Chapter 35

"You are requesting four weeks off?" Azul said, hands folded on his desk.

"Yeah, it's Crowley's doing," I said. "I could have refused, but you know how it is..."

"Yes... As it so happens, Vil has already informed me of you participation in the SDC rehearsals. He offered to lend me one of his Pomefiore students while you are away."

I smiled slightly. "So, you'll be fine then."

Azul gave me a pointed look. "If you could be so easily replaced, do you not think I would have done so already?"

My eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, uh, I guess. So... are you going to let me do it?"

"I do not have choice in the matter, do I? Submitting the the headmage's requests is a stipulation of your contract."

"Thank you."

"Now, should I tell everyone else, or do you want to do it?"

I hesitated. His tone told me he had a particular concern but did not want to voice it, and I had a feeling I knew what it was about. "You can tell everyone after my shift on Thursday."

"That is wise. There is no need to create any... problems before you're gone."

"I'll tell Floyd myself."

"Are you certain?"

"Yeah. He'll take it better if I tell him myself... probably."

Azul appeared amused at this. "As wish. Good luck, Ona."

I gave him a wary look. "Yeah, thanks..."

"If that is all, you may get back to work."

"Alright." I stood up and exited the VIP, nearly running into Floyd and Jade. I jumped in fright. "Whoa, you startled me!"

"Is everything okay, Ona?" said Jade.

"Y-Yeah. Why wouldn't it be?"

Jade leaned in closer to me. "Are you sure there's nothing you want to tell us?"

I swallowed hard. Why did it always seem like he could see right through me? "Nothing at all!"

"Is Shrimpy keeping something from us?" Floyd said with a frown.

I wracked my brain for a response. "I, uh, didn't pass my audition yesterday. I'm still kind of bummed about it."

"We are sorry to hear that," said Jade.

"Aw, poor Shrimpy," Floyd said. "Don't worry! We'll have more fun without them!"

I smiled slightly, feeling guilty. "Right." Then an idea came to me. "Hey, Floyd, do you want to go swimming at the pool after our shift on Thursday?"

Floyd brightened. "That sounds great!" Grinning, he walked off to attend to a customer.

I looked at Jade, who still watched me with his signature smile. "I didn't mean to be rude. You can come too if you want."

"That is alright, Ona," said Jade. "You have something to tell him, don't you?"

I froze. "Uh..."

Jade smiled. "I won't say anything." He left me alone, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I was fine for now, but the hard part was yet to come.

Somehow, I survived until Thursday night. Floyd still had no clue what was going on. He practically dragged me out of the Mostro Lounge and into the pool room. I had to pull away from him before we both ended up in the pool.

"Floyd, wait," I said. "There's something I have to tell you."

Floyd turned around and looked at me curiously. "What is it?"

I bit my lip. The best thing to do was to come out and say it, right? "Headmage Crowley has asked Grim and me to allow those participating in the Song & Dance Competition to use Ramshackle Dorm as a base for training camp. So, they'll all be staying over."

"Like a sleep over? That sounds fun!"

"Yeah, but that's not all. Crowley wants me to be some sort of manager and be at all of the rehearsals."

Floyd smiled. "It'll be like you're a part of it!"

"Sure, but you're not getting the point. Rehearsals are going to take up all of my free time. I won't be able to work at the Mostro Lounge for four weeks... or see you."

Floyd's smile faded. "What? We can't see each other for four weeks?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "That's right."

"What did you agree to that?!" I felt his anger rise.

"I didn't have a choice, Floyd."

"Of course you had a choice! You could of asked Azul to help get you out of it."

"No, even Azul can't do anything against Crowley."

Floyd crossed his arms, frowning. "I wouldn't let him kick you out."

I sighed. "It's not as simple as that. He offered to pay for renovations for the dorm, and Grim was very enthusiastic... It won't be that bad. You can have fun without me."

"I want to have fun with you! And now you're leaving!"

I winced at his tone. I did not like this either, and I did not know how to make him understand. "I'm sorry." I reached out to him, but he moved away. I withdrew my hand, feeling hurt at the reject. "We can have fun now. We can go swimming."

"I don't feel like it anymore. You can swim without me." Floyd started for the door.

"But I wanted to spend time with you before I had to go!"

"You should have thought about that before you agreed to that plan!"

"Floyd!" He slammed the door behind him, causing me to shudder. "I'm sorry..." I wiped my eyes as a heavy weight set in my heart. Since when had he meant so much to me that he could cause me this kind of pain? I never meant for this to happen. All I wanted was to spend some time with him before rehearsals took up all of my time. Now I was alone, though I could not exactly blame him for getting upset. Not knowing what else to do, I pulled off my clothes and slipped into the pool. The cool water felt good on my skin, though it did nothing to ease my heart.

