Sorcha ran her thumb across the cool metal of a single coin. Dark and rust-colored, the highest points of its indentations had worn down by age. On one side was a strange depiction of a starfish, with a language Sorcha couldn't read.

"This little piece of metal is your currency?" Gendry reached ahead of her and pulled back an encroaching banana leaf before she could walk into it. She didn't seem to notice as she flipped the Westerosi penny over between her fingers.

"At least in Westeros. Different Kingdoms have their coins." They had taken the day to teach her the basics of land, which required him to assess and reassess his definition of basic. He found that many of the things he used as a reference were yet another foreign entity to her. "Those are barely worth anything, but they are precious to everyone in Flea Bottom." Shrugging, he trained his ears to the sounds of the forest. Birds cawed and sung back and forth amongst the trees. Lizards skittered across their path, which had given Sorcha a very near heart attack the first time it happened. Gendry wouldn't exactly call it a path. It was more like a rough parting of foliage, waxing and waning through the greenery. Gendry had hacked away at the worst of it and marked the smooth bark of towering palm trees with little slashes to lead the way.

"Flea Bottom?" Sorcha tilted her head in question and took another step, Her bare foot caught on a protruding root, and she pitched forward. Gendry grabbed her around the waist before she fell face-first into the mud. It was probably about the fourth time he saved her from her clumsiness. She was getting along remarkably well for someone who had taken her first steps the day before. Gendry had hesitated when she asked to accompany him to the freshwater source he'd been tapping, but he couldn't say no when she looked at him with those big eyes.

"Remember what I said about looking where you're going?" He raised his eyebrows, and she smiled bashfully. Though he tried to remain serious, he couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him as she clutched the coin to her chest like it was a bar of gold. "Flea Bottom is where I grew up. It's a part of King's Landing. I was headed there when you saved me." He let his hand hover by her elbow once they continued walking, in case he had to snatch her up again. "The poorest part of the city. A noble wouldn't be caught dead there." Gendry thought of Arya's father, Lord Stark. He hadn't batted an eye at the filth that surrounded him as he spoke with Tobho Mott. It must've run in the family. Arya was just a tiny street rat when they'd met, and she seemed much more comfortable there than he imagined she had ever been in a castle

"Will I get to see it?" Sorcha asked, her tone hopeful. Gendry blinked a few times as her words registered. He'd never heard anyone speak of his home with such excitement. The name itself made people cringe. But Sorcha had no idea what a flea even was, and he wasn't about to spoil her optimism by explaining it.

"It's really not something you should look forward to." His cheeks bloomed scarlet at the thought of something as beautiful as she, in a cesspool like Flea Bottom. Sorcha's beauty would be much more akin to the life of a courtesan. He liked that she had no inkling of how low he was in the world. If she knew what he truly was, a bastard, an orphan, a filthy blacksmith's apprentice, she wouldn't be smiling at him with those sparkling eyes-- she'd be scowling

"It's where you grew up. I'd love to see it." She teetered a bit as she stepped onto uneven terrain, but she righted herself before he had to grab her. "I got it. I got it." She held out a finger to keep him from intervening, and when she straightened, she looked so proud of herself. Gendry held up both hands to let her know he wouldn't.

"Tell me about your world. Where did you grow up?" He studied her face from the side as they began walking. She batted away his hand when he moved to return it to her back. But she still smiled fondly as she thought of home, the people and comfort she'd left behind.

"We live on the reef. All the creatures do. It's the heart of everything. We provide for each other. Every bit of coral, every fish and clam, dolphin, and Merling. We have everything we could ever want." Her smile faded as she got to the end. Sorcha had never lacked in anything. The Pod took care of her, taught her, gave her a safe place to sleep. She swallowed hard. What had she done in return? None of it was enough in her eyes, and because of her greed, Dyvon was gone.

"But it's not what you want?" Gendry's voice softened. A shadow had fallen over her face, a curtain of guilt and sorrow that he knew all too well.

"It's not that I don't love my people or the reef. I just..." She trailed off, unsure what to say. Eyes pricking, she looked down at her muddy bare feet.

"Want more than what life gave you?" Gendry muttered, a frown tugging at his lips.

"Yes." It was only a whisper, and as she said it, Gendry picked up on the dull roar coming from up ahead.

"Come on." Gendry didn't bother to warn her as he scooped Sorcha up beneath the knees. With only a slight squeak of surprise, she clung to him as he carried her over the sharp rocks and twigs scattering the ground. Light burst from behind overhanging palms, and they stepped out of the oppressive forest. The roar of running water increased tenfold, and when her gaze lifted from the dirt, her golden eyes widened. Her lips parted with a gasp.

