𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔾𝕠𝕝𝕕𝕖𝕟 𝔸𝕘𝕖 - ᵖᵉᵗᵉʳ ᵖᵉᵛᵉⁿˢⁱᵉ

꧁Cʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 21 - Nᴀʀɴɪᴀ꧂

When Peter regained consciousness he found himself in a boat far out at sea. The sky was dark - the sun already tired out from what felt like a long day and stars peppered the sky instead as a source of light. The moon was hiding her face, nowhere to be seen and he focused on his other senses as he let his eyes adjust to the night sky. Someone was sitting on the other side of the boat humming a lullaby softly. 

The boats gentle rocking as she pulled the oars smoothly through the water. His memories were a blur. He thought it had still been midday when he had closed his eyes for a minute on the boat. When he had felt their boat hit land and yet it seemed to him that he was waking up from a long dream. The kind that just disappears to the corner of your mind when you wake so that no matter how hard you stretch you cannot seem to reach it.

He tried drawing his mind back into himself more, pouring his senses into his body and surroundings. He felt the pristine feeling of a new cotton shirt resting against his upper torso. Plain cotton pants that aside from the belt, fitted loosely. Then he noticed that his back was lacking the excruciating pain he had felt when he was initially in the boat. He could feel each vertebra stacked in it's place in his spine and he nearly shot up in shock.

Instead he shifted a bit in his place, trying to figure out if he could move well or not. The faint singing stopped abruptly and Peter turned to the source, eyes finally adjusting to the dimmed lighting, feeling as if his eyes had not been open for months. 

"Peter" a soft voice whispered in the still night. The water lapping the boat's sides was the only answer as the voice called out softly again, "Peter?"

He wished he could listen to the sound again and again. He wondered if he had ever loved his name before as he did now that she was calling it. That sweet voice he had believed he would never hear again. How he hadn't cared what would happen to him when he felt himself being crushed because the last thing he saw before darkness had surrounded him was her body lying safe a few meters away.

"Peter" the voice called out once more and this time he resigned himself to answer, "Yes, yes Katie I'm okay"

His voice came out hoarse and cracked from lack of water, but to her it rang loudly in her head. She had told herself she wouldn't cry, promised herself in fact. She had already cried too much and this was supposed to be a happy moment for her. However there is a reason why people smile even though they feel alone, the same reason why Katherine was crying even though she felt she had never been so relieved and happy before. Sometimes your heart feels so many things at once your body cannot possibly comprehend them all. This is why even after all she had said she found hot tears beginning to stream down her cheeks. {yes slight reference to Your Name here ;)}

Still she stayed on her side of the boat, sobbing silently, not fully believing the miracle in front of her. Not wanting to throw herself onto him and cause his newly healed body to experience pain. Until two sturdy arms wrapped themselves around her, they radiated warmth in the cold night and they grew the warmth she felt inside too. That tingly fuzzy feeling everyone understands without further explanation, she felt her light up inside as he pressed his face between her breasts and held her. 

She couldn't tell in that moment which one between the two of them was more childish. She rested the oars carefully in the boat and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him into her as one hand reached up to curl into his hair. 

"I was so worried" she choked out, trying to finally stop her tears. "It was so scary, you- I thought you were going to die"

Peter held her firmly as she allowed her self to calm down, breathing in the fresh salty air in shaky breaths. Until they got deeper, more controlled and finally she could breathe normally again. Peter, who sat on the hull of the boat whilst Katherine was on the bench, looked up at her when she had regained her breath.