Epilogue - Absolution
Moving on

Everything in the room was white: the walls, the ceiling, the bedsheets, and the nurses' uniforms. So this is what being in heaven feels like, Holly mused.

Next to her bed, Artemis' head rose with a start. "Ah, Holly, you've woken up."

Holly smiled to see the boy in her room. "Indeed. How long have you been here?"

"Quite a while, these energy patches are the only thing keeping me awake at this point. These really are extraordinary, I don't know how he does it." Artemis flinched, worried that somewhere, somehow, the centaur was watching.

Hundreds of miles away, holed up in his operations booth, the centaur in question beget a smug smile and executed a little bow.

Artemis looked around at the room. Someone had sent a vase of orange roses; the card had been torn off. "I see," he mused, "the shoe is on the other foot. Now you must stay here and endure these ridiculous treatments while I wait at your bedside."

Holly made a face at him. The sheets on her bed were slightly wrinkled. She tried to resist the urge to straighten them out. Artemis noticed. "Don't fight it Holly. It's best to just give in until the doctors come and see you." She sighed. Her guilt was gone, but the sadness she felt over Artemis' death still lingered and the symptoms would stay with her for quite a bit longer. It had taken Artemis almost six months to recover and he was a genius.

And yet, despite his teasing, or possibly because of it, Holly smiled. Artemis is back. Her mind went back to the scene atop Fowl Manner. Her voice changed, suddenly serious, "Artemis, what happened? I think you saved me...from myself."

He shook his head, "No Holly, you saved me. I was broken and you fixed me."

The elf stared up at the white ceiling. "I can barely stand to think about it. I was insane, Artemis. I don't know how I could have done it." She frowned, straightening the wrinkles that were starting to form on her sheets once more.

Artemis laid a hand on top of hers. "Holly, you once told me to leave the past where it belongs, in the past." His eyes met hers and something unspoken passed between them.

He sat down on the bed next to her. "The doctors will be showing up soon. I should probably leave before they kick me out."

"Will you come back soon?" asked the elf, unable to help herself.

Artemis smiled and rose letting go of her hand. "Don't worry. I have some...business to attend to," he winked at her, "but I will return as soon as I can."

"Goodbye Artemis. It's good to have you back."

"Goodbye Holly. Watch out for those black cats." Holly's eye twitched and Artemis excused himself from the room laughing nervously.

At the door the boy nearly ran into Dr. Argon. He looked the little gnome up and down and said, "You had better take excellent care of Holly, or my friend I will be back."

The haughty look and the objection died on the doctor's lips as Butler appeared over Artemis' shoulders. He slumped his shoulders, nodded his head and turned to face his new patient. Dreams of a new celebrity were already dying in his mind as the weight of responsibility and the fear of the man-mountain settled on his shoulders. Artemis smiled over the gnome's shoulders and Butler gave a small wave.

Holly smiled back at them at them and turned to face the doctor. His mind was clearly on other things and he began asking her memorized questions straight from the psych book. Artemis would know the textbook answers to all of these, she thought, no wonder he was out so quickly.

Holly glanced up at the white ceiling. As she answered the questions, her mind drifted. She had gotten Juliet's grief, Butler's empathy, and Foaly's sarcastic remarks that masked his sense of loss, but what had set her mind straight, and had brought Artemis' mind back was the boy's absolution. It's not a good thing to keep emotions bottled up. Sooner or later it will come back to bite you.

Overcoming the complex would be another challenge, but nothing that she couldn't overcome with the help of Artemis, Butler, Foaly, and all of the other people that had helped her become what she was today. "Thank you," she said quietly.

The gnome looked up, "What was that?"

"Oh, nothing."

She touched the fairy communicator on her wrist. The card from Angeline and Juliet was nestled beneath her pillow. In that moment, she could still feel the chaos in Artemis' lost eyes and the fear in his trembling fingers as he desperately grasped her hands. But in spite of everything that had happened, she felt more safe and more secure than she had since the boy genius had died. Everyone was back together. They would leave the past in the past, where it belonged.

And together they would all move on.

Not really a fan of this last chapter, but it's been awhile so I was pressed to finish. I guess it's alright, I couldn't think of a good line to end it on.

The way I write, I write what seems interesting first and then kind of fill in the blanks. When I started this story I didn't really have a plot, I just knew I wanted to write a cliffhanger (get it) so I drafted the last two chapters out first, actually before I read The Last Guardian and came up with a legitimate plot. The line "I was broken and you fixed me" was my idea until Colfer stole my credit! Unfortunately he owns Artemis Fowl so there's not much I can do about it. Oh well, I'll settle for great minds think alike.

Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed and who is going to do so. This is my first time posting on such a commonly traversed community and it's pretty awesome to get so many reviews (comparatively). What can I say, reviews feed me ego, and like Dr. Cox, I have a huge ego! Thanks again and stayed tuned. I have at least one more Fowl fic planned for some point.