Several minutes later, I heard the door open. I looked up to see Jade, his expression unreadable. "I see it didn't go well with Floyd," he said.

"Did he tell you about the competition?"

"No, Azul told me, but Floyd did make his opinions known."

I looked at him anxiously. "I didn't mean to hurt him. I had a difficult choice to make, and I did what I thought was best."

"I know, Ona. I am not here to chastise you. Azul explained your position, and I understand. You had every right to make that decision. I am here to make sure you are alright."

I wiped my eyes again, allowing the pool water to mask my tears. "I - I'll be fine. I just wish I could fix things with Floyd."

Jade moved closer to the pool. "There is nothing to fix. He's not mad at you, and he will not allow this to affect your relationship. He just needs some time to work through his feelings. He upset with the situation, not you. He just doesn't always know how to tell the difference at first."

"Yeah, I get that. He has a right to his feelings... but so do I. And right now, I feel... alone. But I guess that's my problem." I closed my eyes and sunk lower into the water, my arms draped over the edge of the pool. I did not hear anything for awhile. Just when I wondered what Jade was up to, there was a splash in front of me. I opened my eyes to see an eel in the water watching me. "Jade?"

"I know I cannot replace Floyd," he said, "but if he is going to forfeit the chance to spend time with you before your training camp starts, then I will gladly take it myself... if that is alright with you."

He... wanted to spend time with me? After Floyd's rejection, that felt nice. "Of course that's alright. I would love to spend time with you."

Jade titled his head to the side. "Perhaps you would prefer my human form? You must find it more pleasant."

"N-no! I don't. I mean, I like both."

"Really? You do not find me repulsive like this?"

"What? How could I? You're beautiful." I spoke without thinking, though I did not regret it. I had said the same thing to Floyd, hadn't I? However, Jade's reaction was much different from his brother's.

"My, my, you are bold. Are you sure it is wise say things like that to a predator?" He swam closer to me, smirking mischievously.

"You're still on this? You're not dangerous, Jade."

"It seems you fail to understand the type of danger you are in." Jade nearly closed the distance between us, latching his hands onto the side of the pool on either side of my hands, effectively leaving me no room to escape. "Be careful... or I may get the wrong idea." He moved his face close to mine, his eyes shimmering with mischief and... something else.

My eyes widened, and my heartbeat quickened. Why was he doing this? He couldn't actually be serious... could he? Then something occurred to me, and I knew he must be messing with me. "There's no way you would get the wrong idea." I spoke slowly and carefully to not let him know how much his closeness was affecting me. "You could easily figure out my intent behind such a statement. And you would not feign ignorance in order to act as you wish while maintaining an excuse. You would not do anything to hurt me."

Jade's expression remained unchanged. "Are you sure about that, Ona? I am not Floyd." There was a certain edge to his voice that told me he wasn't completely teasing me, though I could not figure out what else he could be hinting at.

I considered his question seriously. I knew he was quite capable of hurting others, but I also knew he cared about me. While I could not say for certain there were no circumstances where he might decide to cause me harm, I believed it was something he would avoid if possible. And considering this specific situation, I saw no way he would cross my personal boundaries to give into any sort of feelings. There was too much to lose and too little to gain. I could explain all that that to him, but... I sensed the comparison to Floyd was important, so I settled on that. "I know that. You are Jade, and you are a good friend." I easily moved my arms around his neck and rested my head against his chest. Despite our previous closeness, the sudden physical contact seemed to catch him off guard.

"...yes...my friend..." Jade slowly wrapped his arms around me. His tailed moved up to gently press me against his body. Hugging him was much different than hugging Floyd, but it felt good all the same. I felt safe and cared for. "You are correct..." He spoke softly, his head on top of mine. "I would not put you in that situation. You do understand something about me."

I smiled. "Good." And he had successfully helped me improve my mood. So, he understood something about me as well.

"Have you ever noticed the stars from the pool?"

"Huh?" I pulled back slightly so I could follow his gaze up to the roof. I gasped. The ceiling was made completely of glass, and instead of the sea life frequent in the dorm, bright stars were visible. "It's beautiful. I can't believe I never noticed before."

"You likely had other things on your mind. It is nice to be able to see them without going outside, no?"

"Yeah, it's great. Thanks for pointing it out."

"Of course. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

I glanced at Jade at the same time he looked at me. "Well, I came here to swim, so... Why don't we have a race?"

Jade appeared extremely amused. "You want to race a merman? Do you have any idea what that entails? Surely you don't harbor any illusions about winning?"

I grinned. "If you're so sure you can't lose, why not just race me?"

Jade chuckled. "Very well. As you wish." He released me into the cold water. I quickly grabbed the side of the pool to avoid treading water. "Ready? Go!"

