It had been two days, they had seen no land since they left, and kept to the planned course as much as possible. The two days were tiring, it had been full of navigation, eating, and talking; mostly navigation. The time that they did get too talk was at night when they were tired, so it was always brief, there was even a time when one fell asleep on another. Tonight seemed just like all the others, but Jordan had other plans.
They were sitting around a candle that Jordan had lit and were eating. Jordan was eating an apple (he would have been eating fish, but he was respecting Ariel's wishes) and Ariel was eating a couple of leaves of lettuce (it was the only thing available on the ship). Jordan didn't like the times when they ate, it was very irritating, nothing but smack smack and crunch crunch. He didn't feel like dealing with it tonight, he didn't feel like dealing with anything. So, he threw the apple overboard and stood up, pulling his shirt off.
"Lets go swimming."
Jordan dived into the water.
"What?"
"I said let's go swimming."
Ariel looked over at him with a crazed look in her eye.
"Why!"
"Because its a great night for it, and you haven't been in the water for days, It will only be for a little while."
"But how will we get back in the boat?"
"We can climb the anchor chain back to the top deck."
Ariel looked over at the anchor and then back at him, it did seem like a good idea, especially on a night like this. She picked herself up, and jumped over the side, diving into the water and splashing back up... she had a smile on her face.
"Come on."
Ariel grabbed Jordan's hand and took him under. It was much clearer than Jordan thought it would have been, He could easily see the bottom, were coral and other mollusk lay. Ariel took him among them, and he watched as many fish darted out of their way, and crabs rose to pinch at them as they passed, even a small dolphin had swam up beside them. As he reveled in this glory, Jordan didn't realize the pressure that had started in on his head and chest, making it harder for him to breath. He tugged on Ariel's arm and pointed towards the surface, she shook her head and put her lips against his, blowing into his mouth. He had air now, and even the pressure had started to ease up a little. This would continue, they would swim around and see many wonders, playing with each other as they did, trying to gather the most seashells or swim faster than one another (even though Ariel always won), and whenever Jordan became drained, Ariel would give him air. It had been hours until they realized that they had overshot their goal of only staying in the water a 'little while' and so they swam back up, and surfaced.
The night was still quiet, and the boat lay still, safely to one side. They stared into each others eyes for a moment, until Jordan spoke.
"My breathing still isn't doing that well, I think I need some air."
Jordan connected his lips to hers and they kissed. It surprised her at first, but soon she accepted it and laid her hands on the back of his head. They had a wonderful time that night, a night that neither would die to forget, but that moment for now and forever is lost in time. And, as before, the anchor was raised, and they were off the next morning to get her home.