Last warning. Spoilers ahead!
Of all the scenes in the movie, the one where they're underwater is by far my favorite. I knew I had to tell this story from the perspectives of one of them but I couldn't decide so I went with both, starting with Frank because believe it or not, it was easier.
Yes, this is the same story from AO3. I write there as well.
La Luna Rota. I had passed by it before when I had been charting the river but I hadn't looked too closely. If I had, perhaps my curse could have been broken years ago. Then again if I had, I would have never met Lily.
'Speaking of which...'
I had jumped back into the water but Lily had gotten about as far as dangling a single foot into the water. She was clinging to the edge of La Quila and looked like she wanted to change her mind.
"Come on Lily. You can do this." I held up my hand to her, waiting for her to grab hold of me first. I was fairly certain that if I tried to grab her, she'd run for the other end of the boat and I'd have to convince her to get in all over again.
I waited patiently as she took a couple of deep breaths and finally grabbed hold of my hand, easing her legs and bottom off the edge of the boat and into the water. When she splashed down, I grabbed around her waist to keep her from going under right away without me. Her arms instantly came up to secure around my shoulders.
"It's okay. It's okay." I had to close my eyes from all the water Lily was splashing around. Despite this, I continued to tread water and hold her upright. She seemed to settle down a bit so I thought the best thing was to just get under the water as soon as possible before she tried to change her mind again. "Here we go."
"I'm not..." Unfortunately, Lily seemed to either feel me tense up or wasn't as settled as I thought because the next thing I knew, she was thrashing for dear life, practically pushed my head under the water. "No, no! Wait a minute!"
I kicked my legs more, held on tighter even as she almost pushed my head underwater, knowing that if I dropped her now; best case she'd want to get back on the boat. Sadly, with all the kicking I must have kicked her foot because she started to scream,
"Something just touched my foot, Frank!" She started pushing on my shoulders almost climbing up my back.
"It's okay, it's okay." I keep my voice even and steady. Lily needed to know she was safe. 'She can trust me this time.' "It was my foot."
Finally, I saw her start to take some calming breaths.
Her eyes were still wide as saucers but she muttered an apology and I told her it's okay. That I've got her. "I'm very scared."
I thought of all the times on the trip here I wanted to see her frightened like this. To make her want to give up and turn back. This Lily wasn't the one I'd grown used to. This Lily was shaking. This Lily wanted to turn back. This Lily was all wrong I needed to help her be the Lily I knew. The Lily I was... 'No... Now's not the time for that...'
"It's okay. Breathe." I looked her in the eyes as I took a deep breath in and out until she mimicked the action. Watching her eyes; her face I saw Lily - the real Lily - come back. This scared person in Lily's body was still in front of me but Lily was in there somewhere. This time I asked before diving under, "Ready?"
She took another deep breath and nodded once. "Yes."
Lily shifted onto my back as a swam away from La Quila and closer to where I'd seen the chamber. I looked back at Lily one more time, taking a deep breath and holding it, encouraging her to do the same. Without any more hesitation or warning, we dove below the surface to the lever chamber underneath.
It only took me a few kicks to get there and I pointed it out to Lily who, I had to give credit, seemed a lot calmer than she was before... Or so I thought. I pointed she should go in and she shook her head no. So, I nodded my head and mimed pulling down the lever because I knew she could do it. She'd shown me time and again how strong and persistent she was. And if it was harder than it looked, well... 'We could always come back up and get some rope or something from the boat.'
I watched as Lily mustered her courage and climbed into the compartment. She took one step, then another... The stone bars swung shut. The opening that once couldn't fit half of me, now couldn't fit any of Lily. I tried to stop it from shutting. I tried to grab it, hold it open, anything, but it closed too fast. I had to get her out of there. It was my fault she was in there to begin with. I told her it would be safe. I told her she would be okay. I wasn't going to let this happen to her! I couldn't let her get stuck in there! She could- No! Lily was going to be okay. Because this time I would save her.
Lily was reaching through the stone bars and I could see on her face the panic already starting to set in. First things first. Air. Lily needed air now! I grabbed onto her hand and reached for the back of her head trying to draw her close; to give my air to her.
And she smacked me in the face. 'Dammit woman, don't you realize we don't have time for this!' I held up my hands in surrender, silently asking that she would try to understand what I was trying to do. I mimed my mouth to hers, my air to her, and signaled for her to come closer. This time she came forward, closer to the bars, to me.
I waited for her to press her lips to mine and blew every last bit of air I had in me into her. I part of me wanted to make sure she was okay. That she wasn't still panicked and desperate to escape. But I need to get her more air now! Without so much as a look back, I headed for the surface to take another deep breath and when I got back down before I even reached the box Lily's hand shot out and grabbed me by the head...
