Ok, bit short 'cause I'm really too tired, but since I'm not likely going to find the time to wrote tomorrow night, I didn't want to leave you in the lurch now, as well.

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The both of them were too concerned with keeping quiet and not disturbing the rest of the house to try anything that might get loud, but just lying in each other's arms after so long was wonderful. Anne didn't know if she slept or not, as she was warm and comfortable either way. It was her heaven, now, finally. Someone to love her, and peace, even if only for the moment. She rather hoped that she wasn't sleeping, not wanting to waste a second of this precious time.

Even so, the morning came too soon, the suns cresting over the rim of the world, signaling an end to the night. And with one final kiss, Knives slipped his arms from her shoulders and left the way he had come. Anne stared out the window at his retreating form, loving the view, the way the early morning light seemed to seek out his hair, just to caress it and draw out the golden highlights that slumbered in the follicles. After he had disappeared from sight, she ran her fingers through her hair and sighed.

Love was grand. Try as she might, she couldn't keep the silly smile from her face as she pondered getting to spend the rest of her life with him. Of being near him so often that a morning like this one could be commonplace. That someday soon she would be able to just roll over in bed and be in the arms of him. After so many years apart, the thought of being so near was a heady one, and like a rich wine, she savored every moment.

Yawning slightly, she grabbed a robe and slipped out the door to the bathroom. One quick and cold shower later and she could finally keep the smile off her face.

Most of the time.

After getting dressed she wandered down to the kitchen and poured a glass of water. Sipping it slowly, she listened to the sounds of the rest of the house waking up. It was a good sound, the hoarse-voiced greetings and running water combining to sound like a home. Anne wondered if she would ever know a home like this one, or if when all was said and done if they would retire to Knives' ship instead. She was lazy enough to almost prefer the ship, but there were benefits to living near friends.

Mark came into the room about ten minutes after Anne, interrupting her thoughts of the night before.

"Have a nice night?" he asked softly, and she blushed from her neck to her hairline.

"What do you mean?" she choked out, trying to recover.

"Well, you two were discreet."

"Who?"

"I watched him climb in your window."

She coughed. "We didn't do anything. Except talk. And, uh, kiss." She blushed more.

"Oh, I'm sure that was it."

"It was!"

Mark grinned at her discomfiture. "So I take it you two made up?" Anne nodded. "Good. So leaving him that recording was a good idea."

Anne's eyes shot sparks. "You did not!"

"Well, what good is recording what goes on in your apartment if I can't make it work for you?"

Anne slipped into a chair as her knees grew too weak to hold her. "I can't believe you did that."

Mark took the chair across from her, slipping it out from under the table and flipping it around so her could rest his arms on the back. "But it worked out right," he pointed out. "You weren't going to tell him that Ace was being a poisonous little bitch; you have too much of the martyr in you. So I told him for you."

"Ugh. But thank you."

"What are friends for?" he asked lightly.

"I know what this means to you," she said softly, "and I appreciate it all the more."

Mark sighed, then let a smile crease his face. "I had no chance with you. Your heart has always been his. And his is yours."

She smiled at him sadly, knowing that things wouldn't have been different between then, even if Knives hadn't been in the picture. Then a thought struck her, and she snickered. At his puzzled look, she let him in on the joke. "You know that Ace is free now."

"Oh, please. I thought you were my friend," he said, wounded. "I wouldn't wish her on my worst enemy. Didn't, obviously."

"Obviously," she echoed, and they both dissolved into laughter.