I awoke early the next morning with the worst headache I had ever had. I blinked a few times to focus my eyes, also trying to remember what had happened the day before. As I stared up at the ceiling, I reached up my right hand to rub my temple. When warm metal touched my skin, it all came flooding back to me: the almost battle, the supposed loss of my powers, Abe having stolen the ring, and seeing Damian.

I stiffly sat up on the bed and looked for Abe; since it was extremely unlikely he wasn't waiting around for me to wake up. Sure enough, he was asleep in a chair by the side of my bed. I swung my feet to the ground and shakily stood. How Abe was awoken by my silent movements, I don't know; but his eyes fluttered open and he walked over to me. "Good morning, Cara." He quickly picked me up and held me to him. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired, sore, happy: just to sum it up." The coolness from his hands on the back of my thighs was very close to making me shiver. I hooked my arms behind his neck so I wouldn't topple backwards and black out again.

"Well, all in all that sounds good." He quickly kissed my neck. "And I can try to wake you up." He kissed my cheek as his hand slowly moved up to my hip.

I shook my head to keep Abe from reaching my lips and ruining my resolve. "No, Abe. We had this discussion yesterday: and we aren't going to be dying anytime soon."

He simply nodded and pulled me closer to him. "Three months isn't all that long to wait." He whispered in my ear before he gently set me on the edge of the bed.

My mind pondered what he had meant to happen in three months that would allow me to break one of the rules I had lived my whole life with. I didn't get much of a chance to think about it, for Abe told me to hurry up and change so I could say good bye to my father, Sindri, Tas, Caramon, and Tanis. I nodded and walked to the bathroom so I could change into a green dress with black handkerchief sleeves.

Abe, Bahia, and I walked down the hallway to the library where the Krynnic men were preparing to return home. "Father," I called as I stepped through the threshold of the room and continued towards him. "Since the Queen thinks that I no longer have any magic; I think it would be best for the, um, nuptials to be held here instead of home."

He nodded slowly before speaking. "Of course. For about a year you should not return home under your own power." He sighed as he rested his long and thin hand on my shoulder. "The Tower will be quiet without you. And the guards will probably miss you more than your brother; since they don't have a chance of accidentally running into you."

I tried to imagine the cynical, spectral guards of the Tower missing either my brother or I. I just couldn't picture it. "Yes, of course." Before he turned to ready the portal for their return, Father touched his fingertips to the birthmark on my forehead; causing a warm tingling wave to run down my body.

Tas and Sindri ran up and squeezed me around my waist together. I muddled up their hair while I laughed at their antics. One could always count on the kenders to cheer you up.

Caramon was next, giving a surprisingly gentle squeeze; instead of a bone-crushing hug. His brown eyes began to well with tears. "Please, Uncle; if you start crying, then I will too. Anyways: you're Caramon Majere; the fearless warrior." I chuckled before I began to understand the detachment my Uncle usually had with me. "Um, could you please give my regard to Tika and the young ones?" he nodded as he moved to stand by his brother.

Tanis approached next, giving my shoulder a pat and pulling the tip of my braid. "I will see you soon, little one." Tanis was of very few who could get away with calling me 'little one,' since he was over 180 years older than me.

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak; since a single tear had begun to roll down my cheek. Tanis moved swiftly to join the others by the opening portal. Abe stepped next to me and wrapped his arm around my waist while I waved goodbye to the fleeting figures.

A month went by in a blurring scene. I learned how to control my powers quickly, and was soon back to running missions with the rest of the team. Hellboy and Liz were married on August twenty-ninth; and were still on their honeymoon when Abe came into the library while I was reading and asked if we could talk.

"Of course, Abe." I smiled up at him as he took the seat next to me. I slipped the bookmark into the page I was on and closed the collection of classic mystery stories.

"About the wedding; I was wondering if we could try and hammer out a date?" he had a small smirk playing on his black lips. "I have a few ideas, but I wanted to hear your opinions first." He rested his hand on mine and began playing with the ring on the third finger.

I thought for a moment about the choice Abe was giving me. I wanted it to be soon, but not right around the corner. "As long as it isn't December seventeenth, it's up to you."

