A/N: Welcome to chapter 23. This particular one has been a long time coming, but you'll see what I mean when we get there. And I won't hold you up.

As always, though, feel free to favorite/follow and leave a review if you feel so led. And, of course, enjoy the story...

Chapter 23: Confession

The first place Darkstalker went after leaving the party was to Fathom's room, if for no other reason than that it was closer. Indigo walked with him all the way there, the touch of her purple scales against his a constant reminder of her presence as their tails remained tied together. It was a pleasant feeling, to say the least, and it was with extreme reluctance that he unentwined them upon stopping outside of Fathom's door. But he did leave his tail rest against hers where it lay.

He knocked twice on the door and received no answer. Letting a second pass, he tried a third time before casting a glance to Indigo, who shrugged her wings.

"I guess he's not here," was all she had to say.

It took Darkstalker only a brief moment to confirm that, as he tried to read the Seawing's mind and only heard Indigo's aside from a few muted ones from other rooms. There was no sign of Fathom, nor either of his guards.

He shook his head. "No, it doesn't look like he is."

"He could be in the library," Indigo proposed, "Or maybe he went on a flight of his own. Should we look for him?"

It was Darkstalker's turn to shrug his wings. "I'd rather not go on a palace-wide search, right now," he told her, "Besides, it's not like we planned it. I doubt he'll be missing out on anything. And, honestly, I'd prefer some fresh air sooner rather than later."

That last part wasn't quite a lie, but it wasn't the only reason that he'd rather not hunt his friend down. Because as much as he liked Fathom, there were times where he'd rather the prince not be present on the little flights they took. This was one of those times, where the only dragon he really wanted to go flying with was the purple one beside him.

"Ah, okay," Indigo said with indifference, not looking at all upset, "So, just us and Clearsight, then?"

Darkstalker had to keep his face from falling a little. He'd almost forgotten about Clearsight. And if he was honest with himself right now, he'd rather Fathom come along than her, but Indigo had suggested making a party out of things, and so he nodded and moved along to the Nightwing seer's room.

She only took one knock to respond, a tired look on her face as she opened the door. Her eyes flickered between the two of them as she tapped a claw on the floor. Darkstalker noticed more than a few ink smears on her arms and claws, and it didn't take him but a moment to know that she'd been spending the night writing.

"Well," Clearsight asked them as she looked them over in turn, "How's the party?"

Darkstalker shrugged, "A little boring, all things considered. Indigo and I were just leaving to take a flight instead, and we were wondering if you'd like to come."

The shake of her head was almost immediate. "I'm sorry, but I have so much work to do," she told him, "Queen Vigilance just assigned me to go over all the futures for the meeting, since apparently we got word that Queen Diamond agreed. Which is great, don't get me wrong, but there's a lot more that I need to do to get ready, to make this work. You know as well as I do that everything around it is fuzzy. It's going to take a long time before I can sort it all out well enough."

"Yeah, I know…" Darkstalker said, trailing off. He was well aware of the situation surrounding the meeting. It seemed like the future was clouded, everything veiled in shadows. He could get a very good sense of what would happen leading up to it, but he just couldn't get a definite view of what would happen. Sure, he'd seen a few ways it could end, some good and some bad, but he couldn't see which one it would be. Or what he could do to make sure that it happened the way he wanted it to. He simply didn't know what things had the potential to change the outcome. It was frustrating, but he had hope that Clearsight could sort it out; she was always so much better at finding those paths than he was.

"But yes, that's why I had to skip the party tonight," Clearsight went on, "I was hoping to get a head start on all of that."

"Well, it looks like you already have," Indigo spoke up, making a gesture towards the ink on the Nightwing dragoness's claws. So that's why she wasn't at the party, Indigo thought, I wondered if she wasn't invited, but I guess that makes sense. Especially after what Darkstalker said about her never going with him anyway.

Clearsight rubbed at some of the ink on her wrist, only serving to smear it more on her scales instead of taking it off. "I have," she admitted, "But I still have so much left to do. I'd like to go flying, I really would, but I just can't right now."

"Are you sure?" Darkstalker asked, "I mean, I was wanting to go to the cave…"

Clearsight sighed, "I…I don't know. If that's the case then I might join you later, if that's okay. But I really do want to get a lot of this done for the meeting tomorrow. I don't know if you've heard about it yet, but the queen has asked for us to—"

"Yes, she told me," Darkstalker cut her off, "We need to leave within a week, but I think that's doable."

