See You Later

Talisker Bay

September 1950

The sky was covered with low, thick clouds. An endless gray, as if the world had been wrapped in wet absorbent cotton. The wind from the Atlantic was blowing hard, bringing the scent of salt and tide.

Despite the cold, Lizbeth was naked in the water. She glided through the waves with the ease of someone who belonged to the sea. She was not alone, other figures mermaids and tritons were swimming with her. The atmosphere was still tense, but the tension seemed to be only when Shin was around. The rest of the time, when Lizbeth was a little away from Shin, they had no problem approaching her. They didn't talk much, but they understood each other with their glances, with their gestures, with the fluid movements of their bodies in the water. No one wanted to say those words.

From a distance, a couple of hundred meters above a cliff, Shin watched silently.

There Lizbeth could simply be what she was.

No fear. No danger. No secrets.

He was the problem.

Silently, he started to go down to the beach.

***

When she saw Shin on the shore, she felt a pang of unease.

She turned in the water, watching him from a distance, as did the others swimming beside her. He didn't usually interrupt her moments in the sea, unless he was also having fun with the others. But that had stopped happening weeks ago. Now when the two of them had fun in the water they were left alone.

So she noticed something that she didn't like. Something was going to change.

She knew it before she even heard his words.

Shin was sitting on the black sand. The breeze ruffled his long coat and tousled his hair even more. His expression was serious, like always, but not hard. His eyes simply showed sadness, as in the last few days. In those clothes, he seemed to melt into the dark sand of the beach, as if he were a sandbank that the wind was eroding and would disappear.

Lizbeth came out of the water slowly. Droplets slid down her skin, glistening in the dim sunlight filtered through the clouds.

Still undressed, she walked towards him and stood in front of him. When she used to do that Shin would often kiss her thigh, then move up and kiss her groin and then the two of them would play in the sand like two fools.

Like they always did.

But he didn't do that.

He offered her a hand and she confirmed her fear that something was wrong. She sat down next to him and snuggled a little, but Shin didn't hug her either. He didn't take her by the waist to kiss her and go down her neck, sinking into her breasts as he used to do.

For a few moments they didn't speak, gazing into the distance at the heads of the mermaids and tritons peeking out of the water.

"Something bothering you?" she asked, not holding the silence after three minutes.

Shin exhaled and nodded looking at the sand at her feet. "I... want to talk to you about something important."

She reached out and grabbed her dark one-piece dress and pulled it over her. She liked the feel of the cold air on her skin, but now she was feeling cold. Real cold. When she was ready, she looked at him intently.

"T-tell me."

He was slow to respond. For a moment, he simply gazed at the horizon, the waves breaking against the shore. His eyes, normally content when he was with her, now seemed conflicted and dull.

Finally, he spoke.

"I think we... we should... separate... for some time."

Lizbeth felt as if the dark sandy ground was sinking beneath her feet. She pressed her lips together and her still wet hair helped her hide the bitter expression.

"What...?"

Shin then looked at her.

"Not because I want to get away from you. Nothing of the sort. I'm holding you back. If you stay near me you're eventually going to be left alone and hurt."

"I'm not a prisoner! I'm with you because I want to be."

"Since you arrived you've seen the worst side of the world, Now it may seem that we are well but if you stay by my side only loneliness awaits you."

Lizbeth frowned. "I don't understand." She understood.

"Since we rescued you, we've been together all the time. We travel together, we fight together, we sleep together... You've learned a lot, but it's always been at my side. You have become dependent on me. And I've become dependent on you too. But you know what's happening. If this keeps up, I'm going to end up hurting you."

Lizbeth felt a shiver run down her spine. Shin was not wrong.

Ever since he had freed her and then when they fought together, she hadn't wanted to stay away for a single day. She had always been by his side, as if she feared that if she let him go, he would disappear.

But…

"Why are you saying this now?"

Shin lowered his head.

"Because things are getting worse. You know that. The other nights you could have died, or even many could have died because of me. I've been in this place a long time."

"We have. Don't talk like you're alone. And you don't know if that was your fault."

"In the last while I have never been alone, you have always been with me. These have been the best years of my life. Even with the problems and dangers, having you by my side has been the best. But, if we continue, I know that at some point something horrible is going to happen. I don't want that!"

"We could just leave... and that's it."

"You have friends here. You're learning your skills and you could live in relative peace for several years. Maybe in a while you could start a new life as well. Travel around the world like other feys do. Get to know everything."

