A/N: I'm back! Did you miss me? I think you guys are going to like this chapter. Thanks to all who gave this story a follow or favourite. I appreciate it!

The twenty-sixth day of autumn will always be the second best day of my life. This is because it was the day that I both almost died, and discovered something I now treasure. Obviously, the something that I now treasure largely outweighs the troubles of that particular day.

...At least in the present.

I was never happy that day. For the most part, I was fuming with unquelled rage. This was all of course, directed towards the valley's resident playboy, burglar, and possible wizard. The poor guy almost got murdered for real that day.

The fact that I was in such a state did nothing to make my day any easier. My dear, sweet horse decided to ditch me by running halfway across town when I forgot to remember that he was stricken with a lifelong fear of butterflies.

I was also forced to let Dr. Hardy give me a medical exam. Turns out, I had an extreme case of 'air in the head.' I needed to take better care of myself. He even gave me some vitamin gummies. I totally ate half the bottle, and it was a terrible idea. Most of my day was spend booking it to the bathroom, so I wouldn't wet my pants.

Due to the frequent interruptions, I wasn't able to get all my work done. I wasn't able to plant my last crop of potato seeds. Instead, I had to skip it to relocate Skye.

There was no way I was going to let him rob me again. I honestly didn't mind him fixing himself something to eat, but he went beyond that. He had to completely trash my kitchen, stripping it of half its ingredients.

But that wasn't what really enraged me. He could have trashed my kitchen, and gotten away with a well-earned scolding. The fact that he had lied to me is what made my temper soar.

I was offering the guy free room and board. The least he could do would be honest with me. Instead, he let my trust in him burn to a crisp. At the time, it resembled a burnt french fry.

This is why as I was wheelbarrowing him to the docks, I made sure to hit every pothole that gouged its way into the roads. The pile of hardcovers heaped over him served to muffle his curses. The Witch Princess' gleeful laughter trailed behind us, forcing me to shut her up every time she heard one of Skye's curses. Unlike me, she found nothing but amusement in the situation. I felt just about ready to kill the both of them right there and then.

"For the last time, my suffering is not amusing!"

"I'm... s-s-sorry!" the witch choked, before crumbling to the ground for about the fifth time since we had left the house. The look on her face said she was not sorry at all. She was actually having one of the best days of her immortal life.

I know because she told me so a year later.

"Yeah right," I muttered sarcastically, heaving the wheelbarrows' wheel through the stubborn sand before giving up. There was nobody besides us at the beach. As long as we were quick, we wouldn't run into any curious villagers. "Okay, we're here. I'm leaving this wheelbarrow in your questionable hands, Witch Princess."

The witch snorted with poorly contained laughter, before kicking the wheelbarrow to its side. She didn't seem to care that her book collection was full of sand. Skye got a mouthful of it, as he had sworn quite loudly as he fell. The witch was left cackling with laughter on her knees.

Sometimes, she can be kind of mean… in a good way… most of the time.

"Okay, Skye," I muttered, helping said thief up off of the ground. He then ineffectively brushed himself off, not able to defeat the stubborn grains. "To the rowboat!"

On cue, I dragged the cursing man down to the makeshift dock. The dock itself consisted of only a large, oversized log, placed there by an unknown force of nature. Embedded in the sand, it made a convenient dock, that being the very reason why I kept my old rowboat tied to it.

"I hope you like boats." I teased.

"You have a boat?" he asked.

I held out my arms towards the rowboat. "Yep. Hop in."

Sky hopped in quite uncomfortably, awkwardly trying not to slip and make a fool of himself. I followed soon after, pulling the paddles from the dock and pushing us off. Then, I handed the paddles to Skye, sat right across to him, stared him right in the eyes, and told him to start rowing.

He actually listened for once.

About twenty minutes in, I was not at all impressed. For a thief, he had terrible endurance.

"Are we done yet?" He huffed, still rowing diligently.

Weak.

"Keep rowing," I ordered with a smirk. "But you can slow down now, speed racer."

"Thank you, princess."

"No problem."

Skye started to look a bit uneasy. "By the way, is it normal for there to be an inch of water at the bottom of the boat…?"

"Totally," I shrugged. "Just make sure you use the tape under your seat if there's a hole or anything."

Some time later, when I was asleep, blissfully unaware of anything besides my twisted dreams, I was ever so rudely awoken by my current criminal in residence.

"Uh… Princess?" Skye said rather slowly, as if he were unsure of what to say.

Needless to say, I was not pleased with being pulled from my much needed slumber. I kept my eyes closed, hoping to get some sleep after he said whatever it was he needed to say.

"What is it Skye?" I snapped.

"The boat is sinking." He replied. My first thought was that he was trying to get back at me for kicking him out of my house and making him row.

"No, it isn't. You can't scare me," I grumbled, pressing my cheek against the damp, wooden seat. "Jerk."

"The boat is sinking!" He repeated, raising his voice.

I cracked my weary eyes open… and screamed… very loudly, "OH SWEET HARVEST GODDESS!"

PLEASE DON'T BLAST ME!

There was water in my boots. There was water in my hair. There was water everywhere.

"Why didn't you wake me!?" I yelled.

"You said it was normal!" Skye yelled back, just about as panicked as I was.

"This is not normal!"

