Disclaimer: I still don't own Black Clover... although I may be buying the Blu-Ray release soon.

Authoress' Note: This is the final chapter of my "Kings and Queens" storyline! I thank you for reading my entire series, and hope you have enjoyed it! While this series is done, I'm sure to write another Asta x Noelle fic again in the future, and I hope you may return to read that eventually as well.

Redux

Noelle Silva barely realized that it had started to rain.

The 19-year-old Black Bull stood out on the balcony of one of the headquarter's towers, her mind and body numb to the dreary cold that Mother Nature has blessed the world with this day. Even if she was paying attention to it, she actually didn't really care... let it rain, let it pour. Hell, let it storm... maybe if she was struck by lightning, it'd be better than the suffering she was feeling.

Her fingers white-knuckled the banister as the rain first fell in a few drops, then in speed, before turning into a full fledged shower. Her long, silver hair down from their usual pigtails and in messy waves covered parts of her face and shoulders, her eyes covered by her bangs so that they couldn't be seen. As the rain soaked her, tears began to fall down her cheeks, although she made no move to brush them away.

'… Why... Why couldn't I...'

A low rumble of thunder could be heard off in the distance, but she still didn't move. She bit down on her bottom lip as the tears formed and fell more, mixing in with the rain; if anyone had looked at her right now, there would be no way for them to tell whether or not she was crying. Probably for the better; she wouldn't want anyone to see her like this anyway. After all, it was her fault... she honestly shouldn't be crying at all. She shouldn't even be here; she should've been the one-

"Noelle? Noelle, what the hell are you doing up here!?"

While she was stunned by the voice, she didn't turn around. Shakily, she licked her lips. "A-Asta..."

Walking out onto the balcony was the Black Bulls' anti-magic swordsman, Asta... and her beloved boyfriend. Well, in private, she should say that. While their relationship was certainly not a total secret – everyone in the Black Bulls knew of it, given that they were there when the two had first gotten together, as well as when they made it "official" in front of them, and both Asta's childhood friend and rival Yuno and Noelle's cousin Mimosa knew of it as well – they kept it private from the rest of the world. The two certainly cared and loved each other, but in their line of work, a known relationship could spell massive trouble for them if that knowledge fell into the minds of an enemy. Not to mention there was their standings... Noelle was still a royal, despite her family's distaste of her for not being powerful mages like them, and Asta was still a commoner, despite the good graces he had gain from all levels of the Magic Knights, including the Wizard King himself, and while Asta didn't give two cares about what they thought of him and his relationship with Noelle, he knew that it wouldn't be as easy on Noelle if it was brought to light. For four years, they kept their relationship to little moments in the shadows, from eating meals with just the two of them, to spending evenings in each other's company chatting about random things, to kisses in empty hallways and as wishes for sweet dreams and good nights.

Images of memories appeared in her mind as another rumble of thunder echoed out... blood splattering before her eyes... swords gone flying... an injured body on the ground with red-splattered ash blonde hair...

Her hands gripped harder on the banister and she flinched... 'Why... Why couldn't I...'

"Oi, Noelle!" Asta called out again, stepping out and putting his hand on her shoulder, "Come on, get inside. If this storm gets worse..."

He try to force her to turn around and face him, but she resisted, keeping as grounded as she could to where she stood. "Noelle," he coaxed again, "Why are you doing this? Come on-"

He yanked at her harder, finally forcing her to turn around with a sobbing "eep", and was stunned to silence at the look on her face. While her bangs clung to her face, he could see clearly her violet eyes were red, tears still forming and falling, and her expression was filled with obvious grief and despair. She bit down harder on her bottom lip as she stared at Asta herself, and the memories flooded back again.

His right eye was covered with a bandage, along with another on his left cheek, with a wrap bandage around his throat. He didn't have his usual headband, and while most of it had been washed away, she could still see some tips of his hair with light tinges of pink. 'All of those bandages... even with the healing spells... And it's all my fault...' Noelle thought as she look at all of them, dropping her head so her eyes hid again.

"Noelle..." Asta whispered, "Look at me. Talk to me, okay? Why are you out here when it's raining? You're going to get sick this way."

