I gazed around and took a few long minutes to recover from the shock of that beautiful space.

"Why didn't anyone tell me about this place?"

"Because it's just for leads," Heather said with a grin, swimming toward me.

"Just for leads, huh? So unfair."

"I knew you'd say that. But hey, you're here now, right?" She rested her arms on the edge of the pool and lifted her head to look at me. "Wanna join?"

I hesitated. "Sure...?"

"But?"

"Two buts," I began. "First, it's been years since I last swam, ten-year-old Grace was the last to hit the water. Second, and maybe more importantly, I don't have a swimsuit."

"Two no-worries," she said. "First, tell ten-year-old Grace you never forget how to swim. Second, I may have stolen an extra swimsuit from the Narval Equipment Stock."

Interesting.

I kneeled on the edge of the pool, close to her. "Are you saying you became a thief... for me?"

She laughed. "Who says I wasn't already a thief before?"

"I thought you always followed the rules."

"My own rules."

She kept a smirk as she climbed out of the pool, and when she stood... Her physique. I mean, I knew she was athletic, I'd noticed her arms before. I'd noticed her legs too. I'd noticed her back, her perfect skin, her hair, of course, her warm hands... But noticing is not the same as seeing. Definitely, NOT the same. She walked over to a nearby locker with her wet hair clinging to her shoulders. And me... well, let's just say I did my best not to seem overly focused on her. But, you know... I'm not exactly great at hiding stuff.

"There you go." She said, pulling a swimsuit from the locker and handing it to me.

Don't stare, don't stare.

"Thanks."

She nodded and then returned to the pool, diving headfirst with hardly a splash as if she were a water creature. She definitely knew how to swim, like, really swim.

I ducked behind a locker to change. The swimsuit was the same as hers, dark blue with silver stripes on the sides and the Reg Triangle under the chest.

When I finished, I approached the pool and cautiously dipped my toes in. It wasn't warm, but it wasn't cold either. I'd say it was the perfect temperature for a swim.

"Come on." She called from the other side.

Surprisingly, I remembered how to swim, and when I finally got in, I made it to where she was way faster than I'd expected.

"See? Like a fish." She smirked. "Wanna race?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Are you making fun of me?"

"No."

"Then why would you challenge me to a race?"

"Because it's fun."

"Fun, huh?" I nodded, pausing for a moment as if giving it some thought. "Alright then, but we'll race my way."

"Your way?"

"Yeah. Like this."

I pushed her off the edge of the pool and then shoved her under the water, sinking her for a second. When she resurfaced I was already swimming as fast as I could.

"You're so paying for that!" She yelled.

I thought I had the advantage, but the moment I glanced back, there she was, already right on my tail, swimming way too fast. Unexpected? Not really. She won, of course, and when I reached the other side, she was already waiting for me her elbows leaning back to the edge of the pool looking as if she had been there for hours.

"Did you have fun?" I asked.

Heather looked up. "I didn't get a fair start, but I won anyway, so..." She paused. "Yes. I guess it was quite satisfying."

I splashed water at her. "Is this why you invited me here? To humiliate me?"

She wiped away the water from her face. "Not really, that just came naturally."

"I'm out" I made the gesture to climb out of the pool and she pulled me back.

"Stay." She held my arm thigh.

I gazed at her hand in my arm. A silence. She released it.

"Let's swim for a little longer. No races this time." She said.

"Promise you'll let me swim at my own pace?"

"I promise."

With a couple of strokes, she started swimming in a perfectly straight line, never once lifting her head to check on me. She definitely deserved that "mysterious" tag. Hard to believe I once thought she was just another boring, ordinary, limited, and spoiled Reg citizen. The more time I spent with her, the more I felt the need to figure her out. She seemed to have an unpredictable streak hidden beneath all that system loyalty.

I also didn't know what I was doing there, yet... I didn't want to be anywhere else.

I took a deep breath and swam too. I focused on the memories of the lessons my mother had taught Michael and me when we were on The Other Side: bilateral breathing, stretching the arms properly, strong kicks, counting the strokes... One, two, three, four, five... I loved the mental stillness that counting strokes always gave me.

After several laps, we stopped to catch our breaths next to the stairs where the pool wasn't so deep.

"I love it here." I said as I let my body float in a star pose, eyes closed.

"Me too. I come here every time I'm stressed which is quite often." She mirrored my posture, extending her arms on the water and our fingers brushed.

A tiny thrill.

"You never seem stressed, though." I said.

"You learn to control it." She inhaled and exhaled slowly. "When I'm here, it's like the world above doesn't exist."

"And is the pool the only confidant of your real feelings, or do you trust anyone else?"

A silence. Heather returned to the edge of the pool. "Who needs people when you have a huge pool?"

I followed her to the side.

"Alright, you've got a point," I said. "But...if the pool ever feels like it's not enough, know that you can count on me."

Heather nodded in silence looking away, then crossed her arms over the edge and laid her head softly on them, eyes closed.

"Can I ask you something?" I said.

She laughed. "You took so long to ask your first question. I was starting to worry." She momentarily opened her eyes and smiled at me. "Please, shoot."

