Chapter Fourteen: In the End
AUTHORS NOTE: So I think that I owe every single one who has ever read one line of this story an apology! I'M SO SORRY! I AM SORRY THAT I LEFT THIS STORY HANGING WITHOUT THE FINAL CHAPTER FOR LIKE THREE YEARS! But here I am. I re read the entire thing and I am bringing it back from the dead as it were. What happened was I had the entire thing written and then I went onto another thing and another thing and another and then sooner or later it was two years later and everything on our family computer was deleted by way of a hard drive crash. And now I have rewritten the ending. I hope that you will forgive me for me extreme case of procrastination.
Ashley a.k.a – FinalKingdom87
Delbert had found it somewhat hard to concentrate on anything else as he returned to the Legacy. As he came into view of Amelia's great ship he couldn't help but smile. He reached his hand into his pocket a pulled a small box out and stared at it for a moment with the hopes of not screwing something else in his life up. But then again, he thought he must have done something right to be with a woman like Amelia.
He put the box back into his coat pocket and looked up onto the deck of the ship. There she was, even barking out orders to inept crewmembers she was still a sight behold. Every day since they had come together, since their first kiss and before then, the few and far between moments on the voyage to Treasure Planet, Delbert Doppler had been counting his blessing at how lucky he was to be in love with, and have that love returned by a deity such as Amelia.
They had been together for so short a time already but it seemed so short, nothing excruciatingly fragile, of course. After what they had been through, Delbert knew for a fact that their love was strong. And even though those facts were staring him down in the face, he had still not gained the nerve to ask Amelia to marry him.
As he crossed the plank to the main deck he found himself staring at her, and upon doing so, he found himself tripping over a pile of rope on deck, which lead to him finding himself falling face first onto the floor. As Delbert attempted to regain his composure one of the crewmen came to his aid.
"Are ye aight sir?"
"I – oh – ah yes… I – uh… I'm fine. Thank you." Delbert said as the crewman left him to resume his duties. And with that Delbert headed below deck away from mocking or precautious eyes, taking a better look at where he was walking. And for the next hour stayed in a more secluded area, like the engine room.
Delbert had been sat down alone in the engine room for quite some time, well after the launch from port. He had been doing nothing in particular except thinking about the events of the past week. He hadn't completely understood why Amelia had gone on with the rouse of her Father and Jamison Anover. All he could come up with was that she might have wanted to draw out motives or end a long lasted argument. But knowing Amelia, she wasn't known for ending conflicts where she was not ready to truly give or accept an apology. And with what had happened in the past week, the doctor could hardly believe his own bravery. As he thought back, if what he did had been for anyone else, he would have called himself crazy.
And here he was, hiding away in the engine room because he could not face Amelia, with only his thoughts to accompany him. All he could think about at the moment was about her and proposing to her. Delbert brought out the ring he would give her one more time and stared at it for a few minutes smiling down at it. The longer he waited, he was becoming more and more nervous about asking Amelia to marry him. True they were in love… and living together… but this was still somewhat of a challenge for him for come up with the courage to ask nonetheless.
Delbert put the ring away safe in his pocket right before he began to gaze once more out the small window and into the skies of the etherium; it was nearing the end of dusk and the skies growing darker. He didn't even notice the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs and across the engine room to where he was.
"I had hoped you would join me in my quarters when my rounds were done." A voice said softly behind him. Delbert turned from his gaze of the skies to where the sound of Amelia's voice came from. He softly smiled at her as she walked towards him and sat down next to him.
"Sorry." He said, "I was down here thinking. Lost track of time."
"What have you been thinking about?" she asked looking from the window he was staring out of to him. "You've been down here since we left port."
"Just different things. A little about this trip; I was hoping that it might have been a tad more peaceful. A little peace is something we both need."
"A vacation could hardly be expected from this voyage, you know that." Amelia said with a soft smile. "But you are right; a vacation would be nice."
"We should get away for a little while when we get back. I hear the Tellourian Nebulae is very beautiful in the fall, and that's not to far from now." Delbert said putting his arms around Amelia as he leaned on the wall behind him.
"I haven't been in that area since my academy days. I didn't know you had traveled that far out into the Etherium." Amelia said as she nestled into Delbert's form."
"I haven't." he admitted bashfully. "But my uncle would always tell me stories when I was younger. It seems a beautiful place to get away to."
"It is. It's also a nasty place to get caught taking one of your deck master's skiffs away from ship for a joyride."
"The great, rule-abiding, authoritarian Captain Amelia taking a boat out for a joyride?" Delbert said in a mock shocked voice.
"Darling please… in my younger days you could compare me to nothing less than reckless." She said turning to face Delbert who returned her smile.
"Still not completely tame, I see. But I love you for it."
"And you've taken a bit of that trait as well, love.
"All because of you… All for you." He said quietly.
"You store far too much flattery for me Doctor." Amelia said as she tilted her head back to kiss the man holding her in his arms. It was here they felt safe; here where they were alone, where they could show how they really felt without the interruption of anything or anyone else.
They were there for a while longer speaking of nothing in particular when they parted at the sound of one of the crewmen came walking down the stairs and across the corridor informing them that the Captain was needed on deck.
"Join me for a late dinner in my stateroom after this is all sorted out? Amelia said when the crewman was out of earshot.
