Sunday, August 19, 2018

Water and Earth, Prologue, scene 15 -- Hefin

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Five good friends, all charges of ours, are gathered with Beryl's parents' in the Kendrick's living room. They are playing a game of random bidding with cards, similar to a game you might know as Pit.

"Two! Two! Two!"

"Three! Three!"

"One! One!"

"Two!" Dai and Water Princess trade.

"One?"

"Three!" Earth Prince and Dilwen trade.

"Three! Three!" Earth Prince puts the cards he just received back up.

"Two! Two!"

"One?" Beryl is frustrated. "Okay, eight!"

Silence.

Water Princess giggles. "Try this?" and hands Beryl a single card, taking Beryl's single in trade.

"Thanks, but nope."

As trading continues, Hefin silently slips a card into Beryl's hand, and she looks it him, then gives him the card Water Princess gave her. Counting together to three and turning the cards over, they look quickly at the cards, then at each other again, grinning, and call, "Corner!" in unison.

Silence again, then laughter.

Earth Prince counts the points. "Beryl broke 500, so she wins."

"Brig and I need to do some research in the library." Dilwen stands.

"We do?" Brigham looks up at her, and she speaks to him with her eyes. "Oh. We do."

"Can we help?" Earth Prince stands.

"Completely unnecessary." Brigham also stands to leave. "If you need anything just holler." And he follows his wife out of the room.

"More Pit?"

"How about something that allows us to talk?" Dai suggests. "You've got the Scripture Dungeons set, don't you, Beryl?"

"Right here on the shelf. You guys can set it up. Dŵr, can you help me mix some more juice in the kitchen?" Beryl picks up the empty pitcher.

"Hey, we can help."

"You're not invited."

Water Princess follows Beryl into the kitchen. "Hundred percent fruit juices."

"Uh huh. Natural sugars are better for you, if you don't drink too much. Has K-- woops, there I go again."

Water Princess grins apologetically. "Sorry. Still need to keep that distance."

Beryl opens the freezer. "What do you suggest?"

"You have cherry and mango? Let's try a mix."

They open cans and scoop frozen concentrate into the pitcher.

"Has Ddaear explained about how he is with refined sugars?"

"Does funny things to his body. Ties his miscles in knots, kills his immunity system, makes it hard to focus on hard stuff."

"I've seen what it can do to him."

They re-seal the cans and pour water into the pitcher, mixing it with the concentrate.

"Can you tell me?"

"It can make him turn inside himself. Not just his muscles, not just catching colds. He can hurt himself. Stress alone can turn him inside out a bit, but sugar makes it worse. Sometimes he has no defense against himself."

"Is that what scares you?"

"Yeah. I'd have bad dreams every time we started getting really close."

"Bad how?"

"I'd see him in my dreams coming home stressed out from something, needing my attention, and he couldn't let me get close to him. It would be too dangerous for me."

"He is rather strong."

"You can see it, too? But you're strong."

"Yeah, I can see it. I think I'll be able to let him be close enough. If ..."

"If ...?"

"If we start out right. That's why we both need the time to get used to being on our own without each other before we start courting for real. Neither of us has really been on our own yet."

Beryl washes the long spoon and puts it away.

"I'd never thought of that. But even after he lost his parents, he had Ceri, and then us. The mission was pretty close to being on his own, but he always had a companion. He really hasn't been on his own like he'll be at the Hyde."

"Right."

"This is what Hef needs to know. He was mad at you for stealing Ddaear from me, and now he's mad at you for making Ddaear wait for you. But he's not thinking of what the woman who has to live with him forever needs."

"Do you think he'll talk about it?"

"Let's go see."

Water Princess picks up the pitcher and they return to the other room. Setting it down, she asks, "Who's going to be dungeon master?"

Dai suggests, "Beryl's mom and dad might. We could call them back."

Beryl looks at Water Princess, who looks at Earth Prince. He raises an eyebrow and Water Princess tilts her head slightly towards Hefin. He nods yes.

"I'll go call them." Beryl leaves the room. We hear her call through the hall. "Mom, Dad, are you two too busy to be dungeon masters?"

Hefin collects and shuffles the cards and places them in several stacks on the table. When Beryl returns with her parents, he hands Brigham the playbook.

Brigham rolls a die and checks the book, then intones, "You are in a small clearing in a woods you have never seen before. In the clearing is a small cabin with one door, and a piece of parchment on the door. What do you do?"

Beryl says, "Read the notice," and all agree.

Hefin draws a card. "Seek, and you shall find."

Water Princess identifies the scripture, and Dai says, "Knock, and it shall be opened unto you." All agree.

Earth Prince says, "Knock knock."

Dilwen intones. "The door opens with a low creaking noise."

Water Princess giggles and says, "Now we run around the cabin five times and yell, 'Boo!' "

"No disagreements?" Brigham scratches his head, reading the playbook.

