A/N: Hope it was worth the wait. The language, oh the language! Anyways, I stayed up till five in the morning to get this done, at long last. Enjoy.

Well, crap.

I staggered as another volley of bolts slammed into my shield, clutching my side. I was bleeding, bleeding badly, but Sendai was dead. The only problem was that her men wanted our blood for it. After crawling through that dank, trapped hellhole, after fighting liches and Mind Flayers and Lathander knows what else, I was exhausted and battered. I could feel the end of the bolt sticking out just above my hip. But I gritted my teeth, grabbed the ring from Sendai's body, and twisted it randomly. A flash behind me, and a portal opened. Through it, I could see Amkethran. Home and healing, as it were.

"Hey, everyone! Get through the portal, we'll hold them!"

I'll admit, I was a little vague on who 'we' was. Little sis jogged up beside it, firing off a few shots with Valygar as Sarevok and the others held back the tide of drow streaming from the way we came. I gritted my teeth through the pain, telling myself, keep it together, man. You've got everyone counting on you.

Sarevok was smashing aside all comers, creating space along the narrow stairway. Each time he tried to force his way to the door, however, he was pushed back by the drows' ferocity. Mazzy and Jaheira held their own. I looked around, beckoning the mages and thieves through the portal. I shoved Yeslick through first, trying to get him out of that hellhole. Edwin wasted no time clearing out. Jan, damn his gnomish hide, cleared 'his men' out of there first. Alora, 'Dalis and Coran were shoved or otherwise herded in a mildly paternal manner out of the battleground. He stayed behind, firing his crossbow beside Imoen to the last.

Coran jumped some corpses, panting. He put a hand on my shoulder, whether to steady myself or him I don't know.

"Good man, good man. We're almost home free."

He dived through the portal. I could see him flop to the ground on the other side, roll over and sit up. He was fine. Others followed him shortly, as Jaheira, Sarevok, and Mazzy stopped the avalanche of drow. I didn't know what drove them, for the life of me. Valygar fired once over his shoulder before falling back, leaving only Imoen and Jan to cover us. Looking at the situation, I knew that the semicircle blocking the drow from flooding into the room had to be relieved.

"Jan, little sis, go."

"You're hurt, young godling."

"Aren't we all. Just go, we're gonna be right behind you."

Jan started to object, so I just shoved him. He teetered, hopping on one foot before falling through. Yeslick broke his fall, and I saw Jan talking to to him angrily. He's a good man, Jan Jansen.

"You're next, Imoen."

"Like hell, big bro."

"Listen, I'm bleeding too bad to push you through. At least promise me you'll leave before you get hurt."

"Gotcha. Be careful."

"I will. Don't worry. We've been through worse."

I think I was lying. I'm not sure. Once you've been mangled enough, it all blurs together into a mess of pain. I know where all my dozens of scars came from, but I've lost perspective as far as pain is concerned. I mean, I had a bolt lodged four inches in my side, a number of rather bad lacerations and bruises along with a host of other problems, but I still remember screaming and staggering from a (comparatively) shallow wound in the Friendly Arm Inn. That was when I first met Jaheira, actually. Back to the story.

I staggered over to the line, screaming as I swung my flail up and sent one intrepid drow flying backwards into the crowd. A bolt glanced off an armor plate, and I ducked a sword.

"Mazzy! GO!"

She nodded. She was hurting too. The drow in the front crowded back some, seeing me trying to stand up straight despite the blood running down my side, leg and into my boot. They looked at me like I was some of demon before being pushed forward by the ones behind them. Sarevok cut down three with one stroke, Jaheira's staff a whirling blur as she lashed out. I took Mazzy's position at the left of the staircase. A lightning bolt flashed from behind us, a parting gift from Imoen as she too fell back.

That left the three of us. One good push, I told myself. Just a little further. Make to the doors, bar them. How I planned to do that with the thirty or so dead and dying dark elves in the way, I don't know. Maybe it's a testament to how much blood I'd lost. Maybe I'm just crazy. At any rate, I advanced under the power of delirium and adrenaline. Smashed one in the face with the edge of my newly-acquired darksteel shield, smashed in another's armor. I ducked the blow from an adamantine mace, felt a sword bounce off my mail. Sarevok sort of stared dumbfounded. I pushed right into the crowd, forcing them back with my shield and ducking swings over and around it as I glanced back. They weren't moving for some reason.

"Don't just stand there, get out of here!"

Sarevok stabbed one more drow, then headed back reluctantly. I pushed as hard as I could, moving them back bit by bit. A few more wounds, mostly minor. Finally, they just broke. Something snapped, and the weight was gone. They turned heel and ran, terrified. I kicked a body out of the way, shoved the door shut, and barred it with a severed arm. Grisly, but I figured it would work long enough for us to get the hell out of there. I turned around, stared towards the portal. Sarevok stepped through, and Jaheira wasn't far behind. I staggered (pretty much just fell, actually) down the stairs. Well, that's when the one armed drow stood using his sword and stuck it in me. Trust me, I was pretty surprised. I think he really didn't like me using his other arm like that.

