A little one-shot about Ash and Mary-Lynnette. I got the idea for this in a Physics lesson. Try to guess what we were learning :D I bet you won't guess!

I don't own Night World.

Forever and Always

"Ooooooh," Rashel said. I looked at her in shock and she smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. Have fun, wherever Ash is dragging you!"

She had a knowing smile. I watched her as she walked off down the corridor.

Ash had asked me whether I wanted to go on a two week holiday with him to Europe, and I had accepted straight away. I loved spending time with him. He was so romantic and funny when we were alone together. Not as pompously annoying as he was with everyone else. Or so much of a flirtatious ass.

I walked back to the room that Ash and I shared. My suitcase was already packed and closed, with the padlock in place.

"Where are the keys to my suitcase?" I asked Ash.

He fished around for a second in his pocket, then pulled them out.

I watched him as he put the keys back in his pocket.

"And may I ask why they are there?" I said.

"It's supposed to be a surprise, where we're going. Packing your own suitcase would have given too much away," he answered. His eyes were a dark green as he smiled at me, amused.

"Who packed my suitcase?" I asked him.

"Jez. I guessed that she would know more about what you would need," he frowned at me. "I don't understand all that you girls have to bring to everything."

I sighed. "Fair enough."

Ash grinned, his eyes now a bright blue. He got up to pull me into his arms, just holding me. That was always enough. I didn't deserve someone as wonderful as Ash.

"We're going in about half an hour. Have you said goodbye to everyone?" He murmured. He kissed my forehead gently.

"Yeah. Rashel and Keller acted a bit weird."

He tensed and tightened his arms around me.

"How?" he asked.

"They just both said 'Ooooooh' and looked excited for some reason."

Ash laughed. "Those two girls. They're so crazy."

"Hmm..." I said. I tightened my arms around his neck and pulled his mouth down to mine.

He kissed me back, and the shivery, happy feeling I always had when I was with him came back, as usual, but stronger. I kissed him hard, pressing my tongue against his bottom lip. He pulled away, and laughed at my annoyed expression.

"Come on, maybe we should go. It's going to be a long flight."

I nodded and Ash picked up our suitcases.

"Are you sure you can manage? Jez isn't as crazy as Gillian when it comes to packing, but-"

He glared at me. "I can manage," he said.

I laughed and ran out the door.

Jez, Gillian, Rashel and Keller were waiting downstairs. The four of us had struck up a firm friendship, that which had surprised our soulmates, what with the difference in our personalities. Jez and Rashel were strong, in a dangerous way, and Keller wasn't very strong, but wanted people to think she was. They were all fighters, whilst Gillian was more like a crazy, over-the-top puppy, and I was soft, not at all a fighter, and much more gentle.

"Have fun!" Gillian shrieked. Her violet eyes were filled with excitement as she bounded over to me and hugged me.

"Group hug!" Jez shouted, and they all threw themselves at me.

"Okay, okay, calm down!" Ash shouted.

"Us?" Jez said, her silver-blue eyes lit up in amusement.

"Calm down?" Gillian said. She put one hand on her hip and shook her head.

"Never!" Rashel, Keller and I said at the same time.

"You're going to miss your flight," Gillian's soulmate, David said, suddenly appearing.

"Can't have that, can we?" Keller said.

"No, we can't. Now shut up, all of you," Ash said angrily.

I exchanged a glance with Jez and we both laughed.

"Come on, then!" I said, and I bounded out the door.

"Bye, Mare!" Jez shouted behind me.

I turned round and waved as the rest of them shouted 'goodbye's and 'I love you's.

I walked a bit ahead of Ash, just to annoy him. When we were half-way at the car, I shouted back to him, "You're getting a bit slow!"

He laughed and was suddenly in front of me. I walked right into him.

I hooked my arm around his, and we walked at the same pace the rest of the way to the car.

~ * ~ * ~

"Mary-Lynnette," I heard that beautiful voice whisper. His voice. The voice of my soulmate.