There are chuckles, but no disagreements.

"Okay, here it is. There is a loud thunderclap and the cabin disappears in a puff of smoke. In its place is a hole in the ground, with the top of a ladder poking out. As you watch, scaled hands grasp the top rung and a lizard-like man climbs out. He addresses your group and asks: 'Who is your leader?'"

With some consultation, Beryl is chosen. A scripture riddle is posed which they answer successfully, and the story proceeds down the hole.

Some half an hour later, as you would experience the time, they have made their way down to the third level, answering questions and fighting various creatures with rolls of the dice and scripture quotes.

"You have come to a four-way branch in the tunnel. On the floor of the tunnel you find a small metal ball. On the surface of the ball is a writing."

Dai says, "We read the writing." All agree.

Hefin draws another card. "You shall not suffer a witch to rebel forever. A witch who will use xer special talents in rebellion against God has not the word of life, and thus is in a state of spiritual death. You shall not promise xem either salvation or eternal life while xe remains in xer rebellion."

(Genderless pronoun: xe, xem, xer, xers, xemself.)

Again, Water Princess identifies the scripture.

Hefin looks at her accusingly.

"Hef." Dai's voice mixes warning with concern.

Hefin looks down.

"So I bewitched Tywysog, and now I'm bewitching all of you?" Water Princess smiles wryly.

"It was a lot simpler before you came."

Beryl turns to him. "Hef, there's something I haven't told you."

Hefin sets both hands flat on the table and leans on it, standing up. "You've told us that you both got 'No,' in reply, and I don't believe it."

"Hef," Dilwen puts her hand on Hefin's hand. "Beryl took it hard. I was here and we cried together. It was real."

Beryl takes his other hand. "I never told anyone about the dreams I've had except ... Ddaear until tonight. Whenever we started talking about marrying, I had dreams. I was warned. I can't give him the help he needs. The dreams made it clear. And this was before Dŵr ever came."

Hefin looks at the floor and shakes his head.

"Hef, how strong is K-- Ddaear?

"Why can't we say his name? See how she bewitches us?"

Brigham looks at Earth Prince.

Earth Prince nods.

"There's another thing that hasn't been told, but answer Beryl's question, Hef."

"Okay, he's stronger than anybody I know. So?"

"I'm not strong enough to help him. That's what I saw in the dreams, very plainly."

Hefin refuses to look at anyone. "You could be."

"But it's not what God wants. He won't help us. Not if we rebel."

Hefin is silent for some few moments. Then, somewhat grudgingly, he speaks. "Okay, I'll grant that Dŵr is stronger than any of us except Ddaear. But, in that case, why the code names? Why the talk of them not being able to marry for four years? Why can't they get engaged and then marry when Dŵr turns eighteen? Why can't her parents let them marry now, if they are so meant for each other?"

No one asks why he cares so much.

"I have been told I can match his strength, but only if we start things right."

"What, you've seen those messengers Ddaear told us about, too?"

Water Princess looks at Earth Prince questioningly.

"I did try to tell them once about the messengers, when I first met them."

"Oh."

"What? Then it's those messengers that have you all confused."

"The messengers have not told us to get married, but I have met them."

Dai leans forward. "This is interesting."

"That kind of thing doesn't happen now." Hef becomes adamant. "We have the scriptures and we have the Church. We don't need messengers."

Dilwen squeezes his hand. "Hefin, has the time come for miracles to cease?"

"Hefin, please. Before we met K-- Ddaear, it was you and me and Dai. Before we met Dai, it was just you and me."

"We were only seven. Your parents took me in to get me away from that foster home for a couple of years. And then they sent me to live with Dai."

"So we could stay close, Hef."

"We're brother and sister."

"But we aren't really."

"But you and ... Ddaear love each other."

"And I love you and Dai, too. I'm getting to like Dŵr pretty well, too."

Earth Prince speaks up. "And I have no small affection for everyone in this room. Ceri explained it to me like this when I was twelve and had a terrible crush on her. There are crushes, and there is love, but marriage is a contract to make babies. You can't marry everyone you love."

Brigham laughed. "That's what she said?"

"It was a good explanation at the time."

Dilwen shakes her head with a chuckle. "Your sister always surprises me with her wisdom. I think she was the biggest factor in my joining the Church."

Hefin's chuckle becomes audible. "Blast it K-- Ddaear, you know how to take the romance out of everything."

Dai deadpans, "What's unromantic about any of this?"

Soft laughter fills the room.

Hefin becomes serious again. "So, if those messengers aren't the ones telling you to get married, what are they telling you?"

Water Princess answers, "Things about our future. Not requirements, possibilities."

"Thus, Earth Prince, Water Princess?"

Earth Prince nods. "But they -- we -- are not required to marry."

