A/N: Sorry, no new chapter yet. The real chapter one is coming a bit slow, but I noticed there were issues with my punctuation so I went and edited this one before I got back to the story. Enjoy the small changes and thanks for being patient everyone! Also, I'm preoccupied watching Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, otherwise known in America (for the kiddie version), Power Rangers Super Megaforce. Trying to finish it out lol.

Prologue

The Storm and the Cruise

S.S. Carnivale, June 2017..

Twenty-four year old Nick Negron sat in the chair by the cruise ship's pool, relaxing the day away. His best trend, twenty-four year old Elliot Tate was sitting next to him, watching the girls from both their college, Meteor Heights University, and their sister school, Paradiso College. A familiar looking head of dark red hair made Elliot tap Nicks arm carelessly with his hand. "Look who it is. Purple bikini just stepping into the shallow end."

Following Elliot's directions, Nick looked and felt his face pale of any color he had. "No.." Nick couldn't help but keep staring at the vision of perfection that had quite literally walked out of his life years before in high school: twenty-four year old Sarina Zafira. Sarina had curves in all the right places and an athletic body she had inherited from both the Spanish side and Egyptian side of her family. Nick and her had been best friends before high school, and they had even been involved for a time. Until a stupid incident occurred that had Sarina say goodbye to him, and Nick had never had the courage to go and speak with her about his true feelings about back then.

"Damn, she is still hella fine." Elliot whistled. "That means both of our girls are here on the cruise with us." He remarked, as if Nick hadn't already known his ex and Elliot's girlfriend would both be in attendance (courtesy of the latter).

"Easy for you to say, El. You have your girl. I lost that chance years ago.." Nick trailed off, looking any direction but back towards Sarina as her eyes seemed to focus on him and Elliot.

"Nonsense, you just need to go and speak your mind about it. She was one of the best things you ever had in life, right?" Nick nodded, refusing to look back at her. "And she tried to talk to you a while back, right?" Another nod. "Then how do you know she doesn't feel guilty about back then as well?"

"Because she's not making any motions even humoring the notion to try and patch things up or even just say hello. I just deal with all of it, Elliot. I'll find someone to fix the mess she made one day."

"But that's what I'm saying. Other than Sarina fucking Zafira, you have been with one girl, and you even said that was a mistake of a relationship. And as much as I hate to admit it, you've always been better at following your heart, hell you knew Adria was into me before I did."

"Yeah, and her being one of Sarina's closest friends still makes me uneasy when I'm with you two. I feel like Sarina has her spying on me."

Elliot shook his head, laughing. "No way. I would've gotten her to spill the beans on that ages ago. Also, thought you might wanna know since you're trying so hard not to look at her, but she's still looking this way." Nick glanced over and cursed himself.

Across the Pool Deck..

Twenty-four year old Sarina Zafira smiled as she watched her old flame and her best friends' man, also Nick's own best friend, talk to each other as Nick avoided her eyes. But, when he did look back over to her, it made Sarina's heart beat faster, the reaction she had always had when she even just saw Nick. He broke the stare first, his face tinged red as she giggled. Just as cute as always, Nicky. God, why did I send you away? She asked herself as a splash from her right interrupted her. "Stop daydreaming, Sarina. It's not gonna help you any." Said twenty-three year old Adriana Leone, laughing at Sarina's pout.

"I wasn't daydreaming, Adria. Just.. Missing him."

"Yeah, him and his big-" Sarina cut her off with a splash of retaliation.

"That's enough out of you. Those details of my sex life are mine and mine alone."

Adriana shook her head. "I know that. But you're the one who can't help but tell me everything after a couple drinks on a bad day."

Sarina groaned. "God, why do I put with you?" Sarina shook her head, sighing. "Is it bad all I want is to go kiss him and tell him I'm sorry and everything back then was the biggest mistake of my life?"

Adriana made a face. "Wow, that was actually weirdly adorable, especially coming from you. And didn't you try to apologize months ago?"

Sarina frowned. "Yeah.. But I know he was hurt worse than I was at the time, and Nick's loyal to the point when he's hurt he shuts it out so he doesn't lose his sunny demeanor."

Adriana- Adria to her friends- couldn't even count the amount of times her best friend had seemed so observant of her ex, yet couldn't see how badly Nick just might have wanted to do the same as Sarina had stated moments earlier. "Alright, but he seemed fine when he hooked Elliot and I up." Adriana said, her point valid.

"Well judging by the way he looks over here at me? I don't think he's really that alright." Sarina crossed her arms under her boobs, pushing them up subconsciously.

