Last Chapter. Fairly short but I don't think anything extra was needed. I feel like I might have lost the characters a bit the more I wrote but I guess that's to be expected. What I wanted them to do is very OOC anyway heh. Thank you everyone who has stayed with me to see this to the end. I'm by no means a professional writer but I wanted this to exist somewhere since it has always been in my mind. I hope the ending is not a disappointment.
The wind whipped at Integra's long hair. They stood atop Cheddar Gorge in Somerset.
"Alucard this is beautiful." she whispered. The moon cast deep shadows over the steep cliffs and the mist hung heavily in the air. She glanced at Alucard who looked, not at the breathtaking cliffs or the far winding road beneath them, but up at the moon. He had a lighter aura around him it seemed to her; almost as if he were content. As she looked at him she remembered long ago telling herself no happiness would ever come from this creature. Nothing truely good would come from him. He was a creature of the night and a product of death.
What she wanted her entire life was some sort of peacefulness, but early on came to terms with the impossibility of such a state in the life fate handed to her and she had accepted.
Now, as she looked into his face she thought, 'I've spent my entire life searching and I never found this feeling I have right here in this moment. Maybe it does lie where I wasn't expecting."
"Alucard," she said. "I need to explain something to you. I never wanted this," she gestured to her now youthful body, "but now what I have it..." she trailed off.
After a few moment she started again, "I should be furious at you, you showed me something which I never thought I wanted and never should have known. I should be angry you have compromised me... You messed with nature when you saved my life. "
Alucard turned to her, "You regret my decision?" he asked.
"Yes," she breathed, "but no... I'm, i'm happy Alucard. Thank you."
She stepped toward the edge of the bluff and spread her arms wide. "Alucard?" she said. "Integra?" Alucard answered back as a genuine smile curled at the edges of his mouth. "I'm happy," she said, "I'm truly happy!"
They stayed that way for quite some time, enjoying each others company in the silence. Moments passed and Integra only thought of one thing over and over again until her mind could hold it no longer and it escaped her lips.
"It was you I was thinking of as I was falling into darkness. I called your name out loud, but I was thinking so much inside. You said, 'I know', but you said more than that didn't you? I heard it not with my ears, but with my mind. When I was thinking of you, calling to you, needing you; you said "As do I."
Alucard took her hands in his, "This could be ours, forever Integra."
For a few moments they looked at the sky in silence. It had turned to a dusty blue, and a faint light shone over the horizon.
Tears welled in her eyes, " I don't know if I was ready to die at that moment. I don't know if I am ever ready to die."
Her knees buckled and she collapsed to the soft grass. A beam of soft morning light cascaded over the edge of the cliff.
He took her in his arms and cradled her like a child. The light behind her eyes was darkened and he could hear the sound of death in her breath.
"Tell me." he said quietly but urgently. "What is your choice?"
She held up a now crooked frail hand to his white face. "Alucard," she said smiling, "I've known for so long. I was too weak to tell you." Her hand dropped to her side. "I love you."
He clutched her weak body close to his; one hand supporting her back and the other woven in her long blond hair. "TELL ME! Integra please..." his voice ripped with pain, "WHAT DO YOU CHOOSE!?"
"Don't let me go." she whispered.