Me Llamo Tokio (My Name Is Tokyo) - A Money Heist Prequel

Chapter 18 - Dance Under The Stars

I let myself driven by the rhythm and dance like my life was depending on it. My life and my dignity actually, since I made a bet with Juan and I didn't want to lose it.
Apparently, he was a better flamenco dancer than I thought, and he surprised me with how much he knew comparing to my original belief.
It was a few hours past midnight and we were dancing flamenco with a group of tourists that we just met. Juan knew a place at the outskirts of Lisbon where people were gathering to dance, and we were lucky enough to find out some flamenco dancing spaniards.
It seems like this wasn't the biggest challenge for Juan, but Argentine tango will definitely be for me. I haven't danced much from the genres that were requiring a partner, because I was almost all the time single. But, there was no way I was backing out now and let him win our bet.
Juan places one hand on my waist, while he holds mine with the other. The music starts and, as we move, I realize that there's no competition anymore, no bet. Because to compete you need at least two people, but now, we were one.
I let myself be lead and put my entire faith in him when I close my eyes. I'm dancing like I'm in a trance, letting Juan take control over me. My leg is caressing his and this is immediately followed by his soft laugh.
"Those who dance so good together..." Juan whispers in my ear.
"Fuck the best together." I complete his sentence with my own version, not letting him finish.
He laughs again and I open my eyes only to see Juan's glimmering with joy.
I don't know if this is part of the dance or not, but he comes closer to me, while our lips unite in a kiss.
Above us, the sky is filled with stars and I can't stop myself from thinking about last night and his confession.
"Te amo."* I whisper while we're dancing.
"Te amo."* he replies smiling.
There is no doubt about the fact that he loves me. Oh, and how much he loves me. As much as, at some point, we stop dancing and he takes my hand and says:
"Let's go."
"But the motorcycle is there." I say gesturing to the place where he parked it.
"No, not home." Juan laughs.

