"Our company we'll be leaving in two weeks your highness"
Nicoleta found Laura soon after Grayaeil told her that she interlocked their elbows like how she remembered May doing plenty of times before.
"Hey?" Laura said surprised, she glanced behind her narrowing her gaze at the captain before turning to Nicoleta.
"What are you doing today?" Nicoleta asked, as they turned a corner, walking past a group of kids, Nicoleta narrowed her eyes at them for a moment, they were covered in ashes, their clothes tattered.
Could they be rescued?
"I have a day off- i was going to the beach" Laura looked behind them again, making a face of displeasure at the captain.
"Is he going to be here all day?" Nicoleta nodded, "I ignore it when it bothers me," she answered.
Laura took Nicoleta downstairs and surprised her when they winded up on sand. She hadn't noticed that before, her room was facing off on the courtyard after all, but wouldn't she hear the ocean roaring every now and then?
Water wasn't still.
Laura broke away from Nicoleta's lax grip, and settled by the waves. She moved her hands in the water softly, her eyes closing as a kind of relaxation settled about her.
She went deeper into the water taking off her boots effortlessly and submerging herself fully into the water, Nicoleta watched as Laura went lower and lower, until it was just her hair, then nothing.
Seconds passed with nothing, Nicoleta waited, each second suffocating.
She took a step closer, the waves washed over her slippers, she slipped out of them immediately throwing them behind her. The captain caught it mid air and brought it to himself.
She thanked him in her head, knowing her stylist would make a scene if one of her precious shoes were harmed.
She took a step closer until she stood where Laura once was, her head was barely peaking over the water.
She moved her arms around hoping to find her but she wasn't there.
"Your Highness!" The Captain bellowed, pulling Nicoleta out of the water as he stopped a big wave from washing over her.
He made a shield around her, pulling her gently behind him, cooking his head at the moving waters.
Another big wave washed toward them but the captain stopped it easily. When it disappeared Laura appeared in front of them, this time her hair wasn't the only blue thing.
"You are no fun!" She spat, edging closer to the two, Nicoleta stepped out of the Captain's shield. "Laura?" Her voice was almost too low.
"Your highness- " Nicoleta held up a hand, "I'm fine Captain" she reached for Laura, she didn't waste any time and pulled Nicoleta closer, locking her purple eyes on her.
"This is my true form Nico- in Westinsenson son, when you beat me with that wave, my face seemed as if I was angry because I was fighting the shift" She let go of Nicoleta and returned to the water, Nicoleta realised Laura's clothes had disappeared.
"Don't worry Captain she's a friend" was what she said before jumping back into the water, she fully emerged herself, and found Laura happily moving around, with the small fishes, her smile never faded when they were down there.
Her face never ceased to beam when she swam, she looked calm, relaxed, at peace- at home.
After Nicoleta's fifth swim up for air, Laura met her when she came down, and made a circle around her head, "breathe" she mouthed, Nicoleta obeyed.
And gladly she didn't inhale water, Laura took her by the hand, and swam deeper down, "I wanna show you something"
In the bottom of the sea were some gigantic grabs, but what Laura was showing her was not the grabs, it was just the beauty of it.
Nicoleta had seen nature documentaries, she had seen the bottom of the ocean, or at least as low as they were willing to go, and it was beautiful then, but seeing it all before her, the sea weed, the Urchins, the small caves, and even the big one which Laura was the only brave one to go through.
When Laura encountered a jelly fish she didn't run, instead, she touched it, buzzed, and sighed almost lazily at Nicoleta and laughed.
"Are you okay?" Nicoleta asked, Laura smiled, "yeah- those things" she laughed, "it's like they- I don't know, it feels like nothing matters when I touch them" they both laughed.
Laura would eventually take them back to shore, to where a worried Captain stood waiting for the princess.
Nicoleta waved his concerns off, as she and Laura very clumsily on their legs walked around the beach.
"My dad was so worried for me- " Laura said laughing in between, she clothed her chest, then frowned, her skin colour slowly faded from blue to a deep shade of chocolate, as she sunk into the sand.
