Kids.
They were kids.
He shut his eyes tightly. The atmosphere was so quiet, he could clearly trace her thoughts. He knew she'd suffocate him with the dry air on land if she found out he was using his powers to find her, but earlier on, she found him the moment she finished counting to a hundred. One might say that by doing so, they were even. "He'll never find me here!" Her thoughts rang loudly in his head. It was almost like she was saying those very words to his face.
He traced it to a rock. He felt around blindly for a nearby rock that was big enough to hide her whole body. She was about the same size as he was, so it shouldn't be too hard to find a big rock around this area. His scaly hands grabbed a smooth rock, then another scaly hand. He opened his bright blue eyes and grinned. There she was, smiling sheepishly at him. She was holding onto the rock. "My bad," she said, her violet eyes shining brightly. "You found me."
She swam away from her hiding place. "That was fun, Blue," she said. "Let's do that again!"
"Uh, no, thanks, Lily," he said submissively. They weren't given proper names. His parents couldn't find a good name for him… and they never will. He lost his parents in a freak accident, and so did she. They were friends since birth, and they were hard to be separated. Due to the complications of not knowing what to call each other and after many suggestions, 'Blue' and 'Lily' – short for lilac – were the names they gave each other due to the colour of their skin.
They weren't sure what they were. They looked distinctively humanoid, but they had the features of the fish that lived around them. After their parents' deaths, they were sure they were the last of their kind – whatever that may be. Now they only had each other, and they would go to every length to make sure it stayed that way.
"Why? Scared I'd beat you?" Lily teased.
He sat down on the reef and shook his head. "No," he said, "I'm tired. Really." He pretended to massage his right foot.
Her shoulders dipped dramatically as she let out a loud sigh, and she sat behind him, peering intently over his shoulder. She rested against his back, nearly pushing him over the edge.
"What do you want to do now?" she asked.
He stopped massaging his foot, and put both his hands on the reef to support himself. "Talk," was all he could say.
"Okay," she said, "what do you want to talk about?"
He shrugged. "About us," he replied.
"What about?" she asked. Blue felt himself turn a deep shade of purple. He started to fidget. How was he going to start it? All that hide-and-seek made him forget what he was originally going to say to her. He had it all planned in his head, but now he had forgotten it.
Besides, he didn't bring her here to play hide-and-seek. That was what he liked about her: her built-in playfulness. And as his blue gaze fell upon her maroon- and lilac-coloured body, he realised he liked more.
"I like you," he burst out. Noticing her purple lips form a mischievous smile, he turned a deeper shade of purple; suddenly, he wanted to swim away and hide behind a rock, hoping she'd never find him there. Okay, maybe he does want her to find him, but still, there was this issue to deal with…
"And I like you too," she replied curtly. "That's it? I thought we already established this the moment my mother told me to stop hitting you on the head with my bivalve because you kept reading my thoughts."
He winced at the memory of it. They didn't get off on a good start; his mother would remind him about that incident every time he bitched about his other friends. "Remember how you and Lily couldn't get along in the beginning? Look at the two of you now! You can't be separated! Try giving your friends a chance like how you did to Lily," she would say to him.
The fact Lily didn't like her telepathic gift was also established at that moment. She only used it when she had to and occasionally, when she wanted to mess with him. Right now, he wished she wouldn't use it on him. He couldn't embarrass himself anymore at the moment.
"You're not telling me something," she said in a singsong voice. Oh, yeah, this was definitely a calling card for her to use her telepathy. She's going to find out everything, he thought grimly.
He waited for her voice to come down on him like a blow to the head. He could imagine her laughing at him, telling him he was a fool for like-liking her and nothing could possibly happen between the two of them because they were friends, and by that, their relationship isn't going to develop into anything further even though they're the only of their kind left. However, she didn't say anything that sounded remotely like the thoughts in his head.
"Come on, tell," was what she said, tugging at his arm. Her gills fluttered gently in the water. His gills expanded like a frill-necked lizard's ruff in shock at her sudden touch. "Do you want me to stop playing hide-and-seek with you? Because if you want to, I can," she said almost pleadingly. He shook his head in response. He felt his gills flatten against his neck. "Come on, tell," she whined. "Please?" She hated people keeping secrets from them, and he knew that. He sounded like it was really important; so why is he tormenting her like he is now?
He turned around. "You won't laugh," he said, "will you?"
She laughed. "I just did," she responded quirkily. He shot her a dirty look. "Fine, I won't if it means that much to you."
Blue took in a deep breath. And when he finally let go, he held her hand tightly. "What I meant earlier was… I like-like you," he said. After letting it out, he turned away shyly.
It was her turn for her gills to expand in shock. That was a better reaction he expected from her than he envisioned her having. Unlike her promise earlier, she laughed. It wasn't a harsh, evil-sounding laugh, but it was a laugh nonetheless. "Hey, you promised you wouldn't–" He was silenced by the sudden peck on the cheek he received from her. "What was that for?" he asked when she pulled away, a big smile on her face.
