Love Endures Chapter 2: Miss Me

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Hey everyone! So I know that a lot of you are really hoping that I make alternate endings to the last story and stuff, but I don't plan to make one; don't worry though, it'll all work out. ;) On with the chapter!

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"So this is what Arendelle looks like..." Purge gasped in fascination, taking in the sights and smells of the outskirts of the kingdom, her normally pale grey eyes seemingly turning a slight purple tint that dyed her pupils lightly. The two royals of Corona noticed this; but in the end they decided to brush it off as the reflection of dusk enveloping the skies above.

"If you think this is amazing, you should see the central town and especially the castle! There are always bakeries working and gardeners tending to flowers every moment that the sun is in the sky! It's absolutely amazing!" A joyous Rapunzel replied happily, her hands on Purge's shoulders; taking it upon herself to guide the young woman around the Victorian era town so that she would later be able to learn and traverse the routes on her own without any real assistance.

"It is; but still not quite as amazing as me." Eugene quipped, causing Rapunzel, and surprisingly even Purge to giggle lightly, all while Plague lagged behind by a few meters, never bothering to glance up from the ground to take in the sights that the rest of his little band of misfits were drinking up as if it were a sacred golden nectar, ripe for consumption.

"Well Plague has been telling me some stories about this place, but he neglected to mention how many people lived here; I haven't seen so many people since..." Purge trailed off as her smile gradually disappeared, only to be replaced by a small but still quite emotional frown that quickly shifted the mood on the young woman's face from one of fascination and happiness to one of regret and depression in a matter of moments.

Eventually after a few further moments of intense silence Eugene noticed that Purge was no longer speaking in her rather unusual accent that was laced with curiosity. Glancing over he saw that Purge was indeed not as happy in appearance as she had once seemed, her hands and arms which had previously been up against her chest in a ball, were now hanging limp at her sides; sapped of the spirit and energy that she had displayed only moments before.

"Hey... Purge are you doing alright over there? Why aren't you... You know... Jumping up and down like a loony because you can smell fresh bread or something stupid like that?..." Eugene asked, only to shrug in a dismissive manner once he received nothing more than a guttural groan from Purge in response. It was obvious that the mysterious young woman was clearly experiencing a turmoil filled internal struggle in her psyche; however that fact was either lost on the shadowy man that had arrived with her, that or he just didn't care.

"Anyway, before we decide that this 'oh-so-beautiful' town is worth spending the rest of our increasingly miserable loves in... I need to get to the castle; I don't care what the rest of you do, but the news I have for Queen Elsa cannot wait any longer than it already has..." Plague explained in such an authoritative tone that it was pointless to challenge the hooded man's plan of action; not that Rapunzel was planning on doing anything, but unfortunately Eugene wasn't exactly planning on being as tactful as he had been back in Corona.

"You know you still haven't told us why exactly you need to talk to Elsa, and what you need to tell her for that matter..." He sneered, his hand subconsciously reaching for the dagger on his belt. While he didn't intend to use his weapon for any more than self defense, he wasn't about to take the chance of being unarmed around what still believed to be some form of hired killer.

"You're right... And I absolutely do not intend to whatsoever... This message is for her and her alone; if you want to hear what I have to say to the snow queen, then you can be there when I tell her, but you will not know of my message any sooner than her..." Plague replied simply, spitting on the ground next to a flower. What caught Eugene's eyes however was that the flower had suddenly begun to smoke and wilt, as if it were trapped in an inferno.

"You know what?! No!..." Purge yelled, using all of her strength to rip herself out of Rapunzel's grasp in order to slam Plague against wall with all of her might; nearly knocking the wind out of the hooded man. "For the last half a year you've been nothing more than a sexually frustrated sloth! You're not the same person that I've always known! Why don't you just grow the fuck up and realize that there's a chance Elsa doesn't even remember you?! And why don't you just tell these people who you really fucking are An-..."

The loud thump from Plague's hand enveloping her mouth was the last thing that Purge heard and felt before smoke was thrust into her body, and as a result, Purge into unconsciousness. Her body fell to the ground in a heap of leather armor and long black hair, her muscles instinctively contracting so that she curled slightly into a ball. Upon see in this, Rapunzel and Eugene flew down to their knees on order to tend to whatever wounds that Purge might have sustained from Plague's perplexing attack. Thankfully there was no visible signs of injury, which meant that the probability of the young woman sustaining any sort of life threatening wound was rather low all things considered.

