MANY YEARS LATER…

Rachel stood with her back to the setting sun. The church loomed next to her, an ever-growing shadow. Inside, her husband sat drinking tea, chatting with Ceri, and watching her through the window. She smiled and waved. Trent nodded. He looked away quickly, glancing down. Her smile grew soft as she realized that he was probably being tugged at by one of the children. Hers and Ceri's were running wild throughout the house, as they did every Friday evening, when the Kalamack family joined Quen's family for the weekend.

The sun dipped behind the horizon and Rachel sighed. She had been thinking about how she'd gotten so lucky and where the stability in her life had come from. She realized that she had Al to thank for it all. She would explain that to him today, she though smiling. That'd make him really annoyed! He hates my family, especially Trent. I bet it still bugs him that Trent's children will never be demons!

Biting her lip, she pulled a line and with one more look through the kitchen window, she made the jump into the Ever-After. Al was awaiting her on the other side. "Well, my itchy-witch, you're getting much better at that. You might even be passable some day."

She chuckled as they began the short walk to his apartment. "I really should thank you, Al."

He raised one beautifully sculpted eyebrow. "For teaching you to travel the lines? I had to do it eventually, now didn't I? It was becoming such a bore to have to retrieve you every time."

"No, Al. For my life. Everything I have now, my children, Trent, everything. I owe all that to you." His eyes widened dramatically and his lips parted. "It's true. You are the reason I was shunned. If I hadn't been shunned, Trent would never have publicly endorsed me to the press and I would have never known he loved me. We would never have been married, a couple years later. If we hadn't have been married, I would never have my three lovely little girls. Ivy and I would never have found a blood balance, with Trent's help. He would have never found the drug that helped elongate Jenks and Matalina's lives. Ceri would never had children with Quen. Without your warning, I would never have even suspected what Pierce was up to. Even my mom might not have married Tak-Donald." The more she spoke the sicker Al looked. "So really, I have you to thanks for everything."

When he spoke, there was no trace of the pretentious and fake British accent. "Rachel Mariana Morgan, you sure know how to kicked a guy where it hurts." He shook his head and sped up his pace.

Looking confused, Rachel followed more slowly. What was wrong with him? When she reached his open door, Al had collected himself. His usual sneer was back in place. He had traded his velvets for a pair of casual jeans and a button down. She blinked. "You look good in modern casuals."

He raised his eyebrow and smirked. She rolled her eyes, this promised to be a really long day.

24 hours later, Al jumped her back over the lines, still in his casuals. She stepped out of the line with him, to find Trent seated on a cracked tombstone. His arms were crossed over his chest and his head drooped. He jerked alert when they appeared, however, and his brow furrowed. "Rache?"

"Trent! You didn't have to wait out here for me! Weren't they predicting an early snow?" He shook his head and stepped forward, eyeing Al suspiciously.

Al grinned wickedly and placed a familiar hand on Rachel's back. She stiffened. Turning to him with narrowed eyes, she raised her eyebrow in question. He simply smirked back. She glanced between him and Trent. Then back again. "Oooh…oh. I get it now!" Al stilled, the smirk becoming forced. "I understand now…'So softly it starts'…" Al dropped his hand and stepped back into the line. Rachel grabbed his wrist. "No. You will stay and answer my question first."

He sneered at her. "You have no right, my itchy-witch, to order anything of me! Do not presume to order me around!" His red eyes narrowed.

"You don't scare me anymore, Al. You haven't scared me in years! I don't care if you go all demon-y and start throwing fire or whatever shit is your favorite threat for this week. Those were your words, all those years ago. That's what you said to me! Does it mean what I think it means?"

He snarled at her. "You know nothing about me."

"Oh really?" She was getting angry now. Trent retreated a few steps, knowing from experience better then to try and mediate for her and the demon. She was just as scary, when truly angry, as Al had ever been. "I know nothing about you? It's been twenty five year, Algaliarept! Stop being defensive and answer my question! I don't care if Trent being here makes you uncomfortable!"

"Your little piece of shit plaything could not make a skittish colt uncomfortable! Come over here, you bitch, and I will show you uncomfortable!"

"Al, you couldn't seriously hurt me, if your life depended on it! Now answer the fucking question, demon!"

He stood, seething and breathing heavily. His mouth was a hard thin line. He stared at her, not speaking. She narrowed her eyes and stared back for several long minutes. "Fine," She said, her shoulders easing. "You don't have to admit it, but now I understand why you hate them all so much. Al, it has absolutely nothing to do with what you wear. You like the old velvet clothing. Wear it. I am still not ever going to have sex with you. I'm in love with my husband, murdering bastard that he is, and I would never betray him or our love like that, not ever. Be who you are and stop trying to change yourself to seduce me! It will never work!"

Al's eyes tightened and Rachel had a fleeting moment to wonder when his goat-eyes stopped being strange. "Rachel Mariana Morgan, you are as stupid and naïve as you were the first day I met you." He glanced to the horizon, where the sun was just beginning to lighten the sky. "I am not trying to seduce you. I am in love you."

In the blink of an eye, he had pulled a line and vanished. He left Rachel, open-mouthed and gaping at the place he had been. Trent stood frozen a few feet away. "Rachel?" He murmured after a several, silent moments. "May I ask what the hell that was?"

She turned to him with wide eyes. "I have no idea."

"Please tell me that the demon was just fucking with you?" He did not sound sure of himself at all.

"I…" She turned back to where Al had been. "I honestly don't think he was."

Trent exhaled sharply. She explained to him that moment when she had entered into the bargain that had rescued the elf from servitude in the ever-after. While she spoke, she stared at the line that Al had used to jump. She lapsed into silence again.

After a short pause, Trent spoke, "Well, I am going to have an even worse time now when you do your weekly 24 hours in apprenticeship. Now I'm going to be stuck here wondering if he is trying to seduce you, every time. Great! More stress."

Rachel, shaken out of her stupor, rolled her eyes and laughed. Turning to her husband, she went and hugged him. When he slipped his arms around her, she muttered. "He can try all he wants. He can love me all he wants, but I don't give a shit. I feel bad for him."

"What?" Trent looked down at her, worry lurking in his eyes.

"Well, the person he loves is completely and totally in love with someone else. I mean, not only are we married with children, but, even if we weren't, someone like him is not going to break our bond."

Trent's expression softened and he kissed her deeply. "Poor Al." He smiled. "By the way, your daughters wanted to see you, darling. Apparently you are they only one who can fix whatever it is that's wrong."

"Well let's go see what Acacia, Calantha, and Kalina want, then, shall we?"

"As always, Rache, for you? Anything."