I was going to wait a little longer to post this one if I go the suspense that I was looking for (which I did, yay) but I am going to post this chapter now so that you guys can see what happens. My apologies for it being a bit…over the place…but I was in a rush and wanted you guys to get it ASAP, so here it is.

Chapter 13: You can't leave me

Dante looked down at Elli, her face was a mask of blood, her eyes closed and the rest of her body limp. Dante felt for a pulse, it was slow, there, but slow and getting slower. Dante felt her face, she was cold.

"Go to the clinic, get them ready for her Fable" Said Dante in a heartbreaking voice, tears were streaming his face, she might not make it.

"I will get you there in time" He whispered to Elli's body.

Dante put Elli on Night's back and jumped on. Dante heeled Night to a gallop and the horse ran it's fastest; it ran like the wind and rased time itself. Dante held on to the reigns and held onto Elli tighter. Dante was scared, so scared, it was dark and he was racing through the forest with Elli's body. Dante heeled Night to go faster and the stallion responded with a wild whinny as it ran even faster. Dante saw tree and tree go past as they just missed running into them.

Dante got to the clinic with Elli, his hands and face were scraped and bleeding and his heart was pounding as fast as…he didn't know…it was pounding faster than ever. His face was covering in bruises and scratches from the trees, but he was oblivious to them, he just wanted Elli to be OK.

The doctor took her in and told him to go home, that if she was going to recover it might take a while. Dante refused, he sat by her bedside as soon as she was bandaged up. Fable sat next to him, tail hitting the floor in rhythm to his heart, slow now, waiting and hoping…hoping and waiting.

Night was outside; Dante did not know what to do with him, only that he would leave him there until Elli got better. Nothing mattered to Dante anymore, nothing but Elli. He watched the slow rise and fall of her heart and listened to her low breathing. He felt so hopeless, there was nothing he could do for her but sit and wait.

Dante decided that there was only one thing that he could do that she would want him to do for her. Dante got down on his knees, hands clasped together and he prayed to the goddess, he prayed for Elli.

Dear Goddess,

I pray to you goddess that you may let Elli get better, that she may live to one day be my wife and bare my children, that she may one day be the woman of my life, keeper of my flame of life, lover of my nights and heart for forever and onwards. I pray that you help her get healthy and happy again, I could not live without my heart, and that is Elli.

I used to pray to you to help me pick a side, help me to chose which woman is for me and which one I love, but I knew from the start, Elli is my life now and I beg that you let her live. After you restore her health I will take her into my home and open her up to my heart, she holds me now and if she dies my heart goes with her, don't let that happen. You can't let that happen, I beg you don't let that happen.

Dante began to cry, he leaned over Elli and cried softly into her hair, his eyes were swelling and his heart was as slow as hers had been, he shuddered from despair and almost howled in frustration, horror and pain.

"I love you.." He said between sobs, it was the only thing left to say that he had never said to her before.

"You do?" Said a weak voice into his chest.

"The goddess bless me and knows I do" Dante cried with joy, he was so happy she was alive.

"You love me?" Said the voice again.

"Yes, stop asking questions cause it's my turn" Said Dante, hand rummaging through his rucksack. He was kneeling on one knee and held a blue feather in his hands.

"Elli, love of my life, will you marry me" Said Dante with his cheeks all wet and glistening from the tears.

"I know this isn't exactly what you had in mind when you imagined someone proposing to you, but this is all I have to offer, I am a farmer with a wolf, a horse, a farm and if you say yes, you" Said Dante with a little more composure

"Your right, this was never what I had in mind for when I imagined someone proposing to me" Said Elli, Dante's heart sank and he almost began to cry again, this time tears of shear sorrow.

"This is better, you saved my life and now you want to marry me. Of coarse I'll marry you!" Elli almost squealed in euphoria.

Dante grabbed her and scooped her into his arms, she let out a little grunt of hurt but he couldn't let her go, he couldn't.

"Move in with me tonight" He said deviously into her ear.

