The waves lapped up onto the beach, so soft, so tranquil. This had to be the best scene yet. All his other memories weren't all that wonderful—scratch that; they weren't wonderful at all. He sighed and let himself lie down on the sand. For once, he didn't care about his clothes. All this time in the dream bubbles got him to believe that sometimes fashion isn't all that important, because there were some extremely other really important things… things he'd thrown away.

"Eridan, you are a low life idiot who has no idea how to handle relationships," he said, hitting himself on the forehead with a fist. He looked up at the void, the hodgepodge of blue, purple, green, and white uninteresting. He'd seen it all before.

"I second the notion."

He sprang to sit up, looking around. He spotted Aradia. She looked alive and well, surprisingly.

"You look alive," he remarked, blinking in surprise.

"Of course I'm alive, silly!" She giggled and sat down beside him, putting her arms around his neck and kissing him on the lips.

Eridan leaned back, surprised as he blushed bright violet, but was only able to fall onto the sand and be crushed beneath her until she pulled away, adjusting herself so that she was arranged with her knees on either side of him.

"I missed you so much!" she said, teasing his hair with her fingers. She brought her lips back to his, soft, and warm, and passionate, yet so alien. And he found himself kissing back.

Whoa. Wait. Did he miss some sort of important moment in his life? How would he miss something so big as hooking up with Aradia? "Ara-!" he said, pushing her off. He looked away, but not before catching the disappointment on her face.

"Eridan…"

He didn't face her—he couldn't.

"You don't remember? You and I were together? You died. Sollux killed you because you were a stupid bum!" she insisted, moving closer on her knees, letting her tattered skirt get dirty. "I swear, this is the third time we've met in a dream bubble."

His eyes widened, and then he calmed himself. Okay, shut up for a second and think. Did that ever happen? His brow furrowed. No, of course not.

"Aradia, I think you're talking about someone different."

She blinked and tilted her head. "Which Eridan are you…?"

"Er—Alpha timeline?"

She sat back down on her butt, looking straight ahead. "Oh, dear lord. I'm so sorry, Eridan." She inched away, eyes properly downcast. "It's been a while since I've fallen asleep—I…"

He smiled, and his mind went back to moments before, when her lips touched his. His face still burned from embarrassment, and intrigue.

"Hey, it's okay," he told her, and sat beside her. "So, how did you and him—er—you and other me—get together?"

She laughed and ran her fingers through her hair, tugging bit to rearrange it. "Well, I… it's sort of… I'm not comfortable talking about it to anyone other than Eri—uh… I mean, other you."

"Oh."

He pulled on his collar, awkward silence filling the gap between them. Should he talk some more? Should he move farther away? Should he just abscond?

He heard laughter beside him.

"I apologize. I should just leave." She moved to stand up, but he put a hand on hers, making her head turn to him abruptly. Shit! Why did he do that? Why did he just do that?

"Uh—it's okay. Don't leave."

She stared. He stared. Her pupils dilated, and she shifted her hand to sit back down. "Alright."

And he had no idea how he convinced her to stay, but he did. "It gets lonely," he said blatantly. "I don't know how long I've stayed in these dream bubbles alone."

"No one came to visit?" she asked, words drenched in sympathy.

"Nope. No one," he sighed, looking off into the Alternian sunset. It was odd, considering that their Alternian sun would blind them. But in death, it seemed so nice, so warm. Maybe it was his longing to feel the heat of being alive, the thrill of his heart beat.

She chuckled. "Sorry I'm so late then."

Eridan looked at her, and for some reason, he felt better. Loneliness receded from the corners of his heart, and as she beamed at him, her light fell onto the dank floors of his spirit and disintegrated the sadness.

Aradia, however, pulled away, and it was only then that he realized that he hadn't removed his hand from hers. "I could tell you what started it," she said plainly, and it took a while for him to gather his thoughts. What was she talking about? Oh, right!

"About you and… him? Sure. Why not?" He forced himself to relax. Shoulders back, legs crossed, elbows propping himself up.

She stayed upright, hugging her legs to her knees. "Before the mind controlling incident, you always hated Sollux— caliginous, you know—and you used to keep a very close eye on him…"

Eridan thought for a moment that it wasn't really him doing all this, it was the other him. But that didn't really matter. He continued to listen, watching her red lips (most likely due to lipstick) move as she told her story.

