Here's another chapter! I hope you enjoy!
Luka was having another nightmare. Even worse, she knew it was happening, but she couldn't stop it.
She was back in the plane again, with the life jackets, the waves at the windshield, the yelling.
"You go first!"
"No!" she cried, but Gakupo grabbed her anyway and pushed her forward no matter how hard she tried. And she looked back, she walked, just as the wave crashed into the plane, snapping her shoulder, and she watched as it snapped Gakupo's head backward, sending it on a collision course with the ceiling. Instantly, he was knocked out cold, crumpling like a cheap suit against the seat.
"Gakupo!" she cried, rushing to his aid. Behind her, the water splashed, and started rushing into the cabin.
The water around his head immediately turned bright red.
"Gakupo, get up!" she hollered, and behind her, she heard another voice.
"Help!" it cried, and Luka looked over her shoulder, seeing only the galley, and part of an empty cabin. Water flooded in.
She focused on Gakupo again. "Get up!" she said, lifting him. But her shoulder protested, and she couldn't get his weight up.
"Help!" yelled the voice again, and now Luka recognized it to be Miku's. Luka shrugged it off, and tried again to move Gakupo, but his limp body was folded around the seat.
"Help, please!"
Luka grit her teeth. "Gakupo, get up!"
"Luka, help!" he called. But that wasn't right. He was out cold.
"Get up!" she ordered.
"Help!" he repeated, and once again, it felt off. His voice was too high, oddly feminine. "Help!"
Luka blinked, consciousness returning to her. Something was wrong. Dead wrong.
"Help!"
In an instant, the cry forced her from half-asleep to fully awake. As the mental cobwebs cleared, she realized that Miku was nowhere to be seen.
Luka rushed to the open door and there, a few meters away in the wide open sea, was Miku, kicking and flailing for her dear life, desperately trying to reach the raft again.
"Luka!" she yelled, and her voice was pure despair, almost breaking.
Sudden panic hit Luka like a tire iron. She instantly returned inside, grabbed the paddle and a life vest. Then, rushing so fast that she was kicking herself forward more than crawling, she hurried back to the door and thrust the end of the paddle in the water.
With it, she propelled the raft in Miku's direction as if her own life depended on it.
"Hold on!" she yelled, forcing herself to paddle efficiently, to not let panic overcome. But Miku's chin was dipping beneath the waves, her flailing was growing weaker. There was little time.
Once she felt close enough, Luka tossed the life jacket. "Hold on to this!"
It landed nearby, and Miku obeyed, swimming towards the jacket and clutching onto it like a lifeline. This allowed Luka to calm down somewhat, and she focused once again on paddling, closing the distance between her and the younger woman.
Once Miku was right next to the raft, Luka leaned over and grabbed her arms.
"Come on up, you can do it!"
"I can't," Miku panted, and she sounded legitimately exhausted. Her hands slipped on the smooth surface of the raft.
"Come on!" Luka anchored herself, wedging her feet between the inflated tube and the flooring. Then, holding onto Miku, she threw herself back.
It worked for the first few centimeters: she lifted Miku's torso out of the water. But then the buoyancy didn't help any longer, and it was like lifting dead weight. Miku did scramble onboard, however, throwing her leg up over the edge of the tube, and seconds later both women collapsed between the tube and the canopy, panting.
"You're okay?!" Luka asked, sitting upright. Her shoulder was worse than it had been in days, screaming bloody agony.
"Oh my god," Miku panted. "I almost—"
Luka held on to her tight, then dragged her further from the raft edge, somehow managing to get them both through the door and under the canopy. Once there, she zipped the door shut, while Miku kept hyperventilating.
"I just— I almost—"
"It's okay, you're okay," Luka whispered reassuringly to her. "Breathe. Breathe."
Miku tried, and her panting slowed, but stayed labored and heavy. Luka held on to her again, but flinched.
"You're freezing," she remarked.
"I'm ice cold," Miku whimpered between deep breaths, holding on to Luka's life jacket, clinging to her as if for dear life.
"Okay, calm, it's okay, you're alive..." Luka whispered. She didn't know what to do, so she held Miku in return, making sure that her companion felt something.
