Tonight, I dedicate my heart to you
Tonight, I'm gonna be a part of you
Tonight, you're gonna know how much I miss you
And I miss you so

Dom, Billy and Liberty decided it’d be fun to take Orlando and Raya up on their offer of joining them for a bit of bungee jumping that day. Dom had said he’d spend the day with Liberty, and she seemed keen on doing something exciting, so he reluctantly said he’d go with her.

“I am so terribly frightened right now,” Dom whispered, breathing deeply and closing his eyes. Billy was driving them to the sight; Liberty and Dom were in the back, she was trying to soothe him the best she could while Elijah sat in the passenger’s seat giggling at their antics.

Liberty patted his arm, “Shhhh, it’s alright.”

“I hate heights,” he muttered, exhaling slowly and then numbly counting to ten.

“I know,” she replied, sounding like she was talking to a small child and not a grown man. “It’ll be okay, I’ll be with you.”

“As much as that makes me happy, it doesn’t help in this particular situation,” he remarked, shifting in his seat and leaning his head on her shoulder.

Elijah turned around to look at them, laughing, “Oh, come on, Dom. It’s just a bungee.”

“Easy for you to say,” he snapped, pouting, “You’re not even going to do it.”

“This is true,” Elijah pondered, “But I’ll be with you in spirit.”

Liberty gave him a sharp look and he turned back around, Billy held in a chuckle. “Dom,” she said, patting his head and smoothing his hair back as he breathed like a woman in labor, “You don’t HAVE to do this.”

“’Course I do!” Dom said, sitting up and looking at her, his gray blue eyes filled with fear, “It’ll conquer my fear.”

Liberty began biting her nails nervously, “If anything happens to you, I’ll blame myself.”

“Oh, don’t,” Elijah shushed her, “Stop that.”

Dom grinned at her, leaning over the middle seat, “Nothing’s going to happen.”

“He’s just being a baby,” Billy commented, swinging the car into a parking space. The place wasn’t too busy, there were only three other vehicles besides their own and Orlando’s jeep. As it was middle afternoon on a week day, there weren’t too many people milling about.

Liberty took a deep breath, “Maybe we shouldn’t do this.” She got out of the car and eyed the large apparatus looming above them. The top was so many feet off the ground that Liberty felt herself sway slightly on the spot.

Dom slid his arm around her waist and pulled her into him. He kissed her temple and leaned his forehead against the same spot, “We definitely should.”

Liberty didn’t look at him, but she shook her head, “I feel sick.”

“Libs,” Billy laughed, “You’ll be fine.” He turned towards Dom, “This is your fault. If you hadn’t been such a baby, Splinter Boy, we wouldn’t be dealing with her wanting to chicken out.”

Dom threw him an angst ridden look and wrapped his arms around Liberty, pulling her into a bear hug. He put his forehead against her own and stared hard into her eyes, “Liberty. Breathe in and out.”

She did as he said and felt much better for it. Her heart slowed a bit and her stomach stopped jumping with nerves. Dom put his lips to hers in a passionate kiss that made her gasp into his mouth and slip her arms around his neck. They were standing extremely close now, still kissing, while Billy and Elijah stood a few feet away watching the cord above them.

“When you’re done having a go at making sure Liberty’s tonsils are in tact, you might want to get in there before Orlando thinks you’ve decided not to do this,” Billy coughed after he finished and pulled Elijah off towards the entrance to the building.

Liberty pulled away a few moments after they‘d walked off, breathing heavily; she made an odd noise in the back of her throat and gulped before saying, “Wow.”

“Yeah,” Dom smiled, licking his lips, “The rush we’re getting from that thing,” he moved his chin in the direction of the building, “Is going to be more than that.”

Liberty’s eyes widened, “I don’t see that being possible.”

“Oh, ha ha,” he laughed, “Don’t be cheeky. Come on, now.” Dom unwrapped her and took her hand, leading her to where Billy and Elijah waited on the steps.

“Tonsils okay, Lib?” Billy asked, trying hard not to grin too much.

Liberty looked at him blankly and blinked, “What? Oh, yes, thanks.”

“Dom, she has no idea what‘s going on,” Billy gasped, opening the door; Elijah went in first, “You’ve killed all her brain cells. What did you do? Suck them out?”

“Funny,” Dom remarked dryly, giving Liberty a little shove so her feet would take her inside. She seemed to have been rooted to the spot before then.