Adriana looked over at the boys and laughed. "Alright, I'll give you that one, but you know pushing your tits up isn't helping, right?" She asked slyly.

Taking notice of what she was doing, Sarina threw her arms up in feigned frustration and sat down in the shallows, still looking over at Nick and Elliot from time to time as she bantered with Adriana.

Later, Nick and Elliot's Cabin..

Nick sat on his bunk, leafing through a book on his tablet as a knock came at the door. "Coming." He said, getting up and going over to the door, ignoring the fact there was a peephole on the door to see who was on the other side. His eyes widened in surprise as he opened the door. "Oh, hey Adria. Elliot isn't here, he should be up in the arcade."

The girl leaned in the doorway. "I know, I asked him where you both were before I came over here, 'cause I needed to talk to you privately. Mind if I come in?" Something in Adriana's eyes threw Nick off, but he knew better than to read too much into Adria and her mannerisms.

"Uh, yeah. Sure. I'd offer you something to drink, but Elliot drank most of the soda last night."

Adriana just shook her head, laughing. "That idiot stoner. That's alright though, but thanks for the semi-offer." She sat down in one of the two chairs positioned in one corner of the suite. "So, as much as I hate to do this, especially going against my best friend, but I expect you to answer me just as truthfully." She leveled a stare at Nick. "What are your feelings about Sarina?"

Nick's eyes widened. "W.. Why would you ask me that all of a sudden?"

"Because I'm tired of seeing her in pain because of shit she thinks is her fault. So please, just answer the question."

Nick sighed, leaning back in the chair he had sat in. "The truth is.. I'm in love with her, I always have been. It's been so long that the pain is just dull enough for me to ignore for any other reason that if she wasn't happy with me, I decided I would sit back and watch from afar."

Adria sighed. "God, both of you are hopeless. How have either of you survived life so far?"

Nick chuckled. "I'm the juggernaut, but that's besides the point. What are you getting at, Adriana?" Nick knew it irritated her when people used her full name, but she had to deal with it.

"I'm saying that Sari's been down ever since that day as well. She really loves you, Nick, and I can sort of see why, hanging out with you and Elliot so often. But, she thinks everything back then was her fault, therefore she's scared to even be within twenty feet of you. But, I'm going to change that, so wear something nice to dinner tonight." With that, Adria got up and walked to the door.

Nick stood up. "Wait, is this payback for something stupid I did to you in the past?"

She turned around and smiled, shaking her head. "No, not payback. Paying it forward for something you did for me. I love Elliot, and I've seen the way you and fucking Sarina look at each other like two lovesick puppies. I know what I'm doing, so trust me and just dress nice." She pointed at Nick.

"Got it. See you there." Nick laughed, going to his dresser. Where does she think I'm going to find nice clothes when I packed for a vacation? He thought to himself. Then, he noticed a dress shirt he had forgotten he had packed since it was a light shirt, baby blue with red pinstripes. Nick was overcome with a sudden realization. "This was the shirt Sarina gave me.. Well tonight may not be a shitstorm after all."

Dining Hall, an Hour and a Half Later..

Nick and Elliot were already sitting at one of the many tables in the dining hall, waiting for Adria and Sarina to arrive. Nick, bored, was staring out at the evening sky outside the row of windows when Elliot prodded his arm. "What?" Nick asked after the fifth consecutive poke.

Elliot pointed with his knuckle. "They're here. And I swear I'll never know why I couldn't have that. You're fucking lucky, man."

Nick looked and swore his heart had stopped. Sarina had walked into the room in a dress he had seen her wear once, and he had been there when she had bought it three years before that. It was a sideless dress that reached midway down her legs, the color the same dark blue, almost purple as her eyes. The dress seemed to catch the attention of several other tables, making Nick narrow his eyes at the guys, knowing they were more likely to think of her as more of a trophy than a real woman. Elliot nudged him, breaking the expression off of his face as he looked back at Sarina, noticing the pair of dragon charm earrings he had in fact bought her for their six month anniversary. He also noticed the slight blush on her face as she noticed him staring.

Moments later, the girls had sat down, Adriana next to Elliot and Sarina next to Nick, the reluctant friends both nervous about being together like this for the first time in several years. Elliot, noticing the awkwardness, shook his head. "You're looking good, Sarina. I haven't seen that dress since sophomore homecoming. Doesn't she look good, Nick?" He gave Nick a look that warned him not to screw up.

Nick nodded. "Yes, she does. Just as gorgeous as it was back then. Did you have to break it out of storage?" He joked.

Sarina blushed. "No, I tend to bring it with me on trips. Just something I do, I guess."

"Well, it looks as good on you as the day you bought it. How have you been?"

