Thanks for all of the grammar help everybody. I'll go back and update those chapters as soon as I can. I start school again tomorrow so I probably won't be updating every day any more. I'll still try to update every couple of days though. I'm kind of winging this and writing it as I go, chapter by chapter. I have the bones of the story; I just need to put meat on them. Anyways please enjoy this next chapter (it's a bit longer than the others, I didn't want to cut off the good part) and keep up the reviews.

Fowl Estate.

Holly and Artemis stood on the lawn side by side watching with apprehension as a shuttle, driven by their kleptomaniac dwarf friend Mulch, rocked through the air in an attempt to land beside them. The shuttle gave another alarming lurch as it passed over the low wall, narrowly avoiding confrontation with one of the parapets.

"Good God, he'll kill us all." Said Artemis.

The shuttle came to shuddering halt at the foot of the grass leaving Holly and Artemis a good meter of elbowroom between them and it.

"Mulch!" Shouted Holly angrily, banging on the door of the shuttle. "Who taught you how to fly?"

The door slid open revealing a smiling dwarf who might have passed for a very small man were it not for his tangles of wild hair and his wide tombstone teeth.

"Taught?" He said. "Why, nobody taught me Holly. All of my considerable skill comes from my natural genius."

Holly snorted as she pushed her way past Mulch into the shuttle. "Skill huh? The computer says you hit the cave wall several times and knocked off one of the stabilizers."

Mulch threw his hands into the air. "Look I got it up here didn't I? A little thanks would be nice once in a while." He looked around and spotted Artemis who had just entered the shuttle. "So what are we doing today? Not saving the world again I hope because you can count me out. I'll get off here."

"Nothing quiet so dramatic," said Artemis sitting down in one of the passenger seats. "We're just going down to see Foaly."

"Ah, what a lovely sounding reunion." Said Mulch wistfully. "What's the matter Mud boy? You don't seem quiet as chipper as usual."

"I have been having some, er, difficulties." Said Artemis.

"Don't want to know." Said Mulch throwing his hands into the air again. He turned and headed back down to the cockpit to talk to Holly.

Artemis smiled slightly and closed his eyes. "Nice to see you again Mulch." He said.

Mulch climbed into the copilots seat and settled in while Holly performed a pre-takeoff system check.

"So what's wrong with him?" Asked Mulch looking over at Holly. He wasn't stupid. Artemis was having more than just "difficulties" and it was clear that he wasn't going to elaborate on the matter.

Holly busied herself with the instruments, her mind elsewhere. There was a small delay before she responded, her eyes on the screen.

"I don't know." She said quietly

Mulch nodded, but did not press the issue. Beside him Holly put in the ignition chip and started the engines. The shuttle left the ground with slightly more grace than it had coming down to it. Holly turned the shuttle to the right and headed for the Tara shuttleport.

* * *

Underneath the McGraney farm Holly piloted the Shuttle through the crowded port. Even though the full moon was still a few days away, tourists swarmed the port, trying to get their applications for above ground visas in early. Because Tara's shipping responsibilities had been for the most part overshadowed by the tourist hub, the cargo shuttle was attracting a few stares from the crowd.

So much for being inconspicuous, thought Holly.

Foaly had pre-cleared them for access to the port so, despite the crowd, they were on their way down to Haven relatively quickly.

As the shuttle entered the main part of the volcanic pipe, Holly put the ship on autopilot and went back to the passenger area. Artemis was stretched out across a few of the passenger seats sleeping. Holly didn't blame him; it had been a long day.

She stood in the doorway, hand on the frame, and considered her human friend. Artemis had changed since their exploits into the past.

And not just in body tone, thought Holly smiling as she cast an eye over her unconscious friend. That was probably Butlers doing. She couldn't imagine Artemis being proactive about exercise by his own volition.

Ever since she had healed him on the floor of his room. She had noticed a slight change in his demeanor. He seamed more calm.

No. Not calm, she thought. That was just a side effect of being tired. Something else... Something in his eyes. The way he moved. Holly didn't know what it was, but it made her happy somehow. Like something bad in his personality was gone that had been there before.

With a shock she realized that Artemis was her closest friend, closer even than Foaly. She had traveled and saved the world with Artemis, gone back in time, and fought alongside him against Humans and Fairies alike. The connection she shared with Artemis was unique. Unbidden, thoughts of the kiss they had shared floated into her mind. At the time she had attributed her feelings for Artemis as a side effect of the time stream and her own adolescent body. Now she was not so sure.

She felt a tap on her shoulder and jumped. She had been staring at Artemis, she realized feeling red in her cheeks. She whirled around to find Mulch standing next to her with a bemused expression on his face.

"It's not nice to stare you know." Said Mulch with a snicker

Holly blushed harder and was suddenly irrationally angry.

"Shut up Mulch!" Holly said fuming.

She stomped back into the cockpit to check on the instruments.

My what an effective comeback, thought Mulch with a grin. He decided against heckling Holly further though. He did not feel much like dying today. Holly had that "Don't bother me or I'll shoot you" look about her.

Mulch strode over to where Artemis was resting and looked down.

