Hey guys! I'm back with another chapter. Thanks as always to CLTex, alltheteainchina, peerme, The Cynical Nerd, dancinwmypinkipod, americanlatinajapanesegirl, Poodle warriors, and Sulia Serafine for all your feedback and thoughts and feelings. I love you all!

"curse us and splash us, precious" get out yasmin xD

shout out to Ella for [easily] convincing me to go ahead and post this even though it's only been 5 days since the last update

Eumoirous is a word used to describe happiness due to being honest and wholesome.

Chapter 40 – Gentle and Eumoirous

Shimla was too far for them to make it on the road, so they flew, arriving in the foothills of the Himalayans at midday. Madelyn made more than one comment about their usage of time, but Khan didn't back down. Shimla was important for several reasons.

They spent a short amount of time perusing the plethora of wares for sale along the side of the steeply inclined road. Khan was honestly surprised at how little had truly changed. Of course there was more advanced technology and a generally wealthier atmosphere, which he continued to attribute to gentrification, but many of the local vendors still sold traditional foods that local families still used to support themselves on a daily basis: plantains and other local fruits, rice, nuts, corn, curries of every color and taste, goats and chickens. There were sacks of whole grains and legumes and innumerable vats of colorful, sensuous spices, which Madelyn paused beside to inspect and taste. More than once, she murmured how all of this was beautifully overwhelming, especially when she pointed out the mountains in the distance, jagged snowcapped peaks, half-shrouded in mist.

At some point, Khan glanced down at her to see an expression of glowing awe and delight on her features, something he had never seen before. He wanted her to show her as much as he could in the small amount of time they had left, but there was something more pressing he needed to attend to first. Leaving the chaos of shoppers and vendors behind them as they ventured further uphill, he draped his arm around her, fingers pressing into her waist and pulling her tightly against him. The movement of her body as she walked seemed to meld with his.

"There's something I need to show you," he said after a moment. "Something very important. I was afraid I would never make it back here to see to its care."

He met her gaze when she looked up at him. She smiled faintly, clearly not taking him seriously. "What is it?"

"You shall see."

They continued up the hill, until they were in sight of the entrance to a large gated complex. Khan paused, gazing at the ornately carved structure, then noticed a plaque on the adjacent wall. "They've turned this place into a museum. How unfortunate."

Madelyn slipped from his grasp and went to peer through the gate. "What is this place?"

"This was my palace. One of them, rather."

Madelyn turned and looked at him, her surprise evident on her features.

"This one in particular was my retreat. Inside these gates are the remains of a British colonialist house from the 19th century."

Khan tore his gaze from the source of his ruminations as Madelyn ambled up to him. "This is what you wanted to show me?"

"Assuming it has never been found, there is a secret entrance on the far side of the complex that should lead us right inside. There appear to be no guards and no security features."

Madelyn's smile returned as she took his hand. "Lead the way."

The tunnel proved to have been discovered, but the locking mechanism on the door meant to keep out trespassers was unintelligently designed. Khan carefully replaced it behind them once they were inside.

"It is not too far from here," he said, his voice echoing off the stone walls, excavated almost three hundred years ago. Every footstep brought him more memories and he shoved them away. He couldn't afford to linger on the past when the present was about to be lost to them both.

Ambient lighting flickered on automatically as they progressed, something that bothered him immensely. These tunnels had once been shrouded completely in darkness, since Augment vision was designed to be able to pierce lightless places.

The dusty scanner embedded in the wall had obviously been taken apart and put back together several times. However, the door that it unlocked looked untouched, and it should have been. Few people who found themselves down here would even notice the door existed: a nondescript slab of smooth metal, without a visible handle or knob. A sleek and technologically dignified way to hide the precious contents behind it.

Khan cleared the dust from the scanner with his palm, then activated it with his middle and index fingers. The screen flashed green and pinged affirmatively, then the metal door dislodged amidst a shower of particles and dust, sliding back into the wall to reveal the room behind it. Khan stepped inside swiftly, guiding Madelyn with him, and then triggered the door to close. He would never risk anyone outside discovering this place.

