((Takes place the evening after Secret Expression.))

There was nothing more romantic than spending a night on the beach beneath a starlit sky, but before the romance came the many preparations - putting up a tent, building a fire, cooking dinner. There was plenty of laughter during those hours, as they struggled together to get the tent up and roasted hotdogs over an open fire. Laughter, some say, is the best medicine, and though neither of them were ill, they had both suffered their own separate heartache, laughing more in the last few hours since they'd met than either had in weeks. As the sun started to sink in the sky and their first day together began to wane, they sat close together on the beach, quietly enjoying the other's company, his arm around hers as together they watched the sun sink slowly into the sea.

Helena couldn't remember a time when she'd had so much fun without worrying about the consequences. Tommy's philosophy of "live in the now" was just too attractive not to embrace, even if it was only for the duration of his visit. Thankfully Dru hadn't objected to having the house to herself for the night, though Lena was pretty sure she was going to be teased to infinity and beyond the moment her sister got her alone again. But for now, curled up on the beach, tucked under Tommy's arm, she wasn't thinking about that. For the first time in a long time, her mind was quiet as she gazed out at the setting sun. "Thank you," she heard herself say softly, brushing her cheek against his shoulder. "For today."

He tore his gaze from the sunset to look over at the girl tucked up against his shoulder, as easily as if she belonged there. It had been a long time since he'd been this close to a woman, since he'd felt this kind of a connection with anyone, and he didn't really want it to end. "I should be thanking you. I almost ran you over and hit your tree, remember?" he asked as he touched a soft kiss to her temple. There was nowhere he wanted to be at that very moment but here with her.

"Well, my tree kinda hit your van," she shrugged one shoulder, tilting her head back to show him her smile. The gentle affection in the kiss he'd touched to her temple was all kinds of moving, touching her more deeply than she could have predicted. "You did get spat out by the Nexus. She's not gentle." Her hand rubbed against his thigh with the same affection he had shown her, face turning to touch an answering kiss to his jaw even as a thought occurred to her. "Do you sleep out under the stars a lot?"

He still wasn't quite sure what the Nexus was, how it worked, or how he had ended up here. Why him, why here, why now" He had a feeling he'd never find the answer to those questions, no matter how hard he tried. "Not anymore," came his reply. "I forgot how much I miss it," he replied with a frown as he turned back toward the sunset, the sky reflecting against the water in fiery shades of red and orange. "What about you? You said you backpacked in South America. You must like the outdoors."

"I didn't know I did like it until I took a chance," she admitted, lifting her eyes to the fiercely bright burst of light that was the setting sun. "It was kinda hard for a while there - I wasn't used to not getting a shower every day, and sleeping on the ground. I really wasn't used to having complete strangers pressed up against me to stay warm at night." She laughed at the memory of the first time that had happened - she'd woken up the entire camp, screaming that the poor man was trying to rape her. "But once I was used to it' It just felt right, you know" I kinda like the feeling of being all get back to naturey. No one looks down their nose at you when you're all as dirty as each other."

He chuckled at her description, at her attempt to articulate her feelings about the outdoors, which made it sound a lot less than romantic. Of course, it did have its drawbacks. "I never went backpacking like that, but I did hitchhike my way to California once." Only once because once he'd arrived there, it was where he'd stayed. "This place reminds me of home a little. It's prettier though. More peaceful."

"It is beautiful here," she agreed softly, admiring the beach in its little cove, protected by rolling hills. "You know, I've spent the last two years trying to get away from home and find myself, and ....I've learned more about myself right here, today, than I did in all that time. I didn't need to leave to do it. I just needed you to show me."

"Sometimes it takes someone else to show you what you already knew all along," he said, turning back to her, the sunset reflected in his eyes, casting an orange glow to both their faces. "Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?" he asked, completely out of the blue, surprising himself as much as her as his fingers trailed against her cheek, completely captivated with this gentle wildflower who'd accidentally wandered into his life.

Touched by the sudden, unexpected compliment, Lena struggled for a moment to find words to respond with. Blue eyes sparkled suspiciously bright as she swallowed, raising a smile as her hand rose to curl her fingers about his. "I don't think my big brother counts, does he?" she asked, her voice soft and just a little tremulous. She'd been called pretty before, but never beautiful. Never complimented so sincerely by anyone not family. "Tommy ..." His name was a whisper on her lips as she gently squeezed his hand, utterly at a loss as to what she could possibly say to echo the implication in his unexpected question.

