Fixed Proposal

Gabriella smiled as she went to the tavern door, but before she could raise her hand to knock, her best friend, Varvara swung open the door cheering happily. She laughed as she was given a huge hug, "Vara, how is it you know it's me every time?"

"How can I not?" Vara replied graciously. "You came again, that's wonderful. In! Have you both eaten yet? I'll have Renti make something for you both." She pushed the door open wider and gestured them to go in. "Come in, come in!"

Andrew followed Ella inside the tavern. "I also know that you're here for something more than just food." She continued as she danced to behind the counter, "Tea for the both of you?" She asked as she filled a pot with water.

Ella laughed, "Sure," she agreed. She didn't sit down, though, but instead walked to another door. She opened it and a greenhouse was clearly seen. Then she asked in a list, "Vara, how good is the Odea Moss, Juk'lan Shrub, Dreamer's Breath Flower, Nightshade Bush, and the Canelvous Brewing Herb?"

Gabri walked in and saw the Willow Tree. She gently rubbed it's bark and whispered a respectful prayer before she broke off one of the already almost-dead branches. Quietly she said another prayer but this one of thanks before she broke the branch in half and then packed it in the bag she had.

"Let's see. I have plenty of Nightshade, Juk'lan, and Odea Moss. I don't have a lot of the Canelvous Herb since there has been a good demand of those going around." She looked at Ella, "Did Fireside get itself into another fight?"

"Unfortunately…no one really kept track, so I maybe a week ago give or take," Ella told her. She walked around, "I'll take the rest of your Canelvous Herb, Varvara," she said as she spotted the Nightshade.

The stem was purple and stout, branching two or three times about one fore above the base, dividing again into smaller branches toward the top of the bush. Each terminal branch put forth 3 to 5 flame-shaped leaves. The leaves were deep green in colour and of unequal size.

"Ella…" Vara frowned for a bit. "You seem a little upset…and before you ask if it is obvious, it really is." She gently walked over toward where she grew the Canevolus Herb. The plant had fifteen long, dark reddish brown semicircles that went the entire width of the leaf. The stalks were a light green. "Did something happen to you and Andy? He seems…shifty."

"Of coarse." Vara replied. Using their lifebonded link to request the occupation, she knew that he had obeyed since Aleksey moved away from the greenhouse's door and farther in the tavern to talk to him. "Renti's going to show him our small library up the stairs."

"Thank you," Gabriella sighed and then finished packing the Nightshade in a special side-pouch. She zipped that up an took her protective gear off. She moved to where she saw a good plenty of Dreamer's Breath. The plant consisted of several tall stems to form a small bushy cluster that shared a communal root. The stems were tall, straight, round, and after she whispered the prayer she broke it and inside was hollow. The leaves of the plant were made of many divided sections, had a feathery appearance, and were light green in colour. The petals of the Dreamer's Breath bloom are white, while the small center is a brilliant yellow.

Gabri sighed and after she got all she needed once more she stood and found a chair to sit in, offering Varvara the other, "Please sit...I really do need your help for this one."

Vara nodded. Her hands held a small baggie of the shaved leaves that she got for her. The leaves were light green and matured. She shaved it so it would be easier to brew. Taking the offered seat, she handed Ella the bag, "What has happened?" She asked again.

Ella too it and bit her lip as she put it away. She took a breath, and started from the very beginning from when she was helping Ian to after Andrew saved her. "Then...now...He'd been burying himself in his work to try and avoid me..." She sniffed and rubbed her eyes to prevent tears from falling, "He was even reluctant and hesitating to come here with me...another had to force him into it."

"Oh sweetheart." Vara murmured gently giving the young woman and well-deserved squeeze. "The promise he remembered is a big...big thing." She pulled away. "And I know a man with a little more romance in his life. I know that he's not avoiding you in a good term...but avoiding his own thoughts." She rubbed Ella's shoulder. "Did you try to talk to him? At all? Or did he brush you off?"

"He brushed me off...Every time I try to talk to him he changes the subject or ignores me..." Ella frowned.

Vara leaned back in the chair for a while. Her thoughts were buzzing when she murmured, "Let him come to you. A promise that big requires much, much thought. Let his thoughts settle themselves. Maybe then he'll talk to you. It's highly possible, he's not ready to marry. He's a young man, Ella." She looked at her friend. "And I know that young men don't like being....chained unless they are abosolutely sure."

"I know that, I just wanted him to remember, not propose, that's it..." Ella told her and she rubbed her eyes again, "I'll do that, though...Varvara. Thank you..."

"Then tell him, even when when his back is turned." Vara said with a smile. "Now then, let's go back into the tavern. Are you hungry or must you leave?"

"I'm a bit hungry," Gabri nodded and stood. She got the the Odea Moss and Juk'lan Shrub before she followed her friend out to the kitchen.