It was as if The Drowned God himself had taken a handful of the forest and scooped it out for his creation. Azure waters lapped at the edge of a glistening pool, deep enough at its center that its depths were nothing more than a haze. At the very edge of it, all was a steep embankment of massive gray, moss-covered stone. Mist kissed her cheeks from the streams of pure flowing water that cascaded down to pierce the surface. The pure white water spiderwebbed into smaller streams as it fell across the uneven cliff face. Sorcha lifted a hand to her mouth and let out a bubble of laughter. Her smile was the most brilliant thing Gendry had ever seen. He couldn't remember ever seeing anyone that happy. Tears welled in her eyes as the light reflected within them.

"Of all that dwells beneath the sea, I have never seen anything as wonderful as this." Her voice was hardly more than a gasp of air. Gendry wanted nothing more than to see the world through her eyes. See the beauty only she could. To Sorcha, the waterfall was a gift from the divine. An oasis that she had the blessing of witnessing firsthand. She looked up at him then, and there was hesitation in her expression. "Can I swim to it?" It was almost as if she expected him to say no, to tell her that a creature like her couldn't enter such a place of such transcendence.

"You don't need to ask me for permission." He almost balked at her question. How could she think that he held such authority over a waterfall? Sorcha bit her lip and glanced back at the vivid waters. The look of longing reminded him of the children in Flea Bottom when the traveling shows from Bravos would visit. They knew that they couldn't possibly afford to see the show nor purchase the delectable candies and fried delicacies they would offer. As the mouth-watering scents wafted through the streets, they could do nothing more than shut their eyes and imagine what it might taste like to eat something more than tough mutton or soggy porridge.

Sorcha, however, took a few steps to the water's edge, and let it wash over her filthy toes. She let out a sigh of relief as she felt her skin savor the moisture. Undoing the buttons of Gendry's undershirt, she removed it from her body and tossed it to him. He managed to snatch it up just before it landed in the mud. Wading into the shallows, Sorcha grinned, and soon she was fully submerged, and her shimmering golden scales reappeared. Her tail skimmed across the surface, sending tiny waves back the way she came.

Gendry settled down at the shore and wrapped his arms around his knees. He doubted he'd ever wrap his head around the sight of her with a tail. Dark hair bobbed out from the water less than an arm's length from the streams of water. Sorcha felt the icy spray on her skin. Reaching out a palm she let the stream pour onto her hand and down her arm, blazing a trail to the little cove. She held out another hand and laughed as the droplets tickled her arms. Then she ducked her head under the pouring water and turned her face to the sky. Grinning so hard her cheeks hurt, she savored the sensation and thanked He Who Dwells Beneath The Waves for the blessing of this experience. It was all she'd ever wanted. To explore, see the world beyond the reef. If she could swim beneath a stream of water falling straight from the heavens, she could make it to Kings Landing.

She turned then, moving forward enough that the water ran down through her hair and parted beside her face. Gendry was watching her with awe, a smile curling his lips. She could sense the longing in his heart, see how he yearned to feel what she did. His entire existence had been spent on land, just as her own in the sea. What a blessing it was that they had found each other.

"Come," Sorcha called, her voice echoing across the cove. She reached out a hand to beckon him forward. For a moment, he merely looked at her with furrowed brows. "Let me show you." He shook his head rapidly, his eyes widening a fraction at the depths.

"I can't. I'll drown." Sorcha rolled her eyes at that and flicked her tail behind her. She parted the glassy surface like a needle through billowing silk.

"I'll help you." Her smile was encouraging. "Don't worry. Come." She beckoned him forwards. Now she was in the shallows, the front side of her tail grazing the sandy bottom.

"Promise not to drown me?" Gendry held out a finger as if to ward off a temptress. Sorcha laughed at him. He was only joking, she could tell, but he was very nervous. Pale as a ghost, finger shaking slightly, he would be quite a handful.

"If I were going to drown you, I'd have done it already." She said it in jest, scoffing as he took off his boots and socks and set them messily aside. He stepped into the water. "Take your clothes off. They will be soggy all night." Darkness had already begun to taint the edge of his pant leg where the water had touched. He'd be soaked and miserable if he went swimming like that.

"I'm not stripping down to my underclothes in front of a lady." Gendry gave her a look as if she'd have to understand. She certainly did not, and even if she did, she'd damn it all to hell. Sorcha scrunched her face in confusion.

"That's ridiculous. You've seen me naked. It's only fair I see you, too."

"I shouldn't have seen you naked in the first place." He tried to reason with her but doing it while she was topless before him was quite difficult.

"Why not? We're all naked all the time if you think about it." Gendry ran a hand down his face.

"By The Seven." Turning his eyes skyward he let out a huff of light frustration. Sorcha could be quite infuriating when she wanted to be. "You'll be the death of me, woman." He shook his head and began to undo the ties of his pants.

