Chapter 273: Makai – The Tournament Part 9
If audio player doesn't work, press Stop then Play button again
~~
Makai
~~
Ocean and I had a nice long talk until we were ready to go to bed. After what happened at the tournament yesterday, I think that we needed that. We needed to bond with each other again and reaffirm what it was that we felt for each other. I told Ocean everything about my past that I had never been all that open about before. I figured it was well past time for it.
Among the things that Ocean and I talked about, more so what I told him about, was that I was practically raised by nannies. He already knew that, but I didn't tell him how isolated and alone it made me feel. Even though there were always people around me, people that loved me and cared for me, I still felt alone. I never had my parents' love and affection the way that I wanted it.
I knew why they had to be away. They knew that the times in the waters were not calm and that one day there might be a war. They wanted to keep me safe and protected. I didn't know that when I was four and was crying for my mommy and daddy to be the ones to put me to bed, but I knew it as I got older.
I never doubted that I was loved by my parents. They were good parents and they did the best that they could to keep me out of something that had nothing to do with me. I would never fault them for that. However, it also doesn't change the way that I felt when I was without them.
I do wholeheartedly agree that part of the reason why I let Trent do the things to me that he did, was because I was so empty inside. I needed to fill a hole in my heart that I didn't quite understand. And at the time, I filled it with whatever made me feel good and happy at the moment.
I was done with all of that now. I didn't need to worry about all of that anymore. The hole that had naturally grown inside of me over all those years, it had been filled in now. It was completely gone with no trace of the original injury. And in that hole, filling me up, was a piece of Ocean's heart. He had given it to me to make me happy, to make my heart whole instead of with a hole. Ocean is all that I need. My forever. My one and only mate. And I would fight until the end of time for him. He would see that soon enough. He would know that I was not ever going to leave him.
Just like I had talked to Ocean about all of the things from my past, Ocean told me all about how he had felt so sheltered as a child. His family was loving and very protective of him. It was like they felt that there was something about him when he was little that they just couldn't show to the world. I have a feeling that it had to do with what he was and the bond they shared.
Ocean was a Siren and, as the family that chose to love him instead of the one that he was born into, his parents and siblings felt a stronger emotional bond with him. They protected him way more than most siblings would have done. And his parents sheltered him until he was a teenager to make sure that he grew up safe and happy.
I am quite convinced that the reason Ocean was so easily duped by Bitchney was because he thought that everyone was the same way. That the whole world loved everyone wholeheartedly. And then, as the time went on in high school, when he was exposed to such negative influences, he was able to see that he was wrong. That was why he was so confused for so long.
Neither of our families intended to hurt us in any way, but they did. Despite all of that though, we turned out just fine. We were mostly happy and mostly well adjusted men that found each other and were able to give each other some love and affection that we desperately needed.
Despite everything though, our families were the best. They did everything with the best of intentions and that was all that mattered. They never intended to hurt us in any way, and neither of us saw ourselves as damaged and hurt. Not by them anyway. We loved them all and we definitely wanted to make them all proud of us.
It was a long night. All the things that we talked about. The emotions we went through. The things that we got off of our chests. It was a lot. And I was happier for having done it all. I felt better, and I know for a fact that Ocean did as well. Not to mention that we were both doing a lot better when it was all done.
And as far as I could tell, both of our families were already proud of us. I mean, if they weren't they would not have kidnapped Ocean to plan the wedding. And my family would not have gone through so much to make things right for Ocean and me after the fiasco with Justin at the school. They had all done so much for us and it didn't look like they were anywhere near done yet.
When Saturday rolled around and it was time for the second day of the tournament, neither Ocean nor I allowed Trent to get to us. He tried, of course, but it was made harder for him. Someone had talked to the committee and requested a separate locker room for Trent's team so that they were no longer able to bother us at all. That made getting ready a lot easier for us to handle.
When it was time for us all to go out to the pools, Trent's team made him sit on the farthest side of their chairs and Ocean and I once again sat on the farthest side of ours. We were putting as much space between us as we possibly could. And since it was just the individual swimmers going this time, they were able to split us up. They said that it was a last minute decision that they had made to make it less awkward for everyone.
In fact, Trent was made to swim in the second group of swimmers and was nowhere near us when it was time to head up there for the next heats. We didn't have to deal with Trent at all.
The matches went in the same sort of order that they did the day before. The two groups of male individual swimmers were doing their best before the ladies took their first heat in the water. That was four rounds already and we had another eight to go.
The top twenty men and women from each group would go again for another set of heats after lunch today. They would compete to see who came down to the top eight in each group.
