"Mommy, Mommy!" Oceana bounced up and down on the sand staring out to sea.

"That's right, Oceana," Matthias said, "Mommy's coming home today!" She's supposed to, anyway, he thought, glancing up at the boatless horizon.

"Matthias!" Jean Eric called. "Call for you." Matthias lifted his daughter up, then carried her up the beach to the table. Jean Eric stood by the radio, twiddling the knobs, trying for a better signal. "It's Hailie."

Matthias chuckled. "What, did they decide to stay out another week?" Jean Eric only shrugged. "Here, take Oceana," he said, handing her off to the somewhat reluctant older man. "She likes to play in the shallow water," Matthias prompted.

"Alright." Jean Eric held the child awkwardly and set off towards the beach. Matthias reached for the radio and connected the call.

"Hi Hailie," he said cheerfully. "Ready to be home?"

"Um, yes," Hailie answered, uncomfortable. "Er, Matthias-"

"Is Alana there?" he asked. "Oceana's been looking forward to seeing her all day."

"Well, she is, yes," the young woman told him. "In a way."

Matthias was about to ask another question, but something in her tone stopped him. "Hailie?" he asked cautiously. "What happened? What's wrong?"

There was a pause, then Hailie burst into tears, her sobs crackling through the static. "Hailie," he said, more insistently this time, "what happened?"

"It's Alana," the distraught woman cried. "We were - she was with the whales, and she was talking about how excited to see you she was, and then the w-whales just went crazy, and we lost radio contact, and-" She stopped drawing in a shuddering breath. "I'm sorry, Matthias," she said at last. "She didn't make it."

Matthias was stunned. He felt, suddenly, like all the air had been sucked out of his lungs, leaving him gasping. "What?"

"We found her body floating in the middle of the pod," Hailie explained in a rush, the words tumbling over each other. "We wouldn't even have seen her if she hadn't been wearing that wetsuit, you know the one-"

"The green one?" Matthias knew it well - he'd gotten it for her when they were dating.

"Yes… Matthias, I'm so sorry!" The girl was well and truly sobbing now. There was a crackle of static, then another voice came on the line.

"What do you want us to do, Matthias?" Sara asked. "We tried to clean her up as best we could, but-"

"Bring her home," he said, proud of how firm his voice sounded. "We need to say goodbye. I-" His voice broke. "I need to say goodbye."

"Of course," Sara said kindly. "And then?"

Matthias paused for a moment, considering. "Burial at sea," he said at last. "Put her back in the place she loved the best." The irony of it also being the place that had killed her was not lost on him.

"We'll be there soon, Matthias," Sara promised. "She's still coming home."

"So tell me again," Matthias said slowly. "Everything that happened."

They were sitting at the small table on Nineball Island. Hailie shifted uncomfortably, crossing her arms over her chest, but Matthias didn't see. His attention was fixed on the lapis lazuli pendant twined in his fingers.

"She took her shift early in the morning and I was on radio duty. I checked up on her when I was supposed to, then she called me a bit later to tell me she heard a strange noise. I didn't hear it and the radio went crazy and then all of a sudden they stopped. It was so… unnatural."

Matthias sat there for a moment, digesting what she'd said. Hailie fidgeted awkwardly - they'd been through the story several times already, and the information didn't seem to be making any more impact this time around than it had before.

Suddenly, Matthias raised his head, making eye contact with her for the first time since the accident. "She dropped her pendant?"

"Yes, Matthias," Hailie said patiently. "But she must have caught it again, because we-" She stopped and took a deep breath. "We found it, on her… on her body."

But Matthias shook his head impatiently. "The pendant," he muttered, glancing down at the lapis lazuli piece clutched in his hand. "It has to be that. Something… why else? There had to be something."

"No, there wasn't," Hailie said cautiously. "Matthias, it was an accident, that's all."

"Can't have been," he answered brusquely. "She's better than that, smarter than that. She would have been too careful for just an accident. There has to be something else, something different." He paused, thinking. "She mentioned something about a sound?" Hailie nodded slightly. Matthias leaned forward, both hands flat on the table. "Hailie. What exactly did she say?"

"Just that she heard a strange noise. I couldn't pick it up on the radio, and I… didn't have time to ask her more," Hailie answered, a little nervous. "Is it important?"

"Could be, could be." Matthias got up, pacing around the small table. "I just don't know."

"It was probably just another whale call. Each whale sounds a little different," she told him. "Don't- Don't try to make this into something it wasn't, alright?" she said. "Accidents happen, to everyone, even the best of us. There was nothing anyone could do." She sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than the distraught man before her. "Matthias - Matthias, stop!"

He froze, and followed her gaze to his clenched fist. He opened his hand to find the pendant, and several small cuts - he'd clutched it so hard he'd broken his skin. It was deep enough to leave a scar, but he hadn't noticed the pain.

"Are you alright?" she asked, starting to get up, but he stopped her with a wave of his good hand.

"Fine," he said shortly. "I'm fine."

"Okay," she said, unsure. "As long as-"

"That's enough. Your jet-ski is waiting." Matthias turned abruptly and strode back to the cabin, leaving Hailie staring helplessly after him.

"Take care of yourself!" she called, but the only answer was the slam of a wooden door. Hailie sank back into her chair, rubbing her temples. "Please take care of yourself," she whispered. She glanced over to the dock where Oceania was playing in the sand, watched over by an impassive Jean Eric. "For everyone's sake."

A.N: Hello again! Hope you enjoyed this chapter- well, this isn't the type of chapter one enjoys- but anyway, storyline advancement, right? It's exciting to be progressing forward into the meat of this fic. Also, remember to please review for us! It really motivates us to write more! Thanks, Ward Orphan