"I don't know what she sees in you Arty." He said conversationally. "Personally I've never found you to be that attractive."

* * *

Foaly shifted slightly on his feet as he waited for Holly to guide the cargo shuttle into the dock. He was standing next to Commander Vinyáya who had come to oversee the shuttle's landing and to greet Artemis, whom she had never met. The two of them stood behind the safety rail waiting for the docks computer to sync information with the shuttle and clear the landing. The light turned green and Holly expertly guided the shuttle into the docking bay.

Inside the cockpit, Holly breathed out slowly. This had definitely not been the best shuttle trip she had ever had. The loss of the stabilizer had made steering around tight gaps difficult and there had been a few heart stopping moments where the engine had stalled.

She unbuckled herself from the seat and went out of the cockpit. Mulch was exiting the bathroom looking slightly green.

"How are you guys doing?" Asked Holly walking over.

"He slept through the whole thing." Said Mulch, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder at Artemis. "I can't say I was as lucky."

Holly went over to Artemis and shook him slightly

"Wake up Artemis. We're here."

Artemis sat up groggily hand on his head.

"Good." He said yawning and stretching.

Artemis and Holly gathered their things (Holly her equipment and Artemis a small bag he had packed before leaving). Mulch joined them and they left the shuttle and climbed up the ramp to where Foaly and Vinyáya stood waiting.

"How was the trip?" Foaly asked Holly.

"Foaly I'm going to strangle you. Are you going to try to tell me that you couldn't get a better shuttle than that?" she said exasperatedly.

Commander Vinyáya made a small noise.

"Actually that was the best we could do. As I'm sure Foaly told you, we're trying to maintain a low profile with this. This was the only ship that wasn't registered for use." She said with a small smile of regret. "Though I can see why it wasn't registered."

Artemis walked forward to Commander Vinyáya.

"Excuse me," he said extending his hand. "I don't believe we have met."

Vinyáya took Artemis's hand and shook it firmly. "Artemis Fowl I believe? I'm Commander Vinyáya. I've heard good things about you from Holly."

The Commander released Artemis's hand and turned back to Holly.

"I'd love to stay and chat but I have to get back to the Council." She said. "Foaly can take it from here."

She turned and walked out of the building and was immediately flanked by several Section 8 guards who escorted her to the waiting car below.

"Ok," said Foaly clapping his hands together. "I think that we can probably head out now too. I'll fill you in with the details along the way."

Holly and Artemis said farewell to Mulch and joined Foaly as they walked to another car waiting below. Artemis noticed as he entered that the windows had a particular sheen to them.

"Polymer safety glass?" He asked Foaly.

Holly rolled her eyes. "Even when ill and fatigued Artemis Fowl doesn't stop being an annoying genius."

Foaly snickered and the climbed into the car, which was infinitely nicer than the shuttle, equipped with comfy black seats and even a mini fridge. As the car began to move, Artemis leaned over and selected a bottle of water from the fridge. His throat was parched.

Foaly also reached in and plucked a carrot from an upper drawer.

"Commander Vinyáya thought that it might be best if Artemis stayed with you while he's in Haven."

"Why?" Asked Holly frowning. She was not adverse to the idea of Artemis staying with her, but it seemed like an odd thing for Vinyáya to suggest.

"We can't have him stay at a regular guest building because he'll attract to much attention." Said Foaly. "He can't stay at the lab either for the same reason."

Artemis nodded. It made sense.

Foaly turned to Artemis now. "I would take you to the lab right now actually, but there's a big recon team heading up to the surface right now and Trouble needs me in the tech booth to be on standby."

"Very well," said Artemis. "I'm sure another day won't kill me."

Artemis looked out the window as Foaly continued the discussion with Holly.

"Ok well, Trouble has given you a few days off Holly." Said Folly. "But, he says that he's taking it out of your vacation time. Major Vask will be filling in for you."

Holly nodded her approval. She liked Major Vask; they had been friends at the academy. She knew that he would take good care of her boys.

It was a further 20 minutes until they got to Holly's apartment due to the rush hour traffic. The rest of the ride was occupied with slightly less interesting conversation. A couple times Foaly questioned Artemis about his health but apart from that the ride passed relatively uneventfully.

They arrived at a small double story residential apartment building. Holly's apartment was on the bottom floor. The door was painted a dark forest green and there were even a few sim-lilies by the window to enhance the ambiance.

The car pulled up to the walk beside door. They said goodbye to Foaly and got out of the car with their things. Holly rummaged around in her pocket, producing a small keycard on a chain, which she slotted into a scanner by the door. They stepped into the apartment and Holly turned on the lights.

Holly's apartment was moderately sized by Fairy standards. There was a decently sized living room with a kitchen at the far end, her bedroom, and a bathroom beside the bedroom. There was also a sliding glass door that lead out to a small enclosed patio/sauna. She had been offered a better apartment in a private neighborhood after the promoted to major, but she had turned it down. This had been her first apartment; her mother had purchased it for her just before the accident that had taken her life. Holly did not want to move out of it. It held too many memories for her.

Artemis walked across the living room and sat on the couch while Holly went into the kitchen and began looking in the shelves for something to eat.