Purge had been knocked unconscious due to overwhelming amounts of smoke inhalation. But how on earth could that be possible? She had clearly been knocked out by Plague holding his hand over her nose and mouth. These questions and more flooded Eugene's mind as he psyched himself up to yell at Plague.

"Hey-..." Eugene began as he directed his gaze, which had shifted to a hardened glare, to where he thought Plague to be standing, but when he finally brought his sight to Plague's suspected location, Eugene was flabbergasted to see that the hooded man was gone; most likely off to do harm to Queen Elsa. Turning back to his wife who was tending to Purge; Eugene put his hand on her shoulder and said frantically, "C'mon Blondie; I know you want to take care of Purge and all but we need to go and warn Queen Elsa that she and everyone else in the castle is in mortal danger... We need to get there before Plague! I'll carry Purge; you run ahead of me to warn the guards!"

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Elsa was just about ready to kill her sister and her pranking ways; very very painfully. It wasn't like she didn't love her rambunctious shenanigans every once in a while, the young queen even welcomed her sisters pranks sometimes; but this was not one of said increasingly rare times. Elsa held her tongue between her bared teeth in order to not blurt out a swear, simultaneously using her powers to wipe off a thick layer of red and green icing that coated her normally pale skin, which had tinted itself pink in anger. It was probably an innocent prank, she was sure that it was, but in the process of Anna's prank covering her sister with icing, she had also accidentally covered her desk full of papers in the sugary substance.

The moment that the red-head noticed that she had damaged all of Elsa's files, she hobbled out of the door as fast as she possibly could, dropping the large icing tube that had previously held her ammunition behind her, thankfully slowing Elsa down ever so slightly since she had tripped, not noticing the tube in her rage. All of that along with around 5 minutes of irrational anger induced searching brought Elsa to where she was now; stomping around the castle like a madwoman in search of her pregnant sister in order to make her pay for her supposedly funny joke, all while attempting to wipe off the remnants of said joke.

"Anna?! It's pointless hiding!" Elsa yelled with such force that a few of the newer guards who had been assigned to patrol the hallway Elsa bellowed out in to flinch in fear at the queen's sudden temperamental outburst. Forming a sharp icicle in her hand that she held as a dagger, Elsa hissed out. "Come out, come out wherever you are! I have a Special Christmas gift for you!"

"Never!... Oops!" A voice replied, accidentally disclosing it's owners location to the enraged snow queen; a twisted smirk forming on her face when she audibly located her younger sister. Due to the placement of the voice she had to be hiding in the dressing room; at least that's as accurate that Elsa could make the voices location could be. With glare set in stone and teeth bared like a tiger ready to pounce on its prey, Elsa made her way over to the dressing room as fast as she could without looking like a fool, ready to give Anna a piece of her mind; and possibly a snowball or two down the back of her dress.

It took only a few dozen strides to reach the dressing room, which had been boarded off by a few pieces of furniture from inside of the room; evident by the exponential amount of force that Elsa was forced to exert in order to even get the door to open by even the tiniest amount.

"Anna, open this door at once!" The young queen ordered while slamming her fists futilely against the wooden door with all of her might, which wasn't exactly saying much since Elsa's strong suits did not include physical strength. But that didn't mean she couldn't employ a stronger tactic that only she possessed. "You have exactly 4 seconds to open this door before I blast it down and freeze your arms and legs to a wall!"

"Wow... Jeez Elsa; that's a little violent isn't it?" Anna's voice echoed from inside of the dressing room, before Elsa suddenly fell into the room, due to the fact that she was leaning on the wooden room divider when Anna decoded to remove the barricade from, causing the young queen to land into the waiting arms of a female guard who hoisted Elsa to her feet so that she came face to face with Anna, who was wearing a smug smile on her face. "Hello my dear sweet sister... Looks like it's about time to get ready for the Christmas ball!"

"No Anna, I told you before... I don't want to go to any parties, and I especially don't want to participate in any balls!..." Elsa reasoned, her voice growing weak and sad as her mind flooded with the memories of the ball that she had attended with Andrew back when they had first met. Those memories that she would reminisce over every night before crying herself to sleep; clutching onto a pillow that she buried her face in until the cruel grip of sleep overtook her.

