The sun had barely risen the next day, casting the island in all shades of orange and gold. The gentle rustle of leaves created a symphony of sounds around them, breaking the silence of the early morning. Somewhere up in the treetops, birds could be heard flitting around and flapping their wings.
Jacob woke with a start, his body feeling heavier than usual, his muscles sore from the previous day's run. The poison still tormented him, the remnants of nausea still lingering in his head. His biggest concern, or rather his best concern, was the lingering warmth still beside him.
Turning his head slowly, his vision still blurry from sleep, he found Sara still laying beside him; her hair tousled and scattered around her; a few strands drooped over her face, making him resist the urge to tuck it behind her ear. Her steady breathing was a welcome sound, contrasting the storm raging inside his mind.
Memories of the night before – the shared moments of vulnerability, the sudden urge to be inside her again– all tugged at his thoughts. His emotions were complicated, raw and tangled with the burden of everything that had led them to this point, and to fall into each other's arms yet again. It wasn't just about sex, no matter how amazing it seemed to be everytime, there was a connection here. Everytime they reunited, it felt like they picked up where they left off, all the walls, all the inhibitions came crumbling down.
The reality of their connection, both physically and mentally, lingered in the air like the musk of the forest around them, coupled with the smoke spiraling up from the dying fire. But unfortunately, there was no time for emotions to linger; there were bigger problems to deal with.
"Sara," Jacob muttered, nudging her gently. His voice was thick with sleep, coming out a little raspy from their passion the night before and the poison that sapped his strength.
Sara stirred, her pale sapphire eyes slowly opening and squinting in the dull light of morning. She looked at him for a long moment, as if trying to read his thoughts, but then a soft smile appeared on her face, the kind that only she could wear. It was bittersweet, and tugged on the connection in his heart.
"I guess this wasn't the rest you had in mind," she teased lightly, her voice dripping with sleep but still holding that playful tone. "Just can't get enough of me huh?"
Jacob cracked a crooked grin, but his smile faded as he sat up and looked around. Sin was nowhere to be seen; her sleeping bag was laid open and a set of shoe prints led off into the underbrush. The day prior had been hard physically, and he could only imagine how she was feeling mentally.
"Where's Sin?" he asked, his concern evident despite the haze clouding his thoughts, eyes rapidly scanning the underbrush around them and even drifting higher into the trees.
Sara's smile faded just as quick.
"After last night ... .I wouldn't doubt if she's withdrawing from us." she said, leaning up and looking around the area. "Everything that's happened so far, probably shook her more than either one of us has realized. You have to be patient with her, she isn't completely like us."
Jacob exhaled slowly, a knowing sigh. Sin was strong, he knew this, but how much mentally could she take in such a short time? Being thrust into his world, the world of a vigilante, was no easy task for even the best of people.
"Patience? From you?" he asked, slightly harsher then he meant to. "I've been patient. She's not the same person anymore, Sara; she can't afford to be. She's in this with me now. Not just as someone I'm training, but as a partner. She's becoming more like family…"
Sara's eyes softened as she listened to him, the complexity of their history and their relationship never far from the surface.
"I see that, but you're pushing her too hard. Sometimes….sometimes you need to back off. She's still learning how to trust anything again, not just trust you."
Before Jacob could respond, movement close by interrupted him, catching his attention. From behind a cluster of trees, Sin appeared, her face tight with anger, her posture tense, and her eyes slightly bloodshot as she approached them without her usual intensity. The air around her was thick with something unspoken. As she approached, she refused to meet either of their gazes.
"I heard you two talking ya know," she said, her voice firm but quieter than usual. "I'm fine. Stop acting like I need someone to babysit me."
Jacob felt a pang of frustration radiate through his body.
"Sin, you don't get it. I'm not here to babysit you. I'm ... .WE are here because we care. We've both been through too much for you to shut down."
She didn't respond immediately. Instead, she shrugged off his words, as if they weren't worth addressing. After a few steps, she finally glanced up at him. There was something in her eyes, something that made Jacob take pause. He could see the weight of the world hanging there, the loss of innocence that couldn't be undone; the same look he saw in his own eyes after losing his world. The words that followed hit him harder than he would have expected.