She shrugged. Her eyes rolled about, promptly avoiding his gaze. The same cheeky smile he had grown to adore over the past couple of years crossed her face. "It's been something I've been meaning to do," she grinned. With that, she pecked him on the cheek again, and without resorting to his telepathy, he knew she was feeling the same way he did.
Abe Sapien's bright blue eyes opened with a start. His hand flew to his cheek, rubbing it with his scaly fingers. It felt so… real. It felt as though he was being pecked on the cheek. He massaged his temples with his thumb and forefinger, telling himself repeatedly that no, he couldn't have felt those lips on his cheek because they were nothing but a dream, nothing but a figment of his imagination, nothing but a distant memory of the past he had all but let go.
He let out a subdued sigh as he passed by a photo of the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defence – or the 'BPRD' as they were known; it was shortened because of the wear on tongues it gave people – members. You could barely make him out because of the heavy equipment he was required to put on to keep him alive out of water, but he was there, sandwiched between a disgruntled Hellboy and a smiling Liz Sherman. He remembered enduring Hellboy's constant grumbling about having to take the photo, and Liz telling him to "stop, H.B., stop grumbling, you're wearing poor Abe's ears out with your grumbling."
Other than Hellboy, Abe was visibly the only one of his kind in the photo. Everybody else were just humans whom he felt wouldn't even give him the time of the day if he were to meet them on the streets had he not been working at the BPRD.
He hated not having anyone to talk to. He hated being the only one of his kind. He hated being alone like this. And because of his solitary nature, he was bored. He was sick and tired of aimlessly swimming around in his tank. The extensive book collection surrounding him looked particularly interesting to him, but he knew reading them meant nothing to him. The day where he will finish reading all of them will eventually come, and when it does, he'll be bored again. Maybe what he needed was someone to read those books to… someone who would listen.
And that was what he needed at the moment – someone who would listen, someone who would empathise, someone like the girl in his dreams. He suddenly came to grips with himself about Lily's existence, and now he couldn't bear to think about her. He didn't know what happened to her, but he knew he betrayed her trust by being here. Abe – or 'Blue', as he was known to her – loved her deeply, and she did the same. They had gone to so many lengths to stay by each other's sides, and now, everything they ever had was gone because he was stupid enough to swim to the humans' boat and get himself injured and then caught.
Suddenly, the door clicked open, breaking his reminiscing of the past and at some point, his guilt trip. Abe's head swiftly turned to the direction of the door. He was almost shocked at himself – wow, was he that desperate for companionship? A big red figure emerged, and it was Hellboy. He strolled into the room, his head held high. "Guess what, Blue?" A faint smile crept across Abe's blue-skinned face. Hellboy didn't know it, but the name 'Blue', the name he casually used to call Abe by, held a lot of significance to the mer-man.
"We have a surprise for you," he boomed. Abe swam closer to the glass, his hand rubbing his stomach affectionately. The big boy's appearance made him lose all thoughts of Lily, and made him focus on the more important things… like the sudden wave of hunger he was experiencing.
"Eggs, I hope," he said, his voice reminiscent of a little boy asking for his daily fill of chocolate chip cookies from his labouring mother. The ghost of a dreamy smile flitted across his face. "I'm famished."
Apparently, Hellboy wasn't alone. He was accompanied by Professor Broom, who had just entered the room in a laid-back fashion with his hands behind his back. He pushed his glasses higher up the bridge of his nose with two of his fingers. "Well, we have a special batch for you in the kitchen, but no, no eggs, Abe. You can ask any agent to get them for you later," he said, obviously having heard what Abe had said earlier on. For an old man, his hearing was still going strong.
"Then what is it…?" the mer-man asked, almost growing impatient.
Hellboy lit a fag. "It wouldn't be a surprise if we told you," he responded.
"True, true," Abe remarked. Sneakily, he placed his hand on the glass, intending to read their thoughts. He learned over the years that in the end, it would always be your thoughts that will betray you. As he picked up a vibe from the aging professor (Hellboy was really very good at controlling his thoughts whenever Abe was around), he snickered. "You want me to meet someone," he said slowly, "and it's a woman."
Broom acted mildly surprised, but he knew it was coming anyway. "Yeah, and she's real fine, too… well, for someone your type, she is," Hellboy added, noticing the funny look Abe was giving him. "We'd say the two of you would get along swimmingly."
"Haha, very funny," Abe said, pouting.
"No, seriously," Hellboy insisted.
"Professor, please tell your son to cut it out. He's not being funny," Abe begged.
Broom chuckled. "Sorry, old friend, but I'm afraid he's right," he said.
