Ok, you asked for it, you get it! It's my Christmas/Chanukah/Kwanzaa/whatever gift to you! Hope you've enjoyed it. Thanks again for all the reviews.

"You've heard of 'The Blue Lagoon?' Welcome to 'The Red Lagoon!" Linka said.

"Just outta curiosity, is it called 'The Red Lagoon' because it's my private lagoon and I'm a red head, or because you're a former Soviet?" Wheeler joked.

"Oh you are so funny. And if you must know, I call it that because it is your own private lagoon. Which I thought maybe you would share with me, but if you are going to make jokes about my country, then maybe you would rather swim alone. Da?"

"Nyet!" Wheeler said as he picked her up and started carrying her towards the water.

"NYET WHEELER! PUT ME DOWN! I DO NOT WANT TO GET MY CLOTHES WET!"

At hearing that, Wheeler almost dropped her. Instead, he set her down and asked "What exactly were you planning on swimming in Ruskie Tootskie?"

"In my bikini, which I have had on underneath my clothes all day because I was anticipating that we would all be spending time on the beach when we got here." Linka started removing her shorts and shirt to reveal her light blue bikini.

"Oh. Well in that case, what am I supposed to swim in huh?" Wheeler said suggestively, quite liking what he was seeing.

"I do not know, perhaps the same thing you always used to swim in…your shorts!"

"Well, I don't wanna get these wet, sooooooo…."

"Then your boxers."

"What if I don't wear boxers anymore. I'm going commando these days!"

"Then I guess we do not swim," said Linka as she picked up her clothes and started putting them back on over her swimwear.

"NO NO NO! I'M STILL A BOXER GUY! SEE?!" Wheeler said as he kicked off the khaki cargo shorts he was wearing.

"Oh Yankee, you are sooooooooo romantic," Linka said sarcastically.

They made their way into the water. Wheeler was right, it was the perfect temperature.

"So where is the best place to sit?" She asked.

"Right here," he said as he sat down on a rock formation under the water that was smooth enough to be comfortable, and high enough to keep his head above water. As he plopped down in his seat, he grabbed her around the waist to pull her down with him and sat her on his lap; one hand remained wrapped around her waist while the other rested innocently on her knee. "From here, if you lean your head back and rest it on the edge of the lagoon, you've got a perfect view of that cliff up there. Sometimes you can see a gorgeous blonde standing at the edge playing beautiful music for birds."

"Oh really? Too bad I'm not into blondes."

"No?"

"Nyet, I've developed a thing for red heads."

"Hmm, that's interesting. It just so happens that I know a real nice one," Wheeler said.

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. Sometimes he can be an ass, act impulsively, and overreact to certain situations. And he's got a hell of a temper, but he's easily tamed by beautiful Russian women. I'll introduce him to you sometime."

"Looking forward to it," she said. "But right now, I'd like to see how good this waterfall massage you spoke of feels." She tried to stand up and head for the small waterfall, but he stopped her.

"How 'bout a 'Wheeler massage' instead?" And he began to massage her shoulders and back, running his hands down her spine and rubbing out the tension in her lower back.

She sighed contentedly and leaned her head back to rest on his shoulder. "Mmm, that is nice."

Linka's current position gave Wheeler the opportunity to kiss her softly along her shoulders and up her neck. He kissed her behind the ear and whispered, "Is this ok?"

"Da. Do not stop."

He continued his path along her neck and ran his hands up and down her arms giving her chills. When she could no longer stand it, she turned her head to kiss his lips. After a while, the awkward angle made her neck ache, so she turned to face him and ended up straddling him. Wheeler's breathing was fast and shallow. Linka smiled down at him and placed her hand on his chest, over his heart.

"Are you ok?" She asked.

"Yeah, just outta breath. Isn't your heart beating like it's about to explode too?"

"See for yourself." She picked up his hand and placed it over her heart.

He was relieved to find that her heart was also pounding and that he wasn't the only one being affected by their activities.

She slowly moved her hand across his chest and down the middle to his abs. His police training had definitely filled him out. His arms were bigger, his chest was broader, and his stomach looked like a washboard. Before her hand could travel any further, he grabbed it.

"Are you sure? Cuz once we start, I don't think I'll be able to stop."

"I was just going to ask you where that scar came from."

"Oh." Wheeler was completely embarrassed by his assumption and looked down at the blemish just above the waistline of his shorts. "I had appendicitis two years ago and my appendix was removed." He then thought to himself "I'm such an idiot! She probably thinks I'm a bigger pig than Hoggish Greedly."

