Stephen Strange stood at the bottom of the stairwell, unsure of himself. Was he overdressed? Underdressed? They hadn't discussed what they'd wear, but he suddenly felt the need to wear a nice suit—something to remind her of their relationship outside the Sanctum. He saw motion out the corner of his eye and turned quickly, thinking it quite possible his heart might stop in his chest at the sight before him.

She was gorgeous, and he was beyond thrilled that she'd picked that dress. He could tell she was also feeling incredibly nervous and shy as she slowly walked down the stairs.

"You look amazing," he said quickly but quietly.

She gave a small smile. "Thank you. I'm sorry, this is really the only dress I own. I wasn't sure if we were dressing up or not, but it just seemed—right."

"Are you kidding me, I love that dress on you." It was the same dress she'd worn that night, years before at Tony Stark's party, just days into their friendship. He watched her come down the rest of the stairs and took her coat from her arm, helping her into it. "I still remember the first time I saw you in this dress."

"At Tony's party," she responded, tilting her head a bit to the side towards where he stood behind her.

His hands remained on her shoulders a moment, having just adjusted her coat for her. "Yes. I only went to that party because of you."

"We'd only known each other a few days."

"It was enough. You'd already captured my heart. I'd have gone to the dark dimension if you asked me to."

She chuckled. "I didn't even know what the dark dimension was then."

"True." He came around, carefully holding out his arm for her to take. "Shall we go?"

She frowned, noticing he was having a hard time holding his arm up. "How are you feeling?"

"Still a little sore—but better."

She sighed and he saw her starting to withdraw again. "Ariana, I'm fine. I'll be fine. I'll be better if you take my arm so I can lower it." He ended with a smirk.

"Where exactly are we going?"

"A restaurant just a few blocks away. I thought we'd walk, if that's alright with you?"

"Umm, okay," she said before cautiously taking his arm.

An hour later they were sitting with their desserts in front of them laughing whole heartedly at a story she had just told him. As the laughter died down, he watched her as she took a sip of water then looked up to him and smiled.

"Thank you for coming to dinner with me, even if I didn't win."

"I told you, you did win."

"I yielded. You didn't have to come. What—what made you come to me last night?"

"I was concerned about your injuries. But, really? Guilt. Pure and simple. I've been terrible to you these past few weeks. But, I was horrible to you out there on the sparring court—right there in front of all the other Masters and apprentices. I'm so embarrassed."

"Don't be. Your feelings, Ariana, they're not unreasonable. Anyone would understand why you were so upset."

"But to take it out on you the way I did."

"I'm the one who stepped up to spar with you."

"Yes, you did. Why would you do that?"

He looked into his wine glass a moment before finally looking back up at her. "Because you'd been doing your best to ignore me when possible and only interact when it came to matters regarding the Sanctum or other such things. I thought that perhaps if I put myself in the ring with you, you'd have to look at me. To see me. To confront what you were feeling."

"Well, it certainly worked, didn't it."

"Admittedly," he said, rolling his neck and shoulders around, "I hadn't planned on getting my butt kicked. But, if getting to be with you here tonight is the result, I'll handle the bruises and sore muscles for a while."

She looked down, hand still holding onto the stem of her own wine glass. "I…I really am sorry about that."

He reached over and rested his hand atop hers. "Look at me, Ariana." She finally looked up into his eyes. "Stop apologizing for it. In fact, I'd like for us to both be able to stop apologizing. Do you think that we can both stop feeling guilty over what's happened in the past and move forward now—together? Could you give me another chance?"

Ariana chewed at the corner of her lip, glancing around and everyone around them. He took that as a sign and squeezed her hand gently. "Come on, let's get out of here. We'll take a walk."

He'd paid the bill and they were out of the restaurant a few minutes later. They were walking through a park and he stopped at a statue and turned towards her. "Ariana—do you think you can ever come to care for me again like you once did? Or have my actions ruined our chance at a future?"

