What madness is this? Another chapter within a week, and it's the longest chapter yet?! Told you I enjoy writing wholesomeness. Full disclosure, this chapter is a bit…spicy. Hopefully I'll still keep my T rating.

Chapter 14: Intimate

Rosalina was the first to wake up. At first she was still drowsy, but eventually she realized where she was and who she was with.

'W-w-w-we slept together?!' And promptly began to panic.

'Ok Rosalina, calm down. Collect your thoughts. Yesterday, I realized that Zion's life had been in danger due to my oversight, and I…broke down…' her former panic all but forgotten, she took a moment to look at Zions sleeping face. She then focused and remembered everything that happened and was said between them before they slept.

'I could have lost him. This wonderful man would have been gone from the universe…and I'd never see him again…'

Rosalina lowered her gaze from his face to where her head was currently laying. 'Oh my,' She had seen it before, many times in fact, but being this close to Zions chest at the moment reminded her of two facts.

One: He was definitely a soldier at heart. The time he's spent with her at the observatory has done nothing to affect him in terms of physical appearance. He clearly took care of himself, regardless of his handicap.

Two: He was an attractive man, while she was a woman who was definitely attracted to said man.

She gingerly placed her hand on his bare chest, and took a deep breath to calm her nerves. 'I shouldn't be doing this right now, I'd rather he be awake and…and what?' She wondered to herself. At this point she started thinking of her life together with Zion. Everything they'd done up to this point had been a wonderful experience. The question she had at this point was simple: What's next?

She wasn't oblivious to the more "adult" aspects of a relationship, but was she ready for that step? 'I'm not ready to go that far yet, but…I…do want more.' She quietly rose from the bed and headed to her dresser. 'I should still have that notebook in here somewhere…ah ha, there it is.' She tore out a page from the notebook, which conveniently also held a pen, and wrote something down. 'There, that should do it.' She turned back to look at Zion's still sleeping form. Daringly, she quickly changed within the room. Part of her almost hoped he'd wake up and see her. However it wasn't meant to be as he slept through it.

She walked back to the bed and placed the note on her pillow. She then kissed Zion on the forehead. "Sleep well, my darling," she left the room with a smile on her face.

When Zion woke up later in the morning, Rosalina had already risen and had left the bedroom. While slightly disappointed, he did notice a small note was left behind on Rosalina's pillow. He wasted no time in grabbing and reading the note.

Thank you for being by my side. I can't recall the last time I slept so well. I think I can afford to sleep more often as long as you're beside me.

Love,

Rosalina

Zion smiled, 'Why is it that such a simple act like a love note brings me so much joy?' He thought to himself, "Hehe, well, better get up and seize the day."

After suiting up, Zion grabbed his suitcase and went to find Rosalina. She wasn't difficult to find, as she was talking to a group of three lumas near the kitchen entrance. He waited at a distance until the three lumas dispersed, then called out.

"Hey Rosalina, you have a free minute?"

She turned to him with a smile, strode up to him, and gave him a long, lengthy kiss. After they parted, Zion could feel the smile widening on his face, which in turn caused Rosalina to smile in satisfaction, "I always have time for you Zion."

"So with everything that happened last night, you might have missed what I said I came home with," he said while patting the suitcase.

Rosalina looked down with curiosity, "I apologize, but you are correct. I don't recall the remainder of your story once you told me about Leventhan."

Zion chuckled, "No worries, but what I have here are the spoils of war." He opened up the suitcase revealing the scale and horn that once belonged to the terrifying beast.

Rosalina looked stunned, "Is that a scale and horn from Leventhan?"

"Sure is, I cut the horns off during combat and my allies retrieved it after the fight. Not sure how they managed to get one of the scales, but hey, they might be useful. They make nice trophies if nothing else."

Rosalina put a hand on her cheek, 'There's that cute little thinking pose she does.' Zion thought to himself.

