Without the press of people, without the foreign noises, without the constant pulse of anxiety of whether she's "human enough," Lapis yields to her element, letting the world fade around her. The silence and the steady rhythm of the water soothes, strokes away all of the rough and jagged thoughts of the day, allows her to refresh and renew.

If not for the steady pulse of the reason that she's even on this planet in the first place, she might even be happy.

Unaware as of yet that she's being watched, she slides from the rock, feather-light on the sand. The cold doesn't seem to bother her; she doesn't even have sleeves, the moonlight gleaming off her bare arms.

Without concern, she steps forward, headed toward the edge of the water.