• I found my way to the lagoon, meandering through the forests and the underbrush. I followed a game trail I discovered years ago while I ate wild strawberries and whatever other berries I could find. The lagoon itself huddled in a back corner of the island; trees obscured its shallow dark blue-green waters and the deeper waters of a nearby pond. My favorite boulder jutted out into the pool, and climbing onto it, I stretched out, overlooking the navy blue liquid in front of me.

    I wasn’t sure how long I stayed there, lost in my thoughts, part of me counting the minutes before Emily peeked her head through the trees. I felt the dusk, and then the night, descend before I could see it as the temperature dropped and the nocturnal creatures scuttled around in the underbrush. In the water, a perfect reflection of the sky above, stars blinked with light and the lighted, colorful, murky expanses—nebulas, I remembered—gave birth to new stars.

    I guess I fell asleep because the next thing I knew, Emily was shaking me to consciousness. The light of the morning danced on the water, making my eyes water from the brightness. “What?” I mumbled, rubbing my eyes and stretching.

    “Good morning, Tristan.” Emily said, sitting back on my boulder. My boulder. She came after me. “Your mom told me to get you. She gave me directions.”

    Oh.

    “My mom? Really?” I yawned, blinking to get my eyes adjusted to the intense light. “What time is it?”

    “A few hours after dawn. When you didn’t return, we all got worried.” Emily smiled shyly. “Izzie especially. It was all Ma could do to keep her from running off to find you.”

    When she mentioned that they all had worried, my hopes soared, expecting a comment like how she was the most worried and she was the only one searching for me, but as soon as Izzie’s name was said, my fantasy clattered to the ground, all but shattered. “Really? That’s . . . nice.” I tried keeping the disappointment out of my voice.

    “She adores you, Tristan. You really made an impression on her. A good one, I think, too.” Emily commented. She played with her hair, wrapping her curls around a finger, running a hand through the waves of chocolate. “So, do you want to head back, now? You’ve been out here for so long by yourself; don’t you want company?” She laughed at the end, and my mind swiveled back to the plan that sparked my trek.

    Emily hadn't come on her own. It had obviously failed.

    “Yeah, company would be nice.” I said, mostly to myself. I stared out at the water, drifting into a blank reverie.

    I was dimly aware of Emily watching me. “You know, I would have come after you last night, but well, Tyler . . . .” She left the sentence unfinished, looking to me for my own mind to complete.

    “Tyler?” I said, my mind still wandering.

    “Yeah,” She scowled slightly, noticeably dismayed that my attention hadn’t snapped back at the mention of Tyler. “He led me around everywhere. And he told me all the stories of every place.” She scrunched up her nose, and I turned to her, dazed but returning to myself. “He’s so full of himself; I don’t know how I’ll be able to stand living here.”

    “Izzie will help you.” It was all I could think to say. Slowly my mind came to, still disappointed that my plan hadn’t worked, but happy Emily had still come. “So what place are you staying at?” I asked, wondering how that had turned out.

    “Well, Ma and Pa were thinking of building a new one. Your parents offered to recommend some contractors, and in the mean time, we’d all stay at your house.”

    No way.

    This brought me back instantly. “I’m assuming Mom and Dad offered?”

    Emily nodded, beaming. “Yeah. You guys have plenty of room: Ma and Pa get the upstairs guest bedroom, and then Izzie and I will share the downstairs one. You and your parents keep your own rooms, too.” Her blue-green eyes were sparkling.

    I let out a deep breath, leaning back on my elbows. “Huh. Are we moving you guys in today, then?”

    Emily shrugged, looking out onto the lagoon. “I don’t know.” She fell silent for a minute. “This place is so beautiful. I can see why you would like it here. Oh, look!” She pointed and dropped her voice.

    I followed her slender fingers to the place where she was pointing. A doe and her fawn stepped warily toward the water, completely unaware of us. Well, mostly just aware of Emily, since my smell would blend in with the water.

    “She’s so pretty.” Emily whispered, staring at the doe. “Shouldn’t they be in the forest by now? All tucked away?”

    “Not many people come out here, especially at this hour. And since we’ve been kind of quiet, and she can probably only smell you, I think she would be willing to trust us.” I glanced back at the doe, silently lapping water from the lagoon, her fawn doing the same. “To her, since I’ve been here all night, I’m just a nothing. And you, well,” I turned back to Emily. “You’re nice on all the senses, so I doubt she would mind.” I smiled.

    Emily blushed, returning the smile, and asked, “Is that a compliment? I can’t really tell.”

    I laughed quietly, nodding.