Anna had evidently noticed the change in her elder sisters behavior, because the next thing that Elsa knew, Anna's arms were wrapped around her, the owner of said appendages using a last resort to attempt to get her sister to at the very least try to attend the party. "Please Elsa... Just come down to the party... I understand that you've got a shattered heart and all, but I can't stand to watch you lock us all out again... Please just come down to the party; just for tonight?..."

"...Fine... I'll come, but don't ex-... Oomph!" Elsa let out a grunt as a result of being knocked to the ground by an overjoyed Anna; who pulled herself to her feet with the help of the female guard before the princess began busily rushing to and fro, gathering up different selections of dresses and jewelry in order to find Elsa what she believed to be the perfect outfit for the young queen.

Elsa couldn't help but to smile ever so slightly upon witnessing the utter happiness on Anna's face at hearing the young queen's acceptance to her pleas. It would be hard; torturous even, and Elsa was sure that she would be no more than a jaded queen on her throne throughout the party, but as long as it made Anna happy, who was she to deny her little sister such a god given right?...

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Rapunzel hated running on stone, absolutely hated the entire experience. Ever since she escaped Gothel's tower, she still refused to wear any sort of shoe or boot, but this had to be one of the few times that she could honestly say that she regretted her choice of running barefoot everywhere. Stone was rough, hard, and sharp, and that was a very uncomfortable combination for the princess's feet; which usually resembled butcher meat as opposed to the feet of a young royal. She couldn't stop though; she had to warn Queen Elsa and her guards that there was an extremely dangerous man after the snow queen.

It was already sunset, which meant that the ball would be starting within the hour, if it hadn't already begun ever so earlier; the perfect time for Plague to strike at Elsa. While there would be more than a hundred people in the room, normally ensuring security, it meant in truth that Elsa's guards would be quite relaxed, and not as ready to deal with a threat as dangerous as the deadly hooded man currently after their queen.

After a few arduous minutes of intense sprinting, Rapunzel finally found herself in front of Castle Arendelle's main gates, where two bewildered guards were gawking at her as she ran over to them before she ducked over and began wheezing; not used to running such long distances without so much as a moments break.

"Princess Rapunzel?! What on earth are you running here so desperately for?!" One of the guards asked as he ran over to grasp the princess's shoulders and prop her up so that she would regain the breath in her lungs faster, and as a result, she would be able to inform them of whatever was causing her such distress.

"Q-... Queen Elsa... She-... She's in trouble... An-... An assassin is coming to kill her and-... And Princess Anna..." She gasped out, simultaneously attempting to take as much oxygen into her lungs a she possibly could in the shortest amount of time possible; all while the guards looked at each other before the guard who wasn't assisting Rapunzel ran frantically inside to warn the royal guards to be ready for an attack during the Christmas Ball later that night.

"Come inside then your highness! If what you say is true then it is in no way safe out here for you either!" The guard tending to Rapunzel said, before helping the young woman up so that they could proceed into the castle. He was shorter than most but still towered over Rapunzel quite considerably, giving the brunette an ample amount of flesh to lean on as she struggled into the castle, where she could see that the ball had already begun.

While the outside stone scratched as her feet, Rapunzel had to admit that when she was inside the castle it was a much different situation. She absolutely loved the feeling of a carpet between her toes. Unfortunately she could not savor the feeling of such a soft floor long; she had to warn her cousin Queen Elsa of the impending doom that drew closer to the castle by the second.

The main ballroom was beautifully decorated, it was absolutely majestic in Rapunzel's opinion; with grand wreaths and massive trees lining the walls of the ballroom. Red and green cloth hung from the ceiling, while candles hung giving off a low light that gave the entire room a grandiose and sophisticated appearance. However, the most extravagant decoration of all without a doubt was the large statue of a warrior surrounded by fire, with dark rubies fitted into the eye sockets of the statue that a few workers were covering up with a large black canvas that appeared as if it could hide the entire statue.

"Wow... So that must be Andrew... He looks very interesting..." Rapunzel noted, pointing to the statue in curiosity. This action, along with her muttering over the topic of the statue eventually caught the guard's attention, and as custom dictated, he was required to answer her, since she was a noble.

