Thanks for all the support and the lovely reviews :D
You really keep me going. Have fun with chapter 5 :)
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When they reached the vulcano island, Pepper was flabbergasted. It was really beautiful, the sun was glistening through the trees, the ocean had a deep blue colour and they seemed to be surounded by millions of flowers. In the middle of the island, the vulcano rose up big and majestically. A small gravel pathway lead along the shore and disappeared behind a cliff.
Even Tony thought the island was beautiful, but he only had eyes for his gorgeous assistant. Pepper wore a light blue summer dress that day, which reached her knees and her beautiful red hair was loose.
"We can stay till 3 pm...", Yuki told them happily. "You should take a walk, the island has a really romantic atmosphere", she added and winked at Tony. He grinned at her and nodded sympathetically.
Yuki grinned back and hurried to follow Mr. and Mrs. Mioko, who had left in the opposite direction.
Tony turned around and grinned at Pepper. She smiled back and said:
"I would love to take a walk..."
Tony nodded and reached for her hand again, looked in her eyes to ask silently if it she was okay with his approach. Instead of an answer, Pepper only nodded and they slowly strolled along the way together. Tony didn't know what to say. The whole situation with Pepper got him a lot to think about. It happened a lot between them the last days, but Pepper had already pushed him back twice.
Once... she clearly wanted you the second time... you got interrupted...
They where really good friends by now and he was afraid to destroy it when he confessed his true feelings to her. But he also knew he would only torture himself if he acted like everything was like it had always been. Tony couldn't stop thinking about what she had said on that ship and he couldn't show how much her words had hurt him. But she was right... He had never cared about the feelings of any woman, just seeing them as a satisfaction of his desires. To him it was understandable that Pepper - even if she did love him back and he desperately wanted to believe that - was afraid to show him. Afraid, because she didn't want to wake up alone like all of his one-night-stands did?
But Pepper wasn't one of those women. She was his best, his only true friend and she always had his back. Of course she hadn't been very excited when he announced to the world that he was Iron Man, but at least, she had been proud of him. Wistfully he remembered that day. Before the press conference had been the first time he nearly had enough courage to kiss her. How she had looked at him that day, with her ocean-blue eyes...
He looked over to her and squeezed her hand softly.
Pepper smiled back at him and her eyes glistened. They had reached the other side of the island by now and there was not a single tourist around. Tony pulled Pepper with him and they sat down in the warm sand. Tony stared in Peppers eyes and for a few minutes they just sat there before Tony said:
"Pepper, I thought about what you said on the ship..."
Pepper furrowed her brows. She knew she had hurt him, but before she could try to apologize, Tony continued:
"And you're right... I'm not a good guy and I understand that it's hard for you to... to..."
Dammit. Why was it that hard? Tony desperately looked for help in Peppers eyes and she seemed to understand, because she shifted closer to him and hugged him.
"Tony... we are friends, you know that...", she whispered.
Tony sighed. That was the last thing he had wanted to hear. Didn't she see that she meant so much more to him? Just as he wanted to answer, his phone buzzed.
"I'm sorry, I have to take this. It's Jarvis", Tony said and Pepper could hear he was really annoyed. "What's up buddy?"
"Didn't you check your palladium percentage today, Sir?"
Tony sighed, he hated it when Jarvis made him remember. He stood up and walked a few steps away from Pepper. Since he had fallen unconcious in the bathroom that morning he had supressed the fact, that the suit slowly but steadily killed him. He was glad Pepper didn't suspect anything - he didn't want to freak her out.
Jarvis interrupted Tony's thoughts and said:
"I checked it myself and I'm afraid I have to send you to a doctor immideately!"
"You know it's pointless, Jarvis..." Tony snorted contemptously. "They don't understand what's wrong with me!" He wanted to spend the day with Pepper, rather than wasting his time with a doctor.
"Do you want me to inform Miss Potts about your condition?" Jarvis asked and stroke a nerve. Tony shrugged and answered quickly:
"Okay, okay... I'm going."