She made a face. "Honestly? Pretty miserable. But, I cope."

Nick could see the pain in her eyes. Looking at the other two, he saw Adriana motion him to take her outside to talk. Sighing, he nodded ever so slightly. Getting up, he held his hand out for Sarina. "Come on, I think we need to talk."

Despite the fear now evident in her eyes, Sarina nodded and got up, following Nick just outside to the ship's balcony. Once there, she leaned on the railing, Nick noticing the dress caused her chest to puff out more than he remembered. Sarina sighed before speaking. "Listen, Nick, I.."

"No, please let me." Nick said, his tone determined. "I apologize, Sarina, for the way I acted back then. I shouldn't have done something to upset you, and I realize just how badly it has affected the two of us. We were happy, right?" He asked, somewhat fearing the answer.

Sarina laughed. "Yes, Nick. We were most definitely happy, otherwise it wouldn't have lasted past two months. But, back then was my fault as well. I shouldn't have blown up that day, you were only trying to help. My temper got in the way, that's all. By the way, I found this the night I broke up with you when I got back home. Any idea where it came from?" She slipped something off of her finger and held it out to Nick.

Looking at the item now in his hand, his eyes widened. In his hand was a gold ring with a single diamond in the center, ringed with sapphires, rubies and emeralds in an alternating pattern. "I thought I had lost it. But, it is yours, Sari." He said, holding the ring back out towards Sarina.

Sarina took the ring back, slipping it back on and fiddling with it as she looked at him. "What was the occasion? This ring cost you over two grand," Nick looked at her with a surprised face. "I may or may not have gone to every jeweler I could find to figure out the cost of something so beautiful." She confessed, blushing.

Nick smiled. "Well, nothing but the best for you was always my motto. But, that was supposed to be our one year gift, along with my proposing." He rubbed the back of his head.

"Wait, you were going to propose to me? And only weeks after I decided to break things off?" Nick nodded. "My God. I'm such an idiot."

"You're not. You are way too smart to be an idiot. Temperamental, sometimes, but never stupid." Nick said, looking out at the night sea.

Sarina surprised him by placing her hand on his. "Either way, that's all in the past. And if I'm being totally honest with myself, I want to take every shitty thing I said back then back."

"Well, if nothing else then Adria pretty much set this up. And I'm willing to start anew, but only if you were willing to as well."

"Start anew? Like when we first got together and you were too scared you wouldn't be able to impress me?" Sarina asked suggestively.

Nick shook his head, chuckling. "Well, I wouldn't be afraid of that anymore, but yes. Start back as just friends, see how long we can keep ourselves under control like that."

Sarina giggled. "I guess I can deal with that," She leaned her head on Nick's shoulder. "Thank you for letting our issues be squashed."

"I wouldn't want it any other way, as much as a nervous wreck that I've been about talking to you since then."

"Good. Let's get back in, it looks like a storm is heading towards us." She said, looking at the pitch-black patch of sky a hundred miles or so away from the ship.

"Yeah, I'd hate to get that dress wet. I can tell it shrunk on you a bit." He said, poking the exposed top of Sarina's breasts, which had grown since she had first worn the dress in sophomore year.

Although trying to supress it, Sarina moaned subconsciously. Her boobs hadn't just gotten bigger, but were now highly sensitive much to her usual annoyance. "Nick, don't do that!" She pouted. "They're too sensitive."

"You love it cuz it's me, though." He laughed, sidestepping out of the way of the swat Sarina threw at him with a mumbled "Jerk." before they both walked back inside.

Rejoining the table, Adriana clapped at their mutually positive expressions. "So? What's the verdict you two?"

Smiling, Sarina nodded. "We're good. Better than good. But we're going to try and take things slow for now."

Elliot laughed. "Fat chance. First chance you two get you're going to screw each other's brains out."

Adriana slapped him. "Shut up. It's their business, not ours."

"I'm just calling it like I see it. Plus, we've both known these two how long?"

"As true as that is, it still isn't our business. So, we ordered dinner for you two since we didn't know how long you would be talking, but it should be on its way out soon."

"Sounds good to me," Nick laughed. "Did anyone hear anything about that storm out on the horizon?"

"No, but most cruises don't announce storms unless they're definitely going to hit, so maybe it's just out there."

Nick shrugged as one of the kitchen staff came over with their food. The rest of dinner passed in relative silence, the four friends chatting about whatever came to mind. As they were about to leave the dining hall, Nick grabbed Sarina's arm. "You wanna take a little walk, Sari?"

Sarina smiled and nodded. "I'll be back at our room in a bit, Adria."

