Disclaimer: All characters belong to Masami Kurumada and Toei Animation. The song lyrics belong to Vanessa Carlton.

Author's Note: This takes place between seasons 1 and 2 of Omega and assumes that Seiya and Saori were already a couple in every sense of the word prior to Seiya's 13-year long absence. It's a one-shot with potential of becoming a multi-chapter. However, since I'm as much a hopeless procrastinator as I am a hopeless romantic, the rest of the story might never make it out of my head and onto my computer screen.

Also, there's a veiled, metaphorical reference to episode 30 (yes, THAT episode 30) somewhere in the story. Let me know if you find it!

Warning: It's rated M for a reason (PWP!).

Interlude of Love

Chapter 1: Home

He groans my name before his strength gives away and then collapses in my arms, exhausted and drained. This seems to be a recurring situation for us, in every battle one of us invariably ends in the other's arms, either for support, for healing, for comfort or in grieving.

This time, however, is different. Our latest battle ended days ago. Seiya is alive and well, and as I hold his nude body close to mine, my hands clutching at his muscular back as my latest climax slowly subsides, I'm anything but grieving.

We lay in bed clinging to one another, our labored breathing getting in the way of anything we might want to say, had our minds gone back to fully functional. As I rest here, sheltering him in my embrace, I bury my fingers in his unruly hair with a gentle caress. He nuzzles my breasts tenderly and inhales deeply as his left hand runs up and down my side with feather-light strokes. I can feel his warm breathing against my still heaving chest. My thoughts are still hazy, continuously revolving around this state of bliss that makes it difficult to reflect on anything other than how magnificent the last few days have been. Glorious days spent alone with him in this island, talking, laughing, kissing, touching, loving... Where was I again? Oh, right. My inability to form a coherent train of thought is ironic, considering how I'm supposed to represent the goddess of wisdom and logical thinking. Yet all it takes is a brush of his lips, a touch of his hands, and any attempts at rationalizing yield to primal instincts and deep feelings of love, longing and lust. Aphrodite would be proud, I silently tell myself with a wry chuckle.

"What's so funny?" He braces himself on his elbows and lifts his head to look at me inquisitively.

"I was just thinking of how quickly I lose my mind when you're with me..." I say with a smile, while tenderly sliding the back of my right hand across his cheek then skim my fingers along the contour of his ear. He ducks his head with a satisfied smirk before looking back at me. His fingers play with my hair, and for a moment he just watches the long tresses slide under his touch, seemingly fascinated.

"Is it bad that you make me want to make you lose your mind whenever you walk into the room?" He grins impishly at me and I can't help but laugh. "It's true! I always have to watch myself and keep my distance when we're not alone, otherwise I'd do something regrettable." I look away from him, a faint blush coloring my features. I know all too well how hard he tries to remain respectfully formal when we're handling 'Athena business'. Like all couples who share the same workplace, we must not let our relationship get in the way of our duty. Of course, our case is much more complicated. When we live for our duty, and when our love for one another is what helped us stay alive and keep the planet safe so many times, the lines between obligation and affection are often blurred. We've agreed to err on the side of caution when we're at the Sanctuary, but right now that's not something we have to worry about. With that in mind, I decide to tease him a little.

"Well..." I drawl with a smirk, my index finger distractedly drawing patterns on his chest. "May I remind you, we are alone right now and there is no one else within miles around." I kiss the corner of his mouth, then dot more kisses along his strong jaw-line, then playfully rub my nose with his. "So why don't you show me the regrettable things you would do?" I've barely finished my question when he cups my face with both of his hands gently yet firmly, pulling me closer and gazing at me intently through hooded eyelids.

"This would be a start..." He answers huskily and then his mouth descends on mine unceremoniously, his tongue slicing past my parted lips, exploring my mouth at his leisure and, not for the first time tonight, stealing my breath away. He pulls away and I gasp for air, but then he tilts my head to the side and kisses me deeper, unrelenting in his quest to leave me breathless. Moaning into the kiss, I push my tongue against his and he pulls me into his mouth so that I can do some exploring of my own. It feels like my insides are melting under his passionate embrace. He pulls back and I follow, trying to recapture his lips but he swiftly deviates them to the hollow on my throat, dipping his tongue to taste my skin, then he starts kissing a moist, fiery trail on my neck, jumpstarting my libido all over again.

