The war is over, Trin. I hope in my heart that you knew it ended, before the world ended for you. Hell, I don't know what happened there, but at least I hope that you didn't suffer long. "Death is not the worst that can happen to men.*"  It is such a pain to think that it might have taken long before the last breath escaped you. I know, I shouldn't let myself be engulfed by this, but I can't help thinking. My mind keeps displaying images of how it looked like, even though I wasn't there, even though I have no clue how that happened. Why, why did you have to crash land there?!

I refused to look at the wreck of the Logos when it was brought back to Zion. As much as more than a half of my life had, one way or another, revolved around that ship, I don't think I could stand looking at something that took your life. And… I hope Niobe never comes across the idea to make it fly again – I wouldn't, for the life of me, set foot on that ship. I fought with myself long enough before I decided to go aboard _any_ ship.

I know you wouldn't have me give up. I know that you would want me to go on, but it's hard, Trin, too hard. I promised you something, long ago. But now, as time passes and things don't seem to be looking any better, I honestly don't know how long I'll be able to keep that promise. The last thing I want is to fail you. But I will give you another promise now, and I shall be cursed forever should I break that one. I promise you that I will go as far as it takes so that the memory of you never, ever dies. So many people miss after you, dear. I have no right to say that my pain is the worst, because… I'm sure I wasn't the only one who loved you.

The war is over… but my heart is heavy. I saw people celebrate its end, and I couldn't do the same. So many lives were lost, and yet even those who were left alone, seemed to understand that their loved ones died for something. And in that very moment, I regretted that I didn't die for that, too. Survivor's guilt is catching up with me, it seems.

I once told you I didn't believe in love. I lied.

--
Ghost slid the door open quietly. Something told him to stay quiet – he didn't understand the sudden feeling that came over him in that moment, until he stood in doorway, and looked inside. The little light that found its way to the room through half-open door fell on the slender silhouette laying on his cot, his sweater rolled under her head, her arms wrapped tightly around her.

A sweet sensation ran through the entire of his being, leaving him completely breathless. Short strands of black hair fell gracefully on her face, resting on her pale cheek. A faint, barely noticeable smile played in the corners of her lips. In Ghost's eyes, the expression on her face equaled the pure essence of peace.

Careful not to disturb her sleep, he closed the door, as slowly as he could. The cold light disappeared behind it, leaving the small room in complete darkness. Ghost shivered as he heard her sigh quietly. Only then, he realized that he had been holding his breath. He exhaled slowly, almost without a sound, as if afraid that even the swish of air would wake her up. There he stood, unable to move, caught in the beauty of the moment, between the desire to just be near her, and the awareness that he couldn't.

He couldn't see her anymore, her face was hidden in darkness, a faint shadow of her figure was barely distinguishable on the cot, merely two meters away from him. But the picture of her calm, beautiful face lingered in his mind, already written eternally into his memories. He knew it would from then on return to him in dreams, each lonely night.

He lost the sense of time. As quietly as he could, Ghost walked up to the cot, and picked one end of the blanket. His hand touched her and he quickly pulled it back. It wasn't the coldness of her skin that made him draw it back; but the feeling deep inside of him that he just wouldn't let her go. Suddenly he realized that he would give anything and everything to share his warmth, his love, his everything with her.

Reluctantly, he covered her with the blanket and sat down on the edge of the bed. Trinity sighed and turned. Before he knew, she lay close to him.

So damn close.

A great wave of untamed, pure love came over him, and he found it hard beyond reason to refrain from just laying down beside her, taking her in his arms, to shield her from the cold, from all danger, from all sorrow. His heart raced; he could hear its loud pounding, and in that very moment, he could swear it tried its hardest to escape from his chest, to her, always to her.

All fatigue had gone away in an instant. In his thoughts, the image of her was still so sharp and clear that Ghost had to blink a few times, just to make sure he was indeed still awake. The line between dream and reality faded, it seemed so real and so illusory at the same time. He barely remembered that he was supposed to take the next shift, in just a few short hours. He barely noticed that he needed rest.

Hell, he didn't need anything. Anything but her.

He didn't care how tired he would feel the next day. It didn't matter. Nothing did, apart from her. All he wished for was that this moment would last forever. All he wanted was to make it real, forget about the entire world, the war, the prophecies.

He listened to her shallow, regular breath, involuntarily synchronizing his own with it. He leaned back against the cold wall, and closed his eyes, trying to relax so that his heart would slow down but a little. Vain hope. The sensation was constantly growing, and yet it made him feel so terribly heavy at heart.

