Amo Aeternus

A/N: Another short story from moi! X3 Enjoy!
She had always been attacked by her peers. The nerd, the freak, the "obsessive compulsive", the loner.

Yet, he couldn't help but stop watching over her. Something in him made him hover over her and protect her secretly.

He had always. Ever since their first novice meeting with Leon Von Frich.

And now she was back.

After seven years of separation, she had come back from her studies in Yuno. It had been so long.

And now…

"Verikale?"

He turned around, smiling. "Cenn. Welcome back."

She laughed. "Ah! I didn't know you'd come here to see me arrive." She grinned. "How're you doing these days?"

Leading her into a walk towards the capital city, he answered truthfully. "It's alright, I guess. I'm not so sure about our High, though. How're you doing?"

She shrugged good-naturedly. "It's going fine. I've read almost all the books in the Yuno library. People there said that I should've become a Professor if I liked reading so much."

He glanced at her, serious. "Are they alright?"

"Still worried about me, Veri?" She whapped his shoulder lightly. "I'm touched."

He chuckled. "Well, you know how I am."

Cenn nodded, smirking. "Yeah. I heard you double-strafed some poorarcher who asked for directions."

"It was an honest mistake," he defended, laughing at the memory. "Luckily there was a priest nearby."

"Luckily," she agreed, petting his falcon.

"What do you want to do first?" He asked her, as they entered the gates of Prontera.

"Looking at the items," She beamed. "There are so little merchants in Yuno, it's devastating. I'm going to have to write a letter of complaint to the Merchant Guild."

He laughed in reply. "Girls."

"Boys." She responded nonchalantly, already heading towards the shops lined up on the sidewalks.

Looking longingly at a stack of books, Cenn shifted to find Verikale buying paper from a nearby merchant.

"Paper?" she asked, a weird look on her face. "Why would you need paper? You're a sniper, for goodness sakes. And you know I have loads if you ever need some."

"Ah-ah," he winked at her, shaking his head. "Secret."

"Okay," She frowned, unsettled by this matter.

"Noo, smile," He patted her head. "You look less troubled. And a less aggravated Cenn is always cuter."

She sweatdropped and whapped his hand away. "Oh, shush, you."

Turning back to the merchant, she was delighted to find out he sold empty potion bottles. "Ooh, thank goodness. I was afraid I would run out soon."

"Prontera has almost everything," Veri smiled, watching as she paid for her bottles. "I'm glad you're back."

She grinned at him. "Me too. When you're here with me, that is."

The next morning, they met up at the entrance to the Payon caves, as they had promised the afternoon before.

"Wow. It's been so long since I've been here," Cenn sighed happily as she looked around at the lush green surroundings.

"You'll get sick of it soon enough," Verikale called his falcon from the sky. "I know I am."

"Oh, Veri," she groaned. "You seem to have this aura of ruining every good moment."

He stopped. She looked at him questionably. "What's wrong?"

Verikale twitched. "Do you… do you really mean that?" His falcon cocked its head to a side, blinking.

"Oh, Veri!" Cenn rushed to hug her friend, falcon flying away just in time not to be crushed. "You know I didn't mean it that way! I'm sorry!"

He shrugged, grinning faintly. "Don't worry. I just wanted a hug from you."

"Veri!" He ducked, laughing, as she threw leaves at him.

"But," he regarded her seriously, and she stopped abruptly. He wasn't serious, unless needed.

"But what?" she asked, confused.

"But I don't hope I ruin this moment."

She got a weird feeling in her stomach. "W-what moment?"

Reaching into his pouch, he pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it to her. "I didn't know when to give this to you, but now seems to be a good time. Maybe you won't murder me after you read it."

Taking it from him, Cenn studied the paper intently. "This was the paper you bought yesterday."

He nodded, licking his lips nervously. "Yeah. Go on, open it."

Raising an eyebrow, she slowly unfolded the creased paper, and froze.

I love you

"O-oh," she trembled. "… Veri…"

He studied her face anxiously. "Yep?"

Her nerd side came out. "Y-you forgot a period."

He stared at her for a moment, before bursting out in laughter. "Cenn! I'm taking that as a 'I love you too, Verikale.'"

She smiled shakily. "Yes, of course, of course, Veri, but…" she couldn't help mentioning it again. It irked her. "… You forgot a period."

"You want to know why?" He draped his arms around her, bringing her close to him.

She smiled up at him, confusing evident in her eyes. "Why?"

"Because," he bent down and kissed her. Breaking apart slightly, he whispered on her lips. "… Love never ends."

8 May 2006
A/N: Squeee! X3 I wrote this for pure fun. I wanted a weird pairing, and this came out okay, I guess. XDD Tis was quite short, though. And no action. D

Ah, well. All for the sake of fluff and fluff and fluff. X33 –meows- I want biscuits! –hunts-

Teehee. I hope you had fun reading this! XD I had superawesomeness fun writing this. X33 I waff one-shorts. I waff writing them too. –sweatdrop-

The title is latin roughly translatedfor To Love Without End. x33 -is waffed-

Loveness! –huggles-

-hopelessmine!