That would make things a lot easier for the next day when we ran the finals for the individual swimmers as well as the semi finals and the finals for the teams. It was going to be a busy day, and I think that we should have done the double rounds for the team matches the day before. Oh well, it was what it was. We will at least have a lot of rest in between the heats tomorrow. That would be one benefit of it all.
Oh, and to make things even better, Ocean and I came in first and second for every single one of our heats for the preliminaries and semifinals. We were able to come in at the top just like we had the previous time before we were dating.
Unfortunately, Trent came in third for all six heats. Still, we kept him at bay. He was not able to push us out of the top position. Just that alone was enough to make my day. I didn't want that guy beating me, or my Ocean.
As it turned out, several of the female swimmers needed to be replaced with some of the back up swimmers. I don't know why, but they just didn't show up. Perhaps they were the only ones from their school to qualify and the school didn't think that it was a good idea to pay for one student to miss so much school.
Anyway, this helped to make it so that both Jenell and Faith got the swim today. They both made it through the first round along with Katie. And amazingly enough, Faith made it through to the finals that would be taking place the next day.
Our team was showing everyone here that we were a force to be reckoned with. We were in the finals all around. Our men's team was in first place along with our women's team. And four out of five of the individual swimmers that actually competed today were all making it to the finals tomorrow. What better way to be showing off our skill than to be in the positions that we were currently in?
And at the end of the day, we were all so keyed up about the victories that we had all achieved that we wanted to celebrate. We ended up going out to eat at a nice restaurant in the city with the coach and all the others on the team. It was a long night of excitement and joy.
And when it came time to go to bed that night, I was sure we were all dreaming of more wins for our school.
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
~~
Makai
~~
Ocean and I had a nice long talk until we were ready to go to bed. After what happened at the tournament yesterday, I think that we needed that. We needed to bond with each other again and reaffirm what it was that we felt for each other. I told Ocean everything about my past that I had never been all that open about before. I figured it was well past time for it.
Among the things that Ocean and I talked about, more so what I told him about, was that I was practically raised by nannies. He already knew that, but I didn't tell him how isolated and alone it made me feel. Even though there were always people around me, people that loved me and cared for me, I still felt alone. I never had my parents' love and affection the way that I wanted it.
I knew why they had to be away. They knew that the times in the waters were not calm and that one day there might be a war. They wanted to keep me safe and protected. I didn't know that when I was four and was crying for my mommy and daddy to be the ones to put me to bed, but I knew it as I got older.
I never doubted that I was loved by my parents. They were good parents and they did the best that they could to keep me out of something that had nothing to do with me. I would never fault them for that. However, it also doesn't change the way that I felt when I was without them.
I do wholeheartedly agree that part of the reason why I let Trent do the things to me that he did, was because I was so empty inside. I needed to fill a hole in my heart that I didn't quite understand. And at the time, I filled it with whatever made me feel good and happy at the moment.
I was done with all of that now. I didn't need to worry about all of that anymore. The hole that had naturally grown inside of me over all those years, it had been filled in now. It was completely gone with no trace of the original injury. And in that hole, filling me up, was a piece of Ocean's heart. He had given it to me to make me happy, to make my heart whole instead of with a hole. Ocean is all that I need. My forever. My one and only mate. And I would fight until the end of time for him. He would see that soon enough. He would know that I was not ever going to leave him.
Just like I had talked to Ocean about all of the things from my past, Ocean told me all about how he had felt so sheltered as a child. His family was loving and very protective of him. It was like they felt that there was something about him when he was little that they just couldn't show to the world. I have a feeling that it had to do with what he was and the bond they shared.
Ocean was a Siren and, as the family that chose to love him instead of the one that he was born into, his parents and siblings felt a stronger emotional bond with him. They protected him way more than most siblings would have done. And his parents sheltered him until he was a teenager to make sure that he grew up safe and happy.
I am quite convinced that the reason Ocean was so easily duped by Bitchney was because he thought that everyone was the same way. That the whole world loved everyone wholeheartedly. And then, as the time went on in high school, when he was exposed to such negative influences, he was able to see that he was wrong. That was why he was so confused for so long.
Neither of our families intended to hurt us in any way, but they did. Despite all of that though, we turned out just fine. We were mostly happy and mostly well adjusted men that found each other and were able to give each other some love and affection that we desperately needed.
Despite everything though, our families were the best. They did everything with the best of intentions and that was all that mattered. They never intended to hurt us in any way, and neither of us saw ourselves as damaged and hurt. Not by them anyway. We loved them all and we definitely wanted to make them all proud of us.
