Isla

 

“This is it,” Kai said to me, his voice unusually serious and his face solemn. I shoved down the hysterical urge to laugh. “Are you sure, Isla?”

I nodded, holding out my hand for the envelope. Around me were Elias, Balt, Piper, and Soraya, quietly and somberly watching as well.

It turned out that my grandmother’s decision to flee and fake our deaths had meant she’d left the majority of my parent’s possessions behind. Elias and Pali had taken a great majority of it in. While we still didn’t know all the details of my Gran’s run – something Balt was determined to figure out – Elias had reluctantly confirmed there were several kidnapping attempts.

“It was bad,” he said. “But Thea – your Gran, oh she was in no state to listen to us, Pali and I, that is.” Rubbing his chin, he continued, “She’d lost her daughter, her son and now someone was trying to take you, Isla. And she was worried Balt would get involved and hurt. I think she did what she thought was best, although I wish–”

“If wishes were fishes,” Kai interjected, trying to lighten the mood and I lightly slapped him.

“Mm, well, it’s all in the past now. Don’t judge her too harshly, Isla. She loved you.” Elias had shaken his head. “I think her actions prove that.”

Thinking about my grandmother now, her worried face and fierce hugs, her incessant questions if I was a minute late, more of my childhood made sense. She’d buried us in the country, changing our names and lives all to keep me safe.

I’d loved that little house in Pennsylvania. So, no, I couldn’t judge her – I knew the ways life constantly threw the unexpected at you.

Like finding a family you’d never known you’d lost.

Taking a deep breath, I opened the envelope and pulled out the papers inside. It was my birth certificate, along with a few other legal documents and a handful of photos. It had a musty, heavy paper smell of long disuse, one that filled my nose as I stared at the birth certificate.

Penelope Isadora Kazan.

The name warped in my vision. It was oddly meaningless - a name I might have seen in the newspaper. My throat ached as I suddenly realized that this girl would have grown up here, with all of them and had a completely different childhood. Perhaps a different life.

Would Kai and I have fallen in love if I’d been Penelope?

Suddenly, I was very glad I didn’t know the answer to that question. There was nothing I could do anyway, the past was already written.

“You parents would not care if you didn’t want to change your name, Isla,” Balt spoke up.

Nodding, I put it down and then shuffled through the photos, handing them off as I was done. They were mostly photos of me with my parents or Balt.

Soraya, Piper and Kai had regaled me with stories about how they’d call Balt “Papa Duck.”

"We all spoiled you, but Balt adored you. You were practically his kid, I swear,” Soraya had said, wiping at her eyes. “Oh, he was so cute. It used to make my heart melt. I still can’t believe it. Wait until Talori and Enele find out – my parents, too. I wish they were home!”

We’d made plans to have a reunion come Christmas and my heart was singing at the thought of it. Holidays had become a hassle in the last few years. But now I had people to celebrate with and people to celebrate.

The second-to-last photo was a crowded one. I was tiny and topped with a crown, blowing out four candles with vim on a pink birthday cake. My father was holding me, my mother leaning in and laughing. Balt was on the other side, grinning, with Piper and Kai arranged by him, Kai shouting encouragements across the table. Soraya was clapping, along with her brother and sister.

The woman standing behind Kai, one hand on her curls, however, caught my attention. This was Palila, I realized. She was lovely and I could see how much Piper and Kai looked like her, especially Piper, who shared all her features, but her father’s sharpness and height.

Flipping to the next photo, I was holding up my head as my mother fastened a necklace around my neck and my father grinned down at me.

I gasped. “I-I remember this,” I said slowly.

It came to me, swimming up as though from a dark sea. I remembered the smell of frosting and the babble of voices, the gentle brush of my mother’s hands and my father’s boisterous laugh.

Balt leaning in and saying how much he liked my necklace, Kai trying to grab it and being yanked away by Piper. Soraya kissing my cheek, Enele winking at me and Talori hugging me.

More memories were coming, but they weren’t as clear. Only glimpses. Balt holding my hand and Piper holding the other as we waded in the shallows of the ocean. Soraya braiding my hair. Enele tickling me. Me and Talori, whispering secrets.