She didn't answer, and he groaned. Thunder grew louder and Asta could see flashes of lightning in the clouds. The storm was closing in, and the longer they stayed out in it, the more it would risk being unsafe. Grabbing her hand, he forced her to walk behind him, moving back inside and traveling down the stairs. As they exited the stairwell and down the hall, Noelle looked up from the ground to watch his back.

He wasn't wearing his cloak or jacket, simply in his tunic and pant. They were clean, she noticed, so he had changed his clothes... but she noticed there were lingering scars on his arms. Some were old, nearly gone, but others were fresh and new... Scars that weren't completely erased by healing magic. Maybe because they were so minor, they weren't something that desperately needed to be healed and could just go away on their own... Scars she had helped to cause...

The two stopped in front of a door after a long, quiet walk and she looked up to notice the door... it was to his bedroom. His room... he was brought here directly after they returned from their mission. He was bloodied, unconscious... Mimosa was here, healing him... And she was there, being looked at herself... sobbing, hysterical... begging for Asta not to die...

He opened the door and ushered both of them inside, closing the door behind them. He guided her to the bed, releasing her hand. She stood there, watching as he clicked his tongue and pulled out a large chest from underneath his bed. He opened it and grabbed out two towels, closing up the chest and pushing it back underneath. He unfolded one of them, gently coaxing Noelle to sit down on the edge of the bed, and placed it on her head. He then unfolded the other one and wrapped it around his neck, gently using it to dry off his head and face. Noelle didn't make a move to do the same, instead she sat there with fingers digging into the mattress with her sight set on the floor again. Asta noticed and sighed, kneeling down in front of her and grabbing the towel, gently rubbing her hair, his calm green eyes watching as she twitched and reacted to his touches.

"Noelle, talk to me," he said softly, "You haven't said a word at all to anyone since-"

"Since yesterday?"

"Yeah."

Her gaze flickered up towards him for a brief second before turning away again. "I..." she started to speak, but the words staggered in her throat, "You... you're still recovering."

"Huh? Well, yeah... But I'm fine. Hell, even this scratch over my eye should be gone in a couple of weeks, and I probably won't need this bandage after the next day or two," he commented, smiling as he pointed to it, then frowned when she showed no reaction to his blustering, "I'm alright, Noelle. I promise."

"But... I..."

"You what?"

"... You got hurt because I..."

"I protected you?"

She subtly nodded her head, and Asta tilted his head confused. "I mean, yeah, I did get roughed up, but Noelle... If I didn't step in, you could've gotten hurt or even killed. That was a powerful blast; my sword barely deflected it as it was. If it hit you full blast, who knows what damage it could've done," he stated, "Wait... Is that...?"

Tears began to fall again and she looked up at him. "I thought you had died... you didn't move, you didn't do anything. If Yuno and his team weren't there... I couldn't do anything, I didn't do anything, and you... You got hurt because of me," she choked out, her voice cracking with every word she tried to say.

Asta blinked for a moment, still a bit confused, sighing as he brushed the towel over her cheeks to wipe away the tears. "But it's not your fault? It's not like any of us knew they had a trap set, or that any of us would've hit it," he remarked, falling back slightly as her head snapped up and a sense of fury enveloped her vision.

"I should've been able to take care of myself! It's just like before... It's just like that day... I couldn't do a single damn thing on my own, and you had to rescue me again. And this time, you got so hurt that if it wasn't for Mimosa's magic you could've bled out before we could've ever gotten you home!" she screamed at him.

Without thinking, her hands grasped onto his shirt, lifting it up, "The scar may be healed, but you got cut right there... all across here."

Her fingers trailed over the path where he was hurt, brushing gently over his skin, his muscles twitching unconsciously to the touches. "You were bleeding so much... I've seen you bleed like crazy before, but this... this seemed like it was so much more," she whispered, angling her movement to stretch from the base of his stomach up to his torso.

She stopped over his chest, right above his heart, resting her hand atop that spot. "I was so scared... It had been so long since you had such an injury that I... I couldn't bare the thought that you may be leaving me, and all because you had to save me," she continued, her throat hitching after she spoke, leaning over and resting against his body, quivering and shaking as she began to cry harder and louder than before.

