EPILOGUE

Basement, J. Argon Institute, Haven City, the Lower Elements; Six days later

Holly walked down the hallway, a little unsteady on her feet. She leaned on the crutch she was given, though it had taken lots of persuasion and a massive nausea episode for her to swallow her pride and accept it.

It had been six days since the day at Frond's. Six days since her concussion, and six days since she had seen Artemis. She remembered the kiss and how it had set her heart on overdrive, almost making her tremble by how much it fluttered. She expected there to be severe repercussions, or an underlying tension between them, but they had kissed in front of an LEP response team and so far nobody had made comment.

She felt butterflies in her stomach at the memory.

Artemis put all of the passion he hadn't realized he possessed into it. Holly inhaled sharply as a fire lit underneath her own lips. She willed the moment to last forever - to allow the two of them to remain like this for the rest of eternity. She felt the week's uncertainties melt away as she focused on what - on who - was in front of her - the boy who kidnapped for ransom - who became a friend - who became this.

And then, when he pulled away and whispered, "You couldn't do without me," she felt her heart stop. Those were the words she had said in the gorilla cage, when Artemis was lying mortally wounded and she had healed him again. Then, those words were the result of teenage hormones and exaggerated feelings. Now, they were sincere.

Unfortunately, her concussion had separated the two of them for the last six days, as Dr. Argon had had her cooped up at all times.

Besides, she reasoned wryly, the longer Artemis and I stay here, the better business he has.

At any rate, the brain was a delicate instrument, and was the one organ where many warlocks never used magic, for fear of permanently damaging it. Her demon friend No1 might have been able to heal her immediately with a snap of his fingers, but he was in Atlantis at the time.

As a result, Holly was admitted to Dr. Argon's Institute. Normally she would have been sent to an LEP hospital as a member of the force, but Artemis had insisted she be treated here and even paid in full - in advance! She was touched by his concern for her when she heard about it, but so far was unable to thank him properly.

So when Holly, daydreaming about these newly treasured memories and hoping to see the human genius again, hobbled into the incubation room on the clinic's basement floor, she thought she was hallucinating.

There sat Artemis, tapping his fingers on the glass of Nopal's incubator. At first she thought he was teasing her - mocking her as one would with an animal - but then reasoned that Artemis Fowl never did anything without incentive or justification.

Holly hobbled over next to him.

Artemis looked up at the sound of her crutch hitting the polished floor and smiled.

"How are you?"

She smiled wearily back.

"Just fine."

Artemis guided her to a chair, and rested a hand on hers. Holly noticed he didn't remove it, and found she was quite happy with that arrangement.

After a long, comfortable silence, though, with both people thinking about the previous week's events, Holly decided to voice what they were both wondering.

"So, what now?"

Artemis chewed on his lip thoughtfully. He felt lighter than he had felt in months, but something held him back. "Not yet."

Holly thought about it for a while, and then, surprising herself, smiled and said, "I agree."

A week ago, she was mad beside herself trying to figure out Artemis's feelings. But now that she knew what he felt - now that she knew he felt what she felt - she was content to wait for a better time to fully commit. The time would come; she knew it. It could be a week, a month, or a year, but it would come. She settled in her chair, leaning her head on his shoulder. He went to reciprocate, resting his head on hers. They sat there for a while, drinking in each other's presence.

Of course, this being Artemis Fowl, he had to ruin it. Little did Holly know, Artemis had returned to the void of his mind, bringing the news to the other parts of his brain. He had greeted Simetra (who, of course, already knew) and thanked him for his advice, but that was not who he was looking for.

The memory of this venture brought an insidious smile to his face, and he started laughing softly.

Holly lifted her head of his shoulder and looked at him with a puzzled look on her face. "What's so funny?" she asked.

Artemis laughed for another ten seconds or so, shaking his head. He knew Holly wasn't going to like this, but he had to get the last word - even if they weren't arguing.

He turned, and looked her in the eye. Holly didn't like the malicious glint she saw.

"Orion is very pleased."