Epilogue: Sinful Man

*"Gun boy, don't you dare move."

"Serena, I…" But she was not to be deterred.

"Quatre let me bring you home on one condition: absolute bed rest for at least one week. And this is only day five, so you've still got a lot of time to sit there." She followed up. Hiiro inwardly sighed. Serena had been running herself ragged working on the farm and taking care of him, and he wasn't going to put up with it any longer. But if he got up, she would be angry, and laws knew he didn't want that to happen.

"Serena, would you help me with something?" He finally asked.

"Of course. What is it you need?" She asked sweetly, if not a little tiredly. But if it meant he was finally going to begin to accept her helping him, it was worth it.

"Come here." He commanded. She walked over closer to him, and he snaked his good right arm around her small waist. She gasped, but when he pulled her down onto the bed with him, she said nothing. Finally she spoke.

"I suppose you think this is funny gun boy?"

"I suppose I do." He mocked her. She tried to escape, but he held on tighter. Helplessly, she relaxed beside him on the bed and sighed. Laying her head beneath the crook of his arm, she inhaled his clean scent.

"You know I have chores to do Hiiro."

"You always have chores to do."

"This is a farm Hiiro, time stops for no one here."

"Serena, I haven't been able to speak to you since that night. You need to talk to me." He pleaded with her. She had been so tight lipped about the entire ordeal that he didn't even know how she had escaped the jail cell that was supposed to keep her safe.

"I haven't anything much to say Hiiro. It was a showdown."

"You killed Darien, you saved my life." He told her. She sighed. She had been trying to forget that. Serena wanted to never again think of Darien, the heartless bandit that had ruled her life for so long.

"Hiiro, I have to go back to work…"

"No. You talk." He commanded. She sighed.

"I don't want to think about that night Hiiro. I want to be thankful you're alive, that Wufei wasn't gravely injured, that no one else was hurt."

"If you don't tell me, the guilt will build up inside of you and eat your heart alive Serena."

"Hiiro… I killed him. I really killed him." She sobbed. He wrapped his arms around her.

"I know."

"And I know I did it for you, for everyone else out there who might have to deal with him. But I still killed him. I took a life. Life!"

"Self-defense and protection of others is not frowned upon Serena."

"The fact remains that I murdered a man in cold blood."

"Then grieve for him. But don't keep it all hidden."

"You did."

"I caved eventually."

"Because of me?"

"Because of you. Now answer me something: how did you escape the jail?" She smiled brightly through her tears.

"The spare keys were on the wall next to the jail cell. I just reached out, grabbed them, and unlocked myself." Hiiro had to smirk. No, he had to smile. No, he had to laugh. So he did.

"For all our planning not one of us saw that."

"And it's a good thing too." She nodded.

"Serena, do you realize there was an eight hundred dollar reward for Darien, dead or alive?"

"No!" She gasped.

"And since you finished him, you are by right the one who inherits the money." She lay beside him, stunned.

"What am I to do with eight hundred dollars?"

"Hire more people to fic that damned fence. Then I can see more of you."

"Hire more people." She said, as if distant in thought. He didn't like her trail of thought when her mouth became a frown.

"What's wrong Serena?"

"Hiiro, I hired you."

"Hnn."

"That means you'll be leaving." She finished quietly. Hiiro jerked up. What? He thought about it. She was right. The whole reason he had ever even come to the town was to catch Shields, and then he wanted to learn why they were so secretive, and now… now Shields was dead and he knew their secret. He was a bounty hunter, he was supposed to move on from here, go on to the next bandit, kill him, and get money. He was supposed to.

But suddenly his past lifestyle didn't look so appealing as it once had. He didn't fancy sleeping outdoors on the open plains at night anymore. He didn't look forward to the cold meals of jerky, cornmeal, and water. He didn't look forward to the next hunt, or the next brothel, or the next bounty. He wanted to stay right where he was.

When he had first come he had not liked other people. It seemed they never got on well with him. But now he had three friends in a town that had been willing to help him in a showdown. He had a job working on a beautiful farm with an even more beautiful woman, and he had a home.

He had tried so hard not become attached, not to get used to or settle into this new lifestyle. But now he had. He hadn't only done that; he had fallen in love while at it. And now he was considering leaving her? She couldn't defend herself if bandits showed up to raid the farm! She couldn't plant the crop and then harvest it! She couldn't build a corral, or lift heavy wooden planks, or take care of a whole herd of horses on her own! He needed to be there to help her. He could not leave, not now, not ever.

"No." He spat. She blinked at him.

"No what?"

"I'm not leaving."

"But Hiiro, you're work as a bounty hunter, your life, you'd leave everything behind!"

"For you, yes."

"For me?"

"I can't leave you here alone. I couldn't go on alone. I love you Sere." She looked at him thoroughly, her gaze penetrating his deepest walls.

"I love you too Hiiro. Are you sure this is what you want?"

"Hnn." He smirked. She smiled. His gaze was drawn to her lips. He full, red, slightly parted lips… and he brought his mouth down over hers in a dizzying shower of kisses. She was his, and the very thought made his blood boil. Her soft lips caressed his, and when his tongue sought entrance, she gladly gave in, moaning all the while.

Serena was elated he was staying. She wouldn't have been able to survive without him anymore; all attempts to would have been futile. When his lips met hers, she knew he was going to one day claim her as his forever, and she relished the thought of being so close to him. She moaned as he deepened the kiss, and pressed herself against him, loving the smooth feel of his bare torso against her hands. When they parted, Serena licked her lips and smirked.

"You sinful man." *

THE END

~~~Yeah, I didn't have the heart to kill him off in the end. But I know you all like it this way more anyway, so c'est la vie! Anyway, this was a great fic to write, I really hope you all loved reading it! PLEASE RATE ME: 1, worst, 10, best! I would love to know what you guys think! Much love! –Vixen ~~~