Asta sighed, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and held her as she let out her cries. Despite his initial confusion, he understood her pain. It had to be hell to, once again, see him in such a sorry state. Since the two had gotten together, he had made extra sure to not get himself into crazy dangerous situations. After all, it wasn't just his life he had to worry about, but it was hers as well; if he had gotten seriously injured or even killed on the battlefield, it would affect her as well, and he couldn't stand the idea of seeing her crying or suffering over him.

Like how she was now.

Asta lowered the towel from Noelle's head, his fingers stroking through her silver hair, avoiding the tangles in the lower curls. He shut his eyes, nuzzling his cheek against her scalp. He hated hearing her cry and scream over him, even though it wasn't entirely the fault of either of them. The mission was dangerous, but relatively simple: there was rumors of a dark clan of magic users forming to the southeast of the Clover Kingdom, and not too far away from the Black Bulls headquarters. From the Golden Dawn, Yuno and his team – Noelle's cousin Mimosa and the superior captain Klaus – were sent to investigate, and they had personally requested Asta and Noelle to come along with them, figuring that Asta's anti-magic abilities and Noelle's water spells would come in handy in addition to their own strong magic powers. However, they weren't aware of who was making up that dark clan... an enemy of the Black Bulls' past.

Years ago, Noelle was attacked by one of their enemies, after being captured by chance. She had ran away from headquarters, after an awkward outburst she had made in front of the entire squad, and inadvertently a mage with severe hatred towards royal families such as herself had found and decided to take her prisoner. It was thanks to Asta, alongside Magna and Luck, chasing after and finding her that she was rescued that day. After they had brought the man in for questioning and arrest to the kingdom, they thought that it was done and over with, not knowing that over the years since then that, within the shadows and unknown knowledge, his family had come together to form a plan for extracting their revenge upon not only the Black Bulls, but eventually the royal families that had done them wrong.

Where the group of Magic Knights had done was a series of caves that were turned into a hideout, set with dangerous traps and hidden allies to the enemy's cause ready to attack those that dare set foot inside of their home. While most of the traps and enemies were easy to defeat, it had served to weaken their magic reserves and place a false sense of security amongst the combined team. When they had reached the inner sanctum of the caves, that was when things had started to change. They were all ambushed by several men, all with magic in full force, as well as the assortment of traps they had set up.

They weren't the biggest challenge, but they were numerous and that was their difficulty. They also knew how to separate the group up to where the knights couldn't group and fight together. It was during these moments when Noelle accidentally set off a trap: a cannon set off with a powerful blast that not only included magic, but a various amount of shrapnel. It was aimed directly at her, and was coming at her faster than she could even attempt to put up a shield or a deflection attack. That was when Asta rushed in, despite his own tiredness and his own enemy to deal with, pushing Noelle out of the way at the final second before impact. While he managed to deflect much of the spell with his sword, it was the shrapnel that caused the most damage. It cut across him at breakneck speeds, cutting into him in several places across his frame and causing him to falter, unknowingly setting off a second trap, springing up a sharp blade that cut strong and deeply across his chest. All the water mage could do was watch as his sword went flying out of his hands and he fell back, unconscious and bleeding out.

She rushed to his side, calling out to him, begging for him to open his eyes and look at her, doing what she could to try and stop the bleeding. Once she was able to, Mimosa began to work what was left of her magic on healing him, and with the enemy eventually defeated and captured with sealing spells, Yuno helped to bring them back as quickly as possible to the Black Bulls headquarters. Mimosa was focused heavily on her work, with Magna and Vanessa helping with any supplies as well as trying to keep the frantic Noelle in check and other members of the Black Bulls going along with Yuno to help with gathering their enemies. After several hours of healing and sleeping, as the day turned into evening and into the early morning, Asta was healed enough to wake up and move, much to the happiness of everyone involved, but for Noelle she was put into a perpetual state of shock.