The room's lights flickered on automatically, old fluorescents. Barely half of them still worked. Khan watched as Madelyn wandered across the room, looking strangely hesitant as she gazed at the sealed wooden cases around them. Each case was fitted with a glass window which offered a view of what was inside: various precious and semi-precious stones and jewels, resting carefully in a bed of soft black velvet. He heard her breathe out her shock.

"This was one of several vaults belonging to my government. Every year I had small amounts of jewels and stones retrieved from mines throughout my kingdom and kept here. I would then have certain items inserted into the international markets to generate revenue, and each year that revenue was returned to my people."

Madelyn turned on her heel to face him. "So, this is your horde. Your treasury."

"It belonged to all of my people."

He watched as conflicting thoughts flitted across her face. "How is it still here, after all these years?"

"When I knew we had lost the war in '96, I had all mentions of this place erased from every record. I am perhaps the only person alive now with knowledge of what is here."

"And in the middle of a tourist town in India," she exclaimed quietly. Khan grunted, though she was right. Shimla was no longer respected the way it once was, the way he'd once ordered it should be.

She continued to browse through the cases, glittering rubies and emeralds and agates and garnets catching the light around her. She paused beside a collection of extremely rare milky green Alexandrite stones, gazing down at it a moment before turning back to him. "I think we should tell someone about this place. Think how much all of this is worth, how many people it could help."

"Do you believe the current government would not squander it away in secret, to be used by elected officials to buy lavish starships and elaborate feasts for the small upper-class—"

"And yet you're the one who's hoarded it all in the first place."

"Had I remained in power longer, there would not be so many items left in here. They would have been put to proper use."

She nodded slowly, eyes lingering across the room with faint distaste. "Why did you bring me here?"

"Because, when I am gone, someone else will need to be responsible for all of this. It sounds as though you're already formulating plans for its use."

"Khan, I don't need this. I have—"

"Then have more. Give it away. Do whatever it is you wish with it. It is yours."

Her mouth opened, as though she was prepared to say something in return. She shook her head slowly, gazing around the room silently, eyes flitting from one case of expensive jewels to the next.

"Maddy, I understand this may be a lot for you to process. I love you and I want you to pursue whatever it is you wish…"

Without a word, she brushed quickly past him and vigorously triggered the door to open. She didn't look at him as she stepped through it and went back out into the tunnel. He watched silently as the door slid shut behind her, leaving him in the vault alone.

He had thought she would be overjoyed. There was something she wasn't telling him, but whether he had only underestimated her independent will or she still had reservations about him, he could only guess. Either way, it didn't matter anymore. Turning from the door, he took the opportunity while he was alone to do what he had come here to do. His eyes fell on each individual stone, landing on the Alexandrite she'd seemed most enthralled with. This wasn't the first time he had fashioned something for her, but he didn't dwell on the fact that it would be the last.

Madelyn paced back and forth across the width of the passage, glancing back in the direction of the tunnel's entrance every now and then, almost willing an angry mob to come rushing in and claim the wealth hidden just behind the wall.

She couldn't believe what he'd done.

She knew she shouldn't have been surprised. He probably had many other secrets he would never reveal to her, these being the least damaging to his image. If he'd had the balls to stockpile precious gems worth millions, what would have kept him from stockpiling massive storehouses of food for him and his own people, while the rest of his non-superior citizens starved? What if there were mass graves somewhere that history had never discovered? What if Khan really wasn't as gentle of a tyrant compared to the rest of them? Angry thoughts and images swirled through her head as she considered that he had easily duped her again, and now he intended to buy her back with… jewels?

Who did he think she was, and why did he think he could get away with this?

She whirled around as the vault's metal door slid back into the wall, ready for a confrontation she was determined to win. He gazed back at her cool and unreadable. She ground her teeth. "I can't believe you," she said quietly.

