It had been months since Artemis had been brought back from the dead, and months more since the Berserker Gate Incident. With the help of Holly, Artemis was gradually regaining his memories. Little by little, the veil over his mind was lifted and he recalled his exploits in Chicago, and the trip to Hybras, and the rescue mission he had mounted to save his father from the Russian Mafiya. He still couldn't remember other events. They were vague and distant, like silhouetted figures in the fog. He seemed to recall a charming image of Mulch releasing on Butler during the first of many attempts Mulch made at robbing Fowl Manor, though he wasn't sure if he had personally witnessed this or only heard stories. For his own sake, he hoped he hadn't been there.

Holly had become a regular visitor to Fowl Manor, so much so that Artemis had to reprogram the security system so that it wouldn't trigger every time Holly unshielded on the premises. The complex network had been one of the few electronic aspects of Fowl Manor that hadn't been destroyed during The Berserker Gate Incident, mainly because Artemis had designed and built it mostly by himself, using microchips of his own creation.

Myles and Beckett had become less of an occasional nuisance and more of a legitimate threat to Artemis. They weren't devious, mostly, and they weren't evil, mostly, but with Beckett's practical toddler-style problem-solving and Myles's impressive intellect, the most immediate threat to Artemis's work lived in the Manor and called him "simple-toon". Not that Artemis was doing much important work to begin with. Most of his time was spent exploring his past. To Angeline Fowl's dismay, her teenage son was very rarely seen outside of his study, where he would spend hours reading the parts of his memoir he couldn't remember and reminiscing with Holly. As much as she liked the fairy, Angeline had really hoped that the first girl Artemis brought into his study would be one who was, preferably, his race and age. Hopefully one that was impressed by massive server banks and surveillance systems.

Nevertheless, Artemis appeased his mother and wore the casual clothing that she provided, often jeans and T-shirts. He thought he looked ridiculous, but Juliet assured him that it was much more attractive than the bespoke suits and loafers he had donned before his mother's intervention. Holly agreed, though she admitted that most human clothing looked ridiculous to her.

Butler was glad that most of the action was seemingly over, but a part of him still longed to be a bodyguard. As he patrolled the property of Fowl Manor and performed bomb-checks on the car before driving Artemis to school, he couldn't help but miss the days when he was breaking troll jaws and taking bullets for his charge. Okay, maybe not the bullets, but he was still proud of beating the troll. And yet, Butler knew that even if Artemis returned to his old, dangerous ways, Butler couldn't be the one at his side. He hated to admit it, but he was growing old. Holly's healing all those years ago had helped, but Butler was almost fifty, and he felt sixty-five.

"I'll be able to beat you soon," Juliet panted as she passed him on the snow-covered jogging-track outside the manor.

"Maybe when I'm in a wheelchair," he retorted, increasing his pace to catch up. The Kevlar in his chest had always made breathing more difficult than it should have been, but lately, it felt like every rise and fall of his chest was a heaving effort, probably due to the bolt of black magic he had taken, from which his recovery was slow and would never be full. He wondered who would take his place when it was clear that he could no longer be Artemis's bodyguard. Maybe Juliet, but even she knew that she wasn't meant for the business. She could barely handle Myles and Beckett on their best days, she wouldn't stand a chance with Artemis on his worst.

If only I'd had a son, Butler sometimes thought to himself. Someone to mold in my image, someone who I could mentor and pass my knowledge to.

In the end, he knew it was too late. And even if it wasn't, the only love Butler had ever felt was of the brotherly or paternal variety. There wasn't much room for love when ones life is completely devoted to the protection of another.

Artemis, on the other hand, had too much room for love. Being told the story of a life that you can't remember but is unmistakably yours will confound a boy, even one with an intellect as esteemed as Artemis's. He was about to finish his fourth reading of his 3200 page memoir when there was a knock on the door of the study. Four short raps. A secret knock, but also an inside joke, poking fun at Artemis's Atlantis Complex. It was odd, at the time, Artemis would have considered the deterioration of his mind to be quite the crisis, but now he was nonchalantly joking about it, and if there was one person not often associated with jokes, it was Artemis Fowl II. He really had changed.

Artemis unlocked the door using the remote embedded in the arm of his office chair and Holly entered. "Hi," he said absentmindedly, scrolling through the final pages of his memoir.

"'Hi'? Who are you, and what have you done with Artemis?"

Artemis sighed, closing the document and shutting his laptop. Another personal creation of his, though it had been destroyed during the Berserker's Gate Incident. It had taken almost an entire day for Artemis to replicate the Koboi CPU using old schematics, and two more to rebuild the laptop around it.

"Not in a joking mood today, are we Arty?" Holly sat down in the other chair, which Artemis had commissioned when he realized that Holly was going to be a frequent guest. It was specifically tailored to her height and dimensions, and it even had a little slot on the back where Holly could store her wings.

"I'm afraid not," he turned to her and leaned forward in the chair. "I'm bothered, Holly. Something feels...off."