"The Oracle told me that I would fall in love… and that man, he would be the One."

I'm not the One.

It was never meant to be.

Her heart was meant to belong to another.

Not to him.

Another was meant to give her what she longed for, what _he_ had… or perhaps not, but he wanted to give it all to her.

But it wasn't meant to be.

All there was left for him was her friendship.

Love is friendship set on fire.

And he felt that fire, he felt as it consumed him, so searing, so intense, more and more with each day, each hour, each minute. You can never know the true meaning of love until it crushes all barriers, melts all ice, conquers all doubt, and burns your heart to ash.

--

Ghost jacked out, and sat upright on the cot, breathing hard. Remembering was too much. Every memory that came back to him, came with searing pain. Not that he didn't fight with it; he tried to remain calm, remember only the good things, just to find himself hopelessly conquered. Good or bad memories, it all came down to one thing; he knew he would never, at any cost, let her go. His heart refused to, and by now he knew that it was no use reasoning with it. Where mind and reason failed, love conquered.

It was dark, and cold. Just like back then. Right now, Ghost barely remembered how it felt to wake up with someone by his side. That day, it wasn't always cold; he wasn't alone.

--

Next thing he remembered was Warmth. It felt good, soothing. A warm hand, fingers running up and down his neck, light as a feather.

Trinity.

Ghost opened his eyes and looked up. She was smiling. Was he dreaming? No, it felt too real for a dream. He tried to lift himself up, but another hand gently pushed him down. His eyes locked with hers in a long stare. He took a deep breath.

"You fell asleep."

A brief thought ran through his mind, how much he would give to hear that voice each day as he opened his eyes, just like now. He smiled back at her, slowly breathing out.

"So did you."

"I'm sorry. You were gone for so long. Didn't even notice when closing my eyes for five minutes turned out to be a few hours."

"You're forgiven. I guess." He said, grinning. "As for why I let you wait so long…" he paused, his face suddenly growing darker. How was he supposed to tell her that he couldn't simply take what she had told him with a cool face?

"It's okay."

Ghost nodded, and looked away. The silence surprised him. None of them spoke a word, and he wondered what she was thinking. Slowly he rose, reluctant to part with her hands, still placed upon his chest and looked back at her. He met a pair of blue eyes, watching him with a questioning look.

"You never answered my question."

"You asked me a few of them."

"I asked if you believed that if you love someone, and you swear this love will last forever, you will hold to that at any cost."

Ghost shrugged.

"There's no such thing as a lover's oath."

"Bullshit."

"Plato."

"That too."

He stifled a laugh. Trinity looked at him, trying to keep her face serious, but the corners of her lips were twitching. She leaned back, resting against the wall and tilted her head.

"How about a friend's oath?"

He let out a deep sigh. "You know I'm always here for you, Trin."
"You said that nothing lasts forever."

"Some things do."

"Things like what?"

The door opened. Both of them looked in that direction as Niobe came in; the look on her face didn't foretell anything good.

"Ghost, I need you by the terminals. Now." She glanced briefly at Trinity, then shifted her sight to Ghost. She motioned her head towards the door, and left as quickly as she entered.

Ghost sighed and got up from the cot. He looked back at her, both sorry and grateful that the Captain had interrupted in that moment. He sent her an apologetic look.

"I must go."

--

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* "Death is not the worst that can happen to men." – Plato

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A/N: I'm not too pleased with this one, but since the idea wasn't letting me sleep, I had to get it out of the way.

Audrey A – Yeah, I know, but that's because I tend to write stuff from my own POV, even if I write for characters that aren't mine. My bad. I generally tend to repeat some stuff too much – have to work on it.

Dark Puck – Of course there's more to come :D As you can see, more has already arrived. Still want more? ;)

Eldir – what can I say, love. There's a first time for everything, and I seem to be due for some luck when I get to do something the first time :P *coughTLHcough* But maybe next time I should write a parody about unplugging Hook from the Matrix? *wink, wink*

Fuhrer – *With the passion of million burning suns, writes like mad until pen breaks into two* Glad you like it.

Lainniss – Aiya, Ith! Thanks for the review! I'm glad you like it so far. Will try not to disappoint you with the coming chapters.

PandorasAquarium – Thanks for your review, the one on MSN as well :D You've become damn good at making me blush, hon.