Here's a snippet from my fic: Where the Tides Meet: ✨
They lay side by side in silence for a moment and the atmosphere settled from tense to comfortable as they watched the few clouds above them float along the dark sky. Naomi sighed lightly, enjoying the benefits of being out in the middle of the ocean. There was a cool breeze coming from over the railings and it softly pushed their ship through the rippling waters.
“It’s nice out tonight.” Naomi said, tracing the stars in the sky with her eyes, recognizing several constellations. Ones that she had become familiar with over her years as a sailor.
“Indeed.” Esteban said as he gazed at the sky as well. Naomi briefly wondered how knowledgeable he was with constellations and made a mental note to ask him about it sometime. “The stars shine brighter than I believe I have ever seen them.”
Naomi hummed in agreement. “You don’t really get to see the stars this vividly from the castle. I miss them. I- well, I’ve missed everything about sailing.”
“This makes sense.” He said, lifting a hand toward her. “You have been raised on the water and, at least since you took the job as chancellor, you’ve been preoccupied with quite a lot more than I am sure you were down at the port.”
Naomi groaned lightly, rubbing her hands over her eyes.
“You have no idea.” She looked over at Esteban and he turned to her, raising an eyebrow in amusement.
“Well,” she admitted. “Maybe you do know, but it’s not just that. You aren’t familiar with the sea like I am. You never got to breathe in the salt air every moment of the day. To feel the waves splash against your skin and hear them break against the bow. It’s just-”
She took a breath of the salt air around her and smiled.
“Freeing.” Esteban finished for her.
Naomi looked over at him in surprise.
“You do not think you are the only one who likes to be out on the open ocean, do you? Why do you think I agreed to join you on this journey?”
Naomi scoffed. “Because you had no choice.”
“Well, perhaps.” He said, laughing lightly. “But I also wanted to. Not initially, I suppose. It is not just the traveling I enjoy. It is the freeing feeling of the open ocean. Of not seeing even a glimpse of the shore in any direction and knowing all that surrounds me is open water.”
Naomi swallowed, a little surprised to hear him speak so similarly of the same things she loved. How he spoke of the sea and the waves. It was almost as if he could see into her heart's desires and speak them out loud.
She flushed lightly as he continued.
“I suppose you could say I have a longing for the sea. Standing on the deck of this ship, even before it had left port, I just longed for something-” Esteban flitted his hand around in a circular motion, trying to come up with the right word.
“Something more.” He finished. “Since being off the council and out of a job, there really has not been anything I can do to stay useful and I am afraid that perhaps my usefulness has reached its end.”
She scoffed. “I highly doubt you’ve become useless.”
He looked over at her defensively. “I have nothing to really drive my life. I am unable to be useful to anyone and with nothing useful to do, there is nothing for me to strive for anymore.”
Naomi just shook her head at his naivety. “But, usefulness to others doesn't equate to worth, Esteban.”
Naomi turned and propped herself up on her arm a bit to face him. “Just because you’re not doing something for someone or living your life serving someone doesn’t mean your life is over. Have you never been your own man before?”
“Guess not.” She said softly. She cleared her throat and diverted the subject slightly. “Well, did I ever tell you why I left the council years ago?”
“N-no,” he said slowly. “I knew you had but not the reason for it.”
Naomi laid on her back again and put her hands behind her head. “I wanted to live my life. I wanted to see the woman I could become if I were to be the one in control of it. Be my own captain. And, for a while, it was nice.”
“But,” she said, continuing. “It was a bit lonely. I missed Avalor. I missed my friends. I missed who I was around them.”
Esteban nodded slightly and frowned. “Yet, here you are, leaving home again.”
Naomi sighed. “As much as I missed my friends before, I missed sailing too. Sailing has just been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. It’s almost all I’ve ever known. That’s why-”
She hesitated but Naomi realized there was no reason to hide her insecurities from Esteban. He had seen her at her worst, they had butted heads for years, had been arguing that very same day, and yet here he was, sailing across the sea with her. With a startling realization, she found that she very much trusted him. At least with her thoughts of travel since, surprisingly, he seemed to be on the same page as her.
Esteban had shared his troubled thoughts with her. The least she could do was return the favor.
“That’s why,” she said finally, “I wanted to go on this trip in the first place. It’s why I wanted to go somewhere other than on a diplomatic mission and yet still be serving my kingdom.” Naomi lifted one of her hands above her, gesturing to the open sea around them. “I’ve felt so cooped up living in the castle, serving under Elena.”
Naomi looked over at Esteban and shook her head. “Don’t get me wrong. I love Elena. I love Avalor. I love serving my kingdom in any way possible. I just-” Naomi swallowed nervously. “I’m just a sailor at heart, I guess. The sea, the open sky- I wish I could combine my love for my kingdom and my love for sailing.”
Esteban was silent for a moment, contemplating her words. He fiddled with his hands on his chest and shrugged slightly.
“Is this not what you are doing now?”
Naomi furrowed her eyebrows. “What do you mean?”
Esteban turned to look at her.
“Are you not sailing out towards Brazendell and Napurna for our kingdom? To represent Avalor in place of Elena while also riding the waves across the vast sea between their lands?”
Naomi took a breath to retaliate but hesitated.
She had certainly taken the trip as a chance to stretch her sailing muscles a bit and really enjoy her time on the sea, but it had been more like a guilty pleasure than anything. Something she was able to get away with doing while also completing what was needed for Avalor. She had never seen the pleasure part of her trip as something that was anything more than a distraction from her duties.
