Chapter 18 What Home Feels Like

The path ahead was blurry. Celia could just barely make out the change in the landscape as she tried to hold back tears. Her heart was in very sharp pieces as she and Aqua walked across the blue cliffs of the Lake Kingdom. She had been feeling this way for the past day or so, and she could not imagine herself stopping any time soon.

Celia could not remember a time when she had felt this low. Even the sharp, nasty words of the bullies she had encountered did not compare to this pain. Each crystallized shard of her broken heart was flowing through her veins like a cancer. She wanted to cry, she wanted to scream, she wanted to sink into the ground. But she couldn't. Doing so wouldn't stop the pain.

Aqua cast a glance at her friend. Her cerulean eyes were filled with sympathy. She carefully approached the human Koopa hybrid and took hold of her hand.

"Are you okay?" A simple question, an emotionally charged question. Celia allowed the tears to sliver down her cheeks. One dropped down her chin and burst on the sky blue ground.

"No." There was no other way that she could answer. Lying would cause her throat to burn. Aqua moved her hand up to her shoulder.

"You had to have a lot of courage to do what you did."

Or a lot of stupidity, Celia thought. She wiped her cheeks dry, cleared her runny nose of any and all snot.

"Thank you," she whispered. Aqua's eyes became even more sympathetic.

"Hey." She wrapped her arms around Celia. As she held her in a hug, she stroked her back. Each stroke relieved some form of Celia's stress. Her tears flowed down Aqua's back. Whimpers came out of her mouth, sniffles came out of her nose. By the time that Aqua let go, Celia couldn't even speak.

"I...I…"

Aqua cast her a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, Celia. Your good deeds will not go unnoticed. You will be held as the highest of heroes in the Mushroom Kingdom. I bet, when all of this is over, people will write about you in textbooks."

Celia's heart sank a little. While that was all well and good, it would not make up for what she had lost. While the Mushroom Kingdom would view her as a hero, the Koopa Kingdom would always view her as a traitor. And, of course, Celia would always be caught between those two perspectives, those two realities. She sniffed again.

"But what about...what about the Koopas?"

Aqua seemed to stiffen up a little.

"Why would what they think matter?" she asked. Celia took in a deep breath.

"Do you remember before, when I told you that the Koopas were like a family to me?"

Aqua's countenance flashed with understanding.

"Oh." She looked down at the ground. "That...that makes sense." She shook her head. "I'm really sorry, Celia. If there was a way that I could fix this whole mess for you, I would."

Celia managed to smile through the tears.

"Let's just focus on getting you back home." she said. Aqua smiled back, and they continued the last leg of their journey. As they trekked across the cliffs, Celia noticed that Aqua looked more comfortable. She was taking in very deep breaths, closing her eyes and letting the air blow across her face. She even seemed to appreciate the soft shifting of the sand underneath her feet.

Finally, they got to the edge of the cliff. Celia looked down and gasped. There was Aqua's castle, resting in an airtight dome underneath the lake. It looked like a picture taken out of a fantasy novel.

"We're home," Aqua said nostalgically. She curled her hair over her right ear. "I can't believe it."

"It..it's beautiful," Celia said in awe. Aqua nodded.

"Yes, it is." She gestured toward a warp pipe. "Come on."

…

As the two girls walked through the hallways, Celia couldn't help but admire the scenery. Golden seashells encrusted the coral walls. Silver lights jutted out, casting a soft glow across the place. Pictures were hanging on the walls as well. Celia stopped when she saw a picture of a brunette man dressed in royal blue and a dirty blonde woman dressed in lavender. Both wore smiles that brightened up the rest of their faces. Their cerulean eyes looked all too familiar.

"Aqua," Celia said. "Is that…"

Aqua nodded.

"Yep. That's my mom and dad." She beamed up at the picture. "Everytime I walk past them, I feel more complete."

Celia smiled. She stared into the beautiful blue eyes of the queen. It seemed that the painting was trying to speak to her, plant special words into the depths of her heart.

"Hmm. Yeah," Celia said. With that, the two continued their walk to the throne room.

"You know, I have a few extra bedrooms," Aqua said as she opened the door. "You can stay in one of them until this whole thing blows…."

Aqua's voice trailed off, and one glance across the room informed Celia of the reason why. She gasped.

"Iggy! Ludwig!"

The two Koopalings looked at the girls with hurt glares.

"So it's true," Iggy said. "She really was the one responsible."

"Yeah," said Ludwig. He smoothed out his cloak. When he spoke, he used a sarcastic tone. "By the way, thank you for leaving my cloak out in the middle of nowhere. I really appreciate that."

Aqua stepped forward. She placed her hand in front of Celia in a defensive manner.

"Leave her alone!"

"I apologize sincerely, your highness, but I'm afraid that's not possible," Iggy said. "Bowser is looking for both of you."

Before either of the girls could react, Ludwig used his telekinesis to bring two humongous cages from one side of the room to the other. He then telekinetically grabbed hold of the two girls. Celia could see him struggling and writhing in very obvious agony as he tried to move them.

"Ow...ow…" he whimpered. Celia kicked, but he miraculously held on. He placed them in the cages, causing the doors to click shut when closed. Aqua glared at the two Koopalings.

"Nice try, buckos." She held her hand out toward the water on the right hand side of the room. Before she could do anything though, Ludwig sent an electric bolt toward her cage. All of the bars were surrounded by very powerful electric currents. Celia placed her hand on the bars of the cage.

"Iggy, Ludwig, listen to me!" she said. "This isn't right! You need to let us go! Please!"

Ludwig and Iggy turned their backs to her. She could see their breathing rates begin to slow down. Iggy's hand stayed limply at his side. He turned toward his brother, and when he did, Celia could see the agony and pain in his eyes.

"Come on. Let's go," he said, his voice breaking.