And Kai.

Boosting me up on his shoulders or letting me ride on his back like a pony. Playing with me and Talori. Trying to pick me up before he was big enough to. Telling me stories and his fingers clumsy on a guitar that was too big for him.

Watching as Piper and Balt shifted, his chin on his hand and a wistful expression on his face.

Holding out his hand with a smile.

Rubbing the heel of my palm across my eyes, I blinked and saw everyone was looking at me with concern. “Ha. Don’t look at me like that. I’m okay.” I smiled tremulously. “I’m with all of you.”

“Oh, baby,” Soraya said, rushing over and throwing her arms around me. “We missed you.”

“Isla, did you see this?” Kai asked after Soraya let me go.

“What?” I asked.

“Your birth date,” he said.

Taking the certificate from him, I looked at it and let out a surprised noise. “My birthday is next month?” I asked and looked up. “I’m a Leo?”

Everyone let out a chuckle at that and I did too.

“Maybe you can have two birthdays,” Piper suggested.

“Maybe,” I said. “Although I think the real one will do just fine for this Kazan lioness.”

 

A week and a half later, I was staring out across the blue expanse of the Pacific and my heart was so full, it seemed ready to burst.

Leaving behind LA had been harder this time, saying goodbye to Balt and Piper, who promised to visit soon, along with Soraya and her siblings. Elias was coming along at the end of the month, too. But I still missed them. We’d only had those few precious days together.

Then, seeing my roommate Dionne and explaining I was moving to Maui. Her jaw had hit the ground when I’d said that, then again when she saw Kai. Her eyes had raked him up and down, before she gave him the third degree, much to his amusement.

We’d spent the next few days packing up my stuff for Maui – everything except the furniture. Piper had promised to take care of my car since she had it and that was that.

As Dionne and I parted tearfully, with me inviting her to the island and asking her to keep it a secret in the same breath, she’d shaken her head.

“Hon, when you said that, I thought you’d lost your mind. But that tatted surfer?” She fanned herself. “I’d move to Siberia for him.”

Laughing, I hugged her, confessing, “That’s what I said.”

Turning to my tatted surfer, I watched as he slept on peacefully in the seat next to me. His hair and beard had been trimmed, and he was wearing a crisp shirt and jeans. Piper had insisted he get a cut, but I secretly couldn’t wait until a few weeks when he was back to the shaggy wild Tarzan again. While I was filled with nostalgia for LA, I couldn’t help but look forward to living in Hawaii.

“You checking me out in my sleep?” Kai suddenly asked, opening his eyes and grinning.

“Maybe,” I said. “I didn’t mean to wake you, Kai. You can go back to sleep.”

“We’re almost there, though,” he said, his face lighting up as he stretched. “I can feel it.”

Sure enough, within the half-hour, we were landing and I had was overwhelmed with the sense of coming home. It was a rightness that sang straight through my entire body. Then, driving to our house, I exclaimed over the beauty of the island as though I’d never seen it before.

"Did it really look like this?" I asked, staring up at Haleakala as we drove by it. "This green?"

“Yes, gorgeous,” Kai said laughing. “Although I’m with you. It’s a little surreal.”

It was even more surreal as we bounced down Hana Highway, my feet tapping impatiently to get home, to see the cats and to see the ocean. To get in the ocean.

Finally, we were walking down the twisting path, through the trees and the calls of birds around us. The house popped up and I let out a happy sigh.

“Home,” I said, smiling at Kai.

His eyes filled with a soft adoration, along with a wicked sparkle and he leaned in, kissing me, and murmuring, “Home.” Dropping the bags, he pulled me against him, kissing me harder.

How long do you think they’re gonna keep doing that? Asked a small, sweet voice.

I jerked away from Kai, heart pounding as I looked around for the source. It sounded so young, like a child, but there was something wise, strange, and magnetic about it.

Looking down, I saw Bonsi, Lulu, and Spooky, sitting in a row and staring up at us with their heads all cocked to the right. Meeting Lulu's eyes, a shock of recognition went through me.