"Oh." He had released her hand and she reached down to trace her finger over it. She noticed him blushing so she tapped him on the nose to get him to look at her and said "…and once we start, I do not plan on stopping."

He finally let out the breath he'd been holding.

"But we have all night and this beautiful lagoon all to ourselves. Let us enjoy it and take our time. There is no rush. I want everything to be perfect."

"Me too Babe."

Then something caught his eye that he never noticed before. On her lower abdomen, partially covered by her bikini bottoms, in just about the same spot as his appendectomy scar was a tattoo! He never thought she'd be the kind of girl who'd get a tattoo. She was so reserved. He reached down to touch it and asked "What's that?"

"It's a tattoo."

"I know THAT. What prompted you to get it? You don't seem the type." He slid the waistline of her bikini down slightly to uncover the rest of the tattoo.

"I did not know there was a 'type.' Do you not like it?"

"No, it's not that. I think it's hot. It's just, when most people get a tattoo, there's a meaning behind it."

"I think it speaks for itself, nyet?"

"Yeah, but I wanna hear it from you," he said.

"During the Christmas break of my sophomore year, the year I called your parents to arrange my Christmas surprise for you, I was feeling down because my plans never worked out. A friend of mine wanted me to meet a friend of hers who she thought was 'perfect' for me because 'he's into music too.' To get her off my case, I went out with him, even though I had never met him. He was a nice guy, but he knew nothing about music! Well, that is not true, he was in a rock band, so he knew music, but only one kind. We really had nothing to talk about. He kept asking silly questions like 'what's the drinking age in Russia? Do you drink vodka with everything? What side of the road do you drive on?' I kept telling him that I had not been to Russia much since I was 16, and I really did not know what life was like there since the fall of the Soviet Union. Then he asked me what it was like to be a Communist! Maybe he was nervous, I do not know, but just like every other date my friends set me up on, or every other time I agreed to have dinner with a male classmate who had asked me out, all I could think about was you. None of them ever had a chance at a second 'date' because they were not you. I was just being nice by agreeing to go out. Most of the time I was able to use my schoolwork as a reason not to go out, which was the truth. When 'Mr. Rock and Roll' and I were walking home, we passed a tattoo parlor. He asked if it was ok if we went inside so he could make his final payment on his latest tattoo. While he was paying and chatting with the tattoo artist, I was looking around. I had no intention of getting a tattoo, EVER. After all, I am not the type." She winked at him, and then continued, "But then this one caught my eye. Two hearts, surrounded by flames, but the flames seemed to be blowing in one direction, as if being blown by the wind. It made me think of you, but then again, many random things would make me think of you. When someone would sneeze, I thought about how you were allergic to all those animals that we brought to Hope Island. When I saw a fire extinguisher, I thought of you. When they talked about the Yankees on TV, I thought of MY Yankee. Then I saw this tattoo; it was perfect. Two hearts, fire, and wind. I was thinking of getting it on the small of my back, but then I would not be able to see it. I got it here because I could see it, but no one else could, unless they were seeing me dressed like this. I knew that you were the only one who would ever see me in so little clothing. And the other Planeteers, but I am comfortable with them because they are like siblings. Do you like it?"

"I love it. I can't believe you got it because of me. That's a huge gesture and means alot to me." He kissed her to show his appreciation then picked her up and carried her through the water and behind the waterfall. "It's still here!" he exclaimed when he saw the raft he used to float on. It needed a little air added to it, but was in otherwise good condition. He blew it up more and climbed onto it. "Here Babe, come on up here with me and put your feet under the falling water. It feels so good."

She did as he said and nestled close to his side. He put his arm around her so she fit perfectly against him. They sat like that for hours, kissing, talking, and just holding each other while dozing off. Linka started to run her foot up Wheelers leg and back down to his foot.

"Yankee what do you call this in English?"

"'Playing footsie.' And you're really good at it Babe!" He leaned over to kiss her, but she slid off the raft and swam out to the middle of the lagoon. "And now you're 'playing hard to get'… AGAIN!" He then also slid off the raft and swam out to meet her.

Linka could barely touch the bottom so she was treading water. Wheeler could stand and still remain above water so once he reached her, she put her arms around his neck for support.

"It's gettin' late Babe. We should probably start thinkin' about goin' back soon. I still wanna go back to New York and somehow get Captain Thomas to go get a checkup so he doesn't die of cancer."