"It is," Clearsight nodded, "I've seen that much already," she paused and glanced between them, then back inside her room, "If that's all…?"

"Go ahead, then," Darkstalker said, "We won't keep you."

The seer nodded her thanks and stepped back inside, closing the door. Darkstalker and Indigo stood alone once more.

"Well, so much for our party," the Seawing observed, a hint of amusement in her voice.

Darkstalker gave a small shake of his head. "Well, I can't say I'm surprised," he told her, "And if I'm honest, I was actually looking forward more to a party of two."

Indigo grinned. "You know what? Me too."

He outstretched a wing and offered her his tail to twine hers around once more, a gesture she quickly accepted. "Shall we?" he asked.

"By all means."

They took off only a minute or so later, making their way towards the ocean. It was a pleasant night for it—only a little wind; not enough to affect flying—and all three moons were almost completely full in the sky, casting plenty of light on the world below. Darkstalker took a deep breath of the fresh air and cast a glance to Indigo, who gave him a smile as they went along.

He returned it, then looked away as the sea approached on the horizon. It was always a bit of an odd sensation, being alone with her and so near her like this, but one he'd quickly become accustomed to. In fact, he very much enjoyed it by now.

Then again, nothing about the Seawing flying next to him had went like he'd expected it to. He'd hardly even foreseen the possibility of her arriving in the Night Kingdom in the first place, let alone becoming a friend. And then moving from a friend to a…to a…

Darkstalker shook his head. He knew what Indigo thought of the whole situation, of what had been developing in the time they'd spent alone. He knew that she had feelings for him; he'd heard her think just earlier that night at the party that she loved him. And he knew more than well that there many, many potential futures that he himself would love to explore with her.

He smiled at just the thought of those. Hours and hours and days and months and years of wonder and excitement. He couldn't see everything, of course, but so much was there that he wanted to enjoy. There was an amazing life he could have with Indigo—all he had to do was choose it.

Darkstalker frowned.

All he had to do was choose it. That wasn't hard. But choosing it meant giving up so much else. He'd gone over future after future that he could see, that he could follow as much as he could, and he still saw no future with Indigo where he killed Vigilance and became king. Now, admittedly, in light of the upcoming meeting with Queen Diamond that he couldn't see well either, it might mean that those events could have a significant impact on what could be with him and her, but he had to doubt it. Even futures he'd seen before he had the idea for the meeting (and so it never would have happened) had never had the Seawing beside him as a queen.

No matter how badly Darkstalker wanted it, he could not both become king and have Indigo. And Darkstalker wanted to become king badly as well. It was his destiny. It was his right! Ever since he'd hatched he'd known that he was bound for such greatness; how could he just throw that away?

Arctic had told him once that love could require sacrifices. As awful as it felt, his father seemed to be right. If he was to have Indigo, he would have to give up so much of what he'd been working towards and looking forward to his entire life.

Of course, there was another option. Darkstalker could still see those futures that he'd always seen before. Him and Clearsight together, ruling happily over the kingdom. He could still see their dragonets, Eclipse, Shadowhunter, and Fierceclaws playing at their claws. Was it wrong to deny those futures as well? Peace, prosperity, Clearsight's love…he could still have all that, if he wanted it.

But he didn't. Not anymore. His heart belonged to a different dragoness.

He glanced back over at Indigo, the moonlight shimmering on her scales. She looked beautiful tonight, with the jewelry he'd had her wear making her look even more stunning than she normally did. Darkstalker would have never thought Seawings attractive just a few short months ago, but watching her fly now he could hardly imagine a more captivating image. She may not have the same stars under her wings as Nightwings did, but she still glistened in the sky, a figure of grace and beauty in air, land, and sea.

When she'd first arrived, Darkstalker had expected Indigo to be nothing but a nuisance and an annoyance. A dragoness who fought him at every twist and turn over his magic, one that caused problem after problem and was fit only to be disposed of (and he'd seen many ways to do it, too). Yet, in the end, Indigo had proven to be anything but. More than any other dragon, she'd been the one at his side when he needed it. She'd helped him save his mother, and perhaps by doing that, his father as well. When the assassin had tried to kill him, she was the one to step in and stop the would-be killer. And then, when he'd gone to confront Vigilance afterwards, it was Indigo who was the only one who'd agreed with that choice, who supported him. She genuinely cared for him, and she saw him as who he was, not what he might become. It was why he loved h—

"That's it ahead, right?" Indigo asked, breaking his train of thought. And she was right; directly ahead was the beach, and off in the distance he could just make out the rise of land that held the special and secret cave.