And Water Princess adds, "It does seem to be convenient to marry, but we have to choose whether to accept the mantle."

"And whether to do so married to each other or married to others."

"We have to understand what we are being asked to do as something separate from whether we marry. That's why we have to be completely separate from each other for a year. Uhm, plus or minus a little." Water Princess reaches out and takes Earth Prince's hand, and he squeezes it."

"It's scary, but we have to do it."

Hefin smiles a tight, but sincere smile. "Okay, now I think I can see."

Brigham points out, "Things have been said here that must not leave this room."

And all agree.

Hefin finally looks relieved but he has one question left. "So, Beryl, should you and Dai get married, then?"

Beryl drops her head into her hands and doesn't say anything.

"Hef, mate, you and I need to follow Ddaear and Beryl's examples and go on missions."

"Thank you, Dai," comes Beryl's muffled reply.

But Hef's face again shows signs of fretting.



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Water and Earth, Prologue, scene 14 -- Beryl

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"Dŵr, hi!"

"Huh? Oh, hi! uhm, Beryl, right?"

Beryl smiles quietly. "Yeah."

"Do you come to this store often?"

"Yeah, uhm, no, not really. Sometimes. Your parents said you'd be here."

"I needed to get some seals for my swimming goggles, or get some new ones."

"You're looking at scuba gear."

"Just dreaming. So, ... you came to talk to me or something."

"Is it okay?"

"I guess. What about?"

"Well, about," she bites her lip, "Ddaear."

"Ddaear? Well, of course." Water Princess puts the breathing regulator back on the shelf and gives Beryl her attention.

"We've been mates for a long time. Dai and Hefin and, uhm, Ddaear and I."

"He told me a little about you. You helped him overcome his shyness, he said."

"He was really shy when we first met him. Dancing was not cool, and he took a lot of teasing for it. Bullying, really. Somehow, he kept from being badly hurt, but we always worried."

"I have to say, I would have been as worried for the bullies."

Beryl laughs softly. "It took me a while to see that he was holding back. He had to use his strength to defend himself just once, and that pretty much put a stop to the bullying, but then everyone was afraid of him."

"Did the other guy survive?"

"The four of us went to hospital to visit them. They're friends, now."

"They."

"He's strong. He took three rugby players down and then made the others help get them safely in the ambulance."

"That sounds like something he would do."

"You're not afraid of him."

"He's a good person."

Beryl suddenly wraps her arms around Water Princess and hugs her tightly. "Keep him safe, okay?"

Embarrassed, Water Princess stiffens, then relaxes and returns the hug.

"Thanks. But it's not like we're getting married or anything."

"I know." They step back and look at each other, non-verbal understanding flowing between them.

"I've asked K-- uhm, Ddaear about things and he's explained. But I can see it between you. I'm a little jealous."

"Oh? Well, I guess so." Water Princesses smiles, embarrassedly. "He's easy to get a crush on."

"I have a huge crush on him. Had it for a long time. No, I'm hugely jealous. But I'd be scared to actually marry him."

"He told me about how you supported each other on your missions, and how you both got noes when you prayed about marrying. I feel like an outsider -- an intruder."

"You're not. Just from church and hearing about you, I can tell you'll be good for him. And I can tell I'll like you as a best mate-in-law."

They hug again.

"I'm putting pressure on you."

"No, you're actually answering some of my questions. I hope we can be friends. You do water ballet, too, right?"

"Yeah, a little."

"Want to practice with me?"

"I'd love to. I'll bet you could teach me a lot."

"We could teach each other. Can I have your mail address, too?"

"You have a hand-held?"

"Back home. Didn't want to carry it through customs. Dad has one."

"Tell me his." Beryl gets her hand-held communication terminal out. "By the way, he asked me to ask you to come back to the shop. He and Ddaear want your help with something."

"Well, I guess I should go. Can you come back with me, and we can keep talking?"

"I'd like that."



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Thursday, August 16, 2018

Water and Earth, Prologue, scene 13 -- Gwen

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"I know you didn't want me to, but I explained to the Sunday School teacher that you're a little shy with me and want to go by code names."

"Oh, I don't know. It seems like it would be such a bother to everyone.

"I've talked with Beryl about it. Dai and Hefin know anyway, from basketball, and they've mentioned it to most of the rest, just in case you run into someone in town."

Water Princess actually pouts.

"It is so tempting to kiss that pout."

She laughs. "Okay, since you all went to the trouble, I'll come to your Sunday School this week. And maybe next."

As they approach a graveyard they have not yet examined, they see a young girl there ahead of them.

"Gwen!"

"You're up early."

"So are you two."

Water Princess smiles. "Did you come to meet us?"

"Mom said she heard you would be reading the stones here today. A lot of our people are here."

"And you thought you'd help. Cool." Earth Prince grins.