"Unfortunately, I can't think of any use for them at the moment. Perhaps we can store them in the engine room or library for now."

"Ok, I'll go with the engine room. The lumas tend to avoid going in there so they should be safe."

"I agree with your decision. Once you're done storing them, would you like to join me for breakfast?" Rosalina asked with a smile, already knowing the answer.

"I would love to, my dear princess," Zion said while bowing in an over the top fashion.

The following day, Zion noticed the golden fire flower had completely regrown and regained its luster. As such, he spent the next two weeks testing out his weaponry at different power levels to see what he could get away with. Turns out, he could get away with quite a lot.

"As long as the power output of the weapons is under 75 percent, it doesn't appear to have any substantial drain" he said out loud to himself. He was currently standing alone in the garage area looking over the suits diagnostics. "Once I go over 75 it starts to wear on the flower. Plus, if I add my suits own power source for a full throttle attack like I did against Leventhan then it drains the whole thing in an instant. That said, it still runs out of time eventually, regardless of how much energy I use. Depending on how much I push it…I could fight anywhere between five minutes to about an hour."

He looked down at the orb that housed the now glowing flower. It was an odd container. As long as the orb that housed the flower was shut after removing the flower, another would grow and take its place within a day. It would then be fully charged within another day or two. Even Rosalina was perplexed by the anomaly.

"I've seen such orbs containing items before, but they've never created an item by itself."

That was what she told Zion. He wasn't sure if he'd ever figure out how this orb magically created more flowers, but as long as it worked, he wouldn't complain.

"Are you still testing your weapons Zion?"

Zion turned to see Rosalina hovering down to the ground to see him. He stored the orb in a small storage section of his suit. It was meant to store things like MRE's, but for now only the orb was kept there.

"Hey Rosalina. Nah, I'm all done for now. How about you, need a hand with anything?" Has asked.

She walked over to him, and hugged him while kissing his cheek. "Do I need a reason to see my boyfriend?" She asked coyly.

He responded in mind, "Why of COURSE not my dear, you can visit me WHENEVER you so desire." They both laughed at their antics as they separated.

"Since you're done, care to join me in the kitchen for dinner?"

Having lost track of the time, Zion looked shocked, "It's already that late? How long was I out here for?"

"Four hours and forty seven minutes," Rosalina said matter of factly.

Zion still looked shocked, "You kept track of that?!"

Rosalina lifted a hand to cover her mischievous smile. After a few seconds, Zion caught on.

"Oh you little lying troublemaker." Rosalina laughed at his response.

"Please forgive me, I couldn't help myself when I saw your reaction," she was still trying not to laugh.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," Zion said, but even he couldn't help but smile at her antics.

"Joking aside, it IS about time for dinner. I was thinking afterwards I might refresh myself," she turned around, not directly facing Zion, but turning her head so he would hear her, "and get a good night's sleep tonight." He could clearly pick up her flirtatious tone.

'The tone in her voice is as attractive as always.' Zion thought to himself.

"Well then, my dear," he walked beside her and grabbed her hand, "Lead the way."

Many months had passed since the battle with Leventhan. True to her word, Rosalina had been sleeping more often, as long as Zion slept by her side. She was averaging two to three times weekly. During this time, the couple continued to bond, their emotions becoming more attuned to each other. Their nightly sleep sessions were usually accompanied by Rosalina requesting to "snuggle" beforehand. Much to Zion's surprise, there were also nights where Rosalina was more…active.

Zion was lying in bed reading a book from the library. It involved a legendary, powerful Irish hero with a spear. It got very graphical at points, and involved some crazy, nonsensical moments. Pretty decent book in his opinion.

He turned his head as he saw Rosalina entering from the bathroom, she was wearing a light green nightgown similar to the others. She did, however, have a serious look on her face.

"Everything alright Rosalina?" He asked.