Nicoleta sat beside her, "why was he worried?" Laura laughed again, still clutching her chest, Nicoleta glanced at the captain, and gestured for him to get Laura some clothes.
"He was worried because of how attached I was to the ocean" she stared out into the vast ocean, her eyes sparkling in the sunset, Nicoleta wanted to blame the love in her eyes because of the lightning but it was love- undying, admiration.
"Why are you so attached to the ocean?" Laura shrugged, sighing a little as she made random shapes with the sand.
The captain startled her when he cloaked her with one of Nicoleta's cloaks, "it's mine- i told him to give some clothes- not cloaks" she lifted a brow at the captain, "I apologise your highness, I have had some of the girls who share a room with her fetch her new clothes"
"Don't bother, this cloak is nice- what is it made out of?" Laura touched the fabric, looked at Nicoleta and nodded approvingly.
The Captain left them, Nicoleta shrugged as an answer, "something Crimsonian?"
Laura nodded, she rested her head on Nicoleta's shoulders, "so you're a princess now"
Nicoleta nodded, "how's that like?" She shrugged. "Okay, some days I feel nice bossing Grayaeil around but then I think about leaving and I feel horrible" Laura chuckled.
Nicoleta laughed heartily as well, "I'm emotional" she said, Laura didn't argue, "I'm emotional too- I mean- i miss my dad"
Nicoleta's heart ached, "what? Is he- " she stopped herself, did she really need to ask?
"I miss my dad too"
Later that day Laura and Nicoleta stumbled into the canteen, where Laura sat with her roommates, which warranted Nicoleta to say- "I'd rather sit with the boys" Laura shrugged, they agreed and Nicoleta sat with her friends, and Laura sat with hers.
When Nicoleta arrived by their table Levi stood up along with the others, "Princess" he said, Nicoleta tried not to be so obvious as she blushed, but nothing could quite change her hate for being addressed as a princess- and somehow Levi making it something so beautiful.
"Hey guys" she said sitting down, "leaving in two weeks" Issacher stated, "don't you want to do something memorable before you go?" she shrugged.
She didn't really have anything else in mind other than spending time with them, and Laura.
Maybe reading a little with Leonardo- she hadn't seen him all day- wherever he was.
"I don't know" she could have given Levi the numerous paintings of him, but that wouldn't be memorable, that would be embarrassing, and she didn't want to leave with shame hanging over her head, she didn't want to leave at all.
"One last spar before you go?" Evan suggested, smiling a little though she could see he was dejected.
When they first sparred he beat her easily, now that she was a little more trained, he would still beat her- but she was confident she would put up a fight.
"No" she answered, making him laugh, they spoke for hours, Xavier joining the party nearly close to the end of dinner time, he addressed Nicoleta accordingly.
"Princess" and ate his food like zombies were chasing him.
They all laughed at him, then spoke amongst themselves some more.
After dinner Levi offered to take her back to her room.
Levi had them take the long way through the courtyard, and he walked slowly so Nicoleta didn't have a choice but to relish the moment, and ignore his never ending gaze on her.
"I want to tell you something" Levi said, Nicoleta's heart skipped a beat, she wasn't sure what she was getting excited for, but her insides exploded into butterflies, she couldn't handle staring at him for a long period of time.
She glanced at the captain who had respectively kept a good distance away from them.
"What is it?" He frowned, stopping, then he looked at her then away.
"I- nevermind- " Levi stared at the half moon, Nicoleta stared at him, she had never wanted to read minds more than that night.
"It must all be nerve-wracking" he spoke finally, "yeah"
"It's awkward" Levi nodded, "I'm sorry that you have to bare it all" she shook her head, "it's not your fault."
She was very surprised that the entirety of her friend group didn't hate her by now.
Levi looked away from the moon, they resumed walking again.
As they did their hands bumped into each other, Nicoleta was itching to just go ahead with what she was thinking, she couldn't get a chance to debate herself when Levi wrapped a gentle hand around hers.
