"Our memories of the ocean will linger on, long after our footprints in the sand are gone."

The breeze that flowed freely throughout the dark coast allowed waves to gently roll onto the shore, making beautiful and soft crashing noises that were heard throughout the beach. Natara loved it. As a child, her father would play relaxing ocean noises so that she could fall asleep when she was having stressful nights after long days of school…it really helped.

Natara shook that memory out of her head and squeezed her husband's hand as they both walked down the soft, cool sand. Normally it would be hotter, but it was midnight, and the sun wasn't heating the beach up.

"So," Mal broke the silence with a frown. "I got fourteen texts from Kai yesterday. Crazy stuff."

Natara couldn't help but grin at his frustration. "What did he do this time?"

Taking out his phone, Mal cleared his throat and began to quote the texts, still holding Natara's hand tightly. "I bet you and Agent Hottie are heating up the bed right now! You and Natara having a badass time? Visit a nude beach for me! Wish I was there!"

For a moment, Natara found herself speechless, but regained composure. "That is so like Kai to say those things."

Mal had to agree. "Yup. I'm not texting him back, though."

His wife laughed softly. "Oh?"

"Nope," he smiled and quickly kissed her neck. "I'm not letting him ruin our two weeks together."

Natara shrugged and grinned. "Works for me."

They walked a bit more, until Natara suddenly stopped. Mal looked back and frowned, his arm a foot ahead of hers, trying to pull her forward. "What's wrong?" he asked as she let a large smile form at the corners of her lips.

"Can we please stop here?" her voice sounded like she was half-begging, half-sighing.

Mal looked around. "Sure, but why?"

She didn't explain, but tugged him towards the fence that ran down the beach that protected the sand dunes, and flopped down in front of it, leaning her back against the wooden railing. Mal hesitantly did the same.

After a minute, he spoke out: "Um, what are we doing?"

Natara smiled. "Looking at the moon," she whispered. "It's so beautiful."

Mal had never been one to truly appreciate nature. He shrugged and watched as Natara lay down on her stomach, resting her chin in her palms as the breeze allowed her hair to sway freely. He gently placed his hands on her back, moving them in a comforting circular motion as she stayed still.

"A backrub?" Natara let out a large grin. "I feel like a princess!"

Mal kept massaging her with one hand, but reached the other one out and lifted up her chin, gazing into her eyes. He returned a smile. "Yeah, well, you're my princess." And he kissed her gently, feeling her soft lips brush against his own.

Natara nodded and closed her eyes, placing her head on the soft sand as Mal deepened the backrub. "Mmmm…keep it coming, Mr. Fallon."

"Sure I will," Mal laughed. "But I'm gonna start charging you."

Natara frowned. "Seriously? How much?"

He thought about that for a second, and then gently whispered into her ear: "How about a kiss for every ten seconds that I'm rubbing your back?"

His wife grinned. "You're naughty, aren't you?"

"Not as naughty as you'd like me to be." Mal had a comeback for everything.

Natara shrugged. "Well, it's worth a shot."

"Whatever," Mal chuckled. "I'll be counting every second, though."

He rubbed deeper, and Natara sighed. Ten blissful seconds passed, and he took his hands away from her back. She sent him a strong frown as he threw in a teasing comment. "Insert some cash into the ATM, baby."

Natara shrugged and turned around, throwing her arms around Mal's neck. She pressed her cheek to his collarbone and let the breeze drift the intoxicating smell of her perfume up her husband's nose as he let a contagious grin spread down his lips. She let her nose brush against his for a long moment, and finally kissed him.

Mal wrapped an arm around her waist and kept it there for a moment. Just as he was about to deepen the kiss, Natara jerked away. "You said to give you a kiss, and I did. Now rub for another ten seconds, servant."

"Hey!" Mal tried to hold back a smile. "I was actually enjoying that. And besides, who said I was your servant?"

Natara flopped back into the sand and laughed playfully. "I did."

Mal crawled up to her, placed his lips to her cheek, and moved them to her ear. "Can I be your Prince Charming instead?"

His wife thought about that for a minute. "Only if you build me a sand castle."

And a few minutes later, Mal had his knees deep in the sand, using them to stabilize himself as he shaped mounds of it into walls and pillars. He scooped up a whole glob of the stuff and attempted to make a tower, but it took the form of a potato instead.