He took off before I even had a chance to let go of the pool. I grabbed the end of his tail and managed to be dragged along for several feet. He was much too slippery to hang onto, and I ended up tumbling around in the water. My head broke to the surface, and I gasped.

"Is that the best you can do?" Jade said from the other side of the pool.

"I wasn't ready. Let's try again!"

"If you insist." He easily swam back to me.

This time, I climbed out of the pool and ran along the side. Still, I was unable to match Jade's speed. He watched me as I jumped into the water next to him. "That was better?"

Jade smirked. "That wasn't swimming."

"I just said I wanted to race. One more time?"

"Alright."

I splashed water in his eyes and swam away from him. "Ha!" Jade easily caught up to me. Laughing, he scooped me up into his arms and raced forward using only his tail. Upon reaching the end of the pool, he pushed me out in front of him. "There, you finally win." He laughed again, pure enjoyment on his face. A thrill ran through me. That was what I had been after the whole time.

I smiled at him fondly. "Yes, I did." I glanced up at the ceiling just in time to catch something wonderful. "Hey, it's a shooting star! We should make a wish!"

Jade chuckled lightly. "Good idea." I swam backward to get a better look at the star and bumped into him. He wrapped his arms around me, and I relaxed against him while I made my wish. "What did you wish for?"

I turned around to look at him, gripping his shoulder to stay afloat. "I can't tell you that, or it won't come true."

"Did you wish to go home?"

He was not too far off from my original thought. I was going to wish for Crowley to find a way for me to visit home, but then something else occurred to me. I remembered the person in the mirror who's hand I took before coming to this world. I wished I could meet that person again and recognize him. "I'm not telling you. What did you wish for?"

"I wished for your happiness."

I gave him a look. "No, really?"

Jade gave me a smile that showed off his sharp teeth. "I can't tell you. But it was about you."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah right. As if you would waste a wish on me."

"What an interesting conclusion..."

We got out of the water soon after that. We returned to the Mostro Lounge to find Azul still inside. "Ona," he said, "are you doing alright?"

I almost asked him what he meant, but then I realized Floyd must have ranted to him as well. He was concerned for me. "I'm fine, thanks. Jade helped me feel better."

Azul's eyes flickered to Jade before looking back at me. "I see. Very good, Jade."

"It was my pleasure," Jade said with his usual smile.

Azul nodded. "I can walk her home."

"No need," said Jade. "I can take care of that." He offered me his arm like a gentleman, which I took.

Azul frowned at him before offering me a smile. "Very well. Then good night, Ona. I will see you later. Take care."

I smiled back at him. "Good night, Azul." I walked with with Jade outside into the night. Only then did Azul's intentions occur to me. "Hey, maybe Azul wanted to spend time with me before I go off to training camp."

Jade glanced at me, amused. "You just figured that out?"

"If you knew, why didn't you let him?"

Jade smirked. "Because I wanted this time with you, and I am selfish. I would let Floyd take you from me but not Azul... unless you were to object, which you did not."

I shrugged. "Fair enough."

We talked amiably on the way to Ramshackle Dorm. It was of nothing of importance, but it was nice. I doubted he talked this informally with many people. Upon reaching the dorm, I turned around to face him. "This is your stop," said Jade.

"Thank you for everything, Jade. I really appreciate it."

He smiled at me. "It was no problem at all. I enjoy your company and am always happy to spend time with you. I hope you have a wonderful night, Ona. Good luck with the SDC."

"Thanks. Good night." I turned to place my hand on the doorknob. Then I changed my mind. "Jade, wait."

"Did you forget something?"

I ran up to him and threw my arms around him. He was surprised once again, but he was quick to hug me back. "I'm going to miss you." I liked being with him more than I realized. I spent way more one-on-one time with Floyd than Jade, but that was mostly because Floyd was always inviting me to do things with him. Now that I thought about it, I was always the one to initiate with Jade. Why was that, if Jade liked spending time with me as well?

"I will miss you too, Ona... and so will Floyd."

"I know." I believed him, and I could worry about his motivations later. I pulled away and smiled at him. He gave me a real smile in return, and it warmed my heart. It was then I knew everything was going to be alright.

I found myself distracted throughout classes on Friday. Occasionally, I spotted Jade or Azul, but there was no sign of Floyd. It was only after seeing them together at the ended of classes that I made my way over to them.

"Hey, where are you going, Ona?" said Ace.

"Vil wants us at practice," said Deuce.

"Grim, you can cover for me," I said. "There's something I've got to do."

"Hey, wait a minute!" said Grim, but I had already jogged over to Azul and Jade.

"Hey, guys," I said. "Where's Floyd?"

"Ona," said Azul, "what a pleasant surprise. As for Floyd's whereabouts, your guess is as good as mine."

"He is not in any of his usual spots," said Jade, offering me an apologetic smile. "He must be hiding somewhere even I don't know about."