"I'm honestly not sure how you two got so close; I remember him telling something about a time when he accidentally sent a virus to you…? And then you got really pissed and dropped a whale on his hive!" The rustblood laughed, and let herself rock back and forth. "Those were the days. It was so funny to watch you two bicker. Even though I had to stitch him up after that one time." Her laugh faded into a smile, and she lied down. Eridan moved away instinctively.

"One time, you came to my hive… You asked about what he hated, said that it'd give you an upper hand." She shook her head. "Of course, I never told you anything—he was my moirail! I couldn't just disclose information like that!"

Eridan laughed lightly, and turned on his side to face her. "I guess it was just so I could talk to you."

Aradia looked down at him, the edge of her lips pulling up into a smile. "You actually told me that after we got together." She looked ahead once more and continued. "Anyways, we got to know each other, and became friends, and then bam… that mind control incident. We all know how Vriska controlled Sol to burn down my hive, right? Or wait, did that happen in your timeline?" He nodded and urged her to keep going. "Alright, so he came over, and was about to blast me, but then you come along."

Her eyes glazed over as she glared at the sun. "You saved me," she uttered, furrowing her brows as if she was struggling to remember. "He was completely powerless to Vriska, and then you come along on your lusus, all strong and heroic, and you didn't manage to save my hive, but you saved me." Aradia lied down beside him and turned her head so she could see him. "And then, since I had nowhere else to go, you let me stay in your hive and things sort of… sprung from there."

"Wow," was all he could say to that. He seemed to have lived a much better life in that time line. Lucky him, right? He smiled bitterly. "Did I make you happy?" he asked, tentatively move her hair out of her face.

Surprisingly, she didn't shy away, and instead closed her eyes momentarily as his hand brushed against her cheek. "You made me cry…" she stated. Eridan frowned. "Especially when you died. You made me angry, you made me… feel. You made me feel a lot of things, Eri. And yes, happiness was one of those things."

For once, he felt appreciated. He felt happy. And he found it all so unfair that in the main plot, Eridan's story had to be cut short. He found it unfair that in the big event, it was his race that was rained on; he had to trip and fall so others could go on ahead. But now? Perhaps that all didn't matter.

"You know, you're actually quite pretty," he said bluntly. "I'm surprised I haven't fallen in love with you yet."

Aradia giggled and put a hand between them, as if she was supposed to touch him, but fell short. "Me too, actually. I can't believe alpha me didn't see the real you… Didn't see how sweet you could be."

He raised his brows. "Me? Sweet?" He laughed. No one had ever called him that. If anything, he was an emotional train wreck.

She nodded profusely. "For my thirteenth wriggling day, you took me on an archeological dig, and then we went to have dinner at that restaurant where they serve you things out of plastic skulls."

"Check gourmate?" he asked.

"That's the one!"

They laughed in unison, and it was like they were from the same timelines. Laughter joining with the soothing waves, tugging at his heart strings and playing a tune called "Love." And he knew it was corny, but that's what he got for hanging around doomed timeline Karkat.

The chuckling died down, and they were silent, speaking with their eyes, and what he saw was an omnibus. A collection of the best things in his life—an anthology of what might've been in his life. And that was her.

"It seems like I've known you for so long," he thought aloud, distant but so close. "But I've only really had a meaningful conversation with you now…"

Aradia shrugged a shoulder. "Perhaps it was destined."

"Destiny sure took its time," he retorted. "Must've had some traffic at those mountains it had me go through."

"You got through them though."

And she was right, now that he thought of it. He'd changed for the better in death. And maybe that was all he really needed: death. Perhaps that was the only solution fate had for him. Perhaps he wasn't getting the short end of the stick.

"Do you think I can make up for lost time, though?" he said absently, tracing a finger from below her ear to her chin.

She giggled, closing an eye. "Oh, stop, that's my sensitive spot."

He chortled, taking off his glasses—not like he even actually needed it—and building up his courage. "But can I?"

