AN :: Well, after long last, here's the end… this one's not angsty. Happy Valentine's Day.

Disclaimer :: Destiny isn't mine. But you better believe this story would be canon if it was. Characters are mine but the stuff that'd make me money is not.

He was in love.

Love; the open, honest sentiment he had finally decided to apply the complex web of emotions that entangled him whenever he thought about her. Emillie. It was a constant rush of adrenaline racing through his blood like the oxygen that gave him life. It was anxiousness, excitement, fear – because for all the things he'd mulled over in his mind about what it would be like to see her again, he'd never once considered that she might not love him back.

That she might be angry was understandable. He'd left immediately after breaking into her dormitory to… the Traveler only knew what he'd wanted, what he'd honestly intended in being there.

And what he got?

He would make her forgive him if she was angry.

Because he loved her.

Because they were meant to be together.

She was his girl and Leif knew there was none other quite like her. As far as he was concerned, there never would be. All he'd felt after he left her room that morning was emptiness, numbness. He could feel nothing but guilt for what he'd done. To break into her room for the purpose of watching her while she slept was evil enough in its own right. That he'd been unable to control himself from reaching out to touch her soft hair, her skin? That he'd made love to her?

Unspeakable.

It hadn't been until three days later, when he was far below the Cosmodrome, stuck within the sights of a trio of House Devil Captains, unsure he was going to make it out, that he realized he loved her. The last emotion he would have felt had it not been for a Hunter's fast trigger, an adequate distraction, would have been regret. Regret that he'd not told her he was sorry, that he wished he'd stayed, that he loved her.

When the Titan had been returned safely to Tower, bound and determined to find his Warlock and make her understand, she had been away. The underbelly of the Cosmodrome, a place he'd just left, with two younger Warlocks.

So Leif had waited.

Five more days.

And he was sent to Venus before she had returned.

He'd looked for her everywhere after that. Subconsciously, each time he caught a glimmer of amethyst or sage or crimson in a Warlock's cloak his heart would soar. But it was never her auburn hair, her startling pale green eyes. Never her smile.

Finally, having broken down and admitted that he wasn't going to find her in a bar or within the Crucible, Leif went to the library. It was a place that, were he honest with himself, he could never remember having ventured – but, as far as he could tell, it seemed to be her favorite place in the entire Tower. Where else could she have passed so much of her time?

When she wasn't there, either, Leif set a hazel eye on her friend and fellow Warlock, "Farinha, have you seen Emillie around?"

"Depends who's asking."

"I'm asking," Leif pulled the book she was reading out of her hands and closed it, tossing it on top of a stack resting between them.

The tall blonde glanced up at the Titan. As her emerald eyes flashed, the Titan could tell that she had recognized who he was, even without his armor. She masked further emotion by returning her attention to a different text she had open on the table before her. If her pen had ever stopped moving, Leif was uncertain. The young Warlock replied in a tone soft enough he'd needed to lean forward to be certain he'd heard her, "I am not her keeper, Titan."

"Just tell me where I can find her," he replied.

She smirked, "What do you need with Emillie?"

Leif frowned, gripping the back of the chair before him as he leaned forward over the table to whisper, "It's important, Anna."

"You know as well as I that Emillie goes her own way," she sighed, letting her pen pause over the place where she would start the next word on her page. A drop of ink fell to the weathered parchment but she seemed unaffected, just shaking her head and venturing a cautious glance up to lock eyes with the Titan, "I don't know where she is."

But even with just one hazel eye, he had caught the glimmer of deception; he'd caught her lie. He'd been around a lot longer than this Warlock. Compared to Emillie, Anna was still green – he was so frustrated that he swore he could all but smell the death still on her, though she had been a Guardian for more than a year. She was a novice, inexperienced, nothing… He would be damned before he let her keep something from him. The Titan slammed an open palm over the table, growling, "Farinha!"

"Shh!" the angry hiss of an older Warlock, seated a few chairs away, drew the Titan's attention. Then, under her breath, she whispered something about Titans not belonging in a library.

Anna hid a soft chuckle behind her hand, turning her attention back to the book she had open. She turned a few pages further. Leif pulled out the chair across from her and took a seat. They were silent for a long while before, staring at his hands, he asked, "Why won't you tell me where she is?"

"It's personal, Leif," she looked up at him to frown, setting her lips in a tight line. She'd put down her pen to reach for one of the books stacked in a pile to her right, not the one he'd earlier closed. "So you don't wear out your welcome, why don't you keep yourself out of her business?"

The Titan narrowed his eye as he nudged a few sheets of paper closer to the Warlock with his fingertips. He had to bite his tongue to keep from confessing that he wanted all of the other Warlock's business to be his – that he wanted nothing more than to be privy to all of her secrets, to be the person with whom she would exclusively share such intimate details of her personal life. That it would be Anna coming to him when she was looking for Emillie. But he only closed his eye, drawing a deep breath as his shoulders slumped, "At least tell me that she's safe."

