Summary: Naomi struggles with her feelings in the wake of the unity pact between humans and sirenas. Mateo takes matters into his own hands.
The warm sand of the Nueva Vista coastline sparkled in the noonday sunlight, and waves lapped gently onto the shore, where humans and sirenas alike mingled like old friends. A blend of traditional Avaloran music and sirena conches floated above the party as a bright and cheery constant, weaving in and out of conversations, laughter, and general merriment. Shuriki was dead, the kingdom was safe, and for once, all was well with the world.
It was a perfect afternoon, and Naomi had never felt more sick to her stomach.
Guilt churned through her as she watched the festivities. She'd been wrong about the sirenas. It wasn't her first lapse in judgment and it surely wouldn't be her last, but it was by far one of her worst, with old childhood grudges almost leading to renewed violence. Making matters worse was that even though everything had worked out with the unity pact, no thanks to her, a voice still fretted at the back of her mind, telling her to just wait for the other shoe to drop. After the way the day had gone, that remaining paranoia felt vile, like a betrayal.
So instead of partaking in the celebration, she drifted around the beach, unmoored and off-balance. Casting her eyes about, she looked for a friend she could use as an anchor until the party was over. Elena was with the young sirena royals, teaching them the sambarosa, and Gabe, still shirtless and wrapped in seaweed, was getting a lesson on sirena trident technique from their reef commander. Naomi's stomach sank further. Daria had been as vehemently opposed to the pact as Naomi had, and even she was putting in the effort of making new connections.
Her gaze finally caught on Mateo at the edge of the party. He was sitting alone in the shade of a palm tree, his robe laid out under him like a makeshift beach towel, and he watched the goings-on with an absent smile on his face. He didn't notice Naomi's approach until she was nearly on top of him, when he turned to beam up at her.
"Mind if I join you?" she asked.
"Not at all!" he answered cheerily, gesturing to the sand beside him. He watched as she settled in, smoothing out her skirt, and then turned back to the party with that same relaxed look on his face, apparently content to continue his silent observation. He'd finally taken off his boots, setting them out beside his folded undershirt and vest, but he didn't seem to have been in the water recently, judging by how his hair was starting to dry, sticking out at odd angles from the salt.
Another day, Naomi might have been fine to people-watch with him for a bit, but these particular people were making her anxious, and she needed a distraction.
"Partied out?" she asked.
"Ah, kind of." He shrugged. "I'm just taking a break."
"Me too, I guess."
"Where were you this whole time?" Mateo sat up, looking at her with a curious expression. "I didn't really see you while I was with everyone."
Naomi tried not to grimace. Of course he'd noticed. "Oh, you know, around. Just kind of exploring."
The answer, vague as it was, seemed to satisfy him, and he moved on to a new line of questioning. "Did you try the food?"
As if her turning stomach would have allowed it. "I don't have much of an appetite right now," she admitted.
Mateo laughed. "Okay, so what have you done with the real Naomi?"
She managed a weak smile.
"I totally get it though," he went on, lowering his voice like he was telling her a secret. "The seaweed stuff is… ehhhh…" he held up a hand, palm down, and wobbled it in the air, "not the most appetizing. The taste is fine, I just can't get past the texture."
Naomi let out a genuine chuckle as he shuddered, his face scrunching up in disgust just at the memory. "You're wearing seaweed right now."
"First of all, this is milagra. It's completely different."
"Seems pretty similar to me."
"And second of all," he continued, ignoring her smirk, "it's not in my mouth!"
She laughed properly at his indignant huff, but the gloom closed back in around her, chasing the brief burst of levity away. Curling her legs up to her chest, she stared out over the party, feeling pensive and ashamed.
"My judgment's been way off lately, huh?" she said. "Getting mad at you and Gabe over the Captain trials, dropping the ball on the Rita thing," she waved a hand out toward the beach, "this."
"But you were right about the Rita thing?" Mateo replied, audibly confused.
"I couldn't make up my mind about the Rita thing. And that still doesn't change the other two." She sighed, resting her chin on her knees. "Maybe I'm losing my touch."
"It all worked out, though," Mateo pointed out.
It was a small comfort. "How do you do it?" she asked, turning toward him. "People give you crap all the time, and you still always end up trusting the next person. How do you just do that so easily?"
"Uh, well…" He rubbed at his neck, his face twisting in discomfort. "I think people usually call that 'being really gullible.' It's not really considered a good thing."
"Better than being paranoid all the time," Naomi shot back. "I could've messed up peace between us and the sirenas all because I didn't want to give them a chance." She settled her chin back on her knees, staring down at the sand. "And I really let you guys down, too, by not going along to fight the malandros."
"But it all worked out," Mateo repeated. "It's in the past, right? So now you can give trusting them another try."
