Enjoy :D

Fear, anguish and heartbreak filled Holly's being as she heard Artemis murmur the terrible news.

"Holly," he had muttered sorrowfully. "My mother is forcing me to join the army in the hopes that it will steer me away from my urges to perform unlawful criminal conduct. I will obey him as I want to keep my family together and do not want to cause any more rifts in the familial seams. I'm so sorry, Holly."

Holly felt the misery rising in her heart as Artemis told her the horrible news. Hot tears bubbled up in her eyes as she thought of the endless days without Artemis. Wondering what she would do without him. How she would be able to keep living, being.

Unable to restrain herself, she threw herself at Artemis and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist. Artemis then put his arms around Holly. They embraced like this for a while, and by then Holly's tears had began to fall.

A hot, sticky stream of tears flowed from her eyes, as she held on to Artemis tighter, never wanting to let him go. Artemis merely held onto her, slowly stroking her hair and wishing her tears would go away.

If Artemis had it his way, he would marry Holly right then and there and elope with her off into the sunset. He knew this could never happen though, as he needed to keep his family together. He just hoped Holly could understand that.

After a long time, Holly's tears had subsided somewhat. She finally drew away from Artemis and sat down on the couch. She patted the seat next to her for Artemis to sit down on, and took his hand tenderly when he did.

"How long?" Holly asked, her voice thick with grief. Artemis squeezed her hand.

"How long what, love?" Artemis asked softly. Holly raised her hazel and electric blue eyes to meet Artemis's identical ones. He gazed back at her.

"How long will you be gone? When are you going to be able to come home? When can we talk?" Holly's voice broke periodically throughout her questioning. Tears welled up in her eyes again as she swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat, preventing her from saying more.

Artemis scooted closer to her on the couch, putting his arm lovingly around her shoulder. He kissed her hair as he answered. "I'll be gone for two years. We can write each other letters everyday if you like, and we are allowed a phone call every once in a while. I'm so sorry, Holly. I don't want this any more than you do." Much to Artemis's dismay, he felt the tears building up in his own eyes as he tried to stifle the onslaught of sudden emotions threatening to overwhelm him.

He cleared his throat gruffly. Holly looked up at the noise and noticed the gleaming wetness in his expressive eyes and snuggled up to him, as though being close to him for even this short time would help her forget her sadness and make everything else go away.

Artemis sighed heavily. "I swear to you, Holly, that if there was any other way I could regain peace with my family, any way at all that would let me stay home from the army, I would not go to the army. But I have to, and I have to take everything they throw at me like a man."

Holly beat his chest with her fist weakly, suddenly frustrated. "But you're not a man!" she cried desperately. "You're only eighteen! There has to be another way!" Artemis gently took hold of her fists and kissed them.

"If there was any other way…" He didn't finish his sentence. He didn't have to, because they both knew there was no other way.

Holly couldn't hold back her tears any longer. As it turned out, neither could Artemis. They held onto each other as they cried, long hard tears that went on for what seemed like forever. Relentless sorrow.

When they calmed down finally, they simply sat there on the couch and held onto each other. "You know I love you," Artemis whispered. Holly smiled a watery smile up at him.

"And I love you," she said simply.

Artemis suddenly turned towards her, facing her on the couch. His eyes shone with a new resolve, one that made Holly tingle from her head to her toes with love for Artemis.

"When I get back from the army, we will be together forever. I will never let you go, and I can only hope you'll let me be yours forevermore." At Holly's nodding, he got up off the couch and settled down on his right knee. He took Holly's hand gently in his and kissed it.

"Holly Short, my love, when I get home from the military, Will you marry me, be my lovely bride, and spend forever with me?" Holly's jaw dropped open as Artemis gazed up at her and held out a diamond ring in his hand, glistening beautifully in the light.

And then, she thought, is this what she really wants? To spend forever with this human?

Yes, she decided. Yes, it is what I really want. More than anything in the world, under and above it combined.

Holly, overwhelmed with love, threw herself at Artemis and kissed him. She hugged him tightly and smiled. Artemis chuckled and held onto her also.

"Oh, I can't believe this! I'm so happy!" Holly joyously yelled, hopping to her feet. She kissed Artemis again and sat back down, holding his hand.

Artemis chuckled at Holly's antics, then looked at her with a strange little glint in his eye. "You know, Holly, you never actually gave me an answer." Holly stared at him for a half second, and then broke into a huge grin.

"Yes, Artemis Fowl! I will marry you and love you until the day that I die, and then after that I will still love you." Artemis slipped the ring on her finger, and they grinned at each other, happily in love.

And then they kissed, and headed outside to take a moonlight stroll. Although Holly was terribly sad that her new fiancée was leaving to join the army, she knew she would always love him, and he her. Not even the military could take that away. She grinned at the way her new diamond engagement ring glinted in the moonlight, and turned to smile at Artemis. He smiled back and hugged her.

They continued hugging, kissing and occasionally walking away into the night, where they could forget everything except each other. How it was meant to be.

I hope you guys liked it! It cracked me up ( I'm not very good at writing romance).

*giggles* Review?