Lara jumped aside as the tiger ran at her. She quickly took out her shotgun and in two shots he was dead. A shame he attacked her, she liked tigers. She always felt really bad after killing them. Then again, she felt bad killing ANYTHING. She disliked Piranha, though, but didn't even like killing them. She walked on. A monkey jumped behind a tree carrying something. She shot in the air. The monkey dropped whatever he was carrying and ran off. She walked to where he had been. A health pack. He must have stolen it from others. She looked around, just to make sure there was no one watching. She didn't see anything. She ran on. She saw big spikes on the ground. They must've been traps built by the people who lived here long ago. She saw a rope on the ground, and another rope going up from it. She threw a rock at it, and as she had guessed, the rope shot up and if anything had been in it, would have slammed hard against the wall. She looked up and saw vines and such growing on the ceiling of the old ruin. There wasn't much noise in the ruin, except the cheerful chirping of the birds and the blowing of the refreshing, cool wind on that hot day. She breathed in the nice, fresh air. She loved the nature. That's why she went.

She spent the day jumping over rivers, climbing stone walls and searching for treasures. She set her camp up on top the room of a little room in the ruin. Here, hardly any animals could reach her. Just to make sure, she always had a knife or a gun by her side. She wasn't a really heavy sleeper. If anything came close, she'd wake up. It was like she could sense it when something was coming. This, ofcourse, really came in handy. She made a fire. She cooked the rabbit she had caught earlier. She hated doing it to the defenceless animal, but she had to eat. She also opened a little can of peas. After her supper, she cut up some fruit she had picked. She read for a little bit, but got tired soon and went into her little tent to sleep.

Lara quickly opened her eyes. She heard could feel something was outside. The fire had died out and it was pitch-dark. She heard someone, or something, shuffling around outside. She slowly and as quietly as possible, picked up the knife, listening carefully. She got up, trying not to make any noise. The sounds stopped, and Lara held herself as still as possible. All of a sudden a light from a flashlight shined on the tent. "Holy shit!" She heard someone yell, she jumped outside, prepared to confront whoever it was. The person was running towards the edge of the little roof they were on. Lara was a faster runner than the other person, though, and stronger! She caught up to him, and tackled him. He fell to the ground hard, knocking the air out of him. She jumped on top of him, grabbed his arm, put a chicken wing on him, sat on that arm, pulled up his head and held the knife to his throat. She did this so fast the man didn't even have time to say: "What the..?" "Who are you?" she demanded. "Alex West." The man said quickly, in a slightly panicked voice. "Could you please get off me?" "Not until you tell me exactly where you are from, what you are doing here, and why you are sneaking around my camp at night," Lara said in her soft accented voice. "Alex." "Ok, ok!" Alex said impatiently. "I've been following you since you got here. I got here a day before you did. I'm looking for the Stone of Narabus. I overheard you talking to the guy at the restaurant about the stone. I can help you find it, and we can split the money we get for it." "I'm sorry, but I don't work that way." Lara told him. "I work alone and just so you know, I also know where the stone is. I don't need your help." "Are you sure?" Alex smirked. "I'm sure. Why split it, when I can have the whole thing?" Lara could feel Alex trying to get from under her. "Ok, but can you get off me now?" Alex asked, still squirming. "No, you still haven't told me what you were doing in my camp." Lara said, holding Alex down easily. "For, that, I have no explanation, and I'm sorry." Alex said. He, also had an English accent. Lara slowly took the knife from his throat and stood up. "Now, since you know my name, may I ask you what yours is?" Alex said with a smile. "Lara.." Lara answered doubtfully. "Aha, Lara, beautiful name! Where are you from?" Alex said and even in the dark Lara knew he was still smiling. "From my house, now where are you going?" Lara stopped and turned to face him. Alex tried to have a sexy look on his face even though Lara couldn't see his face and said: "I was hoping you'd share a bed with me!" "You're joking, right?" Lara raised her eyebrows. Suddenly out of nowhere, he put his arms around her and kissed her lips. Lara kissed back, then quickly realised what she was doing and pushed him away, sticking her foot behind his foot. He fell to the ground. "Haha, I already like you! You have to admit, you were kissing me back!" He laughed. Lara frowned and walked back to her little tent. "Hey wait, where are you going?" Alex yelled. "To sleep, I have another long day tomorrow!" She called back. "Are you sure you don't want a massage or something? To relax your aching, hard working muscles?" Alex tried again. "No thank you." Lara climbed into her tent. She put the knife back where she had put last night and pulled a sheet over herself. Outside she heard Alex approach the camp site. He laid down outside her tent and everything was quiet again.

