Archivist's note: Written for Moments of Rapture's fifth anniversary.

Another Strawberry?
by Corazon del Fuego

Duo shook his head, bangs tickling the bare chest that his head was using as a pillow. A warm smile sat upon the American's face casually, not forced or requiring much effort at all on his part. He turned, a couple light brushes of his lips against Heero's faintly salty skin showing his contentment.

A picnic had sounded like a great idea when Heero mentioned the wild flower field he'd found on the property of Quatre's summer home. The Winner heir was happy enough to turn over the keys for a few days, unable to enjoy the estate himself because of business that kept him off-world. He just said to consider the place theirs; his anniversary gift to them. Possibly the most thoughtful thing he could've given them.

They'd planned it out like a vacation. Heero requested leave, and Duo called in sick a week ahead of time (to which Commander Une had shaken her head and filled out the paid leave paperwork for him). A pet sitter was arranged to watch their puppy and their house. They told no one where they were going, leaving just a cell number where they could be reached and making it clear that the number was for emergencies. All this trouble for a picnic.

"It's the last one. Sure you don't want it?"

Duo laughed. "Yeah. I'm sure." His foot nudged under Heero's knee, their legs tangling together as the young men sun bathed nude amid the tall, fragrant wild flowers.

Heero bit into the last of the fruit, a stream of red juice dribbling over his bottom lip but quickly licked up. Sweetness erupted in his mouth as he chewed, masking the taste of saltiness lingering from just a short while earlier. "You're not going to say it?"

"Nope. You?"

Heero shrugged. "I was waiting to see if you did." He plucked the rest of the strawberry from the stem with his teeth, chewing silently as he tossed the remains into the field.

Duo smiled, lifting himself up on his arms to hover over his lover's body, long braid falling off his right shoulder and coiling on the ground. "Five years," he said, sounding a little impressed by the number.

Heero nodded, taking a grip on the rope of hair and wrapping it around his fist a couple times. "I know."

There was a moment of silence between them, words exchanged unsaid between their eyes. Heero leaned up and Duo down to meet him, their lips coming together, reddened by strawberry juice and swollen from acts of love preformed under the summer sun. It wasn't just a picnic. It was a moment of peace, a few hours in which five years could be considered and reaffirmed. They had chosen one another, and there were no regrets.