"I—I don't know. I want to, I think. I feel guilty about everything I did, and—" she squeezed her arms more tightly around her legs, "—what if they don't trust me now? I made just about the worst first impression possible."
"Well," Mateo started, drawing the word out, "when we met, you gave me a black eye as an introduction, and now we're best friends, so…"
Stifling a surprised snort, Naomi pushed against his shoulder. "You're not gonna let me live that down, are you?"
He grinned. "Literally never. But seriously," his face softened, "what I'm saying is that you've come back from rough starts before. And now you have the rest of us backing you up!"
He wasn't wrong, but it almost made the shame worse, knowing that her friends would help her patch up her own problems even when she'd refused to help them with theirs. Naomi curled up again, turning away and feeling her ears burn.
When she didn't speak again, Mateo sighed, and Naomi braced for a scolding.
"I do get it, though," was what he said instead, his voice more gentle than she felt she deserved. "Why you had such a hard time trusting them, I mean. With what happened with your grandfather, I think it would've been harder for me, too, if I'd been in your place."
She peeked up at him, watching out of the corner of her eye. Of course. She'd seen the sympathy on his face when she'd explained her family's history, how the sirenas had cost her both her grandfather and the chance to ever meet him. He would know better than anyone what that was like.
He rocked forward, crossing his legs under himself. "But," he went on, and Naomi sank further into her arms. There it was. "If you really want to get past those first impressions, you're going to have to start somewhere. There's a certain point where you just have to give someone a chance, even when you're worried it might be a bad idea."
"I know," she muttered. "I just wish I knew where that 'somewhere' was."
A sudden gasp beside her caught her attention, and she lifted her head, concerned, only to recoil at Mateo's expression. He was staring at her, eyes wide and over-bright, his mouth stretched into a grin that showed far too many teeth.
"I don't like that look on your face," she said.
He scrambled to his feet. "Hold that thought!"
"Mateo?!" She sat up, properly alarmed now.
"Just—wait right here. Don't move!" And then he took off across the beach, sand kicking up in his wake. He beelined toward where Elena was still talking with Marisa, Marzel having left to chat with Gabe some time before, and Naomi could just barely make him out calling their names before the conversation became too distant to hear. Mateo was animated, whatever it was about, with a lot of hand waving and bouncing as the girls nodded along, suddenly looking excited themselves and ohhhhh no, they were all looking at her: Marisa, with her hands clasped in front of her and tentative hope on her face; Elena, with a single hand pressed to her chest like she did when she was feeling moved; and Mateo, still grinning like a maniac, something smug and victorious in the way he held himself.
"Oh, I really don't like that look on your face," Naomi said to herself.
Marisa took off toward the ocean, disappearing beneath the waves with a flash of purple light as her tail reformed, and Mateo and Elena were headed back toward where Naomi was sitting. She reluctantly pulled herself to her feet, brushed the sand off her backside, and met them halfway.
"Mateo said you really wanted to try the milagra but were too nervous to ask," Elena said, taking one of Naomi's hands and tugging her toward the shore.
Naomi let out a high-pitched laugh. "Did he, now?" She shot him a glare through a fake smile, but he just squared his shoulders, looking proud.
"You're welcome!" he chirped.
"I'm just so happy that you're ready to give the sirenas another chance," Elena went on. "I was a little worried when I saw you avoiding everyone earlier, but if it was just nerves, you could have told me! Marisa and Marzel would be happy to show you around some sirena landmarks. Or, seamarks? Hm." She'd led Naomi to a stony outcropping that hung out over the water like a natural dock in a more secluded part of the beach, when she clapped suddenly, dropping Naomi's hand. "Actually! I should go get Marzel and Gabe. I bet they'll want to go swimming with us. I'll be right back!"
Naomi watched her run back toward the party and then wheeled on Mateo, bearing down on him with the full force of her glare.
He remained unfazed. "Two years," he announced.
Naomi blinked, the dozen different choice words she'd been about to unleash evaporating on her tongue. "Two… what?" was what she managed instead, dumbfounded.
His self-satisfied smile curled further upward. "I've been waiting for two years to get back at you for making Luisa drag me to lunch that one time."
She had to rack her brain to even know what he was talking about. The memory felt so unassuming and distant—was he really still holding a grudge about that?
"That's what this is about?" Naomi blurted. "Mateo! This is completely different!"
He shrugged. "Seems pretty similar to me."
"You—that—ugh! Mateo!"
Someone cleared their throat behind her, and Naomi spun around.
"What?" she snapped, only for her anger to burst into mortification as she realized she'd yelled, unprompted, at Princess Marisa. She straightened up, uncurling her fists and tucking some loose hair behind her ear, feeling shame creeping back up her spine. "Ah, um. Sorry. Hi. Marisa?"