"Are you really going to do this?" he asked, his brow tightening.

"Excuse me? You're the one who's been sitting on a massive horde of treasure! How much is it all worth? Five million? Ten million?"

"Approximately three and one quarter million," he replied.

"My grandfather was worth over six million when he was killed. You want to know what I've done with most of that since I've been in Hastings? I created a foundation for the families that you destroyed when you crashed your fucking ship into San Francisco. I have about five percent of that left and it still feels like too much. So forgive me if I refuse your offer. I can't believe you think you can buy me with—"

"You believe I wish to buy you with jewels? Did you hear nothing I said to you in there? You may do whatever you wish with it!" he replied, raising his voice enough to make her take a breath.

"That's not the point. I don't want it at all. We should just leave these doors open and walk away. Let people who need it take advantage."

"Once the people realized what was here, a firestorm of mass panic would ensue, followed by a wave of violent crime."

She knew he was right but she didn't want to admit it. She shook her head slowly. "It's just too much, and… and today's our last day together and I just wish you hadn't shown this to me." She ran her fingers through her scalp. "Khan, it's too much."

She let him come up to her and slide his hands around her waist. "Would it help you to know that today is my birthday?" he murmured, kissing her temple.

She almost laughed. "Really? Seriously?" Her frustrations over the vault of jewels were suddenly not important anymore.

He nodded. "I am thirty-five today."

"Give or take about three hundred years." She licked her lips thoughtfully, never really having considered his actual physical age, only knowing that as an Augment he'd appeared somewhat ageless to her. "So, I'm the one who should be giving you something important, not the other way around."

"You have already given me more than I could ask for by spending these last few days with me."

Madelyn pressed her lips together to keep from getting too emotional and reached her hands up to cup his neck.

"It was lovely of you to finally admit your feelings for me, even if it did take my full admission of my unfortunate situation. You can't possibly realize how obvious you were before."

She smirked. "Well, my therapist helped."

The look in his eye after that was somewhat distant, so she pulled him down into a kiss to bring him back. He met her hungrily and she shut her eyes briefly, until she realized she wasn't finished. She pulled away, her hands lingering on his shoulders. "I'm sorry I reacted. Maybe I just have a hard time with surprises, I don't know. But I don't want you think that I'm helpless without you, because I'm not."

"I have never thought that, and if that were the case it would be very unattractive. If that appeared to be part of my intent in giving you these things, I am sorry."

She appreciated that and felt the weight of her resentment lessen. "So we have an understanding."

"It's a simple fact that you're the only one who will be able to do anything with this collection when I am gone, and you're the only one who would ever make a suitable decision in dictating its use."

"I realize that now," she said, still feeling faintly guilty for having reacted the way she did, but not enough for total remorse. She'd already apologized anyway. "Maybe next time, you could mention the fact that you're about to show me millions of dollars worth of jewels, before you actually show me, you know, to avoid what just happened there."

There won't be a next time. She ground her teeth at herself.

Despite his frown lines, she could tell he was fighting a smile. "I feign to use the word obstinate to describe you, however…"

She smiled freely up at him. "Does that bother you?"

"Not anymore."

He zeroed in for another kiss, but she ducked. "Don't you think you should set up access for me to get into this place?"

"I did not forget."

She smiled again, wondering if he might have if she'd gone with that kiss.

"We will merely need to scan your hand into the device."

She went over to place her hand on the screen. Khan entered a few commands and the screen flashed green. "That's it?"
"It is yours."

She pursed her lips, nodding slightly. She swallowed at the thought that she would have to come back here eventually and be reminded of their conversation in this very room. She knew she'd be reminded of him anywhere she went regardless, but the thoughts still clung to the back of her mind. An inevitable wave she was going to have to withstand. They couldn't end their trip like this.

"I have an idea," she said, looking up at him. "You said you had vineyards here, once, right?"

