A/N A scene set before the first time Gregor fights the Bane. My first fic, I hope you enjoy!

"What did you wish to show me Gregor?" asked Luxa, with a slight smile. She looked up into his face as he led her down the hallways and intertwined her hand with his.

Gregor hadn't actually had a place for them to go, he just wanted to be able to talk to her alone, have some privacy to be able to tell her what needed to be said.

They walked through the hallways of the castle, Gregor searching his mind for a place where they could be alone. They were walking slowly now, their hands tightly clasped as if they knew that in a matter of a few hours either one of them could be dead.

They walked down a corridor on the north side of the palace, and out of the corner of his eye, Gregor saw another corridor ending with a wooden door. He knew for a fact that this was the only wooden door in the palace, and that behind it lay the Museum.

The museum was where all the remnants of Overlanders belonged. Things that had fallen from his apartment building, along with relics from Central Park, lay there, some having been there for hundreds of years.

Maybe, Gregor thought, maybe this room has been closed off from the rest of the palace? It was worth a try, he thought, and crossed through the throngs of people, still hand in hand with Luxa, to get to the doorway.

Gregor opened the door, peering around; making sure that the room was empty. To his relief, it was. He led Luxa in the room, closing the door behind them. He hadn't really had anything to show her, he really just wanted to be with her alone. Between their injuries and the war, he hadn't spent very much time with her at all lately. He had missed that. But now that they were in the museum, that seemed like an embarrassing thing to say. "I thought you would like being able to sit down for a moment, and take a break from all of your Queenly duties." He knew it was a lame excuse, and he cringed a little as she turned around to face him.

"Gregor, I would not have known that I was in need of a respite until now. I thank you, and I would love to take a break from my 'Queenly duties' as you say."

Gregor let out an internal sigh of relief at her words. Could it be that she felt the need to be with him as well? He doubted it, but still, he was going to make the effort.

He let go of Luxa's hand, and gathered a few pillows, a tarp, and a canvas sheet that had obviously been used for painting, and spread them out on the ground so they could sit. She sat down, watching him as he looked through the shelves, searching for something.

"Gregor, what are you looking for?" Luxa asked, tilting her head slightly to the side, "And may I help you look for it?" She smiled, "You didn't loose something, did you?" Since she had known Gregor, her speech and mannerisms had become more relaxed, and less ridged than the formal speech she spoke when he had met her. Gregor stopped looking for a moment and glanced through the shelves to look at Luxa. She was just as perfect as the first time they had seen each other. Her hair was still startlingly blonde, and her eyes were still gorgeously purple, boring into his. She still had that little half-smile on her face that appeared when she and Gregor would get into a friendly argument.

He finished rummaging through the shelves, and walked back to Luxa, sitting down beside her on the ground of the museum.

"What have you, Gregor," Luxa queried, "And why did you want me to see it?" He revealed what he had in his hands. It was a disposable camera, the kind that instantly prints out pictures. He tried his best explaining to her the concept of a camera, and fiddled around with it to see if there was film in it. There was, and Gregor had an idea of what to do with it.

Luxa had the picture of them dancing, and Gregor wanted a picture of them, too. He knew that when he was sent to the battlefield, in only a few hours' time he wanted to die with something, some remnant of Luxa with him.

He held out the camera in front of them, and they both struck a pose. They smiled, made goofy faces, and pretended to glare at each other, laughing the whole time.

The pictures began to print out, and as they dried their images became clearer. Anyone else looking at these could have thought that they were two friends, just having a fun time on a weekend, not two warriors who might be dead within the hour.

"Okay," Gregor said, "Last picture." They both looked at the camera, and Gregor pushed down the button on the top of the camera. The two sat in silence as they waited for the picture to develop. As it did, they got a look at themselves in a new light. Their expressions were melancholy, they both looked sad, as if someone had already died.

"I'll keep this one, " Gregor said softly, "You keep the one of us dancing. At least then you'll have something to remember me by, when I'm gone." There. He had voiced it. After months of denial and dismissal, he had finally said it. He was going to die, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

"Gregor, please don't talk like that," Luxa said imploringly, "Please, for my sake?"

"Luxa, we both know it's true. We've always known that it's true. Just admit it, all right? People die everyday down here, why should my death be any different?" I've done nothing in the Underland that has helped anyone, and I've only caused your people sorrow and grief."

Luxa began to speak, "Gregor, stop-"

"And I can't do anything about it, the Bane will certainly kill me, and what have I too live for, anyway?"

"Gregor, please listen to me-" Luxa tried to say

Gregor wouldn't let her get a word in edgewise. "My family can carry on without me. My father is almost well enough, and my mother can work another job. I know it will be hard on Lizzy, but Boots is young enough to forget me. After I am dead, no one will care. Not anyone in the Underland. They have forgotten me by now, all this time I have spent down here. And who am I in the Underland? Yeah, sure there might have been a few prophesies about me, but in the end I am just another warrior who will die, another nameless body that will be dumped into the river. My life means nothing to anyone, not here, not in the Overland." Gregor let his head drop, not meeting Luxa's gaze.

"Gregor." Her voice became quiet and he could feel her eyes boring into the side of his face. "Look at me" With one hand, she tilted his chin up so that their eyes were even. "

He let out an involuntary gasp. Her eyes were the perfect shade of lavender, and they were beautiful. She was beautiful and she would never know how Gregor felt about her. They continued to look at each other, neither one of them wanting this moment to end.

"You will defeat the Bane. I know you will. And you are cared for. Even if you cannot see it, it is there. Your family adores you, Vikus and Solovet and Marcus care for you, as do most people here in the Underland."

"Yeah?" Gregor said, drawing closer to her, his eyes darting from her purple eyes down to her lips. "Who else?"

"Well, there's Hazard and Dulcet and all of the baby mice…" Her voice got lower as she moved closer to him. Gregor's heart was beating out of his chest, and he worried that if she got any closer, the whole palace would be able to hear how nervous he was.

"You are going to make a great ruler someday, my Queen."

"You are almost as good a fighter as I, my warrior."

When their lips met, it seemed like all of the feelings, the pent-up emotions that Gregor had repressed these last few months were finally coming free. His hands went to her hair, entwining themselves in her blonde locks. Her hands were around Gregor's neck, pulling them closer and closer, as if that simple action would keep them together forever.

Her lips were soft on his, and they seemed to move together seamlessly, as if they had waited their entire lives for this single moment.

They stayed like that for what seemed like hours, holding each other, trying to make this moment last forever. And they both knew that whatever would happen next, they would be there for each other, always and forever.