The day brought back the most painful memories of their past... of a similar mission to their first dungeon, of the first attack of their enemy, of the pain and danger and fears from those times. It broke her heart that she had caused him to get hurt. She was careless, not paying full attention, and he had to save her, he had to protect her, he could've died because of her. The man he loved the most... he could've died because of her.

Since that incident, she didn't say a word to anyone. She couldn't even look at Asta, and did what she could to hide from him. Although she knew he'd eventually find her; he knew exactly every place she'd go to hide when she wanted to be alone. She had gotten too predictable, but perhaps it was also because he cared for her so deeply he learned of her little secrets. This time, however, she truly wanted to be left alone in her misery, because of how deeply she felt at fault for what had happened. Even with him holding her now, talking to her, comforting her, she felt undeserving and angry at herself... she had caused him to become injured, and that was a pain greater than anything she had felt before, a pain of knowing that she had led her most beloved person to potentially die for her.

As they embraced and sobbed, the storm raged on outside, the skies darkening further and flashes of lightning illuminated the room, the sound of the heavy rain hitting the window, with the echos of thunder ringing through. Asta opened his eyes, staring out the window for a few moments, then chuckled a bit. Noelle sniffled, moving back to stare at him, a thin silver brow raised. "What's so funny?" she asked.

"Remember when we went to that festival a long time ago? When we met Anya and her family?"

"Of course I do. Why would I forget?"

"The first night we were there, a storm rolled through just like this. You were tossing and turning and couldn't sleep. Not until I moved over and held your hand."

Noelle grabbed the towel and wiped her eyes and nose clean. "And stroking my head too. You were rather bold to do that, you know," she remarked, a bit of her usual bite coming back into her voice, "You were lucky that I didn't want to wake anyone up."

"Yeah, but like you were going to cause a scene when everyone was sleeping."

"I would've, you know!"

Asta laughed, and much to Noelle's chagrin, she smiled and laughed a bit herself. "I was just thinking about how things had changed since then. Back then, we were both kids, not even sure what we were feeling. Well, okay, you knew, but I was oblivious as hell," the swordsman continued, "But look at us now. I remember you telling me I was crude for showing off so much skin when my clothes got ripped up, and here you are lifting my shirt up yourself."

Noelle blinked, then promptly turned red, "W-well, back then you were just an idiot to me! And it wasn't just me, but Mimosa too! A-and it's different now because we're together! I've seen you without your shirt quite a few times now... N-not on purpose though, it was by accident!"

"Oh, really?"

"You were training and I would just be passing by, that's all!"

She looked away, slapping at her cheeks to tell herself to calm down. Asta laughed heartily, making Noelle blush and become more flustered. "S-stop laughing at me, Dumb Asta!" she screamed, turning around and giving him a hard, yet playful, push.

Asta continued to laugh, trying to keep a bit of his balance, and Noelle found herself unable to not laugh either. Even as the storm continued on outside, things were brightening up inside between the two lovebirds. The two embraced again, this time with smiles on their faces. They held each other close for several moments before moving back to stare into each other's eyes.

Well, with some extra trying on Asta's part. He groaned as his vision adjusted for his one visible eye, and finally annoyed, he reached up and removed the bandage. He blinked a bit, his vision readjusting, smiling and sighing when he could finally see clearly again. "That's better. I hated that thing," he commented, throwing it away in a small trash can by his desk.

Noelle went quiet, her focus going towards the scratch across his eye. It was small, going from the base of his eyebrow to the very top of his cheek, and it wasn't deep enough to cause any damage to his eye. Still, it was covered to make sure something didn't end up getting into it or to prevent him from accidentally scratching it and causing the wound to open up again. While he could've had it healed, like much of the other scratches and cuts he had, he didn't want Mimosa to waste magic on it when the more important wound – the one on his chest – needed the most care. That, and he admittedly actually didn't mind having scars; if anything, they were a sign of how far he had come as a Magic Knight and as a fighter.

Asta noticed her withdrawal and began to worry. "Noelle-" he started to speak, but stopped when her hands embraced his face, her body moving in closer to his.