As far as he was concerned, it was true. She was beautiful in her own way, and hers was a face he thought he could easily grow accustomed to. The way her cheeks dimpled when she smiled, eyes bright and as blue as the sea, brown hair that framed an almost impish face, pouty lips that were kissably soft. He was growing fond of her face, even only after a day. Were they moving too fast' Maybe, but with only two days left before he had to go home, time was not something they could afford to waste. His gaze settled on the pout of her lips as she whispered his name, heart longing for something more permanent for the first time in years. "Helena," he replied, her name like a prayer against his lips, a plea. He didn't bother to answer her question, but leaned in to touch his lips to hers once again, soft and warm and tender.

The answer to the question that had been plaguing her was there in his kiss. Two days was at once too much and not enough. Too much time with him, letting herself get in deeper and deeper; not enough, when she would have to let him go when they were done. But that was a worry for another day, not this one. Not when he was there, vibrant and alive, passionate about living his life, wanting to teach her to do the same. Her hand fell from his as his lips covered hers, her fingers teasing along the line of his jaw in a gentle caress as she answered his kiss with her own. This was a moment she wanted to live in, to make the most of, here beneath the rising stars, with a man she could so easily love.

For someone who had been nowhere near shy in the water earlier that day where anyone might interrupt them, he felt oddly shy now that they were here, alone with the setting sun and sky and surf, yet he didn't let that shyness hold him back or come between them. Perhaps he was afraid of her getting cold or perhaps he was just feeling vulnerable, his heart as exposed as his body. He smiled as he felt her hands in exploration of his body, unable to remain shy too long at the gentle groping of her hands, realizing she wanted him as much as he wanted her. "Helena," he whispered against her lips as he kissed her again and again, tugging the laces loose at the front of her dress, fingers grazing the soft swell of flesh just barely hidden beneath the gauze of material.

The soft repetition of her name scored deep inside her, touching the raw nerves that vibrated about her loneliness, and for just a moment, she wavered on the edge of tears, moved just by the sound of her own name on his lips. It didn't last long, edged away by the gentle graze of his fingertips against her skin as she felt the laces loosen on her dress, urging her to moan softly into his mouth as her own hands skimmed along the waistband of his jeans. "Tommy," she breathed back to him, trembling as much with delight as with her anticipation, tasting his breath on her lips with a sweet smile. "I want you." I need you.

That was all he needed to hear really, to know that she wanted him as much as he wanted her. "I want you, too, Midge," he whispered back, his voice ragged with longing. There was no point in waiting any longer; he was only postponing the inevitable and prolonging the torment, but what sweet torment it was. He didn't bother to ask for permission any more than he had earlier, a silent agreement between them. He pulled away momentarily, just long enough to loosen his pants before easing her dress up high enough that he could take her for the second time that day and show her without a doubt how much he wanted and needed her.

Whether it was shyness, or just the realization of the impatience to get to the point, she found she had no objection to how little of his skin she could touch and enjoy, no real objection to how little of her own he had at his fingertips. The night was young, and she needed him, almost as much as she needed the air the filled her lungs as he took her once again, moaning his name to the darkening sky as her arms coiled tight about him. There had been other men through the years, other lovers - good boys, bad boys, some very bad choices - but none of them had ever touched her the way he did. This was more than just the satiation of a physical desire, terrifying in its tenderness as they moved together to the crackle of the fire and roaring wash of the waves.

As much as he tried to take his time, it was over far too soon, cresting like the waves he so loved to surf. Making love to her there on the beach with only the surf and sand to bear witness was almost as exhilarating as riding the wildest of waves, together riding that cresting wave as it ebbed and flowed to its gentle end. He, too, had been with other women, but in that moment, they all faded from memory. Though they barely knew each other, she had touched him in ways no one ever had before, and when they were finally through, resting together in each other's arms, heartbeat to heartbeat, he felt such a profound feeling of peace and contentment come over him, it left him breathless and speechless and full of wonder.

Nestled with him, caressed by the heat and light of the fire, watched over by the rising moons as they soared to their accustomed place in the sky, Lena smiled to herself, brushing her lips against his shoulder affectionately. For the second time in her adult life, she felt peaceful, content, at home with her place in the world, that feeling made all the more marvelous by the fact that the first time had been with him in her bed only a few hours before. Above them, the stars shone in a clear sky, offset by the spin of a galaxy discernible even from here by the naked eye. Everything around her was beautiful in a way she'd never realized before now, and it was because of him.