"That it is," he told her, but instead of going towards it, he kept his flight straight ahead for a little bit. Soon he found himself making his way out over the waves, his eyes scanning the water below. With the moons' light so bright, he knew that it should be easy to spot what he was looking for, and he was not disappointed. A flash of silver revealed itself from just beneath the surface of the ocean below, and he folded his wings and fell from the sky, heading facefirst towards the water.

Darkstalker didn't know the name of the fish that he dug his claws into as he opened his wings and pulled out of the dive, his chest inches from the water as he reached in and grabbed it, but he did know that it was large. And tasty. A perfect post-flight snack. He rose and looped around to where Indigo hovered in the air, watching him. Making a motion towards the beach, he landed in the soft sand. Indigo followed suit a moment later, and he tossed the fish to her.

"Hungry?" he asked as she sat down and tore into it, and she responded with a shrug of her wings.

"A little," she said, "But we did just come from a party."
"But a party without fresh fish," Darkstalker pointed out with a smirk, "And Seawings love fresh fish, don't they?"

"Indeed we do," Indigo had already made short work of the poor marine creature, which while large for a fish was admittedly still not the size of a full meal for a dragon, "Which is why the past several days have been rather nice, actually."

"Oh?" he asked.

"Yes, we've actually been getting fish delivered to us these past couple mornings, after a long stretch of absence," she went on as she tossed the scraps into the shallows, "Four or five, normally, on a platter left just outside our door."

"Huh, I'll have to thank the palace staff on your behalf, then," he told her, watching the tide take the remains out to sea.

"The odd thing is," Indigo continued, standing up and stepping towards him, "The kitchen staff also came along later with our normal breakfast. Which means someone else brought Fathom and I those fresh caught fish. Someone who knew that we were missing them."

Darkstalker raised an eye ridge. "Whoever could that be, I wonder?"

Indigo rolled her eyes and laughed. "You don't have to pretend, Darkstalker. I know it was you. Don't look so surprised. I'm a bodyguard; I'm good at observation. Don't think I didn't notice that these last few days that I've been your guard that you arrived to get me tired, like you had to fly much farther than usual that morning. And you couldn't quite get the smell of fish off your claws, no matter how much you tried. Add to that how I just told you the other day Fathom and I missed fish, and it didn't take a genius to figure it out."

He twitched his tail. "Well…I was trying not to make it so obvious…"

"I know," Indigo smiled and set a claw on his, "And I thank you. But you didn't have to do that. After all, you won the bet, not me."

"Well, I wanted to," Darkstalker told her, glancing down. I wanted to make you happy, he thought, but couldn't quite voice it.

Yet it seemed he didn't have to, because despite her not being a mind reader, when he looked back up in Indigo's eyes they told him she knew exactly what he meant. He returned the smile that she still wore and swished his tail around behind him, moving it so that it draped across her own. For a moment, the only other thing he could do was look into those beautiful purple eyes, the eyes that filled his present and his future, which belonged to the dragoness he wanted so much to share both of those with.

"To the cave, then," Indigo suggested with a squeeze of his tail, and still captivated by her eyes all he could do was nod until she released him and took off. He smiled and watched her go for a while before following, swinging out to sea before turning and entering back into the mouth of the cave.

Indigo was already swimming in one of the tidal pools as he entered, the faint light of the glowworms and bioluminescent algae shimmering off her scales and casting shadows on the walls that shifted with every ripple in the water. The purple of her scales seemed to glow just as much, a brilliant and vibrant hue that took centerpiece of the scene as he made a water landing next to her, bristling only a little bit at the cold water hitting his scales. Indigo immediately made a little show of effortlessly diving beneath him and emerging on his other side, giving him a small splash as she did so.

"The water's cold tonight," Darkstalker observed as she lazily did a circle around him as he himself did little more than let himself just float.

She gave a little giggle—a little bit of an unusual sound for her. "Actually, this is rather warm," she told him, "If you get out far into the ocean, then it really gets cold. Of course, in the past few months I've gotten so used to the temperatures of living on land and swimming in the shallows that I'd probably freeze if I went straight back to the deep palace."

"Really?" Darkstalker asked, "I wouldn't have thought it."

