Little legs dangled over the side of a plush taupe couch, two lavender colored laced converse with butterflies lay neatly stowed to the side, and a head full of curls lay face-down in a decorative pillow. As the face emerged, tear stains lay where a smushed face had just been. Hiccups leaving the girl, shoulder's jolting as each one shook her body with a feverous power.
“Pāpā..” Dad.. A sniffle, then the shuffling of feet and the sinking of the couch under a new weight.
"Putiputi, he aha koe e tangi ana?" Flower, why are you crying? The girl's father hummed, stroking her back as she leaned into his side, hiding her face once more.
It had all happened so fast. Two weeks ago her first instance of magic occurred, scaring her half to death. What she didn't know was that her father hadn't seen it and merely just thought she was now terrified of the tropical storms, as one raged overhead as they sat in the living room. But now her mother was scrambling to explain the benefits of a school, unbeknownst to her father, that was magical. That was, until a mentor of sorts, or dukun as she learned showed up on their doorstep cordially inviting her to Tenūsa, and the Isle of Divination where she would spend the majority of her time for the next few years.
Both parents were skeptical. An island? Neither had visited it, nor did she know if they were allowed to, and what scared her more is that she had mere months to dread this reality coming true as they said she could arrive as early as she wanted to settle, yet schooling wouldn't start until September. And then there was an added challenge. A summer camp, hosted by another wizarding school, Hogwarts was what it was called somewhere in the United Kingdom. Her mother's eyes sparkled at the mention, having had some friends who graduated from that school and urged her to go.
So now she sat on the couch, hugging her dad while a half packed bag lay upstairs, waiting for her to finish the job so that she could shove it in the back of her closet and grab it out when the time was right. It felt like she was moving out, or that the world was ending. Maybe both. The thought of leaving her parents for so long made tears well up in her eyes again. She had never been good with other people due to their more calm and quiet life. Some would call her sheltered, but that's the way she preferred it. Now, living in a magical jungle on an island with strangers may be "quiet", but very different than what she was used to.
But at least she'd always have the water. Using the back of her hand, the girl wiped her eyes.
“Pāpā! Mamma! Let's go swimming!” And then her face lit up, and she made a break towards the sliding door that held her back from the crashing waves. Out the door, and down only a few wooden steps until her soft flesh met the smooth sand. A sea bird's cry pierced her ears, and her eyes lifted to see the white waves crashing down lightly as the tide got sucked in and pushed out in its rhythmic motion.
"Freya, vänta en stund-"Freya, hold on a moment- her mother called, causing the girl to hault in her tracks, her pouty lip flipping out as she whirled around, curls flying in the breeze. Her father and mother shared a glance before her father took out something from behind his back, a Hei Matau necklace
hook. The girl began to bounce up and down as her father knelt down to put it around her neck.
" For our little ocean princess, this will provide you with safe travels on any journey you take, and strength to keep your head held high even in the hardest of times." Freya's eyes began to water, but she'd blame it on the sea breeze. As the Hei Matau fell on her chest, she'd reach up and brush her fingers over the light ridges of the carving, intently memorizing the symbols and the feeling of it. Her heart beamed with joy. She was no longer scared of her future, school, or anything else to come.
"I love you!" She'd shout to the wind, her arms open wide as she grinned softly at her parents before sprinting around, one hand clamped around the necklace, and the other waving wildly through the air. As she neared the water, the worried voices that nagged her faded away. And then her head hit the water, breaking the surface with a splash, and everything was drowned out.
