A/N: Hey hey, readers. This gets a little steamy! But I checked, and I'm sure it's still PG-13. And come it, it's pretty short--I leave it up to you to decide what all happens. I hope you enjoy, read, and review!

And humble apologies for keeping you waiting for so long for the completion of my story. But it will be complete within the next hour or so, I promise.

oOoOoOo

Yolei couldn't sleep. Besides the cold that kept her shivering, sand itched every inch of her skin. Standing up, she stepped quietly to a corner of the cave, where she wouldn't disturb Ken. She stripped off the cloak Hermemon had given her and let it fall to the ground, followed by her shirt, so that a thin tank top was all that covered her torso. Her teeth chattered as she wiped tiny grains of sand from her arms and chest. Despite the cold, she began to feel much better. She dropped her head and ruffled her long hair. Her back still itched, but she couldn't quite reach around herself. She flailed about and started to despair of ever dislodging those tiny grains when she felt a warm hand on her skin, slowly running down her spine.

Her eyes popped, and she inhaled sharply. Oh Lord, she was shirtless, and Ken was awake, and he was running his hand across her bare skin. She tried telling herself that she was an adult, that he was simply brushing the sand off her skin--just being helpful--and people saw her in less than this when she went to beach. But although she refused to think about it, she was more accurately a teenager with confused and raging hormones. Just like he was.

His hands stopped on her waist, resting in the curve of her body. She could hear him breathing and would have sworn that he could hear her heartbeat. Swallowing hard, she turned around and set one of her hands atop one of his. His violet eyes gazed intently at her, and she suddenly felt like she was wearing a lot less. Yolei smiled shakily and brushed some sand off of his face. She hoped that her fierce blush was invisible in the cool darkness of the cave.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered. "I'm-I'm sorry if I've acted inappropriately." He lowered his head, and dark hair fell across his eyes.

Impulsively, Yolei brushed the strands away. "No, don't. I mean... I'm glad you did." She drew a deep breath in an attempt to calm her racing heart. "You know, I've never seen anyone with eyes like yours. They're lovely and dark and mysterious. Like-like you," she finished quietly.

"Would you... would it be too forward of me to-"

Yolei pressed her lips to his, effectively cutting of his questions and answering it. His arms tightened around her. She had kissed a couple of boys before, but that was nothing like this. She had been a little repulsed at their efforts to stick their tongue in her mouth, but now, she was the one who deepened the kiss. His body tensed in surprise, then relaxed again. Having spent most of his teenage years engaged in world domination, Ken had never kissed a girl before, except for that time he was four, and that didn't really count.

In a cave, between a desert and a dying star, a boy shadowed by death and darkness collided with a girl called chosen, brimming with love and light. The next day they would begin an ascent up a peak wreathed in clouds and then descend into lightless rock. But for now they were just a boy and a girl, seventeen years old and discovering something in each other they had never before seen.