Breath of Air (9 page)

She saw a bird’s eye view of a vast forest, clustered with massive redwood trees, snow dusting the mountains in the background. Then the plains, flat and filled with barley and wheat blowing gently in the wind. A bustling city, could it be Rome? With humans riding around on vespas and in tiny cars on cobblestone streets. Those streets melted away and were replaced by a long stretch of white sandy beach with palm trees bending almost to the breaking point by powerful winds. The sea rushed forward amidst angry gray skies, while rain pelted the sand mercilessly.

“A hurricane?” Capri muttered, her eyes entranced by the images she could see so clearly in the smoke column.

“Yes.” Clynn replied with an excited grin. “I ordered it just yesterday. Looks like it’s coming along quite nicely.”

“But…hurricanes are bad, people drown when there are hurricanes!” Capri was flustered, and turned to her father with pleading eyes. “Make it stop!”

He simply chuckled, his hands still outstretched, the image of the hurricane held in place. “Hurricanes are a necessary part of the balance of nature, darling. It’s unfortunate that humans may perish, but the Earth needs destructive forces in order to balance out the harmonic ones.”

Capri stared back at the image of the hurricane, trying to process it all. When Clynn moved his hands slightly and the image changed to one of a peaceful lighthouse far up the Eastern seaboard at sunset, calm waves lapping gently against the rocks, she felt she understood his meaning.

“Nothing is ever perfect all the time. You can’t appreciate the bad without the good.” She murmured quietly, her eyes still on the image of the lighthouse.

“Everything in life is balance: good versus evil, strong versus weak, hot versus cold…an equal amount of two opposites creates balance.” Clynn motioned again with his hands, bringing them together as if in prayer, and the smoke dissipated and returned to the bird bath. He turned to face her. “And as I said before, it is our job to maintain the balance of air throughout Earth. We monitor wind patterns, cloud formations, hurricanes, tornadoes, most things involving weather.”

“And rain?” Capri asked, turning to her father.

“Rain is Lucian and Liam’s responsibility, though usually we work together to make it happen. Ever seen it rain with hardly any clouds? Doesn’t happen often, but when it does it’s because we’re not communicating properly. Thea gets upset when that happens.” He smiled sheepishly at Capri. “We don’t make mistakes often, but even we’re not perfect.”

“This is all so…overwhelming.” Capri stared down at her own hands, feeling helpless. “Am I supposed to know how to do all this?”

Clynn pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly. He planted a small kiss on her forehead. “You were born to do this, Capri.”

“It’s like, my destiny or something?” She giggled, tilting her head up to look at him. When he smiled patiently and nodded, she felt an excited jolt run through her. “Wow, I never really thought about having some grand purpose in life before.”

“You do. You will be the reason the Earth is able to continue functioning.”

She processed his comment for a moment, feeling extraordinarily small.

“That’s a lot of pressure for one person to take on.” She commented softly, her eyes shifting warily to the bird bath. “I don’t know if I can do it.”

“You can and you will.” Clynn replied matter of factly, holding her out at arm’s length. “Why don’t you show me what you can do?”

Capri blushed, twisting her hands together nervously. “I’ve never, ah, performed for anyone before.”

“It’s only me.” He tilted his head up towards the ceiling, and raised his right arm. He made a ‘come here’ motion with his hand, and suddenly a bird came zooming towards them, landing in his palm gracefully. It was a tiny brown sparrow with darting black eyes, which it now focused on Capri curiously.

She couldn’t help but smile at the bird as she glanced up and met her father’s eyes. He nodded, and she understood that he wanted her to try and control it.

Still feeling a bit foolish, she held out her hand shakily and closed her eyes, inhaling deeply to calm herself. She pictured the bird lifting its legs and tap dancing, and when she heard her father start laughing, she opened her eyes and saw that the bird was doing just that.

It was definitely comical, seeing the tiny sparrow’s feet lifting and tapping to some nonexistent jazz music. Capri focused her eyes on the bird now, staring intently at it, her hand still outstretched. She imagined it flying into the air and doing back flips, and when it zoomed out of Clynn’s hand and into the air, diving and flipping, Capri smiled brightly.

