The night is pitch-black, and so is the room I've crept into. I have a flashlight in each hand. Everyone else has been sleeping-including the brother I've stolen the green flashlight from. I smile to myself. Time to have a little fun.

Blink blink. Bliiiink. Blink blink blink, goes the flashlight in my right hand. I modify the pattern a bit for my left. This continues as a flashy conversation.

"What are you doing?"

The lights of the control room are on in an instant. As casually as I can under the circumstances, I hurl the flashlight in my right hand across the room.

"Flashing," I say.

Aviva rolls her eyes. "Riiiiiiight." She then walks towards me, her face getting that strange twist it gets when she's either getting into techno mode or she's scared out of her mind. "Hey, look at this, will you?"

She tugs a tiny silver chip about the size of my thumbnail from her coat pocket. The smile on her face is unmistakably Aviva. The flash pattern of the fireflies Chris and I had rescued earlier begins to dance across my thoughts. Don't ask me why.

"Hold up your arm," Aviva says.

She plugs the tiny thing into my video watch. It makes a strange flash, and all of a sudden I'm staring at my brother and I, flying about like a couple of complete morons.

"How did you get this?" I ask.

Aviva smiles again and takes the chip out. "Your video watches have been filming you." The smile on her face fades slightly and she begins to gently tap her fingers on her leg, the way she does when she's nervous about something she's done. I pay no mind.

"How much is on there?" I ask. Blink blink bliiiiiink, goes my mind.

The question seems to startle her, but, being Aviva, she keeps her cool as best as she can. "Oh, just a few minutes of you and Chris being the idiots you are." I elbow her playfully. She laughs a little, and I don't even notice that she's tapping even faster now.

"How much can it hold?" I ask.

"100 gigs," Aviva says proudly. The pride on her face quickly fades, and she looks like she wants to kick herself.

"Riiiiiiight," I say, mocking her.

"Don't push it," she hisses. I can hardly suppress a laugh. She's repeated that line to me so many times I can hardly count. It's only now that I notice the finger-tapping.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I ask, sitting in one of those cool chairs that roll around.

Aviva looks like she's just been slapped. "Why do you ask?"

I give her my "are-you-seriously-trying-to-lie-to-me" look. "You've been tapping."

Aviva looks at the wall behind me as she pulls up another roll-y chair. "No, I haven't."

I raise an eyebrow. "Yes, you have."

"No, I haven't!" Aviva glares at me.

Blink blink blink.

I roll my eyes. "Look, you're one of my best friends and all, but you don't know what you're talking about."

Aviva's glare could have killed me right then. "Since when don't I know what I'm talking about?"

I shrug. "Okay, 'Viva. Have it your way."

"Thank you." Aviva's expression has gone smug. I can't help but notice how pretty she looks in the limited light. I look away. What is wrong with me? I look back at her. I must be getting tired.

"It's getting kind of late." Aviva echoes my thoughts.

"Yeah." I'm about to leave when a crazy thought crosses my mind. I look down. Would that be taking too much of a risk? I shuffle my feet and look back up at Aviva. I sure hope it isn't.

"Um, 'Viva?" Blink blink.

"Yeah?"

"Follow me." Bliiiiiink blink blink.

Aviva gives me a confused look. "Um…okay, Martin. Whatever you say."

Blink. Blink. Blink.

In an instant we're just outside the Tortuga, in the pitch-black night. Well, it was pitch-black before we saw all of the fireflies. There are even more than I can remember from earlier tonight. Their flash pattern is synchronized. I turn to Aviva, whose face is lit by the dim glow. Her eyes are shining as she looks out into the night.

"Wow," she whispers.

I smile. It is really pretty out here. We sit down and watch the fireflies flash to one another for what seems like hours. Blink bliiink blink blink. Bliiiink blink. Then I notice a particular patch of grass, and I turn to Aviva to say something I should have said earlier.

"Aviva?"

She turns to me, smiling, her hair blowing gently in the breeze. "What?"

I look back at the grass. "I just realized I never really thanked you for saving me from that other firefly, you know, when he tried to eat me.

Aviva lets out a giggle. "I saved your life, didn't I?"

I blush. "Yeah. Thanks for that."

Aviva smiles softly. "You're welcome."

We sit out there for a little while longer. Then, by some unspoken agreement, we return to the Tortuga.

"'Night, Aviva," I say. Aviva looks away for a moment, taps her fingers three more times, then gives me a very tight hug.

"Goodnight, Martin." She breaks the embrace and walks down into the halls.

I stand in the control room, immobile, for a few more seconds. Then I go into the room Chris and I share, lay down, and somewhere find sleep.