And here we are, in a hidden meadow, standing on a rock next to a small pond. I take my shoes off and let my bare feet caress the water. Juan joins me too.
"This place is beautiful." I tell him looking around.
The night covered all the green leaves and flowers with its blanket, making everything look so nice. I always preferred the intimacy of the dark over the exposure of the day. The only source of light that we're having now is the moon which was throwing its rays of silvery light everywhere around us, reflecting itself in the pond.
"I wanna take a bath." I say with an implicit smile.
"Silene." Juan is trying not to laugh.
But he can't stop me, because I'm almost done taking my clothes off.
"Will you join me?" I say winking before undoing my bra.
"Maybe." he says unbuttoning his shirt.
When the panties are being thrown over the rest of my clothes I look at him and say:
"Come catch me if you can." and jump in the pond.
I hear his laugh in the distance while my body hits the water. It feels colder than I thought, but after the drinks from the restaurant, I take this as a good refreshment for my mind.
Swimming was my passion ever since I was a kid and I always loved to spend the hot summer days playing in water.
But this is totally different from the past. I wasn't a child anymore and right next to me was Juan, the person that I liked to call the love of my life.
His hands wrap around my body while our lips embrace each other like it's been a million years since our last kiss.
"I caught you." he says playing with my lower lip.
"Mhmm." I reply caressing his wet hair.  "But it's not that easy."
In the same moment I jump from his arms and let myself fall till the bottom of the pond. I feel his hand trying to catch my leg, but I'm faster.
"Catch me." I say laughing, appearing behind him.
I have no idea how much time passes, but it's surely one of the best nights ever. We splash each other, swim and laugh like there's no tomorrow.
"I have to tell you something." I say.
I'm in his arms again, resting after the entire chase.
"I've never felt so alive in my entire life." I end my confession. "Thank you."
"I can say the same." he replies. "You woke me up in the most unexpected moment of my life and look at us now."
Yes, look at us, I think as I glue my body to his. Juan's hands are caressing my back.
"I've never thought that someone like you exists in other place than my imagination." I tell him. "Sometimes I can't believe you're real."
He laughs.
"I think the same."
"Then prove me." I say looking in his eyes. "Show me that you're flesh and bones and not a dream from where I'll wake up when the sun rises."
And he did. He showed me how real his kisses are, how his tongue can draw on my skin like he was a painter and I was his canvas. He showed me with how much greed and lust he can devour me and in the same time how gentle and careful he can be.
I felt his warmth inside me while the coldness of the water was embracing us both. His hands on my body, holding me desperately like I was a fish and he was the fisherman that didn't want to lose his catch. My nails digging deeper in his back while the sounds of my everlasting pleasures were coming out of my throat in something that he called "a mystic song".
And when he's done, he remains one with me for a few seconds more, enough to look into my eyes and say how much he loves me. Then, we're back at our initial form, two separated entities united by our invisible bond.
He holds my hand as we walk out of the water and I see the blood from the scratches on his back, spread around my palms, now painting his hand too.
We dress up in silence and he makes me sit down so he can put my boots.
"Mi amor*, it's past midnight. My carriage is a pumpkin for a while."
He laughs at my Cinderella allusion.
"Then let's take my black horse." he says while we walk through the bushes to the place where he parked the motorcycle.
But, to our surprise "the horse" wasn't there anymore, and all the people who were dancing and having fun disappeared too.
"Fuck!" he whispers.
I start laughing. This was way too funny, or at least that's how my semi-drunk self was perceiving the situation. But someone stole from the thief.
"Silene!" he throws me an angry look. "It's not funny."
And, after two kilometers of walking, I realized it wasn't. No taxi was stopping to pick us up and I understood them. Who would've taken two pickled rats like us. Also, his phone died, and mine was charging at the apartment, because I've never thought we'll end up in a situation like this.
At some point, when it gets colder, he takes his jacket off and offers it to me. I accept it, as the cold was biting angrily from my skin, but my hair was still wet and I really hope that I won't catch a cold after.
"I have to pay the guy from where I rented the motorcycle." he says when we're just two streets away from our place.
"Really, Juan?" I exclaim. "You're not a thief anymore?"
He's not saying anything, but I can feel him rolling his eyes.
"I mean, come on!" I continue. "People steal from you, you're paying for everything. Goddamnit, Juan, you're really out of hand."
"Are you serious? That's the replacement for thanks after all the things I did for you these days?" he snaps back. "I tried to stay out of troubles so you can enjoy this vacation."
"Oh, spare me, Juan. You were like this ever since I found you. In trouble." I scream.
"Can you stop screaming?" he seems like he's really annoyed.
I shut up. I'm not in the mood to argue with him anymore. My head hurts and all I want is to get some rest as soon as possible.
We stop in front of a small place that has all sorts of cars and motorcycles for rent and Juan takes out a bunch of money and stashes them in their mailbox along with the keys.
Judging by the sky, it's already morning, and it would've been such a perfect night if it wasn't for this incident.
"Let's go." he says after he's done with the mailbox. "It's not covering even half of the price. I hope he won't recognize me tomorrow."
"Then we should leave." I say.
"We're not leaving, I still have a lot of places to show you." he says and I realize his voice is calmer. "In case he'll see me I'll give back all the money. I'm sorry, it's all my fault."
"I'm sorry too." I say. "I shouldn't have screamed at you. I really like this vacation and I'm grateful for all the things that you did for me."
"It's alright." he replies. "I guess you're right, I might've gotten a bit out of hand."
"Then we should rob something. A store, a restaurant, anything. You teach me how's this going and it'll also help you to get back on track." I'm excited just by thinking that we're going to do robberies together.
"Silene, let's take it easy." he laughs.
"Don't try to deter me." I say in a serious voice. "I came with you because that's what I wanna do."
"You wanna do robberies?" his voice is still having a hint of amusement.
"I wanna do anything with you." I say and I knew in that moment our argument was over.
"Alright." he says visibly pleased by my answer. "I promise I'll teach you everything, but after this vacation. Let's enjoy a few more days here and then we'll get to business. We have to gather the money for our trip to Tokyo, right?"
He was really serious about our trip and this fills my heart with joy. For once in my life a man was really committed to me.
"Thank you." I say when we're in front of our building's door. "Thank you for everything that you're doing for me."
And we kiss there to mark the beginning of a bright future together.
Then, he unlocks the door, taking me in his arms to pass the threshold. But it wasn't only the threshold, he starts walking the stairs holding me tightly on his chest and kissing me from time to time.
I see Himeros again and I'm sure that even him is laughing at this image of Juan carrying me in his arms. Both wet and tired, but filled with joy.
He lets me down slowly to open the apartment's door.
"This is how we're gonna do robberies too?" I ask laughing.
"Yes, exactly like this." he says smiling while opening the door.
Then, he takes me by the hand and, in the next moment, I'm in his arms while we're kissing intensely in the doorframe.
A scream goes out of my throat when a hand coming out from the darkness of the apartment catches me by the jacket, pulling me out of Juan's arms.
"Don't move!" says a husky voice.
I feel something cold pressed on my temple.
"Put your hands up or he'll blow her brains." says another one.
I guess that was it, our vacation ended earlier than we thought.

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*te amo - (from Spanish) I love you
*mi amor - (from Spanish) my love