Chapter 88 - They Lived In Completely Different Worlds

The rest of Brennan's visit flew by in a blur after that. Talori had such a good time that she really didn't want him to leave but he had to get back to work. He wouldn't be able to come for as long next time since he had used up a lot of his vacation days and she wasn't terribly happy at the reminder.

"When will I see you again?" she asked as he was about to fly up to the boat waiting for him. 

"I'm not sure," he hedged. "Maybe the next tear exchange? Sooner if you need me for something that can't be done over video call." 

Talori may have to come up with some sort of excuse to make that happen. She would have to think about it later. She didn't want to go another three months without seeing him in person. 

She nodded before hugging him tightly. "Take care, Brennan." 

"You too."

"And say hi to everyone for me!" 

"I will."

Talori had said hi to Piper, who was driving the boat, but no one else had come with her this time since she was only here to pick up Brennan. She couldn't help but wonder what Harmony was up to that she didn't make the trip out. She normally wouldn't miss an opportunity like this. 

She watched her friend fly out of the water with his trunk and kept watching until the boat turned around and headed back toward Florida. She sighed and Nerio, her escort, was immediately concerned. 

"What is it, Talori?"

"I wish he didn't have to leave so soon, that's all."

"He has already been here a week."

"Still. I'm going to miss him. I always do. He's my best friend," she said with a wistful smile on her face. 

"I am sure you will see him again soon enough. Come on. Queen Aila is waiting for you," Nerio reminded her before preparing to drive the carriage. 

Talori had promised to visit her after dropping Brennan off. There was no point in staying here now that the boat was gone. She was being silly and sentimental because she hadn't wanted to say goodbye so soon. 

She wished that she wasn't so busy in the evenings these days so she had more time to talk to him after he got off work. But she had always dreamed of helping Zale so she couldn't ask him to cut back on her duties either. She was simply going to have to take what she could get. 

===

Zale hadn't been able to keep as close an eye on Talori and Brennan as he would have liked while the fairy was here because he had a lot of other duties to attend to. He wanted to be sure his sister wasn't overly attached like Beck thought because that wouldn't end well for her. 

He primarily observed them in a professional setting when the three of them were discussing things. Talori was certainly enthusiastic and cheerful but she usually was. That was no real indication of anything. 

So he had to rely on hearing things secondhand from the mermen he assigned to escort them as they went around the kingdom. Nothing they had to say was terribly concerning. He already knew their relationship was good and they were able to speak comfortably with each other. 

She did hold Brennan's hand occasionally to help him swim faster but that was understandable. He had seen how slow the fairy swam in comparison to merfolk himself. 

Zale had asked for Beck's opinion after he accompanied them to the coral reef. He was a bit jealous he hadn't gotten to taste the surface food his sister wanted to share with everyone first but understood it was a situational thing. She would have given it to him first if he had been there. 

"They are very fond of each other as far as I can tell," Beck informed him. 

"Of each other?"

"Yes. I have been observing that fairy every time I have seen him. He is different when speaking to Talori than he is when speaking to others. And he called her cute."

"Of course he called her cute! Tali is the most adorable creature alive," Zale said proudly before his smile dropped. "Different how?"

"He smiles more. And when he was upset about how humans are ruining the environment it took but a simple action from her to cheer him up. It reminded me a bit of you, actually."

Well, that wasn't good. Talori was his greatest treasure. If Beck thought Brennan's treatment of her was similar to his, she had to be important to him. Fond of each other indeed. It was entirely possible that the fairy was just as attached to his sister as she was to him. 

"You think he cares about her," Zale said flatly. 

"I do. Did the thought truly never occur to you? We both know that Talori is a very lovable mermaid. They were together for over a year. It isn't unreasonable that he would become attached," Beck pointed out. 

She was very lovable. Everyone around here adored her now that she was more involved with them. 

The question was whether or not anything could be done about this. Zale didn't think there was. He didn't know Brennan very well but knew how important his work was to him since he had been willing to take in a total stranger in order to do it better. 

He doubted the fairy would do anything to jeopardize their alliance. If he truly cared about Talori, he had to know that she was better off here than on the surface. 

It was highly unlikely that Brennan would do anything that would take her away from her home again. He wasn't worried about that. He was worried about his sister being upset every time the fairy visited then left again. 

"It didn't," Zale admitted begrudgingly. "But I don't think it matters. Brennan may care about Tali but I doubt he'll do anything about it. He cares about his work too much."

"I did get the impression that it is his driving force," Beck mused. 

"Exactly. His caring about Tali isn't as important as her caring about him. I don't want her to get depressed every time he leaves."

"Unfortunately, I don't believe there is anything you can do about that aside from try to keep her busy."

Beck was right. Zale couldn't control his sister's feelings. All he could do was try to get her more invested in things around here so she didn't think so much about her time on the surface. Which was difficult considering how much she loved everything to do with the world up there. 

Over the next several weeks she had everyone taste some of her surface food and ended up entertaining everyone by putting on a performance of a movie she had seen up there after explaining what a movie was and how humans entertained themselves. It was fascinating and ended up being the talk of the palace for days. 

"Wasn't Talori's performance wonderful?" Aila asked happily as she sat down on the bed the night after it happened. "She always has the most interesting things to say."

Zale smiled despite the worries plaguing him. "She certainly does."

"And she said she could do another once Brennan brings her more figurines! I look forward to it."

"As do I."

It always came back to Brennan with Talori. He was so tied into her experiences with the surface that his name cropped up every time she talked about it. Harmony and Castian were frequently mentioned as well but not nearly as much as he was. 

Zale knew his sister loved the surface. She had been interested in it since she was very young, which was what had originally branded her as crazy. 

But he couldn't help but wonder if her love of the surface was now too tied into one particular fae. If her affections had gotten tangled up somehow because her fairy friend embodied the surface experience for her. 

They lived in completely different worlds. They could never do anything but visit each other. He didn't want this to hurt her in the long run but any intervention that could have been taken earlier seemed futile at this point. She had already seemed less energetic than usual after Brennan left despite acting cheerful as ever when others were around. 

Zale knew his wife spent a lot of time with her and was the observant type. It wouldn't hurt to get her opinion on what was going on. 

"Tell me…do you think Tali has been acting different lately?"

"A little," Aila said as she ran her fingers through her hair to remove all of the ornaments in it. "She has been like that since her friend left. She was so excited for him to come but now that he has gone, the excitement went with it."

That was a good way of describing it.. Talori had always been the cheerful, enthusiastic sort but it was amped up when Brennan was around to the point that she seemed almost depressed by comparison when he wasn't though she was still far more cheerful and enthusiastic than anyone else.