Authors Note: I lied. This is the very first fic I ever wrote, way back in 2002 sometime. It shows even more than the last story I uploaded.
SPOILERS: Everything up to the first 10 minutes or so of Promises
~ * ~
It's hot. God was it hot...
That stopped her train of thought, just for a moment letting her forget the pain and weakness. God... Where had that come from?
She remembered now. Another phrase she had learned from him, heard him say on numerous occasions; dancing around the room, acting like a lunatic, or whispered quietly when he was afraid and thought no one would hear. She wondered what it meant for a heartbeat, but then in a moment of amused clarity through the haze, she realized it was John, and she was probably better off not knowing how his mind worked.
And suddenly the pain was back, but this time deeper and more painful then the delirium that plagued her body. She missed him. More then that, she loved him. Him, not the one already gone. She still missed him and loved him, but knew she couldn't keep living in the past.
She had tried to turn off her emotions, tried to forget all he had taught her, just by being himself. But she couldn't... He had taught her too well. She loved him, and yet she had betrayed him, and that hurt worst of all.
A hot tear streamed down her cheek, and she made herself stop thinking about him. It hurt too much. The pain of Heat Delirium would almost be welcome against those painful memories.
~ * ~
"D'Argo's ship is approaching." Came Pilot's voice through the intercom. "You asked me to tell you when they were near."
"Thank you, Pilot." She was still weak, but she struggled into a standing position, catching her balance against the bed as the room started spinning.
"Are you sure you are well enough to meet them, Aeryn Sun?" Pilot's voice again, his concern reaching through the haze to somehow steady her.
She laughed weakly, without humor. "No, but it's something I have to do." Catching her balance one more time, she managed a stumble that at least resembled a walk, she started toward Moya's docking bay.
She almost stopped a few times, losing her faith in being able to face him after allowing Scorpius to come aboard, with asylum no less, to repay the debt she owed him. Lost in her own thoughts again, she didn't realize she was so close to the docking bay. And then, suddenly, she was there, and he was standing in front of her. Seeing him again after so long, a look of surprise and then something more crossing over his face, what little composure she had left vanished.
"Aeryn..." he breathed, "you came back."
With those four words, he shattered what emotional barriers she had left. She didn't know whether to laugh, or cry, or smile, or collapse in a sobbing, exhausted heap on the floor. With unsteady steps, she walked toward him, a tear here, a smile there, as he told her everything would be alright. And then, as if something broke inside her, she collapsed into his arms, sobbing.
And through the tears, the pain, the fever and guilt wracking her body and mind, one thought broke through the haze, clear and cool as the water that fell from the sky on his homeworld...
It felt good to be in his arms again.
~ End ~