She took a deep breath before walking over to the bed. However, she surprised him by not getting into the bed, but rather floating onto the bed so that she was positioned above him on her hands and knees, her face close to his with a very noticeable blush. Zion didn't utter a word.

Rosalina quickly closed the gap and kissed Zion passionately. "Zion," Rosalina said while continuing to blush, "I want…"

"..."

"...to…make out…" she was practically a tomato with how red she got.

'Well, I didn't expect this,' Zion thought to himself, 'I've always let her set the pace of our relationship, and I won't stop her now. That said…'

Zion reached up with his right hand, stroked the side of her face, getting her to look at him. He then reached back and brushed it through her hair, and when she let her guard down…

He pulled her head close to him and delivered a hot kiss of his own, which she eagerly returned 'I've got to surprise her every now and then'.

They had nights like that every now and then. They both enjoyed the closeness they felt both emotionally, and physically. That said, they hadn't progressed much further than that. The closest they had gotten was pressing against each other during their heated make-out sessions.

Zion could imagine what she looked like underneath her dresses, but having been so close, he had a good idea. He would never push Rosalina into doing anything sexual, but damn it if that didn't stop his libido from making his mind wander. And how could it not with her sharply figure, beautiful curves, and-

"Breathe Zion, breathe." He said out loud to himself. Calming his thoughts. Today, he was in the library, quietly tinkering with something they found in a box tucked away in the engine room. Once he collected his thoughts, he chuckled aloud.

"Man, who would have thought we had something like you hidden in there," he said as he rubbed his hands along the wood texture of a vintage phonograph. "And in such a decent condition too. Other than a good cleaning it just needed some screws tightened, and a band to help support the horn." He resumed his work with renewed vigor.

…

He was putting on the finishing touches when he heard a knock on the door.

"Come on in, babe!" He called out absentmindedly. He heard the door open and footsteps that slowly approached him. "I think I got it working again, we just need a record or two to test it." He turned around and saw his beloved Rosalina already holding two records she must have found. She was also smiling with a light pink tinting her cheeks. Zion was quick to notice as he stood up, leaving the phonograph on the table. "Everything good?" He asked.

Rosalina held the records close to her chest. "I'm okay. I wasn't expecting to feel this way over something so simple."

"Feeling what way over what so simple?" He asked.

She smiled and looked at him, "That was the first time you called me 'babe'."

Zion thought for a moment…'I did say that didn't I. I wasn't really paying attention, I just said it without thinking. But she doesn't appear to be upset with it…'

"Are you okay with that? I can find something else if-"

"No no, I do like it." Rosalina interrupted, "But please only use it when it's just the two of us. I fear the lumas wouldn't understand and would just get confused."

"Of course, anything for you…babe." He said putting some extra emphasis on the word.

She smiled, "Thank you, darling." She loved calling him that. "On a different note, do you know what today is?"

Zion thought for a second, "I'll be honest Rosalina, I have no idea. It's hard to tell what day it is out in space. I haven't even found a calendar here; and my suit calendar utilizes my universe's Solar Stargate Calendar which is useless here. Plus, unlike you, I can't tell what day it is based on star placement."

Rosalina paused, he was completely right, 'Well, so much for the subtle plan, time for the direct plan.' She took a deep breath. "As of today, you have been in this universe for an entire year."

Zion blinked, "A whole year huh?...Can you wait here for a minute, I have an idea."

"Umm…okay?" She said curiously. Zion gave her a quick kiss before running out of the library.

Rosalina waited silently, wondering what Zion was up to, but trusting in him. It took a few minutes for him to return.

"Sorry about that, I'm back. So, it looks like you're found some records. Care to give them a shot?" It was obvious that he didn't want to talk about what he ran out and did. Rosalina decided to just go with it.

"Yes, two in fact. However, the labels are both very damaged and hard to read. I can see the words 'Big Band' written on this one though."

