Cinder felt like she was floating, resting on a bed of clouds, her every earthly concern left far behind. Her every thought, every worry, every pain, washed away, replaced by the soft comfort of the sun shining down on her. The sunlight held her so gently, caressed her, left her nerves tingling in its wake as it followed the curves of her body. It was everything, and she was nothing; nothing but the sensations it awoke in her, the heat that rose in response to that soft light, that built higher and higher as it trailed closer to her core.

"Ruby-"

"Does that feel good?" The sun whispered to her, voice low and husky. "I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing here so… just let me know if I accidentally do anything you don't like, okay?"

The best response Cinder could manage was a shaky nod, fearing her voice would just give out if she tried speaking. Still though, even if it was strange and unfamiliar, and even if she was too embarrassed to open her eye and actually see what was happening to her, she knew that she definitely liked it.

The light rolled against her, like waves crashing in and then receding, and involuntarily she began to match those motions, her hips rocking in shaky circles. It was strange to feel so little control, her body moving on its own, dancing beneath the sunlight. She was a passenger, no need to think, to consider, just to experience. To love, and be loved.

"Ruby," she gasped out once more, not entirely sure what she even wanted to say, what she really wanted to communicate, but all the same knowing that she just wanted to be heard.

"It's okay, I've got you," the sun whispered once more, and deep inside some primal part of Cinder's mind understood its word to be the absolute truth. She felt safe, secure, in a way she so rarely did. Everything was okay, she was okay, right now there was no need for any of those worries she'd discarded. "You're so beautiful, you know Cinder? Your body, the way you're moving, the sounds you're making. I don't know how I held out for so long."

Heat rose in her cheeks at that, a heat entirely separate to the one that was consuming the rest of her body. She did her best to focus on that second heat, liquid and roiling in the pit of her stomach, its intensity growing by the second as it set her every nerve alight. It was just so much, too much perhaps; being stoked to ever greater heights by the sun's touch until it threatened to consume everything she was with its molten purity, if she would only allow it to.

She felt a hint of trepidation, of fear, but then she remembered that she was safe, that the one watching over her would never allow her to come to harm. And so, she let that molten heat wash over her, a tidal wave of sheer burning sensation, a volley of explosions that filled her vision, a shattering of tension she didn't even realise had been consuming her. And through it all, the sun held her close, watched over her, whispered gently to her, cared for her. She was everything, and she was nothing; and when her body finally cooled off and her senses returned to normal it was all that she could do to slowly open her lone eye and utter a single word.

"Wow."

Waking up the next morning proved to be a challenge. It had been quite late by the time Cinder actually made it to sleep, and on top of that she just felt so incredibly comfortable, that when the first rays of morning sunlight began to shine in through the bedroom window, her immediate reaction was to bury her face deeper into Ruby's chest and hide from it.

She almost succeeded in drifting right back off to sleep with that strategy, was right on the verge of doing so actually, before a stray thought drifted into her head and made her snap wide awake.

Hey, Ruby isn't wearing any clothes.

It took her about a second to fully process that yeah, that was true, she was currently pressing her face right into Ruby's uncovered chest, and then from there it was only a matter of time before her tired brain reminded her of exactly what the two of them had done last night. How she'd accidentally admitted her feelings, the first kiss, the… well, many kisses after that, and then the uh… well… the things that were making her cheeks burn bright red every time she even thought about them.

Cautiously, she pulled her head back and slowly opened her eye, only to come face to face with Ruby, who was unfortunately already awake and staring down at her with a soft smile. Cinder's cheeks grew just a bit hotter as she realised that Ruby knew exactly where her face had been buried just a few seconds before, and she quickly wracked her brains in an effort to come up with something to say that wouldn't embarrass her any more than she already had.

"Hey," ended up being all she could think of, and if she were honest she wasn't entirely sure if that fit the criteria or not.

"Morning," Ruby's voice was tired, but layered with so much soft affection that it made Cinder's heart skip several beats, "Did you sleep well?"

"Uhh… yeah, I did." In Cinder's defence, she was very tired and having trouble thinking, and also not great at talking at the best of times.

"That's good…" Ruby trailed off after that, letting her gaze flick off to the side as if unsure about something, before meeting Cinder's eye once more. "I just wanted to check… was everything last night okay? We didn't really talk much, just kinda rushed from one thing to another, and I just wanted to make sure… that was all something you wanted, you didn't feel pressured or anything?"

"Yes!" Cinder answered practically immediately, doing her best to stave off the shot of embarrassment she felt at the admission. "I definitely wanted it, and… y'know, it was good. I… liked it."

