Cecilia thought often about what Emma had said to her. How could Cecilia possibly preach compassion and caring for everyone but still hold this discriminatory feeling toward Rudy? I'm a hypocrite, she thought miserably. But she resolved to change this part of herself for good-starting now, she would open her heart to him, and she hoped Rudy would do the same.

Rudy knocked at the door, ready for the day's study session. He was coming along so nicely that soon he wouldn't need her tutelage anymore and could continue sharpening his reading skills on his own, a landmark that would make her incredibly proud. As always, they sat side-by-side at her desk and Rudy read a passage aloud from a textbook, stopping at a few words here and there that he required assistance with. She patiently explained each word to him.

I can't believe how lucky I am to have met Rudy, Cecilia thought. He truly has changed my life, and all of Filgaia, for the better. I can't imagine how much of a self-absorbed princess I would still be if not for him. But before I tell him, I should make sure...

Her thoughts were interrupted as she noticed Rudy was speaking to her. "...cilia...Hey, Cecilia? Can you help me with this part?"

She was stunned. In all the years I've known him, he has never called me by my title, but has he ever called me by name, either? Cecilia wondered. It warmed her heart in an indescribable way to have someone, unprompted, call her only by her name. "Oh...yes. I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention." After helping him with the passage in question, she knew what she should now do. The only obstacle standing in her way was herself. She needed to gather her courage and trust in her instincts.

As Rudy was reading along with the next passage, Cecilia reached for his left hand and covered it with her own. Rudy looked up from the book over to her, startled. She slowly lifted his hand up and started to remove his fingerless glove. Her heart was beating quickly, afraid of what Rudy's reaction would be. He looked on nervously as she finished pulling it off. She held Rudy's hand with both of her own, feeling his firm, calloused skin with her fingers. The texture brought back memories to her. These are the hands that have won hundreds of battles in his effort to protect the land and people that he loves, even if those people did not always love him back. This is the hand that replaced the one Rudy lost, but at the same time, we almost lost him...

After a few moments of touching his hand, Cecilia moved it up to the side of her face and held it steady. She breathed deeply and closed her eyes, a peaceful look coming over her. Coy and suggestive, she whispered, "Touch me, Rudy."

When she first released his hand, he was too paralyzed to act. Those seconds lasted for hours to Cecilia. She kept her eyes closed so Rudy would hopefully be less nervous. Finally, she felt him move his hand along the side of her blonde hair with a slow, gentle touch. He stroked the side of her face several times, then placed his hand behind her head. What happened next was exactly what Cecilia had longed for. Rudy leaned in and kissed her delicately on the lips. A true gentleman through and through, Cecilia mused. She leaned herself in to make it a deeper kiss. It was at this point that she became primal and the many kisses that followed came naturally to her. He followed her lead.

Eventually, she withdrew, a small strip of saliva trailing between their mouths. "I want you," she whispered, peering into his expressive eyes.

Rudy's heart was beating frantically. Although he wanted to, he also needed to make certain that she was prepared for it. "Doesn't it bother you that I'm not a human?"

She touched the side of his face tenderly before replying. "You're more human that any humans I know, Rudy. Don't ever say again that you're not a human. It's just not true."

He didn't know if he could love her any more than he did at that moment. After all the turmoil in his short life, he wasn't sure if he could ever truly be happy again, let alone be romantically loved by someone. He lifted her out of her chair and placed her carefully on the bed. Rudy removed his vest, shirt, and other glove, while Cecilia took off the top of her dress, but she was shy to undo her bra. Her cheeks were turning pink at noticing Rudy looking at her, waiting. "They're nothing much to look at, I'll have you know," she said in her best matter-of-fact voice, an effort to hide her insecurity. "Don't get your hopes up, cowboy." She averted her gaze to the side while she removed the bra.

Rudy looked his lover over and made an announcement with sincerity. "Cecilia, you're so beautiful." She felt her heart flutter at these words. A moment later, Rudy was crouched over her, exploring her upper body with his hands and mouth. He paid attention to Cecilia's soft moans to determine what he should focus on to enhance her pleasure. Once finished there, he worked his way back up to her neck which he covered with kisses and then up to her mouth once again. They were both awkward because of their inexperience but they both knew they wanted this more than anything they ever had before.

