Artemis had only managed to spend a single night in Haven before his mother had recruited him for full-time wedding preparations. Holly, for her part, had avoided all aspects of planning admirably well by claiming she was busy sorting things out with the dunderheads in charge down in Haven. She very well might have been but Artemis knew it was partially an excuse to avoid the chaos of planning. Until today. Today, Angeline had managed to convince Holly to come. More impressively, she'd also gotten her way about No. 1 visiting to go over her plan for a sunset Time-stop wedding.

It was sunset now, too, though Artemis was looking for his soon-to-be bride instead of marrying her. She'd stepped out for air nearing forty minutes ago and he'd thought it prudent to, if not retrieve her, then offer her company.

"There you are, Holly," Artemis stepped carefully through vibrant flowers, navigating to Holly. "What are you doing here of all places?"

"I came here all the time, not too long ago," she told him, not looking to him just yet. Artemis followed her gaze, knowing before his eyes landed what they'd see. As he'd known the moment he'd spotted her. His grave. His eyes slid away from it quickly. Artemis had never made a habit of visiting his grave. Didn't like thinking about the body—his body, his real one—buried beneath all the flowers.

"Holly," Artemis started but his voice overlapped with Holly's, calling his own name. They both chuckled and Holly finally tore her gaze away from the stone. "You go first," Artemis offered.

"You sure?"

"We've got the time. What's on your mind?" He thought he might already know. There were thoughts well suited to graveside visits.

"I've made a decision on the flowers," she said, surprising him completely.

"The flowers? For the wedding?"

"Yes. Marigolds. I want these flowers."

"Why?" Artemis couldn't fathom the answer. "Why would you want any reminder of," he gestured around, "this?"

"Artemis, this is where we got you back." She was looking at him strangely, as though surprised that he didn't understand. But, truly, he didn't. "I like marigolds. They make me glad. And grateful. This field of them gave you back to us. To me. And I'll always love them for that."

It amazed Artemis that Holly could think of this field in such a way. Six months of grief and uncertainty and it was all overshadowed in her mind—in her heart—by one moment. A swell of love for her swept over him and he was amazed again when he realized he could act on it. So he did. And when he leaned down to kiss her it didn't feel as clumsy or awkward as it had when he'd last tried it, which hadn't felt as strange as the time before that. There'd be time for all the apprehension to fade away completely. There'd be time for this to become entirely natural. And the thought of that—of doing this enough for that to happen…it was almost as exhilarating as the kiss itself.

"Forgot your wings, Captain?" Artemis murmured against her lips as her hands knotted into the lapels of his jacket, yanking him down farther. Holly wasn't a fan of tiptoes, which meant that, when tables weren't around for her to sit on and her wings weren't on to lift her, Artemis got pulled down instead.

"Shut it, Fowl," she responded, pulling back just enough to shoot him a warning look that wasn't very convincing. "One of the best parts of kissing you is not having to listen to you. And you're ruining it." Her exasperated sigh was all for show and Artemis couldn't help himself.

"Only one of the best parts?"

Holly's responding laugh filled up his chest like it was his own. She pressed another kiss to his lips before releasing his lapels and circling arms around his middle instead. The sigh she let out this time was a real one.

"We should get back to the planning committee, shouldn't we?" She asked. Artemis understood the note of reluctance in her voice. They'd had very little time alone since becoming properly engaged. Married? Purposefully engaged to be re-married? In any case, moments like these had been harder to come by than he would have liked. Which meant it was the perfect time to talk. But it was also such a perfect moment that he didn't want to puncture the light happiness of it with a more weighty discussion.

"We'll get back to them soon enough," he assured her. "In plenty of time to tell them we want marigolds."

"Two weeks." Holly pulled away from him. "Two weeks and then all of this wedding stuff is done with forever."

"Yes," Artemis agreed, straightening his jacket before taking her hand in his. "Two weeks. And then the rest of our lives."

"Don't be so melodramatic, we've already been living the married life for ages." She laughed and started them walking. Artemis brushed fingers over the flowers absently.

"Holly, there's something I'd like to talk with you about."

"What have you done now?" She asked without missing a beat.

"Nothing," Artemis laughed at her accusing face, though he wondered if perhaps he should be offended by it instead. "Not yet."

"Then what're you scheming?"

"I'm scheming to stay with you. For as long as possible." The reaction was instantaneous. Holly froze in her tracks, stilling Artemis as well.

"What does that mean?" She asked, her mood impossible to pin down.

"We both know there's a rather glaring issue with us being together. I'm not a magical being, I can't live as long as you; my body won't hold up against the years, not even with your magic to elongate my life. We saw the fate of a romance between human and elf."

"I know. I've always known. D'Arvit, Arty, I knew what I was getting myself into when I fell in love with you. I knew before then, since we became friends. From the moment I cared about you at all, I knew. But it's not something for you to worry about. I know and it's okay. I'll be okay. It's worth it."

"How could I not worry about it?" He protested. "How can I be okay with making you watch me die again? I've already made everyone I care about attend at least one funeral for me. I think, this time, it's my turn."

"What are you saying?"

"Foaly's a hoarder," Artemis said simply. "He still has the chrysalis device. Cloning already worked once. Why not again?"

Holly's eyes went wide. "Foaly thinks it could work?"

"Yes. There's no way to be certain, of course, until the time comes but…we're fairly confident it could be done."

"Artemis…" Holly said, slowly shaking her head. "I couldn't ask that of you. You belong—this," she flung a hand around the estates, "is where you belong. I can't ask you to stay with me and live without them for so long." Artemis nodded. He'd considered this, of course.

"Myles and Beckett will be the hardest," Artemis admitted. Every child lived with the knowledge they'd outlive their parents. If the world was kind enough to allow it. That's how it was meant to be. And Butler too. Even with the extra life Holly's healing had given him so many years ago, Artemis knew he'd be attending his oldest friend's funeral before he had another one. Juliet, he wasn't sure about. They were close in age and the ability to get themselves into dangerous situations. But his little brothers… "I almost expect Myles to come up with his own way to prolong his and Beckett's life." Otherwise, he might have to meddle. But Myles was a genius, after all.

"Artemis—,"

"Holly, I know. But it's no use arguing. The nature of our bond will naturally take me past the usual limits of a human lifespan. I'll outlive them all anyway. And I think I owe it to them to be the one mourning for a change. Even if I have to bury my brothers, this is the course I've decided on. I'm staying with you Holly, to the very end. If you'll let me." Please, he thought, don't make me hurt you again.

Holly's grip on his hand was painfully tight and her eyes were uncharacteristically watery. Slowly, she rose onto the tips of her toes and very carefully kissed his cheek.

"Thank you," Artemis said, knowing he'd won.

"That's my line," Holly huffed a laugh that was close to a sob. She wiped the tears from her cheeks and smiled, pulling Artemis along as she started walking again, plucking a flower from the ground as she did so. "Marigolds," she said, "are my favorite flower."