Chapter 23 Is It Over?

The Shadowling's roar beat down on her eardrums as Aria flew with Ludwig and Jackie out of the beast's chest. The sound told of death, a horrific death that everyone would view as one of the worst tragedies. Even when Aria exited the tunnel and flew out in the bright, hopeful open, she still shook at the noise. She squeezed Ludwig's hand even tighter, mostly because of her fear but also because of… another reason.

"NO!" The Shadowling screamed when the group went in its field of vision. "NO NO NO! THIS CAN'T BE!"

Ludwig smirked. He gently set Aria and Jackie down on the ground before pulling a wand out of his hammerspace. "Well, girls. Give me a minute so that I can take care of this clown." Aria nodded. As Ludwig rose into the air, she kept her eyes on him. Her heart welled with so many emotions, and those emotions only grew stronger when he gripped the wand with such intensity and waved it with such a large amount of vigor. There was so much strength wrapped in both his expression and his body language as he faced down the demon.

"Alright." He raised the wand. "Encantus heeringu nijiro MAZO!"

Both Aria and Jackie gawked. When Ludwig pointed the wand at their opponent, a torrent of rainbow light shot out of it. The size was comparable to a tsunami, the light comparable to the sun, and it completely engulfed the Shadowling. It screamed like like its face was melting, a possibility that Aria realized might not be too far away from the truth. The light grew brighter, so she and Jackie covered their eyes. The Shadowling's screams grew louder, more off-putting and bloodcurdling…

And then, silence. Aria blinked, opening her eyes and exchanging a confused look with Jackie. She looked forward, almost jumping for joy upon seeing this amazing sight The colossal space that the Shadowling had taken up now laid completely empty, as if that horrendous beast had never existed in the first place. Aria breathed a sigh of relief. As she did, she could swear that she heard people from all over the town cheering.

Within seconds, much to Aria's surprise and Jackie's relief, Bob appeared on the scene. His eyes were wide as he looked upon his girlfriend. "What happened? Is it over?" His eyes landed on Aria. Initially, he looked shocked, the expression comparable to how he looked when he first saw Jackie and Aria together. After a minute, he managed to smile. "Aria!"

Aria let out a breath of relief. As she did, Ludwig floated down toward the three of them. "Well… we did it." He stayed silent for a little bit. He smiled at Bob and Jackie, but when he looked upon Aria, his expression fell. He also seemed frozen in place, caught between two completely different realities and emotions.

This honestly broke Aria's heart. She stepped toward her boyfriend, all while her heart pumped. She reached out her hand to take Ludwig's, but stopped halfway there. Now she too stood frozen in place, uncertainty and doubt creeping into her mind. She looked into his eyes. His hopeful eyes. His caring eyes. His hurt eyes.

And that sight was what finally caused the dam to burst. Tears trickled out of her eyes, starting slowly but gradually picking up. She stepped towards Ludwig and wrapped her arms around him. Despite his initially surprise, he hugged her back.

"Ludwig," she said, the sound threatening to fizzle out. "I'm so sorry." She whimpered as more tears came. She held on even tighter. "I shouldn't have said what I said! You weren't trying to hurt me, you were just…" she let out a weak little cry and held on more tightly than she had previously thought possible. "You were trying to help me, Ludwig! And I spat in your face." Now she was full on sobbing. "I never should've bit into you the way I did! I'm so so so sorry!"

Ludwig's hold on her, while shocked, was somehow the warmest it had ever been. Aria heard him sniffle, which made her heart feel like it was going to burst. "I… I'm sorry too, Aria." He squeezed harder. "I was scared after our fight. I wanted to make up with you, but I was afraid you wouldn't have accepted me back. Maybe, if I had gone to you beforehand, none of this would've happened…" He patted her shell. "I only want the best for you. And yet, you fell influence to a demon…" He sniffled again. "I shouldn't have been such a coward. I'm sorry, Aria."

Aria chuckled, the sound brimming with relief. "You don't have to apologize, Ludwig." She buried her face in his chest. "You've only ever wanted to help me. You… you went back in time for me…" she laughed despite her tears. "How can someone ever assume the worst out of you when you were willing to do that?"

Ludwig laughed too. "Thank you, Aria." He rubbed her shoulder. "Why don't… why don't we just leave our fight in the past?"

"That sounds great." Aria gave him one last squeeze before pulling away from him. She looked into his happy eyes before she said something that she had never expected herself to say so soon into their relationship. "I love you, Ludwig."

Ludwig did a double take before the biggest tear Aria had ever seen flowed down his cheek. He wiped his eyes before wearing a smile that matched the size of the tear. "I love you too!" He wrapped his arms around her again. "I love you so much…"

Aria beamed. For a split second, the moment was perfect. Nothing could take away from this nor ruin it, nothing whatsoever.