Zion nodded, "Alright, let's try that one first." After handing him the record, Rosalina watched as he loaded it into the phonograph. He began to fiddle with different parts of it, when eventually she heard the music begin to play. It was a nice smooth, slow song, one that someone could easily sway to. Zion stood up and bowed to Rosalina with his hand reaching out "May I have this dance milady?"

She smiled at his gesture, and took his hand, "It would be my honor good sir."

They held each other as one would expect from a ballroom dance, and began to "dance" around the library. While they could both admit that their dancing was shoddy at best, it did nothing to detract from their enjoyment.

Eventually the next song would play, which was more upbeat and swing. They picked up the pace of their dancing to match the pace of music, laughing and smiling the whole time. When the song ended, they both took a moment to catch their breath.

"Should we keep going, try the other side, or try the other record?" Zion asked.

Rosalina took a deep breath, "Let's try the other one. Hopefully it's a little slower, I need a break after the last song."

"Alright, let me switch this out, crank this bad boy, aaaaand here we go."

The song started with wind instruments, before the strings quickly joined. Due to the timing, they could both tell it was a waltz. Joining back together, they began to dance in time with the waltz. Being a simple dance, the two of them quickly found their rhythm as they danced together. The song wasn't long, but the instruments that were playing changed throughout as the song repeated, keeping it fresh to listen to. The smiles on their faces were easily matched by their eyes, enjoying this moment to the fullest. They would both later admit the song fit the observatory perfectly.

Sadly, the song had to end eventually, but neither parted when the record reached its end. Instead, they both stared into each other's eyes, before closing the gap with a soft, yet lengthy, kiss. When they broke apart, they could each see the love and care they held for their partner in their eyes. The silence was broken by Rosalina.

"That was…wow…"

"Yeah…ready for dinner? I went out earlier and checked what we had in the kitchen. We have a beautiful salmon available. Something light we can have together," Zion proposed.

"I would love that very much," she gave him another kiss, "I love you Zion."

He returned by giving her a kiss as well, "I love you too Rosalina."

When they got to the kitchen, Rosalina was immediately surprised by the fact that the table had been set up to look ornate, along with faux candles and good silverware. There were two lumas floating above the table.

"You two did a great job," Zion said, "and on such short notice two. I'll definitely give you both extra star bits later.

"Yay!"

"Thank you knight!"

The two luma cheered. Rosalina looked to Zion in awe, "You planned this?"

He smiled, clearly proud of himself, "I knew we had the stuff lying around. All I had to do was ask these two to help and leave them some instructions on how to do it."

"The meal should be ready soon mama, Zion said he had to do the finishing touches himself." One of the luma said, floating up to her.

Zion walked over towards the oven, while Rosalina held the two luma, giving them both a hug.

"Thank you both for helping Zion, you've made Mama very happy." Rosalina said as the lumas squeaked in delight. When she let go the two of them began to leave.

"We'll make sure no one bothers you both. Knight promised us extra star bits if we did so."

As she watched them leave, she turned her head as she heard movement. She saw Zion holding her chair out for her.

Rosalina felt like she was being pampered, "My knight clearly needs no lessons in chivalry," she said as she took her seat.

"No he does not," Zion said as he moved her seat to the table, then kissed the top of her head. "I'll be back in just a minute."

A couple minutes passed by, and Rosalina was eager to see how everything turned out.

"Alright, here we are," Zion entered with two plates. "We have salmon with a lemon butter sauce, rice, and a vegetable medley. Even managed to find a nice bottle of chardonnay for us."

Rosalina couldn't even remember the last time she had wine, but if there was ever such an occasion to indulge, it was now. "That sounds lovely, thank you so much for putting all this together. I'm truly grateful to have such a wonderful man as my boyfriend."

Zion opened the bottle and began pouring some into each of their glasses, "The pleasure is all mine, believe me. After all, if it wasn't for you, I'd most likely have died stranded in the Space Junk Galaxy. You deserve every good thing I could possibly do for you." He finished pouring and held up his glass, "Here's to you Rosalina, for saving me, protecting this universe, and being the greatest girlfriend this knight could ever hope to have."