And pulled me into the stone bars. I will not deny that that was painful. It was a good thing I couldn't get concussed anymore. Lily's face had a look of apology and I knew it wasn't her fault. I should have been faster. She grabbed my head again, pulling me in and pulling me close. This time when our lips touched, she practically sucked the air out of me. I need to be faster next time. I was letting her down again and this time that couldn't happen.
I rushed back to the surface as fast as I could swim. 'I'll be back Lily, just hang on ...' And that's when the piranha surrounded me. I couldn't get away. I couldn't move. It was like I was in one of those meat grinders I'd read about, blades on all sides, digging into my skin, trying to take pieces off me. I let out a yell, no air in my lungs, my mouth filled with water, the sound muffled.
And all I could think at that moment was about Lily. What would happen to her? Was Lily going to drown because of me? Did I get her killed? I'd forced her to get in the water, told her to go in that prison, that it would be safe. I needed to do something, get away from this murderous fish somehow. I couldn't think of what to do. When piranha swarm they don't just give up. Even if I were to get away, they could go for Lily. What could I-?
No sooner had I thought it than they left. I heard a lot of loud noise coming from the water all around and when I looked up, I realized the water level was falling. I broke for the surface, the last of the fish finally swimming away, and got my bearings. Immediately, I headed for the stone box and Lily, praying to whatever god would hear me that she was okay.
It was Lily after all. For all I knew she'd be standing there in the middle gasping for air and looking mad at me.
Of course, I wasn't that lucky. Instead of standing she was laying, face down in the water. Instead of looking at me angrily, she was... I swallowed the lump in my throat. The top of the prison had opened and I didn't hesitate to climb in and reach for her. 'Dios, she was still warm.' I had to get her out of there. Out of that place that tried to kill her. 'The boat.' She'd be safe back on the boat. She'd be okay there.
I scooped her up in one arm and pulled us out with the other. When I moved her I felt her chest heave and the heard the sound of water coming out of her mouth. But she hadn't opened her eyes or moved much more than that. I'd lived a long life. I'd seen people die before. I knew a body could still move even if it had no spirit anymore. 'No.' Lily was okay. She had to be okay. I swam back to La Quila as quickly as I could while making sure her head didn't so much as touch the water again.
She still didn't wake up. I laid her out on the bench on the stern of the boat.
"Lily!" 'Come on.' She was supposed to be okay now. I saved her from that cage. That was why I brought her back her. Because here was safe so Lily needed to be safe now. She needed to wake up. I needed her to wake up and smile at me in that annoying know-it-all way she always does.
I started to shake her shoulders. "Come on. Come on. Come on." 'You can't be dead . Not when we're this close. Not after everything we'd been through. Don't do this to me. You can't. Don't leave. Not now.' I started tapping her on the sides of her ribs and arms. Anything to get her to open her eyes. I patted the sides of her face. ' Come on Lily. You can't go now. Not when I'm starting to fall in lo-'
She made a wet coughing sound, her eyes flying open and fixed on me... and proceed to slap me. Hard. On the cheek, no less. She was saying something with a very angry tone and she pushed my shoulder but, in all honesty, I didn't care because-
"You're alive." She could've hit me fifty more times and I don't think I would've really minded right now. I clearly owed some deity out there a thank you.
She was on her feet and all I wanted to do was hug her, make sure that she was real and that I wasn't hallucinating. But she stepped back away from me and out of reach, her whole body a ball of fury. I realized I should try to pay attention to what she was saying. "How could you leave me?"
Wait what? No, I saved her. I didn't leave her. Wait, did she think I left her? That I would leave her down there to drown? Why on earth would I do that? She needed to know. I had to get her to understand. More than anything, she needed to live. I needed her to live.
"I didn't... I didn't leave you." It occurred to me she probably didn't know about the murderous fish.
"There was a lot of fish down there." Honestly, getting munched on by a bunch of piranha had to be some kind of payback for all the years I'd had them for dinner.
"What?!" Funny. I thought I explained it pretty well. Why did Lily still look and sound angry at me? "Fish Frank." Oh. That would be why.
"There were a lot of piranhas. They were coming at me." She still seemed mad. Why was she still angry at me? Honestly, I don't know what I could have done differently. 'Did she really think I'd just leave her there to die? Does she really have that low an opinion of me? I thought we were finally passed this.'
"I saved you. Look." I tried to show her the bites along my skin but she'd turned away from me.
"Don't even look at me." She stomped off to the other end of the boat, probably to get dressed.
"Fine." I knew at that point nothing I would have said would have convinced her that I had done everything I could to keep her safe so I went to get my shirt and hat back on and let both of us cool down.
'What was I doing? ' I needed to get it together. It's not like she knew what I had started to realize. And after all the lies and tricks I'd put her through, I had no right to ask anything from her. Not for her trust, not for her affection. None of it. I was going to rest when we got the tears anyway. If anything, her being angry at me, showing me she didn't trust me just proved it was my time. That I was done with this world. I'd finished with it a long time ago.
'I'm ready.'