Maches: Ok, guys, this is my very first fanfic, so go easy on me! Pretty please? ^^ Just a oneshot, i think that's the term, and from the Prince's POV. Takes place the night before the Battle with Ahriman, and the Prince and Elika have just 'healed' the Hunter. Enjoy~

Disclaimer: All characters and such are owned by Ubisoft, not me.

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I woke up in the midle of the night...well..actually, I don't know if I really ever got to sleep, but just lying there...trying not to think of everything that had happened, and everything that will happen, was just torture. We had picked a nice grassy spot on a cliff that sat just before the canyon, the citadel behind us. I had seen it just as the sun set, and I clambered us both up ot the top, despite my aches and pains. I wanted to find a perfect spot for the night before our final confrontation.

I was dreading the things that might happen tomorrow...of course, she thought I didn't know. I was always laughing and joking, even in the darkest situations, and she always tells me I need to use my brain more. Maybe she does know that I suspect the worst, and she just won't address it, in fear that I might try to dissuade her. I sighed, playing with the grass between my toes, gazing at the stars as a pair of birds flew elegantly in the night. Birds...first signs of real life since that fateful evening in that Temple.. The moon was huge and crescent shaped, and so incredibly bright, that it may have been one of the reason's I couldn't get much sleep. But looking at it now, it was no wonder that she loved it here. When everything wasn't covered in corruption, it really did look nice, especially with the moon painting everything silver and blue.

Suddenly, I felt something touch my right side, where the Hunter had sliced me the day before, the bandages stained only lightly with blood. I jumped a little, more in surprise than in pain, but she thought she'd hurt me.

"Oh...I'm sorry...." I heard her whisper in apology, withdrawing her hand as I turned back to face her. I smiled, showing her that I was alright. She had always been beautiful..different, too, than those ladies who would flaunt their bodies to all the men, and yet, she was a thousand times more confident then those brothel girls. Her skin was pale in the moonlight, and her feathered hair was streaked with silverblue from the sky. But it was her soft features that brought me in time after time. I would always find myself lost in her eyes whenever I talked to her. Sometimes, she was hard to read, but you could always see the sadness in her eyes, no matter if she was happy or mad.

"You couldn't sleep either?..." I asked, motioning for her to come up beside me. She hesitated only momentarily before stepping forward. I felt her warm touch again, this time on my arm, and I felt that deep, fuzzy feeling in my chest like I do everytime she comes close. It's not like when we're travelling, when we always have to touch hands, or when she has to wrap her arms around my neck, but it was when it was quiet, when it was even just a brush of her hair as she walked by that drove me crazy.

"No...it's the moon, I think. It's very bright...shining in my eyes.." she replied softly, avoiding my gaze.

Right...I'm sure it's got nothing to do with tomorrow. "Yeah, it woke me up too." Two can play at that game.

We stood there solemnly for a while, just looking out in the distance, neither of us daring to mention what would happen in the hours to come. It was moments like these, though, when it was just her and me, looking out to the horizon, that made it all worth it, not that I 'd ever wished to be anywhere else, even if my occasional snide remarks to Elika say differently.

"Here..." she said, breaking the silence, and lifted up my arm. This time, I did flinch, as pain shot through my side, and I felt her place her other warm hand over the wound. Her fingers began glowing light blue, and then that's when I wrapped my hand around her wrist and pushed her away from the bloodied bandages.

"No," I said sternly, and she stared back at me with hurt eyes, and I shook my head. "I'll be fine...save your magic for when you'll need it."

"Please...let me," she insisted, looking far more hurt than before. That look always made me feel bad, mostly because I only saw it when she was very depressed. It made me want to cradle her, to help her push all the bad things away, to protect her...

Defeated, I let go of her hand, and quietly allowed her to finish the job. There was a flash of bright blue light, and the pain that had been lingering dissapated as the strange warm feel of the magic travelled throughout my body, and I sighed with relief.

"See...you're better now," she said, pulling the dressing off, revealing nothing but a little white scar where the wound had been.

"It wasn't me I was worried about," I said as I rested a hand on her shoulder, looking deep into her weathered brown eyes. "Elika, it doesn't take a genious...I can see that it tires you to use that magic." Like it's slowly killing you...

She looked away at this, as if to hide her sudden fatigue, but I could feel her wavering as I held her stable by her shoulder. "Maybe you should lie back down," I suggested, gently squeezing her arm. I tried to comfort her whenever I could, really, I did. Sometimes, I didn't know what to do though, and unfortunately my instincts weren't always exactly on the same level as my humility, if you know what I mean.