"Aww!" Bob exclaimed, drawing Aria out of the moment and back down to reality. "That's… that's beautiful!" He sniffled like his creator before him before turning to Jackie. "You know Jackie, I know that it's still relatively early in our relationship, but… oh man, I love you so much!"

Jackie blinked, standing frozen in place with a dropped jaw. "I…" she burst into tears, sobbing harder than either Ludwig or Aria had done within the last few minutes. "Thank you, Bob!" She took his hand, still sobbing. "Thank you so much!"

Bob smiled and pulled her into a hug. As Aria watched this display, she couldn't help but feel much better. Seeing Bob and Jackie interacting in this way… it somehow made her feel like everything bad that had happened before was now worth it.

After a little bit, Jackie finally stopped crying, or at the very least stopped sobbing. Once she did, Aria's face fell a little bit. She curled a strand of her hair back. She bit her lip, all at once feeling the reality of the situation hit her like a ton of bricks. The Shadowling, while defeated, had left a lot of collateral damage in its wake that no doubt would take a while to repair. This made Aria feel extremely guilty.

"How… oh man." She felt like fainting. "What are we going to do about the town? Hundreds of people are injured! How… how can we possibly help them?"

"I wouldn't worry about that," Ludwig said. "I can send some funds to help the town." He smiled, the expression small but no less real. "I think that can work, don't you?"

Aria let out a breath of relief. "Yes, actually. I think it'll be perfect." Her face grew serious. "But I'm not just going to let you clean up my mess all by yourself, Ludwig. I'll use the money I made to help out too." Something occurred to her, causing her heart to skip a beat. "Oh, but how will I be able to help Jackie find a house without it?"

Bob laughed, surprising Aria. "Actually, Aria." He stepped forward, taking Jackie's hand as he did. "Jackie and I came up with a solution to that that we think you're gonna like…"

…

The next morning, Aria fixed herself a bowl of oatmeal in her house. The fact that the building hadn't been destroyed during the Shadowling's attack was a miracle in and of itself, and Aria honestly couldn't be more grateful. She smiled while mixing her oatmeal, counting all the blessings she had received over the course of the last year alone. Doing that helped her life to feel much more fuller than before, and she absolutely loved that fact.

Once the oatmeal was mixed to her satisfaction, she took her bowl and made her way to her living room. She had to admit, she didn't still didn't like how empty it was now. However, as she took a seat in her recliner, she decided that it wasn't the end of the world. She could make and save enough money to buy a new couch, TV, and all the other stuff eventually. Possibly by doing a bake sale?

Aria laughed at that thought before taking a bite of her oatmeal. She settled deeper into the seat, thinking about everything. She thought about Bob and Jackie moving in together. Man, that was such a sweet idea. And a great one too! It got Jackie out of her old house in such the perfect way! And… well, come on; there was something so romantic about Bob offering Jackie his house like that. If Aria were to be honest, she actually felt bad that such a simple and effective solution hadn't occurred to her sooner. Sure, she had acquired a bout of tunnel vision, but…

She shook her head. She shouldn't think about what was gone and done so negatively. Sure, she had made quite a number of mistakes, but everything was going to work out for the better. She had full confidence in that fact now. Things with Ludwig were going to go smoothly. Bob and Jackie living together was going to do wonders, both for Jackie's soul as well as the couple's relationship in general. So what if the road that got them to this destination was rocky? The future was looking brighter now. It shined so brightly that the dark past didn't even matter next to it.

So, with a smile, Aria leaned back even further into the chair. She ate more of her oatmeal, appreciating everything in a way that she never had before. After she finished, she got up and took the bowl to the kitchen. As she set it and rinsed it in the sink, she thought about potentially calling Ludwig. They hadn't had an official date since the double date with Bob and Jackie. Perhaps it was time to remedy that? Perhaps it was time to follow up Aria saying "I love you" to him for the first time by providing him with a good, romantic memory?

The more she thought about that, the more Aria liked the idea. So, once she finished rinsing her bowl, she fished her phone out of her hammerspace. She went to her contact list, about to press on Ludwig's icon…

Knock knock knock.

Aria blinked. She made her way over to the front door, wondering who could possibly be here to see her this early in the morning. Jackie? Bob? The Sparksville authorities in order to berate her for the damage she indirectly allowed the Shadowling to do to the town?

The answer was two out of the three. "Hey Aria!" Bob exclaimed when the door opened.

Aria grinned. "Hey Bob, hey Jackie! How may I help you?"

Bob's eyes sparkled. "Well, there's something that Jackie has been meaning to ask you." He backed up and gently pushed Jackie towards the door. "Go on sweetie; you can do it."

Jackie nodded. She took a deep breath and looked Aria right in the eyes. "Aria? I was… I was wondering if…" she hesitated, looking at Bob. The smile he gave her seemed to be all the emotional support she needed, as she took a deep breath. "Would it be at all possible for me to meet our dad?"