Andrew had explained about what had happened during the Fireside gang fight as he allowed himself to relax in the squashy red chairs that they had. The library was big, three to four shelves that touched the roof and lined up perfectly. Candles lined up all around the walls with a perfect glow.

"Its not like I'm avoiding her because I hate her or anything like that, but becasue I can't...talk about it." He played with his fingers. "I know she's not expecting me to drop down on one knee and give her the life she dreamed, but I did propose in that fight. That promise was a proposal!"

He raked his fingers through his hair. "I don't want to talk about it, and I don't want to think about it, but I do. Even when I'm working I think about it." He sighed, dropping his hand.

Terenti listened to Andrew's rant for a while before saying, "What makes you so scared of marrying the girl? You and Ella are a match made in heaven, I don't see the problems in marrying early."

"You married when you were sixteen or seventeen right?" Andrew asked not really caring for the answer, "I'm twenty-six and I have a working life and a routine. I know that dropping everything that I'm doing is expected. I mean, Informers do that. Matt can do it so simply it's like breathing. Rae...I don't think she knows what's she doing. She's used to having everything go wrong so she can get back on her life's track. Me? I kind of like a stable life. A stable life that doesn't require me to just...keep putting things down and doing something else. Marriage and my work...they don't mix."

"Don't they?" Terenti commented, "You work at a hospital that pays you well. Ella doesn't. She doesn't really get paid for being in a gang like Fireside, unless Ian's very generous, but I have a feeling that even he has a little greed to his heart."

He looked at Andrew. "When Varvara and I got married we got in touch with a good friend of ours that moved all three of us, yes Ella came too. We made this travern our home and our business." Terenti looked at him. "That's not easy to do. Business is home and home is business. It costed fights, sacrfices, and a whole lot of damn faith. When Ella left, we just made it stable."

He smiled at the doctor. "I know that you have an empathy skill that you always have at the ready. Your a kind person and you can't stand seeing others hurt. You work yourself into an overdrive because of that desire. Marriage will kill that desire wouldn't it?"

Terenti smiled at Andrew's nod. "But wouldn't it be helpful if you had someone to come home to? Open arms and with a smile?"

Andrew had to admit, when the three of them lived together there was always someone waiting for him to come home. Mostly it would be Rae since her sleeping skills sucked. He couldn't deny that he sort of missed that, even when Matt somehow just waited for him to just talk after the their leader disappeared. It had been that homey feeling that he missed. He couldn't deny that it would be nice to have it again. This time with someone that he loved whole-heartedly without any restraints. "Maybe..." Andrew said softly. "But I still sound like I'm desperate."

"You were." Terenti smiled at Andrew's scowl, "But who says you can't do it again properly?"

Andrew thought for the longest time before nodding his head slowly then vigerously. "Alright." He said agreeing. "I can re-do what I screwed up on...hopefully."

Gabriella finished washing the dishes and put them away. She dried her hands and then slung her bag over her shoulder, "Thank you for the lunch, Varvara."

"Any time, Ella." Varvara replied with a large smile when the door creaked open.

Terenti and Andrew were talking and then they smiled over at the girls. "Did you get what you needed?" Andrew asked, before Terenti could say anything.

Ella smiled, "Yes, I did," she answered and shifted her bag, "All here. There should be enough for me to use to heal the others and whatever leftovers there are Lese can have them."

"She'd like that." Andrew agreed.

"I'm supposing your once again going to leave us." Vara said with a small smile.

"I'm sorry," Ella turned to her and hugged her, "Yes, I do have to leave again. I'm sorry to have to use you like this..."

"No apology is needed. I'm just so happy that we had a chance to visit once again." Vara replied as she hugged back. Andrew smiled as Terenti hugged Ella as well once his wife let the woman go.

"I would like to visit with you also, Terenti, but I have a duty to do so I can't stay longer," Ella smiled and hugged him back. "Thanks for whatever you did," she whispered to him and then pulled away. She slipped her arm through the other stap of her bag so it was secured and then patted his chest, "You're both the greatest." She went for the back door and held it open, looking to Andrew.

Andrew nodded and walked outside with her behind him. He had a few minutes to register in his mind of what he was going to do and how he was going to do it. He also had to talk to her before he did anything stupid. "We need to have a talk of our own...so shall we walk back to Fireside instead of using the portal stone?" He asked her.

"That's what we were going to do anyway. I have a patrol to do, so we do need to use the portal stone to get to a city roof outside of Central Park, just incase..." Gabriella explained and held the stone out in her hand, waiting for him to touch it.

"Alright." Andrew agreed and touched the stone. He didn't really like the sensation of having a portal. It was like jumping through a ring of ice.

Ella and Andy landed on some rooftop somewhere in the Fireside Territory and then she pocketed the stone. She bit her lip and turned from him, looking and listening to the surroundings, "So...what is it?" she asked as she headed for the edge and looked for a fire escape. Unlike the others, she liked to do her patrol on the ground.

"I wasn't trying to avoid you." Andrew said as he helped her look for the escape. "Just the topic of how I proposed to you."

