I could feel the warm patches of sunlight on me as I woke up, I opened my eyes slowly turning my head to its side, seeing the smouldering remains of the fire I lit last night, the smoke barely rising up anymore. I lifted my head up, facing forwards; light filtered through the edges of the boulder highlighting Martha's sleeping body that was weighing me down. Her head was at the base of my neck, smiling. I removed my arms from around her, moving my right claw to her head, feeling it around, her scales were as smooth as sand yet as tough as rock. I felt her horn, it was small and heck, not even that useful but it made a good representation of power. I than felt around to her feelers, they were fuzzy in a soft kind of way, like it is barely there, as I felt around it Martha fidgeted. I moved my claw to around its base, if I had to wake her up I figured I'd do it in the nicest way possible. I reached out a single claw out of the set and scratched ever so lightly at the base, earning a moan from Martha, I kept up the exercise until I felt her shift her head.

"You really do know how to make a woman happy." She stated with a yawn.

"I'd bet it on beginners luck." I replied, just as tired.

"I hope this luck lasts longer than it already has because I'm loving it." She said, looking at me with slowly opening eyes and a smile to suit.

"Something that can't last forever is this scratching."

"Aw, why not?" She questioned with a slight whine.

"I'm hungry for some breakfast, I'm sure you'll agree."

I saw a smile on her face, "I'm hungry for something else," I frowned at her, "Oh fine, food now, sex later." She whined.

"Are you always this horny?"

"For me to know and for you to find out." She winked.

"Would you at least get off me?"

"Fine, fine" I heard her mutter, sitting herself up onto my waist pressing against it intently with her weight.

I cleared my throat, "I'd like to be able to stand up."

"Spoilsport..." I heard her mutter as she got off my waist, trying to hide a smile, getting off my waist.

I up on my elbows, "Consider it revenge for earlier." I stated, pushing myself up. Hiding that silly grin I've had ever since I've been around her.

I walked around to the boulders side, grabbing its side with both claws, getting as much of a firm grip as possible and pushed, groaning from effort. It just wouldn't budge.

"Need help there tough guy?"

I submitted to my fate, "Yeah, I need help."

"Step aside."

I stood back as she approached the boulder, seeing her grin as she walked past; I took back another step for safeties sake. Who knew what she'd do. She took a deep breath in and out relaxing, slowly clumping her claws together. She stared at the rock with intent, her claw gradually glowing into a bright shade of white. I took another step back; I could take a simple guess as to what she was doing. She pulled back her glowing ball of a hand and thrust it forwards with a grunt; I braced myself for the shrapnel's that would appear. As soon as her fist made contact the rock burst into stones, showering us like rain along with the dust covering us completely. As the dust settled I heard Martha cough heavily.

"Oh man *cough*, it's been forever since *cough* I've done that, you really need a door."
She stated still facing the door, she turned around to face me, "Well I see you aren't gagging," I fly through sandstorms, I got used to it, "Let's see how well you can catch up to me!" She yelled excitedly.

She laughed as she ran and dived off the cliff, leaving me utterly dumbfounded. Is she absolutely crazy? I quickly ran after her to the cliff, mainly for her safety and the fact that I cannot refuse a good challenge. As I jumped off the cliff I felt the warm morning sunlight on me, the dust quickly being dispensed by the wind. I could see her below me, still diving, though as she looked up around her shoulder she saw me, she pulled up with utter urgency, spreading her wings to their fullest extent leaving a shadow on the ground half a kilometre below. I quickly pulled up my body and spread my wings, struggling to catch up with her; she had the benefit of sheer power on her side. Moments later I finally caught up to her, struggling to pull back to her speed, pulling back my wings and body. She had slowed down her flight with apparent ease however, taking it down to a lazy glide.

"Consider it revenge for earlier." Was the single witty remark that I earned from her. I was just left wordless; she could have broken a wing and crashed! There is a reason I never just simply dived off a cliff.

"C'mon, make with the small talk, it's boring when you aren't talking." She whined.

I was never a man for small talk; then again, I just dived off a cliff, how exactly do I make small talk after doing that? "So, how about those cactus's?" I finally blurted out.

"It's cacti silly."

"Whatever, so, how about them?"

