Title: Running
Author: sailorraspberry
Theme: Image
Genre: Romance
Version: Manga
Rating: PG

All she needed was to get away. Somewhere. Anywhere. She needed it desperately.

She had begged her grandfather, pleaded with him, to let her escape just for the day. But he easily refused her with a shake of the head. And she snapped.

Now, she was here, with enough money for a bus ride back and enough space to think. Sand squeezed its way between her toes, but she ignored it, eyes trained ahead.

Her thoughts were a jumbled mess, concentrating on one thing, one person, and no matter how many times she told herself to let it, or him, go, she always felt a sudden, passionate urge to break down and cry. And she despised herself for being so weak, so soft-minded. She hated herself deeply.

A scowl pulled her lips downward, and she stopped at the base of a wooden plank. With careful steps, she climbed up onto the platform, and walked.

It was a long way to the end, so she allowed her mind a moment to wander. To him.

She bit her lip to prevent tears, and was thankful for the cool ocean breeze that kept her gangly, uncomfortable skin unheated.

He had come back, tanned and gruff and just as handsome as she always remembered. Even after a millennium.

"I just wanted to see you." He had whispered, lifting a calloused, delicate hand to toy with a strand of her hair. "Just this once."

Her heart gave a hard tug at the memory, and she shook it away. No more running.

"You threatened us. How can you expect me to forgive you?"

He smiled, sadly, and she found that it didn't quite suit him to look like that. "I don't want to think about the past, Rei, I want to live today, and just today."

She allowed his fingers to grip her wrist, allowed him to place a tender kiss into her palm. "Sometimes, the past isn't so easily forgotten."

"Sometimes it is."

She had smiled, slightly glad that his whit was still sharp. "Don't do this to yourself, to me." Her eyes pinned him. "I moved on."

He took a small step forward. "No, you didn't. I know you didn't." Her mind became clogged with the sweet, natural sent of his body. And then he had kissed her.

Rei ran a frustrated hand through her hair, gliding down to sit at the edge of the bridge. She reached for the water, but didn't quite get there. Her lips trembled, angry that she couldn't control her emotions.

The setting sun changed the sky to brilliant shades of oranges and pinks, but she didn't admire its beauty. She only despised it, for trying to cheer her up, for trying to change what she thought.

Waves lapped quietly up against the legs of the platform, and she sighed as the wind picked up, and carried it off.

A shadow stretched out in front of her, and she jumped, eyes wide, hand fluttering to her chest. But then she caught the scent of who was there, and it dropped back down. "What do you want?"

He winced, but didn't respond immediately, only stood, quiet and tense. He shifted, buried his hands into his pockets. "Stop running away from me, Rei."

The silence stretched out between them, and Rei found her anger sizzling away into something worse. Tears filled her eyes, and she swiped at them immediately. A sob racked through her, out of her control. "God Jadeite, look what you're doing to me."

His fingers slithered up her back and rested on the delicate curve of her neck. "I'm sorry, Rei."

She coughed, salty tears slipping to the ocean. "I hate you."

She felt or heard him smile, and she broke down into a new flurry of sobs. He sighed, pressed a soft kiss to her shoulder, "I love you, too."

And the running stopped.

Nominated for 'Best Romance' at SMMFC

Nominated for 'Best Dialogue' at SMMFC