A.N: Thanks to all the people who reviewed once again. You're support is greatly appreciated. I would respond to each review here personally, but I'm a bit rushed for time at the mo. So just thanks.

Hope everyone enjoys the chapter.

Do you trust me?

The moon was directly above them when Kratos and Raine finally moved from their positions, pressed together as they stood in the clearing.

It was Raine who pulled away first, stretching her stiff muscles after being cuddled up against her angel for so long.

She wandered idly away from him, over to the rock he'd been sitting on earlier and pulled herself onto it, reclining slightly once she was safely perched on it, regarding him silently.

"So, what now?" she asked as he picked his shirt up from the floor.

"Well, I would hazard a guess that a relationship would be the appropriate action…assuming both parties are interested in the prospect."

"Ok, did the kiss mean nothing?"

The seraph smiled as he walked over to the rock she was sitting on, dropping his shirt by it before walking to the pool and splashing water over his face and shoulders.

"It did. It's not a commitment though."

"You want to marry?"

"No….not yet, anyway." He dropped onto his back, right arm idly trailing through the water "Give me time, woman." He joked.

She snorted in amusement, then dropped her head, studying her hands. "I do too, you know."

"Sorry?"

"I love you too."

Kratos smiled at her again, watching her as she meandered over to him and dropped down to lie beside him on her side, supported by her elbow.

He reached up and gently traced a finger tip along her jaw up to the very tip of her ear, his thumb brushing along the same trail shortly after.

"Does it bother you?" she asked suddenly, watching as his eyes followed his finger and thumb.

"Does what bother me?"

"That I'm a half-elf. Do you really want to get into a relationship that people are going to despise you for?"

He stared at her incredulously, but he appeared to be thinking deeply about the question and how to answer as he did.

"Raine," he started "Personally, I'm more concerned that you wouldn't want to be with me on account of my age."

The mercenary raised a digit against her lips quickly as she opened them to answer.

"I'm 4000 years old. Older than that actually…but that is part of my answer. I've spent over 4000 years working for an organisation of which every member was a half-elf save for me, and I've been fighting for their rights for all that time too.

Do you know who my closest friend is?"

"Yuan?"

"Exactly…and he is…what race?"

"Ok, Ok, I get it."

"It doesn't matter to me about race, or religion or social status or what region of the world you're from. Love is a rare enough thing for me that I've learnt to accept what I'm given, in that vein.

Besides, do you think I would've been with Anna if I cared about that?"

"But Anna was human. You're the same race."

He nodded "That's true enough…but I'm a lord, supposedly, a mercenary and more importantly, an angel. She was a peasant, a prisoner of cruxis…and mortal.

Intimate relations between an angel and a…non-angel, are incredibly blasphemous. For that matter, an angel having intimate relations at all would probably be considered sacrilege.

I didn't particularly care when I was with her. It's the same now."

"I've never thought about that," Raine admitted quietly "I've never thought about that fact that you're a symbol of sanctity, a saviour."

He quietly scoffed as she lay her head on his chest "Some holy creature, I am."

"Being holy is highly overrated."

"How so?"

"Some sins are fun," she snickered, tracing her fingers across some of the scars on his chest, a cluster of parallel lines, each a few inches apart. Her gaze wandered over them for a moment, scrutinising them.

"Anna," Kratos explained "When she turned into a monster, she attacked me, as well as Lloyd."

Raine nodded, her fingers not examining the scars quite so heavily now.

"Raine, don't think that she's going to be hanging over this relationship. She's gone, I know that, and I've moved on. There's nothing to get in the way anymore."

The scholar smiled, pleased that this seemingly cold man was so in tune with her thoughts now.

Swinging her leg over his, she clambered to sit atop him, straddling his waist and running her hands up his hard, ridged torso to curl over each shoulder.

He responded by bringing his hands up to rest on her pale thighs, trimmed and toned by walking, largely uncovered by her short summer dress sliding up as she kneeled over him.

She crouched lower over him, arching her back as she leant over to nip at his lips, coaxing him into returning to their former activities.

The man reacted immediately, sliding his hands up onto her hips, rubbing his thumbs in circles against her flesh, barred only by a thin sheet of satin, whilst she pressed her lips more firmly against his, succeeding in gaining access to the inside of his mouth moments later.

