“I saw him…on that boat!” Asin says and points to a boat at the end of the docks. Dalia sees a small boat in the dim light of the port torches; the boatman is rowing, distancing the boat from the docks. He might turn on the engine anytime. Dalia pauses for a moment. It’s not easy to get to the boat. She might not get to it before the engine is turned on. Asin is staring at her, and so does Narivan. He tells Asin that they are leaving in a few minutes but she tells him to stay calm and wait a little longer. Dalia doesn’t know what to do. Should she leave her mother and the dream life of the village people who speak her mother’s language and play mythical music every night? Lose the chance of tasting the fantastic food her mother describes and drinking water from uniquely sweet water wells? Should she leave her mother’s warm embrace and give away a life with a family that would always love her? She doesn’t know. Maybe she should have never agreed to go. After all, she is a diver. She knows how to live on ships but does she even have the ability to learn how to farm, weave fabrics, play music and sing? She could go fishing with the village fishers. She knows both the Oxan and Atlan language and can translate for the traders of both regions. What her mother offers her is promising, giving her lots of opportunities and many new paths leading to happiness and prosperity, even if it would cost having to give up on her father. But Tirad! Tirad’s life is in danger. He had saved her life and her mother’s life a few days ago. If it wasn’t for Tirad, they would have never found their way back to their ancestral island. Dalia kisses her mother.

As she rushes away from the Atlan boat, running towards the docks end she calls to her mother: “I will come back to you… I will find you…”

“But how? You don’t know where our island is…” Asin shouts behind her desperately. Dalia hears another voice, before the sea breeze blocks her ears. It’s a man’s voice.

“I know where the island is… I will bring her back to you,” Narivan says to Asin as he runs, trying to catch up with Dalia. They both jump into the sea at the end of the docks, swimming towards Tirad’s boat.

Dalia can imagine her mother’s face, soaked in tears.