Disclaimer: I STILL do not own Artemis Fowl. Must you remind me?

This is the last chapter. *sniffles* Thank you so much to everybody who reviews my stories. You're really encouraging to me and that means a lot. Thanks so much. Warning, this chapter jumps around a lot but I separated the jumping with ~~~ so maybe it'll still make sense.

Replies:

Vampygeniewitch—Thanks. Ouch. Sounds painful (and I KNOW about foot pain, I've been going to a foot doctor since I could walk and have had 2 surgeries on both feet).

Paul—I'll try and put Artemis and Alyssa in the next story in this series (this is 4 of 5). Thanks.

Sam—Glad you liked it.

Kuro no Miko—No, you're not flaming me, it's fine. I guess I meant the surprise to be two-fold, she sees the fairies and Arty reveals his secrets (though that part was a surprise to him too). Sorry it wasn't better but it was kind of difficult to create a balance of her knowing and now maybe believing in magic without Artemis betraying the People.

Siriusforeva—Thanks. There's only one chapter left because, after that she'll have survived her first encounter with the Fowls, and that's what the story was about. Artemis gets girl, girl survives meeting his parents.

Weaselgirl27—Thanks. I tried hard to make her character good. Her character is kind of like an OC from one of my Potter fics, but nearly everybody hates the girl in my Potter fics so I wasn't sure about how everyone would feel about such a forceful, control-freak girlfriend for Arty. Glad you approve.

Princess Arwen Evenstar 77—Thanks, sorry but all good things must come to an end.

Artemis's Worst Nightmare—I hope this is a good ending, don't quite know if it's a "bang" or not, you tell me.

Ryuu-murasaki—hehe. Thanks

The Toaster—Thanks. :-)

SpikeTV58—hehe, thanks.

CaptainRoseShort—You'll see, you'll see. Thanks for your reviews.

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CHAPTER 25: Goodbye

            Artemis woke up, gloomy. Alyssa would be leaving today. At least now he could finally get back to work; he'd been idle far too long. Especially all those hours wasted watching movies in the den on Saturday night. Ridiculous.

            He looked in the closet, trying to decide what to wear. Alyssa's parents would be over sometime today. What sort of impression did he want to make on Alyssa's father? He'd never met him yet.

            Artemis walked down the hall. He knew Holly would not return, and he needed advice. He hesitatingly knocked on Alyssa's door. Why did you hesitate? It's your house, he admonished. He knocked harder.

            Alyssa stumbled to the door and opened it.

            Artemis stared. Alyssa was still in her sweatshirt and plaid pajama bottoms and her hair greatly resembled a bird's nest; it was knotted and sticking out in all directions. Her eyes blinked blearily and she yawned, "Good morning, Junior."

            "Did I wake you?" It was almost quarter past seven; Artemis didn't think it was very early.

            "Of course not. Can't you tell I've spent hours trying to get my hair to look like this?" she asked sarcastically. She sighed. "What do you want?"

            "I need to know what kind of impression to make on your father today."

            "Oh." She bit her lip, thinking. "What sort of an impression do you usually make on people?"

            "Arrogant, diabolical, and unnerving."

            "Pretty much what I thought when I met you. Knowing my father, he might find that fascinating." She wasn't sure what sort of impression Artemis was supposed to make. She'd never had a boyfriend before, much less never had to introduce a boyfriend to her father. She frowned. "Let's go look in your closet. Since I'm already awake there's no point in going back to sleep." With that, she shoved past him and started off for his room.

            He followed behind her.

            They went inside and he sat on his bed while she paced in front of him. "Did I ever tell you my father's a journalist? An investigative journalist?"

            "Yes, I recall you saying something of the sort."

            "Knowing him, he probably did some research while at grandma's if he was able to get on the computer."

            "Your grandmother has a computer?"

            "And she knows how to use it. I told you; she's great."

            "If your father's done any research on me, then there's no use being anything but myself, is there?"

            "No, I suppose not."

            "Besides that, your mother has already met me."

            "True."

            "What does she think of me?"

            "I'm not really sure."

            She sighed and sat down in the chair at his desk. She stared at his open closet for a moment. "The brown slacks with the collared green shirt."

            "I'll look like a tree."

            "Black slacks with the light blue shirt. The one on the right there that matches your eyes."

            "Shoes?"

            "The second pair over." There were several pairs lining the bottom of the closet. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to shower."

            "Don't forget your bathrobe."

            "As if I'd make that mistake twice?" she gave him a sardonic look and left.