Hellboy took a puff from his fag and tilted its ashes into a nearby ashtray, a smug look on his red-skinned face. "Told you," he said, an air of arrogance growing around him. Abe pulled a face at him.
"So, where is she? Does she require some sort of a grand entrance? Because if she can stand being delayed like this, she certainly deserves one," he said.
"No…" Hellboy trailed off.
"Look to your left," Broom said.
If Abe had any eyebrows, he would've cocked one of them in surprise. "You actually made her don diving equipment to see me? I'm touched," he said, a hint of sarcasm in the last word. Hellboy snorted; Broom merely smiled. Abe shrugged, and did what the professor told him to do. He knew they were just going to keep on ignoring him until he'd buckle in and perform their every whim. They were like that, and there was nothing he could do to change them. Besides, he liked it like that.
So he turned to his left, and one could say that he received the shock of his life.
It was like looking into a mirror… a mirror that showed you how you'd look like as a woman. She wasn't a human like he had expected. She was exactly like him, except she had maroon- and lilac-coloured skin with violet streaks covering her fit-looking body. She was wearing a pair of loose, black shorts and the top of what the humans nowadays called a tankini. Although she possessed a body every woman would kill to have, there was no mistaking those shining violet eyes.
Lily.
Abe choked. From the outside, he looked like he was having a convulsion; his gills were inflating and deflating like he was running out of breath. For the first time in his life, he was speechless. He couldn't believe it – was it actually Lily? Lily, the only friend he had when he was young? Lily, the girl who'd been appearing in his dreams as of late? His Lily? He didn't know whether to feel surprised or mortified that after all these years, she was still alive. How must she feel to see the person who lied to her once again?
Broom's gentle, whispery voice shattered the thick veil of silence that engulfed the room the moment Abe laid his eyes on the specimen in front of him. "Is there anything wrong, Abe?" he asked.
"Yeah, you look like you're about to barf," Hellboy added.
Abe shook his head. "No, professor, nothing's wrong," he replied, keeping one eye on Lily, who just stayed rooted to her spot as though nothing particularly interesting was going on.
"Well, ain't she a beauty? Found her washed up on the beach. Poor girl, she was almost dead," Hellboy said, taking puffs of his fag in between words.
"Told us her name was Lily. Apparently her friend gave her that name when she was young, so it stuck. Nice name, so we didn't want to change it," Broom said.
"I'm that friend," Abe muttered under his breath.
"What was that?" the professor asked.
"Nothing," the former replied, shaking his head. From the far corner of his eye, Lily smirked. He shot her a dirty look. She shrugged innocently as a reply to his dirty look. He didn't say anything to her; all of a sudden, he felt very awkward being around her.
"Hello, Abe," she said, speaking up for the first time. He swooned a little at the sound of her all too familiar bell-like voice. Then, she swam over to him and held his hands tightly.
"Isn't that sweet?" Hellboy cooed.
Broom nudged his adopted son with his elbow. "I think we better leave," he said. Hellboy nodded. "Well, goodbye Abe. We'll see you later," Broom said. Abe merely smiled at the professor. He watched the two of them leave the room, never taking his eyes off the door. As he saw Hellboy's prehensile red tail close the door behind him, Abe quickly turned back to Lily, who was – no surprise there – smiling at him.
Her smile turned into a grin; then she broke out into nervous laughter. "They called you Abe," she said.
He nodded sheepishly. "It's my name. They gave it to me when they found me," he lamented.
"I like it," she chirped. He smiled politely at her. A moment of silence passed between the two of them. She looked uneasy, and like in the dream, he started to fidget. He wanted to say something to her, ask her where she's been for all these years, but every time he tried to open his mouth to say something, all that would come out were strained sounds.
Eventually, Lily broke the silence by suddenly wrapping her arms around his body. He was taken by surprise. "I missed you," she said.
He stroked her head and kissed the tip of her head lightly. "I missed you too," he said softly. "Where have you been all these years?"
She sighed. "Drifting," was her sombre reply.
"I'm sorry – I didn't mean to leave you like that," he said.
"It's not your fault," she said. "I still can't believe I'm seeing you again after all these years."
He chuckled. "Yeah, I know."
The same moment of silence resurfaced when she pulled away. The two of them were left staring into each other's eyes, both apparently at a loss for words. Lily looked like she was about to cry, but the smile on her face was misleading. Abe was truly at a loss for words. After all these years… it was just too much for the two of them to take in the reality that they are finally reunited. It was just unbelievable.
Unable to withstand the growing tension that lingered in the air, Abe pulled Lily closer to him and kissed her on the lips, and this time, unlike before, he treasured every moment, making sure he wouldn't throw it all away like he did last time. Other than the sound of the oxygen pump doing its job, and underneath the warm, homey glow of Abe's water tank, he felt like they were the only ones who mattered in the world, and rightly so.
END