Uncharted Waters [1]

Chapter 3

When Mira arrived home from the cove, she headed straight to shower and got ready for the Reaping. She got out of the bathroom, still wrapped in a towel, and she walked towards her bed wearing a beautiful blue dress. She touched the fabric and instantly fell in love with it. Without a second thought, she donned the blue dress and admired how it felt against her skin. She looked in the mirror and sat on the vanity to brush her hair. Mira hears three knocks on her door as she opens it, revealing her Nana.

The moment Coraline saw Mira wearing her own daughter's dress, she covered her mouth with both of her hands in shock admiring how it fit her perfectly. It brought a distant memory to Coraline making her frown, noticing this, Mira's face morphed into that of worry. 

"Do you not like it, Nana?" Mira asks, looking at the dress.

As if returning to reality, her grandmother's smile returned to her face and took her hand to make her sit back on the vanity. "Oh no my sweets, I love it on you. I wouldn't have made you wear it if I knew that it wouldn't look good on you." Her Nana jokes, grabbing hold of the brush and starting to do Mira's long, dark hair. "I'm just a little worried that you might look too dashing with it," she says, worry laced in her tone. Then, another voice joined in as Hurley joined the two ladies in the room. 

"Don't listen to your Nana my dear, you look absolutely stunning. She's worried that you look more beautiful than her old wrinkly face." Hurley jokes as his wife throws her a pointed look. 

"That's not true papa. Nana is way more beautiful than me, and you know it." Mira denies it, only looking at her grandfather at the side of her eyes since she could not move her head. 

Hurley walks closer to his wife and granddaughter as Coraline finishes her granddaughter's hair. "How right you are my darling Mira, but you are just as radiant as a pearl," Hurley says, placing an arm over her wife's shoulders as they admire their granddaughter in the mirror. Mira blushes at the compliment. 

"Thank you papa, and thank you for doing my hair, Nana." Mira loved the way her Nana did to her hair. It was a low, messy bun, that made her look elegant yet simple at the same time. 

Her Nana reached towards one of her drawers and took out a pearl necklace with matching earrings, she gave the earrings to Mira for her to put on. 

"I thought you said she didn't want her to look too dashing my love?" Hurley grins, watching her wife put on the pearl necklace around Mira's neck. 

Without looking at her husband, she answered. "Might as well complete the look." 

Mira contemplated putting on the earrings as she reluctantly put one on her ear. "Isn't this a little too much Nan?" She asks worriedly. When they were done, Coraline placed both hands on her granddaughter's shoulder smiling at the mirror. 

"No darling, you look perfect." She answered then walked towards the bed, bending down and grabbing a pair of white shoes. She gives the shoes to Mira, urging her to put them on. "Now, wear your shoes and show the world how strong and beautiful you are."

Coraline knew she should finally treat Mira like her own age. She couldn't help it, she treated Mira like a child all these years because she thought she was protecting her. But realizing that she made her into a pure, innocent girl in this cruel world, had her remembering that Mira was no longer a child, but a beautiful woman. Seeing Mira in her own daughter's dress made her have second thoughts, luckily her husband stopped her from deciding to make Mira change into a more simple get-up, like it would help lessen the attention she would be getting if she changed. Though, Coraline knew that whatever Mira wore, she still managed to capture the eyes of the onlookers, especially a bronze-haired boy who seemed to know where her granddaughter was situated each year. She noticed how the young Finnick Odair looked at her granddaughter who was completely oblivious to his staring.