"What? How do you know he has cancer?"

"Gaia showed me my future…or one of the possible outcomes anyways."

"Was I there?" Linka asked with hope in her eyes.

"Not in the one she showed me. She showed me what life would be like if I went back."

"How was it?"

"Bad things happen. But I'm not gonna let 'em happen now. I'm staying with the Planeteers, and I'm never gonna let you go!"

"Promise?" She said as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

"Definitely!" He said as he put his arms around her bottom to help hold her up.

"I want to go with you back to New York. I need to pack up the rest of my things, sell my place, and I want to meet your parents…"

"…and I want to take you to the station with me when I pack up my desk so I can show you off to all the other guys!"

"But we do not have to go back right this minute do we? I mean, we still have some time for more of this, right?" She asked as she kissed him.

"Mmm Hmm," he murmured against her lips and nodded. When Linka deepened the kiss, he moved his arms around her back and untied her bikini top. Linka pulled away and smiled at him.

"Do not lose that Yankee!" She mock scolded, "This is my favorite swimsuit."

"Mine too!" he said. "I think it's time we got out and moved this party to terra firma. Agree?"

"Da."

He retrieved the raft and then carried her to the shoreline and sat down on the raft with Linka still wrapped around him. He leaned back so that she was laying on top of him and then rolled over so she was underneath him, making sure that the raft stayed underneath her to save her back from any discomfort. He looked down at her and could not believe how lucky he was. She was beautiful. Inside and out. Everything about her was perfect. When his gaze landed on her tattoo…THEIR tattoo, he kissed his way down her torso to kiss it. He then moved back up so that his face was even with hers and surprised her with his words,

"This might be hard to believe, but I've never been with anyone like this before. From the minute I saw you, I've had serious feelings for you. I know we were just kids back then, but I knew deep down that what I felt was real because I've never felt it for anyone else since I met you. And it's not like I haven't tried to move on, but I couldn't even go out with another girl and kiss her without feeling guilty, let alone do more. It felt like I was betraying you. I've given up on alot of hot girls throwing themselves at me, just for you Babe!" Linka laughed at his joke as he continued. "This moment is something I've dreamed about for years, but I never imagined it would be this perfect. I need you to know how special you are to me and that this is something I take very seriously, for once in my life! I know it's kinda weird for people our age to have never done this, but there's no one in this would who'd I'd ever want to be with. If things never worked out between us, I'd have been perfectly happy becoming a priest!" he joked.

His words moved her to tears, and then laughter at his last comment. Typical Wheeler: a comedian even in the most serious of moments. She also had a confession for him.

"I have been waiting for you too. Since I have known you, I have known that no one else will ever make me as happy as you will, plus I did not have time to socialize, let alone be in a relationship...I did not want to be involved with anyone else but you. I wish we had made it here sooner, but at least we are here now. I love you Wheeler."

It was now Wheeler who was getting choked up at her words. She really did care for him, after all these years of questioning it and driving himself crazy, she just confirmed it. She's been in love with him all these years, just as he was with her. Speaking of which, he should probably respond to that before she starts to worry.

"I love you too Linka. So much. I am so in love with you and have been for so long, I can't remember a time when I DIDN'T love you. To me, my life before I met you isn't worth remembering. As corny as it sounds, I can't even find the right words to express how much I love you. I don't think they make a word strong enough!"

"Then show me," she whispered.

"Love to!"

They woke up to the sound of birds singing and watched the sun as it began to rise on the ocean horizon. It was symbolic of the beginning of their new lives together. They dressed and went back to their cabins to get ready to go back to New York. They were ready to close out that chapter of their lives, put all the mistakes of the past behind them, and start a new chapter TOGETHER as Planeteers once again.

THE END

I threw in the tattoo because a few years ago, I saw a picture of the same thing, and I immediately thought of Wheeler and Linka! And I know, it's very unrealistic that they'd both never done it before, especially if you take into consideration that if we estimated their ages in real time, they'd be in their 30s, but let's just pretend they're still mid to late 20s (which is still pretty unrealistic, but this IS fiction afterall. And the thought of waiting for Mr./Miss Right is romantic and this story was supposed to be a romance, not just a hook up. Speaking of first times, thanks for being here with me for my first time doing a CP fic, haha. Anyways, hope you liked it. Maybe some day I'll get the urge to do a sequel, perhaps dealing with what happened when they went back to New York. Don't know. We'll see if any good ideas come to me and go from there.