Walking through the castle, Wolfram felt tired. She had been up all night, doing reports and other things that had filled up during the war. Thankfully, there was only little structural damage to be dealt with, and the towns people were helping with that.

After their victory, no one wasted time to actually celebrate it. Everyone immediately sprung to work after a good night's rest. Besides, how could anyone celebrate when their king was on the verge of dying?

Wolfram remembered the worst of the times, when she wasn't even allowed to go ten meters near Yuuri's bed in the infirmary, separated from all the other patients. Her blood boiled at the thought that she could actually feel the reason why she couldn't get near him.

The poison in his body had intensified, and it was gaining strength through his magic. Murata had explained to Wolfram how the sword was intentionally made for her type of demon; fire-wielders. If that sword had somehow managed to cut her through skin, seeped through and touched her magic, it would burn her. Her own element would burn her. Only the natural calmness of Yuuri's water magic was keeping him alive.

All the while, Yuuri was kept unconscious, thanks to Anissina's somehow-successful potion. It helped with the screaming that was making Yuuri's throat literally bleed.

She remembered the better days, when she was at least allowed to enter his room. She would stand by the door, with everyone clearing off from her path of sight, and stare at Yuuri. She remembered almost leaving, watching him writhe in pain.

But just a few minutes before, Gwendal had given her the best news she had ever heard in a while...

"Anissina informed me that the potion will be wearing off soon," her brother told her.

Wolfram looked up from her paperwork, feeling her eyebrows knit together. "I assume she has some ready for him?"

He shook his head. "His Majesty wouldn't appreciate it if he found out that we made him sleep this long, so I can not imagine how he'll like the idea of sleeping for another week."

Wolfram shook her own head. "That doesn't matter. He needs it."

"Not anymore," Gwendal said. This caught Wolfram by surprise.

"What do you mean?"

"He no longer needs the aid of the sleeping potion. Gisela told me that the poison is almost completely out of his system. Of course he'd still be in pain, but-," he wasn't given the chance to finish his sentence, because Wolfram was already standing up.

"Is that true? Does that mean that he'll be waking up soon?"

"Apparently so," Gwendal said with a nod, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips, but of course, Wolfram barely saw it.

She didn't need to hear that twice. Wolfram was out the door the moment Gwendal finished his sentence.

She pushed the door open and stepped inside the room, finding Yuuri peacefully sleeping on the uncomfortable-looking bed. Seeing Wolfram, Gisela politely left after doing a final check on the king's temperature.

Wolfram sat down on Yuuri's bedside, careful not to accidentally wake him up. It proved to be worthless, because he was already stirring.

"Ow," was the first word that escaped his lips.

Wolfram felt a heavy feeling settle in her stomach, rising up her chest. It was her fault that Yuuri was in pain.

"Yuuri?" she called, hearing her own voice crack.

Yuuri's eyes snapped opened when he heard her voice, and he tried to shift away but the pain must have stopped him. This action hurt Wolfram, although she knew that he did it for her.

Again, he was in pain because of her.

"Yuuri, it's okay. It's safe now."

She gingerly touched his cheeks to prove her point. "See? I'm fine." 'But you're not,' she mentally added.

She let him relax to the idea of being near her, which wasn't long. Soon, he had his eyes closed, looking as peaceful as he could in that pained state.

When he opened his eyes again, he looked at her and managed to crack a smile. "Wolf."

Wolfram hummed and smiled back, although she felt like it came off as a grimace.

"My mouth feels funny," he told her, his voice hoarse. He testily lifted his arm and, although it seemed very difficult, was able to brush away the hair that was obstructing Wolfram's eyes.

"I'm sorry, Yuuri," she said. "I am so sorry."

He frowned at her. "For what?"

"For this." She paused, then closed her eyes. "To tell you the truth... I'm ashamed. Being saved by you makes me feel weak. Maybe a couple of years ago, I'd pass this as something that just wounded my pride... because I can't accept the fact that you're stronger than me, in terms of strength, and I don't want to be saved by you. But now... it's just... I guess I just I want to be strong enough for both of us.

"This isn't the first time that you've risked your life for me," she continued in a whisper. "I'm not happy about it, honestly. I'm not used to it."

When she opened her eyes, they gazed at each other, and Wolfram had to take a deep breath before telling him the rest. "I can't think of you dying. You can't die, Yuuri. I was tortured for weeks, not being able to see you, and when I was allowed to, I saw you... dying. And then I remembered how I died and left you, and thinking that you went through the same pain I was feeling then... it was murderous.

"I wished that I could act as a shield, that I would take all the blow for you. That you wouldn't have to feel any of the pain this world has to offer. That your life would never be in danger. But then, as arrogant as this may sound, I knew that if you saw me in pain, it would kill you as much as it killed me. We're killing each other."

Yuuri stared at her, a tinge of panic coloring his eyes. "What are you saying?"

