A/N

This was written as a challange I recieved awhile ago, to do a fluffy pairing oneshot that didn't involve Raynor or Kerrigan (exactly how one gets true fluff between a sarcastic rebel and a telepathic assassin is beyond me). As such, I settled on something that fit the criteria, within the context of Speed of Darkness. Not romance, but something constituting fluff between Ardo and Melani, and later Ardo and Merdith. Yes, I'm taking a bit of liability in the timing of the second section. Call it artistic licence.

Stargazing

It is said that that innocence is a feature of one's existence that is inevitably lost over time, the accumulation of knowledge steadily replacing the childish notions. Initially one may be under the delusion that the galaxy was a bright and happy place, that all people had the best interests of others at heart, where simply being polite when asking for an item would get you it.

As time went by, such an individual would steadily gain a greater understanding of the universe and later, human civilisation as a whole. They would begin to see that life wasn't an entirely rosy affair, that what was right and wrong was not as clear cut as previously thought, that not all problems could be overcome by determination alone. Innocence, as it turned out, was nothing more than a façade, a lie, to shield children from the grittier aspects of reality. Such was the way on Earth, a trait carried on to the Koprulu Sector two centuries ago. The United Powers League had provided a gritty, if ordered world for the young to emerge into and the Terran Confederacy had followed suit, albeit without the "ordered world" aspect so much.

Bountiful was different.

At first glance people would have thought that the two teenagers lying on the grass outside the township were…well, there wasn't really anything that could feature an alternative explanation to the fact that they appeared to be stargazing. A visitor to the planet would be perplexed at this-true, the night was pleasant and all, Bountiful having a golden summer, its effects extending into the star dotted night, but even so, to have two teenagers simply lie there, doing nothing…surely they had outgrown stargazing long ago.

Perhaps not, all things considered. Physically the two teens were different, the boy having short brown hair, grey eyes and was probably a few weeks overdue for a shave. The girl was his polar opposite, long golden hair, luminescent blue eyes that seemed to reflect Bountiful's cobalt sky and a visage that adolescence had not blemished in any way. It had been stated a few times that only the Lord could have given one of his creations such an appearance…which was odd, considering that His edicts emphasised the virtue of chastity. By giving Melani Bradlaw the appearance she had, He wasn't making things easier for those who worshipped him.

Ardo Melnikov didn't mind. He liked a challenge.

Not that challenges had to be confronted all the time, his stargazing among them. If a visitor to Bountiful had been surprised to see a teenager staring up at the night sky like a small child, "surprised" would be changed to "perplexed" if it was known that said teenager was nineteen years old, his female counterpart only a year younger.

It was their eyes that provided the answer-eyes, both grey and blue, that burned with the light of innocence, starlight not only reflected from the massive bodies of plasma light years away, but being emitted also. On a world such as Bountiful, a world that fitted the concept of utopia so perfectly that Ardo sometimes wondered if there even was an afterlife ("what's the point of going to heaven if you're there already?"), innocence could be maintained long after its usual expiry date.

Ignorance may have been bliss…but innocence did an even better job.

"Do you ever wonder what's up there?" Melani asked suddenly, breaking the hour or so period of silence. Ardo turned his head in surprise;

"Pardon?"

"I asked if you ever wondered what's up there," Melani repeated, turning away from the stars to face the boy next to her. "You spend so much time staring up at the sky, whether it be day or night." She smiled faintly, seeing Ardo's perplexed expression. "Surely there's a reason behind it."

Ardo remained silent for a moment, turning back up to face the stars. Their light bathed his body and soul as he wondered exactly why he looked up at them, why he enjoyed looking up at the sky at all for that matter. It only took a second for the starlight to remind him of the answer.

"I've always looked at the stars," Ardo murmured, his voice leaving Melani not exactly sure whether he was answering her question or simply talking to himself. "It started back when I was a kid, when I used to think if I looked hard enough, I could see God, that the stars were nothing but tears in the fabric of the sky so the light of heaven could shine through."

