Submerged in Water

"I need an outfit that I can move around easily in the water." I told Aubrey as we looked through the closet in her room. "Just in case I need to go on or something happens."

She pulled out a large box of old clothing that we used to use together when we were little. It was filled with constume pieces.

Scott, Dale and my parents were downstairs making the preparations for their escape. Jonathan and Rune were all looking around, trying to find things to wear to hide their identity. My Dad had offered clothing to the men.

Robyn, being the spunky and yet serious chick that she was, had her whole costume in mind. She didn't live too far away so she figured she'd go home to warn everyone, pick up the clothing and then meet us back at the house in thirty minutes. It didn't give us much time to prepare.

"Here." Aubrey handed me the black one-piece bathing suit that I had used once before. It showed my navel and a lot of cleavage but it was better than a two piece or lingerie. I took it greatfully.

Jonathan and Rune were going through some of my Dad's clothing in combination with the stuff that we had in the costume box. Rune put on a plain black mask that covered just the eyes. He reminded me of a superhero instantly and I smiled at him. He smiled childishly back at me.

"Look at us." Rune said. "Growing up, saving the world. We're like total badasses."

Jonathan looked at him and shook his head. "This really isn't the time to be talking about how badass we are. A lot of things could go wrong."

"No point in worrying about it." Rune countered. "We should enjoy this time we have together." He swallowed, looking away from us and staring at the floor. "We might not be with everyone like this here again."

Rune did have a point, but I refused to believe it. "We're all going to be fine."

"You sound so sure but you should really know, Emele... you're kind of a bad liar sometimes." Jonathan walked out of the room and into the washroom across the hall.

I sighed and Jonathan came up behind me to give me a hug. I wrapped my arms around him, definitely needing the comfort of another human soul. One that was feeling the pain just as much as I was. "You can do it." He whispered into my ear.

"This would look good on you." Aubrey came up to my thoughts and looked at Jonathan. "It matches your eyes."

She held up a green and brown mask that wrapped around his head. It was a full-face mask, but there was a diagonal line that ran through the middle of it. One half was green, the other side was brown. There were leaves coming off the sides and I thought it fit the Earth theme perfectly when he put it on, he still somehow managed to look absolutely sexy. He looked like a tribal God. I shook my head because I literally couldn't believe it.

"What?" He asked me.

"I just couldn't believe that you can somehow manage to look hot with a full face mask on."

He chuckled. "It's a gift."

"A good one."

Aubrey smiled at the both of us. "I have something for you too, Emele." She told me. "I need something that is water proof so I have an idea, but I need to make it first. Until then... here." She handed me her pair of vibram shoes.

"Oh my god, but you love these." I freaked out. These were her swimming shoes. They were tight on the feet and wouldn't fall off or delay my swimming at all and they wouldn't make me stand out by having to run around barefoot.

"I want them back!" She told me.

"Okay." I nodded. "Don't worry, you'll have them back."

"Go see what the others are up to. I need to get to work on your mask." She told me.

Rune walked into the room then. It seemed he was already in costume, which wasn't too difficult to make since he was just shirtless and in a pair of jeans. There wasn't much chance that he would need to be in the water like I had to be. Jonathan on the other hand...

"Let's go." Jonathan ushered me out of the room

He walked down the stairs and came into the room where everyone was packing up valuables. My Mom was going through photos and sentimental things. My Dad was packing things they would need like food, water, money and some clothes. It seemed like they could handle themselves in a crisis well.

A few minutes later Aubrey came down the stairs with a make up kit. I looked at her strangely, already knowing what she had planned.

"I hope you're not planning what I think you are." I told her as she got her hair accessories out.

"You said you wanted to be a superhero. Superheroes have badass identity-hiding costumes. We're a little tight on time but I think I have a few extra minutes to make you look gorgeous."

"...okay." I agreed to it simply because I liked the idea of being a superhero.

"I didn't want your costume to get in the way of what you have to do. So I've decided to make your look very accessible."

"Good."

"I'm putting your hair back so it won't get in the way when you're in the water."

She pushed my hair back with a hair band. The hair band had dark blue hair coming out of it. Along with the hair band, she tied my hair back into a loose ponytail and she pinned the fake blue hair into a weird design that made me look almost alien-like. The hair curled around the hair band, giving my hair unnatural volume and making my eyes stand out against my pale skin.

She started with the plain make up. Using mascara and a bold pink shade of waterproof lipstick. Instead of a mask, she decided to go with the face paint look. She didn't use a normal make up brush but used a paint brush. I knew then and there that I shoud be scared. Five minutes later, after being worried when her face broke from the concentrated look to a surprised look, she stood back to look at her handiwork.

"Wow." She was astonished.

"What, does it look weird?"

Jonathan and Rune both walked into the room just as Aubrey had finished. I turned around to look at them and they both stopped dead in their tracks. Staring at me. Mouth open in shock.

I scrambled for the mirror and struggled to face it in my direction.

I gasped.

There were waves spreading out from every crack, crease and fold on my face. It was like Aubrey had captured the essence of the water in one setting. There was a touch of green in there, it molded to the outside of the waves and it reminded me of Jonathan. My eyebrows seemed thicker and higher than normal and my eyes stood out against the blue-green paint that was now on my face.

Aubrey seemed to know what she was doing. I didn't look beautiful or gorgeous. I looked bold and stunning. I looked like I was a force to be reckoned with and yet something you could learn to love all wrapped into one package. If someone was going to get this moment on tape. I was glad I was going to look the way I did. I didn't look anything like the regular Emele.

I truly was a superhero.

"Oh, thank you Aubrey!" I reached in to hug her. I couldn't hide my excitement. "I look so good."

"You do, at first I thought it was going to come out weird but then..." She shrugged. "It just came together."

I once again turned to look at Jonathan and Rune. They were both still stunned. I focused in on Jonathan because he was the one that looked like he wanted to ravage my bathing suit off and take me right here. In a way, I was glad that even with my bold and frightening look, I still managed to look beautiful in his eyes.

The front door open and Robyn walked in. She took one looked at me, raised her eyebrow and then nodded appreciatedly. "Not what I was expecting but... nice." She threw down some black clothing on the counter top of the kitchen. "You can't go walking around in a bathsuit with the chaos that's out there. So you'll need to wear these."

I picked them up. They were a pair of long black leggings that would reach half way up my thigh and a short black ruffled mini skirt. This was something that Robyn would obviously wear. She had an obsession with Japanese fashion, especially fashion found in anime and manga. This clothing screamed that to me.

"Oh my god, I can't be here to see this." Jonathan walked out of the room.

Robyn laughed at him. "You're are going to be the star of the show."