There were few things in the world that could leave Artemis Fowl II inarticulate, and the feeling he was experiencing now could be counted among them.

"What is it, Artemis? Explain."

But he couldn't. It was too complicated, even for him, and emotion was never one of his stronger fields. He could only look at his shoes, a pair of sneakers that looked out of place on Artemis's feet, and mumble something about Holly's new haircut.

Artemis mumbling? Oh gods, something is wrong, Holly thought. "Can you try? I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong."

"There's the problem, Holly. Not even I know what's wrong, and not knowing makes it worse."

Holly reached out and laid a hand on his. "It's okay, Arty. You were never any good with emotions anyway."

Artemis let out a little laugh. She was blunt, but it was true. Holly squeezed his hand and let go, leaning back in her chair.

"Sometimes, I miss Orion," she said in mock nostalgia. She wasn't serious, but Artemis looked genuinely hurt. She gently punched him in the shoulder. "I'm teasing you, Arty."

He smiled. "Humor has never been my thing, either."

"Oh, gods no. Your sense of humor is like Mulch's sense of personal hygiene." That got a good laugh out of him. Artemis's laugh was a surprisingly gentle sound, high and cheerful. It was one of the few aspects about him that seemed normal for a human his age. "You know, you should really try to be less serious sometimes. I'm sure your mother would appreciate it."

"I know, and I want to. Perhaps it's simply not in my nature." He sighed. "Perhaps I'm meant to be the business-man trapped in the teenager's body."

"Oh, Arty. Don't say that." She searched his face for its usual cockiness and self-assurance, but it was not there. "I've known you for years now. I know there's a soft part of you underneath that hard shell. You just need to let it out."

Artemis nodded slowly, revelation spreading across his face.

"You're right. I just need to let it out." He shot up in the chair, and leaned over to plant a kiss on Holly's cheek. She didn't even have time to compose herself before he was through the door.

"Thank you, Holly." He said, and then sprinted down the hall.

He kissed me, thought Holly. Again. And we weren't even in mortal danger. What is happening?

And then she realized that Artemis had been running. Not good. When Artemis ran, people got hurt. Usually Artemis.

"Artemis, slow down!" She pushed through the door and called after him. "You'll hurt yourself!"

Thanks in part to his new sneakers, Artemis didn't even trip once on his way to the front door. Angeline Fowl looked on in disbelief as her eldest son zipped down the hall at a speed that Artemis hadn't even been aware he could reach. She was so shocked that she didn't even call out for him to be careful.

He had a close call in the entryway, almost snagging a foot on a section of toy train track left there by Beckett, who was delighted to see his brother move at a pace faster than his usual steady walk. Myles seemed more confused than delighted, but didn't dwell on it for too long, and went back to criticizing the logistical inefficiencies of the train line Beckett had constructed. Artemis grabbed a pair of wool gloves and a navy-blue fleece overcoat before bursting through the front doors.

For a snow-storm, this seemed pretty tame compared to what Artemis had read about Iceland and the Arctic Circle. The snowflakes came down slowly, like leaves in the fall, settling gingerly on the top of the few feet of snow that had fallen during the night. Artemis ran a hand through it. It was fine and dry, but not so dry that it fell apart when Artemis started packing it into a snowball.

Holly burst through the front door. "Artemis, what are y-"

She stopped when Artemis spun around and whirled a hastily constructed snowball at her. He missed by quite a bit, the projectile sailing several meters above Holly's head and hitting an icicle-laden bannister.

"Oh, that's how you wanna play it, huh?" Holly dove into the snow and came up with a snowball in each hand, chucking them at Artemis as he attempted to scrape together more ammunition. Both hit him square in the back, and for a second, Holly worried that she had thrown too hard. But then Artemis spun around again, a large, genuine smile on his face, and flung another snowball at Holly.

"Wow, that was pretty close, actually," Holly said, truly amazed. "You're not so bad at this, really."

"I'll get better," Artemis laughed, sending another snowball. "Maybe I'll actually hit you one day."

"Maybe," Holly smiled. This was an Artemis that she had never seen before, and she wasn't sure how she felt about it.

Just then, Butler came around the corner of the Manor in full tactical mode. He even had his weapon drawn. When he realized what was going on, his expression softened and Holly swore she saw the beginnings of a smile dancing at the edges of his lips.

"Go easy on us, old friend," Artemis requested. He had backed away and was gathering up snow in an attempt to build a wall between himself and Holly.

"Oh, don't worry about me," Butler holstered his weapon and moved through the snow with the dexterity of a mountain lion to take position in front of Artemis. "I doubt Juliet will hold back, though."

Juliet arrived soon after, and she looked almost disappointed that the fight in the front yard was being fought with snowballs and not fists and feet. Nevertheless, she joined in, taking Holly's side.

