Tanith knelt down beside the stone statue of a man, just as she had been doing as often as possible these last few years, and sighed.

The statue wasn't really just a statue. It was an actually man named Ghastly Bespoke. About two years ago, Ghastly had been attacked by the White Cleaver and used the final element, earth, in defense. Now he was frozen in stone, and there was nothing anyone could do to speed up the process of his emergence. For Tanith, that was infuriating.

She felt that somehow, the blame should be assigned to her. Of course, the White Cleaver was the one who attacked Ghastly, forcing him into his current state, but Tanith had been there. She could have done something. Or maybe she couldn't have; she wasn't confident of anything anymore.

She leaned over, embracing the statue, whispering in Ghastly's ear. "Don't worry. I'll be right here when you're ready to come back. Skulduggery and Val, too. We all miss you terribly."

Tanith released him from the hug, looking into his scarred face. She suddenly turned, hitting the ground with her fist. "Why am I so useless?!" She stared once again at Ghastly's statue. "I know that if you could hear me, you'd be thinking, 'Why isn't she doing anything? Does she not know how to get me back?' Well, yeah, I don't know how, and it's killing me!" She took a shaky breath. "I want you back. I need you back."

She sat there for a while, lost in thought. Kenspeckle Grouse, the owner of the building in which Ghastly was kept, had figured out that Tanith wanted to be left alone. It had taken some grumbled complaints and a couple of throwing knives on Tanith's part, but Kenspeckle soon got the picture. Now, whenever she came to visit, he seemed to be hiding in a room far away from Tanith and her weapons.

Eventually, Tanith stood to leave. Yet as she walked to the door, she felt that she just couldn't do it. She looked back at Ghastly and ran back over. She knelt down once more and did something even she herself hadn't expected to do. She kissed him.

She leaned back and realized she was smiling. She moved her head near Ghastly's ear and whispered, barely audible, three simple words. "I love you."

She had said those words before, many times, but she had never truly meant them. Not this way. This was different. It was the feeling that if she didn't say those words, she would have never said enough. It was the feeling that she could never live without the motionless man that knelt before her. And she knew that it was more than just a feeling; it was the most truthful thing she'd heard in a long, long time.

These thoughts kept her from noticing the change in the statue before her until it was nearly done. Ghastly Bespoke blinked, looked up, and spoke for the first time in two years. "Hi, Tanith."

Tanith's grin widened even further, and she hugged him. "Ghastly! I can't believe it, you're back!"

They broke apart, and both of them were smiling. "I know. It feels great." His brow furrowed slightly. "Um… how long was I like that, exactly?"

"Two years."

Ghastly looked as if he'd been hit. "Two years?"

Tanith nodded her affirmation. "Two years."

"Oh my God."

"Yeah."

"Well, I hope everyone missed me."

Tanith grinned. "Of course we did."

• • •

As Ghastly was being checked over by Kenspeckle, he thought about the first words he'd heard since the fight with the White Cleaver.

"I love you."

He thought he'd never heard anything better in his entire life- and that was a pretty long time. Those words, from Tanith Low, were the only welcome back he needed. He knew Skulduggery and Val were probably on their way now, and it would be great to see them. But nothing would compare to hearing that one simple sentence.

Ghastly knew he'd never mention it to Tanith. Not for a very, very long time at least. He knew that she hadn't wanted him to hear it just yet, and that was okay with him. One thing he'd learned in his many years in the world was patience, and he planned to practice it with Tanith.

The time would come, he knew, when he wouldn't be able to hold it in any longer, when he would just have to tell Tanith how he felt. Because he was dying to tell her just four words of his own.

"I love you too."

A/N: Well, guys, this is my first Skulduggery fanfic, so please let me know what you think. I know this is basically just fluff, but Ghanith is just too cute to NOT have moments like this. Anyway, hope you enjoyed. Oh, and let's take care of the formalities. No, I did not write Skulduggery Pleasant. I wish I did, but only Derek Landy can take credit for that outstanding accomplishment. :)