Author's Notes: This will be my collection of Zechs x Noin ficlets written for the livejournal community beat(underscore)of(underscore)destiny.

Enjoy!

Title: A Time to Live
Theme + Number: #97 -- Time
Genre: Drama/Romance/Introspective
Warnings: Post EW. Spoilers for end of series/EW.
Character/Pairing: Zechs/Noin
Word Count: 598
Rating: PG
She used to be such a regimental soldier.

Wake up at 0400 hours. Give a briefing at 0600 hours. Train and run through simulations until 1400 hours. Stop to eat, then back to training at 1430 hours. Run through basic procedures until 1630 hours. Get all cleaning, washing, and repairs done and get into bed by 2230 hours. That of course, was all pending any attacks or duties that would usurp the standard schedule.

She was ruled by time, each moment dictated by the clock- her world a militant time zone. But now that the war was over, the clock that ruled her life had been stopped.

And without time, she was lost.

There were days she'd still wake up at 0400, even though she didn't have to be at work until 0900. There were moments when she'd turn to look beside her, hoping to invite Zechs to lunch- only to remember that he was supposedly dead. The pendulum of her clock had been ripped out, leaving her to seek out a jagged path of time with the clogs and wheels that remained.

Slowly, she struggled to move on- now an enforcer of the very peace that disrupted her regimental life. She adapted, grew stronger, and held fast to her beliefs.

One day, time would start for her again.

With ghosts from the past rising up from their graves, the last war would be fought. Slipping easily back into her disciplined ways, the woman by the name of Lucrezia Noin helped bring back the peace. She'd never been one to like war, yet she found herself loving the order and the strict regiment it gave her life. It was a blueprint, it was technical- it was something she could analyze. And she felt that was a much better path than the uncharted ones led by a heart's whims.

But in that year since she'd last seen him, Noin realized she'd been deluding herself all along. Yes, she had followed every schedule down to the second, but her actions were ruled by her heart.

Together they fought, never killing- just protecting. And it was with those tactics that they helped issue in a time of peace. Their job was done now; the era of war was over for good.

"Noin. Should we really be sleeping in?"

Weary eyes blinked open and her gaze drifted to the clock. It was almost 0900 hours.

"Mmm. Is there anything we need to do before noon?"

"No."

Smiling at that, she propped herself up on an elbow and gazed down at the man beside her.

In the early morning light, he looked so ethereal; the glow of his pale skin, the way his light blonde hair laid sprawled out on the white sheets beneath him – had she not been so used to it, she'd think him an angel.

She inwardly laughed at the irony of that thought. It was true; she was sharing the bed with a dead man.

"Zechs, do you know what time it is?" Noin questioned, regiment seeping into her tone for one brief moment.

"Does it really matter what the time is?" He murmured in reply, pulling her closer against him.

She smiled against his chest, "No, it doesn't matter at all. There's plenty of time to get it done later."

"We have all the time in the world, correct?" Zechs asked, repeating Noin's favorite phrase now that the war was finished.

Noin leaned up and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips, ""All the time we could ever ask for, Zechs. All the time in the world is ours."