Natalia was swimming out to sea, further and further, feeling calmer as she propelled her body through the smooth, still water, gazing up at the moon, feeling it drawing her towards it.

She was so caught up in her own thoughts that she didn’t notice how far she’d swum from the shore, until the sea ceased to be still, and currents were raging madly around her body. She had swum beyond the smooth safety of the bay, and now found herself adrift in the deep, dark ocean.

Shit, I’d better start heading back, she thought. But as she turned and aimed for the shore, she found that she couldn’t. However strong a swimmer she was, the ocean’s currents were stronger, pulling her back, and worse, in the direction of the jagged rocks to her left.

I shall not panic. I escaped Kiev. I escaped my old life. I will not let myself be beaten by the sea.

And she continued to battle against the most dangerous element of them all.

As Ben arrived, panting, at the place Juho had told him about, he looked around in despair. There was no sign of Natalia. But where could she have gone? He’d have seen her if she’d walked back, and she couldn’t go any further than the end of the beach. Unless …

He looked out to sea, and there, glinting in the moonlight, was a pale blonde head, tiny from this distance, but he would recognize that head anywhere. It was Natalia, and it looked as if she was in trouble.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Ben tore off all his clothes as quickly as he could – the combat shorts, with all their pockets, could significantly hinder his progress, and he wasn’t wearing anything underneath. Naked, he ran into the still, warm water, and started swimming, his powerful front crawl driving him in Natalia’s direction. As he got closer, he was appalled to see how close to the rocks she was. Good God, what had she been thinking?

She was in serious danger now, he saw, her face contorted in fear as she desperately tried to swim against the powerful currents. He watched in horror as her head hit a glistening black boulder, and she started to sink, slowly, underwater. She was still a good ten feet away from him.

Taking an enormous breath, he swam down towards her, the salt water stinging his open eyes. Her blonde hair was floating upwards, streaked with blood from the gash on her head. Summoning every reserve of strength he had, his lungs bursting, he grabbed her under her arms and pulled her to the surface of the water, gasping for air as he hit it.

It was very hard work, swimming against the current with Natalia in his arms, but Ben had been working out a lot recently for his part in Beyond the Sea, and was now extremely strong.

At long last they reached the shore, and Ben carried Natalia out of the water, tears streaming down his already wet face, and tenderly laid her out on the sand. He smoothed her wet hair away from her face and checked out the cut on her head. It was no more than a surface wound, he saw, with relief, but that time under the water could have done some serious damage. She was certainly not conscious, and her lips were turning slightly blue.