Hey. :D This is a Siana (SamxDiana) One-shot, might continue later on if you guys think its good! Set post- plague at Lake Tramonto, slight spoilers. Rated T just in case of later chapters. Oh, and I know this first part about what happened in 'Gone' is slightly off. I dont have the first book with me at the moment, so i just tried to get it as accurate as i could recall from memory. I'll probably fix this a bit when I have the book around. (My friends borrowing it.) Told from Sam's POV. This has not been beta-read, so it probably sucks, but oh well! :D
Sam reappeared from the peculiar state caused by whatever the infamous 'poof' of the FAYZ was, time once again moving at its normal rate. Caine came out of that strange comatose - like state at the same time, looking defeated. He knew that as Sam pressed his hand to the side of Caine's head, well prepared to release one of his now-famous killing flames straight through Caine's temple, he had already assured himself victory.
"Leave, Caine. Don't come back. I don't want to kill you," He lied. He really, really wanted to kill him, but even though he wanted to, he still had some sense of right and wrong. He still possessed morals, even if they were rather blurred in this strange new world.
Caine looked irritated with the situation, to say the very least, but accepted it. He got up and turned to leave. He looked to Diana, wondering what she was planning to do.
Diana stood up and walked over to Sam. She had tried to save him from the 'poof', before it had happened. She had tried to warn him of what it really was. He wasn't quite sure why.
She was beautiful; he had to admit. He could see how Caine had fallen for her. Her long, dark hair fell back behind her as she moved; her big, brown eyes looking incredibly endearing in the dim light cast by the artificial sun above their heads.
She came extremely close to Sam, and leaned up to him. "Sorry Sam, but the bad girl always ends up with the bad guy," Diana practically purred into his ear. He could feel the warm touch of her lips to the corner of his mouth right afterwards, and whether he wanted to admit it or not, he liked it.
He didn't show it. He tried to look nonchalant. Astrid was here, after all.
Slowly, methodically, Diana moved her lips just a little to the left, her warm breath tickling his cheek. Then, she leaned in, about to kiss him...
Sam jolted upright in his bed. Cursing under his breath, he laid back down. It was that same dream again. Always that dream, or the one about Astrid. He never dreamt of anything else now. In reality, the kiss wasn't anything near what his dreams had now built it up to be. It was just Diana trying to mess with Astrid. At least, he thought that was all it was. Maybe she was just trying to mess with his head. If so, it had definitely worked. Either way, it was just a dream now. Just a dream.
Letting out a small sigh, Sam got up from his bed in the comically named 'White HouseBoat', and walked up the small set of metal stairs into the makeshift kitchen of the boat. Looking outside, he saw that it was still incredibly dark, and that the artificial sun of the FAYZ wasn't nearly up yet. He guessed that it'd still be a couple of hours before anyone else was awake. Even Edilio, who had to be up earliest every morning to coordinate fieldwork, was lying asleep in the room next to his.
He threw on a gray T-Shirt and light blue jeans, along with a pair of significantly tattered sneakers, and stepped out into the chilly night (Or early morning; he wasn't quite sure which). He walked down the small marina, looking at the lines of houseboats as he passed, marveling at the fact that a group of kids 14 and under had actually managed to build a civilization like this. It was far from modern, but no longer unbearable.
At the end of the marina, he was surprised to see someone sitting down, already awake, for some reason. It was a girl, he could tell by the long hair, with her feet dangling in the water.
As he got closer, he realized who it was. Diana. He was considering just going back to his houseboat at that point; he wasn't exactly sure if seeing her would be a good or a bad thing right now after that dream, but eventually decided he needed to check on her. She wouldn't be awake this early for no reason.
"Hey," Sam said simply. She jumped, apparently not having realized he was there yet. Seeing him, she responded, "Oh, hey Sam."
He sat down next to her. She sounded almost timid occasionally when she spoke now. The whole pregnancy ordeal really shook her up. She wasn't quite the same Diana anymore. She still acted tough, sarcastic, always making sure people didn't think she was getting soft; but sometimes, she had one of her rare moments of weakness, utter breakdowns. Sam knew this very well, considering he was pretty much the only one she'd talk to as far as he knew.
"What are you doing out here so early? Most of the kids at the lake won't be awake for a few more hours," Sam said.
She laughed. "Yeah, I know. It's why I'm out here," She looked towards him, a bit more serious now, "Just couldn't sleep. Decided to come out here for a walk."
"Yeah, same here. Been having weird dreams," He said, immediately realizing his mistake. He really hoped she wouldn't press on.
