Shiro felt Keith's warmth envelop him and he gripped onto him tightly. He breathed in deeply, inhaling Keith's scent so that he might have a chance of remembering it in those cold, black waters. He felt Keith's warm hands on his back and he held him tighter, gripping and squeezing his shirt. This warmth, this feeling against his skin was so foreign yet something he knew so fondly and now he had to let it go. He felt Keith pull away and almost pulled him back so he could hold on for a little longer. He felt Keith's lips against his hand and he felt his chest quiver, like he might cry.

Shiro lifted his other hand and he brushed the hair from Keith's face slowly, then tipped his chin up gently. He set a determined look into his eyes and looked firmly into Keith's. [i]I will return to you.[/i] he promised, using his thumb to stroke along Keith's soft skin. He would dream of those purple eyes and the soft skin surrounding them each day until he returned to see them in person. He would make sure that he got back to see them.

He stroked Keith's cheek softly one last time, before he slowly pulled his hand away and began dragging his long, heavy tail back towards the sea. He felt felt the cold water against his fingertips and the water hummed with what felt like tiny voices whispering and passing along a message to him. He shivered before pressing on and pulling himself further into the water. He dipped under the water when it reached his elbows and let his tail flick to push him around to face the beach again. Once more he set his eyes firmly on Keith. He would come back, he knew he would. He had to. He searched quickly, before an idea clicked in his head. He unwrapped his bag from his tail and left it in the shallow waters for Keith. He stood it upright, so that he wouldn't need to touch the water to take it. He looked back to Keith, willing him to understand the gesture; [i]keep it safe for me.[/i]

Shiro had never taken anything precious to the arenas, he hadn't dared to. He didn't want to risk losing anything precious, or have it fall into the hands of dealers and traders should he ever lose. He had always hidden his belongings before leaving for a fight. Now he had the best place of all to hide it and the best reason of all to come back for it; so he would see Keith again.