Summary: Sara finally felt her life was complete; he'd changed her in so many ways. They'd promised one another just that morning that they'd never leave. But when a massacre sends the San Francisco PD looking for the only surviving CSI on the original team, life becomes a whole lot less certain for the happy couple. NS!

Disclaimer: This goes for all the chapters that will be added to the story as well. I don't own CSI, sadly, and almost certainly never will. Any other characters that do not appear in the show are of my creation, and therefore I do own them.

A/N: For reasons pertaining to character development, Sara is a tiny bitOOC in the first chapter.I'd like to think that given her circumstance, she's grown into a happier and more secure person. That's how I've written her in this piece, anyway. First chapter is fluffy Snickers interaction.Please enjoy!

Chapter Title: Time After Time

"Mmm, Happy Birthday, baby." Sara purred into her boyfriend's ear as the pair of them slowly woke to the tune of the alarm clock that sat with unquestionable authority upon their headboard. Her nails, which she had allowed to grow recently, traced lightly over the outlines of his bare chest. She hit the off button on the clock and her head found its perfect spot on the man's shoulder.

"Thanks, Sar." His strong arms circled her slight frame, pulling her body closer to him. His eyes, barely open, stared twinkling into hers as they lay tangled up in each other in the dark of the evening. The skin of his neck tingled under the warmth of her gentle breath, and he felt shivers crawling lightly down his spine. He placed a chaste kiss on her lips as he ran a hand through her naturally curly hair, fingers playing with the raven locks unconsciously.

"I love you." A smile crossed her pink lips when Sara spoke again, still in a whisper. She pulled her body still closer to his so that her own chest was flush with his as she kissed him, leaving a searing trail along his jaw line. Her actions evoked a sensuous moan.

"I love you more." The same smirk that had crossed her lips now crossed his as he rolled on top of her, resting on his elbows positioned on either side of her head. Sara chuckled, wrapping her arms around his neck and encouraging his head to move closer down to her own. He obliged, dipping down to steal another kiss, this time deeper and more intense.

"You're so competitive." Sara murmured playfully into his lips, her fingers toying instinctively with the short hairs at the nape of his neck.

"How do you think I beat Gris for you?"

"Oh stop." She found herself grinning as his lips brushed her own once more. They both knew what a stupid remark that was. He chuckled and pushed a stray piece of hair behind her ear and fell beside her.

"I don't want to go to work today. Let's call in sick and stay in bed all day." His whispers caressed her ear, and his words made her smile even more. "It's my birthday." She felt him stick out his bottom lip in a pouty manner against her earlobe.

"Nicky, you're 34… it's time to face reality." Sara chuckled, turning her head so that her nose brushed over his affectionately. "Besides… They'd miss your southern charm…"

"But how could you complain… you'd have the charm all to yourself for the day." Nick argued lightly, propping his head up on his arm to look at her properly.

"I hate sharing you, but I'm not that selfish of a person." Sara pecked him quickly on the lips before sitting up to get out of bed. Nick sighed in defeat.

"Alright… I'll get up…"

"Good, because work starts in an hour, and we both need a shower."

"A shower… now there's an idea." Nick drawled with mock interest. A soft, characteristic simper crossed his own lips as he eyed those of Sara's while she slipped into a decidedly lucent housecoat on her way to the bathroom.

"Your tone sounds somewhat suggestive, Nicholas Stokes." Sara feigned innocence as she stared at him through twinkling hazel eyes as a hand ran lazily through her curly hair.

"Mmm, mind if I join you?"

"Ah, not at all, but we only have 10 minutes..." Sara's eyes remained locked on Nick even as she turned her head to walk into the bathroom. Finally she raised an eyebrow with a wink and looked away, facing the end of the bathroom so her back was facing him. Then she dropped the bathrobe.

"You tease."

"Happy Birthday Nicky." Sara walked over to the kitchen table where she approached the Texan from behind, carrying a wrapped present in her arms. She placed it in front of him and on top of the morning paper he was reading, and then wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

"Oh, wow, jeez Sar, I told you not to get me anything—"

"I know, I know… but you've mentioned this a few times… and I know you'd look, well—" Sara paused, knowing she'd almost told him what the gift was. "Uh, just open it."

"-- …because you know, all I want is you…"

"You're a darling." She placed a kiss on his cheek, still from behind. "Thank you. But I still got you something."

Nick tore open the goofy smiley-face wrapping paper that Sara had so neatly covered the square box with, pulling the stick-on bow off and sticking it on her head. She laughed, pulling it off and sticking it instead on his head. He was just about to open the plain white box when she stopped him.

"Wait, hang on a second. I need to get something before you finish." Sara ran quickly from the room, fetching her digital camera from her crime kit that sat at the front door waiting for her before making her way through the hall back into the kitchen.