"Yes my lady; Princess Anna had it commissioned around a month ago with the intention of presenting it to her royal highness Queen Elsa as a sort of Christmas gift; the queen is unaware of it as of yet, but it shall be presented to her after you and the other guests are finished dining." The guard explained, although it was painfully obvious that he was about as interested in the current conversation as he was in the affairs of a kingdom on the other side of the known world. Unfortunately Rapunzel was never exactly the best at picking up subtle cues such as the ones currently being given to her by the guard; and so the man was subjugated to the cruel torture of being forced to put a smile on his face while the visiting royal chattered away in his ear.

He was getting way too old for this.

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"Just a few more minutes Elsa..." Plague, who was perched on the roof of the castle, said to himself while he gripped onto a single photograph which hung around his neck thanks to a small golden locket. The photograph was of Queen Elsa and Andrew embracing and laughing in a photo booth. "I promise I'll erase the past from your heart so you can begin anew... I just want to see your smile again... Even if you truly have forgotten me..."

With speed unmatched, Plague leapt from the top of the castle tower, landing so softly on the ground below that his feet never even made a sound as they impacted the cobblestone. Unfortunately while his landing may have been soft, his location wasn't exactly as subtle, because instead of landing behind a wall, or even one of the fountains; the assassin instead decided to land in the center of the courtyard; in full view of 4 armed guards who were quick to draw their swords upon spotting him.

"Halt intruder! State your business hooded mongrel, or we will cut you down like the dog you are!" One of the more senior guards demanded as he drew closer to Plague who stood resolute; never bothering to even budge as the guard finally found himself within swinging range. Bringing his sword up, the guard chuckled, "Suit yourself then..."

Suddenly, before another move could be made the guard froze on the spot, only to drop his sword a few moments later. When one of the other guards called out the senior's name, the man in question fell to the ground, completely unconscious; all while Plague stood above him, with smoke rising from his fingertips, while a low growl was emitted from his mouth, which was also completely covered by the darkness of the night.

The other guards could hardly believe their eyes. Had they truly just witnessed one of the best swordsmen in the kingdom being taken down by a hooded assailant without so much as a struggle?

Eventually 2 of the guards could not stand by any longer, both rushing towards Plague with their swords raised above their head with the intention of cutting this mysterious attacker down where he stood. They never reached him however, for as soon as they began to charge, they left themselves open for attack, an opportunity which Plague gladly took, ducking under their blades to strike them both in the stomach with his fists; rendering them both unable to fight.

The last guard; a young man with short brown hair, not even dressed in the attire of a normal guard, stood shakily as he pointed a small sword in Plague's direction, causing the young man to smirk from under his hood as he silently walked up to the boy; causing the guard in training to drop the weapon in fear and raise his arms to his head in a last ditch effort to defend himself from the inevitable blow that would no doubt end his career early.

But such a strike never came.

When the boy glanced up at his would be reaper, he was absolutely astounded to see the hooded man had picked his sword off of the ground and was now offering it back to him. The guard in training cautiously took the weapon from the hooded man's hand with a nod of thanks before the man seemingly floated on the cobblestone past him, but not before the boy heard his voice. "Get your friends to their beds... They'll have recovered by sunrise..."

The guard in training could only nod dumbly as Plague opened one of the castle doors and slid inside; shutting it behind him the moment he was in, leaving the remaining guard to care for his unconscious comrades.

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The party had only just begun minutes ago at it was already in full swing before Elsa's eyes. It had been an interesting afternoon, first Anna had insisted that she would stop at nothing to get her elder sister to wear one of her snow dresses as opposed to the more formal attire that the young queen had grown so accustomed to, and somehow in the end Anna was still able to win out in the end, although she was able to keep her hair up in its bun, which put Elsa in the situation she was currently stuck in right now.

"And may I say what a lovely choice of dress that you have selected tonight my queen..." A random prince droned on incessantly while the snow queen sat on her throne, actively giving the young man a glare of both intense boredom and even a degree of disgust. As the prince continued speaking he eventually said something he realized he would regret only moments too late. "I would imagine you're even more stunning under your dress; why don't we head to your bed chambers and you can give me a full view of your beauty."

