After Artemis first came back to life, Holly was offered special dispensation once a week to visit him on the surface. Someone had (correctly) decided that due to his amnesia, he should probably be monitored by more than just his mostly magic-oblivious parents and the Butlers, who were great but prone to do anything asked of them by the young genius. Holly, being his closest friend, was the obvious choice, so once a week, there she was, in the manor's sitting room, describing all of her and Artemis' adventures, certain that he had already watched all of his video journals on the subject. She didn't really mind retelling the adventures; it wasn't really about the stories. It was about being close to her best friend again, even if he didn't quite recognize her.
One such afternoon, after she had finished all their stories, she was chatting about superfluous interactions they had had between adventures. Artemis stopped her.
"You've already told me this story, captain." He had yet to stop calling her by her honorific, and it was just another reminder that this Artemis wasn't quite her Artemis.
"Ah," she responded. "I'm sorry."
"Quite alright. We seemed to have interacted a lot. I don't blame you for forgetting which stories you've already told," he smiled at her. It was clearly an effort to seem kind, but it reminded her so much of the youngest version of Artemis that she had known that it made her shiver.
"Look, Arty… Artemis. I've already told you about our adventures and you made promises to not repeat things you did as a child, so what am I doing here?" She was getting frustrated. Foaly said that he should be back to normal soon. But how far away is soon? It had been several months of this cold, calculated Artemis and barely a glimpse of the selfless Aretmis who had given his life to save the world.
"I don't know, captain. What are you doing here?" He leaned his arms against the arms of his chair and steepled his fingers.
Holly's frustration almost bubbled over into tears. What was the point anymore? She hugged herself and sank lower into her armchair. "Should I leave then? Tell the council that you're no longer a threat, but no longer an ally either?"
Artemis sighed. "I really don't know, captain. Should you? I didn't ask you to be here."
Holly nodded to herself. " Sounds about right, "She said, sliding from her chair, walking to the door of the sitting room. "Goodbye, Artemis."
"Goodbye, Holly," Artemis said so softly that Holly could have sworn she imagined it. It was barely loud enough to be heard over the gentle creak of the old wood door.
"What?" Holly turned around to face Artemis, her hand still on the door. He was staring away from her, out the window toward the manor's grounds. His hands were no longer steepled, instead folded into his lap. He didn't respond.
"What did you say?" Holly repeated, dropping her hand from the door to face Artemis fully. He turned to face her, and something in his expression has clearly softened somewhat.
"Nothing, Captain," he seemed to shake his vulnerability. "I just said goodbye."
"Like hell you did. You said my name."
"Hmm," He nodded. The motion seemed, in a strange way, sarcastic to her. "Did I? That seems uncharacteristic of me."
"Cut the crap, Artemis. You haven't called me Holly since…" Holly began to wrack her brain, but couldn't remember the last time he had called her by her first name. Maybe once he had repeated her name back to her when she reintroduced herself. It had been months, certainly.
"Perhaps I just prefer your title to your first name."
Holly paused again. She swore to herself. Then she clambered back into her seat and sank down once again. "Tell me something, Artemis."
"I'm sorry?" He seemed surprised and she caught the hint of vulnerability in his eyes once again.
"Tell me something. Anything."
So he did. He pointed out the window to a certain bird that Holly didn't recognise and told her all about it. She didn't interrupt, didn't make any sort of noise except the occasional 'mhm'. She just watched him and listened to his posh accent fill the space. It was dark and the bird had long since gone when he finally stopped talking. She smiled at him and said goodbye. She never explained to him exactly what had possessed her to ask him that.
"Congratulations Commander Holly!" The dining room was full and the cheer made Holly's ears ring.
"Thank you guys," she was smiling from ear to ear. Artemis' hand was on her shoulder, his brothers were eating the cake that had once said 'Congrats on the Promotion' in fancy cursive, the Butlers and Artemis' parents were toasting expensive champagne and Foaly, No° 1, Trouble, and Mulch were smiling at her from a screen. She had never felt quite as at home as she felt at that moment.
"We're so happy for you," Foaly said. "But it's getting late here and we should probably go."
"Thank you for being here, Foaly. All of you actually," Holly addressed everyone in the room. "I really couldn't have done any of this without you guys."
"We'll see when you come back to Haven, Holly," No°1 smiled kindly at her and she was struck at how many close friends she had. Foaly and Trouble were really her only friends before all this and now she was standing in a dining room, full of people who loved her."Congrats again." Everyone on the call waved as they disconnected and Holly waved back.
"Alright," Artemis Sr. addressed the twins. "I think that's enough cake for you two. It's about time to start winding down for bed."