Rosalina wasn't about to let him be the only one singing praises, "Here's to you Zion, for making sure the lumas are safe, protecting me, and…making me a better person." She honestly believed every word she said. Their glasses lightly clinked as they toasted.

The dinner had been wonderful. They ate, talked, and both had more than their fair share of wine. Rosalina was certain she had gotten a little tipsy. What she wasn't certain of was whether the wine was the cause of her current predicament.

She was currently in the bathroom getting changed. With her she had two nightgowns: one a simple light black, the other a seductive red. She could practically picture the little angel and devil Rosalina representing her inner thoughts.

Devil: You should wear the red one. Not like it matters, you'll be taking it off soon anyway!

Angel: No, no, no. While wearing the red one might help get your point across, you don't want to be seen as desperate.

Devil: What's there to be desperate about? We've been together almost a year, it's only natural that we want to ride that man like-

Angel: Must you speak in such a vulgar way?

Devil: You call it vulgar, I call it realistic. Besides, you really want more, don't you?

Angel: …I won't deny that, but I don't want to go too far.

Devil: …fine, we won't go all the way. However, we are wearing the red one. Deal?

Angel:...deal.

"Red it is," Rosalina said with determination, while folding up the other nightgown.

Zion was already in bed, prosthetic leg removed, but was sitting up. 'Thankfully, I've long since "mastered" the art of moving around on the bed with only a leg and a half,' he thought joking to himself. 'Man, it's been awhile since I drank a good bottle of wine. Feels like my alcohol tolerance is still good, too.' He stretched his arms by reaching straight into the air. "Lucky me I guess." He heard the bathroom door open, "Ready for bed Ro-" his sentence was forever lost when he looked over to Rosalina who was wearing a deep red nightgown that just barely made it to her thighs. The red of the nightgown was almost matched by each of their faces upon seeing each other.

Rosalina steeled herself. She knew what she wanted, and what she had to do to get it…but it was just so embarrassing to her. She strode up to Zion, and like she had a few times in the past, straddled him while she sat up.

Zion was now able to get a much clearer view of her outfit. The dark red nightgown was opaque around her chest, but everything below that was partially transparent, allowing Zion's eyes to see her waist and undergarments.

"Rosalina?" Was all he could get out.

"...I want you to feel something. In doing so you'll feel…something else…but I'm certain that you'll understand," she gently grabbed his human hand, and brought it just slightly off from the center of her chest, her cheeks flushing as she did so. 'You understand…don't you Zion?' She thought to herself.

Zion took a moment. His hand's proximity to her breast was obvious, but that clearly wasn't the primary thing she wanted him to feel. 'Breathe Zion, breathe. Focus on her.'

Neither moved from their position…

…

He felt it.

…

"Your heartbeat," he broke the silence, "I can feel your heart beating like crazy."

She let go of his hand, which fell back to his side, and leaned forward, cupping his face in the process, "My heart beats like this for you, and only you. Only you are able to make me feel this way." She kissed him slowly and passionately. "While I may not be ready for…everything…I want more…"

Zion could pick up the undertones from her voice. As always, he would let her set the pace, "What do you want more of?" He made sure to ask so he sounded serious, but he already knew the answer, he just needed to hear it.

Rosalina leaned forward, and with as much desire as she could muster, whispered a single word into his right ear, "Intimacy."

I'll be upfront, while this chapter came out a bit spicier than I initially intended, I like how it came out. Now I face a conundrum: do I want to write a lemon for this story? Part of me wants to see if I can use it to capture the emotions and feelings I'm looking for, but the other part of me is lazy, saying it won't affect the overall story. Reason being, if I do write it, then it will be separate from the story and be a stand-alone, as I would like to keep the T rating I currently have. Curious to hear options and thoughts.