The Warlock sighed, leaning back in her chair. Leif could feel her eyes on him, studying him. She reached across the table to put her right hand over his, patting them gently as reassurance. There was sympathy in her eyes when he glanced up at her next. Her voice was soft when she whispered, "She's fine, Leif. You can find her in the recovery ward on four."

"The hospital?" he called out a bit louder than he might have intended. But he stood quickly, pulling his hands away from Anna's as he toppled a pile of books beside him into the Warlock's work space. He didn't stop to help her pick them up, didn't stop to respond to her sarcastic, "You're welcome, Titan."

His mind was racing.

His entire body had grown cold.

He was hardly aware of himself; that he was halfway across the Plaza towards the elevators by the time he'd restored enough awareness to summon his Ghost. His voice was low as he demanded, "Check today's field reports and the ones from yesterday. Where was she?"

In his hasty rush to the elevators, he'd nearly toppled over a fellow Titan. She had been wearing her armor, pink and white, and had an auto rifle strapped over her shoulders. Leif caught her before she could fall over entirely, muttering a hasty apology before hurrying on his way.

"Careful, Titan," his Ghost admonished. "I knew you were fond of this Guardian but the extent-"

"You're not being helpful, Ghost."

As Leif stepped across the threshold of the elevator, the small mechanical box whirred inside after him. When the doors were safely closed and the Titan had pressed the button for the fourth floor enough times the Ghost had decided to stop counting, he added, "Need I remind you that she's in the recovery ward? If there, she's not in any real danger."

"The field reports?" the Titan crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against the back wall of the elevator as he waited. It felt like his stomach fell with each floor the elevator traveled.

"She wasn't on assignment with the Vanguard on either day."

"Nothing?"

"I'm afraid not," the Ghost replied, flashing blue light at Leif as the elevator came to a smooth halt on the proper floor.

Leif stepped off, running a hand through his sandy brown hair. He hesitated. The walls were a sterile white, still metal, but the stark contrast of this place compared to the rest of the Tower left the Titan feeling ill at ease. There was no sound. The hallways were empty, stretching to the left and right away from Leif.

He had never been to this floor. Anyone he'd ever thought to see here, in the hospital ward, had died before they'd ever needed to be moved off of the fifth floor. So he was thankful that Emillie was here, he supposed, and not one floor higher.

"She's in room 7B, Guardian," the Ghost urged. When the Titan still didn't move, he added, "Go left. Hers will be the third door from the end of the hallway."

His footsteps were slow as he wiped his palms against the rough cotton trousers he wore. He didn't look inside any of the other rooms as he passed them by; he couldn't bring himself to. When he came to her doorway, he froze.

There she was, lying propped up against soft white pillows but he was certain that she was asleep with her head turned just slightly towards the doorway. He could tell that she was asleep by the even rise and fall of her chest; that her pretty green eyes remained closed as sunlight slipped into her room through a nearby window. Her vibrant auburn hair seemed to glow like fire.

He exhaled a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, relieved.

Other than an IV pressed into the top of her left hand, there seemed nothing wrong with her.

He walked over to her bedside and brushed the top of her right hand with gentle fingers. Her entire body trembled and her expression seemed to indicate that she was uncomfortable, even as she slept. Leif brushed her bangs away from her face and let his fingertips trail down her temple until he could rest his palm over her cheek as he whispered, "Shh, Emillie. It's alright."

Just as she seemed to relax, as her features softened and her trembling limbs stilled, a voice from the doorway he still had his back to startled the Titan.

"It's the codeine."

Leif turned to find another Titan standing in the doorway. He had dark hair cut short, suntanned skin, and was still wearing his armor. He smelled like clay soil and his boots were dirty with red sand. He stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame of the door as his dark eyes glimmered at Leif, "She never did take to it well. But the doctors were insistent, said she'd thank me for it later. When she wakes up."

"Who are you?"

"I might ask the same of you," the other Titan chuckled, finally entering the room to come stand beside Leif on the same side of the bed. "But I won't. I s'pose if you knew she was here, she asked ya to come."

He said nothing but watched as the other man placed three books on top of a rolling table that contained a bucket of ice and a glass of water.

Leif recognized this Titan now, though he was still unable to place a name with the newcomer. It was the same Titan he'd watched run his hands through Emillie's hair that night at the bar. The same man that had made her smile, made her laugh.

In response to the silence, the shorter man laughed, "Then again, maybe not."

"What happened?" Leif asked, motioning towards Emillie.

