Author's Note: I figured I'd do two chapters today - partly because I know you'll be furious with me for the ending, but mostly because this is one of my favorite chapters thus far, and I'm hoping to get some feedback on it. :P
Dinner, Helena thought to herself proudly, had gone swimmingly. Myka seemed to have had a pleasant time, and by the second glass of wine, Helena was confident that any anxiety that may have lingered after they'd left the inn had vanished. Their meal had been delicious, and Helena was certain that Myka had agreed; following her first forkful of lasagna, Myka had released a gratified moan that Helena had followed with a small shift in her chair and a healthy swallow of wine before she'd been able to speak again.
"Helena," Myka said softly, as they made their way back through the doors of the sophisticated restaurant and to the car, "that was incredible. Thank you," she said sincerely, extending her hand, and gripping Helena's with her fingers tightly.
"I'm quite pleased that you enjoyed yourself," Helena replied. "But our night isn't quite finished yet."
"It's not?" Myka inquired, tipping her head slightly to the left.
"No," Helena said warmly, shaking her head. "I must admit, however, that the next part of my plan for the evening isn't exactly what one would call conventional."
"Where are we going?" Myka asked, looking up at Helena as she slid herself into the passenger seat and placed her hands in her lap, the door hanging open.
"Home, darling," Helena replied, the beginnings of a suggestive smile on the edge of her lips.
Myka reddened with the onset of desire, inspired by the mere thought of Helena taking her home, and Helena's smile loosened from coy to sympathetic. "Not to the bedroom just yet, I'm afraid," Helena said, bending her knees to lower herself closer to her partner. She reached her fingers up to graze the length of Myka's cheek with infinite care. "But Myka, my love, you may rest assured; I do intend to have you," she said, her tone indicating a need that had Myka's cheeks flushing impossibly brighter. "That gown is positively sinful, darling. I couldn't resist you tonight if I tried."
Helena had spent the entire evening struggling with that infernal piece of fabric. Myka's charcoal colored dress brilliantly complemented her eyes, and the diamond necklace that she wore to complete it hung from a thin silver chain that draped into the faintly exposed cavern between her breasts, lulling Helena's eyes downward to places where her gaze oughtn't linger. Myka was mesmerizing.
"Helena," Myka's voice fell on a whisper, "how much longer do you plan to keep me in this never ending state of distress? Please," she implored quietly, biting her lip for a brief moment before she could continue, looking up at Helena with dark eyes. "I need you."
Helena fought, and just barely conquered in a battle against a throaty groan. With no less longing than Myka had expressed, Helena murmured, "I'm certain that I couldn't endure it for much longer."
She moved her fingers to hold Myka's neck, and drew her date closer until their lips touched. Helena filled their fleeting kiss with promise, sighing into Myka's mouth with a greed that she couldn't overcome.
"I do want you so, Myka," she confessed. "Just a short while, darling. Can you wait a tiny bit longer for me?"
"I guess I can wait, just a tiny bit," Myka smiled, though Helena could see her impatience wearing at the corners of her mouth.
Helena pressed another short kiss to Myka's lips and moved to the other end of the car, more desperate now to wrap this evening up than she had been before – and she had been quite desperate to begin with.
Their drive was quiet, and Helena knew that Myka had all but lost interest in anything outside of satisfying their shared desires. But Helena had created something special for Myka, and it spoke of everything that she felt for this woman. When she made love to Myka, she intended for her to know, with unqualified clarity, how deeply she cared for her.
They pulled into the deserted Warehouse area not much later, and Helena slowed to put the car in park when they reached the bed and breakfast. Myka stepped from the car curiously, and Helena was pleased to note the slight flare of intrigue as Myka realized that, indeed, Helena had not been being cryptic when she had told her that they were going home.
Helena reached into her clutch to finger the device that she had placed within it earlier that night, and then followed Myka's lead, slipping from the car.
"Helena?" Myka searched, turning to her with clear bewilderment.
Helena smiled softly, and kept the object held behind her back with one hand, but touched Myka's cheek with the other.
"Darling Myka," she began, hearing an odd tremor of tension in her own voice. She was very much afraid that Myka might not appreciate her gift as much as she hoped. She had put so much of herself into its creation. "Spending this night with you has been lovely," she said softly. "And I hope to have many more like it in our future together."
"I hope so, too," Myka said, bringing her hand to hold Helena's wrist, sweeping her thumb against it as she picked up on Helena's apprehension, though she was clearly unsure of where it had come from.
"But – "
Myka frowned, and before she could help herself, she nervously blundered out, "Buts aren't good."
Helena was instantly charmed, but she persisted through Myka's interruption. "But you and I – we've had many lovely moments together, haven't we?"
"Yeah, we have," Myka agreed with a smile, tightening her hold on Helena's wrist for a short moment, reassuring her.
"I fell so quickly in love with you, Myka," Helena disclosed on a sigh. "So profoundly in love. And I can think of no better way to express my fondness for you than this," she informed, twisting her arm around to reveal the odd contraption that she held.
She caught Myka's hand in hers, and with the other, she placed the mechanism into Myka's palm.
"What is it?" Myka asked, eyeing the item with dedicated concentration.
"Press this," Helena aimed Myka's finger to a small, indented square of metal on the otherwise wooden piece, that, to Myka, slightly resembled a flying saucer.
Myka looked up at her inquisitively, but after a nod from Helena, accompanied by a small, timid smile, she pushed the panel inward.
"Nothing's happening," Myka said quietly, inspecting the thing in her hand with nearly brutal intensity.
"You aren't looking in the right place, darling."