Water Princess's parents join them shortly, and for several hours they search the field for head stones and other markers together and record the information in their notebooks.

Earth Prince straightens up. "I don't see any more."

Water Princess asks, "Should we ask if we are done?"

Gwen looks puzzled. "Ask who?"

Water Princess smiles. "Who is in charge?"

"Oh. You mean ask God."

"Would you?"

"Sure." And Gwen says a simple prayer, asking if they are done.

Gwen looks serious as they wait for a moment. Then she smiles. "It feels like we're done."

Earth Prince and Water Princess and her parents nod in agreement.

"Should we go, then?" Water Princess's mother asks.

"Are you going to swim today?" Gwen looks hopeful.

Water Princess and Earth Prince look at each other, then check with Water Princess's parents, who shrug.

"I think I have time before work."

Water Princess nods agreement. "Do you want to swim with us?"

"Can you teach me?"

Earth Prince laughs. "You know how to swim."

"Not like you two."

Again, the prince and princess look at each other. Earth Prince raises his eyebrows questioningly.

Water Princess nods. "We should ask your parents."

"Mom said I should learn to swim like you two."

"But she hasn't told us we can teach you." Water Princess pats her on the back. "Let's go ask." She looks at her parents.

Her dad grins. "You three go have fun."

As they set off, Gwen has another question. "So are you two really the Water Princess and Earth Prince from the old stories?"

Water Princess snorts. "Who told you that?"

"It's what you call each other. And everyone says maybe you are them."

"Everyone?"

"Some of my friends. And my mom. But Dad laughs at her."

Earth Prince chuckles. "If we were, would we tell everyone?"

"It's a masquerade. We wanted to get to know each other, and I thought our names would get in the way."

"Why?"

"It's hard to explain. I'll tell you when I figure it out myself." Water Princess smiles.

"What do you think, uhm, Ddaear? It's so weird to call you that."

"When a princess speaks, it's hard to disagree with her." Earth Prince winks at Gwen before giving Water Princess a knowing look behind her back as he continues. "I'm pretty sure we'll have a chance to tell you all about it some day."

Water Princess raises her eyebrows.



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Water and Earth, Prologue, scene 12 -- Talent

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"Can you help me with this stretch?"

"Sure." Earth Prince stops waving his arms around and goes to Water Princess's side.

(We still aren't quite sure whether he was working on expressive dance or defensive combinations. Not that it matters, we are here to observe, not critique.)

She extends her left leg gracefully forward in developpe, and he puts his hands under her ankle and knee to give her support as she reaches full extension at waist level.

"So how did you get started dancing?" She puts the weight of her leg in his hands.

"Watching Ceri. Thought it looked fun."

"Oh?" Using his support, she rotates her body to the right, letting the muscles stretch.

"More fun than cricket or track."

"Really?"

"I was totally uncoordinated and just an all around wimp."

She reaches arabesque and extends her arms like a ballerina for a moment and chuckles. "I can't imagine you as a wimp." Then she begins rotating back, still amused.

"Couldn't understand having to swing a bat the way the coach said when I could as easily be swinging my arms wherever I wanted."

She nods. "I could see that." Back in devant, she lifts her leg out of his hands and lowers it. "So how'd you get interested in basketball?"

"Dancing helped me get me coordinated, and teachers pushed me to join a ball club. I wanted to play football. Not rugby or old world football, the football you guys play Stateside."

She lifts her right leg and he supports her as she rotates to the left. "Why so?"

"It's choreography."

"So's soccer."

"Not the same. Not nearly as much."

"Soccer's a lot like basketball."

"I do understand old world football now, but basketball uses more visible upper body dance."

"True." She pauses in arabesque before reversing. "So, when and how did you learn to fly?"

Earth Prince starts, but does not drop her leg. His face loses the grin that has been a fixture of his expression the entire morning. As she returns to extension devant, he quietly nods.

"You noticed."

"Anyone who was watching would have been impressed with that dive."

"I had to move fast to keep her from being pulled beneath the vines. Those currents can be impossible to fight beyond certain points, and she could easily have filled her lungs with lake water trying to fight clear."

"That dive was not natural."

"Your influence on Gwen could be thought natural, but not on the vines, or the water flow. The undertow seriously weakened when you ascended. Just coincidence?"

The two stand, staring at each other, Water Princess with her right leg in Earth Prince's hands. Then she remembers what she is doing and lifts her leg out of his hands, lowering it absently to stand in first position.

"Your turn?"

"Sure." Earth Prince raises his right leg, almost as gracefully as Water Princess raised hers.

"So tell me about flying."

"I'm not sure when I realized that my grand jeté was exceeding the range of my momentum. It was before I had started playing basketball seriously. But one morning I teased my modern dance coach by floating an extra pace or two in the leap."

