Chapter Twenty-Eight; Back Below

Once the shuttle had landed safely in Haven, the group made their way to the Section Eight Headquarters. Holly trudged slowly up the stairs that led to Foaly's office. She was, of course, in no hurry to let the torment begin. Oh well, the sooner a century of jokes at her expense began, the sooner it ended. When they finally reached Foaly's office, Holly knocked once and opened the door. Foaly was all smiles when he saw the elf. He trotted up to her as she walked into the room and gave her a big hug. After greeting everyone else, and glaring wearily at the twins, Foaly sighed.

"So," he said, "Explain."

And that's exactly what they did. The five companions recollected their entire tale, not leaving out any details. Well, that's not entirely true. Holly and Artemis both left out the part where they had made the startling discovery of how they felt about each other. Not only would it be completely mortifying to admit it, but Foaly was not exactly the most compassionate centaur under the Earth.

"So, you imprisoned her again?" he asked, looking at Arielle. The youngest elf nodded.

"And then what?" asked Foaly.

"And then this," Holly said, pulling the tiny prism out of her pocket. Foaly stared at it thoughtfully. He took it from Holly and ran his fingers over it a few times.

"Interesting," he mumbled, "Arielle, you seem to have mimicked the entire original curse. Just as long as no one ever releases her again, we'll be fine."

"How can we ensure that?" asked Butler.

"Simple," Foaly said, tossing the prism onto his desk, "I keep it." Butler shrugged. It was a simple enough plan.

"And what about me?" Arielle asked, still a trace of timid in her voice.

"You go home," Foaly said, "No charges or any of that. It was an accident, and it's solved. So, go home, sleep, and don't learn any more spells."

The group laughed. Arielle turned to leave and Trouble placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I'll drive you home, if you'd like," he said, ever the gentleman, "It's late and it's a pretty far walk."

Arielle smiled, "That'd be great, if you aren't needed here anymore." Trouble looked over at Foaly who shook his head and motioned that they could leave. Trouble escorted Arielle out of the room, which left Butler, Artemis, Holly, Foaly, and the twins, who sat quietly, staring at Foaly as though he would explode at any moment. Holly laughed inside, that was her fault.

"So, another adventure ended," Artemis sighed, "I suppose it's time for me to return home? Get out of your hair until next time?"

"You're a mind reader Fowl," Foaly said sarcastically.

"What about the twins?" asked the teenager, "No mind wipe?"

"What's a mind wipe?" Brailey asked, upon hearing mention of twins.

"It sounds like it hurts," Connor said, "I don't want one."

Holly smiled at the boys and walked over to them. She grabbed their hands.

"No need to worry," she said in a friendly tone, "Mind wipes don't hurt. And you don't need one." She looked at the centaur. "Right Foaly?"

The centaur nodded, "Right Holly. Just keep an eye out for them Fowl." Artemis nodded. He would make sure to keep the secret of the People a secret.

"Okay Holly," said Foaly, "There's a flare to Tara in twenty minutes. You want to fly them back?" Holly nodded. Of course she did.

-----

It was the dead of night when the travellers stepped out of the shuttleport and onto the soft grass of Tara. Holly glanced up at the star-filled sky and smiled. Artemis did the same. Butler, who had a sneaking suspicion quite near to Minerva's, took the twins.

"I'm going to start the car," he told the elf and Artemis. Their jeep was still parked under a tree from the mere hours ago they had arrived in Tara, protected from unwanted eyes by a fairy projection. Artemis nodded and his manservant walked away, followed by two tiny children. Once they were out of earshot, Artemis grabbed Holly's hand. The captain gave a slight gasp, although she looked rather pleased. After a moment, she pulled her hands away and took her helmet off. No need for any interruptions from Foaly.

"Holly," the boy began, "Thank you for another adventure."

"There'll be more," Holly smiled.

"Indeed. The world always needs saving," Artemis chuckled, "But perhaps I could see you before then." Holly's eyes flashed with a certain emotion that Artemis could not exactly place. Perhaps embarrassment, maybe even happiness.

"I would like that Artemis," she said.

"Right," Artemis said. He wasn't finished. There was so much more that he wanted to say to Holly, but he couldn't find the right words. He was speechless.

"You know," Holly said, breaking the thick silence that had fallen, "If you're ever bored you can just call me up. We can talk."

Artemis smirked and pointed at his head, "Why bother calling?"

"No way Mud Boy," Holly laughed, "No more messing with my mind."

"Of course not Holly, of course not."

Another silence fell, this one soft and friendly. Both elf and human stood, staring at each other, quietly.

"I guess I should get going," Holly said, "It's been fun." She turned and began to walk back to the shuttleport, but stopped suddenly. Holly whipped around to face her favourite Mud Boy, a sly smile spread across her lips. Artemis raised an eyebrow at her.

"I forgot to ask," she giggled, "How's puberty going?" Artemis looked somewhere between mortified and amused. After a moment of processing the odd question, Artemis returned Holly's sly smile.

"Quite well," he replied. Suddenly, he closed the space in between them and kissed her cheek quickly. As his lips drew away from her cheek, he blushed terribly. So terribly that it was quite visible in the faint starlight. Holly looked pleased. She laughed.

"You're hopeless Artemis," she said and disappeared from view.

Mere moments later, Holly Short sat in the shuttle, waiting for a flare to come.

Five minutes.

Holly smiled; a happy expression all over her elfin features. She was thinking about Artemis, and the kiss she had just received. Today had been a good day, save the world, shoot things, and get a kiss from Fowl. Foaly must never know. She put her helmet back on.

Four minutes.

Artemis hadn't moved one muscle since Holly had left. He would stand there forever if he had too, just to preserve the moment. However, there was no need to be silly and stay in one place forever. That memory would be etched into his mind forever. He stayed in his reverie until a loud honk of the jeep horn blasted into his ears. Butler was waiting.

Three minutes.

Foaly was muttering some techno-mumble-jumble in Holly's ears. She didn't really listen, which was a first for her. She always listened to Foaly, whether she was interested or not. But now, she had something better to do. She had something else on her mind. The centaur's voice was simply humming in the back of her head.

Two minutes.

Artemis climbed in the jeep and did up his seatbelt. His brothers were in the backseat, chatting excitedly about a movie they had watched, something about robots. Butler was beside him, looking at him through the corner of his eye. Artemis didn't notice. He was too busy thinking about his beautiful elfin friend.

One minute.

Holly got ready to fly. However, at the forty-second mark a small voice popped into her head. It was the voice of a certain Irish boy. Holly was happy to hear Artemis in her mind again, even though she had told him to stay out.

"Holly, I think I love you."

The End

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A/N: It's over! Wow, I don't believe it. I hope you enjoyed it overall. I'm posting a new one soon, most likely today. Possibly tomorrow, so watch out for it, if you're interested. It's been fun. Cheers!

-Liv xox