"How did you end up at the border?"

"Same as you, I was assigned."

"Not the same. You were born here... Any relatives around?"

Could be a risky question, but I mean, I was in a forbidden area, wearing a stolen swimsuit, with a lead who had kissed me just a few days ago. Who cared about risks at this point?

"I don't know." She said.

"What do you mean, you don't know?"

She took a deep breath, and her relaxed expression faded as if the turn of conversation wasn't suiting her.

"I grew up in a Sanctuary." She said.

I needed a moment to sift through my mental files to remember the first time I heard that term. Sanctuary was the sophisticated term the Reg Society used for orphanages. I remember Laura telling me they deliberately changed the word because they wanted to "create" a new concept. Being raised in a Sanctuary was considered positive, something to be proud of. Abandoned or unwanted children were viewed as contributions to society, and these institutions provided them with the "best education" to later take on the most important roles in the system. Which, in other words, meant... they never had a chance to be adopted. Never the chance to have a family. Never the chance to experience a normal life. Children of the system. That's what they were. It gives me goosebumps.

"I'm sorry."

"You don't need to be. I'm fine." A bit of defensiveness. Uh-oh.

"Right."

Just drop it Grace.

A silence.

Just drop it.

"What's it like growing up in a Sanctuary, if you don't mind me asking?" GREAT GRACE.

Heather frowned, looking a bit uncomfortable, but then she took a deep breath and seemed to prepare herself to answer.

"Not as grim as you might think," she began. "Sure, we didn't have traditional families, but we had each other. The other kids became like siblings. We were raised with the belief that we were special, that we had a vital role to play in society."

"Quite a lot of pressure for a kid."

She shrugged. "The Reg Society has its own way of doing things." She sighed, pausing as if letting all the air drain from her body. "Then... one day, you realize you're nothing more than a puzzle piece, perfectly shaped to fit into their design."

Perfectly shaped to fit into their design. That sounded suffocating.

"Have you ever tried to be something else than a puzzle piece...? By looking for your family for example?" I blurted out and then (of course THEN) I thought maybe that was a bit of a personal question...

Heather turned to me a bit uncomfortable but still holding her composure.

"Not interested. Besides, I know there's no information to track. I was found at the doors of the Sanctuary, and nobody saw a thing."

"That's... harsh." I whispered.

"It's not. It's perfectly fine. Some things just are the way they are, you learn to live with it."

"Still doesn't mean it doesn't weigh on you... And I know about weights, trust me."

"I guess... I've never really thought much about it..." She didn't need to swear on it; I could tell it had been a long time since she'd spoken about it. Maybe this was even the first time.

She turned around and looked at the distance of the pool as if remembering something. "There's a weird thing, though, that happens to me from time to time." Some nerves crossed her features.

"What is it?"

"It's just that, I know I don't care about my family, but sometimes when I see somebody who kind of looks like me, I can't help but wonder." A pause. "What if..." She didn't finish the sentence, her voice trailed off.

"What if... it was family?" I finished for her.

She nodded in silence.

"I know it sounds crazy."

"It's not." I said. "It's totally natural to wonder. We all need a past that makes sense with who we are, even if we're not consciously looking for it."

"I guess." She said gazing away.

We fell into silence, the buzz of the pool filter and the fluorescent lights above being the only sounds that surrounded us. I moved my hand under the water until I found hers.

"Heavy stuff for a pool chat." I said with a grin.

"You were the one who asked."

"True and... Thanks for sharing." I smiled at her and squeezed her hand under the water.

"Wanna swim some more?" She asked.

I shook my head and perched on the pool's edge, my feet still in the water. "I think I'll stay here."

"What? Refusing to seize this oasis?" Heather said sounding offended.

I nodded. "You swim, and I'll make sure you don't drown."

"No way!" She leaped out of the pool and pulled me back into the water. We dove in together, and just before resurfacing, I felt a soft, warm sensation on my lips.

A kiss.

We floated back up. Her hair glistening and her eyes calm while me... I barely remembered how to breathe.

"You always catch me off guard." I said.

She smiled. "I have to say, you're pretty easy to surprise."

I crossed my arms. "Is that so?"

She laughed softly. "It is and I like that about you. It's cute."

My heart skipped.

"I'm not cute."

"Oh, but you are." She said it as if that was the most certain thing in the world.

"I'm not accepting this title."

"Bad news then, there's nothing you can do about it."

I raised an eyebrow. "Is this your way to convince me to keep swimming with you?"

"Maybe. Is it working?" She smiled.

I thought for a moment and then shook my head.

"Nop. I think you'll have to put in a lot more effort."

She swam closer. "Okay. What do you want?"

Her eyes locked on mine, and as I lost myself in her turquoise blue eyes, which seemed made of the very same water we were floating in, I found myself asking the same question. What did I want?

My body pushed me forward. As if there was no doubt. No confusion. No hesitation. Just a clear, undeniable will, despite the reality that surrounded us. 

My lips brushed hers, and my mind blurred.

Maybe there was a simple answer to that question. Maybe there was.