We spent weeks simply eating, sleeping and fucking. It was almost unquenchable; the desire to mate. I had never been so horny in my life.

And hot too. God, was it hot. We turned off the heat, to where we could see our breaths, and still, we were hot.

Clothes became unnecessary, as did bathing. The less we bathed, the more enticing we became to each other. With each passing day, we drifted further away from being civilized, and more like animals.

It was bliss. I wouldn't have traded it for anything in the world. I'd never been so in love, or so happy in my entire life. Something had to go wrong, because everything was just too damn good.

And then one day, reality smacked me in the face.

I was lying on bed alone. Kage had left hours ago for a drink, and I had stayed behind to sleep off the exhaustion from our last bout of mating. I was deep in one of those wonderful sleeps that you don't ever want to end.

Suddenly, blinding light came in through the window.

I gasped, and rolled off the bed. I had to fight off disorientation as the ship began to shake.

I couldn't get good footing. Things were falling from the shelves, and I had no idea what was happening.

I scrambled out into the hall. By then, the entire ship was tilting in one direction. But that could not be, unless there was gravity, or–

"Are we landing?!" I yelled over the shuttering and the clanging of the ship.

"Sure are," Kage replied from a room away. "Hold on tight!"

"You could have warned me before-" An empty bottle fell of the counter and shattered over my head. I closed my eyes, and held on as best I could.

The ship tossed and turned, and felt as though it was merely seconds away from shaking apart. We got past the atmosphere, and the air was ripped out of my lungs. My ears screamed at me as the pressure increased, and then finally subsided as the ship scrapped against the ground, and then came to a halt.

I opened my eyes. My body was shaking, as if it had just had a near death experience.

I quickly stood up and raced to the bedroom to throw on some clothes. When I returned, Kage was pulling on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt.

"Why did we land?" I asked, walking over to him.

He turned to answer, but stopped short. "You're bleeding,"

I whipped a hand across my forehead, and examined the smear of blood. I let out a hissing sound.

Kage left the room and returned with some gauze and a towel.

"I don't think it's that bad," I said as he pressed the towel to my forehead.

"You can never tell with head injuries," He explained. "Sometimes they bleed a little. Most times, they bleed a lot."

A few minutes later, he pulled the towel away. It was soaked with blood. He grabbed the back of my head, and pressed the towel to it harder. He led me to the couch and had me sit with my head up.

A little while later, it stopped. He wrapped up my head, and I looked like one of those war vets from the movies that got half their face blown off.

"There. You're alright." He stepped away and whipped off the blood onto his pants. He sure didn't mind being dirty. "I'm going out. You came come if you want."

"Where are we?"

"Sector 13." He began pulling his socks and shoes.

I blinked. "Where?"

"Sector 13. The red-light galaxy."

I began pulling on my shoes as well, curiosity overwhelming me. "Why are we here?"

"Don't worry about it." He stood up. "Come on. I'll buy you a drink."

I followed him out onto a planet so alive; I might have had its own heart beat. There were people everywhere; creatures I had never seen before. There were bright lights, and music, and everyone seemed to be in good mood. It was the space version of Vegas.

Kage handed me something like a bracelet.

"Put this around your wrist."

"Why?"

"It's an ID band. It proves that you're 19."

I cocked an eyebrow and put it around my wrist. I wondered if I looked nineteen.

We walked around in what seemed like an aimless pattern, but Kage seemed to know where he was going. We passed several strange looking aliens; a few could have passed as humans, if they didn't walk on all fours and growl at each other.

I was looking around at all there was to see, but Kage seemed uninterested. He laced his hands behind his head and looked as though he was just going to buy a newspaper or something.

A street performer spit fire in my direction, and I became totally engrossed in his act. He took four ping-pong balls and put them in his mouth. Then he began spitting them in the air, and catching them in his mouth one at a time; juggling them. I clapped along with the audience.

"Don't mean to ruin your fun, love, but we have a few things to do." Kage said in my ear, and picking me up, carrying me off over his shoulder. The street performer swallowed a sword, hilt and all, and then spit it back up. I couldn't believe Kage didn't think that was amazing.

He carried me to a crosswalk, and then set me down. I continued to look over my shoulder until he pushed me into the street to walk along with the crowd.

A woman with dark hair came up beside me and matched our stride. "Hello," She said in a flirtatious tone. "What are you two doing here?"

"On business," Kage replied coolly. He didn't even look at her. I became distracted by her huge, double D –

"What kind of business?"

