Okay, so the requests came in for an epilogue (sorry for calling it a prologue; that was a mistake on my part;), so here it is! I can always write more about their later life, so let me know if you have a hankering for more, and I will try to post more.

shy girl: I can't tell you how grateful I am for your constant support on this story - this story would not be complete yet without your continued feedback :) Thanks so much; let me know if you ever get a member profile! I'd absolutely love to read whatever you write :)

bianagirl1020: Thank you so much! That is super encouraging :) I read your story and left feedback :) Please keep writing!

It was weeks later when Marella asked for the answer to the question buried deep within her heart - the one that she longed most deeply to know the answer to.

They were at a party, hidden away from everyone else in a tiny grove of trees near a fountain. The sounds of laughter and the flicker of firelight followed them to their hiding place, where Marella had lit a tiny fire of their own. Lying side by side on the softest moss imaginable, hands entwined, they whispered and giggled like giddy schoolchildren on a first date.

It was only when the laughter quieted and gentle music began to drift to their ears on the breeze that Marella, with her head on Tam's shoulder and both hands in his, got up the courage to ask,

"Tam, why did you choose me over-"

But Tam laid a finger to her lips and said firmly, "You know why."

"No, I don't," she argued.

Tam held up three fingers. "Three words."

"I love you," Marella whispered softly.

Tam knitted his brow in mock sternness. "You took my line!"

Marella laughed, then became solemn again.

"When did you know?" she asked quietly, nestling against him to remind herself that he wasn't going anywhere.

Tam didn't speak for a long time. When he did, it was in a low, contemplative voice. "I think I always knew. Not at first glance, but when I got to know you better. It was the slowest process, the steadiest, and the most subtle. I knew in my heart, but not in my mind.

"I felt the strongest jolt of it, I believe, when I heard what you'd done for Linh. And the most out-of-place feeling I've ever had was when Biana asked me to marry her, and I looked for you in the crowd; I couldn't find you."

Marella felt a lump rising in her throat and got up to pace restlessly around the campfire, hating the recollection of one of the most hopeless memories of her life.

Tam caught her hand but she shook it free, clearing her throat abruptly.

He was quiet for a while before finishing with, "But I think you were asking when the moment was that I knew, both heart and mind, which was exactly three weeks ago."

"When Biana proposed," Marella stated, an unwanted quaver in her voice.

"No."

Marella looked up.

"It was a few hours before, and you and I were left alone in the dance hall."

Marella smiled at the memory even while the beginnings of tears formed in her eyes.

Tam looked up at her, and his thoughtful eyes reflected the firelight behind her as he murmured, "The music was playing, and we were dancing, and I wanted to kiss you." He grinned sheepishly. "I knew I shouldn't, given that I was dating someone else, but I remember thinking that."

He was quiet for so long that Marella thought that he was finished.

"So… that was it?"

Tam shook his head. "That wasn't the half of it," he admitted. "The dance was eye opening, to say the least. But the real revelation occurred afterward, when Biana came in. I thought she seemed anxious and overly urgent - there weren't even any guests for me to greet yet- and when I looked back… I realized why."

"Why?" Marella asked in a hushed voice.

Tam stood up and took her hands in his, but when that wasn't enough, he put his arms around her and cradled her face almost reverently in his hands, placing a soft kiss on the top of her fiery head.

"Because she knew I was in love with you. And the second I realized that was the moment that my heart and mind agreed," he whispered.

Marella didn't know what to say to that, so she settled for, "I won."

"Won what?"

"I knew that I loved you wayyy before that," she said bashfully, gently cupping his face in her hands.

"Oh really," Tam said slyly, sneaking a kiss to her temple. "Since when exactly?"

"Since your eyes met mine," she murmured, eyes downcast.

Tam, momentarily disbelieving, stood stock-still. "Um… wow. I'm sorry you had such a long wait before I came to my senses." He hugged her tight and she nestled her head into the crook of his neck, hooking her fingers into his shirt pocket.

"Mar, now that I think of it, there's something in my pocket," Tam said, his casualness belied by the wideness of his smile. "Will you get it for me?"

Marella nodded and reached into it, where something small and hard and round had nestled.

When she touched it, she gasped and looked quickly at Tam.

He grinned. "Go on, get it out."

She obeyed, drawing out a band of pure gold, radiant with a single ruby set amidst a dozen minuscule diamonds. It gleamed in the firelight like a sun in its own right, and Marella understood what he wasn't saying.

"When?" she asked, eyes wide.

Tam grinned sheepishly. "I was thinking… as soon as possible?"

Marella laughed slightly hysterically. "I thought you said you wouldn't marry a girl you hadn't known for over a year!"

Tam frowned. "Did I say that?"
"Yes!" Marella insisted.

"Well - that was a stupid lack of foresight on my part," Tam declared.

He slowly lowered himself to one knee and solemnly met her gaze. "Marella, I love you. I've loved you for a long time - even longer than I knew."

Marella was already crying.

A half-smile breaking out across his face, he stood up and wrapped her tenderly in his arms. "Marella Adene Redek, will you marry me?"

"Yes, yes, obviously, why can't I stop crying?" she cried, overjoyed.

"Well, because you're overwhelmed at the thought of living the rest of your life with my awesomeness, obviously."

"Obviously," she agreed.

"That was a joke. You can laugh," he reminded her.

But that was a mistake, because once she started laughing, she couldn't stop that, either.

"I give up," Tam said. "Obviously I'm going to have to learn how to deal with these interesting mood swings."

"You'll get lots of practice," Marella promised him.

"I can't wait," he whispered, resting his forehead gently on hers.

She wrapped her arms around him and they stood like that for a long time.

The sun rose into the sky, dressed in ribbons of gold and pink, the symbol of new beginnings, and in her heart, Marella promised herself that this beginning would truly be the start of something that burned to eternity.

And with Tam as her partner, she couldn't see how it could turn out to be anything else.