It was a long day. Granted, to Joshua, most days were long. Since he left Jehenna, his days had been filled with travel and fighting. At least now he understood what he was fighting for. He sighed into the night, taking in lung-fulls of desert air. It tasted like sand and the sweet catcus flowers he had so admired as a child.
"What's wrong?" The gentle voice came from behind him. It pulled him out of his thoughts, just as it had pulled him from the Grado troops those many many days ago, just as it had brought him back from the brink of death.
"Hi Natasha." He said, not bothering to turn around. He pulled a coin from his pocket and flicked into the air. "Call it." He said with a grin.
"What? Heads." Natasha responded, half-flustered. She still wasn't entirely used the the Swordmaster's way of letting fate decide everything. The coin glinted in the moonlight for a moment before landing in Joshua's palm.
"Tails, I win." He said with a smile, turning to face her.
She froze. Here, between the cloudless, moonlight sky and the desert sand, Joshua seemed to stand out. His hair danced playfully in the low breeze, and the way the light struck him set his features more noble looking than the rapscallion she was had fallen in love with. He looked...princely. Standing on the sand dune, smiling at her.
"What's wrong, Tasha?" He asked, taking a step towards her. She looked up at him, and with a delicate hair touched his face, tracing the curve of his cheek and smiling.
"I'm lucky too." She whispered. Joshua smiled and pulled her close. His lips found hers, exchanging a cool chaste kiss in the moonlight. They stood there for a moment, just enjoying the way it felt to hold the other. Letting themselves be oblivious to the world around them, if for only a moment.
"You remind me of my favorite flower, Tash." Joshua said softly, tracing his fiancee's lips with his index finger, "Its a rare cactus flower that blooms only here in Jehenna. It has silvery white petals, and a scent that smells like love itself." Natasha cocked her head to one side, looking at her normally non-poetic lover. Joshua smiled, "Its a flower that only blooms in a drought. Like a beacon of hope."
"Joshua..." Natasha blushed and snuggled close against his chest, breathing in the warm scent of his clothes. He smiled back softly.
Some part of him regretted that he hadn't told her who he was. But...on a night like this, he had no doubt she would understand when the time came.