I'm not gonna lie, I think you guys will like this chapter. NOTE: It won't be the end, I won't leave it like this. I hope you enjoy. (:

Also, you get a little Greek Mythology lesson on the bottom~

Juniper tried to repress the idea of what was happening before her eyes. Her body was hanging almost half way over the railing as her left hand struggled to hold her up with the little strength that she had remaining. In her other hand, by what seemed like a miracle, she managed to grab the sleeve of Fennel's coat.

Their arms had danced with once another in the previous attempt. When she first reached out, she grazed the skin on Fennel's sweet face, thinking it was the last moment she would feel this touch. By pure fortune alone, as what she figured her last image of Fennel was vanishing, Aurea managed to latch onto the sleeve of the scientist's coat.

Her heart raced at dangerous speeds inside her chest. Her body felt as if every muscle was about to burst from the skin. Her stomach churned, her body shook. Juniper had never in her life been more terrified of what was going to come next. It was the first time she questioned as to whether tomorrow would come for Fennel, and now her.

She wanted to cry, but now wasn't the time. Fennel was pulling her free arm up, trying to grab onto Aurea's arm. Fennel, too, showed the immense amount of fear throughout her body. Despite the fact her endorphins were running at an alarming rate, she couldn't get past the idea her life was literally hanging by a thread, waiting for Atropos* to cut it.

Her fingertips shook as she tried to grab Juniper's arm. Her hand refused to cooperate with her and her brain was practically screaming to her body to work with her. "Just please." she begged quietly to herself, trying to push her body past the idea of fear growing and swallowing her.

But that was the problem. Both women were afraid to let the monster of fear win. It was coiling itself around their bodies, tempting them to discard the slivers of courage that still remained and to just give in to the fear, accept that their fates were sealed. Such a concept was something that none of them could grasp, they couldn't let that happen, but it just seemed like the only thing to do at the moment.

Fennel finally managed to force her body to grab onto Juniper. Her feet dangled as she struggled to pull her body up. The lack of a surface below made her footing practically impossible and she had to rely solely on momentum by swinging her legs to and fro, trying to get enough upwards forced to aid her muscles.

This on the other hand did not help Juniper. She looked at Fennel, who had a look of sheer determination to make her body do as she told. However, when she looked closer, she saw the vanishing light of the sun hit with one last reflection. The frame of her glasses glistened slightly then just beyond the lenses, she saw her eyes shine with the same salty mixture as the water below. Despite her determination, she saw the true fear that Fennel held.

Juniper felt her grip loosen. The left hand she was begging oh so dearly to hold onto the railing was beginning to slip and contort itself in an uncomfortable manner. She tried to fight through the pain, but it was excruciating. It was the only thing she had to support her body from tumbling over the edge since she was practically lost on her footing. She begged to herself to just hold on further, even though her mouth was letting out grunts and cries of the pain as her wrist bent more and more. Her hand felt as if it was trying to loosen it's grip and return to a natural pose. Aurea had to force herself to hold on for just a bit longer. Even if it meant she would hurt herself, even if she broke it, it didn't matter. It was then and there when she realized what exactly was the most important thing in her life.

Her job as a professor, the trainers in which she sent off to begin their lives a new, all of those passions that she held, they instantly felt as if they were meaningless. The aspects of her life in which she deemed important really only fell dull in comparison to the light shinning before her.

All of this time...it was right before her. Aurea felt stupid for not even realizing it before. The woman who had been her friend, who always offered her a smile and made her laugh. That woman who's very life was dangling before her, that was the only thing that truly mattered to her.

She loved Fennel.

And now, the one thing that she always loved was slipping from her grasp. The scientists eyes were dripping salty tears at a rapid rate as her breath was hard and heavy, her hands were too afraid to keep moving at this point, fearing that if she made one wrong move, she would fall to her death.

Juniper couldn't let that happen.

Her mind instantly felt set on not letting Fennel slip from her fingers into the darkening sea below. She couldn't risk living in a world where she never saw Fennel again...She didn't want to live in a world where she didn't see Fennel again.

Juniper somehow found the inner strength within her. Fighting against the pain that was radiating from her wrist, she pulled with all her might, even thought it was physically exhausting. Her body kept screaming at her to stop but she didn't want to listen. She knew her physical being could never handle anything of this nature but she didn't care. The only thing that actually mattered to Juniper at the moment was ensuring that Fennel could once again be in her arms. She didn't care if her wrist broke, if the bone even shattered. A small thing like that was practically nothing compared to her losing the one true thing she cared about.

Aurea pulled with all of her might. Her heart was feeling as heavy as a stone that would pull her to the bottom of the ocean but with each lift of Fennel closer to her body, she felt that weight growing lighter and lighter until finally…

Fennel clamped her hand onto the railing and used her own body strength to help Juniper pull her body back over the railing. She tumbled over onto the ground, pulling Juniper along with her. Both of the women were breathing heavily as their bodies shook with violence.

The professor took the scientist's face in her trembling hands. Her muscles felt sore and her wrist ached but she put it aside. She gazed into Fennel's eyes, the moonlight that had now risen above them had shone brightly with a white light. Juniper felt herself choking up with disbelief and tried to keep the tears from flowing out but it was all in vain. Salty tears flooded from her eyes as she looked at Fennel, the fact that she was holding her and looking at her face completely consumed her in an array of emotions. She felt scared, happy, sad…anything that was possible, she was feeling.

Juniper hugged Fennel tightly, pulling her close to her body as she squeezed with all of her might. The last thing she wanted to do was let Fennel go, she never wanted Fennel to leave her sight. The fact she was holding her almost couldn't have been real. If this was a dream, she just didn't want to wake up at this point.

"Never do that to me again." Juniper whimpered, gasping heavily as she tried to form words.

"I…" Fennel's breaths were short and quick, she seemed as if she too was beginning to cry. Juniper felt the other's shoulders shake violently as she pulled away. Fennel looked into her eyes and met her with equally pouring tears. Her nose was red and her face was pink, she couldn't believe what just happened either.

"I…" she repeated.

"I…"

"…I…"

"I love you." Juniper interrupted, finding herself frustrated that Fennel couldn't say it first. She had been dying to let those words pour out and she wasn't going to allow Fennel to stutter the words she knew wanted to be said too.

Fennel seemed to be taken a back by this. She momentarily stopped crying as she let the words sink in a bit. Her face flushed pink. That phrase…she wanted to say it to Aurea for so long, but she never felt the courage. She admired that Juniper was able to say the words while she was stumbling over them.

She began to cry again.

Fennel threw herself forward against Aurea, wrapping her arms around her and letting all of her emotions out as she squeezed Juniper with all of her might. "I love you!" she sobbed, "I love you, I love you!" The words kept repeating as if her words were on loop.

*Atropos: One of the three Moirae (also known as "The Fates") from Greek Mythology. She was in charge of cutting the life-thread and ending a persons life. Her sisters are Clotho, who spun the thread and created life, and Lachesis, who measured the thread and decided how long a person would live.