This chapter is the final part of this story and I can't believe we've already reached the end. I've really enjoyed writing this story and want to thank you all so much for reading, favouriting and reviewing!
I may return in the future to continue this or re-write parts. Who knows.
Until then...
She awoke with a start.
She had been dreaming of him again.
She was calling out to him, searching for his eyes, his face, his touch, just the same as she did every single night for the past thirty years. She closed her eyes once more momentarily and steadied her breathing. Opening them, she glanced out the of the aircraft's window, taking in the sight of the clouds they moved over. She was nearly home.
With a sad smile, she thought of Integra and Seras. The three women had lived together for the last thirty years and she would miss them both, especially Seras.
"But, Ilona, why do you have to go?" she had asked her.
"My home calls to me, Seras. I don't know why, but I feel I have to go."
Seras had nodded in reply, her eyes cast downward. "I understand... but, we're immortals, anyway! We'll see each other again right?" She beamed at her.
Ilona couldn't help but smile. This was what she loved about her friend, she always saw the positive in everything.
"There's no such thing as an immortal, remember?" She laughed, shaking her head as she remembered what he had told them both.
"How did Integra take it?"
"Fine. Even though she didn't say so, I know she understands why I need to do this. She even offered a private jet to get me there, although I could very well travel on my own. It was very generous," she explained. "And she'll be safe here, with you."
Seras leapt towards her suddenly, taking her into a tight hug. Ilona managed a laughed, the breath knocked out of her.
"Seras, if I were human I'm sure you would have just broken some of my bones!"
But there was no reply, only the quiet sound of sniffling.
"Oh, Seras. Don't be sad. We will see each other soon enough, I'm sure of it."
She stepped back and placed her hands on her shoulders. The two women smiled at each other softly. Thirty years ago they had fought a war together and they had won, become different people, grown stronger. And they had survived.
But he hadn't.
"Do you think you'll find him there? My master..."
Ilona's smiled faded as she released her grip, her arms falling to her sides.
"I don't know.."
"He can't be gone" Seras straightened, her expression now serious. "I can feel he's out there somewhere. I know you can too." The girlish smiled appeared once more.
Ilona shook her head gently. "I feel... something," she admitted. Her voice lowered, afraid Integra would appear suddenly at the topic of their discussion.
"It's easy for you two to wait patiently, you're bloody vampires!" Integra had scolded them the last time Seras had brought him up. Ilona studied the deep lines on her face and understood her frustration.
Her dreams had become more realistic in the past few weeks, more intense. They were all different, memories from her past life that they had shared together. Yet they all ended in the same way; he would disappear suddenly, everything turning dark. She would call out to him, looking into the abyss, before she awoke, panting and struggling to breathe.
She closed her eyes once more, recalling the dream she had just woken up from. Poenari Castle, her home. She was sitting on their bed, her back leaning against the fine wooden headboard and her legs stretched out in front of her. She could hear the fire crackling in the fireplace, and as she turned her neck she could see the mountains from the window.
She noticed her hands were moving, something soft and silky between her fingers. As she looked down she saw his head resting in her lap. He looked up at her, his gaze locking with hers. She took in the deep green of his eyes she had loved, and as his hand touched her the small bump of her belly she realised that in this dream they were both still human, and she was pregnant again, soon to deliver their second son. The two of them had smiled at each other softly, realising how happy they both were, not knowing what awaited them both in the future.
He moved suddenly, sitting up and taking her face in his to kiss her, his lips feeling too real in the dream. But when she opened her eyes once more he was gone and she was no longer in their castle, but a black space of nothingness. She called out his name before she awoke.
She touched the ring on her left hand absent-mindedly as she felt the jet land on the runway. Stepping out of the plane and onto the tarmac she felt different, peculiar. The feeling remained as she willed herself into mist, moving over the city and further inland to the mountains. She saw their home in the distance and she realised she had dreamed this so many times in her mortal life; flying, high above the castle walls.
Her form returned to its normal state as her feet touched down on the hard ground. She turned slowly, taking in the sight of the ruins that remained of her former home. The moon was high in the sky and full, illuminating the space. Barely any of the structure had survived over the centuries, and what was left now was nothing more than crumbling bricks and stone.
She was overflooded by memories as she walked through the ruins. She imagined what the castle had looked like in her time; the stone floors and walls, the lavish rugs and paintings. She could recall exactly what the castle had looked like at this time of night, as if she had only been there yesterday.
She moved to the highest point of the castle at the remains of the tower. She hesitated as she approached the spot, afraid of what she would find there. But it was just her and her ghosts, alone, in the night. Slowly she reached and touched her hand to the cool stone of the ledge. She remembered how terrified she had felt, yet also so determined. The night that had changed everything.
'If only I hadn't jumped,' she thought sadly. Where would they be now? So much time together had been lost and she wished she could back through the years and change it all.
"Totuși nu ai renunțat niciodată." (Yet you never gave up)
She froze in her spot. She was afraid to turn, to feel the disappointment to not find him there, that she was only dreaming again. She hesitated, then very slowly, she moved.
She felt a stab in her chest as she took in the sight of him standing before her. The hat and glasses were missing, and for that, she was glad, as she could take in the full sight of his beautiful face. The pale skin and glowing red eyes which had haunted her dreams, the playful smirk upon his lips that she adored. The dark hair she loved to twirl around her fingers blew gently in the breeze. She realised they had stood in this exact same position before, six centuries ago.
"They named that river after you, did you know? Râul Doamnei" (The Princess' River).
She was speechless, frozen to the spot. He noticed and moved closer to her, a hand coming up to caress her cheek gently.
"Vlad," she whispered, barely audible. She melted into his touch.
"Ilona," he breathed into her face. She felt dizzy, overcome by his presence. She stared into his radiant eyes.
"How can this be?"
"Over three million souls were within me, clouding my mind and denying me awareness. I killed them all, until only I remained. I have returned here... but I'm also always nowhere. It's a conundrum. The truth of it is, I am everywhere..."
She reached her hands upwards to cup his face, feeling the cool smooth skin against her fingertips. She felt the tears trailing down her cheeks and he reached towards her, wiping them away softly.
"I knew you you weren't really gone," she told him quietly. "You couldn't be."
He smiled softly, pressing his forehead to hers gently as his arms went around her waist. "I heard your voice, calling me back."
Their lips met and she was reminded of all the kisses they had shared; as young children in the tower late at night, on the terrace in Buda, their wedding day, when he had left for battle, and then once more in the dark sub-basement of the Hellsing manor. There were many, yet each had set her on fire as if it were the very first time.
She felt his lips press gently against her forehead as she opened her eyes. They stood together and gazed at the view of the Carpathians from the place that once was their home. He took her hand and kissed the ring there; an old habit he had missed.
"Now what?" she asked, a smile upon her lips.
"We live, together, at last, forever."
He kissed her once more.