"Of course. Stay dry, in case that storm does hit."

Nick nodded. "I got her for that," He threw the light jacket he had over Sarina's shoulders.

"Aw, he's always so sweet. Why don't you ever act like that, babe?" Adriana asked Elliot, who shrugged.

"Mostly because I'm not a pussy." Nick replied by flipping his best friend off before him and Sarina went back out onto the deck of the ship.

Once outside, the duo started walking, content to be together without the distraction of their friends. Nick glanced out at the sea once again. "That storm's getting closer. I hope it doesn't hit, I was looking forward to a completely clear vacation."

"Yeah. How did you get off work for the two weeks we're supposed to be on this cruise, anyway? I know how your job is about taking off."

"Well, you're not wrong," Nick laughed. "But no, I rarely call out and haven't since I started, only if absolutely necessary. So I told them I'd work those two weeks off over the next few weeks until the gap is covered, giving me more money and a better chance at employee of the month for my section of work. And more money means more saved for better things. I should be asking you about getting time off, miss 'best bartender in Meteor Heights County'." He chuckled.

Sarina giggled at the title she had earned at her own job. "Yeah. Nick.." He looked at Sarina, squeezing her hand and smiling. She giggled lightly. "Thank you."

"For what, Rina?"

"Letting us have this, another chance. There have been times these last few years that I have felt like I couldn't really be happy. I thought I was happy with those other guys but, in reality, they weren't what I thought I really wanted. Cause they weren't you." She had to stand on her toes to match Nick's five-foot-eleven height as she leaned closer to Nick, grabbing the front of the shirt he was wearing in the now slightly rougher seas. The shirt I bought him. She realized.

Nick didn't speak, instead opting to meet her lips with his own, the earlier butterfly feeling she had felt exploded throughout her body, a passionate shiver she had to shake off as the kiss continued. Nick was being the gentleman Sarina knew he would be, anything he could say would turn her on to him in the first place. That had been high school, though, and everyone knew their hormones made them do and say practically anything as you figured out the world was never an easy place to survive when it came to emotions. These days, she figured, Elliot had a point. After the lost time between Nick and herself, they probably should be in bed together screwing like rabbits. If not tonight, then as soon as possible.

Suddenly, the couple had to grab hold of the railing as the sea became wild, the cruise ship beginning to rock. Nick looked out and cursed. "That storm is about to be on us. How did it advance so quickly? We can't have been out here for more than five, maybe ten minutes."

Sarina gasped as another rogue wave rocked the ship, sending her crashing into Nick. "Um, Nicky? Maybe we should get back inside." Nick could hear the fear in her voice as he nodded.

Unfortunately, the oncoming storm made their progress back down to the floor where both their cabins were difficult. Wave after wave crashing against the ship caused the rocking to become more violent, and the couple could now hear thunder booming even as they slowly descended deeper into the ship. The speaker system beeped as they got onto their floor, holding the walls to keep themselves steady. "Attention all passengers," Said the voice of the captain. "Due to the extremely volatile nature of this storm, I urge all of you to please stay in your cabins until it has-" The voice cut out suddenly as the lights shut off, replaced by the emergency lighting.

"That can't be good," Nick said, grabbing Sarina's hand as she almost fell due to another violent wave. He saw they were outside his and Elliot's cabin and knocked. "We'll be fine in here. Elliot! Open the fucking door."

Moments later, Elliot opened the door and the two rushed inside. Another wave crashed into the ship, knocking Nick, Sarina, Elliot and Adriana- who had been with Elliot in the cabin already- into the walls, and suddenly everything went black.

Some Time Later..

As Nick regained consciousness, he faintly heard a voice calling out to him. "Nick? Nick?!" As the voice became louder in his ears, he determined it was Sarina speaking. "Nick, honey, please wake up. You can't die, not now. I only just got you back." Slowly, Nick opened his eyes tower Sarina kneeling above him, his head propped up in her lap. "Oh thank God. Elliot! Adria! Nick's awake!"

Helping him sit up, Nick saw that Sarina had changed into shorts and a tank top. "Sarina? Is the ship alright?" He asked, grabbing his head. "Ah, fuck that hurts."

She looked at him worriedly. "For the most part. There's a huge hole in the side of the ship, and most of the other students are missing. Elliot and Adria went ahead to bring everyone they could still find aboard outside. Nick, the ship is marooned, and no one has any kind of signal on their phones. Hell, the electricity is on the fritz as well. What will we do if we can't get off this island?" Nick could see tears falling from his girl's eyes and heard the concern in her voice.

"As long as no one goes Lord of the Flies or Battle Royale, we should be able to survive until someone comes along and finds us." Not that being on a deserted island is that bad with you by my side. He thought with a perverted grin.

