"Where did you get your hands on that book?"

Kymani was climbing over the balcony reiling when she heard Imee's voice. It appeared her intel had been correct in assuming this was the place where the Queen spent most of her time.

"Found it."

A young male voice answered, and Kymani could almost hear the eye roll when the Queen answered.

"Found it, my ass. You're just as bad as your father."

Leaning to the side so she could see in the room, Kymani noticed that there were only three people present instead of the four she had expected.

The Queen turned to the other adult in the room, Regan, Kymani suspected.

"Are we truly certain you two have no blood relation? You simply found the one kid that looked, acted and has the same name as you just to confuse the rest of us."

From the stories Kymani had heard about that individual, that was certainly a possibility. Though to be fair, the source might have been a bit prejudiced..

"Truly, but did you consider he might have taken over some of your own habits?"

Only allowing herself to smile and not let the laughter threatening to leave her body free reign, was the only thing keeping her presence a secret for a bit longer. She was getting too old for these kinds of stunts.

"Three generations of Regan's and you dare blame it on me. What have I ever done that was rushed and not thought through concerning books or other things?"

Again laughter threatened to spill from her mouth, but Regan already filled the silence with his own.

"Don't answer that."

The smile was evident in his voice. This seemed like an amazing moment to announce her own presence.

"Wasn't planning to."

Opening the balcony door with a soft click and walking through the door frame, announcing her presence, wasn't a real challenge at all. Kymani really needed to have a talk with the captain of the guard.

"Interested in another rushed decision?"

It was that her intentions were well, otherwise this intrusion could have ended very differently.

"Aunty Ky!"

Regan the Third came crashing into her brittle frame the moment she announced her presence. Having mentally and physically prepared for the assault, did Kymani not fall over, but it came a bit too close for comfort.

"Careful now, I'm not so young anymore that I can carry several of you rascals around without breaking a sweat."

Swiping her curly once black hair back and making some exaggerated steps forwards, was all it took for the youngster to get the hint.

She wasn't here for the simple sake of visiting old friends.

"We'll leave the two of you alone. Come along, let's go visit grandpa. He'll want to know that our favourite pirate is back on land."

It was an unspoken question. One Kymani wasn't unwilling to answer, though the end result would completely depend on

"Not for long, we'll sail with the tide, though I might be persuaded to wait a few days."

The Queen, Imee, showed a reaction to that. The first Kymani had seen since she had waltzed into her room and once calm life.

"Tell Regan I will visit him later today, if he is up to it. For now the pirate will keep me company."

Dismissing everyone within hearing distance, which Kymani knew were a lot more people than she could see, was the end of any and all pleasant conversations.

"What is it that you want, Kymani? I gave you my answer ages ago, it did not miraculously change with age."

Kyamani wandered around the room, trying and failing so, to keep her eyes away from Imee.

"Is this about holding hands and riding into the sunset or another adventure? Because you indeed gave your answer to the first one, one I accepted."

It felt like a lifetime ago, it was a lifetime ago, when they stood on the shore of Lemuria and had that conversation.

"The adventure on the other hand will hopefully catch your attention. I'm not getting younger after all and scaling the palace wall to steal you away in the night is not as easily done anymore."

Maybe if she had spent her time on shore instead of sailing the eight oceans, life would have granted her more years. But at barely seventy she felt the weariness of time catching up in her bones.

"We- I am getting old. The next time- there might not be a next adventure for me. I want to see Lemuria again, to feel the shifting sands between my toes as I dance under the light of a thousand stars."

It wouldn't be the same with so little left of her original crew, nor Imee to accompany her.

"I'll go regardless of your decision, I only hope to share this adventure with you."

On the other hand, when did that ever stop her to see the world and places untouched.

"To once more feel the magic of that dear and secret island. If you feel up to it, you know where to find me regardless."

Kymani left the room after waiting for a few moments, hoping against her better judgement that Imee would at least say something. Give any indication what she was thinking.

She truly was a Queen in heart and soul.

No Queen would leave her country behind for the shores of another, to wait for better days.

-

Her ship left the capital three days later without any new additions.

There was no need for new blood on a boat that knew the way to the end of the world.

They sailed east as they had done a thousand times before. No need to visit sea towns for supplies, they had more than enough. Nor did they need to hear the tales of old one more time.

Kymani had been a fan of them, but since the moment her own adventure had become a popular play, they had lost their appeal.

Stories like those couldn't follow the truth if they were hit in the face with it.

-

They had arrived on the shores of Lemuria within a few weeks of travel. No thunderstorms or earthquakes stopping them on their journey to the end.

It was still as beautiful as when Kymani had first set foot on its lands, half a century ago. How could it not be, with nature running its course, only momentarily allowing humans hands to touch her.

The settlements her crew had started, hadn't stayed for long. But the houses they had left behind were still sufficient for the time being.

Not that they would stay long, just long enough. Then her crew would take her ship, her Love, home.

"There you are."

The soft spoken voice was a far cry from the way Kymani was usually spoken to, though that didn't diminish the person speaking to her. That voice she would recognise anywhere, no matter how.

A face far softer than her own, unbroken by the forces of nature. A life of safety and softness carrying a hardened soul inside.

"You came."

Kymani had hoped, of course she had, hoped that Imee would join her. But the knowledge that her cabin and bed had been empty during the journey wasn't surprising.

What had she honestly to offer, that she hadn't shown Imee before. She had been declined before and nothing had changed since the last time they had travelled together.

"Of course I did. I wouldn't have missed it for all the gold in the world. One last journey, your last probably. Some things can't be taken back, can't be undone. I didn't want this decision to be one of them."

They walked together along the shore line, watching the world change from afternoon to evening. Hand in hand walking towards where the setting sun was touching the ocean.

Imee was looking worse with every passing moment, it had been something Kymani had been unwilling to say. To think about.

She hadn't been sure in a very long time she would be the first to leave.

-

The coldness of the sand was the feeling that woke her up in the end.

The nothingness all around her, no warm body next to her to keep warm.

Her arm swung over the hip of an empty shell.

-

Time had caught up with her, them. She had closed her eyes in the hope Imee would still be there when she would open them.

She had been wrong.

There was no one left when she felt the vibrant morning rise on the shores of that dear and secret island.

-

"Your majesty, there is news from Lemuria. The pirate- Kymani has passed."

Imee didn't turn around from the window she had been blindly gazing through. Unseeing, unfeeling the beautiful sunrise that engulfed her island in the colours of the dawn. 

The decision not to return to Lemuria had been difficult at the time, but she had been sure. Kymani was strong and true, how could she have ever thought her Love had truly died when she hadn't looked. 

She had stayed behind in the firm belief another time would come.

She had waited for too long, to join Kymani where their love belonged. 

She hadn't embarked on a journey back to their land.

The last time she had seen Kymani she had been sitting in this very chair, full of hope and belief everything would turn out fine. That there would dawn another morning, to walk down the shores holding hands in the light of the dawn.

She hadn't heard Kymani's words, nor shared her fear that there wouldn't be another time.

It had been once in a lifetime, yet she had misjudged the moment it would happen.

Kymani had taken the tides, leading her to new waters to conquer. Sailing away from the shores Imee could follow her on.

The only thing left for Imee was to hold Kymani in her heart.

In the knowledge that the dream called Lemuria was over.