The four of them stood in a small circle, looking around the impressive space; Dom and Liberty were silently trying to get the courage to move forward.

“I wonder how Viggo is,” Liberty said, glancing around; Dom, Elijah and Billy all stared at her, “I should call him. I haven’t spoken with him since my first night here.” She paused, looking up at Dom, “Oh! And, Liv! I wonder how she is!” Liberty made a move to go outside, “I need to call her---”

Dom reached out and hooked her around the waist, pulling her back to him. “Don’t stall, love,” Dom said sweetly, taking her hand and pulling her up the stairs. She looked behind her, at Elijah and Billy who were waving and smiling, watching her go out of sight.

“I didn’t know Liberty was so scared of something,” Elijah mused, glancing at Billy, who shrugged. The two then ascended the stairs.

When they got to the top, Orlando and Raya were in full jumping gear. "Just one jump, love. Come on." Orlando was saying, strapping himself to the cord. "It'll make my day."

"That's quite alright, Orlando...." Raya said, peering over the railing. She looked quite pale and not at all her usual composed self. Her long, wavy hair was pulled into a bun at the top of her head.

"Please?" Orlando begged, doing a full-out pout with his lips.

"Oh dammit!" Raya laughed, "Your stupid pout, Orlando." She looked to the jump coordinators. "Strap me in, boys."

“They’re very sweet together,” Liberty commented in a sidebar to Dom. They were standing back a ways, watching the two of them smile at each other as they prepared to jump. Anaka was standing beside Dom, listening closely; Billy tried desperately to get her attention distracted from Dom, but to no avail. Elijah was happily snapping pictures and watching everything that went on.

“Yes, they are,” Dom replied, slipping his arm across her shoulders and smiling at her. Anaka stepped forward, her lips in a pout and her eyes narrowed dangerously.

“Dom? Could you come and get me a water? I don’t know how to work these dratted things here.”

“They’re the same as America,” Liberty stated plainly, her voice holding no emotion; except perhaps a little aggravation.

“I realize that,” Anaka replied, sneering slightly, “I, however, am not American, Liberty.” She said the name as if it were a very atrocious swear, “It’s just that I’d hate to break a nail if I have to push the button too hard.” She batted her eyelashes at Dom, who smiled wanly and took his arm from Liberty’s shoulders.

Liberty, in frustration, blew the hair out of her face. Billy gave her an encouraging smile and squeeze on the shoulder, reaching behind Dom’s back. “I can help,” Billy offered. “This way, madam.” Liberty threw him an appreciative glance that he smiled at. Once those two were gone, Liberty nestled into the warmth that was Dom and watched apprehensively as Raya and Orlando jumped together.

There was lots of screaming, and Liberty couldn’t even look over the side at them, for she had her face buried in Dom’s shoulder. He took on the ‘protective man’ stance; it was obvious he loved it.

When it was Liberty and Dom’s turn, she turned to him as the workers strapped her in. “I can’t do this,” she said, shaking her head and closing her eyes.

Dom put both hands on her arms, “Yes, you can.” His voice was reassuring and seemed to calm her. “Take some deep breaths, grab my hand,” she took hold of his hand and squeezed, “and don’t let go.”

“Please get on with the Titanic moment,” Billy mumbled, rolling his eyes.

Orlando slapped him in the back, “Shut up.”

Liberty felt very queasy as she stepped to the side with Dom and peered over. “Don’t look down,” Dom laughed, “That’s rule number one.”

Liberty pulled back, closing her eyes, “Dammit. I forgot.”

Dom kissed her quickly on the lips and nodded. “Okay. Let’s do this.” If he was as frightened as her, he wasn’t showing it. Though he had a horrible fear of heights, he appeared to be putting it all aside in order for her to feel better about everything.

He leaned in as the wind picked up, blowing her hair all over the place, and whispered into her hair. She had to strain to hear his quiet words. “I love you.”

Then he gave her a little push, and they fell.

Had Liberty not been in so much shock due to this abrupt news, she might have paid more attention to the scenery; or the feeling of Dom’s heart beating against hers as they fell; or his girlish scream when the bungee cord bungeed them back up again. Liberty felt her heart stop and her breath catch in her throat; she grabbed onto Dom tightly, and refused to let go. The bungee slowed down and they bobbed up and down slowly for a bit.

