EDIT: This was meant to go up over a month ago. It didn't because my computer got a virus and everything was wiped off it. Luckily, my Dad has managed to find and rescue this for me! He rocks! So yeah. Sorry! Anyway… *END OF EDIT*

Firstly, this is a chapter of celebration. Because a very special thing happened on the 5th. A very special thing. The new Ingo book came out.

It. Is. Amazing.

I have a new joint favourite pairing. Morvlin forever! Eiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeee! I was squealing so much because…well, you'll all just have to read it ;)

Anyway, if I don't ever update again after this is because I've probably drowned myself trying to get into Ingo again, so I humbly beg your forgiveness!

Oh, and for all you budding artists out there, there is an Ingo fanart competition on deviantART, run by moi! Please contribute your art, I'd love to see it! The competition ends on the 21st of February, good luck! Go to away-in-ingo. deviantart without the spaces to enter!

This chapter is dedicated too: Darling Summers, sweetlyaddictive and Kiki. Thank you guys! xxx

Chapter Eleven

The dream is intoxicating, the faint echo of haunting music tugging at my soul. The waters are blue and clear, the sun rippling through the surface. Someone is calling for me, their voice pulling me, curling around my heart and drawing me close; it's like I'm being sucked in by the distant twisting rope of a current. Sapphire? Sapphire, where are you? The loneliness and confusion in that voice is unbearable; the music swells to a crescendo and I feel myself reaching out for a hand which I can never quite find, trying to comfort a presence whose sorrow resonates throughout my entire body.

There is never anybody there.

-x-

I haven't visited Ingo for over two weeks.

I've been off school for half of that; I was deemed well enough to return after seven more days in bed before being launched back into the monotonous cycle of lessons, homework and revision. In a way, it's almost a relief; it takes my mind off of things. And by 'things' I mean the big blue expanse which stretches out far into the horizon. It's almost like a physical ache; an itch which I can't scratch. A desperate longing for something I can't have. Conor watches me like a hawk; he's there every time I hear that familiar rush in my ears. He knows the signs by now; the minute I turn in the direction of the cove, the minute that that faint ripple crosses my face, he's there, holding me, keeping me anchored securely to land.

He's even swapped rooms with me; he is a notoriously light sleeper these days, so the moment I try to climb down the ladder he's awake and alert, ready to stop me. And my mer blood doesn't like it. Not one bit.

He's keeping you prisoner! It sings. He'll never let you go! Come where no walls can hold you, where there is freedom and wide open water….come away, away, away to Ingo…

Sometimes I can feel myself beginning to hate Conor for holding me here, when the pull is at its strongest, and it's all I can do not to hurt him when he holds onto me, to punish him for not letting me breakaway and go where I so desperately want to go.

Just please let me go!

Mum keeps throwing little worried looks at me; I'm barely eating, I can hardly sleep for the strong roar of the sea in my ears. I'm thin and pale, and I keep staring out of the window with the look of a caged animal in my eyes. It's hard, so much harder than I thought it would be. But Conor says it will get better. He promises it will get better. But I miss it. And I miss him. He's an ever present ache burning in my chest, an ache soothed only by the sound of his voice in my dreams.

-x-

The seagulls are screeching over head as I walk along the track back home alone, the dust kicked up by my feet staining my trouser legs. The March air is cool against my face now that the heat wave is over, and the leaves of the trees are beginning to return, the buds gently swelling on the branches. They'll be blooming soon, bursting into life, making everything good and green. Blossom will grow on the trees throughout the village, the petals drifting from the flowers and creating drifts of pink and white at the edge of the roads. Norvys will wake. So why, even when Earth is growing strong again, is the tang of salt in the air is almost unbearable?

I inhale deeply, the briny taste of the sea rushing through my body, and the pull when it comes is stronger than ever, irresistible, inexplicable, and delicious. My feet move without warning, drawing me towards the cliff edge, all of Conor's warnings forgotten.

I don't even think of him as I kick off my school shoes and dump my bag on the edge of the rocky jut of granite and swing my body over, down, fumbling for handholds.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, a nagging sensation is telling me that I shouldn't, repeating my brothers warnings over and over, telling me I should climb back up the cliff, back up to the cottage and wait, in the warm, for my brother to return from the extra study period he has today. The crash of the sea soon drives even this small rebellious thought from my mind.

The sand is damp under my feet. I can feel water soaking through my tights. I start moving towards the expanse of ocean in the distance, but something else distracts me. I instead wander towards the rocks, like a piece of driftwood borne on the tide.

There is a boy on the rocks, and I feel my eyes light up in recognition as I scramble up the boulders and pull myself into a sitting position next to him. We sit in silence for a moment, drinking in each other's faces before, as one, we move towards each other. I am infolded tightly in his arms, my cheek crushed against his chest, my arms around his waist.

We hug for a long time, letting thoughts drift between us like flotsam and jetsam on a lazy tide.

Where have you been, Sapphire?

I had to stay away. Conor was scared…I was scared…

Of Ingo?

Of losing myself to Ingo. I carefully hide part of the true reason from him. It wouldn't do for him to know that.

Would that be such a bad thing, Sapphire? He pulls away slightly and I tilt up my head to look at him. You wouldn't be alone, I swear…

I know. But I couldn't…Conor…Mum…Sadie…At just the mere thought of them Ingo begins to slide away from me. Faro feels it, I can tell.

Don't think of them. Think of me. Think of Ingo. Think of the Mer, your Mer family…

It would be so easy. So easy to let all of Air be swept away like a tidal surge obliterating a feeble human village. Despite myself, I can feel myself being swept away, slipping underneath, while the sea crashes over me, pulling me down into an ethereal world where I can lie in peace on the sea bed, hand in hand with a boy whose enchanting green eyes are pulling me in.

Faro…

He reaches up touching the side of my face, and suddenly I can feel his loneliness. He's lonely. Elvira's gone, his twin, the person he was closest to has left him, and he doesn't really have anyone else. Except for me.

Sapphire…

I close my eyes. I want to. Believe me. But I can't leave my family. Maybe one day…but not now.

We are both silent for a long time.

I understand. You'd better leave now then. Your brother will be worried. After all, I am a bad influence.

Faro…

Just go Sapphire.

I sigh. I'll be back when I can. I promise.

He hesitates, running his thumb gently down my cheek. I look forwards to it.

I smile and open my eyes. I am momentarily shocked by how close his face is to mine. He pulls back quickly, removing his hand from my cheek.

"I'll see you." I say quietly.

"Yes. I'll see you." He lets go of me and slides back into the water, his eyes downcast.

I look back along the beach and see that the cove is nearly entirely full of water. I've been with him for a while; a stab on anxiety runs through me. I really should get back.

I stand up and prepare to dash along the rocks back to safety, when suddenly his voice calls out to me.

"Sapphire!"

I turn back. "Yes?"

"Just…be careful. I heard about your accident."

"It was nothing. Just a scratch." I shrug.

"I heard you had to go to the human healers."

"It was nothing, I told you."

"Hm. Just…look out for yourself."

"I will. You be careful too."

"Am I ever anything but?" he teases, smiling. He waves before ducking back down under the water, apparently disappearing from sight. But I can't shake the feeling that he's watching over me, all the way back along the rocks and as I climb up the cliff towards the dusky sky and the warm, familiar lights of home.

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xxx