"A pace or two." One corner of her mouth quirks upward. "What did she do?"

"She scolded me."

"Oh? Why?"

"Exceeding my training and technique. Afterwards, when I came down to the lake for a swim, I was not allowed to enter the water."

"Not allowed?"

Earth Prince trades legs.

"I put my foot in the water and felt an awful fear. I kept calling myself silly and trying to wade in, but the fear just got so bad I couldn't even stand to look at the water. That was when I met them for the first time."

"In the water?"

"On the shore. Two men and a woman that time. They told me what happens to people who play childish games with their special talents."

"What did they tell you?"

"You know, people get scared and try to kill the monster. And if you use it for money, fame, greed, entertainment, power, or basically anything but serving God's children quietly, you quickly lose the right to be guided to use it safely. And then you do dangerous things and just lose everything important."

"And what did you do?"

Earth Prince finishes stretching his other leg and lowers it. "I learned it's not good to fight God. Eventually I learned to trust Him."

"Okay. You've learned the same lessons I've learned. I guess I can trust this. Sometime, when you think it's okay, I'd like to hear more about your lessons, and I can talk about mine."
観 -- See, days, not years.
Water Princess looks up. "Oh. You're here."

Earth Prince turns to face the messengers. "No, she was right. Years."
観 -- But she knows who we are, and she begins to understand what she is being called to do.
"But she must serve a regular mission first, much as it will try my patience."
助 -- A mission is one of the courses you've completed. But there are many kinds of missions. Is not a calling of service a mission? Is not raising a family a calling of service?
"And both of us seem to need to prove our interest in each other, before ..., or, whether we should marry. The Prince will have a lot of attention from cheerleaders."

"Not that the Princess will lack attention from her fans."
助 -- That is correct.
使 -- More courses to complete for both of you.

観 -- You will both return in four years, then.
"It might not require a full four years, I suppose, but, yes, no more than four years."
助 -- Is Water Princess equivocating?
"No."
使 -- It was wise to not reveal your names to each other yet.
"Of course, we have Ceri and Morris and my parents if something comes up." Oddly, it is Water Princess who makes this suggestion.

"If something comes up before her senior year is over." And it is Earth Prince, now, showing patience.
観 -- That is also correct.



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Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Water and Earth, Prologue, scene 11 -- Anonymity

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We are back at the church on a Sabbath afternoon. Morris and the young man we know as Earth Prince administer the sacred emblems. The young woman we know as Water Princess sits in the congregation with her parents and Ceridwen. When the sacred service is complete and the lay sermons begin, Morris and the young man join the four on their pew.

Between short sermons, Water Princess whispers something to Earth Prince. He looks disappointed, but nods. After the services, Water Princess leaves with her parents and Earth Prince stays behind for his meetings.

As they leave the chapel her mother reaches out and takes her by the shoulder, drawing her close. "I don't understand why you insist on not knowing each other's real names, Honey. And wouldn't it be nice to meet his friends?"

"I don't want to break the spell, Mom."

Her parents exchange a meaningful look, but her father shakes his head. "Our princess needs to do this her way, I think."



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Water and Earth, Prologue, scene 10 -- The Team

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In the evening a few days later, we find a basketball game wrapping up in the outdoor court. When we look closer, we see that Water Princess and Earth Prince are on one team, his sister and brother-in-law on the other. The other three players on each team are men, and the play has been intense. All ten are sweating profusely.

"How many baskets have we traded with no one getting two ahead?" one of the men asks, breathing heavily as he recovers the ball after a hard fought basket.

"Twenty."

"I think we call it a draw."

In the chorus of Ayes, there is only one Nay.

Earth Prince chuckles. "Dywysoges, I think the rest of us're done."

Water Princess laughs. "Sorry, just being contrary. I'm beat, too."

Now there is a chorus of laughter.

"Mogue, why is it you and, uhm, Ceri's brother are so lucky?"

Earth Prince's brother-in-law, Morris, raises an eyebrow and mugs. "Luck has nothing to do with it."

There are scattered chuckles and complaints, and Ceridwen gives Morris an eye and an "Oh, really?", but Water Princess looks a little embarrassed.

"Hey, Ceri's Brother! Trying to remember not to use your real name cost us at least four points."

Earth Prince laughs.

Water Princess ducks her head. "Sorry, guys. But thanks for putting up with me."

"No, no!"

"Our pleasure."

"Glad to play a little hoop with ya, Ffynhonnau Dŵr."

"And calling Ceri's brother 'Daear' is something we don't get to do every day, too."

Earth Prince smirks at his best mate, grabs the ball, and plants it in his gut.

"Oof."

More laughter as the two young men chase each other around the court.

Quickly, the game of tag ends, and friends take their leave. Water Princess leaves with Ceridwen and Morris, but three good mates remain on the court, tossing the ball around and talking.

