[Past] Salt Water and Sandwiches

Her eyes went from the sea, to the sky, back to the tree line, and back to him, in rounds, trying to see it all at once, struggling, fighting, to comprehend it all as fast as possible. She felt.. so small, so tiny there, in that vastness. But he was there, and he helped to keep her to size, helped to ground her, to keep her steady as she felt like the entire world had been dumped into a jar and shook around -- her sense of everything was altered, changed, in those few moments.

And she was so thankful that he was there to catch her, because the staggering weight of new knowledge, of new knowing, had taken everything out of her, but as she watched his face, as she heard him talk to her, she nodded, feeling like her smile was going to split her face in half, nearly, she couldn't stop smiling -- that feeling was one that she had never felt before, never had the chance to know.

She wanted more of it.

So much bigger! I didn't imagine this much water could ever exist. Sure people say there's a lot of water, but the quiet bend of the river is as much water as I've ever seen before this. She rested her hands on the top of her head, still struggling to just comprehend, to view it all. It was beauty and fear all at once -- if asked to name the emotion, she had no way to describe it. Awe, but awe wasn't strong enough a word. She didn't have the language to begin. I - I..

She paused, letting her hands come back down from her head, before she placed a hand gently over his mouth, her other hand going to the short little hairs on the back of his neck, before she pressed her lips to the back of her hand -- a kiss, but not a kiss, she had enough clarity of thought to not spoil that, not yet, this was close, but not close enough yet.

And she lingered there, in that pseudo-kiss, eyes closed, body still trembling in his grasp, before she touched her forehead to his, eyes opening slowly to find his gaze as she slid her hand away. I love all of it. And she meant it. She wanted to say less, three words would have been the same, but, she wanted to be certain, before she said it. For now, Mina was sure, he knew the deeper meaning, the deeper restraint there.

@Colton Young