"I'm fine," she answered shortly, keeping her gaze away from my own.

"If you say so..." I murmured, holding on to her for a moment longer before letting my hand fall to my side. We stood in silence once more, gazing in the direction of our heading. Man...we sure came far...I smiled, thinking of the time when we'd first met. Elika must've noticed this, for she looked up at me, a questioning look on her face.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing...heh," I chuckled, and shook my head, the memory playing in my mind as if it had been yesterday. "I'm just thinking fo the day we first met...before all of this happened. The look you gave me." I almost snorted. Almost. But I managed to contain my hilarity for the sake of the moment.

"Well, I just wasn't expecting you, that's all," she said, trying to keep her cool too, but smiling nonetheless.

"Aha! So you admit that our meeting was entirely random! Fate, my ass," I joked, as we always did about this. I have to admit though, sometimes, it did feel a little more than...coincidental, let's say, that she turned up when she did. Or vise-versa, whatever it was.

She sighed, and out of the corner of my eye I could see her shake her head, a smile on her beautiful lips. I'm pretty sure she hated it when I poked at this subject, but I couldn't help myself, and it distracted from the many other things that were always going on in that mind of hers.

"I disagree...I don't see how me expecting you has anything to do with the Gods' plans...and if I'm right, you've already lost your ass to fate, so if I were you, I wouldn't be tempting the gods with anyhting else, " she said, laughing as she did so. I laughed too, but she turned to me, so I fell silent. "What was it then that brought you to me? Surely I wouldn't have made it this far if you hadn't shown up..."

"Naw, me?" I glanced at her, my eyebrows raised. " To tell you the truth, I feel like I'm always holding you back...Lumbering around, falling off cliffs..." I sighed exhasperantly, giving her a skeptical look. " I mean, really, if I wasn't here with my trusty gloves, you wouldn't actually let a rosebush get in your way, would you?"

"Well, I meant that, but, I meant more...." she stalled, and that intruigued me...a little. This conversation could now fork into so many different directions. "Well, if you hadn't been here for moral support, I probably would've given up ages ago. You always have a smile on your face, even when you had that corruption in you." She smiled at this, and I smiled back, but I could have sworn I saw a tear sparkle down her face as she turned away to hide it.

"Hey...hey," I said softly, grabbing her arm and gently tugging her towards me, "...why the tears? We're fine, aren't we? And everything will be fine, don't worry," I reassured her, pulling her into a warm embrace. I wasn't sure how she'd react to that, but I needed to let her know that she wasn't alone...and that she couldn't leave me alone either.

To my surprise, I felt her push her head into my chest, which sparked that feeling again, and I rested my chin on the top of her head, breathing in her scent as I held my arms around her. She always smelt so nice. Something I could never get away with after the long hard days in the sun. And not to mention that reeking corruption!

I didn't want to see her cry...stupid Ahriman. Funny, for a lady who's so strong and confident, she always felt so small in my arms. Even on that first day.

"Come on," I piped up, trying to lighten the mood. I kissed her hair lightly, and move my hands to her shoulders, " We'll be ok. you'll see. After you get everyone settled back here, I'll take you places, Elika. The ocean, remember when we talked about that? Remember how much you wanted to see the ocean?"

She did not smile after I said that though, and just looked up into my eyes with a very saddenned stare. My heart ran cold, and I talked quickly, trying to get an answer from her, " We'll still do that, right? I mean, I'll help you bring everyone back, I promise, but you have to promise to come with me to the ocean, alright?" She could probably see the fear in me, but she also thought, or pretended rather, that I was ignorant of whatever danger lurked in tomorrow.

She looked down, and sniffed, before looking back up, a small smile making an appearance. "Alright..."

"See!" I grinned that goofy grin, trying to get her to smile further, " There's that smile I always love. None of this teary stuff." She smiled a little more, and I reached my hand up to her moonlit face and brushed the little droplets from her warm skin with my thumb. I then flicked a flowing lock of auburn hair from her face, and tucked it behind her ear. But as I looked into her deep eyes, I noticed she wasn't smiling anymore..not frowning, but I don't think I had ever seen her look at me like this, and before I knew it, she had wrapped her arms around my torso, leant up on her toes and planted a sweet kiss on my lips.

Wait, what just happened?

