In This Together

They are in it together for better or for worse

In This Together

He moved closer to the treasure.

I screamed, “You betrayed me!”

He turned slightly and looked toward me. “I did what I had to do.” The words echoed strongly in the distance. I hoped it wasn’t true.

“You didn’t have to hurt me or steal the treasure.”

“What choice did I have? It was inevitable,” he reasoned.

I wanted to cry out in anger how I hated him, but I know I didn’t. I still loved him.

He turned back and reached for the treasure that he had taken from me. I called to him. “Aaron, I love you.”

There was dead silence as Aaron froze in mid-action. His hand trembled and I could see that my words had affected him after all. Hands still trembling, he reached for treasure dashed toward me. He grabbed my hand and pulled me along willingly. It was a long, hard run in which I wondered about his true intentions. We burst out of the temple door and out into the jungle together. There before us was a small cliff. I looked down silently. I’d heard about such cliffs and people who had accidently ventured too near them.

“Climb,” he instructed. I noticed that there was a rope before me, so I bent down and took the rope in my hands. Aaron followed me as I climbed down the cliff to the lake shore below us. He untied a boat and said, “Hop in.”

I sat down as he pushed the boat in into the water and hopped in behind me. He took the oar from the bottom of the boat and began to paddle. “Paddle,” he told me.

I took the second oar from the bottom of the boat and stuck it in the water. I began paddling as well. He directed the boat around the rocky cliff and out into the water and then back into the second set of cliffs. We landed inside a hidden cave beneath the sheer wall of rock above us. He helped me out and I followed him through the dark labyrinth of caverns in silence.

I needed to know why this was all happening.

“Aaron, why did you bring me along?” I asked. I waned to say so much more, but I couldn’t bring myself to.

“You’re important.”

“To you or your fame and wealth?”

No answer.

“Well?” I demanded.

There was a long silence and the he finally responded. “If you must know the truth�"both.”

“Look here,” he cried, “I never wanted to fall in love. I never intended to let that happen, but it did. When I met you everything changed.”

“Then why this charade? Why act like you don’t give a damn?”

“Because I was afraid,” he admitted quietly. “At first it was all a part of the game, but when it came time to get rid of you, I couldn't. I don’t know why. So I guess I am stuck with you now.”

“We are in this together,” I nodded.

He pulled me close and hugged me before he pulled away and said, “Come on.” Aaron took my hand we walked the rest of the way that way.