(Jace)

I make a run for the bathroom, unsure of whether or not I have alcohol poisoning. Lili is curled up facing away from me, and I'm not surprised. I was pretty ruthless with her, and I never should have said any of what I said to her. I don't know what came over me; I don't know what's wrong with me. I can't lose her. After a few moments of gagging the alcohol makes its way out of my system. I vomit for a second time when I hear the soft tiptoe of Lili's footsteps behind me.

I don't look up; I'm far too ashamed for that. I feel a cool pressure on the side of my face where Gideon blacked my eye. I turn toward her, she takes a warm cloth and wipes my mouth, and brushes my hair out of my eyes. She keeps the compress on my cheek while I vomit for a third time. After the nausea has passed, she hands me a glass of water to get the taste of stale liquor and vomit out of my mouth.

"Lili, why…"

She just sits on the floor next to me, pulling my head into her lap, still holding the compress. I feel the walls that I spent the last month building beginning to crumble when I look fully into her eyes. They are so full of love and concern that I have no idea how I could have possibly hurt her as much as I did. The tears come before I can stop them.

"I'm sorry, so sorry, I don't deserve you. I had no idea to cope with what I saw, Lili. I had to kill Gideon and Ral; I had to stab Kallist! And Lili, I had to watch the life leave your eyes while you were pregnant with my child. I'm so stupid, I should have come to you in the beginning, but I was so scared! I couldn't put even more on you than what you had to go through. I'm sorry for the things I said to you, I was angry that you went Sorin instead of me; but what I didn't realize is that I drove you there, Liliana! You never would have had to go to Sorin if I would have been there for you. Our child was torn away from your body because I couldn't get to you fast enough! It is my fault that you're not pregnant anymore; my fault that we won't be welcoming a child in the next few months. I should have never let you think for a minute that I wouldn't want our child, and this never would have happened. This mess; this mess is my fault. My doing. And Lili, that's not even all. Lili, I couldn't blame you if you hated me for what I've done to you over the past month. I pushed you away, directly into the arms of someone else. If I could have just been there for you and faced my problems, we wouldn't be in this situation. It broke my heart to see that I was pushing you away, but I didn't know how to stop. I'm begging for you to forgive my actions; I'm so sorry, I never wanted to hurt you. I want to love you every day for the rest of time, Liliana Vess. I want to father your children. I want to be your husband. I want everything and I want it with you. I'll wait as long as you want me to, but I need you in my life, regardless of how pathetic that sounds. You are truly my soulmate. My life is meaningless without you. I would rather die a thousand deaths than lose you again! Please, I'm begging you to let me love you; let us be us again, Lili. There is no me without you. I can't imagine my life without you; you are part of me. You are the best part of me. It's you, it's always been you, it always will be you."

She wipes away the tears in my eyes and on my face. She kisses my forehead, holding her lips there for a long moment.

"Jace Rahl Beleren, I could never hate you. Never in a million years. I should have never planeswalked to Innistrad but I had no idea on how to get to you without doing something drastic. I will never leave you again. I will never hurt you again. I thought that you were angry with me for losing the baby, Jace. I felt like I was drowning and I didn't know how to help you and help myself! BOTH of us should have acted better than we did, Jace but we can't change the past, we can only learn from it! I want to be with you, I want to be yours every day for the rest of your life. I don't want to be your girlfriend, your fiancée. I want to be your wife. I'll be yours as long as you want me. Every single part of me is yours."

Her tears drop onto my face and I sit up to wipe them away. I brush my matted hair out of my face and pull her into my lap, rubbing her back and soothing her tears, just as she did for me a minute ago. I never should have said anything that I said earlier, it may have damaged us beyond repair.

"Jace, I need to hear you say that you're still in love with me. I need to hear those words."

"Liliana Calliope Vess, I am still in love with you. Hopelessly, madly, irrevocably in love with you. In love with your brain, your beauty, and your spirit. You are the only one for me, and I'm still madly in love with you, even more so now than I've ever been."

She leans into me, tilting her head just slightly; I can feel her looking at my lips. I stand, and so does she. No hesitation.

I kiss her on the mouth, so passionately that I feel her curve into me for the first time since that attack. It's not forced like it was before. I need to hold her tightly, never let her go again. She pulls her headdress off and my cape drops to the ground.

Her eyes are black with emotion. She is breathing heavily, but cups my face.

I pick her up, bridal style and take her into our room. She unlaces her corset and I change into sleep pants, but I just need to have her in my arms. I need to feel her skin against mine. She snuggles into my chest, almost like she's scared. I hold her tighter to me, making her feel safe. She's shaking.

