The Essence of Water

OLD VERSION Chapter 22

**Sorry for the delay. Holiday was hecktic. Hopefully I'll get back on schedule now! Also, thank you Yolieb for the awesome fan cover!**

Besides a thick layer of dust over everything, the cabin is surprisingly clean. Aiden opens the chimney and makes sure there is nothing inside that will catch fire while I pull off sheets from the furniture. I connect to the spring below the house and I run water over all the surfaces until the dust is gone and then I take our bags and begin to unpack.

"That should do it." Aiden stands back as a fire grows in the hearth. He places his hands onto his hips and nods approvingly at the stone fireplace. The door and windows are open to let the fresh air in. It's cold, but once the house is aired out we'll be able to shut the door and hide from the world. The thought makes my heart pound.

"Just make sure the fire outside gets put out...and push the ash away from the steps. I don't want to step in it whenever I go outside."

"I'll do that first and bring in some more wood."

I empty the food into the cupboards and I'm a little discouraged by the amount we have. I try to picture how long the food will last if we divide it up in small rations. I shake my head. We need food. No matter how I look at it or divide it up we will need more than what we've brought if we're to survive the winter. I look out through the open door, it's cold, and I though it hasn't snowed any more. It will and we won't be able to get off the mountain easily.

Aiden returns with wood stacked on his arms. "Is everything alright?" He stacks the wood next to the fireplace and stands up, wiping his hands on his jeans.

"We're not going to last the winter on these supplies," I say.

He frowns and comes over to the open cupboard. "You're right." He nods. "What should we do? I could try to hunt. But I'm not sure there are any deer up here and we both don't know what to do with it even if we did manage to kill one."

I shake my head and pull out the crinkled map. I smooth it out against the table and together we look at it. We look at our current location, or a rough estimate of it, and trail our fingers to the nearest town.

"We'd have to trek back to the truck," Aiden says. "This would be at least a day and a half excursion if we manage not to get lost and if it doesn't snow or anything."

"We don't really have a choice," I tell him. "We won't last two weeks on the rations we have."

"True." He nods. "It's your call."

"We'll stay here for the night." I can imagine leaving this cabin quite yet. "Then we'll head out early in the morning with the empty packs."

We shut the house back up and draw the curtains shut. The cabin smells of pine and wood smoke and I close my eyes and smile. This is the smell of security. This is the scent that drew me across forests and rivers with a man I used to hate. This is the place my parents made for me a safe haven, a home.

Aiden disappears into the bathroom for some time and I sit on the couch and stare into the fire. I watch the way the flames flicker and swirl and pop.

It's not so different from water.

I would like to see what happens if you tried to breathe fire.

Shut up. I'm not stupid.

I let out a sigh and close my eye and lean back against the cushions.

"Is everything alright?"

Aiden stands just outside the bathroom door. His dark jeans hug his waist, his black shirt wraps around his muscles. This is the most skin I've seen Aiden show. And I can't stop staring.