They lost themselves in each other once more, the sensations of being with each other making them completely oblivious to their surroundings.

Which is probably why when the two rolled over, so that Kratos might be on top, they were surprised to find themselves plunging into the deceptively deep pool they had been lying next to.

Kratos gasped as he broke through the surface of the water, gulping in air, kicking his feet to keep himself aloft. Turning slowly in a circle, he began to search for Raine, knowing her 'lack' of hydrophobia would be causing her to panic by now.

He was, unfortunately, right.

Seconds later, a loud splash erupted behind him, sending a small tsunami towards him as the aforementioned half-elf surfaced, kicking desperately and flailing in an attempt to stay above the water.

Needless to say, a frenzied slapping at the water was not going to achieve the desired effect, as it wasn't quite 'swimming' per say. Instead, Raine was slipping under the now choppy surface of the pool frequently, and only occasionally breaking through the surface for oxygen.

Figuring that it was probably a better option to rescue his lover, as opposed to seeing if this forced her to learn to swim, lest she drown, Kratos swam over to the sinking half-elf and dove as she slipped under the water again.

He wrapped an arm firmly around her waist, and, angling himself at the surface, kicked until he reached the target before making for the shore, pulling her with him as he clambered out.

As he pulled her further onto the white sand, Kratos could feel the woman's arms wrapping around him in a death grip that was damn-near cutting off his breathing, her breathing heavy and laboured, interrupted by wet, hacking coughs as she tried to expel water from her lungs.

Crouching on the sand, the seraph held the shaking, soaked figure, pulling his right arm from around her waist to pull her wet hair out of her face and rub her back soothingly, leaving his left arm to take her weight.

"Raine?"

A rough cough was the only response he got.

Deciding to let her recover for a few minutes, he gently turned her in his arms so he could sit with her resting against him in a position that wouldn't result in him being covered in regurgitated water if she coughed again. Despite loving her, fluids that were erupting from her stomach were not on high on his list of things to be covered in.

Kratos sat quietly as Raine recuperated from her ordeal, wondering idly how on earth he was going to get her to admit that she had a fear, and, more importantly, why.

"My father tried to drown me."

He started at the sound of her voice, not expecting her to speak for another few minutes, never mind telling him that.

She leant back, turning her head to look at him, ice blue eyes meeting his.

"When I was a child. My father got my mother pregnant and disappeared for a couple of months. He came back to find my mother pregnant….and he was happy, or so I was told. I don't think he understood the ramifications of having a half-elf child at that point."

Kratos tilted his head slightly, intrigued as to why she was so open about this now, but motioned for her to continue.

She cleared her throat "He disappeared again and didn't come back for six years…when he saw me he just….I don't know… 'freaked out' is the only way I can describe it.

He grabbed me and just dragged me out to the lake, muttering something about being a filthy half-elf, that he'd have to 'purify' me."

The mercenary tightened his arms around the woman in his arms in an attempt to comfort her. Her slender frame was trembling at the memories, her breathing still heavy but moreso from terror over the memories rather than the ordeal now.

Holding her so close to him, watching the typically calm, collected, reserved half-elf displaying such an uncharacteristic weakness, Kratos felt his heart wrench at the thought of her in that situation. A fragile little girl, only five, six years old at most, being dragged away from her mother by a strange man who she had never known. A man who had created her, forced her to exist, and then terrified her into a state where she wished she didn't.

The auburn haired man wondered if her father was still alive, if he knew how much damaged he had inflicted upon his daughter, or if he was still wandering around the world, creating more half-elves who would suffer because some idiot couldn't control his urges, oblivious to the harm he had caused, or was going to cause.

Shaking her head, Raine looked up at him, interrupting his thoughts. "Pathetic, isn't it?"

He furrowed his brow, not sure as to what she was referring to.

"Being afraid of water after all these years." She explained.

"No," he stated "It's perfectly understandable. You were a young child, and such ordeals always leave a mark…pathetic isn't the right word to describe you in any way."

"I let him conquer me," she murmured, pressing her head to his shoulder.

"Then overcome your fear and don't let him have any effect on you anymore,"

"It's not that simple. I can't!"

"Because?" he asked, quietly challenging her

"What? Because, I…."

He raised an eyebrow at her as she looked up at him.