"I missed you, Jace. And I'm terrified of losing you."

"I'm not going anywhere, Liliana. I'll make vows to you. Right here, right now. Marry me. Right now. We don't need anyone but each other to tell us how we feel. I'm going to get a pen and paper. Marry me?"

She nods, resolute. She doesn't want to back out anymore. Strange how almost losing someone will do that to you.

I come back with a pen and paper. I peck a short kiss on her lips and begin to write the first one.

No running. We work out our problems like adults.

She takes the pen from me, writing the second one.

What's done is done, we learn from our mistakes and grow.

We switch again.

We listen, even when it's hard, we hear the other out regardless.

The pen changes hands again.

We are a team. Teammates talk and work together, even when they don't see eye to eye.

We love. We don't go to bed angry, we tell each other every day, and we don't doubt the love- even when we don't like each other.

Regardless of who our friends are, I'm marrying you, not them. But always remember, we protect our own.

We've got each other's backs. Even when we're wrong.

Don't give up on me, because I don't give up on you.

No secrets, no hiding from each other. We're a team.

As long as we have each other, every little things gonna be alright.

"The most important contract I will ever sign."

Lili smiles and gives a sort of half giggle. She's so beautiful.

I sign the paper at the bottom of the page, pecking Liliana on the cheek and smiling. She takes the pen from me and scribbles the name.

We're official. I press my lips to hers, reveling in her bare skin. I have longed since the attack to be intimate with her, but I don't know how. She lies back onto her pillows and smiles. I kiss her again, just taking in the fact that I can, and that everything is back out into the open.

We lay there, completely contented. We both know that we need the other, and just being together is what we need right now. I sit up and Lili looks at me, confused. She sits up as well, and turns to face me.

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart. This was all my fault.."

"Jace, don't. We've said our piece and now it's over. Just tell me when you're ready. Sorin was right, I don't need to push you."

I reach over to touch her collarbone, but I stop. The kiss earlier was the most intimate we've been since the attack. I long to touch her, be close to her, but it's like my body and mind won't let me. It's like I've forgotten how to express my love for her physically.

"What's wrong?"

"I just..I need to touch you."

"So touch me, Jace."

"I can't, I'm scared to hurt you."

"Jace, touch me. Please."

"Lili…I..I.."

"Please don't be scared. This is what I need right now. I need to feel your skin on mind, to feel your hand on the small of my back, clutching me closer, I need you to touch me."

"Lili, I don't know how to touch you without hurting you."

"You're not going to hurt me, Jace. I can see you're scared. It's in your eyes. But that's not the only thing I see. I see desire, need, and compassion in them too."

"Lili, I.. help me."

She takes my hands and puts one on the small of her back and the other on her shoulder. She scoots closer to me and wraps her legs around my waist. I tip her head up and inquire with my eyes.

"Yes, Jace. I need to feel close to you, to feel your breath on my neck, to feel you inside me. Please don't be scared of hurting me. The only way that you can hurt me now is by leaving me. I think we figured that out today. I need you to take me, to make me yours. I want every bit of you and every bit of me to be stitched together, and I don't care how, but I need you and I need you now.

Her words finally clicked with me. It's like a fire ignited inside my very being, but in that moment I needed nothing more but to be hers. I kiss her soft, supple lips, causing her legs to wrap tighter around me. I continue kissing her, slowly, but very deliberately. She moans into my mouth, it's intoxicating.

"You will never feel neglected again. You are the sweetest thing to ever happen to me, you are my personal miracle."

I kiss her, slowly moving down her neck and to her collarbone, leaving a slight bruise on the skin there. She smiles when she sees it.

"I want there to be physical evidence, Liliana Vess."

"Vess, Jace?"

"You're taking my last name?" I say, honestly taken aback. I didn't expect her to.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I want it all with you, a marriage, a family, a life. I want to be one with you so that there is no confusion as to who we are, both separately and together. I want everything and I want it with you, Jace. Now, please come make love to me."

The grin that has come over me gets even wider now, as I kiss her slowly, moving down past her collarbone and down to her tummy.

"I love you, beautiful."

She smiles at me. I kiss her hips and she squirms just a little, anticipating my next move. However, I'm not giving in just yet. I slowly push a finger inside of her, she gasps.

"Tease."

"You haven't seen anything yet, sweetheart."

