Lena made another, tiny step. If goosebumps could invert, Lena was sure that hers were. Her teeth were chattering, and she was undecided whether it was caused by temperature or fear.

    "Well? Go on." Finn grinned.

    "I'm coming, I'm coming."

    Lena made another step forward, her belly button now pulling in at the waterline. It was the cold to which her body was reacting, not fright. She knew that by one look at Finn's jocular face; it had taken away her fear unconditionally.

Finn waited patiently, and when she was close enough to reach, he unfolded his arm toward her and offered his hand. Though hesitant, she did take it and was pulled toward him, evoking feelings of excitement and panic, until she landed in his arms and noticed that her toes still reached the mushy ground. Finn had been squatting.

    "You tricked me!" she frowned and thrust her flat hands against him. His chest was harder than she had expected.

    "Tricked you?" he laughed bubbly and stood up straight, "I didn't say I was swimming, did I?"

    "You tricked me," she insisted.

    "A little," admitted Finn, and with the smile he carried, Lena's scowl disappeared like the ground beneath her feet as Finn walked backward, bringing her along.

    "How is it?" he asked and stopped where he could stand but she could not.

    Her hands were each clutching Finn's broad shoulders, cautious not to press on his injury. Finn's hands were holding onto her waist. She was hovering securely, a few inches off the ground.

    "It's not so bad," said Lena with a shaky voice, scarcely credible. The shirt was floating around her body, Finn's hands being the only prevention of it flying up. She looked down, trying to see her legs, but all she could descry was the abysmal depths of blackness surrounding. She gulped.

"Just think of it as space," said Finn, knowing how much she loved such views. "It's like gravity bordering to zero gravity. Like the atmosphere and vacuum. Two worlds meeting. And you're in between."

"And there are no killer waves," she added, delighted.

    "Yes, no killer waves in this lake," Finn smiled and neared the bank by one footstep to let her stand on her own. She whined at the loss of his touch.

    "What? Did you want to stay in zero gravity for a little longer?" he said through his laughter. Lena nodded, too embarrassed to admit to the real cause of her gloom. "Come here then," he smiled and backed up, distancing from her.

    "Don't go," she cried, hurrying after him. By kicking her feet, she threw herself at him, trusting in Finn to catch her again. But he didn't. "Finn!"

    "I got you," he assured her calmly and found her arm underwater. "Hold on to me, you'll be fine. I promise."

    With one hand attached to Finn's forearm, Lena kept her head above the surface by simply cycling her legs through the tepid water. She started to grin, and then a giggle grew into laughter. "This is incredible!" she announced to the night sky.

    Finn let go, but only to move his hands back to her waist. In the little time it took, another whimper managed to escape from Lena.

    "Everything okay?" Finn chuckled.

    She ignored his concern when his dipped chin pushed her to ask once more, "Are you still standing?"

    "Yes, are you?" he provoked her playfully.

    Lena stuck her tongue out before splashing him again, waking a completely new type of laugh in Finn. It was short but boisterous, high-pitched, and unrestrainedly hearty. She loved every quirk of it.

    "I can't believe you just stuck your tongue out!"

    "I'm full of surprises."

    "Yes, you are," he tittered.

    Lena raised her eyebrows in recoil. "What's that supposed to mean?"

    "I'm saying you're absolutely right. Did you think I was going to disagree?" he said, amused.

    "Well, then so are you. You're of even more surprise. That, I can guarantee."

    "I won't debate you on that. I am an overly obscure person who doesn't understand himself half the time. But is it all on me? With everything going on out there, it's not easy to find the way."

    "What are you talking about?" she knew he wasn't in his jocular mood anymore. She could see him troubled again. It bruised her heart to see him burdened.

    "I don't know," he said quietly. "Every problem is blocking my path. All the monsters out there. Arrakis is a good example. All the issues we could have spared ourselves if it hadn't been for him. And other things too. Just everything that's gone wrong."

    "Sometimes the real monsters aren't out there. Sometimes they live inside of us, making it impossible for us to run from them. We think the world is so horrible because things don't always work out, but how can we blame the world for our dislike, when we can barely stand ourselves? Maybe we have to tame our own monsters, before fighting others. You have to make peace with yourself. I think a lot of the pent-up negativity of yours comes from unforgiven mistakes. Even though peace has returned to your heart, your head is still at war."

    "I'm not torn. I'm just—I can't find peace with myself. I'm so very flawed."

    "I'm flawed," Lena shrugged.

    "All your flaws are adorable."

    Lena rolled her eyes at him and shook her head with a  smile. "You can always find a reason to be unhappy. It's easy. On Pluviam, there were countless reasons for me to be miserable. But you were the one reason I needed to be happy, defeating a million reasons not to be."

Her smile propelled Finn's heart, and the dimples on each end turned his stomach upside down. He reeled in his arms, bending his elbows and bringing her closer. Startled, Lena did not resist.

"Whatever monsters live inside of me, whenever you're with me, they're like slumbering kittens. Tamed and hexed. You are my one reason, too." Finn's heart was pumping with enthusiasm as though it was paid to do such fast work.

"Slumbering Kittens? Are you saying they are taking a catnap?" She had an expression waiting to explode as soon as Finn grasped her dry wordplay.

"You're so silly," he told her and moved his head in, watching her eyes grow bigger.

He looked less shy when his eyes shifted to her lips, and still, he sucked in a sharp breath when she returned the gesture. He felt her knees tap his legs and her shirt brushing his abs. His arms folded more, their bodies pressed lightly against each other, and the electricity struck their veins like lightning, traveling through their bloodstreams and muting their world of every sound except each other's bated breaths.

Finn noticed how silent the shore was, how calm the night could be, and when the water motion settled, stars appeared sitting upon the surface of the lake. It truly gave them the raw sensation of a spacewalk, but to Finn, the gravity of Lena's lips was inescapable. He leaned in enough for their cold noses to touch.

While one of Lena's hands rested on Finn's collarbone, the other drove along his arm, past his bicep, up to his shoulder, and onto the side of his neck. Finn could feel her breath and sensed it impossible to hold back any longer. He tilted his head, closed his eyes, and kissed her tenderly. He was embracing her lips between his and felt her hand on his heart. Her other hand drove through his hair, her legs locked around his waist.

Finn's heart was so near to hers, yet in no dimension near enough. He wrapped his arm around her back, tightly, wanting her closer, needing her closer. He worked his kiss from tender to ablaze and desirous, cupping her cheek and kissing her slowly and passionately. His fingers traced her jawline, her skin was smooth and gelid, just her cheeks were burning hot.