((A/N awwwww D: last chapter. i own nothing but adie~))

Three days after they were brought back to the Enterprise, Bones found himself standing in Adellia's room, looking through her chart with mild curiosity. He decided not to wake her up just yet, assuming she would prefer to sleep, but apparently his shuffling around did the trick. He glanced down at her and took out his tricorder, checking up on her now that she was awake and coherent. He smiled at the results, and synced them into her chart with ease.

"How am I doing?" Adellia asked, sitting up a little. She, like so many other crewmembers of the Enterprise, looked a mess. Her body was covered in green bruises, and her arm was in a cast. Thankfully, her ribs had not been broken like she had originally assumed, but her chest was definitely sore from the hits she took. She regained her color a little more after being fed and given water.

"You might even be healthier than me," he joked with a broad smirk. He was just thrilled to see that she was had improved so much…he sat down at the edge of her bed, smiling down in her direction. She looked down to her lap, and at that he frowned. He reached his hand over and put it under her chin to lift her head back up. He looked right into her dark eyes, his light blue ones seeming hard yet welcoming at the same time. "What is it?"

"I was just reminiscing on that horrible food," she lied, and she smirked a little at her horrible lie, but his face remained stone cold. He obviously did not believe her. Adellia looked away, and sighed. "I was just thinking about…you know, what life is supposed to be like now. With us."

Bones frowned, thinking about what she said. "Adie, if you think I didn't mean what I said in those cells…"

"I do."

"Do you?" he asked, and he finally pulled his hand away. "How could I not walk away from that situation—how could anyone—and not see life in a new kind of way? When I saw you lying there, I mean…" he got up, to face away from her. He was clearly uncomfortable, but he wanted to say it, still. He just had to brace himself really quick.

"The regret that filled me was…overwhelming. I just remembered those fights we had, how I treated you, and how…I let us go so far apart from each other…" he finally turned back around to see her highly attentive face. "I mean, that's not happening again. It can't, and I won't let it." He walked over to stand next to her, glancing down at her. "Will you let it?" he asked, a little accusatory. He was getting defensive as a compensation for his honesty, now.

"No, of course not," Adellia mumbled, and she smiled a little bit, taking his hand. She understood he wasn't mad, of course. "I understand precisely what you're saying. How could we just go back to how things were? In some ways, I'd say this…fiasco, might have been a blessing in disguise."

Bones raised his eyebrow, and he wrapped his arms around her carefully, pulling her into a bear hug. "Well, that blessing is the true master of disguise. I have never seen a better disguise from a blessing." The two of them laughed, and he pulled back a bit, looking down and smiling on one side of his mouth. He leaned down and kissed her, as if telling her how glad he was to see she was all right, for once.

Adellia returned the kiss, and for once was not so nervous about it. Their lips lingered together for just a little bit before she pulled apart, and she smiled up at him. Adellia wasn't sure what to say at that moment, so she just squeezed his hand, and took in a deep breath.

"When we get back to Earth, and when you're alright…I'd like to meet your father. Maybe we could all go out and get barbecue." He smirked, pushing back some of her hair for her.

"I think he would like that, yes. I know I would."

He sat down next to her and stayed there for a while, taking her in and allowing the other doctors work on everybody. Bones knew he would have to leave soon to help, but just for now, he wanted to just enjoy her. Something he was slowly learning to do. He knew he couldn't trust her completely, not yet, but he intended to keep his promises. That was just the sort of man he was…the sort of man for her.

((A/N please excuse the fluff, lol. i'm not much of a fluffy writer, but awww. teehee. well, i enjoyed writing this story and getting all the feedback from everybody! thank you all sooooooooo much for reading and reviewing this fic and the last one too! and guess what. i'm not even gonna lie or tease, there's definitely going to be a threequel xD so if you wanna read it, watch out for it. i think if you add me to the author alert thing it'll tell you automatically, but idk about that. anywho...so watch out for that. tell me what you thought of starlight! or what you hope for for the next one! but again, thank you SO MUCH for reading all of you, for adding it to your alert/faves, and for reviewing. i mean without people checking me out, i probably wouldn't even bother writing. so THANK YOU :3 ))