“Oh, my GOD!” Dom screamed, “WOW.” Liberty stared at him, unable to do anything else; she did this until he looked back at her, “What?” He smiled, “Can you believe this?”

She was still clinging to him as if her life depended on it and couldn’t seem to find words, or breath, in order to answer him. “No,” she whispered, and he leaned towards her because he couldn’t hear; she cleared her throat, willing her voice to work properly, “No, I can’t.”

Dom beamed at her, “It’s brilliant.” They were being hauled up now, and he had his arms around her, but he was looking all around.

“Dom,” she said to get his attention, “What did you say before we jumped?”

“Huh?” he asked, then blinked, “Oh. Well, uh---”

“WOOOOOOOOO!” Orlando hollered down at them, “Wasn’t that amazing?”

Dom and Liberty both looked up; Dom smiled hugely while Liberty looked utterly bewildered. “It. Was. Incredible!” Was Dom’s energetic response.

“Are you okay?” Elijah asked her, taking her hand and pulling her to a sitting position on the edge of the drop spot.

She nodded and swallowed, though she looked less than okay. Dom helped her to her feet and hugged her closely. In a whisper, he said, “Let’s talk about it later, okay?” He pulled away, nodded and smiled and then began talking energetically with Orlando, who was standing a few feet away with Raya and Anaka. Liberty could tell that Anaka was praising Dom on his bravery, though she couldn’t hear a word they were saying.

“How was it?” Elijah’s voice was in her ear as she took off the cord and handed it to one of the workers.

“Uh, I don’t really know,” she said, starting to walk inside and out of the blazing wind. “Good, I guess.”

“What?” Elijah asked, laughing, “You don’t know?” They were passing the other group now, with Billy behind them. They got inside and Liberty fell into one of the plastic chairs in the little café. “You want some water? Billy, can you get us some water?” Billy nodded and rushed to buy the drinks. Elijah took the seat beside her, set his hand on hers and peered into her eyes. “Okay. Tell me what you’re thinking.”

Liberty refused to look at him; she wasn’t sure exactly what her relationship was with him, or if they were comfortable enough to share their romantic lives with one another.

“Liberty,” his voice held a warning tone, “I know you’ll want to tell somebody and I’m as good as it gets. At the moment. Unless you want to tell Dom---” He watched as she shook her head vigorously. “Ah,” he said knowingly, “So it’s ABOUT Dom.”

Sighing, Liberty said, “He told me he loved me.” She said this as if she were in complete shock about it, which she was.

“He what?” Elijah sounded shrill as Billy slid some bottled water in front of them and sat down.

“Did I miss any good girl talk?” Billy wondered.

“Billy, I’m not a girl,” Elijah replied, looking confused.

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that,” Billy answered, with an eyebrow raised in doubt.

Liberty finally looked up, her eyes darting from Elijah to Billy and back again, “Dom told me he loved me before we jumped. I don’t know if maybe it was because he thought we were going to die, or if he loves me as a friend…or if he’s IN love with me.” She sighed helplessly and unscrewed the bottle cap; she chugged some water down and savagely put it down again.

“What were his exact words?” Elijah asked, sounding calmer than both Liberty and Billy looked.

“He said, ‘I love you’ and then he gave me a bit of a push and the next thing I know, my stomach’s in my throat…and I’m not even sure if it’s because of falling, or if it’s because of what he said.” She glanced anxiously at them, “What did he MEAN?”

Billy’s eyes were wide and he looked slightly perplexed, “I’ve no idea. I mean, maybe it was just like him saying it to me and Lij.”

Liberty looked extremely doubtful as she leaned back in her chair in order to really listen to them and give her full attention. “Yeah. Maybe.”

“He usually says something more like, ‘I love you man’ in a light tone of voice…way.” Elijah said, feeling too inadequate to deal with this type of situation. He leaned towards her, “Do you love him?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged, “I didn’t say anything, if that’s what you’re getting at.” She closed her eyes, willing it all to go away; it wasn’t as if she was mad he had said it, she was just confused and shocked. She didn’t know how to handle this, and something told her that he wasn’t in love with her. Liberty felt, deep down, that it was just him saying something, just words. “Just because you say something, doesn’t mean that you mean the words that are coming out of your mouth.”

“It’s unlike Dom to just spit random words out,” Elijah commented, sipping his water.

