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"You know something?"

The voice seems muffled, pulling me from a deep fog and forcing my mind to be awake and alert. There's fire. I know there's fire because I can feel it on my skin - smell the wood - hear the cracking. My body is sore and there's an intense pressure behind my eye like I've never imagined, forcing me to keep them both closed. Still motionless; Still asleep.

"I think.. I think I knew you'd be out there..searching."

I tell myself I'm imagining this voice. I'm dreaming her. I know I am. I'd hit my head. I was concuss.

"You were screaming for him..and crying."

I tell my arm to move, to feel if the wound behind my head has healed yet, but for some reason my brain isn't sending out the signals needed to accomplish such a simple action.

"If it was me though.. would you have been so determined?"

I want to open my eyes. I need to see her. I need to know if she's real..

"I tell myself you would. You've never let me down before, right?"

She laughs bitterly and irritation takes hold in her tone.

"I don't know why I'm even bothering.. You're too good to be true, you know that? I bet you're full of hot air and..shit."

There's a sigh. A quiet shift of clothing.

"I should go get food. You'll be starving when you come to.."

My head throbs but I can feel my body regaining some strength.

"And then.. Dammit I'll have to tell you the truth. About me..and Snow. Shinra..and the Serials too.."

I open my eyes just wide enough to see her boots, drying beside the fire.

"And then what? You'll leave, right? Course you will.. Anyone else would do exactly the same."

Another sigh.

"I bet you smile like that at everyone, huh?"

Irritation.

"Yeah..well..! I don't need your help and I don't need your stupid smiling face and I don't..want to..!"

There's a loud crashing as she screams out in frustration. Not really sure what it was she just threw, or kicked, but I'm sure it was something heavy and probably inoperable now. The cave echoes loudly and continues to repeat the sound back to us even after she's settled back down. She sits by my head and sighs. After a few more seconds of silence, she hesitantly runs a hand through my hair, carefully avoiding the wound. Some of the pressure behind my eye subsides and I can't help but smile a little in relief.

"Okay.. so maybe I do need you."

Her voice gives way to something new..

"What then?"

Pain..

"I can't watch you die too.."

Her hand runs over my ear and along my neck. The feeling of her fingers, lingering.. They burn my skin.

"Zack.."

And this new kind of weakness erupted within me, catching my breath as if I'd been knocked to the ground with full force. It made me shiver. It gave me strength. She repeated it several times, playing with the word- giving it new meaning. She whispered it. She sighed it. It was a question. It was a plea. I couldn't pretend anymore. It was all I could do to lay still as she leaned over my motionless frame/ Her hair fell across my cheek, and our noses brushed in the most electrifying way. I was holding my breath, waiting.

And she kissed me so softly I almost didn't believe it was real.

I parted my lips a bit wider and rose up with her, cautiously. She pulled back at first, a heavy sigh on her lips; her breasts rising and falling with her breathing. We were a few inches apart and our eyes were locked onto one another for a long moment, at a standstill. I could see her thinking, deciding on what to do now. Getting defensive was surely the first thing on her mind but she'd just been caught and couldn't possibly deny it now.

One wrong move and this moment would be gone, forever. One word out of place would break her. So for a long moment we were frozen, noses just barely touching and breath hot on our lips; silence hanging in the air. It wasn't until I brought my hand to her face and brushed her cheek with my fingertips that either of us moved. She closed her eyes, leaned into my hand and inhaled slowly.

I pulled her back to me, softly urging her lips to part as I sat up. We pulled away once, twice, taking each other in. I brushed her hair from her face on more than one occasion; her bangs seemed determined to shield her eyes from mine. With each kiss she seemed to burn, her cheeks, her ears, her hands and neck. We shuffled about the small stone room at an incredibly clumsy pace until I'd somehow found my back to the wall, her hand pressing hard on my chest. She traced my lips with her tongue and I felt something inside me rise up and echo in my throat in very quiet moan. Her breathing was steady and completely in sync with mine; it was as if she thought she could hide behind the sound of my own. She climbed in my lap, her knees gripping my thighs on both sides, and took my face in her hands for another long kiss.

The fire. The fire seemed so hot now I was starting to feel light headed. A small bead of sweat trickled down Lightning's neck and chest, hiding in that dip where her breasts met. It drew my attention like a moth to a flame. I wanted to reach for them, unzip that hot leather vest and hold them in both of my hands. I wanted to play with the soft pink buds until she begged me to stop, or for more. But it seemed too sudden. It wasn't right and I knew that would have to wait some other time.

But I was content with just kissing her. The way her hands pulled me closer and her hips swayed lightly. I loved my fingers in her hair. I loved her scent. I loved her tongue between my lips, teasing me so that I'd have to beg her to do it again. But most of all I loved the way she would slip up every so often and let out a sigh of satisfaction I'd never heard before, each one something special in and of itself.

It seemed like she tried to speak, once, but her words were quickly mumbles which turned back into breathing

It seemed like we could go on like this forever but eventually the fire began to die without tinder and we grew so exhausted that it became a chore just to breathe. We sat, not speaking, with our foreheads pressed against each other until the cave was left dim, lit only by a few dying cinders.

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To be continued in the next chapter..