Oh, BTW, please feed the bard.

Love The Way You Love Me

By Paully_A

I slowly stretch and wiggle myself free from her embrace. Even though Apollo himself is still enjoying Morpheus' comfort, I get up, preparing myself to practice my drills. I know I should practice away from the camp if I want to complete my drills but I want to be here when she wakes up. My heart and my body have already begun their arguments with my head as I pull my sword from my sheath. I try to practice for a quarter candlemark, but it is no use. My body and heart have won the battle this day. I place my sword back in its scabbard as I look down on the source of my distraction.

She is extraordinary beautiful when she sleeps. It's not that her beauty lessens when she is awake, but her beauty takes on a different quality when she is slumbering. She looks so innocence, like a cherub, when she is sleeping. But when her eyes opens, the innocence is gone, replaced by a wisdom that far outpaces her age.

A smile spreads across my face as I remember the young peasant girl who refused to leave my side, despite her fear and my reputation. Somehow, though many times of both joy and pain, the young girl matured into the Queen of my heart. Somehow, through all the pain and turmoil that had entered in our lives, she managed to hold on to both wisdom and innocence.

I sit and watch as the sun's first rays dance upon her honey gold hair. Even after all these years, she is still not a morning person; even though she is much better than she use to be. When we first travel together, it was sheer torture for both of us; she did not want to wake up until mid-morning. Now, Apollo just has to caress her face and she will stir and stretch, and after a half a candlemark or so, she will pull herself from under the furs and begin the new day.

I love to see her when she first wakes up. All her baby fat disappeared some time ago and was replaced by muscle. She is not skinny but firm and compact. Her size is perfect, she is small enough that opponents underestimate her; a mistake they pay for dearly. But more importantly, her body fits perfectly with mine, as if we were made for each other.

It was a year ago when I finally admitted my feelings to her. For so long I feared that she would run away if she knew the truth. Then, after I thought I had lost her forever, I realized that life was too short and I couldn't hide my feeling no more. The shock I felt when she told me that she felt the same way!

How could someone like her love me? I still ask myself that question; even though she has asked me to stop putting her on a pedestal. We both have our own demons, our doubts and fears, and yet we still compliment each other completely. Where I'm weak, she is strong; and when she is fragile, I'm her champion.

I get distracted from my train of thought as she stretches. No matter how many times I've seen this, my body, mind and heart loses it. I can't think or breath; the only thing I want to do, the only thing I can do is to crawl to her side and touch her. Sometimes I gently caress her face; at other times I embrace her. But this morning, I just want to hold her hand.

As I take her hand, she opens her eyes and I can feel myself drowning in the radiant green sea before me. As I feel myself go under, she smiles, becoming a beacon that leads me to a safe harbor away form the rocky cliffs of my life. Her voice is sweeter than a siren's song as she speaks to me, "A dinar for your thoughts."

I had it all planned out. I knew exactly what I was going to say, but my mind is totally blank. At this very moment, I wished I had one of her many skills; the ability to draw pictures with words for everyone to see. How do I tell her everything that she means to me? Do I tell her that she fills all my quiet thoughts? How do I tell her that she is the air that I breath? Will she laugh if

I tell her that the million of things that I love to like about her come down to just one thing--that one thing being that I could never live without her?

I swallow hard as I reach for our saddlebag. I pull out a small pouch. Her forehead crinkles up as she wonders what I am doing. I pause, trying to gather my thoughts. I smile as the words in my heart finally reach to my lips--

I like the feel on you name on my lips

I like the feel of you sweet gentle kiss

The way your fingers run though my hair

and how your scent lingers even when you're not there

I like the way your eyes dance when you laugh

and how you enjoy your long and hot baths

The way you convinced me to dance in the rain

with every Amazon watching us like we were insane

But most of all

I love the way you love me

Strong and wild, slow and easy

Heart and Soul, so completely

It's the way you make me feel

It's the only thing that's real

It's the way you understand

You're my lover and my friend

When I look into your eyes

It's the way I feel inside

the person I want to be

You are all I ever need

I force my self to look away from her eyes, fearing that the tears I see coming from them will cause mine to gush forward. I pull out a silver pendant and chain from the pouch with my shaking hands. The pendant is a very small version of my chakram. Inside the chakram are a quill and a sai which cross each other forming an X. "Gabrielle, please accept this as a token of my undying love. Will you do me the honor of bonding with me?"

She lowers her eyes. All my fears invade my mind; she doesn't feel the same; she realizes she could do better; she doesn't love me. I wish I could disappear; find a dark hole and crawl into it. I almost didn't hear her when she finally spoke.

"Yes."

"What?"

She smiles as she rescues me once more. "I said yes."

I look into her eyes, needing to see if there was any trace of doubt in them. Seeing none, I exhale the breath I was holding. "What took you so long to answer?"

She chuckles. "After the eloquent way you proposed, I was trying to find an equally eloquent way to say yes; but I couldn't. You left me speechless." Her hand reaches up and runs through my hair. "But since I couldn't find an eloquent way to telling you yes, maybe I can find an eloquent way to show you." With that, my soulmate, bard, Queen and future wife delivered a kiss that left me speechless.

But that was alright, because all the words that needed to be said were already spoken.

THE END

Written and ©Copyrighted by: Paully Adams

January 20, 2002

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