Billy laughed, “Yeahhh, Elijah. It’s so unlike Dom to just say something randomly.” Billy rolled his eyes at his friend, and then looked at Liberty, “Listen, Lib, don’t worry about it. It’s probably just Dom going off on some sort of Dom-whim.”

“Dom-whim,” Elijah repeated, slowly, “Yeah.”

*

Everyone was invited to Billy’s afterwards for dinner (maybe take-out, maybe cooked by Billy, it was undecided) and some hanging out time. Liberty and Dom weren’t really speaking, and if they did it was about something light, airy and full of fluff, not anything meaningful or life-altering. Billy and Elijah were sworn to secrecy, so they were trying to act as if nothing was different.

“You know,” Billy said, stretching proudly, “I’m good at basically everything. I mean, I’ve done theater, movies, television and what have you.” He sat up straight and became serious, “Except for batik. I’m crap at batik. I can’t do it at all, it is my crap.”

Dom looked confused, “What the hell is batik?”

Billy waved his hand around dismissively, “Something in India.”

“Billy,” Raya interjected, “I am thoroughly ashamed. I’ll have to teach you batik sometime.”

“Is there a kit for that?” Dom joked.

“Well, of course YOU can’t be crap at batik,” Billy said, “As you used to live in India or something.”

“Raya used to live in India?” Liberty questioned, but was ignored.

Raya looked thoughtful, “I'm not crap at anything....well perhaps English cuisine, but English cuisine is crap in itself, so it is more of a compliment that I can't do English cuisine.”

“All too true,” Anaka replied, accepting the glass of wine Raya held out to her. They were all seated around Orlando’s huge living room spread out on the couches, chairs and floor. Dom and Liberty were sitting together on the floor; he had his arms around her as she sat in front of him.

Billy took offense to this, "I LIKE English cuisine."

“I'm sorry Billy, but once you've had curry, you can't go back.” Raya commented, and Orlando nodded solemnly at her.

Dom knitted his eyebrows together in thought, “I think it's 'black' actually.” He paused, “Once you go black, you never go back. I believe it was invented by the African Americans.”

Raya looked a tiny bit excited at the prospect of a heated debate, “Yes, if I happened to have dated a black man and Orlando happened to have been black, then perhaps "black" would be the appropriate word.”

Dom tapped the side of his head, “Oh! But, there aren't any black elves. That poses an interesting question. Orlando, why AREN’T there any black elves? Are you racist?”

Orlando didn’t have a chance to respond, since Raya replied, “Seeing the fact that I haven't dated a black man, and Orlando is as white as the pure driven snow…”

Liberty glanced at Billy, “Should we leave before blood is shed?”

Billy grinned happily, “No, Raya's about to spring game winning tactic.”

“Oh.....I don't know if I want to see that,” Liberty stated, looking slightly nervous.

“Probably no one does, but that doesn't mean it won't be entertaining.”

Orlando handed Billy a bowl, “Peanuts?”

Billy accepted cordially, “Why thank you, Orlando.”

Dom snorted, “Orlando is not pure.”

“That would have worked better had you said it five minutes ago,” Orlando laughed.

Dom threw a hand in the air at him, “Oh, go fluff your hair.”

Raya hit Dom with an intense death glare and turned to Billy, “So, anyway Billy, once you've had curry you can't go back. Care for some curry, now?”

“Because she happens to have everything in her back pocket,” Dom muttered, leaning back against the wall and pulling a very quiet Liberty with him.

“Like McGyver!” Billy squealed, “He’s the MAN!”

Raya gracefully stood up, “McGyver? Come with me so I can teach you how to make a proper curry and impress any future girlfriends, inlaws, and what have yous.” She waited while Billy stood and turned to Dom with a stern expression that matched her voice, “Seeing that Dominic would much prefer it that I should have black and never go back, i don't think he would like curry.”

“I never said I didn’t like curry,” Dom commented, tangling a piece of Liberty’s hair around his finger.

Raya pushed the kitchen door open, “ Shut up, Dominic.”

Dom rolled his eyes, “Oh, good come back.”

Anaka spoke up, “At last, someone has beaten Raya at a debate.”

Raya stepped back into the room, allowing Billy to enter the kitchen by himself, “He did not.”

“I did, too,” Dom argued.

“You did not,” Raya retorted.

Billy stuck his head back into the room and yelled, “Oh, for God’s sake!”

