Artemis was at once relieved and saddened when tea came to an official end, hours later and after Holly and Juliet had swapped numerous stories of people they'd beat up under staggering odds against them. There had been something especially satisfying about Holly recounting her escapades while dressed so sweetly.

Now, Artemis escorted Holly out of Fowl Manor after fond goodbyes and, in Beckett's case, tears to try and make Holly stay. Artemis would not have minded if they'd worked. But Holly had work to be getting on with in Haven and the Fowl boys had already stolen so much of her time. Deep in the gardens, Artemis finally felt it prudent to return Holly's jacket to her, which he had retrieved from the coat closet and carried over his arm until this instant. Holly pulled it on and zipped it tight.

"Thank you for coming today," Artemis said and she rolled her eyes, likely at his formality.

"I had fun."

"I'm glad to hear that."

"What," she grinned, teasing. "Didn't you?" A complicated question.

"I…" He frowned, considering how to answer. Doubtless, Holly had sensed his nerves through the entire event and knew full well that fun wasn't the word to describe his experience. "I was glad to have your company. While I didn't particularly enjoy myself, I'd rather have spent the day doing just this than have spent it without seeing you at all."

"Stop it," Holly grinned, elbowing him playfully. Which was to say, elbowing him painfully, but with good humor. "I told you, you don't have to act so mushy without the people of Haven to see it."

"Surely you realize how much I missed you," Artemis said, stopping them abruptly to stare at Holly, a little shocked. She stared back with a mirrored expression. "My mother, for all her eccentricities today, was correct in her analysis of my feelings when you're out of my immediate reach."

"Don't be silly," Holly said, half-smile creeping back on her face, looking as amused as she did confused. "We see each other all the time, what could one day cost you?"

"We see each other all the time now." Artemis shook his head. Holly was usually so good with feelings, how could she have not known this about him? "Every time life returns to some semblance of normality after our grand adventures, I get terribly—," there was no other word for it, "lonely. I miss you. I miss the adventure, the thrill, the challenge, the magic, my fairy friends. But I miss you above all else. I've been afforded a luxury these last months in seeing you so often, but I won't take it for granted. I can't. Once our marriage bond is broken, our privileges to travel between worlds will be taken, too. And then it will be back to late-night visits, hurried and spastic, and I'll be lucky to have you next to me twice in one month. One day, Holly, costs me a great deal. It costs me a day of feeling truly whole and right, as I never do when I'm alone. Especially since—," he'd risen a hand to gesture to this new body of his, but stared at it with distaste, instead, unsettled by the proper placement of all his fingers. Holly watched him, smile gone, eyes wide, and clearly at a loss. Eventually, she reached out and took Artemis's offensive hand, clasping it between her own hands. Hands that Artemis felt he knew better than his own. He'd known them longer, after all. They'd been with him through more than his own had.

"You are whole, Artemis. And right, and good, and everything else that you are, with or without me." She was looking determinately down at his hand, at her hands still holding it.

"Then why don't I feel it?" He asked, simple and truthful.

"I don't know," Holly's voice was soft as dandelion fluff. "I didn't realize you missed me so much."

"Aren't I always hopelessly desperate to get involved in a new fairy scheme whenever I can?"

"I never thought that…" she trailed off with a shrug. Then her eyes rose from their hands to meet his. "I'll miss you more than you know, Artemis." The intensity in her eyes made him think she wasn't only talking of their freedoms under the marriage bond. "So we'd better not waste a day. Let's both feel whole while we can, shall we?"

"Unless I am much mistaken, Captain," Artemis started slowly, a smile coming naturally to his lips, "you've just said that I'm right."

"Oh, don't look so pleased with yourself. You're right enough of the time you should be able to react to it with some decency."

"I don't think I will," Artemis told her, smile growing even more at her scowl, which wasn't so much a proper scowl as she was pretending it was.

"I've got to go," she said after a moment and Artemis nodded, smile falling away.

"I know."

"I'll be back tomorrow," she squeezed his hand before dropping it, dragonfly wings unfurling. "I've got a wedding to help plan."

Artemis watched as her lithe figure rose into the air and then disappeared. He stood for long minutes after she'd gone, imagining that she was still there, invisible to the eye. Then her absence settled in like a persistent ache and he retreated to the house, feeling for all the world like Holly had taken a small but essential sliver of him with her. As though part of his soul resided in her, as though it had been confused upon waking anew into this world and had not all found its way into the body prepared for that exact purpose. As though some small portion of his soul had sought out her familiar presence and had taken refuge in it.