"Seiya..." I moan his name dreamily, desire lacing every uttered syllable as heat races down my body to pool between my thighs. By Olympus, what is this man doing to me? We've been going at it for hours over the past days, and yet I can't get enough of him. Not that I'm complaining, far from it. We have 13 years to make up for after all, and it feels heavenly wonderful to throw my inhibitions out the window and lose myself with him as we rediscover each other. Speaking of things that feel wonderful, he's suckling on my pulse point ravenously and I'm reduced to a helpless pile of uncontrolled whimpers and gasps. I'm sure it's going to leave a mark, but I'm too far gone to care as I tilt my head back with a strained moan, offering more of my neck for him to devour. He chuckles against my throat and proceeds to lavish my exposed skin with light kisses and gentle nibbles, traveling upwards along my jaw-line to whisper seductively in my ear:

"Saori-san..." My breath hitches and a delicious shiver runs down my spine and chills flutter in my stomach, though I'm not sure if it's more so for the way he says my name or his hungry kisses at the nape of my neck. Oh he's so good at this...

Heat diffuses through my body and I practically tremble with need as I feel him hardening again inside me. Tentatively I rock my hips, eliciting a long, ragged shudder from him.

"Again?" He asks, and I can see this faint desperation in his pleading eyes. His body is quacking slightly, straining to hold still as he waits for my response.

"Yes... Roll over." I rasp with certain difficulty, my voice is hoarse from moaning and screaming so much through the night. He wraps his arms around my waist and rolls us over, bringing me to lay on top of him. Sitting up, I straddle his hips and splay my hands on his chest, appreciatively kneading his hard, chiseled muscles, giggling softly at how his abs contract even more when I tickle him. I start moving my hips up and down slowly and we sigh in unison as our lovemaking begins again.

I ride him with long, deliberate strokes at first, intent on making this last, and for now he's content to lay back and enjoy it as I take control. I settle into an easy rhythm, gasping softly with each stroke, enjoying our connection.

"Oh, you feel so good." He groans amidst sighs of ecstasy. "And you look particularly beautiful like this..." His unabashed, admiring gaze runs up and down my body as if in trance.

"Hmmm, flattery will get you everywhere, my noble Saint." Grinning at him, I start gyrating my hips slowly and watch with glee as his eyes widen and his head drops back to the pillow.

"Ahhh... Saori... You drive me completely crazy." He moans breathily then leans forward and captures my right nipple between his lips, teasing my nerve endings with his agile tongue. I whimper helplessly and arch my back in a silent plea for more and he eagerly obliges, engulfing as much of my breast as he can in the warmth of his mouth. Muffled groans rumble from his throat and I can feel them reverberate on my over-sensitized skin, giving me chills. He switches to my left one and I catch this look of pure delight on his face when his lips take me in. There's something about the way his gleaming brown eyes roll to the back of his head then flutter closed at his first taste of my breasts, it does wicked things to me. I pick-up the pace of my thrusts and he halts his lips from loving my breasts briefly to groan in satisfaction, only to resume with redoubled enthusiasm. He starts suckling me in synch with our thrusts, eliciting involuntary, high-pitched gasps from me every time our hips meet.

"Nggg Seiya... I aaah... oh my that's so good... I love the way you make me feel." I sigh breathlessly, threading my fingers in his hair and pulling his head closer to encourage his ministrations.

"How... how do I make you feel?" He asks me whilst smiling tenderly and letting his hands explore the curves of my body.

"Like I'm about to combust. Like heaven. Like I'm..." I close my eyes to focus on all I'm feeling, focus on what my senses tell me. Having lived on this island for the past years, right away I recognize some of its familiar aspects bombarding my faculties, such as the sounds of waves crashing ashore, the night breeze on my skin, the scent of the plants and flowers outside carried in by the wind through the open window. Yet, they're not quite the same. The cool feeling of the night breeze is lost to his hands, lips and tongue setting my skin ablaze. The scent of the tropical flowers mixes with his scent impregnating our sheets. The luscious taste of his kisses and his skin still lingers on my lips. The sound of the waves have joined a cacophony of moans, whispered words, rustling bed-sheets and the most disconcertedly erotic, wet noises of skin against skin as I take Seiya so deep inside me. By the gods, he feels so incredibly good.

My senses of taste, smell, touch and hearing are fully engaged on Seiya. Opening my eyes, I take in the sight before me: Seiya lying on my bed, a carefree smile on his face, his warm coffee-colored eyes brimming with focused, intense passion, his naked body flushed and glistening with perspiration, chiseled muscles rippling with exertion as he moves with me. This vision alone is enough to drive me crazy, but coupled with the onslaught of stimuli overwhelming my other senses, it drives me to a state of euphoria and all I can think is that I want to feel even more of him. I brace my arms on the mattress next to his head for better leverage in such a way that my face hovers just above his, my long hair spilling over my shoulders to fall like a curtain around us, then I speed up my thrusts to a frenetic pace. We pant and gasp, sharing the same breath as I grind on him with reckless abandon.