"Oh, yeah," Indigo went on, "I mean, you get used to it, of course, but sometimes it can get downright frigid near the ocean floor at night. Not to mention the northern reaches of the Sea Kingdom at winter…at night. And trust me, I've been there."

Darkstalker gave an interested hmm. "Do you miss it much?" he asked her, "The Sea Kingdom, of course, not the cold."

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't," she answered him, "I mean, it was my home for my whole life up to now. Seawings are built for the sea."

"Yeah," Darkstalker said simply, not sure what else he was expecting. Indigo was a Seawing, after all; he wouldn't expect her to say that she hated the ocean and loved the land.

"But the Night Kingdom is nice, too, I have to admit," she told him after a short pause, "I mean, the forests and countryside are quite nice to fly over, and I've found the beaches to be rather calm and fit for swimming. And with growing up in the palace back home, coming here really wasn't that big of a leap."

"So…you like the Night Kingdom, then?"

Indigo gave him a smile. "Of course I do," her smile turned mischievous, "Of course, I like some parts of it more than others, and some dragons here more than others."

"Is that so?" he asked her, raising an eye ridge as gave her an amused look, "And where do I stand?"

"Oh, I don't know," she teased, slowly lowering her head underwater as she pushed away from him a little, "I guess you'll just have to catch me to find out."

"Not very sporting, is it? A Seawing swimming to avoid being caught?" he asked, and the last look she gave him was a smirk before she went under completely. All Darkstalker could do was roll his eyes and grin before swimming after her.

Luckily for Darkstalker, the tidal pool Indigo had chosen was one of the smaller ones in the cave. It was also convenient that ever since the Seawings had arrived, he'd been swimming more than ever before, and had gotten quite good at it. But in the end, he was still chasing a Seawing who had spent her whole life swimming, and Indigo had more than an advantage on him when it came to whatever game they were playing. So, despite his initial confidence, Indigo proved to be as slippery as a sardine (Darkstalker thought that was the Seawing expression for it), constantly evading him and spinning effortlessly out of his grasp as he chased her around the pool.

It took him far longer than he even cared to think about before he finally caught her, corralling her into a corner and pinning her in before grabbing her claws with his own, and by then he'd pretty much forgotten what had prompted the chase in the first place. And despite getting a bit out of breath from it, he didn't mind at all as he and she swam a few more laps together in silence, claws still held lightly below the surface. But eventually the cold of the water and the tiredness of the chase wore on him, and he was forced to excuse himself from the pool, opting instead to lay down and dry himself out on a bed of moss surrounding the outer edge of it.

He watched Indigo swim on, but only for a few minutes before she joined him, gently settling herself down at his side. As was quickly becoming common, he felt her tail rest beside his, and he twined his around her. He smiled and glanced back over the pool before he felt the touch of scales against his side. Turning his attention back to the Seawing beside him, he found she'd rested herself against him. Her eyes were on his own, and he could hear doubt in her mind. Is this okay? she was thinking Did I overstep?

He answered her by raising his wing and gently draping it over her. Her only response was to snuggle in closer.

"This is so much better than any palace party," she told him, laying her head down and closing her eyes as if to nap.

Darkstalker looked at her, at how beautiful she looked. At how wonderful she felt beside him. He thought of all the futures he'd seen of them together, of all the love the two of them could have.

He opened his mouth to say something, but hesitated. All those other thoughts, all those other futures, rushed back in. Futures with Clearsight, futures as king, all those other amazing threads that he had been seeing and looking forward to since he'd hatched. If he were to speak now, he'd throw all that away. All his ambition, all his power…everything he'd ever wanted.

But he wanted this more. He wanted her. And he made his decision.

"Indigo."

He spoke her name and she opened her beautiful eyes back and looked up at him.

"Yes?"

"I…I…" he faltered. Darkstalker was a dragon who liked to be prepared for these kinds of things, to know what words he wanted to say—to know what words would be said—but he suddenly found himself unprepared for how to say what he wanted to. "This is nice," he finally got out, cursing himself for how stupid he probably sounded, "Spending time with you here, I mean."

She squeezed his tail as she raised her neck up. "I was thinking the same thing."

Was she? Darkstalker thought. He'd been busy thinking himself and hadn't really been listening to her thoughts, but if the smile on her face said anything then he knew that she wasn't lying.

"I was, errm, wondering something," he went on after a pause that was probably only a few seconds but felt like an hour.

"Yes?" she asked as her eyes sparkled.

