And now... The wedding night...

We had a solid three hours of light left, without the walls to cut it off, the days seemed to last that much longer out here. So on we rode. Celebrations would still be taking place at the dock camp, but I was simply enjoying the gentle huff of our horses, the clunk of our gear, the whoosh of the waves. We were married. We had both taken that leap together. In many ways it was just a piece of paper from the government, in no way do I consider it the 'most important day of my life' or anything, but it is significant. It's honestly still surprising I could be so optimistic about things. Still, we were on the other side of it now and the weight on my hand was a welcome one – an engagement ring and a wedding band. Fuck you, that was what we had said to the world for making us shake, tremble or doubt. That felt good. Like the ultimate win.

So far, though I suppose with Hanji having sent a team ahead to set our first night up already it wasn't surprising, we hadn't seen anything much of interest along the shoreline. Just some natural beauty to gaze at. The water continued to sparkle under the sunshine and the air remained crisp. Birds went overhead occasionally, and a cloud would skirt by sometimes too. But otherwise we were alone. No signs of Titans nearby, even with so much open ground, no tracks or anything of that sort. Beautiful.

Levi looked back over his shoulder, eyes dipping towards where I still had some bandaging under my uniform. "How you holding up?"

"I'm good, my side's fine."

"Alright, the post they set up can't be much further. You spotted anything but sand and rocks so far?"

"Nope!"

"Me neither." He turned away, back hunching a little.

I figured he was suspicious of the lack of evidence of other ships trying to land. But I was assuming either enough time had scrubbed them away, or we weren't far enough round to see other attempts. If the South landing area was so definite, them trying to land more to the East, West or North would take us at least a day to reach. Or else, why not simply land on the southern point?

As we came to another gentle curve of the shoreline, my eyes scanned the land further in again. No sign of company, of any sort. And then my mind began to wonder about that source, that point at which the Titans emerged, reborn from another passing of a human life. That seemed to be what the cycle suggested in Eren's Father's memories, his notes and what little Vincent had scribbled on the matter. But what would it look like? A massive hole in the ground they lumbered out of? A shiny portal they appeared from? A big ol' bucket spilling them out every so often? I had no idea. And other than 'the source' there was no specification to be found. So helpful.

Not that I knew what the hell we would do if we did find the damn thing. Plug it with some tree branches? I guess we'd report back and it would be down to the shifters, Eren and Armin alike, to do some Titan-ing. Or maybe there would be a handy manual inside letting us know how to safely dismantle the means by which those beasts had been pouring out and seeking out the people of the walls to consume. My brain was going in odd directions. Maybe it was all the open space.

"Just ahead, I can see the tent they've set up." Levi sighed and his shoulders became less hunched – perhaps he had been anxious to reach that point, as if something awful was waiting to jump out at us. I couldn't blame him really. Considering what happened right after our engagement. But the area had been combed, by several teams, and Hanji herself. For once, out in the open, I felt a strange peacefulness – no, not strange, genuine.

We rode to the small thicket of trees by the tent and let the horses rest. There was even a small brook nearby, that seemed to join the sea further down the shore, fresh water meeting salt, how odd. Still, we let the horses drink while we got supplies ready for our stay. The breeze was pleasant and as the golden light of day dimmed to a burnt orange, the crisp air only grew fresher. The fire came to life easily, a small partition in place to allow us to really enjoy the heat from it – it was hard to believe the snows were so close at hand. Really they should have already hit by now, but we could enjoy the extra time to explore. We sat by the fire, eating our lovingly prepared meal – Sasha had outdone herself on this stew, her cooking only going from strength to strength as more supplies became readily available.

I put my head on his shoulder and breathed deep, the open space and tranquillity soothing to the soul. We were really here. Together. On the open plains of the island. Damn…

"How're you finding the quiet?" He asked, his head gently nudging mine.

"It's lovely. You?"

