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“What?” I laughed and splashed a little water at him. “I’m terrified every time.”
“But you still jump because you know how much I like it.” He pulled me close, and I leaned my head on his shoulder and let him tread water for both of us. It didn’t seem to tax him, and the solid feeling of floating with my friend was relaxing after the adrenalin rush of the jump.
Before I could think too hard about how nice it felt to be held by my friend, Nic leaped into the water next to us, drenching us with water and starting a splash fight, which Dio promptly joined.
“Didn’t you say you brought cookies?” Nic asked me once we were done.
“Yeah, I snuck some away from the kitchen. They’re having a bake sale to support the performance fee for the next show. All the kids and their parents helped.”
Dio dunked Nic then swam hard for the shore. “I get yours!”
Suddenly, Dio was jerked under water, his hands going up in surprise. By the time he surfaced, Nic was at the shore, an entertained glint in his eye. “Do you?”
“Not fair!” Dio splashed Nic.
I had no idea how Nic had pulled that off, but I didn’t care. As long as they left one for me, it didn’t really matter.
Baz and I swam for shore more slowly.
I still wasn’t supposed to swim alone, but at least I didn’t have to hide that I’d been in the water anymore. My parents trusted me when I told them I was swimming with friends, and there were enough semi-feral children running wild through the woods over the summer that they didn’t question me much. Especially after I showed them my sketches of Nic, Dio, and Baz and a few random girls thrown in that I’d made up. Cousin Ash would be here for a week so I wouldn’t be able to come play, but after she left, I’d be back out with my friends. They were oddly reluctant to meet Ash, though I didn’t know why. Ash was my favorite cousin. We sometimes performed together on the lyra and doing acroyoga.
Baz beat me to the shore by a stroke and climbed out, offering me a hand once he was on his feet.
I accepted, then went for the cookies to make sure I got one before Dio and Nic ate them all.
“I’ve got to go,” I said once we’d finished our quick picnic.
“Aww, so soon? It’s only just now afternoon,” Dio protested.
“Sorry. And remember, Ash will be here, so I won’t be back until next week.”
“We’ll check every day,” Nic promised.
Baz gave me a quick hug, then I slipped on my flip flops and ran down the well-worn path toward the house.
If I’d known that was the last time I’d see my friends, I wouldn’t have left so soon. Or maybe ever.
Ember
Neither Baz nor I was sure where to go after the abrupt end to our conversation, so I headed for the gym. I literally had no idea what to do. I didn’t even know if it was safe for me to be wandering around since I was supposed to be dead. If someone saw me and reported it? Well, I’d just have to hope they thought I was a ghost.
There weren’t any classes at this hour, but the light was on when I opened the door. I stood just inside the entrance and glanced around, wondering who else was here. It was completely unsurprising to see Ash stretching on one of the mats.
Wordlessly, I went over and joined her. I followed her lead, losing myself in the familiar rhythm of warming up for a workout. Muscles and tendons that hadn’t been stretched in far too long loosened. I broke the silence between us with a few soft groans as I worked out the kinks in my body. She remained quiet, her breathing and the sound of her body on the mat making me feel loud in comparison.
Once we were stretched, she rolled over on her back and put her feet up, gesturing for me to come over. I stood with my feet by her hips and leaned against her feet, letting her base me into “bird.” Now I was balanced with my hips on her feet “flying” in the air above her in one of the most basic acro moves. Ash bent her legs at the knees a few times, raising and lowering me, stretching her calves. We usually took turns basing and flying, so neither was unusual for me, though I always flew for Geraint. I could base him, despite how much more he weighed than me, but it wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t worth risking a strain over. Especially since he loved having me in the air over him. Damn it, I really hoped I would see my knight again.
I blinked away the tears and let Ash push me up with my hip balanced on one of her feet and steadied by her hands. I posed, then came down, then up on the other side. We went through several repetitions of the basic move before she upped-moved me into a more complicated pose.
We lost ourselves to the familiar acro moves, her feet and hands supporting me at my back, then my hips, then my shoulders, and hands, as we flowed together. Normally we would have had to talk, at least a little, but for a magical moment we just knew what the other wanted. Perhaps joined in our grief. Or maybe it was something about both being Dream royalty that gave us that extra connection. I didn’t know, nor did I care. I just concentrated on our movements and tried to block everything else out.
Finally, she let me down. I collapsed onto the ground next to her and stared up at the florescent lights.
“What are we going to do?” I finally asked.
“What can we do?” She sounded utterly defeated.
“I don’t know.”
