Last time: They went to the top of the island and had a snowball fight.

Now: Something incredible happens.

Chapter 10- A Miracle

The next day everyone decided to hit up the beach. After a nice breakfast together, they all got dressed into their swimwear and headed for the surf. They laid out beach blankets and set up a cooler between them filled with food and water, and a couple more spirited drinks. Once they finished setting up, everyone immediately jumped right into beach activities. Kyr and Cien were off swimming together. Oppie took off on his own to check out the temple under the water. Viran swam out a few times but mainly stayed with Sasha and Lana on the beach as they lounged and played together. He did take his daughter into the water a few times here and there to get her used to the idea of playing in the ocean. She loved the water and wanted to keep playing in it, but not without Viran or Sasha going with her or someone else in the family. But now the three of them were all sitting together attempting to build a sandcastle together. Though their snowman from yesterday was better constructed than this sand castle was at the moment.

Once the sand castle was finished, Lana passed out not too long after on the beach blanket next to Sasha as she still clutched the pail and shovel she used to make the castle. Sasha was relaxing next to her, scrolling through a datapad as she tanned in the sun. Viran, however, had an idea. Throughout this trip, he noticed how much better Sasha seemed to be feeling, at least emotionally. Physically though she was still struggling and he recalled hearing from Kelce that swimming is good physical therapy. However, with Cien and Op not around at the moment, he wasn't sure he could convince her to get into the water. Then he got an even better idea. One he was sure was most likely going to result in him sleeping on the Forerunner tonight, though.

Getting up from his lounged position in the sand, Viran approached his wife. He stopped just before her, blocking the sun from hitting her.

Sasha squinted up at him, past her datapad. "What's up?" She asked him.

"Let's go swimming together," Viran suggested gently.

"I'm okay. You go have fun," she said with a hint of hesitancy at the idea.

"Okay let me rephrase this, let's go swim now," Viran commanded in a teasing tone.

Sasha raised an eyebrow at him as she lowered her datapad. "I'm not interested, Vir."

"It wasn't a suggestion," Viran responded as he knelt down and in one swift motion, scooped her up off the blanket into his arms. Sasha let out a yelp as he did that.

"Viran! Put me down!" Sasha demanded as she smacked him on the arm.

"Nope," Viran said as he started walking towards the water.

"Viran, don't you dare put me in the water," Sasha threatened, but the ever growing smile on her face told him she was enjoying this.

Viran ignored her as he just kept waking.

"I am serious. Put me down! Right now!" Sasha ordered as she continued to smack him on the arm.

"You want down?" Viran asked her, very serious all of the sudden as if this wasn't a game anymore.

"Yes please," Sasha said, slightly taken back by his sudden tone shift.

"Okay," Viran said. Then he didn't set her down gently. No, he just dropped her to the ground below. The ground made a large splash as Sasha landed in the calf deep water just before a small wave crashed down on her. "You're down." He had a smile to his voice on that.

Sasha gasped as she hit the water and then squeaked when the wave hit her, soaking the rest of her. She glared up at him from under her drenched bangs. "Oh no you didn't," she growled.

"Oh yes I did," Viran said mockingly. "Whatcha gonna do about it?" A large smile came to his face as he presented the challenge.

"Oh I'll show you what I'm gonna do about it," Sasha hissed. "Come here!"

From her seated position, she lunged forward to try and grab Viran, but he leapt right over her and dove into the wave just before it crashed. Sasha was caught in yet another wave, sending her under the water for a moment. When she resurfaced, she spat salt water and glared in the direction Viran was swimming. Without any hesitation or thought, Sasha scrambled forward and started swimming after Viran. She mainly used her arms and occasionally kicked with her right leg, but after a few minutes of trying to chase him. And seeing him get further and further from her, she knew she couldn't lose him. He had to pay for throwing her in the ocean. So she started using all of her limbs and swam with all of her might.

Quickly picking up speed, Sasha was catching up with Viran. Her legs ached as she hadn't used them so much like this in so long, but the adrenaline of the moment made the aching seem not existent. Soon she was within arms reach of him and he dove under the water to avoid her. When he popped back up, he was heading back towards shore. Growling, Sasha turned tail and immediately started following him.

As the water got shallower and shallower, Viran soon stopped swimming and started awkwardly running while laughing like a maniac as he headed for shore. Little did he notice, Kyr and Cien had returned and were lounging on their own beach blanket near theirs where Lana was still asleep. He was too busy having fun. Sasha soon reached that same stretch of shallow water and started doing the same thing. She ran as fast as her body would let her through the water towards her husband.

Glancing back to see if she had stopped in the shallow water and was just wading there with a grumpy look, Viran felt his jaw drop when he saw her chasing him. Not awkwardly limping after him or even crawling. No, full sprint towards him. It actually brought him up short that he didn't even realize she closed the distance until she tackled him to the sand.

"Ha!" Sasha declared, triumphantly. "Got you!" Viran stared up at her in shock. Sasha noticed his expression and backed off a little, nervous and confused by the look. "What?"

"Sasha, you just ran," Viran pointed out to her as if she had performed a miracle like walking on water.

"What?" She panted out, still confused.

"You were just running. On your legs! Without any hesitation or fear or pain! Nothing!" Viran explained as he smiled up at her.

Sasha realized what he just said as she sank down onto the sand next to him, allowing him the opportunity to get up. She looked at her left leg. She didn't have a water proofed cast so her leg was currently bare. Gingerly, she rubbed her calf and shin. It felt sore, but it didn't feel like the pain she had been experiencing every time she walked on it. No, this time it felt better. Tears escaped her eyes as she realized what Viran had done for her. He had dragged her into the ocean so she could enjoy the fun like everyone else, but in doing that he also got her to run. To use her legs and run. To have fun and laugh and play without any fear. Whether that was his full intention or not, he got her to do it. And for the first time since Myrkr, Sasha felt all of the fear in her system leave. Everything that was holding her back and making her afraid of walking again disappeared. Fear of getting better vanished. All of it was gone and she felt fantastic. And she sobbed tears of joy as Viran hugged her close, smiling and crying with his wife.

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