I awoke the next morning not to my alarm clock, but to someone shaking my shoulders lightly. "Cara… Cara, wake up!" someone called in my ear. I moaned softly and curled into a ball. Whoever was trying to wake me up started laughing. "Come on Cara, you're a demigod, not a kender! "

I finally pushed myself out of fog of sleep. The light in my room was on, and someone with curly red hair was leaning over me. "What time is it?" I groaned.

"Eight o'clock." Tika replied while she began to pull me out of bed. "The wedding is in three hours." By then she had me off the bed and walking to the sitting room.

Waiting there impatiently was Liz. "Come on, Tika, out. I need to get Cara ready." The red-headed warrior woman begrudgingly left my room. "Alright, Cara, go and take a shower. And try not to fall asleep while you're at it."

I nodded stiffly and shuffled into the bathroom. Whenever my mind turned to the fact that I was going to be marrying Abe in a few hours, I had to change my mental topic or face an utter butterfly meltdown. Soon I was out and Liz was ordering me into the dress. It felt odd to have the smooth satin hanging off my shoulders. Liz, not knowing anything about my culture, asked if there was anything special I had to do. "Only two. One, my bangs have to be in braids. And two, the rest has to be in a high pony tail."

In less than half an hour, everything was done. The white satin dress was smooth and flowing, reaching the ground and thus covering the white ballet shoes with their ribbons crisscrossing up to my knees. My pale shoulders were left exposed; unfortunately revealing the long scar running across my shoulder. But I knew Abe did not care about the slight mar on my skin, and his opinion was the only one that mattered at this point. My hair was tied back into a pony tail with a red ribbon, with the exceptions of my braided bangs tucked behind my ears. The veil was very old fashioned; the smooth lace covered my face and touched the tops of my shoulders. A crown of small red carnation buds on a band held the veil in place on my upper brow. The ring with my magic remained on my thumb, since none of us knew what could happen today.

Liz and I made our way to the garage and from there to her red charger. Liz turned to me and eyed me suspiciously. "Promise me you'll close your eyes, or do I have to blindfold you?"

"I'll close my eyes; I promise." I raised my hands up in mock surrender. Liz eyed me for a few more seconds before slipping into the car. I followed suit on my side, buckled the seatbelt, and closed my eyes.

I don't know how long we were driving, because I fell asleep again. Yet again I was woken up by someone shaking my shoulder; but this time it was Liz. I blinked eyes a few times to see where we were. The car was parked in a wooded area with a small pavilion a few feet away. To the other side, I could make out a clearing with chairs, a runner, and a small arch through the trees. Liz got out of the car with me and pointed to the pavilion while swiftly walking towards the clearing.

I nodded, picking up m skirt slightly as I began to make my way to the small shelter. Sitting in the back corner of the space was my father; clad in his more formal black mage robes, the ones with the silver runes on the hems. He slowly and slightly raised a gold eyebrow and his thin lips turned up into a small smile. "My, my… my little Cara Anwen isn't so little anymore." he laughed as he crossed the small space to me and rested his hands on my shoulders. "You're absolutely beautiful." he told me in earnest. "Abraham is luckier than he knows."

I noses and rested my head against his shoulder. "Thank you, Father." I whispered against his robes.

"You're very welcome." he whispered in my ear.

Just then, Liz came in and told us that things would be staring soon. The three of us made our way to the edge of the trees, hanging a few feet back from the clearing. Liz continued through, past a few chairs, and stood by the left side of the arch. My father took my left arm in his, giving my hand a gentle squeeze. "Calm, my child." he whispered before he kissed my birthmark, sending one of those warm tingles down my spine. He gave me a small smile while lowering the veil over my face and turning his attentions to the clearing ahead of us. Liz gave us the signal to come forward as we heard the harp begin to play.

Walking down the aisle runner, I fought off the smile as to how the harp was playing. Sindri had enchanted a birch tree and ten little twigs to play the harp while he sat on the opposite side of the clearing with a large smirk plastered onto his face. I quickly swept my eyes over the guests. Sindri's purple robes had been subtly changed o a purple shirt and black leggings, and the others were pretty much the same as always; until I reached the people from Earth. Liz's bridesmaid dress was a shorter and burgundy version of mine, Hellboy actually wore a dress shirt and pants with the substantial absence of his ammunition belt, and then my eyes came to Abe. He looked the second best I have ever seen him, the only thing marring the look of him in a perfectly fitted suit was his collar; which let me see that he was near hyperventilation. His eyes danced with joy when they met mine, portraying his feeling for me to an immense level. And his smile was absolutely breathtaking.

