Work Text:
Without knowing why, Nori felt her heart ache when Elina had revealed her feelings for Nalu. She was glad he felt the same way, of course, but something was off. Maybe she would have preferred to tell him herself.
She would have liked to talk about it with Elina. She wished she could see Elina again, become friends with her, but she would never admit it. She never would have dared stopping Elina when she had fl away. Especially not with Nalu as a spectator. Now she had no way to see her again, no way she could swim until the Magic Meadow. She just had to hope that Elina came to Cristal Cove while she was here herself. hat were the odds ?
Nalu got her out of her thoughts. Nori looked around and remembered theywere talking in Nalu’s room, in the palace.
“Nori. ”
She turned her head towards the boy. He began talking again once he had her attention. And Nori dived back in her thoughts. Nalu. She thought about how a romantic relationship between them would be amazing. She had had a crush on him for so long. When she learned he loved her back, her heart had beaten so fast. Then she quickly realized Nalu wasn’t exactly as she pictured him.
He wasn’t violent or mean or anything. Quite the opposite, actually. He was kind and sweet and funny. But she idealized him so much that he seemed different. Nori told herself it was normal. She just had to get used to it. There was an adaptation period to every relationship.
When she heard Elina’s name being uttered, she snapped back to the ongoing conversation.
“She asked me if we wanted to hang out someday.”
“What? You and her?” Nori tried not to act too weird.
“No. The three of us.” Nalu laid a brief kiss on her lips. “Would you be jealous if I met her ?”
Nori laughed the comment away. But his kiss made her think of their first one. It was right after Elina had left. Nalu had put his hand on her cheek and enticed her to him. He then kissed her. And Nori didn’t know if it was because she didn’t expect it or something else, but the kiss had not been pleasant. She had not liked the contact of his lips on hers. And she had especially disliked the contact of his tongue. She told herself that it was because it was her first kiss. That she had to get used to it. And the following kisses had been more pleasant. They were less cumbersome. But she was disappointed either way. Even now, she still expected something amazing, because all the girls had told her so. Maybe it was just not her thing ?
She pushed back these unpleasant thoughts. “So, when does she want to meet us? And where ?”
“Tomorrow, Crystal Cove.”
Nori nodded. Crystal Cove. Despite its beauty, it wasn’t a very visited place. Especially since the Fire Birds stuff. It was still lovely, though. Calm and soothing, the ideal spot. To rest. To sunbathe. To see Elina.
***
Nori told Nalu to go ahead. She didn’t want to be the one waiting for Elina by the rocks. Not because of her pride. But because she couldn’timagine the expression she would make as she saw Elina fly to Crystal Cove. Nori was afraid she would smile stupidly or act mean to hide her joy. She was afraid of the awkward greeting. So she had sent Nalu first. She told herself that if she arrived while he was talking to the fairy, she would just joint them and everything would be fine. Smooth and clean.
And she was right. When she rose back to the surface, she saw them talk and laugh. However, she hadn’t predicted that seeing them getting along without her would bother her. To watch them acting so happy even though they had only begun their conversation a few minutes ago. But, Nori reminded herself, she had no reason to be jealous. She knew they didn’t love each other. Not like that.
She ignored her feeling of discomfort, put it aside and breathed, ready to go. She waved at them and sat next to Nalu, who was already sitting down. Elina was standing, she didn’t look like she wanted to sit. Nori noticed that, for the first time since she had met her, Bibble wasn’t accompanying her.
Elina asked how they were, if they were happy together. Nalu replied with a smile. He took Nori’s hand and intertwined their fingers. Nori was used to it. Holding hands was one of the things she immediately got used to, a pleasant and familiar contact. She studied Elina while Nalu talked, not listening to a word he was saying. This happened a lot these days. Nori thought she saw the fairy reacting when Nalu took her hand. She probably was happy for them.
She continued to ignore the conversation although she still heard some words, but wasn’t really paying any attention. She frowned when she saw that Elina’s Crest of Courage wasn’t there anymore. She looked up and their eyes met. Did she see her stare ? Did she find it embarrassing ? Then she saw Elina smiling at her, but not sincerely, it was clearly forced. She did embarrass her. She wanted to look away but she didn’t want to miss Elina puting her right hand to her left arm, to the place where her mark once was. And Nori noticed that the blonde forced her right hand to fall, trying to seem natural. Did Nalu notice ?