"Tonsillectomy," the dark-haired Titan lowered his gaze to the little Warlock in her mint green hospital gown. Her shoulders shook slightly and her expression hardened. Shaking his head, he sighed, "She was scared to death when the doctors were puttin' her under. I promised I'd be here when she woke up."

Leif nodded, picking up her hand and smiling down at her for the way she'd subconsciously tightened her fingers around his. Like she knew that it was him. Like she wanted for it to be him.

"She hates hospitals in general," the other Titan added. "Needles in particular."

The sandy-haired Titan pulled his hand away reluctantly. He wasn't alone with her – but he smiled all the same. She was scared of hospitals, eh? He found this trait to be endearing; just another of her mysteries, the secrets that only made him more fond of her.

"Hiram," the other Titan held his hand out in greeting.

"Leif."

Emillie shivered and, without hesitation, Leif reached for the threadbare quilt at the foot of her bed. He pulled it over her slight frame, tucking it underneath her chin with great care. He could feel Hiram's eyes on him but he kept his attention directed at the woman sleeping beside them.

Was this him? Was this other Titan the man that Emillie had asked him to make her forget? Leif felt his jaw clench, his gaze hardened. Could Fate really be so cruel as to place the man she wanted to love before the one who so desperately wanted that she love him?

As much as he dreaded the answer, he had to ask the question.

"So, you and Emillie," he tried to sound casual, like his soul didn't feel like it was being ripped from his body, like the answer mattered no more to him than the weather or where the Vanguard might send him next. But he couldn't find the words to voice the remainder of his thought. He felt empty just thinking on what the answer might be.

His throat had gone dry, his voice had been lost.

"I'm her Fireteam Leader," the other Titan replied with an easy smile, nudging Leif's shoulder with his elbow as though he wanted the other Titan to lighten up. Leif could tell that the other man had read him like an open book. Was he really so transparent? He sighed, relaxing, when Hiram added, "When she's not leading new Warlocks through the Cosmodrome, that is."

But that had only answered half of his question. Hiram hadn't really told him anything useful; that he didn't love her, that they weren't together was a start. What would it have mattered how he felt for Emillie if she loved Hiram? His hazel eyes watched the woman tremble in her bed and he frowned, shaking his head.

When she started to stir, the sandy-haired Titan had to look away. He had to close his eye and grip the metal railing beside her bed to keep himself from reaching out to her. He was too afraid to know how she would react to seeing him. After all his waiting. After all his certainty… Leif had finally come to terms with the fact that she might reject him.

He needed her.

"Well, well! Look who's finally awake," Hiram's voice broke the silence.

"Leif?"

She'd sounded surprised and maybe a little hopeful. When he looked at her, he'd caught her reaction just in time to see pain in her pretty green eyes as her right hand reached for her throat, as though touch alone could undo the pain she'd just brought upon herself. But he could see happiness in her eyes, too. At least, he thought that was the right name for the emotion.

"Shh, kid! Don't talk," Hiram scolded. And when she reached for the IV at her left hand, presumably to pull it away, the dark-haired Titan caught her hand. "And leave that alone. Talkin' and refusin' your meds aren't either one good for your recovery."

But she hadn't turned to look at the other Titan. Her eyes were still on Leif. He smiled when he felt her fingers intertwine with his. When she opened her mouth like she meant to speak, Leif cut her off by gently reminding, "You'd better listen to Hiram."

She lowered her chin in acknowledgement, the small smile beginning to form at the corners of her lips not going anywhere.

"You thirsty, Em?" Hiram asked.

She shook her head 'no'.

"Want somethin' to eat?"

Another 'no' as her eyes remained intensely focused on Leif.

"You see somethin' else you'd like?"

"Hiram!" she cried, immediately pulling her hand out of Leif's to clutch her sore throat. Her cheeks were flushed and she was glaring at the other Titan.

Leaning forward, Leif brushed away a tear from the corner of her eye before it could fall. He shook his head at Hiram, "Don't tease her."

"I brought the books you asked for," Hiram changed the subject but still wore the confident grin that his teasing had afforded him. He pushed the cart a little closer to her bedside, that she might be able to reach the books when she wanted them. "If there's nothing else you need from me," and he'd placed special emphasis on the word 'me' before lowering the metal bar at the side of her hospital bed and continuing, "Then I'll plan on seeing you tomorrow."

She nodded.

And Leif smiled for the delicate flush that rushed to her cheeks when Hiram added, "Don't keep her up too late, Leif."

The pair of Guardians was silent for the first few moments as Emillie's hand found its way back into Leif's. He just admired her, watching her watching him, as he took a seat on the edge of her bed and brushed her bangs out of her face, "Hi, Emillie."

She whispered, "Hi, Leif."

"Hi."

