Disclaimer: Saban owns PR.
Spoilers for Episode 5: "A Fish Out Of Water", takes place after the end of the episode.
Laughing with his friends, splashing each other with water, running around in the ocean – and Jayden honestly can't remember the last time he had this much fun.
Up above, gray clouds roll over the landscape, only partly concealing the winter sun in all of it's bright intensity, and chilly winds soar through the air, tousling everyone's hair and igniting the waves. He watches with a grin on his face, standing off to the edge of the shore, as the boys engage in a splashing war with the girls (and lose rather spectacularly, at that).
"Hey, aren't you going to join us?" Emily asks, bouncing up to him with all the enthusiasm that comes from the adrenaline rush of defeating a nighlock. "The water's great!"
Jayden glances over at her and smiles. "I'm sure it is. But I'd rather not partake in a splashing war."
"Why not?" she giggles, now standing right next to him, her blond curls whipping around in the breeze. "Afraid of getting a little wet?"
"Well, my element is fire," he points out validly, struggling to keep his eyes on her pretty smile instead of on her transparent yellow shirt. "But, no, I mostly just want to enjoy the peace and quiet."
Emily blinks.
"Kevin!" Mia shrieks at the same time as her blue teammate showers her with water via his Symbol Power. "Stop that!"
"Peace and quiet?" Emily repeats disbelievingly, a smile playing on her face. "Oh, admit it – you just don't want to get wet."
"Maybe," Jayden grins. "What are you going to do about it?"
In hindsigh, that was perhaps the stupidest question he could have asked. Emily laughs, leans down, and, with hours of practice at her disposal, splashes him with water and soaks him thoroughly. Jayden splutters for a moment, trying to determine at what point the water had spilled into his mouth, before coughing it all out and leveling a mock-outraged look at his giggling teammate.
"Come here," he orders, unable to fully hide the grin on his face.
"No," Emily teases, crossing her arms.
Jayden hesitates a moment, glancing out at the ocean to see Mike hopping around further into the waters and Kevin and Mia still engaged in a splashing war, before making up his mind and lunging towards Emily. She shrieks and darts away from his grasp, still laughing, and goes running out in the ocean until the waves are crashing into her waist. He runs after her, never quite catching up to her – she's smaller and more nimble, so she's faster – until she stops to catch her breath.
"Gotcha," Jayden laughs when his hands finally manage to grab hold of her arms and draw her in towards his body, her back warm against his chest.
Emily giggles, kicking her feet in a futile attempt to escape his grip, but he's already wrapped his arms around her waist and held her tight against him. "Oh, all right, you win," she concedes, tilting her head back so her blond curls dance across his shoulder, a smile on her face as she looks at him.
For a moment, he's lost in her hazel gaze, and it occurs to him that she's pressed up against him, her body small and light and wet, and she can surely feel his heart going thump-thump-thump in his chest, because the sound of his tripled heartbeat seems to be amplified by a thousand in the chill of the evening.
"You gonna let me go anytime soon?" she inquires of him, her smile brightening when he looks at her.
"Oh, um, yeah," Jayden mutters, coughing, and quickly lets her go, a blush rising on his cheeks. "I – sorry."
Emily spins around so she's facing him, tangling one hand in her fair curls in an attempt to undo the knots. "What for? Wasn't that fun?" she asks him.
"Yeah," he admits, shoving his hands in his pockets and grinning at her. "It was fun."
Emily beams. "See? And you barely got wet!"
Jayden looks down incredulously at his soaked gray shirt. "Are you kidding? You absolutely soaked me, Em!"
"Well, not your whole body," she retorts, giggling. "Look, Mike even managed to get my hair wet! It's going to take me forever to get these tangles out!"
"Let me," he says without thinking about it first, stepping forward and freeing his hands to touch hers. Emily's breath seems to catch when he slides his hands over hers and gently lowers hers down so he can work on the knots in her hair. "I can't say I'm an expert, but…"
"Thanks," she murmurs, her eyes bright as she looks up at him.
Jayden gulps, delicately teasing curls out of knots and unraveling them from where they had twisted together. "No problem." His voice is low, husky, and he can feel her breath on the side of his face, sweet and cinnamony, and her body's warm and slender against his, and her eyes are sparkling hazelly-green in the dusklight, and –
This really isn't helping his concentration.
"Hey!" calls Mike from somewhere in the vincity behind them, a couple minutes later. "You two done flirting?"
A quick glance down at Emily shows that her face is almost as red as his shirt – and his own face, for that matter. "Um," he says eloquently, hastily stepping away from her. "I think you're good."
Emily runs a hand through her hair and clearly finds it free of unmanageable knots, judging by the smile on her face. "Thank you," she tells him, her smile making his heart rate speed up.
"Shut up, Mike," Jayden adds as an afterthought, looking over at his smirking teammate and willing his blush to cool. "What do you say we go pay him back for that mess he made of your hair?" he asks Emily under his breath.
She giggles, flashing him a playful smile . "Let's do it."
Mike never does figure out why Jayden and Emily spend the rest of the afternoon soaking him with seawater.
Fun Fact: This fic is exactly 1,000 words :D
A/N: Is it just me, or is Jayden getting cuter as the season progresses? And did anyone else catch that scene where she kneels down next to him during the last battle with the nighlock when they're both unmorphed? =D (Yes, I'm grasping at straws.) If you liked this, please review and tell me what you thought! Thanks!
And don't favorite without reviewing, please and thank you :)