She offered an awkward smile. "Yeah. Naomi?"
Naomi took a shaky breath. "Yeah."
Shifting her feet, Marisa raised the bundle of slimy, green ocean plants in her arms. "So, I went and got some milagra, plus some extra if anyone needs theirs refreshed." She looked past Naomi at Mateo, who patted his seaweed-shirt down.
"I'm still good," he said.
"Okay. Then, whenever you're ready, Naomi," she looked back at her with another small smile, "we can get you wrapped up."
Naomi stared at the proffered milagra, and sweat prickled on her neck. "Right."
Sirenas were dangerous; everyone knew that, at least until they didn't. Everything had been fine since the pact was signed, the party had been great, and still Naomi couldn't shake the heavy miasma of irrational fear that clouded her judgment. What if it didn't work? What if it dragged her down into the depths, or suffocated her? What if it turned her into a sirena? Never mind that her friends had been using the milagra all day, and they were still fine. Not trusting sirenas had been an absolute lesson of her childhood. How was she supposed to unlearn that now?
She glanced back across the sand and saw Elena coming back with Gabe and Marzel in tow, and swallowed. It was now or never, wasn't it?
Shooting another dirty look at Mateo, she said, "If I drown, I'm taking you with me."
He nodded. "That's fair."
"Wait, why are we drowning Mateo?" Gabe asked as the group approached, looking back and forth between the two with an amused expression.
"No one is drowning Mateo," Elena said, frowning, "or anyone else, for that matter!"
Naomi fiddled with the edges of her vest. "So… am I gonna need to take anything off, or…?"
Marisa chuckled. "Oh, no, the milagra can go on over your clothes. I actually don't know why these two took their shirts off," she said, raising an eyebrow at Gabe and Mateo.
Gabe put his hands up. "Hey, I only started undressing because I saw that he was," he said, pointing at Mateo.
"Wait, what?" Mateo blinked at him, confused. "I only started undressing because I saw that you were."
Gabe stared back. "...Huh."
"Hm." Mateo turned back to Naomi. "Ignore us, then."
"I wish I could," she muttered, and then took a deep breath. She still wasn't ready, but… "I'm as ready as I'll ever be, I guess."
Before she knew it, her torso was wrapped in sea plants and she was being ushered toward the edge of the outcropping, overlooking the dark surface of the ocean.
"Why don't you guys go ahead," she said, staring down into the water.
Elena gave her arm a squeeze. "Take your time," she said. "We'll wait for you below." She dove into the waves with the sirenas close behind her, and Naomi held her breath, half expecting them to resurface. They didn't, of course, and dread once more began to wind its tendrils through her guts. This was fine, right? Elena was fine. All Naomi had to do was jump.
"I don't know, Mateo," Gabe teased from behind her. "Think she might need a littleencouragement?" She looked over her shoulder just in time to see him mime pushing her with a wink, and Mateo snickered at the gesture.
She pivoted. "Don't you guys dare—"
—And her back foot came down on nothing. Pinwheeling her arms, she hung in the air for an impossible second, and then she tumbled back with a tiny scream, just barely able to catch the guys' twin looks of surprise before she plunged into the water. It flooded into her nose and mouth as she went down, and she held her breath on instinct. Gut clenching terror seized her as she kicked, thrashing, frantic—
Up. She had to go up, find the surface, she had to breathe—
Something grabbed one of her arms and she lashed out again, her free arm grasping at empty water and her legs swinging until—
"Ow! Hey!"
The sound was so normal, not remotely distorted by the water. Naomi gasped, and then immediately clapped a hand over her mouth at the mistake, opening her eyes.
Across from her, Mateo was rubbing at his shin, pouting. Gabe swam up beside him, a concerned frown on his face.
"I wouldn't have actually pushed you," he said, and Naomi balked at the sight—Gabe was talking underwater.
"The milagra works better if you breathe," Mateo added, and only then did Naomi notice that her confused gasp hadn't killed her.
She slowly lowered her hand, her lungs starting to burn from lack of air, and with trepidation still buzzing in her head, she took a cautious breath. Water swirled into her windpipe, unnatural and cold, but she did not feel the urge to cough, and her body relaxed even as her mind was still racing. She was breathing water. She could feel it moving through her chest in a way that air just didn't feel, far too thick and heavy, but against all logic, she wasn't drowning in it.
"Oookay," she said, testing her voice. "That's unpleasant."
"I think it feels neat!" Mateo remarked.
Gabe laughed, giving him a gentle shove. "Yeah, you would."
"Naomi! You made it!" Elena swam up to the group, beaming. "Come on, there's so much to show you!"