"Stop lying to me," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "For years I had no idea what happened to my father. You didn't tell me because you didn't think I could handle it. So you had to have Sara here to tell me. All to find out he was murdered by some psychopath. Do you have any idea how that feels?"
"I should've told you sooner," Jacob admitted, his voice low. "Sometimes the truth…is not easy to hear. I know exactly how that feels and I wanted to do better by you. I wanted to protect you…"
Sin didn't say anything for a long moment, her gaze cold and distance, her hands balled into fists at her side. When she did speak again, her voice cracked and was filled with emotion.
"You can't protect me from everything, Jacob," she said quietly, meeting his eyes and refusing to look away. "You're not the only one who's lost people they've loved. I'm not the fragile kid I used to be, I've been through this. I can handle it."
Sara, still sitting nearby Jacob and mostly naked, watched the exchange carefully, feeling the tension thicken in the air. She tried to adjust the sleeping bag to cover herself before scooting closer to Jacob.
"You're both in this together now. But, Jacob, remember, she's not you. She's going to have her own way of dealing with things."
Jacob looked away from Sin, at Sara before staring directly at the ground; he understood the weight of Sara's words. Sin was her own person, and he couldn't treat her like she was just a little sister. She was his partner now, and it was time he started treating her as such.
"Alright," he said after a short pause, his voice steading itself, and looked directly into her eyes. "Let's get to work. But Sin, I need you to be all in. You can't hold back, you can't falter."
Sin met his gaze, her expression unreadable, but there was a flicker of something there– call it hope, call it rage, call it purpose– it was a sign that she wasn't as shut off as she pretended to be.
"I'm in," she said, her voice taking on the same firmness as his. "But only if you stop treating me like I'm some fragile thing you need to protect."
Jacob took note of the fire in her eyes, the spark of a woman she was becoming. He nodded, not bothering to argue further.
"Get dressed," she grunted, turning away. "I'll see if I can find us something to eat."
Without waiting for an answer, she walked back off into the underbrush, her footsteps fading into the symphony of the jungle around them.
Sara laid her head against Jacobs shoulders, nuzzling against him before taking a breath in.
"You stink," she grunted, recoiling back and scrunching up her nose.
With a sigh, he reached up and placed his hand over her pretty face, pushing it back slightly as she laughed and fell backwards.
The midday sun shimmered through the jungle canopy, casting shadows from the highest trees down on the jungle floor. The golden light sent ripples across the surface of the pool beneath the waterfall. The road of cascading water echoed like distant thunder, changing the rhythm of the island away from disparity and giving it a more sacred feel.
Jacob and Sara walked in silence, their boots crunching softly over leaf covered earth and eventually, moss covered stone. Sweat clung to their skin, and the grime of the past few days clung to their skin and clothes like another layer. Their bodies were exhausted, muscles aching from the running and the stress of the island, but neither one of them complained. The silence between them wasn't cold, it was shared, understood. They needed this. A pause, a breath. A moment to just….be
At the edge of the pool, they stopped; the waterfall pounded relentlessly, causing ripples to form and water to lap at the stones beneath their feet. Without a word, they behang to peel off their clothes, letting them fall in a heap behind them. Their was no awkwardness, no tension, they had seen each other naked and enjoyed the sight. There was just the calm that came from being around someone who had seen you at your worst, stayed, and trusted.
Sara stepped into the water first, gasping slightly as the cold hit her skin. The shock gave way to relief as she submerged herself, ducking under the water and surfacing again as it rained in rivulets down her face; a small and a content sigh escaping her lips. Jacob followed, albeit slightly slower, hissing as the cold raced up his body and tightened his already tense muscles.
Together, they moved beneath the falls. The cascade pounded onto their shoulders like nature's own version of therapy, washing away both the physical dirt and tension as well as the mental weight of everything unspoken. Their hands found each other without meaning to; fingers playing with each other until they grasped and held on. Jacobs' spare hand brushed against Sara's waist, as hers slid along his arm.
He brushed stray, wet strands of hair from her face, his thumb lingering at her cheek. Her eyes closed as she leaned into the touch, smiling and resting her forehead gently against his.
"I don't think I ever said thank you…" she murmured, voice barely audible beneath the roar of the falls.
"For what?" he asked, matching her tone.
"For not dying," she said, her words part jest, part fragile honesty. "Again."
