In Time for Love

by Kessily Lewel

  "Told you! Hurry up, you won't want to miss this," he said, stopping to grab her by the arm and pull her along. It was wider there, with room for both of them side-by-side.

  "We're going to get soaked!" There was a hint of a whine as the light sprinkle threatened to turn into a cloudburst that would drench them both. There, under the thick canopy, they were somewhat shielded, but she could hear the roaring of water falling on the leaves above them.

  "It won't last long, just a few minutes," he assured her as he pulled her along at a quick pace. He kept her steady as the ground grew uneven and started a steep uphill slant. Small streams of rainwater were already forming, mixing with the dirt until the surface was slippery with mud, but he was sure-footed and kept her from falling.

  They stopped just at the edge of the trees, a sheet of rain hurtling down in front of them, so heavy she could barely see through it. "Whoa, that's incredible!" she said, shouting to be heard over the noise.

  He turned and gave her a smug secretive look, mouthing 'just wait' at her. He checked his watch again, and she hoped it was waterproof because even here under cover, they were still getting wet. At least the rain was refreshing after the fast hike through the jungle and there was something so powerful about seeing the rain come down in such a torrent.

  Then, suddenly, just like a faucet being shut off, the rain stopped. It was so abrupt, she gasped in shock and stepped forward in confusion, one hand lifted to catch the last few scattered drops of rain before they were gone and the sun appeared.

  "That was incredible," she said, turning to him with a smile already forming on her lips. "How did you know—"

  "That's nothing, one more minute," he said. He took her by the arm, tugging her out into the open. Already, the clouds were breaking apart, moving away quickly so she could take in the scenery with wonder.

  She realized that the roaring hadn't been solely from the rain; down below them was a waterfall, several, actually. The rushing streams combined at the base, splashing loudly to fill a crystal-clear pool. It was the most beautiful place she'd ever seen, and she was literally speechless as she took in the splendor. Almost perfectly circular, the pool was surrounded by high rock walls and dense foliage, hiding it away.

  "Can we get down there?" she asked quickly. She wanted nothing in the world more than to dive into that beautiful water.

  "Yeah, there's a path leading down. It's steep but manageable if we go slow." He pulled her over, turning her around and pointing so she could see where it started. "Right there, but we'll give the sun time to dry things a bit. Wouldn't want to attempt it while it's slippery. And you might want to get your camera out now."

  "Oh! I always forget to take pictures!" She cursed at herself as she reached into her bag and pulled out the camera, snapping dozens of pictures of the scenery and a few of him posing with the forest as a backdrop. He took some of her, as well, but then he handed it back.

  "One more thing I wanted to show you. It's kind of a unique experience, so get ready to take pictures," he warned her.

  "Something else? I'm not sure I can handle any more surprises, this place, it's…" She shook her head. How many times could she say something was amazing before she sounded repetitive, but how else could she describe it when he'd brought her to the single most beautiful place she'd ever seen.

  "Mhm, relax, it won't be long," he said as he wrapped his arms around her from behind, holding her tight at the waist. Her arms were free to hold the camera, but once things started, he still had to remind her to actually lift it and take the pictures.

  That secluded place could never be silent, not with all the wildlife. The birds made all manner of sounds and so did the insects, and in the background, of course, was the continuous splashing of the falling water. Suddenly, there was an odd sound that almost drowned out the jungle soundtrack—a cacophony of whirring and flapping that grew steadily louder and had her looking around in confusion. "Is that…birds?" she asked.

  He didn't reply, knowing she'd find out the answer herself, in just a few seconds—and then they arrived. A fluttering, ever-moving cloud of brown and orange butterflies swept through the clearing in a swarm, dipping and surging as their delicate wings caught the air currents. There had to be thousands upon thousands of them, so many that they were quickly surrounded.

  She gasped, "Oh…my God!" It was like standing in the eye of a tornado made entirely of airborne flowers that swirled around them dizzyingly.