"Because every time I see water I'm terrified! I've never even admitted it before because I had to show everyone that I'm strong, that I was qualified to be on the journey of world regeneration…and that was only a year ago!"

"So, let me help you. No-one has to know why you suddenly started going in the water."

"They'll know I was scared."

"Raine….they've already worked that out. As I recall, the trip over to Thoda Geyser on the wash-tubs was a good indication, not to mention your refusal to go near deep water at any point."

"Wonderful. So they know I'm a coward."

"Having a rational fear is not cowardice."

She rolled her eyes at him and pushed away, standing up and pacing about in front of the water, eyeing it suspiciously. Glancing between the pool and Kratos, Raine stopped suddenly and looked at him thoughtfully.

"You'll help me?" she asked

"Of course. You helped me."

Sighing heavily and giving the water one last dubious glance she made her decision.

"Alright….I'll do it."

Smiling, Kratos climbed to his feet.

"Good. Let's get started."

Raine stared at him "What?! Now?!"

He shrugged "May as well."

"But…I haven't got a bathing suit with me," she garbled, trying to find an excuse to get out of it.

Kratos, for his part, looked pointedly at the already soaked dress she was wearing.

Raine glanced down at herself "No way! I'll freeze."

"You were complaining about how hot it as at night here a few days ago. And you're not showing any signs of being cold now. Don't try and get out of it."

Shoulders slumping she gave in. "Fine."

Kratos nodded his approval and walked over to the boulder he had dropped his shirt by, sitting on it as he began to remove his lower apparel until he had stripped down to a pair of rather tight black shorts. Raine watched the strip-tease with an ever growing smirk, fully appreciating the skin that was being uncovered.

As he stood, pushing the pile of clothing to one side with his foot, the seraph quirked an eyebrow at her, practically able to feel her gaze as it dragged over his lower body. He walked over to her quickly, and stood in front of her, before fleetingly pulling her into his arms and kissing her forehead. He stepped back a moment later and walked to the edge of the pool.

"You don't have many scars on your legs," Raine observed.

"Legs generally aren't a main point of attack, unless you want to bring an opponent to their knees. And unless I'm mistaken, the only well to kill yourself using your legs is to either walk off a cliff or cutting one so you bleed to death."
"Fair point," she commented, watching as he picked out a section of the pool that sloped gradually, examining his back as he turned it to her, letting her gaze wander lower until his voice jerked her back into reality.

"Care to join me?" he called, from the other side of the pool.

Nodding hesitantly, she followed him around to the far side of the pool, glancing at the water with apprehension when she'd reached the other side.

Kratos in turn walked backwards into the water until it had reached mid thigh. Distracting her gaze from the water to him he asked her the most prominent question all night.

"Do you trust me?"

She looked to the water again, and Kratos had to observe that she had never looked more her rather tender age of 24 years than she did now.

Raine commanded such an air of superiority, had such an aura of strength, knowledge, confidence and maturity that one tended to forget that she hadn't even been in the world for 2 and a half decades. He guessed that having the responsibility of a brother 12 years your junior did tend to make one more responsible, forcing you to grow up that much faster, and he remembered idly that Anna had been a similar age when he had first met her. Four years later, that relationship had ended in tragedy.

"Yes."

The single word told him everything he needed to know about this woman. She would last an eternity, were she not mortal, but the impression she made upon the people who knew and loved her, would last forever.

Kratos nodded and took a few steps into shallower water, stretching his hand towards her in an invitation.

The half-elf stared at his hand uncertainly for a moment, before cautiously stepping into the water that was lapping softly at her toes.

Slowly, she walked over to her angel, her gaze flicking between his hand and the deepening water that she was wading into.

Eventually, as seconds crawled by painfully slowly as she stepped further into the warm, clear water, she was close enough to take Kratos' hand. The water that was just below mid-thigh on him was now just about at her hips and she noticed the difference in height between them, just how tall he was. At her petite size, she only just came level with his chin.

Shaking her head and saving the thoughts for another time, she waded through the couple of inches separating them.

As soon as she reached him, he pulled her fully against him, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her forehead, before kissing a trail down to her mouth, 'rewarding' her for her supposed bravery in getting into the water.

But she was only half way there. Not even out of her depth yet, so she still had the rest of her task to complete.

"It's a little soon to be rewarding me," she commented, leaning back so she could see him and he smiled, brushing his lips against her forehead once more.

