Sun Kissed

13. The Shift (EDITED)

13. The Shift 

Sofi and Amancio sat on the shore, sharing the orange.

Amancio worked his thumb against the grain of the peel. In a low voice, he said, "Sofi, can I ask you something?"

She shrugged. "Go ahead."

"Why did you come to the river in the first place?"

Sofi surprised herself by how easy the answer came. "I was . . . running away."

Amancio sighed. His amber eyes scanned the tapered canopy. "I wish I could run away." Then he fixed his impossibly orange gaze on her. "What were you running from?"

Sofi's chest tightened. She really didn't want to go there. Despite her efforts, a tear had found its way on her cheek. Amancio wiped it away before it could roll down her face.

"You know what, it doesn't matter how it happened," He said. "I'm just glad you found your way to the river."

Sofi tried to block her tears with the backs of her hands. When she felt confident enough to speak, she said, "If I do this – help you find your memories or whatever," it still sounded absurd, "you have to do something for me."

Amancio's head bobbed emphatically. "Of course."

Sofi's eyes hardened. "My mamãe will die soon. If there is anything, anything from your world that could help her, you have to tell me."

Amancio lowered his eyes. "We live long and we don't age, but we're not immortal. When death comes, there's nothing that we have to take it back or slow it down."

Sofi feared as much. She fought back more tears.

Amancio set down the half peeled orange. "There might be something else I could do to help."

Sofi didn't know if she could take another rejection, but it wouldn't be fair to Toni if she didn't ask.

"My friend, Antonio. His sister was taken by one of your people."

Amancio's eyes darkened as he turned them towards the water. "I know who has her."

Sofi waited for him to give some excuse. She remembered the dark-haired Encantado who took responsibility for Paola's abduction. He had jumped from several feet without disturbing a single leaf. He had stolen into her dreams and saw what she had tried to hide from everyone, even herself. Julio was the only soul who knew what Sofi craved most. More than reuniting Paola with her brother. More than seeing mãe get better.

Sofi used the memory of his scent to stifle her guilt. Mint leaves.

"When this is all over and I have my memories," Amancio's voice interrupted her reverie, "I can sneak into the Encante and bring Paola back."

Julio was definitely stronger than him. Undoubtedly smarter.

She wanted to trust him, but . . . "That's a big risk."

"So? You're risking everything by being here with me right now." The way he passed his gaze over her when he said it made her draw her knees up to her chin.

Amancio's eyes softened. "You still don't trust me."

Before Sofi could defend herself, he popped to his feet.

"Come on. I want to show you something."

She followed him to the water, stopping when the river met her toes. Sofi hugged herself protectively while Amancio waded until he was waist deep.

With his back still facing her, he said, "I'm six feet long in my true form. Most of me is gray. All the pink is concentrated on my belly."

"Why are you telling me this?" Sofi shouted from the bank. It came out a little harsher than she wanted.

Amancio looked over his shoulder. "We don't have the best eyesight. I won't be able to tell if you're still standing there. I won't be able to see if you come into the water with me."

God. He's about to shift.

"If I wanted to, I could use my echolocation to track you. But I won't." He turned back around, eyes facing the sun. "I'll wait for you."

Sofi wanted to yell for him to stop. How dare he try to put her to the test after what he did? Her nails dug into her arms as she hugged herself tighter. She should be running as fast as she could from the shapeshifter.

Yet she was rooted.

Amancio oozed with pink and yellow light as his muscular frame morphed. The light built until it grew too bright for Sofi to keep her eyes open. When she finally did open them again, it was to let go of tears. She wept as she walked into the river towards the creature drawing circles with its whole body.

She wept because she had never seen anything so beautiful.

It was all too much. The dolphin became her crutch as she leaned against it and gave over more tears to the Amazon. She had not let herself touch these feelings since pai died.

If people could become nature and light, then maybe one day she could become better than this. Maybe she could save Paola and fix the parts of Toni that she had broken.

She let Amancio buoy her just above the waves.

She forgot the orange from before. She thought only of mint leaves.

Maybe I one day I can find paradise.

~

The dark-haired Encantado had not expected the girl to return so soon. It was so frustrating to have to hide like this, but he kept his silence. Julio observed her interaction with his student, steadily taking notes to go over later with Yasmin.

My mamãe will die soon.

Amancio's ignorance had betrayed him. Fruit grown in the Encante could heal most maladies in humans. For now Julio would hold back this information. It could incentivize Sofi in the future if he ever needed. And there was no danger of her mamãe slipping away, not while his disciple kept watch over her.

From where he studied them, Julio couldn't tell what Sofi was thinking or what she would do next. He had been certain that it would have taken her at least a week to come around, yet here she was.

She's more than Amancio can handle.

He prayed that something would prove him wrong.

And Mother Moon, let it be soon.