Jane was dipping her feet into the water, making them dangle over the edge of the boat as the crew including their instructress were anchoring the ship. Not many had enrolled to the scuba diving lesson as most had wanted to do some sunbathing on the ship. In fact, only 10 out of the thousand guests had decided to go. The cruise would last three weeks, which meant that they probably just wanted to do a relax and some flirting by the pool bar. The bigger group had been split in two smaller ones, with each group getting their own boat and instructor.
She lazily lifted her eyes to glance to the brunetteinstructress – of course their instructresses had to be a female one for the gay cruise. A soft chuckle left her mouth as she saw Maura talking to her, giving the instructor advise how to handle the anchor. One hand was resting on the top of her sunhat to hold it firm against the breeze and the other was pointing to the device which was supposed to let the anchor into the water. Jane was no sails woman and hadn't been much on boats. Despite being invited to such trips several times, she had never used the opportunity for a sunny day on the sea. She was more of an air person as she loved to explain.
But this vacation was different. And it was different because of Maura. She loved and trusted her. This is very dangerous Rizzoli, she thought for a short moment, mentally walking through the dangers of heartbreak and bad feelings that came with breakups. But she had just to look at the doc to know, that she didn't need to worry. They were different in many ways, and yet such a match that it didn't go unnoticed wherever they went.
They had befriended another couple during their visit to the casino the previous night. And everybody in general wanted to be around them because quote: they spread so much love. Jane silently admitted to herself, that her life had gained quality since being with Maura. A lot in fact. Maura who knew everything and was a genius kept mesmerizing her.
And despite the rolling eye of the instructor, which made her laugh, she knew that Maura was knowing much better how to anchor the boat, than any crew member who had done it a million times before. It filled her with pride.
At the same time, Maura was able to fit in different roles and situations. It didn't matter what Maura wore; she was always beautiful. Jane had noticed how the casual clothes had sneaked their way into the elegant walk-in closet of Maura's bedroom. At first mainly because she had brought them, but by now she sometimes almost had to fight for her shirts and shorts. Well, she would fight if Maura wouldn't look so innocent and vulnerable in a pair of her shorts and a socks shirt. Especially when not wearing make-up like when going to bed or settling in in front of the TV for a movie night.
Jane was so deep in her thoughts that she almost fell off the boat when Maura said something to her from up close. She hadn't heard her coming. "They just don't want to hear my advice." The blonde complained with a pout and Jane grabbed her hand with a chuckle.
"You tried Maur. You can't help people who don't want to be helped."
She watched the doc cock her head to the left and pushed a strand of blonde hair out of the pensive face. "You're right." Maura said after a while of thinking. "You are very clever." She added and Jane smiled and gently kissed her. This would have been a great possibility to tease Maura with the fact that she had chosen this instructor. The other one was blonde. Jane would have preferred to go with her. So, when they couldn't decide which group to joint, they threw a coin and Maura won. Now they were stuck with the worst instructor on the planet.
It didn't take Jane long to understand all the vital information on scuba diving and she gladly dove ahead of the group with Maura always right by her side. She hoped that they would see some tortoises because she had promised the doc that there would be. At least it said so in the damn pamphlet. But so far, they had seen nothing spectacular, and their oxygen was already reaching a level where they needed to return to the boat.
I will make it up to her, Jane thought as they turned around to go back to the boat. And just like a miracle a swarm of tortoises swam by, right in front of their eyes. Big ones, middle sized ones and cute little babies. It was breathtaking. She could see Maura's smile reflected in the hazel eyes through the goggles.
"Wow!" she said as soon as they reached the boat again. "That was incredible."
"Yes. These creatures are so beautiful. I can't believe that we actually saw some. Thank you!" Maura's eyes were brimming with tears of joy and Jane felt the docs arms reaching around the neck for a hug. That was the moment that she decided that she would do it. She would ask Maura. She only had to work out a plan how to do so yet.
R&I
Upon returning to their cabin two hours later, Jane made her words true, that they would spend a lot of time in the bed. There was a point where she thought that this almost felt like a honeymoon already. And she hadn't even asked Maura to marry her yet.
"What's so funny?" the doc propped herself up onto her elbow and glanced at the pilot who suddenly chuckled. Jane shook her head and laughed a bit harder. "I'm sorry." She apologized, once finally being able to catch a breath and calm down. "I was just thinking of how this is like a honeymoon."
Maura studied her with serious eyes, looking for something, but Jane couldn't figure out for what. The doc suddenly nodded satisfied and moved back into her arms. The pilot was curious what she had thought but knew better than to ask. She didn't need to worry though, because Maura always thought nice things. And if she wanted Jane to know, she would tell her.
She let her hand stroke over the blonde hair and kissed the docs forehead. It was late afternoon, and they were feeling as relaxed as one can be. A sense of peace, Jane had never experienced before, flooded her and left a warm feeling. She didn't know how often they had told each other that they loved one another. Probably hundreds of times every day, yet it seemed to be never enough to express their feelings.
R&I
Later that day they were back to the deckchairs, Maura staring into the sky and Jane was checking something on her tablet. "I wonder what kind of plane this is." The doc stated pointing to a plane in the sky. Jane briefly glanced up and stated: "It's a 747" then she glanced back to the device in her hand.
Maura stared at her with an open mouth. "How would you know that?" she sounded clearly impressed and Jane turned the screen so that she could see the app which Frankie had used on 9/11. "Its written here." Jane pointed to the information that was filling the bottom of the screen. She chuckled when seeing disbelieve in Maura's face. "Not so impressive anymore huh?" she joked and earned a slap to her arm.
"You're cheating!" Maura accused her and Jane laughed. "No. I know that this might have been called voodoo in former times, but its pretty common nowadays to use these apps." She teased.
"No, I mean, we said no work and no work-related stuff during our vacation." The doc looked mighty serious, and Jane gave her a cheeky smile. "Says the woman who read a book to analyze her competitor." Maura gasped. "That's not work!" she exclaimed, and Jane chuckled. "Was it pleasure?"
Maura shook her head vehemently and rolled her eyes. "Oh no, reading this was no pleasure for sure. This man can't distinct between adjective and adverb and obviously isn't a big fan of fact checks." Maura made a disgusted face and Jane laughed before checking the time.
"Why don't we take a shower and get ready for dinner?" she suggested to her girlfriend who nodded in agreement. They still hadn't managed to find a straight way to the dining room for some reason. Hence it seemed reasonable to start their trip early so that they had no rush and could try to accomplish their unspoken mission to kiss in about every corner of the ship. And the ship had many corners.