"This new princess of yours is a real beaut, but, I tell you -- Beryl is not taking this well." Hefin tosses the ball to Earth Prince.

"She is not my new princess, and Beryl and I are not going steady or anything." Earth Prince passes it to Dai.

"You're over-reacting, Hefin." Dai passes the ball to Hefin again.

"I thought you'd be on my side, Dai." Hefin holds the ball.

"Hef, can't you see that the way is clear for you?" Earth Prince signals for the ball.

"That's not what this is all about." Hefin one-hands the ball against the ground, and it bounces away as he shakes his fist at Earth Prince.

Dai chases it down.

"It is. Beryl and I have talked this to death. Before we left on our missions. Letters while we were out. Four times since I got back we've been through it. We're mates. Best mates. We like each other -- a lot. But we both know it would not be right."

"Hefin, if you aren't going to step up, I will." Dai passes the ball back to Hefin.

Earth Prince chuckles. "Dai, your true feelings come out."

Dai smirks.

"This is not a laughing matter." Hefin heaves the ball hard at Earth Prince.

He takes it in the chest with a grunt and passes it on to Dai. "Ask Beryl."

"I couldn't."

Dai holds the ball. "Hefin, I tell you, if you aren't willing to make Beryl happy, I'm not going to just stand by." And he passes the ball back to Earth Prince.

"I think the three of you need to talk this out. I've got some homework." Earth Prince holds the ball.

"You're not ditchin' us."

"Okay." He puts it down and dribbles. "You guys are still mad at me for going to the Hyde for school."

"No. We're settled on that. You're going pro in the States and then you're comin' back to coach our kids. But you should be taking Beryl with you."

"Maybe we should all four talk. Dai?"

"I'm in."

"Let's go, Hef."



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Water and Earth, Prologue, scene 9 -- Roundball, One-on-one

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Maybe it is not a coincidence that we are working near an outdoor basketball court this mid-morning. These two of our charges having been playing one-on-one for twelve of their long minutes, roughly an hour as you measure time.

(Yes, this world has a game you would only call basketball -- and many other games you'll find familiar, too.)

Water Princess checks the ball to Earth Prince and he returns it. Then she turns and puts it down against the hard dirt, her back to him, dribbling as she backs up. He reaches under her arm in an attempt to steal the ball, and she deflects it between his legs, whirling around him to pick it up behind him before he gets to it, and drives to the basket with him practically glued to her back. Approaching the basket, she feints a straight-on lay up, bumping the ball to her right hand to lay it up from the weak side as his hands close on air to her left.

Momentum carries him forward, and he rolls, laughing, as the ball hits the backboard and drops through the hoop.

"Seven times going between my legs, and I've lost count of how many times you've caught me off-guard shifting the ball as you go up. You're pretty good at this." He leans back on the ground, taking a breather, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"You're holding back." She retrieves the ball and brushes perspiration from her eyes before reaching out to give him a hand.

"Not much." He grins and takes the hand, letting her give him leverage up.

"Three brothers, and all of them played on the team in high school." She grins, too. "Are you going to give me my hand back?"

He mugs an evil grin. "Here I was planning on teaching you some easy stuff like how to use your wrist to shoot, and how to take aim on the basket."

"Oh. Now you didn't really think I'd let you get that close to me, now, did you?" She puts the ball in his chest and lets go, causing him to drop her hand to catch it. While his hands are occupied, she suddenly grabs his face with both hands and pulls him close, planting a quick kiss on his lips.

They both recoil in shock and stare at each other.

(Intervention does not seem necessary, however.)

Grinning and shifting the ball to his left hand, he slips his right hand around her waist and draws her close. "Foul. I call foul."

The moment stretches out, not quite to eternity. Water Princess shakes her head and draws back, looking down. "Sorry. I, uh, got kind of carried away."

"I'm not complaining. Do I get a free shot?" Earth Prince keeps his arm around her.

"Huh?"

"Another kiss, I mean."

"I shouldn't."

"Uhm, maybe go for a walk?"

"It's just too unreal."

"What do you need to convince you it's real?"

"Time. And other people around. I've got your attention now, but what happens when you're at the Hyde, and I'm still in high school, and I have to compete with all the girls there?"

"I don't think there'll be any competition."

She turns away and elbows him in the side, but does not break away. Another long moment passes.

"Do you have a boyfriend at home?"

"Hardly ever been on a date. I go to the dances at church, and I have to drag the guys out on the dance floor."

"Hard to believe. Are the guys at church blind, there?"

She laughs and gives him a sideways hug. "They're shy about dancing. I could take a walk. Are you okay after that roll?"

"Couldn't be better. I'll take another if you'll give me another kiss."

She rolls her eyes and reaches up to tousle his hair.

