Epilogue

Abraham Sapien walked with a sense of urgency through the halls of the Bureau complex with Nuala rushing by his side. Abe had to find him because he had taken something away that Abe could not let him take. The bed where she almost certainly had died laid empty and a grieving mother sat crying in the room with no body of her beloved child. Of his precious friend. Of his Brynn pet.

"Nuada!" Abraham called, seeing the shadow of the man move ahead. "Nuada Silverlance, stop this instant!"

The shadow turned and the man came into view, carrying a covered body. His amber eyes smoldered as they looked at the blue man, but Abraham could see the pain in those eyes. Pain not brought by the hands of an angel of death that had been banished to Hell, but by the loss of a love briefly shared.

"What is it that you want Abraham Sapien?" Nuada demanded, barely casting a glance at his sister.

"Brynn's body," Abe said, taking a step forward. "Please, her mother wishes to have her daughter buried in a Christian ceremony."

"She has not been dead more than fifteen minutes and already her mother moves on," Nuada commented, shifting Brynn's lifeless body slightly as if to make her more comfortable in his arms. "How quick a human wishes to put the noble in the past and take up a new creature in their stead." His eyes narrowed. "I will not have my love put in a cold, metal box, buried in the cold ground where people tread. Where the world will forget her and her kind heart…Tell me, Abraham. Did her sacrifice mean nothing to you?"

Abraham reached out and took hold of Nuala's hand. "Her sacrifice was made to protect those she loved. She wanted to guarantee you a life, Nuada. Do not take away her body and leave her mother with nothing. Her mother needs closure."

"And she shall find it," Nuada stated, turning away slightly. "Brynn Leandra McKae will not be gone from this world long. No, I shall have her back amongst the living in a short while." He looked at Abe in challenge. "Do you dare wish to challenge a man who has nothing to lose, but a worthless life?"

"It is not worthless!" Nuala protested, stepping forward. "Brother, please! Look to your lover! See what she has done for you! She has given you life -"

"To save hers in return," Nuada cut across her. He looked down at the covered face of his beloved angel Halfling. "The world shall be poorer if she does not grace its land or fly in its skies. I shall not let her die for a world that will not see the sacrifice her hands hath wrought."

"Do not take her from her mother," Abraham repeated quietly.

"Abraham Sapien, do you not know how Brynn loved you?" Nuada inquired, fixing a burning gaze on the man to which he spoke. "One of her last thoughts before she slipped into the darkness was of you. You and my beloved sister. She wanted you to experience peace and happiness for many years to come, for she had never witnessed such happiness and love that flowed from you when you were in the presence of my sister. She knew that without her sacrifice, my sister would die with me and so would your happiness. Brynn might have lived had she not been concerned for your happiness, for your heart…

"And I, barely grasping onto this kind of love for more than a week's time, have lost it with one sacrifice. One last noble act from an angel of death, of all creatures to have walked this earth, and I have no love to show for it. What happiness I may have felt for at last finding the other half of my heart is dead, grown cold with the empty shell that was my love." He looked to his sister now. "I have found love, sister. I have found it and it was gone before I could name the word aloud to her. See for yourself, dear sister that I have grown as greedy as the humans. I crave the love of the Halfling in my arms and I feel the desire to share that love with her. Do you not wish for my heart to warn, dear sister?"
Nuala bowed her head slightly. "Brother, I wish you much warmth and love, but it does not change the fact that you're fated mate is dead. How do you expect to love that which cannot express love back?"

The shadow of a smile appeared on the pale face of the dark prince. "She will love back. She will live again, dear sister."
Nuala's face took on a frightful expression, one that Abe didn't like. "Brother, you cannot ask that creature of evil to bring your Brynn McKae back!"

"I must." Nuada turned as if dismissing them and took a step away into the shadows once more.

"Have you not learned the evil that preys upon the good inside of Brynn McKae?" Nuala demanded, breaking away from Abe. "Her father's black dahlia nearly overtook her soul with the evil of his heart. Now will you condemn her soul once more to the evil just to satisfy the longing in your heart?"
"There is no other choice, Nuala." Nuada said hesitating. "What evil is borne into her soul can be cleansed away by your new family when they receive her into their arms again, alive."
"Is this what Brynn would have wanted?" Abe asked, staring at the back of the man he had once hated. "Would she want you to put an evil mark in her soul just so you could have her again?"

"Brynn would have wanted us to be together." Nuada stated with a sharp edge to his voice. "Do not claim to know what is right when you have experienced no loss..."

"You are wrong Nuada," Abe whispered. "I have lost a daughter today. Brynn was the child that loved me unconditionally from the moment she first saw me and I have loved her as a father would. Her death hurts me as much as the time when I lost Nuala. I do know the loss of a love briefly shared and I know the pain that comes with it, but I also know Brynn. I know her more than she even knew herself…" He paused, swallowing his grief when it threatened to overtake him. "I know she would not want to lose herself to the evil that you would ask to save her."

"Then, would you bear the pain of the loss once more?" Nuada inquired, turning slightly to look at Abe once more. "Would you lose your fated love again to keep the soul of your child unblemished, to help unite the love we share in your Heaven?"

Abe stared at him, unable to say anything. Nuala drew back, her eyes lowered, touching Abe's arm with a soft hand. He knew the answer to the question, but did not have the voice to make it heard. It did not seem to matter though, for Nuada already knew the answer.

"You would not." Nuada stated, turning his back once more. "Then let me do what I believe is right for the person that I love, Abraham Sapien. Let me experience that love again and I shall allow you to experience it with my beloved sister."

Abe hesitated. "What am I to tell the others?"
"Tell them that their angel Halfling will return to them, alive and whole." Nuada faded into the shadows. "And do not fear, I shall keep her safe."

Abe waited until he could no longer feel the presence of Nuada before falling against a wall. Nuala moved to his side and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Abraham?" Nuala asked her voice soft even for her.

"We must let him go," Abe whispered, his voice hitching slightly with his grief. "He is acting out of love, but…"
"Brynn McKae's heart will be blackened if that creature of evil consents to bring her back..."
Abe nodded solemnly. "We can only hope that we'll be strong enough to save her when that time comes…"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A/N: And so here is the final scene of Until You Love Me. It's more or less setting up for a sequel which I may get around to writing soon, but you see, I have a dozen or so sequels that I have to write for other fandoms, so don't expect me to get around to this one as fast as you like. I already have ideas for this sequel, so there's no worry there. Please read and review and I'll do my best to get back to you in a timely manner. Thanks! ~Scarlet