    “Thanks, then. I guess.” She giggled. “Oh, no! The doe heard me. She’s leaving.” Emily’s face fell, her eyes searching for the doe and the fawn in the underbrush.

    We both fell silent, each of us lost in our thoughts. I couldn’t believe Emily was staying with us. I was always the first one awake in my family—except yesterday—so I would be able to see her from the moment she wakes up to the moment either one of us goes to bed. A whole day! She seemed really happy about staying with us, too, so maybe we’re thinking the same thing. . . .

    Emily interrupted my daydream. “What is it like being a sprite?”

    My brow furrowed in confusion. “What?” I paused to think about her question. “That’s kind of like me asking you what it’s like being human. It’s hard to answer because it’s just who you are.”

    “Well, can you try to answer?” Emily asked sweetly, her voice entreating.

    I sighed, thinking. “Well, I love the water, obviously,” I nodded toward the lagoon. “And sometimes, when I’m in it, swimming or something, it’s like it feels what I feel, or I feel what it feels. I don’t know how explain it. I guess it’s part of being a sprite. I don’t know; does that help?” I looked at Emily, her eyes wide with awe, and she was sitting closer than I had thought. My breath caught. She was closer. “Yes?” I asked her, my voice weak.

    “It’s so different then.” She whispered. “I mean,” She cleared her throat. “Compared to me. I go into the water, and it’s just water. I’m just as me as I am on land.”

    “Well, that makes sense. Humans aren’t tied to anything.” I told her.

    “Tied?” She raised her eyebrows, confusion and curiosity written on her face.

    “Like how sprites are tied to water, pixies to fire, nymphs to the earth, and morphers to the air. Humans are boundless. In all reality, humans should be the connecting force between us all, but humans are the ones all the other races distrust the most.” I babbled. “At the same time, that makes sense, too, because since humans have no elemental boundary, they can be as evil and disloyal as they want, while the other races are tied to the ultimate truth that fills the veins of their element.”

    Emily was quiet, her expression woebegone and introspective. “Ultimate truth?” She asked distantly. Only my subconscious seemed to notice that she seemed to pretend to be interested for my sake, not hers.

    “The ultimate truth is the essence of all elements, bordered by two extreme opposite qualities: the good and the bad. The ultimate truth in every element is identical. The quality to heal and to destroy, to heat and to cool, to give and to take, stuff like that. The extremes only the element itself can have; we can’t since we are only tied to it. Humans don’t have those boundaries, so they can be purely one of those extremes. Good or evil. It’s just too bad so many of them have chosen the bad side.” I continued, staring into the water, fascinated with my own words. Mom and Dad should be proud that I had remembered so much of my philosophy session with my mentor.

    “Are humans really that evil?”

    I glanced at Emily, finally realizing what my words could have meant to her. To a human. “Oh, Emily, I’m so sorry! I didn’t even think about it. Emily, I didn’t mean . . . .” I trailed off, horrified. Cursing myself, I wiped away the two small tears that rolled down Emily’s cheeks. “I’m so sorry.” I whispered.

    She nodded, sniffling, and, after I dropped my hand, wiped away the fresh tears that spilled out. “It’s just that,” She mumbled, her voice breaking. “You seemed so content to say that . . . that all humans were evil.” She swallowed, taking a breath.

    “No, Emily, I didn’t mean it like that.” I pulled her into me, wrapping my arms around her. “No, not like that.”

    She cried into my shoulder for a while—I wasn’t paying attention since half of me was in a state of euphoria, the other half in horror—but when she finally pulled away, wiping her eyes and smiling, almost like she was embarrassed, she whispered, “Thanks.”

    I looked at her quizzically. “What for? I didn’t do anything except completely and totally insult you.”

    She sat back, her eyes and nose pink with crying and hair tousled from how many times I ran my hands through it to comfort her. “For just—,” She paused, laughing faintly, “For just holding me.” She finished quietly, and for the first time, I noticed just how much she might have needed a good cry.

    “How long have you held that back?” I asked, figuring out the answer before she told me.

    “A long time.” She admitted. “And it wasn’t really just what you said. Well, it was, but . . . I don’t know. It was everything. I’m the oldest, so I’m the role model, the scapegoat, the more experienced, the—,” She exhaled loudly; more tears fell, and she wiped them away, laughing. “I’m just so tired of keeping it from Izzie, from Ma and Pa.” She sighed again, looking at me, her cheeks red with embarrassment. “You don’t mind, do you?”

    “Hell, no.” I retorted, shocked she would ask me such a thing. “Emily, if you need someone to be there, just ask. I’ll always be here.” I smiled at her, trying to console her from afar. Touching her was too tempting.

