Thank you again for all the alerts and reviews. It really means a lot that you like this story and find it interesting. And I'll admit that getting reviews on this are the highlight of my day! I've also got a new Aimily AU story called Lego House if you want to check that out. In the mean time, I really hope you like this chapter!

Chapter 4- Decision

We are all forced to make multiple thousands of decisions throughout our lives. Some are menial but others require a lot more thought. It is usually decisions that would bring about big change that we are most reluctant to make. There is no room for indecisiveness. The decision we make will change our lives forever; the question is: is it for better of for worse?

Emily stared at Aiden in complete and utter shock. That was not at all what she was expecting the condition to be. She almost thought that she heard him wrong. Surely he had not just proposed. "Marry you?" It was a rarity these days that she lacked composure but his question had just stripped her of all her coolness.

He nodded and smiled. Aiden always loved seeing her completely thrown, that's when he knew that she was being genuine, when she was completely real. "That's my condition. Become my wife and you can do whatever you want with Danny Boy, well, within reason of course."

The blond didn't know what to say. She had been taken so completely off guard by her boyfriend's request. When she was a little girl, Emily always pictured her wedding but her father was always there to give her away and the groom was always Jack. With Daniel, she would have married him for the sake of her mission but since she began her training, Emily never even thought of getting married because she really loved someone and she wanted to. Aiden had broken her heart; before that was the closest she'd come. "You're joking…" was the only conclusion she could come to.

Aiden shook his head. "No, I'm not," he said, taking her hand, "We love each other and no-one is ever going to know either of us the way we know each other. We're a perfect match Emily. Why not get married?" It seemed completely logical to him.

Unfortunately, Emily didn't think so. She still thought he was crazy. Not because of the proposal of marriage but because of the timing. It was so out of the blue. When she woke next to Aiden that morning never did she think that by the afternoon he would have proposed. She was worried about what had driven him to make the offer. Emily knew that she got jealous of Daniel frequently despite his best efforts to try and conceal it. "Aiden if you're just doing this because you're worried that I'll fall in love with Daniel-"

"I'm not- well at first I was but now I'm thinking it's a great idea," he informed her, "What do you think? Ready to become an honest woman?"

She grimaced. Emily didn't know how he could be so blasé about something so big. "Who would have thought you were a traditionalist?"

He smiled. "I think it's safe to say that nothing about either of us is traditional."

"If we're married it would only make what I'm doing with Daniel even worse," Emily paused, "And, besides, I don't want to ruin what we have," she informed him, not telling the complete truth.

Aiden scoffed. "Funny, because I always thought that getting married always did the opposite. There's a good possibility that someday, when all this avenging is over, we'll get married. Why not do it now?"

Emily frowned. "That's very presumptuous. You've obviously thought about this before…"

He ignored that question. "Think about it Ems, as a married couple we'd be unstoppable." They would be on the same wavelength and they would be able to look out for one another. He could protect her.

"There's also so much room for heartbreak. All of this could end badly…" That is what she worried the most about. She wasn't opposed to marriage but it had to be under the right circumstances.

"So loving someone isn't enough?" he wondered sarcastically.

She looked away. He was so unaware of how much this was hurting her. It wasn't a question of her loving him because she did, so much sometimes that it even frightened her. "That's not what I meant. This is a dangerous game we're playing… there are no guarantees-"

Aiden flinched, he knew what she was referring to and the thought of it made him feel sick. "It's still going to hurt just as much as it would if we weren't married. If you're going to continue playing it, is it not better to have someone by your side? Someone that can be there for you? Someone that loves you more than life itself? What do you think your father would want?"

Emily ignored that question. Of course her father would want her to settle down and just be happy but she wasn't willing to let go of the vendettas and grudges to live a life that she never even thought she would have. Aiden obviously understood that but she was still wary. "You're making it sound like if I don't say yes you're going to dump me," Emily informed him in a sharp tone.

