Fareeha Amari sat comfortably behind the wheel of her car as it drove down the sunny coastal road, heading to popular surfing spot named Poni Beach. She had just gotten some time off from her job and as such, wanted to enjoy her summer while it lasted.

Having grown up in Egypt, Fareeha had always enjoyed being in the warm summer heat, her tanned skin always shimmering in the light.

To her left, sat Fareeha's girlfriend, Satya. She was leaning against the window, looking at the clouds and seagulls that flew above their heads. Satya worked as an architect and engineer and as such, spent a lot of time behind a desk, something Fareeha had been eager to get her out of.

The Indian girl often put a lot of pressure and unnecessary stress on herself, always worrying about many things. Now, Fareeha wanted her girlfriend to relax and enjoy herself for once.

"We're nearly there, Saty," Fareeha told her girlfriend, turning the corner along the coastal road.

"Mmmhmm," was Satya's reply, still being lost in the skies above. Fareeha wondered how Satya could remain so focused on things for so long. Even she would get bored of staring out at nothingness, but to Satya, she could find anything fascinating. One of the many qualities she loved about her.

The car eventually turned off the beach road, pulling up in a small car park on the other side of the beach. The sands were quiet, with not that many people about, yet the waves were still crashing against the beach, eroding the sand away, dragging it back into the sea with the current.

Fareeha got out, taking the first breath of fresh, salty air. "Mmmm, nothing like being at the beach, eh babe?" she remarked before heading to the boot of their car to get her bag.

"Yes, if you like the smell of salt up your nose," Satya replied, in a rather monotonous manner. She didn't have much of a sense of humour, but Fareeha didn't mind. She wasn't much of a joker herself.

Taking out the large beach chair from the back of the car and quickly climbing inside to change into her bikini, Fareeha was ready to get into the water. Finally, she was going to be at the beach without a care in the world, even if she wouldn't be easily able to get a tan.

Satya rested against the side of the car, already in her blue swimsuit. She had taken the notion to get changed before they left, having kept her swimsuit under her usual clothes. She sighed, wondering if there was a point to all this. The Indian girl wanted so badly to be back behind her desk, but Fareeha had insisted they come, for her sake.

"I don't get this, babe," She then said. "This beach is rather boring. There's hardly anything to do around here."

"What don't they have beaches in Delhi?" Fareeha remarked. "Don't worry, Saty. The whole point of this is for you to have nothing to do, to get yourself out of your office for once."

"If you say so," Satya replied, still in her monotonous tone. She reached into the car, taking out a small engineering textbook. "At least I can catch up on my light reading."

The Egyptian girl rolled her eyes. Satya didn't seem to be getting the point of this much, but she wouldn't hold it against her autistic friend. After all, if this was her idea of relaxing, she wouldn't judge, but she would have preferred a little more enthusiasm from her.

Satya and her had met back in university, when Satya had been studying for her degree. She was a genius, passing her exams with flying colours. Yet, with her stress problems, Satya needed help. Fareeha and her shared classes often and the two were paired together as study buddies.

She had been a little iffy about Satya at first, having not dealt with many autistic people before, but she soon understood her and they became very fast friends. When their university prom came around, Fareeha finally confessed her feelings and the two then became a couple, Satya even painting her prosthetic arm a beautiful golden colour for the occasion.

Satya had built the arm herself when she was a child, having been born with only one limb and using her immense prodigal genius to build herself a new one. Fareeha often joked about having a cyborg girlfriend, which Satya didn't mind.

As she plunged into the water, feeling the cool, salty water rush past her skin and through her dark hair, Fareeha felt very alive. The water, so cool and refreshing, surged past her as she swam across the coast, her strong arms pulling her forward.

Finally, she rose up, taking a breath of air. She smiled, turning around and rubbing the salt from her eyes. "Hey babe, what did you think of that?!" She called to Satya with pride.

Satya wasn't listening to her, however, having taken a seat on the deck chair and had a head deep in her engineering textbook.

Fareeha sighed. If Satya wanted to sit and read her book, that was fair enough, but she could at least have a little splash in the water. After all, she deserved to have some fun.
"Come on, Satya," Fareeha said encouragingly. "Don't you wanna get in the water?"