Myka looked up at her, and Helena watched her lips part to ask where she was meant to be looking, but instead of words, a wide grin formed on Myka's lips.
"It's snowing!" She cried merrily, turning in a wide circle as she looked to the sky.
"Yes," Helena said, studying Myka with a tender smile upon her lips.
Oversized flakes of snow descended around them both, though they were few in number, and were spread a fair distance apart from one another. Despite it, though, Myka was thrilled.
Helena exulted in the sound of Myka's overjoyed laughter. "I love the snow!"
Laughing along with her partner, Helena shared, "I'm very well aware, Myka, darling."
"Is it real?" Myka inquired, swiveling back to face Helena.
"Yes and no. It's been modified. It won't stick," she informed gently, anticipating Myka disappointment with that particular facet. "But it would be a bit overwhelming for me if it did."
"Overwhelming?"
"Mm," Helena hummed her confirmation. "Stretch out your hand."
Myka reached a hand out toward Helena, but the British woman shook her head. "Not to me, darling. Catch one."
Myka eyed her with confused interest and a loving smile before she opened her palm to catch a snowflake that fell just behind Helena's ear. Helena knew, after testing the device herself, that the cool feel of the snow would reach Myka first.
Myka grinned, clearly delighted that, even if it wouldn't accumulate, it still felt like real snow. But Helena watched, and she waited as a dazed look affected Myka's countenance. When Myka drew in a sharp inhalation of breath, Helena knew that Myka understood the greater purpose of her invention, and that it was not simply to control the weather.
"Helena," she breathed several moments later, overcome with emotion. "What was that?"
"A memory," Helena shared gently. "My own memory, although I'm sure you have one similar."
Myka looked up at her with tears gleaming behind the bright green surface of her eyes. "How did you…?"
"I borrowed an artifact from the Warehouse," she admitted, but smiled when Myka opened her mouth to admonish her. "It's been safely returned, with no harm done," she assured.
"What artifact could possibly allow me to see what you saw, and feel… everything that you felt?"
"The seat of a bicycle owned by Henry Molaison. The poor gentleman suffered a fall at the age of seven. He sustained severe brain damage in his left and right temporal lobes, and epilepsy was the outcome. They ultimately removed several portions of his brain, in an attempt to relieve his seizures, but his memory was severely impacted. The details are unimportant," Helena stated, waving her hand as she realized that she had begun to digress as a result of her trepidation. "The artifact allows one to pull events from the past and relive them. With some very cumbersome adjustments to the item's energy, I was able to develop a way to share them with you."
"Helena," Myka whispered, shaking her head, and gazing into her eyes with such heartfelt emotion, "we've wasted so much time. That was so long ago."
"I'm afraid I don't know which memory you bore witness to, darling. I incorporated quite a number of them into that little contraption," she enlightened.
"When we met after our talk at the cemetery," Myka told her, and then laughed softly. "When I told you that I'd known that you slipped that transmitter in my pocket."
Helena glowed. "That's one of my fonder memories, I do admit," she shared. "You've always been so very clever."
"I wish I'd known," Myka lamented quietly. "You were so…"
"Happy," Helena completed for her, smiling. "I was happy, Myka. You trusted me, and at that stage in my life, I knew no other truth. You were important to me then, as you always have been."
"Yeah, but – " Myka sighed dimly. "I remember that day, Helena. I remember being inexplicably just… furious with Pete for interrupting that moment between us. I already loved you, then," she said tearfully, and then she laughed. "It was so absurd. I remember thinking that it was impossible to love someone after so little time spent together, but I did. I loved you, then, Helena."
"And I, you," Helena said. "But you know that already," she smiled dotingly. "Myka," Helena moved closer to her, and cradled Myka's face in her hands. "This is what matters," she said, pressing a tender kiss against the corner of her partner's mouth. "This," she repeated, fully covering Myka's lips with her own in a kiss that bled with passion. "I like to view those memories as a more… undefined courtship," she smiled fondly. "Reflecting on them now, I can see that you had similar feelings – but we couldn't have known that then," she shook her head, doing her best to convince her companion. "We can't change what's already come to pass. I'd know more about that than anyone," she reminded. "But we're here now, Myka. Together. Wells and Bering on an entirely new adventure," she beamed vibrantly. "I didn't show you those things to inspire regret in the time that we lost, my darling girl. I showed you those memories so that you could know, with no uncertainty, how powerfully I feel for you."
"Oh, honey," Myka said, and Helena felt herself flutter at the use of the pet name, which she had, before that moment, always believed to be foolish. "I already knew. I feel it every time you look at me, now. But this?" Myka said, holding up her new favorite thing, so that Helena could see. "This is… more than anyone has ever done for me," she smiled warmly. "And I know how difficult it can be for you, at times, to be open about your feelings, so to share these memories with me… Helena, it means so much," she insisted.
"You mean so much more to me than that, Myka," Helena chided gently. "Imparting my memories with you is a meager price to pay if it allows you to understand the weight of my affections."
Myka raised her free hand to Helena's face, and stroked it with delicate fingers. When she spoke, it emerged with whispered determination. "I'm ready to go upstairs now. If this thing has revealed anything to me tonight," Myka began, looking down at the device in her hands, before shifting her gaze back to Helena's, "it's that we've already waited far too long for this. And I don't want to wait any longer. Helena," she beseeched, eyes full of love and desperation, "don't make me wait any longer."
Helena covered Myka's mouth with her own, penetrating her with a spreading thirst that Helena could no longer stave off. "We've restrained ourselves quite long enough, darling," she declared breathlessly against Myka's lips. "I have no desire to delay our passions any further."
"Then take me to bed, Helena."