"Not a woman." She declared her voice chipper as usual. "And if anything I'll be saving your life again by teaching you to swim." Gendry didn't respond, and soon he was standing before her in nothing but his underwear. "See, it's not weird."

"It absolutely is." But he stepped into the water anyway and began wading deeper and deeper. When the water level reached his chest, he stopped his face tightening. "I don't think this is a good idea. I should go back." He shook his head and hastily turned back to shore. But before he could take two steps, a pair of arms wrapped around his chest and hauled him into the deep. Scales brushed against his legs as Sorcha gave a great pump of her tail. A cry of panicked protest filled the cove

"You have to learn somehow," Sorcha told him in a sing-song voice. His limbs flailed when he realized that he could no longer touch the sandy floor beneath them.

"Sorcha put me back. I can't swim." Gasping, he tried to pry her hands off of him, but she held on tighter.

"I'm holding you." She tried to say over the splashing and kicking. "Gendry, relax! I'm not going to let you drown." He clung to her like a raft amidst a stormy sea. Though his breathing was erratic, and Sorcha could feel his heartbeat against her hand, he stilled in her arms. It was effortless for her to hold him afloat. Turquoise waters blurred with gold as her tail waved lazily back and forth beneath her.

"I'm sorry." He turned sheepish once he'd calmed enough to control his panic.

"Don't worry. You helped me walk. It's only fair I teach you to swim." Sorcha squinted her eyes with a sympathetic smile. He was only inches from her, his hair now plastered to his face as it had been when they first met. The blue of his eyes was as pure as the crystalline waters around them. Sorcha glanced curiously down at his legs. "I don't know how to swim with legs, but I would assume it's roughly the same."

"I really hope so." He mumbled, gulping down the anxiety crawling up his throat.

"Try to mimic what I'm doing with my tail." Gendry did, moving his legs back and forth at the same time. Scrunching her face, Sorcha tried to let him go, only to snatch him back up when he began to sink.

"Well, that doesn't seem right."

"Definitely not." His eyes were wide, and his chest heaved as he drew in harsh breaths.

"Maybe you need to kick them one at a time like flippers?" It went on like this for quite a while, testing different methods of swimming with a human body. It was much harder than she expected, as, much like Gendry had with her, Sorcha needed to reevaluate the way she interacted with water. After all, she could breathe beneath the waves and swim under the water, not above it. For Gendry, she had to look at it more like an animal like dolphins or seals. It was a triumphant affair when he managed to hold himself afloat for almost thirty seconds. Sorcha had to incorporate the use of his hands and arms much more than she would herself. She showed him how to use his arms to move him from one end of the cove to the other. Taught him to float on his back and hold his breath to dive and swim alongside her.

Gendry was by no means an expert, but Sorcha was confident that he wouldn't immediately drown if he was thrown from his boat again. It grew to late afternoon, and now a burning golden sun hung low in the sky, casting brilliant warm light over the cove. Sorcha's tail was as bright and glowing as the pure gold he had the duty of melting down in the forge. They were squinting against the impossibly bright sunlight refracting back at them. Sorcha kept a hand floating beside Gendry in case he began to sink again.

"Now you're much less likely to die when we get a ship to rescue us." She declared, and Gendry shook his head with a huff of laughter.

"Yes, I'd very much like to survive long enough to see Kings Landing." They stared at each other as the water rippled around them towards the shore. The lapping of water against rocks and sand was all there was for a moment. Gendry's smile fell when he noticed the way Sorcha's deep brown eyes had gone unfocused. He recognized the look from his time with Arya and The Night's Watch. It was the look of someone deep in their thoughts. Imagining what could be, what once was, what they wished would be again. "We will rescue Dyvon." Sorcha's gaze locked on his, startled by his voice. She relaxed when she saw the concern in his expression. A frown had slowly pulled upon her lips, and her eyes drooped with sorrow.

"I just pray that I'm not too late." A hand intertwined with hers at the water's surface. Gendry began to sink, but he didn't let go of her. Reaching out, Sorcha pulled him up before he could dip down too far. "Come on." She pulled him gently through the waters with both of his hands in hers. She brought him to the edge of the white curtain of flowing waters that fell in an endless stream. Gendry looked up in awe, and Sorcha ducked beneath it again to feel the shower of cool crystal waters roll off her skin. She lifted their intertwined hands and held them beneath the waterfall. Delight sparked in his eyes as he felt its crisp bite. It was shocking at first but so refreshing after days of stress and physical exertion. He looked to Sorcha, drenched and glistening as if covered in the dust of diamonds and pearls And ducked his head under the downpour. 

NOTE

Okay, first off a big thank you to @themeanaswany
for giving me the idea of a waterfall scene! I felt like they needed a little more time before embarking on the next big step of their journey so it was honestly perfect! The next chapter will be getting much more dramatic so stay tuned.