Satya glanced up from her book at her girlfriend. "As I have told you before, I cannot go swimming because of my prosthetic limb." She pointed to her robotic left hand. "The saltwater would short out its circuitry."

Fareeha groaned. After all the nagging she had done to Satya the past few weeks, trying to get her out of that workshop of hers, the least the Indian could do was have some fun, instead of reading that textbook she'd insisted on bringing with her.

"Come on babe, it's not that bad," She then said, trying to come to a compromise with her girlfriend. "You could just sit on the side of the water and not put your arm in."

"The waves would splash water onto it," Satya countered, not even looking up from her textbook, her eyes still focused on the pages with dedication.

Fareeha had just about had enough of this. She wasn't going to let Satya waste her time staring at that book. She was going to let her have fun for once in her life. "Satya, what's the point of coming here if you're just gonna sit and read all the time?" She remarked, standing up and putting her hands at her sides.

The Indian put down her book, glaring at Fareeha. "Need I remind you, Fareeha, that it was your decision to bring me here."

"Yeah, but I didn't expect you to waste it!" Fareeha argued. "I mean, we're on this beautiful beach, in this wonderful sun and here you are... just not enjoying it." She sighed. "I'm sorry, that was mean."

"No," Satya gave in, sighing softly. "You're right." Satya put her textbook down and walked with Fareeha towards the water's edge, stopping just shy of where the waves came up onto the shore.

Fareeha's eyes widened. "Yes!" She cheered. "That's good Satya! I promise, the waves won't get on your arm!"

Satya took a few steps forward, looking down as the cool water washed over her bare feet. She froze almost instantly, her eyes widening in panic. A deep fear rose up within her, stirring emotions she had wanted to forget for a long time.

Cold. Dark. Can't breathe. Need air...

"Satya?" Fareeha called out, walking over to her. "Are you okay?"

Satya blinked a few times, before looking directly at Fareeha and turning away, heading back towards the chair. "No... I can't do this, I'm sorry Fareeha."

"Sorry?" Fareeha then wondered, very confused. "For what? You were doing really great."

The Indian girl sighed, sitting down in her beach chair. "I can't get into the water."

"I know, because of your arm," Fareeha reminded her. "But I thought you were going to sit on the side or something, which would be totally fine."

"No..." Satya looked at her. "I'm sorry babe... I lied to you. My arm is fine. I built it from waterproof materials so it wouldn't short out when I took a shower."

"Wait... what?"

"I'm an autistic genius babe," Satya reminded her. "It's not something I would forget."

"No, not that," Fareeha said. "Why did you lie to me then?"

Looking at her with honest eyes, Satya then made a confession. "Fareeha... I never told you this but... I can't swim. I mean, I really can't swim."

"Oh..." Fareeha's heart sank, guilt within her being. "I'm so sorry, Satya. I shouldn't have pushed you."

"No, don't be sorry," Satya comforted her, before continuing her explanation. "When I was a child, I accidentally got caught in a flood in my village... I almost drowned. I've never been good at getting over my fears, so I try my best to avoid situations which put me in danger like that."

Fareeha sighed, sitting beside her on the sand. "It's okay, I understand now." She smiled. "Do you still want to go back and read your book? I mean, I can just keep swimming in the water if you like."

"No, you were right in the first place," Satya then stated. "I need to do more than look at books. I need more fun in my life."

"Okay," Fareeha agreed. "Then I know just what we can do together." She then smiled at her. "Do you wanna build a sandcastle?"

"A sandcastle?"

"Yeah, that would be great for you to do... being an architect and all," Fareeha told her. "If we work together, we can make one awesome sandcastle."

"That sounds like fun," Satya said, smiling proudly. "I'll need a bucket and a shovel though."

"I've already got you covered, babe," Fareeha replied, holding her hand. Just because they weren't swimming together, didn't mean that the two of them weren't gonna have fun together. In Fareeha's mind, they were going to build the biggest sandcastle ever.

And build one they did.

xXx

Author's note: I hardly ever see stuff of this ship, so have some beach cuteness!