When Father and I reached the arch, the pastor asked who was here to give me away, a term I was not very fond of. "I, her father, am here to willingly give her away." he gave my hand one last squeeze before relinquishing me to Abe and turning and joining the others from our world.

Abe's cool, textured hands held my thin and shaking ones with the utmost care and tenderness. Before I could completely comprehend what was going on, Aria had come with the rings. Abe's vows came first. "I do." he said clearly yet softly, but the volume of it carried it to everyone present.

Then it was my turn. "I do." I no more than whispered, but a slight breeze carried it around the clearing. And then came the end. Abe pulled up the veil and cupped my cheek in his hand, just looking at me for a few moments, and then he brought his lips down to mine. The kiss was slow, sweet, and absolutely perfect. After a few moments, Hellboy's cat-call startled us apart.

When we turned towards the others, they began to applause. Abe took my arm and led me back down the aisle and to the pavilion I had been in earlier. Once inside, I pulled off the circlet and veil, replacing the first and leaving the latter in a chair. Abe came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist to spin me around. "This is what I wanted to do up there he whispered in my ear. His lips crashed onto mine and the kiss was instantly deepened. We stayed like that until we heard the harp start up again. "Are you ready for the tortures of dancing, Mrs. Sapien?" he smiled.

"I need to get used to that." I returned, also with a smile. I hooked my arm through his as we made our way back to the others.

The first dance was blissful, neither Abe nor I having to lead, since we both knew the dance. The father-daughter dance was almost as good, except Father had a coughing fit in the middle of it. Then came the siblings dance. I walked over to the edge of the trees so that no one would see the tears rolling down my cheeks. But a slightly cold hand tapping my shoulder and a familiar voice jolted me from my thoughts. "May I have this dance, Cara?"

I turned and gasped; standing before me was Damian in a suit with his usually disorderly brown hair combed flat. "Damian!" I cried and hugged his with all my might. I didn't know, or care, how he was alive; it only mattered that he was, and that he was here. And he was here completely alive, not just some reanimated corpse: I could feel his heart beating. "Oh Damian, you're here! And you're alive!"

"I'm well aware of that." he joked. He tilted up my chin to look at me. "And you're absolutely beautiful. But you never answered my question: may I have this dance or not?"

"Of course!" he smiled the crooked smile of his that I had been missing for almost two years. He took my hand in his and practically dragged me to the middle of the clearing. Soon we were twirling around like we did when we were children on a rainy day. The smiles never left our faces as we began to read from each other what had happened since Damian had passed.

Half way through the dance, Damian answered the question that had been burning I the back of my mind the whole time: how was he here. "I did a favor for Paladine, and he gave me three hours to live. And what better way to spend three hours than dancing with my little twin sister at her wedding." he rested his forehead against mine, our birthmarks sparking at the close proximity of the other identical mark.

"You've got to promise that you'll visit soon." I begged, a single tear rolling down my cheek again. I didn't want to move my arm from Damian's shoulder to wipe it away for fear of him suddenly turning back into a ghost.

He instead wiped it away himself. "I will; every Friday after you get back from your honeymoon. How does that sound?" I nodded in agreement against his shoulder. "Thought so." we continued to twirl around until the harp came to a sputtering stop. "Well, I best let you be getting back to Abraham, Mrs. Sapien." I knew he was joking by the smile in his voice, but I still slapped him in the back of his head.

"I will see you soon." I promised and warned as I went to look for Abe. When I couldn't find him, I went looking for Liz instead. "Liz, where's Abe?"

"Oh, he'll be right back. We're just setting up for our take on some traditions." she had an evil smirk on her face, when I groaned, the smirk only grew. "Don't worry; it's nothing worse than what I had to endure."

"There you are, Cara!" Abe called as he came over to Liz and I. Under his left arm was one of the chairs that had been in the pavilion. He snaked his other arm behind my shoulders and cupped the back of my head, his lips pressing onto mine. I was barely aware of Liz taking the chair from Abe. Even then, I only noticed because with previously occupied hand wound around my waist. Soon my hands were intertwined behind his head. I didn't know what exactly was happening, but soon Abe had swept me up and was carrying me in the general direction of where the arch had been.