I opened my eyes. I'd been sleeping on the plane in Ash's arms. Ash kissed the top of my head.

"Are we there yet?" I mumbled.

"A couple of minutes until touchdown," he said softly. He kissed the top of my head again.

I relaxed against him for a moment longer, then pulled myself up. I smoothed my hair back, then burst out laughing when I saw Ash.

His hair was sticking out one side and was flat on the other.

"Does your hair usually look like a haystack in the morning?" I said, still giggling.

I reached out to flatten his hair.

"Is it really that bad?" he asked.

I laughed again. "Yeah, it is!"

His hair finally was neat, and I leaned forwards to kiss him as the plane made contact with the earth. We separated, albeit rather reluctantly, and stood up as the air hostess bid everyone farewell.

Ash put one arm around my waist and managed to pick up both suitcases with one hand. We walked out of the plane.

I had no idea where we were, and the language printed on the signs was alien to me. Ash stopped in front of one of the signs and studied it.

"You understand this?" I asked.

"With difficulty, but I think I got the gist. We need to go that direction," Ash answered. He pointed to the North-East.

We walked for about ten minutes and came to a train station. I couldn't understand a word of Ash's broken words (of which the language I still wasn't sure about) to the girl at the ticket desk. After a while, she handed him two tickets and smiled.

We got onto a train. Ash settled down, opened his arms for me to nestle in, and murmured to me, "This journey will take about half an hour, then we'll be where we want to be."

After a while of just being in comfortable silence, I asked him, "Could we go back to Briar Creek after? I really miss the stars."

"Me too. We should go back. Although..." He turned me slightly and brushed my hair from my face. "We're going to the country-side. You'll see loads of stars on our trip." He smiled and kissed my forehead.

"Umm... There are phones where we're going, right?" I asked.

Ash frowned slightly. "Yes. Why?"

"I promised Gillian I'd keep her updated."

Suddenly Ash smiled brilliantly. I just stared at him in shock for a second. He was so darn beautiful.

"What?" I asked.

He sobered and said, "Nothing." He looked away, blushing slightly.

I kept staring at him, then kissed his neck and relaxed against him again.

The train stopped, and we got off. We walked for another ten minutes until we reached a hotel.

Ash talked for a minute to the receptionist, probably requesting a room. He led the way to our room, and I opened the door, as he was still holding the suitcases.

The room had pale cream walls and big bay windows, and a white double bed. The floor was polished hard-wood, and a rocking chair, dresser, and two bedside tables, all painted white. A cherry-wood door, probably leading to the bathroom, was in the far-corner.

Ash placed the suitcases on the floor, and handed me the keys to the padlock on mine.

"Where exactly are we?"

"Northern Norway," he grinned at me.

"Oh," I thought for a second. "That makes sense. How about you go to the bathroom and I'll look through my suitcase to see what atrocities Jez packed for me?"

He smiled cheekily. "I wouldn't mind if she had put in atrocities. Actually, I would've liked it if she had."

I pushed him, giggling.

He went to the bathroom without arguing. I dropped down to unlock my suitcase.

It wasn't too bad. Most of the clothes in here were decent. Thankfully.

I sighed in relief, and closed it again. I sat on the bed, watching the darkening sky. Ash came out after a few minutes. His hair was wet, and he was buttoning up his shirt.

"Do you want to come for a walk with me after you're ready?" he said, a slightly nervous edge to his voice.

"OK," I said. I grabbed a new shirt and a pair of trousers from my suitcase and walked into the bathroom.

I had a quick shower, then pulled on my clothes. When I walked back, Ash was pacing agitatedly.

"Hey," I murmured. I walked up to him and wrapped my arms around his waist. "What's wrong? You've been really tense lately."

He held me back, hugging me tightly. "I'm fine. You're going to need a thick jacket, by the way."

I nodded and got the jacket that I had draped across the bed. I put it on and Ash held out his hand. I took it happily and walked out with him.

