By the Sea

"Oh wow! The sea’s so pretty!” Mari held onto her sunhat and stared out at the sparkling cerulean water. The water twinkled like a thousand gems and seemingly streached out into infinity.

“Sissy, your eyeballs are gonna pop out of your skull.” Sori warned as he hung onto the fence next to her, also admiring the view.

“Ha-ha-ha. Funny.” Mari rolled her eyes. The salty breeze tugged at  her hair and long sundress. ‘This is lovely.’ Mari tilted her face up to the sun and closed her eyes as she soaked in the light.

Sori, Nanny, and Mari had just arrived at the Andressian resort. Ever since Azreal had told Mari about his departure, things had moved fast. She had sat with Azreal in the ruined church while he let his feelings out until the sun rose. When they returned home, Nanny had surprised her and Sori with the news that they’d be taking a trip to the seaside while Azreal was gone. Their last day with Azreal had been over before she knew it and he had already left when she woke up yesterday morning, but she’d been kept busy with packing the trunks and trying to keep Sori on task and hadn't had time to worry. The preparation had taken all yesterday and then they had had to wake up ungodly early this morning to make the carriage trip. It was worth all the trouble, though!

Mari had seen the ocean a few times before, but this was on a whole other level! Andressa was a resort town built into the side of the mountains, with everything being nestled close together and spiraling up towards the peaks, where the resorts were. There was the sea and the beach, but the various mineral springs were the selling point. Andressa’s biggest claim to fame was that they had used dwarven architecture and tunneling methods to craft the various spas underground, but in such a way that there were windows either above so you could see the sky or out looking at the sea. It was a marvel of craftsmanship and magic that made it feel like the entire city was floating in the heavens.

‘I wish Az could see this.’ She thought a bit wistfully. ‘Even if he'll be fine, I still miss him. I hope all four of us can go on a vacation together next time.’

“Sissy, quit making that face. Your boyfriend will be fine.” Sori rolled his eyes up at her. “Big brother is strong and smart, and he’s done this thousands of times. I didn't realize you were the clingy type." Mari’s jaw hit the ground.

“Now you listen here you little shit-!” She aggressively rubbed her knuckles on the sides of his skull.

“Ahh! I give! I give!” Sori squealed and squirmed until she let go.

“Don’t you give me that sass! Even if we still aren't dating yet, who wouldn’t worry about their boyfriend fighting in a war? Unlike you, I’m not used to this insanity! My life has been very slow and boring, thank you very much!” ‘Not that I ever liked it being like that, but Sori doesn’t need to know!’

Mari sighed and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “Besides, there is more than one way to get hurt. Az was all emotional and sad before he left. I’m just hoping whatever he ends up doing on this mission doesn’t end up hurting his soul and messing up his mind anymore than it already is.”

Sori went quiet; something unheard of for the hyper young boy. ‘I don’t know what to say to that cause Sissy’s right. Big brother is cool, but he’s too nice to be a mercenary. He tries to hide things from me, but I’m not dumb. I can tell he loves Mari and is happy that she’s around, but he feels inadequate since she’s a supernatural being. It’s brought out even more of his issues, at the exact same time that he's actually happy for once. Big brother has a lot of inner pain he tries to hide and he's been like that forever, so it’s not like I can tell her she’s worrying over nothing...’

“Come on, you two!” Nanny called from the door. “Let’s bring the luggage to our room and then we can go take a soak in the springs!”

“Yes, Nanny!” The two called, immediately running in from the terance.

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“Ah this is heaven!” Mari sighed, sliding further into the pool as she reached maximum relaxation.

“Yeah” Sori agreed lazily. While Mari was sitting on the carved edge inside the spring, the little boy was floating like a corpse in the middle of it. She couldn’t blame him. The warmth and the smokey haze was cozy and soothing. One could almost fall asleep in the water.

The three were soaking in one of the private saltwater baths at the inn they were staying at. Mari had no clue how far inside the mountain the cave was, but it didn’t feel like they were underground at all! The walls were carved from pale pink crystal and fossilized salt that glowed warmly from the dwarven magic infused within. Sadly, the small cavern didn’t have any of the famous windows, but it still felt full of light.

Considering how motion sick Sori had been on the ride to Andressa, it was probably for the best. Bathing in front of a window a few thousand feet above sea level wouldn’t have been great for his stomach. Mari preferred no more puking kids today, thank you very much! ‘And a lot of the public springs require swimsuits...why? Just why? It’s annoying! If you’re gonna take a bath, why the heck would you want to wear clothes while you do it? Humans are very inefficient!’

“I’m not hurting you, am I?” Nanny fussed. 

“Oh, not at all!” Mari came back to her senses “It feels good, like a massage!” Wrapped in a towel, the old woman was sitting on the floor behind Mari, hard at work combing out the girl’s white hair.  It felt comforting and maternal, so Mari wasn’t exactly complaining, though she felt guilty that Nanny wasn't letting herself relax completely. 