"Odd. I'm not sure I've ever heard this kind of quiet before. There's the water, and the horses of course but other than that… I dunno." He frowned and looked along the open plains before us. "To think of all this open space just being empty. Of all those people crammed in the Underground, or even up top in tiny houses. All that struggle for food."

"The world is weird." I nodded and sat up to kiss his cheek. "But that's why this is all so important, isn't it? So we can claim some of this for ourselves. So we can expand. So we can take it back from the Titans. Even though they're not here, apparently, this is still their territory."

He nodded. "Just have to find the source. Somehow…"

"Mm, and hopefully we can then figure out how to stop it once and for all. Then there's no need for the walls, no need for the fear."

He smirked. "No need for the Scouts."

"I've never been so keen to be out of a job, have you?"

A real smile split his lips and he looked at me properly, his grey eyes so bright with that hope. It was beautiful. After so long seeing him reserved, worried, scared even, to see him hope was like the first snow, or a flower blooming in spring.

He leaned in and kissed me tenderly. "Here's to unemployment, Mrs Ackerman."

"Well now that sounds lovely, doesn't it, husband?"

He pulled me close, moving me to straddle his lap, his hand threading into my hair, pulling me into a deeper kiss. My hands clasped his shirt, hips already moving against him a little, eager as our tongues danced and breath combined.

"Say it again." He husked, moving to kiss along my neck, teeth grazing every so often.

"Husband." I murmured, head lolling to the side as he lingered over my pulse point, my hands undoing his buttons, fingertips grazing the skin beneath his shirt.

He hummed and returned to my lips, his free hand skimming across my waist, landing on my hip and pulling me down against him. He was already rock hard for me. Fuck. Far too many clothes were still involved. We shared a moan as I hungrily kissed him back, my fingers becoming clumsy in my rush to have him stripped. He turned us, laying me down on the grass by the fire, undoing my shirt, kissing down my chest. I unhooked my legs from his middle and lay there, so vulnerable and yet feeling so secure.

For a moment, with my shirt laying open, my belt undone in his hands, his eyes slowly scanned back up my body and then met mine. Burning. Wanting. Hungry. All of it broiled in those grey shades and he smirked.

"You're my wife."

I laughed and propped myself up on my elbows, tilting my head, letting my hair tumble loosely now that he'd fully undone the braid. A blush bloomed as he stared at me with that open astonishment in his eyes. I let my legs shift a little further open and my gaze travelled down him, shirt open and belt also partially undone.

"And you're my husband. Now get back here, feeling awfully lonely."

"Can't have that." He removed my belt and moved back up to kiss me, his hand caressing along my neck, down to loosen my bra, lingering as he caressed my chest and brought those mewls to my lips. "That's right, I want to hear all of it, tonight. Every single fucking noise."

"Of course," I panted, "anything."

"Careful, don't make me too open a promise." He chuckled darkly against my lips, his touch stroking lower. "Can I touch you?"

"Please." I whined, body thrumming with that desperation now, knowing all that was to come, all the pleasure that would spill over my nerves, craving it. "Fuck me, Levi. Please."

"Mm, anything." He murmured, touch gliding into my underwear and curling into me.

"Gnh!" I arched into the touch and let the moans tumble out of me, gasped against his lips as he kissed me, drinking them down like it was the sweetest wine. My hands clasped at his hair, his shirt that was still infuriatingly still on, eventually just tangling back in his hair to give me an anchor as I demanded another kiss. His touch deepened again, thumb kneading that pearl of nerves exquisitely, making me tremble all over. "Levi."

"That's it, just give into it, no more thinking, no more fighting, just fucking feel." He rumbled, kissing me as his touch stroked, kneaded, caressed, playing me like the finest violin towards the ultimate crescendo.