  "Pictures," he whispered in her ear.

  She snapped hundreds, all on auto-pilot, and maybe some of them would be worth keeping, but at the moment, she was just too awestruck by the event to notice the quality. Butterflies covered every available surface as they slowly fluttered down to land. The ground and the trees, too, were covered in wings that slowly opened and closed. She even felt them in her hair and was afraid to move, in case she crushed some of them.

  "Monarch butterfly migration," he explained. "They fly north every year. Cozumel isn't on their flight path, usually, but the storm blew them off course." He kept his voice low, but she wasn't sure the sound would disturb them anyway; there were just too many and they seemed content to bask in the hot sun.

  "What are they doing?" she asked as she carefully lifted an arm with several clinging Monarchs, so she could examine them. They didn't seem inclined to fly away.

  "They can't fly far when their wings are wet, so they need to dry them out. As soon as the water evaporates, they'll be on their way again. Luckily, they got pulled along behind the storm and not into the center or most of them would have died," he said matter-of-factly.

  "Aww, poor things," she whispered. "Um…how long will they be here?" She didn't want to hurt any of them, but they were completely surrounded with no way to move and she wasn't sure how long she'd be able to stand there.

  He chuckled. "Not long, don't worry," he said, sensing her concern. "They'll dry out quickly and be on their way."

  In fact, some of the visitors were already taking short flights, as if testing their wings. They seemed to move together, small clumps suddenly rising to dance around each other before settling down on their perches again. Many had relaxed their wings, letting them spread out flat to dry. Everywhere she looked, there was beauty and constant movement.

  They stayed like that for no more than fifteen minutes and then slowly, in groups, they began to go; in under a half an hour, they were all gone. When the last group fluttered away, Katherine heaved a sigh of relief that she could finally move without worrying she'd step on one of them. She turned in his arms, head tilting back to look up at him.

  "How did you know to bring us here now?" she asked in wonder.

  He laughed. "Like that, did you?" he asked, evading the question.

  "It was the most incredible thing I've ever experienced," she said, shaking her head. "They seemed almost tame." Not tame maybe, she corrected herself mentally, but unafraid. Without the insect hum and the constant sounds of ruffling wings, the clearing seemed almost quiet, despite the constant bird chatter and the roaring water.

  "Safety in numbers maybe?" He shook his head; for once, he didn't have a ready answer for her. "Are you ready to go down for a swim now?' he asked.

  She was, thirty minutes of standing still with the hot sun baking down had left her unbearably sticky, and she longed for the clear blue water more than ever. "Oh, but I didn't bring my suit," she said, struck suddenly with disappointment.

  "You don't need a suit, Kitten. There's no one here but us. C'mon," he said, pulling her towards the path. He went down first, helping her over the rough parts. It wasn't a man-made trail, and in some places, it was a bit awkward, but it was well-trodden by animals making their way to the water source and they got down safely. It took a little longer than necessary, perhaps, but he was taking no chances with her safety on the steep climb.

  It was at least ten degrees cooler down by the water, and she sighed happily and dropped down to sit on a large, flat boulder that bordered the pool.
The deep valley helped with that; it also made the water sounds much louder as they echoed off the stone, but the roar was steady and soothing. "How deep is the water?" she asked.

  "Hmm, not sure. Guess I'll have to find out," he said as he pulled his t-shirt over his head and dropped it next to her. He kicked off the rest of his clothes quickly and dove gracefully into the center of the pool. Long seconds went by and she started to grow concerned when, suddenly, he shot to the surface, sending a wave of water over her.

  She let out a startled screech, but as cold as the water was, it was refreshing after the heat. She stripped out of her clothes, grumbling at him the whole time, and spread them out to dry before jumping in to join him. Like the butterflies, their things would dry quickly in the sun, and they had plenty of time before they had to go.