Isla – she’s different. Came a mellower, lovelier voice.

I squeaked, hands over my mouth and Kai put his hands on my shoulders. "It's okay, Isla."

"I'm just – it's gonna take getting used to," I said, nervously wiping my hands on my pants. "Hi, guys. I missed you."

Spooky walked over. She’s a shifter. His voice was filled with incredulity. How?

“Long story, long flight, c’mon guys, give her some space, don’t all come out here and start asking questions…” Kai said.

But the rest of the cats had appeared, streaking towards me and I sat down on the ground. Immediately Bonsi leaped into my lap and looked up at me.

Are you really, Isla? You can hear us now?

Marveling at this ability, I petted his ears and nodded. “Every word.” I looked up at Kai as the rest of the cats came around, sniffing, purring, and rubbing against me. “This is amazing.”

Kai was watching with a look of amusement on his face. “It is pretty cute. Be nicer if we could do this inside, but okay…” He sighed as I looked back down and engaged the cats.

A few hours later, I was walking out of the ocean and wringing my hair. The sky was lit up with a glorious golden sunset, overflowing with colors and hues that made me itch to paint.

“I have so much work to do,” I said with a sigh as I sat down on our blanket. Kai was already stretched out, drying off and he sat up.

“I know, me too,” he said and I swatted him. “No, I’m serious, Piper is trying to figure out how to bring me back into the SoA, remotely. The Order going digital.”

“And you want that?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I’d be willing to be an on-call Maui member.

Nodding, I wrapped a towel around me and scooted closer. “What about me?”

“Seeing as how you cried after talking to the cats, I think we need to give it some time, there, miss impatient,” Kai teased.

“Shut up,” I laughed.

We fell into a comfortable silence, watching the sky put on a show and feeling like it was for us alone. Leaning against Kai, his warm solid chest and a strong arm wrapped around my waist, I gave myself into the moment. The drip of water from my bathing suit onto my thigh. The cool sand between my toes. And the strong, wild scent of the ocean breeze.

“Isla,” Kai said and I sat up to look at him. He was jiggling a foot and pulled out something from his bag, something he began turning something over and over in his hands. “I-um.” He swallowed and grit his jaw. “Um, that is…”

“What is it?” I peered at him and giggled. “Are you nervous, Kai Weslark?”

“Yes,” he said bluntly and my eyes went wide. “I have something for you. A little present.” Now he went still and his brown eyes seemed to fill with gold. “A promise ring. And bracelet.”

Lips parting, I stared at him.

“You don’t have to take them,” he muttered. “I couldn’t decide between the ring or the bracelet, so I got both, even though Piper said she’d never heard of a promise bracelet before. Soraya thought it was cute, she said you’d like it and then Balt threatened me–”

“Kai,” I interrupted as his neck muscles stood out. “Are you serious?”

“Yes?” He said, giving me a bewildered look.

"Hand it over," I said, wiggling my fingers at him.

Quietly he passed me a small box and I let out a breath before I opened it.

“It doesn’t bite you know,” Kai said.

“Now, who’s impatient?” I asked and opened it. “Oh, Kai. Thank you. They’re so beautiful.”

Inside was rose-gold bracelet shaped like delicate branches of a flowering tree. And the ring was the same, only the design was set in filigree.

I slipped the bracelet on and held it up. The colors seemed to reflect the sunset sky.

Taking the ring, Kai slid it onto my finger and a throb went through me. It was almost as though I'd seen into the future when another ring would be slid onto my finger by Kai. He took my hand and kissed it, then smiled at me.

“I knew you’d like it,” he said, his voice a little rough.

“Why so nervous, then?” I teased.

“I don’t know. You still knock the wind out of me, Isla. Probably will never change.”

My eyes filled with tears and I bit my lip. I wished I had something to give him in return. Then my mind flashed to the drawings. Was it too silly? Too small?

Getting to my feet, I held out my hand to Kai. “I have something for you.”

A smirk raised up in his cheek. “Do you?”

