Richard and Aqua's first few weeks in the cove were paradise: the days were good, and the nights were even better. Aqua found it easier to allow Richard to touch and kiss her than she had with previous partners. Richard was caring and patient with her, and never once rushed her or pressured her into anything. He was truly the man she deserved, and the days (and nights) didn't have enough hours to make up for those seven years they lost.

When they finally could keep their hands and mouths off each other, the two of them decided to pay the camp a visit. Nobody had gone looking for them, which was good, but Richard couldn't help but feel a little offended that he was not needed enough to be sought out.

"It's because I told them where we would be," Aqua assured him on their way to camp. "Do you really think Charles would want to come looking for you only to find you buck naked?"

"I have been buck naked a lot," Richard replied meditatively.

Walking back to the plateau hand in hand with Richard, Aqua thought, felt almost too much like that first time she had been brought there, only that Richard and Ellie's roles were reversed. And she wasn't in handcuffs. Ellie was outside the command tent talking to Selma, the same woman Richard had been talking to all those years ago. Aqua almost stopped in her tracks to laugh and savor the déjà vu, but she couldn't, because in that precise moment Ellie turned and saw them. Ellie's jaw dropped and her eyebrows rose so high they disappeared into her fringe. She grinned with her mouth still open and folded her arms in front of her.

"Well, well, well," she began, "if it isn't Mr. and Mrs. Love Beach. Thank you, for finally gracing us with your presence. I will assume that all of your clothes disappeared into the ocean because you couldn't keep them on long enough and that is why you are making us worthy of your company."

"Are you done?" Aqua asked, scoffing and rolling her eyes.

"No. I only wish you had kept going at it a couple more weeks because then I would've won the bet."

"Oh, you had a bet going on?" Richard asked, not at all surprised.

"Of course we did, didn't we, Selma? It came down to just me against Peter, but I guess the old man won now. Thanks a lot." And she rolled her eyes playfully.

"Well, sorry to make you lose, Elle. I didn't miss you at all," Aqua said.

"Oh, shut it. I bet you didn't even have time to miss me. Or did she, Richard?"

"Have you become more insufferable in these past few weeks?" Richard asked with a smirk, and Ellie punched him in the shoulder.

"I'm glad to have you back." Ellie smiled and looked down at their joined hands. "So, this is a thing now?" she asked, gesturing at the two of them.

Richard and Aqua looked at their hands, then at each other, and smiled.

"Yes," Aqua said, not looking away from Richard.

Ellie pretended to gag, but then smiled and hugged both of them.

"I'm happy for you." She kissed their cheeks and, keeping her hands on their shoulders, said, "This relationship was long overdue. It's given me a few gray hairs, so you can say I'm really invested in it. So you better not screw it up. Again."

"I promise you that won't happen, Elle."

"Do you trust Aqua's words, Richard?"

"I do," Richard answered.

"Then that's good enough for me!" Ellie smiled triumphantly. "Now, come! Let's tell everyone that you're back!"

They went to Ellie's tent to find Charles, who was skillfully designing a building in a piece of paper.

"Well, bloody hell. I almost expected you two to show up naked," he teased.

"Show a little respect for you elders, Widmore," Richard chided him.

"Sorry, old man. So, Richard-and-Aqua is a thing now, huh? I'm sorry, darling," Charles said to Ellie, "it seems you've lost the bet."

Charles and Ellie proceeded to parade them around camp, telling everyone, "They're a thing now!" and inviting them to a bonfire. The bonfire, they said, was to celebrate their relationship, and perhaps to perform some sort of ritual so the relationship would prosper and succeed and none of them had to witness a nasty breakup again. Charles added that they also needed to crown old Peter as the winner of the bet, which Ellie was not really happy about.

That evening, the bonfire was livelier than ever; it truly seemed like a party. There was enough food to fill everyone's belly twice, and it was a real buffet too: boar, fish, and all kinds of birds were cooking in the multiple fires they had lit. Everyone was there, kissing Aqua on the cheek or patting Richard's back, happy to see them happy. Well, everyone except…

"Hey, Ellie?" Aqua called.

"Yeah?"

"Where's… Where's Warren?"

"Um… Well, I don't know for sure."

"What do you mean you don't know for sure?"

"Yeah, well, he comes and goes, you know?"

"Comes and goes?" Aqua repeated with a heavy feeling in her gut. "What does that mean? Is he… How is he?"

"Don't worry, he's all right. Except for his long absences when he hunts literally everything he finds. But, yeah, he's fine."

Aqua didn't believe Warren was really fine if he absented himself so much. She looked around the bonfire, suddenly anxious. This was what she had feared. What if Warren ran away like Richard had and put himself in danger? She really couldn't lose him, he was her friend after all; her and Richard's friend. An urgent feeling to go looking for him took over Aqua, but Ellie took one of her wringing hands.

"You really have nothing to worry about, okay?" she said sweetly. "He's not mad at you or anything. In fact, he's getting better. Hunting is how he copes, and it does him good too. Trust me, Charles and I have gone with him to some of his excursions to make sure he's fine, and he is. You enjoy Richard, okay? It's what Warren wants."

Aqua decided that Ellie was right, so she went to find Richard so they could both be there when Peter was proclaimed the winner of the bet; Charles had decided to braid a crown with grass leaves to bother Ellie even further. However, she couldn't find him. A tinge of panic surged in her that was only placated when someone told her they'd seen Richard walk into the old tent she had shared with Warren. So that's where she headed.

Inside, she found the two men talking. She took a careful look at Warren before he could notice her: at least half a dozen dead birds where hanging from his belt, he had very faint cuts and scars in his hands and arms, and – most noticeably – he had cut his hair. His puffy ponytail was gone and had been replaced by a buzz cut. For a second Aqua couldn't decide who this man was. Then he looked at her and his eyes belonged to Warren, and the rest of him began to look familiar.

"Hi, Aqua," he said. Aqua had to swallow. "I was just telling Richard how happy I am for you two."

"Thank you," she answered, and after a pause, "I like your new hair."

As Warren brushed a hand over his head, Charles barged in.

"Hey, hurry up, lovebirds! Hey, Warren. C'mon, I need you both there so Ellie gets even more annoyed when I put the crown on Pete!" And he stormed out again.

Richard chortled and followed him, leading Aqua by the hand. Before leaving the tent, she looked back at Warren, and he gave her the most powerful smile. That smile assured her that everything was truly all right; the stars had aligned in her favor and she was finally where she had to be.

She smiled back and went off to enjoy Richard for the rest of her life.

A/N: It's alive! Sorry for the long absence, it was a very busy summer and a stressful semester at school. Misplaced is close to its ending and I will finish it even if it kills me because it's my baby and I love it so much. Thank you sticking with Richard, Aqua and me!