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Maelstrom and Thorn stood side by side in anticipation of opening the chest. It had taken them nearly half an hour to open the damned thing with Maelstrom carefully working at it's lock before Thorn lost her temper and swiped it open with her powerful and deadly sharp claws. She nearly cracked the box as her heavy paw came crashing down upon it, but rather than chastising her Maelstrom let it slide as the two fell silent beside one and other glaring at the now accessible chest. Why were the two of them there, and for what reason did this involve the other's family? Why would they both have similar letters drawing them to this very spot? For the first time in the short few hours that they have known each other the bickering stopped and the two stood in awe and what was almost fear.

Maelstrom: "You should open it."

Thorn: "What? Why don't you? Oh forget it wuss I got it . . . ." Thorn placed her paw over the latch of the chest flipping it into it's upwards position before reaching out to one of it's sides. She stopped there momentarily with a bead of sweat dripping down her brow. "How about we do it together?" she asked in a shaky laugh weakly trying to cover up her nervousness. It's been what? An hour and a half and his meekness is already rubbing off on me? she growled at herself in her head.

Maelstrom: "Oh my Alicorn would you just. You know what fine. Lets do this together." He leaned in grabbing onto the opposite end of the lid that Thorn had grabbed onto and the two of them together easily and with a little more force than they meant to opened the mouth of the chest and peered inside at the belly of it's contents.

It took them a few seconds to register what was inside, but once they did both their fear was gone. Maelstrom sighed in relief before curiously reaching for the diary while Thorn's expression quickly turned sour.

Thorn: "There's hardly anything in there but a dusty old book. What a waste of time."

Maelstrom lifted the book upwards and as he did a glinting object that was once stuck to the backside of the leather cover came loose falling back into the chest and breaking against the hard wooden surface before either end bounced into a halt. Thorn reached in retrieving the objects from the water stained wooden corner to discover that it had been a necklace before it accidently broke. Fitting the two pieces back together, of course it didn't hold, you could easily see that it was a circular sun and moon limestone carved pendant. Thorn turned over the pieces in her paw to find on it's other side was her family crest, a burning rose, as well as whirlpool crest that of her family's rival of whom Maelstrom was a part of. The crests had been carefully etched entwined into each other onto the limestone and Thorn disgusted pondered the meaning of it as Maelstrom carefully and with much hesitation turned the cover of the diary and many of it's pages until about halfway into the book.

Maelstrom spoke out loud to Thorn narrating its contents. Firestorm came to me again tonight hidden in the night's shroud. I imagined him carefully slinking down the rocky mountain pass away from his family's cavern home as he had done so many times before. I watched him as he approached me from the shore's edge. He was flying low to the ground as to not be intercepted on happenstance by someone in the clouds far above. Most Dragons caught out this far towards the water would get off with a stern talking to, but not him, not with the history between our families. It worries me every night to have thought he might have been caught as I came back here waiting for him to make an appearance. Tugging at my necklace the only thing I allowed him to give me that might give clue to our relationship.

When he finally did arrive to the shore he practically flew himself into my hooves in embrace and all the anxiety of having not seen him until now washed away in an instant. For a moment I had forgotten the situation we had gotten the two of ourselves in and I was at peace.

"I waited for you every night! I was so worried, I had thought you. ."

"Shh, I know and I'm sorry my dear." He said hugging his face into my hair, his breath heavy on my ears. "I couldn't get away until just now, I'm sorry to keep you waiting. I never meant to make you worry."

"What are we going to do?"

"We're going to do what we've always talked about. We're going to run off and get as far away from here as possible and go where no one can find us."

I had pulled away just enough to look him in his eyes. "When?"

"Tomorrow night meet me here at the same time as always. Gather just what you need and I'll carry you off to the next body of water until we're far enough away from this place where it'll be possible to start our life. . . I can't be here long, I don't want to go. ."

"Then why go at all?" I cried out louder than I should have, but looking back maybe I should have pressed him harder. "We can leave tonight, forget our lives, just leave before all of this catches up to us!"

"Nami, Nami listen! I'm sorry, but I need to see my father one last time. Just. . believe in me okay? One more day and we'll leave tomorrow." We locked eyes for a moment, I knew how hard this was for him. He loves his father still, even though his father would never accept us. He cares about his family still and I would be lying if I said I didn't also. It both saddens and angers me that this is the only way. "Okay. ."

"Okay?" he said coming closer to my face again confirming that I was fine with the decision.

"Okay. . Just promise me you wont get caught and promise me you'll be ready tomorrow night. I think my chambermaid suspects something and I can't keep coming out here much longer. We need to leave tomorrow if at all."

"I wont get caught, I promise you by tomorrow night you'll be looking at this beach from a far horizon, but I have to go now. I can't stay here much longer." I feel him pulling away from me and I'm scared again.

"Wait, please just wait. Stay with me a little longer. Just a little longer." I can't recall just how long we stayed their hugging each other. It felt like time didn't move on at all and I would have been content if it hadn't, but eventually he had to fly off. I didn't leave the beach though until he was too far off for my sight and it was only then did I weakly bring myself back to the water. "Tomorrow. I thought. "Tomorrow."

Maelstrom turned the page eagerly wanting nothing more than to know how this related to the two of them being here. Thorn who had seemed disinterested at first was perched just in front of the aquatic leaning forward attentively. Maelstrom took a few moments to read ahead before speaking, but as he tried moving his lips to mouth the words out loud his tongue became sandpaper dry and his expression grave.