Aiden looked into her eyes for a moment and then kissed her. "I'm never leaving Emily. That's why I'm doing this. If I felt like I could leave whenever I want I wouldn't be asking you this. It's because I can't-"

"You sure didn't feel like that when you left me the last time," she retorted bitterly.

A sad look appeared on his face. He always cringed when he remembered that night. Aiden knew that it was a factor in her becoming so cold and he hated himself for it. "Listen to me," she said earnestly, pulling her face closer to his, "We've talked about this; I will never leave you again like the way I did that night. That was all Takeda's doing, not mine."

Tears began to brim in her eyes. "Don't give me that; you could have stayed. You could have gone against what he said for once. I loved- love- you Aiden, do you understand how hard it was for me to hear you had left?"

He could hear the hurt and betrayal in her voice and it almost killed him. Seeing Emily upset was one of the most painful things that could ever happen to him, second only to losing his sister. "I love you too Emily. I know I should have waited and, believe me, there isn't a day that goes by without me regretting not doing so. The thing about me is I learn from my mistakes and that night I made one of the biggest mistakes of my life," he told her sincerely, "I swear it will never happen again. If you marry me Emily, I will never hurt you again."

"That's a big promise," Emily replied quietly, "How can you be so sure that you're going to be able to keep it?" She doubted it very much herself. Try as he may, there's no way he could be sure of it. The lives they lived meant that nothing was certain, things could change at any moment.

Aiden kissed her again. He knew it would take a lot for her to believe him and he didn't blame her. Emily had been hurt too many times in her life; it took a lot for her to open up to someone and when he actually did, she lived in fear of being hurt or losing them, sometimes both. He knew her so well and that's why he was doing all this. Takeda didn't send him, he had requested it. He wanted to help Emily in any way he could. He wanted to make up for what he did all those years ago. "I'm going to try my absolute best, I can promise you that. I know it's hard for you to believe but I swear Emily, I will do everything I can. What do you say?"

The blond pulled away swiftly. "I need time to think," she said quietly and Aiden seemed to get the picture. He left without saying another word. Surprisingly, when he was gone Emily felt angry, angry at him for putting her in that position. Part of her wanted to say yes and the other wanted her to say no as quickly as she could. Sure, she wanted to say no because she thought it would interfere with both their missions but more so because she couldn't stand the thought of losing her husband. It would be just like losing her father all over again and she wasn't sure she could endure the pain this time. Emily had barely gotten through it the first time; doing it a second would be almost completely impossible.

On the other hand, she wanted to say yes. She loved Aiden more than anything and nothing would make her happier than becoming his wife. He was so good to her and in his arms she felt safer than she ever had since her father was taken away. Somehow all her problems and goals seemed so far away whenever they were close but she would always live in fear of him leaving again. They would also have to keep their marriage a secret. If someone found out it could ruin the whole mission and she would never be able to forgive herself if those responsible for ruining hers and her father's lives went unpunished.

Tears of anger began to stream down her cheeks. She tried so hard every day to keep her emotions at bay, to make sure they don't interfere with her goal but with Aiden she hadn't the control she would like. He did something to her that she just couldn't explain and she partially hated him for the same reason she loved him. Emily didn't like that someone could have such an influence over her and yet he did.

She sat there on the bed in which they had made love countless times with her knees pulled tightly to her chest. Emily didn't know how long she had spent there trying to wrap her head around everything but finally she knew what she had to do. Emily grabbed her clothes and began getting dressed. She pulled on the garments in annoyance. As soon as she was ready, she went to Aiden knowing immediately where she would find him. The sun was just about to set and it was only when she saw that that Emily actually had some comprehension of how long it had been since he had left her in her room- their room. Sure enough, as she walked out the front door she could see him sitting on the sand just out of the way of the incoming tide.

Emily made her way over to him with determination. He obviously heard her coming as he stood up and turned around to face her. "Have you made your decision?" Aiden barely managed to get out before Emily slapped him across the face with all the force she could manage.

"Yes. I have," she replied in a less than warm tone.