"One step at a time. I don't expect you to be fully comfortable with just tonight's session."

"Really? I'm disappointed. I was expecting to be able to swim by the end of tonight…"

"The end of tonight will actually be this morning. Do you really want to go all that time without sleeping?"

"I was being sarcastic, you know."

"As was I," Kratos paused, craning his head up to check the position of the moon in an attempt to gauge the time.

He brought his head down after he'd located it and continued "Do you want to continue?"

Raine merely nodded, grasping his hand tighter as he slowly took a few steps backwards, having no choice but to follow him as he gently tugged her hand, then stopped when she'd reached him again, the water sliding up her body by a few centimetres.

"Tell me as soon as you start to feel uncomfortable," he instructed and walked backwards again.

The couple repeated the process over and over, each time edging a few centimetres deeper into the pool, until the water had reached the level of Raine's chest. She stood next to Kratos, glancing at the water, able to see right down to the bottom of the pool and realising that the gradual slope they were on ended just a few centimetres away.

"I..I think we should stop now," she stammered, all too aware of that drop.

"If you don't feel ready, of course we can…" he turned to look at the far side of the pool, judging the distance, then turned to Raine. "But…we could attempt one last thing tonight…"

She tilted her head at him curiously, still holding his hands "Like?"

"Ever considered surfing?"

"Excuse me?"

Letting go of her hands, he propelled himself into the deeper water then dived under the surface.

Raine watched him, subconsciously backing up into the shallower water, when she saw a shimmer of blue in the water behind the submerged figure of Kratos.

Seconds later he had flipped onto his back and was moving smoothly towards the surface without moving, or so it seemed.

Reaching the surface, he slid smoothly up so that he was lying on the surface, next to where Raine was standing, looking mildly perplexed.

"…You want me to use you as a surfboard?"

"Well you don't have to stand on me, but...yes…"

The half-elf didn't move for a minute, trying to make a judgement over whether she was about to drown or not if she did this.

"Alright," she acquiesced. She took a couple of steps towards him, and then placed her hands on his torso, hoisting herself up to sit on his stomach.

To his credit, Kratos didn't even flinch as she dropped suddenly onto his abdomen, merely extended his arms to help steady himself in the water.

"Ready?"

"This is so…strange, but...yes, I suppose so."

Nodding, the angel turned to face the opposite shore and with a few, shuddering motions was moving towards the other side of the pool at a surprisingly fast pace. Within a minute or so he had reached the other edge and, motioning for Raine to dismount her human surfboard, straightened up and clambered out of the water to join her on the sand.

"Well, that was a new experience."

"I would assume that it was." He bent over briefly to brush a string of seaweed like plant life of his leg, revealing a pair of soggy, blue wings.

"So that's how you were moving the water without using your legs…" she stated, looking at the water logged clumps of feathers which weren't usually visible.

"Yes…and I'm going to have to refrain from doing it again…when above the water anyway."

"Why?"

"It seems that it puts a bit too much strain on them in that position. Also, getting them to dry out isn't easy."

He wandered over to the rock where Raine had now perched herself, flapping the sodden wings and creating a shower of water as he did.

In the meantime, Raine had gotten up and was circling around to his back. Once she stood behind him she gently placed her hands beneath his shoulder blades, using the tips of her fingers to massage the strained muscle, moving them up slowly to the base of his wings.

The seraph jerked slightly as she brushed the base and she quickly moved her hand away from the sensitive area.

"I apologise…I'm not used to people touching them," he explained.

"It's no problem…I have to admit though...I am curious."

"You've examined Colette's wings before now, have you not?"

"Yes, but only briefly. Yours seem different from hers though."

"Colette never evolved to the level of Seraph, therefore, her wings are different, just as mine were different to Mithos' and his were to Lloyds."

"That's true but yours seem…more substantial. Colette's, even up close, seemed made completely of light…yours have a more solid quality."

Kratos nodded "Yes, a newly fledged angel's wings do appear more fragile."

"I find it interesting that from a distance, all wings of angels' seem immaterial, more like shards or panes of light than actually feathers….but they are actually solid…they even have a bone structure at the base where they sprout from the back."

Unbeknownst to Raine, Kratos was now surpressing a chuckle, hearing the woman slipping into the infamous 'Ruin mode'.

