Parents strolled along the sculpted paths of Macross Park, while their children played hide and go seek between the trees.  People fed the ducks and the swans in the ponds or tossed coins in the fountains hoping for luck.

It was one of those idyllic summer days, with a few cotton-candy clouds lightly sprinkled amongst the blue sky that, that one could easily forget the ‘sky’ was actually a hologram created inside of a giant battle fortress, the SDF-1.

Claudia Grant and Roy Fokker walked together silently, each lost in thought, and each wondering how to bridge the chasm that had come between them.

For Claudia, that chasm was almost insurmountable. 

For the millionth time, she berated herself for having thought that she would be the exception, rather than the rule. War might make allies out of old enemies, but it played hell with the human heart.

After their disastrous last date, Claudia began to realize that Roy’s tardiness was more than likely due to a change of heart—that he too questioned the sanity of pursuing a deeper relationship,

It was a feeling that she could sympathize with.

The truth was that Claudia was scared.  As much as she hated to admit it, Roy had come to mean far more to her than just a boyfriend.  Every time he took to the vastness of space, defending humankind from the Zentraedi war machine, she wondered whether he would survive.  Her heart slammed in her throat with each sortie.  Though she was proud of him, it also maddened her at the reckless way he seemed to risk his life, but she knew him well enough to know that he wouldn’t have it any other way.

The best thing either could hope for was a casual affair, one that didn’t involve the heart.

Easier said than done, since Claudia’s heart was already too far gone.

******************************************************************

Roy had no idea how to break the chilled silence.  Small talk had no place here and might be viewed as intrusive.  Still, walking next to her gave him time to take in her beauty, and perhaps, if he played his cards right, she might even consent to hold his hand.

The sun played gently upon her warm brown features, almost lighting her up from within.  Her lips, pursed in thought, tempted him with their full softness.  He would give anything to have those lips turn towards him in a smile of forgiveness.

Nor could he keep his mind on her smile.  The way she swung her hips as she walked.  The low-cut blouse she wore didn’t help matters much, nor did the A-line skirt that showed off her long slender legs.  Those thighs had been wrapped around his waist just a few nights ago, and the searing image of her body beneath him made him want to strip her naked and keep her that way.

Permanently.

He’d been practically in love with her from the first, though she completely ignored his attempts at flirtation.  It was obvious that his reputation as the consummate playboy put her off.  It was what people expected from him, and he’d always felt the adulation of those around him was his due for putting his life on the line constantly.  But Claudia saw through the façade, stripping him bare of every artifice.  His carefully crafted arrogance completely evaporated around her.

He was far more comfortable around Claudia than he was around most of the other people who knew him, including Rick.  She made him laugh, and made him feel things that no other woman did. 

She paused in front of the fountain, turned her face towards the shimmering spray.  The sight of her upturned face being kissed by the tiny droplets took his breath away.  It was a gesture full of innocent pleasure and sensual invitation.

She walked towards a bench and sat down.  Roy followed suit, mindful of not sitting too close.

The fountain’s antics had lulled Roy into a state of dreamy somnolence in which he envisioned her holding erotic court in his bed.

“We can just be, well, friends who just happen to sleep with each other on occasion.” It took less than a split second to understand the context of what she was saying, and it hit him with all the mental force of the SDF-1’s primary weapon.

“I mean, we can help to relieve each other’s tension, right?”  Claudia’s heart was beating faster than the wings of the hummingbird she fixed her eyes on.  She looked anywhere, everywhere, just not at Roy.

For his entire cavalier attitude, Roy was rendered almost speechless. Her statement was so dismissive of what he truly felt for her, and for what he knew she felt for him.  “I don’t want sex from you, Claudia,” he replied with matter-of-fact coldness.  “I can get that anywhere.”

Roy reached out, placing both hands on her shoulders, forcing her to meet his intense gaze.  He kept himself from trembling from the overwhelming need to kiss her senseless. 

Claudia saw and felt the heart rending tenderness of his stare, and shame for the past moments’ words welled within her.  She returned that gaze with longing, loving him more right now than she ever had.  Still, fear dotted her words.

“I know,” she whispered, her voice steady, but moisture brimmed in her sea-blue eyes.  “But we just don’t seem to have the time for anything else.  As it is, we have to grab whatever human connections this life allows us to have.”

“And you think that our only connection would be purely sexual.” He could barely get the words to form on his lips, so distasteful was the concept.  “That all we can be are fuck-buddies.”

Claudia didn’t flinch from the snarled epithet.  Inwardly, her heart sank.  Her sigh was a weary one.  “That’s all it can be, Roy.”

“What is it you’re really scared of, Claudia?”

“What the hell do you think I’m scared of?” She tried to turn away from him, but his hands on her shoulders only tightened further.  “Every time you get in that Veritech and take off, my heart goes with you.  We lose guys up there all the time, but I feel so much better when it’s not you.  Those guys who are killed up there have just as much a right to be mourned, but all I can be thankful for is that it wasn’t you!  I just don’t think I can take the pain if ever a time comes when it may be you!”

It was an admission that threatened to bring tears to his own eyes.  His voice ragged, Roy pulled her towards him, her head resting on his chest.  “And you think my pain would be less if I were to lose you,” he demanded, forcing her to look at him.  “Just because you’re in a massive battle fortress doesn’t make you any less a target.  In case you haven’t noticed.”

“It just seems there’s no time.”

“Then we’ll just have to make time, won’t we?”

Roy’s lips came down on Claudia’s, touching gently at first, then as her slender body melted against his, with more force. It was a kiss that neither could deny, nor hide their emotions behind, for it stripped them raw and left them truly revealed to one another.

He broke the kiss, but only to caress her face with his lips, to bathe the silky dark skin with the heat of his breath.

“I love you, Claudia Grant.  Maybe I haven’t been very good about showing it, but I do.  You’re not just some way to get my rocks off.  It’s either everything, or nothing.”

Claudia’s heart leaped, threatening to leave her body.  She realized if all the two of them could have was even a small measure of happiness, that small measure would do far more to sustain them than none at all.

Tears rained down her face, as Roy kissed away each one, tasting the salt and the emotion contain within.  “I love you too,” she whispered, smiling through the tears, “Even when you’re late.”

******************************************************************

Their passion was intense, yet slow. From smoldering embers to supernaturally heightened senses, they took each past the edge of reason

Still, the moment had been perfect, and he didn’t want to leave this paradise, not yet.  Right now, his thoughts lay with the woman he’d just shared not only his body with, but also his soul and his spirit.

“Claudia?”

She stirred, but her eyes remained closed.  A serene smile formed upon her lips.  Lips that had done some wicked things to his body less than an hour ago.

His thoughts were introspective as he spoke, “I always wondered who would mourn for me should I lose my life out there.  I know Rick would, and some others, but I never knew anyone who truly loved me, until now.”  Roy kissed the top of her head, her curls tickling his face.  “I do love you, very much.”

She stirred again, this time laying a light kiss on his shoulder.  “Of course you do,” she replied sleepily but content.  “I love you too.”

The outside world could wait.  But love in such trying times could not, and Roy swore to himself that he would not waste another moment.

There was indeed, just enough time for love.