Lara awoke around 6:30. She opened the tent flap and climbed out. Alex sat by the fire he had apparently made. He was heating a little pan of food. "G'morning!" he said, smiling up at her. She jumped. He was really handsome. He looked at her. "Are you ok?" He asked. "Yes, thank you." She quickly took her eyes off him and focused on the ground below the little roof her camp was on. There was a small squirrel scurrying around a tree. She smiled. "You look like you're in a good mood." She turned to see Alex standing nearly 2 feet behind her. "Want some food?" He handed her a little dish. "Thanks." She mumbled and took a bite. "That wasn't very smart." Alex said looking at her. "For all you know I'm a crazed killer and put food poisoning in your food. So that I can go take the stone." "Highly unlikely." Lara said. "Why didn't you just go get the stone, then? I don't travel fast and take my time. You could have reached it before me, even if you came here 4 days after I did. But you "followed" me. That means to me, that you don't know where it is, and you need me to help you find it. You said last night we could split the money. Well, as I said, why take half, when you can take the whole thing? Secondly, I smelled and saw the food, and you took a bite right before you gave it to me." She said in a calm voice. "Aha. Very smart." Alex said with a beaten look on his face. He turned around and walked back to the fire. Lara smiled. He was kind of fun to have around. She liked him. He was very handsome, too. She walked over to him and sat beside him. He told her where he lived. "Really?" Lara asked, looking doubtful. "Yeah, ofcourse. Why would I lie about it?" Alex answered. "That's odd." Lara said with a thoughtful look on her face. "Is there a big mansion called Croft manor where you live?" She asked innocently. "Yes, how did you know? Do you know where it is? Are you from there?" Alex looked surprised. "Something like that." Lara shook her head. She stood up. "We should be going soon." She started packing up some of her things. Alex also stood and helped.

"Look!" Alex put his hand on her shoulder and pointed up at a big, beautiful, blue and yellow bird. Lara smiled. "It's beautiful!" she whispered not wanting to scare it. She looked at it for a while and they walked on. She had less to carry because Alex had offered to carry some of her supplies. She hadn't given him any weapons to carry, just in case.

Lara looked at the water. She didn't see any fish, but she didn't dare step in the water. Alex stopped behind her, panting a little. "Are we stopping here?" Alex asked, hands on his knees. He looked up at her. She turned to face him. Somehow the light was shining on her face at a certain angle that made her eyes glitter, and her skin so beautiful and soft. Her lips so perfect. Her whole face was lit up. He stood up straight, smiling at her. "What?" She said with a naughty smile on her face, her eyes closing slightly. Alex shook his head. "Nothing." He was still smiling and thinking about her. He had never seen a woman so pure, so delicate, but hard and dangerous at the same time. He had waited his whole life for a woman like that. A woman who wouldn't take shit from anybody. One who was perfectly capable of anything a man could do, maybe even doing it better. A woman who would not just sit at home, breast feeding the baby, cleaning the house and cooking. Sure, Lara could do that, but she was capable of a lot more than just that.

They had walked for about half an hour, along the river, going upstream. The river would be less wide there. The river was quite shallow here. There were many rocks sticking out of the water. The water was about knee deep. Lara stepped on one of the slippery stones, closest to the side. She glanced over her shoulder at Alex who was carefully scanning the water for any potential dangers. She leaped onto another rock. This one, flat and big, a little higher off the surface of the water and not as wet and slippery as the others. She turned to Alex, who was still standing on the bank, still scanning the water. "Come on, Alex!" Lara said impatiently. He glanced up at her. "Throw me your bag first, it will be easier." He took off his bag and tossed it carefully at her. Lara, on the other hand, threw it hard to the other river bank. It landed safely on the other side. She also took off her own pack and threw it. It landed neatly beside the other one. She turned to Alex again, and he had taken his first step. He lifted his leg to leap over to her, but he slipped. He fell into the water. Lara kneeled quickly, grabbing his arm. She lifted him up quickly, he jumped onto the rock. He screamed. She looked at his leg. Just above the boot, where his pant leg was up, a piranha was squirming with it's teeth in Alex's flesh. He frantically tried to hit it. Lara took out her gun and shot at it. "What the hell, Lara!! You could've shot off my leg!" He yelled at her. "Oh, stop your complaining. She turned and quickly jumped to the next stone, then leaped to the next, and the one after that, the jumped to the river bank, where the bags lay. She held out her arms for Alex to come to her. " Come on." Alex stood up with a painful look on his face and he, also got safely to the other side.

