DO YOU REMEMBER THE NIGHTS WE STAYED UP JUST LAUGHING, SMILING FOR HOURS AT ANYTHING?

Two young adults, one three years older than the other. One: tall, proud, handsome, raven-haired, with the carriage of a royal. The other: short, just as proud, violet-eyed, with a fierceness about her that was hard to miss. One, a lion. The other, the lioness. One beloved, the other terrified by love. Especially his love. Her words came flooding back to her – "I'm scared. Help me, please." As he held her violet eyes in his own sapphire ones, she could see him years before, telling her, "I'm scared too. At least we can be scared together."

"Jonathan," she whispered, her voice thick with emotion. She swallowed it back. Not now. Not yet. She cleared her throat. "How have you been?"

"Bored," he answered, a playful smile teasing the corners of his mouth. "No one argues with me anymore."

"What a shame," she said sarcastically. "You need to be kept in your place."

"I've missed you." His words sat between them, smoldering with unexpressed emotion. They stood there again, in a silence that was in no way companionable. It was awkward, all consuming, the kind of silence that made them all too aware of the noises outside the tent. Alanna shifted and broke his gaze. Jonathan swore, and crossed the space between them easily. He grasped her to his chest and kissed her deeply, so deeply she could feel it in every fiber of her being. This, she thought, not finishing the idea before giving in to his kiss.

When they saw fit to break their mouths from each other, Jonathan ran his fingers through her short copper hair. "I've missed you," he whispered, voice raw with emotion.

"I've missed you too," she said, feeling like a girl once again. Jonathan constantly did that to her in a way nothing else did, not even her monthly cycle. He had this undeniable power of her that scared her, but intrigued her all at the same time. "How long are you staying?"

"As long as Ali Mukhtab has something to teach me," he answered and kissed her again. "Not long enough."

A wicked smile played on her lips. "Well then, we'll have to make the best of it."

"We will." Jonathan nodded solemnly. They both laughed as they sat to her bedroll.

Once the physical had been taken care of, the lovers lay in the warmth of their love, dealing with the formalities. "How was the ride?" Alanna asked.

"Oh, fine." He was silent for a moment. "Long. I had a lot of time to think."

"Good or bad?" she asked, knowing all too well the dangers thinking sometimes brought.

He paused again, frowning. "Both," he decided. He rolled on his side and propped himself up on his arm, looking down at her. "I intend to become the Voice of the Tribes."

Fear gripped her stomach. "It's dangerous," she told him quietly, hoping he wouldn't pick up on her nerves. She couldn't lose him. Not when she wasn't sure she could bring him back.

"Since when has danger stopped either of us from doing anything?" he asked gently. He read the fear in her eyes, but allowed it to pass. He kissed her. "It would be best for Tortall," he whispered. "We lose too many good men to skirmishes with the Bazhir. I could bring an end to that, or at least slow it considerably."

Alanna thought a moment and nodded. "You're right." And he was. She knew from her time with the Bazhir that they were good people, but she couldn't deny they had a long, bloody history with the Tortallans. Jonathan becoming the Voice had the potential to change that, to make relations better. To finally integrate the two worlds. "You're already thinking like a king," she teased. "One day, they're going to tell stories about you."

"And you," he said, looking at her seriously. "Alanna the Lioness, lady knight." She blushed and opened her mouth to protest when he added softly, "and queen."

The two words settled in the miniscule space between them. Queen? As in… the leader of the country? Alanna had considered marrying Jonathan, but never in the context of eventually ruling the country. Some small part of her hoped Roald and Lianne lived forever, but she knew better than almost anyone that would not be the case. Lianne had been sickly for years.

"Jon," she whispered finally, "what are you asking me?"

He looked at her, blue eyes serious. "Marry me."

"What?!" she hissed, sitting up fully. "Are you mad? I can't marry you!"

He sat up and looked at her. "Why not?"

"Because I-I-" she searched for the proper excuse. "I just can't! I killed your cousin. I hid my sex. I'm the Court scandal! You should marry a princess to bring you wealth and an alliance, not…" she paused. "Jon, think of the things they'll say. About you, about me… about it all. You want to do great things, but you can't do great things when people hate your queen."

"Alanna, you're talking nonsense." He took her hands. "Your friends won't allow them to disparage you. They'll stand up for you. Have you no faith in them?" He forced her to meet his eyes and whispered, "Have you no faith in me? I won't let them talk about you like that. The scandal has died down some since you left. Things are all right." He kissed her softly. "Trust me."

"I don't…" her voice drifted off. She wanted to marry Jon, but part of her knew she couldn't. She wasn't fit to be queen. He had been bred to rule; she had learned to be a knight. That was her destiny, not presiding over Court functions and being politically correct all the time. She wasn't sure she could handle being trapped in Corus the rest of her life, let alone having to hold her tongue every day. "I don't know if I can do it, Jon. I love you." She touched his cheek, looking sad. "But I can't be queen."

Jonathan kissed her deeply, sending her heart aflutter. "Think about it," he whispered. "I don't need an answer now."

"But-"

"No," he said firmly. "Take time. Sleep on it. Think about it. Don't make any rash decisions." He lay back down. "Can we sleep now? I'm tired."

She nodded slowly, dreamily, and lay her head down on his shoulder. He kissed the top of her head. "I love you, Alanna."

It wasn't until she felt his breathing slow, until she was nearly sure he was asleep, that she said, "And I love you, Jon."

Fine. It was sappy and fluffy, and probably out of character. So sue me. I just skimmed some parts I needed to. I had a paper, so I haven't gotten around to doing all my re-reading. Do you forgive me? I had to work on this now, because I needed a distraction. College responses come in four days, so I'm a bit of a basket case. Some good AJ fluff does my head good. Please let me know what you think!