Oceans Call

Chapter 20: Weak

"Where are we going?" I asked my father.

"Training. You haven't controlled the water since-" his voice faltered. "Since you defeated Ryu. I thought it would be good for you to start from the beginning, just flex your abilities a little."

I nodded. I'd been squeamish to control water since I'd been sent into The Depths, but I'd learned to always be prepared. We swam towards the beach and I squirmed as we approached, remembering the events of last night.

My feet touched the sand and my lungs almost immediately adjusted. We traveled further down the beach, which was empty at that hour, finally reaching the cave where I'd first commanded the water. I sat on the ground and tentatively stretched out my arms, feeling for the moisture around me. I inhaled sharply as the water obeyed, rushing towards me. First the pools in the cave floor, then the drops in the rocky crevices, and finally the moisture in the humid air. It all came to me, suspended in the air like an abandoned puppet.

I felt my arms start to tremble and thought, Already? I've grown so weak...

I released the water and it hit the stone floor with a smack! I dropped my arms and opened my eyes to see Eriladar watching me closely.

"You've grown weaker," Eriladar said.

"Really? I didn't notice!" I spat, hurt anew by his obvious disappointment at my performance and continued neglect to acknowledge the work I'd done cleaning up the city. Plus my own shock. 

"Watch it," Eriladar hissed, crossing his arms and leaning against the cave wall.

"You've been ignoring me," I said, surprised at how much I'd been hurting. Everything was crashing down on me: the reopened wound of seeing my parent's again, my true father - who I'd come to love - ignoring me, Connor keeping the truth from me, the people's expectations... All of it weighed on me like a thousand boulders and I realized Connor was right. I was nineteen - my birthday had long passed - and I was carrying so much weight. "You wouldn't listen to my progress report."

"One progress report, Melody-"

"Have you even thought about how much this-" I waved my arms around the cave, "Is? All of it - not just the expectations. Even if I wasn't a water bender, even if I wasn't a princess... I've still been forced to leave my human family."

He looked away. "You think I'm unaware of your pain?" His voice became as hard as steel and his eyes flared as they clashed with mine. "I was leading a nation when I was your age! Have you ever thought about how many responsibilities I have? Have you ever thought that I might not have enough time to listen to every report, help train you, talk to you? You're selfish."

The words stung like a slap to the face, even more so when I realized... they were true. I'd been selfish lately, I'm weak, I'm tired, I'm broken.

I let out an exasperated sigh. "You're right. I'm sorry."

He nodded his acknowledgment and mumbled, "Just get back to training."

I swallowed and closed my eyes, pulling all the water to me. I shaped it into a staircase, picturing it in my mind's eye. I stood and placed one foot on the first step, one after the other until I'd reached the tall rock in the center of the cave. I took a seat atop the tall rock and let the staircase fall, but didn't let the water go just yet. I wanted to see how long I could keep ahold of it.