We walked out of the hotel. I was letting Ash lead the way, hoping that he knew where he was going. Our walk led us to a lake on the outskirts of the tiny village where we were staying. There were no clouds, and it was completely dark. I looked up happily, watching the stars. Ash sat down, and pulled me on his lap.

"This is perfect," I murmured to him.

"It is," he whispered back to me. He kissed my head and stroked my hair.

We watched the stars silently again for a minute.

"Mare? Can I ask you something?" I heard Ash whisper to me.

I nodded, still watching the stars.

"Why do you love me?"

I turned to him.

"Is it just because of the soulmate connection?" He looked deep in my eyes. His own eyes were a sorrel brown.

"No. But I think that it was because of the soulmate connection that you actually revealed how you really were. If there was no soulmate connection, you would have probably tried harder to stay true to your heritage. Maybe you would have revealed yourself later, but if not, I would have probably just ignored you," I said. Then I smiled. "I'm glad we are soulmates, though. I never really had a friend. Now I've got a best friend and a lover."

He smiled beautifully, his eyes changing colour abruptly into a beautiful blue.

"I would have. I loved you before I knew we were soulmates. It's just lucky that we are soulmates as well as lovers."

I leaned my forehead against his. "I love you," I whispered.

"I love you more," He murmured jokingly, then kissed me before I could argue.

I gasped in surprise as colour exploded around me. I had no idea that the soulmate connection did this!

But Ash pulled away and smiled as he looked up.

"Finally. I thought it wasn't going to start," he said.

"Wha-" I froze as another burst of colour flashed around everywhere, reflecting on the lake.

I looked up in shock. Something was... happening... to the sky. Was it breaking into pieces?

Another bright green flash appeared, and I gasped again.

Something I had only dreamed of seeing. It finally made sense. Going to the North of Norway? I should have guessed he had something else up his sleeve.

"You... took me to... see the Northern Lights?" I almost shrieked.

He looked at me in shock as another flash lit up the sky, illuminating his face. "Is that alright?"

"Alright? It's incredible! I've always wanted to see them!"

He smiled as I looked at him. The Northern Lights were beautiful, but nothing compared to him. I smiled back and settled back to watch the rest of the show.

"Thank you," I murmured.

"Mary-Lynette..." he whispered. He pushed me gently off his lap so that he could look at me properly. "I... I want to ask you something."

He pushed my hair back gently. His hand was shaking slightly.

He took a deep breath, then smiled beautifully. "I've loved you since I first saw you. The year when I was away..." he flinched. "I never want to go through that again," he looked at me for a second.

"What are you getting at?" I whispered to him.

He touched my cheek. "Mary-Lynnette... Will you marry me?"

I stared at him in shock. His expression changed from exhilaration to worry.

"Mare? Are you all right?" he said.

"Yes. To both questions. I love you, Ash."

He smiled again, with pure happiness. I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him. He kissed me back, holding me tight to him.

We kissed for a long time. It could have been hours, for all we knew. Time didn't touch us.

After a while, we pulled away, our foreheads touching. Ash pulled away completely, reluctantly. He had a ring in his hand. He slipped it on my left hand and I looked at it. I gasped. It was so beautiful; a diamond stone set in the slim white-gold band, and three smaller diamonds either side.

"Did you choose this?" I asked.

He nodded, watching my reaction.

"It's... beautiful. Really beautiful," I hugged him, then pressed my lips to his again.

"I love you," he whispered against my lips, as another green flash lighted up the sky.

~ * ~ * ~

I was thinking of adding another part, Mary-Lynnette phones Rashel and Rashel tells her about when she'd left, she said to Jez, Gillian and Keller that Ash's proposal would be really sweet, and Jez would say, "Yeah, Morgead has got all the romantic qualities of a duck!" and Morgead be right behind her, so she get the 'punishment' that he wouldn't kiss her for a month.

He doesn't last the week. LOL :D