            There was nothing left for Artemis to do but meditate while he waited for his turn with the shower.

~~~

            Alyssa slipped the bathrobe on over her shoulders and gathered up her pajamas from the floor. She left the bathroom and stuck her head in Artemis's room after a swift knock on the door. She saw him sitting cross-legged on the floor, breathing deeply with his eyes closed. "Junior, did you fall asleep or something?"

            "No."

            "It's your turn for the shower." She left to go get dressed. There wasn't much to pick from for her to wear. She hadn't brought much extra clothing. Unless…

~~~

            Artemis, Alyssa (wearing her Hot Topic outfit), Mr. Fowl, Mrs. Fowl, Butler, and Juliet were all seated at the table finishing the last of their breakfast and talking when the doorbell rang.

            "I'll get it," said Butler, standing.

            Alyssa whispered to Artemis, "I didn't think they'd come this early. I thought we'd have another couple of hours at least." It was just nearing ten o'clock now.

            Artemis nodded.

~~~

            Butler opened the door and saw a plump man with red hair and glasses, a woman with hair the same shade as Alyssa's, and a little boy of about 8.

            "You must be the Stones."

            "Are you Junior's dad?" asked the child.

            "No. I'm Butler. Artemis junior's bodyguard. Right this way."

            The plump man blinked. This was one of the notorious Butlers! This was certainly exciting; the Butler family reputation was at least as fascinating as the Fowls.

            They followed Butler inside and to dining room. Seated around the table were Alyssa, the Fowls, and a girl that they'd never seen before.

            Angeline stood and gave each of the Stones a hug. Artemis senior shook hands.

            "It's good to see you again, Minnie. We hadn't expected you to arrive so soon. Would you like breakfast? There's plenty left."

            At the same time that Mrs. Stone said, "No, thank you" her husband and son said, "Yes, please".

            Angeline smiled. "Juliet, bring out some more plates, would you?" There were plenty of chairs at the table and Mrs. Fowl motioned the Stones to sit down.

            The plump man, Thomas Stone, took a seat next to Artemis. He was not a very prudent man at times and remarked in his jovial voice, "You pictures always show you pale, but you look rather a bit pink right now."

            Alyssa replied, "I managed to pry him away from his computer and get him to spend a little time outside this weekend."

            Artemis senior added, "It's remarkable. Normally nothing can pry him away."

            Minnie frowned at her daughter. "I don't recall seeing that outfit before, Lyssie."

            Alyssa tried not to swallow audibly. If her mother was upset with this, what would she say to the bikini? Best hide it as soon as she got home.

            "We took the kids shopping yesterday before we went swimming," said Angeline. She said to Thomas, "We haven't been properly introduced. I'm Angeline Fowl; this is my husband, Artemis; and my son, Arty. This is Butler. His sister, Juliet, is bringing out plates."

            "I'm Thomas, and this is our youngest, Paul." He shook hands with Mrs. Fowl.

            At that moment, Juliet returned with three plates, silverware, and glasses.

            "Help yourself," Artemis senior said, motioning to the pancakes, eggs, sausages, toast, and fruit. "There's plenty here and we can always make more. Butler's an excellent chef."

            Alyssa and Artemis, in hopes that neither of their parents would try to talk to them     , both kept eating.

            It did no good for Artemis.

            "I've heard some interesting stories about you. Not many 14 year olds have biographies out about them, you know."

            "Yes. You've read it?"

            "Yes, yes. I found it in a bookshop a few days after its release. I'm fascinated. You're a very lucky boy. To be your age and have traveled so much of the world already is really extraordinary."

            You have no idea, Artemis thought. "Yes. Though as much as I enjoy traveling, I really do prefer to remain at home."

            "Human nature: we don't know what we like, we like what we know."

            "Indeed."         

            "Where do you attend school?"

            Artemis told him.

            "Quite prestigious. A boarding school isn't it?"

            "Yes. It is."

            "Arty's on the swim-team this year. Though we're actually considering transferring him."

            Artemis blinked. No one had mentioned this to him. "Really, Mother?"

            "Yes. Your Father and I were discussing it just last night."

            The questions from Mr. Stone poured on. Artemis made sure to keep his answers and face as much like the old Artemis he had been a month ago as possible. Let Alyssa's father see what he was really like, rather than the dribbling, lovesick idiot he'd felt he'd become.

            When they'd all finished eating, Minnie said, "We really must be going, I'm afraid."

            "Alyssa, are you all packed?" Mrs. Fowl asked.

            "I think I left some videos in the den."

            "And your Queen CD is elsewhere," Artemis added.

            "Butler, would you please retrieve Alyssa's luggage from her room?"

            "I'll go get the videos," Alyssa volunteered.

            "I'll get the CD," Artemis added, catching her eye.

            Alyssa went down to the den and Artemis went up to his room. He got the CD and waited. He didn't have to wait long.

            Alyssa came in. "I guess this is goodbye, isn't it?" she asked.

            "We can't properly say goodbye down there."

            "You'll still call, won 't you?"

            "Of course I will. Alyssa, unless there's something you're not telling me I'm still your boyfriend and I'll still be asking you out this weekend." He grinned.

            She put her arms around him and hugged him tight. "Do I have to leave?"

            "If it were up to me, no. If it were up to my parents, probably not. I believe your mother, however, feels differently." He leaned his head against hers.

            "But I don't want to leave."

            He said softly into her hair, softly enough so that she couldn't hear him, "A day may come when you don't have to leave. But today's not that day."

            She heard him and smiled, but didn't let on that she heard. After all, he couldn't see her face at the moment.

            "I'm going to miss you," he said, loosening his grip on her.

            "I'm going to miss you too, Junior." She looked up at his face and put one finger on his cheek. She let finger trail down the side of his face and over to his mouth. She dropped her hand and kissed him softly.

            When he thought the kiss was over and started to back away, thinking they needed to get back downstairs, she pulled him forward and kissed him again. He didn't mind.

            When they parted their faces again, he put a hand on her cheek, "Come back soon?"

            "I will. I promise. I'll just have to think of another excuse to send my parents away."

            They walked back downstairs. The adults appeared not to notice that their absence was a little longer than it should have been. Paul, however, noticed.

            "What took so long?"

            "The CD was in the wrong case and I couldn't find it," Artemis said.

            "I don't believe you," he whispered.

            Artemis was prepared to bribe. "Do you like licorice?"

            "It's my favorite. Mum won't let me have it too much. Says I'll rot my teeth."

            "You don't mention anything about how long we were gone and I won't tell your mum where you got this licorice. Deal?" He passed the candy to Paul.

            Paul grinned and stuffed the candy in his pocket.

            Everyone appeared to be dissembling for goodbyes. "Thank you for having, Alyssa."

            "Oh, she was no problem. She's been a dream. She's welcome anytime. Really. We loved having her here. Isn't that right, Timmy?"

            "Yes. You should all come over for dinner soon. We'd love to have Alyssa spend more time here with us. Artemis doesn't get out of the house much; this weekend has really been good for him."

            "Alyssa, what do you say?" asked her mother pointedly.

            "Thank you very much for having me to stay, Mr. Fowl, Mrs. Fowl."

            "Oh, you're welcome, dear. Anytime. Really."

            Artemis stood facing Alyssa. ""Why do they call it goodbye? It's not good. I'm going to miss you," she whispered.

            "I know, I know. I'm going to miss you too, but goodbye isn't forever," he whispered. He gave her a hug and watched her walk out to the driveway with her brother and parents; Butler walked behind carrying her suitcase.

            Artemis stared out the window a long time after the car had vanished.

