A/N: Okay here it is finally, the last part. Sorry about the delay, I was kind of hesitant to put it up because I wasn't sure if what happens in this chapter was too much of a stretch for two. MercWanderer, you make a valid point about sharing tents/rooms, but for the purposes of this fic we're just going to assume that because Chris is upper-class and always used to living in comfort, she always got her own room/tent or else shared it with the other females in the party at the time.

(Oh yes, one small technical issue. Every time I type three periods in a row, for example when characters are trailing off when talking, it only does one period instead. I've tried to solve this by separating the periods but I don't know if it will work or not. Anyway, please forgive me if the format seems a little weird because of it.)

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Part Three

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" 'Eager for bed'?!?!" Chris hissed, her anger pushed to the point of hysteria. "The mere thought of being in the same room with you for more than fifteen minutes disgusts me, but words cannot describe how appalled I am at what you just implied to the innkeeper!"

She ranted on for a while, and Nash let her, apparently unaffected by Chris eruption of fury, and only ever interrupted to tell her to keep her voice down so as not to get them kicked out. She threw a couple of things at him which he easily dodged, and finally, she collapsed into a chair holding her head, too exhausted to continue with her tantrum.

"Are you quite finished? All the noise your making is just going to confirm my implications to the innkeeper." He chuckled.

Chris was at the end of her rope. "You are quite something, you know that Nash? Every time I think I can't possibly hate you more than I already do, you do something to infuriate me even further!"

"I suppose it can't be helped." Nash replied with a nonchalant shrug. Either he didn't believe she really hated him, or he didn't care. Secretly she hoped it was the former.

Exhaustion suddenly replaced her fury. "Look, I'm really tired. I think we should get some rest."

They both looked at the single bed by the window. There was a moment's pause.

"Right." Nash said. "I'll take the chair."

Chris was once again filled with an inexplicable rage. She hated it when he feigned chivalry! It never occurred to her that Nash might have been genuine in attempting to do the gentlemanly thing.

"Don't be ridiculous!" She snapped.

Nash looked bewildered momentarily and her resolve wavered. But then he said, "Okay, fine then. You take the chair in all your Zexen armour."

"Nash!" He was proving his point well, and she hated it when he was right. But she wasn't going to let him get the best of her.

"What?"

They both fell silent as they stared at each other. Chris was exasperated. Neither of them would get a good nights rest in the chair, and although one would think she would take pleasure in making the man she claimed to hate sleep in a chair, she couldn't. She would do the opposite just to spite him.

"You can't sleep in the chair. You'll be no use to me bargaining with the merchant tomorrow if you squeeze half an hour of sleep out of that chair and wake up stiff and whiney." She said finally.

She was sure that he was going to challenge the comment about him whining, but he didn't. "So what exactly are you suggesting?"

Despite all her discipline in self-control, she felt the heat rise in her cheeks as she took a deep breath. "We can both lie there." She said, a little too quickly.

It was evident from his unmasked expression of bewilderment, that he hadn't expected such a suggestion. If Chris weren't about to jump out the window from her embarrassment, she would have been able to take pleasure in the knowledge that, for once in her life, she had caught Nash off guard.

However, he quickly regained his composure. He raised a brow and grinned slightly. "Such trust!"

"Shut up. I don't trust you, but I do trust that you are intelligent enough to understand that if you touch me even once, my sword will remove whatever it must to ensure that it doesn't happen again. Is that clear?" She replied hastily, hoping her expression was as stern as her voice sounded.

His other eyebrow also rose, but his voice was steady. "Quite."

"Good."

Silence fell once again, neither one of them moving.

Nash gave Chris a sidelong glance. "So. Are we just going to stare at the bed all night, or are we actually going to get into it?"

Chris shot him a warning look. Inside, however, she was in turmoil. Should she really be doing this? Could she really trust him? Deep down she knew she could. Did she *want* to trust him? No.

Regardless, she began to remove her armour. She had to do this. It was a matter of saving face. She had to prove that he didn't intimidate her. She went slowly, so as not to get ahead of Nash, who had taken her lead and was removing his coat and the belt that sheathed his knife.

He stripped right down to his pants and a rather thin green shirt. For a thirty-seven year old man, he was definitely in good shape.

She turned away, blushing slightly at the thought. Reprimanding herself silently, she continued to remove her armour until she was left in a form fitting black body suit. She failed to hide her blush when she turned to find Nash gazing at her figure, much more prominent now that she had her armour off.

Of course, seeing Chris' scarlet face, he couldn't let it go without commenting.

"No need to be shy or self conscious, you know. You have quite the figure under all that metal."

This, of course, only made her turn a brighter shade of crimson, but she managed to calm herself, knowing that Nash was probably trying to provoke this reaction. When she spoke her voice sounded was much cooler than she felt.

"You're not so hard to look at either, for your age that is. But don't go getting any wonderful ideas! Remember what I said before!" She wasn't sure who she was more surprised at; He for suddenly looking a little self-conscious, or herself for having actually paid him a complement. Both were something she would have never expected.

After another somewhat awkward pause, Nash gestured towards the bed. "Well then. Shall we get some rest?" He proceeded into the bed, laying on his side to save some room for her.

