Could Sidon hear Vette's cheering and clapping from all the way out there, when he surfaced? She'd seated herself on the grass to watch, and while she was curious enough about the contents of the basket, she was also loathe to look away from the show that Sidon was putting on, at least partly for her, but also, she suspected, simply for the joy of living in this moment to the fullest.

That was another thing she liked about him; he knew how to live. Embraced it. Threw himself into it without reservation or regret and moved through life like it was a... like a dance, something more wild and spontaneous and undisciplined than the ballet that they were both learning, not no less elegant for it. She settled in, smiling warmly, to watch him move through the water the way he seemed to move through life, a little in awe of his ability to do so.

Any world that a person like Sidon could come from had to be beautiful. The shadow infected it, maybe, threatened to choke it off and destroy what was beautiful about it, but whatever it was, it hadn't stopped Sidon. Made him stronger for surviving it, maybe. She'd eat when he returned to shore. Right now, she didn't want to look away from his antics just to peruse some fruit.