she, who waited

His fingertips lightly touched her shoulder, barely brushing it as he moved closer- body trembling until finally he wrapped his arms around her and embraced her. He was gentle about it though, because to him the sea witch was delicate and could disappear- he wanted to believe she was really here but what if she...  The thoughts kept going through his mind and he could not help choke out a sob.

How long has it been since he embraced her like this? Hid her from the cruelty of the world and protected her. Protected her so much that he was willing to sacrifice her trust in him just to keep her safe? But this time, he did not need to sacrifice anything. They were both here, both  lost and looking for their home. He did not care about the sea kingdom anymore, yes he enjoyed the people, but the one person he did this for was.. Wadanohara. 

The shaking stopped and so did the embrace, yet he moved his hands back on his shoulders. A soft smile formed on his lips, not caring about the tear stains on his cheeks or the slight tremble of his lips.  He was just so happy.

Like those dreams were nothing but dreams, she was real and she waited for the shark to return to her --and so happened, even if not really following what her mind constructed, still reaching the climax with a heartfelt, tight embrace. Staff clunked when reaching the ground, her hat probably following since she could hear the tiny anchors’s sound when touching the floor --but to be honest? She couldn’t care less.

Because Samekichi was there and he was real --within her arms, with his usual barrier of toughness crumbling along her veil of serenity with a sob and a sniffle, their souls only asking for that contact a war and centuries of separation forbid them to have. And her hands were gentle when caressing the shark’s back and delivering consoling affection, something she was used to deliver to the other when times were happier from the very start and no traces of war were in the horizon, when their bond started to draw lines resembling a red string whose edges were wrapped on each other’s ring finger ( the only destiny they weren’t going to revolutionize and change ). 

« It’s okay, I’m not going anywhere, Samekichi. »

. . . and she was glad to see how he seemed indeed still filled with his terrible humor as she puffed her cheeks when giving him a quick glance, sacred moment of comfort and silence broken alongside the intimate contact.

“Is it so wrong to ask for an explanation? Why should I stay away? I was doing my job. I’m still doing my job. You were just an important piece so I had to deal with you directly like Tatsumiya and Cherryblod.” 

He stretched his neck as he felt waves of irritation roll off him and he attempted to calm himself down. He hated being like this. It just reminded him of his twin and he attempted to take some time of silence to slip back into his happy self. Once it worked, he continued through the conversation.

“Oh but you’re wrong! I do have honor and dignity but much different than his. We’re from different seas, Wadanohara. Of course his way will never be my way! Besides, I was destined for the Red Sea. As destined by the Sea King, remember?~” 

« Say what makes you sleep better when the night comes, Sal. »

She wanted to hit him, down there, irrationally there. She wanted to lash and scream, to call out what a piece of trash he was and curse him --oh, if only she had more experience, or even all of her magic. If only she could actually do something to silence that large, teethed mouth still blabbering and trying to make its way to her brain.

« I won’t hit you. I am not a child, Sal --I never was. My innocence and kindness doesn’t necessarily make me weak, and a good witch always knows when it’s the moment to hex someone for what they’ve done. And it’s not now --not when I proved how the destiny chosen by a sleeping God, even if it’s my King, can be changed for the better. »

A pause.

« You hurt me. You used me. This is why I am telling you to stay away from me. »

A pause, and Feferi released the other, grinning all the while. Nodding eagerly at Wadanohara’s request, she was happy enough to stick her hands out again, offering to tow the other around on a little adventure. It was always fun to guide people, and the other witch looked easy enough to talk with. 

With a nod, the idea of the other was definitely appreciated and approved, enthusiasm filling her hart. So much time has passed since the last time she saw Samekichi, and knowing that he was there and looking for her was only increasing all of her hopes --the desire to rejoin with her familiar now being close to reality. 

“I don’t want forgiveness. I never asked for it, did I? But why do I have to stay away?”

Why, why, why, why- always rejection, always defeat. This was like the first time they met.

“… Are you really still thinking of that? Thinking of how Samekichi went after the sword? You didn’t grow a bit in size and in intelligence. He’s just a dumb shark who feels before he thinks. Stop waiting for him. He’s just trash.”

She couldn’t believe it --frown on her face and gaze definitely filled with pity, the shark not even deserving her hate and yet why she couldn’t bring herself to hit him, to leash on him like Fukami or all of her familiars --if not the entirety of the Blue Sea plus the people of the Witch World who heard about her story and sympathized with her-- would have done from the very moment the Ambassador would have been spotted.

Maybe everybody was right --she was too good, too kind.

« Samekichi may be stubborn and instinctive, but he has dignity and honor, things you will never have. He truly cares about me --about our sea. I trust him and I know he will return with me, back where we belong. »

She was in front of him, and she was real. 