He sighed, not able to hold back anymore, and finally let it out. "Indigo, I'm not sure how to say this, but I can't not say it anymore," he began, not able to keep that annoying nervousness out of his voice, "I know that things weren't amazing between us when we first met, but since then the time we've spent together has been some of the happiest of my life. The flights we take, the conversations we have…when I'm with you, I feel like a different dragon. A better dragon. I know that I can see the future to know how things can and may be, but that's nothing compared to living in the present with you. And Indigo, I want to live in the present with you for a long, long time."

Her eyes and face lit up at those words. And he couldn't help but smile, any remaining uncertainty over his choice gone.

"I can't say that it will be easy," he went on, "I know that there are difficulties we'd have to face, obstacles to be overcome. We may end up like…like…" like my parents, he thought, but shook his head and chose not to voice it, although he could hear in her thoughts that Indigo knew what he meant, "But Indigo, I want to try, come what may, if you'll have me. By all the moons, I want to. You're the most amazing, beautiful, and wonderful dragoness I've ever met. I…I love you, Indigo."

Her smile filled her face. Took you long enough, she thought, but the words she said were this: "I love you, too."

It was simple, and it was something he'd already known, but they were still the most wonderful words he'd ever heard.

She moved her face towards him, and he moved to meet her. He tightened his wing around her side and they kissed—a real kiss this time, not like the one he'd given her to win their wager. He put all his love into that kiss, and so did she, an outpouring of emotions that he hadn't even known were bottled up inside. He closed his eyes and drank it in, caught and enraptured in the beautiful moment. The dragoness that had stolen his heart was his, and there was nothing that could ruin this.

But alas, as with all good things, it could not quite last forever. It felt like both an eternity and a second, but eventually he found himself having to pull away from the kiss, if not just to breath. But he opened his eyes and hers were watching his, and all it took was one look to know both that she'd enjoyed it as much as him, and that their brief respite would not last long.

"I waited a while to hear you say that, you know," Indigo quipped, softly, "With how things were, I wondered if I ever would."

"I know," Darkstalker told her, "Right now, I can't believe it took me this long, either."

She nuzzled into his neck. "Darkstalker of the Nightwings, the most powerful dragon in Pyrrhia, in love with a Seawing. Who would have thought?"

"And Indigo, the animus slayer, in love with the animus she was sent to protect her charge from. Indeed, who would have thought?"

She laughed. "Neither of us, certainly."

"Indigo?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

She pulled away just a little, leaving her spot on his neck so she could look him in the eyes. "For what?"

"For being there," he said, "For being you. I don't know what the future might have held. I may not know for sure what it will hold. But I know that it's brighter because of you."

"I'm not a seer, and I don't need to be to know that it's the same way for me, because of you," she squeezed his tail with her own, "As you said, there are things that will need to be faced, but those can wait. For now, just hold me. The present is enough for now."

Indeed, it was. "Indigo, I love you."

"And I love you, Darkstalker."

They kissed again, in that cave that shimmered and shown like a night sky in the ocean. Perhaps this of all places was indeed the best place for such a confession, for such an utterance of feelings between them. A place where night and sea mixed in silence and serenity, a special place where Darkstalker felt love and loved. And he both gave and received that love to the Seawing in front of him as their mouths met once more in their second real kiss of the many that would come.

And Darkstalker was so engrossed in that kiss, in that moment, that he never even heard the wingbeats outside. In fact, he didn't hear the sound of a dragon entering the cave, or even the sound of that dragon landing near them. Even the click-clack of talons on the stone floor went unnoticed.

But he did hear the gasp, and by then it was too late.

He and Indigo pulled away at the same time to look at this intruder, and it only took a second to identify her. Clearsight had said that she might stop by, and for maybe the first time in Darkstalker's memory had she actually pulled herself out of her work and made good on that. And in this case, he really, really wished she hadn't.

The look in her face was almost blank for a few moments, a bit out of it, and Darkstalker could tell she was having a vision, or many of them. Considering what she'd just seen, it was pretty easy to imagine what of. He saw Indigo's eyes shift from Clearsight and back to him, and he swallowed.

Clearsight shook her head a little, coming out of it. The first look on her face was absolute shock, and that shock quickly turned to anger. Rage, even. Emotions that he'd never seen her wear covered her face as she growled and looked back and forth between the two of them.

Yes, Clearsight had arrived to see their embrace, and she did not look happy.