Author's Notes: I can't believe I never posted this little thing. I've been meaning to write more of this. Once I rewatch the movie again, I know I'll get some more inspiration.

Disclaimer: Not mine. I'm jelly.

I'll Find You in the Drift

His brother's feet slaps hard against the wood as he runs down the dock. Raleigh hurries to catch up, but his legs are shorter and he has trouble keeping his breathing even as the distance between him and Yancy grows. "Wait!" he shouts.

But Yancy just laughs and shouts back, "Slowpoke!"

And then his brother is in the air, having leapt from the edge of the dock, tucking his legs in and holding himself into a ball before he crashes into the ocean, water shooting upwards. Raleigh comes to a near skidding halt at the very edge, waving his arms around as he fights to regain his balance. When he finally stops, he peers down, searching the dark blue water for brother, but sees nothing.

For a moment, Raleigh's little heart seizes in his chest. What if his brother didn't come back? What if a sea monster got a hold of his leg and was holding Yancy under the water? What if there was some sort of other world under the water that his brother got taken into when he jumped in? What if there were water zombies hiding under the seaweed and they were biting and scratching at Yancy? What if a shark was prowling the waters? What about killer whales or polar bears? Maybe there were aliens hiding in the ocean, just waiting to attack.

(Yancy clearly never should have let his four year-old brother watch all those sci-fi movies with him after their parents went to bed.)

After what feels like minutes, Raleigh can't take it anymore and he hops around on his feet. "Yancy!"

Just then, Yancy bursts out of the water, a victorious grin on his face. He floats around for a bit, paddling with his feet, and looks up at Raleigh standing nervously on the edge of the dock. Holding his hands out, he says, "Come on, little brother. Jump on in. The water's great!"

Raleigh gives the water another suspicious glance. "It looks cold."

"You're scared," Yancy replies, realization dawning in his voice.

"I'm not scared!" Raleigh yells defiantly.

Yancy just grins again though. "You're scared. Been watching too many movies."

"M'not scared," Raleigh mumbles, folding his arms across his chest and looking down at his feet.

The truth is, the water has always made him feel a little edgy. When he's on land, he feels fine. He can run and jump and climb things. At just four, he can climb almost any tree, as long as he puts his mind to it. Sometimes, Yancy will have to give him a boost, but once Raleigh grabs that first limb, he's bound the grab the next one and the one after that. He loves being high up. Loves the air and how he can see as far as can be. Yancy is already getting his first growing spurt, and he's tall and strong. Raleigh is still short, his body unable to catch up with the height of his mind. He can't wait to be as tall as Yancy, can't wait to not have to climb onto his brother's shoulders to see out of a crowd or have his father pick him up to look into a bird's nest.

But water… Water is going down. He doesn't mind taking baths or showers or playing the water hose. Yancy taught him how to make his first water balloon when he was three and he loves having water fights. Swimming though is something entirely different. Raleigh never knows how to explain it when their parents take them to visit the ocean. It's not like he can't swim. Most kids his age are still learning, but Yancy made sure to drag him into the water and force him how to learn. And Raleigh has always been surprisingly buoyant and floats really well. But swimming is like… It's like going down. It's the opposite of climbing. Part of him knows he's not going underground, but another part of him can't help but feel like he's going under instead of up. He can't see anything down in the water, even with goggles sometimes, not like when he climbs a tree or a really tall hill and can see for what feels like forever.

"Hey, come on now, little brother," Yancy's voice calls to him. Raleigh glances back up to his brother and looks him in the face. There is such an earnest expression on his face that most people wouldn't think a seven year-old is capable of. It's the type of face that speaks to Raleigh though – that safe, comforting expression that says I'm here. The one that Yancy wears whenever their mom sounds like she's coughing up a lung or their dad sometimes looks at Raleigh like he's not even real. All Raleigh ever needs to do is look at his brother and know that he's not alone. "Just jump in. I won't let you drown or anything."

So Yancy holds out his hands again and Raleigh takes a deep breath, closes his eyes, holds his nose, and jumps off the deck.

The first thing that strikes him when his feet smack the water and he slips under is that it's bloody cold. His brother lied about that much. Raleigh kicks and flails his arms in the water in a panic until his head pushes through the surface and he gasps in as much air as his lungs can take. He wades in the water and pushes his wet hair out of his face. "I did it!" But that's when he realizes that there's no one around to congratulate him.

Yancy is nowhere in sight.

Raleigh bites his lip and kicks in the air, turning himself around in circles, but no he is definitely alone. He glances back up the docks, but is unable to see where his parents are sitting on the shore. "Yancy?" No response. Just the sound of the water lapping around him and hitting the wooden poles holding up the dock and birds cawing in the distance. "Yancy!"

Something abruptly tugs on his ankle and jerks him under the water. Raleigh lets out a yelp, water filling his mouth briefly, but he kicks and fights and he's back above the water in a matter of seconds, sputtering water and coughing.

And then there is Yancy, laughing so loudly that Raleigh is pretty sure people in Russia can hear him. "You screamed like a baby!"

"That was not funny!" Raleigh cries out.

Yancy gives him a stupid smile and starts to float on his back, propping his hands behind his head, letting Raleigh know full well that Yancy thinks it was plenty funny. Raleigh doesn't say anything back, just glowers at his older brother, and splashes him with water. Soon enough, they're having a water fight, splashing and jumping on each other, shouting and calling one another names, laughing and cheering, until Raleigh has forgotten the whole thing and the sun is setting on them and their parents call for them to come back onshore.

Maybe the water isn't so bad after all.