His mouth felt dry and he couldn’t speak. Was this real, was she also here now Many things were going through his head, he was happy of course but just the thought of her no longer being near her beloved sea-- being somewhere safe. And Sal was here...

Emotions were everywhere and all he could do was bite back tears and come closer to her, his hands hovering above her shoulders. In that moment he was afraid that if he touched her, she would just disappear. 

And still, after centuries, she blamed herself for not noticing there was something wrong with her --blaming herself for believing every single world the disguised Ambassador said, for not being smarter enough to understand, for forcing the other to suffer and say all those terrible things, arrows piercing their hearts, pummeling them down while red started subtly invading the sea with eldritch tendrils and horrorful corruption.

She wanted to ask for forgiveness --but words seemed to prefer churning in her stomach more than leaving her trembling, smiling lips, eyes half-closed and almost awaiting for those hands moving towards her shoulders to trespass her body like the ones of a ghost, one of her hands ready to caress the scarred visage of the shark.

“But Wadanohaaaraaa  ♪  I missed you!” His tail moved side to side as he smiled at hearing her voice. She sounded different if he paid attention and it felt like it was years without seeing her. Was it? He lost all time in the Red Sea when he was playing with his twin. 

“Wa-da-no-har-ra. Oh, how I have missed saying your name out loud to you!” 

Her words were bitter and despite all, she couldn’t help but let her gaze be pitiful towards that shark who ruined her life and even tried to worsen everything by trying to drag her with violence in a twisted world filled with red and black and the stench of death --and it was a nightmare she had more than once in the centuries after the second war against the Sea of Death, that morbid scenario that could have happened and yet it didn’t because she did the right thing.

« Stay away from me, I said. I don’t want to deal with you anymore, Sal --nor donate you forgiveness. »

 Watching the other’s hands shake, it was a moment before she reached forward to grip one of the shaking digits with two of her own. What more was there to do? A smile flickered on her face, fins twitching back and forth, and strong hands squeezing tight against the other’s fingers. 

Of course she wanted to know about it --know where Samekichi was, since when he was in the City, how he was going, and well. . .  whatever the always so grumpy shark wanted to tell her, of course. She has been patient and waited for his return for centuries --funny how now she could barely contain herself from shaking like a distressed crab.

And here was the shark that ruined the Blue Sea at least once in his life.

And she was definitely ready to whack the albino shark with her staff. Hard. Right on the head. Because that’s just one of the many, endless punishments the Ambassador deserved for what he did not only to her and to Samekichi, but to her sea as well.

« Keep yourself away from me. »

The moment Wadanohara opened her mouth, Marie snapped out of her daze. She smiled at the witch, eager to help.

« I truly appreciate your kindness, Miss Marie! I am Wadanohara, and it’s a pleasure to meet you --I suppose you have far more experience than me when it comes to stay in this place, don’t you? »

It was a morbid question, but really, the only thing that made sense to her, with how the other was talking. Tilting her head, her horns nearly got in the way, leading to Feferi twisting to try and make herself more comfortable. The other was asking now, and finally, she smiled brightly, nodding once, then twice. How else was she supposed to say something like that. Grey hands extended themselves in a gesture of goodwill, blank eyes sparkling. 

Well, questions about her current living status aside, she was indeed glad to hear good news about that familiar and beloved one she waited to return from the newly sealed Sea of Death for centuries. Her big, gray eyes were shining alongside the other’s and her hands shaking, a deep breath being taken as she tried to maintain her composure with the best of her abilities despite her heart running because he was there, he wait and patience and devotion has been graced and blessed because Samekichi was there.

“Oh! I don’t live in anyfin like that, not even close! I lived on a planet called Alternia, and I was– no, am! Am the heiress to that planet. It’s just, gone now, so, there’s not really a planet per moray, but close enough! We have the bubbles for the dead. And yeah! Bright colors like these are for trolls with my blood caste, or maybe a bit lower, it’s tradition, after all!” 

The description of the strange world of the fellow witch seemed indeed to catch her interest as she gasped in awe, eyes widening and shining. It sounded so cool, that world --something unknown she could explore if only she had her familiars with her. . . and something able to reach it, of course. But both the apparent future sovereign of that planet was trapped with her in that strange place surrounding both of them, and it wasn’t helping.

No, not even mentioning the familiar shark she still thought lost in the depths of the Red Sea.

« Well, I know for experience that certain witches are definitely troublemakers, but not all of them are the same. I --I know a witch, for example, who lives in the sea and loves it and its inhabitants so much she won’t hesitate to give away her life to protect it. »