"Wings are consisted of mana," he explained "The glow that the mana emits is reflected by the mana the feathers are created by…and the mana that creates the outer feathers is further from the body, so it appears more transparent…the fact that it fades towards the tips is what makes it look like they're composed of light."

"I see…fascinating…and, do angels see their wings the same as non-angels do?"

"I would assume so. We don't see mana any differently…"

"Marvelous…" She circled around to the rock again, whilst Kratos reached behind him, squeezing a stream of water out of areas of the wings he could reach.

"But Remiel," she continued "he had the stereotypical wings."

"Which is why we chose him to be the oracle. Blonde hair, blue eyes, white, feathered wings…exactly what people expect an angel to look like."

"Yes, I understand that…but why were his wings as the other angels were?"

"Because he was a low level angel. Colette's Cruxis crystal took her straight to a level where she could evolve into a seraph, eventually. Remiel and the other angels, were never going to be that important, so they were all…bland. Usual."

She nodded once, clearly too deep in thought to answer verbally. After a moment she looked up to the sky.

"We should probably get back to the house…I'm beginning to feel tired."

"Very well…"

Raine stood up and walked over to the forest in the direction she had entered the clearing, only to find that Kratos wasn't following her.

She turned back to look at angel as he pulled his boots on over the pants he had just put on.

"Aren't you coming?"

"Why bother walking? Flying would be quicker."

Slowly, the professor turned on the spot to face him. "You're not serious?"

"Are you afraid of heights?"

"No."

"Do you think I'd drop you?"

"Of course not. If I trust you to not let me drown, I definitely trust you not to let me fall from a great height."

"So there's a problem because…."

"Your wings are still wet. And…you took me by surprise that's all…I didn't think that flying with other people was a common activity for angels."

"It's not…but it has been necessary in the past, and, when Lloyd was a child, I used to take him flying."

"Really?"

"When Anna wasn't looking."

She grinned "You have a bad boy streak, Lord Aurion."

He said nothing merely rustled his wings in a manner that suggested he was amused by her statement, and motioned for her to walk over to him.

She did so, ducking as he beat his wings powerfully a few times to get rid of as much water as possible.

"Won't the water stop you from flying?"

"No," he shook his head "It'll make it a little more difficult to take off, but the force of that should drive most of the water out."

Wrapping her arms around his shoulders once she had reached him, she briefly kissed his still bare, wet neck, noting that he had tucked his shirt in the back of his belt.

"How d'you want me?" she asked, fully aware of her innuendo.

Again, Kratos didn't reply, but smiled and turned her around so that her back was pressed against his chest.

"Keep yourself pressed against me as much as possible," he advised, wrapping his arms firmly around her waist "It'll be easier for me if you...ah, mould yourself to me."

"Can do."

She pushed back against him slightly to emphasize her point, bending her legs as he did.

"Ready?" He asked

Nodding once, she placed her arms on his where they encircled her, feeling him bending his knees further, his muscles tensing in his legs, coiling like a snake that he might spring into the air.

And then he did.

The rush of wind past her bare, wet skin and even wetter dress froze her, but the feeling of everything else, of nothing but that hard body behind her and then nothing but air, as if she were herself, a part of the sky drowned it out.

It was terrifying; seeing, feeling the ground the drop away. It pushed the air from her lungs, forced her into Kratos' warm body, but it was exhilarating.

They were slowing in their ascent now and at her back, the seraph was beating his wings languidly so that they might hang in the sky.

Raine looked around. There was nothing but velvet blue sky, dotted with the white specks of stars in her field of vision, the dark, exotic beauty of the gods' domain.

Below, the clearing that she and Kratos had proclaimed their love for each other in was a white circle, a blue pool in its centre - an eye surrounded by the green skin of tropical trees. The beach a white strip meandering around the edge of the island in snail trail, interrupted with black speckles of boulders, rock pools, and a rough brown building that was currently their home.

To the right, the sea, stretching out to the horizon in an unbroken plain of inky water, reflecting a solitary disc of platinum in its centre.

"Gods," Raine breathed, the word barely audible despite the utter silence of the night "This is…it's amazing."

"I thought you might like the view," Kratos stated next to her ear, his breath warming the side of her neck. His body was moving slightly behind her as he beat his wings in slow, powerful strokes. The silence was so absolute that Raine could hear the air whispering through the luminous feathers, the sound only drowned out by the rustle of those starched wings.