And I did feel. Every touch, kiss, movement, it was all for me to just bask in the moment, the pleasure, the way my nerves tightened and sung for me and for him. More. Yes! Because this was what we were fighting for. The freedom to feel, to be, to simply love, fuck and exist however we wished to. So good. I keened, nails catching along his shirt before I arched from the grass, moment hurtling towards me, my whole body quivering as it built like a fresh wave. Every nerve tightened, shuddered, crackled to life as that touch moved me. He leaned back to watch me plummet over that precipice, my eyes seeing his ravenous hunger before they rolled back as the pleasure swathed my body, ripping joyous laughter from me alongside my wanton moans.

"Beautiful. Astonishing." He muttered as he kissed back up to my lips.

As he got within reach I grabbed his collar and pulled him into a kiss, slow, deep and lingering. His arms wound round me so tight, holding me close, his head angling to further deepen the kiss as he gave a low rumble of eagerness. He was being so open. So freely loud with his joy. Perfect. He then started kissing along my shoulder, stripping me bare properly, my limbs like liquid as he moved me, my afterglow still pulsing between my thighs. I was malleable to every touch. Lazily I reached to undo the last of his buttons as well, but I was swimming in the heat of the moment so much he took over, pulling his shirt free in one swoop, bringing his chest to mine, skin to skin, heart to heart.

"Robyn…" He breathed, licking down to my chest where he nipped and sucked, encouraging my nerves back onto high alert as I gasped and my body once again arched to be closer to that stunning sensation. I laughed euphorically as he moved to the other side, a harder bite being my reward, my laughter melting into a long moan for more. "Robyn…"

I watched him sit back to lower his trousers, the movements no different to any other time, and yet in the firelight and moment everything seemed so heightened. The lines of his body, the swell of his muscles, the slight sheen of sweat almost glittering as he moved. And then he came back to me, laid bare, rock hard and wanting. But still he took that moment to lean in, kiss me tenderly and cup my jaw, eyes simmering but controlled.

"Robyn".

I swallowed hard, his touch stroking down from my jaw along my throat. "Yes, Levi?"

"Can I fuck you?"

I knew why he was asking, being careful was his priority these days, knowing what he knew. But I also knew it wasn't from a sombre place he asked. He just wanted my pleasure to also come from a place of safety. I smiled and brought his lips back to mine, one hand cupping his jaw as I delved my tongue into his mouth, my other hand skimming down his front to stroke where he was already throbbing for me.

"Please do."

"Nngh." He groaned, swooping in for a deeper kiss, his touch caressing along the inside of my thigh, stroking my core where he had already coaxed me across that line of bliss, my wet heat gladly knowing his touch again. I whimpered as he stopped, but only momentarily, coming right back with that familiar pressure. Bliss. I faltered, laying back in eager anticipation of being filled to the brim.

The fire crackled nearby and the horses murmured contentedly a few metres away. Other than that it was just us, our breathless murmurs of each others names, the skim of our hands over each others bodies, the hitch of our voices as we found one another's pleasure. And then finally we both sighed into blissful groans as he filled me, a crash of the waves nearby accompanying my giddy laughter.

And then he did as promised.

His body moved with mine, fucking away the fears, the uncertainties, the worries. All I knew was the singing of my nerves, the heat of his skin against mine, the taste of him, the safety of him. My legs wrapped around him tightly, his movements slowing but strengthening, slamming into me, so deeply, so powerfully, hot breath gusting against my shoulder, his voice gravelled as he praised me, worshipped me, loved me. I met him halfway as much as I could of course, my hips finding his rhythm, my lips caressing along his pale skin wherever I could reach, my nails raking along his back as yet another moment drowned me.

More.

I held him close, kissing him desperately, rolling us a little further from the fire, but allowing me to land on top. Oh god. The change of angle. The way he was speared so much deeper inside of me, so undeniable and nerve wrecking. In that moment of stillness, with me sat atop him, impaled by him, scraping my hair back to tumble down my spine, he gazed up at me with such open burning want, it was hard not to melt. He bit his lip. He reached, palming my chest, skimming back down to my waist, reaching to stroke my nerves yet again. So gentle. But so maddeningly good. My head hung back as my hips rolled, the pull of him inside of me, up and down, deep caress of my nerves, walls, being.

