Richard hugged Aqua so tightly that, even though she felt like she could crumble, she knew Richard would never let her. He lifted her off the ground and spun her around, laughing lightheartedly – a sound that was extremely rare on the Island. He kissed her nose and forehead and cheeks and the top of her head. He was once again the man she had fallen in love with; the loving, sweet, caring man hidden under layers of detachment. Aqua wondered why she had ever thought that she couldn't be with Richard.

"Let's go to the cove," Richard whispered in Aqua's ear.

"What?" Aqua asked, laughing.

"Let's run away there. Right now." He was smiling, and his smile quite literally cleared the cloudy sky. Aqua would never again resist that smile.

She nodded enthusiastically, and Richard laughed again. Aqua started walking back to camp, but Richard had a different plan. He effortlessly scooped her up like she was made of feathers and carried her back. Aqua laughed once more – they just couldn't stop laughing! – and wrapped her arms around Richard's neck, resting her head on his shoulder. She could live the rest of her life in Richard's arms.

After packing a bag each and hanging their bows on their backs, they took off towards the jungle.

"Hang on," Aqua paused. "I'll go tell Ellie. Last time we didn't, remember?"

She ran over to Ellie's tent, where she found her and Charles snuggling up on their cot. Ellie went cherry-red when she noticed Aqua at the door.

"What do you want?" Ellie demanded. "You're drenched!"

"Yes. Long story. Kind of. I'm just letting you know that Richard and I are heading to our cove."

"Richard and you?" Charles asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes."

"Heading where?" asked Ellie.

"Love beach, Elle. We'll explain it when we come back. If we do. Anyway, tootles!" And she turned to leave, dumbfounding Charles and Ellie.

"She's never said 'tootles' before," she heard Ellie say to Charles behind her.

Though it rained, the sun peered from behind the clouds in the sky. It was Aqua's favorite kind of rainy day, because the Island looked surreal, the air was pure and fresh, and there were rainbows everywhere.

Richard and Aqua walked hand in hand through the jungle. Richard's grip was so firm that Aqua suspected he was scared of letting her go again. He also wouldn't stop looking at her. He almost tripped several times because of this, which was so unusual and strange to see from him.

When they reached their cove – Love Beach – it felt like coming home. Richard and Aqua looked at each other, smiling, and they knew. They were home. It was not camp; it was this beach. This beach where they had gone through so much. Where they had met the real Richard and the real Aqua. This cove had the real essence of their love. This cove was where they had fallen in love, and where they would fall in love over and over and over again.

The rain stopped soon after they got to their beach. Richard and Aqua set up their camp, which consisted of a small tent – yes, the same one from years before – a cot set outside, and blankets. Aqua built a fire in a matter of minutes – oh, when it had taken her hours that first night on the Island! – and set some logs near it. She took off her drenched clothes and placed them over the logs to dry. Richard did the same, and lustful thoughts crossed her mind when she saw his bare chest. She shook them off, knowing that there was plenty of time for that. Instead, she changed into dry clothes and sat down, cross-legged on a blanket, not far from the ocean.

"I think there's a lot of things we need to talk about, don't you?" she asked Richard, who, of course, had followed her over.

"I think there are," he said.

Aqua took a moment to marvel at the music of the beach; the waves, the seagulls, the air rustling the leaves. She hadn't been to the beach in a while. She felt new.

"Richard, how do you feel?" Aqua asked.

"How do Ifeel? I feel ecstatic!"

"Me, too." Aqua smiled warmly at him, then turned serious. "But, Richard, I believe that if our relationship is to succeed, we need to lay every single one of our cards on the table."

Richard thought it over for a second.

"Sounds fair," he said.

"Good, good. You start. I think… Well, I think it's fair and healthy if you tell me how I made you feel when, you know…"

"You left me?" Richard said bluntly. Aqua flinched. "Sorry," he apologized. "Well, clearly, I was mad."

"You had every right to be."

"I suppose. I felt bad for being angry at you, though, because I knew that you must've had a good reason to leave me. But then again, I didn't know why."

"I'm sorry for that," Aqua whispered, her eyes tearing up.

"That's what made me so angry at you. I guess, if only I had known why, I could've been okay." As he was saying this, Aqua recoiled and looked away. But Richard held her face, making her look at him, and smiled. "But all of that anger is gone now. It doesn't matter anymore."

Aqua smiled. She was so lucky.

"What else did you feel? Tell me everything you've wanted to tell me this past seven years. Please," she begged. She knew it would hurt, but she also knew that making Richard talk was the healthiest thing to do, for both of them.

