Part Three – Inscribed on the Verso

Chapter Four

3 Years 8 months 4 days E.C.

He saw red.

He couldn't move. If someone had cast Stop on him, he wouldn't be any more still. He couldn't even be sure that he was breathing. Every ounce of his attention was focused on the sight before him some thirty feet away. It was a petite girl with styled blonde hair. She was talking, laughing, with a young man. A former member of the Youth League who was now one of the New Crusaders which had started up as a means of a world defense force. She stood close to him, laughter shaking her shoulders. She even reached up to hold his shoulder, shifting her weight over closer to him.

Nothing about the scene was all that out of the ordinary.

He knew she loved to laugh. He knew she was popular and friendly. He also knew the guys flocked to her as gulls did to the breadcrumbs people would throw off the ferry. He also knew that at close to nineteen, she was even more sexy than she had been at the defeat of Vegnagun when they shared that kiss searing kiss and another at her cousin's wedding a few months before, both of which still kept him up at night at times. He knew that her father was actively seeking husband candidates for her. He knew that some of them were good looking and smart and funny. He knew that he'd kept her waiting for ages when most sane men would have hauled her off over their shoulder years ago.

He knew that she wasn't wearing the scarf he'd given her, the one she'd promised to not take off until she moved on. She wouldn't take it off unless she didn't want him anymore.

He knew he'd promised to respect her wishes and let go. He'd promised to step back and accept that she was her own person and he just wanted her to be happy. He'd promised to not even ask.

And he knew beyond any shadow of shadow of any doubt that he would never let that happen.

She was his and no one else's.

As if freed from a spell, he shook himself out of his stupor and stomped up to her. Without so much as a hello or any sort of acknowledgement to the guy she'd been talking to, he grabbed her and, ignoring her startled squeak, pulled her to him and gave her a kiss that was filled with every ounce of emotion he felt for her. Every bit of his passion, love, jealousy, protectiveness, and possessiveness was evident in the embrace and he made sure she felt them all before he broke away from her.

"I don't care what I said. You are my girl and always have been. Fuck anybody else."

She stared at him, breathing heavily, lips swollen from the kiss. "O-okay." She smiled, slightly dazed. "I never said any differently, Gippal. I told you I'd wait for you as long as I needed to."

He blinked. He'd expected her to argue or say something to the contrary. He glanced over at the guy she'd been talking to, only to find that he'd made himself scarce. He looked back to her, perplexed. "So, uh…why aren't you…." He trailed off, looking at her neck.

She frowned, bemused, before noticing the direction of his gaze. She reached up towards her bare neck, as if confirming what he saw. A grin broke onto her features. She rolled her eyes and pointed to a hover that had been out of sight from where he'd stood a minute before. He looked and saw the scarf draped over the handlebars, oil stains covering most of the yellow part of the length of cloth.

"O-oh." He laughed, embarrassed, scratching the back of his head. "Uh…sorry?"

She laughed. "Now," she purred, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Where were we?"

He chuckled throatily. "We were about two seconds away from me flinging you over my shoulder and taking you back to Djose and spending the next few days convincing you that you were my girl and that if you were going to marry anyone it would be me. And soon."

She grinned. "Bout damn time."

I do not own these characters.

AN: And there is the climactic scene. There are two more chapters to go, both of which are mostly written...in my head. but they should be up tomorrow if not later today.

Only took three years right?