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I could tell that the king was sad as he thought over my question. "My dear," he finally thought, "I am sorry to tell you this, but..."
"What?" I demanded.
"If you would help your people," he continued, "you could do it best by returning to the land, at least for a while. You see, we have none of this...technology, you call it. We have no need for it. But it has helped us today, and could again."
I laughed. It didn't work very well underwater. "I can't bring computers and books and stuff down here!" I thought.
"Not the...com...what was that again?" I saw the problem. We were using incompatible words for things, not the thoughts of the things themselves. I sent a mental picture of a computer and a wordless explanation of what I had just said, and the message got through. "Not the things themselves, but the knowlage you can get through them. That is what we need. And... No, I was being foolish. You must not put yourself in danger."
"What are you talking about?" I asked again.
"Well... You should avoid meeting your father if you can. But if you must...perhaps you could remind him whose fault some things are. He may have forgotten after all this time...and he may belive his own falsehoods."
"I will, you can be sure of it," I answered. "But I'll have to leave the Isle if I'm to find anything of value."
He took my hand for a moment, then said, "So be it. Farewell, my child. But remember your people, and that you are always welcome to return."
Doing as he said was easier said then done. By the time I had found Yama, explained what I had to do, and gotten back to the Isle with him, it was past noon. When I got back to the hotel, Angel was awake and grumpy. She had a headach and to top things off, the chair she sat in at brunch was broken and fell down as she sat on it. Perhaps I should have waited till later to bring up me leaving the Isle. But the king's words rang in my head, and I was too impatient.
Angel's reaction was one of fury. "Leave?" she screamed. "Leave? Just when it's getting really hot? Do you know how hot it'll be back in poky little Durem?" And then she launched into a tirade about how ungrateful I was, I should stay with her her forever, I was such a hit at parties, everyone thought I was so funny, why should I leave here and go back to the mainland... On and on it went, revolving around the thread of how ungrateful I was to her for all she'd done for me, and that she wouldn't be half as populer without her funny little friend from Durem.
"All right, all right!" I shouted as she paused for breath. "I just don't like the idea of living off you any more..."
"Fine!" she shouted, and stormed off to her room. Over her shoulder she yelled "You can buy your own ticket then!"
That was exactly what I set out to do. However, the cost of the ticket stopped me in my tracks...No way I could afford that, and I would likely be out of a job when I got back. I was sulkily leaving the ticket office when I bumped into Cindy, now dressed in her normal outfit, entering the office. She said she wanted to talk to me, so we went for a walk on the beach.
She had to go back to Barton today because she couldn't be away from the station too long, and she wanted me to go back with her. She'd buy my ticket, so that wasn't a worry, and she'd make sure I got my job back. It sounded like an easy way out. But I didn't take it. I knew that leaving on my own now would make Angel so angry that we'd never be friends again, and I didn't want that. For a moment I was torn between my friendship with Angel on one side, and my friendship with Cindy and the fate of the sea-people on the other. So...I took the middle path. Cindy would go ahead today, while I tried to calmly reason with Angel. If she agreed to let me leave, good. If not, Cindy could buy my ticket from the other end. We agreed, and she went to get her ticket, promising to call me when she arived, while I went back to the hotel.
Thankfully, Angel was in a much better mood when I returned. We came to a compromise: I would stay untill my birthday, then she would buy me my ticket for a present. Cindy reluctantly agreed when she called that night, and we were all reletively happy.
The time between then and my birthday went by quite uneventfully. I visited the sea-people every time I had the chance, and learned a lot about their culture. And when I woke up bright and early on the morning of August 29th, I was almost a bit regretful to be leaving. Still...I was 16! I danced around the room with Lady Luck in my arms, then ran out in my pajamas. Amazingly, Angel was awake, and greeted me with a big hug and sung "Happy Birthday" to me. But when I asked about the ticket, she said she'd give it to me later. "You've got to stay for your party!" she said. I hid a groan. I was very tired of parties.
More was to come. That afternoon, as I strolled the plaza with Lady Luck (Angel had told us both to leave while she got the flat ready for the party) I heard a voice call "Greetings, milady!" I knew that voice. And sure enough, when I turned, Yama was sitting on a bench in the little park next to the ruins of the Gambino mansion.