Richard sighed. He gave Aqua a look that said, "Are you sure?" and Aqua smiled and nodded. They held hands.

"Alright. Well, at first, I was very, very angry. I put you in a tent with Ellie out of spite."

"I know, but I'm glad that you did," Aqua interrupted him, chuckling lightly. "I hated it at first, but I can't imagine how my life would be if you hadn't forced Ellie and I together."

"That's good," Richard answered, chuckling too. "I think it was immature on my part, but, I don't know, I was upset. Anyway," he shrugged. "After that, the anger faded away fast. I just couldn't stop loving you. But it hurt to love you." He paused for a moment. "It took a lot of courage to talk to you on your birthday. Do you remember?"

"Of course I remember. I was starting to regret my decision by then."

"Were you?" There was a hint of pain in Richard's eyes.

"Yes. My mind was all over the place. I kept telling myself that I had already hurt you and that it wasn't fair to go back to you and say, 'Hey! I actually do love you!'"

"I wish you had done that," Richard said, melancholy.

"I wish I had done that, too," Aqua confessed. "I kept making up stupid excuses to not go back to you…" A look at Richard's hurt face shut her up. He was so heartbroken; she could read it in his face that he really wanted to go back in time and fix everything. She did, too, but right now it wasn't about her. It was all about Richard. "But you go on."

"Right…" He sighed. "Right. Well, I didn't want to be apart from you, that's why I finally talked to you. But when I did, I realized how sad I was. It hurt a lot, so I remained distant.

"Like I said, I still loved you. I made you all those gifts – your bow, your spear, your arrows. I was too scared that you would reject me again if I gave them to you directly, so I told others to do so for me."

"I always knew they were from you. I loved every single one of them," Aqua confessed, and Richard's eyes sparkled.

They remained quiet for a while, listening to the waves as the sky began clearing.

"And me and Warren?" Aqua broke the silence. "You left. Were you that upset?"

"Oh, I was. I was jealous. Terribly jealous. I didn't think there could be something worse than your rejection, but, alas, there it was. I wanted to be happy for you, but – don't get me wrong – I just couldn't. I was selfish; I wanted you to be with me, not Warren. I was angry– at both of you, at myself. I couldn't get over it, so the best solution I could think of was leaving. I apologize for not saying goodbye."

"You don't have to, Richard," Aqua said quietly.

"Perhaps. I'm still sorry, though, because I was sad that I didn't get to see you one last time. Then I came back, and you kissed me, and I thought we could finally be together, but you were still with Warren," Richard continued. "I didn't think that was fair, Aqua. I felt tricked. That's why I was so cold."

"Oh, Richard, I am so sorry."

I tear rolled down Aqua's cheek, but Richard put his hands on her face, smiling and shaking his head.

"Don't be, please. Thank you for listening. I truly needed to get all of this out."

"I know. Thank you telling me." Aqua grabbed Richard's hand and kissed his palm. She truly was glad that Richard had finally expressed what he had felt. However, she still owed him an explanation. "It's my turn to be honest with you."

Richard nodded slowly.

"I'd really like to know what I did to lose you," he said.

Aqua's heart broke. How unfair she had been to Richard. He didn't deserve to think that it had been his fault that the two of them had drifted apart.

"Oh, Richard, my dear," Aqua began, "you didn't do anything wrong. None of this mess has been because of you. It was me, I was the fool."

"I think this is the first time you ever call me dear, dear," Richard whispered.

Aqua smiled, and kissed him ever so softly. He really was her dear; her dearest.

She inhaled deeply, ready to come clean to Richard.

"I was an idiot, Richard. That's truly what encapsulates the whole mess I made in our lives."

Richard frowned slightly. Aqua thought that it made sense if this wasn't what he was expecting to hear.

"What were you thinking?" Richard asked. Aqua was taken aback. "I mean, when I told you I was immortal. What was going through your mind? Thinking about that has been eating me alive all these years."

"Oh. So many things, Richard." How could she best explain it? She sighed. "I didn't really trust men when I was younger. So that you had kept the truth about yourself made me feel deceived. As if you wanted to take advantage of me, somehow. I don't know.

"Then, putting that aside, the fact that you were older than me because you were immortal was just… too much. The last straw. I had gone through so much trauma; being lost at sea, losing my family, being trapped in an island with a monster, time-traveling… and all of that in a matter of days. My sanity was already so unstable. I completely freaked out. I felt like I was in a nightmare –a nightmare that you were a part of, like the wolf waiting to eat the girl. I didn't think you were–"

"You didn't think I was what?"

"Human. I didn't think you were human," Aqua admitted, her ears hot.

"I see," Richard simply whispered. "How so?"