  The pool was unexpectedly deep in the center and they took turns diving down, but neither could actually reach the bottom. The water down there got too cold for her liking so she gave up, paddling around on the surface instead. They played like children, splashing and ducking each other until they were exhausted.

  "Can we stand under the waterfall? Like in the movies?" she asked. She'd always wanted to, but now looking at the heavy continuous splashing at the base of the falls, she wondered if it was safe.

  "Not these, no, but see there?" He pointed at one of the smaller streams far to the side of the others. It never merged with them, instead splashing into its own little pool a little higher up. That basin, in turn, overflowed, cascading down into the bigger one. "That one, we can. I'll race you," he challenged.

  It was reminiscent of their first swim together, but this time, he waited until she was ready to start, and she won, if only by a few seconds. She hauled herself up out of the water, cheering triumphantly.

  "We're tied now," he said, laughing as he clambered out and then led the way to the smaller fall. The experience of standing under the rushing water was a little more intense than she'd expected, even this one that was much less powerful was still dumping quite a lot of water onto her shoulders. She found it to be similar to a heavy massage, one she could only stand for a few minutes before she had to step out.

  "Well, that's one off my bucket list," she said, hair plastered flat against her skin as streams of water ran down her face.

  "It's a bit much at once, I know," he agreed. "But this little basin is nice for relaxing and it's warmer since the water is so shallow." He was seated comfortably with his back to the edge, and his elbows on the ledge behind him, so she joined him. It was still cool enough to be refreshing but it didn't take her breath away. She leaned back next to him, letting her legs float out in front of her.

  "It's incredible that this is here and no one knows about it," she said.

  "Oh, some people know about it, but it's out of the way and more walking than most want to bother with. This park has several other waterfalls more impressive than this sheltered little cove to draw their attention," he explained. "A couple of people a week may find their way here, probably not more, and they'd be locals."

  "Jack!" She sat up, covering her chest and looking around quickly. "What if someone comes?" she demanded.

  He laughed, pushing his wet hair back off his face. "What if some stranger that we'll never see again sees our naked bodies from all the way up there? They'd probably be just as embarrassed and leave without coming down," he pointed out with a wicked grin.

  She huffed and settled back after one more nervous glance. "I guess you have a point—and it's worth the risk. I'm going to need a million more pictures before we climb back up. I can't believe I'm here," she said.

  "I promised you a perfect day, didn't I?" he asked, sliding one arm around her shoulder and pulling her up against his side.

  He had, as she was falling asleep the night before, but now she frowned as she was reminded of the extraordinary series of events. There had been too many coincidences. Too many things that were hard to find any explanation for that weren't entirely bizarre. Her mind had been turning things over and over but the only answers she'd come up with were just…crazy. "Jack? How did you know about the storm? About the butterflies?" she asked.

  He was quiet for a long moment, so long that she wondered if he was going to refuse to answer, as he had so many times before, but finally, he sighed. "Maybe it's just as well we have the conversation now. No real reason to wait until we get back to the ship, I suppose," he said. Still, there was another long silence.

  She didn't press because she could feel the change in the tone and knew he was going to tell her. Giving him time to gather his thoughts, she turned to get comfortable, one leg crossing over his. "Whatever it is, Jack, it won't scare me off. I promise," she said. She paused, tilting her head. "I mean, unless you're a serial killer; that might be a little difficult to deal with," she teased, clearly not in the least bit concerned.

  "It's nothing like that," he assured her. "Would you like to hear a story?" he asked.

  "A story? What kind of a story?" she asked, frowning as she wondered if he was attempting to stall the big reveal.

  "One about a little boy. It's an exciting adventure full of fantasy and magical adventures in time. Are you interested?"

  She wasn't entirely sure what this had to do with his secret but she nodded. "Sure, I like stories," she said, watching his expression. His face had a closed look, like he'd shuttered his emotions away.

