The crackling of the fire, the crashing of the waves, and Richard's fingers brushing through her damp hair made Aqua sleepy. It was dark now, and they had just eaten. Aqua was sitting with her arms around her legs and her head resting on her knees in between Richard's legs. Richard was very thoroughly and very gently combing her hair with his fingers. The silence was peaceful, and Aqua inevitably relived their kiss. It had been magical and perfect, and it would have gone on and on if it hadn't been for the wave that knocked them over. They got out of the sea holding hands and laughing like fools.

For the hour after that, Richard and Aqua had exchanged flustered smiles and shy looks. Aqua was truly taken by surprise, for Richard didn't look like the kind of man who blushed at all. After eating, they got to talking about everything and nothing at the same time but not once did they mention the kiss. It wasn't that they were pretending it hadn't happen, but they didn't know what to say. Hey, do you want to kiss again? Hey, do you want to be my girlfriend? Grown men like Richard didn't have girlfriends, Aqua thought. They had wives or partners or lovers. However, they were both silently acknowledging that it had happened and that it had meant something, and that they were now more than just… whatever they had been.

"Let me do it," Richard requested when Aqua started brushing her hair.

With eyes wide, she nodded and looked away from him. Richard placed himself behind her with his legs to each side, and gathered Aqua's hair in his hands, sending shivers down her spine.

That's where they were now. Aqua could feel Richard's breath on her neck, and every time his fingers accidentally brushed her skin, her breathing and heartbeat accelerated. With her eyes closed, Aqua thought of Richard and their kiss, and she fantasized about him unexpectedly kissing her neck. She quivered and felt her ears get hot.

She tried to think of something else. There were many things she could think about, most of which were unpleasant memories. It was hard to think of something that was not her family or her loneliness or the freaky fact that she had time-traveled. Everything was too painful or too strange to think or ask Richard about right now. Aqua decided that she had time the rest of her life, really to talk to Richard about all those things.

But she really didn't want to not talk to Richard, and she had gone too long without saying anything, and she was starting to feel unreasonably uncomfortable. Say something, she thought to herself. Remember something you wanted to ask him. Just remember. Remember… Remember Isabella, Richard. Who is Isabella? Though the memory of the moment when she had heard that name was painful, Aqua couldn't help but wondering. The Monster had mentioned an Isabella, and her name had made Richard tense up. The mystery behind her was captivating, so she decided to bring her up.

"Richard?" she started, a little hesitantly.

"Yes, dear?" Aqua could almost hear the smile in his voice.

"I, uh, I want to ouch!" she exclaimed when Richard's fingers got caught in a tangle.

"So sorry, dear. I promise I'm trying to do this as softly as I can."

"Don't worry. So, Richard," she tried to start again and then stopped. What if she didn't want to hear what Richard had to say about this Isabella? Aqua shook her head only to regret it immediately when she felt a tug to her scalp.

"What is it?" Richard asked her, noticing her hesitancy.

"Nothing," Aqua answered and mentally face-palmed. "No, not nothing. I want to ask you about something."

"Absolutely anything you want, dear." He would have to stop calling her 'dear' if he didn't want her to melt right there.

"Well… The Monster said something, and I'm curious…" Aqua took a deep breath. "Richard, who is Isabella?"

Richard's hands paused. Aqua's heart raced, thinking that maybe this topic of conversation would upset Richard.

"Isabella?" he repeated.

"Yes." She wished she hadn't spoken.

Despite Richard's surprise, his hands kept brushing her hair. Aqua relaxed a little bit.

"Are you sure you want to hear this story?"

No, Aqua thought. Now she didn't want to hear it because he had asked that question. It would probably not upset Richard, but it might upset her, and Richard knew it. But you can't just drop it now that you brought her up.

"Yes."

"Well…" Richard started. Aqua could almost hear him think, gathering the information to present it to her in a sensible way. This made her anxious. "Well, Aqua, Isabella was my wife."

Aqua stopped breathing. What had Richard just said? Another tug to her scalp. Did he say 'wife'? Did she hear him correctly? Oh, she shouldn't have asked about her, not tonight.

"Oh." She took a shaky breath through her nose. She tried to be nonchalant about it. "Okay. Cool. Your wife. Okay." She paused. Of course he had been married, of course. He was an attractive grown man, and she was just out of college. Of course he had been married. Of course. Made sense. He chuckled once, and Aqua wondered why this situation was funny.