“Very good.” Clynn commented, his eyes warm on hers. “You have a way with birds. It took me a long time to figure out how to control them that well.”

“Really?” She pulled her hand back and the bird, now released, flew back up towards the ceiling and flitted out one of the many windows.

“You’re going to be fine, Capri.” Clynn stared at her with misty eyes, just like any proud father would look at their child. Capri embraced the feeling it gave her, while at the same time she realized what was still missing…

“Tell me about my mother…I mean, if you want to…” She stammered, embarrassed. “It’s just that I…I don’t know anything about her.”

He stared at her for a long moment, as though trying to decide where to start. His lips formed a sad smile before he began. “I met her by chance, or fate, I suppose, when I was up in Maine fixing a problem I had caused on accident.” He flushed, looking embarrassed. “I was only nineteen, and hadn’t quite gotten the hang of everything yet. You’re late grandfather was patient with me though, thank God, and let me go fix the problem before Thea could jump down my throat about it.

“I was standing on this small wooden dock by this lighthouse in the early morning hours, reversing the effects of this terrible storm that I had intended to send to Pennsylvania. This poor coastal town in Maine received my storm and it utterly devastated them, after they had already endured so much bad weather. It was too much, so I had to fix it.

“Anyway, I was there, remedying my mistake, when this young woman walked up and saw me. I had thought I was alone, but she watched me as I calmed the wind and repaired the damages. Instead of running away, she approached me, and asked me questions. I had never spoken to a human before, much less a human girl…needless to say, I was very shy about her questions, but she was persistent and eventually she got the truth out of me. I was mortified and embarrassed, but she was simply impressed. She had the most beautiful smile I had ever seen, and I think the simple fact that she accepted what I was without question had me falling for her right then and there.

“We walked around her little town, and she showed me the café her parents owned that she worked at, the bookstore she spent all of her free time in, everything. And we talked, about nothing in particular, but we got to know each other. By the time I had to go home, I knew her favorite book, favorite color, favorite food…I knew how she took her coffee, how she liked her eggs, even the breed of her childhood dog, Rusty.

“She asked me to come back and visit her, and though I knew that I couldn’t really promise something like that, I did anyways. Not very many of us here on Euphora end up having relationships with humans, and back then it was mostly frowned upon. But I didn’t care; I wanted her more than I had ever wanted anything. I went to my father and Thea and announced that if they wouldn’t allow me to continue seeing her, then I would renounce my position and my powers and live on Earth with her. Fortunately for me, Thea was feeling generous that day and granted me permission to visit Heidi. I went down twice a month for over a year, and then I asked her to marry me.

“It was as though my soul had been searching for her, and when we finally found each other, my life was complete.” Clynn smiled again, tears in his eyes now. “I know you must think I’m a sentimental old fool, but having you here with me makes me feel like I’m with her again. Forgive me.”

She threw her arms around him, tears in her eyes as well. “I’m glad it helps, me being here. Even if it’s only a little.”

“You have no idea how many holes you filled by coming home, Capri.”

“I’ve never really felt needed before.” She replied, nuzzling against his chest. “It feels wonderful.”

♦ ♦ ♦

She felt more overwhelmed then she had in advanced high school calculus, but she also felt thrilled and determined. Her father showed her how to use her hands and her mind to schedule weather patterns throughout the globe, using nothing more than the column of smoke and images as her palate. It was almost like painting, she thought now as she walked through the courtyard, taking a short break between lessons. Painting the patterns of the wind with her hands, and using her mind to control the intensity and the direction. He let her practice on Richmond, and she felt as though she were doing her old hometown a favor by granting them three lovely days of sunshine to counter all the rain they had been getting the past week.

Feeling proud of herself and a bit giddy with accomplishment, Capri stepped out into the misty morning sunlight, closing her eyes and tilting her face skyward so as to drink in the warmth of its rays. She sighed, feeling content, as she walked under some large leafy trees, enjoying the way they dappled the light as it shone on her skin.

She had her long, light blonde hair pulled up into a ponytail, and she could feel the warm breeze tickling across her neck as she walked. Birds chattered nearby, the sound better than all the best music in the world to her. She continued walking down the cobblestone pathway that led to the front gate, taking in as much as she could of her surroundings.

