Luke lets out a whoop before diving in.
Not from the very top, thankfully, but once we climbed down to the pool below, he quickly divested himself of his filthy clothes and jumped in, wearing only his undershorts.
If it was any other day, if I hadn't walked for nearly a week without a proper bath, if dirt wasn't stuck to me with my own sweat, then I would have politely covered my eyes and waited my turn.
But today is not the day.
I cannot shed my clothes fast enough. Kicking off my shoes, my packs hit the ground a fraction faster than my shirt does, then my pants. I ignore the wind caressing my bare stomach. Only then do I gaze at the shimmering blue pool below.
Luke comes up for air and I watch him slick back his wet hair. Our eyes meet for a brief charged moment before I take a breath, filling my lungs with oxygen until they hurt.
Then I jump.
Cold is the first thing that crosses my mind. Air is the second. Thirdly, I realize that I haven't been swimming since before Rhett was taken. It used to be one of my favorite activities.
I open my eyes underwater to see blurry bubbles climbing upwards around me, crawling up my skin as I sink. The sun refracted through the pool gives just enough light for me to know that I'm nowhere close to the bottom. I am suspended there, weightless for what could easily be eternity. There are no Skinwalkers in this place, no Council warning against innocent Outlanders, no existence of hardship. Time itself is almost non-existent, if not for my burning lungs.
Luckily, my limbs remember the movements, and I kick and paddle my way to the top. Feeling the water completely surround me, the currents brushing up along my bare skin is entirely invigorating. For the first time in what feels like days, weeks, years, my soul is restored.
Breaking the surface of the water, my ears are met with the roaring waterfall once more. It is jarring compared to the muffled sounds underwater. Wiping the water out of my eyes and sucking in a much-needed breath, I search for Luke, swimming in a complete circle.
Realizing he must have dove again, I work on scrubbing the filth from my body. My arms and legs are the worst-off, caked with grime from traveling. How I wish I had a loofa from home, or even a washcloth. A bar of soap would do nicely.
Suddenly, I feel something wrap around my ankle and tug. I barely have time to draw in a breath before I am submerged once more. I kick and flail, and my ankle is released. When I break the surface, Luke is laughing hysterically, clutching his chest.
"So not funny!" I scold, splashing him for reinforcement. It only makes him laugh harder.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," Luke offers, not looking anything near apologetic. "I'll make it up to you. Follow me." With a grin, he swims off toward the flow of water falling from the cliff.
I can't quite keep up with Luke's long-limbed strokes, but I swim after him nevertheless. When we reach the bottom of the waterfall, Luke turns to me and winks before diving under the stream.
I'm hesitant to follow, unsure if I'll even be able to make it across. I cautiously stick my hand under the falls, then my arm, and when I'm sure it won't be too powerful to knock me out, I swim across to the other side.
Behind the waterfall is a smaller pool surrounded by more concave rock. There is an alcove off to the right with a rocky platform where Luke sits, waiting for me. It is the perfect place to rest, hidden behind the curtain on water. As I lift myself up onto the platform to lounge next to Luke, I realize how intimate the space is, sectioned off from the outside world. I try to pretend I'm wearing more than just my underwear.
Luke leans back on his elbow, facing me. I wring the water out of my hair and adjust my soaked straps, fidgeting until I can think of something to say.
"How did you find this place?" I venture, genuinely curious.
Luke watches me closely. "You know I've traveled between Keir and Perseca quite a few times, right?" I nod. That's the reason he was sent to escort me on this journey in the first place.
"This is the route I normally take, more or less," he continues. "This waterfall is my favorite stop. Something about it is rejuvenating. It just washes my weariness away."
I'm nodding, agreeing. That is exactly how I feel about it. Whether it be that water is a natural detox, or the mystical nature of the waterfall, this place is the perfect balm to my weathered soul, and I have half a mind to never leave.
"What is it like? Perseca?" I ask. I want to prepare myself. We should arrive there by tomorrow, and I've only just learned about the Skinwalkers that I'm supposed to be researching.
Luke glances off into the falls. He too must realize that our journey is nearing its end. My heart pangs. "They're nice there, if not a little eccentric. I really think you will like it."
There are words sitting on the edge of my teeth, held captive by my fearful mind.
Come on, Sophie. You jumped into a pool half-naked! But I'm scared of the answer my question will provoke.
But just like earlier, I gather up what little courage I brought with me and jump.
"Will you stay?" I ask timidly. "I mean, once we get to Perseca, are you going to leave? Go back home?"
Luke looks at me as if I'm a glass about to break. "You want me to stay?"
"Yes," I say. I want to stay with you as long as I can, I don't say.
Luke's voice is soft when he speaks next, relief plain on his face. "Then I will stay as long as you want me to."
I can't help but beam brightly at him.
He brushes his wet hair back off his forehead. "Don't do that," he says with a fond look.
I blink. "Do what?"
"Smile at me like that."
I immediately blush, and much to my embarrassment, smile broader. "Why not?"
He leans toward me, and I swear my heart skips a beat. His eyes are unreadable as fingers come up to tip my chin. "Because I don't deserve it."
My smile falters. "What? Why would you say that?" When he doesn't answer, I poke him in the chest, and have to stop myself from leaning into his warmth. "You can be so frustrating, you know that?"
Of course that makes him chuckle. "I mean it, Luke. Of course you deserve that, and probably more."
He sighs. "Maybe when I get you to Perseca. They have confidence in you. I do, too."