It was a long night. All the things that we talked about. The emotions we went through. The things that we got off of our chests. It was a lot. And I was happier for having done it all. I felt better, and I know for a fact that Ocean did as well. Not to mention that we were both doing a lot better when it was all done.
And as far as I could tell, both of our families were already proud of us. I mean, if they weren't they would not have kidnapped Ocean to plan the wedding. And my family would not have gone through so much to make things right for Ocean and me after the fiasco with Justin at the school. They had all done so much for us and it didn't look like they were anywhere near done yet.
When Saturday rolled around and it was time for the second day of the tournament, neither Ocean nor I allowed Trent to get to us. He tried, of course, but it was made harder for him. Someone had talked to the committee and requested a separate locker room for Trent's team so that they were no longer able to bother us at all. That made getting ready a lot easier for us to handle.
When it was time for us all to go out to the pools, Trent's team made him sit on the farthest side of their chairs and Ocean and I once again sat on the farthest side of ours. We were putting as much space between us as we possibly could. And since it was just the individual swimmers going this time, they were able to split us up. They said that it was a last minute decision that they had made to make it less awkward for everyone.
In fact, Trent was made to swim in the second group of swimmers and was nowhere near us when it was time to head up there for the next heats. We didn't have to deal with Trent at all.
The matches went in the same sort of order that they did the day before. The two groups of male individual swimmers were doing their best before the ladies took their first heat in the water. That was four rounds already and we had another eight to go.
The top twenty men and women from each group would go again for another set of heats after lunch today. They would compete to see who came down to the top eight in each group.
That would make things a lot easier for the next day when we ran the finals for the individual swimmers as well as the semi finals and the finals for the teams. It was going to be a busy day, and I think that we should have done the double rounds for the team matches the day before. Oh well, it was what it was. We will at least have a lot of rest in between the heats tomorrow. That would be one benefit of it all.
Oh, and to make things even better, Ocean and I came in first and second for every single one of our heats for the preliminaries and semifinals. We were able to come in at the top just like we had the previous time before we were dating.
Unfortunately, Trent came in third for all six heats. Still, we kept him at bay. He was not able to push us out of the top position. Just that alone was enough to make my day. I didn't want that guy beating me, or my Ocean.
As it turned out, several of the female swimmers needed to be replaced with some of the back up swimmers. I don't know why, but they just didn't show up. Perhaps they were the only ones from their school to qualify and the school didn't think that it was a good idea to pay for one student to miss so much school.
Anyway, this helped to make it so that both Jenell and Faith got the swim today. They both made it through the first round along with Katie. And amazingly enough, Faith made it through to the finals that would be taking place the next day.
Our team was showing everyone here that we were a force to be reckoned with. We were in the finals all around. Our men's team was in first place along with our women's team. And four out of five of the individual swimmers that actually competed today were all making it to the finals tomorrow. What better way to be showing off our skill than to be in the positions that we were currently in?
And at the end of the day, we were all so keyed up about the victories that we had all achieved that we wanted to celebrate. We ended up going out to eat at a nice restaurant in the city with the coach and all the others on the team. It was a long night of excitement and joy.
And when it came time to go to bed that night, I was sure we were all dreaming of more wins for our school.
~~Makai~~Ocean and I had a nice long talk until we were ready to go to bed. After what happened at the tournament yesterday, I think that we needed that. We needed to bond with each other again and reaffirm what it was that we felt for each other. I told Ocean everything about my past that I had never been all that open about before. I figured it was well past time for it.Among the things that Ocean and I talked about, more so what I told him about, was that I was practically raised by nannies. He already knew that, but I didn't tell him how isolated and alone it made me feel. Even though there were always people around me, people that loved me and cared for me, I still felt alone. I never had my parents' love and affection the way that I wanted it.I knew why they had to be away. They knew that the times in the waters were not calm and that one day there might be a war. They wanted to keep me safe and protected. I didn't know that when I was four and was crying for my mommy and daddy to be the ones to put me to bed, but I knew it as I got older.I never doubted that I was loved by my parents. They were good parents and they did the best that they could to keep me out of something that had nothing to do with me. I would never fault them for that. However, it also doesn't change the way that I felt when I was without them.I do wholeheartedly agree that part of the reason why I let Trent do the things to me that he did, was because I was so empty inside. I needed to fill a hole in my heart that I didn't quite understand. And at the time, I filled it with whatever made me feel good and happy at the moment.I was done with all of that now. I didn't need to worry about all of that anymore. The hole that had naturally grown inside of me over all those years, it had been filled in now. It was completely gone with no trace of the original injury. And in that hole, filling me up, was a piece of Ocean's heart. He