All of a sudden, their faces were too close, their breaths being shared, their hearts beating synchronously in their ears. She put a hand on his chest, and he thought that she'd push him away, but instead she gathered the fabric of his shirt in her fist and pulled him closer. He tried to deny being turned on by the gesture, but sadly, couldn't. He let himself be pulled in, their lips crashing together.

Pretty soon, Aradia was on top of him, her unkempt hair framing her face perfectly. Man, why didn't he think of this before? Ara was like a goddess! She kissed him hard and fixed a hand in his hair, pulling, making him gasp, and ran her other hand down his chest and to his sides, tugging at the clothing like it was a hindrance, and oh God he was not ready to pail. Had his other self pailed before? What was it like? What if he screwed up? Oh, God, oh God, oh GOD. What if it hurt!

She seemed to sense how tense he was, because she slowed down, becoming more sweet than sensual. Her grip in his hair loosened, and she pulled away sharply. He blinked. He never knew that was the sound of kissing. He decided that he'd like to hear more of it.

"I apologize," she said, practically breathless and laughing. "I've searched all the dream bubbles for him, and I haven't found him. I…" She sighed and pressed her forehead to his. "I miss him so much…" From her eyes dripped tears moved by longing, and despair, the emotions of a heartbroken troll.

Eridan stroked her hair and kissed her on the nose. She pulled away, brows furrowed. "I've missed you all my life. And I'm so glad I've finally found you," he stated.

She spilled over in bawling mixed with giggling into his shoulder, and he tried to sooth her, rubbing her back, memorizing the curves and warmth and softness. "Hey, don't cry. I don't want to see you cry."

But that made her wail even more, and in response, she said, "You used to always do that. Kiss my nose and tell me sweet stuff like that. It's…" She bit her bottom lip and scrambled off of him, tucking her legs beneath her and facing away.

And he could imagine what she was going through. After so many encounters with brokenhearted dead trolls, it had become easier for him to sympathize. He sat up and took her in his arms, because that was the only thing he could think of doing. He wrapped his scarf around her, and she brought it to her nose, taking in a deep breath.

He felt warm inside, with her in the circle of his arms. Someone for him to support. Someone to support him. He dug his nose in her hair, and found that it smelled pleasant, subtle. He smiled, but soon his stomach sank. This was not his life. She was not his. She belonged to another version of him, and that meant that he was stealing. This was wrong. "I hope you find him," he said abruptly.

Aradia straightened a bit, watching him. He could tell by the way her eyes moved that she was studying him, taking in every detail of him. "Thank you, Eri…"

He shook his head, twisting his lips so that it looked like a smile, but it wasn't really. In it was a hidden grimace, one he'd worn all his life. "No. Thank you, Ara."

She yanked him forward for another hug, and he embraced her back, so tight. Because maybe if he squeezed hard enough, their bodies would meld together and she never had to leave. But he knew she would. She had to. She wasn't dead yet. And he hoped that she wouldn't be dead until the right time came.

"I'll stay with you," she said. "Until I wake up." Her stuffy nose made it difficult for her to speak properly, but he didn't mind. Her voice was as melodic as before.

"I'd absolutely love that."

He gently laid her down, using his arm as her pillow, and rested his head on hers. They watched the sun set, the lights illuminating their surroundings for one last time before plunging back below the horizon.

"It's cold," Ara whispered.

"I've got you." Eridan closed his eyes and put his hand on her waist, reveling in the warmth, the heat.

But then, she disappeared. He fell over onto the cold, solitary sand. No one was there. Just the darkness. He sat up and looked around. No one. Nothing. The waves on the shore were no longer relaxing, despite the consistency in its frequency the whole time. The night stars did not hold infinite possibilities, they made up his prison, his solidarity. He was alone again.

And once more, he pondered the possibilities that destiny simply hated him. He pondered the unfairness, the cruelty of it all. And for once, after a long time of being so numb, he yelled into the darkness and cried.

If he could kill himself, he would.

(A/N) I wrote this for my friend, when we were thinking up crack ships. I was given the challenge to write a fic, and so here it is. I hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading, and do review. Constructive criticism is alwaves welcome!

Warmest Regards,

Nell

P.S. This is all crack. Although it made me ship Aradan. Eridia. Eridan/Aradia.