Ruby's smile grew wider. "I'm glad. I liked it too." She paused for a moment, carefully moved her hand to cup Cinder's cheek, then leaned in and pressed a small, gentle kiss to her lips.

Cinder groaned as their lips met, feeling needy in a way she hadn't even realised until right this second, then let out a very embarrassing whine when Ruby pulled back after only a second or so.

That, of course, earned her a soft giggle from Ruby. "Y'know, I'd really love to just stay here with you all day, but I do think I just heard Dad finishing up making some breakfast out there, and it's made me realise that I'm really, really hungry."

Sad as the idea of getting up made her, Cinder did have to agree that, now that she started thinking about it, she was pretty desperate for something to eat too. So, the pair went through the process of exiting bed, taking turns to have a shower (the idea of showering together crossed Cinder's mind, but honestly she didn't think her heart could take quite yet that after how embarrassing she'd already found everything so far), and then meeting Taiyang for breakfast.

It seemed he'd made pancakes for them all to share, and the three quickly settled into some idle chatter as they all ate together. Part of Cinder still couldn't believe everything that had happened over the course of last night, and she found her eyes constantly being drawn to Ruby, who seemed to be drawn to her in the exact same way, smiling sheepishly back at her every time their eyes met. Cinder felt warm inside, warm and… happy. It really felt like everything was more okay than it had been for a long time in her life.

And of course that was exactly when Taiyang chose to clear his throat and make an announcement. "So, I just wanted to make sure the two of you were aware," he spoke slowly, choosing his words carefully, "That certain walls in the house are a little thin. And because of that, certain… bedroom activities end up being quite audible to people in other parts of the house who may be, for example, trying to sleep at the time."

Despite coming very close to dying from sheer shame and embarrassment at breakfast that morning, Cinder managed to hold herself together and thankfully made a swift recovery. The rest of that day, and the next few actually, felt a little like a dream. Cinder just couldn't shake this… giddy feeling, all warm happiness and butterflies in her stomach, it followed her constantly, and only intensified whenever she thought about Ruby. Or looked at Ruby, or heard Ruby's voice, or touched Ruby, or kissed Ruby, or… well, you get the idea.

The two of them still hadn't gotten round to actually talking their whole situation over, still hadn't figured out what exactly they were to each other now, what it would mean for their futures. It was the kind of conversation where Cinder really knew that it needed to happen, that she should bring it up at some point, but, well, it always just felt kinda easier to put it off. And, it wasn't quite urgent just yet, for the moment the two of them were perfectly happy to just spend these days together, indulging in all the gentle affection they'd both been desperate for for such a long time.

It wasn't just cuddles and kisses over the course of those days though. With their departure fast approaching, Cinder elected to knuckle down and get to work on the new outfits she'd promised to make for the both of them to wear over in Vacuo. The actual sewing ended up not being all that challenging, especially now that she had her little "making a new arm" trick so that she could do everything by herself (She still got Ruby to help her because she wanted to spend as much time together as possible). Really the trickiest bit was just coming up with the designs for the both of them, figuring out something that could be stylish and suit them, while also bearable to wear in the desert.

For her part, her semblance allowed her to handle pretty much any temperature that the desert could throw at her, which gave her a lot of freedom in terms of what she could wear. It did seem sensible to dress at least somewhat for the occasion, though, so she stuck to light, breathable fabric and flowing designs that would keep her skin covered from the sun. She also decided that she'd grown too attached to wearing a cape at this point, so that made a return, albeit with some modifications (a hood was added which was definitely a practical concern and not at all inspired by Ruby). Oh, and she decided to bring a bit more red back into her colour scheme, as well as some small silver accents alongside her usual gold (this was also a practical concern and nothing to do with Ruby, definitely).

For Ruby, Cinder decided not to stray too far from the girl's typical style, she seemed way too attached to the whole cloak + corset + combat-skirt + boots combo to switch things up now. The focus, then, was on getting that setup at least somewhat ready for the desert. As with Cinder's outfit, light, breathable, and covering was the name of the game, alongside a few other tricks she'd learnt over the course of her research into Vacuan fashion to help beat the heat. Also, she added a little gold, because… look she liked the idea of Ruby wearing it shut up.

She'd always enjoyed making clothes, even if it was something she didn't get to indulge in all that often. Now though, it was somehow… more, somehow better. There was no pressure, no real necessity even if they would soon be useful. It was something she could just relax with, just lose herself in those easy, repetitive rhythms, just create something that she would love. Ruby being there helped, of course. Her earnest excitement and joy at seeing the outfits come together little by little was positively infectious, and, well, it probably went without saying that her presence alone could brighten up any room.