"The kind that pays." Kage said and then glanced at her a smiled. I had to stop myself from frowning. Surely, he was flirting with her. Not while I was right there.

"What a coincidence; so am I." She said this while licking her lips.

"Good for you," I said rudely. "Aren't you loosing business while you're talking to us?"

She glared at me. "And who is this? Your son?"

Kage light up a cigarette casually as we reached the other side of the street. "Lover, actually." He exhaled a cloud of smoke.

She gave me a strange look. "How old are you? Like ten?"

"How old are you? Like fifty? I bet those fake boobs are older then he is, you whore!"

She gave me the finger and strutted off back across the street, looking really cheap as she did so. The traffic began moving once she got half-way out, and a car almost ran into her. She slammed her fist onto the hood and began yelling at the driver. We moved along.

"Slut," I muttered to myself. Who the hell did she think she is? Moving in on my –

"A little jealous, are we?" Kage asked, and offered me his cigarette. He was always doing that, as if it were the same as sharing an ice cream cone.

I declined. "I am not jealous. She was a slut."

"But you were fine with her before she started talking to me. You sure were interested in her chest."

I snorted. "Whatever."

We reached a restaurant that looked like the ones in Japan. That was good, because I was starving. I had a craving for pot stickers and Mongolian beef. If they had those, I'd be in heaven, and I could forget all about that woman.

Inside was a much different story, though. There were men everywhere, talking in hushed voices, and crowded together in tight circles around tables full of what looked like cards. It smelled like cigarettes and alcohol. There were several scantily clad women drifting from table to table, serving drinks.

Kage tapped a woman on the shoulder. "Is Chewy here?"

She looked at him, and then nodded at me. "Who's the kid?"

"He's with me."

"Don't let him out of your sight," She warned.

Kage nodded. "Yes, ma'am. Is Chewy here?"

"He'll be back in an hour. Willing to wait?" She got real close to him, her hand inches from actually touching him. I think I would have punched her if she had touched him.

"Yeah, we'll wait." He grabbed my hand and pulled me away from her. "Send us a waitress. I promised the kid a drink." He said over his shoulder.

I wasn't in the mood for drinking. I felt like I had to constantly have my guard up around these people. The women kept staring at us; particularly at Kage. I guess they found him attractive. Well, I did too, but they didn't really know him. I felt like they didn't have the right to be attracted to him.

Since he had stopped doing drugs, he had gained some weight. He didn't look like a starved animal anymore. He looked good. He looked like someone who you think you might have seen in a movie before; not someone that passed you on the street.

In the hour we spent waiting for the Chewy guy, Kage finished off three bottles of scotch, a few martinis, and a lot of Brandy. He was smashed out of his mind. He kept touching me, and pouring more alcohol into my drink, even though it was practically overflowing.

He threw his arms around me and kissed down my neck. "You are so beautiful, did you know that?" he asked, "A work of art."

I turned my head away. He smelled terrible. "Yeah, thanks."

"I'm sleeping with fucking art," He exclaimed, and finished off his drink. "How about another martini, love?" He asked the waitress as she walked by.

She giggled and I glared at both of them. I didn't like it when he called other people 'love'.

"And a round for everyone here!" He cried, and everyone cheered.

I hoped he had money to pay for all this, because I was flat broke.

After a while, the woman from the front informed us that Chewy was in, and he was in the other room. She led us there, Kage stumbling after me.

We went into a room with neon lights everywhere, and lots of fur covered furniture. People were having sex everywhere. It was like a porno, but real life.

The woman walked right past the huge orgy and took us to anther room off to the side. A man stood near the bar, talking to two other guys. They where all huge, but the one in the middle was the biggest; I assumed that he was Chewy.

"Chewy!" Kage cried suddenly, and waved. "My man!"

The biggest man turned around and stared at us. It was obvious that he had no idea who Kage was. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, sir, you can!" Kage said, and stumbled over to him. I stood back near the door, trying not to listen to the orgy in the other room. "Okay, dude, check this out," Kage began.

"Who are you?" Chewy asked in a perfectly civilized, calm voice.

"It doesn't matter right now." Kage replied. "Check this out. I want to buy some stuff from you,"

"Some stuff?" Chewy inquired, his expression becoming very businesslike. "What kind of stuff are you interested in, my friend?"

Kage burst out laughing. "You're hilarious! But we gotta be quiet, because the kid," He paused and then moved closer to the big man to whisper in his ear. When Kage was drunk, though, he had no idea how loud he was talking; so I heard every word. "The kid thinks I'm clean."