"Them what?"
She was driving me bonkers; I just wanted to scream in frustration! "I'm just playing with you. Every time I see a cactus I think of you, green and tall."

Finally, a real answer, "You think I'm tall?"
"Heh, well, compared to my family, you're pretty short, but for me? You aren't too overbearing. Not that I've seen every part of your height." I simply rolled my eyes at her remark.

We fell silent again, I ending leading the way. The morning air was cool and refreshing; you could smell that it had been raining the night before quite easily. The sun and the sand contradicted the airs signs however, the sun beating down on us through the cloudless sky, the sand baking of heat and relative dryness more than ever.

"I don't know how you put up with it." She suddenly stated out of the blue.

"Huh?"

"The sun cooking you alive inside a waterless hell with almost no food in it. How do you put up with it?"

"How do you put up with snow?"

"That's different, you can actually get food and water in the snow, plus there is plenty of ways to warm yourself up. But here? None of those options exist, no food, no water and it's nearly impossible to cool down apart from the absolutely freezing nights."

"You have to know where to look, don't worry, were nearly there."

"Who made you leader? And where?"

"When did you start following me? And you'll find out."

She gave off an impatient groan. We continued gliding slowly, I taking in the sun and Martha? Well, she probably hated it. After a while I finally saw my marker, a particularly tall hill that was covering the other side, sure, the desert is full of hills but being here for 19 years helps with the memorisation, plus it is just really hard to ignore a hill that is covering the other side of something. I slowed down, readying myself to land on the top of the hill, Martha catching up to my side.

"We are landing here?"

"Yep, we are landing here."

As I reached the side of the hill I positioned myself upright and powered my wings ready for the sudden storm of sand that would arise. All in standard procedure. As soon as my feet touched the ground I stopped my wings, the cloud of sand dying down. I was greeted by profuse coughing.

"How do you do it?" She asked, coughing throughout.

"Easy, I hold my breath."
The simplest solution is often the best solution, "Okay, over this hill is a lake, an Oasis if you call it so." I started walking up.

"Why didn't we just fly into the lake?"

"I figured you had other ideas." I said with a wink, she seemed to get the message going by the large smile on her face.

We climbed up the hill to its top; thankfully it was a short climb. If I landed directly on its top we probably would have lost footing, plus if we did end up 'crashing' we would have fallen a lot further than say simply rolling down a hill. After a minute we finally reached the top of the hill. Martha caught up shortly afterwards.

"So, why didn't we just fly around it?" She asked.

"I wanted to give you a view."

We both looked out on top of the hill, the morning sun shining onto the sand with fresh brightness, down below on the land, lake of clear blue water simmering in the sunlight.

"I am, well, was the only person to know about this lake." I stated after a few moments.

"Why hasn't anyone else found it yet?"

"It always dries up during the day. In fact, I was very lucky to find this lake."

"Sexy man has a story to tell?" She said with a smile.

"Yeah, I have a story to tell. You see, a few years ago I was outdoors during the night, flying during the night was always interesting, very different to the warm day times, it was just freezing cold. Anyway, a thunderstorm came around very quickly; I initially dismissed the feeling that something was going to happen as a silly annoyance. The wind came first, tearing up the sky making it nearly impossible to fly; it thrust me into this very hill with its sheer force. The rain came shortly after, pelting me endlessly. I wasn't able to fly anywhere and shelter was nowhere near, I crawled down the hill to the base, looking for a stable place to sleep. Curling myself under my wings I fell asleep, it was difficult though, the freezing cold of the rain begging me not to sleep. The next morning I woke to the feeling of water on my tail, as I opened my eyes I saw this lake right in front of my eyes! I initially played around in it, astounded on how it was here. It turns out the ground in this area is solid rock. Anyway, after a while I decided to go hunting, to spare you the details, I stole myself a rather juicy Sandslash that managed to get itself half buried in the sand, it died from a lack of air, who knows how it got into that situation. Anyway, by the time I got back to the lake with the corpse in my arms, all the water was gone! I wallowed in self pity by eating my catch."

"Well, let's get into this lake before it disappears than!" She commanded, sliding down the hill all the sudden, her tail lagging behind her.

"Hey, wait up for me!" I yelled after her, dashing down the hill until I started sliding down on it.