    She grinned. “Thanks. Again.” She hugged me before getting to her feet, leaping nimbly from the boulder. “Do you want to head back?”

    “Um, sure.” I answered, the water-bound part of me sloshing thoughts around in my head, thoughts I didn’t want right now. “Hey, Emily?” I asked warily as I followed her through the forest.

    “Yeah?” She glanced back over her shoulder, her eyes sparkling with trust and friendship. New, young friendship. The last thing I wanted was to make it weird.

    I started with a distant topic to get my point across. “How much do you know about sprites? Or just any of the races tied to elements?”

    “Not much.” She frowned. “Why?”

    “Just wondering.” I thought fast, trying to avoid her raising suspicion. “Do you have any questions? I could probably answer them.”

    She laughed again. She did that a lot, not that I minded; in fact I really liked but, still . . . whenever she emitted sounds of pleasure, my mind started to wander.

    “Well?” I wondered, not hearing any answer except the laugh.

    “Of course! Loads of them, but I don’t know how to say them.” She replied, stopping to let me catch up. Damn, she learned her way around the island fast.

    “Any that bug you?”

    “Well, not really, but, I guess . . . How much does water really affect you? Like, I don’t know how to explain it better, but . . . .” She trailed off.

    “No, I get it.” I nodded, understanding. “See, it’s almost like there are two sides of me, sometimes; one side is human-like, and the other is the sprite side.”

    “So, you’re half human?” Emily inquired, obviously confused.

    “No, um, it’s just that water doesn’t affect every aspect of our lives. Parts, yes, but not all of it. We don’t live in water; we don’t breathe water, etc. However, water does affect some qualities we have.” I slowed down, knowing this was what would get awkward. “For example, you know how water likes to cover everything? Get inside all sorts of nooks and crannies, and touch everything?”

    “Yeah.” Emily answered unhurriedly, comprehension starting to spark in her eyes.

    “So,” Nervous, my heart started beating faster. “That got bound to us, a little bit.” I hesitated, not sure what all to say. “How do I explain it? For instance, before, when you were crying, I could have just put my arm around you or something,” I felt the heat rise to my cheeks. “but instead, I—,” My nerves made me stop mid sentence.

    “You pulled me into you, kind of like you were enveloping me.” Emily finished, unabashed. “Like water would. It makes sense.”

    “Yeah.” I sighed, relieved that she caught on and understood.

    “Okay, then I have another question: water envelopes and fills in because that’s just how water works, how it flows; do you do that because you want to or because that’s just how water does it?” Emily started walking again, slowly, as if she didn’t want this conversation to continue once we reached the village.

    “Both.” This question seemed a bit easier to answer. “Following water’s qualities—if you know what I mean—comes natural to us, like it’s an everyday thing, so, for example, pulling you closer to me is only normal, and it’s something I wanted to do to comfort you. Isn’t what I did something humans do, too, so it’s not just a sprite thing?”

    Emily nodded, “Yeah, it is. That’s why it didn’t feel weird until you mentioned it.”

    “Oh. Sorry.”

    “No, it’s okay. I didn’t mind it.” She smiled. “It’s just weird. I’m so used to being around humans that have one motive to do things; it’s like you guys have two reasons to do everything, right?”

    “Exactly! That’s what I was trying to get across when I mentioned a human side and a sprite side.” I exclaimed, happy that she figured it out so quick. “I think that’s why sprites, pixies, nymphs and morphers get along. We all have that two-sided reason to do something, while humans lack that elemental motive.”

    We reached the village shortly, and Emily led me to a house near the general store. Inside, Mom, Dad, Rachel, Henry, and a couple I didn’t recognize were sitting at the table in the middle of the kitchen. It felt like going back in time when I didn’t see all of the technology that I was used to in Harbury.

    “We’re back!” Emily chimed, walking straight to the table of adults. “I found him.”

    “Oh, good!” Mom answered cheerfully. “You were at the lagoon?” She directed the question toward me.

    I nodded, “Yep. When are we heading back?”

    Dad chuckled. “I don’t know, son; sometime in a few hours.” He knew me well enough to figure out what I was really asking. I wanted to go home.

    “Where’s Izzie?” Emily asked, looking around.

    “Still out playing with Brecken. She’s fine.” Rachel replied stiffly. “But if you want to go see her, she’s out there somewhere.” The flicker of tension flared up again between adults.

    “Oh, okay. I’ll find her. Let’s go, Tristan.” Emily hurried back through the door without waiting for me.