Beckett protested but with some coercion from his parents and the Butlers, eventually he hugged Holly and went calmly to bed. Miles had no complaints and followed his brother, waving goodbye to Holly and Artemis. The Butlers and the older Fowls congratulated Holly one last time and followed the twins up to bed.
"So," Artemis said, leading Holly into the sitting room. "What is it like to be commander?"
Holly laughed. "Not as exciting as everyone is making it seem. It's a lot of paperwork/"
"Still," Artemis and Holly both took a seat in the comfortable over-large chairs they had sat in while she had recounted their adventures. "You seemed pleased."
"I am. I think Root and my parents would be proud of me. I'm going to miss the surface though."
"They would be very proud of you." Artemis leaned forward and took her hand. "Everyone is." Holly's head started spinning from the intense eye contact and sudden closeness. His eyes were still the same ice blue that they were when she met him and she wondered frequently if he missed her eye; the part of them that had once unequivocally linked them.
"Thank you," she didn't move her head. They seemed to be getting closer together.
Artemis moved instead. He dropped her hand and leaned back in his chair. "I've been talking to someone."
"Just in general?"
"Romantically."
"You're talking to someone romantically?" Holly was shocked but she did her best to keep it out of her voice.
"Yes. Minerva Paradiso."
"I see." Holly began to fidget in her chair. Artemis dropped his eyes to his lap, for what may have been the first time in his life, he wasn't sure what to say or do. Neither of them really did. Artemis was questioning his choice to say anything on the subject at all and Holly reliving the moment that had just happened, with his hand on hers and their faces so close. What did it actually mean? What did it mean that he had followed it up directly with a declaration that he was taken?
"I have an idea for how you could visit the surface more often." Artemis opted to change topics.
"Oh?"
"We need to reintroduce fairies to the surface. This earth is yours as well. Now that you have sway in the fairy council, I have a plan for how you could start fairy-human interaction. I was going to propose it myself, but now that you have a significant amount of sway I figure…"
Holly cut him off. "Can we not talk about this for now?" She asked.
"Sure,"Artemis deflated somewhat in his chair.
There's another long silence. Holly sighed and fiddled with her hands, staring out the window. Everything was changing. She could tell that Artemis was aging. He was moving into his thirties, still a child fairy years, but nearly middle age in human years. She wasn't ready for it all to change yet.
"Artemis?" She didn't look away from the window.
"Yeah?"
"Tell me something?"
He tells her about the myth of Hades and Persophone and then spirals into the rest of Greek mythology. Holly falls asleep in her chair somewhere around the story of Icarus. She wakes up the next morning in the bed in the guest bedroom next to Artemis' room.
Artemis' wedding was in the spring. Holly nearly laughed when she got the invitation. Artemis' season was definitely fall or winter. It wasn't really for him though, was it? She was sure that if it had been his choice, he and Minerva would have just eloped. She was even more sure of this when she entered Artemis' room, the morning of his wedding. He was just wearing his usual suit and tie and loafers that cost more than her salary for a year, but he seemed stuffy somehow.
"Weddings are not for me, Holly," he said, noticing her in the mirror he was using to adjust his suit. Holly smiled sympathetically.
"Yeah, I know. Me neither," she herself was far more dressed up than she had been for a while. It was just a simple dark blue dress with conservitive length and neckline. She didn't really need to wear it, but Juliet had dragged her into it the moment she had gotten to the surface.
"I like Minerva but…" he trailed off, now fidgeting with his cufflinks.
"Isn't that what every girl wants to hear on her big day," Holly laughed. "I like you."
Aretmis rolled his eyes at her and took a seat on the futon at the end of his bed. "You know what I mean."
"I do," Holly sat beside him. "I do. Do you?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I don't know." She replied truthfully. Whatever wisdom she had thought she had in the statement faded.
"Can we not talk about this?" Artemis asked, standing to once more fiddle with his suit.
"Artemis Fowl, asking to talk about something other than himself? Imposible."
Artemis rolled his eyes at her but didn't dignify it with a response. Holly stood and wandered aimlessly toward the window. Outside, she can see the wedding being set up. The manor made a perfect backdrop for the wedding she had to admit. Here at the window is where she'd be watching it from. Here there's no risk of anyone noticing her. The fairy-human integration effort was working, but slowly. Much slower than Holly had hoped. After the wedding she'd be allowed to mingle with certain people, but for now, she was stuck on a window sill, watching her best friend get married to Minerva. Frankly, Holly had no real issues with Minerva. She could see no real positives either. She was just a was intelligent like Artemis and Holly had sat in on one or two of their chess games, where they seemed to banter well and enjoy each other's company, but she was always just Minerva.