His eye closed as her lips placed feather-like kisses near the scratch, trailing gently from the start of it to the end, pulling back once she was done. Her eyes, while still wet, weren't showing signs of fresh and new tears and her pale lips were curled into a caring smile. Asta felt his breath hitch up in his throat; something about the loving look she had towards him – and only him – made her look so stunning. It made him feel very grateful, very jovial, very lucky. Despite everything that had happened, and no matter what could happen, he had her. His amazing, special, beautiful Noelle.

She was worth every scar, injury, and pain he felt; to see her safe, to hold her now, to love and care for her was worth more than anything in the world. Although if he were to say that right now, he would surely get blasted into the wall; last thing she'd like to hear would be how he'd be willing to get hurt again for her! He meant it though; he meant every bit of it. He wanted to do anything to protect and keep this smile to himself, to keep her to himself, to always have her as his own...

Their eyes began to slowly close as Asta reached for her face and their heads leaned in, their lips meeting in a strong and passionate kiss. For a brief moment they pulled away, only to kiss again... and again... and again. Hands began to move, gently caressing and brushing against each other's skin, each moment growing more heated and more intimate. Without breaking form, Asta got up and slowly leaned in closer to Noelle, pushing her down onto the bed, arms wrapping around each other as their growing need for one another consumed them.

"Asta..." Noelle whispered, "I..."

"I love you," he whispered back, "Noelle, I admit, I'm not totally sure what to do, but I know I don't want to let you go right now. I need you, Noelle."

"I need you too, Asta," she replied, her lips now swollen but still smiling, "So please.. don't let me go."

He smirked, kissing her over and over again. Clothes slowly began to be shed, covering the floor. Thunder began to mix with passionate moans and sweet whispers, with the pain and sadness of the day dissipating into pleasure and romance. Their eyes met in clouded visions of love and necessity and their hearts raced in unified beats, hands tightly clasped to each other, and as the storm moved on so came their finality, ending in satisfied pants and a litany of names and "I love you"s, followed by happily exhausted yawns

While they caught their breath, Asta wrapped his blanket around the two of them, wrapping his arms tightly around Noelle's waist, holding her close as he nuzzled into the back of her shoulders and neck. Noelle blushed profusely; despite their lovemaking, she felt amazingly self-conscious laying naked against him now, knowing full well the two of them were going to fall asleep at any moment. She didn't move, however; despite all of her embarrassment now, she wanted nothing more than to lay in his arms.

"I can't believe we did that," she mumbled, although a hint of a giggle was in her voice.

"Mm-hmm... we did..." Asta replied, already drifting off, although she could feel the very faint movement of his lips against her skin.

Noelle sighed dreamily, shutting her eyes. "I love you, Asta," she said wistfully.

"Mmm... Love... too... Noelle..."

His arms squeezed around her in a short tug. "Noelle... marry me..." he stated sleepily, "OW! Hey, don't move so suddenly like that. That hurt."

"Wh-why are you asking me that now!?" she snapped out, ignoring the pain in her shoulder after jolting around so fast that she accidentally hit Asta in the face, "Seriously, what made you think to say that!?"

"Why shouldn't I?" he mumbled, rubbing his nose and laying his head back down again.

"W-well, because we're still in the moment! You can't just go proposing to me because we just got done making love! Oh god, saying that aloud is making me all flustered!"

"So that's a no?"

"No, it's not a no!" she quickly yelled back, then looked away as she pulled the blanket up closer to her, "It's just... Well, because of what just happened, I figure it might be because of that... Uwah...!"

She quickly laid back down, bringing the blanket over her head to hide her reddening features. Asta blinked, still confused at her reaction and lack of answer. "Uh... Noelle?" he questioned.

"... Ask me again later, after we've both gotten sleep. If you're really sincere about it, then please do it then, okay? I just... I just don't want it to be because of this," she replied, muffled by the blanket.

He sighed, wrapping his arms around her waist again and pulling her back against him. Quickly enough, he had fallen to sleep, making small, snoring noises. Noelle couldn't find sleep so easily, despite her very tired eyes, her heart and mind still racing at everything that had happened. Eventually, she found herself drifting off, falling asleep to the soothing sounds of the drizzle hitting the window.

