Ao sat at the end of the bed, watching his breathing--labored, in some way, as if he guessed the prior nights engagements with fate. She knew better, though. She herself had only just become grossly aware of the existence of destiny in the last year or so. Certainly this man-who in many ways was a child, hardly awakening from young years, she could see-could not have such senses. And she knew all of this; knew that she was making a mountain out of a molehill or however the saying went. He was hung over, and thus, it would make perfect sense for him to have a gleam of sweat across his brow, and a fitful night sleep.
She almost laughed. Fitful. It had only been fitful in the last hour and a half. She'd been watching him a long while, now, finding some sanctuary in watching his chest move in rythm with his breaths, and the way his pale skin caught the light in slivers occasionally. Her artistic senses were running wild, now, and though her fingers itched for her charcoal and canvas, she stayed herself at the foot of his bed of the night, making what could be one of the hardest decisions of her life.
She knew the legends; all Hawaiians of the town grew up hearing them. The outsiders were bad; they had come and taken over the islands; had engaged islanders in their wars and persuits. Though some of the islands had taken to the outsiders way, this town still remained free of their penny pinching fingers and green-envy eyes. And thus, when she was presented the choice of defying her heritedge, and warning this blossoming person of what danger he was stepping into...
She nearly laughed out loud, but her muscles refused to accept the ironicy as humorous. Indeed, they seemed to refute the idea that anything could be found amusing now, in this moment when the world seemed so close to its end.
Perhaps after the several hours, Elijah had finally felt her eyes upon him. He stirred a little-his muscles drawn taut for a moment as he stretched, then loosening to curl around the covers once more. He shook his head, then seemed to think better of it, and laid it back down gently in the pillow. He still hadn't opened his eyes.
She remained at the foot of the bed, her eyes unwavering from his face, though she seemed to stare through him-seemed to be watching something only she could see.
He opened his eyes slowly, his surroundings not registering with him immediately. He looked at her, his eyes only half open, and his hand on his cheek. "Hey beautiful--Do I get breakfast in bed, too?" He said it with a smile, sleep heavy in his voice, but she didn't respond. She didn't blink; didn't move; didn't smile. His lips curled downwards slightly, and she could see the battle in his eyes. Should he ask?
He smiled again, this time a little self-consciously. "So do you watch ALL of your guests sleep at night?"
Ao opened her mouth, then closed it again-working it with air the way it should have with words.
"No," Elijah prodded, "go on... say it." She watched him, her eyes locked on his as he pushed himself to his knees, his hands reaching out for her. It was a simple, friendly gesture-just a hug for comfort-but she moved for the first time in hours to scoot away from the embrace. Her muscles screamed in protest, the ache of the time settling in her harshly. She winced slightly, but did not speak.
Elijah settled himself by the headboard of the bed, his back resting against it. He cocked his head to the right slightly, looking more like a child than Ao had ever seen him. His eyes were slightly clouded with concern-or maybe that was just the way the morning light was catching them? Either way, they looked childishly wide, and she had the feeling that he'd always be an ageless person, regardless of his years. His hair stood in dissheveled array, strands arranging themselves at odd angles. He pulled at the blanket, and drew it up over his bare chest (the only part of him that did not seem young), and yawned into his hand. He shook his head again, and when he was still long enough, she could see his lips had crinkled themselves into a half-frown.
"What's wrong, Ao?"
It was a simple question that she really hadn't thought much about, despite it's obviousness. However, the words found themselves somewhere in the space between her mouth and her brain, because before she had an opportunity to think of what she might say, she heard the only thought that sufficiently said all she needed to. "Mai 'a'ani, lil 'uhane, hie keia houna ho'okalakupuna moe'uhane." The words tasted badly on her tongue, and near the end she changed from speaking them, to spitting them out to rid herself of their flavor.
Elijah's eyes widened ever more, and headache or not, his reaction to the sentence was not what she had expected.
"You know," he told her, his voice lower than he'd really intended. "How did you know that I heard that?" She stared at him blankly, though he knew that she was perfectly aware of what he was talking about. He explained anyway, maybe for his own benefit. "Those words. I heard those words before... I heard them at the Cove, yesterday, when we first got there. Remember? You said you knew what I was talking about... And... and you really DO know, don't you? You know exactly---"
"Mai Pa'ani, lilo 'uhane, hie keia houna ho'okalakupna moe'uhane," she began, her voice rising with passion, "Ola kou ola kohu kou mehe ina na me apua 'oe 'ike 'ole pahea la ia nana. Kou kina hau'oli eia nei ola keia lawehala, paha 'ae ka kahaha o keia houna kau hie. A mana'ona'o ia hope puawaho ka makahiki, ia hana kou ue helu waimaka. A ho'a ahi hie kou umauma, mai ka mea e kou ana 'a'ole maha. Kou 'uhane hei 'umi'I luna keia one, Kahi kekahi wa kaua hana pa'a a kaua 'ohana nui, paha puawaho keia pela hei malamakou mana'o!" As soon as she finished with the verse he couldn't understand, but felt as if he should, she began to repeat it, each word more intense than the last, each sentence crescendoing into the next. Louder and louder and faster and faster the words fell from her mouth, dripping like blood from her tongue as her eyes filled with tears that she could not explain, and he could not guess at.
Elijah watched her, wide eyed, as she continued- her voice raw and scratched from the volume. Instinctively, he covered his ears with his hands. "Stop!" He shouted, his own voice intermingling with hers. "Ao!" Louder now, his voice over coming hers, "Ao! Stop it, stop it! Ao!" He reached out, and held her by her shoulders, forcing her to go still. Still holding onto one shoulder with one hand, his other went to her mouth, and covered her lips lightly. "Sh," he told her, first as a way of quieting her. Then her tears began to fall. The hand on her shoulder moved to her back, dancing in tiny, calming circles. "Sh," this time, he cooed it, trying to settle her.
Ao began shaking, trying desperately to pull away from his embrace. She wasn't worthy of a friend like this; look at what she'd allowed! She knew; knew so much more than he could ever guess, and she'd allowed him to walk into it.
"Ao," he told her gently, "Ao, it's all right. Everything's OK, all right? Sh, please Ao, please... It's OK, I promise, it's ok, I promise. I'm here, and I'll make sure it's ok..."
"No," Ao told him, sniffling a little. "It's not OK, Elijah, and you're here now, and I..." A new bout of tears overwhelmed her, and stole her voice from her. "I'm sorry, Elijah. I'm so, so sorry... God, I'm so sorry, I should have said more... I could've done so much more and I didn't, and I...I..., I'm so sorry... I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'm sorry..." And she continued repeating it, his insesent whispers no match for the demon she was dealing with.
Some twenty minutes later, she stood, and looking at him with red rimmed eyes, she told him one last time, "I'm sorry, Elijah," and backed herself out the door. He watched out the window a minute, heard the front door shut, and saw her sprinting across her yard, surf board in arm.
Elijah tossed himself back down on the bed, and ignoring the sunlight, turned over on his side to try to sleep off his hang over. Then he could get dressed, and leave Ao's house and head back for his hotel.
However, in these wee morning hours, sleep evaded him, and he laid there, running words he could never pronounce through his mind, looking there for their meaning. Though he could not figure out what they meant, he was left with an odd, forboding feeling that sent shivers the length of his spine.