"Don't I get a turn now?" Cecilia asked. Rudy complied, flipping onto his back. She noticed many bruises and cuts on his abdomen, signs that Rudy was ultimately human after all, narrowly escaping death on many occasions, even being a bit clumsy at times. So as she worked her way across his form with her mouth and tongue, she did her best to be extra delicate with those spots. Cecilia couldn't count the number of times in battle that Rudy had selflessly put himself in harm's way to prevent her from being hurt while she was busy invoking spells, thus leading to more than his fair share of battle scars. She had never asked him to protect her since she preferred to hold her own in battle, but he did it anyway. Who knows how long he has been wanting for this moment? she thought. I can't imagine how much pain I probably caused him by ignoring the fairly obvious signs that he desired me. I only hope that I can make up for it in some small way over time.

Stopping just shy of the top of his jeans, she started to unbuckle and unzip them. It was clear what her intentions were. "H-hold on, Cecilia," Rudy stammered in a low voice. He knew he was turning a bright shade of red right then, on top of his heart beating as fast as a jackrabbit. "Can..." He gulped nervously. "Can we possibly save that for another time?"

Cecilia had certainly noticed the effect she was having on him. She shot him a smirk. "So you've slayed thousands of monsters, yet you can't handle one girl's...stimulation?" She was pleasantly amused to see Rudy's face turn even redder and couldn't help but laugh from it, covering her mouth with her hand. "I'm sorry! I'll stop teasing you now."

After a few moments to calm his nerves and cool down, Rudy asked the question that was burning on his mind. "Where..." he cleared his throat, "does a princess learn about a thing like that?"

"You'd be surprised by the things the girls in the Abbey would talk about in the dorms at night when the nuns weren't around." She giggled, then paused a moment. "And, well...maybe I did have a little practice on you during some of my dreams..."

Rudy was flattered. He thought that she had only had a sudden change in heart, but apparently she had been thinking about him this way for some time. "Well, are you ready for the main event?" she questioned with one eyebrow raised.

Rudy nodded his head up and down. Once they had taken off the rest of their clothes, Cecilia directed him to sit upright so they could be eye to eye. As she mounted him, she let out a brief cry of pain. "What's the matter?" Rudy asked with much concern in his voice.

"Ah, don't worry about it," she said calmly. "Apparently, it's supposed to hurt the first time." He flinched hearing her say this. Her first? he thought. Of course, I knew that...but it still means so much to me.

Cecilia began to thrust herself up and down slowly, gritting her teeth until the pain subsided. Eventually, it began to feel pleasurable, and she took both of Rudy's hands and placed them on her hips, guiding him to help her cavort. She alternated between closing her eyes with her head pointed skyward, to gazing into his loving eyes, to kissing him with passion. Once they were going at full speed, she threw one hand in the air and exclaimed "Yee-haw!", making him laugh.

When they finished, Rudy rolled her under him and said confidently, "My turn now."

"Yessir!" she replied excitedly. Strands of blue hair flowed around his face, framing his features. After he entered her, he reached for both of her hands and held them tight, their fingers intertwined. He listened again for her soft moans to determine how to move about, soon getting into a rhythm. How have I gotten so lucky to be able to live in the same world with her, let alone to be in the same bed with her? he thought. She and Jack were my friends when no one else was, she never gave up on finding another arm for me even against incredible odds, and most of all, she is an extraordinary person both inside and out. Thank the Guardians that I found her in this world that was once so cold and lonely to me.

He snapped of out his thoughts as he heard Cecilia speak to him softly, looking him square in the eyes. "Rudy...I love you."

Rudy couldn't contain his euphoria and kissed her fervently, breathlessly. When he came back up for air, he wore a smile a mile wide. "Likewise," he said casually. He knew his days as a full-time Dream Chaser were finished. His search was over.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O

Cecilia and Rudy were waiting in Adlehyde's castle courtyard for the friend they had not seen in almost a year. The sun was rapidly setting and every object in the courtyard was casting a long shadow. Although they didn't know exactly what time he would arrive, they were too anxious to wait in the castle. They had received a long-awaited letter several weeks ago that announced his intentions to return.

A tall blonde man was approaching from out in the distance, wearing a rust-colored cowboy hat, a dusty poncho woven with an ornate design, and a knapsack slung across one shoulder. A sheriff star badge over his chest glimmered in the sunshine. His boot spurs clinked against the ground. Rudy and Cecilia almost didn't recognize him for how tan he was now, but the emergence of a small rodent from the knapsack onto his shoulder was a dead giveaway.