When Noelle woke up again, it was sunny. She couldn't believe it; she swore it was still early evening... Had she really slept until morning? Yawning, she sat up and rubbed her eyes, realizing in that moment that she was currently naked... and not in her bed nor her room...

Oh yeah... last night, she and Asta- Noelle quickly shook her head, her cheeks heating up as the mere memory of what had happened. She did a light slap to her face, holding it as her lips formed a wavy, delightful smile. She let out a tiny squeal before shaking her head again.

She turned around, figuring she should wake Asta up... only to see that he was already gone. One hand rested on his side of the matress, noticing it was already cold. The delight in Noelle's smile turned to a mixture of anger and upset. How could he just wake up and not wake her up, and how could he just leave her alone in bed after everything that had transpired!?

Grr... that Asta! Oh, he was going to get it once she had found him!

With a huff, she stood up from the bed, the blanket wrapped around her body. She took notice that her clothes and shoes from the night before were folded up on the desk, but with another set of her clothes sitting next to it, along with her hairbrush, two hair ties, and a note. She picked up the note, noticing Asta's scratchy handwriting. "Don't be mad, but I went into your room to grab you a clean set of clothes," she read aloud, "Once you're changed, come outside, okay? Meet me by the tree where we first fought."

Okay... now she was a mixture of anger and confusion. Setting the note down, she sighed as she grabbed the brush, sitting back down on the edge of the bed and going through her hair, groaning as it got caught up in some of the tougher knots. After her hair was straightened out, she removed the blanket from around her, changed into the new clothes, and tied up her hair into her usual dual pigtails. She slid on her shoes before straightening out the blanket haphazardly – Asta can make his own bed, she determined – and grabbing her old clothes. She opened the door a little bit, peeking out to see if anyone was around.

'If someone saw me sneaking out of Asta's room, we'd never hear the end of it! Especially if it was Vanessa or Magna... or even Finral. I don't want to hear any comments on how Asta got to "make it with a lady" when he hasn't!' she thought, double checking again before she finally stepped out into the hall, closing the door very quietly behind her, and making a mad dash for her room.

Luckily no one had seen her, allowing her time to go into her room and shut the door. She placed her clothes away in her pile of dirty clothing and her brush back on her desk, then exited her room as if nothing was suspicious.

She went downstairs and was surprised to see that no one was around. A brow quirked as she looked around. "Is everyone still sleeping or something? Not everyone could be out on missions, could they? And it's not payday," she remarked, "Wait... did Asta gather everyone outside, maybe? But why would he...?"

Her eyes widened as she remembered what else happened last night... Asta proposed to her! And she told him to ask her after they had gotten some sleep... And they had gotten some sleep...

Her heart raced heavily as she busted the front door open and ran as fast as she could outside. She ran into the forest, her memory leading her through the trees to the clearing where she had disappeared to for training on the first day both she and Asta had joined the Black Bulls. As she approached it, she could see everyone standing around the clearing, with Asta himself front and center. She slowed down and stopped in the middle of the clearing, a few feet away from Asta, breathing heavily.

"Asta... everyone... what... what is this?" she panted out, her body shaking from all of the running she had done.

Knowing smiles and small bits of laughter came as an answer, leaving her more confused. She wiped the sweat from her brow, turning her attention back to Asta, watching as he stepped closer to her, a small flower in his hand.

"Asta? What's going on?" she asked again.

"Noelle, remember what you said last night?"

"... Y-yes? Is that...?"

He flashed that goofy grin she loved, grasping her left hand into his own. She gasped loudly, bringing her other hand up to her lips, covering her mouth as he knelt down on one knee.

"You're kinda right. I did impulsively say it last night. And I guess this is still impulsive since I actually don't have a ring for you yet," he stated with an awkward laugh, "But I swear, this is something I've been thinking about for awhile. I just didn't know the whens and hows to go about it."

Carefully, he began to wrap the flower step around her left ring finger. "We've been through so much together. We had our ups and downs, as friends, as squadmates, and as boyfriend and girlfriend. I've lost track of the number of times you blew me away in one of your rages," he continued, "But no matter what happened between us, and to us, we had each other's backs, and there really hasn't been much we haven't done together."