"That's not what you said earlier!" he hollered, as he tried desperately to scoop the water out with his shoes. We were sinking by the second. You'd think the guy would've had the sense to wake me up earlier.

"I said to use the tape!" I cried, holding my head in terror.

Skye held up the dripping tape roll. "The tape was wet!"

"What are we going to do now!?" I screamed, losing my boot to the ocean in an attempt to get the soggy boot off and help Skye get rid of the water.

He looked me dead in the eyes. "I don't know!"

"I can't swim!" I cried, hitting the water with the palms of my hands, splashing about like a child.

If it was possible for Skye to be even more panicked, he was. "Then why the hell do you even own a boat!"

"I need one to get to my island!" I defended, frantically scooping water out of the boat with the palms of my hands. The effort was sadly futile. The boat was now almost completely filled with water, which was increasing along with my terror.

"Jill," Skye started, for once actually calling me by name.

"What?" I snapped.

"I'm so sorry my dearest, but today, you're going to have to learn."

And how was that supposed to-

With strength I didn't know he possessed, Skye threw me over his shoulder. Obviously, I wasn't too pleased with that.

"SKYE!" I hollered, beating on his back with everything I had. "Let me down right this instant!"

So there we were, me strung across Skye's shoulders, screaming like a madwoman, while he stood there in a sinking boat with a dumbass look on his face. I was certain I was having the worst day of my life. Skye actually was. He never did find out why that day was so great.

"Jill!" Skye called, trying to get my attention.

I continued screaming bloody murder.

"Jill!" he repeated.

"What is it now?!"

"Are there any lifejackets?!"

I'm such an idiot.

"Uh-yes!" I stuttered. My teeth had started chattering worse than the day the Harvest King gave my merry, little house a visit all those years ago. "There should be one underneath my seat!"

"Any others?" He continued.

"...Just one!"

Skye swore under his breath, before sitting me down on the submerging seat. "Stay there!"

With quick reflexes, Skye was able to slip the me-sized life jacket from under my seat. Without asking, he thrust my arms through the holes, snapping the singular clip together without bothering to zip the jacket up.

Then, without any warning whatsoever, I was thrown overboard.

I screamed, closing my eyes in terror. Yes, if I wasn't so terrified, this would be the day that Skye would have gotten himself murdered.

The water hit me like a brick. It was so cold, I thought it would kill me on the spot.

"Skye!" I hollered, not opening my eyes due to them being covered in cold, salty water. "Why did you do that?! We're going to die for sure now!"

I was not unfamiliar with the dangers of hypothermia. Being the target of the town's worries during winter meant that I was always, always warned of having my fingers drop off like they were made of lead. I was not thankful to the villagers for filling me with so much more terror at that moment.

Soon enough, I heard a splash beside me.

It was Skye… obviously. But at the moment, I thought it might have been something terrifying like I don't know… the Kraken… a whale shark?

"I-it's only in the distance!" He spoke through chattering teeth. "Just hold on!"

Suddenly, I was tugged forward. I thrust my neck up to avoid chugging down a mouthful of salt water. But I didn't dare open my eyes. It wasn't like I could do much anyways. All I could do was kick, doggy paddle, and hope that I was helping Skye move in the right direction.

That day, I actually wished that Mayor Thomas was around. It sure would have helped to have an Olympic swimmer on our side that evening. The guy did brave a river just to save my plastic dog ball once. Surely, it would have helped to have him around.

But I wasn't completely alone, because, by pure willpower, Skye was able to lug our sorry souls to the shore of my private island, a good few meters away from my row boat's wreckage site.

My poor, dear boat. It would be truly missed. So would my boot.

Maybe Leia can find it?

Leia was after all, a mermaid. Though I wouldn't trouble her with my problems… I totally wanted Leia and Daryl to hook up. Funny… At that time in my life, I was more focused on other people's love lives than my own. I guess you couldn't blame me with my options…

Eventually, I was pulled out of my thoughts by my bare feet skimming the slimy rocks around my island shore. As we pulled each other to shore, we kept close together, both for warmth and balance. I swore that if I didn't die from hypothermia, I would die from cracking my head open like Humpty Dumpty.

After pulling ourselves up from the dock using the last of our strength, we collapsed to our knees, breathing heavily.

"H-h-hey," I stuttered, becoming increasingly aware of the cold air. "W-we're alive…"

Skye didn't answer me. He just stared at the dock, shuddering.

"H-hey…" I prodded, starting to get worried. After all, I only half wanted the guy dead.

Skye had always been, at least in my eyes, a rather unpredictable fellow. He was the type of guy that could lie with a straight face, show no shame whatsoever when he definitely should, and flirt with you when you threaten to kill him.

He also wasn't afraid to hug the woman who threatened to kill him. Instead of answering me, that was exactly what he did; hug me.

"H-hey," I repeated for the third time since we had reached the dock. Awkwardly, I returned the hug with a very, very brief squeeze. It was null in comparison to his literal bear hug. "Are y-you alright? We h-have to get inside now…"

We were both shivering like leaves. Through his soaked, button-down shirt, I could tell he was chilled to the bone. I was likely just as bad. We had to get inside.

Yet I couldn't help but notice during our hug that one of us was holding on much tighter than the other.

A/N: So, how was it? Please let me know your thoughts. I haven't had any reviews in a while and I want to know. Though in the meantime, I'll still keep posting chapters. There's no way I'm stopping now.