Her face heated up so much she believed her flame would come forward.
"It's a calm night" she said, then instantly regretted, why would she say that?
"It's usually bothersome?" Levi asked, he looked away afterward, his grip on her hand tightening for only a moment.
They stayed quiet the entire walk back to her room, Nicoleta's heart didn't once calm down the entire time.
At her door, Levi bowed down her hand still in his and kissed the back of it.
"Good night- Princess" Nicoleta could have melted.
As she lazily opened her door, she was startled by Leonardo just appearing right beside her, glaring at Levi who was still walking slowly.
"He is overburdening himself, do you not agree?" Nicoleta only smiled as she went inside.
"No he's not whatever that's supposed to mean" she said before closing her door.
A week before leaving, Nicoleta sat by the edge of the pond, splashing her hands in it from time to time.
Her stomach was still rushing from the week prior, her heart ached for all the lost opportunities, the lost child hood, lost teenage hood, lost lives, lost happiness, the one she could have kept that was slipping from my hands.
She frowned, and smiled many times, her heart aching, her eyes stinging yet her joy plenty.
She glanced at the doors when she heard footsteps, Evan was coming toward her, wearing casual clothes, no uniform, no Dobok, just a shirt and jeans.
It looked so strange, Nicoleta tried not to feel sad that she would never quite be able to do that anymore, it was either long dresses, or night gowns from then on, nothing human because she would need to forget about that part of herself.
Evan settled beside, glancing at the Captain and Leonardo, who he nodded at.
"You know what's weird?" he asked, placing his hands on the ground to hold him up, Nicoleta shook her head, her eyes locked on the gold fish who was too keen to breathe air.
"How some of them speak earthly languages- I just stumbled across a pretty lady who was speaking Italian" Nicoleta smiled, "pretty? Really?" he nodded, his expression serious.
"Yeah- she spoke to me" he stated, Nicoleta pushed the gold fish back in the water, why did it want to die so badly?
"What did she say?" Evan laughed, "I didn't understand a word- she was trying her best but her vocabulary isn't the best" he shrugged, "that is what is strange to me"
Nicoleta aided the gold fish back in the pond again before turning to Evan, "did you think I would know why that is?" he looked at her with a cheeky grin, Nicoleta chuckled lightly.
She told him what the captain told her, Evan was shocked, but not too much, he stated he suspected something, just didn't think it was so grande.
"That should be in history books" Nicoleta shrugged, "it doesn't change anything- we learn history to not repeat the mistakes" she pushed the gold fish back by moving the waters.
"What do we learn from this? Not to let beings much powerful than us enslave us?" Evan smiled but he didn't respond, they stayed in that calm silence for a bit longer, Nicoleta getting annoyed with the suicidal gold fish.
Evan sighed lightly, and looked at her, his expression switching swiftly from curious to worried.
"Are you okay?" as if Nicoleta was waiting for a go ahead, she burst into tears, her face was wet with tears, she sniffed, and turned away from Evan.
"No I'm not" she cried, attempting to wipe her tears, and compose herself.
Evan placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, and Nicoleta turned around and hugged him tightly, clutching his shirt as if he would disappear any moment.
"I don't wanna go Ev- I really don't wanna go" her lips quivered, her grip on him wavering as the weight of the situation fell upon her.
She was leaving in a week.
A week from then she wouldn't be on earth any more.
She would never be able to come back to earth ever again.
She would never see Evan, Leo, Laura, Xavier- her friends, Zelen.
Her heart twisted, Levi- she would never see him again, never see his beautiful ocean blue eyes, never get the chance to touch his pitch black her, hold his hand again.
Nicoleta shut her eyes and nuzzled into Evan, breathing heavily, her eyes burned with tears, her stomach flooded with sorrow.
Evan rubbed her back, "I don't want to go- I'm scared" he nodded, not saying a word. Nicoleta cried on his shoulder shaking, heart racing, stomach drowning, eyes red, face puffy.
In just a week she would no longer be on earth.
In a week she would never see her friends again.
In a week her life would never ever be the same.