Gabri paused when he said he wasn't avoiding her, and then went to sit on the edge just above where a level of stairs was, "I wasn't looking for a proposal, Andrew. I just wanted you to remember the promise Aleksey made. You don't have to keep it..." She slid off and down, and had to fix her skirt once she landed because it bunched up around her.

"I had been thinking about that." Andrew said as he noticed that she found the escape. He walked over to where she was and sat down close to her. "I had been thinking about just telling you I wasn't ready, but..." He shook his head. "Terenti fed me some thoughts that I couldn't deny."

Gabriella glanced at him, and then started down the stairs. Some would think she was avoiding him now, but she just wanted him to follow her, chase after her. "I knew he did something...I'll have to make him something in thanks..."

She sighed as she kept going, "Honestly, you don't have to go with what others say. If you don't want to merry me, or you think it'll be hell with your job, then you don't have to do anything. Do what your heart says, not your head."

"Now your doubting me." Andrew said with a laugh. "When I said Terenti fed me some thoughts I couldn't deny I was thinking with my heart and my head, that's why I haven't..." He broke off and then shook his head. "He made me realize somethings that I was blind to, and that proposal I made was god-awful."

He looked at her. "I'm not going with the flow, I'm not that kind of person. I go with the flow if I need to, but....." He shook his head. "Not this time."

Ella stopped completely and looked back at him with confusion. She furrowed her brows, but then she remembered the tiny plan Ellie had unknowingly given her. She turned swiftly and then started at a faster pace, not running or otherwise she'd trip, but fast enough. She'd make him chase her, make him force her to stop and tell her what he wanted.

Andrew blinked in surprise to see that she had just suddenly started running when he remembered from a breif flash that it was a game the played. Every time he had something important to tell her, she made him run after her to get her to listen. Grinning at the thought of the game he got himself on the escape and ran as well, "Ella-Gabri wait!" He demanded playfully.

"Het! I will not!" Ella called back stubbornly, "You have to catch me!"

"That's not fair, Ella-Gabri." Andrew said, his voice choking on laughter as he picked up his pace to get her.

"Yes it is," Gabriella laughed as she jumped the final stairs and landed on the asfalt. She then started running through the alleyways, but on one turn she hit a patch of ice and lost her footing. She didn't fall, but it did slow her down.

Andrew jumped the last two stairs and chased after her. Even though he had worried about her falling and picked up his pace to go faster so he could catch her, he got pretty close. He reached out to try to grab her, but she slipped through his fingers. "Come on, Ella!" He complained, "Just let me talk to you."

"Het," Ella grinned as she pranced away and finished getting down the escape.

Andrew jumped down the last stairs and finally caught her by grabbing her arm. "Caught you."

Ella laughed and then when she turned to him she found she was pressed up against him and he caught her other arm. She gasped and blinked in surprise, "Andy..."

He didn't respond besides pressing her into a heated kiss. A deep kiss that showed love, passion, hope, and faith. His hands left her arms and wrapped around her waist, entangling his fingers in her hair.

Gabri's eyes widened in surprise, but then she melted into it. Her own hands found his hair and she pressed herself closer to him and tried to make the kiss even deeper. She wanted him to tighten his grip on her, never let her go, assure her this was real. Even after all this time since his touch turned her thorn clip gold as a sign it was really him that day she was rescued, she'd thought it was just a long, heart-wrenching dream. It'd been proven many times this was reality, but after so long of being without him before then, she still wasn't sure.

Andrew gently pulled away and pressed his forhead against hers for a while. "I do love you, Ella. There's not a doubt in my mind for that."

"I know that," Gabri answered and wrapped her arms tighter around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder.

Andrew slowly and carefully pulled away from her embrace and took her left hand into his own. Bending down on one knee and looked up at her. "I don't have a ring yet, but I still want to ask anyway. Gabriella Natalya Bronislava, will you marry me and be with me for eternity and after?"

Gabriella's heart skipped a beat or two and her right hand flew to her mouth in shock. She bit her lip and surprised happy tears started to flow, "This isn't a dream...is it?" she asked, a smile showing through the spaces of her fingers.

"Not a dream." Andrew shook his head. "Reality."

Gabri tackled him over and pressed her lips against his in a happy manner, "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes," she murmured to him hugging him tightly, "I'll marry you and be with you, Aleksey Sokoll, Andrew Ortega, forever and after."

He gripped her tightly, "I'm glad," He pressed a kiss against her hair and rested his head against hers. He was so happy and content, and together. Completely together. "Thank you, love."

"You're welcome," Ella grinned and hugged him back. However, after several minutes, she remembered her duty, "Aw, man! Ian'll kill me if he finds I'm not doing my job..." She laughed and kissed him, "Come patrol with me?"

"Alright." Andrew agreed with a small shrug as he responded to the kiss. It was the least he could do for her, and he knew that he'd have fun. More fun than he had in ages.