"Alright, how about the thirty-first of October?" At the time, my brain must not have been working properly; because I didn't realize the correlation between that date, three months ago a month ago, and All Hallows Eve. I simply nodded my head before the conversation began to turn to honeymoon locations. After about half an hour, we had agreed upon this spot in Ireland Abe had once been to. It was also rumored to be haunted.

Maybe this whole marriage thing wouldn't be all that difficult.

Another two months went by in another blur. The week before the wedding had snuck up behind us and shouted, 'Boo!' in our heads. I was beginning to turn into a nervous wreck; and Abe nearly as much as I. It's not that we were having second thoughts or anything; but this was just a very nerve-wracking thing. Sure, Abe had done this before, but he remembered nothing of it.

Liz was going to be my bridesmaid, and Hellboy Abe's best man. A pastor who had once been a cleric of Paladine, the most powerful light deity of my world, had been enlisted for the service. My family and friends from Krynn would be coming in five days, the day before the wedding. Liz had helped me find a dress the previous week; and I was completely astonished that she had gotten me into it. A white bodice top revealed how thin I actually was, the skirt portion reached the ground with a knot work hem, and the off-the-shoulder handkerchief sleeves came down to partially cover my hands. The veil Liz had picked for me would be held in place by a band with red carnation buds.

I sat on the roof of the B.P.R.D. building that night, looking out at the park in the city off in the distance. Hearing the crunch of footsteps on the gravel top, I turned to see Abe walk over to me and sit down beside me. After pulling me against him, he rested his chin on my head. "Krauss and I were looking at the situation and were crunching the numbers tonight." I felt his lips pull up into a smile against my hair. "It is possible. Less than fifty-percent possible, but possible."

I turned in his hold so that I was lying on my back in his lap. "What's possible?" I had honestly no clue what he was jabbering about.

"Us, Cara! A family!" he beamed.

I may have looked dumbstruck, but my mind was going a mile-a-minute trying to figure out what this could mean for us. "How?" was all I managed to get out past my shock.

"Well, I have twenty-four chromosome sets, and so do you. And your 'divine genes' have the ability to adapt to mine." I nodded and would have said some sort of appreciation, but his lips were almost instantly on mine. The kiss was slow, sweet, and mind-blowing. After almost a minute, we slowly separated. "That was only practice for Friday." he whispered in my ear before we settled into a comfortable silence. His ungloved fingers ran through my ponytail while simply stared up at the stars. I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I remembered was looking up from a pillow to a bedside clock reading one in the morning.

Before I knew it, it was the thirtieth. Liz and Hellboy were off wherever the wedding was to be held setting up, and Krauss was interrogating me about magic, like he did every time I wasn't off somewhere with Abe.

Then a shimmering portal opened by the front corner of the library. Out stepped Father, Uncle, Tas, Crysannia, Aria, Sindri, Tanis, and Laurana. I hopped out of the chair and hurried to the other side of the room to greet them. Aria broke away from her mother, Crysannia, and ran to me. Before she could wrap herself around my knees, I picked her up and gave her a quick spin before settling her onto my hip. "Cara! Cara!" she giggled as I lightly tickled her arm.

"How's my little Ari doing? I asked her. She may be only my half sister, but she's the best little sister anyone could ask for. Her short hair was as raven black as her mother's, and her eyes were the deep brown of our father's before the curse.

"She has not stopped talking about tomorrow for the past week!" Crysannia laughed as she extended her arms for Aria.

Tanis and his wife, Laurana, followed after her. I hadn't seen Laurana on five years, but she hadn't changed a bit. But what did I expect form an elf? Her long blond hair was braided down to her waist, which was shown off by her flowing gold dress. Her hazel eyes, which stood out from her pale face, stared a little at me. "It is good to see you, Cara." she greeted.

"And you as well." I returned with a slight bow of my head.

Uncle did not come up to say hello, since he was a bit too busy trying to round up the two kenders into an area where there was nothing for them to steal. But his wife, Tika, came up to me. Her curly red hair brushed the top of her white-shirted shoulders. Centered in her freckled face were her shockingly green eyes, which seemed to be laughing at my surrender to romantics. "It's been a long time since you've come to Solace." she chided as she pulled on the tip of my ponytail.