Suddenly, a messenger appeared out of nowhere. He was talking rapidly so Nori didn’t get all of what he said but she understood the essentials: Nalu had to go to the palace. She was supposed to worry for him. To wonder what was happening and what could happen. To wonder if it was dangerous or a simple royal matter. She should have asked him if he wanted her to come. She should have supported him. But she was too busy worrying about what would happen to her now. Now that Nalu was going to go away and leave her alone with Elina. She hadn’t said a word since their reunion. She had simply acknowledged Elina with a nod at the beginning. Would it be awkward if they were alone ? She didn’t know what to say. Elina and Nalu had led the discussion and Nori hadn’t had to talk. But she didn’t offer to join him. For the simple reason that she wanted to know. She wanted to know what would happen if he left. If it would be awkward or not. She wanted the answers to her silent questions. She almost didn’t hear Nalu say goodbye and dive.
***
Nori was still staring at the water when Elina sat beside her. Where Nalu had sat just a few seconds earlier. Or maybe she was closer, or farther, Nori couldn’t tell. Elina placed her hand on Nori’s to catch the mermaid’s attention. Which reminded Nori that Nalu had made a similar gesture. But Elina placed her hand on hers briefly, and removed it when Nori finally stopped staring at the shore and looked her in the eyes.
« Are you ok ? » her eyes were filled with worry and sympathy.
« Yeah, Nalu’s gonna be fine. » Nori answered without thinking. But, seeing Elina’s look, she noticed she hadn’t given the right answer. She lowered her eyes.
« I mean, are you ok ? You haven’t spoken a word since you arrived. And I think you haven’t heard one. Is something wrong ?”
Nori got ready to tell her everything was fine. That she was just tired. But she was sick of lying. She wanted to be honest. At least for Elina.
« Elina, I… I think something’s wrong with me. »
Her vision got blurry because of her tears threatening to fall. Elina took her in her arms to calm her down. And it worked. Perfectly. Like a balm. Nori was immediately appeased. She gave in and sank in the embrace, letting her tears flow. Allowing herself to be comforted by the soothing voice of Elina.
« Shh. It’s gonna be okay. You can cry. You’re gonna be okay.”
***
When Nori had calmed down, she got up reluctantly. Elina caressed her arm to encourage her to talk while making sure her gaze was on her. Nori closed her eyes and leaned into the contact before gathering her courage. She wanted to look Elina in the eyes to talk but she was too shy. So she began confessing while looking at her hands and fidgeting with them.
« I had a crush on Nalu for so long. And I was so happy to learn that it was mutual. But something’s off. “
She looked up at Elina, hoping that she would understand everything with only this piece of information. But she didn’t, Elina didn’t push her though. She waited patiently for Nori to continue.
« I think I don’t love him anymore. » Her throat was tied shut. Saying it out loud was scary and hurtful. « I was in love with the idea of him. But I still appreciate him and respect him. And I don’t want to hurt him. I still want him to be my friend.”
She looked back at her hands, trying to concentrate on her blue nail polish and forcing herself not to look at Elina. To hide from her reaction. But she looked up again after a while. Maybe because she couldn’t bear not seeing the fairy’s reaction. Or because she knew exactly what her reaction would be, and it wouldn’t change anything to avoid it. She saw the kind look and reassuring smile of Elina.
« You’re gonna hurt yourself more than you could ever hurt him if you bury this inside of you. Trust me. It’s okay if you feel like this. But you should tell him, even if it’s scary.”
Nori nodded and saw the confident smile of the blonde. She smiled back, happy to have released her burden. It had been easier then she had imagined. Elina was easy to talk to.
« Do you want to keep going ? » Elina gathered out of her thoughts once again.
« Can we change subjects instead ? » Nori felt like she had released a huge load off her chest.
« Sure. » Elina smiled reassuringly. “What do you want to talk about ?”
Nori looked at Elina’s arms. It was an unintentional glimpse and she immediately felt guilty. Elina noticed it though, and placed her hand on her arm again.
« I don’t know why it’s gone. » Elina seemed to feel guilty.
« Maybe it belonged to « Mermaid Elina ». » Nori tried to reassure her, but she was sad about them not sharing the mark anymore. She was proud of hers.
She wanted to continue their chat, to listen, to be listened to, but Nalu came back. The matter he had to settle was one of small importance. They all chatted a little until the moment where they had to split. Nori wanted to hold Elina back but once again, she was not brave enough. However, she saw something in Elina’s and her last exchange of glances, something telling her they would see each other again.
