I'm expecting Lara to be mad, or upset. I know she gets a little paranoid about my safety, but I like to think by now I've proven I'm not just a defenseless damsel that needs to be saved all the time. I'm there, holding her when the night terrors come. I mean, I'm afraid of the dark now, but I've got a Croft-shaped security blanket so it's okay.

So she hugs me and and tells me thank you. We're kneeling in the mud, rain pouring down on us and she's thanking me? "It's only fair, right? You saved me how many times? I owe you everything."

"Don't say that." She's looking at me funny, and I have to ignore the flutter in my stomach. "You don't owe me anything."

She doesn't get it, but that's all right. I haul us to our feet. "Maybe you think I don't, but you didn't just save my life."

Lara gets this little smile. It's sort of like a cross between a bashful grin and a smirk. "You did help me out of that mess in Peru."

Taking her hand, I laugh as we twine our fingers together. "Oh my god, can we not talk about Peru?" I'm a little relieved. I'm not sure I want to talk about saving my soul right now. It's a little too heavy of a conversation.

"I still can't believe you put that outfit on," she continues. The rain is letting up a little, and we start to walk back to camp. I want to get a look at the video and my fingers are itching to get ahold of her camera, but I don't ask her about what she found in the ruins yet. I'm enjoying the moment.

"Anything for you, sweetie." I'm glancing at her out from beneath my hair, and I feel her fingers push some of it back. We've always been close. Close enough to endure teasing from our friends, close enough that Roth once asked me my intentions towards Lara. That was an awkward conversation.

"You were the reason, you know. What kept me going, through the pain, and the … everything else." We stop, and I'm staring at her as I try to process what she's saying. She has that look on her face again. Like she's looking into me, studying all of me. It's almost predatory, and she gets that way sometimes. Ever since Yamatai.

It always seems to go back to that god forsaken island. I only know half the things she did. The things she calls out in her sleep. I know she killed, I know she suffered, and all because of me. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I put you through all of that." It's probably the hundredth time I've said that.

"Sam, don't. It wasn't your fault."

"And it wasn't yours."

"I know." She closes her eyes, and this time I'm the one tucking a damp bit of fringe behind her ear. "I try to tell myself that. It's been how long and it still haunts us?"

"Like a bad boyfriend." I'm elated to see the smile on her face.

She has this way of sounding long-suffering when she wants to be, and it's endearing. "Yes, like that, Sam."

My back is to a tree, and she's hugging me again. I can feel every curve of her body pressed against mine. Our clothes are clinging to our skin and there's nothing much left to the imagination. I know every scar. I traced them at night. It started as sort of touch therapy. To help her trust again. They're a part of her now, and she's had to learn to accept that. My thumb finds its way to that terrible one on her stomach. She reacts as she always does, her stomach muscles flexing, and a sharp inhalation of air.

Lara puts her hands on my hips, and I look up at her. I give her my most coy smile. "For a woman who almost drowned, you're in a good mood." It was kind of a cuddly mood, but I wasn't going to complain.

"Except for that, it's been a pretty good day. I got some really great footage that you're going to go crazy over. And I got to be the damsel today."

I laugh, and place my left hand on her shoulder. I can't help it, and move my fingers to the back of her neck. Lara has this gorgeous face, and she is giving me a new kind of look. Almost new, but this is the first time I've seen that expression on her face when she knew I was looking. "Yeah? Well I'm not carrying your fat ass down any mountain."

"Peru…"

"I didn't carry you." She was never going to let me live Peru down. But maybe that's not a bad thing. Maybe because I proved to her that I wasn't helpless. I could hold my own and not be dead weight. I could be her equal. And that was important to me. I'm not going to let her leave me behind at camp again. I hope tonight proved that, too.

"Sam, I…" Lara was flustered. It was cute, really. She wasn't the best when it came to interpersonal things. We're usually pretty smooth with each other, but sometimes she gets like this.

"You what?" I don't try to stop myself this time. We keep dancing around it. She means the world to me. She saved my soul. Even before that, she was such a huge part of my world. I literally don't know what I'd do if she wasn't in my life.

She seems to be wrestling with her words, but the emotion on her face is obvious. My fingers dig into her neck and I do the only thing that makes sense. I kiss her.