I tucked my wings in and leaned over for the speed, she wasn't going to beat me at this race. I could feel the wind in my face as I approached Martha, a trail being created behind us as we fell down the hill. Martha looked behind herself as she approached.

"Oh, no you don't!" She said as she leaned over further, gaining some more speed.

As we approached the base of the hill I realised something, we were heading right for the lake of water! As soon as we hit the flat ground I looked to my side, Martha wasn't there, I looked behind and that's where I saw her with her wings spread out. How does she have such good breaks? A turned by head forwards again, just in time to hit the water, covering my whole body. I struggled against the water, trying to keep my head up until I stopped. I put myself upright and breathed in deeply and back out, buoyant in the water. Never am I doing that again.

"Well, it looks like you win." I turned around, Martha was swimming towards me.

"I don't swim often."

She caught up to me, "Well, you should, it really brings out your features." She said with a silly smile, bringing her claw to my chest.

I looked back at her, "Well, it also brings out yours." I said as I stared at her well featured chest.

"Oh, I think we both needed the wash..." She moved her claw down my body, "You're so firm..." She said quietly, looking down as both of us followed her claw as it rubbed against my scales.

"Hey, uh, don't you think you are going as bit low?" I asked, as her claw came close to the water's surface.

She withdrew her claw quickly, blushing, "I just cannot resist you... you shine in the sunlight like a jewel out of the rough."
She said, bringing her claws to behind my neck, "I want to take you from that dirt and take you with me." She said as she bought me closer to her face.

"I want you to take me from the rough," I said, bringing my arms behind her neck, "I want you to polish me to become even brighter." I said as I brought myself closer.

She started the kiss, she trust me towards her and pressed her lips against mine. I kissed her back, hugging her neck as tight as I felt safe, both of our eyes closed. We both felt the moment explode, a single moment felt like hours to us.

She took her lips off mine, our eyes opening again, "I want you to come with me George, to the islands, to see my family. I know it may seem sudden but I cannot stand to see you just waste your life in this barren wasteland. I would feel terrible to leave you here." She asked, looking right into my eyes, the need for me to come with her showing all over her face.

"For you baby, anything." I said, smiling heavily. The words causing her to hug me intently again, I returned the favour, her warmth pressing against me.

"George."

"Yeah?"

"I'm hungry."

"I don't think we are quite in the place for that."

"For food, silly." She said, losing the hug, a smile on her face.

"You come here being thirsty, and now you want food." I said with a grin.
"Good point." She said, lowering herself into the water.

I lowered myself in time with her, "Why didn't I find you earlier."

"We were both hiding under the water." She said as our heads reached the water's surface.
She opened her mouth as it reached the surface, letting the water flow in and swallowed, "Oh, it's sweet!" I eyebrowed her and took in a mouthful, it did have a distinct flavour to it, "That dear, is the taste of sweet love."

I smiled at her, "The sweet taste of love has made me hungry."

"Uh huh, why don't we just knock over that cactus right over there and eat it, I don't want us starving on our flight." She said, swimming over to the shore.

"Wait, we're going now?" I said, swimming after her.

"Oh? Is there something wrong with that?"

"It's not a matter of what's wrong; it's how much of it is right." I grinned.

I admit it, I hated being at the desert, there was nothing to do, Martha was my ticket out of here and she wanted me on that flight. When we reached the shore I cut the cactus down from the base for the last time, except for one difference, I split it down the middle leaving a half for each of us, however, I still performed that same 'ceremony' I did whenever cutting down a cactus. She introduced me to many things, sharing food was among the first of many. The way she ate was messy, yet you couldn't take your eyes off her, she'd just dig right into the cactus and eat without any regard for how she looked, it was cute in its own right. I ate mine carefully, savouring its taste, would this be the last time I'd have the sour bitter-sweet flavour that they produced? What about my home, would I be visiting there again?

"You know," I said, interrupting her eating, "I'll be missing a lot of things around here."

"Oh?" She sat up, half her body covered in the odd smelling juice.

"Well, will I be able to savour the taste of a desert cactus again? It may not be the best taste in the world but after a few years, it kind of grows on you." I saw a smile on her face, she nodded her head, "And what about my home, I built it with my own claws, grunt and sheer force. I would wear myself for hours on end simply beaming sheer energy at it just to defeat the near impenetrable rock. My mouth always felt numb at the end of the day." An understatement.
"Why didn't you make a home somewhere else?"

