Author's Notes: Ah, at last! The last chapter of Arelle: Saga I! But have no fear—Saga II will begin next Wednesday. I have lots in store for Saga II, and I hope you'll all enjoy it.

And now, I have to give thanks for all the people who helped me with Saga I. First of all, my proofreader, Tess. Thank you so so so much! /hugs! Second of all, Kage, who helped me on some of the script for the Cutthroats in chapter 6. And thanks to Tess, Kage, and Shiroi for always listening to me as I go on and on about how much I love my story and how many wonderful reviews it's getting ^^

And last, but certainly not least, thank you so much to all the reviewers! At many times in Arelle, I felt like the story wasn't good enough, and that I should take it down and stop working on it. I'm sort of a perfectionist sometimes, and at times I was just plain mad at the story for not being as good as I wanted it. But when I felt that way, I always re-read all my reviews, and it always gave me the encouragement to continue. Thanks everyone! Y'all are wonderful ^^ /hugs everyone!

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Last Time on Arelle:

"I suppose you're free, now," Akinen said.

"What do you mean, Akinen?" Lilliah asked, confused.

"You've repaid your debt, Lilliah. I rescued ye, and ye came to find me because ye had to repay yer debt," Akinen said solemnly. "Ye have repaid it, now. You're free."

All eyes were on Lilliah. Everyone stood in silence, waiting for Lilliah to reply.

"I see," she said quietly, glancing at the ground.

"Ye can finally be free to live with yer own kind in peace now, lass," Akinen said.

Lilliah looked up at him, tears forming in her eyes. "Why do you always say that?" she exclaimed. "Why do you always try to make me leave, to go join my race? Why is it, Akinen? I don't understand!" she cried.

Akinen looked at her, surprised and confused.

"Even so long ago, when I was staying with the you and the Cutthroats before you helped me escape from them—couldn't you tell? Couldn't you tell that I didn't want to leave you? That I wanted to stay with you? But you pushed me away—you made me leave! To my own country. My own kind.

"But do you think that I liked it in Halas, after you helped me escape? I didn't. Those five years I spent in Halas—those were the worse days of my life. I didn't belong in Halas. I hated it there. I wanted to be with you, Akinen! Couldn't you see that?

"And now, after I finally found you again, you're trying to make me go away again! To leave you, and join my kind. Do you really hate my company so much, Akinen? Why must you always send me away? I don't want to return to my kind, Akinen!" Lilliah exclaimed, "I don't want to leave you!"

Lilliah stared at Akinen, tears falling freely from her eyes. Akinen stared back at her, both confusion and realization in his face.

"Lass…" Akinen started, "I don't understand… Didn't ye come here to repay yer debt? Wasn't that the reason ye left yer home—to repay yer debt to me?"

"Akinen, I can't believe, after all this time, you never caught on to anything!" Lilliah exclaimed. "I didn't come because of the debt, Akinen. I came because I wanted to be with you!"

Akinen stood in silence, shock on his face.

"What do ye…mean…lass?" he asked.

"I-I want to be w-with you, Akinen…" Lilliah stammered, still staring him in the eyes.

"But what about yer people, lass? Don't ye want to be with them?" Akinen asked.

"I just told you, Akinen…I want to be with you… I don't care about my people…I never have…since I met you…" Lilliah said, looking to the ground.

"Lilliah, is this how ye truly feel, lass?" Akinen asked, putting his hand on her shoulder gently. "Are ye really serious about this?"

Lilliah looked up at him. "Yes, Akinen. I've felt this way since I left you, so long ago. I don't belong in Halas, Akinen. I belong with you."

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The next day…

Arelle watched Lilliah as the Barbarian laid some fish in the small pan over the fire. Lilliah seemed happy, and she smiled as she worked.

"I'm glad you decided not to leave, Lilliah," Arelle said.

