TIATAAPFE: FTLOAW

He squeezed his eyes shut, the feelings of guilt washing over him, remembering the occurrences of the city by the sea. HE was the reason why it occurred, why so many died, why she was stuck here now. All because of his stupid, self-absorbed comment. He was such an ass to her. And now… She was losing the will to live.

All of the vivaciousness, passion and emotions that compelled her to live were fading now. Because of that one comment. Made in the heat of passion… Damn it all…

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"Come on Duo, tell me! I need to know!" She laughed, grabbing the front of his shirt dramatically.

"Aw, Flame, c'mon. You don't really want to." he smiled, pushing her hands off lightly.

"No, I don't want to, I *need* to!" she jabbed her pointer into his sternum.

"Fine… I … think that you would be the ugly, geeky girl that I would sleep with at a keg party after consuming far too much alcohol!" he prodded her in the abdomen.

"What? Did? You? Say?"

"Yeah, you seem the type. You'd be feeding me the keg, waiting for the right moment, enough so I'd be a drunken ass and would do anything. I don't trust girls like that…"

She gave him an unreadable look, then turned away, wrapping her arms around herself, abruptly sitting down on a boulder near the edge of the overlook. She sighed, and the wind rippled through her hair as it passed by.

"Hey, Flame…" he said, sitting down next to her on the perch, concern in his eyes.

She kept her eyes focused on the small moon sliver and drifting clouds. "What Duo?" It came out too harsh for her normally gentle yet mysterious tone. She had loosened up in the many months that she had come to befriend the Gundam pilots. Especially when she was with Duo.

"Flame." This time he placed his hand upon her shoulder to gain her full attention.

She turned to him, opening her eyes, which contained a smoldering repressed flame of anger, sadness and … hurt? Had he actually hurt her with his statement? "What is it, Death?"

"I'm hoping you only said that because you're pissed as hell at me."

"I'm just saying your nickname. No shame in being Death."

"Flame, that's not the point."

"Then what is?"

"What I said just now, about the drunken sex advantage… I didn't mean it… I was joking… You know me."

He wasn't sure, but he could have sworn that there was a tear in her eye from… relief? Whatever it was worth, her expression softened, and eyes became hopeful again. "Really? You don't think I'm the geeky freak that would take advantage of a drunk for sex?"

He shook his head. "Nope. Heaven knows you've had enough chances with us in the past few weeks, and you haven't done anything. Besides, honestly, you strike me as the popular yet outcast girl that everyone loved and feared. You'd have been a cheerleader that acted more like a goth than anything. And I find girls like *that* extremely attractive…" he murmured lowly, his eyes half-open, as he ran his thumb lightly over her bottom lip, elicting a pleasured shudder from her.

"Thank the gods, I thought you were serious before… You need to work on your delivery Maxwell, that way people don't get pissed at you when you make a joke." she whispered, her tone more sultry from his touch, which drove him to actions he had only fantasized about before.

"I'll take that into consideration…" he chuckled, leaning right in and kissing her full on the lips.

She tensed, then melted into the kiss, wrapping her arms about his neck to deepen it. He rested his hands on her hips, pulling her into him, establishing a deeper, more intimate connection. He savored the taste of her lips, the way they seemed fit perfectly against his. He knew that this was right, that this was what he had needed all these years. Opening his mouth, he ran his tongue along her bottom lip, begging for entrance. She complied willingly, exploring him as he explored her. Retracting his tongue, he lightly bit down on her lip, pulling gently on it.

While their mouths explored, their hands roamed as well, testing buttons, slits and zippers. In hardly any time at all, they were half dressed, passion spiraling them deeper to an almost inescapable level of ecstasy.

Duo clasped his arms tightly about her, standing then laying her on the soft grass. She yelped in surprise against his lips, before smirking suggestively. He broke their kiss, kneeling between her legs, his shirt, unbuttoned, hanging from his shoulders loosely. His eyes appeared black, clouded with passion. Breath caught in her throat, she watched him, waiting for what was to come.

Before anything else happened, the bushes to their backs rustled. Duo quickly dropped down to lay beside her, waiting to see whom the intruder was.

Once the noise stopped, they heard four very familiar voices. Apparently, their friends were searching for them once they failed to return from their moonlit walk. The voices stopped, and there was a pause of utter stillness before one spoke.

"Duo? Flame?"

It was Quatre.

"Yesh?" she answered, her voice still husky from earlier.

"Whoa. What did *we* interrupt?" Wufei laughed slightly, as he approached them.

Flame flung her arms around Duo's chest and a leg about his waist. "Nothing!"

"I'll say nothing… Sorry we found you." Heero answered.

"Please, we're just stargazing…"

"Yeah, in each others arms." Wufei snorted.

"Oh, hush."

Duo looked at Flame, for she was still holding him… Eyebrow raised, he smiled when she blushed, then turned to their friends with his trademarked grin.

"C'mon and join us guys! The stars are b-e-a-utiful!"

The pilots assessed their situation, namely interrupting their two friends in what was obviously an intimate moment, most likely their first expression towards each other, to sit and watch the stars. Quatre stammered his answer first.

"We… well… we don't want… want to… uh… interrupt… you two. Uh, we should just be-"

"Sure, why not?" Trowa cut in, sitting down on the boulder near them.

Heero, following Trowa's lead, leaned against another nearby rock, stretching his legs out. Wufei soon followed suit, Quatre nervously sitting on the far end of "Trowa's" boulder. They sat in silence, watching the meandering clouds…

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"Mr. Maxwell?" the nurse's voice disrupted his reminiscing. "have you seen any change in her?"

Duo didn't even bother to waste the energy that speech required. He merely shook his head, focused on her. He heard the nurse slip away, and sighed. He was so weak, he knew she would need him to be strong to survive, but it was hard. He hadn't eaten a good meal since that night, when they had made dinner for the group. He needed to remember the reason, hold it fresh in his mind so that he could keep from straying into the gray area that concerned things such as eating and sleeping.

He had a hunch that if she didn't have a physical response soon, they would ask him to make The Choice.

He didn't have the authority to choose for her. True, he was the God of Death, but he couldn't decide her death for her, not when they were all so close to living a normal life again.

Even the God of Death fears to choose death…

Especially when it concerned love… For him, the love of a woman…

*#*#*OWARI*#*#*

'Tis all I have for tonight. More up and coming, I'm working on it!

FTLOAW stands for:

For The Love Of A Woman

~Flame~