Like We're Dying
"We gotta tell them that we love them, while we got the chance to say, gotta live like we're dying." -Kris Allen, Live Like We're Dying. Acexi.
.::.
Someday I'll tell him, Lexi thought, sitting on the crumbling rock wall. It used to be a small shed, but over the years most of it had fell away leaving on a sturdy rocky wall in its place. The waves covered her feet as it moved in and out on the beach. The shed used to be further away from the water, but as the sea levels rose the beach, shed and water melded. Who was she thinking about? Her leader, Ace of course. However she planned on keeping her crush -no, it had gone deeper then that, her feelings of love, yes that- to herself a little longer.
It was nice to have a vacation, once in a while. It had been a year since the last one, and she could tell the team, and especially Ace, and so could Zadavia, needed this. Being Guardians of the Universe was hard. So the team had rented a beach house, and Lexi was a little whiles away, just enjoying the sunset.
"Mind if I join you?"
Lexi jumped and turned around to see her leader, wearing a t-shirt and khaki shorts. "Sure," she said and smiled. He took a seat on the wall next to her.
"It's nice here, isn't it?" he said happily. It was nice to have a break. The team was working hard enough all ready, but since he was the leader he was the one who had to test every new weapon with Tech, deal with the security measures, arrange safe and reliable worm-hole generators, help Tweetums prepare in case of another attack, and well, it was a lot to deal with. His tired eyes were proof of that. "You know, I've been a hero so long," almost six years, their seventh anniversary was coming up, "it's weird to not have to watch out for anything."
"I know what you mean, I still expect to turn around with some crazed villain on the loose aiming a laser at me or something. Of course, you wouldn't let me get hurt, would you?" she added, teasing. He laughed.
"Not a chance Lex." They took in the beauty of the sunset for a while. "I meant what I said, you know," he said quietly. He was never going to let anything, or anyone, ever hurt her. She took his hand and squeezed it in reassurance.
"I know," she answered. He squeezed her hand back in thanks. She sighed. "Do you ever wonder what'll happen once we aren't heroes? I mean, we've been doing this since we were twenty, retirement must be soon. I wouldn't want to still be a hero while trying to raise a family."
"You know, I've been thinking about that too lately. So, what family?" he said playfully. What family? What did he mean?
"What do you mean?" Lexi asked.
"The kids, the lucky guy," he prompted. She blushed (because ideally, he's the lucky guy) but raised her eyebrows.
"Uh, that's something usually only girls talk about."
"I know you don't really have a girl on the team to talk to, so I figured I'd substitute," he said. They both laughed. The idea to Lexi was strange and funny in a way, but still really sweet.
"Uh, I guess two girls and a boy," she replied.
"Names?" he said and they laughed again.
"Uhh...uh, Lily for one, Alex for the other girl, and maybe uh-" she searched around for a name.
"Archibald?" Ace supplied. She stared at him, laughing.
"No," she said, recomposing herself. "Definitely not Archibald." He grinned at her, happy he had made her laugh.
"So Lex," he said slyly, with sun was making its way deeper into the waves, "what would you say if you ended up in the water right now?"
"I'd say-!" She surfaced from the water, her wet clothes draping off her, and glaring at the laughing bunny on the wall who had pushed her in. "Ace!" She cried. He wasn't taking her seriously though, because she was smiling, her glare melting away.
"Fine, I'll help you up." He offered and hand to her and he took it - to pull him in. Both landed with a splash in the water, since Ace had toppled onto her. They surfaced side by side, smiling.
"Okay," she said, grinning. "We're even."
"Eh," Ace considered, pretending to think while smirking. "I don't think so Lex." He splashed her and moved away. She splashed back and he closed his eyes as the water hit him. "This means war," he joked and she giggled. She swam away from him only for the bunny to pick her up and toss her lightly in the war. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she fell into the water.
After a heated splashing war, they stood up, panting, staring at each other. The sunlight reflecting on the water on themselves bathed them in its last golden rays. "You put up a good fight," Lexi said impressed.
"'Course I did," Ace joked and she laughed. He was suddenly aware of how close she was to him, how close her lips were to his. A pink tinge appeared on both of their cheeks, because Lexi had realized too. Ace leaned in slightly. Were they about to-
"Hey-guys!"
They jumped apart to see Rev, who know looked embarrassed at "interrupting" them. "Oh-sorry-Tech-just-wanted-me-to-get-you-guys," he said awkwardly. "-Dinner's-ready-it's-soup," the roadrunner added weakly. "I'll...I'll-go-on-ahead." He zoomed away, leaving a small puff of dust in his wake.
Ace glanced at Lexi, but she had turned away and the moment was gone. "So," she said, avoiding his eyes and rubbing her arm, "guess we should go back."
.::.
Fulling full of the soup, Ace sat on the couch with the others, a voice coming from the radio -what station was it again- while watching Lexi (although she didn't know because she was reading a book) in the candle-light. The old cabin didn't have proper electrical lights, but none of them minded. It was a nice changed from the city.