"Have you ever thought that maybe... maybe it's not meant to be. Maybe we're not meant to be."

"You... you can't be thinking of leaving. You can't leave. You can't leave me. That doesn't solve anything!" It must have took him a lot of effort to say that, because his face contorted into an agonized look.

"I'm not as noble and kind as you think I am. I won't leave you unless you ask me to-," she was immediately cut off.

"That won't ever happen, Wolfram. And that's that."

She could feel her resolve waver, but she wanted him to have a choice. That, at least, she would give him. "Why can't you just think about it for a moment? Consider it?"

"Are you being serious? Just because of this small incident-"

"This isn't a small incident-"

"It is for me!" he yelled, now huffing, but still kept going. "I could do it again and again for you, Wolfram. I could die as many times as hell allows."

"You're being stupid," Wolfram declared.

"What do you want? A divorce?" Disbelief with a mix of sarcasm colored his voice.

"No. Of course not. Of course I don't want that."

"Then why are you telling me this? What do you want?" he demanded.

"I just want you to know your options," she murmured.

"Don't give me that. You know very well that my options always include you. Always. What do you want?"

"What do you mean?" she shot back.

"Are you getting tired of me?" He sounded scared, worried that he might be speaking the truth. At this, Wolfram almost threw her head back in frustration.

"Yuuri, I would never. As I said, or was about to say, I will not leave unless you tell me to do so. Why would I purposely deprive myself of the only thing that makes me happy?"

Yuuri let out the breath he was holding in a sigh of relief. "Good, because if you ever leave me, I will find you. Then I'd kill you and make you mine forever."

She almost laughed at the familiarity of that statement. In a serious tone, she said, "Being with me means treading through hell, Yuuri. You know that. You saw it."

"I don't believe the Gods meant it that way, Wolf. They didn't mean that us parting ways would solve those... things." Wolfram cringed when she remembered the images they saw while they were dead, but Yuuri went on, "The only way to escape our faith is to die. We didn't choose that. And besides, you talk as if you're not going to hell."

"Of course I am," she said, holding back from rolling her eyes at their weird choice of metaphor. Yuuri was too good, too kind, to go to hell.

"Then if we're both going to hell, we might as well go together," he finished, as if that solved everything.

Wolfram snorted, shaking her head. "What is with you and hell today?"

With this, Yuuri finally relaxed back into his pillow. He was taking deep breaths and Wolfram regretted working him up so much.

"It's just that I'm married to one hell of a woman," he finally told her after a few minutes of trying to keep himself alive.

"Barely a woman," she corrected him, but with a light laugh. "I'm sorry."

He nodded. "No more talks about leaving, okay?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," she mocked, doing a slight bow.

Yuuri rolled his eyes at her, but the smile that spread across his face made him look a bit better, the color returning to his abnormally pale skin.

"I'm sorry for wearing my heart on my sleeve," she quoted him. "I'll be sure to place it back inside my brassiere."

Yuuri's jaw dropped, smile fading, before he was holding his sides, trying to control his laughter.

"What? Are you going hysterical?" Wolfram sounded genuinely concerned, half because he looked like he was in pain, and half for his sanity.

"Brassiere? Wolfram, seriously? Brassiere! If you're going to drop that joke on me, at least use something sexy!"

"First, it wasn't a joke. And second, what do you want me to call them? Breast supporter? Breast holder?" This only made Yuuri laugh even more, much to Gisela's annoyance, who was just re-entering the room to check on him.

"You know when you love someone so much that you know they're the best you ever had?"

It was a good few months after the incident, and Yuuri, Wolfram, with Greta in the middle, was wrapped up in their bed, back in their room.

"You know it's bad to compare your present with your past relationships," Wolfram told him off, quietly as to not wake the sleeping Greta.

"You know I don't have any past relationships," Yuuri said, and chuckled at her confused expression. "Sorry, let me explain. It's like... you know that they're the best. That if you did have anyone in the past, your current would still be better than them, no matter who they were. And that if you were to have someone else in the future, if I were to have someone else in the future, you'd still be the best I ever had, Wolfram. Not that I want to have someone else. Ever."

"You can't be so sure of that." But Wolfram was smiling from ear to ear.

"Believe me, I think I am." He leaned forward to kiss her on the forehead, as he did with Greta before she fell asleep.

"Well, I wouldn't really know about the 'better' part, because I'm stuck with you," she teased.

"Forever?" he asked.

"Forever," she confirmed.

A/N. It's done, folks. I know it seems a bit too anti-climatic, but I didn't want any major drama to happen in the last chapter. Let our two heroes have their happy ending, alright?

Thanks for sticking around (although I left for almost three months) and reading this up until now. Of course, major thanks to the two people who were with me since the first chapters, soulxspirit125 and RukisLeech. Aaaaand to everyone who sent reviews and messages and words of encouragement. And to Lala~ ravuu

Too long; didn't read. Bye!