Title: A Walk in the Moonlight

Author: Chrysa

E-Mail: chrysa9@aol.com

Rating: G

Category: Romance

Codes: R/S

Summary: Malcolm's thoughts on Hoshi at their wedding reception.

Notes: For lack of a better, more meaningful title. ^_^

This has been sitting on my hard drive for a while apparently. I played with it. Originally done while Vanessa Carlton's 'Twilight' was playing in the background. Wonderful song.

Fit Malcolm perfectly.

Hopefully this won't give any one a case of sugar shock. lol

Not beta'd. All screw-ups are my own.

***

Mary Reed's garden was a beautiful riot of color during the day. Reds collided spectacularly with yellows, blues danced with purples in the breeze, while pinks popped up defiantly wherever it suited them. Here and there cool patches of green grass brought a welcome break to the vibrant colors. In the full light of the moon the garden became an ethereal wonderland. The colors of the day changed into the muted whites and blues of night. Shadows danced across the landscape with each breeze that blew by.

Maybe it was the dress that lured him out here, Malcolm thought as he followed Hoshi through the gardens for a moment of peace during their wedding reception. White and strapless it shimmered with her every movement as she wandered ahead of him down the brick pathways. He glanced around, taking note of the few other couples strolling arm in arm, satisfied that there was no threat to her then shook his head in mild amusement. He was off duty for the next two weeks. The Armory officer had gone on vacation so the husband could come out and dance attendance on his wife.

Her laughter drew his eyes back to her, tugging at his heart. She lifted her arms out and twirled. Her dress fanned out catching the moonlight, a small star field in the middle of the garden. Her hemline rose and fell the sight of her ankle flirting with him. There was a look of utter happiness on her face. Her carefree laughter rang through the night again and a smile lit Malcolm's face, one reserved only for her. There was a click and a ping as the clip that she'd fussed with for a half hour before they came down fell out of her hair and landed on the brick path. Her carefully arranged twist collapsed and her hair fell free. He closed his eyes, capturing the moment in his memory. It was more than the dress. It was her and everything that she was.

She was beautiful in the moonlight.

A breeze danced across the flowerbeds stirring the blossoms and leaves, carrying their scent towards him along with the scent of her perfume. He opened his eyes again to see her looking at him curiously, wondering if he was all right. Then, with a knowing smile, she held her hands out towards him, an invitation to join her.

For a moment he hesitated, doubting, as he did every once in awhile, that she was real. That this wasn't some dream a lonely sailor was having as he slept in his bunk. Then she was standing before him sliding her hands up his arms and around his neck. The soft brush of her body against his and the press of her lips against his jaw telling him that this was real and it was better than anything he'd ever dreamed or hoped for.

They really shouldn't be doing this everyone would see them a small part of him, the one concerned with propriety and image, warned. The rest of him didn't care as he slid his hands around her waist and held her closer murmuring his love for her in her ear. He loved to indulge her when he could, to see the smile she gave him and only him. Every night before he went to sleep next to her he'd gaze at her face and marvel at the miracle that was Hoshi and that some god in the universe had taken pity on a lonely man and let him know what love was. If she wanted to hold him in the middle of a garden then he'd let her. Propriety be damned.

She moved back in the circle of his arms her eyes searching for his in the dim light and holding them. He looked at her beloved face, running a hand through her long, dark hair letting the peace of the moment sink into his bones. They spoke without words, communicating on a level that was theirs alone. Hoshi leaned further back to gaze up at the stars trusting Malcolm not to let her fall.

He watched her and thought how appropriate her name was. Until her he'd traveled his own erratic path tied to no one and nothing, alone in a darkness of his own making. Without even realizing it she'd pulled him in and he'd begun to orbit her unable and, more importantly, unwilling to break free of her gravity. The light of her friendship and then her love had shown him a different way of seeing life: as an adventure and a blessing instead of a burden.

So now instead of complete darkness there was twilight. Some things he might never be able to tell her or let go of but he was at least moving towards the sunrise. She accepted that. She accepted him, faults and all, as he was. As long as he loved her, as long as he let her in and didn't push her away, they would be all right.

In her arms he'd learned much about himself and understood his own parents in a way he never thought he would. Malcolm's gaze drifted over to the porch where his father and mother stood talking quietly to one another. The way Stuart Reed stood close to his wife, head titled to catch every word she spoke, eyes riveted on her face with an intensity that Malcolm recognized as similar to one he wore when speaking to Hoshi spoke of a love and devotion that had lasted for decades. That they rarely showed much affection for each other in public was beside the point. As long as they knew they loved each other nothing else mattered.

Some things were too private, too precious to share in front of an audience.

At that moment the elder Reeds turned towards him and smiled as if letting him in on their secret. He smiled back at them and turned to look at his wife.

She was hope, life, love, home, and happiness. Joy filled Malcolm and he lifted her into the air and swung her around. Her delighted laughter made his heart soar even as his feet were anchored to the ground.

The End