had given it to me to make me happy, to make my heart whole instead of with a hole. Ocean is all that I need. My forever. My one and only mate. And I would fight until the end of time for him. He would see that soon enough. He would know that I was not ever going to leave him.Just like I had talked to Ocean about all of the things from my past, Ocean told me all about how he had felt so sheltered as a child. His family was loving and very protective of him. It was like they felt that there was something about him when he was little that they just couldn't show to the world. I have a feeling that it had to do with what he was and the bond they shared.Ocean was a Siren and, as the family that chose to love him instead of the one that he was born into, his parents and siblings felt a stronger emotional bond with him. They protected him way more than most siblings would have done. And his parents sheltered him until he was a teenager to make sure that he grew up safe and happy.I am quite convinced that the reason Ocean was so easily duped by Bitchney was because he thought that everyone was the same way. That the whole world loved everyone wholeheartedly. And then, as the time went on in high school, when he was exposed to such negative influences, he was able to see that he was wrong. That was why he was so confused for so long.Neither of our families intended to hurt us in any way, but they did. Despite all of that though, we turned out just fine. We were mostly happy and mostly well adjusted men that found each other and were able to give each other some love and affection that we desperately needed.Despite everything though, our families were the best. They did everything with the best of intentions and that was all that mattered. They never intended to hurt us in any way, and neither of us saw ourselves as damaged and hurt. Not by them anyway. We loved them all and we definitely wanted to make them all proud of us. It was a long night. All the things that we talked about. The emotions we went through. The things that we got off of our chests. It was a lot. And I was happier for having done it all. I felt better, and I know for a fact that Ocean did as well. Not to mention that we were both doing a lot better when it was all done.And as far as I could tell, both of our families were already proud of us. I mean, if they weren't they would not have kidnapped Ocean to plan the wedding. And my family would not have gone through so much to make things right for Ocean and me after the fiasco with Justin at the school. They had all done so much for us and it didn't look like they were anywhere near done yet.When Saturday rolled around and it was time for the second day of the tournament, neither Ocean nor I allowed Trent to get to us. He tried, of course, but it was made harder for him. Someone had talked to the committee and requested a separate locker room for Trent's team so that they were no longer able to bother us at all. That made getting ready a lot easier for us to handle.When it was time for us all to go out to the pools, Trent's team made him sit on the farthest side of their chairs and Ocean and I once again sat on the farthest side of ours. We were putting as much space between us as we possibly could. And since it was just the individual swimmers going this time, they were able to split us up. They said that it was a last minute decision that they had made to make it less awkward for everyone.In fact, Trent was made to swim in the second group of swimmers and was nowhere near us when it was time to head up there for the next heats. We didn't have to deal with Trent at all.The matches went in the same sort of order that they did the day before. The two groups of male individual swimmers were doing their best before the ladies took their first heat in the water. That was four rounds already and we had another eight to go.The top twenty men and women from each group would go again for another set of heats after lunch today. They would compete to see who came down to the top eight in each group.That would make things a lot easier for the next day when we ran the finals for the individual swimmers as well as the semi finals and the finals for the teams. It was going to be a busy day, and I think that we should have done the double rounds for the team matches the day before. Oh well, it was what it was. We will at least have a lot of rest in between the heats tomorrow. That would be one benefit of it all.Oh, and to make things even better, Ocean and I came in first and second for every single one of our heats for the preliminaries and semifinals. We were able to come in at the top just like we had the previous time before we were dating.Unfortunately, Trent came in third for all six heats. Still, we kept him at bay. He was not able to push us out of the top position. Just that alone was enough to make my day. I didn't want that guy beating me, or my Ocean.As it turned out, several of the female swimmers needed to be replaced with some of the back up swimmers. I don't know why, but they just didn't show up. Perhaps they were the only ones from their school to qualify and the school didn't think that it was a good idea to pay for one student to miss so much school.Anyway, this helped to make it so that both Jenell and Faith got the swim today. They both made it through the first round along with Katie. And amazingly enough, Faith made it through to the finals that would be taking place the next day.Our team was showing everyone here that we were a force to be reckoned with. We were in the finals all around. Our men's team was in first place along with our women's team. And four out of five of the individual swimmers that actually competed today were all making it to the finals tomorrow. What better way to be showing off our skill than to be in the positions that we were currently in?And at the end of the day, we were all so keyed up about the victories that we had all achieved that we wanted to celebrate. We ended up going out to eat at a nice restaurant in the city with the coach and all the others on the team. It was a long night of excitement and joy.And when it came time to go to bed that night, I was sure we were all dreaming of more wins for our school.
