Rhys had opened the door, cooler and other essentials in tow, ready to head out for the beach, when Sasha grabbed his arm.

He turned his head to look back at her. "Uh Sash… what's wrong?"

The dark haired girl gazed at him intently with those bright green eyes. "Rhys, did you put on sunscreen."

He let out a light a chuckle. "Ha. Look Sasha, I appreciate you looking out for me, but I'll be fineeeee." He reassured her, placing his hand on her shoulder and meeting her gaze. "I don't burn easily. You know, when I was kid I could spend hours out the beach without a drop of sunblock and it was like I hadn't even gone outside." The corners of his mouth upturned into a small, but cocky smirk, while Sasha's face filled with worry.

"But Rhys, you do realize that Pandora is different. Things are so much more intense here. It's brighter, hotter and more dangerous than any other planet, so will you please just put some sunscreen on.

Annoyance crept into Rhys' voice. He was growing impatient. "Just relax, Sasha. Besides, we should get a move on, Vaughn and Fiona are probably already at the beach."

Sasha rolled her eyes and grabbed her beach bag, throwing in a bottle of Aloe Vera. "Alright, let's go." The two headed out the door for the beach.

When Sasha and Rhys arrived, the sun was high up in the sky, shining down on the sandy ground, and it seemed hotter than hell, to Rhys at least.

Rhys looked around. "Huh. Guess they're not here yet." He began walking towards a spot near the shore, gesturing for Sasha to follow. "Come on Sash, I'll need your help setting up."

"Wait I think I see them." She pointed over to the right of her, and just in the distance, a singular umbrella was visible.

Sasha called out, her voice echoing across the beach. "Fi?" Two figures emerged from behind the umbrella, one holding what seemed to be a very colorful beach ball. One figure started waving their arms. "Hey Sash, over here!" Rhys' companion ran to her sister, so he followed, becoming out of breath when reached the rest of the group.

Fiona, who was wearing a simple, but classy black bathing suit, laughed at the sight of an out of breath Rhys. "Hey guys, what took you so long?" She teased.

"It was nothing." Sasha paused. "Rhys and I just had a little argument."

Fiona snickered. "Aw, just like an old married couple."

With that, Sasha burst into laughter, but Rhys just glared at Fiona. She had managed to find out that Rhys had feelings for her sister. At first, she was rather angry, but now, she just mocked him, and Rhys was getting sick of it. Vaughn took notice of how angry Rhys looked, and changed the subject.

"So…guys, do you maybe want to play some beach volleyball?" he asked.

"Oh, great idea Vaughn. Just give Rhys and I a second to change."

The two headed out to a little shack that would serve as their place to change. Sasha was in and out in a minute but Rhys was taking a little longer than usual.

Sasha knocked on the side of the shack. "Rhys, can you hurry up? We all really want to play some beach volleyball, and you're taking way too long."

"Yeah Sash, just…give me…one second." It sounded like Rhys was struggling as he spoke, but soon enough Rhys emerged wearing his Hyperion-issued swim trunks.

Sasha giggled. "Wow Rhys. Is there anything you own that isn't from Hyperion?"

Rhys looked up to reply but was rendered speechless by the sight of Sasha. She was wearing a bikini, the color of turquoise, and Rhys couldn't help but stare at her. She looked like a goddess.

Sasha was ready to say something to Rhys when voice rang out that broke him out of his trance-like state. It was Fiona. "Will you two hurry up? I wanna play already." She sounded impatient, so Rhys and Sasha made their way over to the net that had been set up.

The gang played for what seemed like hours, and everyone was having a blast. After three games, and being totally schooled by Fiona and Sasha, Rhys decided to lay down and take a break, he was rather exhausted.

Soon enough, he fell asleep, and it was only when he heard a familiar voice call his name that woke up.

"Rhys? Hey, Rhys…wake up." Sasha called out to him and he jolted awake, feeling a searing pain all over his body.

"Ow. Ow. Pain. Why…do…I hurt…so much? He strained to look up at Sasha, even turning his head hurt.

She was smiling down at him, all the while teasing him. "Hey there, Mr. 'I Don't Burn Easily'. Guess what happened? You got burned."

"Wha-… no. That didn-" Rhys was not able to finish as he looked down to find that his body was as red as a strawberry, which came as a shock to him.

Sasha continued, sounding rather annoyed. "Yeah it did. You also slept through the rest of the day, and now it's time to leave. So come on."

Rhys tried to move, but he was quickly overcome with pain. He laid back down and groaned. "Don't want to move…the pain."

"Ok, ok." Sasha's tone changed as she went to grab something out of her bag. She pulled out a bottle of clear gel that was filled with bubbles. Rhys couldn't make out what was on the label.

"Here it is! It's Aloe Vera, it should help with pain. I'll put it on you, if it hurts that much to move." Sasha gave Rhys a warm smile, and he nodded.

Sasha knelt down, put the gel in her hands and began to rub it on Rhys' skin. The moment the gel touched Rhys he sighed with relief. The pain was already starting to fade. She eventually started to work on Rhys's legs, which were badly burned.

Out of the blue, Rhys spoke up. "Hey, uh Sasha?

"Yes, Rhys?"

"Could you…maybe stay away from my feet?"

"What? Why?" Sasha was confused, she hadn't even planned on touching his feet.

"Well, it's…just that…" Rhys' voiced trailed off.

"Rhys, what is it? You can tell me."

"My…my feet are ticklish, ok?"

Sasha was trying hard not to laugh. She muttered a barely audible reply, and continued with Aloe Vera. She soon decided that she would have some fun with this new discovery, and she began to tickle the soles of Rhys's feet. He burst out into laughter.

"HaHAhaHA…st-HAhaHa…s-stop!" Rhys was out of breath, he had been laughing a lot.

"Ok, ok. I'll stop Rhys." Sasha made good on her word and continued with the Aloe Vera, playfully teasing him, until he was mostly covered in it.

Sasha grabbed Rhys' hand. "I'm gonna help you up, ok?" Rhys nodded silently and with some effort, she managed to get him on his feet. With his around her shoulder, Sasha helped Rhys make his way off the beach.

They were making their way home, when Sasha stopped.

She was staring up at Rhys. "What is it, Sash?"

"Promise you'll wear sunscreen in the future?"

"I Promise."

"Pinkie promise."

Rhys couldn't help but smile, as he held up his robotic pinkie and Sasha wrapped hers around it. For what felt the longest time, they just stared at each other, until Sasha leaned forward and kissed Rhys on the cheek.

"Today was fun, aside from the whole thing with you getting burned…"

Rhys replied. "It was, but now all I want to do is go home." He wrapped his arm around Sasha's shoulders again, and the two continued on their way towards home.

THE END J