Thorn a little annoyed having been kept waiting urges the aquatic onward. "Come on, don't leave me hanging. What happens next?" But Maelstrom didn't speak, and he kept reading onward even going so far as to flip over the next page before uncomfortably pawing at his nose. More than a little agitated now Thorn motioned towards the other pony attempting to grab the diary rather forcefully out of his hooves. "Just, just hold on a moment." Maelstrom hoarsely muttered before setting the book down on the sand. Using his now free hooves the pony cleared his throat so that he might speak again more clearly.

Huffing Thorn plumped their rear back down on the sand clearly displeased having at having to wait for her answers.

"Sorry Thorn, the contents were just a little upsetting. I needed a second to get over myself. I'll keep reading."

"Well go on then, don't keep me waiting too long." The dragon urged understandably.

Picking the book back up Maelstrom began reading once more.

I'm revisiting my diary after so long. I almost didn't want to pick it up after it's secrets had been rifled through, but I have so much on my chest and no one to talk to. I need to write it down for my own self at this point even if I have no one else to share it with. I never wanted things to end up the way that they did. I was still asleep when someone found the charm upon me the morning after Firestorm and I last met. My chambermaid must have seen it before anyone else did, because it was when my mother entered my bedroom door opening it with such a force that it hit the wall with a bang did I wake up. The charm I remember bounced off my chest and onto the lap of my bed. I remember catching her eye's in mine before her's quickly moved between me, the charm, and back at me again. Suffice to say I didn't get to go to the beach that night, and I didn't get to go for a long time there after with the way I was locked up in my bedroom. They couldn't keep me there forever, but just long enough by the time I was able to go back Firestorm hadn't showed up.

My parents took my diary, I'm so stupid for having kept one, but I needed something to confess to at the time and I thought at least there they would respect my privacy. I'll never have my family's trust or approval ever again, but that matters less to me now than it ever did before. I was willing to leave that all behind, but with this foal expected to come that's all that's on my mind apart from seeing Firestorm again. It's been a few nights now that I've been allowed to come and wait for him, but he still hasn't shown.

A single parent raising a foal. My parents said they wouldn't allow such an embarrassment on the family. If I can't find Firestorm soon I'll either have to leave what little support my family will offer if I stay and raise him on my own until I can find him, or. . they will force me to hand over my foal to my eldest sister to raise. She already has a few of her own, no one would suspect it's not hers, but it's too wrong. To live alongside my son and to lie and say I'm only his aunt. It's unthinkable. It's not even an option I can consider. All I can do is wait now and hope he shows up before the foal comes. Hope that he doesn't think that I would abandon him and choose not to come.

Thorn now understanding why Maelstrom needed a second to pause found herself equally in shock. "Their parents wouldn't actually take that foal away from them would they?" Maelstrom looked up from the book giving an unknowing shake of his head. He didn't want to think anypony was capable of such things. "Empty threats maybe?" He said more with hope than in confidence.

Thorn looked as unconvinced as he felt. "Keep reading." Thorn said less demanding than last time and more so out of a need to hear what happened next in the life of Nami. The two spent the rest of the day reading through a good portion of the book.They took breaks at some points throughout the day to catch a breath and sit in silence when something felt too emotionally heavy. During those times barely a word was spoken between to two of them until by the end of the night after they had set up a campfire to continue read under it's light did they come to a clear understanding of why they were meant to be here.

Thorn gingerly broke the silence. "So your great great grandmother. ."

Maelstrom interjected "Our great great grandmother."

"Our great great grandmother was the pony who wrote this book, which makes us. .relatives. It makes our family relatives for nearly four generations and yet all these years we were still angry at each other despite some ponies having known we were related." Thorn bit her lip looking from the diary towards the ocean with a pained expression.

"Our great great grandfather is he still. .?" Maelstrom started to ask, but Thorn quickly shook her head no cutting him off. "No I never even got to meet him, he was long dead before I was born."

For someone who had been so hard spoken and fiery passionate the entire time he knew them, and even though at times he found it annoying, it hurt him to see her feeling that way after taking some time to get to know her. He spoke up having to say something to make her feel better. "I certainly didn't know that we were relatives, and I don't even think my parents did either. Nami did end up raising my great grandfather so at least there is some saving grace there that they didn't take away her child in the end, but I've missed so much family history having not been able to know about you until now."

He paused feeling a wave of disgust wash over him now knowing just how much pain this rivalry has created. For once in his life he felt passionate. Furious as if a fire had been ignited in his gut. Maelstrom's voice cracked at first when he began to speak with such emotion, but quickly evened out as he continued to speak. "We don't have to continue this path of senseless hate and rivalry. We can try to convince our family to at least get on speaking terms if we present this information to them, and if not who cares we can at least stay in contact. The way that they treated her, our grandmother, would not fly in today's society. I certainly wouldn't put up with that."

Thorn reluctantly looked back at him regaining some of the light to their eyes and some strength to her voice. "Those letters were given to us for a reason. Maybe they wanted to leave it up to the next few generations to decide what they wanted to do with the information in hopes we could stop this rivalry, or maybe Nami just wanted her story to be known. All I know is despite how messed up today has been and how much of a loop it spun me I'm glad I gave you the benefit of the doubt and I didn't just fly away from this as I normally would have when something pisses me off. You're actually pretty cool."

Thorn watched Maelstrom's thoughtful worried gaze shift into an expression of silent gratitude. His thin lips barely curved into a gracious smile, but she had caught it just before he spoke. "She's still alive you know? Old as fish bones, but still very much alive. Would you like to meet her?"

For the first time today Thorn genuinely smiled, her face lighting up entirely as a few small tears fell off the side of her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. "Yeah, yeah I would really like that. Can we go today?"

Dawn broke over the coast line as the two embraced in a mutual bittersweet happiness. Maelstorm looking over Thorn's shoulder at the rising sun realized that this must had been the place Nami had waited for Firestorm all those years in the past.