I'll be away this weekend, so I thought I'd post something a little different.

These three short-short pieces were written for the Eighth ff_friday Challenge--100 to 1000 words on love. All rated G.

No archiving, please. The usual disclaimers apply.

(c) HawkMoth 5/30/2003

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1. "A Real Beauty" (Originally posted 5/30/03)

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She just sat there. Waiting.

Lonely-looking, friendless. Obviously seen much better, long-ago days. Coated now in yellow-gray dust. Abandoned, thought worthless.

Not by him.

She was opportunity. She-- they had a future. He would set her free, lift her out of the dust, and she would do the same for him. Fly far, live free.

It almost hurt to have to pay money for her. Not because the price was too high--hell, he would have paid double just to have her for his own. But she came cheap, and that didn't seem right. Her flaws, her quirks, the dust and grime and aged parts--all made her what she was. What she could be--that was priceless.

He'd make things right. She wasn't broken so bad that she couldn't be mended. No matter what it might take, he would see to her needs. Make her whole again, make her strong. And in the mending, mend himself.

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2. "A Ship Like This" (Originally posted 5/31/03)

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They were all encouraged to broaden their horizons, further their education.

No one ever actually questioned why she wanted a pilot's license. It wasn't entirely unheard of. It was just very rare.

It wasn't running away, she told herself. It was simply moving on. There were opportunities waiting everywhere. She could wait a few years, save more money, and have a ship of her very own one day.

The waiting would not have been pleasant. So she chose the next best thing. She might have chosen more carefully, except she hadn't expected to fall in love. Not at first sight, with a ship like this.

Ungainly, awkward. Well-travelled, lived-in. A ship like this could take her to all sorts of unexpected places. She could sample the 'verse