Bless stopped near the entrance to the headquaters for the Knights of Primus. Soft waves of red gleamed in the moonlight as she waited for Jackknife. Silence greeted her ears as the seconds ticked by. Bless looked up at the stars and continued waiting.

OOC: It going to be a long wait.

((OOC: and? ))

As Blessed Reprieve looked up, she saw a faint glimmer in the sky. It grew bigger with each passing second, until she could make it out. And she smiled.

It was then that she knew what, or more appropriately who, it was. She began to make her way to the landing platform, as the armored warrior made his descent to the pad. As she walked over to him, JackKnife stood erect, having had to use his legs to brake his descent to the ground.

"I didn't mean to keep you waiting. " He said to her shyly, taking one of her delicate hands in his own. Compared to his armored fingers, hers had far more grace and dexterity. As he took her hand, he used the other one to remove the grille covering his face. Now, Blessed Reprieve could see the warrior's features in whole.

Bless smiled up into the warrior's face. 'So many wars, so many scars,' she thought. 'The druids cannot stop this alone.' Her eyes held a wistful note. "I was not waiting long." She pushed a few strands of red-golden hair out of her face, and the long flowing white gown settled around her form. She squeezed his hand, and said, "You asked me to meet you?" BlessedReprieve dared not pray it was for the reasons her heart hoped, and her mind feared.

JackKnife tell from the look in her eyes, the apprehension in her gaze, that something troubled her. He gently squeezed her hand, holding it to his chest. " Walk with me." he said in a reassuing tone to Blessed Reprieve.

As they walked by the side of the lake outside the cathedral, JackKnife continued. " I know that the past few months have been hard on you." he said gazing into her eyes. " I wanted to make it up to you." he stopped and turned to her.

Bless shook her head and looked up at Jackknife. "I know you had to go. You can help in places that I cannot. You can defend places I cannot. You must go where your duty calls you to go." Bless knew she had to stay here and help on Earth, where her diplomatic relations and her compassion were desperately needed. She smiled at him. "I am just happy you've come back."

A wistful look crossed JackKnife's face. Blessed Reprieve had been right; he was always called away when there was trouble elsewhere, the one they always asked for when the situation was hopeless. But he also knew that those missions kept him away for a long time.....

Far too long.

What many didn't know was that it was her face that kept him going through those hopeless times; the sparkle of life and love in her eyes, the warm, tender smile, how her face glowed with beauty. There were many times he almost turned down missions, just to be with her.

It was too much for him to bear...

JackKnife took Blessed Reprieve in his arms, and held her. " I can't stand being apart from you for so long..." he whispered in her ear.

Bless allowed Jackknife to enfold her in his embrace. She blinked back tears. 'You are an Emerald Druid,' she admonished herself. 'The land and the people come first. You come second. And you're heart... Your heart comes in a distant third.' Bless took a deep breath and pulled back from his embrace. She studied his face. "This isn't about what we want. This is about what must be done to protect the known universe." She knew Jackknife would probably see her heart breaking behind the green orbs fringed by thick black lashes, but she knew that what she said was truth.

" But we have a right to live too, you know." He replied, squeezing her hand. " Optimus Prime told me something a long time ago, something that is still very much true today. If you don't allow yourself to live, then you forget the reason why you fight." He turned his gaze back upon Blessed Reprieve. " And that's the news I wanted to give you: the war may be over soon." he said, the corners of his mouth managing a smile.

Bless didn't dare to breathe. "Do you think so?" She was unable to keep the eagerness from her voice.

" I know so." he replied, taking her hand again. "During the last attack, we got intel on thier main base. That's the other reason I called you here..." he said, the heaviness weighing on his heart.

He took a moment to catch his breath, then he continued: "I have to go away again. One last time." He looked deeply into her eyes. " This misson is to destroy their main base, Solon Tarth."

BlessedReprieve's eyes searched Jackknife's. "Then why are you here? Why haven't you started for Solon Tarth?" She knew how precious a few hours could be in the heat of battle as well as he did. She reached up, the fingertips of her right hand caressing his cheek. "I'm not going anywhere," she murmured. "I'll be here when you get back."

JackKnife held her hand as she caressed his cheek. " The mission launches in about two hours. We have a little time..." The JackKnife 's eyes drifterd away from hers, as if he was unsure what to say next. Finally, a moment later, he found his words:

" But before I went, I wanted to see you one more time. I wanted to tell you something...something I had always been afraid to say. But I didn't want to go into this battle without the opportunity to say it to you....."

"Don't," she said softly, almost too softly for him to hear. She looked up at him, her eyes shining with unshed tears. Pain weighed heavy on her heart as she took a shaky breath.