Disclaimer: Final Fantasy and all of its characters have no association with me except through this story and the game I play constantly:)

*NOTE: There is drunken stupidity in this chapter.

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The cabin-like building was made of a rusted metal, with few windows. Old, yes, yet sturdy against the pounding wind and rain. They approached a cloudy side window, their safety prioritized above all else. Inside, the slight curvature of furniture could be made out in a single room. No movement came from inside. Quickly they ran to the front door. Noel quickly grabbed the handle and turned, getting Serah in first. He quickly moved in behind her, slamming the door. The wind still whistled against the building, but was finally unable to reach them.

Noel walked forward in a shaking manner, searching for something that could give them a little more light. He saw something that looked like a lantern, and quickly used their lighter from their bag to ignite it. A orange glow filled the room, and he spotted a fire place in the back corner. Quickly he strode over, grabbing a couple of pieces of wood from a nearby dusty pile, and produced a fire.

A shivering Serah slowly walked up behind him, crouching dangerously close to the fire. Her skin, even against the fire's warm glow, was bluish against her wind bitten face and neck. Her clothes stuck to her and revealed her slight form, which he was amazed provided any protection for her at all. She was so frale.

He quickly rose to search the cabin, looking for any clothes. After pulling out every drawer in the cabin, he found quite an abundance of things: Jarred food, dusty canteens of water, lighters, weapons, and a multitude of other items. None of them clothing. He did, however, find a cabinet filled with a couple of blankets, which he quickly grabbed and brought over next to Serah.

"These aren't going to do you any good in those clothes though. You should dry them next to the fire." Noel stood above her still shaking frame, her hair and clothes soaking the torn carpet beneath her. She looked up at him and nodded. Noel quickly turned and walked away, not wanting to make her uncomfortable. As he looked though more containers, he heard the sound of her clothes fall to the floor, a blush running to his cheeks as he tried to move this thoughts from her. Noel, she has a fiancé, get over yourself. He couldn't believe how easy it was for just the thought of her to make him almost completely loose his self-control.

"Noel, you really should change too, otherwise you'll never be able to get warm." Her voice came from close by, and he turned around carefully to find her standing back a couple feet, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders and secured in front of her with both hands. He adverted his eyes from her body, focusing on her face, which seemed to already be losing its red and pale color and was returning to normal. Thank the goddess.

"It's alright, just use the other blankets to wrap around yourself. I'll be fine." Serah's selflessness had really been rubbing off on him, but he knew he was likely to grow ill staying in his wet clothes.

She rolled her eyes and quickly went to pick up the larger of the last two blankets, then coming back to hand it to him. "Don't be stupid. I would never allow that." She then quickly turned around and returned to the fire, spreading out the last blanket over the floor. She sat facing the fire, giving him his privacy.

Serah carefully laid out her shirt, pants, and undergarments close to the fire, trying to distract herself. It wasn't like her to get this nervous, she had been naked in a room with Snow before, so it wasn't like she was totally innocent… But for some reason she couldn't stop fidgeting as she heard Noel remove his jacket and pants. She closed her eyes to clear her mind, letting the fire's heat wash over her.

Had she really grown that distant from Snow since he left?

She heard the shuffling of Noel's feet as he made his way over to the fire. She opened her eyes just as he was laying out his clothes next to hers.

"How about a bottle of water?" He asked as he set down his shirt. "I found a bunch of canteens when looking around." He smiled over at her, his shoulders wrapped in the blanket she handed him. His muscular shoulders were defined against his sides, which was usually hidden by his loose clothes. She could deny that he was attractive.

She smiled, feeling a little better, but still somewhat uncomfortable in only a blanket around Noel. "Sounds amazing."

He rose and went over to some cabinets, pulling out two silver canteens. He walk back over to the fire and sat down awkwardly, trying to keep his blanket wrapped around him. She had to stifle a laugh.

He looked over at her after he finally got settled, laughing a little. "It's not a very big blanket." She laughed a little too. He then held out a canteen to her and they both unscrewed the caps, eager to finally quench their thirst. She put her lips to hers eagerly, tipping back the canteen to drink without stopping, but as she took her first swallow, she quickly pulled away and coughed wildly, just at the same time as Noel. The liquid burned the whole way down, like fire.

"Goddess! I should have known. Vodka." Noel took another swig and cringed. He then looked over at her, shrugging. "It's better than nothing, I suppose."

She laughed. "I've never actually had alcohol before." She took another sip herself, forcing herself to swallow. "This is really horrible. But it warms me up, which is nice."

Noel knocked back a couple more sips, only slightly cringing with each swallow. "We use to make our own whiskey for celebrations, Ciaus and I. It was really hard to get the right ingredients though, so we didn't do it very often. Though I have had a little too much once, it makes you kind of disoriented and sleepy."

Serah raised an eyebrow. "Disoriented? How so?"

"Kind of dizzy, and you feel like you can't ever be hurt, that you can do anything and succeed. The next morning, however, I was sick for hours. Horrible side effects." He laughed, and they both drank a couple more sips. A warm buzz spread though her body, and she felt her nervousness ease a little.