We sort of stared at each other, trapped there. His sword was jammed in my gut, and we sort of leaned against each other, staring. I could see the hate, the anger in his eyes. At that point, I really didn't care. My mind was still trying to process the fact I had been dealt such a severe wound. Eventually, we just fell apart. We both had lost a lot of blood.

The ceiling was stucco. Sendai and stucco didn't mix in my mind, and then Jaheira was over me, her staff smashing down again and again beside me. She was crying.

"You dumb shit, I should have known...I should have known...no. I'll not lose you, never. You're going to live, you hear me?"

She was screaming at me again. I reached up, a mailed hand pulling at the blade. I could feel it sawing through. Jaheira helped me pull it out. I breathed a little easier, but I could see her crying. Blood-soak braids cascaded as she pulled a bandage out of her pack and jam it in the wound. I just kept telling myself, just a little farther. Get there, get out, you'll be fine. Get up. Jaheira was at the forefront of my mind. I knew she wouldn't leave me, ever leave me, if there was breath in her body.

I rolled over. I got onto my hands and knees, eyes closed. The silence was deafening before the world crashed through the darkness. The drip of my blood. Jaheira screaming and tugging on my arm. The drow trying to get through the door. One foot in front of the other. I didn't know if we were going to make it. Warcries. Jaheira. Jaheira. I opened me eyes, saw everyone through the portal. They were waiting, gesturing at us. Come on, their expressions said. You can make it. Just a little further.

Jaheira grunted, took up my weight despite her own wounds. She threw my arm around her shoulder, and heaved us through the portal. I guess it was rigged to close after awhile, because we just barely made it through. My friends caught me as I flopped forwards.

It's over. Good guys win, my mind screamed.

Darkness took me, took me hard.

Through the inkiness, I traveled through my memories. I watched myself stagger into the Friendly Arm Inn, Xzar and Montaron simply watching with amusement as Imoen helped me through the door. The mage and left me with a burnt forearm and a bandit's gift of a sword wound along my thigh. I was groaning, our pathetic medical skills exhausted. I was barely conscious, but somehow I made it to a table. Jaheira and Khalid ran over, asking if I was Gorion's ward. I handed them the note, and Jaheira clucked her tongue.

"Fine lot of trouble you've gotten yourself in. Let me see that."

"D-d-dear? The boy seems to be in a great deal of pain."

"Stop sniveling, brat. Let me see this."

The scene faded, the audience of patrons looking on as Jaheira tended to me with years of experience and a few unkind words. It felt like I was falling asleep, and then I woke up. Roasting a rabbit around the fire, Jaheira laughing. It was...fall? Fall in Nashkel. Minsc, Dynaheir, Imoen, Jaheira and Khalid sat around the campfire with me. She was telling jokes.

"How many dwarves does it take to hang a lantern?"

"How many?"

"What, you think they can reach?"

Laughter. Good times. The spark in her eye as she grinned.

"So, where now oh omniscient and ever present taskmaster?"

That was directed at me. Well, the younger me. About a month or two into a greater adventure than he'd ever dreamed. Short on scars, short on wisdom, relying on a Harper for advice.

"Well, we cleared the mines, helped these fine folk out...I guess we should pay this Tranzig guy a visit, and from there...well, do some good. Beregost is a nice place."

She raised an eyebrow.

"A nice place, whelp? Thinking of taking up residence? You are amusing , in a 'what the hell is wrong with you' kind of way."

Younger-me winced. He looked hurt. I remember being uncomfortable and sad, having lost any sense of normality my life once had. My home, my stuff, the places I knew, all my friends, my father...

"I'm homeless, Jaheira, remember? Jeez, sorry for saying anything."

Her face hardened some, then fell. She gestured to everyone sitting around the fire. There was tenderness in her bright green eyes. She cared, cared deeply, even then.

"I'll say this once, child. You speak as though you were dropped as a child... or kicked, as the case may be. You must realize that this is your home for now, the open road. It will be quite some time before you'll be able to do anything else, I suspect. But you know what? You're not out here alone. You travel with men and women willing to fight and bleed beside you. What more could you want?"

Younger-me just stared at her. Even at the time, I knew she was right. She hid caring beneath cynicism and sarcasm, but eventually that too slid away. She smiled and turned away, facing Minsc as he broke the tense moment with a bad knock-knock joke. Then, I was falling asleep again. The memories became snapshot, rapid fire.

Bandaging Jaheira's arm after Bassilius broke it. Watching her realize I was growing up a lot faster than anyone expected.

New scars after fighting Daveorn.

Me and her, helping Khalid limp back to Nashkel.

Me and her, back to back, fighting Sarevok and his minions with desperation.

Holding off dopplegangers with her beside me.

Her laughing as we walked to Beregost.

Snappy comments after freeing her from Irenicus's dungeon.

Her questioning me constantly as we traveled Amn- the sarcasm slowly fading to feelings closer to the surface, more genuine.