‘Maternal...’ Mari stared down at the steaming water, thinking about all the times Nanny had fussed over her. ‘Nanny is...it feels to me like she really is my grandmother. It’s the closest I’ve ever had to having a mother figure, anyway.’ 

Mari’s maternal grandparents, particularly her grandmother, hadn’t exactly been the caring, nurturing sort. Her auntie had always complained about everything she did, but her grandmother had been entirely cold and detached. She’d rarely ever spoken to Mari unless she absolutely had to, and Mari could just feel the absence of emotion like a thousand needles under her skin. Her aunt made her stomach feel sick with all her criticisms, but she’d much prefer that to having to deal with her grandmother. ‘I wonder what it would be like if I had had an actual mother growing up?’ Mari contemplated, her mind floating back into the past.

Mari had precious few memories of her parents. They’d passed hundreds of years ago, when she was around the unicorn equivalate of six human years. She’d long since forgotten their faces and didn’t even recall the color of their horns or hair. The one fragment that she could recall was a memory of lying on a bed of fresh grass as her mother groomed her. 

Her mother had to have been in her human form at the time, as Mari recalled soft hands running through her mane and twisting it into delicate little braids, but her mother's presence was a black shadow. Even so, when she closed her eyes and thought hard,, she could still recall the gentle tugging on her hair and the distant humming of a lullaby, born of a faint memory. She had been more than simply tolerated as a child, once upon a time, but that time was so distant that it was nothing more than a dissipating dream now...

“Your hair is so soft and beautiful!” Nanny mused, bringing Mari back to the present. “I still can’t believe that I got so lucky and Azreal brought such a pretty girl home! I’d always wanted to be a mother and wanted to have a little girl of my own but...” She trailed off, her voice sounding uncharacteristically sad for a moment. “...well, I was never able to have any children.” Mari contemplated asking Nanny about her past but was cut off by the old woman resuming her usual bubbly tone. “But I eventually met Azreal and couldn’t just leave the poor thing alone! And then he brought Sori home one day, and that was that!”

‘I wonder how exactly Azreal and Nanny met?’ Mari wondered. ‘I mean, she’s not from this continent and she is tribal. They both are tight lipped about it...mercenary stuff, probably? If they met each other during one of his missions, it’s probably something that was unpleasant for both that they’d rather forget.’

“Hey, Nanny?” Mari turned to look up at the old woman. “Thank you for everything. I know it’s probably inconvenient to have a fourth person in the house, but I really am happy to be part of your family. You always feed me good food, share your pretty clothes with me, do my hair, and give me lots of hugs and...” Mari reached out and gave Nanny’s hand a squeeze. “I’ve never gotten along well with my family. My parents died before I could remember much about them and the rest of the tribe never saw eye-to-eye with me on anything. Even when I technically wasn’t alone, I still felt alone and unwanted. I always wondered what it would be like to have a family that actually cared about me and... I love you, Nanny, and I’m glad you let me join your family.”

Mari felt a bit awkward, but every word was true. She'd thought that she'd just found her true love when she met Azreal, but she'd also received the chance to have a true family.

Nanny’s smile grew until it streached her face and she threw her arms around Mari. “Gosh, you’re too precious! You’re definitely my granddaughter and will always be one of my beloved grandchildren! I love you too, dear!” She patted Mari’s head as she resumed brushing her hair. “I do wish you two would hurry up and become an official couple already, though.” The woman grumbled. “What is my idiot grandson doing? You two are perfect for each other and I’d like to still be alive when I become a great-grandmother...”

“Oh, barf!” Sori complained, complete with fake gagging noises.

“Sori! Attitude!” Nanny scolded.

Mari leaned back and closed her eyes, allowing herself to be enveloped in the warmth of the moment. Her desire to stay with Azreal was about her love for him, yes, but it was more than that. She craved the companionship and joy that came from the company of others. Despite wandering the continent for decades, she hadn't been able to find what she was looking for and had been unable to form many long-term friendships. She wanted to have new experiences and see as much of the world as she could, but that still hadn’t filled the hole of loneliness inside of her.

While she wasn’t a herd animal like most unicorns, she was extremely friendly and extroverted with all other races and species but her own. After decades of wandering by herself, she’d just accepted that the emptiness insider her would never be filled because she was too abnormal to fit into any society. But now...

She felt at peace with Azreal, Nanny Tenka and Sori. It was a feeling of love and a bond that was unlike the demanding blood ties of unicorn tribe. There wasn’t any guilt or demands for conformity in her relationship with her small found-family. It was like they were what she had been searching for her entire life.

 After decades, she’d found her real tribe; the place that she truly belonged; and she wasn’t going to let it go.