Looking past where the wedding was being set up, Holly could spot Artemis' tombstone and the garden of white roses that the Fowls never changed. It was strange to hear Artemis moving around behind her and to see his grave off in the distance. I brought up too many painful memories to name.
"I'm going to miss you," Holly broke the silence, still staring out the window.
"I'm not going anywhere," was his reply. Holly smiled.
Moving from the window back to Artemis' bed, Holly climbed onto it and sprawled herself across. "Tell me something, Arty."
He glanced at her and refocused on the mirror and begun talking about Egypt, where he and Minerva were about to take their honeymoon. He didn't mention this.
It's raining during the funeral. It's late January, so it makes sense, but there is a certain poetry to it that Holly is too tired and too much in pain to admire.
"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust," someone had said. Holly doesn't understand it but she's grateful that she's here, hearing the words, holding onto Artemis' hand instead of sitting at the same window sill she sat at for Artemis' funeral and wedding. Her shoes are soaked through and she's shivering against the cold, but she's allowed to stand here and say goodbye to one of the best friends she has ever had. "We're gathered here today to say goodbye to our dear friend, Domovoi Butler."
The funeral isn't long. Afterwards, everyone sits around the Fowls kitchen to talk. Now teenaged Beckett and Miles are at each other's side the whole night, frequently giving Juliet long hugs. Mr. and Mrs. Fowl are holding hands and whispering quietly to each other every so often. Minerva is there for a bit, during and just after the funeral, but despite her close connection with Butler, she seems uncomfortable being there. Holly had heard rumors of a divorce before the funeral, but that was far from her mind. She refused to leave Artemis' side. Everyone there was keeping close to one another, as if holding their hand or hugging them for minutes at a time would keep them from leaving.
Slowly, everyone started making their way to bed. Juliet first, the boys, then the older Fowls. They all gave Holly and Artemis long, grief-filled hugs on their way out.
"I miss him," Artemis says through tears. Holly is sitting on the counter, so she's the perfect height for Artemis to bury his face into her chest and wrap his arms around her to hug her tighter than Holly ever remembers he has.
"Me too."
Neither of them move or speak for a long time. Just the two of them, freezing but together. Eventually, Artemis moved, taking her hand and leading her to his room.
Later, they're lying in his bed together. Holly had showered and was wearing an overlarge t-shirt that was Artemis', though he had never worn it. The two of them are warm, despite their wet hair.
"Artemis?"
"Hm?"
"Tell me something."
Artemis recounts several memories from childhood when Butler saved his life. They're both crying again by the time he finishes his first story, but he keeps talking until they fall asleep.
"Artemis," Holly enters his bedroom hurriedly. Miles' call had been worrying.
"Holly," Aretmis's weak form was covered in his duvet so all Holly could see was his face and one of his arms, but just from that, she could tell how frail he was. It almost made her cry.
"Artemis," she moved toward the bed as gracefully as always. She hadn't seen her best friend in person for at least a year. Her visits had gotten more and more sparse after Butler's funeral. "I'm so sorry."
"For what?"
"Miles and Beckett have been saying you're dying for years now. I've never come to visit."
"Why did you this time?" His question surprises her.
"I… don't know." She shrugged. "I missed you. It felt right to come now."
"Ha," Artmeis said knowingly. Before he could continue, however, he began coughing hard. Holly wasn't sure what to do. She spotted a glass of water on the table with a straw and she handed it to him. He waved it away.
He spoke again once the coughing fit had subsided. "What did Miles say to convince you?"
Holly shrugged again. "That it was worse than usual. That he wasn't sure you'd make it through the night."
"Miles would know, wouldn't he."
Holly started laughing morbidly. "I always thought you'd figure out a way to live forever you know."
It clearly took some effort but Artemis managed to shrug. "Maybe I did."
"You did?" This was the first Holly had heard of this.
Artemis chuckled at her. "I tried. Too much probably. We all have our vices I suppose. I never figured it out. Miles and Beckett will though. They have years of my mistakes and each other to rely on."
"Artemis," Holly held her hands out on his bed. He grabbed them both with one hand.
"Holly," she had barely changed a day since they had met. There were a few more scars, her hair was longer, but other than that this was the same woman he had met all those years ago.
"Tell me something," She said. He did. He told a story of a fairy and a criminal mastermind who ended up unlikely friends. At some point, Holly climbed up onto the bed and curled up beside him and fell asleep. She awoke with the sun the next morning, and he was already gone.