He blanketed her with his body, his head nestled close to hers, his breath soft and warm against her neck, feeling more content than he ever had before in his entire life. It was almost as though she embodied the peace he had been searching for all his life, and despite his desire to live in the moment, he found himself wishing this moment never had to end. "Helena," he called her quietly by her given name, a name as lovely as she was. He had tried to ask her a question earlier that day that she had never really answered. He was afraid to ask again, but he needed to hear her answer. "I don't want this night to end," he said, surprising even himself with the sentiment, admitting for once that he didn't always just live in the present, or maybe that he just didn't want the present to end.

Her face turned toward his, her nose brushing his, lips parted to taste her name on his lips before pressing a slow, gentle kiss there as though to seal it in. The sentiment expressed brought tears to her eyes again, bittersweet in the knowledge that, perfect though this night was, no power in the multiverse could hold time at a standstill. Her fingers trailed up over his back, curling to caress his cheek as they lay there together, wrapped up in one another without any care for the world around them. "I wish it didn't have to," she whispered in soft agreement, daring to open up a little of her raw heart to him with those six words.

"Why does it have to?" he whispered back, seeing the tears in her eyes, reflecting his own sadness at the thought of leaving her. It was silly, he knew. They'd only just met; they hardly knew each other, but that was what was so unfair about it. Two days was not nearly enough, and for the first time in a long time, he found himself thinking about a possible future. "You said I could stay here as long as I wanted and still make it back before tomorrow. Is there a way back, Helena" Is there a way to come back to you?"

"There's always a way," she murmured, but there was a sadness in her that reverberated through each word. She knew she would be able to find the way back if she was in his time and place, but she had no idea if he would be able to make it back to this time in Rhy'Din, even if he somehow found a portal on his end. "I don't know if you could come through a portal from your time on Earth and end up at this time here again, though. You would if you were with me, or anyone from this time here." She bit her lip, letting her head fall back against the blanket with a gentle thump. "I wish I knew a way to guarantee it."

"The same way there are multiple moons around other planets," she offered with half a shrug. "I don't know just how it all works, but there's nothing strange about having two moons in the sky. It's beautiful. Every night they're out, everything is bathed in this gorgeous pale light, and the shadows are duplicated. I'd love to be able to paint it, but I don't think I have the skill to do it justice." She smiled, lying back to look up at the sky, obviously in love with the beauty of the night sky she was so accustomed to.

"Oh, you should paint it," he agreed, curling up beside her and sliding an arm around her to pull her up against him as they both gazed skyward. "Like you painted the surf. All you have to do is add another moon." He turned to face her, admiring her profile bathed in moonlight. "It's beautiful here," he told her, his voice deep but soft, his heart swelling with a yearning not only for this place but for the woman at his side.

She was oblivious to his gaze for a long moment, drinking in the swirling stars above them outlining the two moons that shone in the sky, both of them full and bright. But slowly, she became aware of his eyes on her, her face turning toward his, eyes lifting to meet his gaze with something that could so easily become loving affection hidden deep within the blue depths. She didn't know what to say; no words would come to her lips, silenced by the beauty of the night, and the wonder of the man gazing at her. Her hand rose, gently stroking her knuckles against his cheek tenderly. "I'll come get you," she promised suddenly, knowing she wouldn't rest easy again if she didn't. Quite how she knew was beyond her, but something in him called to something in her, soothing the troubles that plagued her. She didn't want to be without that, not now that she had tasted the peace and freedom he had shown her.

He smiled as she turned her gaze toward him and promised to find him and bring him back. There were things he was going to have to tell her before she could do that. She needed to know where to find him, not only the place but the precise time. He wasn't sure how it all worked, but somehow he trusted her and he believed in her. She might not know it, but as far as he was concerned, she was nothing short of a miracle, and he somehow he knew that, given time, he could love her. He'd never been in love before, but he was already well on his way to falling in love with this miracle of a woman he'd only just met.

Time was never going to be on their side this time around. Two days was never going to be enough. But that two days now carried with it a promise that it would not be the end; that somehow she would come to him after he'd gone, and bring him back to this strange world with its two moons and its strange ways. That somewhere in the not so distant future was the promise that they could live for the moment, together, for the rest of their days. And that was worth waiting for, however long it might take. That would be enough.

((Once again, thank you to Tommy's player!))