Fin

Chapter 18: Be Closer to You and the Sea

Marinley

I had a rough night of sleep, constantly waking up and feeling worried and uneasy. I wasn't sure why, but I was afraid something was wrong with Sailor. I had finally fallen asleep again when I felt a familiar pull and shot up in bed. I snuck past Freya and Eliyah's rooms, telling Ravini and Winla to stay before heading towards the dock.

But the closer I got to the dock, the further away the pull felt. So I started following the direction of the pull and after about twenty minutes of swimming I saw the sparkling bag on the ocean floor. I scooped it up and found a discreet spot to surface at, looking around for Sailor.

And then I saw him with Strover, sitting at the edge of the dock.

And honestly...he looked terrible.

Like he slept as well as I did.

I hope it's nothing too serious.

I swam over to him and popped my head up, whistling quietly to get his attention.

Strover whined when he saw me and then looked at Sailor, muttering "sad" at me.

Sailor looked up at me and his eyes were red, his face blotchy, and he was sickly pale.

And now I'm really worried.

"What's going on? Are you okay?"

He went to say something but choked up and started crying into his hands, making my heart shatter.

I've never seen him like this before. He's usually a pretty happy guy.

So whatever is wrong...it must be more serious than I thought.

"I'll be right back. Stay here."

I swam to my topside cave where I had my human clothes and quickly pulled on an outfit before rushing back to Sailor and Strover.

Strover came to my side and licked my hand, saying "People bad. People hurt Sailor."

I immediately knew what he meant. The only people who hurt Sailor are his parents. So something must've happened with them.

I have two necks to break today if they did.

I sat down next to Sailor and he tackled me in a tight hug, crying harder into my shoulder.

"Sailor tell me what's going on. What happened?" I said as I pulled away, clearing the tears from his cheeks.

"My parents...my mom found Strover and told me to get rid of him or leave so I left. And they didn't care Marinley. I think they're happy that I'm gone. And that hurts. Why don't my parents love me? And where do I go? I have no money. They completely cut me off. Which means they're going to cut Willa off too and she won't be able to care of her family anymore because of me.

"But I have nowhere to go. We slept on the boat you rescued us from last night but it's not safe to do it again. I don't...I don't know what to do. Where to go. I just...I need you. I need you to help me feel better. I need you to help me find a home because I don't have one now. What do I do Marinley?"

My heart shattered even more at his broken heart and how confused and upset he was. I hated his parents even more now. Sailor has only wanted them to love him his whole entire life and they just proved that they really don't. I know part of him was hoping they would ask for him to stay, and now that little bit of hope was shattered too.

I had to fix this. I had to help him.

But first, I need to know where he wants to go. Because I think I can help him find a home. I just need to know where he wants to live.

"We'll find you a home. Do you want to live in a house maybe? Where do you want to go? I can help you but I need to know where you want to live."

Sailor looked into my eyes and gave me a broken smile, tears still falling from his beautiful ocean blue eyes. "I thought about this a while ago but I think I want to live on a boat. Live on the water. So I can be closer to you and the sea. And when we travel I can follow you in the boat with Strover and maybe even Clary, and help you save the animals of the sea that way too. But I don't want a house or an apartment. I want a boat. I would never make you give up living in the sea to be with me because I know that's where you truly belong, but I would love to live on a boat and live out on the sea with you so I could always be with you, even when you're not with me."

My heart melted a bit, that he admitted to  what I was afraid of being with him. That I couldn't give up the ocean for him. But his overly-selfless-self found a way for us to be together without me giving up my home to be with him.

He knew I could never give up living in the sea, and so he found a way to compromise so I wouldn't have to. Now I definitely have to help him find a home.

Well, a boat.

And I knew exactly what to do.

"I'm going to help you Sailor. Will you and Strover be okay here for a few hours without me? If I'm going to help you I have to do something first. But you can't go with me because I don't want to leave Strover alone. Maybe you could go see Willa or Clary? Preferably Clary since I know where she lives so I can get you when I'm done. Can you do that?"

Sailor gave me another sad smile and wiped his tears away as he nodded his head. "Clary should be back by now. I'll go there. I want to talk to her about what happened anyways. But what are you going to do? Are you sure you don't need my help?"

I chuckled and shook my head, hugging him as tightly as I could without crushing him.

I don't want his help. I want this to be a surprise.

I just hope it ends up being a good one.

"Nope. I have to do this alone. Go see Clary. You need to tell her what's going on anyways. I'll be back before you know it."

I kissed Sailor's cheek and kissed between Strover's ears before diving into the ocean and heading towards my home.

I knew exactly what I needed to do.

I just hope it works out the way I'm planning it.