"Abe," I warned. "I know where we're going; so you can put me down."

"Not yet, my love. Anyways, I'm practicing for tonight; or should I say, in a few hours." At that he set me in the chair that Liz had set up in front of the arch, facing the now full rows of chairs. Abe cleared his throat, catching everyone's attention but mine. "Now, for those of you who aren't from… around here, you don't know about some of our traditions. One of the major ones is a simple rule of 'something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.' The bride must have all of these things with her on her wedding day. But because of Cara's mage color; we had to change blue to red. Something old would be the ring she wears with her powers, something new would be her dress, something borrowed would be the circlet from her step-mother Crysania, and something red would be the ribbon in her hair. The very ribbon, as I am told, is removed instead of a garter."

"For which I am glad." I muttered under my breath.

"But I'm not." Abe whispered so that only I could hear him before continuing with his speech. "It is tradition for people like Cara to have the women wear their hair in a braid until they are betrothed, and then until they are married. And it is also tradition for the bridegroom to remove the ribbon in the bride's hair during the ceremony; allowing her to wear her hair down for the first time. Well, let's get on with this." Abe moved from beside to behind me, running his un-gloved hand along my exposed shoulder and up my neck to the ribbon in my hair. After a few quick movements, I felt the slight curls in my hair brush against my shoulders. Hellboy gave a mocking cat-call, embarrassing me into a deep blush. "You're absolutely beautiful." Abe whispered in my ear.

"Thank you." I whispered back as I stood. "Now, if I remember correctly, I get to throw something." I took on a devilish smirk. And when Abe nodded and handed me the small bundle of roses, the smile only grew. I had a mischievous idea that would probably annoy those who were trying to catch the floral projectile, but it would give my father and Sindri a laugh.

Since there were so few guests, all of them gathered together. I turned my back on them, and prepared for a little magically-induced fun. I creating a binding spell between my hand and the bouquet; it was essentially a rope that I could control. I flung the small bouquet over my head and into the general direction of the guests. But before it could get within range of anyone shorter than Hellboy or Caramon, I flung the rope to the side. After the scuffles of confusion had lasted a few seconds, I flung the rope in the opposite direction and let the flowers drop. Coincidentally they fell directly into the arms of the person who taught me that trick: Sindri.

"Man! She beat my record for keeping it up." He whined.

I turned and smirked at him, enjoying our never ending competition; even though my powers were far greater than his. "And I wasn't even trying." I admitted mockingly while I moved to join the others.

Abe came up behind be and wrapped his arms around my waist. "We should be going now." He whispered in my ear.

"Let me say goodbye first." He nodded against my neck and released me. I walked first to Tanis and Laurana, who stood by the back of the clearing near the trees. "It has been wonderful to see you again. And I will never be able to thank you enough, Tanis." I rested my hand on his green-clad shoulder.

"You're quite welcome. I only wish the Kitiara had come with her mistress so I could take out my long list of grievances against her with the point of my sword." Tanis's face took on a feral twist at the thought of my aunt, Kitiara.

Laurana shook her head knowingly, but also in despair. "Let's not let past quarrels ruin this day. It should be joyous! Cara is happy, we have seen a new world, and the Queen is defeated."Laurana, having once been the Golden General, should have realized the falsity of her words.

"For now." Tanis and I corrected together.

I heard my rasping chuckles from behind us. "Well, at least somebody agrees on something." He pulled me away from the others to talk to me alone. "You really have grown up, Cara. You now have a family of your own. I just hope that this will not put more space between us."

I looked my father straight in the eyes, which wasn't all that hard, since he was only a few inches shorter than me. "Don't be ridiculous! I love you, Crysania, Aria, and the others far too much. If it means that I either have to leave Abe behind or drag him along; then so be it."

My father nodded with a smirk and began to just star at me. When I asked him what he was doing, he said he was memorizing me when I was perfect. "I couldn't stop the warm blush work onto my cheeks.

I said a brief goodbye to the others before I sought out Abe again. He was standing outside of the clearing by his car. "Well, I'm ready to go." I sighed. I had hoped to hide my racing heart and excitement with nonchalance.

Abe nodded and helped me into my side of the car before crossing and getting into the other. After a few minutes of silent driving, we came to an actual road which Abe turned onto. "Well, we are officially on our way, Mrs. Sapien." His comment would have been a normal mocking one if I hadn't noticed the glimmer in his eyes when he spoke my new name. That glimmer meant something deeper, and I thought I had a pretty good idea what it was.