"I would rather not, but I do sincerely appreciate such a Generous offer..." Elsa replied, her voice dripping with enough sarcasm to poison a dagger with it and still have tons to spare. She absolutely hated these sorts of men, the sort of men who thought that women were no more than playthings. Well she would be sure to correct that misconception if it was the last thing she did.

Unfortunately the prince wasn't ready to give up on what he believed was going to be his latest 'conquest' so easily, and so he braced himself for the worst, before he said, "Now, now my queen... There's no need to be rude. If your nervous you could always have a 'sample'..."

"No..." Elsa growled, her hands subconsciously drifting over her chest to grab at the dog tags which still rested there. Unfortunately the prince noticed her actions and quickly decided that the best course of action would be to make a comment on the intricate necklace that the queen clung to like a lifeline.

"Well... I must say... That's a unique necklace... Although in my opinion you should have left it in whatever tomb you retrieved it from your highness." The prince laughed, unaware of exactly what he had just told Elsa with a smug smile.

"Excuse me?!" Okay now that was the last straw. With the ferocity of a tiger, Elsa stood up so quickly that ice spikes began to form around her, before she jabbed her finger to some distant section of the ballroom, an unpleased scowl prominent on her face. "You have exactly half a minute to evict yourself from my sight and to ensure that you and I no longer cross paths in this party... And tell the same to any other prince who thinks himself 'handsome' and 'gallant' enough to attempt to approach me!..."

Once Elsa was finished her threat, the prince gave a small bow before he scurried away to the corner of the ballroom that Elsa had been pointing towards, where his fellow rejected princes were all mingling among themselves, all planning on where they could possibly sleep now that their previous 'plans' had fallen through.

Meanwhile, the queen who had rejected them all sighed quite loudly as she sank back into her throne, secretly wishing that she were just completely invisible. That man had been the sixth one to attempt to woo her that night alone, and Elsa knew it would only continue throughout the next few days leading up to Christmas. Why on earth did Anna have to throw a party that lasted more than a day? There was really no need, and all it did was throw more stress on Elsa's shoulders, despite her younger sister's no doubt pure intentions.

Once Elsa was sure that the prince was well and truly out of her general vicinity, the young queen reached up to her chest once again to grasp the dog tags, speaking as she rubbed the fading metal between her gloved hands. "Andrew... You wouldn't have let anyone talk to me like that... I just-... I should have stayed with you... At least then we would still be together, even if that meant we were both dead..."

Elsa silently began to pray like always that Andrew would just miraculously step through the doors of the ballroom, making a grand entrance that swept her off of her feet, just like the fairy tales that her mother used to read her when she and Anna were mere toddlers. Only Elsa knew that fairy tales were far from the truth. Andrew was gone, and there was nothing that could bring him back...

"Intruder in the halls! Intruder in the halls! Protect the queen!" A flurry of noise suddenly caught Elsa's attention, and before she was even able to register what was happening around her, the violence had already begun. In the middle of ballroom, where guests had been dancing only moments before, was now a hooded figure, surrounded by half a dozen of Arendelle's royal guards, all with their weapons drawn and pointed towards the figure.

One of the guards made a move, bringing down his weapon to where he believed the hooded figure to be, only to strike the carpet next to the man, who had obviously moved. Without even a sound, the man kicked the sword away from the guard and used the collateral force to strike the guards chin with his knee, knocking the soldier unconscious instantly while the rest of the guards glanced worriedly at each other before steeling themselves for whatever the man could throw at them.

Next, three guards charged at once, all swinging their blades simultaneously, yet when they reached the figure, the swords were all stopped in their tracks by the man's own blade, a small dagger, prompting the guards to all gulp. They were knocked out on the floor within seconds.

Only 2 guards remained to defend the queen and neither one of those two looked as if they were confident in their chances of success to any realistic degree and even Elsa could see this. The men were literally shaking in their boots and they cautiously began to tip toe forwards, but quickly reverted back to their original positions when the hooded man began to casually walk towards them, wielding a sword from one of the unconscious guards in a way that suggested to his opponents that he had been trained to fight with a blade, and wouldn't be going down without a fight.

Letting out what Elsa believed to be battle cries, the last two guards rushed the hooded man's position, only to stop a few moments later to clutch at their throats. There was a thick cloud of black smoke cutting the two guard's lungs off from any form of oxygen. They were an unconscious heap on the ground before anyone could possibly even consider assisting them.

