Chapter 19 is here! Yay!! This is celebration for my finally being done cursed physics for the rest of my life! Hope you all like it...I know it's short, but I'll post another before the day is out.
Holly sighed and looked at Finn. "He healed you Artemis. You tripped, fell, broke your neck. It's all my fault. I said things without really thinking about them. I didn't have enough magic - I haven't completed the Ritual in about a year – and so I called Finn. I told him to find his magic inside of him and to heal you with it…and he did it." She looked at Finn for a moment in wonder.
Finn sat quietly, absorbing the information that the fairy was giving.
Artemis looked at his son. "Finn, I have some things to tell you, but could you just give us some time alone first?"
Finn nodded and stood silently.
"And Finn?"
Finn turned back to look at Artemis.
"Thank you," Artemis said quietly.
Finn smiled. "You're welcome Daddy. I'm going to make sure that Butler brings you your aspirin." He turned and ran from the room.
Artemis watched him go, then turned back to Holly. "I remember what you said."
Holly winced. "I-I take back Artemis. I honestly didn't know what I was thinking. I saw the pain it caused you, just the suggestion of taking Finn from you, and I felt like it was my own pain. I could feel it, searing through my chest, breaking my heart, and I didn't want you to feel it too."
Artemis looked at the ground. "I had prepared myself for years for your rejection, but I guess when you suggested taking Finn, all my resolve faded and I realized that no matter how much I hardened my heart to you leaving me, it would never stop it from breaking."
Holly cupped his face in her hands. "Artemis, I will never do that you again. I promise."
Artemis nodded. "I know." Holly let go of him and sat back. Then, "Did you tell Finn?"
"About what? Me being his mother? No. I was too freaked that I might lose you. I didn't even think to shield."
He nodded and leaned against the table leg behind him. "I swear, if I keep breaking bones, I'm going to be held together by nothing but magic anymore." He glanced back at her. She sat cross-legged on the floor in front of him, her auburn hair falling forward, framing her face. Her mismatched eyes stared at the floor, the guilt in them quite legible.
Artemis sighed. "So, are you going to marry Trouble?"
"I don't know if I can," she said, looking up at him. "Fate handed me a way out of this mess, but I don't think I can take it. I love Trouble like a brother. It would be so…awkward. Especially if every night when I got into bed, I thought of you instead," her cheeks turned a light pink and Artemis couldn't help but smile.
"That would be like me marrying Juliet. She's like a sister to me." Artemis ran a hand through his hair. "So then what? You'll leave?" His heart broke, but he forced himself to say it.
Holly shook her head. "I can't do that either Artemis. I'd be so lost."
"How will it work though?"
Holly shrugged. "I don't know. We could always ask Qwan and No. 1 if there's something they can do about it."
Artemis nodded and turned his eyes to the floor. "Are you going to tell Trouble then? About…us? And Finn?"
"I have to. I feel as though it's my responsibility. If I'm going to leave the LEP, they have to know the reason."
"I agree, although I don't want you to be rejected by your own species because of me."
"You've been partially rejected by yours because of me," Holly told him, looking up into his eyes.
"My mother forgave me."
"But your father? Your brothers? They have to know. Everyone has to know. We can't keep it a secret anymore." Holly crawled over closer to him and sat beside him. She leaned her head against his chest, taking some comfort in the sound of his heartbeat. "We can keep the fairy bit a secret from your family though. I don't trust your brothers as much as I trust you."
Artemis put an arm around her, unable to be angry at her anymore for the things she'd done in the past. "Can you stay here tonight?"
She shrugged. "Trouble will probably get mad if I don't give him and answer soon. But I would love too. I don't want to face them all quite yet. Foaly is the only one who knows that Finn is our child and I made him swear not to tell."
Artemis leaned down and kissed her forehead. "I've missed you."
"I've missed you too Artemis." She tilted her head up and looked at his lips.
He chuckled and kissed her, pulling her onto his lap. He'd missed her so much, more than he could express with mere words.