"It's not that your actions are somehow unforgivable, Stephen. In their essence, your actions are what have given us the opportunity at a future. In any other circumstances, Thanos would still be around, and you'd still be gone. I was speaking out of confused grief yesterday, Stephen. My grief is what fueled my movement, my changes…my everything..for the last five years. I'm thrilled to have you back, Stephen. Nothing has changed. Nothing at all."

"So you still—"

She took a deep breath. "I love you, Stephen Strange. I loved you every second of those five years you were gone. And I think I've loved you from the moment you opened the door of the Sanctum that very first day I met you."

Stephen smiled wide. His hands moved to cup her cheeks, his thumbs stroking over her cheek bones. "Oh, Ariana."

"Stephen," she whispered as she wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him closer, resting her head on his chest and relishing in the final feeling of his embrace for the first time in five years. He realized quickly that she wasn't just holding him, hugging him, she was clinging to him. He reciprocated by holding her tight, as unwilling to let her go as she was to allow it.

She closed her eyes tight, taking in deep breaths that were full of smell of him, his bodywash, and his cologne. She allowed herself to get lost in the smell, the feel of his warmth, and the sound of his heart beating under her ear. It took longer that it perhaps should have for her to hear the sound of a crackling fire. She opened her eyes back up and smiled when she saw they were back in the Sanctum, now in the sitting room turned 'movie room' as they called it, standing in front of the fireplace. It's where they frequently spent their downtime before the snap. Watching the old classics and newer movies, giving their humorous commentary on some of the lower quality movies that they couldn't resist watching.

"Nice trick," she mumbled.

"Hmm, I still have a few up my sleeve."

"Oh?"

"Yes, though they'll seem significantly less cool now that you're a Master of the Mystic Arts yourself."

She stayed quiet a moment, then finally spoke again, still not moving from where she stood, head still aid against his chest as he held her. "Are you okay with that?"

"With what?"

"With me becoming a Master while you were gone."

He frowned and leaned back just enough to look down at her. "Hey, look at me." She looked up, and he saw worry in her eyes. "Is that part of what this was all about? You were worried that I'd have changed the way I feel because of how you changed?"

"Well, I—"

"I think it's amazing," he said before she could finish.

"Really?"

"I was perfectly content with you being my IT geek," he said with a grin that grew even wider. "But to share this with you. To have you understand what it means, how it works, That is incredibly special to me. To see you use your dedication, drive, and intelligence to achieve such incredible success in the Mystic Arts and in combat. It's—incredibly attractive."

She blushed. "You really think so?"

"I believe I told you the first day I met you that we could use someone with your technical prowess in the Order."

"Yes, but you were just trying to get me to fix the wi-fi that day."

"Perhaps, but that didn't change that it was true. You're an incredible addition to the Order. He sighed—this was about them, not the Order. "And a gift to me that I'll never take for granted."

"So—you're happy?"

"With you here in my arms? The happiest."

She smiled up at him and leaned her head back into his chest.

They stayed quiet a moment before he spoke again. "Want to see another trick?"

She chuckled. "Do I have to move?"

"Not exactly. Just…sway." He swirled his hand towards the bookcase and music started playing. He started moving her just a little, side to side.

As they 'swayed' to the music, she took in a deep breath and looked up at him. "I missed you. So much."

"I know. But I'm here now. And we're going to make up for those years. We're going to live every moment to it's fullest, without regret. Together."

She smiled and lifted herself up on her tiptoes just enough to be closer to his face…close enough that finally, after five years and three weeks, give or take a few days—they finally kissed again.

How long the kiss went on, neither could have told you for sure. But they had a lot of time to make up for, and a lot of feeling to convey. It didn't end till another voice in the room caught them by surprise.

"Well it's about time. Maybe things can finally get back to normal around here!" Wong exclaimed.

The two smiled and rested foreheads against each other a moment before Stephen finally turned and looked at the other man. "Your timing is impeccable, Wong."