By Moonlight

Summary: Love is a stronger bond, despite choices made….

A/N: For Miamifictalk challenge.

Miami

The air was still, the warmth of the passing day still hung around like a thick blanket, making even breathing a labored job. Even though the sun had disappeared behind the horizon hours ago, the temperature didn't reflect it. Standing on the patio, she pulled her long, blond hair behind her, tying it in a messy bun before leaning on the rail, staring out into the distance. It was on nights like this that she missed him the most. With the moon shining brightly, it casts its ethereal glow upon the city that she so loved, charging the air with a feeling of love, a feeling that she had missed for three years.

Sighing heavily, she glanced at the moon, the mere sight of it taking her back into her past, to a time where he stood with her on this very patio and held her as the Atlantic beating upon the shoreline provided the only sound they needed. She could still smell his cologne, as if carried on the wind, as she closed her eyes, taking in the moment. On that same wind, she thought she heard his voice whispering in her ear softly. A smile worked its way onto her face as she stood up right and breathing in deeply. Wrapping her arms around her, she could actually feel him, her heart breaking at each thought of his hands caressing her softly. As a singular tear raced down her face, she opened her eyes and continued to stare out into the waters of Miami, her heart calling a lonely call. He wouldn't be able to hear it, but she still sent it out over the silent wind that had started to blow ever so gently. By the moonlight, she reminisced, by the moonlight she grieved still, by the moonlight; she conceded her heart to a love never to be returned. By the moonlight, she lost herself once more.

New York

Standing on the veranda, he sighed heavily as he looked up into the sky, seeing the magnificent orb that shone brightly onto the city he now protected. For Tim, the road back home had been hard, one that was paved with sacrifice and regret, as well as sorrow and choices he never wanted to make. Never had he thought he would leave her, but as a result of being overzealous on a case that he couldn't put down, it brought new eyes into his life and eventually plucked him out of the one he had been so comfortable with. The ease at which it had happened shocked even him; one moment he was in Miami, on a case with Horatio, the next, he was being transported to a facility to recuperate then flown back to New York to begin his life anew. No one from his previous life knew that he still existed, but there was one that he wished he could just hear, the sound of her accent, lilting and decidedly sexy in it's southern roots had once been enough to melt Tim.

The slight breeze that blew reminded him of the sea breeze in Miami, although this one wasn't as clean or crisp as that one had been, but the results were still the same. It transported him thousands of miles down south, to where he left his heart, still beating with the love that he had carried for her. His mind instantly went to her, imagining her standing on her patio, her hair tied in a messy bun, and her intense green eyes sparkling as the moonlight hovered above her. In his dreams, he was standing with her, the magic of the full moon working over them. He could still smell her shampoo, a scent wafting on the wind as if it had found him in all his travels; it was an aroma that he would never forget as long as he lived.

Shoving his hands in his pockets, he looked up again, his breath coming out ragged. It was moments like this that he missed her, her soft touch, the way her fingers seemed to find just the right place to make him shiver. He could hear her voice as she whispered her undying love to him, it being followed by a light chuckle as she leaned over him, her long blond hair cascading onto him, tickling him ever so slightly. The small things that made Calleigh were the things that he cherished now, the things that now haunted him as he broke his gaze with the moon and turned to go inside. He could no more stand to be in the light of the moon than to look at her picture, seeing that smile frozen in time, but something stopped him and he returned back to his original spot, the wind catching him just right. He strained his ears to listen, swearing that he could hear her voice, sweet and filled with so much love, it made his heart swell. By the moonlight, he died all over again, his loss echoing through the silence of his reverie, his thoughts the same as he heard on the wind.

I love you…..

End