Moonlight proved to be a perfect backdrop as she awoke, eyes landing on the silver glow of her lover's sleeping guise. Flame colored hair, disheveled and spread across the white, light kissed sheets of their shared bed remained still as the girl continued to dream. Francesca sat up slowly, balancing her weight on one elbow as she lay on her side, the left one, closest to the door which allowed her the intimacy of being a shield for her treasure. Smiling as she stared at Maria's rising and falling with each breath, Francesca soon departed, bare and tanned flesh exposed to chilly, midnight air drifting through an open doorway, leading to a wide balcony resting under bright hot stars. Though in all honesty, she didn't mind it much after such passion fueled love making earlier. Her cheeks burned steam just remembering it, Maria's small gasps of pleasure standing out most. Heat returning, Francesca stood shaking her head in a vain attempt to clear her thoughts. She stepped away from the sleeping girl, the breeze fluttering her raven hair and stinging curiously emerald eyes. Entering the free balcony, she rested her arms snugly on it's ancient clay railing, uncaring that her naked form could possibly be seen as her view overlooked a tame but lively garden, it's edges closed off by walls to the rest of the world. Looking down and inspecting each plant and it's shadow, her lips spread into a fond smile, recalling times spent helping or watching Maria move soil, new greenery, and walk with a gleeful bounce in her step as she gently watered each little green life using utmost care, the way a mother was meant to nurture her children. At the thought of possible parenthood, Francesca stiffened, taken aback that the idea had entered her mind in the first place. While she found it to be a wonderful prospect, there were too many other factors she would have to consider. Thankfully, conceiving was not among them. With magic at her command, she discerned that sex using it for the intension of pregnancy would surely work. No, the doubts here came from the world around them and the situation they had been unwillingly thrust into. As a Witch,as a fierce patriot to her native Romanga, Francesca fought bravely, aiding the war effort and pushing the front with each new battle against Earth's alien invaders. Valor proved a double edged sword, as each deployment into the heat of war drew her farther and farther away from her love, put her nerves on a treadmill under a cloak of reserve, and only left Maria secretly counting days when she was meant to focus on ruling a nation. And if that distance left the one she loved in distress, she couldn't even begin to fathom how her daughter or son would feel, their sire a holed patchwork of fragmented memories and events, highlights of a broken sea of worry and anticipation. Worse yet, what if she died? Their anguish combined with that of their mother's could merely hope to scar and wound. She would become a face in a photograph, a ghost, a reminder of a different, yet still troublesome time. The family she had left behind would be trapped with hard recollections and claims of "If only!" She didn't want that, she despised the thought of that ever happening. Just the fantasy of how her own mother would feel as well was one that had haunted her two, three years ago before that fated day of meeting Maria, her light, her passion. The future of bringing children into life was but a goal to be reached under conditions of peace and stability. Anything else brought hell. Sighing, she gazed up at a lit sky, billions of tiny balls of fire staring back. Shivering, she felt goosebumps rise on now cool skin. Turning to retreat into bed and return to her place at Maria's side, Francesca wished silently for the war's swift end in a near future. She failed to notice the blazing shooting star flying across the darkness of night, shimmering and fading like a dream.
