My name is Daniel Tahi. And this is my story.

Photograpy by Jordan Kwan. Model - Ezra Taylor.
Sometimes, I wish Leila and I had never met.

Before we met, I knew who I was. Where I was going. The path I walked had a sure foundation. Now? I see that the world I once knew - veiled many secrets. Now, there are things in me that I don't even recognize. They tell me that a telesa's power is birthed with them. But is that really true? All my life, I felt nothing for the sea but hatred. All my life, the sea cared nothing for me. Until I met Leila. Until her fire burned me, in more ways than one. Would I be vasa loloa if I hadn't met her? Now, I don't know what to feel. They tell me my mother worshipped the ocean. And in the end, it took her life. They tell me my father shared her love for its mysteries. But in the end, even that wasn't enough to make him stay.  Now, the ocean speaks to me - and I don't want to answer. How can I be a son of the ocean when the ocean took my  birthparents from me?

Yeah, sometimes, I wish we had never met. Don't get me wrong - I love her. After all we've been through. All we've endured together. My life's path is inextricably linked with her's. She's fanua afi and I'm supposed to be  this vasa loloa thing. Everything tells me  we are bound by something greater than ourselves. But there is a finality about it that suffocates me sometimes. Drowns me.   
Would I love her this way if we weren't telesa? 

All I ever wanted was to make her smile. That day seems so long ago now. An English debate show-down, a hostile girl that hated me even before she met me. It all started because I wanted to make her smile... And now, here we are. 

 For a smile - I love a fire goddess who can incinerate me with a thought.  For a smile - I have put my grandmothers life in danger. For a smile -  I'm supposed to be some hero in a screwed up Pacific legend. What guy likes to find out that his girlfriend was 'foretold' in a prophecy? How does it feel? I'll tell you - it sucks. Those epic love stories that live on for generations? They're always tragic tales of doom. Yeah, we remember them forever because the two lovers always end up DEAD. Maybe, I don't want epic. Maybe, I want Leila but I just want 'regular' and normal. You know - boy meets girl. Fireworks. Sparks. Light. Laughter. Love stuff. Will we or won't we...A touch. Her lips on mine. Skin. Heat. A song that only you two can hear.

Is it so wrong to want less than what we have?

But even these questions are a stupid waste of time. Because all the wondering in the world wont change the facts. Because I do love her. I am vasa loloa. We are both telesa. And right now - there is a psycho bitch telesa  called Sarona who wants to kill us.

Whether I like it or not, I'm pretty much stuck with  EPIC...

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A book announcement. And one that I hope you don't throw rotten papayas at me for. I am not focusing entirely on finishing the third book in the Telesa Trilogy. Because I'm writing a different book. It's a novella. It's written from Daniel's perspective, a retelling of key sections of books one and two. I dont have a title for this book yet. How did it come about? While I was writing the first two books, I found it helpful to 'get inside' different characters and try to see things from their point of view. To do this, I started writing scenes from Daniel's POV. (And from Sarona's. And Keahi's. And even from Tavake's.) I'm enjoying the different POV writing so much that I have decided to finish an entire novella for Daniel. At the same time, I'll be working on 'The Bone Bearer'. Daniel's book will be completed first and I would like to see it released before December. (Merry Christmas to me!)  It's a very new experience writing from a "dude" point of view and hopefully, all the Telesa "dude" readers out there will give me lots of helpful advice and suggestions. But then, Daniel is a fantasy male character - so maybe all the women in the house should be the ones sharing their thoughts on what they would love for a fantasy male to think and say! Either way, thank you everyone for your continued support and encouragement of this writing journey. You all make this adventure a blast.

Unleash the Fire - and Always delight in Creativity!