Lizbeth felt a pressure in her chest. "I don't want a new life, I like the life I have now."

"Even if I could jeopardize everything? It's been a long time since things this serious have happened. Being with me is a ticking time bomb and if I stay in one place too long it's worse, you know that."

She knew it. The last few months had been the strangest since they had arrived to UK in 1945.

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Dark events, paranormal cases, anomalies, some called them. Shadows in places where there shouldn't be shadows. Blurred figures appearing in their dreams and then in reality, like nightmares coming true. Distortions in reality.

Every time something like this happened, Shin seemed to be at the center of it all.

"I don't want this to affect you," his voice was barely a whisper.

"And what about what I want? Do you think you'll hurt me?" she asked, her heart pounding.

"I don't want that. But I do know that, if there's a chance this...curse of mine will get to you not matter what I want, I'd rather walk away before it's too late. At least for some time to let the curse not come near you."

Lizbeth felt like screaming. To tell him he was an idiot. That she wasn't afraid.

That nothing in the world could make her leave him.

But the words wouldn't come out. Because deep down, she was afraid too. Not of him, but of what was going on around her.

The impossible coincidences. The changes in the air. The flashes of something dangerous and sad in Shin's eyes when he thought no one saw it. He hated himself to a point of despising himself in that moment.

And, most of all, the fear of losing him for good if they parted ways badly. There was no way that would happen. He loved her, she felt that way. And, because he loved her, he had to get away from her.

"Does it have to be now?" asked Lizbeth.

Shin narrowed his eyes and shook his head.

"I could stay for a few days, but if we stay together, this will only get worse. I don't want to put anyone in danger. The people on the island have loved us for these years, but if this keeps up it's going to create a definite feud between all the groups."

Lizbeth clenched her fists. "I don't want to leave."

"I know, love."

"I don't want to be without you either." She felt her eyes fill with tears. "You still love me, don't you?"

Shin lifted his head from the sand and looked at her as if his whole soul was in her eyes. "I love you more than anything in this world. For that very reason I have to stay away. At least for a while. Maybe we can see each other a few times a year, if that's what you want."

The wind stopped for an instant. Lizbeth felt the blow of those words in her chest. "Of course it's what I want, you idiot!"

Shin turned and took her face in his hands and the two of them glued their foreheads together.

"That's precisely why I need to find a way to stop this from consuming you. I need to know if there's a way to block this thing happening around me. It might be me, the armor, even a curse someone has put on me. But I need it to stop."

She shivered. "What if there isn't?"

Shin didn't answer. The silence was enough. He didn't know. Maybe they could have a distant relationship? That sounded too sad.

Lizbeth closed her eyes tightly and turned her forehead away, but grabbed him by the shoulders.

"So..." she swallowed. "Give me a month."

Shin blinked.

"What?"

"Before we part ways. Give me one more month with you. Let's be just the two of us. And promise me something."

"Anything can happen in a month."

"It's only four weeks. If you're really going to leave, I'm not going to let you go just like that. If you really love me you'll accept this."

"It's a long time."

"Let's be together. Let's read together, cook together, train together, drive together, dance together, drink together, and have all the sex we can until we can't have any more. Please," she lowered her head with her shoulders shaking, as tears spilled onto the sand.

Shin hesitated.

"Liz…"

"Only a month." Her voice trembled. "One more month to be together. To love each other. And promise something."

"What?"

"That it won't be goodbye."

"It's not."

"Then let's meet in a few months next year. Or when you have time. But let's meet, whether it's here or somewhere else. But let's see each other. If you accept that then I'm going to accept you leaving too."

"Even if we meet next year it doesn't mean I will find the solution in a year. For the time being I would travel back to the University. To see if there is anything in the library. The Foundation has asked me for help, so it's a fair exchange."

So it was something he had been thinking about for quite some time.

"Even so. However long it takes. Let's see each other. And let's talk every week. The communication network Leon set up is already working, right? Then let's arrange a way to talk to each other wherever we are."

Shin took a deep breath and she hugged him tightly.

His warmth. Her scent. Their heartbeat.

She didn't want to forget him.

Shin took a few seconds, but then he hugged her back. He sank his face into her hair and sighed. "I promise. Let's do it the way you want. But... in a month I'll be gone."

Lizbeth nodded against his chest.

"One month."

Shin closed his eyes and hug her tighter.

And in the distance, beyond the waves, the large group of mermaids and tritons watched in silence.