He took the blossom of the flower and very gently wrapped and tied the end of the stem around the base of the blossom. Admiring his work for a second, he took hold of the tips of her fingers, holding them gingerly in his own as he looked up at her. "Last night, you kissed me across my eye, and when you pulled back, when I saw you with the most beautiful, more caring, most lovely smile I've ever seen on your face, it cemented it for me," he explained, "I want to anything I can to be able to see that smile every day, to be by your side every day. And that's why now I want to finally ask you to do so."

"Oh, Asta...!"

"Noelle Silva... Will you marry me and eventually become my Wizard Queen?"

Finally, he said it... really and truly said it. There was no afterglow or special circumstance to it... he was sincerely saying and meaning it. Noelle was stunned, her eyes brimming with tears as she gasped again. From behind her fingers, a large, toothy grin of her own formed, and she choked for a moment on a surprised sob.

"Yes!" she finally said, vigorously nodding her head.

Asta grinned wider, jumping up and letting out a loud "YEAH!" as the crowd of fellow Black Bulls clapped and cheered. He picked up Noelle, her releasing a squeal as he spun her around, the two sealing everything off with a kiss. The group gathered around them, hugging and patting shoulders.

"About damn time!" Magna shouted boisterously.

"This means we need to celebrate. And I got a delicious bottle of wine in mind for the occasion," Vanessa added with a wing.

"And my sheep cooks will create the best feast ever!" Charmy replied, drooling over the idea of delicious food.

"You need to make sure my beloved Marie is your flower girl," Gauche said deadpanned.

"Wherever you guys want to have this thing, I'll make sure we get there. I'm excited already. Maybe one of the guests will be a pretty lady looking for a potential suitor," Finral commented, trailing off after that to focus on his own ideals.

Gray and Gordon made their own hard to hear commentary, with Luck standing with his usual smile and simple congratulations. Yami laughed his usual, laid back style, "Kinda surprised you two are going to end up getting married before I do. But since I'm still single, guess it's not shocking. Congrats to both of you brats."

As everyone continued to congratulate the newly engaged couple, they stared at each other, laughing and smiling, their foreheads touching as they held each other close. Everything was a shocking blur of emotions for Noelle. Yesterday she was a crying, terrible mess, wishing that she could've been struck by lightning as some sort of divine punishment. That evening she found herself in the arms of the one she loved the most, performing the most intimate and private of dances, and now this morning she couldn't believe that she was engaged... Oh boy, wait until Mimosa hears about this! And her family... Crap, they didn't even know she was even in a relationship, let alone an engagement... She mentally shrugged it off; they'll come to that bridge when they come to it.

In all of the moving around, the flower began to unravel, eventually falling to the ground. Noelle playfully glared at her fiance, "I demand a real ring next. Flower rings obviously isn't going to cut it."

Asta scratched the back of his head and laughed, "Yeah, well... I did say this was impulsive, after all."

"Dumb Asta," she replied, laughing as she said it.

They kissed again, sharing one more laugh before walking hand in hand back towards headquarters along with everyone else. They began to talk about little things they needed to do now – such as going to the capital to tell Yuno and Mimosa, as well as arranging with Magna to go to Hage to share the news with Sister Lily and everyone at the church – and how after everyone was done showering them with attention they should take some time to celebrate alone, to which Asta winked and Noelle blushed and made flustered noises. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders after that, holding her close as she hid her blushing face in his shoulder.

"You're such an idiot, Asta... And I wouldn't change that for anything in the world. I love you so much," she said sweetly, looking at him with bright pink cheeks.

"I love you too, Noelle," he replied just as sweetly, his own cheeks a little pink as well.

The two stopped and stared into each other's eyes for a moment before shutting them, their lips meeting in a long-lasting and wonderful kiss, each thinking about the moments that brought them here, and how they couldn't wait for their journey to continue, on and into forever... as the best of friends, the closest of partners, the greatest team of husband and wife... and one day, surely, together as Wizard King and Queen.

-end-