"Can you believe that this is only the third time we've seen each other in person?" Legs dangling over the water, Katrielle's eyes were fixed on the Thames, the sun casting an orange glimmer onto the water.

It was an impromptu meet up. Katrielle had bounded in ten minutes before they usually shut the Mystery Room, to Lucy's pleasant surprise. With Alfendi ushering them out of the door, she suggested they eat something to celebrate the coming weekend. Fendi had agreed, but Al had quickly taken control and turned them down.

"We've had pizza twice this week, you lazy sod!" he'd hissed. "If you think that eating junk food will keep me from getting back onto the field, you're sorely mistaken!"

"Perhaps you'd like to join us anyway, and jog along the river?" Katrielle teased.

"Thank you for your kind offer, sister, but I'll decline." Calming down, he locked the door and slid on his navy coat. "Enjoy yourselves, and stay safe."

"I've got the talented DC Baker with me, and we're some of the only people who can insult the terrifying Alfendi Layton and get away with it. No criminal would dare come near us."

When Katrielle had turned towards the exit, Al threw a stunned Lucy a wink. She pretended not to see it, but it hovered in her mind the rest of the evening.

In the middle of a mouthful of ice-cream, Lucy shook her head in response to Katrielle's question. "Mhmm, I can't. Feels like much longer."

Katrielle laughed, a sound so soft to her ears. "Is that a compliment?"

Lucy pretended to think about it. "Ee, maybe. But I know what you mean. Our letters feel more intimate than that."

Freezing, she realised what she'd just said. Lord, what a word to choose.

To her relief, Katrielle nodded. "I… I agree. They've become quite personal, haven't they?"

In the past few weeks the letters had shifted from accounts of what both had been doing to discussions. They'd each poured their thoughts onto paper about justice, intellect, dreams, and their last one had touched briefly on love. Lucy had read it more times than she could keep track of. Katrielle had a way with words.

Listening to the babble of activity around them, neither spoke. A few boats sailed past, couples eating dinner and laughing. Was that what she and Katrielle had looked like, when they had breakfast the other week? Glancing around, Lucy noticed that most people around them were couples. Holding hands, embracing one another, even a few getting a bit closer than that. She had to look away.

"You know, there's something I never spoke to you about," Katrielle began, breaking her thoughts. "I meant to bring it up in my last letter."

The few words were enough to send her heart into overdrive. "Eh?"

Katrielle was still gazing at the river, but she finally turned to face her, sincere. "Thank you, for what you did for my brother at Forbodium Castle."

Stopping herself from looking disappointed was all Lucy was capable of doing in that moment. "Oh, you don't need t' thank me for that."

"I want to." Katrielle paused, looking down as though she was gathering the courage to say something, her mouth opening and closing. "You know, Hilda wasn't the only one who investigated Alfendi's shooting," she admitted. "I did too, when I was seventeen. One night I went out alone and took the train to Forbodium Castle, without my father knowing. I searched that tower from top to bottom and when I found nothing, I stood on the rooftop and just waited for an inspirational insight. It never came."

"Katrielle…"

Lucy had felt so alone when she was fighting for Alfendi's innocence. How must Katrielle have felt, just a teenager, investigating while her brother was fighting for his life in the hospital?

"I was worried that Alfendi's life would always be shadowed by that incident, that people would always think of him as the disgraced DCI who killed a suspect and then became a shut-in. But things have gotten much easier for him since you came into his life. The old Alfendi, the Alfendi I grew up with, came back, and both sides of him are actually living." Katrielle turned to her, and somehow, her smile was even wider than Lucy had seen before. "From the bottom of my heart, Lucy, thank you."

The words touched her more than she thought possible. "Of course, Katrielle. I'd do it again and again if I had to."

"Let's hope you don't," she laughed, placing her head on her shoulder.

Her mind emptied in an instant, but when she could think again instinct yelled at her to rest her head atop Katrielle's in return, and she fought the urge with every bit of strength she had. It's a friendly gesture, nought more. You'll turn this into something it's not, Lucy, you know you will.

But a few seconds passed, and she felt silly not reciprocating, so she allowed herself to sink down and place her head on Katrielle's. Her soft hair cushioned her, but even without it they fit together like two puzzle pieces. She closed her eyes.

The words, as nice as they were, worried her. Did Katrielle feel indebted? Did she feel that she owed it to Lucy to be as kind as she was, as a thank you for saving her brother's freedom?

She hoped it wasn't the truth, but either way she pushed the thought from her mind for the moment and simply enjoyed the feeling of being so close to Katrielle, of feeling her stomach rise and fall rhythmically next to her. Even when they both sat up, they maintained their closeness and watched as the sky darkened, the stars beginning to reveal themselves.

No matter the other woman's intentions, Lucy knew that one fact in the case was certain: she was falling for her.