"I almost died," Miku managed, almost an exclamation. "I almost—"
"You're okay," Luka assured her, and she kept at it, repeating reassuring phrases every time Miku had an outburst until Miku finally calmed down. Once Miku caught her breath, she started crying. After a few moments of watching the crying girl shiver in her soaking wet clothes, Luka decided to take off her jacket.
"What are you—"
"Your clothes are saturated with freezing cold water," Luka said, keeping her tone reassuring. "We need to get you warm."
Miku didn't protest after that. Luka peeled off her jacket, tossing it into a corner, then crawled away to retrieve the younger woman's blankets. When she turned back towards Miku, however, she found her painstakingly pulling off her shirt.
"What—"
"I'm freezing!" Miku exclaimed, halfway between a whine and a yell.
Luka nodded, letting the younger woman strip, holding up a blanket so she could keep her decency. Miku went as far as to pull off her jeans, before accepting the blankets and wrapping them tightly around her.
"No peeking," she said, sounding miserable.
"Not at all," Luka whispered. "I'll hang your clothes to dry in the morning."
"Thank you."
Luka let Miku collect herself. It took a a few long minutes before her shivers faded, leaving Miku sniffling in her bundle of blankets.
Luka sighed and retrieved her own blankets; her suit pants and shirt had gotten wet, which would pose a problem in the nighttime chill. Plus, the damp had formed a new puddle inside the canopy, though it was mostly localized around the younger woman and her sopping wet mass of hair.
"What happened?" Luka asked once she got settled.
"I just wanted to stand up for a bit," Miku said defensively.
"Oh."
"And the raft, it—"
"No, I understand. I tried standing yesterday, too."
Miku whimpered. "Right."
"So, well..." Luka cleared her throat. "Are you ready to wear a life jacket, now?"
The other girl nodded. "Sure."
"Once your clothes are dry. I'll take care of it all in the meantime."
"Thank you."
"It's no problem. Just stay inside for now."
"Okay."
Luka yawned. With the stress gone, her fatigue had returned with a vengeance. A look at her watch revealed it was half past ten at night. She'd gotten to bed early, as she always did, so she could have some alone time in the morning.
She glanced back at Miku, who sat there in her puddle, her hair drenched, wrapped in a bunch of blankets.
"If there's anything I can do for you, let me know," she told the younger woman.
"I'm cold."
Luka thought about it for a while. "I'm not sure what you want me to do about that. You have your blankets. You're as dry as you can get. Give it some time."
"Okay..."
Luka made herself comfortable, away from the puddle, but she covered the floor under her with a pair of blankets to be safe, and kept a sponge handy.
And for a moment, she just listened to Miku, who sniffled and whined in the corner by the door, and the rustling of her blankets. Luka almost fell asleep, but her heart was beating too fast for her to fully relax.
"Hey," she said after a few moments.
"Hm?"
"Don't do that again, yeah? I don't think I can deal with two people dying on my hands."
"It wasn't your fault,"
"But I'd still have to live with it."
Miku didn't reply to that, and a strange silence fell over the duo. Eventually, Miku got on her knees, and Luka heard her crawl, but didn't expect the sound to get louder.
To her surprise, Miku had ended up directly above her.
"Wh—?!"
"Hold me," Miku demanded.
"Wh— Hold you?"
"I'm so cold," she sniveled, but there was less fanfare about it.
"I don't know what you want me to do," Luka said, sitting up and slightly away from the other woman. "Those are insulated blankets. If I just hold you, it won't do anything."
Miku sat down for a moment, clearly digesting the words, sniffling all the while. After a moment, she whispered. "Please. Something's wrong."
Luka frowned, and she took in the sight before her: the younger woman was sniffing, water beading down her face from her hair, visible skin glistening from the water and the salt. But that skin was waxy pale, an unhealthy shade, and Miku's lips were blue, her eyes sunken.
There was despair, there.
Luka struggled to find words for a moment. "I don't... What can I do?"
"I need to get warm!" Miku managed to grit out, but her tone was pleading. Her hands, which bundled the blankets around her, were shaking.