"You hungry?" she asked, tearing the lid off of a cup of insta-pasta. The inside of the therma-cup immediately heated up, boiling the pasta inside.

"Not really." Said Artemis truthfully. He had felt slightly nauseas ever since the shuttle trip down.

Holly walked over to him thrusting the cup of pasta into his hands. "Eat." She said. "I didn't save you to have you to starve yourself to death."

Holly sat down next to Artemis on the couch, passing him a fork and opening up her own cup of pasta.

Artemis ate his pasta in silence. Holly glanced over at him.

"Are you ok?" She asked. "You're being pretty quiet."

Artemis blinked and set down his cup down wearily, looking over at Holly.

"I'm ok. I'm just tired. I think I'll go to sleep pretty soon"

Holly stood up yawning.

"Yah, I think I'll go to sleep too. It's been a long day." She said. "You can take the bed. I'll sleep on the couch."

"That's alright. I'm comfortable here." Said Artemis stretching out on the couch.

"Ok" said Holly taking the cups over to the sink. "Get a good nights sleep. Foaly's meeting us here tomorrow mourning."

She turned out the light and walked to her bedroom.

"Holly?" Said Artemis

"Yes Artemis?"

"Thank you," he said awkwardly. "For everything. For healing me, for taking me down here, for being there for me..."

Holly crossed the room and gave Artemis a hug.

"You don't have to thank me for that Artemis. You would do the same for me, and you have done the same for me." Said Holly smiling.

Artemis was almost asleep now, his eyelids closed.

"Good night Holly."

"Good night Artemis."

* * *

Artemis was having a very strange dream. He dreamt that he was in an open meadow with soft trees and ferns fringing the edges. He was sitting down on the soft grass watching the sparse clouds pass by overhead at an incredible rate. He looked around, a soft breeze playing across his face. Holly was sitting on the grass next to him, hand in his, looking up at the clouds and smiling. She looked around, giving him a wide smile. Together they set off across the meadow walking to nowhere in particular smiling and laughing. Artemis felt perfectly happy. It was great to just be around Holly without any pending doom or crisis.

They continued on until they reached the edge of the grass, a dense wall of trees in front of them.

"Come on." Beckoned Holly, pulling him by the arm and taking off into the brush.

"Holly wait!" Said Artemis, laughing as he sprinted into the forest after her.

Artemis followed closely behind Holly, racing after her, trees flying past them in blurs. Artemis caught up with Holly, sprinting alongside her with long easy strides. He felt great, the wind whipping past him, going up his nose. They ran on, moving deeper and deeper into the forest. Artemis looked to his left, Holly was laughing as she ran, hair flying behind her in a whirl of auburn.

All of the sudden an enormous tree loomed in front of them. They slowed down, gasping for air. The rushing sound of a wide river reached them from somewhere up ahead. Artemis put his palms on the side of the giant oak, panting lightly. He straightened up and looked around for Holly. Suddenly she was nowhere in sight. He was left alone in the forest which was now much more imposing.

"Holly?" He said into the trees.

He turned around and looked apprehensively back up at the oak that was looming over him majestically. Suddenly, he felt an irrational wave of fear overtake him. The tree was not threatening, but more like something that commanded respect. His heart beat against his chest. For the first time he noticed a small murmur of voices in his ear, like a group of people talking along way off. The air around him seemed to thicken, darkening to twilight as the voices became more powerful in his ears.

With a start, he recognized them. They were the voices of the colossal Fairy commune that he used to hear during the full moon. Their chattering filled his ears. Thousands of voices from the past blasting a wall of noise through his skull. He grasped his ears, now on his knees, trying desperately to block out the noise. Above him, the oak shuddered shaking its branches and the ground beneath him, it appearing to grow larger through his squinted eyes. Then the tree spoke to him.

"Artemis!" The tree screeched

"Artemis!"

* * *

"Artemis!" Shouted Holly, shaking him.

With a start, Artemis woke. Cold sweat covered his skin like dew. For a terrible moment, the chorus of voices continued to ring in his ears. Then they died down leaving Artemis breathing heavily.

"Artemis! Are you all right? What happened?" Said Holly, worry lining her face.

She helped Artemis into a sitting position. Hand on his back.

"What happened?" She repeated. "You where shouting my name and thrashing around on the couch when I came in."

Artemis swallowed, wide eyed. The image of the giant oak was still fresh in his mind.

"Ju... Just a nightmare." He stammered. "I'm ok now."

Holly went to the sink and got Artemis glass of water.

"Are you sure you're ok?" She asked, handing him the water.

Artemis gave his head a little shake to clear it. Now that the image of the nightmare was fading he was feeling calmer.

"Yes, of course." He said, draining the water in the glass. "I'm sorry I bothered you. We should get back to sleep."

He rolled over but did not sleep. After a few minutes he heard Holly move back to her room and the sound of a light switching off.

He closed his eyes, but had trouble falling back asleep. Scenes from the dream kept replaying themselves in his minds eye. Usually his dreams were so ordered. He wasn't used to the wave of emotions that had hit him in the dream.

Holly. He thought. She and I were holding hands.

He sat up rubbing his eyes,

"What was that, all about?"