Back again; I'm really churning these out, aren't I? It's the product of a bored, somewhat stressed mind. Updates will drop off after Uni starts, so make the most of it while it's here. This songfic is based after TTP, about twenty years after (the exact time is in the story). It's A/H friendship, if it works properly. Aiden is mine, but everyone else belongs to Eoin Colfer. The song (the lyrics are at the bottom of the fic; read them, they're beautiful) is I Forgive You by Ari Hest.


Holly was clearing out her apartment. The elf she'd been seeing for the last fifteen years (a long time, even for the People) had finally asked her to move in with him, and she'd accepted. His house was a lot bigger than her little flat, and she was mostly moved in already – her uniforms were hanging in his closet in case she spent the night and had to report to work early, and at least half of the music disks lying around the place were hers. The actual moving was just a formality. Well, that and putting her flat up for sale.

She turned to the pile of clothes on the top draw of her closet. She hadn't worn that stuff in years. Sighing, she pulled it down and toed open the bad with 'donations' written on the side. She was about to dump them inside when her fingers encountered something hard inside the bundle. She frowned and dropped the material to the floor, shifting through until she found the object; a small communicator. For a minute she couldn't think why it would be there, then she recalled. The human, Artemis Fowl. He had the other half of the pair, or at least he used to have it. Odds were he'd forgotten about it over the years, as she had.

She picked it up and turned it in a slow circle. She hadn't thought about the boy in years. Actually, he would be a man now, wouldn't he? Almost twenty years may not have done a lot to her age-wise, but Artemis would be almost middle-aged. Wouldn't he?

Her gaze fell from the device to her index finger. The scar still ran around the base of it, but it was faded with time. She barely even registered it anymore; it was just something that was there, a part of her like her blue eye. A link to the bo...man that she ignored, because it was easier that way. She wouldn't have to think about all the times she'd fought with him, saved the world with him, been hurt by him...

She closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to drive the memory out of her head. The last time they'd spoken, they'd ended up having their biggest fight ever. He had accused her of hypocrisy, and she in return had called him a myriad of unpleasant things, at which he'd demanded she leave his home. She had done so, and when she'd gotten home she'd hidden the communicator because she didn't want to talk to him; she didn't want to hear his half-hearted apologies or angry accusations. Under the pile of unused clothes, she couldn't hear it ringing.

She opened her eyes and looked back down at the small electronic device, wondering if it still worked. She knew that Artemis had tried to contact her; when he couldn't get her to answer he'd taken to calling Foaly and asking the centaur to pass on messages. They started out meek, asking her to please call him back, and gradually got more and more irritated, until finally the centaur had refused to play go-between any more.

"It's your mess, you can sort it out" he'd demanded. She hadn't heard from Artemis since; eighteen years had passed since she'd heard from or seen him. It was her own fault, she knew, but she was still inclined to blame the bo...man. It was just easier that way.

She picked the clothed up off the floor and dropped them into the donations bag. The communicator went in her pocket, and she forgot about it again until she was getting undressed for bed that night. Aiden, her boyfriend, picked it up as it rolled across the floor and handed it back to her.

"What is it?"

"A piece of my past" she replied, and leaned against his chest. She told him what had happened, gazing at the device as though it held all the answers. He listened carefully and kissed her shoulder.

"Are you still mad at him?"

Holly shrugged.

"I guess not."

Aiden turned her around to face him and kissed her gently.

"Then I think you should call him. Tell him that. After all, you can only hold a grudge for so long."

He vanished into the bathroom to shower. Holly sat on the end of the bed, fingering the communicator. Aiden was right; this was silly. No matter what she thought about the human, when she really thought about it she missed him. He could anger her like nobody else, but he could also make her laugh, cheer her up when she was down. He'd saved her life and she'd saved his. They were even literally part of each other. A bond like that doesn't just disappear. She took a deep breath and pressed the call button. It rang a few times, then, to her great surprise, it was answered.

"Hello?"

Holly gulped. She recognised that voice.

"You still sound the same you know Fowl, even after all this time. I thought human's voices got deeper when they got older?"

He was silent for a moment.

"Why didn't you call me back?"

Holly mentally trawled through all the possible responses, and couldn't think of a single one that didn't sound petty and juvenile. Artemis waited for a few seconds, then spoke again.

"I missed you."

She smiled.

"I missed you too. Artemis..."

"Yes?"

"I forgive you. For the lying and everything. I'm sorry too; I shouldn't have let our friendship drop off because I was mad at you. Can we pick it up again? Maybe not where we stopped, but somewhere?"

Artemis was silent for so long that Holly feared he'd just put the communicator down and walked away. When he spoke again, there was a distinct undertone to his usual neutral voice. Relief?

"Would you like to come and visit? I promise, no yelling. We have a lot of catching up to do."

Holly eyed the closed bathroom door.

"We do indeed."

They arranged a time and place to meet up, and Holly closed the communicator feeling lighter than she had in years. It was like some huge weight she wasn't even aware she was carrying had been lifted. She stood, placed the small device on the bedside table, and opened the bathroom door, joining Aiden in the shower. It was an hour later when they stumbled back into the bedroom and snuggled up together under the covers. Holly kissed him tenderly and whispered against his lips.

"Thank you."


I haven't heard from you since
Well I can't even recall your face
Isn't it sad to think that
Our younger years have been replaced by
Responsibilities and life's little intricacies
When everyone's trying hard to be
It's easy to lose track

You said some things to me that
I have had trouble forgetting about
But there ain't no sense in holding
Grudges forever that's the simple way out
We may not be so close now
Staying enemies I won't allow
And the only way that I know how
To let go is to tell you
I forgive you
I forgive you
I forgive you
I forgive you, you, you, you

No sense, no sense in holding grudges
Let it go