Author's Note: Yay yay yay! I am rather pleased with myself for uploading two consecutive chapters within a few days. This one is really short- 'twas gonna be longer, but I am ridiculously exhausted so...yeah, this is what you get. Cheers.

-Mintermist

Chapter 17
Rescue

Who…? Wait…what? No…it is not…not possible…how could he….how could HE be HERE? Impossible. Impossible. Impos—

"J-jester?" Jane felt a shroud of incredulous stupefaction descend upon her, her words coming out as a muffled "Jhusjur" from behind the horrendous gag. There was a boulder-sized lump lodged in her throat, as she blinked at the waterfall that began cascading down her cheeks. He was here. Against all odds, he was really, honestly, truly here.

"Jane….Jane…Jane!" Jester grinned like the fool he was –or perhaps the fool he had been— as he repeated her name, before he leapt out of the entryway of the tent, crossing the length of it in two strides. For a moment he said nothing, simply taking her face into his hands and losing himself within that beautiful viridian gaze. Green met blue, as Earth meets the Sea, the rightness of it all rooting deeply within them both. At last he spoke, his words sheepish and quavering.

"I…I've come t-to rescue the fair maiden." He smiled sweetly, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead and removing the gag. "Here…see?" He withdrew one of his daggers, proceeding to work at the bonds at her wrists and ankles. The ropes fell away as though they were as feeble as a spider's web, and Jester gingerly took one of Jane's hands into both of his, examining the angry red marks left by her imprisonment. "I'm sorry for this," he murmured, tracing a finger from her wrist to palm. "I'm sorry that I let them hurt you."

A broken sob escaped Jane's lips, her fingers intertwining with his and bringing his hand to her lips to kiss it.

"J-jester," she half-choked on his name, her voice hoarse from the days of silent screaming and indignant cries issued from behind the gag.

"Shhh, love. Shhh, I'm here," he soothed, taking her face in his hands once more, his blue-ocean-eyes drowning in emotion; relief and fear, love and pain. His thumb caressed her cheek. "I'm here, and we're together now, and nothing…and nothing can change that. Ever." He smiled warmly, the light and intensity in his gaze brightening the dismal, dreary tent like sunlight breaking through the clouds. Jane could feel the warmth of it spreading through her, with the happiness and joy she remembered so well. It had been the memory of such happiness that had kept her will strong and alive.

Gently, he pulled her onto his lap, locking his arms about her. The light in his eyes flickered for an instant, and he buried his face in her bedraggled hair, closing his eyes.

"I was…so…so very afraid, Jane. I thought that I was going to lose you," he said. His words came slowly; full of the anguish he had carried within him as he waited in the past weeks. He breathed in sharply, relief exuding from his very aura, and moved to rest his forehead against hers. The joy, the grief, the jubilation, the pain…each emotion colored and shaded the canvas of his face. "I love you," he breathed. Never had the words rung so true and so deep.

She turned his face to look at her, her gaze swimming with fresh tears. "Jester," she murmured, her arms snaking up his chest, as she snuggled closer to him. "I…I love you. More than you could possibly understand. More than you could ever know." Her lips found his, shy and sweet, and his arms tightened about her. "I missed you," she breathed, her fingers twisting into his rain-soaked blonde hair, her lips moving faster with a frenzied passion. Elation washed over Jester, leaving him rather light-headed. At last, they broke apart, and Jane hid her face against his neck.

"You have no idea how I missed that…how I missed you." Jester grinned at her, before scooping her up and rising to his feet with her in his arms bridal-style.

"Time to rescue the fair maiden," Jester chuckled, the weight of the world lifting from his shoulders as he held her.

"Wait! Jester…wait…we cannot leave without Ava! She is the other girl they captured; a merchant's daughter, and most likely the reason I have remained sane. We kept each other defiant. And most definitely bruised…" Jane's expression was full of alarm, as she clung to him. "And we cannot leave without him, I suppose." She inclined her head towards the unconscious figure of the man in a dark corner of the tent, who had been completely unnoticed by Jester. Sprawled awkwardly, the man began groaning deliriously. "I haven't the slightest idea who he could be," Jane continued, as Jester stepped closer and felt his stomach twist and knot.

"I do," he replied darkly, holding her closer. "That, dear Jane, would be a traitorous son-of-a-bog-weevil…well…erm…in better words, that would be my cousin."

Author's End Note: I hope you liked it, in it's cheesy, fluffiness. Ahhh I need to write some more cheesy oneshots...they are just so fun! But, now I'm off to bed as it is about 4 hours past the time I should have been asleep. XOXOX

-Mintermist