Chris hesitated. She must be insane to share a bed with a man like him. Nevertheless, she wasn't going to back out now. Not unless she wanted to be mocked for the rest of her days because of it.

She slowly eased herself into the bed, but before she lay down, Nash stopped her.

"Wait." He reached his hand up towards her, slowly, and she froze. "You can't sleep with your hair all up like that." He reached behind her head, and within a few seconds, removed the few pins that were holding her hair up. Silver hair tumbled down over his hand and her shoulders. "There. You should feel more comfortable now." He explained quietly, dumping the pins on the nightstand beside them.

"Uh. . . Thanks. . ." She said, slightly flustered. She blew out the candle and tried to settle in.

The next few minutes were sounds of rustling sheets as they tried to get comfortable in the decidedly small bed, without compromising their positions too much. However, eventually they both lay flat on their backs, side by side, shoulders touching due to the lack of space. They fell silent.

"Chris?" Nash's voiced asked from the dark.

"What?"

"I touched you when I let your hair down. Why didn't you draw your sword?" His voice sounded sincere enough, but Chris was suspicious. Was he trying to provoke her again?

"The gesture implied by it was not indecent." She replied curtly.

More silence followed.

"There'd be more room if you let me put my arm around you." He stated simply.

"Nash!"

"I'm serious!"

"What would your 'missus' think?!"

"Heh heh heh."

"I'm not even going to ask what that implies!" Chris exclaimed, exasperated.

Another few minutes passed without a sound, save for the sound of their breathing, and the occasional rustling of sheets when one of them moved a little.

Finally Chris shivered. "Why is it so cold in here?" She asked, pulling her side of the sheets tighter around her.

Nash sighed. "It's a rundown inn in a recently raided town. What did you expect princess, a cheery fireplace and a king-sized bed?"

"Don't call me that!"

"It'd be warmer if you let me put my arm around you."

Chris did not answer. The offer was suddenly quite tempting.

"Should I take your silence to mean that you won't consider the act to be indecent, and I won't be risking the safety of various limbs and appendages of mine?" He asked.

Again, there was no response. After a long moment of hesitation, Nash moved his arm behind and around her shoulders, and she complied by lifting her head, then resting it on his shoulder under his chin.

It *was* warmer, Chris thought, and did not stop herself from nuzzling slightly into the warmth of Nash's body.

Wait a minute! She was *nuzzling* Nash???

Her body stiffened slightly as the realization dawned on her. What was she doing? This position was much to compromising! He could do whatever he wanted to her, and she would not have the physical advantage to resist! But no matter how this logic screamed in her mind, she could not move. She didn't really want to.

Nash's suddenly spoke, apparently oblivious to Chris' apprehensive thoughts. "Chris. . . Thank you. For putting a little trust in me, I mean. I know I joke around a lot but. . ." He trailed off, as though having second thoughts about what he was saying.

"But what?" She couldn't help but ask.

He shifted slightly, possibly due to uneasiness. "I respect you. As much as you say you hate me, I respect you and I want to help you to find strength to get through this Flame Champion thing. I would never hurt you Chris. Sometimes I don't think you realize that."

She couldn't see his face through the dark to confirm this, but she never thought she'd heard him say anything so sincerely. It was so strange to hear him speak this way, so unguarded, and as a result she found it hard to reply.

"Nash. . ."

She said nothing more, unable to find a coherent reply. A long moment passed.

"Would you consider it indecent of me to kiss your forehead goodnight?" He asked suddenly.

"Nash!"

"Would you?"

"Are you going to this all night?" She asked desperately, although not without humour. She couldn't deny to herself that she would like it.

"Shall I take that as your consent?"

There was no reply from Chris, and Nash cleared his throat as though giving her one last chance to object. When no objection arose, he hesitantly brushed the hair from her face, and softly pressed his warm lips against her forehead for several long moments. He withdrew slowly, his face lingering over hers for what seemed like a long time. However, with a contented sigh, he finally leaned his head back onto his pillow.

"Goodnight, princess."

Chris did not respond. For once, the teasing reference to royalty did not anger her. She was too busy revelling in the memory of the kiss, her forehead still tingling where his soft, undemanding lips had been. For once, she felt content. They would obtain the hammer first thing tomorrow morning, and somehow it didn't seem so wrong for her to let her guard down right now.

"Nash," She whispered suddenly, "I don't show it, but I really do appreciate your help. Also. . . I don't hate you. . . I never hated you. . ."

But after she said it, she realized from his deep, steady breathing that he had already fallen asleep. After a moment's pause, she snuggled into his warm shoulder and let sleep claim her exhausted form too.

She didn't fret that he didn't hear her confession; somehow she was sure that he already knew. After all, wasn't he was always one step ahead of her?

~Fin~

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A/N: Well there you have it. My short n' sweet Chris/Nash fic. I really hope you liked it! I tried reeeeally hard to keep them in character, but lets face it, with fanfiction you got to take a few liberties, right? Please review, and thank you SO much for taking the time to read this! *hugs readers* If you did like this, I have another Chris/Nash fic on the way, that's decidedly more romantic than this one. ^.~ Again, thank you so much for reading!!!