"Sometimes we fall down, can't get back up; we're hiding behind skin that's too tough. How come we don't say I love you enough, till it's to late, it's not too late-" The person -was it Kris Allen or somebody else?- sang. Somewhere, in Ace's mind, he linked the lyrics to Lexi, and he now paid rapt attention to the lyrics of the song. "Our hearts are hungry for a food that won't come and we could make a feast from these crumbs and we're all staring down the barrel of a gun; so if your life flashed before you, what would you wish you would've done-"
The bunny looked back at his female comrade. They had been so close. He thought back to their conversation earlier. Lexi was right, retirement was around the corner, in a few years. Not to mention, their jobs were dangerous. Any of them could be seriously hurt -or even killed, on a daily basis. The idea made him sick to his stomach, but it was still a possibility. Another horrible thought plagued his mind: what if he, or Lexi, died before he told her? Never knowing...it would destroy him.
"Yeah, we gotta start, looking at the hands of the time we've been given; if this is all we got and we gotta start thinking if every second counts on a clock that's ticking -gotta live like we're dying-"
That's it, he decided. He would tell her. He would go up to her once they were alone and kiss her senseless. She -she wasn't sitting anymore, the page of her book carefully marked and laid on the small table next to the armchair she had been sitting on.
"Where's Lex?" he asked.
"Said something about needing air," Duck supplied in a bored tone, flipping the magazine page. The bunny left the room and went out to the back porch.
"Lexi?"
"Up here," her voice came. Grinning, he balanced himself on the wooden railing around the porch and pulled himself onto the low roof. "Beautiful, isn't it?"
"Yeah," Ace agreed, just staring at her for a moment. Then he realized she was talking about the stars that were scattered in the inky sky. "Beautiful," he said, blushing a little as he lay down beside her, both bunnies propping themselves up by their elbows.
"Hey Ace," Lexi said.
"Yeah?"
"D-do you believe in fate?"
"Fate? No, I believe in destiny," he joked, chuckling. Lexi giggled.
"Okay, fate or destiny or whatever, do you believe in it?"
"I'm not sure," Ace said slowly. "I mean, then that implies that everything happens for a reason, and that means all the villains we face, even if we turned back time, they would end up the same way?" He wondered aloud. Then he glanced at Lexi. "But I suppose yeah, I believe in it." After all, it lead me to you, he thought.
"W-what?" Lexi said in surprise, blushing furiously and looking at him. A smile tugged at her lips.
Crud.
Had he said that out loud?
"Uh, yeah," he admitted, avoiding her eyes. "I -I really care 'bout you Lex. You're my best friend." Why hadn't he just told her? Some brave hero I am, he thought miserably.
"Yeah, friends," Lexi said wistfully. Wait, did that mean she wanted to be more then "best friends"?
"Hey Lex," he said, smiling a little and gaining confidence with every word. "Earlier today, you never told me who your ideal guy was?"
"Well," she seemed to be catching on to the answer he hoped to hear. "He would be smart, kind, fun, a little cocky,"
"Brave," Ace added.
"Yes, brave," she said and laughed a little. "And he would have to have a very unique name...something that is from a deck of cards."
"Oh really?" Ace said, playing along. "Hmm," they were inches apart. "I think I might just know the lucky guy." He leaned in, and she could feel his hot breath.
"Yes!" somebody -Duck- shouted. "Slam you owe me ten bucks!" The two bunnies, annoyed, turned to see their teammates on the other side of the roof, exchanging money.
"You were betting on us?" Ace asked, glaring at them. Duck chuckled sheepishly.
"Well come on," surprisingly, Tech said. "It's been almost seven years, it was bound to happen."
Lexi smiled a little, then suddenly pressed her lips against her leaders'. "There," she said, laughing a bit at the buck's dazed but happy expression. "Its happened. Now let's go inside." The others slid off the low roof and she turned back to Ace. She kissed him longer this time. Once she pulled back Ace grinned.
"Come on Lex, let's end this day with a bang," he said, jumping off the roof as Lexi followed. Both landed neatly on their feet.
"Bang?"
.::.
Tech lit the end of the fuse, and it raced up until it hit its target, and the firework launched itself into the night sky. There was a boom as it exploded in a swirl of blue, and others followed it; purple, yellow, red.
Lexi leaned into her leader, his arms around her since she was sitting his lap. "This is beautiful."
"Yeah," he agreed, both about the sights and wonderful doe in his arms. "You know, it's nice to have no 'what if's?' anymore. No regrets."
"Yeah, I know what you mean," she said, smiling up at him. He kissed her, before both of them looked back up at the fireworks, living, now, with no regrets.
Hey Everybody! So, first of all, for everyone who reviewed/favourited Feels Like Tonight, thank you. And thank you in advance for everyone who does the same for this story. If any of you have an idea for an Acexi drabble or oneshot, please let me know, and it might even be up by this Monday. Speaking of updating, by Monday (as in before or on Monday) One in a Million, Parenthood, Friends, and yes, even Destiny's Path, will be updated, I promise! Thanks everyone; please review.