While Artemis and Holly fought a more conventional snowball fight, Juliet and Butler's was a battle of tactical awareness and guerrilla warfare. Juliet would take cover behind hedges and trees, and her brother would have to flush her out with a suppressing volley of snow-missiles. She even laid an ambush for him, leading him around a hedge where she was waiting with a snowball in each hand and a few more at her feet. It was the least friendly snowball fight Artemis had ever seen (which wasn't saying much) and yet, they were laughing the whole time.

"You can definitely tell she's a Butler," Holly and Artemis now stood side-by-side, watching in awe as Juliet somehow loosed two snowballs while simultaneously doing a double-frontflip off of Angeline Fowl's Bentley. Artemis's coat was absolutely caked with snow, and Holly had not a flake on her, but Artemis was still warm.

"I think this is just what I needed, Holly."

"So you figured out what was wrong?" She turned to face him, their matching eyes meeting. Something inside him melted.

"Yes, Holly. I did." He grabbed her hands, a motion so suave that Holly completely forgot about Juliet's frontflips and was completely focused on Artemis now. "I've spent the entirety of the last few months trying to regain what memories I can..."

He leaned in, and she did the same. It wasn't even a conscious movement, it just happened. Artemis had to stoop a bit to compensate for Holly's height, but it didn't cross their minds. Their lips met, and for a moment, there was only them. Butler, Juliet, the Manor, the snow, it was all gone. In that moment, there was only Holly and Artemis. They parted, but Holly lingered for a bit, her lips following Artemis's as they drew apart.

"...I should've been focusing on making new ones."

Holly stared stars into him. He really had changed. But now Holly was sure how she felt.

"That was way too smooth to be the real Artemis," she smiled playfully. "Orion, is that you?"

Artemis was about to answer when Juliet and Butler came tumbling around the corner. Juliet had her arms locked around Butler's neck in a triangular strangle-hold, but Butler didn't look too bothered. The scene resembled a capuchin monkey attempting to strangle a gorilla. Juliet dismounted when she saw Holly and Artemis's hands locked together, and let out the trademark teenage-girl "Ooooooooh," that made Artemis feel as if he had been caught doing something illegal. Not a familiar feeling. Artemis was rarely caught.

"Did you two kiss?" She turned to Butler. "I bet they kissed."

"Calm down, little sister. It's not as if you've never seen kissing before. Right?" The Right? was annunciated in such a way that Juliet looked as if she was being accused, though Artemis was not sure why.

"I don't have a boyfriend, Dom, so you can stop worrying. Plus, most boys are immature morons who assume they're stronger than me because I'm a girl."

"Hey, we're not all immature morons," Artemis said.

Just then, Myles burst through the front door, landing on his hands and knees.

"Has there been a fi-"

Myles was interrupted by Beckett clambering over him to get through the door.

"Myles, we missed the fight," Beckett sounded extremely sad. Apparently, he held being late to a snowball fight in the same regard as losing a close friend or particularly precious toy.

"Yes, I noticed, you nincuh-poop," Myles rubbed an area on the back of his head where Beckett had stepped on him.

As this conversation carried on, the laughter among the Butlers, Holly, and Artemis had grown to roaring levels.

Artemis was looking forward to being called "nincuh-poop" instead of "simple-toon".

Artemis and Holly were back in Artemis's study. His jeans and sneakers were soaked with melted snow, and his hair was a mess. Normally, this would have been utterly unacceptable, but Artemis could feel nothing but pure joy at the moment.

He was currently staring at the last page in his memoir. He had gone over each sentence a hundred times, studying every aspect of his adventures. But now, he wanted to move on.

"That wasn't the first time we've kissed," Holly stated, breaking the silence.

"Really?" Artemis asked, though he knew that Holly wouldn't lie to him. Maybe he had missed it. No. Impossible. He was an adept reader and wouldn't have missed something so major. Not a thousand times.

"It doesn't say in your memoir?" Holly frowned. "Maybe you weren't as fond of me as I thought."

"Or maybe I wasn't quite certain how I felt. I've never been good with emotions, after all."

Holly opened her mouth to answer, but suddenly stopped. Her hand shot to her ear, and she was silent for a few seconds before standing up and turning back to Artemis.

"It's Trouble. I'm needed down in Haven. There's...trouble."

"That," Artemis smiled. "...was awful."

"It's not like any of your jokes are any better." She smiled back. "Anyway, I've got to go. I'd bet I'll be seeing you soon."

"When you inevitably need my help, you know where to find me," Artemis said. Holly sighed and shook her head, disappearing through the door.

Some things never change, she thought as she slung her wings over her shoulder and made her way down the hall.

Artemis wanted to move on. He really did. He was a different person now, much more mature than the one in his memoir. But one more read-through couldn't hurt, right? After all, his adventures were quite extraordinary, and he doubted he'd be having many of their caliber any time soon. He scrolled back to page one. The first chapter, simply titled "Artemis Fowl".

"It all began in Ho Chi Minh City one summer. It was sweltering by anyone's standards. Needless to say, Artemis Fowl would not be willing to put up with such discomfort if something extremely important had not been at stake. Important to the plan..."