"Touch yourself." He gasped, kneading my hips, maintaining a steady pace for us both.

I didn't need a damn phrasing to obey that command. My hands reached up and caressed my tits, kneading, pinching, brewing fresh mewls from my throat as my body filled with light. How many times had I done that in the dark alone, thinking of him? Before we were together even. Imagining how my Captain might hold me, imagining that powerful body doing untold wonderful things to me. Who hadn't thought of him like that, I suppose. But there he was, beneath me, gasping my name, moaning at my touch. Mine. He groaned, thrusting up into me harder, his eyes still fixated when I looked down at him. My hair fell in front of my face slightly and I kept his gaze as I slowly lowered one of my hands, reaching between my legs and holding my fingers around where we were joined. I squeezed a little. His eyes rolled back with the extra pressure, and as I combined it with a flex from within, he cried out and gritted his teeth, his hold becoming bruisingly tight on my hips. Yes. My touch stroked back and forth, making my own voice peel louder from me.

He sat up suddenly, pulling me down into a fresh kiss, groaning against my lips. "You don't know what you do to me, do you? Fuck."

"Likewise." I groaned, gripping his hair, undulating in his lap, my hips rolling with his. "Fuck, I love you."

"Nngh. I love you. You're perfect."

And he turned us again, pressing me to the grass, driving into me harder, deeper. I held him close, his head resting against my shoulder, in the crook of my neck where he kissed and nipped as his hips slammed into me, driving us both towards that final moment.

I gazed up at the stars as my nerves tightened, my body shivered, my heart swelled. It was perfect. Our wedding night under the stars, our love burning as fresh as ever, our hearts thrumming like one. Bliss. It crested for us both and we cried out each others name one last euphoric time before we reduced to simply moving with each other, gently coaxing each other through the moment, allowing our bodies to settle. Like steel pulled from the forge, our nerves were alight, glowing, and slowly dimming back to their steady state.

He put his forehead to mine and panted against my lips, "I love you, Mrs Ackerman."

"I love you, Mr Ackerman."

No need for Captain here, or rank of any kind. Just the man and just the woman. Just Levi and me, and the silent stars gazing down. Probably a tiny bit jealous…

In the morning we woke to birdsong, to a pale dawn rising, to peace all around. Mist crawled along the grassy plains, and the horses drank and grazed. I kissed him good morning, he mumbled against my shoulder and looped his arms tighter round my middle. We had made it into the tent eventually, finding our bedrolls and falling asleep wound up in each other. And now we had woken and my body felt light as air. Hello world, I'm Mrs Robyn Ackerman, and I'm happy.

We grabbed our things and went to quickly bathe in the brook, a deeper part being a few metres further along. It was cold, of course, but wonderfully refreshing. And as we washed, I couldn't help but steal a few more glances at my husband (that word was going to take some getting used to…) in the pale morning light. He was stunning. That man was mine, he got on his knees and asked me to be his, he also got on his knees for other wonderful things. I shivered. To think of that head between my thighs… Focus. We had a mission to get to. Though it seemed we had been on similar pages… As I turned away from him, he appeared behind me, wrapping his arms around my middle as I'd been washing my hair, kissing my shoulder.

"You look particularly lovely this morning."

"Is that so?" I chuckled, lowering my arms to squeeze against his at my middle. "I guess marriage agrees with me."

"Mm, or..." He murmured, nose skimming along my neck and lingering by my ear where his warm breath caressed. "You agree with a good fucking."

I shuddered and leaned back into his hold, him feeling so warm against the chill of the water. One of his hands meandered from my waist, fingers stroking along my skin, closer and closer to where I immediately ached for him. He stroked. He licked under my ear. He curled that touch into me again and held me up as my knees faltered. Entirely at his mercy once again, head lolled back against his shoulder, panting while he chuckled darkly.

