She had always loved the ocean. She would imagine saltwater running through her veins; she would feel the ebb and flow of the daily tides and hear the call of the deep blue.
So when her father's yacht capsized off the reef and sank beneath the waves, it was easy to feel as if she were falling into the arms of her beloved. However, the skin-numbing cold was replaced by a warm tenderness, and when she opened her eyes, they met an aqua blue gaze, so intense her fanciful heart thrummed out of sync with the swell. Was she really in the arms of the king of the ocean?
Thinking back on it after, she always held fast to the memory of her rescuer, even as her friends laughed at her romantic tendencies.
The light was fading now as she walked along the shore of the bay, golden hues deepening to violet and sapphire pastels that blended perfectly in the twilight dusk. The waves crashed onto the sands, the mists blurring the lines of the horizon, sea, and land. Yet even through the haze, the solitary figure with the broad shoulders cut through her thoughts and quickened her heartbeat. She hurried forward, hoping the man walking the shoreline wasn't just another figment of her eager imagination.
They drew closer, and his face became clear, exactly as she remembered it. Wavy hair the colour of the sand; clear eyes the colour of the ocean. She would never forget him for as long as she lived. "It's you," she whispered when he was standing in front of her.
"Yes," he smiled. "And you are alright?" he reached out to take her hand in his, and she was immediately enveloped in such a comforting warmth, the salty breeze wrapping around her with a familiar embrace. His finger traced up her forearm, leaving tingles of electricity in its wake. A wave washed up around their ankles, and she felt it go right through her, as if she really were a part of the ocean.
"I said I would come back to you," his powerful yet tender voice reverberated through her.
"I know," she nodded, her heart swelling with emotion like the motion that churned the seas.
"Come, my princess," he laced his fingers through hers and led her further into the waves. The water crashed over her but she stood firm beside him and rested her head on his strong shoulder. She could never question how perfect it felt to be with him, how she had always known they were meant for this.
He looked down and smiled at her before pressing a kiss on her forehead and whispering in her ear, "You are my love— my queen of the sea."
She dove beneath the turquoise depths with him, and finally came alive. She finally came home.
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