Sarina sighed. "I hope you're right, Nick." She smiled as Elliot came into the room. "And stop it. I know what you're thinking, Nick."

"About time. Nick, grab your duffel and come outside. Apparently, you're the most knowledgeable about prehistoric stuff, because all anyone else knows is the plants are straight out of Jurassic Park."

Nodding, Nick got up and collected his things before following Elliot outside, Sarina behind him. As they exited the ship through the hole Sarina had mentioned, Nick whistled. "Damn. What did we hit? It looks like that tanker from the 1998 Godzilla."

"No clue. We all woke up and the ship had already run aground." Elliot said as Nick looked around. For miles, all he could see was high cliffs and jungle everywhere, but that was usually what you find on a supposedly deserted island. His eyes fell to a few fern bushes and went over to them.

"These plants shouldn't have enough carbon dioxide to survive, it would take over a hundred people to generate enough just for one. Not to mention its from the.. Cretaceous period, I believe. Maybe even Cenozoic, although most tropical plants couldn't survive the ice age."

"What does that mean, Nick?" Adria asked. "What, this island hasn't been discovered somehow and ancient plants are able to survive?"

"Yeah, basically. But its not undiscovered, because the amount of these plants indicate a high population, but this island looks huge, it may not be so easy to track them down. Elliot, where are the other students? Shouldn't you or Adria have stayed back with them to make sure no one starts a riot? Or worse, a Lord of the Flies hierarchy?"

"True. Well, the camp is just a few hundred meters inland. I figured the most shelter-capable place would be best for camp."

Nick nodded. "Very true. Alright, let's go. Stranded on an island full of prehistoric plants definitely gives me a weird vibe." He sighed. "And I was a month away from a promotion."

Sarina rubbed his back as Elliot led the way through dense jungle, the trees now reminding Nick of more modern breeds, except for the bananas the size of baseball bats. "Why don't we have bananas that big?" Elliot asked.

"Because that would most likely be a potassium overdose. And because bananas have been bred to be smaller. Why do you think there are finger bananas as well as the regular size we know?" Elliot shrugged as they all entered a clearing covered from one end to the other by a large tarp that blended in with the rest of the treeline.

"Welcome to base camp." Elliot said as a couple of girls ran up and practically barrelled into Sarina.

"Sarina, ohmigod! We thought you had died!" Said the first one, a pixie of a girl with short black hair and almost as black brown eyes.

"Yeah, we couldn't find you and Adria didn't tell us whether or not you were still among those of us who didn't just up and disappear." Said the other, this one taller than Sarina's five-foot-four but shorter than Nick's own five-foot-eleven with blonde hair and vibrant green eyes.

Sarina laughed. "I'm fine Gina, Tiff. Just had to make sure someone else was okay before I joined the rest of the camp." She looked at Nick walking with Elliot by the bigger group of college students, and this prompted the two to turn and see him as well.

The blonde leaned to Sarina. "Is that..?"

Sarina sighed, pinching her nose. "Yes, Gina, that is the infamous Nick. Now, enough of the.." She trailed off as the duo went over to Nick. "Fucking a!" She sighed as she went to find Adria in the crowd of about twenty students all clustered together in the camp.

"Hi, I'm Gina. And this is Tiff. We're friends of Sarina's from Paradiso." Gina introduced them.

"Nice to meet you both. But, if you don't mind? I have a weird feeling about all of this, and I'm usually right so I'd like to talk to Elliot about anything we need to do."

"Oh, yeah okay. Catch up another time, then?" Nick just nodded as he walked to the cluster, pushing his way to Elliot at the center. "What's everyone doing swarming?" He asked as he finally got to his best friend.

Elliot pointed down. "Everyone's freaked because of this," He pointed down to the floor, where a footprint sunk into the ground. "Any ideas?"

"Well, its definitely from a member of the Ceratopsid family. Triceratops, Styracosaurus, those ones. I can see its somewhat fresh, I'd say from sometime yesterday afternoon or thereabouts. But, its too small to be an adult, and too big for a juvenile. I'd put money on it being from a Protoceratops."

"What makes you say that?" Said another of Nick and Elliot's college mates, Darren Silver.

"Because those ferns over there have been chewed on up to three or four feet off the ground. A triceratops would have gotten its food by ramming the trees, so there would be scratch marks from their horns."

"You're a smart one. Most people who wash ashore these days don't even know what a Protoceratops is." Said a voice from behind the group.

As everyone turned, Nick's eyes just widened, for standing not fifteen feet from the students was a living Protoceratops.