True Love Knows No Boundaries

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* hey, guys! I am so incredibly sorry this took so friggan' long, but I had a lot of.lets say "issues" going on! Here is the final installment of True Love.... I want to say thank you to Ms. Martini, because without her this story would have never got so far. So, thanks, Martini! And thanks to you all you guys for reading this, it really really meant a lot to me! Gods, I'm starting to sound like I'm getting an Oscar! Sorry ^^; well, please tell me what you think! Who knows, miracles happen. Maybe I'll write a sequel!.eventually. You guys are the best! Luv ya! happy~chaos *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

She goes to their rooms, so newly (just a few hours ago!) made theirs to share. The door is shut, and when Daine tries to open it, locked. She looks closely at the nameplate, where she had penned her own name under Numair's, to show this was her residence now as well. But Numair's name is gone.

Daine pounds on the door, but there is no answer. She gets down on hands and knees, to see if there is enough room to slide under the crack if she turns into a mouse, or a gerbil. There isn't.

"Where is Kitten when I need her?" Daine grumbles to herself. At a loss of what to do, Daine goes in search of the little blue dragon.

She finds her in a corner of the kitchen, singing a lock of a pantry door. Pastries in untold numbers lay inside, but Daine will have none of that. She scoops the dragonet up in one arm and hurries back down the hallway.

"Please, Kitten, open the door!" Daine begs. Kitten begrudgingly does so.

Daine rushes into the room, in her haste forgetting even to thank the dragonet for her services. She looks around, amazed. Tears gather into her foggy blue eyes and she lifts a hand to suppress them but they run in little rivets down her knuckles.

The room has been ransacked, as if Carthaki pirates had been plundering the castle. His clothes were flung about, the ones that weren't missing!

Missing. She chokes back a sob. He's gone. All his books, his papers, even his quills are gone...It's too much. Daine sinks to her knees in agony, sobbing hysterically into one of his shirts, his scent still lingering in the fabric. Kitten curls around her and howls, expressing her own pain for Daine.

Falling onto her hands, now lying almost prostrate on the floor in her grief, she feels a piece of parchment. Swiping a hand across her eyes, she hungrily, desperately reads the note.

"Daine-" it says, but then dark stains blot out the rest, making it completely unlegible. Tear stains; but hers or Numair's? She can't make out any of it Except for three words in the middle:

I loved you.

Loved, as in past tense. Daine stands, wiping a sleeve over her eyes. This is all a big, stupid misunderstanding and she is absolutely not going to let an overexcited clerk get in the way of her true love.

And really! She thinks, as she turns into a hawk to soar to Numair's castle (for that's surely where he's headed). Who does he think he is, just leaving like that! She would have at least stuck around to hear an explanation! Now more fuming than grieving, Daine leaves her clothes in a pile in Numair's (and hers!) room and goes as fast as her wings will carry her. To Numair.

She spots him about five miles out of the town, galloping on Spots. A stormy _expression is on his beloved features, and she swears that even from here she can see the tears. Her heart goes to him, even while her mind is angry at him for abandoning her so quickly. She swoops down until she is right in his line of vision, causing him to stop lest Spots and her collide.

"What do you want?" he asks, coldly, haughtily, while quickly wiping a hand over his eyes. She tries to gain perch on his shoulder, but to no avail. He turns just enough so she can't balance. That makes her mad. Right then and there, she changes back into human form, not even caring that she's stark naked. Maybe that will get his attention!

She grabs his collar, yanking him down so his nose is almost touching her face.

"Listen, you lout" she growls. "Perin was kissing me. I had nothing to do with it! You think I wanted to kiss him, while I have you?" Her tone softens as she sees the pain in his eyes flare up.

"Daine," he whispers, voice cracking as he lifts a hand to her cheek. She jerks away.

"It's nice to know how much faith you have in our relationship!" she says, now realizing her nakedness and turning red, crossing her arms in front of herself. "At least pretend that you're decent and give me a blanket! I came here to get you without a thought and you don't even give me clothes! Maybe I should've just stayed with Perin, eh?" Numair turns white. She's gone too far and she knows it.

Numair mounts down and wraps his black cloak around her, fastening it gently around her neck. She catches his hand with hers and holds it tight.

"I didn't mean that, Numair." She whispers. He avoids her gaze. She takes his chin in her hands, forcing him to look at her.

"Listen. I was going to tell Perin that I had gone to live with you. Before I had a chance, he was on me. Really, Numair. You have to believe me, because it's the truth. I love you, and I would never do something like that. Never."

He looks her in the eye, and she sees the extent of his adoration of her, and the pain he felt while she had 'betrayed' him. She understands, now, and he does as well.

Slowly, bumbling as if it were their first time, Numair takes her hands in his own and kisses her. She sighs into him. It will be all right. Everything will be fine.

When they break apart, both lover's eyes are dancing. He presses her to him, feeling every nuance and curve and she lets him handle her in this possessive way. She feels he needs to for a while, to prove to himself that she is really his.

Daine dresses in one of Numair's shirts, practically long enough to be a decent dress on her, and starts a small camp fire. They eat dinner in companionable silence, both just trying to fill the void they had felt, while separated for such a short time. Afterwards they make love under the stars and Daine knows, from her forehead to the ends of her toes, that this is meant to be.

It will be hard. They will face ridicule for their age difference, class difference, for them not being married. Gods, that alone will be scandalous. But that doesn't matter. Sighing, she nestles into his shoulder, and they both rise and fall, together forever.

None of it matters. Their love is true and everyone knows true love knows no boundaries.

~THE END~