Siren Song - 6

"What?"

"You heard me, my love." He fondly stroked her hair back from her sweaty face. "Come away with me."

"Where? What do you mean?"

He sighed and took both her hands in his. "I know humans have more complex rituals, but for me this is it. I'm bonded to you."

"Like marriage?"

"Ye-e-e-es..." He raised one of her hands, turned it over and kissed the underside of her wrist. "A little more than that, maybe. But you'll understand later. For now, I have to ask: are you happy here?"

"Happy? I always thought so." She frowned. "Just now, though, the past few days, I think I only just started to know what that means."

Hizashi's eyes teared up. "So cute..." He wheezed. "You're killing me. Augh. Um. So, what I mean is, there's this place we can go. Everything you want to keep can get boxed up and sent over; you can work out the same deal with your finances and even the house."

"I can take the house?" Her lips quirked in a grin and he chuckled.

"You know what I meant. I can move my stuff the same way, all to a new home where it's much easier for us to live together." 

"Tell me more about this place." She laid back, nestling in the crook of his arm as he leaned over her and spoke softly.

"I've seen it only once, but my kind have spots like it all over. Places where new couples can learn how to coexist in a world that doesn't believe in us."

"New couples," she mused, yawning. "That's what we are, huh. I like it."

He kissed her forehead, smiling. "I'm glad."

"How would we get there? Is it far?"

"Well, that's the tricky part, 'cause it's an island. It would be fastest to go by plane but I get very nervous when I'm not around water for too long." He bit a fingernail, holding it between his teeth as he thought. "I can't see any other way, though. You can't swim that far and it would take too long, anyway. And there's this ship that would be better for me, but it's expensive, and slower."

"Didn't you say our first time was like marriage for you, Zashi?"

He grinned at the nickname and nodded. "Uh huh."

"Then why don't we set the financial things up, pack my things and get human-married at the courthouse beforehand? Then we can take the cruise as our honeymoon. I assume it's one of those popular tourist locales?"

"Smart lady," he breathed reverently. "My god, I am way too lucky to have found you."

"It's probably the other way around, but thank you." She smiled, a large, genuinely happy smile for the first time in a long while. 

Several weeks later the house was on the market and they were nowhere to be found. Her frantic parents tried everything to track their whereabouts but were unsuccessful at every turn. They struggled to try and take the house, the small amount of possessions she left inside and anything they could. It was only after they contacted a lawyer that one representing Elly showed up. He gave them a single envelope, addressed to them with a letter written in her own handwriting and nothing more.

"<i>I'm going to keep this as brief as I can.

Hizashi and I are married and are going to live our own life far away from, well, you. I had to leave to finally be happy. To learn that things are not always my fault, that I'm not a failure, or ugly, or fat, or a messy pig because I don't fully wash down a butter dish every single time I use it.

I still love you. I probably always will. But if you taught me anything at all, it's that "love" and "like" are not the same thing. 

I was never what you wanted me to be, never good enough. Hizashi loves me for who I am, just like you should have. I've been haunted by the way you raised me too long and it stops now, because we'll probably never see each other again.

Live well. 

I will.

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