Elijah snored and jumped up from the couch, looking stricken and tired, “Can we stop yelling? I'm trying to get my beauty sleep.”

“Only take out the beauty bit,” Billy commented, going back into the kitchen.

“I'm going to poison your curry and then we'll see who wins, Dominic,” Raya stated angrily, pushing her way into the kitchen.

Dom looked nervously at Liberty, “I can't eat anything ever again.”

Liberty stood up, shaking her head, and went into the kitchen. “You're not going to poison him are you?

Raya was getting several pans out and setting them on the stove, “You can never be too sure.”

“I suggest that you stay out there with your dearest Dominic for as long as you have together.” Billy commented airily, doing a little ballerina twirl to grab some onion from the fridge.

Raya began laughing hysterically at his antics. She was laughing so hard, that she was leaning against the counter for support. Liberty was staring at her, and Billy was staring at Liberty looking for an idea as to what he did.

“What the hell is that?” Dom asked, sitting up and looking wildly around.

Orlando was completely unfazed, “Raya laughing, she does it often when you're not around.”

Dom sighed, “Thanks, Orlando.”

“No problem. Enjoy it while you can, she might seriously poison your food.”

“Isn't that illegal?” Elijah asked, yawning slightly. It was very early but he seemed to be needing a light nap.

“Aren't you supposed to be asleep?” Dom snapped.

Elijah narrowed his eyes at him, “It seems you want me to be asleep for a very, very long time, Dom. Is there something you're not telling me? like...the murderous need that flows through your veins?”

“Maybe I'll switch food with you,” Dom commented lightly.

“What the hell is your problem?” Orlando demanded of Dom.

Dom shrugged, and Elijah glared at his shrugging form. “I need a cigarette,” Elijah stated, standing and leaving the room in a slight huff.

Anaka was enjoying the scene silently, with a large and evil grin on her heavily painted lips.

Liberty was standing in front of the kitchen window chopping up a sweet onion, which was one of the largest she’d ever seen.

Raya was instructing Billy by the stove, “Now you have to really pound the meat Billy. Take the meat cleaver.” Billy took the meat cleaver.

Liberty sniffed, “Can someone else cut these onions?”

“That's it Billy, keep pounding,” Raya said, ignoring Liberty. Whether it was because she hadn’t heard the younger girl, or because she was taking her Dom anger out on her, no one knew.

“I do believe that Miss Crane needs your attention,” Billy commented, pounding on the meat in a comical way that involved lots of hip movements and raising of the cleaver over his head.

Raya turned over to the other girl, “Liberty! What on earth are you crying about!”

“Onions,” Billy said, over the sound of his pounding.

“Why the hell would you be crying over onions?”

“I've heard that they do that to people,” Billy joked, shaking his head.

Raya ignored him, “What's so terribly depressing about onions that's got you all teary?” Liberty began laughing through her tears. “NOW what are you going on about?” She took the knife and began chopping the onions herself, muttering under her breath.

Billy laughed at Liberty, who was wiping her eyes, “You're all mood swingy.”

“Damn onions,” Liberty chuckled.

Raya sighed in exasperation, “What are you both prattling about??”

“We're laughing at you,” Billy said in all seriousness.

“Excuse me?” Raya demanded so loudly that the other room heard her.

Orlando hollered, “Throw the onion, love!”

She did just that and hit Billy in the eye and Liberty got several pieces down her shirt. Raya laughed hysterically as Billy did a silly little dance to make sure he had no onion anywhere. It consisted of several rapid arm movements, lots of girlish screaming and a little bit of a hop, skip and a jump.

“MY EYE!” Billy screeched suddenly, “AHHHH MY EYE!”

Liberty leaned over to him, “Billy, the onion fell away from your eye some time ago.”

Raya was laughing so hard that she had to sit on the floor in order to catch her breath. Orlando and Dom entered the room, looking nervous about whether or not she could breathe properly. Liberty had her hand on the phone in case 911 was needed. At last, she stopped laughing and was leaning against Orlando for support for she couldn’t stand by herself.

“That was…interesting,” Dom said, while she wiped her eyes. Liberty gave him a warning look.

“Interesting?” Billy echoed, “I nearly soiled my kilt!”

Liberty laughed, “Billy, you don’t have a kilt on.”

“That’s what’s so amazing about it!” Billy guffawed, pulling a piece of onion from down his shirt.

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