"Juliet, I've got a present for you!" Holly's voice rang out and Artemis pushed himself away from his desk, chair rolling just far enough for him to peek out his balcony's open door and spot Holly, touching down in the evening light, but not, as he would have expected, on his balcony. Curious, he got to his feet and took a better position to watch the drama unfold. Juliet was playing pirate siege with the twins, and Holly's interference was being assessed by both sides.

"You can't fool me into surrendering my ship, little fairy," Juliet said, deciding that Holly was in cahoots with the boys.

"It's from Mulch," Holly continued, her voice a singsong and suspicious coo, as though this was somehow set up by Myles and Beckett to tempt Juliet from her ship.

"Mulch?" Juliet parroted, interested. "What could he have to give to me?"

"Not sure," Holly said, approaching Juliet. "It's wrapped. If you can call this wrapped, anyway," she brandished a grubby package that seemed to be covered in a used rag. Juliet's eyes trailed on the parcel, and Artemis was sure she was dying to snatch it from Holly, but after a moment's hesitation, she stood strong.

"You can't fool me," she shouted. "I will not be distracted—," but she stopped, no doubt feeling the hard tip of Beckett's wooden sword in the small of her back.

"Too late for that," Myles said with a superiority that reminded Artemis of his ten-year-old self, swaggering out from behind his and Beckett's base of cardboard boxes carefully arranged. Holly, it seemed, recognized it too, because she started laughing. "Ms. Holly has inadvertently handed us the win, Juliet. You should know better than to let yourself get distracted at a crucial moment."

"Ouch, schooled by a child, how does it feel?" Holly asked Juliet, struggling to keep her face straight. Juliet scowled.

"You tell me," Juliet shot back. "At least I've never been kidnapped by a kiddie."

"Not yet. Give it time, you never know. These Fowl boys are a tricky breed." Holly glanced up to Artemis's balcony, as if she had sensed his watching eyes. She winked at him, as if to say she was teasing. Or, at the least, that she liked the particularities of Fowl boys.

"Surrender, Jules, it's over," Beckett said, ready to get back to their game. Juliet dropped her own toy sword and shoved the plastic eyepatch up into her hair, as if she were ready to forfeit and quit this pirate adventure for the time being. Artemis recognized her lazy confidence. She wasn't out of the game yet.

"Not yet," Juliet said, smiling. "Here's a trick for you, Holly, the next time Artemis gets out of hand." She craned her neck to look down at little Beckett's blond curls and wooden blade. Then, sweetly, "Beckett, my love, if you let me go and surrender your fleet to me, I'll give you a kiss."

"No!" Myles shrieked, realizing that he'd made a tactical mistake, sending Beckett to fight against the love of his life. The heart couldn't be trusted to win wars.

"Really?" Beckett asked, sword already dropping.

"Yes, really," Juliet spun around, squatting down to Beckett's level. "Do we have a deal?" She held out her hand, and Beckett took it with his own, dwarfed in her grip as they shook. "I am the Pirate Queen," Juliet declared, snapping her eyepatch back into place before standing with a flourish and swinging Beckett up onto her hip. "And I've just found myself a new king!" As promised, she planted a kiss on Beckett's cheek and Artemis watched as one of his little brothers laughed happily and the other one stomped a foot in childish defeat.

"That's cheating!" Myles insisted.

"All is fair in love and war," Juliet shrugged, advancing on Myles with a devilish grin. "Don't worry, Myles, I'll give you a kiss too!"

"I don't want a kiss! I want a victory!"

"Sounds like another mudboy I know," Holly said, tossing Mulch's package aside and sweeping in to save Myles from Juliet's outstretched free hand. "What do you say, Myles, should we team up? I bet we could take them."

And the battle started anew. Artemis watched it unfold from his room, but the teams seemed to be evenly matched. He briefly considered joining in, but knew his efforts would tip the scale unfairly towards whichever pair he lent them to. And, besides, he was happy to stand, leaning against the rail of his balcony, and watch.

"Come inside for dinner!" Artemis heard his mother's voice ring out, doubtless from one of the windows overlooking the pirate battle. Grumbling and laughing, the ragtag crew dropped their weapons and made for the manor. Juliet picked up the bundle from Mulch as she walked past it, tucking it away into her skits.

Artemis met them in the dining room and Holly made right for him. "Your brothers could take over the world if they set their minds to it," she informed him.

"I've known it since the moment I met them," Artemis said, looking fondly after his brothers, Myles squashed in Juliet's embrace and being showered in kisses unwillingly as Beckett complained loudly at the unfairness of the situation.

