Unexpected Treasure

Part 10

I felt a sudden wave of heat hit my face. It was surprising how it did not melt my face – it was so hot!
Right in front of us was a cave with a pond of lava. It was a big cave, but not as big as the previous one with the lake. The far end of the cave opposite to us was a gap giving out some weak white light – I was surprised that I could see it even with all the orange light given out by the lava.
I looked at Edward and saw his eyes zeroed on that gap.
“(Yn), I think we have to cross this lava sea and get to the other side. That’s the only way left,” he said.
“Sure, and we can’t get back anyway…” but then I paused, thinking of how it would feel if I fell into the lava. I shivered despite all the heat surrounding me, because it would not feel good swimming in lava, I was sure.
“How are we going to get over there? We can’t possibly jump onto those stones and get across – that’d be too dangerous!” Edward said.
“But that’s the only way left, like you said,”
“I mean we should be able to think of another way. This is too dangerous, I won’t let you do this,” I felt Edward’s arms tightened around my shoulder.
“We have to try,” I tried to persuade him, as it really was the one and only way left. Even on the wall there were not any pointy stones that could act as handles to let us climb the wall. Plus it was way more dangerous than crossing with the stones on the lava surface, “We’ll do it together. We can make it.”
I took his arms off my shoulder, wheeled around to face him, and held his hands tightly in mine. His hands almost felt hot right now. I looked him in the eyes, and repeated, “We can do it. I know we can,”
Edward looked me deep in the eyes, searching for any uncertainty. But he could not find anything; I believed in him. I trusted him with all my might and I knew we could do it when he was with me. He gave me strength. He was my everything, and I loved him so much. He was the best ever friend anyone could have.
Eventually he gave up. He let out a sigh, “Alright. But we must be VERY careful. And don’t remember your leg is hurt. Promise me you’ll be careful, and do not fall. Do it for me, please, (Yn), if anything happens to you…” he trailed off, not able to continue. He looked away, his expression saying that he was in pain, and he took a deep breath, “Please, be careful and don’t hurt yourself. I won’t be able to live without you.”
I nodded, feeling touched by his speech, “I promise. And promise me you will be very, very careful and don’t let anything happen to you. I can’t live without you too,” I said, stroking his face.
Edward caught me in a big hug, “I love you, (Yn), I always will,”
“Love you too,” I said. We stayed in each other’s arm, just like that.
Finally I heard Edward sighed again, “Let’s do this,” he whispered into my ear.
“Let’s” I echoed, releasing him.
We released each other but left our hands linked together. We looked at the orange sea, and I swept my gaze over those small pieces of scattered rocks on the surface. We CAN do this.
It was Edward who went first. He slowly put his right foot on the nearest and rock, and kicked it a bit to see if it was stable.
“I guess they’re all pretty safe… They seemed to be attached to the bottom,” Edward stated.
So we began advancing to the opposite side, one foot at a time, slowly and carefully.
Halfway through the sea of lava, there was a slightly bigger rock and could hold two people. Edward stepped onto that podium, and I followed close behind, our hands still linked together. When I was about to put the first foot onto the rock, I accidentally twisted my right leg a bit too much and it hurt – and I lost my balance!
“AHH!” I screamed, falling backward.
“(YN)!” Edward shouted, tightening his grip on my hand, quickly pulling me back. I crashed into Edward’s chest, we both panting like we had just run a hundred miles.
“Whoa, (Yn), you scared me there!” Edward said breathlessly, hugged me tighter into his warm – or maybe nearly hot – body.
“Sorry,” I replied, shocked from the earlier near-death experience.
“Don’t apologize, it’s me who made you stuck on this island,” Edward said regretfully.
“No, it’s not your fault, I want to come,” I insisted.
“Just don’t ever scare me like that again,”
“I didn’t mean to,”
“I know. But I’m still sorry for all the stuff that have happened,”
“Don’t be,”
And everything went silent. A few minutes later we continued our journey, being ten times more careful than before, afraid of what just happened would happen again.
“YAY! We did it! I told you so!” I yelled, when we both had set our feet safely on the other side of the cave.
Edward picked me up, swinging me in a circle. I giggled, and he flashed me that Edward smile. I blushed, AGAIN. When would I get over the perfectness of Edward?
“Guess it’s time to explore that gap?” Edward gestured to the gap that was still shining with white light in the wall.
I nodded, and took his hand again. We walked towards the gap, ready to face any surprise that was waiting for us. On our own, separated, we could be fragile and insecure. But as a whole, together, we were ready to face anything, with our strength, nothing could bring us down.
So we passed through the gap, just as we thought we were ready to face any surprise, we did not mean this kind of big surprise. This was overwhelming, what was being held beyond this gap.