She took Naomi's hand and led her deeper into the water, and as Naomi turned, her breath caught again—not from the water moving in and out of her lungs, but from the sight before her. Banks of coral rose up from the seafloor, a kaleidoscope of shape and color that caught the eye from every direction, and the bright, powerful tails of sirenas wove between schools of equally vibrant fish as they went to and from the party above. A carpet of sea grasses waved peacefully in the tidal currents, and sunlight filtered through the waves, sending halos of light rippling across every surface like drifting rings of magic. Naomi had been on the water plenty of times in her life, but she'd never given much thought to what lay beneath the surface. She'd never seen it like this before.
Marzel joined them, a glint in his eye. "Pretty great, huh?" he asked. He was much steadier in the water than on land, with confidence and precision in how he moved his tail as opposed to his wobbly legs.
Naomi scanned the reef again and let out a short, incredulous laugh. "I—yeah, it's something else."
And so began the grand tour. Marzel and Marisa proudly showed off some of their favorite spots among the coral, where it rose up from the silhouette like complex art, and a myriad of different sirenas swooped in and out of the area to chat with the royals and introduce themselves to Elena. Gabe started to chase Mateo after the latter accidentally kicked him in the head while trying to do a flip, and a massive, sea-green seahorse that introduced himself as Cuco gleefully joined in the game. More assured that the milagra was working and curiosity winning out over her initial panic, Naomi began to explore on her own. She was watching a crab scuttle by with a fish trapped in its tiny claws when a shadow fell over her, and a soft voice spoke beside her.
"Hey," Marisa said, smiling warmly.
Naomi cast her eyes about for the rest of her friends. Elena was still talking with a group of curious sirenas, and Gabe had finally caught Mateo at the far end of the reef, one arm around his shoulders and the other rubbing his knuckles into his skull. She hadn't realized she'd drifted so far away from everyone. Marisa was holding herself as non-threateningly as possible, her hands carefully folded and her tail half curled beneath her like she was sitting, but even still, Naomi tensed at the realization that the two of them were relatively alone.
"Hey," she replied, forcing herself to smile back.
Marisa bit her lip, wringing her fingers together and looking away like she was trying to think of what to say, and it finally hit Naomi that Marisa was just as nervous as she was, another thread of guilt winding through her.
"I'm really sorry I didn't trust you," she blurted, right as Marisa finally announced, "I'm really happy you're giving this a chance."
The two blinked, and then laughed, awkward and loud.
"I'm so sorry," Naomi said, "I totally interrupted you."
"No, no, that's okay!" Marisa replied. "I was talking over you—"
"It's fine! You can go ahead—"
"Oh, are you sure?"
"Yeah, sure, of course."
Marisa let out another awkward giggle and then took a deep breath. "I'm really happy you're giving this a chance. I know your history with sirenas isn't the best, and after what happened with your family, I can understand why trusting us would be hard. But I really want humans and sirenas to be able to move forward together. So when you said you were willing to try the milagra…" She smiled again. "It meant a lot to me."
Something lanced through Naomi's chest. She knew she could just accept the gratitude and move on, but with how she'd been acting all afternoon, doing so felt dishonest. "You're giving me too much credit," she said, sighing. "This was Mateo's idea. I didn't want to do it at all."
"I actually kinda figured," Marisa admitted, and Naomi snapped her attention back up, surprised. "He's not a very good liar, and you seemed really uncomfortable."
They looked out across the reef—Mateo had finally wriggled out of Gabe's grip, and both of them were trying to do flips, now.
"But you did it anyway," Marisa went on, turning back to her. "And you didn't leave as soon as no one was watching."
Naomi snorted. "That's a pretty low bar."
"Well, we have to start somewhere."
Shoulders falling with a new release of tension, Naomi finally managed a tentative smile. She had a better idea now of where that 'somewhere' might be. "I'm sorry I didn't trust you before," she said. "After everything you guys did to help us with Shuriki, I should have given you a chance."
Marisa gave a tiny nod. "I appreciate that. So…" She ran her hands over her braid, her tail swishing below her. "How about we take that chance now? We can go back to the others, and I could introduce you to some of my friends. If you're okay with that."
She reached a hand out, offering it to Naomi, and Naomi looked at it with a deep, water-filled breath.
"We have to start somewhere, right?" she finally said, and she took Marisa's hand.
For some reason, I was thoroughly convinced that this episode was called "Turning the Tides," not "Tides of Change." I have no idea why, but I've had that locked in my head for months. Hm.
Anyway this was one of my favorite chapters to write, if just because the amigos get to goof off a little—God knows they need it—and because I get to finally finish the joke I set up back in chapter 7. Look at it this way, Naomi, at least he didn't throw an olaball at you.