The half-elf closed her eyes, losing herself in this total peace, wind ruffling her hair and clothes lightly as Kratos began to move again, slowly gaining more height and tilting so they were more horizontal.

Increasing wing beats made Raine open her eyes and she looked down to see the world below sliding behind them.

"Are you ok?"

The question startled Raine, breaking into her thoughts. She could only nod in response, still speechless at the thought that she was actually flying!

Well, not her, per say, but near as dammnit.

"Would you like to see what it's really like to fly?"

She nodded, dumbly, again, too awed to answer verbally.

"Hang on then," he warned.

Suddenly they lurched, angling straight up, clawing up further into the sky, so high that they were passing through clouds that couldn't be seen from the land. The air was frigid and Raine trembled in Kratos' arms, reminding him that she was wearing only a thin dress. He levelled off the flight so they were flying horizontally, wings pulling them through the air, labouring against the force of gravity now.

Keeping the altitude for a moment he instructed Raine to tuck her legs so that they were between his, and murmured to her that she could trust him, that she was fully safe and angled them towards the ground, tucked his wings flat to his back.

And they plummeted, passing through the layer of cloud and hurtling towards the land at an alarming speed, the earth defining itself far too quickly.

Raine blinked, and in that millisecond they had travelled far enough for her to make out the clearing they had stood in – an area that was invisible before she blinked.

Her breath caught in her throat with fear, her heart racing as solid land rushed up to meet them, reaching up far too fast to avoid a collision, surely.

Then behind her, a sharp snap as wings opened, catching air and pulling them upwards as they were centimetres from the ground.

In the air again, and they were swooping up in a great arc, curling back on themselves in a graceful loop and shooting out over the sea and repeating, using the momentum to carry their bodies upwards in another arc.

Over the ocean, travelling straight now, Raine stretched her arms out cautiously, skimming the tops of waves with her hand, knocking white foam off them, laughing as her bare toes brushed the water.

There was no fear, no worry of being dropped or the flight itself. No instinctive need to cling to the arms around her waist, or be carried back to shore. Trust for the man holding her was reigning supreme, the exhilaration of the flight coupling with it to drown out every other emotion but euphoria as they pulled up into the sky again, slowing to a pleasant sunday-drive pace, climbing steadily higher towards the moon and towards the land again.

Stretching her arms out to either side to fully experience the feel of wind rushing around her as they soared towards the moon, Raine turned her head, hoping to see the expression of the amazing creature that was bearing her to the silver disc.

He seemed to know what she wanted, for he moved his head to her shoulder, resting it there. She smiled, seeing the strangely peaceful look on his face, how much he looked the 28 years he was supposed to be.

The 4000 years of wisdom was still there, hovering beneath the surface of those ruby eyes, but the weariness and troubles that came with that lifespan had vanished with the act of taking into the air (or perhaps they had disappeared with the feeling of having the woman he loved in his arms).

Kratos slowed his flight, coming to hover in the air again, upright now, and Raine couldn't figure out quite why he had chosen this spot to stop at. Until he turned them around in the air, bringing her to face the moon.

Closer to it than ever before, Raine studied it at this new vantage point. The silver surface wasn't so much silver, as platinum, but it was even more beautiful for that.

"How do you ever bring yourself to land, when you can do this?" she whispered

"Necessity," he responded.

"We really should get back now."

"OK. I'll take you back."

He turned back to the direction of the cottage, and Raine looked at the sea and ground below them. They were stained a bright blue and streaked with veins of white, gold, purple, silver and a million different shades of blue that shimmered over the water and land, rippling, washing the landscape with dazzling colours.

Raine couldn't quite understand what she was seeing. The flowing motion distorted everything, painting trees white and rocks blue. The house in the distance was covered with silver ivy, snaking its way over the worn surface.

And then it disappeared. The living colour vanished for a second before returning, making Raine realise that the colour beaming over the land was actually Kratos' wings, being projected by the light of the moon.

The fact that he could affect the land in such a pleasing way made her smile and as he started to fly her back towards their temporary home, she pressed herself back into his strong, warm body, knowing she'd made the right choice.

Hope that wasn't too long.

Please review. Love you loads if you do :)