"Darn." He sets the ball down and they walk arm-in-arm off the outdoor court and up into the mountain paths.

(We appreciate your staying to finish things here while we go to keep an eye on our charges.)



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Water and Earth, Prologue, scene 8 -- Swimming

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"Would Gwen have died?"

Somehow we are not surprised to find Water Princess and Earth Prince swimming together in the lake this morning. Their voices carry to us as we take care of some business on the shore.

"She did not." Earth Prince dives under the surface, turns a somersault and surfaces.

"But what if we hadn't been there?"

"We were there."

Water Princess does a back somersault under the water and deftly swims underneath Earth Prince, ascending on him rapidly.

He dodges. "Too slow," he teases as she breaks the surface. Then he sprints toward the shore, with Water Princess in hot pursuit, both using efficient butterfly stroke. She tags him as she overtakes him, and for about twenty more minutes they swim laps together, trading leads, staying within the boundaries marked as safe by buoys in the water.

(Twenty minutes as you might experience time -- about the time it takes to boil a batch of hard-boiled eggs, let them cool, and peel them -- for them it is about four -- four, what should we say? Long minutes? Four sixteenths of one sixteenth of a Xhilr day.)

Earth Prince pulls up in the middle of a lap and treads water. "I'm beat," he calls out, panting and shaking water from his face.

Water Princess flips a somersault and sidestrokes back to him.

"Sorry." She floats leisurely on her side, treading with small kicks.

"You're holding back."

"Swimming tandem is more fun. But I'm not holding back much."

"You take lessons?"

"Since I was nine. I'm on the high school swimming and water ballet teams."

"No wonder."

"How about you?"

"Took lessons for a couple of years, but I mostly just swim for fun."

They float for a bit.

"What if we hadn't seen her?"

"Gwen? We saw her."

"What if we hadn't gone to help?"

Earth Prince looks reproachfully at Water Princess. "Would you have just let her drown?"

She exhales in exasperation, then splashes him, and they trade splashes, laughing.

"Did it really happen?"

"It was in the news."

"You read it?" her face reveals some anxiety.

"Ceri read it to me so I wouldn't see your name."

"Thanks. Your sister's a brick."

"Brick?"

"Solid, Dependable."

"Good friend."

"Yeah."

"She likes you."

She gives him a hesitant smile. "But, ... the stuff after. The messengers, I mean. Was that, ... were they real?"

"I was there, weren't you?"

Water Princess suddenly leaps up in the water, closing the gap between them and dunking Earth Prince before he can react. But he manages to pull her underwater, too, and they wrestle in the water for a few moments.

Breaking apart, they surface, laughing and sputtering as they separate. Then she strokes for shore, and he follows.

On shore, they retrieve their towels and dry off.

"This is such a fantasy!"

"It's real enough, I think."

"Are they still there? If we went down there, would they be waiting to talk?"

"I don't know. They didn't, you know, drag Gwen down or anything. She just got caught in those random currents I warned you about."

"Then why were they there?"

"They were watching out for her. But she shouldn't see them. At least, not yet. So we were called in to help."

"Then I guess I earned the name you gave me?"

"Not exactly. It was apparently yours to start with."

Water Princess's face shows doubt. "Don't tell me it was something I agreed to before I was born."

"Uhmm, then what can I say?"

"Okay." She leans back to face the sun and closes her eyes. "I know something about this. I guess. I'm not exactly sure how."

"The old stories? Did you hear them when you were a kid?"

"Maybe. Yes. My parents did tell me some of them." She opens her eyes and looks at the sky. "Do they always marry?"

Their eyes meet, and they gaze at each other in a silent, not quite awkward moment.

"Sorry," she demurs. "I should not have brought that up."

"Well, maybe, ..."

 Now she looks puzzled. "Somehow I know it doesn't always happen that way."

"It seems like it would be much more convenient, though."

Again there is silence as Earth Prince waits for Water Princess to look at him, but she finds something on the opposite shore too interesting, or maybe she is just avoiding his eyes.

"Sorry. I guess I should not have said that."

More silence.

Earth Prince sighs. "How about a little basketball tomorrow?"

"Basketball." Finally she turns and looks at him. "I'm not allowed to do that."

"Oh?"

"Unless I wear a support corset." She smiles. "I started modern dance and swimming lessons to strengthen my back."

"Scoliosis?"

"Yeah. But things have worked out pretty well, so I only need a soft corset when I'm doing things like basketball."

"But you don't have it with you."

"It's in my luggage. Tomorrow. Roundball. It'll be fun. I'll dig it out."



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Water and Earth, Prologue, scene 7 -- Reassurances

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On the bank, the young girl has recovered herself somewhat by the time her parents arrive.