Or something that might be possible even after returning to Avalor. To go sailing on trips frequently.
Naomi looked at Esteban with wide eyes.
“I guess,” she said hesitantly, “I guess you’re right.”
“As I am, often.” He said with a smile that could be vaguely considered as smug.
Naomi gave him a deadpan expression and rolled her eyes.
“I just-” She started, trying to wrap her brain around something so exciting. “An opportunity to push myself past the mundane life in the castle and into something more than just papercuts and long nights of studying never really presented itself.”
Esteban slowly started to smile, his expression filling up with a spark of life she had never seen from him before.
“Well, it has presented itself now.” He said, holding a hand out. “You may be a working woman with duties to your kingdom but that should not stop you from the exploration you so seek. Let us find a maruvian temple along the way. An uncharted island.”
He sat up suddenly, leaning on his elbow and looking down at her with bright eyes that shone in the moonlight. Esteban began to flush as he continued, completely caught in the passion of the moment. His eyes were so full and dazzling, Naomi felt like she was being swept away by the passion of his words.
“We shall see kingdoms and lands from afar. Eat foods from across the world. Cross the 17 seas to sail our way around the everrealm.”
He turned to look across the horizon, spouting out every dream he had ever wanted for himself, dragging her along into his fantasy, and she could see he was losing himself in that familiar freeing feeling that sailing created. Something that took hold of her each time she stepped on the deck of a ship.
“Let us catch those waves and find ourselves an adventure, Naomi! Sail, until there is no more sun to follow.”
If she hadn’t been so taken aback by his passionate tone, she would have pointed out that he had finally called her by her first name. Esteban was quite a formal man and had always addressed her as ‘Miss Turner’ or ‘Chancellor Turner’ and now by ‘Captain’. But very rarely had he ever called her by her first name.
She found it refreshing to see him so informal with her.
Naomi had never heard anyone talk so deeply about their aspirations, let alone Esteban, and had certainly never seen him so full of life. His longing for the sea continuously shocked her, mostly because it aligned so perfectly with her own passions. The most surprising part was that she was actually pleased it was Esteban who shared the same dreams as her.
He spoke so eloquently of the world, like it was something precious to treasure each day and it seemed he was just now realizing he wanted to live each day soaking up as much as he could. The surge of passion driving him to finally do something different with his life was something she suspected he had never had before.
It was a stark comparison to the dreary way he had been talking about himself just moments before. But it was exactly what Naomi wanted to do and how she wanted to live her life.
Naomi looked up at him with wide eyes, very surprised with his outburst. Pleasantly surprised. Again, she felt herself drawn into his passion, like she had been when she had offered him the chance to join her, wanting to explore the world with him.
Esteban looked over at her with a wide smile as she lay on the deck, the grey above his ears glowing silvery in the moonlight against the dark waves of his hair. He looked like a vision from a dream and Naomi could do nothing but stare up at him as he leaned over her.
His smile quickly dropped as he realized how insistent he had become.
Esteban sat up straight with a light flush and fiddled with his hands in his lap, turning from her and drawing into himself a bit.
“I apologize.” He said softly. “I do not know what came over me. I did not mean to be presumptuous. You obviously do not have to do anything you do not wish.” He cleared his throat awkwardly. “I tend to get a little overzealous at times and most people do not know how to respond.”
“N-no.” Naomi said, rushing to sit up and turn to him. “That’s all I’ve ever dreamt about. To sail across the horizon, to find untouched lands. I just- I’d never thought of being able to have that while still having my job as chancellor.”
Esteban turned to look at her as she continued. As she spoke, she crawled toward him and sat back on her knees to look over at his guarded form.
“And it's only a little surprising to hear you want the same things.” She said with a shrug. “But you've been open with me, you’re passionate, and so full of life. I like seeing this side of you.”
As she spoke, she reached for him earnestly, not wanting him to run from his passion for sailing that he had clearly harbored most of his life, and she rested a hand on his arm for a moment. Naomi hadn’t been thinking when she had reached for him and only remembered when it was too late that Esteban normally didn’t allow anyone to touch him.
He looked down at the soft hand on his arm and back up to her face. Instead of brushing her off or moving away, Esteban flushed a deeper crimson.
Naomi quickly let go and brushed her hair behind her ear awkwardly, the gentle contact and sentiment making her chest feel oddly tight and fluttery all at the same time.
“And I'd like that.” She continued with a smile as if him allowing her to simply put her hand on him hadn’t sparked a bubbling hope in her chest. A step forward in their strange relationship that was now beginning to resemble friendship.
“To go on an adventure with you.” She said lightly. “To sail the seas and explore new places. I just wonder why I haven't seen this side of you before.”
“Well,” he said, clearing his throat. “I thank you for thinking of me in such a light. As you have suggested, I have never really had a chance in life to simply… live. To be my own person.” Esteban moved to lean back on his palm and looked toward the sky. “So, traveling, on the open ocean, with no rules or people to impress, it is… nice.” He chuckled lightly to himself. “It is more than nice. It truly is freeing.”
He turned to look at her and his smile was so soft that he seemed to be glowing brighter than the moonlight.
“Yeah,” she said, looking down at her hands. She let out a small chuckle and looked back up at him. “I might technically be out here for diplomatic reasons, but what you suggested- that’s exactly what I wanted, too. To sail the seas at my own leisure.” She leaned to push her elbow against his lightly. “And maybe the company isn’t so bad either.”
Esteban chuckled lightly but nodded to her, turning to look up at the stars again.