A/N: This is it everyone. The last chapter. Short n' sweet. Sorry it took so long getting it uploaded, I had a hard time getting the ending so that it wasn't really cheesy. It kind of is anyway, but whatever. I had to change the format because the quotation marks got messed up when I tried uploading it in word format. So now it's in webpage format, sorry if it looks a little different than the previous chapters.
Anyway, I really hope you like this!
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Chapter Eleven – Big Choices
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Early the next morning, before the sun had risen, Chris paused at the door of their room to look upon Nash's slumbering figure one last time. He was still laying there as he had been when she awoke beside him earlier, and she smiled slightly at the peaceful expression on his face.
However, she remembered she had important things to do, and moving very quietly so as not to wake Nash, she left the room and the inn.
She headed out to the stables, being as quiet as she could while she double checked her bag to make sure she had enough supplies for the trip. After she was satisfied that everything was in order, she saddled up a horse and mounted it. That's when she noticed she was not alone in the stables.
"I didn't want to believe that you could consider doing this." Nash was leaning against the stable door, staring up at Chris on the horse as though he had been waiting there for her all along.
Chris sighed. "I thought you were still asleep."
He had his usual air of confidence and sarcasm, but he looked uncharacteristically hurt. "You forget I used to be a spy. I'm a light sleeper."
"Nash..."
"Why is it you continue to make me chase after you?"
"I have to go back..."
"I can't believe it! After all this, you're still going to go crawling back to the council?"
"Nash, you don't understand."
"I understand only too well. Your loyalty to Zexen is admirable, Chris, but your 'duty' there is finished. Your country hasn't seen war in years, and your career is now nothing more than an endless charade of all the protocols and trivialities that you detest."
"But Nash, I-"
He shook his head in disbelief, not allowing her to speak. "Chris, I know our relationship together is different for you, but I can't believe you're going to act like nothing happened. Like we don't care..."
"About what?"
"Each other."
She blinked, trying to think of how to respond.
"Do you really want to go back to being an under-appreciated Captain that no longer gets to see any action, and sink back into the realm of oppressing politics? Do you even dare to think that I would let you? Do you really think that by going back to that mundane life, you can escape me so easily? Haven't you learned by now that I am not going to go away?"
Chris did not respond immediately, but she stared at Nash with a smile on her face that confused him. Finally, to his surprise, she dismounted her horse and handed him an envelope.
"What is this?"
"A letter of resignation."
Nash paused for a long moment. "...For the council?"
"Yes. I was only going to Vinay del Zexay to resign from my position as Captain of the Zexen Knights."
Silence.
Nash looked from the letter to her, then again to the letter. Finally he smirked and handed it back to her.
"Congratulations Chris. Without any effort whatsoever, you've caused me to make a complete fool out of myself. A very rare feat. However, I'm too proud to apologize, and I'm too relieved to feel sheepish."
"For you, that in itself can be taken as an apology," Chris replied, still smiling.
They stood together at the stable's entrance and gazed at the scenery as the sun began to rise.
"Could you really blame me for being suspicious? Why were you going to take off like that without telling me what you were doing?" Nash asked.
"I guess I just wanted it to surprise you," she mumbled, a little embarrassed. "I told the innkeeper to ask you to wait if you checked out before I returned. I'm not planning on leaving you Nash... My resignation was going to be my way of telling you that I want to be with you... There's much of the world left for me to see beyond Zexen and the Grasslands."
"And naturally, who better to serve as your charming, witty, and handsome guide, than me?"
"I can only hope that eternity will eventually wear down your arrogance."
"Unlikely."
Chris smiled and looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "I suppose not. That'd be too much to ask of such a man."
He grinned. "So you really think you could handle traveling the world with a 'such a man'?"
Chris gave a slight chuckle. "Do you even have to ask?"
"Perhaps I am asking the wrong question then," he replied casually. "I shall try asking this one instead: Do you think you could handle being married to such a man?"
There was silence. Chris blinked and wondered if she had heard right. Had he had really just proposed to her, or was he only joking?
She found herself staring at him uncertainly. He wasn't looking at her, and was still gazing out at the landscape before them, a slight smile on his face.
However, he caught her hesitant expression out of the corner of his eye, and continued. "Of course, I suppose there is that whole issue with me being a vampire. But I will put up with your quirks if you can put up with mine. And I realize that the 'till death do us part' section of the contract ropes us in for a really long haul together, but," here he faced her, their eyes locking as he smirked at her, "I wouldn't have it any other way."
There was another long pause. Finally, Chris answered him in what was perhaps the clearest way.
She pressed her lips to his, and he reciprocated instantly, their arms sliding around each other as they kissed in the stable doorway. They did not part for several minutes, and by the time they did, the sun had fully risen from behind the horizon, and the wheat fields were now bathed in the golden hue of the morning light.
They leaned against the doorway, holding each other in silence as they caught their breath after the lengthy union of their lips. Nash rested his chin on the top of her head, stroking her hair gently.
"You know Chris," he sighed contentedly after a few minutes. "When we first met during that sunset, I never thought that twenty years later we'd end up in each others arms watching a sunrise in the same village. Was it my charm and commendable persistence?
Chris chuckled. "You were more conniving than charming. And your persistence was irritating at best."
"I suppose I can't take all the credit," Nash admitted. "So then, was it fate?"
She shook her head slightly. "No, it wasn't fate."
Nash raised an eyebrow. "Then how do you think it was we were brought together like this?"
Chris smiled a little and paused before responding.
"...We simply followed our destiny."
~End~
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A/N: Well, 'Destiny of Four' has come to a happy end. (even it if was mildly cheesy) I generally like to do bittersweet endings, but this one just called for a fluffy and happy ending. I hope no one thinks that the marriage proposal is too abrupt, I mean, they've always had feelings for each other and they have known each other for a long time...
Anyway, writing this was a great experience for me, as it was the first lengthy fanfic that I actually *finished*. Forcing myself to write the majority of the story out before posting anything helped with getting it successfully completed. I hate winging fics from chapter to chapter, because whenever I did that, I'd always end up writing myself into a corner, and/or lose my muse. This fic has undergone so many revisions before I posted even the first chapter, and even now, when I read it over, I see that it could still stand much more editing. But overall, I am pleased with how it turned out.
There were a lot of scenarios I wanted to have in this fic, but ended up having to edit out. I really wanted to put Pesmerga in here, and I actually wrote him in at one point, but it disrupted the flow of the story. Although this story has Yuber in it, it's more about the relationship between Chris and Nash and their deceased partners than anything else. The conflicting enemy was just there to bring out and develop our heroes' relationships. I devised this entire fic as a result of trying to think up a plausible way for Chris and Nash to be together.
I truly hope you enjoyed the results. I have had a great time sharing my story with you all, and communicating with you through e-mails/reviews. I know it has its faults, but regardless, it was a lot of fun, and that's all that really matters in the end. ^_^ I believe that by listening to what everyone had to say about my fic, it strengthened my overall writing style. So thank you very much for reading and all the amazing feedback!
If you want to see more Chris/Nash fics, I just recently posted a one-shot called 'Does It Matter', so feel free to check that out! You can bet on more Suiko fics from me in the future. ^.~
