"I thought I might find you here."

Leyla let the stick hang by her side, shielding her eyes from the early morning sun with her free hand. When she snuck out to practice a little while ago, she had been certain everyone else was still asleep.

"You're awake early," she said, watching Raphael approach. He was immaculately dressed as always; not a hair out of place, nor a shadow under his eyes to denote the ridiculously late hour they had all taken to their beds.

"And so are you." He looked quizzically at her stick. "What are you doing with that?"

"I couldn't find a sword," Leyla shrugged. "It's a little unsettling that there doesn't seem to be a weapon anywhere inside the central gardens."

Raphael crossed his arms over his chest, looking pleased. "Are you worrying about the defences of the White Gardens?"

Leyla rolled her eyes. "I was just making an observation."

"It makes me happy to see you care," Raphael said seriously, then he was holding out his hand. "I don't have much time before my meeting with the defence minister, but there's something we need to do."

Leyla looked from his hand to the expectant gaze on his face. She didn't want to let him lead her anywhere, but she reminded herself to be docile.

"What do we need to do?" Leyla put her hand in his, following him around the back of the central gardens. The weather was warm despite the earliness of the hour and the birds were wide awake, filling the gardens with movement and music.

Raphael ignored her question, a habit which she was fast getting used to. Instead, he pulled her along until they were walking through a dense forest outside the White garden complex. Many of the tall trees had bits of material tied around them; markers of a sort no doubt. 

It wasn't long before they came to a clearing and she saw that they were at the edge of what looked like a rock pool. A tingle of unease crept into her chest, so she averted her eyes from the water.

"What are we doing here?"

"Don't worry, I promise to go slow." Raphael said as he undid his shirt buttons.

"You'll what?" Unsure what he was saying, Leyla took a step back. "What in Four Kingdoms are you thinking?"

His fingers stilled on the last button, his honey eyes taking in her expression before one sardonic brow lifted in response. "I'm thinking you need to defeat your fear of water before it turns into a fixation."

Had he noticed her discomfort on the journey up? Leyla had mastered her expressions long ago, so she shouldn't have given her feelings away. Even Michael thought that she wasn't affected by what happened.

Raphael undid the last of his buttons, then discarded his shirt. A ray of sun fell over his naked chest. "What did you think I was doing?"

Leyla could feel heat rising in her face.  By Tevvuk's beard, why did she feel so nervous all of a sudden? "Nothing - I wasn't thinking anything." 

With a short laugh, Raphael walked into the pool until he was knee deep, then he turned to face her, "Come on."

"Your clothes..."

"Will dry, as will your dress." He gave her an impatient look. "This is important Leyla.  I know there was no water near the Warrior lands, but there is a lot of it in this Kingdom. Once you overcome your fear, I will teach you how to swim so that you will be safe."

She did not want to go anywhere near the pool, but he was right. Warriors never allowed fear to build lest it made them hesitate and cost their lives. Plus, being able to swim could come in handy once she left. Determined to overcome her wariness she walked to the edge of the water then froze. Memories of rocks and splashing water flashed through her mind, making it hard to draw in breath. 

Before she could turn away, strong arms were lifting her against a warm chest. Raphael looked down at her with a reassuring smile, "Slow, steady breaths, Lieutenant. I wont let anything happen to you." 

Leyla looked away, then closed her eyes as he walked them into the water. 

"You're alright. You're doing great, Leyla."

She tried to work up some indignation or say something nonchalant, but keeping the fear at bay was taking up all her energy. They were surrounded by water now. Raphael was waste deep and the skirts of her dress were drenched. She felt him start to move downwards and held onto his neck.

"I think that's enough."

"Do you?" 

He was right, it wasn't enough. She had to beat this now, or the fear would become permanent.  Raphael gave her an encouraging smile, then started to lower her once more. The water was cold on her legs then her stomach...