As my finger is entering and exiting her, I add my mouth to the mix. Her back arches and she grabs a handful of my hair. The masochist in me loves that. But the thing I love most of all happens in just seconds.

"Jace!"

She's writhing with pleasure, my name on her lips like a prayer. I can feel her starting to contract around my fingers.

"Not like this, Jace."

"It's okay, sweetheart."

I don't give her much of a choice when I slide another finger inside of her, it's almost instantaneous.

"Jace..I..thank you."

"You're welcome my love, but this night is far from over if I do say so myself."

She smiles, and for the first time in nearly a month, it lights up her eyes. I pull her in, kissing her softly.

She makes to kiss my abdominals and then lower, but she's not doing that. Not tonight. I gently push her back on to the pillows

"Maybe another night, love. Right now, I cannot wait one more second for us to be one. I need to take you."

She pulls me close to her, kissing me with all of the passion that has been pent up the past month. I'm finally giving her the affection I have begrudged her for the past few weeks. We both gasp when I'm inside of her.

"You're so perfect, Lili."

Her breathing is labored when she pulls me closer to her. I can feel her breasts close to my chest, and I waste no time as I begin to thrust inside of her. Her nails are going to leave marks on my back. It's like she never wants me to be outside of her. I'm okay with this thought. Her mouth was on mine as she panted. She wraps her legs tighter with each thrust. She was wet beforehand and now she's positively soaked. I ache to be deeper inside her, so rather than making the short, quick thrusts I have been, I push myself all the way to the hit inside her warm and wet center. A highpitched, breathless moan left Liliana's lips. I push my way into her mind, and all I could see was what I was looking at now, my wife. My wife, so beautiful, in her regality. My wife needing her husband in the most primal of ways.

"Oh, gods.. Jace, please."

I hook one leg over my shoulder and the noise she made was almost inhuman. I can feel the pressure begin to build and pull out of her quickly. She whimpers in protest, stunned by the sudden emptiness. The surprise turns to anger and longing.

"Why on earth did you stop, Jace?"

"I didn't want to…release inside of you."

"Why the hell not?"

"Um, babies?"

"What about them?"

"Are you saying you want to start a family? What about the Dimir, what about the demons?"

"It's high time I stopped letting them ruin my life. The day will come when I face the other two demons, the day will come when we will have to work with the Dimir. However, it's not fair to me or to you to let those things run our lives anymore. I understand if we have a child, the price on its head would be tremendous. But I also know that they would have a Mama and Papa that would bend hell and high water to keep them safe. They'll be so loved, Jace. They'll have the childhood we never had. They'd be surrounded by an extended family that would be crazy about them. But if you don't want to have a family, let me know now."

My only response is to kiss her fiercely on the mouth. I squeezed her hips lovingly and made to put my still throbbing manhood back inside of her, where it belongs. However, before I could do so, she switched up positions. She was on her knees and elbows in front of me, giggling. As I took my place behind her, I took a minute to enjoy the view. Her black hair was strewn across her back and contrasted beautifully with her cream skin. Her hips were curvy and supple and begging to be squeezed. I kissed Liliana's dimples of Venus on her lower back and positioned myself to take her. I could tell she was getting impatient, so I sunk a finger inside of her to tease her some.

"Damn you, Jace Beleren, if you don't give me all of you right now, I'm going to push you on your back and ride you until you explode."

"That's supposed to deter me," I say as my fingers worked her insides, feeling the ridges of that intense pleasure center. She begin to contract around me and I could feel her getting ready to orgasm for the second time tonight. I remove my fingers and push into her all the way to the base, giving her no time to adjust to my girth. She squeaked and then moaned my name. I pound into her relentlessly as she grows ever tighter around me. She orgasmed around me just as I released into her from the barrage of thrusts I pushed into her. She collapses onto her stomach and huffs a breath.

"Make up sex is awesome. So is honeymoon sex. We should fight more often."

"How about I give you the honeymoon sex. We're going to planeswalk somewhere with water.

"Of course, Jace. But first I want to call up the friends, hell, our family so we can go to the Azorius and make it official and I can change my last name."

I smile hugely again. I hope things are back to normal.

"What were you saying about riding me…"

"Oh, nothing," she says as she spears herself on my now hard manhood. "Just that you're about to explode inside of me again."

"Think you can?"

"Challenge accepted."

It's a win-win situation after all. And as my new wife is perched above me, both giving and receiving pleasure, it's hard to think about anything but the beautiful necromancer than has my heart. Sorin was right, come to find out:

"Anything worth having is worth fighting for. And anything worth fighting for is worth having."