Author's Note: OH MY CINAMMON SCHTICKS!

Where the hell have I been?

Oh I'll tell ya where you've been!

You've been lazy! Lazy! Lazy!

To make it up to you guys, I'll try to make this chapter longer

Notice the "try"

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Chapter 7: She's beautiful, by the way

As the days went by, Holly was kept so busy that all thoughts of the Kelp incident and spending time with Artemis were completely out of the question.

Her month off had disappeared as quickly as the blossoms on the trees and there was a definite smell of summer in the warm breeze. No, actually, scorching breeze. For the temperatures across the world, after a bitterly icy winter, had decided to rocket upwards. This was creating all sorts of problems for the LEP.

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Artemis was sat at his computer, playing a game. No, I'm not joking.

Usually he would be conducting some experiment using forensic sciences and geometry but he honestly couldn't even be bothered to do something as laughably simple as that. The heat was giving him a headache. And game just happened to be Super Mario Bros. It was crazily addicting.

Foaly had found out about the Mario games a few weeks before and had bought every single one in history, including the ones with Mario characters in it even if it wasn't an actual Mario game, not stopping until he had played and finished each one. Sad, sad little centaur, as Caballine had said.

Since he didn't have any Mud People consoles, he modified them so they came in the form of CDs and had to be played on the computer. He had lent these to Artemis, who was becoming increasingly bored.

Foaly was right, Artemis thought now as the little mustached pixel guy in red squashed yet another walking mushroom. This really is rather...fun.

As the spiky shelled turtle...dinosaur...whatever loomed up in front of little Mario again, Artemis's thoughts strayed to Holly. Where was she now? What was she doing?

Artemis hadn't seen Holly was weeks and he was thoroughly irritated by it. While he was stuck here, with nothing to do except play with his little brothers, she was off on a million LEP adventures...

I wish reality was like this, he thought, smiling, as he saved the miniature blonde princess from another countless death. At least I would have some excitement in my life…

Uh…not that I haven't, of course…

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"Ooh well, would you look at that, another bushfire!" Holly muttered to herself as she flew through another cloudless sky. "Big whoop…"

She dipped down and raised a hand to press the button on her shoulder to activate her zoom so she could see if there were any operatives working on it but then she remembered she didn't have it there anymore. In fact, she didn't have anything on her shoulders except her skin anymore.

Got to remember, zoom is on my hip on this new uniform, she mentally reminded herself. And invisibility is on my stomach...not on my helmet.

She gulped as she remembered the situation she had landed herself in when she had activated something on the helmet that had enfolded her in an enormous parachute. Blinded and suffocated, she had panicked, as any elf would, and stopped her wings from flapping thus falling on top of an old dear out on a morning walk. Everyone was constantly teasing her about it. She'd never hear the end of it.

The LEP operatives had been constantly complaining about how hot they were getting inside their uniforms. It was driving The Council crazy. In the end, surprise, surprise, it was Foaly who put a stop to it.

He made new two piece uniforms with short sleeves and tiny cooling fans in the boots and trousers. Foaly had used a special material that let cold air through and blocked out the warm air.

How on Earth he did it, nobody knew, not even himself for that matter. Again, no I'm not flipping joking!

He had confided secretly to Holly that he had come across after mixing a couple of random things together and drying them. He had been bored. But luckily, this way, the operatives didn't end up getting their toes toasted and their bodies sun burnt. Except their arms of course. But that couldn't be helped.

Unfortunately, Holly and Vinyàya along with the other few female employees refused to wear them. They were too boyish apparently. So Foaly turned to Caballine for help. I mean, come on, what's a man to do when confronted by a bunch annoyed girls?

With the lady centaur's knack for style, she turned their shirts into tube tops and their trousers were re-designed in the style of skinny jeans. Their boots lengthened to knee-height and instead of being covered over by the trousers, they covered the trousers instead. A stylish little belt held all their gadgets. And to top it off, they were all white so they reflected the sun's rays. Class.

There was even a pretty little silver vine design snaking its way round from the right corner of the tube top to the bottom. Caballine's signature design apparently.

The downside of all this gorgeous gear was the young, single, male operatives. As the girls walked past, they would goggle at them and wolf whistle. But then, even Foaly had to admit that they all looked stunning in their tight clothes and chic boots.

All this staring and sniggering greatly annoyed them. It was like dozens of Chix Verbil clones hankering after them. One particular guy irritated Holly so much, she broke his nose. That certainly showed them.