Lilliah looked up from her cooking and smiled at Arelle. "As am I, Arelle," she said. "Truthfully, I wasn't sure if I had the nerve to tell him. But, some how, it came out, easier than I expected. And now I won't have to make up foolish excuses to be with him. He knows, now."

Arelle smiled. "I surely hope so. You didn't actually say 'I love you', though," Arelle said.

"Well, not in those words, but I'm sure he caught it," Lilliah said, smiling.

Arelle watched as Lilliah went back to work, cooking the fish. Arelle sighed, happily. She watched her breath make little puffs of fog in the cold winter air.

"My birthday will be soon," Arelle said.

Lilliah looked up at her. "Really? I didn't know that. When's your birthday?" Lilliah asked.

"January 23," Arelle said.

"Ah, that's just a few days away!" Lilliah said. "How old will you be, then?"

"Fourteen, now," Arelle said.

"I see," Lilliah said, turning her attention to the food she was cooking.

"It has now been a full year since I lost control of my magic," Arelle said. "A full year—it seems so long ago, really. So many things have happened since I lost control of my magic.

"When I lost control of my magic, one year ago, people became afraid of me. I was a danger to the town. But I couldn't help it—I couldn't control my magic. Whenever I lost my temper, which was quite often, things around me would burst into flame, because of my magic. I couldn't stop it from happening. So I ran away.

"The very first day away from Felwithe, I met Moren. At first I was weary about him, but it wasn't long before he won over my trust. After finding out he was a Cleric, I asked if he could teach me to control my magic.

"I was overjoyed when he agreed to teach me magic, and we began lessons right away. But it wasn't long before we found my uncle, Akinen, wounded in the forest. Since he was my uncle, I knew I had to heal him, even though I was still mad at him for becoming a Cutthroat.

"And then, before we had even completely healed Akinen, you showed up, Lilliah. A Barbarian sharpening her knife by the river—I remember it clearly. At first, I must admit, I thought you were a bounty hunter, after Akinen's bounty. But, after learning you were an old friend of Akinen's, I was happy to bring you to him.

"For a while after that, everything was pretty peaceful. Moren was still training me in magic, and I was learning so much! Then, before too long, Drahkin—a bounty hunter after Akinen's bounty—showed up.

"I met Drahkin in the forest earlier in the day, and found him to be a man with many secrets. I didn't trust him at all. Later that day, coming home from a trip to get water from the river, I found him at our camp, trying to kill my uncle!

"I managed to convince Drahkin to leave Akinen alone, and under some weird circumstances, we ended up eating lunch with him! After lunch he left, but in a way, I wish he hadn't gone so soon. He had so many secrets—we learned some of them, but it was like reading the first chapter of a thousand-page book—we were just scratching the surface.

"But, he has gone now, and even if I'm still a little curious about him, it's probably better that he left soon and we didn't get involved with him. He was a bounty hunter, after all.

"And then yesterday, after Drahkin left, we found out the reason you don't use much magic, even though you're a Shaman. Truly, it was surprising to find out you were actually a caster!

"After having saved Akinen's life from Drahkin, Akinen told you your debt to him was now paid. He told you that you were free to live in Halas. But you decided to stay with us.

"And that's all that has happened in the last year. Can you believe it?" Arelle asked Lilliah.

"Wow, yes, I suppose you've had quite a full year!" Lilliah said. "I'm glad to finally know more about you, Arelle. I was curious as to why you left Felwithe."

Arelle smiled. "Some day you'll have to tell me more about yourself, Lilliah," Arelle said.

"Me?" Lilliah asked, "Ha! My life isn't that interesting. Besides, I've made so many wrong decisions in my life. It would be embarrassing to tell anyone my life story!" Lilliah said, laughing.

"Well, I suppose everything worked out in the end," Arelle said.

"I suppose so," Lilliah said.