"Anything to be close to you" She whispered back.

Dante scooped her up, bandages and all, and he took her out to the waiting room, the Doctor came running, he assured Dante that it was alright for him to take Elli home but Elli had to stay in bed and get lots of rest.

"I know what I need to do, don't you go around instructing me how to treat myself when I've treated as many patients as you" Elli said playfully.

"It's gonna be a lot harder without your around" Said the Doctor.

"You'll get used to it, you could do it before, you can do it now" Elli said laughing into Dante's arms.

"Take care of her Dante, she's too innocent to take care of herself" Said the Doctor to match Elli's playful tone.

"Don't you worry, she'll never leave my sight again" Said Dante looking into Elli's loving eyes. Her eyes sparkled through the bruises and scratches and he was sure his did the same.

Dante took her outside and put her onto Night's back, She held on tight and rubbed the stallion's neck, Night pranced around for her amusement and Dante laughed. He went inside and got Fable and some of Elli's possessions that she kept at the clinic. He went back outside and Elli was laughing at Night as the stallion danced and reared for her.

Dante walked over and jumped on the stallions back behind Elli and led the horse with his knees back to the farm. Fable plodded alongside the stallions steady trot, but Dante could not take his eyes of Elli laying back into his chest while he steered the stallion towards the farm. Elli's warmth made him tingle to his toes and his heart raced. Her breathing in rhythm with his and the smell of her perfume wafting in the air, fogging his vision and his thoughts.

"These were for you, I was going to give them to you at 5:30pm, but you weren't there, I came looking for you" Said Dante offering her the crushed cookies.

"I slipped, I was standing on the edge crying, I wasn't trying to take my life, but I wanted to experience the thrill of the wind, I want to feel anything but what I did" Said Elli miserably.

"Why? What were you feeling" Said Dante worriedly.

"I thought I wasn't loved, I heard you were tagging me along because Karen isn't here, I thought you didn't love me" She said just as depressed.

"But I do, I love you more than I ever loved her, I promise you that, I'm glad you fell though" He said playfully.

"Why!" She said scared and furiously.

"Cause it made me see how much I loved you and needed you, and it gave me the courage to ask you to marry me when I needed it most" Said Dante affectionately handing her the cookies.

"It showed me too, and I will love you from now until forever" Said Elli, taking the cookies and twisting to kiss Dante's cheek.

"Can we get married soon?" She asked him lovingly and softly.

"We can get married in the summer onwards, I thought you might want a white wedding" He said to her.

"I want to get married as soon as I can Dante, we are of age now and the sooner we are married, the sooner I can call myself your wife" She said as she dozed off.

'My wife, has a nice ring to it, Elli wife of Dante and keeper of the house of Oakhurst. Definitely has a nice ring to it' Dante thought to himself as the horse trotted on.

As soon as they reached the farmhouse he got down and carried Elli inside to the double bed he had made. Elli was exhausted and staid asleep even after he had moved her. Dante was so relieved to have her, he had been horrified he was going to lose her, but at the same time he was so happy because in that moment of horror he realised that she was the woman he had wanted all along.

He went outside and put Night in the stable, he rubbed Night down with the brush and said his goodnight. Dante entered the house to find Fable lying at the foot of the bed, curled up for warmth. The red bandana was still hanging around her neck and did not have a mark on it, he was proud of her. He climbed into the bed next to Elli and wrote in his Diary before cuddling up to Elli and going to sleep himself.

The Horse Racing Festival was soon and he would enter Night, after tonight's performance he was sure the horse would beat any horse there. That was the only other thought that crossed his mind before his thoughts returned to Elli, lying next to him, cuddled up into his arms, her breathing going back to normal, her heart beating in time with his. Dante's mind left him as he fell asleep.

Author's Note

Hope you guys liked this one, I kinda went out on a limb here in this part, it was a last minute thought and it seemed like it worked well with the story. Thanks for reviewing and please continue to give your thoughts and opinions. Laters )