"Hold still!" Lara said angrily at Alex. "It hurts, ok?" He complained. Lara put some gunk on a cloth and wiped it on Alex's wound. Alex was laying on his stomach. Lara sat beside his legs, with his right leg (where the Piranha had been) on her lap. She was cleaning the wound. The piranha has almost taken a chunk out of his leg. She was going to have to put stitches in.

"How do you feel?" Lara asked him softly. They were laying on their backs, looking up at the stars, high up above their heads. "I can't feel my leg." Alex complained. Lara smiled. Alex complained too much. Their heads were resting on Lara's sleeping bag. They had unzipped his and were laying on it. They had had fish for dinner. They had caught some more fish in the river. After Alex had gotten to the other side, They had decided to put up their camp there. Lara's eyes drooped, but she didn't notice, she was lost in thought. Before she knew it, she was asleep. Alex, however, was wide awake. He turned his head so he could she Lara's. In the faint light of the fire, she looked as beautiful as she had been earlier that day on the other side of the river. She faint crackling of the fire made all of it seem perfect. He was here, laying beside a beautiful, wonderful woman, who was asleep, who looked so peaceful. He smiled to himself. He had to stop himself from touching her face, from stroking her hair, which was put in a french braid. He didn't know how long he had looked at her. Maybe more than an hour. He was so fascinated, he couldn't turn his head away from her. He couldn't stop himself any longer. He reached out his hand and carefully touched her cheek. Her eyes opened slowly. He quickly drew his hand back and glanced away from her, expecting her to slap him. Lara didn't do any such thing, though. Instead, she smiled. He looked deep into her eyes. She looked so sexy like that. Half asleep, smiling, looking him in the eyes. He lifted his head up and leaned towards her. He pressed his lips against hers. Again he expected her to jump up and slap him, but surprisingly she kissed back. They kissed for a long time. Then, he finally drew back. They smiled at each other, then she was the one who leaned forward and kissed him.

Lara stood by the river. With her left hand, she put a stick into the water. She had a net in the other hand. After 2 seconds, a piranha came racing toward the stick and she caught it with the net. She started up the fire and cooked the fish above it. Alex was still sleeping. He looked very sweet, Lara thought. He had a smile on his face. They had kissed for a long time last night. She wanted his lips against hers again. She wanted him, she needed him, she was desperate for another kiss. She was about to run over and kiss him again, but she stopped herself. She thought about it. She had never thought like that before. She wasn't like that. She slapped herself. That woke her up and she got back to her senses.

They had walked for 4 hours straight when the finally saw a ruin, between all the trees. It was all grown over with plants and trees. They stepped inside. "I think this is it!" Lara said full of excitement. She looked around at Alex and smiled at him. He grinned. Wow, she was so wonderful. Alex thought. He hadn't thought of the stone of Narabus at all that day, just about her. He couldn't get her out of his mind. This was partially because she was walking in front of him, and because he really liked her. Lara climbed the stairs to big stone doors. Alex followed. She stopped right in front of them. Alex stopped beside her. Their arms touching. They turned to each other. " I don't know what's inside and we might not make it out alive." Lara began, but Alex put his finger on her lips. "Shh." He said. "I know an easier way to say what you want to say." He grinned again and he leaned forward and they wrapped into a perfect kiss. They slowly broke apart and smiled at each other. "Well, here goes nothing." Lara said and they pushed the doors, letting them in.

Not knowing what would come next, not knowing what the future had in store. Only knowing that they had each other, they walked side by side into the temple.