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Bushfires had sprung up everywhere because of the intense heat. You might think that this doesn't have much to do with the People. But you'd be wrong. 'Cause all these bushfires were ruining the homes of wood nymphs, great friends of the People.

These little guys were terribly kind and thoughtful. They always had a smile on their delicate faces and they had helped the People quite a few times. The People loved them dearly and wanted to do whatever they could for them. Holly especially liked their beautiful, crisp hats that were made from tree sap and blossom leaves.

However, her liking for them was rapidly draining away as she yet again glided down to land to put out a bushfire. She was tired, sweaty and was dying for a tall, iced glass of fizzy acorn.

As she neared the blaze of orange and gold flames, little shrieks and cries of terror stabbed the air. Too tiny for Mud Men to hear, thought Holly. They must be the wood nymphs. What a coincidence…

She sighed and swooped low. After a quick signal check of any Mud People, Holly brought up Foaly's grinning face onto her helmet.

"How're you doing, Holly?" he questioned innocently. He knew that this wasn't the time to mess with Holly, but he couldn't resist.

"Oh I'm okay except for, oh I dunno…this heat!" Holly replied, annoyed.

Foaly snickered. "Yeah, yeah, I know, but at least this is you're last mission for the day, eh? Then you can have a good night's sleep and then it's back, early morning, to work."

"Oh yeah, that makes me feel so much better, thanks Foaly." Holly said sarcastically. "Anyway, back to business, I'm flying right over a bushfire. It's a pretty small one and as far as I can tell, there's no one working on it."

"Good, 'cause otherwise you'll just end up annoying Kelp again."

Holly rolled her eyes.

A few days ago, she had managed to squirt a dozen operatives with her harshest jet of water yet, thinking that the bushfire wasn't being taken care of. Stunned, furious and soaked, the operatives had got their own back by spraying Holly so powerfully, that she collided with a tree.

When they had all trooped into the Commander's office, he was livid. Their little water fight had been seen by some Mud Men and they had flooded the wood. Not to mention dripped all over his new carpet.

"That wasn't fair!" she protested. "The leaves were thick, not to mention a pale colour which…uh…camouflaged their uniforms!"

"Uh, yeah right, Holly. Dunno how to break this to you…but…the tree was on fire. White upon bright orange and yellow is pretty hard to miss." Foaly replied smugly.

"Whatever. Now, activate my water pumps." Holly said. She was running out of time.

"Say please! I'm not doing anything unless to you say please." said Foaly annoyingly.

"Foaly! I don't have time for your stupidity!" Holly groaned.

"I'm not doing anything unless to you say please." Foaly repeated stubbornly.

Holly rolled her eyes. "Fine. Please activate my water pumps."

"Nice to have manners, isn't it Holly?" Foaly smirked.

Holly glowered at him.

"Right then, you ready?" Foaly asked.

Holly grabbed a minuscule hose that was connected to some sort of teeny-weeny box.

"Ready." she replied.

"5............4.........." Foaly began, grinning.

"Foaly! Come on!" Holly snapped but she was smiling.

"Okay, okay, 3, 2, 1...GO!" Foaly cried.

The hose expanded to a regular size. A low rumbling started up in the box. It got louder and louder until...WHOOSH!

A fierce surge of icy water gushed down over the wood. Yells and shouts of thankfulness from the nymphs rang thorough the air. The steady hiss of hosed down fire joined their voices.

Holly hovered over the affected area for a minute or so and then signaled Foaly to turn the pumps off. A gentle, smoky haze was wafting its way upwards now. All was well.

Holly rolled her eyes and sighed. I mean, seriously, how boring can it get? It was only a little bushfire…

She glided down and clumsily landed in a pile of smoking twigs. The little wood-nymphs rushed to her side with cries of delight and huge smiles on their delicate faces.

"Thank-you, thank-you, dear elf-maid! We owe you our lives." they chanted happily.

Holly couldn't help but grin as she pulled a few burnt pieces of wood out of her hair. Wood-nymphs really were quite pleasant.

A dainty looking nymph with a pretty little face stepped forward and elegantly curtsied. Her clothes, instead of being green or pale blossom pink, was the most beautiful purple Holly had ever seen and instead of a blossom petal hat, she had a crown of little white flowers with yellow middles. Holly knew that this must be a queen of this wood-nymph tribe.

