Flora wasn't in nearly good enough physical shape to row so far the next day. Jaime took one of the oars and helped her.
"You don't have to do that." She told him, in spite of being exhausted already.
"Why do you do that?" Jaime asked, refusing to give the oar back to her. "Why do always pretend you don't want any help, even when you need it?"
"I don't need help. I can do this." She said firmly.
"Maybe you can, but you do know that friends are supposed to help each other don't you?" He asked her, trying a new approach just this once.
"Friends?" She asked, a little taken aback. "But I thought…."
"No don't stop there. Tell me, what is it that you thought? That we can't be friends?" Jaime asked.
"On the ship you were angry with me for being afraid." Flora said somewhat bitterly.
"Not exactly." Jaime said. "I was annoyed with how you were handling your fears. I was angry that there was nothing I could do to help you, that's all. Is that what's been bothering you these past few weeks?"
She nodded. "Yes, and I was confused because you continued to keep Hyle away from me even though I thought you were angry with me. I didn't know why you would do that unless I really am nothing more than a guide to your sword."
He sighed. "I must admit. since you told of that sword and what you have seen me do with it, I have thought of little else. But perhaps it's not too late to still be friends."
Flora nodded again. "I would like that." She said and she allowed Jaime to help her row the boat the rest of the distance.
When they reached the cliffs where the sword ought to be, Jaime took off his boots and the sword he wore as well as his golden hand. The water was rough as crashed against the side of the cliff. Flora would have to row the boat away if the tide brought it too close to the cliff face.
"You can swim in this kind of water?" Flora asked him worriedly.
Jaime grinned back at her. "That friendship thing worked rather quickly. I do believe you're worried about me."
"I am being serious." Flora said, ignoring his jokes. "The water looks dangerous."
"I used to dive off the cliffs of Casterly Rock into the sea as a boy. This is nothing." He said, and he dove out of the boat into the water.
Flora waited with trepidation for nearly two minutes before he resurfaced. He gasped for breath, then swam over to the rowboat and grabbed the side to keep himself afloat. "It's a long way down to the bottom here. I might have jumped off the roof of the building up there and been just fine. I probably would have done so without even thinking about it as a boy."
"But you didn't find anything?" She asked him.
"Not yet. I'll try again."
Jaime spent most of the day in the water, diving below the surface again and again. Each he came up with nothing and each time he became more discouraged than the last. After a while he got hungry and he climbed into the boat to have some food.
"What if we go back to the rooftop?" Flora suggested. "I could show you exactly where Tommen fell and you could jump from there."
"That might work if the wind is the same." Jaime shrugged.
"It has to work." Flora said.
"You'll have row back here by yourself to get me. There's no way I can go ashore here." He said.
"I can do that." Flora said.
"Alright. I'll make one more dive after I eat and if that doesn't work we'll go back to the rooftop." Jaime said resolutely."
"Maybe not," Flora said. "Look at those clouds. It's going to rain any moment."
The clouds had come in rather suddenly, as did the rain. Jaime took one of the oars and they headed back the way they had come. The rain was coming down hard and there was soon an inch or two of water in the boat.
"Let's go ashore there." Jaime pointed out a patch of beach in the distance as they rounded the cliff. It wasn't where they needed to end up but it was better than a boat full of rain. By the time they made it ashore, Flora was as wet as Jaime was.
"It's not going to stop anytime soon is it?" She commented at the waded ashore. One look around made it clear that there was no shelter anywhere nearby, only more cliffs further back on the beach.
"No, but we could flip the boat over and take shelter underneath."
She nodded agreement and helped him drag the boat out of the water and far beyond the tidal lines at the base of the cliff. He turned the boat onto its side. "Lie down there." He said and she did. Then he lay down next to her and eased the boat down over top of them.
It was a tight fit underneath the boat and the two of them were forced to lie closer together than they ever had before. They had to be on their sides facing one another and in order to make room or maybe just to make them comfortable, Jaime put his arms around her and hugged her. Flora was glad that the pounding rain on the boat was louder than her racing heart. She was glad for the darkness too or he might have noticed how flushed her cheeks were at the closeness. No one had hugged her in years. It felt so good to be hugged that she had to bite her lip to keep from crying.
"Are you alright Flora?" Jaime asked her.
"I'm fine." She said, somehow managing to keep her voice steady. "I'm good."