"They were destroyed a long time ago. All that remains is what I have already shown you."

"But I want to see where they were. I want to see the land."

She watched as he considered her request, something akin to pain and anger mixing with the warmth he regularly bestowed her with. "Is this what you want? Or is this what you think I want?"

She worried on her lower lip. "Maybe both?"

"Yes, alright," he replied, his tone curt. He took her hand in his, but made no motion to walk out of there. "I see. You wish to know me better by visiting the places I once valued outside the context of my rule."

"Do you have a problem with that?"

"I have already shown you Patna and Shimla."

"And it's been lovely and beautiful, but I want to see something that was genuinely yours."

"This entire country was once mine."

She almost rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean."

"As I have said, the vineyards are no longer there. I watched them burn with my own eyes. But I will take you to their location if you wish."

She took a step backwards, towards the tunnel's entrance, pulling at his hand. "Thank you. It's only a couple of hours by train. We can still make it back to England before someone in Starfleet gets annoyed."

The train to Maharashtra was hot, crowded, and thankfully brief. Khan made several disgruntled comments about the "poor transportation despite affordable technological advances," but Madelyn knew to just let it be. It seemed everywhere they went, there was something Khan believed he could do better, or improve, or simply replace with his own ideas. She wondered briefly if the people living under his rule really had thrived as he claimed, but she knew better than to believe every single word he had to say about the way he himself had ruled as a tyrant for over three years.

They took a taxi from the station—really more of a rusted out shuttle, but it did the trick—and out into the countryside. Khan grew more and more restless as the minutes ticked by and the outskirts of Mumbai dwindled into farmland, drumming his fingers the windowsill, eyes flitting over everything, not missing a single thing. Madelyn reached over and put her hand around his arm, as though that would help him—however small the action seemed. He glanced at her but didn't seem convinced. She persisted nonetheless.

Finally, he ordered the driver to stop and quickly climbed out. Madelyn followed, telling the driver to wait for them as she slid across the seat. She jogged across the street to catch up with Khan who was striding up the hill with regal bearing that made her pause and question for half a second who this man was that she'd fallen in love with. When she came up to him, she did a double take. His cheeks were glistening.

She didn't prod, too quickly caught up in the sight that stretched out in front of them, a lush green valley of vineyards. Field after field of them, laid out across the valley for miles. Grapevines swooped from one hillside to the next like they'd been stitched together in a quilt of perfect rows, while the sun sank towards the western horizon, casting long, golden rays across the valley. It was a sight so perfect it could have been a painting by a master artist.

"The soil here was always the region's most fertile," he said quietly. "I shouldn't be so surprised that someone else came along to grow their own. And yet here I am."

She looked up at him again as he gazed across the land. His eyes were rimmed with red and his cheek rippled from grinding his teeth, probably in an attempt to stave off the emotion that had clearly overwhelmed him. She ran her hands around his arm again, pressing up against him like it was the last time she'd ever get to be so close. "Is this what it looked like?"

"This is exactly what it looked like." His voice was thick. He pointed to one of the fields further away, on a flattened parcel of land rimmed with massive trees. "My estate was there, nestled between those two hills. On clear mornings, you could walk outside and see the fields turn from dark blue to bright yellow in the rising sun."

Madelyn fought to picture his description in her head, but she could only find herself simultaneously overjoyed and perplexed with his emotional state. "That must have been beautiful," she replied, not knowing what else to say.

"It truly was."

She glanced down as his hand slid around hers and grasped it tightly. So tightly she could feel her knuckles being pressed together.

"Thank you for convincing me to come here," he said. "Even for these mere moments, you have made me a genuinely happy man."

The depth of the sincerity in his voice made her throat tighten up. "You sure?" she managed to say with a faint smile, not wanting to lapse into some romantic nonsense, though her heart wouldn't have protested.

"I love you."

