Our lips crashed together, feverishly moving against each other, trying to make the most of what little time we had together. His slid his tongue across my bottom lip, pleading to deepen the kiss, I gladly agreed. My hands were knotted in the silky mane of inky blackness that was his hair, pulling him closer to me, desperately in need of him. One of his arms was wrapped around my waist, his hand resting on the curve just above my hip, pressing our bodies against one other. His other palm cradled the back of my head, putting my hair in a state of disarray, not that I particularly cared, I was too absorbed in the kiss to have noticed the world crashing down around us. Which, figuratively speaking, it was.

We were in a war.

No bombs dropped from the sky, there were no weekly food rations for civilians, and there weren't trains of children being evacuated to the countryside. This wasn't a war that was fought with regular means, but it wasn't a regular war. It had begun in the beginning, and would carry on after the end, when all life returned to the nothingness that was there before anything. The war was between Yin and Yang, Good and Evil, Heylin and Xiaolin. And it could never end.

Battles could be won and lost, but the balance would remain, there would be times of darkness and times of light, but never peace. The closest thing we would come to peace was these moments we shared together, when no one could see us deify our destinies, at least for the night. I had learnt to accept this, no matter how much I abhorred it, I still accepted it. My lover however, refused to abide by it; he struggled fruitlessly to cheat the hand that fate had given him. And so I had come tonight to end this.

He clicked his fingers and we had relocated suddenly, from our rendezvous point outside the temple walls to the master bedchamber within his Citadel. The walls were panelled with a dark, glossy wood, the same that his furniture was made of, and the familiar white vaulted ceiling dominated by the large, intricate 17th century French chandelier, that he had told her he had received as a gift from King Louis XIV of France, Louis le Grand. I smiled as I remembered my love still used oil lamps and candles, he had said once with his trademark smirk that modern artificial light was so unromantic and he had traced a line of soft kisses down my jaw.

Now he pushed us back onto the emerald silken bed sheets, landing on top of me. I pushed on his chest gently and we separated our lips, we were both panting from being denied oxygen for such a lengthy period of time.

He took this as an opportunity to remove his shirt –he didn't wear his armour around me, claiming it was too difficult to remove –and after he threw it aside he leant down slowly, returning to my lips. This kiss was gentler, tenderer, than the last –but I stopped him nevertheless, sitting up and pushing against his bare chest, causing him to sit up with me.

"Chase…" I started softly, not entirely sure on how to continue. "We need to stop this. Stop sneaking around everyone's backs to fuck." He frowned at this, not in anger but in sadness.

"You know I hate when you call it that, Kimiko." He returned, seemingly completely ignoring my point. "When you put it like that it sounds meaningless. We make love; we have never simply 'fucked'." He told me, as he lowered his head to my neck and began weaving a line feathery kisses down my neck and across my collar bone.

I wished he wouldn't do this, but he always did, attempting to put me off the topic by seduction. It always worked.

We spent the night pleasuring each other, turning passion into ecstasy, and by the morning we had ruined another valuable, antique bed sheet. It was ripped to tatters by claw marks, and singed in someplace too, but neither of us cared, because right now it was meaningless. It wasn't about the sex though; it was about finding an impossible love inconceivable to others, and making it work.

Sometimes I felt overwhelmed by the entire situation, keeping secrets, sneaking out, and I just felt it was time to end this. But Chase was always there to drag me back to him. I may be incendiary, but Chase, he was incombustible.

"Kimiko?" He said gently as we lay naked, under the bed cover, on the ruined silken sheet. I was snuggled against him, his muscular arm wrapped around me, our fingers entwined, as we stared up at the high ceiling above us. "Yeah?" I replied sleepily, tired from our activities.

"I'm in love with you." He breathed as he craned his neck to kiss the top of my head lightly. He told me that every night, and every night I told him the same thing: 'I'm in love with you too.' but not tonight. "I love you too, Chase." I told him as my vision blurred –I was close to tears. With those words he immediately knew something wasn't as it ought to be. "Darling, what's wrong?" He asked, but the question was hollow. We both knew.

I clutched the undamaged emerald bed cover, grasping it tightly in my hand in an attempt to distract myself. "We can –we can't win this war, Chase." I told him my voice cracking slightly as I tried to hold back a sob, receiving a supporting squeeze of the hand from him. "And we can't be –in love." I couldn't hold it in anymore. I rolled over onto my side and hid my face in his warm, firm chest, resting the palm that had just held his hand onto his abdomen. The hand that had held mine now held my shoulder as it shuddered from my sobbing. He raised his other hand and brought it to hold my chin delicately, pushing it up tenderly to look at his face. Chase smiled sadly at me, his molten gold eyes gleamed with moisture, but I knew he would not cry.

"I cannot make you love me, and I know why you feel conflicted. But Kimiko, it doesn't have to be like this." He told me.

"Chase, you know we can't tell the others, it was your idea not to. You said I would be in danger because people would use me to get to you, and you to get to me." I reminded him.

"I don't mean that. We would be free to love one another if…" He hesitated. "If we were both on the same side …If you joined the Heylin."

"Wha-?" I asked meekly, "You- you know I can't do that." I told him. "I told you when this began, I would never join the side of evil. Don't try to make me."

He sat up, making me fall onto the pillow with a soft thump. "I am not forcing you to do anything Kimiko." He said defensively. "I was just reminding you that there are options open."