Luka sat up properly. "Only thing I can think of is that I hold you under your blankets. But you're not wearing anything, so—"
"You won't look," Miku easily declared before opening the blankets.
Fulfilling the prophecy, Luka sent her eyes skyward, a blush covering her features. She heard the rustling of Miku crawling closer, before getting uncomfortably close.
"Lie down," Miku demanded.
"Okay, okay."
Luka obeyed, lying down on her dry blankets, and Miku followed suit, lying down at her side. She pulled her blankets over them both before nestling against the pilot.
Goosebumps covered Luka's flesh when Miku's ice cold body pressed against her. It only got worse when Miku wrapped an arm around her, increasing the surface area of the glacial touch.
"Hold me," she requested, and Luka, keeping her eyes on the top of the canopy, struggled to comply. Her shoulder hurt, and Miku was pressing against it. So she took her right arm and cast it over the younger woman's form, and somehow managed to hold her closer with that. The life vest between them prevented any major proximity at chest level, but Luka felt the slick skin of Miku's back under her hand, the freezing surface through her sleeve. She nearly jumped when Miku's feet found hers and pressed close there, too.
From head to toe, the girl was absolutely freezing. And Luka felt her shake, shivering slightly, her whole body trembling.
"Why is the water so cold here?" Luka said through clenched teeth.
"I don't know. It's so much worse than when we crashed."
"Feels like it." Luka swallowed hard. Miku's arm was tightly wrapped around her waist, so the younger woman probably felt every breath Luka took. And everywhere where they made contact, Luka's clothes got damp and stuck to them both, like a freezing layer of glue keeping them together.
Luka tried her best to breathe evenly.
"You're warm," Miku whispered, sounding almost content.
"Hm."
Luka did her best to hold her close, the hand on Miku's back awkward and stiff. The younger woman didn't seem to mind all that much that Luka was touching her there; at least, she didn't say so.
While Luka's mind spun, Miku warmed up and eventually succumbed to sleep.
It took Luka a lot longer to get settled, although she did eventually drift off, but not into restful sleep. Instead, she dreamed of being trapped, unable to move. Trapped inside the plane, sinking, unable to take a breath of air. Then she dreamed of rescue, more hopeful, a warmer dream. And then she dreamed of Miku, this new Miku she was getting to know, prettier than she'd ever been, more vulnerable, more honest, and even a little more kind.
She woke up with a start, heart pounding. She didn't feel like she'd slept a wink. The pain in her shoulder still clawed at her mind. It was still dark under the canopy, so much time couldn't have passed at all.
Luka wriggled, but just like in her dream, she felt smothered, unable to move. She looked and found that Miku was still there, and in fact, she was more on Luka than before, lying over the left half of Luka's body.
Luka clenched her jaw and tried not to groan or whine, but the pain was such that she couldn't help a little gasp. Miku lay fully on her shoulder, her jaw resting there somewhere, her arm going over the front of Luka's body. Their legs were intertwined, and Luka still had her good hand on Miku's back.
"At least you feel warm," Luka whispered to herself, partially as an outlet for the pain. She wriggled, but her effort only served to double the pain; she gasped and collapsed, unable to move. "Fuck."
"What's—"
Luka winced. "Fuck, sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."
The arm retreated, and so did the weight as Miku pulled back, sitting up.
"Oh thank god."
"What's wrong?"
Luka looked at the younger woman, seeing only a faint shape in the dark. "My shoulder. It really, really hurts."
"Hm."
"Sorry. It'll fade in a bit. We can go back to sleep. You feeling warm enough?"
"I'm fine," Miku deadpanned. "Where is the flashlight?"
Luka retrieved it from her pocket, and handed it to the other woman. "If you want to find your clothes, I doubt they're dry. They'll need the sun to—Ow!"
The light shone directly in her eyes. Luka protected herself with her good hand, looking away from the blinding light.
"What's that for?" she asked.
"Sorry," Miku muttered, lowering the light. To Luka's surprise, Miku's free hand went to her life vest. "Take this off."
"Wha— Why?"
"I want to look at your shoulder."
Luka frowned. "What are you, a doctor or something?"
Miku scoffed. "No."