She trapped her lower lip between her teeth and settled her head against his shoulder, taking in the view before them before the day ended. And then it hit her. "We should probably head back," she said after a few moments of silence. Her words were followed by an overwhelming heaviness that settled over her as she realized their time together was coming to a rapid close.

Don't say anything else to fuck up this moment, she chided inwardly.

"The day is not yet over," he replied. "You forget that we gain several hours upon returning to England."

She lifted her head and gazed at him firmly, fighting back a fresh wave of tears at his optimism. "I love you too," she murmured fiercely.

He kissed her briefly, and had their taxi driver not been yelling up at them from the road, she would have coaxed something more out of it. Instead, he broke it and pulled her back towards the vehicle with unusual speed that pricked her with both disappointment and confusion.

It wasn't until they were in the air above the Indian countryside and heading back to England that the phone call came.

Madelyn ignored Khan's punishing gaze as she looked at her communicator, fingertips pressing tightly into its metallic sides as she considered whether or not to answer it in front of him. She met his gaze again as she held the device to her ear. There was no reason to hide this from him now.

"Madelyn, I wanted to give you an update if you've got a minute."

"It's good to hear from you, Bones." Her heart was practically beating out of her chest. Khan's gaze narrowed a fraction. "What do you have?"

"Good news and bad news."

"Lay it on me."

Khan's eyes were boring into her. She smiled at him as Bones continued in her ear. "I managed to put a bug in the ear of a few Federation authorities. They're open to the idea."

Her smile turned into a full on grin. "That's great!"

"I told them it was your idea. They seemed to know who you were. They want to talk to you personally."

Her smile faded and she forgot about Khan's endearingly suspicious look. "When and where?"

"San Fran. Before the end of the month, which gives you two weeks. There's a chance Khan's return to cryostasis could be postponed if you convince them of your side."

"My side?" she cut in. "I'm giving them an offer to get Khan and his crew out of their hair forever. They should be jumping at this."

The way Khan's expression froze and then softened made her smile slip back through the cracks. Had they not been on public transport, she'd have pounced on him.

"All they wanna do is get your side of the story, understand where you're comin' from. Worst case scenario, Khan remains where he is under Starfleet—"

"That still doesn't account for his people," she bit back, glaring hard at the floor. She somewhat wished she'd brought this up with Khan already. "What happens if funds run out or someone new takes command? What happens to those cryotubes then?"

"Madelyn, there's nothin' else I can do. You gotta get over here yourself and make your case. At this point that's the only way this'll move forward."

She tore her eyes off the floor and met Khan's faintly bewildered gaze. There was a hint of something else in his eyes she didn't recognize. She might have thought he looked… grateful? She scoffed inwardly at that. "He's leaving tomorrow."

"Yeah, he'll be beamed onto the Enterprise and reinserted into a secure location tomorrow morning. Did he tell you all this?"

"Vaguely."

"He'll be put back into his normal work routine until the 31st, and then it's cryostasis. Unless you change someone's mind."

She wasn't sure how to respond. She was sure it was all over her face.

"You two are serious, aren't ya…"

She held Khan's gaze, wishing he'd stop staring at her the way he was right now. She was going to have a lot to explain to him in a moment. She swallowed. "Yeah, we are."

"I don't get it, but uh… it's none of my business. You just stay safe, ok?"

"I am."

"So, maybe I'll see ya in a few days?"

"Yeah, you will."

"Okay." He sounded pleased about that.

"Bye, Bones."

"Bye Ma—" She flipped her communicator shut and returned it to her bag. Khan was looking at her sideways.

"This surprises me greatly, Maddy."

She shifted nervously in her seat. "You could hear all of that?"

"Every single word."

She licked her lips thoughtfully. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I thought—"

Her words vaporized as he leaned over, planting his hands on each side of her seat, and pressed his lips gently to hers. She melted, shutting her eyes and breathing him in. When he broke away, it was just enough to have completely taken over her space, his face hovering centimeters from hers.

"If your plan works, what will become of my crew?"