"What'd you grab?" Nick inquired suspiciously, his hands still on the box, ready to open it at any moment.

"Oh, nothing… don't worry about it… just open the box." Sara smiley coyly, walking around to the other side of the table to watch him, her camera hidden beneath the table, on and ready.

Nick's dark eyes filled with childish joy as peered curiously into the sizeable box. Sara raised her camera and took a candid shot of his genuinely happy face, wanting to burn the boyish image into her mind permanently. He looked up from the box to her camera to her face wearing his own coy smile, finally aware of what she'd gone to get but not finding he minded all that much.

"Thank you Sar…" He lifted a black cowboy hat delicately from the box, admiring it from all angles with enthusiasm.

"I was surprised you didn't already have one, Cowboy." Sara's gap-tooth grin shone in the fairly dim light of the late evening. Nick was certain no one could possibly have looked more beautiful than she did when she smiled. He grinned back at her, placing the hat on his head and posing for the next picture she would take.

"Something just fell on my head." Nick tried to keep a straight face as the flash of the camera went off, but his features contorted in confusion as he felt something fall into his hair under the hat. Sara chuckled.

"It's my little note. You must have missed it."

Nick removed his new hat and picked the little scroll from his own dark hair with a playful smile that told her that a note from her was definitely something special to him. The little rolled up paper adorned a cute curly ribbon and his name. He slid the ribbon off the roll and opened up the scroll.

Dear Nick,

I know you told me not to get you anything, but you know how stubborn I am. Actually, I've never seen you wearing a cowboy hat, unless you count those old photos you've shown me from when you were a kid in Texas. I thought this one would suit you the best, and if it's even possible to make you better looking than you already are, I think the hat would be the only thing that could do it.

You mean the world to me. I've never said that to anyone else. But with you, it's true. I can't imagine life right now without you, the thought of not waking up in your arms every night for shift scares me more than anything else. I know it sounds tacky, but being with you has changed everything about me for the better. The way I look at the world, myself, other people… right down to my actions and what I'm now willing to do. You taught me how to open up; how to love. I can't thank you enough, and I'll never be able to express how much I care for you in these mere words.

You're 34 today, and it's been five years since we first met, ten months since you showed me life. Somehow, you manage to be both an adult and a kid; that smile of yours reminds me of the innocence only you could show me, the truth that good people carry underneath the masks we all wear. I wake up every day happy, hopeful and with faith in the world and people because I wake up beside you. The last ten months have been like a second life to me- like trying to fit in 33 years of time I should have been living but was too lost to try, or even want to. Thank you Nicholas Stokes, I love you more than words can express. Here's to another 34 years and the rest of an eternity- time I hope to spend with you.

Love Always,

Sara

Nick read the last two lines out loud, feeling almost numb with emotion as the words spilled from his throat. He could feel his eyes burning, and tears he hadn't cried since being buried alive threatened to fall down his cheeks, and he made no move to hide it. His eyes gazed from the beautiful letter Sara had scrawled by hand onto the small pages, to the face that gazed back at him and made him feel sure nothing could be more beautiful than it. He saw that tears were also gathering in her eyes as she smiled in a way she hadn't known how to a mere ten months ago.

"Th-Thank you, Sara. That was so special…" Nick stood up from his chair and captured the raven haired woman in his arms. He could feel her hot tears falling onto his dark sweater, and he managed a smile. He was so incredibly lucky. "I love you too." Nick pulled her closer still, rocking them back and forth rhythmically. Sara desperately wanted to say something in response, but her heart seemed void of words to speak, she had already spilled all she had in her letter to him. He seemed to understood without her telling him.

Finally, Sara removed her head from its resting place in the crook of Nick's neck and placed a tender kiss on his lips. He responded fully, kissing her back and running his hand through her dark locks as he always did when he kissed her. Fingers toyed with the raven curls as her hands remained on his broad shoulders; she stood on her toes to kiss the tip of his nose gently. Her cheek brushed softly against his own, and she delighted in the feeling of her skin on his smooth, shaved face before they both pulled away briefly to gaze at each other.

"Never leave me?" Nick asked her, and saw in her eyes the same question. Sara gave him a watery smile, and answered him.

"Never."

A/N: Okay, first chapter is happy. Second… won't be as much so. Grissom has some, uh… news. BTW… I haven't forgotten about my other stories… actually, my computer that had the update files on it crashed the other day, so I have to write them again. Thankfully I have my laptop… XP. Next chapter for this story will be posted soon, as I'm almost done writing it. Please hit that little review button on your way out… I means a lot to me! Thanks!

Until next time…

-Sahariah (Kikyou)