"You like that, don't you?" I intertwined my hand with his free one, hoping to coax the truth out of him.

"It is good that you have finally become my wife, after all the time I have loved you." He shrugged as if it was nothing important; but the gleam was back.

"I'll get it out of you soon enough." I warned with a smile.

"I was counting on that." Abe replied in an almost gravelly voice.

We drove in silence for another hour so; hands intertwined and perfectly content with the silence. By this point, rainclouds had encroached and covered the once clear sky. "Well, now it's definitely a good thing that we aren't catching the plane until tomorrow." Abe mused, more to himself, but I still took note of it. After another fifteen minutes, it had raining cats and dogs. But soon after the heaviest of the rain had started, Abe pulled off the road and onto a gravel drive. "This is leg one of the honeymoon." Abe explained as the car pulled up to a small log cabin.

I smiled at the irony of what happened next: Abe started looking for an umbrella. "Abe, you're a fish; and I will be fine. We are ten feet from the door.

Abe smiled back. "I see your point." We dashed up to the porch, which was thankfully covered, and Abe unlocked the door. Before I could make any protests, Abe had me off my feet and clutched tightly to his chest. As soon as we crossed the threshold, Abe's lips were on mine. I heard him kick the door shut behind us. He must have known where he was going, because he walked straight to a set destination; and I was pretty sure I knew where that was.

I was right. He set me down on my feet when we had reached the bedroom. Just then, a large peal of thunder echoed through wherever we were. I jumped and moved closer to Abe. He wrapped his hand around me and held me to him. "Shh, there's nothing to be scared of." He murmured in my ear. "Nothing to fear." He repeated, but seemingly more to himself. In the next flash of lightning, I could see his face in the otherwise darkness. His eyes betrayed all the glory he held for me: like I was the prize instead of the winner.

Lines were crossed, old rules broken, and worlds changed in those few seconds when our eyes met. No questions, no answers, just understanding, longing, and a love never fully spoken but deeply tangible. One that had grown and deepened as it had overcome obstacles we had thought would never be surmounted. Drawing the covers back on the bed, he stepped close to me, his lips finding mine again as the world thundered outside. His kisses rained upon me far more softly than the drops that dashed the window panes, the cold of the night thwarted by the heat within as the barriers between us were slowly removed. Our clothes scattered about our feet, he lowered me to the softness of the bed and kissed my face, neck, and shoulders as he joined me, drawing the covers about us.

Shielded in our darkened cocoon as the storm raged about us, there was only the sound of soft shared breaths as tentative hands and lips explored, touched, caressed. Eyes locked, bodies entwined as sighs merged into gasps. Skin met skin, hot with impassioned fever, and as a flash of light seared the night sky, the distant roll of heaven's thunder was joined by an earthly cry as two became one.

Cradled in each other's arms, oblivious to the world around them and what evil was conspiring against them, the lovers lay in contented silence until the sound of the rain lulled them into slumber.

A dark figure atop an even darker thrown ran her hand across the top of the seeing pool, removing the image. "I have been deceived." She hissed. "Caius!" she barked.

A knight in all black armor approached the figure with confidence and simultaneous fear. "Yes, my Queen?"

The Queen of Darkness took on a smirk that was so evil it would have chilled the blood of anyone lesser than one of her fellow gods. "Prepare the armies. The true war for the key has begun."

Hello! This is both halves of idkaname speaking.

We're very sorry that this took so long, but school bogged us down. Applying to high school and all that.

Well, this is the long awaited last chapter. But do not fret! There will be a sequel coming in no more than a few months "Never Surrender."

Note from one highly annoyed author: the section just before the story switched to 3rd person, that was written by L W, not me (C M). I say this so you can complain to him, not me. I find that kind of stuff disgusting.

As always, reviews are cherished; and always replied.

And we give the biggest thank yous our little hearts can muster to Anonymous Echo, Cymri (whom is actually a friend of ours, or at least C M), Kitroen, Bmangaka, MarcyPlayground, SxStawberry, and discompobilated for either marking this story as a favorite or as an alert. And to watergoddesskasey, MissKeith, illegal, and Hiruko-chan for reviewing.

Sincerely,

C M + L W = idkaname