I was stunned, obviously, and didn't take the moment for what it was truly worth, as many things were running at high speed through my head right then. Yes, I wanted her, there was no denying that. I had wanted her from the very beginning, but after all our adventures..after getting ot know her, she wouldn't just throw herself at me like that. Even if she was thankful, that would be the absolute last thing she'd do in favor. Which either meant she was unstable and tired, or she had no intention of every seeing me again after tomorrow, both of which frightened me and were probable. Of course I wanted this, but I wanted it for the right reasons...not because she felt guilty, or because she knew it was the last moment we'd have together. She must have felt my hesitation, for she pulled away, confusion in her eyes, and I stared back at her sternly.

She began to turn away, embarrassed, and possibly feeling rejected, which I did not want her to feel at all! " I-I'm sorry...I, um, shouldn't have...done that," she stammered as she made a step away from me, flustered and trying to hide her face.

"Wait," I said feebly, my dazed lips desperately trying to find the right words, and my hand slid down her arm to her dainty fingers, and I squeezed, not wanting to let go. But she stopped in her steps, and stared back at me, which told me that she really did care for me, and that thought was enough to brighten up my day a million times and again.

After a moment which felt like an eternity of both of our eyes locked on eachother's, I pulled her into my body, not forcefully, but she wasn't protesting in any way either. My hands travelled up from her smooth arms and neck, and cupped her face softly, my thumbs stroking her beautiful silvery cheeks, and I gazed deeply into her dark brown eyes, feeling her soft sweet breath against my chin. I inched my face forward so very slowly, our half-lidded eyes still watching eachother, until our lips met. I kissed her gently, as we stood unmoving in the grass on that cliff, the large crescent moon behind us.

I pulled away slowly, feeling her heart beating through her chest against my own, and I whispered so quietly, I wasn't even sure it was audible, "I love you..."

I combed my hands through her silken hair as I leant forward once more, and our lips met again, this time much more passionately. I felt her hands snaking up my chest and over my shoulders, and she ran her fingers through my hair. All this contact, the brushing and stroking of our skin, was just driving me crazy; for so long I had wanted this, and I almost gave up waiting, for I had the strangest feeling for a while that she had no interest in any of this. My hands moved down her body, holding her close to me as we shared the kiss, and she gasped, breaking from my playing mouth, as my hands came to rest just abover her waist.

I stopped my fevered actions for a moment, thinking that I had done something wrong, but she just gazed back into my husky eyes, mirroring my look. She had admitted to me that she'd never had this before...Well-read, that doesn't get you anywhere. And it had been ages since I had a woman touch me like this, with so much love. Boy, I hadn't realized how much I missed it! One of her hands glided away from my neck and to her other shoulder, where she slowly began sliding the white sleeve down her arm. As much as I wanted it, oh and believe me, I wanted it badly, this was not something I thought she should give up just on a whim.

"Elika..." I heard my unusually hoarse voice, and touched her hand with my own, stopping her from pulling the cloth any further, but she quickly pressed and index finger on my lips, shushing me form any further talk. So shush I would.

But, before she could get the fabric past her breast, I moved in again for another feverent kiss, our bodies meshing as my hands slithered down her sides again, recieving the same little shudder of her chest from before. Her lips were so soft, and so sweet, and yet she could play back with my every move, which I admit I didn't expect. I'll give "well-read" a little bit more credit. I could feel her continuing to peel her clothing down as we stayed connected, and before I knew it, I had begun ripping off my clothes as well. Finally, my instincts were in their element. First vest, second vest, belt, scarf, sash, knee braisers...Did I always wear this much clothing!? I'm pretty sure I could have been scribed for the fastest stripping...but who'd want to be known for that?

With all of our garments scattered in the grass around us, we stood naked in the moonlight, sharing that sweet kiss that had only momentarily been broken a few times as we had struggled out of our fabrics and leathers. I broke away in need of air, and rested my forehead against hers, my chest heaving, and looked deeply into her eyes. And I was glad, because for once, I did not see that lingering sadness, nor did I see fear, which was another bonus. I didn't expect this was something unexperienced people to act so fearlessly upon. But then again, this is Elika we're talking about.

With her arms wrapped over my shoulders, I gazed down at her beautiful untouched body, taking in her image thirstily, her dark skin silver in the moonlight. My hands traveled up from her belly - oh, how she was so smooth - and gently passed over her bossom, merritting a quiet moan from her lips. I traced my fingers up her collar bone and to her neck, and then I leant my face in, placing tender kisses from under her ear down her jawline. As I made my way to her throat, I felt her hands brush down my chest and belly, her fingers exploring the scars in my skin, and I took a sudden gasp of air as she stroked my abdomen, just above my manhood.

So, she could tease, too? Well, I was surprised, but not at all dissapointed. That made the game only that much more fun for me.