She truly was a sun, so bright sometimes Cinder felt as if she could hardly even look at her.

One particular night found Cinder and Ruby sitting together on the couch, watching a bright, cheerful animated movie. It was something that Ruby had apparently really loved back when she was growing up, and had insisted that they watch together once she heard that Cinder had never seen it. It was fun so far, though honestly Cinder was having a little trouble following everything that was going on; she'd never really been one for watching movies at the best of times, and right now she was feeling more than a little distracted by the very cute girl sitting next to her.

They were still yet to have that talk they really needed to have (look, Cinder was getting to it, alright?), but Cinder had definitely already realised what she wanted the answer to it all to be. She wanted to be together with Ruby, properly and completely. Wanted to be… well, girlfriends she supposed. That wasn't exactly a surprise, but it was at the very least nice to have her thoughts on the matter all in order. Now it was just a matter of making sure Ruby felt the same way.

The main obstacle that was standing in the way of all this, as far as she could see, was that she had absolutely no relationship experience, and thus no idea of how she was really supposed to act. Like, she knew that ostensibly she was meant to be romantic but… how does one actually do that? It was a question that had been increasingly consuming her thoughts over the course of the day, but luckily she had the power of Vale's CCT on her side, with answers only a quick search away.

So, just a little earlier, she'd pulled out her scroll, searched 'How do I romance a cute girl' and then thoroughly studied the answers that she found. There were a lot of different tips out there, but she'd managed to find a few that seemed as if they'd be helpful. Now, it was just a matter of putting them into practice; and conveniently, one of them was even specifically for use when watching a movie

Cinder had been trying to work her courage up to try it out pretty much since they sat down together, and now she finally felt like she might be ready. Just… just one more second to steel herself, a couple more deep breaths, aaand… okay, she lifted her arm up above her head, as if stretching it out, and then slyly lowered it down across Ruby's shoulders.

Ruby glanced over, seemingly a little surprised, but then gave a soft smile and wordlessly snuggled up against her.

Success! Cinder managed to play it real cool externally, of course, and definitely didn't start blushing very hard as soon as Ruby leaned into her, but internally was celebrating about as hard as she could possibly manage. She'd done it! And it had worked! It turned out that advice sourced from random people online was completely flawless!

That just meant that she should move on to the second tip as soon as possible, clearly. This was one she'd been a little more unsure about, it seemed perhaps a bit more embarrassing than just casually wrapping your arm around your partner, but while she was still riding the high from that first success she figured she should just go for it. The tip in question was, of course, to make use of some kind of cutesy pet name. Simple, really.

"Hey… uhm," Cinder paused as Ruby looked over to her, suddenly realising that she'd spoken up before actually deciding what to say. The site she'd found this one on had listed a few different examples, such as honey-pie or cupcake, but none of those really felt quite right. Surely she could come up with something better than that, it's not like it could be that hard, right? Just… something sweet. Something cute. Something… "Uh… sugar… butt?"

Ruby stared at her blankly for a few seconds. Then, slowly, she reached over for the TV's remote control, paused the movie, looked back over to Cinder, and promptly burst into a fit of giggles. "Cinder, what," she struggled to actually get the words between her laughs, "What was that?"

Cinder could feel her cheeks burning with embarrassment. Clearly she hadn't thought this through anywhere near enough. "Uh, just… just forget it."

"No, wait," Ruby shifted a little closer to Cinder, her laughter now at least a little under control. "Did you just call me sugarbutt? Because that's adorable."

"Oh… it is?" Cinder noticeably perked up.

"Yeah, I mean, maybe a bit strange but," Ruby slipped her hand up to cup Cinder's cheek, "Very, very cute."

Cinder's cheeks began to burn once more, though this time for a very different reason to embarrassment, and when Ruby leaned closer to press a light kiss to her lips she gratefully accepted. And then, when they broke apart, she couldn't help herself but to lean right back in, to chase after Ruby's lips in search of another kiss, and then another, and another. Soon Ruby had slipped up onto her lap, straddling her hips and meeting her in a long chain of increasingly messy and needy kisses.

"Though," Ruby breathed out in one of the brief moments when their lips were apart, "You don't need to try so hard, you're always very, very cute, after all."

A small whimper escaped from Cinder's throat at that, almost immediately swallowed up by Ruby as she leaned in for yet another kiss. At this point, the movie had long since been forgotten, and they spent the rest of that night together there on the couch, wrapped up in one another's arms, sharing once more in their love, affection, and desire.