I laughed and ran to sit beside him. I asked him to come to my birthday party, but he smiled rather sadly and said, "I wish thee a happy birthday and many more, milady, but I am afraid I cannot come to thy party."
That sad smile bothered me, so I asked him if something was wrong. He said that he would have to leave the more crowded parts of Gaia for a while, and when I asked why, he only replyed that I would understand when I got to the mainland.
"How did you know I was going?" I asked.
He shrugged. "The computers of Gambino Shipping are badly protected, milady. Thou art shown to have a ticket to the Port of Gambino."
You can imagine my shock at this chilverous knight hacking computer systems. He must have read the shock and disaproval on my face, for he chuckled and said, "I was only in there to get myself a free ticket on another name. Bobcat Blackie is not a knight, and is not bound by the rules of one." He sighed. "But even his name is too unsafe now..." He stood up suddenly and kissed my hand. "I hope we meet again, milady. I must see to...some affairs here before I go." And then he left me sittting on the park bench, wondering what must have gone so badly wrong for him to be fleeing the Isle under a false name.
My birthday party was great. There was a large, extremly rich, chocolate cake, tubs of rich vanilla ice cream, and the music was the kind I like and not too loud. I got lots of presents: shoes, a pretty necklace that was too good for wearing very often, blue pajamas (my old ones are fine, but it's the thought that counts), gold earrings (my ears aren't peirced, so those are pretty useless), and weirdest of all, a large purple teapot from Angel. "I found it in a second-hand shop, and you love puople and tea so..." she giggled. I smiled and said it was very nice. All in all, it was a good party. But when I blew out the number-16-shaped candles on the cake, I wished that I would see Yama again.
My wish came true very quickly. As the last guests left at half past two and Angel stacked the dirty plates, I said I was just going for a short walk. She shrugged, so I headed out.
Soon I was standing on the ruins of the mansion. Even though I knew it would upset me, I had a perverse wish to come here. After all, I thought, as well as being my birthday, it was the aniversery of my mother's death...I wondered if I had been born here. Probably...
And then, just as I was about get gloomy, I heard someone scrambling over the ruins. Annoyed at being disturbed, I turned to glare at the intruder, and found it to be...Yama! Although the night was warm, he wore his black cloak, shaped like a quarter moon.
"I wanted to see you again!" I said as I hugged him.
"I'm afraid I must go at dawn," he said. "I don't know if we shall meet again soon...or at all." He slipped his cloak off. "I would love for thee to have this."
I took the cloak, barely noticing that it slumped limply into a more normal shape as I took it. "Where are you going?" I asked. "Why?"
"I'll be fine," he said with a shrug. "I have a cave far up in the mountains past Durem..." He held me close to him for a moment. "Would you like to come with me?"
Oh, how I wanted to. I wanted to be with him more then I'd ever wanted anything before...but I knew I couldn't. I just couldn't run away with him and live in a mountain cave in the middle of nowhere... "I'm sorry, Yama," I gasped through the tears tht were streaming down my face. "I can't. I just can't."
He accepted that. "Then may we meet again in a better time." He knelt, kissed my hand, stood up and hugged me again, and left quickly.
After he was out of sight, I stared at the cloak that drooped in my hands. It would be a shame not to wear it... I draped it over my shoulders, but it stayed the same limp shape. With trembling fingers, I fastened the silver moon-shaped clasp and tried to pull the ends into the shape they had been when Yama wore it. The cloak seemed to spread itself like wings, and when I looked over my shoulder, I saw that it had taken the shape again.
The cloak might look like the moon, but I felt more miserable then I'd felt since I left Aekea. I was barely cheered up by the sight of a ticket on the dining table when I entered the flat. It was for me, for Friday, the 8th of September. Later then I'd wanted, but it would do. I took it and went to bed.
Now I'm trying to figure out how to get all my stuff into my pack. I'm leaving the Isle with much more then I brought... Cindy did say she'd pick me up at the Port, but I want to travel light anyway... I'll have to leave some stuff behind. Oh well, there's still a few days...