-Marco-

"Want to see if the hot tub works?" I asked hopefully.

She raised an eyebrow at me. I guess she'd forgotten about it, but the idea of soaking my exhausted body in hot water with soothing jets was just too good to pass up. She sighed wearily.

"OK."

We put our suits on and sat in the hot water, relaxing. "So." I said, starting the conversation. "What are we going to do about the Yeerks? And how are we going to prevent them from infesting us?"

"I don't know." Rachel replied, tensely staring into the bubbling water.

"The easiest way to keep from getting infested, would be to kill the Yeerks, but if Ganlor discovered all the Yeerks dead, he'd know something was up." I said leaning back against the edge of the tub.

"Could we make it look like one of those big rat things did it?" Rachel asked, looking at me.

I thought about it for a moment. "Probably, but what if there was an alarm? Even a rat would set it off."

"If there was an alarm, wouldn't the other Andalites hear it too?" She asked.

"They might be controllers too, you know." I reminded her.

"Ugh." She said looking down.

We both sat there thinking for a while. I looked at her – she was wearing a black bikini with some rhinestones on it. She looked beautiful, as usual, but very tense and very tired. I guess I must have been staring because she looked up at me, her eyes half-open, and then raised an eyebrow and said, "What?!"

"Nothing" I looked away. There was far too much riding on this mission to get involved, especially when she didn't feel the same way about me.

Then I had an idea. "Maybe we just need to relax for a while?" I suggested. She nodded at me, puzzled.

"Hang on a sec." I said, climbing out of the spa. I went to the small refrigerator and got out the bottle of champagne I'd stashed there. There were some glasses in the kitchen, so I got those too and carried them back into the bathroom. "Champagne?" I offered grinning.

She looked up at me and smiled weakly. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were trying to seduce me."

"Well, we are on our honeymoon." I teased. She took the glass anyway. I wasn't really trying anything, I just wanted her to relax for a while. It was stressful, finding out what we'd just learned.

Who'd have thought that Yeerks would be back? We sipped on our champagne in silence for a while. I looked down. Rachel's foot was there next to mine. So tiny, with its dainty, perfectly manicured toenails. I decided to gamble. I sat down my drink, picked up her foot and started to massage it.

She started to pull away. "I'm not sure that's such a good idea..." she started, but then her eyes kind of glazed over and she quit pulling away. I guess it must have felt really good. I smiled. We sat in comfortable silence.

She let me rub both her feet and she didn't even protest when I started on her shoulders. She'd never even let me touch her before! I wonder what changed?

After a while I stopped and sat next to her. Rather than moving away, she scooted closer to me and rested her head on my shoulder! I put my arm around her and she whispered "Thanks" in my ear.

I honestly couldn't believe it was real! I pinched myself a couple times and looked down. She was still there, cuddled up next to me. Unbelievable!

-Rachel-

I knew I shouldn't have let my guard down like that, but it was so nice to be close to him! I'd forgotten what it was like to be so close to another person. But now what? We obviously couldn't just pretend nothing was happening. I didn't even want to anymore!

Tobias was dead. Eight years is a long time, I think it's time to move on. When Tobias and I had talked about it during the war, we'd decided to enjoy each day as it came because there was a good chance one of us could be killed on any given day.

I made a decision just then. I decided to remember all the good times Tobias and I had shared, and move on toward the future. Was Marco part of my future? I didn't know, but I really wanted to find out!

I was still sitting in the hot tub with my head on his shoulder while I was thinking about all of this. I looked up at him. He looked very content. Strange considering what we'd discovered earlier. Well, maybe not so strange. I looked down at my feet and smiled. I'd forgotten all about it for a while too. I looked back up at him and our eyes met.

"Marco?" I said

"Hm?" he said, his eyes kinda glazed over.

"I just made a decision." I said.

"Oh?" He answered. "What's that?"

I leaned over and kissed him square on the lips. I don't think he was expecting it because it took him a couple seconds to respond, but then he did. I think he wanted to kiss me as much as I'd wanted to kiss him! He wrapped his arms around me and held me close. Wow! The man could kiss! This was far better than the wedding and totally different than anything I'd experienced. Mmmmmmmm.

Eventually we pulled apart, breathless, and smiling. I don't think Marco knew what to say. I didn't either, so we just sat there staring at each other.

What felt like an eternity later (it was probably only a couple minutes) Marco said, "Um, you know, we probably ought to get out." He looked at his hands. "We're starting to look like giant raisins!"

I looked down at my hands and giggled. They were pretty wrinkly from sitting in the water for so long! "OK." I said, smiling at him.

We both got out and dried off. Suddenly, I felt shy. What was I going to say? I'd kissed him, not the other way around! He was looking at me, expectantly.

I didn't know what to do, so I walked over to the closet to get some dry pajamas. Then I carried them into the bathroom and closed the door. Marco just stood there, watching me the whole time. He was probably still staring at the bathroom door after I closed it.

As I changed into the dry clothes, I thought about what had happened and wondered what was going to happen next. We still had to share a bed! That might make things . . . complicated.

"Oh Boy." I gave a nervous sigh before opening the door to the bathroom and walking out.