"What's taking so long, Prince Charming?" Natara called from her 'throne', a fold-up lawn chair that someone had left out on the beach. Mal frowned and cursed under his breath as he tried to shape the sand efficiently with his tired hands. They were already sore from giving Natara a backrub.

"The things I do to make girls happy…" Mal muttered to himself and turned around to face her. "Remind me why I'm doing this again!" he angrily called.

"Hee!" Natara giggled and leaned back in her seat. "You're trying to be my prince, that's what you're doing."

Mal groaned and dropped the shovel he'd found on the beach, letting it plummet into the sand. He turned around and ran towards Natara. Before she could react, he scooped her up in his arms and began to carry her towards the ocean.

"Ohmygosh!" she screamed at first, but her voice transitioned into a laugh.

"Gotcha!" Mal held her tightly as he stepped ankle-deep into the water. She was surprisingly light and easy to carry.

Natara took a quick, deep breath. "Please don't drop me."

Her husband shook his head. "I'm not making any promises."

She couldn't hold in a laugh. "Please?"

Mal ignored her and looked around at the water he was standing in. "Jeez, Nat, we're naughty."

"How so? I'm wearing a one-piece," she responded, which made him smile a little.

"I meant that we're standing in the water without a lifeguard watching," he tried not to laugh as Natara blushed a dark crimson color, thankful that the dark night obscured Mal's view of her red cheeks.

"Well…I…" she began, but Mal cut her off.

"I'm only kidding, Natara. I love you."

Natara tried not to let out a soft smile as Mal gingerly held her above the water. She wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered: "Love you too."

He smiled and stroked her arm gently, then leaned in to whisper in her ear. "It's still too bad you're wearing a one-piece, though. Those are hard to take off."

"Mal!"

He laughed gently. "I was just kidding."

Natara couldn't help but smile as Mal leaned in so that his nose was brushing hers. He inched forward so that their lips were barely touching, tasting her strawberry lip gloss as he kissed her softly. She quietly deepened the caress, grinning as she wrapped her lips around his, letting him brush a loose strand of hair off of her cheek. They spent a few minutes like that until Natara pulled away, smiling wildly.

Mal let her lean her head back until she was almost upside down. He pulled her down a bit so that she was almost touching the water. She reached out and placed her hands into the ocean, attempting a handstand…and she would've done one, too; if it hadn't been for Mal, who quickly swooped her up again.

"Agh!" she screamed. "What the…? Mal! What was that for?"

Her husband just laughed. "You should have seen your face."

Natara frowned, but couldn't keep it in place. A smile broke out on her lips as Mal placed her down, her feet being immersed into the cool water. She took a long look around as he held her hand tightly, eyeballing some green plant floating in the water.

"Mal, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Natara smirked.

Her husband returned a mischievous grin. "Seaweed fight?"

"You know me so well."

Mal sat quietly as he felt Natara's body move up and down to the rhythm of her soft breathing. He cradled her head in his lap and ran his fingers through her seaweed-stained hair, grinning as he remembered how he'd thrown globs of the plant at her as she ran to gather more ammo. (The ammunition being kelp).

In her own way, Natara looked gorgeous, even though she was covered from head to toe with sand, saltwater, and seaweed.

That's how I know I'm in love with her…Mal suddenly thought. No matter how messy or unkempt she looks, she's still beautiful to me. And that's what matters.

He stroked her cheek, caressed her ear, and placed a finger on her soft lips. He'd kissed them several times while he was dating her, and even more on the honeymoon. But his thoughts then drifted to the other people she'd kissed.

Shawn Mallory. Oscar Santos. Himself. And a dozen other high school and college relationships she'd told him about.

That's when something struck Mal. It never dawned on him that he was so lucky to have Natara as a wife. She could be with any other dashing guy that told her lies to receive her love. But she had chosen him. She trusted him. She loved him.

Mal stroked her cheek once more and watched as she slept peacefully under the bright stars, her head resting in his lap. He leaned over and gently pressed his lips to hers, softly enough so that she wouldn't wake up.

"I love you too, Natara."

AN: I apologize for the briefness of this chapter in comparison to the others. The next one will be longer, I promise. I already have it planned out. And I'm sorry to those whom I told that I'd be updating it last night…I started to feel sick so I just went to bed. You're really great readers.

So, uh, review please?

Hey, it just may help me update faster.