There were so many trees; it was like the vast courtyard would be swallowed up by them. And so many different varieties, as if every species thrived in this paradise. Flowers sprung up around every corner, so many colors and shapes and smells. It was overwhelming, but so beautiful. A pond was nestled next to a low hanging willow tree, and she wondered if she would find goldfish inside of it if she looked. Content with walking along the pathway, she tucked her hands in her jeans pockets and kept moving.

She noticed the jasmine flowers off to the left, so she approached them and leaned over to get a better look, her lips curving in a smile.

She crouched down on her knees, examining the jasmine, lifting one of the flowers to her nose so she could fully enjoy its scent. As she pulled the branch towards her, she noticed the tiny alcove the jasmine bush formed beneath its branches. It was the perfect place for a tiny child to hide, so secret, so safe...

It hit her like lightning: hard, fast and vicious. The memory, so clear it could have happened moments before, of her hiding right there, in that little alcove, smelling the jasmine, listening to the screams, feeling the terror rise in her throat as she suddenly realized something was horribly wrong.

Her breath hitched in her throat, and her knees trembled as she backed away from the jasmine, her eyes wild. Her mother had died, right there in front of those flowers. Someone had stolen her, lifted her from her hiding place, and taken her away. Had she cried out when her mother had screamed? Was that how they had found her, crouched helpless underneath some stupid flowers?

Her mind was racing and her whole body felt numb with shock and understanding. This was the location where her life had been cruelly destroyed, everything taken away from her by rough, greedy hands.

“Capri? Capri, are you alright?” A voice said from someplace far away. Her vision was blurring, going black, her head floating somewhere over her body, her stomach rioting in panic. She felt soft hands grab her just before she fell, slowly lowering her to a sitting position on the cobblestone. “Liam! Get me some water! She’s passing out.”

Capri couldn’t process what was going on, she felt so lost, disconnected, confused. She felt tears in her eyes, but she didn’t understand why she was crying. She leaned against the body of the person who held her, and she sobbed so hard her body shook with it.

“It’s okay, honey, it’s gonna be okay, I promise. Liam! For God’s sake, hurry up!”

She could hear footsteps rapidly approaching, could feel the vibrations from them against her body, and suddenly something cool was touching her lips, pouring into her mouth. She swallowed instinctively, and once she had a taste of it, she grabbed the glass and greedily swallowed the rest.

Her vision was returning, the blurred outlines of the people in front of her sharpening. When she realized Blythe was the one who held her, she tried to sit up, embarrassment flooding through her.

“I’m s-so sorry.” She mumbled, her hands shaking. “I don’t know what happened.”

“It’s okay, Capri.” Liam said softly, smiling at her as he cupped her cheek in his palm. “You scared us, is all.”

“Yeah, don’t do that again.” Blythe added with a quick grin. “You could’ve hurt yourself, passing out all of a sudden. Were you overheated or something? It’s always seventy two degrees here, so I can’t imagine how…”

“My m-mother…” Capri choked out, her eyes darting to the jasmine. Tears began to well up in her eyes again, and Liam looked at her knowingly, his expression kind.

“I see.” He mumbled, reaching out and pulling her into his arms. She held on and started crying again, feeling like a fool.

Blythe seemed to understand as well, because she patted Capri’s back comfortingly. “Maybe we should bring her inside, let her talk to Thea.”

“Good idea.” Liam replied. In one smooth move, he stood up and lifted Capri into his arms, cradling her there. “Don’t be embarrassed, just relax, okay?”

“Oh, God.” Capri laughed shakily, reaching up to wipe at the tears streaming down her cheeks. “My hero.”

Liam beamed down at her. “That’s what you used to call me when we were kids.”

“I did?” Capri smiled, closing her eyes and laying her head against his shoulder. “I guess I knew, even then, that you would be the one to rescue me.”

♦ ♦ ♦

“Maybe I made a mistake in waiting to talk to you about all of this.” Thea concluded, sipping her tea and eyeing Capri over the rim of her cup. “I just wasn’t sure how much you could handle all at once.”