The pale green hospital gown she wore looked dull when compared to the vibrant color of her eyes. He was thankful then, so thankful, that she was alright.

"I really thought the worst, you know," he confessed quietly, letting his gaze travel to where their hands rested, interlaced, in her lap. Her hand felt so small within his; when she brought her free hand, the one with the IV, to rest over his, he looked at her again.

He tried to read her expression; she seemed to be asking him if he was serious, if he had honestly believed that she could land herself in the hospital for being careless in the field. And, while maybe a few days ago he would have appreciated the sentiment of her humor, laughed at her silent defiance, now things were… different.

Leif had finally admitted to himself how much he cared about her. He'd had the better part of a week to adjust to the admission, to start fitting the pieces together in his mind. That he had loved her, always; when he'd first seen her four years prior. When they had both been young and scared of what a future protecting their Last City might mean. He could understand, now, the reason no other woman before her had ever stuck; the others had all shared the same shortcoming. None of them had been Emillie.

He opened his mouth to speak but couldn't find the right words to say. Leif loved her, sure, but she was still in love with someone else. She'd said as much herself. And he felt his heart sink, beating an uneven pace in his chest. He frowned, shaking his head.

"Smile, Titan," she whispered, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze.

There was concern etched over her delicate features and she had leaned forward to sit up and away from her soft white pillows.

Then, offering him a slight smile, she added even more softly, "They were only tonsils. I'm told I'll be better off without them."

But Leif couldn't laugh – he felt too conflicted. Was this how she felt about him? That his concerns for her well-being should be dismissed without thought, as though they carried no weight? That he wasn't the person who she wanted to harbor such genuine concerns? He closed his eyes and turned away.

"Leif? What's wrong?"

He felt her hand on his cheek and leaned into her touch, putting his hand over hers. His eye was still closed as he took a deep breath. The Titan had to tell her; even if it would be a message she wouldn't want to hear. Even if it meant that she might walk out of his life forever…

"I'm sorry, Emillie," he whispered. "I'm so sorry I left."

He felt her thumb trace quietly over his cheek, brushing against the smooth leather band that held the eye-patch over his injured eye, but still could not bring himself to look at her. He could hardly breathe.

He loved this woman so much it physically hurt.

"I-" and he paused, his breath catching in the back of his throat. He had to tell her. Emillie needed to know how he felt. "I wanted to stay but I was afraid I might hurt you."

Her right arm found its way around his neck and he felt her bury her face in the place where his shoulder met his neck. Her breath was short and when her hair bushed against his chin, he felt chills race down his spine. But he wrapped his arms around her anyway; his right hand found bare skin at the small of her back where the hospital gown she wore split in two. His left hand cradled the nape of her neck, fingers lacing through her soft hair.

He turned his face to her, pressing his lips to the crown of her head, whispering, "I'm in love with you, Emillie."

When he felt her pull away, his heart stopped beating. Her right arm stayed where it was around his neck but her left hand came to rest on his chest, over his heart. When he looked down at her, there were tears in her eyes; he brushed them all away with a gentle hand. And she sighed through her tears, burying her face in the soft folds of his t-shirt, whispering, "I love you, too, Leif. So much."

The Titan smiled, relaxed in his relief. He pulled her as close to him as he could manage while still minding how fragile she felt in his arms. His lips found hers and he kissed her softly, over and over again as she eased aside to make room that he could lie beside her. Absentmindedly, Leif kicked off his boots, gently laying his woman back into the soft folds of her pillows as he kissed her eyelids, her cheeks, the tender place behind her ear.

He let her get comfortable, watching as she rolled over on her side, and he pulled her back flush against his chest. She tucked her head beneath his chin, her little arms wrapping around his so that she held them close to her chest. The Titan reached across the bed to the rolling table and picked up one of the books, whispering, "Let's see what Hiram brought for you to read, eh?"

Emillie nodded, using her right hand to help him keep the book open. He let his right arm fall over her hip, wrap protectively around her small frame, holding her body against his.

"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen," he read, pausing once to kiss the top of her head before he continued. "Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory Mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him."

At his feet, a pair of Ghosts landed silently atop the threadbare quilt, listening intently as a Titan read to his Warlock; the smooth sound of his deep voice eventually lulling her back to sleep.

When she turned over in his arms, curling against his chest and clutching the fabric of his t-shirt tightly in her small fists, Leif smiled. He pulled her close to kiss her forehead and whispered, "Goodnight, Emillie."

He watched her smile, nodding against his chest.

When he made to gently pull away, her green eyes opened and she whispered, "Please stay."

"Oh, Emillie," he smiled, closing his eye and settling in beside her. "I thought you'd never ask."

She snuggled against his chest as she drifted into a peaceful sleep. The Titan's hand traced gentle lines up and down her back until he, too, followed after.