***

The next few days passed in a state of tense calm.

A month.

That was all they had.

Lizbeth and Shin made the most of every moment. They traveled aimlessly around the island, enjoying the time they had left together. They stopped at small villages, hiked along cliffs, and dipped into the sea whenever they could.

There was a quiet desperation in every gesture, in every caress. They made love with the intensity of those who know that farewell is near. They clung to each other as if the world could disappear at any moment. Impregnating each other with the smell of their bodies to remind each other for as long as they would be apart.

And finally, when the month was over, the day they had been dreading came.

Shin said goodbye to the feys, mermaids and tritons and the humans who had helped them on the island. But many were almost relieved to see him go. With Lizbeth at the wheel, they left the place and she drove for a couple of days to the airport, where there was the plane he was to take, bound for London, and there another one that had come to pick Shin up from the United States. The Armitage Foundation must really need Shin for them to send a plane just to pick him up.

In the United States he would continue to research his curse, looking for answers in the hidden archives of the foundation and other secret organizations. At the same time he had been asked to help with something that was happening there. Leon was also waiting for him.

The sky was covered with clouds when they arrived at Edinburgh airport.

The place was crowded with people, but to Lizbeth it seemed empty. The sound of planes taking off and landing mingled with the murmur of conversations in different languages.

Lizbeth, on the other hand, would be staying in for a while longer, continuing her training and living on Skye. She didn't want to go too far away. Not just yet.

As they passed a souvenir stand, Lizbeth saw something they both knew all too well. There were some potato-shaped stuffed soldiers. Were they still popular? She bought one with long eyelashes and gave it to him. Shin accepted it, trying to smile a little.

She accompanied him to the boarding lounge, standing facing each other.

"So..." murmured Lizbeth, with a weak smile. "This is where we part ways."

Shin didn't answer right away. He just looked at her.

Lizbeth knew he was memorizing every detail of her face, just as she was doing with him. They didn't know how long it would be until they would see each other again.

A year. Maybe two. Maybe more.

She had really changed since he had met her. That malnourished prisoner with short hair was a beautiful woman with long ash blonde hair. She didn't even need to wear wigs to hide her ears anymore.

"Don't look at me like that now," she said, trying to joke and with a knot in her throat. "You make me feel like this is the end of the world."

Shin sighed and shook his head. "Lets hope it's not."

She smiled.

"Then I guess it's time for me to go."

Shin grabbed her and hugged her and lifted her off the ground a little because of his height. The scene caused some people passing by to look at them and smile. It was fortunate that he had camouflaged his ears. She in turn hugged him too, almost trying to make the moment stretch a little longer.

"Promise me you'll take care of yourself," he said.

Lizbeth nodded. "Only if you promise me the same."

"I will."

They both knew that neither of them would fully deliver on that promise being as they were feys. But it was enough to try.

Shin reluctantly let go of her hand. One last glance, one last instant.

"We'll keep in touch," she reminded him. "Always."

"Always," he repeated in a whisper.

"I'll call you in a couple of hours then."

Shin almost let out a smile. "I don't think they'll let me into the cockpit to use the radio."

The boarding announcement blared over the loudspeakers. Shin grabbed his bag, the stuffed potato and headed for the boarding gate.

Lizbeth watched him walk, feeling something inside her break with every step he took. As he was about to disappear, Shin turned one last time. He smiled at her in the best way he could. And Lizbeth knew it would be all right.

Not now.

Not soon.

But someday.

For that reason that wasn't goodbye.

"See you later?" she asked.

"See you later," he said.

As the plane took off, Lizbeth stood there, staring at the empty runway.

She took a deep breath, wiped away her tears and turned around.

The journey continued. She had to drive back.

Only now, she would do it alone.

She drove until she decided to take a break a few miles away from the airport. The RV was parked on the outskirts of Edinburgh. It still retained the smell of Shin. Every space in that vehicle was filled with memories now. The bed with that fat stuffed animal in the shape of a potato. The kitchenette next to the door. The little table where they sometimes played or read. The clothes. Bags, pictures they both had taped to the ceiling. A lighter from him and a half-finished pack of cigarettes.

"That fool forgot them." Counting how he smoked he was going to regret it, she thought and smiled smelling the tobacco.

Lizbeth sat in the driver's seat, resting her hands on the steering wheel.

The engine roared as it started, breaking the silence of the sunset.

It was time to move on.

With one last glance at the sky, Lizbeth accelerated and lost herself on the road.

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