This was actually an idea I had a long time ago, back when I was writing on Artemis Fowl fangathering dot com, and that I tried to write but ended up scrapping. Not that I am older and wiser, I think I can make it vaguely non-vomit-y.

Pretend Vinyaya never died.

0o0o0o0o0

Holly suited up nervously, remembering that day six years ago.

"No," she cried, clinging to his lapels. "No! You can't do this!"

"Let go, Holly," he urged, gently unwrapping her fingers. "Let me go."

There's a saying: if you love something, let it go. If it was meant to be, it will return to you.

She was returning to him.

"Please, Artemis," she sobbed. "They can't pull us apart."

"Six years is nothing to your lifespan."

"It's too long."

"I'm too much of a liability. They have me in their debt, they want to squeeze everything they can out of it."

"Six years!"

0o0o0o0o0

21-year-old Artemis Fowl II straightened his tie for the two hundred fifty-third time. He was counting, not as a symptom of Atlantis Complex but as a calming tactic for his racing heart.

"The Council wants to speak with you, human."

"What do they want?"

He stepped into the council room, and Raine Vinyaya stepped forward to address him, real unhappiness in her catlike eyes. "Artemis Fowl," she said, and he suddenly realized what they wanted. Not a mind wipe. Something much worse.

Artemis took a deep breath, pushed back his hair, and went out onto his balcony.

And he waited.

0o0o0o0o0

She walked through the by-now familiar hallways of the Argon Clinic. Everyone recognized her, and envied the human for having such a pretty, regular visitor. She eagerly turned the last corner-and found herself face-to-face with a remorseful Vinyaya.

"What happened?" Holly demanded.

"I'm sorry," her old superior whispered.

Holly soared through the skies, for once not wasting time admiring the landscape. Her destination-and the man who awaited her there-encompassed her full attention.

0o0o0o0o0

He clutched at the railing, for a moment allowing his nerves to overcome him. Perhaps she wasn't coming. Perhaps there was something else she was doing, someone else she would rather be with. It was a thought that had haunted him for the past six years. 2,191 days, he thought absently. 52,584 hours. 3,155,040 minutes.

Maybe she just wasn't coming back to him. Maybe it wasn't meant to be, after all. Tears gathering in his eyes, he pictured her embracing some stranger, her beautiful red hair covered by a lace veil…

No. She had promised to be here. The least he could do was trust her. She had done that and more for him.

His long white fingers fisted in his hair. How could he begin to repay his debt?

0o0o0o0o0

For the thousandth time, she considered turning around. It had been so long. What if he wasn't still her Arty? What if he was cold, distant, archly intelligent and uncaring?

Her eyes stung.

"I'm so sorry," Vinyaya repeated. "The Council wants six years of silence."

For a second the words just didn't register. "Excuse me?"

"He's not allowed to contact the People. Any of them. Including you. Private or otherwise. For six years."

It still wasn't sinking in. "You can't do that."

"I'm afraid we can… it's been done. I was the only one who voted against it. You're allowed to go say goodbye."

Holly stared into the distance for a moment as the horror slowly impressed itself into her mind, where it would remain for the next six years.

The lights of Fowl Manor came into view.

0o0o0o0o0

Artemis laid his forehead on his hands. Why would she come? To revive a relationship with the human who kidnapped her, exploited her, lied to her, and then vanished from her life?

0o0o0o0o0

"I hate them," she said, hugging him closer, as though that could keep him from being ripped away.

"Shhh," he comforted. "It'll be all right."

She met his eyes. "The moment I can, I will come to you. I promise, Arty. I'll come."

He nodded. "Holly, there's something I need to tell you, that I probably should have said earlier, but-"

The door opened. Without releasing him, Holly turned to see half the Council. She opened her mouth to say something, preferably something nasty involving choice bits of anatomy, but found a finger pressed over her lips.

"Don't try to contact me," Artemis said. "That'll only make this worse. Goodbye."

"Goodbye," she said, desperately, as he was led away. When the door shut after him, she flung herself onto the bed, burying her face in his smell, and screamed.

"I love you!" she yelled belatedly. "I love you, Artemis!"

0o0o0o0o0

What if he doesn't want to see me? What if he's not even home? He could be out on a date with Minerva.

She felt slightly sick.

Kicking up her legs, she turned off her shield and dove down, trying to forget her doubts.

Oh, gods, there he was.

0o0o0o0o0

A small dark shape materialized in the sky, and Artemis stood bolt upright, breathing hard and fast, not bothering to wipe his face. It descended swiftly and gracefully, and details came into focus: long, muscled arms spread to either side; a heart-shaped, beautiful face, a green-and-grey jumpsuit that accentuated her modest body to perfection.

Then she landed, and mismatched eyes flicked up to meet his, and Holly Short stood before him.

0o0o0o0o0

She studied him carefully as she flew down. His hair was long, almost as long as it had been when they had forayed through time. It was easy to make out against his stark white skin, curling down to his shoulders in shiny strands. She thought of her own obtrusively red hair and flushed. His hands were long and thin, curling over the railing that ran around his balcony. His face was turned toward her, but she couldn't quite bring herself to look at it yet.

She landed softly in front of him, and forced her eyes to look into his.

Her heart stopped.

The planes of his face had tightened, leaving perfectly sculpted cheekbones beneath wide-set heterochromatic eyes. His chin was strong, with a bit of a five o'clock shadow. His eyebrows were arched gently on his wide, intelligent forehead.

They regarded each other for a moment with almost detached interest.

"Holly," he murmured, reverently, as if he spoke aloud she would disappear.

She opened her mouth to whisper his name in reply, but began to cry instead, tears slipping one after another over her lashes. He knelt to the ground and took her by the hands, laying his cheek against hers. "I'm here, Holly," he said, still keeping his voice low. "Everything's okay again. If it would make you feel any better, you can punch me."

She let out a shuddery sort of gasp that nearly ripped his heart in two. Extracting her hands from his grip, she clutched his face, staring deep into his eyes.

An unspoken signal passed between them.

Leaning in ever so gently, Holly touched her mouth to his.

Both gasped at the contact; it was sweet in nature and salty in taste from her uncharacteristic tears. She pulled back a second later, feeling a fluttering in her stomach. Now was the best time to say it. "I love you, Arty."

He wrapped his arms around her. "There's a saying: if you love something, let it go. If it was meant to be, it will return to you."

She frowned a little. "I let you go."

He shook his head, smiling. "No. If I had thought it would do an good at all, I would have argued the Council out of effectively banishing me-so I let you go. And you've come back. So I suppose it was meant to be."

There was so much more he wanted to tell her. So Artemis Fowl kissed Holly Short. And that said it all.

0o0o0o0o0

I feel like that was more mature than most of the stuff I've written… anyway, tell me what you think.