Adults talk of the dangers of the lake and the underwater vegetation, and of the ecological necessity of limiting the area of the lake that is kept clear for swimming, so that natural flora and fauna can thrive in the rest. Her parents admonish her to stay within their sight and within the designated safe areas, and she nods her agreement in tears and trepidation.

For her, it is a hard lesson learned that could have cost much more.

When the young man and young woman come to shore, the girl's parents thank them effusively, offering rewards which both refuse, saying they were only glad to have been able to help.

Together, Earth Prince and Water Princess talk with the girl and reassure her, being careful to obtain a promise to continue swimming, but stay within the safe areas.

The girl wraps her arms around Earth Prince's waist and buries her face against his chest, sobbing. Her tears subsiding, she turns her face fearfully to Water Princess, who wraps her arms around both of them and whispers words of comfort and encouragement to her.


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Water and Earth, Prologue, scene 6 -- The Messengers

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土 -- So I have brought her.

使 -- You are the Water Princess.

水 -- I am ... I am? What do you mean? And why?

観 -- We have waited a long time.

水 -- For what?

助 -- For you.

水 -- For what? You will wait longer. No one owns me. And putting children at risk is not part of any acceptable plan. It's not fair.

観 -- Putting children at risk?

使 -- We must consider this.

助 -- What is your opinion, Earth Prince?

土 -- I think that true helpers do not use coercion.


観 -- No one is being forced.

水 -- Nor do they rush things.

観 -- We are not rushing you, Water Princess. We are merely helping things along.

助 -- It is not time. Earth Prince is not ready.

観 -- How can it not be time, Earth Prince? You have finished three of your courses.

土 -- Earth Prince has other courses still to complete.

水 -- And Water Princess, if I am such, must also do certain things.

使 -- Water Princess has spoken, and Earth Prince concurs.

観 -- Must it be so?

助 -- It must.

観 -- So be it. We wait. How many days?

水 -- Five years.


観 -- Years?

使 -- Water Princess says years.

観 -- Do we have so much time?

助 -- Do we dare cut the natural course short?

使 -- We dare not.

観 -- The Prince and the Princess are resolute?

土 -- We are.

観 -- We must consult.

土 -- Those on the surface will be worrying.

助 -- You shall return.

土 -- Agreed.

使 -- Water Princess is not happy about this. Will you return?

水 -- I suppose I could.




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Water and Earth, Prologue, scene 5 -- A Young Girl Almost Drowns

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We happen to be in the area again a few days later, and we see the young man and the young woman running together on the mountain paths in the early morning, making jokes, and challenging and encouraging each other. They stop near us, and we watch them stretching, laughing, talking, and exercising.

But what are these exercises they do? Is it from the formal dance form you would call ballet? It does seem to be from some sort of dance, maybe what you would call modern, or perhaps street.

Or it could be martial arts.

In the middle of a sweeping kick, Earth Prince glances toward the lake below, and a furrow crosses his brow as he puts his weight back on both feet. Water Princess looks around from her position in attitude derrière and follows his gaze down, gasps, brings her back leg down from behind her and starts towards the lake, cutting down across the twisting paths, running lithely through the thick purplish-green underbrush and trees, shouting. Earth Prince kicks off his shoes and runs, too, but not down. He runs towards a precipice, and we feel alarm. At the edge, he leaps and launches himself, but it's too late to try to stop him.

The cliff is too far from the lake.

Water Princess, startled, looks up as she runs, and sees him as we do, performing a beautiful swan dive in an impossibly long arc through the air over her head, dropping cleanly into the water near where they had seen the swimmer in trouble.

We do not see anyone else nearby who might have seen his impossible dive.

Without breaking stride, she continues down the mountain, searching the opposite shore as she runs, and we follow. When she sees her parents with Earth Prince's sister and brother-in-law on the opposite shore, she calls to them. Having gotten their attention and communicated her concerns, she kicks off her own shoes and runs into the water, leaning forward and leaping in as she approaches waist depth, swimming in powerful strokes to where Earth Prince had entered the water.

Diving under the surface, she finds him in murky purplish-green water, wrestling to free a young girl from the tangle of underwater vines above the lake floor, and the girl, in fright, fighting him, her breath escaping in bubbles around her face.

She swims around behind the girl, wrapping one arm gently underneath the girl's arms and lifting her free. At her touch, the vines seem to relax from around the girl, and the girl seems to calm down, relaxing into her embrace. Water Princess looks at Earth Prince and he points up, then turns to examine the vines. Kicking, she ascends with the girl in tow, working laterally through the now easing undertow.

When she breaks the surface, the adults are launching a skiff, so she treads water and concentrates on supporting the girl and helping her clear her lungs and breathe. Shortly after the skiff arrives and the girl is helped in and the adults take over her care.

Earth Prince surfaces and beckons, and Water Princess, her face showing some puzzlement, follows him back under the water.



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33209: Discovering the 6800 -- Parents and Polygamy

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