Jacob slowly began to smile, one side of his mouth squirming up in a lopsided grin. "I'll try to make a habit out of it."
She chuckled, that sweet, passionate sound muffled as she pressed her lips to his shoulder. She planted a small kiss on his skin, getting the residual taste of salt on her lips. They stayed like that, just holding each other, for what seemed like an eternity; the water flowing around them, cool, constant, and relieving.
"Well, well, if it isn't this island's favorite power couple… again…" Came a snarky, laughing voice from behind a tree, breaking the moment. "I thought we came here for something more than just you two fucking…"
They turned, slowly, already knowing who it was.
Sin stood at the edge of the clearing, arms crossed, leaning against a tree, empty handed; her boots scuffed with dirt, her expression a cocktail of amusement and exaggerated disgust.
"I'm serious, " she went on, walking to the edge of the pool. "Do you two ever take a break from swapping spit and jumping each other's bones?"
Sara raised an eyebrow, completely unfazed.
"Good afternoon to you too, sunshine," she called back, smirking. "Are you jealous?"
"Of you two?" Sin snorted, wrinkling her nose. "Hardly. You're practically lighting up the island, you're glowing so hard. Ugh, and you," she pointed at Jacob, "need to put some pants on or I swear I'm walking straight into the ocean and letting the sharks take me."
Jacob simply smirked. "It's a waterfall on a deserted island, not a five-star spa. You want privacy dividers and laundry service or something?"
"No, I want sanity," Sin rolled her eyes. "But since clearly that's not available, I guess i'll settle for not dying of stink, or smelling like sex and death unlike you two."
Sara sniffed the air dramatically. "Too late, you're the worst offender. What did you do, roll in a nest of dead animals while you were out looking for food?
"I may have fallen down a hill," She shot back, blushing slightly. "It's not exactly like I know how to hunt. While you two were off having a romantic rendezvous, I was trying not to starve to death."
Jacob snorted, causing water to go up his nose and down the wrong pipe before turning away.
"You're lucky I don't make you wash my boots, too!" Sin shot back, a grin spreading to her face at Jacobs discomfort.
"Get in before we drag you in," Sara laughed with a mock warning, stepping back and splashing water in her direction.
Sin groaned theatrically. "Fine, but if this water is freezing again, I'm blaming both of you!"
She peeled off her shirt and pants in practiced efficiency, flinging them onto a rock near the couples pile before wading in with a sharp yelp. "Yup! Still freezing! This place is cursed…"
Sara met Jacob's eyes briefly, sharing a silent laugh, then turned back to Sin.
"Come here," she called, motioning with her hands.
"Why?" Sin asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Because I love you, and because your hair looks like it lost a fight with a porcupine while rolling down that hill."
"That's just rude," Sin said, inching closer nonetheless. "But fair.."
Sara moved behind her, hands gently working through the tangles in her wet hair, fingers skilled and careful as she pulled pieces of twigs and leaves free.
"This better not turn into a full shampoo commercial," Sin muttered. "If I start smelling like flowers, I'm out."
"Relax," Sara chuckled. "You'll still smell like a feral street kid….just a clean one."
Sin groaned again, but this time there was a softness behind it. Her shoulders relaxed under Sara's touch, the tension of the past days unwinding bit by bit. As Sara worked her magic, Sins body looked as if she was melting into the water, drifting lower before Sara gave a small tug on her hair to stand up straighter.
"Don't think this makes up for leaving me out of the loop, by the way," Sin said, voice losing its edge.
Sara paused for half a heartbeat, then resumed untangling her hair. "I know. We'll talk more about it…soon."
Sin gave a small nod, pulling a twig free in her motion. "Good, now scrub my scalp servant! I demand luxury."
Sara lightly smacked her in the back of the head, laughing in response.
"Wow," Jacob called from a rock nearby, lounging with his lower half submerged. "So this is what sibling bonding looks like?"
"Yup," Sin grinned, flicking water at him with a smirk. "Get used to it."
Light hearted laughter rang out through the clearing, echoing off stone and water. For a moment, it felt like the world had stopped spinning. There was no mission, no vengeance, no pain, no shadows creeping beyond the trees and their shade.
It was just three people trusting each other, scarred but healing, laughing beneath a waterfall in the wild heart of Purgatory.
And for the first time in their twisted lives, it was enough.