With Eyes Open

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Filia sighed and leaned into Xellos' kiss, and he embraced her, but didn't deepen the kiss, keeping it as tender as the new feelings toward her that he had suddenly discovered.  When their kiss finally broke off, Filia traced a slightly shaking hand down Xell's face.

"It's real..." she whispered, "it's not a dream..."

He smiled and chuckled.  "Have you been dreaming about me, Fi-chan?"

Filia blushed and looked away.

"I think you have been!" Xell chuckled again, and there was a faintly triumphant note in his voice.  He shifted one arm around her, bringing it up around her neck and turning her head so she was looking at him.

"Tell me about your dreams."

She gazed into his eyes, caught in their amethyst pools.

"My dream?" she repeated, "In my dream, nameless things threaten me, but somehowyou can see them even though no one else can.  You hold me and protectme from them, and I don't have to be scared of you anymore so..."she leanedforward and kissed him without letting her eyes leave his, "I kiss you andlet you hold me the way I've always secretly wanted."

Xellos blinked and her gaze dropped from his, her cheeks stained with blush.

"Nothing will EVER harm you, Fi-chan, I can promise you that." he said, holding her tightly, "If they try, I'll rip them into tiny bits for you."

Filia giggled and Xell mock-scowled at her.

"I'm serious!" he insisted, "No one will hurt you ever again!  I love you too much to let them."

Filia gasped in shock, and this time it was Xell's turn to look away.  He'd said too much...he hadn't meant to, it had just slipped out...of all the secrets to let slip...  He focused on the floor and let his arms drop from around her, feeling a strange pain in his chest and something stinging in his eyes.

"Go...gomen nasai," he whispered brokenly, "I shouldn't have said that..."

Filia felt something wet drop onto her arm and was wakened out of her shock.

"Oh Xell..." she said softly, stroking her hand down his cheek and wiping away gently the tears which should never have existed, "You didn't say anything wrong..."  She snuggled against him, laying her head on his chest, "I just never expected to hear those words from you...it was more than I thought I could ever hope for!  Oh Xell, fear not, I love you too."  She hugged him tight and he laid his head down on top of hers and slowly puthis arms around her again.

"You do?"

"I do." she confirmed, and kissed his chest.



They stayed like that for awhile, just holding each other and letting these new feelings sink in.  Something occurred to Filia .

"This is going to get you in trouble, isn't it?" she said.

"Probably." Xell admitted.  He gently kissed the top of her head, "I suspect the Gold Elders will be less-than-pleased with your actions as well."

Filia snorted, and Xell looked at her in surprise.

"I am beginning to doubt many of the things they've told me." she said, "They are not so great, nor so stainless as they would like to believe."

Xellos cupped hr chin in his hand and tilted her face up to look at him.  "You're serious!" he muttered in surprise.

"You couldn't tell?"

"In this strange place I am no more adept at sensing emotions than a human." he admitted.  He chortled.  "I'm not able to sense the emotions of others, but I've managed to finally see my own.  Rather ironic, isn't it?"

Filia smiled.  "In a strange way, I'm almost grateful to Valgaav.  If it hadn't been for his interference, we never would have found our true feelings."  She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a secondto collect her courage, then looked at him very seriously.  "Xellos,"she whispered, "I...I want to be yours...would you...?"

Xell, in answer to her unspoken question, kissed her deeply.  "I would do anything." he asserted, "Even marry you."  He looked seriously at her.  "I don't want to just possess you, I want to have more than that between us."

Filia smiled and held her palm to his cheek.  "Love is not about possession," she told him, "love is about sharing and giving freely between two people.  I want to give you the greatest gift I have, and that is myself."

Xellos smiled gently, the expression looking oddly right on his face.  "Then, in return, will you accept me?" he asked, a little hesitantly.

When she nodded, he kissed her hungrily.

"I swear to you, by any and all gods, that I am yours for the rest of eternity." he whispered to her.

"And I..." Filia gasped as he kissed her neck, then continued, "I swear to you, by any and all gods, that I am yours for all eternity from this moment onwards."

"Oh my wonderful Filia..." Xellos sighed , "For so long you have been my desire..."



Some time later, mindful of the cold, Filia reached down to pull Xell's cloak up over him,then reached out to lay the altar cloth over him as well, tucking it downbeneath her.

Xellos kissed her neck softly.  "So considerate of you." he murmured.

He rolled carefully off her, turning carefully as he did so that no air slipped into their warm cocoon.  Filia sighed softly and snuggled against him.

"It's kinda cold out." she said.

"I had noticed that." Xell agreed.

"Well, you know, the best way to keep warm if you can't build a fire is by sharing body heat."  She grinned.  "We seem to have created quite a bit of that." she pointed out.

"Indeed." Xell smiled.  Filia tried to suppress a yawn, and he kissed her forehead.  "We've both had a busy day, we should probably get some sleep."

"Mmmhmm..."Filia mumbled sleepily into his chest as her eyes drifted shut.

Xellos watched her for a minute or two, simply absorbing the moment, then he too fell asleep.



They slept the whole night through, comfortable in each other's embrace,and when dawn began to peek in through the snow-shrouded windows, Filia woke.  She was still a little cold, so she snuggled closer to Xellos, waking him as she did so.

"Mmmm..." he mumbled, "Must have warmed up."

He pulled the blanket back a little and Filia started shivering violently.

"What do you think you're DOING you crazy Mazoku, it's FREEZING!"

Xell's eyes widened as he realized he could sense Filia's annoyance.

"It's back!" he said, hugging her tight, "My astral sense is back! That means I can get us out of here!"

With a big grin on his face, Xell teleported the two of them back to her bedroomat the inn where they had stayed the day before...a day which seemed impossiblylong ago now, a part of a whole other life!

Filia laughed as she saw that he'd teleported their clothes directly from their previous positions, so that they were strewn all over the room.

"You know, I could get very used to waking up to this sight." she said, stroking his face.

"Well, that's a good thing, because I plan on spending every night going tosleep to this sight." he said.  He kissed her deeply and grinned.  "I have something for you." he said, pulling a small box out of thin air, "Marry me?"

He flicked open the box and Filia's jaw dropped.  She looked searchingly at him and smiled at what she saw.

"Yes."

He kissed her deeply as he slipped the ring onto her finger, and they proceeded to celebrate in the manner of engaged couples everywhere.





Ending Theme:

Hopelessly Addicted by The Corrs

Opened my eyes today
And I knew there's something different
Saw you in a brand new way
Like the clouds had somehow lifted
And if yesterday I heard
Myself saying these words
I would swear it was a lie

I don't know why but suddenly I'm falling
Was I so blind
I was loving you all the time
Now I'm hopelessly addicted
Helplessly attracted

I'll make a wish this day
And I'll send it to the heavens
That we will always stay
Entwined like this forever
And though the world May change
Coz nothing stays the same
I know we will survive

I don't know why but suddenly I'm falling
Was I so blind
I was loving you all the time
Now I'm hopelessly addicted
Naturally we acted.

I don't know why but suddenly I'm falling
I was so blind
I was loving you all the time
Now I'm hopelessly addicted
Helplessly attracted
Chemically reacted

I was loving you all the time
Hopelssly addicted
Helplessly attracted
Chemically reacted
Naturally we acted