“Not that,” I said. “Something else.”

He looked intrigued and scrambled up, grabbing the blankets, then my hand. “Come on, then.” As we walked, Kai glanced over me. “Hey, this is kind of random, but you should probably know – Balt is never going to tell Piper how he feels.”

I stared up at him. “What – did you talk to him? Did you ask him not to?”

Kai let out a bark of laughter. “Geez, Isla, I’m not that desperate to win a bet. It’s money.” He winked at me. “Now, if it was something else, some fantasy…”

I shook my head. “No, I’m telling you. Within the year. Maybe sooner. You should have seen Piper’s face when they hugged that night in the desert.”

“I talked to Balt, gorgeous. He said he has his reasons.” Kai sighed. “It’s too bad. Now that I have you, I want my sister and Balt to be this happy. Stubborn fools.”

“Aw, Kai,” I said, hugging his arm.

“I know, I’m so damn magnanimous,” Kai said with a sigh.

Thinking about Piper and that night, I recalled the hilarity of her face when she’d seen Kai’s sweatshirt. I knew what he meant, why couldn’t Piper and Balt get over their stubbornness and– 

I let out a startled noise and turned to Kai. “Oh no. Oh no!”

“What, what is it?” he asked, immediately alarmed by my tone.

“Kai,” I said miserably. “I lost your favorite sweatshirt, I think. I don’t remember – maybe it’s at the Malibu house. When did I take it off? Did it get ruined?”

“We took it off you. It was kind of bloody, so I threw it out,” Kai said.

“Oh no, I’m so sorry,” I said. “I’ll get you another one. Everyone kept recognizing it as yours and they’d be like that’s Kai’s favorite sweatshirt–”

“Sh, Isla, I think I’ll live. It was a sweatshirt. I’d give up all my clothes to have you.” He grinned down at me as I looked up. “In fact…”

I laughed. “Okay, well I’ll get you a replacement sweatshirt,” I said. “Anything you want.”

“Hm,” Kai said. “You know what, I don’t think that’s enough.” He leaned down and his breath tickled my ear. “You’re gonna have to work it off, kid.”

“Now, I believe you don’t care about it,” I said with another laugh as we walked up the stairs.

Inside, I suddenly felt nervous and grabbed up a blanket to wrap around myself. Walking over to the desk, everything was exactly how I’d left it, down to the eraser bits in the corner.

Slowly, I pulled out the portfolio and slipped my hand into the bottom. “It’s, well…”

“Now who’s flustered?” Kai teased as I stood up and thrust them at him.

Cheeks starting to flame, I watched as Kai looked through them, trying not stare, but inevitably my gaze was drawn back. His expression was hard to read.

“How do you do it?” Kai asked, finally looking up.

“What, draw?” I asked.

“Well, that. And make me keep falling harder in love with you.” Butterflies swarmed into my stomach. “Isla – this is.” His eyes said it all. “Thank you.”

“You’re easy on the eyes,” I tried to joke, but my heart was beating hard in my chest.

Kai gently set the drawings aside and slipped his hands inside the blanket, holding my waist. “You’d think that would have stoked my ego, but I just feel humbled.” His eyes searched mine and he smiled. “You love me.”

“I love you,” I said, smiling at him.

“Almost as much as I love you,” he said, sounding serious, but the corner of his mouth quirked.

“Hey!” I said, pushing gently on his chest. “Exactly as much. What? I do.”

“Mm,” Kai said. “I like the sound of that. But I don’t know Isla… I think I have you beat.”

“It’s not a competition,” I said and Kai’s eyes lit up. I knew he was thinking about the other time I said that. “No, I mean it, it’s really not.”

"Okay," Kai said with a shrug, squeezing my hips and giving me a quick kiss. Tossing the blanket off my shoulders, I pushed him backward and he began to laugh. “Though it wasn’t–”

The rest of his words got cut off by the door closing behind us and me pulling down his face to mine. “It’s not,” I whispered. “But if you wanna make a little bet...”

Kai grinned at me. “You’re on.”