"Ciaus use to tell me stories of back in more populated days on how people use to do crazy things when they drink, like get on top of tables and sing and go home with people they don't know. Though it never happened to him personally so who knows if that's true or not." He smilled, but then the smile slipped from his face as he got lost in thought. "How different the relationship between Ciaus and I use to be. We could talk about anything. He even told me how he once love another besides Yewl for a short time. Hard to believe." He took a long drink from his canteen, not even flinching.

Serah carefully laid a hand on his arm, wanting to comfort him but not knowing how. "I'm sorry Noel. Don't think about it too much. Ciaus is not the same person that he use to be." She took another drink from the bottle, a small buzzing sensation starting at the front of her head. She wasn't use to the feeling, but kind of liked the way the vodka made her feel. She felt free from the burdens she had been dealing with so long: Lightning, Ciaus… Snow. She slowly removed her hand from Noel's arm, her fingers tingling slightly. She took a long drink from her canteen.

Noel just shook his head. "Let's not dwell on sad subjects! Lets move on to happier ones. Like you and Snow! Engaged and everything. How long have you guys been together? How far have you guys… gone?" He raised an eyebrow, a devious smile on his face.

Serah laughed at his expression. "We've been together for a while, though I don't see him very often, he's a busy guy. And we have…" She blushed a little, taking another long sip. "Done things, but we have never had sex. He wants to wait till we get married, it's a tradition in his family." She took another sip, the last of her nervousness releasing, letting the alcohol consumer her worries.

"You've never had sex?" Noel's face showed true shock, and he turn towards her slightly. "Ever?"

"I didn't say that!" She giggled slightly, looking away. "I have, Snow isn't the only guy I've been with." Quickly she turned to tables, looking back at Noel. "Not like you have had sex ever, though!"

Noel laughed in amusement. "Yes, I have."

"What! Impossible. You were the last of your kind in your world, and Yewl was the only girl and she was a… child."

"Yewl? She was like my sister! I'm talking about since I've been time traveling. I might have… saw someone while we were in Serendipity." He took another sip, still chuckling.

"I was wondering where you went when I was at the chocobo races!" She chuckled, tipping back the canteen with no restraints at this point. "Those girls that ran that place were extraordinarily pretty. And I'm sure not a lot of hot guys come through Serendipity often."

"You think I'm hot?" Noel looked over to her casually, smiling slightly.

"That's what you got from that? Seriously? Of course, what girl wouldn't think that! I won't deny it either." Laughter seemed to be bubbling up from inside her, her embarrassment blocked by a warm feeling that seemed to start at her brain and work its way through her body. It felt amazing.

"You are so totally drunk!" He chuckled, taking another large sip from his canteen. "Can't say that I'm not though, I'm through more than half of this canteen." He shook the container, the liquid sloshing a little on to the floor.

Both of them laughed hard in unison, and she grabbed her stomach through her blanket in laughter. She leaned her head against his shoulder slightly, trying to catch her breath in between giggles.

As he laughed loudly at his drunken stupor and tried to mop up his spill with the blanket beneath him, she lightly laid her head against his shoulder, trying to breath in between her laughs. His shoulder seemed to spark fire where her cheek laid against it, and he automatically leaned in to her touch. She let her head rest against him, and their laughter slowly bubbled back to small sips on their canteens. They stared into the flames in front of them, and he let the vodkas warmth overtake him.

"This is the best I have felt in a very long time." He turned toward her more, his blanketed leg just touching hers. "I feel like all of my burdens have been released. Ciaus, being the last of my race, trying to solve all these paradoxes, I just needed a break, this kind of break."

Her head nodded against him, and she scooted closer in order to lay her head on his shoulder more easily. Their arms were now touching each other, a fire hotter than the one in front of him racing up the right side of his body.

"I feel the same way, though some of our burdens are a tad different."

Noel looked down at her resting head. "Oh?"

She turned her head to look up at him. "I just… well of course Ciaus and the Paradoxes are big factors. But lately Snow has turned into one too. I just hardly ever see him anymore. I feel like…" She frowned slightly. "I feel like I'm falling out of love with him sometimes. I'm losing touch with our relationship."

He raised a hand without thinking, caressing her almost dry hair out of her eyes and down the side of her cheek. He didn't know what to say, or maybe just couldn't think of anything this drunk. But he wanted to comfort her, wanted her to never have to be sad or lonely.

"Is this bad to say?" She looked into his eyes, looking for an answer he didn't know. Yes, they were engaged, but he had done that as a split second decision, and in return she had said yes in the same manner.

"No, it's not bad." And in that moment he had an urge that was bad. But in that moment, with the heat of alcohol coursing through his vains and this fantastic woman laying against him and all of the rest of the world centuries away, it couldn't be bad. It couldn't possibly be bad. He slowly caressed her upturned face, his hand trailing down the side of her check to her chin, then down to her neck. He cupped the crook of her neck right below her ear, look down at her face which showed no hint of fear, and leaned down to kiss her slightly parted lips. She didn't even hesitate, and caressed his lips with hers.

And the intensity grows...