I was three seconds away from loosing it. He was such a fucking liar! He promised me that he was done with drugs; that he wasn't going to start up again, no matter what.

I ripped off the ID bracelet he gave me and tossed it to the ground. Then I turned to leave.

This was bullshit. This just showed how untrustworthy everyone is. No one actually cares for anyone but themselves any way.

It was fine, though. If he didn't care about me, then I didn't care about him.

I went back through the bar and went outside, leaving him to take care of the bills. I was the getting the hell out of here.

I walked down the street slowly, expecting him to come racing after me and try and win me back.

But… he didn't.

That hurt. More then I expected it to. Surly, he had seen me leave; but he had to interest to chase after me?

After another few minutes, I just decided to fuck all of it and ditch him.

I began to run. I didn't know where anything was, but it made little difference. It wasn't like I had anywhere to be anyway.

I tried to get into a bar, but without the bracelet, no one would let me in. I settled for sitting on the curb, wallowing in my own misery.

I should have just stayed at home. I should have just dealt with all the shit life gave me, and kept on moving. But no; I chose to go on an 'adventure'. I chose to be rebellious. Now I was fucked, and there was nothing anyone could do.

People walked by, but most of them paid no attention to me. Some asked me for change, but I honestly didn't have any.

"You having a rough night, sweetie?" A hooker asked me. She looked a lot less cheap then the one from earlier; and her chest was a plausible size as well.

"Yeah," I replied with a sigh.

"Me too." She said with a nod and sat down next to me. She smelled like cigarettes, and it reminded me of Kage. I felt like crying. "What happened to you?" She asked.

I sighed again. "A lot of things."

"I hear ya, sweetie." She offered me a cigarette. I declined. "So what's a sweetheart like you doing in a place like this?"

I shrugged. "Accident, I guess."

"You got a ride home?"

I thought about it, and then shook my head.

"Well, get one. You don't want to stay here, darling."

"How come?" I asked absently.

"Because this isn't the kind of place anyone wants to stay in. No one should have to grow up here." She finished off her cigarette, and then rose as a car pulled up and the window rolled down. "I gotta go to work. Good luck."

I waved and then felt even more sorry for myself as she got into the car and left. If hookers felt bad for me, I had to be in bad shape.

I stayed on the curb a while longer, until I got tired of the people asking me for dates. Then I moved along.

It was almost morning. I was exhausted. I fell asleep on top of a roof. It was cold and uncomfortable, but I didn't care.

After a while, I was jarred awake. I opened my eyes and experienced that moment between sleeping and wakefulness in which you can't remember who or where you are.

"Are you alright?"

It was Kage.

I shoved him off me. "I'm fine," I spat as I began to remember why I fell asleep on top of a building.

"You're sure? I'm been looking for you all night."

I scoffed. "I don't believe that."

He knew I was pissed. And he knew why. "Okay, look. About last night. I had a momentary relapse in judgment, that's all."

He was coming down from a recent high. I hated him for it.

"Relapse in judgment, huh?" I asked sarcastically, crossing my arms.

He nodded. "I couldn't take it any more. I can't go without drugs, Aizel, I just can't. I can't sleep. I can't think straight. It's like…" He paused, and I suddenly realized he was completely serious. "It's like being trapped inside a maze in my own head."

I wouldn't look at him. His eyes were watery and bloodshot from the probable hangover. He began running the backs of his fingers over my arm; ghost touches.

"I love you," he said quietly. He kissed my cheek tenderly.

I didn't respond.

He laid his head down over my lap, his arms around my waist. "I'm sorry." He tried again.

I sighed deeply. "I don't know how this is going to work."

"How what's going to work?" He asked after a moment.

"This thing we have. Either you love me, or you don't. Which is it?"

He sat back up quickly. "I love you; you know I love you."

I shook my head. "This is not about what I know or don't know. If you love me, then you're going to have to get your shit together. You have to be more responsible. You could die. Seriously. Like, you could die today."

His eyes narrowed. "Well, maybe I don't really want to live anymore."

I cocked my head. "You don't mean that."

"How do you know what I don't mean?"

"Because. If you really meant that, then that means that you don't have anything here worth living for. And I would hope, since you supposedly love me, that I would be worth living for." My voice was a whisper by the end.

He stared a me for a moment, and then got to his feet. He turned back towards me. "Come on, love. Let's get out of here. We've got the rest of our lives ahead of us."