"Of course. Say in twenty minutes?" Delbert asked before she nodded and left for the above deck. Delbert just sat back down on the bench and sat leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. He had only been sitting there for a few moments when a voice came out from behind a large stack of crates far across the room.
"You really do love her don't you?"
Delbert looked up to where the voice came from, and behind the crates emerged Amelia's father.
"How long have you been there?" he asked somewhat surprised that he was down in the lower decks.
"I was down here reading when you came in boyo. I just didn't think to move, much to say I did over hear the conversation. Didn't know it was you down here until my daughter came down here. I just stayed put."
"That was probably wise. I wouldn't test Amelia's temper right now. I've been on the receiving end of her anger and it's not fun. But to answer your question, yes I do love her; more than anything. And if I may ask a question sir?"
"I suppose."
"Did you honestly mean everything I've heard you say to and about Amelia? What happened between the two of you?"
"I really don't know. I suppose I said most of them out of anger and frustration. Out of all the things I had always envisioned for my daughter, a career as a militant or trailing about the Etherium was not one of them."
"It suits her." Delbert said mater of fact.
"And you've no problem with that? None at all? If you stay together and have a family you've no problem at all about her going off every which way?"
"If we have a family, I assume we'll work it out when we get there. Of course I have my own work at home on Montressor, but I could think of nothing more I'd rather be doing than being out here with Amelia."
"So you plan to stay with her then?"
"Yes… I'm going to ask her to marry me soon. I would only hope that you would have no objections to that."
"You seem confident that she will say yes." Bolick said eyeing Delbert warily.
"That still doesn't calm my nerves of asking her."
"My objections haven't counted in the eyes of my daughter for many years. But, you're a good man. I only hope she'll be happy." Bolick said quietly before leaving Delbert alone to himself. Delbert stood staring after the elder man for a few moments before returning above deck.
Delbert walked up to Amelia's cabin and knocked softly, entering after he heard a quiet 'Come in.' He walked in and closed the door behind him. Amelia was nowhere to be found in the room, but her absence was short lived. She strode out of her bedroom door with a soft smile on her face.
"What took you so long Darling?" she asked him.
"I uh… " Delbert paused for a second. He was an absolute terrible liar and couldn't pull past Amelia that he was speaking with her father. He made a point to himself that he wouldn't tell her that her father had been hiding in a corner behind some crates in the lower decks.
It, of course, did not please Amelia to hear that Delbert was speaking to the man she resented to call father. Too many things had happened in her life between her and that man for her to even come close to forgiveness for his actions. And his last set of trials had completely crossed the line. But at the place Amelia let her resentment pass through her. She was just happy at the moment to be back with Delbert right now. And soon they would be home; back to the familiar.
It somewhat shocked Delbert that Amelia hardly reacted to his speaking to her father but he wasn't ebbed too much over it all. They would both be home soon and he practically couldn't wait. So much in fact that he decided at the spur of the moment to do something he should have done before this mission had even began.
As they lay on the neatly made bed in Amelia's cabin, Amelia was just enjoying having a swift moment of peace and time alone with Delbert, laying against him, his arms wrapped around her. It had been since before this mockery of a voyager began that she had felt this content. Conversation had been lighthearted and casual. Delbert pulled one of his arms away from Amelia and slightly sat up a little.
"Amelia, there's something I've been meaning to ask you." Delbert said in a surprisingly calm tone, taking Amelia's free hand in his own.
"Hmm…" Amelia said slightly turning her head towards him, her eyes shut, a serene look across her face.
"I love you very much."
"That's not a question darling." Amelia said playfully.
"No, I suppose it's not." Delbert said his voice sounding a little flustered. He tried to calm himself then continued. Amelia noticed nothing. "This is though."
Delbert brought out a small ring out of his pocket and slipped it on her ungloved petite finger. Amelia opened her eyes to see the diamond ring glinting in the moonlight at the touch on Delbert sliding it on her finger. "Marry me Amelia?" he said softly.
For one of the very few times in her life, Amelia was rooted speechless. She turned to look at Delbert, a loving smile spread across his face.
"Yes." Amelia was able to get out, which led to Delbert smile widen even more, if possible, and his eyes dancing with excitement. Amelia turned slightly more and Delbert leaned in to kiss her. As they parted Amelia asked him. "Why now?"
"Well I thought it might be better asking you here than in front of your entire crew. They apparently seen enough of your private life."
Amelia laughed at his subtle joke. "That's not what I meant and you know it."
"I was planning on asking you before we left, and then when we got back, but I couldn't seem to wait. I love you too much."
"And I love you Delbert. And this ring is absolutely stunning."
"I'm glad you like it." Delbert said happily.
"I do." Amelia said softly before reaching up to kiss her love once more.
THE ENDAuthor's Note:So hey guys, I have finally finished this story. It is now all over. I honestly can't give an answer as to why I put off writing and ending for so long. But yeah as short as it is it took me a while but I was finally able to write one for this story. I know my writing style has changed since the story had begun. I just hope you guys thing that the ending I wrote did the story justice. I figured I HAD to finish the story before I leave for a while. And to all of my reviewers, I thank you all so much for your support. Especially 'WeAsLeYkid8' and 'Tymres77' whose reviews were awesome and their stories are completely amazing! Thank you all, and let me know how you like the ending.
Ashley D.