"If I can get that look on your face for all the days to come, I'll be a very happy man." He kneaded the pearl of nerves hard and I moaned as he kissed me deeply, swallowing the noise with his own groan of satisfaction. "Already so wet for me. Mrs Ackerman, were you already thinking about this? Were you washing yourself, remembering last night?"

"M-Maybe." I gasped, wanting to turn and wrap my legs around him then and there, but not trusting myself to move an inch without slipping in the water. He curled his touch deeper and I whined, gripping his wrist, pushing harder, wanting more. I was so greedy for him. Again he chuckled, the noise doing wonders to my nerves yet again.

"Step closer to the rocks there." He breathed, his own wants very clear already, even before I felt him hard up against me.

I moved as instructed, bracing myself against the pale rocks, the sand beneath my toes steady as I held a wider stance and looked back over my shoulder, breathing hard. He grinned and stepped in close, holding my waist with one arm, the other encouraging me to raise one leg slightly onto a nearby rock. And then he pushed me forwards a little, just slightly bent over, and as I marvelled at the sensation of his sure grip on my nape, he slipped into my heat from behind. The angle. The pressure. The lingering effects from the night before. I moaned his name and my head hung forward, lips agape as I drank in the moment of sheer indulgence. Yes. More. All of it. Fuck me. Fuck me again, please. But I didn't need to ask really, my hips were already moving back into him, demanding more. Now!

He rested his head against the middle of my back, between my shoulder blades, his hands holding my hips tightly, and then he moved. Sweet blissful pressure. The chill of the water was so pleasant as my body began to burn for him all over again, and as his touch skimmed up to my chest, pulling me upright again, palming my tits as I was pressed back against him, I cried out into laughter.

He groaned, biting my shoulder, his pace suddenly quickening. My body was entirely at his mercy, and my laughter kept bubbling out me, merging with wanton moans, my hands reaching back to tangle in his hair, to stroke at his neck, and pull him into fresh kisses. My moment built in the base of my spine, and his own must have been catching up to him as he held me closer, his jaw growing tighter and his teeth flashing into view before he bit down again on my shoulder and sped up even more. Fuck! My nerves gave way and I was tumbling over my moment as his spilled into me, the pace becoming far gentler after that, his hold on me so loving as he held me against him, his length leaving me, his hands caressing all over my body.

One hell of a way to start a mission…

By the time we had come back to our senses, the mist was almost all burnt off for the day and we met each others gaze before laughing softly. Time to clean up again, I guess. I kissed the end of his nose and passed him the soap, while he helped me detangle my hair. We just… enjoyed. Madness, right?

After some breakfast we got packed up and on the road. Time for the mission part. We would make the most of the day, and perhaps a little into the night with our crystal lanterns. But then we would find a spot and once again make camp, leaving markers for those coming after us day by day to find and make small posts. It was also for us to give reports as we go.

Levi seemed unsure whether to aim for camping by trees or to go for the shore. The waves would make it harder to hear things, but it seemed unlikely that Titans would do well on the sands. But we would figure that out later. For now, we rode onwards and discussed the landscape. Most of the island so far had been very much the same; open plains, lots of greenery and plenty of big-ass trees. And very big rocks. The cities would be able to expand easily with that kind of material available. So many new homes, new possibilities. How far would we get? How far could we go? And how far would the Marleans allow?

I snorted.

As if we were going to let them stop us.

Levi raised his hand and we slowed, the next curve of the island seeming to have choppier waters by the shoreline and a lot less sand. It was more of a rocky drop-off than a beach. He pointed. Parts of a boat, presumably. Big sheets of metal bent out of shape, with chipped paint still flaking away under the baking sunshine, the rust still gnawing on the remaining metal that jutted above the waves. We drew closer, not too close, but we managed to spot a symbol painted on the side of the metal and I made a sketch in my field journal. Hanji was going to be thrilled. First day and already some information. Presumably it was a Marlean insignia, or other civilisations had tried to land here before Marley wiped them out.