"Thank-you, elf of the People. Our gratitude for your help is too great to be put into words." she announced in warm, gentle voice

"I only put out a bush-fire." Holly said feeling embarrassed yet pleased at the same time.

The queen smiled. "And what be your name?" she asked.

"Holly, Queen…uh…" Holly stopped, realizing that she didn't know the queen's name.

The queen curtsied again. "Forgive me, Holly Unique-Eyes. My name is Queen Izlandiana. I and my tribe are in your debt. Would you care to join us for a few honey cakes and tulip juice?" Queen Izlandiana asked kindly.

Holly smiled and nodded. She was definitely in need of some refreshments.

"Like a party, you mean?" she asked the beautiful queen.

Izlandiana gave a tinkling laugh.

"If it's a party you crave, Holly Unique-Eyes, then a party it shall be! If you'd please follow me, then." the Queen announced and with that, she fluttered off, excited wood-nymph children hovering at her shoulders.

A gentle buzz on Holly helmet told her that Foaly was calling. She slid the front screen over her eyes and accepted the call.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"Holly, you're done with the bushfires for today. You need to go home! So I strictly forbid you to go to this little party thing!"

"Aww come on Foaly! I need a bit of fun!" Holly objected.

"No! I strictly forbid you…" Foaly cried.

"You can't tell me what to do, centaur. I'm going and that's final." interrupted Holly.

"Holly…they're only wood-nymphs…" said Foaly.

"I don't care. They're good people and they're supplying me with honey cakes! Honey cakes! Do you not understand? Honey cakes!" said Holly.

Foaly rolled his eyes.

"Besides…" Holly smiled as she raised a hand to end the call.

"They call me Holly Unique-Eyes…"

And even as she said it, she was reminded heart-achingly of Artemis and she knew she could hold back no longer. She was definitely going to pay his a visit…

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Artemis groaned. All the games had run out. He was just too good.

"Now what am I to do? Butler's taken Juliet out, Mother's gone to the private zoo with the twins and Father's off examining a new rainforest animal…if only Holly were here." Artemis said aloud.

"But I am here." said a voice.

Artemis jumped violently.

Holly materialized in front of him, a big smile on her face. She threw herself into his arms.

"Holly!" Artemis smiled. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too." murmured Holly looking up into his handsome face.

He kissed her then. She looked too pretty for words.

Holly felt happiness shoot through her veins. She hadn't kissed Artemis for ages.

"Oooh, kissy kissy, snoggy snoggy!" sniggered someone. A very little someone.

Holly and Artemis broke apart and looked towards the door. Artemis groaned inwardly.

The twins were back and they were snickering at the sight of him. Mother was there too but instead of laughing, she was looking extremely happy and proud.

"Well I'm glad you decided to bestow your heart on someone satisfactory Arty." his mother smiled.

The corners of Artemis's mouth twitched.

"I try Moth…Mum." he said.

"What's your name, my dear?" Angeline Fowl asked Holly.

"Holly Short, Mrs. Fowl." Holly replied.

Angeline Fowl beamed. "What a lovely name!"

Artemis beckoned his mother to come closer.

"She's the one. The elf I…I kidnapped…" Artemis stopped. It pained him to even look back on this memory. How could he have been so cruel?

He took a deep breath and began again.

"And she's the one that I've been on all my adventures with. The one who has saved my life a fair few times. We became…closer…after our last expedition." he finished looking up at his mother to see her reaction.

To Artemis's relief, Angeline laughed out loud and gave him a quick hug.

With shining eyes, she held him out at arm's length and said, "My son, you have no idea how long I have waited for this day!"

Artemis smiled.

"She's beautiful, by the way." Angeline Fowl added in undertone.

Beckett giggled suddenly and Myles let out a muffled snort of laughter. Artemis threw them a withering look but then grinned again at his mother.

Angeline beamed back and then, to Beckett and Myles, she said, "Come on, my dears, let's leave these two be!" She took them by the hands and led them out of the room.

"Artemis simple-toon!" Myles called as he toddled out leaving Beckett in fits of silent laughter.

As soon as they had left, Artemis turned to Holly and gestured towards the Irish hills. Holly nodded and they walked, hand in hand, out of the room and through the front doors, looking forward to a well deserved stroll through the countryside.

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Ta-daaa! Was that longer? If not, I will slap myself. Hard.

Lol

Reviews if you like guys!

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Loveeee ya'll my readers

Laters!

DreamWriter123