"How so? Well, I– I don't know! Everything, I guess. First of all, humans age. And you were this mysterious, scary mass-murderer…"

"Mass-murderer?"

"The Americans, Richard."

"Ah. Right." Richard went quiet for a little while. "I suppose it makes sense."

"Do you understand, then? I was… scared. I suddenly found myself trapped in this surreal, impossible place, where everything was scary. Unfortunately, that included you. It didn't take long, though, for me to realize that I was wrong, about the Island and about you. You weren't scary anymore. Do I make sense?"

Richard nodded as he analyzed Aqua's words.

"Is that it, then?" he asked slowly. "I scared you?"

Aqua blinked.

"Well… yes. Every aspect of you seemed very unnatural to me."

"That's okay. Sometimes I don't think I'm human myself," Richard said, and Aqua couldn't decide if that was funny or sad.

"There were just too many strange things going on."

"Trust me, I understand. I wouldn't have wanted you to be in a situation you weren't comfortable with. Thank you for trusting me with this," Richard said. Aqua smiled at him, and she knew she would always trust him with her life.

"I'm so sorry it took me seven years to finally make up my mind."

"I forgive you," Richard said, and those were the words Aqua had waited to hear for so long. "I hope you can forgive yourself, too."

Aqua nodded. She hadn't realized she blamed herself so much. Yes, she could forgive herself, and Richard's kisses could help her with that.

"You truly have the biggest, most human heart I know." Aqua said sincerely.

"I appreciate it," Richard said, cocking his head and grinning, "but I'd argue that that's actually Warren."

Aqua felt a pull in her guts.

"Shit. Warren." Aqua dropped her head, hiding her face with her hands. "I've been thinking about him for the last couple of days. Couple of weeks, actually. And I came to the conclusion that, even though I really was in love with Warren, he was… a replacement for the love I couldn't get from you." She peeked at Richard from between her fingers; he was frowning, puzzled. "This is terrible, but… I always compared him to you. I didn't realize– or, well, I suppose I didn't want to admit it to myself, but I always did compare him to you. How tall he was, his eyes, his voice. Ever since that first moment he showed up in my life." She paused. "I'm a terrible person, aren't I?"

"No, Aqua, I don't think you are. Did you tell Warren this?"

"No! No, of course I didn't. I've already hut him enough. Ignorance is bliss, right?" She looked at him, almost begging him to agree with her.

"Right. I suppose this is the kind of thing Warren doesn't really need to know about. You're right, it would hurt him more."

"Yes. I love him enough to not do that to him."

They both nodded, silently agreeing to never, ever hurt Warren again.

"Aqua?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

"Richard?"

"Yes?"

"I love you, too."

A kiss, closed eyes, and foreheads touching.

"Aqua?"

"Yes?"

"Are these all of our cards?"

"There's one more." Aqua took a deep breath. "It's something that's been bothering me for years, and something that I used to try to convince myself that we were better off apart." She swallowed. "You're immortal. I'm not. I'm going to die. Eventually. You won't. I'll grow old, like I've been growing old these past seven years, and you'll stay the same. What will happen then?"

Aqua didn't think she had seen Richard's eyes tear up before. He kissed her forehead meaningfully and spoke.

"This is why I've always tried to not get too attached to anyone. I dread losing them," he murmured. Aqua wiped the single tear from his cheek, and he stared at the ocean. "I'm constantly thinking about that. But I just… accept that everyone dies. It's different with you. You're the first person I've been in love with ever since I became immortal. And it's been so hard to accept that you, too, will die. I don't want to accept it. That's why…" And he went silent.

"That's why what, Richard?"

He looked back at her, shame and hope mixed in his eyes.

"Why I asked Jacob if he could make you immortal if you wanted to."

Aqua's eyes opened wide.

"And what did he say?"

"He said yes."

Aqua's mouth opened slightly, and then she bit her bottom lip.

"Don't get your hopes high," she started slowly, "but I've considered it."

"You have?"

"Don't get your hopes high," she repeated. "I didn't believe it possible. But if it is… Well, I don't know. I'd have to really think it through."

"No pressure," Richard assured her, half laughing. He'd gotten his hopes high.

That was fine. Aqua had considered becoming…unhuman like Richard for a while. She didn't want to be older than him. Perhaps thirty-six was a good age to be forever. But tonight was not the night to think about that. She still had six years to make up her mind.

So they smiled at each other. Now all of their cards were on the table. No more secrets, no more hiding. What they had wished for – be it secretly or openly – for years had finally come true. They kissed again and laughed with joy. Richard and Aqua were finally together, and nothing would bring them apart ever again.