"What kind of option is that?!" I questioned indignantly, shooting up into sitting position to confront him. "To swear myself to evil, plot the downfall of my friends and enslave or kill good people?!" I was outraged by the suggestion. I rose from the bed, gathered my clothes from the floor and began to get changed.

"Good people?" He scoffed. "Things are not as black and white as they appear to you Kimiko. I have been around for long enough to learn thi- "

"Oh don't go pulling that pretentious 'I'm super mega old so I am wiser and know better than you' shit again." I interrupted, aggravated by his pompous demeanour.

"It's hardly pretentious. I am older, and I am wiser than you Kimiko, so hold your tongue and listen." He retorted, an irritated edge to his tone. "Things really aren't as easily separated as you might think." I rolled my eyes which clearly annoyed him. "Very mature." He goaded, before commanding me to listen. "Why do the Xiaolin fight the Heylin?"

"Because you want to take over the world, and begin 'one- thousand years of darkness'." I mocked in reply, aggravated by the obvious question. "You're the bad guys." I deadpanned. When I said that he smiled wistfully, perhaps reminded of our situation, before replying solemnly. "And what are you to us, Kimiko?"

I parted my lips, only to realise I had nothing to say in response. Chase had me. Yes, we were the enemy, that was plain to see, but to them… were we the villains? My fears were realised with my lovers next statement; rising from the bed he steps towards me –still bare to the world –Chase took my hands in his, softly stroking the back of my delicate ones with his large, strong fingers. "Heylin, no matter how awful we may seem, have dreams and ambitions the same as any Xiaolin; we may wish for an eternity of darkness, but you wish for an eternity of light." The Prince of Darkness told me, realising my hands and instead tenderly encircling my body with his arms, hugging my shoulders and burying my head into his firm, warm chest. "And I beg you, my love, what is the purpose an everlasting day? A world in which there was no night?" Chase slid one had up my bare back, to the rear of my head, absentmindedly stroking my hair with his thumb.

Speaking in a hushed tone, but still saying every word with crystal clarity, he asked me: "Would it even be day, anymore? Or just the endless blare of an enraged sun upon a desert land? The sun that once guided man out of the caves and into the world, turning upon its own wards and cooking the flesh from even your bones." His voice took a more menacing tone upon those last words, his hot breath tickling the tips of my ears, as if to emphasise his point. I squirmed in his grip, not uncomfortable, just unnerved.

"It's different, Chase." I insisted, placing my palms on his toned pectoral muscles and pushing him slightly to force him to look down into my eyes once more. "We just want peace, not-"

"A thousand years of darkness?" He interrupted with a resigned, weary look about him. "When will you understand that darkness and light, are but two sides of the same coin? Evil is merely word, with false meaning. And good is the same. We are Yin and Yang, Kimiko. Neither is the right or wrong side." I didn't know what to say.

Chase moves his hands to my forearms, gripping them and holding me at arm's length. "This feud –this war- is eternal!" He snaps, before commencing. "So why can't you and I see it through to the end? Together!" I had never seen him like this before, and I would remember how he looked at me then for all my life. His exquisite golden eyes held a passionate ferocity, pleading with me to just join him –stay with him– remain by his side forever. My heart bled.

I truly wanted to be with him, but I had a responsibility to my team and to myself. I was no longer the spoiled little girl I was when I came to the temple, I knew I would be happy with Chase, but I couldn't. It wasn't just about responsibility and guilt, it was… more. As a Xiaolin Dragon, I had been gifted with incredible powers, flames bent to my will. I could bless those who had nothing, envelop them in lifesaving warmth… And just as easily, I could take it away. All fire was governed by me, just as water was by Omi, air was by Raimundo, and Earth was by Clay.

But all power has an equal price. Her life was no longer her own, but belonged to the civilians, her comrades and her enemies. Kimiko was just a weapon.

"Kimiko…" Chase trailed off, the ferocity of in his words now gone, replaced with something more quiet, more desperate. It seemed the immortal was about to continue, but was silenced by a slender finger brought to rest upon his lips. "Chase, I need to go… They'll be wondering where I am." He lowered his head so that our foreheads rested against each other, his golden eyes staring at close range into my own, and his hands snaking up arms and down my back to encircle my waist, pulling me up against him.

"Let them." He whispered, our lips brushing gently together with each syllable. I closed my eyes, and my lover leaned in completely, so that our lips met together in an affectionate embrace. I smiled into the kiss, reminded that this was the side of him that only I saw, the others would never believe it. I pulled away gently, opening my eyes and raising my hand to his face so that my palm cupped his cheek.

We stared into one another's eyes for a timeless moment. Our foreheads still touching, our hot breath mingling in the space between our mouths. I felt like that minute was stretching out into forever, before snapping back like elastic. Then it ended.

I broke away, turning to the last of my clothing on the floor and continued redressing. Chase went back to the canopied bed to collect his clothing. When we were both properly attired, albeit slightly dishevelled, Chase reached out his gloved hand and I accepted it gratefully. I watched his fingers lace with my own, and when I next looked up we were back in my room at the temple.

He brought my hand up to his lips, and with a final chaste kiss upon my knuckles he disappeared from sight. The gentle warmth lingered on my skin, a contrast to the chilled night air, and then it was gone.

So how was it?

I would appreciate a review, even just a few words would be wonderful. If you don't have the time or whatever, that's understandable, it's not mandatory.

Also, I'm thinking of making this into a two-shot or maybe more, depending on if it is wanted or not. So tell me if you want more. ^_^

one-time Disclaimer: Xiaolin Showdown and all the characters belong to Christy Hui (etc).