It suddenly hit me. "I bet I know where he is! I'll find him."

"There's no need. He's in a bad mood, but he will come out of it on his own. He always does."

"Maybe so, but this is my last chance to see him for four weeks. I'm not going to miss it." With that, I ran off.

My heart rate quickened as I made it to the cliff where Floyd and I first met. Then I saw him. He sat with his back against the large tree, facing the ocean. He did not look at me as I approached him. "Go away," he said harshly.

I froze. I did not know what I was supposed to do. Normally, it was easy to interact with him because he said just what was on his mind. Right now, however, I had a feeling he did not actually want me to leave. Jade has told me to trust my intuition once, so that was exactly what I did. "I'm not going to bother you. I'm just going to sit near you." I slowly lowered myself to the ground, sitting perpendicular to him.

Floyd still refused to look at me. "Just leave. I am no fun to be around right now."

I took a deep breath. "You don't have to be fun all the time, Floyd. I just want to be with you, even if you're having a bad day. I won't run away from you just because you're having a bad day. If you need to yell or do something to get out your feelings, that's fine. I won't take anything you say personally. If you want to talk about what's bothering you, I am here to listen. But if you don't, that's fine too. I'll just sit here with you in silence." To prove my point, I stopped talking. I did place my hand on the ground near him so he could reach out if he wanted to in his own time.

For a long time, Floyd said nothing. I closed my eyes and tried to relax in the moment. Then I felt his hand on top of mine. A moment later, he took hold of my hand and gently tugged. I wasted no time in moving right next to him. He wrapped both arms around me and pulled me into his chest. I held onto him just as tightly. For awhile, we said nothing. We simply existed together, comforting each other.

"I'm sorry," Floyd said at last. His voice was muffled because his face was in my hair. "I'm not mad at you. I'm mad that I won't be able to see you."

"It's alright," I said softly. "You have a right to be upset. I'm upset too."

"Really?"

"Of course. I love spending time with you, and I'm sad that I won't get to do that for awhile. But I have other responsibilities I have to attend to. Sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do."

"It's not fair."

I smiled. His anger was slipping and his true feelings emerging. He was only upset because he cared about me. "I know. I'll make it up to you after the SDC."

"You promise?"

"Yeah, I promise."

"Good. Take a nap with me?"

"Alright." Vil might be upset, but he could survive being without me for one day. I needed to make sure Floyd was okay. He moved me with him and lay on the ground, pulling me on top of him. I did not object as I rested my head on his chest and closed my eyes. Then I allowed myself to be pulled into the peacefulness of his presence. Everything felt right when we were together.

Surprisingly, it was Floyd who stirred awake first. He kept his arms around me as he helped me stand up. "That was nice," he said, giving me a lazy smile.

"I'm glad you're feeling better," I said. I glanced at my watch. It was about time for him to get to work. "Do you want me to walk with you to the Lounge? Or wherever you want to go."

"Just a minute." Floyd pulled my into a tight hug, resting his head on mine. I could feel his emotions through his embrace, and I gladly passed on mine as well. "If you're going to spend this much time away from me, you better win the competition."

I smiled. 'I'll make sure everyone works hard."

After another minute, Floyd let me go. "Okay, I'm ready." He grabbed my hand and began walking with me, a soft smile on his face. It pleased me to see him happy again. I had always loved his smile. He let go of my hand when we made it to the Mostro Lounge, where we were met by a surprised Jade and Azul.

"You found him," Azul said. "And he came here with you willingly?"

"I'm ready for work," Floyd said brightly, walking further inside while I stood near the entrance.

"What did you do?" Jade asked me, a hint of wonder in his eyes.

I smiled. "I followed my intuition."

Jade gave me a smile - a real smile - and pat my head. "Very good Ona."

"We should give Ona a free goodbye drink!" Floyd said loudly.

"Yes, she does deserve it," said Jade.

"What?!" Azul said incredulously. "She's leaving us, and you want to give her a free drink?"

I walked right up to him and gave him a hug, causing him to become completely flustered. "I'll miss you too, Azul."

"I - I didn't mean-"

The twins brought our drinks. Azul sighed but joined the three of us at a table. I spent a little time conversing with them before finally excusing myself. When I arrived at the Pomefiore ballroom, I found everyone already packing.

"You're late," Vil said, disapproval lacing his voice.

"I had something to take care of," I said.

"Nothing more important than-"

"Yes, it was more important."

"You were with Floyd, weren't you?" said Grim.

"Leech?" said Vil, his expression unreadable.

"Uh, yeah," I said. "I was making sure he wouldn't be a problem in the future. Everything is fine now."

Vil nodded. "Good. I hope it remains that way."

"I'm sure it will be fine... probably." With Floyd, it was hard to predict what would happen next.