I'LL KEEP FLYING

AUTHOR'S NOTE: this is my first fanfic, so be nice, please! Comments are wonderful, of course... hint hint...

Disclaimer: these people aren't mine, and nor is the ship. Darn.

Broken glass. All my pieces, shaken. Shattered. Bits missing, shards lost forever. My halls are quiet now, a fragile grace haunting my air. Shadows on the wall, no more puppets. The laughing one has gone from here, his presence lingering in plastic creatures on my surfaces. Gone too is the peaceful one, the one whose darkness was spread thin and coated with his own serenity.

Tears in the night. Her arms wrapped around her knees, her body rocking in her bunk. Silent. Alone. She leaves the lights off so she won't have to see the emptiness. He's gone, and he's never coming back. Their baby is a nightmare now, not a dream. I want to comfort her. I creak and groan and make my noises, hoping in her grief she will interpret them. The pain is so fresh, so heavy. A loss she never expected. They always thought she'd be the one. She was his autumn flower, but now she's turning to dust. I wait. Time will heal.

Skin on skin, bodies slick. Taut. Muscles moving under flesh, mouths leaving burning trails and driving minds to madness. Her smile is like sunshine. It warms my hull, makes my own skin smooth and shining where it was rough and worn. Her hands bring healing to my inner workings, and now they heal another's hurt. It makes me happy that he's given in, let go. His work is to fix the broken, but no one could fix him. Until now. They want it to be a secret, so she won't be hurt. Both of them, fixers. Healers. They don't want to remind her of what she's lost.

He sleeps loudly, without pride or caution. Snores like thunder, echoing against my walls. He's primal, this one, a rough sketch of a man. I like him. He's like me: rough, a little ugly, but I shine. He shines too, sometimes. When he lets himself. He catches the blanket up close, and I wonder who he dreams about. Everything's so simple for him. I feel his easy, unc