It took a moment for her to collect herself. "Best case scenario, they'll be put on an uninhabited planet outside of Federation space."

He leaned back into his seat, never shaking his gaze. "And would I have the honor of your presence on this venture, should it become a reality?"

The bluntness of his question hit her hard. It had crossed her mind once, but that was before she'd confronted the depth of her feelings for him. Uprooting herself just to be with him was problematic, but she didn't have a lot left going for her on Earth either.

"I can't say I'd be averse to the idea," she replied. At once he looked far too pleased with himself. "That doesn't mean yes."

Her heart pounded nonetheless. She wanted nothing more than to be with him for the rest of her life, but at what cost? Khan probably assumed her decision was obvious, and if she was honest with herself, it did almost seem preferable. But there were still too many uncertainties and she wasn't ready to fall headfirst into them without seeing where she was going to land. As it was, she was still trying to pick up the pieces Khan had inadvertently trampled on earlier that year. She wasn't sure she'd ever fully regain what she'd worked so hard for, and if that was the case, then the chance at a new life sounded promising. But nothing was set in stone, and until then, she couldn't afford to be making any life-changing decisions.

When they stepped off the shuttle at Heathrow, it was mid-afternoon. Madelyn immediately shivered as the cool, humid air sank into her bones. India had been so warm compared to here. Part of her wished they could've stayed longer. A huge part of her.

Shouldering her bag, she started to head towards the train terminal that would take them back to Hastings, but realized Khan wasn't beside her. She saw him lingering, gazing out towards the city before looking back at her. She realized he was waiting for her to follow. She went up to him and sent him a questioning look, but instead of a response, he took her hand in an iron grip and began pulling her through the crowd of travelers towards the northern terminal.

"Khan, home's that way," she said, glancing back over her shoulder to the south terminal that was quickly disappearing behind the crowd. She had to quicken her steps to keep up with him. She just wanted to go home. She wanted to just be with him for one more night before Starfleet took him away.

He was still silent as they boarded, sliding in beside her just as the doors clicked shut. Wedged between travelers and luggage and pressed up against him, she tilted her chin up enough to get a good look at him. "Why are we going into London?"

"You'll see," he replied, his voice rumbling against her in his chest. She inhaled at the feel of it, seized with a sudden anxiety that she was going to miss something important. She had to take in as much of him as she could before it was too late. She exhaled long and slow and inhaled again. He still smelled faintly of central India's warm climate. Her chest ached.

She couldn't keep herself from intertwining her fingers with his as they rode, low chatter humming around their silent bubble. What was he up to? She could only make wild guesses. They made a quick transfer, then rode for another handful of minutes before she realized exactly where they were headed. "Waterloo?"

Khan nodded as the train came to a smooth halt. "This is our stop."

They were right in the heart of downtown. They made their way through heavy crowds of summer travelers, Madelyn clutching her bag with one hand and Khan's hand with the other. It was strange being back in London with him, and his insistence was… puzzling, to say the least.

When they stepped outside the station, she groaned. It was drizzling and the temperature couldn't have been above sixty, too cold for summer. She quickened her steps to keep up with him despite his grip on her hand. She wished she was wearing more clothing. Even just a light jacket. She was still dressed in light clothing appropriate for India's warm climate, not England. So was Khan. She resented his lack of weakness to the weather. Cold rain permeated her skin, tightening it into gooseflesh as they walked further into the city. "Khan, it's freezing out here."

He glanced down at her and made an effort to quicken his strides. She had to jog to keep up with him. "I'm considering what it was that originally possessed me to use you in the ways I did so many months ago." He didn't miss a step as he replied. "I realized it was out of pure selfishness."

Madelyn blinked, not expecting that at all. Not expecting him to still be lingering on their past. "I thought we came to a conclusion about this. I feel like I'm over it, personally." She stumbled through her words, wanting to truly believe herself. She didn't quite. "I forgave you. We're past this now."

