Christmas
Somewhere between here and there.

It was not his most graceful moment; Treize would have been disappointed. After months of practicing his lines and imagining a perfect reunion in his head, it was not the result Zechs Merquise envisioned. What happened to years of training in romance, elegance, roses and dueling and waltzing? What happened to the gentleman soldier?

Quite simply, he tripped and fell.

It was the stupid gravity shift between the docking bay and the cabin. He ought to have remembered it. Few people had as much experience in space as he did. Perhaps it was the shock of seeing her lovely face on his screens, hearing her voice, that lilt in her tone belonging to him alone. Noin's expression was politely neutral while her eyes spoke volumes. Zechs managed to navigate that first hesitant communication with laudable precision. Wait a moment before acknowledging, keep your voice cool, and only then initiate eye contact just long enough to be polite. Forget kissing her, forget those nights in Sanc, and do not let on the depth of reassurance her presence gives. It was perfect; for the first time in over a year, he felt like himself.

It took about ten minutes to secure Tallgeese in the docking bay and finish the post flight procedure. It was a beautiful machine, Tallgeese. Ignoring a familiar twinge of pain in his arm, he climbed out of the suit, grabbed the guardrail, and floated gracefully to the airlock as he had done a thousand times.

The prince stopped breathing when the lock clicked. The door opened to reveal her standing there when she could have opened it remotely from the cockpit.

Lucrezia... Zechs's eyes locked with hers and forgot everything else. Oh God, she was beautiful…and alive…real. So long had she been a memory, he did not know what to do. She held out her hand, offering help.

The next thing he knew, his foot struck the deck and he was falling into her. He tried to catch himself on the wall, but there was nothing to hold on to, so he grabbed Noin instead. With a cry, the soldier girl put her arms around him to catch him…and they landed in a tangle in the corridor.

Lifting his head, Zechs gazed down at her with an apology on his lips, a thousand words of greeting that wouldn't come. Not a one…he was lost. It was really her. After all this time, he was finally back where he always most desired to be.

Noin, lying on her back and draped in his long golden hair smiled and said, "It's called gravity, Zechs."

The prince slowly tugged his hair back, removed it from her face and let it fall in a curtain around them. He could not move more than that; time was frozen now. So was Noin, resting beneath him without a trace of surprise. It was like she expected him. Zechs watched her for a long moment, the slow rise and fall of her chest, the shadow of tears on her unfairly long lashes, one shoulder bared when he seized her jacket on impulse to keep from collapsing like a green cadet at her feet.

Home…he was home.

"If I dream, please God do not wake me…" he sighed.

"Zechs…"

"Noin," all he could think of was to hold her. Just to hold her until he was no longer afraid of the space between breaths. After every one, his princess was still there, her heart fluttering, warm tears on his neck. It was so real. Other senses infiltrated one by one. Soft skin, a slender waist, shimmering black hair that tickled his chin, and long legs entwined with his… Slowly, he lifted her from the floor, his overtaxed body shaking with the effort. Noin did not let go. She moved with him so she was still touching him as much as possible. Her skilled fingers went to the fastenings of his flight suit, unzipping, unbuckling. It occurred to him he did not know if he could manage this without her. A stab of fear came from nowhere. Here was the safest place in the world yet his arm ached worse than ever…and Ember was thousands of miles away.

Noin was silent as she helped him out of the flight suit. Tears streamed down her face as she worked. When she slipped the snug material from his shoulders he winced in pain; he couldn't help it. Noin flinched. "Are you all right?"

"Yes…" How could he be anything else? She was right there, right in front of him, touching him. His princess… Somehow the pain and fear seemed immediately less. He closed his eyes as she completed her task. The short-sleeve tee shirt and shorts he wore underneath could not hide all of his scars. Noin rubbed cautious fingers over his arms and hands and stopped at the newest needle marks. Ember had shot him full of painkillers, stimulants, and an alphabet of cardiac drugs before sending him on his way.

"You're hurt."

"Only a little," he downplayed it. What was the use in scaring her now? At least she could not see his chest.

"Can you stand?"

Zechs shook his head, leaning in again. "Not yet." There was something else he needed first, a desperately important thing. Wet violet eyes flashed as he approached; his mouth was mere centimeters from hers when she turned away…only enough to make him hesitate.

"Relena," she explained it in a word. As much as she wanted to, the soldier girl could not rest yet. "Relena is out there. I'm so sorry, Zechs."

"We'll find her."

"I should never have let her go alone…"

"It isn't your fault." Zechs found it oddly comforting to be the protective one for a change. With hands still trembling from the effort of piloting, he touched her face, gently forcing her to look at him. "You are not alone in this, not anymore."

Shaken, Noin nodded. More tears slipped among her long lashes. This time she held still for him. He leaned in with eyes closed, then changed his mind, wanting to see her, to make sure she didn't move away again. Automatically, a move born of much practice, Noin pushed his long hair away from his chin. Satin lips met his, salty with tears. Her lashes fluttered closed, content. Zechs allowed his eyes to close, too so he could concentrate solely on the kiss, on this reunion so long in coming. He changed his mind. It was perfect, his most graceful moment after all.


AN: This is the "I'm here to pick you up" scene from Endless Waltz. In case you haven't seen it in a while... ^^