"It's okay, there's no point. I'll get treatment when we get to a hospital."
"Let me look," she demanded.
"It's fine, I swear."
"Let me!"
Luka rolled her eyes and sighed. "Fine."
With effort, she pulled off her life vest, trying her best not to jostle her bad shoulder. This left her in only her button-up shirt and suit pants in front of the younger woman who, she remembered, wasn't wearing much at all.
Luka gulped, a blush rising to her cheeks.
"If you want something to wear," she started, flinching under the bright light. "There's my suit jacket right here. It should be dry."
Miku reached over almost immediately, picking the jacket up, shrugging off the blankets, and putting the jacket on in almost one swift movement. Once partially dressed, she focused on the pilot, blankets forgotten on the floor.
"Where does it hurt?"
"Here," Luka pointed.
"Can you hold this?" Miku asked, handing her the flashlight. Luka nodded and took the light, then Miku reached towards her with both hands. Just before touching her, though, Miku said, "This might hurt a bit."
"Why is this necessary?"
"I'm just looking."
"You're touching, too, obviously," Luka said.
She could almost hear Miku roll her eyes. She couldn't see what Miku was doing; she was only a silhouette in the darkness to begin with, and the light shining in Luka's face didn't help.
"I need to feel what's going on. I'm looking with my hands, duh."
"Fine. Do your worst."
Miku huffed, but she did reach forward, undoing the first few buttons on Luka's shirt. Before the pilot could protest when she started going dangerously low, she pulled the shirt to the side, revealing Luka's shoulder.
"Hm. Tell me when it hurts."
The hands went from the base of where Luka's neck met the shoulder, over the top and back of her trapezius, over the deltoids. Luka didn't flinch, jaw clenched, blush fierce; Miku's touch was feather-light, barely ghosting over her, and her fingers were slightly cool. The hands then ghosted back towards her neck, but over the clavicle this time, and Luka bit back a curse.
"That's where it hurts," she said through gritted teeth. To her dismay, Miku only pressed harder there, which made her yelp. "Fuck! What's the big idea?!"
"Your collarbone is broken," Miku declared.
"Huh?"
"Give me the light."
Luka obeyed, mutely handing it over. Miku turned away then, and the light lit up the orange-red raft and canopy as Miku searched around. The younger woman was reduced to a black shadow, a dark cardboard cutout in front of the illuminated area.
"How do you know?" Luka asked as Miku searched.
"I did a year in nursing."
Luka blinked. "Nursing? You went to school to become a nurse?"
"Yes." Miku found what she was looking for, picking it up from the floor. Seconds later, Luka heard the sound of water trickling, hitting the floor of the raft.
"Guess we'll be having fun with the sponges again."
"Yes. But not now," Miku said simply. She shook whatever she was holding, then returned to Luka.
Miku was holding her own designer jacket. It was still damp, and the obvious creases betrayed that it had just been wrung out.
"Gee, you need to go easy on those clothes of yours," Luka said. "I bet they're worth more than what I make in a month."
Miku didn't reply, still obscured by the shadow, and merely handed the light back to Luka.
"Shine it here, please."
Luka did just that, and finally saw Miku for the first time that night. She had a serious air about her, a slight crease in her brow while she studied her jacket. She was only wearing Luka's suit jacket over her underwear, yet Luka couldn't help but watch what she was doing. Miku held up her own jacket, turned it around a few times, took it in both hands, and then tore it in two.
Luka flinched. "What are you—"
"I'm making you a sling," Miku said simply, ripping another part off the jacket.
"Use my suit for that, then!"
"Too late."
Luka stuttered, "We need our clothes! What if we get a cold spell? Jackets are—"
"We have blankets and each other," Miku said, ripping yet another part off her jacket. "We'll be okay."
Luka gulped, watching as Miku knotted the pieces together. Once she had a long strip that was a lot wider in the middle than at the ends, she held it up and crawled toward Luka.
"Bend your arm over your chest. Yes, like that."
With some effort, the younger woman put the wide part of the sling under Luka's arm, then the two ends went to either side of Luka's neck. Miku then shuffled behind her, tying the knot behind her neck so that the whole thing kept Luka's arm up, against her chest.
