Chapter 2
“La… Lara?” she said slowly, almost feeling in a dream-like fugue state. To complete the shock from reality, she felt the cold freezing her blood, making the tips of her fingers, nose and ears red.
Lara, still standing with her flowers, is struggling to get the words out of her mouth, like they're all being mixed in a soup, whirling, twisting and overwhelmingly tangling on each other. And the fact that Sam looks absolutely gorgeous.
She shuffled slightly.
“I missed you.” Lara said, wanting to sound romantic, but ending up awkward.
“What-” All Sam could do was stare, speechless.
And they stood, hypnotized by the moment, all trying to repress the thing they've been wanting so hard to do this whole time.
Sam broke first, giving Lara a big, emotional hug. Lara flinched, still holding her flowers. She quickly dropped them, focusing on her priorities. Lara hugged Sam back as tight as she could.
Sam felt dead before Lara’s warmth. And Lara would die fighting for Sam's.
They broke apart the embrace with their faces finally closer than they have been in years, their soft warm breath interchanging into a small cool cloud.
“The world is getting colder. Let's go inside.” Said Lara.
She didn't have to say anything else. She has felt her love before. And she has been starving for a really long time. As Sam took her inside by the hand and closed the door, she could still see the roses. Altough peppered with snow, were still no close to withering.
Sam closed the door and they were holding hands. It all felt like such a blur to Lara. When was the last time she felt like this? When was the last time she *allowed* herself to feel like this? All these years looking for answers, for an escape - it was all just her - Samantha Nishimura. *She* is her Silver Box, her Atlas, her Immortality. Not in the way it's something she once collected, no - as in the one to be protected at all costs, as in the one who has been carefully crafted by the gods to be one of the most beautiful and breathtaking masterpiece humanity has seen. This is the reason to keep going.
Lara took the initiative this time, grabbing Sam by the waist and softly kissing her on the lips. The nights she spent awake yearning, so much that it hurt, to even look at Sam was killing her. But it all went away.
Sam instinctively grabs Lara's waist and runs her other hand through her back, enjoying every second of their mouths touching - she could do this all night. All she needs is this moment over and over, across every timeline, universe and space.
After a makeout session on the couch, they decide to take things a step further and head to the bedroom. It was very cold after all, and they were still hungry for warmth. The warmth of people who are in love.