"Jack!" Cecilia shouted, tears welling in her eyes. She ran toward him with arms outstretched, embracing him overzealously. But since there was no way she would be able to squeeze a person of his stature hard enough to suffocate him, Jack let her go overboard on the greeting. He owed it to her for being gone so long. Cecilia was struggling to hold back the tears that were not becoming of a leader. Hopefully, if anyone saw this, they would forgive her for this rare moment of weakness and self-indulgence. Hanpan jumped over to Cecilia's shoulder where she couldn't see him, put a paw to his throat and pretended to gag himself, much to Jack and Rudy's amusement. Finally, she let go of Jack and wiped her eyes. "Oh, Hanpan. I missed you too!" she said, stroking his back and behind his ears.

The always subdued Rudy strolled casually over to Jack with his hands in his pockets and a broad smile. "Hi, Jack."

"How's it goin', Rudy? Heard you've been keeping busy around here lately," Jack said with a suggestive wink.

Rudy missed the double entendre. He replied, "Always busy. The work of restoring Filgaia may never be finished, but we won't give up."

Jack looked over both of them carefully. "I can tell you've both changed a lot over the past year." He smirked. "I always knew you two were perfect for each other. Hell, if you hadn't hooked up before I got back, I was gonna set you two up myself."

Rudy and Cecilia both turned a shade of pink. Had it really been that obvious to so many other people, too? They guessed it couldn't be helped, seeing how they had such an impact on each others' lives. After all the difficult battles they had been through together and lessons they had learned from each other, they suspected everyone who knew them must have been waiting for their nearly inevitable union.

"Thanks, Jack. But Emma beat you to it," Cecilia replied with a smirk in return. "So, you promised to tell me all about your big adventures when you returned. So start talkin'." She nudged him playfully.

"Sure thing. So I traveled south of Filgaia for about a week until I located the Escondido settlement. It's a whole different world down there. Everyone speaks a whole 'nother language and they live much simpler lives, mostly right off the land. I loved it there because everyone is so hardy and has a take-no-shit kind of attitude. No offense to Filgaians, but Escondido is more my kinda style! If it wasn't to see you guys again, I might've never came back." Rudy and Cecilia were startled to hear this, and it showed on their stunned expressions. Jack continued: "But don't worry, guys. I'll be here in Filgaia for a while to help the restoration. I was just exaggerating-I'm not going to abandon my homeland. But exploring's in my blood. I've seen pretty much all of Filgaia there is to see. I hope you guys understand that I'm not one to settle down. As long as there's frontier to explore, I want to be there blazing a new trail."

After a brief pause, Cecilia said, "Of course you should follow your heart, Jack. You shouldn't worry about leaving us for any length of time since we have plenty of people that are helping to restore Filgaia. But whenever you choose to come back, we will welcome you with open arms."

"And broken ribs," Rudy quipped.

Jack and Hanpan cackled at Rudy's unexpected joke. "We've got ourselves a budding comedian here, don't we, Princess?"

Cecilia folded her arms. "I am not amused." She shot a stern look to Rudy, but when she noticed him lightly laughing too, she softened her expression. "OK, I get the picture. Pardon me for being a little too excited to see my friends after a long absence." She was glad to see Rudy lightening up enough that he could crack a joke, at least.

Jack jovially patted Cecilia on the back. "So what are you guys up to these days? Any little ones in your future?" Hanpan facepalmed at hearing this. As soon as Jack uttered the question, he regretted it. He had forgotten about Rudy's artificial body and knew that the question was an insensitive one, but it was too late. Rudy and Cecilia wore tense, worrisome expressions on their faces. "I'm sorry," Jack continued sheepishly. "Forget I asked that. I wasn't thinking."

"No, it's OK," Cecilia said comfortingly. She glanced over at Rudy who nodded at her, so she proceeded to explain. "As you might already have guessed, it's probably impossible for us to have any children. We're still coming to terms with that...But eventually, we've agreed that we would like to adopt children. Rudy especially knows the significance of this." She reached for Rudy's hand and held it reassuringly.

"You guys are really somethin'," Hanpan retorted, crossing his furry arms. "Always finding a solution to every problem, every challenge making you stronger. You really make the rest of us look bad."

Everyone got a good laugh out of Hanpan's back-handed compliment. "Well said, Hanpan," replied Jack.

By this time, the sun had fully set and darkness was quickly closing in. "Hey, you guys ready to head inside for the night?" Cecilia asked. Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. She led the way back to the castle. However, Jack walked a distance behind them, taking his time. He whistled a familiar tune, a sad yet hopeful one he had whistled many times before. With any luck, he would be whistling it countless times in the future, too.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. BTW, I dislike when writers spell everything out for you in the romantic scenes. IMO, it's much better to leave some to the reader's imagination. Also, the LOZ reference was based on a doll that actually is in Cecilia's room, so it wasn't thrown in gratuitously. Thanks for reading.