Angeline herded them all to the table. Dinner was later than usual tonight and the chef had been sent home after making it so Holly could join them without extra eyes assessing her human-ness, or lack thereof. Juliet and Butler insisted on bringing dinner to the table.

"Not going to help?" Holly teased as Artemis sat next to her.

"I tried, once," he told her, unable to stop a small frown. "I dropped the beef bourguignon and have since been banned from helping."

"Figures," Holly snorted.

Dinner was a pleasant affair, and already it felt natural to have Holly at the dinner table. She fit extraordinarily well, talking easily with every other person at the table. Once the meal was finished, Angeline ferreted Holly away to talk about wedding business, and Artemis found himself with the Butlers and the twins in a sitting room outside Angeline's study.

"No way!" Juliet's delighted giggle caught the attention of the other occupants of the room and they all turned to her. "Look what Mulch sent me, that wonderful little bugger," and she happily fanned out a collection of movies. Artemis recognized the old Fowl and Short films, but there was one he hadn't seen before. Despite this, he knew it to be Love Beyond before he'd even read the title.

"That looks nothing like Holly," he said, taking the offending movie from Juliet's hands with a protesting 'hey!' from her. The cover was clearly one of a romantic film, but although the lead male looked very much like Artemis, the female actress looked as much like Holly as Juliet did.

"This doesn't look like Fowl and Short," Butler observed.

"You ass—," Juliet cut off, too late. The twins turned to her with wide eyes and she stared back in horror. "You didn't hear that," Juliet told them sternly, then rounded back on her brother and Artemis. "You butterbums knew there were movies and you never told me? I had to find out from Mulch?"

"Sorry, little sister," Butler said, smiling. "It was on a need to know basis."

"I'm watching these right now," Juliet said, yanking Love Beyond from Artemis's hands. "And none of you are invited." She stuck her tongue out at Butler, turned on her heel and made to disappear, likely into the theatre room. The twins, obviously, didn't think that her non-invitation extended to them as they scampered on after her.

"Don't watch Love Beyond with the boys," Artemis called after her. "I have no idea what's in it." He wasn't sure she'd heard and considered an undignified chase through the halls after her. Chuckling, Butler turned to Artemis.

"I didn't realize they'd rebranded those old reluctant ally movies into a romance."

"So far as I can tell," Artemis replied, turning away from the idea of a chase, "they didn't. It's a new franchise, based on some information that has recently come to light." Butler nodded, but his face turned a note more serious.

"Not that it's my business, Artemis, but how are you holding up?" Of all the things Artemis had expected Butler to ask or say, this was not one of them.

"I'm fine," Artemis said, unsure how else to answer.

"I know you and Holly have a complicated relationship. I'm sure being married to her is hard on you, knowing she has no intention of staying married."

"Ah, yes, that is…it's worth it, to see her so much, even if only for a year. Nine months, now."

"Your mother's pretty determined to make that wedding happen," Butler nodded his head towards the door, behind which Angeline and Holly were busy planning. Artemis was sure Holly was bored out of her mind. "The thing about Angeline Fowl is that she doesn't set her heart on things she can't have."

"Yes, I'm aware that she thinks my feelings towards Holly are reciprocated."

"Why are you so convinced they aren't?"

"Because she doesn't—couldn't love me," Artemis said, with more venom than he'd meant. He sighed, rubbed at his temples. Then, softer, tiredly, "How could she fall in love with me, Butler? After all we've been through, she couldn't. I know that. I've accepted it."

"I've known you both since the start, and I can see how your relationship has changed. Have you tried talking to her?"

"Talking to her?"

"Yes, Artemis, talking to her. Tell her how you feel. I'm willing to bet it would help."

"I can't, old friend. I can't tell her, I have no right to."

"To tell her or to like her?"

"Both. I've hurt her so much already. For her to know that I've done all I have despite my feelings, that I was able to hurt her so much and so often even when I cared for her so deeply? She'd hate me. It's despicable, Butler, what I've done. How could she forgive me for that? How could she trust me not to do it all again?"

"Talk to her, Artemis," Butler said again, firm. "You owe it to yourself and to Holly to give this marriage a real chance."

Artemis would have argued further, but the door opened and Holly and Angeline spilled into the room. Or, rather, Holly burst in looking frantic, and his mother chased after, looking confused and ready to comfort and appease. Artemis's pulse increased by a large margin. Had Holly heard? Was it possible that she now knew of his love for her?