"It was the only place high enough to be out of the way of sandstorms, as well as other creatures." I took a pile of mush and swallowed it down, "You could almost say it was my protector."

"Well, you have a new protector now." She smiled, I smiled back. I knew she was right; the boulder I used to block my door was made of the same rock, if a simple smash of the rock with her claws could break it, who knew what sort of power she had.

I shovelled another load and swallowed it down, "Are you ready to go?" I asked, the question would have been better asked as 'Am I ready to go?'.

She smiled, "Nearly, lemme just wash off." I looked over to her half, eaten all the way to the other end with a gaping hole revealing the sand at the other side.

She was just dripping with juice as she made her way to the lake, diving in. I followed after her, getting to the water's edge, bending over to wash my arms over. I look at my reflection as I stopped, a pair of red eyes looking back at me, along with my own pair of feelers; Martha and I were so different yet so similar, she's orange and I'm green. My reflection was broken as Martha swam over on her back, her upside down face looking back at me, her green eyes looking at me.

"Let's do this thing." She stood back up, with only her legs in the water, spreading her wings.

I stood back up with her, spreading my wings. "Thank you." I simply stated.

She smiled, "Thank me when we are there." She said as she thrust her wings with a jump, I quickly following, "Even then, you shouldn't have to thank me."

I jumped and thrust, kicking up the sand characteristically, "I insist, I say thank you."

She smiled, "Is this our first argument?"

I looked at her, smiling back, "I believe it is."

We pushed ourselves off the ground; I struggled to get high enough to cruise, Martha doing it surprisingly easy. When we flew high enough to start gliding I asked her the obvious question.

"How do you do that so easily?"

"How what so easily?"

"How do you get off the ground so easily?"

"You jump off a cliff and glide; I get off from the ground every single time. I figured it'd be obvious. You'll get better as you go along."

I smiled at her, it was obvious. We went through the warm air, the heat of the sand pushing us up relieving us of our flapping duties. I looked over to Martha, her scales being lit up by the sun.

"Five seconds into this trip and I've already found something beautiful." I said as I looked over at Martha, she smiled back, she knew exactly what I was talking about.

We flew through the desert as the day went on; the sun slowly changing its position in the sky, still keeping its ever flowing heat, our shadows going onto the dunes of the sand as we flew through the warm air. The land littered by fleeing creatures and plants. Sweat was evident on Martha's scales yet I barely made a drop. We didn't have much to talk about; I never tried, throughout the whole trip Martha looked to be in the same predicament, whenever we looked at each other we just smiled. Her smile was matched by her eyes blue as the sky above, my smile, well, who knew? The dusk was beautiful, the sunset in the distance being a golden orange; we gave a quick kiss in the air as the sight presented itself. As the night fell, so did the sand, yet I didn't feel cold, the climate still staying warm, flying being easier than a desert night would be. I saw more trees thrust out of the ground than I ever saw in my life, the ground covered with luscious green grass. Slowly, we lazily flew downwards.

"I'm tired," Martha stated, breaking the silence, "You may not be but the desert just has me baked."

I smiled, "Well, I'm just plain tired." I stated, landing.

"Wanna crash here?" She asked, landing herself.

"Only if I can sleep with you."

"It'd be torture if I didn't let you." She tucked in her wings, falling onto her back.
"It'd be even worse if you didn't sleep on top of me this time." She grinned.

I jumped onto her, smiling, feeling our warmth shared between us, "You have no idea how cute you look on the ground like that."

"You have you idea how tough you look just sitting on me."

"I want you to see my tough face more easily," I said, leaning my body onto her, "And I want to be able to see your cute little face." A thought ran across my mind, and probably hers too, but we both knew that now just simply wasn't the time.

"Love you." She said with a hug.

"Love you too dear." I said hugging back, giving her a quick kiss.

I felt the warmth of her body help baby me to sleep, the moon shining down on us with its white glow. Two perfect nights in a row.
Chapter End Notes:I hope you enjoyed this chapter, you have no idea how hard it was to get onto AGNPH.

Someone make it so that the add story button actually operates properly and not bring up a .txt file prompt. *Flutters eyelashes desperately in a desperate attempt of begging