We flew for exactly two hours and forty-three minutes before landing on the cruise. Apparently, it moved faster than we thought.
"Well, this is where we say goodbye." Dayla said, holding back tears. "Goodbye, Lady Alyssa!"
I laughed and replied, "See you later, Dayla. Come visit whenever you want."
"Or maybe don't." Gavin added nervously. "Because I don't need her getting bird napped again."
We said our goodbyes and walked into our completely repaired room.
"Wow. It looks good as new!" I said, awestruck.
"Yeah, it took a bit, but I got the birds to use their magic or whatever. They flew in circles and fixed it as they disappeared, except I needed to get to you, which they denied transfer to. I watched you fly away after you disappeared. I ran outside and there you were! You were just dangling by those stupid bird claws!"
"She took good care of me, don't worry."
"She better have."
I took his hand and guided him to our bed.
"I'm exhausted." I said, lying down. Before I could pull him down, too, he was already next to me.
He curled his arms around my waist and pulled me closer, his head on my shoulder.
He wispered. "I was worried about you."
"I missed you." I wispered back. "I promise that won't ever happen again. I have control of them now. I'm apparently a goddess of fire, and that means I can control pheonixes as well." I filled him in on everything I learned and everything I was told and fell asleep in his arms.
When I woke up, it was almost noon, and Gavin was awake next to me, staring at me.
"Are you okay?" I asked, sitting up.
"Yeah, I was admiring you. Did you know you talked in your sleep?" He replied.
"What? I do not!" I protested.
"Yes, you do! He said, laughing. "You were talking to me in your sleep. Except, you couldn't hear my responses. Instead, you just rambled on."
"What did I talk about...?"
He blushed, reaching up to move my hair behind my ear. "You said.... you said you love me, and..." He hesitated, blushing harder. "You said you would have sixty kids with me in sixty years if that's what it took to keep me forever."
I jumped out of bed, suddenly incredibly humiliated. My twenty three year old virgin body is absolutely freaking out.
"Sorry. I need air." I mumbled, rushing out onto the balcony.
"Wait!" He called after me, standing up to follow.
I stood by the railing, trying to cool down, but the sun was beating down on me, and we were getting nearer the Phillipines.
"Hey! Are you okay?" Gavin asked, putting his shaky hand on my shoulder.
"Yeah." I laughed, seeing how he was nervous at the idea of children as well. "Are you?"
"Yup. Just fine!" He rushed.
We sat in silence as our faces burned, and neither one of us could muster any words. He turned he body to block the sun from my face, as he could tell it was too extreme for my pale skin. I looked at him, and we both immediately looked away.
"Uh-uh, so, you said the birds gave both of us immortality, right? So would that apply to our children as well?" Gavin asked, trying to be normal.
"Yeah, that's what they said. Although they also said that even though you'd also have immortality, you wouldn't be a god, so technically, the children would be immortal demigods." I paused, then continued."I know we've only been dating for about five months, but I guess my mind is ahead of us." I said, trying to unstiffen the mood, and brung my eyes back up to meet his.
He met my gaze, and we grew even redder, but neither of us broke eyecontact.
"My mind is too." He said with a nervous smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
Without a word, he took my hand and guided me back to bed. He pulled the covers up, helped me into bed, and then walked back over to the balcony door to close the curtains.
He turned off all the lights in the house except for the lamp next to the bed and came back to me, still in my nightgown. He wasn't wearing a shirt, but he had his boxers on and slid them lower.
I lay there, nervous, my heart pounding in my ears and my face burning.
"I need to say something." I blurted. He paused, already on top of me, helping me with my nightgown. "I'm still a virgin." I wispered, barley audible.
His eyes went wide, then steadied. "If you're not ready, we don't have to." He said cautiously.
"No, I'm ready. I'm just letting you know." I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, away from his gaze.
"We should prepare your body then before trying for a child."
I nodded, releaved, as I heard him open a condom and put it on.
We began, and my throat let out a noise I could only describe as loud, deep, and an ice cream scooper. It felt like heaven, and it felt desperate, like we couldn't get enough of each other.