After a few moments of intense silence, Elsa finally decided to address this intruder, coughing lightly to clear her throat before she spoke. "So... I assume that you're the assassin that I've been hearing about tonight? Why didn't you kill my guards? It's quite obvious you have kittle concern for those around you; at least if your chosen profession is anything to say about you..."

"Well my queen..." The hooded man began as he casually walked ever closer to the throne, stopping only a few feet away from Elsa, all while the guests of the party watched in horror, Anna and the rest of the Hjorth's guests included. "You see, I've spent quite an ample amount of time attempting to track you down, it seemed as if every method I tried was futile-..."

"Oh well I apologize for being such an irritating target, I'll be sure that before you kill me that I order letters be sent to the other royals in the land to keep their windows open at night..." Elsa replied sarcastically, while she did her best to not roll her eyes at this man's attempt at frightening her. If only he knew what she had been through, this would go so much quicker.

"Don't interrupt me Elsa." The hooded man replied, not even bothering to use the respectful formality of Elsa's title. He sighed before continuing his story. "As I was saying, finding you was rather hellish... The last 6 months of looking haven't exactly been what I would classify as 'easy'..."

"You have absolutely no idea what sort of hell that I have been through in the last half year assassin... Every consecutive day has been harder than the last, to the point that I no longer acknowledge the passing of the sun or moon, merely the sad songs of the birds as they flutter by my window... So if you're here to kill me, then do it... I have nothing to live for anyway..." Elsa mused, before pulling down her dress's protective layer that covered her neck, exposing the vital section of flesh that would no doubt result in death when the hooded man decided to attack.

"So that's it then... You just want to die here and now?... You don't have any loved ones who would hate to see you go? Is there even anything for you on the other side?" He asked, surprising nearly everyone in the room. Why wasn't he going in for the kill? Did he sense something that the rest of the room couldn't? Or was there something more going on in his head?

"Yes... His name is-... Was... Andrew... He gave his life for me, and I want nothing more than to join him and be by his side again... Even if that means I must suffer through the cruel journey of death..." The snow queen explained solemnly, before biting down on her lip to keep herself from crying in front of the royals visiting Arendelle. If she was going to die; she was going to die with her head held high.

"...And you're sure that he isn't alive, actively looking for you? Because I can guarantee that he would be devastated to learn of your death..." The hooded man explained, his voice becoming quite soft for a moment, although that could have easily just been a figment of Elsa's imagination.

"I saw him die before my very eyes trying to save me and thousands of others... I wish every night and day for him to somehow return to me... But-... He is no longer with me..." Elsa admitted with her face buried in her hands, as if she was attempting to hide the shame of admitting such a thing to a stranger; an assassin no less!

"I told you before Elsa... I'm always with you..." The man replied in a voice that Elsa recognized about as well as her own voice. Upon hearing this, Elsa's gaze shot up towards the assassin like lightning, just in time for her to see the man pulling the hood away from his face and off of his head; revealing locks of jet black hair that contrasted with the man's pale skin. What was the more prominent feature however, was the man's eyes; his blood red eyes.

Every single muscle in Elsa's body was completely frozen. Her arms and legs refused to cooperate with the rest of her body, which shook violently as tears began to trickle down her face. Her eyes had to be deceiving her; there was no other explanation to this situation. It should all be a cruel and heart wrenching nightmare, yet the entire room full of people was quite aware of the young man's presence, and even more so; what he had just said to the snow queen. It couldn't be possible; and yet here he was, standing in front of her clear as day.

The man held his black cloth and leather covered arms open expectantly as a small humored, but at the same time loving, smirk appeared on his face, his blood red eyes glowing brilliantly in the dim ballroom. "Hey Snowangel... Miss me?"

The entire room full of people gasped as Elsa attempted to rush off of her throne; only for her legs to give out from under her as she let out a sob of overwhelming emotion. It was him, it was really him; Andrew.

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Yes! Andrew lived! For those wondering, this event was planned since I began this story half a year ago, don't worry I know what I'm doing! Oh and I'm still updating on this stories twitter! It's TempestSquad with the little at sign! Until next time my minions!