"This isn't about me," I protest. "Regardless of if I can help with the Skinwalkers or not, you are so worthy, Luke." He looks away and I gently turn his face back toward me. His stubble is rough in the sweetest way.
"You do everything you can for Natio. You literally go out on a limb to keep your people safe. You hunt for them. You look for answers to the impossible questions. And you are so beloved by your people." I search his eyes for understanding. I want him to know that he is valued. And not just by his people...
"And I wouldn't be here without you. I wouldn't want to be here without you. You are completely deserving of all that you could want for in this world," I finish, my throat tight.
A beat.
"What if all I want right now is to kiss you?" he whispers.
I stop breathing. The air is suspended in my lungs, in the Outlands, in the entire world for all I know. My heart is beating so incredibly fast. It's going to rupture, I just know it. I am completely unable to answer him.
Because he just said everything I have ever wanted to hear in so few words.
And because I can't bring myself to tell him that I want him to kiss me more than anything right now, that I want him so much, too much, I get up and dive back into the waterfall like the coward I am.
I just barely clear the curtain of water when he meets me on the other side. I feel his arms come up around me, and my skin rejoices, as I swim in a circle to face him.
"What? Did I make you nervous?"
I wipe the water off my face. Swallow the lump in my throat. "Not any more nervous than when we first met," I mumble, remembering how he tackled me in the woods outside Herald that day. His eyes light as he throws his head back and laughs. It is deep and hearty and I want to press my lips to his exposed throat.
He looks back down at me, the water making circular ripples around us. The two of us. I feel as though I am on the verge of waking up from a dream, drifting on the edge of consciousness, except I am totally awake. Then all at once, my senses are entirely alive.
The way his eyes search my face makes my heart stir. He leans toward me and my face warms when he reaches an arm around to rest on my waist. I can feel the light pressure and warmth of all five fingers on my skin. He is so close I can hear his soft breaths even over the crash of the waterfall.
"Sophie," he murmurs. His voice is throaty as he brings up his other hand to cup my face. My heart sings in my chest at the sound of my name on his lips.
His lips. There are microbeads of water lounging on his pink lips, and I am envious, so envious of them for being allowed to linger there with his words and breaths and all I want right now, all I want is to bridge this gap between us and introduce myself to them.
His thumb is making soft arcs across my cheek, and I tilt my chin up. His thumb passes over the corner of my mouth, and I hear him inhale. I watch his chest move up and I watch as he closes his eyes, just for a second, as if trying to regain the composure that left me ages ago.
"Did you mean it?" I whisper, needing to know. Could he truly want me as I want him? Is it even possible? My heart beats incredibly fast waiting on his answer, waiting to stop holding back. His eyes fly open.
"Every word."
Two words. Just nine letters have completely undone me. I can feel myself rapidly unraveling, and surely Luke can sense it too by the way he holds me afloat.
"I mean every word," he repeats in a soft murmur. And I know he does, because this man I've come to know does not say things he does not mean.
I gravitate toward him almost imperceptibly, as if I was orbiting there all along, and my nerve endings go supernova when Luke leans in to close the space between us.
I don't ever remember being kissed before this moment.
Sure, I've pecked my grandparents on the cheek and shared a kiss or two with school crushes, but they were nothing like this.
This is a dream of summer sun on a winter night. This is solace, shelter in a storm. He is a banquet and I am hunger's victim.
His lips move with mine, soft and sweet and perfect.
This, I think. Yes, I think. More, I beg silently.
Then the kiss changes. Or, the kiss changes us. Luke has me enveloped in both arms and is pulling me close, close, closer to him. My arms are wrapped around his shoulders, clinging to him tightly, until there is barely any air left between us to breathe.
But oh, how I could stay like this forever, my chest tight with a hope that this feeling will never come to an end. I taste joy and sunshine and vibrant life, and to cease would be a little bit like death.
Luke pulls away, just enough meet my own heavy-lidded gaze. His eyes are bright and so very green, so animated.
"Is it possible that you feel it too?" he whispers, his breath tickling my face. "This feeling, as if..." he trails off. I take the opportunity to caress his nose with mine.
"As if we could just float away?" I finish, defining the lightness of my soul at the moment. Awake, for what feels like the first time.
Luke smiles, and I want to swim in his dimples. "Or that my heart could beat right out of my chest, or that I'm having a really, really good dream, or that I've never felt more whole. But that too."
I boldly press my lips to his once more, validating his words. I have never felt more whole.
When we finally break apart, I literally peel myself away from him, skin from skin. I am nearly naked, save for a few pieces of soaked cotton clinging to my body, and the thought sends me scarlet all over again.
Luke swims us over to the bank of the pool where he helps me climb out. Though I keep my eyes firmly on his, my peripheral vision eats him up. And though he is polite enough to do the same, I feel the slightest twinge of disappointment beneath my gratitude.
The notion clobbers me right over the head. Here I am, wanting him to want me, wanting him to like looking at me. I probably should feel some sort of embarrassment, yet all I feel is tingly and a little bit intoxicated.
Another thought invades my musings. What would my friends think? Markee and Miles? My parents? What would the people from home think about this... development... with Luke? Surely, they would scold me for my heretical behavior. It would be perceived as fraternizing with a supposed enemy.
Then Luke grins at me, the warmth in his eyes sending my stomach into an intense flutter.
I shove Herald's negative theoretical prospects away, cramming them into the smallest suitcase at the back of my brain and cling to the hope that they never resurface.
Because something so whole will always be jeopardized by the opportunity to shatter.