We tied the horses nearby and clambered closer. Nowhere near the waves still, but debris had spread far from the first part we had spotted. Either this had been spreading a long time, or the impact of this crash had been very nasty. As I clambered onto my next rock, I stalled. A skeleton. It laid amongst the pebbles and shells between the bigger boulders, empty eyes staring up at me, bleached bones bright in the sun. Nothing left but a few tatters of a uniform. But definitely a military uniform. I tugged some material free and held it up so Levi could see. It seemed vaguely green in colour, and that same insignia was on the shoulder patch. More intel.

It took an hour or so but we found a couple items to be taken back with us. Something that looked like the 'telephone' that Grisha Jeager's journal had described, but it wasn't connected to anything. A telephone you could move around with maybe? I had no idea. And then we found something small and metal, imbedded in the sands by another skeleton. It had fallen out of a leather holster. A hand gun, it looked like, but it also looked very old. We had only recently had smaller handguns on the island, not widespread at all yet. The tech wasn't quite there for mass production. Yet here was a regular soldier, with a refined handgun, a pistol of sorts. But from how long ago?

"How long have they had these do you think?" I blinked, feeling queasy in my gut.

Levi drew close. "Could just be the rust making it look older."

"Y-Yeah." Unease settled over my mind. I handed the gun to him and clambered out of the rocks. The air was clearer back up on the grassy bit, and my lungs burned for it. I braced on my knees. Vincent's laughter rattled inside my skull and my hand itched where I'd held the rusted thing.

Levi came back up, rusted gun nowhere to be seen. He knelt in front of me. "You good?"

"Getting there. Just felt sick all of a sudden. Vincent… I think he had one of those. Laughed about it." I shook my head and squeezed my eyes shut.

"Take your time. This would be a fine place to camp, clearly no one's tried to land here in a long time, and there's still been no Titan sightings yet. So just take your time." He put his hand on my back and slowly ran it up and down.

"I think he fired it once, in front of me. During a thunderstorm. It was hot afterwards, the… the barrel he called it. Yeah. It's definitely like a musket, and he definitely had it a long time before he should… H-Had it been from here.." I groaned and leaned into Levi's hold as Vincent's laughter got louder.

"Can you imagine, rat? If your lot ever got the bright idea to take on Marley? You Paradis rats wouldn't know what hit you." He snorted, most recent bottle of booze half finished already, clunking against the tabletop next to the now cooling gun. "And I've only got the old shit I could steal before I left. It's all way better now. More refined. All the better to kill rats with."

My arm itched. He'd pressed the barrel there. It hurt. Why does he always have to make things hurt?

He threw his head back in slurred laughter. "You'd all be slaughtered. Ignorant shites. We've got our guns and our tech and our progress. And what do you have eh? Those idiots. So paranoid about your damn Shifter shit. Paranoid assholes. Fools. But no, what do I know? Sanshi what a fool. Huh! Bastards. We'll show them, rat. Won't we?"

I put my hand to my arm and shivered. "Bastard."

Levi helped me sit back and take small sips of water, his eyes raking over me, looking for some way to fix the distress. But he knew as well as I did, it wasn't anything physical. Not anymore. My hand stayed clamped round the top of my arm. I doubted the mark would still be there, so many other injuries had happened since it would be long buried. But it had been there. A big round welt, weeping, angry, bloodied. My mother had been so worried about infections, rebandaging it so often it probably made it more tender than anything else. I shook my head. How had he made me block that out?

Finally my voice came back to me, the air no longer tasting of smoke. "So they've had those smaller more refined guns for a while. He had one, and he had come to this island a long time before that moment."