~~~

            Holly woke up and yawned, stretching. She looked next to her on the bed where her husband was still sleeping. He'd been awake when she came in during the night and he looked so peaceful sleeping there that she hadn't the heart to wake him before.

            She looked at the nightstand where the vials with the iris cams and the disks were waiting. She knew that she'd only show three people those disks while the Mud Boy was alive. Trouble, Root, and Foaly. Nobody else needed to see them. In a couple hundred years clips from them would appear home movies show and even be documented in the history of the Artemis Fowl cases. But for now, the boy deserved and would have his privacy. After all, on the inside he was just a soft emotional Mud Man.

            She leaned over and whispered in Trouble's ear, "Honey, I'm back."

~~~

            Artemis sat down at his desk. It felt foreign to him. He hadn't really sat here and done any work is since…what? Friday. And it was now Monday.

            He tried to get back to his work, his questionable business ventures. He couldn't do it.

            He picked up his phone and dialed. "Alyssa…"

THE END

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So, that's the end. I just had to give Holly and Trouble a cameo at the end. Originally I wasn't going to have the Stones stay for a meal, but I decided, why not?

Was it any good? The sequel won't be posted for at least a couple of days and it's going to be called Artemis Fowl: No Title Necessary. I hope you decide to read it. It'll be Trouble/Holly centered with some possible Artemis/Alyssa thrown in.