He sighed and ended the call. Fortunately, he was all set for everything and had a suit in the car. Tony got back to Pepper, who had stood up by now and looked at him questioningly.
He sighed and mumbled more to himself than to her:
"I'm sorry, I have to leave... I'll see you later."
Then he just left her alone on the beach. Frustrated, Pepper sat down in the sand again and stared at the horizon and the sea. She couldn't put in words how dissapointed she was right now...
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3 hours later, Tony finally reached Tokyo. He was miles away from Pepper, but here the American doctor Jarvis had found had his office. Tony sat in the waiting area and racked his brain about how he should continue. He knew he had to speak to Pepper, he finally had to tell her what was wrong with him. But he was also afraid, terrified that he wouldn't find a way to survive. What would she do? If he finally confessed his feelings to her and also told her he was going to die, wouldn't she think he only wanted her because of that?
Just a few minutes later, the thought of the palladium was swept away from his brain when Tony intently watched the TV in the waiting area. His hands were sweaty and cold and he felt nauseous. That couldn't be...
"... the eruption happened around 1 hour ago, nearly the whole island is covered in lava. The surrounding citys are currently beeing evacuated, but experts have no hope for the people on the island. Rescue forces won't be able to go on the island until we are sure it's safe and the vulcano doesn't erupt again. Unfortunately this will take a few days."
The report was barely finished, when Tony jumped on his feet, rushed outside and entered the suit to fly back as fast as possible. That couldn't be... Just a few hours ago Yuki told them they hadn't been a remarkable eruption for at least 100 years. Well, seems she had been wrong. Pepper... He had left her alone on the other side of the island. He could have saved her hadn't he listened to Jarvis but to his heart. He could have saved her... Tears streamed down his face and he tried to keep his composure.
No, he tried to reassure himself. Pepper is smart, she wouldn't just wait till the lava swallowed her.
But you left her alone. What could she have done?
Pepper is much more capable of everything than you are... she will make this... She could have saved herself in the sea.
Her energy won't last that long...
Tony flew back to Kagoshima as fast as the suit would take him. Even that far away he could see the threatening cloud of ashes.
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Pepper sat alone on the beach. Of course she could have been searching for their host family, but she din't want to. She needed time to think. Finally, she had hoped that she would get the chance to finish what they had started this morning, but just as they had reached the romantic beach, Jarvis had interrupted them. Pepper knew it had to be important when Tony disappeared head over heels, but she couldn't deny that she was hurt. He had just left her, without explanation.
A deep growl whisked Pepper out of her thoughts. What the hell was that? The ground quivered and she jumped up. Suddenly she remembered that Yuki had told them the volcano had harmless eruptions everyday and she turned around. That up there wasn't a harmless eruption. Fire and Lava shot out of the crater and an unstoppable cloud of ashes started to darken the sky. Peppers shock became fear when the lava started flowing torwards her and she knew she had to do something. What about all those tourists on the island?
Where is Iron Man when you need him? She thought bitterly.
Quickly the lava came closer and Pepper knew she had to leave. Without thinking further, she ran down the beach and jumped in the water, swimming away from the island as fast as possible.
When she turned around after a few minutes, her breath nearly stopped. The whole island was covered in lava and ash, and the volcano didn't stop erupting more of the deadly substances. She knew she couldn't stay here for long. Now, the water was still warm, but the ash darkened the sky and at night it would get cold really quick. To cap it all, she already felt her energy vanish. Pepper forced herself to keep calm, she knew that was her only chance to survive. That and Tony...
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Even though Jarvis had tried to stop him, Tony had flown right to the volcano and couldn't hardly see something because of the ash. But he didn't care, he had to find Pepper. He flew as close as he could to the surface of the ocean, but he didn't find a trace of his red-haired angel.
"Sir, it makes no sense... I already did 3 scans, but I can't find a vital sign. The eruption was already two hours ago..."
Tony didn't want to listen. He had to find her, she had to be alive. It was his responsibility to save her and he couldn't dissapoint her this time.
He had to find her.
