"Where is Celian?" She demanded.
Ashley stood from the table and crossed the room toward his daughter. "He'll be back," he assured her. "He told me he'd come to say goodbye if things didn't work out."
Madi turned to face her father with terror in her eyes. "Didn't work out?" She echoed in a squeal.
Before Dr. Grove could explain, she whirled away from the window and dashed out the door.
The gusty wind still blew and the grey clouds remained, though they no longer poured rain. Madi scurried down the trail to the beach. Her anxious eyes scanned the crags, cliffs, and waves along the waterline. Finally, she spotted a splash of bright color at the water's edge. Celian sat in the sand, wrapped in a blanket she didn't recognize. His trousers lay discarded on the sand beside him. The water and the blanket covered the lower portion of his body, but when Madi drew close, she saw the filmy iridescence of his Leonie tail stemming from underneath the blanket. His mouth gaped as if he had to gasp for air.
"Celian!" Madi laid a hand on his shoulder and fell to her knees beside him. "What happened?"
He wouldn't look at her.
"I failed, Madi!" He said heavily over the crashing waves. "She knows, and she hates me more than ever now."
Madi saw the pain in his eyes. She grabbed his hand and tried to coax him back onto the beach. "Come on, let's talk about it."
Celian's face twisted, and he did not comply. "What is there to discuss? Miss Agatha does not love me, will never love me, and that is the end!"
Madi dropped his hand with a huff. She folded her arms. "Well," she retorted, "What's keeping you here, then?" She pointed to the tail that had re-formed into legs, but only halfway. The skin was too pale, the toes still soft enough to undulate with the current. "Why not just swim away forever?"
Celian still grimaced, as if fighting to keep his human form, in spite of his words. His breathing hissed rapidly through his nose as he clenched his jaw. "I... I cannot," he replied. "I have been human for so long that I treasure this form above all others." He glanced at the young friend sitting beside him. "I have made more meaningful connections as a human than any other form I have taken."
Madi grasped his hand, and with that simple gesture Celian felt his legs stiffen and solidify into their human state. Celian looked back at the sea, as the tide turned and began washing out again. "But then again, if the one I love can never love me, should I seek another who would accept me?"
Madi huddled close against his arm. "I'm sure she doesn't hate you!" She cried. "What did you tell her?"
Celian sighed. "There was no time for words, Madi. Just when I was about to tell her, the—" he stopped and flinched a little, like the change wanted to creep in again, but he wouldn't let it. "Someone she knew discovered us, and I had to go away, and she tried to swim after me, but she almost drowned and I had to save her before I had time to shift back—"
Madeline nodded. "She saw you as a Leonie and saw you change back, and it scared her." She recalled her similar experience, and understood the terror Agatha must have felt, being in such peril, and then seeing such a terrifying transformation.
Celian thrust his jaw forward, his lips pressed in a thin line. The drops of water on his face could be neither rain nor spray. His voice trembled. "I fear I have lost my last chance with her."
"Celian!" Madi cried, "You can't give up! You can't!"
He looked at her with mournful eyes. "What other choice do I have? What hope is there for a creature like me, to find love among humans?"
His question, put so simply, went right to the young girl's heart. She threw her arms around his waist, her hands brushing the scar on his side. "I love you, Celian--and I wouldn't want you to give up. Would you do it, for me?"
Celian looked down at that curly brown head, mussing a few locks with his fingers. Her touch felt warm on his skin. "I would stay for you, Madi Grove," he murmured. "But even if that was enough to make the changes less abrupt--I am afraid it wouldn't be enough to rid me of the Mark that binds me to my natural form."
Her head lifted, eyes alight. "I know how we can find out what will help!" She pulled away and scrambled to her feet, tugging at Celian's arm. "Come with me!"
Celian sighed and shifted his legs in the sand, as Madi let go to allow him to balance himself. The wet cloth stuck to his skin, but as he slipped the trousers on and chased after the young girl, he did notice that her touch had at least restored his human form, at least for the time being. The cuffs of his specially-made trousers cupped under his feet and scraped along the ground, but Celian merely rolled them up and continued on his way.
Dr. Grove looked up in surprise as his daughter and her friend marched through the front door of the cottage.
"Madi! What happened?" he inquired, but the young girl sat Celian on the couch and said, "Wait here." She scurried from the room.
Ashley cast a confused glance at the tall man. "When we saw Agatha returning alone, I assumed the worst--"
Celian shrugged. "I am still here, and Madi is convinced she knows of a way to help me."
The doctor chuckled. "My daughter does not give up easy."
"It's all in the stories!" Madi announced as she returned, clutching a book to her chest.
Celian tilted his head. "Stories?"
She nodded, settling onto the seat beside him. "It's how I knew what you were when we found you. See?" Madi showed him the cover, but