"And you don't think that now?" Melani asked softly.

Ardo shook his head, still gazing up at the night sky. "I grew out of it," he said softly. "The Lord isn't simply going to appear to me, no matter how hard I look."

"But you still do it," Melani pointed out.

"Of course," said Ardo simply, turning back to face the girl beside him. "Why wouldn't I when the stars are so beautiful?"

Melani remained silent for a few moments, comprehending what she'd heard. Beautiful? Ardo simply looked up at the stars because they were beautiful?

"But there's more to it than that," Ardo continued, turning back to look up at the stars, his expression akin to that of a giddy child. "I can't help but wonder...what's out there?"

"Um, stars?"

"No, beyond that," Ardo snapped. "I mean, what if something else is out there? What is someone out there is wondering what it's like here?"

Melani shrugged. "It's possible I guess." She moved closer to Ardo. "Do you think we'll ever meet them?"

Ardo sighed, rolling over to face the blue eyes that he loved looking at even more than the stars. "I don't know," he said softly. "But it doesn't matter anyway."

"Why?" Melani asked softly, only faintly aware that Ardo was caressing her golden hair.

"Because if it's the Lord's will that we encounter other forms of life of his making, then we'll do so," said Ardo softly. "But our actions on Bountiful…they're are own."

He proved it too, considering that it was at this point that his lips met hers.

Ardo wasn't sure exactly how long the embrace lasted, how long they lay there on the grass together, looking at each other rather than the stars. All he did know was that he was facing eternity…that Bountiful was Utopia, that Melani was the manifestation of love and joy and that nothing could change this. Nothing could take this away from them.

Nothing.

Ardo hated irony.

It was somewhat fitting in a morbid way that irony had been staring him in the face over the last 24 hours as much as death had. Both began at the same time come to think of it. After all, it was ironic that Bunker Complex was called "Scenic" by its residents, the military base and town being, as one of the marines had called it during the initial sweep, "a pimple on the arse of the universe." The death aspect began at that point as well, considering that the zerg had been taking in the sights themselves…well, at least the sights under the town. The end result was that half the platoon had been wiped out.

Since that time he had seen plenty of death and irony, always hand in hand. It was ironic that a nuclear strike had been meant for them as much as the zerg. It was ironic that Staff Sergeant Littlefield had been killed by a Mutalisk while leaving Lieutenant L.Z. "bitchy" Breanne in charge. It was ironic that…Ardo shook his head. He needed another line of thought.

Besides, irony and death had gone hand in hand long before he arrived on Mar Sara. It was sickening really, that he thought that Bountiful would last for him forever, that nothing could separate him and Melani, that while there were creatures elsewhere in the galaxy, they were nothing more than ravenous beasts, a mockery of God's will.

"Or maybe the Lord is just a bastard at times," Ardo thought bitterly, holding a C-14 "Impaler" gauss rifle in one hand and a box of ammunition in the other. Even with CMC-300 armour both the weapon and its projectiles felt like crates of lead. Still, at least he had armour to support him. He wondered how Merdith-…

"Ah, shit!"

…was getting on.

Sighing Ardo turned around, setting his baggage down on the Saran soil…the same soil that Merdith Jernic was sitting on massaging her ankle, gauss rifle by her side. He knelt down beside her.

"That ankle still giving you problems ma'am?" asked Ardo, not really caring what the answer was. It was a simple question, nothing more. It was hard to give someone like Merdith sympathy, all things considered.

"I'll be fine," the woman murmured, flashing a smile at the Marine, one that wasn't returned. "Why?"

Ardo mentally recoiled at the thought of there being anything that prompted concern on a personal level, but managed to retain his composure. "Nothing much. Breanne just wants us back at the Command Centre ASAP."