"Huh? Like what?" She asked, sounding less than interested.
"Er... mostly about Astrid," he said, sounding uncertain. Honestly, they'd been a lot less about Astrid lately.
"Alright, if you say so," She shrugged, easily seeing through his lie.
They sat there in silence for a while, until Diana said quietly, "You know Sam... Ever since I can remember, at Coates, after the FAYZ, all through my life honestly, people hated me. In everyone else's eyes, I was a bitch, a slut, a whore, and every other name in the book. Even a witch. I'd shrugged it off, because, for the most part, it was true. I didn't care. Now, like this," she rubbed her stomach lightly, where a slight bump could be seen, "Sometimes I wish I'd done something different. Maybe tried to have friends, or something. Because now, when I need it, the closest thing I have to a friend is you, since everyone here sees me as just the girl Caine got pregnant, or the traitor."
She looked like she was on the verge of tears. Sam was in shock. She'd never opened up to anyone like this before. Sure, he'd gotten small things out of her that no one else managed to, but nothing like this. He just opened up his arms to her, and she gladly fell into them, and started sobbing quietly into his chest.
They stayed like this for a little while longer, until Sam saw Edilio coming down the road.
"Diana... we should get you home, the kids are gonna start coming to the fields soon," Sam said, knowing Diana wouldn't want everyone to see her like this.
"Y-yeah..." She said, quietly standing up with Sam and walking further down the marina, until they came upon one of the smaller houseboats docked here, Diana's home.
She opened the door and stepped inside. He hesitated. "You can come in..." she said shakily. Her eyes were red and puffy.
"Thanks," he responded quietly, stepping in through the doorway. He knew Diana had been through hell and back since the FAYZ had come.. but he had never known it had affected her like this. Not this much. Diana had always been the toughest girl around. She'd been one of the few who'd stood by Caine until just recently, when she'd finally given up on him. That alone showed how strong she was. But this... was different. This wasn't the Diana everyone was used to seeing. This girl was hurt, broken...
She threw her arms around Sam, and nuzzled her face up against his chest again, silent tears still streaming down her face. "Thank you..." Diana said quietly, her voice shaky and slightly muffled by Sam's shirt. It was strange to hear her say that... as far as he knew, this was the first time she'd said it to anyone in quite a while.
He wrapped his arms around her and held her there for a little while, before saying, "What you said earlier, Diana... isn't true." At that, she looked up at him, apparently wondering what he meant. Her cheeks were tear-stained, and she looked like she'd been crying for hours, but she still looked beautiful to Sam.
"People don't see you as all those things, not anymore. They know that you left Caine because you didn't want things to continue how they were. They know that you were at least trying to change things. Yeah, some people won't trust you at first. Yeah, some people still don't like you. But people are trying to give you a second chance Diana. You just don't see it. Brianna, Dekka, Lana, and all the others, they're willing to forgive and forget. You just weren't seeing it. And even if I'm wrong, you aren't alone. You've got me," He blushed a little at that last part. She seemed to notice that, and let out her usual small, sardonic laugh, though it was now laced with sadness and her voice cracked a bit when she spoke.
"That's reassuring," She said, attempting sarcasm, though it came out sounding quite sincere. Then, after a moment added, regaining that almost broken tone, "You actually believe that? Everything Caine did... was my fault too. For not trying to stop him."
"But you did try. In the end, you did. That's why we don't hold anything against you," Sam said, not willing to drop the subject.
"Easy for you to say. Others do, you're just trying to make me feel better," She said. Sam almost thought he saw a small smile on her face then.
"Yep. But its true, too." He said, smiling down at her. Feeling that she had been comforted enough, and that it would only get awkward if he held her much longer, he started to pull away, not really wanting to, until she pulled him back.
She looked up at Sam with her big, brown eyes, looking somehow both strong and vulnerable at the same time. Like a broken person who'd seen a small glimmer of hope.
"Thank you, Sam," she said in almost a whisper. Her arms were around his neck now, he could feel her hot breath on his face. Her voice tickled his ear when she spoke, a faint whisper, clearly heard from this close. He could feel his heart beating faster and faster. He was probably blushing a bright red by now, something he'd always done when embarrased or shy. She leaned in just a little more, and gently pressed her lips against Sam's. He kissed her back just as gingerly, The touch of her lips to his was like nothing he'd ever felt before. It was like an actual dream come true.
Except so much better.
Hope ya liked it! Rate and review! :D