"There."
Luka blinked a few times, taking in the sling. "It's soft."
"It is, yes."
"I'm sorry about your jacket."
"Don't be," Miku said. "Is it comfortable?"
"Yes, actually..." Luka tested it for a moment. "It helps with the pain a little."
"Good. Let's take it off, so you can put the life vest back on."
They went through that dance, taking the sling off, putting the vest back on, and the sling went over that. The knot needed adjusting due to the thickness of the vest, but after that, Luka felt almost comfortable with her arm in its own little bed.
"Gosh. Thank you," she muttered. She held the light towards the floor; the orange-red surface reflected the light fairly well, illuminating the space in a faint reddish light.
"No worries," Miku said, shuffling over to her pile of blankets.
"Uhm, when did you go to nursing school?"
"Two years ago."
"You were, uhm...seventeen, then?"
"That's right." Miku sighed. "It wasn't for me. It was no fun. So I quit and decided to do something else."
Luka watched her organize her blankets. She didn't retreat to her own side of the raft, though, staying close to Luka.
"What do you do now, then?" Luka asked.
Miku smoothed over a blanket. "Nothing, really. I party. I socialize."
"Hm. That sounds fun."
"It can be." Miku settled on her blankets and pulled Luka's jacket closer to her body.
"Why not go to school to do something else?" Luka asked.
"Don't feel like it. I'm going to marry rich. That's what I decided."
Luka blinked. "Ah, your boyfriend."
"Yes."
"Is he nice?"
"No, he's awful."
Luka did a doubletake. "What? But—"
"Look, I know that it must look like a lot of fun and stuff, when we're all in the plane and partying and whatever. But he's awful. He's just rich. And I'm good at playing pretend."
"Why do that to yourself?" Luka asked. "Why not spend your life with someone you like?"
"'Cause then I got to work and actually think," Miku said with a scoff. "I spent all my childhood at the very best schools getting the very best grades and I'm tired of that. I'm an adult now, and I can do whatever I want."
Luka stayed quiet for a bit. "I guess I can get that."
"Like, you went to school too, right?" Miku asked. "For your, I don't know, plane flying degree?"
"An aviation degree, yes."
"I bet you wouldn't do that again if you had to."
"If it means I can fly again, I'd do it again a thousand times," Luka said without hesitating.
"What?"
"I found something in life that makes me really, really happy. Of course I'm not letting something as simple as studies get in my way. Especially if I know that I can get through them."
Miku didn't reply right away, eventually saying, "Well there you have it. I flunked all my exams."
Luka raised a brow. "Did you? You knew exactly what to do."
"Testing is different from the practical stuff, duh. I flunked it all. I knew all the things I needed to know, but the exams? Nah."
"But you're an excellent tester."
"How would you know?"
"You just said you spent your whole childhood getting the best grades."
Miku stayed quiet for a long time, before finally declaring, "Fine. I failed on purpose. I just didn't want to do it."
"That's fair."
"I'm just sick of school and of dad telling me what to do. I'm just marrying rich. It's what my mom did."
"Is she happy?"
Again, Miku didn't answer.
"You sure that's something you want to copy?" Luka asked.
"Leave me alone," Miku muttered. "It's easy. Easier than whatever my dad does. He's never around except for when I act up. Then he pays tons of attention to me and gets me whatever I want. But then he disappears again, deep in his 'work'. I don't want that."
"Is he happy?"
"Happier than my mom? No. They're both miserable."
"You're allowed to make something new, you know. You don't have to choose one of two evils if a third option exists."
"I'm not here for a lecture."
"I know it's easy to do what we know, but—"
"I do what I want, okay?" Miku snapped. "And I want to have fun at the nicest places on the planet with my friends! I'll think about all that scary stuff later. I'm young. I have time."
"That's true..."
"I'm going to sleep now. Good night."
After a moment, Luka replied, "Good night."
Miku lay down on her blankets, and Luka did the same, before clicking the flashlight off. She gazed towards the vague, nearby shape of Miku's resting form, then at the empty corner she used to occupy.
Luka sighed, rolled over on her good shoulder, and tried to fall back to sleep.