"As much as I appreciate your desire to fully rectify everything between us, I must admit I do not feel wholly satisfied."

It was never enough for him. Nothing was ever enough. Madelyn readjusted her grip on her bag as Khan slowed his steps. The rain was picking up. "What are you saying? Are you saying my forgiveness isn't enough for you?"

"On the contrary. It is more than anything I could ever deserve to receive from you."

His response was both confusing and comforting. She didn't know what else to say. Still clutching his hand, she shivered as they finally came to a halt. They were in a familiar plaza, bordered by buildings that Madelyn realized were even more familiar. She glanced at up Khan again, whose gaze scanned their surroundings before returning to her.

"What are we doing out here? It's raining and…" She inhaled quietly, realizing they were standing in the very spot where they'd first met. The tower that had once housed her grandfather's office was just a few meters to the right. She'd shaken Khan's hand for the first time right here, before even knowing that he was Khan. She glanced around, remembering Kelly scampering off, leaving her there in the dark with this stranger who'd introduced himself as John Harrison. Looking up at Khan now, she blinked through the raindrops building in her eyelashes. "What are we doing here?" she repeated quietly.

He took her arms tightly in his hands, pulling her to him until she thought he might lift her from the ground. "I brought you here because this is where I made the decision to pursue you, ultimately towards ends that would destroy not only your life, but the lives of people you loved. For that I am eternally sorry—no, I am forever in your debt. And I love you too much now to merely leave the past as it was. Wherever we find ourselves in the coming weeks, it would be foolish of me not to ask this of you."

"Ask me what?"

His grip slipped away from her arms as he knelt in front of her, rain falling harder now. A slick lock of soaked hair fell into his face. He held her gaze as he pulled a small band out of his trouser pocket, holding it out towards her, the greenish stone glinting in the cold, fading light.

Oh my god.

Madelyn suddenly felt like her stomach was doing backflips, like her head was spinning. She thought she might have started crying, but the rain on her face was washing any evidence of that away.

"I brought you here to change that past, to wipe clean the slate that has been soiled by my actions and my selfishness and my desire to conquer and own everything I touch. If I could somehow change everything I did, wipe away every negative association you have with me and with this city, I would. This is the closest I will ever come."

She was aware of her shaking, of her shivering breaths. She covered her mouth with her hand, unable to fully process what was happening as he continued, still kneeling on the concrete in front of her.

"I am aware we may only have one night left together, but I will not feel completely well or able to forget what I have done to you if I cannot ask this of you. Because I love you deeply, Maddy. I would destroy entire nations for you if you asked me, though I imagine you would not."

She laughed at his remark, at the creases that formed around his eyes because of it. She couldn't say anything. What was she supposed to say? Her face contorted between absolute joy and complete sadness at his desperation.

"All I ask is that during these last moments we have together, would you do me the honor of accepting me as your husband?"

All she could think to do was reach out and grab him and pull him up to his feet while hot tears poured down her cheeks and mixed with the cold rain. Soaked hair clinging to her face and neck, she nodded wordlessly, unable to even comprehend what she could say except yes yes yes yes yes!

He slipped the band onto her finger and she clung to him, wrapping her soaked arms around his shoulders, smothering her face in his neck. The hug lifted her feet off the ground as he reciprocated. She thought his arms might crush her. She forgot about the cold, about the rain. She couldn't believe he didn't feel forgiven. Nothing else she could say to him would convince him that yes, she'd forgiven him months ago.

An inkling of a thought seeped into the back of her mind and she kicked it away. She wasn't going to let this destroy her. There were some Federation authorities who needed to hear a piece of her mind. She'd convince them of what she felt was the right thing to do, for Khan, and for herself. Maybe by the time a suitable planet had been found, she'd be ready to leave her old life behind to start a new one with him. He was hers and she was his. There was no stopping them now.

There ya have it folks. The chapter that officially slayed me. As you all know, I love hearing from my readers, so leave a note in the review box! xoxo