It's in this moment, when my five senses are besieged and I'm lost in the heat of our passion, that the logic that's eluded me all night finally reaches me. In a moment of clarity I realize that without him here over the past years, this was not a home but just a place to live. That all the familiar scents, sights and sounds that I've become accustomed to are so much better when his presence disrupts them. That my heart, which for years was resigned to hope against all odds that I might see my love once more, is now truly at home again.

This whirlwind of feelings and realizations come crashing down on me all at once, overwhelming me. An errant tear slides from my eyelids and lands on his cheek. In a flash he sits up and cradles my face in his hands, kissing away the tears that threaten to spill out.

"Saori-san, are you ok? Am I hurting you?" He tries to pull out, but I hold him tightly in place and kiss him with all I am.

"No... No, I'm more than ok. You could never hurt me. These are happy tears." I hastily explain as one of my hands caress his concerned face, and for a while I just stare at him in wonder, my heart overflowing with unmitigated happiness. So many times we've been forced apart, yet here we are together again and it's still so hard to believe. Unable to control myself, I kiss him over and over again, then lean my forehead on his and let out a shuddering, cleansing breath. "Home."

"Huh?"

"You make me feel a great many deal of things. Things that I've never thought I'd ever feel again. But most of all, you make me feel like I'm home. You bring me to a place where I am happy, safe, and loved beyond compare. I can't ever get enough of the way you make me feel." I give him a teary smile and he hugs me tight, tucking my head under his chin.

"You know, all my life I've wandered from place to place. The orphanage, the sanctuary, the beach apartment... I'd never understood what it was really like to be in a place where your heart feels at home. That is, until the first time I held you in my arms." Tightening his embrace around me for emphasis, he kisses my shoulder then nuzzles my neck affectionately.

"Oh Seiya... I love you, so, so much. And it's in your arms that I'll always want to be." I lift my head and look at him adoringly, my right thumb skims along his smiling lips. "I've missed this smile..." I confess, and he kisses my hand, then grasps it to place it on his chest, and I can feel his strong heartbeat under my palm.

"I'm here now." He reassures me as he takes hold of my hips and thrusts into me.

"Ah! Yessss..." I throw my head back, my toes curl and there's a tightening in my core as he proceeds to show me that he's really here.

"Saori, no matter what happens, no matter where I am, I will always love you. And I will fight and do whatever it takes to be with you." He says this with absolute, fervent conviction as he keeps thrusting into me and I kiss him forcefully. Any normal person could disregard this as just pretty words, but I know that he means every single thing he says. The very fact that we're here now proves it.

"Seiya! Seiya, I-I'm..." I call out desperately for him, the fingernails of my left hand digging into the muscles of his back as this state of rapture consumes me again. I'm so close to the edge...

"Let go my love, I'll catch you. Come home with me." He coaxes while thrusting into me faster and faster, and I cry out his name brokenly. With renewed effort I match his intensity as we race to the edge together. "Saori..." My name escapes his lips in a hiss and I wrap my left arm around his shoulders to bring him close, closer still, as I move my right hand from his chest to cradle his face, holding his gaze with mine. The way we look at each other speaks a million things that we have not the eloquence nor the energy to say at this instant, but words aren't really needed to understand what we feel for each other right now. He's at the brink just as I am, I can feel it in the urgency of his thrusts and the way every muscle in his body is tense, ready to explode. It's in moments like these, when we're staring deep into each other's eyes, our enflamed bodies on the verge of a blazing supernova, that I believe that our very souls are locked in a loving embrace.

Stars blur my vision as we dive together from the proverbial cliff into the deep abyss of our passion in each others' arms. I try to scream but his lips lock on mine in a frenzied kiss as his own release takes over him.

My world comes tumbling down and I collapse in his waiting arms, utterly spent but immeasurably happy. He leans back against the pillows, bringing me along to lay on him. Exhaustion is taking over me, but I gather the last of my energy and lift my head to softly kiss him.

"Sweet dreams..." I mumble against his chest, which I'm using as a pillow.

"...With you..." He quietly answers, half-asleep, and I feel his strong arms instinctively tightening around me. I snuggle into his embrace and sigh contentedly. With his heartbeat lulling me to sleep, I slip into oblivion.

"For where I lay it's you I keep,
This changing world I fall asleep
With you all I know is I'm coming home,
Coming home"

Author's Note 2: I'm marking this complete for now, though I might revisit it eventually to tell more tales of how I imagine Seiya and Saori's reunion went after season 1.

I hope you enjoyed, and if you did, please review!