***
Nori had expected yells, objects flying across the room, anger. But reality was way harder. Seeing Nalu crying and begging her to stay was more than what she had imagined. He wouldn’t stop asking what he had done wrong, saying he could change. He even suggested that they could go far away if it was because of his status. Nori tried to stay calm. Not to get carried away. Not to cry.
She wanted to ask him to stay friends but it would only have complicated things. She didn’t expect him to care so much about her. That made her wonder if she was sure of her decision. Yes. She would only hurt him more by staying by his side without loving him.
After a while, Nalu had calmed down. He was sitting on his bed, head down. Quiet. He asked her to leave and she did. Nori left his room and left his palace, avoiding gazes. She felt like she was doing something mean. Because Nalu didn’t do anything to earn this. At least she succeeded in not saying « it’s not you, it’s me », something that would have made things worse.
She threw one last glance at the palace before going up to the surface. She wanted to go to Crystal Cove. She wanted to see Elina. It probably wasn’t the best moment. Maybe she should be ashamed of having dumped Nalu, but the truth was she was relieved. She felt… good. To finally have done it. But this thought only made her feel guilty again. At the end she decided that seeing Elina wasn’t the right thing to do. She had to change her mind first, or reflect on her own.
So she found a quiet place on a small island, far away from Mermaidia and Crystal Cove. But she still had this stupid hope of seeing Elina rise from nowhere. To meet her by chance. And instead of remembering the break up with Nalu, she mused about her next encounter with the fairy. She would quickly explain the fresh break up then they would chat about useless stuff. Nori frowned and laid down on her island.
The idea of herself talking uselessly wasn’t absurd, it’s just that it never happened. She only talked seriously with Elina. To save Nalu or talk about it. Nori knew nothing about Elina. She thought and told herself that she at least knew simple facts. Elina came from the Magic Meadow. She was with Bibble all the time. But appart from that ? Nothing.
Despite that, she could perfectly imagine herself talking to her. And she began to think about the fact that knowing things about her didn’t really matter. So she decided to go home. Nori had a hard time sleeping, she was tossing and turning all night long. She woke up after her restless night and went to Crystal Cove. Not thinking about all the guilt from seeing Elina anymore. It was eight in the morning, quite early for the mermaid. She was laying on a rock and the warm light was nice on her, not too hot nor too cold. It was so nice she began to feel sleep take her. And she let it. She deserved some sleep and nobody would bother her.
***
« Nori ? »
Nori woke up and saw Elina right above her.
Am I dreaming ? No, this feels real.
She had to think a minute before remembering about where she was. On a rock. At Crystal Cove. She looked at the sky and deduced it was midday by analysing the sun’s position. Elina was leaning above her. She had a hand pressed to her forehead, a worried frown on her face.
« Are you ok ? You’re hot. »
“I… hum… yeah. I fell asleep under the sun.”
Nori got up and Elina gave her some space but stayed close.
“Did you tell Nalu ?”
Nori nodded and Elina hugged her.
“I’m okay.”
Elina tightened her grip.
“Are you ?”
Elina released her suddenly.
“Yeah. Sorry.”
Nori frowned and took Elina by her shoulders. She made her look at her.
« I’m ok. »
Nori released her. « Elina, I know that you’re giving me a fake smile right now but I have something to tell you and if I don’t do it now I think I’ll never find the courage to do it.”
Elina stopped smiling, surprised but paying attention. She looked at Nori, ready to hear her out. Nori breathed in, she tried to stop herself from shaking. She readied herself and her eyes met Elina’s.
“I can’t stop thinking about you.”
That’s all she could say. She blushed while looking at Elina, expecting her to understand the meaning of that sentence. Apparently she did, because she started blushing too. So now Nori waited for Elina to reject her. But she didn’t look away, she didn’t dare move a muscle. She was waiting there, sitting under the sun.
They were staring at each other quietly. When Nori felt like she waited enough, she arched one eyebrow, not daring to speak aloud. Elina smiled and let her head fall for a second before straightening up. And suddenly, it felt like they were closer. Time stopped, Nori could feel Elina’s breath on her. She decided to be bold and camecloser. After a moment of hesitation, she closed the distance between their lips and felt Elina leaning in. At this moment, everything felt just right.
They separated and giggled, embarrassed. In a good way.
« So, hum, what’s with the fake smile ? »
“I… I was happy you broke up with Nalu and I didn’t want you to see me smile because I didn’t want you to think I’m rude or anything.”
Nori smiled and brought Elina closer, grabbing her waist. Elina closed the gap quickly and their teeth touched as they both smiled into the kiss. It was perfect. Nori felt like everything was finally easy, effortless and natural.