  He started immediately, using a distant tone, "Once upon a time, there was a little boy. He seemed normal until, one day, when he was about four, his parents woke up to find him missing from his bed. They should have been upset, and it was a surprise, though not for the obvious reason. The same thing had happened with his older sister, Emily, when she was about his age. He returned a few days later, looking about the same, and full of tales about where he'd been—and that's when they told him that he was special. In their family, every so often, a child would be born with the ability to move through time." He stopped and looked at her expectantly, but she said nothing.

  After a brief pause, he continued, "It was unheard of for two children of the same parents to have the gift and a heartbreak to the mother and father, who had to fear for both of them. They—"

  "Wait," Katherine said, interrupting him. "Are you trying to tell me you're some kind of time-traveler from the future?" she demanded, one eyebrow raised high.

  He looked disgruntled. "Well, I'm from the past, actually, but—"

  There was a long pause, during which they just looked at each other without speaking. "Okay, that makes a lot of sense, actually," she said, breaking the silence. "I don't know why you didn't just tell me before."

  "I—what?" From disgruntled to outright confusion in under ten seconds, he stared at her.

  "Jack, I grew up on science-fiction. I've read all the biggies—Heinlein, H.G. Wells, Kurt Vonnegut. I mean, yeah, it's a lot to take in, but it's better than some of the other ideas I came up with," she assured him.

  She rolled over, sitting up and sending a cascade of water over the edge as she moved to straddle his hips so she could look down at him. "Honestly…my top guess was alien. I'm a lot happier with time-traveler."

  His hands came up to rest at her waist automatically. "You—Katherine, I'm not joking around. I really am from the past. I came here specifically to find you," he said. He was unnerved, and for the first time since she'd met him, he seemed uncertain of how to proceed.

  "I swear to God, if you tell me you crossed oceans of time to find me, I'll—I'll slap you, and I don't care if you spank me for it," she said firmly.

  "Oceans of time? I mean—I did find you on a cruise ship so, technically, that would be a reasonable description of…oh. Did I miss something?" He flushed, as the widening grin on her face told him he'd taken it a bit too literally.

  "It's a movie reference. Never mind, listen, I knew there was something, something big; I just couldn't figure out what it might be. The minute you mentioned time travel, it all kind of clicked." She shrugge
d, smirking and looking a little proud of herself for having completely ruined his mysterious confession.

  "So—you believe me? Just like that? You don't need proof?" The skeptical look on his face said clearly that he wasn't sure if she believed him or was just pretending.

  "If you want to offer me proof, I'd like to see it, just for novelty, but, yes, I believe you. You've always been honest with me, but there's been this long list of things that weren't adding up. Every time I turn around, you've vanished, you knew exactly when to show up to save my ass, and the butterflies…I was thinking how no one could have known they'd be there, but you did. So, yeah, if you're saying it's time travel, I'm just going to believe you," she said, shrugging.

  He stared at her, his deep brown eyes looking a bit stunned as he blinked. "I'm going to be honest, uh—this isn't how I thought this was going to play out," he said, finally, and then he started to chuckle, shaking his head. "Always surprising me, Kitten."

  She snorted, "Let me guess, you expected me to get angry. Maybe call you a liar and then ignore all the evidence you tried to point out, until you finally had to do something so dramatic that I couldn't possibly deny it? Like, I dunno, dragging me to another time with you or something?" she asked.

  He blinked and then laughed. "Actually, something like that, yeah. Not the last, though. I can't just bring you to another time with me. It doesn’t work quite like that."

  She wasn't sure if it was because he was hiding something or because her naked bottom was pressing against his lap. Maybe it was a combination of both because she could feel his shaft stirring to life underneath her.

  She cupped his face in both hands, leaning down so that her heavy mane of wet hair slid over her shoulder, the ends tickling his chest. "Times have changed since…" She paused. "Since whenever you come from. These days, we're all just waiting for magic to happen. We grew up reading stories about unexpected out-of-this-world experiences, and none of us want to be the silly mundane non-believer to walk away and miss out," she explained, dropping light kisses on his lips after every few words.