"Unfortunately." I sighed. When Krauss used his impression of someone clearing their throat, I remembered that he did not know who half of the newcomers were. "Oh, sorry Professor. These are Tika, Crysannia, Aria, and Laurana." I pointed them out as Krauss greeted them.

Just then, Abe came into the library. He apparently did not notice the others standing only a few feet in front of me, because his eyes locked with mine as he made his way to stand behind me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed he top of my head. My father raised an eyebrow and Tanis chuckled under h is breath; this noise brought Abe back to the real world form his romantic la-la-land. His head snapped up and I could imagine his eyes widening beyond their usual size. He quickly read me as to who the new arrivals were. "Um, please, uh, excuse my, um, behavior. I was, um…"

Aria was trying not to giggle at Abe's embarrassment, but the little four-year-old was failing miserably. I leaned my head back onto Abe's shoulder so I could whisper in his ear, "Great going, Casa Nova!" I stepped away from m still embarrassed fiancée and addressed those from my world. "For those of you who have not been here before, this is Professor Krauss and Abraham Sapien."

Arai came back up to me at a more manageable pace and looked up at Abe and I pleadingly. "Can I go up again?"

"Of course, Ari." I hefted her up onto my hip. "Ari, this is my fiancée, Abe. Abe, as you already know, this is my little sister, Aria."

He nodded and eyed Aria's outstretched hand. He wasn't used to children not being afraid of him. I had been the only one who wasn't. He finally met the gesture and then pulled her into his arms. She giggled as he bounced her up and down before settling her onto his hip like I had done earlier. "It is good to meet you, little Aria. Would you like me to show you around the building? That way your sister can talk to the others."

"Can I, Mother?" Aria pleaded. If there was one thing that girl was good at, it was getting what she wanted. After a moment, Crysannia nodded while shooting me a confused look. "Wee!" she sang as Abe spun her to the door, kissing me on the cheek as he passed.

"Keep her away from Mr. Manning!" I called before the door closed.

Crysannia walked over and pulled me to the table where I had been at earlier with Krauss, who had left when Abe came in. "I thought you said he never had an children." she chided; which didn't work, since she was smirking.

"He didn't; He's just good with kids. Well, the ones that aren't scared of him. Namely Aria and I." my stepmother knew about my juvenile mishaps from which Abe had saved me.

She sighed and rested her hand on my arm. "It's too bad you two can't have children. You could always adopt; I think that's what you sad this world calls it."

I smiled inwardly, remembering what Abe had told me on the roof a week ago. "That's just it; e and Krauss were looking into it. It's possible, less than fifty percent possible, but possible!"

She gave a small gasp and a congratulatory smile. We continued with idle chatter; Tika, and even Laurana, joining in. It went on like this until Abe came in, a sleeping Aria cradled in his arms. "Crysannia, here's your daughter."

Crysannia took the sleeping girl and moved to my father's side. I glanced at the grandfather clock in the corner of the room, stifling a yawn in the process. My eyes widened when I saw the time: eleven o'clock at night. "I am going to bed." I announced as I made my way to the door. When Abe began o follow me, I turned and rested my hand on his chest to stop him. "Not tonight, Abe. WE can't see each other tomorrow until the ceremony, remember?"

He sighed and wrapped his arms around my waist. "Unfortunately, I know. Well, sleep well, my love. Next time I say that, I get to call you my wife." at that he leaned down and kissed me.

"Abe!" I warned after we broke apart. "There are other people here!" I hissed, trying not to look at the people in question.

"I know." he smirked. "Well, good night." he quickly kissed my forehead before he moved away.

I made my way to my room in a daze. I couldn't get my head around the fact the tomorrow was the day. Well. I didn't have that much time to think about it, since I was asleep before my head had been on the pillow for more than two minutes.

SOOOOOOOOOOOO SORRY for not having this up sooner, but the 8th grade and a nearing black belt test have taken their toll.

Well, as you can see, this is not the end. Chapter 11 became too long, so we now have a chapter eleven and a chapter 12. And then the sequel "Never Surrender."

We're guessing you guys know what is going o happen in the next chapter, so we won't ask any of our usual questions.

As always, your reviews are highly valued and always replied.

Sincerely,

C M + L W idkaname