The parade of memories finally stopped at the turning point. Well, the turning point of our relationship. It was just outside the druid's circle, where we stopped to rest. She was haunted by bad dreams, dreams of her husband. I woke up, shook my head. We had a short talk, and I kissed her forehead before she fell back asleep. When I awoke, bandits held her hostage. An arrow was aimed at me by a sniper.

"Okay," I watched a much more heavily scarred and mature me say to the bandits, "easy now. Let's trade. I'm unarmed. See? How about me and Jaheira there switch places. I'm the group's leader, I'm more valuable."

"You dumbass! Don't do it, he's not the group's leader," she cursed. Oh, she was angry.

"Aww, just kill him and take his stuff," the bandit's leader said with a wave. The arrow took me in the shoulder, deflected by a plate away from my heart. I went berserk, killed the leader myself as Viconia and Minsc took the sniper. When all was said and done, I tugged at the arrow again. Shitty luck, I told myself. Jaheira had other ideas.

"You MORON!" she yelled. Then, she slapped me upside the head, full force. I saw stars. "That arrow could have taken you in the eye, or the throat, then what? Then what, hmmm? You'd be dead, and all the priests in the world wouldn't have been able to bring you back."

I looked at her as she panted, jaw set. I was pissed off, too.

"Sorry for trying to save your life. I'm sorry I tried to get you out of harm's way."

She threw her arms around me, cradling the back of my head in her hand. Her smelt good. I remember that much. She whispered to me as we held each other.

"I'm sorry. I...I just worry about you. I don't want you taken like Khalid was. I care about you a great deal."

She sniffled, set to work on my shoulder without another word. The admission and the act left me quiet and thinking. Somehow, I knew I was far from sleep as I watched Jaheira reach out with tender fingers and probe my wound. The woman had pulled enough metal from my body to make three new suits of armor. She had spent the last two years putting me together after getting all kinds of damn fool ideas in my head. I had to think about that, as the scene faded from sight, left me drifting in the dark. The devotion it takes to sit there, time after time, and force yourself through another desperate bout with death. To fight it with all your strength. To see your lover bleeding in front of you.

It was clear to me, as I floated there. I loved her, loved her more than anyone. She had always been there for me. Always by my side. Longer than Imoen. Whenever I needed her. Day in, day out, for two years we had lived together and managed not to murder each other. How I loved her, alone there. I forced myself towards consciousness.

Just a little further, and I'll be with her again.

My eyes were stuck together or something. It took five minutes or so to open them a crack, It was blurry and bright. My head lolled to one side. Wall. I forced it in the other direction, fighting the pudding it felt like I was encased in. She was on a chair, her arm in a sling and bags under her eyes. Tear streaks. She looked like hell, even without her armor on. Her good hand reached up, mashed her palm across her eyes. I struggled, finally managed to croak her name. Lathander, what a horrible sound. She started.

"He's AWAKE! Everyone, he's back!"

A grinning Keldorn shoved his head into sight, through an animal skin tacked across the doorway.

"Hah ha! He lives, alright. You look like hell, son. But I think you won the bet, judging by the stories everyone told."

Sarevok and Imoen crowded in as Jaheira smiled, ear to ear. Imoen jumped up and down. Keldorn left, apparently to spread the news.

"Glad to see you back in the land of the living, bro!"

Sarevok nodded somberly. A smile touched his poker face for the first time I can remember.

"Crawled back from Death's cold grasp? You do me proud, brother."

"Waaa...ter."

Sarevok opened a skin at his side. No one seemed to be in gear, at least that I could see. It was hot. I swallowed water until I started coughing.

"Drink up, brother. Tasting life once again is sweeter than the sweetest of things, is it not?"

"Oh, damn yeah. Guys...can I have a moment alone with Jaheira?"

They looked at me funny, but nodded and left. No doubt, someone was listening. I reached out, and she took my hand. I looked her in the eyes.

"How long was I out?"

Small talk, to start. I was bursting with feelings.

"Three days, dear."

"More than long enough. How's the damage?"

"Damn near left you dead, you fool."

"Left me with plenty of time to think. Jaheira, do you realize that we've barely spent a week apart in two years?"

"Two and a half."

"Hmmph. Well, I don't really know where to start. The obvious place is that I love you, more than anything. I wouldn't be alive without you. Thinking about it, I realized I didn't want to be alive without you by my side. Say you'll be mine?"

"Somehow, I think that I should slap you for taking this long, darling."

"Sorry. Really."

"I know, dearest. It wasn't easy."

"Still interested in settling down?"

"Depends. With who, and where..."

"With me alone, maybe that lake near Beregost..."

"What? No children?"

"You want kids, Jaheira?"

"If it happens, it happens. I wouldn't mind, except for that whole pregnancy and childbirth thing. Can be hard on a woman, you know."

Her trademark wit was back. I smiled, and she kissed me on the forehead. She was happy. That alone was worth the trouble of almost dying. Minsc burst through the door, lay Boo on my chest.

"We'll discuss this later."

"My friend! Welcome back. We have many tales left in us, eh?"

"Right, Minsc. Tell me what happened with Abizigal."

"We killed him DEAD! Then, we rejoiced, and ate things. Monkeys, canteloupe..."