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The ocean was an odd little thing.
One moment it could be soft and welcoming, tickling your toes as it reached ashore. It could bring you gifts, showering you with endless trinkets and seashells and rest of the their treasures.
But it could be harsh and cruel the next. Merciless, as it swallowed everything that came in its way. It could drown men and swallow islands when given just the right wind and tide.
The ocean sang a hymn — that life was a perpetual cycle of light and darkness. That anything good could happen as much as anything bad. That there was as much creation as there was destruction.
Maybe that was why she could feel it calling out to her, itching in her bones and as clear as the blood running through her veins...
Despite being the one thing she feared.
"El?"
She blinked. "Did you say something?"
Theo's lips lifted in amusement. "I was asking if you ever want to go back, just say the word," he insisted, squeezing her hand briefly.
They were on the way to Bond Beach, crossing the rocky pavements crowded with families, tourists and locals out in the afternoon sun. Theo's doubt was reasonable — she hadn't stepped out of the house for so long, and it was her who'd made the suggestion in the first place.
But El couldn't take it anymore. She missed the beach; missed what home felt like. And she wanted to be close to the sea again instead of staring at it from faraway through the window.
She smiled fondly at him. "Duly noted."
They found Jeff and Daisy in Anchor's, the boy handling shifts per usual and the latter chewing a cherry from a strawberry milkshake. The noise of cheers, static voices through megaphones, and roaring waves hit her full force; she almost forgot that the world was carrying on without her. How crowded Bond Beach had been getting lately.
Because the championships were still on.
Travis was here —
"Theo," she let out, tugging his hand back, realising she didn't think this clearly, "what if he's — "
