pod in one way or another. Sirena did not know how this made her feel, maybe confused, angry, or rebellious. All she knew was that they were good people who she wanted in her life. If they left Mako, would they ever return? Where would they end up? On the other side of the world?

"We're sorry, Sirena. Let's get some rest. Everything will work out," Nixie comforted as she pulled Sirena into a hug.

Lyla joined in on the embrace before the three mermaids separated and lay down to sleep. But only one did as she said she would, while the other two snuck out of the moon pool. If they weren't underwater, they would have had tears streaming down their cheeks, given away by how red their faces were. They'd entered that moon pool as hatchlings, lived in it as young mermaids, and were now leaving it grown up, matured by the hardness of the world.