Alright, so here's the story. I'm new to this anime, but I've seen the whole series on Youtube over the past week or so. I've come to the conclusion that Esther and Ion are the cutest thing I've seen in a long time, so that's what it's gonna be from now on. I'm sure a few other pairings, canon or non canon, doesn't matter to me, will come to my attention after a little while, so keep an eye open XD Anyway, this is just gonna be a one shot for now, since I have a lot of other stories going that I havn't updated for a long time, and I need to work on them. But, after watching the whole series, episode 23 in particular, something made me ask, what would've happened if Ion had returned to Albion? Spoilers ahoy for anyone who hasn't seen the end of the series just yet, so hold off until you get there if you don't want me to ruin your night ;) Anyway, enough of this talking, let's see how I do with this new material. I can't remember this word for word, so I'll be improvising, just to let everyone know.

"Father Nightroad has been assassinated," Astharoshe, the Duchess of Odessa informed the young Count of Memphis.

Ion's burgundy eye's went wide in denial.

"As-assassinated?" He repeated quietly.

She nodded her head. She might not think highly of the boy, but she can relate to his feelings.

'Abel,' She bowed her head sadly.

"Change course, we're going back to Albion!" Ion suddenly yelled, snapping her out of her daze.

"No, we can't, this is an imperial duty and we can't ignore it, we go to Rome!" She snapped back forcefully, assuming he would back down away from her superiority.

"No!" He even surprised himself with the way he reacted.

Abel was a friend to him, and he needed to be there. But, more importantly, Esther was even closer to Abel then he, maybe even had feelings for him, and he knew that she would need a friendly face, even if it did mean going against orders.

Astharoshe could understand why he wanted to go back, but duty was duty.

"Change course, head back to Albion," Ion looked up at her, surprised at her sudden action.

"You go to her, I'll take care of business in Rome,"

He looked on at her surprised, but managed to sputter a quiet, "Th-thank you Duchess,"

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Esther lay motionless up against the black coffin. Her screams still echoing in her ears, the visions of him falling to the ground fresh on her mind, and the blood, the haunting blood that poured out of him and pooled all around him on the floor. Fresh tears stung at her eyes, pouring out onto the smooth unwelcoming surface she was resting on. She couldn't believe he was dead, Father Nightroad, gone, just like that, even in his Crusnik form. This wasn't happening. She didn't know how long she'd been laying there, it felt like years, but she knew it had only been a few hours. She had no idea what time it was, or what was going on outside, but at the moment she didn't care. The only thing she was concerned about was the black box Able lied in taunting her. Selfish? Yes, it probably was, but for right now, she needed to worry more about herself, and not everyone else.

She heard the doors to the church crash open carelessly, but it was no more then a pin drop in her ears. Her mind was so out of focus, noise was nothing to her anymore. She didn't even care who was racing in up to her, it didn't matter anyway.

"Esther!"

Wait, she knew that voice, and it wasn't the voice of Father Tres or Sister Kate like she expected, but, the voice of a young Methuselah with blonde hair and haunting red eyes…Ion. Her eye's were wide, and her breath was caught in her throat, but despite the fact that the Count of Memphis was right next her, dropping to his knees, panting to catch his breath, she didn't look up, just continued to lay there in shock. Tears spilled freely from her eyes.

"Esther…" He was at a loss for words. Seeing the one person that was always so strong, so broken and torn, it made his heart sink.

He touched her shoulder gently, trying to make her feel better. He saw her blink and slowly start pushing herself up off the coffin. She looked at him with bloodshot sapphire eyes. This wasn't the same Esther that held him when Radu shot him in that cell. No, this was the fragile Esther that he never got to see. He owed her, and now he'd pay her back.

Before his thoughts got any further, all at once, she threw herself at him, sobbing into his shoulder. His chest tightened, feeling her shaking, not able to feel her pain, or take it away, but he could understand. Abel, he was something of a father to her one could suppose, but also, he knew Esther had started to have intimate feelings towards him. He suddenly imagined losing Esther, and began to feel all the pain that she did. Tears stung at his eyes. He remembered his promise to Astharoshe to never cry again, and thought 'to hell with it' as he cried with her.

"This is all my fault," He heard her choke out in between sobs. "He saved my life once, and I couldn't do the same for him…I just stood there and watched," She began to cry harder, but Ion didn't make more of an effort to console her. Instead he grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her away from him so he could see her face.

She looked frightened. He looked on with fire in his eyes as he bored holes through hers. She was frozen in her place. He looked angry, upset. "You think that just because you couldn't save him that it's your fault he died? What would you have possibly done for him? You would've gotten yourself killed, and then what? I'd have to sit here and grieve over two coffins because you blamed yourself. I never want to have to see you in the bottom of one of these degraded things," His hold tightened on her shoulders and then released when he saw the look on her face.

She reached up slowly and wiped the tears from his face with her thumb. "You don't have to cry for me. I just- " She was at a loss for words.

Before Ion could say more, the doors to the church opened again. He looked at Esther and began to stand. He grasped her hand in his and helped her to unsteady feet. Whatever happens from here on in, he's right by her side.

'I'm gonna get you through this Esther, no matter what it takes,' He thought to himself silently.

Next to him Esther looked up to the ceiling, and silently prayed, and thanked Ion for being there for her.

Short and to the point, I'd say. There will be more from me. I have this feeling that this little fanficiton will turn into a series of drabbles. So, keep your eyes opened. Obviously this happens just before Esther finds out she's the next Queen of Albion. This was tough for me, I only watched every episode once, and with subtitles, so it wasn't easy for me to keep up. Multitasking is not a favorite of mine. So, bear with me until I get a firmer grasp on things. Hope you all enjoyed, be on the look out xD