I took her into my arms, pulling her into my warm body, and lowered her onto the thick bed of grass, holding myself abover her, knowing that I might crush her otherwise. I smiled down to her, before continuing my work, starting at her collarbone. My turn, I thought as I planted kiss after kiss, trailing down ever so slowly to one of her breast, her body almost writhing in anticipation. I could feel her hands on my back again, and in my hair, massaging and urging me to continue, and I was happy to oblige. I pressed my mouth gently to her breast, and brushed her nipple very lightly with my lips, almost in a tormenting way. The effect was instantaneous, and I heard a sound escape her mouth as she pushed her body up at me, obviously tortured by my teasing. I grinned, satisfied with my knack to make even her, one of the most stubborn people I had ever met, shake with pleasure.

I continued to kiss and suckle the sensitive skin, playing her lightly with my toungue, and judging by how she was digging her nails into my back, I'd say I was driving her mad. Her breathing had escalated by now, and my own a little, but I was having maybe a little too much fun with this game.

I moved back up to her beautiful face and our mouths connected once more, and I placed a knee between her legs, which opened surely, almost beggingly, but before I could make another move, her hands had travelled sneakily back down to my abdomen and stroked my manhood, her fingers rubbing gently.

"Elika!" I gasped, partly in surprise, and partly in pleasure, breaking the kiss, and staring at her, stunned. She grinned back, immitating the look I had thought I'd hidden moments before when I had the upperhand. Ok, very well read.

As she continued to work my hardening member, I gasped in ecstacy, finding it increasingly difficult to keep myself from pressing onto her, my arms shaking lightly. I lowered myself and kissed her uncontrolably, and when she finally let go, her hands stroking up my chest and back over my shoulders, I could continue where I had been going, noting I was aching badly now. Oh well, I deserved that, after what I had put her through before.

As we shared that lustful kiss, I put most of my weight on one arm, and my left hand travelled down her sensitive body to her eager hips, where I brushed her abdomen once with my fingers, before lifting her waist. I was now poised, and I wanted to make this as less painful was possible for her.

I slowly pushed in, and felt her tense almost instantly, her neck arching back in pain, our lips coming apart as she did so, groaning through her gritted teeth. I held her hip delicately with my one free hand, and massaged slowly down her leg in attempt to soothe her, and it worked a little, but not enough. I pressed my body against hers, our skin already layered with sweat, and kissed her hot throat, just below her jaw, managing to struggle the arm with my weight on it closer to her, where I gently stroked her neck. Soon, I felt her beginning to ease, her grip on my back loosening, and I thought it safe to continue.

Slowly, I began to rock my hips against hers, gripping her upper-thigh and trying to hold her steady as I began the rythm, breathing on her neck lustfully. A moan escaped her lips as pushed myself deeper with every thrust, and I could feel her hands running down my back, clutching and rubbing the skin as my pace turned more intense, my movements becoming stronger and a little faster.

I heard sound begin to escape my own throat as she forced her waist up, and my grip on her thigh tightened, pulling and pushing her against my own actions. She groaned again, her hands releasing my back and planting on the grass, digging her fingers into the earth as she desperately tried to control herself, and angled her hips more appropriately towards me. I leaned closer down, allowing her to support a bit of my weight, our drenched bodies sliding almost effortlessly against one another with every time I drove into her. Her supple breasts shook lightly as I repeatedly forced myself into her body, and I move a hand up, massaging one as I reached her mouth again for another frenzied kiss, our lips playing between each desperate breath of air.

I pressed on, her involountary moaning, and my own, becoming more frequent as our hot bodies tangled and bucked on the cool blades of grass below us, the moonlight shining on our sweating skin.

Suddenly, I felt her back beginning to arch, pushing her middle up against my own, and the warmth around me tightened. She cried out into the night, her voice even that of an angel's no matter what the situation. After I delivered only a few rather rough thrusts into her peaking body, I would have pulled out before my own climax, but she held onto me, and had wrapped her legs around my hips, denying me to leave her. I gasped, and my voice escaped my lips along with her's, pleasure overwhelming my body as my warm seed spilled into her welcoming body.

After our moment of bliss faded, our bodies collapsed, worn muscles relaxing, our breathing still heavy. I lay my head against her heaving chest for a moment, listening ot her heart beat beautifully. Her fingers travelled up my neck, and stroked my face tenderly, mindlessly tracing the scar along my right cheek as I gazed half-liddedly up at her elegant brown eyes. I closed my eyes, and again breathed in her scent deeply, and wished we could stay like this forever.. our bodies and souls intwined and ignorant of the world around us...wishing that tomorrow might never come.

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So, you like? Hope you did! R+R if you must!