"Yes. She was my wife," he emphasized. Alright. Sure. So that meant that they were no longer married, and that Richard was aware that it made Aqua feel weird, and that Isabella was not the center of his universe anymore, right? Right? Oh dear, was she back at his camp?

After she had spent a whole minute in silence, Richard rubbed her bare shoulder. She had to say something to show her maturity.

"How long were you married for?"

Richard sighed and groaned quietly, but Aqua still heard him. She really wished she hadn't opened her mouth. She realized that she didn't want to hear Richard talking about another woman, especially not about a woman he had been married to.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Aqua suggested, hoping that she wouldn't sound like it was her who didn't want to hear it.

"No, no, it's okay. You deserve to know."

Aqua thought that if Richard believed that she deserved to know about his ex-wife, then he was taking her seriously enough. He was almost done combing her hair.

"We were married for twelve years," he said, and his voice was nostalgic and full of love. Something stirred inside Aqua, and she couldn't help but frown.

"Really? That's a lot." She was trying really hard to sound like the adult she was.

"Yes." Richard chuckled once more. "It was a long time ago."

"You loved her a lot, I suppose." Aqua's voice was strained.

"Absolutely. She was the love of my life."

Hearing Richard talk about this Isabella woman like that made her weirdly angry. He was touching her hair so delicately while talking about the love of his life, and why? Why would he do that? He finished combing her hair, and he parted it in two, placing half of it over her left shoulder. He tried to braid the other half.

"What happened, then?" She knew the question had come out tactless.

"She passed away," he said calmly. Aqua's heart fell. Oh, no. Oh, dear Lord, she had been jealous of a dead woman. A dead woman. What kind of horrible person was she?

"I'm sorry," she blurted out, then turned around to face him. "Oh Richard, I am- I'm so sorry! That's horrible!"

Richard smiled softly at her mortified face, and then grabbed the left section of Aqua's hair, forcing her to face forward again. He began braiding once more.

"Thank you. It's alright. It was a long time ago."

They remained in silence, which had turned from comfortable to slightly awkward, as Richard finished the braid. She felt stupid. Aqua was incredibly ashamed, and she wished she could bury her head in the sand; but she also knew she had to say something.

"How long ago?"

"Long ago. Too long."

Too long? How long was too long? Aqua tried to analyze Richard's words, and something was kind of off. He had told her that he was thirty six. But if he had been married for twelve years, and Isabella was long gone, how old was he when he got married? She tried to do the math, but it didn't really add up, so she let it go.

"Oh." She felt Richard trying to wrap a strand of hair around the braid to secure it. "Can I… Can I ask how it happened?"

"Of course. She fell ill, and I failed to get her help in time," he explained, very straightforward.

Aqua let out a breath. There was something in Richard's voice that reminded her of herself, years ago when she used to blame herself for her misfortunes. She frowned again. Then she remembered the Monster, the Monster wearing her sister's face, and how it had taunted Richard with Isabella's death. Maybe he did blame himself for her death. She didn't dare ask him.

"Is there anything else you want to know?" Richard said when he was done securing the braids. It was hard to think of what to say or what to ask him. She had already asked about the dead wife, so what could be worse than that, right?

"Children," Aqua said out loud, though quietly. "Did you have children?"

"No." The sadness in Richard's voice was tangible. "We were unable to."

"I'm sorry." And she meant it.

"That's fine. We had each other, and we were very happy." He was gently scratching Aqua's back.

"Did you want kids?" She hated herself for asking these questions when Richard sighed deeply.

"Absolutely."

"Do you still want them?" The question came out as a whisper. Aqua thought of herself; herself in ten years, still on the Island with Richard. She thought of how terrified she was of pregnancy and motherhood, and how she didn't think she could give Richard a child. This last thought was slightly intrusive, for she hadn't truly admitted to herself that she wanted to be with Richard like that.

"In other circumstances," Richard interrupted her train of thought, "I would still want children." There was a long pause during which Aqua imagined the ideal circumstances in which to bring a child to this world. A time-traveling, deserted island haunted by a smoke monster in the 1950s was not one of those circumstances. "I've never said that to anyone. Or planned to say it to anyone"

Aqua nodded. She felt privileged; privileged to have Richard's trust. She wondered why the sudden intimacy had sprung between them. Was it because of the kiss? Was it because of the cover of the night? Was it because they were still half-dressed? Was it because–

Richard's lips were on her bare shoulder. He kissed her there once, then made his way up to her ear in five kisses. Aqua's breathing was almost too loud, too fast.

"There is something else you must know," Richard whispered in her ear.