Levi nodded, hand still running up and down my back, possibly to comfort himself more than me at that point. "So we can expect them to have progressed further than that since. It'll be one hell of a fight if it does come to that."

"Yet another." I sighed, leaning into him. "If only we had the means to reach out to Marley, to at least attempt something diplomatic. If we are the last two human settlements on this fucking mad world, shouldn't the bickering stop?"

"In an ideal world, yes." Levi kissed my hair. "I'm going to set up camp, alright? You just stay seated for a bit, let your mind settle, I can keep watch at the same time."

"I am here to also help, remember?"

"Of course, I'm not denying that." He got up and smirked. "But indulge me?"

"He says, asking me to be super indulged." I snorted and held up my hands in surrender, I would stay put. He made camp as efficiently as you might expect, and the horses seemed happy enough where they were tethered. Clouds skirted by, eventually leaving us with a clear view of the starry sky above. The waves continued to gently lap at the shore, and the breeze shifted my hair as I loosened it from its braid, the last of the sunlight disappearing and turning the sky a deep velvet blue.

The campfire crackled and Levi heated some water for tea, while also cooking dinner. Domestic norms sunk into my bones and I couldn't wipe the smile from my face whenever he glanced over to me, or brought me a blanket, or checked how I was doing. I think he was enjoying being able to tend to me, so I just let it slide. He'd specifically asked me to rest, so I could do that. For now.

"What're you smiling about, brat?"

"Just basking. My husband sure knows how to look after me."

He closed his eyes and breathed deep. "I'm growing rather fond of that word."

"Mm, me too."

He continued to coddle me like some kind of royalty, and I let him, clearly it made him happy and in all honesty I needed a moment to breathe. I looked out at the waves in the dying light and wondered what the world looked like from the other side of it. From Marley. Looking over towards us, and feeling what? Did they fear the Paradis people like Vincent's notes suggested and Grisha's memories showed? We were demons to them, not to be trusted, evil. And yet they were the ones that had brought violence to our shores, that broke down our walls and destroyed so many lives, innocent lives. The sins of those that came before, the King, Ymir, whatever the hell the titles were or the names, they were long dead, and so many of the civilians here had nothing to do with it. So many of the soldiers too. And even those in charge… They had just been scared fools. Terrified of the truth, of how small they were. And I think that was what it came down to, all this fighting, all this scrapping and snarling at each other. Fear. Rotten, vile, hollow, fear.

"Hey, Levi?"

"Mm?"

"I'm kind of sick of being afraid, aren't you?"

He blinked at me and nodded slowly, looking me over, probably trying to read between the lines on what the hell was going on in my head. I got up and went to him. I put my hands on his chest, felt his beating heart under my fingertips and looked deep into his bright eyes. I kissed him. He returned it, of course, but I felt the tension in him, and I smiled. Always waiting for the other shoe to drop. But like he had said himself, fuck the other shoes.

I leaned back and put my forehead to his. "We're going to really change things."

"Are we now?" His hands slipped round to rest on the small of my back. "How's that?"

"This shitty cycle, the walls, the fear… I feel like breaking it all to tiny pieces. And it's what we need. And I don't mean you and me, I don't even mean the Scouts or the people here on Paradis or whatever the fuck the island's called. I mean all of us. Marley included. Otherwise we're done for, and I don't accept that. Not when there's still people who look out at a big puddle of salt water and laugh from sheer euphoria, or look at a seashell with so much fascination her head might pop, or… Or strawberry blondes that take the time to give a pal a little bird pin to commemorate her birthday simply so that pal knows she's not been forgotten."

He touched the end of his nose to mine. "There's a lot going on in this head, isn't there?"

"Yeah. Kinda noisy, I guess."

"Mm, well… I say be noisy, Brat. Be as fucking noisy as you want. If anyone's earned that right it's you."

"Fancy being noisy with me?"

He chuckled. "Like you'll let me do anything else…"

Aand there we have it, mission started and marriage on the go! Cya Next time!