"Stop!" It was a whisper, but he heard her and obeyed immediately. They stood there for some time, small circles moving across the water around them. Her heart was pounding in her ears and every instinct in her body told her to kick, struggle and run out onto dry, safe land. 

"Leyla, look at me." Raphael spoke with a gentle voice. "You are the bravest woman I've ever met. You can get over this in a moment, if you just let go. Let go of what happened, that's all in the past."

"It was only two days ago," she mumbled.

"Two days or two hundred years, every moment in the past is equally frozen. Those moments are incapable of causing pain until we drag them forward and make them present again." He took his arm out from under her legs and pushed a strand of hair away from her face. "The water can't hurt you. I'm here."

He began to lower her again, the liquid cold creeping slowly up her back, her breasts, her shoulders. Her heart pounding, she tried to push the fear away, to let go, but her foot skimmed the side of a rock and it was as if she was back in the roaring river. "Raphael!" Her hands gripped him tightly and in the next moment his lips were on hers.

Her panic at being in the river was instantly replaced with awareness of him. The way he kissed her with gentle persuasion. The way his hands pressed her chest against his. The heat of his body. The water, the rocks, everything receded into the background as Leyla gave herself over to his kiss.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew that this didn't make sense. She hated Raphael for his betrayal, for forcing her to stay against her will, for flaunting his mistress in her face. He dug his fingers in her hair, pulling back ever so slightly to deepen the kiss. Leyla hated him. She had to hate him. Even though he saved her from the Healers plots. Even though he saved her from getting blamed with Alec's murder. Even though he saved her from being killed by the Warrior Queen, from drowning in the Aqua pond and saved her again on the rooftop of the Jade Palace.

By Tevvuk's beard, she wanted him! She didn't understand why, but she to be closer to him. She wanted more of him.

Leyla dug her fingers into his hair pulling him closer and thrusting her tongue against his. Raphael groaned, or was that her? Grabbing her ankles, he wrapped her legs around his waist and she let him. Because she didn't hate him. She couldn't. Maybe that's why she was so angry at him, because she couldn't hate him. Nothing made sense, but two things were clear in her mind. She needed to win back her freedom and she could not hate Raphael.

"Raphael!"

Diana's voice froze them in place. There was no sign of anyone on the bank. Leyla blinked, then the call sounded again. "Raphael?"

Raphael took three quick steps towards the shore, set Leyla down, then moved back into the deeper end of the water. Too shocked to do anything but stare, Leyla saw Diana coming into the clearing, followed by three Light guards. The Teacher's eyes lit at the sight of them and she turned quickly to the approaching soldiers. "Stop! Wait over there with your backs turned."

"Yes, Teacher." The guards rushed to do her bidding.

Looking down at her dress, Leyla crossed her arms over her chest in embarrassment. The material wasn't see through but it might as well have been, what with the way it clung to her.

"I'm sorry to interrupt dears, but an urgent message arrived for Raphael from the inner keep," Diana said with her back turned. Then she moved back into the trees, joining the soldiers a distance away.

Raphael waded past her and grabbed his shirt from the ground. Then after a glance in her direction, he threw the article at her. "I'm sorry I have to leave like this, but I think we are well on our way to solving your problem." Shaking water from his dark hair, he gave her a crooked smile. "I'm looking forward to our next lesson."

Leyla looked around for something to throw to get that smug look off his face, but all she had was his shirt and she needed to keep that. The satisfaction of hitting him with the soft material would be nothing compared to the humiliation of walking back to the gardens without it.

Raphael was out of sight, as were two of the guards, by the time Leyla put on the shirt and made her way over to Diana's side. The older woman gave her a knowing smile, then nodded for the guards to go ahead.

The silence became too much to bare. "I've been a little wary of water since the accident so Raphael was trying to help..."  

"I see." Diana nodded.

They continued to walk in silence, until the older woman cleared her throat. "I have to admit, I'm pleasantly surprised. I can't remember ever seeing my son look so embarrassed."

Leyla lowered her head, wishing the ground would open and swallow her up.