Hephaestus stretched out on the deck and closed his eyes. He imagined himself becoming one with the boat, trying to concentrate on the way it lilted in the waves.

He loved being able to spend so much time with Aphrodite, especially now that she seemed to want to spend time with him, but he had become so used to spending most of his days alone that the constant social interaction had become exhausting. It still didn't make sense to him why Aphrodite was as eager as he was to start over, and, frightened making some kind of mistake that would change her mind, he had overloaded his brain trying to make everything perfect.

When she spoke, even just to make some offhand remark about beauty of the waves or a bird flying by, he would try to craft the perfect response. When he thought that she looked bored, he would try to craft the perfect way to distract her. Even when she kissed him, he would try to craft the perfect kiss in return. And it was only when she fell asleep in a lounge chair hours later that he was able to take a break.

He had never worked so hard to create something in his entire life.

Hephaestus's mind had turned to mush from all his effort. Now, he let himself go, and he visualized his spirit melting into the ship.

He could feel the boards joined together within him, the water brushing against him and buoying him to the surface, and the wind pushing him toward Cyprus. The boat didn't have to do anything – it just had to be. It wanted for nothing.

A ship never felt lonely, he thought. It always had the sea and the wind. And all a ship ever needed was the occasional repair.

Hephaestus sighed. That's what he needed – repair.

He turned his head and watched Aphrodite as she slept. Without doubt, he knew he loved her, but after everything she had done, he didn't know why. She had spent years practically ignoring him, even going as far as to bring other men into their bed – his bed. For some reason, that had become his bed when they decided to sleep in separate rooms. His only company as he slept for the last few decades had been the shadows of his wife's lovers.

But then… what he had done in revenge… the necklace he had tinkered with and given to Harmonia… and that robe... If Aphrodite ever found out what he had done, she would never want to see him again.

Yes, after that, she could sleep with whomever she wanted to until the end of time, and they would still be even. He sighed. Things could be worse, he thought - at least Harmonia didn't have those things anymore... and at least she never told her mother about them...

Just thinking about what Harmonia must have gone through made his heart grow so heavy he barely had the energy to move. Someday he would have to tell Aphrodite, but not now… not while everything between them was so fragile…

He closed his eyes and tried to melt into the ship again, escaping into the rocking motion over the waves.

How he missed swimming, he thought. When he was little, he would play in the surf all the time with Thetis and the other sea nymphs. When he swam, he could forget about his feet. On land, he had never been able to run, but in the water, he could swim faster than any of the nymph-children. In the water, he could do anything he wanted; in the water, he was free.

As he thought about his childhood, he realized he hadn't felt that free in a long time – not since he left home and came to Mount Olympus. But he had been married, and to Aphrodite, the most beautiful woman on earth… How had he never felt that free again?

And now, Aphrodite, the woman every man in Greece lusted after, the woman he had been in love with for so long, wanted to be with him, only him… Why did he not feel that free now?

"Hephaestus?" he heard Aphrodite mumble half-asleep. "Where did you go?"

Hephaestus rose from where he had been laying on the deck and went to her side. "I'm right here, my love."

"I dreamed you…" As she looked into his face, so grave with concern, she opened her eyes a little more and smiled. "But that doesn't matter. Hephaestus, this is going to sound strange, but I've missed you." She groggily tucked a lock of his hair out of his face.

"I've just been over there on the deck," he laughed. "I couldn't have gone very far."

"No, I mean… It's just that we've never spent time together like this… And… I guess saying that I missed you isn't right... Since we've never been together like this before… But I just couldn't think of a better way to put it."

After quick consideration, Hephaestus caressed the side of her face. "I can't either. I've missed you, too."

Hephaestus was just about to lean in and kiss her when he spotted a shadow on the horizon.

"We're here."