More days slipped by, blurring together into a comfortable, peaceful haze, where all that mattered was that the two of them were together. But this little holiday away from the rest of the world couldn't last forever, and soon their deadline loomed before them. Their trip to Vacuo, with all the trouble that would entail, had been arranged by Glynda. The details were set in stone, and it was only a few days away. And then it was only a couple of days away. And then it was tomorrow. And then they only had one final night remaining.

Cinder and Ruby lay together out in the yard, amidst the grass and the weeds, staring up at the sky as the first stars of the night began to show themselves. It was beautiful out here, on the island, relaxing amidst the calm embrace of nature. The idea that she would have much of a future at all, between Salem and… well, everything, was still hard for Cinder to really believe, but all the same she found herself hoping that maybe one day she and Ruby could come visit here again.

Or perhaps they could find a new place, somewhere out there in the world; a place like this that could be all their own, where they could just enjoy the peace and indulge in one another. She was reminded of the future she'd envisioned for them back when they'd been travelling here on the boat, of the two of them settling down and making a home together. It was a future that seemed more in reach now than ever, even if there were still many obstacles standing between it and them.

Most immediately there was that conversation they still really needed to have, deciding what exactly they were, how they would move forward. It was just… hard to know how to really broach the topic.

Cinder slowly let her head roll to the side, her gaze falling away from the night sky down to the woman laying beside her. Ruby looked so stunning, her silver eyes still fixed heavensward, lips pursed and brow furrowed. She was probably thinking about the same things as Cinder right now, about what to say, what to do.

It seemed neither really knew how to start this talk, and so Cinder resolved to just… do her best, to try and make sure Ruby truly understood her feelings. She took a deep breath, and then asked a simple question. "Do you believe in destiny?"

Ruby seemed to stiffen just a touch, though whether it was from surprise at the sudden question, or something else, Cinder couldn't say. Quickly though, she rolled over onto her side, so that her eyes could meet Cinder's, looking at her searchingly for a moment before answering. "No, I don't think I do."

"Ah," Cinder breathed, turning the answer over in her head. "I do, I have for a long time. But I think I've been wrong about what mine was until just recently." Carefully, she reached out her hand, as Ruby reached out in kind to meet her, their fingers gently lacing together. "I used to think it was the maiden powers, becoming stronger, all of that. But now, I think that this is it. Meeting you, accepting your help, falling for you. I think… I'd like to believe that this was all meant to be, that this was my destiny all along. At the very least, I can't imagine anything that would feel more right for me than being at your side, right here and now."

"Cinder," Ruby's voice was soft and sweet, "You're a dork. But a very sweet, very cute dork." Cinder's subsequent pout drew out a giggle from Ruby before she continued. "That does sound nice, doesn't it? That we were meant to be together. The reason I'd say that I don't believe, though, is just that… I'd prefer to think we didn't have to go through everything that we did. That maybe, there's a version of our stories out there where we didn't have to be hurt so badly. Where we, you especially, could just be happy without all the pain. All the same though," she gave Cinder's hand a gentle squeeze, "If I was able to choose between a painless life without you in it, and this, I would choose this every single time."

In that moment, Cinder understood what people meant when they said that their heart skipped a beat. "I love you," was the only response she could come up with, the only words that could come close to capturing the totality of emotion she felt towards Ruby.

"I love you too." Ruby smiled, so bright as to be dazzling.

"So…" the night felt so quiet, so still, as if the entire world was frozen waiting for the two of them. "Are we girlfriends?"

Silence reigned for a few seconds, before Ruby began to snicker. "Yeah, I guess we should stop beating around that bush, huh?" Carefully, she raised Cinder's hand up to her lips, and then pressed a gentle kiss to her knuckles. "It might be complicated, and messy, and difficult. But if you'd have me, there's nothing I'd want more in this whole world."

"Of course I'd have you, Ruby," Cinder did her best to smirk, which was harder than it sounded when she was busy grinning like an idiot, "I mean, I was the one who said that I love you first. And not that it's a competition, but also most often."

With that, Ruby snickered a little more, even as her cheeks flushed bright. "Alright, that's fair." Carefully, she sat herself up, and then shone another bright smile down at Cinder. "I'll just have to catch up. For now though, I think we should head inside and get some rest."

Ah, that was right. The night was still young, but they had an early morning coming. Cinder let Ruby help her up to her feet, and then leaned in close for a very quick kiss. "Let's go. We've got a bright future ahead of us."

"That we do."

End of Part 1