Merdith said something but Ardo didn't hear nor care, turning his back to busy himself with his gauss rifle. He'd need it after all. The zerg were going to attack, indeed, had already arrived early. A last stand to buy time for Mar Sara's cities to be evacuated. Once, Ardo would have done this for vengeance. His memories…they were still fresh in his mind. The zerg invading Bountiful, a Hydralisk tearing Melani out of his grasp, being forced into the dropship by Confederate marines…

Ardo shook it off. False memories, all of them, or at least corrupted ones. Nothing more than a product of neural resocialization to give him personal motivations to fight the zerg. It was a lie, all of it. A lie that Merdith had revealed, her limited psionic powers being enough to undo the resoc, or at least enough for him to have two conflicting memories. In one, the zerg had invaded Bountiful. In the other…

Marines dragging him away...Melani trying to save him but being forced back…Forced into the interior of the dropship, hit unconscious…All images revealed by what Merdith had done, undoing the process to the best of her ability. Unfortunately, that hadn't accomplished much, given that-…

"They're beautiful, aren't they?"

Ardo stared at her but it wasn't returned, Merdith gazing up at the early morning sky.

"Pardon?" Ardo asked.

"The stars," said Merdith simply, turning her gaze back to the Marine above her. "Haven't you ever looked at the stars, soldier boy?"

Ardo winced, not only due to Merdith's nickname for him. Looking up at the stars…something that he'd done with Melani many times…supposedly at least. Wondering if life was out there…thinking that his innocence could last forever…

"Maybe," Ardo grunted, partly out of an unwillingness to disclose information, partly out of not being entirely sure whether he had looked at the stars, whether he had lain there on the grass with Melani. "Why?"

Merdith remained silent, continuing to gaze upwards at the heavens. Ardo followed her gaze, yet was unable to see the appeal. He'd outgrown his romantic notions what felt like a lifetime ago. All the heavens proved now was that humanity was an infant straying too far from its cradle. As far as Ardo was concerned, he may as well have stayed in it. Forever, if necessary.

"Is that how you feel?" Merdith asked. Ardo blinked. Merdith laughed softly. "Come on soldier boy. I don't have to be a psych to know what you're thinking."

"What, you know that I'm thinking that we're wasting time and that we should get to the Command Centre?" Ardo asked stiffly, tightening his grip on his gauss rifle.

"I know that if you're thinking it."

"But am I thinking it!?" Ardo exclaimed, taking a step forward. "Damn it Merdith, what am I meant to believe!? What you claim the Confederacy implanted in my head, or what you claim to be a false memory!?"

"We've already been through this," murmured Merdith, turning her back to him and picking up her gauss rifle.

"Then why bring it up?"

"Who said I brought it up?" Merdith asked, remaining calm of the surface, yet betraying her unease, not wanting another session of the muzzle of a gauss rifle being pressed against her chin. "I just wanted to look at the stars before-…"

"SHUT UP!!"

Merdith gazed in confusion as Ardo threw his rifle down and sat, no, landed on the ground with a heavy 'clang', courtesy of his armour. He sat there silently for a few moments, gazing at the ground, as if trying to shield himself from the starlight and that of Mar Sara's twin moons.

"I used to look at the stars," he said eventually, his voice raspy. "With Melani." He looked up at Merdith. "And now, thanks to you, I don't even know if those experiences were real."

Merdith remained silent, hanging her head in what Ardo supposed was shame. Ardo sighed. This was all wrong. She'd done what she'd asked him to; opened Pandora's Box. Made him more human.

"But you've helped me," Ardo continued. "And for that I'm grateful."

"Grateful?" Merdith asked, kneeling down beside him. "Since when were you grateful for learning that your entire life could be a lie?"

"But I've gained curiosity, a desire to know the answer to this question," Ardo continued, flashing a small smile. "And yes, thanks to the zerg, I'm not going to learn it, but at least I can face them as a human being rather than a Confederate drone." His smile faded, but the warmth was still there. "Thank you."

Both of them remained silent, for reasons that were similar yet different. Both knew that they had to get a move on. Both knew that Breanne would have their hides if they were late. Both knew that there was no escaping from the zerg, and that all they could hope for was to buy lives with their own.

But looking up at the stars, it didn't seem to matter…