Leilani's Tail

This is the story of the worst mistake I've ever made but the best chance I've ever taken. This big beautiful mess all started when I went out on my waʻa. It started out as a perfect day. Barely a cloud was in the sky. But as I sailed further and further away from my home the sky slowly started to get dark and gloomy. The water was getting choppy and I could barely control my waʻa. I tried to head back but about halfway there a large wave swept over me and the waʻa overturned. As I tried to get back to my waʻa I realized that my foot was stuck in the rocks. It took most of my strength to pull my foot away. As soon as my foot was free I fell off balance and hit my head on the rock. The next thing I remember is waking up on an island. As I looked around I realized that the island I'm on is about five miles away from my home island. It looks a little bit too far to swim back. As I look down I notice a beautiful woman in the water near me. "Who are you? Did you save me?" I ask. "Yes I brought you to this little island. Are you feeling alright?" she replied in the most delicate voice I've ever heard. "Thank you so much for helping me I feel much better thanks! But who are you? What's your name?". She looked very surprised that I asked her name but as soon as she recovered she said "My name is Anuhea. And what is yours? " She has the most beautiful name I've ever heard, so beautiful in fact I was almost disappointed in my own. But even so I responded by shyly saying "My name is Leilani." She gasped and said "Your name is beautiful!". Wow, I thought, she actually thinks that my name is beautiful? Oh no she is looking at me! I should say something! "Why are you still in the water? You can come up here with me you know. I don't mind at all." I reach my hand out to her so I can help her up. She looks scared and backs away "No! I'm sorry I can't!". "Why not?" I say "Did I do something to upset you?" She frantically waves her arms and shakes her head " No! It's not you it's just that if I go on land I'll dehydrate and die." This makes me just even more confused. Does she have some kind of strange sickness? Is it possible for a human to have a sickness like that? So I ask her "How is that possible, are you alright? " As soon as I ask that she get a look on her face like a mix between being nervous and sad. As I was about to ask why she seemed so upset she lifted what looked like a dolphin tail up out of the water. As I looked closer at her I realized that the bottom half of her body was the dazzling indigo blue tail of a dolphin. She had only a white cloth wrapped around her chest to act as a top. I gasped and as soon as I got past my surprise I jumped in the water with her. "Your tail is amazing! Can I touch it?" She looked very surprised as she said "You mean you're not afraid of me?". I laughed as said "Why would I be afraid of you? You saved me and I trust you." I smiled warmly. She seemed very happy as she leaped over and hugged me and said "Thank you. Thank you so much. You can't even start to fathom how much that means to me." I laugh and hug her back but then I realize that I'm too far away from home to swim and my wa’a has drifted almost all the way back to the island. I need to find a way to get home! "I glad you’re happy but do you know how I could get home?" She looked at me confused and asked me "Where is your home?" I pointed to the island on the horizon and said "I live on that island over there." She was silent for a moment while she tried to think of a way to get me there " I've never tried this before but it might work if you hold onto my shoulders and I can help you swim there?" I wonder if that would work or not since I might be too heavy for her. "Are you sure you wouldn't mind I'm kinda heavy" I say shyly. She laughs " Of course I don't mind! I'm sure you're light as a feather to me." I blush slightly as I think about how amazing her laugh is. I smile happily as I ask her "Is there some way we can meet up again soon after I get back home?" She smiled at me and happily said "If it's possible we could meet here every couple of nights?” I smile happily “Of course I would love to!” She laughs as she jokes “Just watch out for storms this time.” I laugh and say “Don't worry I'll be more careful next time.” And once I got home I didn't dare tell anyone about Anuhea even if they believed me they might hurt her and I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to her. She is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. I'm afraid I'm falling in love. We have been meeting up every night for a few months now. I am hopelessly in love with Anuhea. I wait all day only looking forward to seeing her at night. She is all I wish for in life. I am more scared than I have ever been in my entire life. Tonight is the night, i’ve decided to tell her my feelings. My only hope is that if she doesn't feel the same way we can at least be close friends. As my waʻa comes close to the island I start getting more and more anxiety about it. Right as I was seriously thinking about turning my waʻa around and going home I hear her. That perfect voice when she shouted from the water “ Leilani! I'm so glad that you made it, you took so long that I thought you wouldn’t show.” Well i’m already here so I might as well say it. I jumped into the water and hugged her and said “I need to tell you something. And I would like you to be completely honest with me.” She looked at me with concern in her eyes “What is it is something wrong? Did someone hurt you?” I looked up at her and started to tear up a little “ I’m sorry if you don't feel the same way but I am so insanely in love with you. B-but if you don't think of me that way can we please still be friends?” I said with tears in my eyes, terrified that she didn’t think of me that way. She hugged me back shocked and she slowly said “Leilani calm down. I thought it was pretty obvious how much I love you” she said smiling so warmly that I practically melted in her arms. All I could think were the words, she loves me over and over again. I was absolutely elated and without thinking I put my arms around her neck and kissed her. As soon as I fully realized what I was doing I pulled away from her quickly. I apologized saying “I'm sorry I didn't mean to I didn't think about what I was doing” I was blushing more than I thought possible. She smiles that amazing smile of hers and says “It's fine. I liked it. And I love you.” she says and then kisses me. I hug her and say “I love you too. I wish I could stay forever but it is getting late so I have to head home before it gets dark”. She looks slightly sad as she says “I will miss you every second you’re gone.” As I sailed back to my home I can't help but think if there is some way for us to be together as the same species. I can’t help but be worried about how we could possibly be together if she has a tail and have legs. I love her and don't want to only be able to be with her in secret. I’ll have to try and find a way to fix this. A few days later while sitting at home I realised I could try find the kupua paha and see if he could give me a tail like Anuhea’s. I couldn’t help but get my hopes up thinking that Anuhea and I could be together and happy. I got sad when I thought of how if I were to do this I would most likely never see my family again. But I’ve made my choice. I’m going to search for the kupua paha. He lives somewhere on this island but no one is quite sure where. So I set out to find him. It has been three days. I've searched most of the island and have yet to find him. But I have a strong feeling that today I will find him. I'm walking deep into the trees when I finally see it, a small hut in a clearing. This had to be it, I finally found the kupua paha who might be able to grant my wish. If he can then I will finally be able to spend my life with Anuhea. I was elated as I ran to the door to knock. I did it! I actually did it! Those words kept going through my mind as I swam around testing out and getting used to my new tail. That's right I said tail, the kupua paha helped me and gave me a tail like Anuhea’s. There was only one catch, as far as the kupua paha knows, there is no way for me to get my legs back if I change my mind. But I'm glad I chose this. My human family never even noticed that I went out every night to visit her. No one has ever cared for me as much as Anuhea. As soon as it got dark and I could swim to our island without being spotted I swam as fast as possible to the small island. But as I got closer I noticed something strange. Once I got closer I saw that it was girl standing on the island. Horror grew in me as I recognized the girl. Oh how I hoped I was wrong. Of course this had to be the time I was right, it was her the love of my life. Anuhea was standing on the island looking around for me. Tears came to my eyes as I swam up and saw her start to cry when she saw my new tail.