The Ocean's Barwaaqo

e p i l o g u e

~ Waari mayside war hakaa hadho ~

You won't last so leave a legacy.

It was times like these that Amana felt that she'd seen enough, felt enough in all her years living. A love so deep, and profound swelled in her chest whenever she spoke their names, to their children's children, and she was sure that if she were to pass shortly after, she would've done what she was put here to do.

Nothing would ever fulfil her more than love did. If she never felt like she found her place in the world, at least she would have this feeling in her heart to return to. And that would be enough.

"Amana?"

She blinked, once, twice, then three times. Her eyes were as misty and wet as the morning air on the beach. They stung, but she couldn't cry in front of them. She was sure it would upset them, and snowball into a handful of bawling children. "I'm okay," she said to Ali hoarsely, shaking her head. The sun was begin to descend into the water on the horizon, and her skin was starting to feel tight and too small for her flesh. That only meant one thing, it was time to go home.

Was it evening already? How long had she been speaking for? Time seemed to evade her these days. Sometimes it passed by quickly and other times it passed by slowly. Maybe she was getting too told. She chuckled to herself at the thought.

"You should return home before the sun sets," she rose from her place on the jagged rock, and winced as her limbs and skin protested her movement. "I must return, as well. I can't keep this form forever," she reminded them, before they could resist. Then came her favourite part. The twins dove into her legs, throwing their arms around her, followed by Layla, and Ali struggling to keep up. Despite her stiff limbs, and uncomfortable skin, this time she dropped to her knees and pulled them in tightly in response. The love radiating off of them never failed to make her believe in the impossible. That familiar, overwhelming feeling that if she could choose one thing to feel for the rest of their life, it would be this. It made her eyes sting again, and this time, she couldn't keep them from spilling over her face. They were getting so big, now. Wasn't it just last year she got to hold little Ali for the very first time?

"Run along, don't stop anywhere, either," she said, standing. She turned away, and didn't let her guard down until she felt dull, shifty footsteps in the sand drift away from her. She began to cry, and felt her skin harden in the salty tear's wake, surely erupting into her regular mermaid flesh. She couldn't imagine how unusual she must look, half of her face soft and pliable brown skin, and streaks of purple. She moved her hand to wipe at her face, when she felt soft fingers curl around her index and middle finger.

Amana's eyes grew wide, and she inhaled sharply, eyes darting to the offender. Ali's large, calf-like eyes stared back up at her, glossy and clear. He'd caught her crying. Amana considered burying her face into the crook of her sleeve, but she didn't want to turn from him and lose sight before he began to cry, and she didn't want to yank her hand from his grasp lest she cry even harder.

"Ali, I-"

"You look funny," he interrupted, his lips pulling into a huge smile. It didn't totally reach his eyes, but there was something else there. A cousin of pity, and something akin to tenderness. "I'm gonna miss you." Amana knew that expression well, and she knew it wasn't a expression that was native to crybaby Ali. He looked so much like Shermake in that moment, that she leaned down to embrace Ali again, before letting him clamber and run after his sister, laughing.

Amana watched him go, wondering when he got so tall, and wondering when his arms could reach around her entire body to hug her back. He was growing up, and she knew that she wasn't going to. It broke her heart, but she would be proud of him, and the rest of the girls all the same.

She wasn't a stranger to being left behind, the bittersweet feeling of watching lives unfold in front of you with no way of freezing it, just for you to hold. But it stung extra tonight, and she didn't know what to make that.

She took a moment to observe the world that Shermake and Mandeeq fought so hard for. There was a certain magic within the air that made life worth living, despite how short it was for the humans. Amana often wished she had the same life span as they did instead of living for hundreds of years but she would've missed out on seeing the generations that pass by. Mother, daughter, father, son. She would've missed out on telling the story of Mandeeq and Shermake to their descendants.

Amana walked back into the water, the relief bursting in her skin as her scales broke out from head to toe, and her legs were concealed in the thick membrane of her tail, as she swam deeper and deeper into the reliable blackness of the water. She was crying still, but at least she didn't have to feel it like she did above water.

Even if it hurt, she was grateful that every generation removed from her friends that she still had something to hold onto. She was grateful she still had that love that made her feel like she's seen enough, done enough, felt enough.

Even if she hadn't that would have to be enough. And it was.

The End

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