Arelle rested her head against a tree and closed her eyes. She felt the chilly wind blowing her long golden hair, and felt the cold ground underneath her. She could hear the wind rustling in the trees, and the warm fire crackling in front of her. She heard Lilliah cooking fish above the fire, and in the distance she could hear the faint voices of Moren and Akinen talking. A year since she lost control of her magic, huh? Well, over all, it had been a year well spent. As she wandered off to sleep, she hoped that she would have many more years together with her new-found friends.

End Arelle: Saga I

To read Arelle: Saga II, click on the author: Amai no Tenshi above this fanfic. You should see a list of all the things I've written with a Bio about me, and at this screen, choose the fanfic called Arelle: Saga II.

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Well that's it for Arelle: Saga I, but don't worry, Saga II will start immediately!

Blue the Echidna: Hmm.well I already know that Lilliah won't want to leave Akinen. ;) Patiently waiting to see Drahkin again. I'm curious to know more about his sister.
Amai's Reply: D'oh! How did you know Lilliah wasn't going to leave? ^^ Ok, so it was a little obvious, I guess, hehe ^^ As for Drahkin, it won't be long till he's back, don't worry ^^

Lady Aniviel Greenleaf: Heh i didnt know it was updated every wednesday thanks for telling me :) This is a great story!! PS thanks for reviewing my story ;)
Amai's Reply: Thanks for the review ^^

digitaru: arrghh~!! I've been a very very bad reviewer! *sniffles* I'm very very sorry sorry I missed all these wonderful chapters! *bows profusely* (is profusley a word?) I didn't do it on purpose though! I moved out of the house, and my computer does't have internet yet. so I 'borrowed' my little 10year old sister's laptop. but I can only 'borrow' sparingly, cause I'm scared of her when she finds out o_O I promise I'll still read Arelle whenever I can though, okay?? Wells, I'm very very sorry! ;__; *thwaps self* am bad person. *sniff* yup. Sorries again, I forgot to say something about chapyter. I like the new guy ^_^ hope he pops up in next chapter? I go see. Oh, and normally I would say something about the cliffyhangeryness, but I can read next chapter now so it'sok :D. ~Sorries and buhbye *L*
Amai's Reply: Wow, your ten-year-old sister has a laptop of her own? I wish I had a laptop when I was 10. Ha, I wish I had a laptop of my own now! ^^ That's ok, Digitaru, that you can't access a computer well so you can't read Arelle regularly. I hope you get settled down soon ^^ Thanks for the reiview!

digitaru: lol. Cool chappy o_O mwaha.Moren's becoming the comic reliefy dude, Lilliah's the mature advice-giving one, Arelle's the main person with the issues, Akinen is the brave warrior dude with the 'tragic past', and new guy gets to be Moren's rival! Bounty hunter *dreamy eyes* . ah I mean,~ *waves Moren flag* It's starting to remind me of one of my animes :D. That's a good thing o_0! lol. I'm probably wrong bout all that, but that's how I see it anyways^_^ Er. am still sorries about not reviewing-ness, *bows* I go read next now!! ~me
Amai's Reply: Haha, goodness, you're always so full of energy when you review ^^ Umm, anyway, I think you got the characters down pretty good ^^ Drahkin's not exactly Moren's rival, but...well...you'll see ^^ Thanks for the reiview!

digitaru: Nice magicy chapter! I dunno how you come up with all this stuff. ish kool ^__^ And You ended it in a cliffyhanger!! *sniffles* *gasp!* Is Lilliah gonna leave?? She can't!! And.. and.. bounty hunter dude. Drahkin! kool name ;) Reminds me of. erm.. Draco! Mwahaha. I'm glad he's commin back. Er, but I still love Moren better! *waves flag*
Amai's Reply: Thanks ^^ I was hoping all the magic stuff wasn't too boring. For some reason I felt the need to put it in there, but I was afraid it was too boring to read ^^ I'm not really sure what "Draco" you were refferring to...hmm... Oh, and I need to get myself one of those 'Moren flags' to wave ^^ Thanks for the reiview!