Just another fluffy fic! Me and my beta had a field day over this, so I hope you enjoy!

By the way, if you like this read my other story. It's called A Lack of Talent, and you won't be disappointed!

Evergreen

The dappled green of the Irish hillside flowed around Artemis, seeming to caress the now sixteen-year-old's body. He lay upon the grassy green hill as he had not since he was a small child. The rigors of early maturity had put a stop to any sort of frivolous activity, so now that his youthful days had passed he often tried to make up for lost time. Ironically, it was only now after his maturity had truly come upon him that he saw what he had lost. In some ways, Artemis had never been a child. His father and his intellect had seen to that, and he had come to regret it. But some days, when he lay in the green sweet grass on a sunlit day, he could sometimes find a little of what he had missed.

Ireland was a truly beautiful place. As far as Artemis's eyes could see the green hills rolled on, soaking in the rays of the golden sun. The lazy clouds passed overhead, drifting on a small breath of wind. These gentle cotton behemoths left shadows that trawled on the ground below them, like the way a puppy may shadow his master. The same wind the clouds traveled on smoothed the grass with a gentle hand, ruffling Artemis's hair as he reposed in the dappled shadow of a powerful oak.

Artemis lay there on the emerald-dappled hillside in a state of relaxation rare for a being such as him. His back rooted to the ground he faced the sky, the grass cradling him in a gentle embrace. Having discarded his suit jacket by the base of the tree, he was dressed in a slightly disarrayed white button-down shirt. His simple black pants contrasted his shirt strongly, and his loafers no longer had quite the impeccable shine they used to. His eyes were gently closed and his face was not blank, but simply relaxed. The sun and the shadows played games across his face through the leaves, painting the canvas of his pale face with brightness and shadow.

She came from nowhere, or so it seemed, fitting perfectly into the landscape like she belonged there. The girl had a kind of wildness about her, a hint of the sky in her smile, a bit of autumn in her hair. A piece of the earth was residing in her wide eyes. She was dressed in a sky blue shirt, the half-sleeves and v-neck accentuating her maturity. It bared the tan brown of her forearms to the glow of the sun. Her cream brown pants were both loose and form-fitting, following the graceful line of her hips. Her shoes were soft and brown, barely making a sound as they whispered towards the boy in the shade of the tree. To his credit, he did not move at the sound of her approach, even though he sensed her drawing near. Reaching the borderline of shadow, the girl paused minutely before continuing onward. Removing her shoes so that her feet were bare, the girl gently folded to the ground, lying back with knees bent until she too faced the sky. It was to this the girl gazed, watching the leaves sway and dance above.

Times passed. How much, they did not know. Between two friends as good as those, time has little meaning at all.

"Back again so soon, Holly?" asked Artemis without opening his eyes and breaking the silence with his voice, barely above a murmur. There were hints of something in his tone, teasing Holly by being just beyond the grasp of her perception. She frowned, a small furrow forming between her eyes, and if Artemis had been looking at her the expression would have bothered him.

"I'm sorry," Holly said, finding it suddenly hard to look at him. "For staying away, I mean. I…" She paused, faltered, and then continued."I had some things I needed to sort out."

"What?" snapped Artemis, his voice a little harsher that he meant it to be. Realizing this, he cleared his throat and tried again. "What do you need to sort out?" he asked gently, suppressing his feelings. So many unasked questions hovered in his mind. What were you doing? Didn't you even consider what your leaving might do to me? But above all, one burning question crowded to the front of his mind.

Why did you leave me, Holly? Why?

Holly caught it this time, the emotion in Artemis's voice. There was hurt, sadness, and a touch of longing. It made her sad because she had put it there. Not answering his question, she rolled over until she was facing Artemis. Gently, she trailed her fingers over the back of his hand. Against her hand, she felt the tremors of his. "Sorry," she whispered, still tracing the back of his hand. She was sorry, for Artemis was hurting and she had caused his pain. So she murmured 'sorry' again and again, tracing his fingers with a feather-light touch until the shaking in his had ceased.

Feeling his fingers still, she rolled back over to face the sky, but kept one hand laid over his. She wanted the contact it provided, the connection between them. But as much as she wanted it, she knew he needed it. There were very few things that worried Artemis Fowl the Second, but when he did he felt the emotion deeply.

A moment passed, filled with their touch. "I was scared," Artemis admitted, sounding like he was confessing murder rather than a personal attachment. "I was worried that…" he stopped, finding he was unable or unwilling to verbalize what he was feeling.

"Worried that I wouldn't come back?" Holly guessed, but Artemis simply shook his head, eyes still closed.

"No," he stated. He sighed lightly. Dragging out an emotional confession was like dragging a bull through the mud, but he had long ago given up being guarded with her. One of the good things about Artemis was this; when he said something, he meant it. Not in the sense that he always told the truth. Heavens no. Artemis had lost track long ago of the lies he had told. It was in the sense that when he decided to bare his soul, he left absolutely nothing out. "I was afraid I had driven you away."

Holly, taken by surprise, couldn't find the words to say. Artemis waited, then took another shaky breath and continued. "I know I'm not a good person. I've known that ever since I was six years old. And you are good, in so many ways. Something I could never figure out about you is how you can keep forgiving me for everything. And I've known, someday, you will realize what a horrible mistake it is. Then," he finished quietly, and there would have been grief in his eyes had they been open, "You will leave. And I will never see you again."

His hands were shaking again, and his breathing was no longer so steady and smooth. It hitched a little, sporadically, as if Artemis was fighting for some sort of control. Holly rolled over to look at him, and found his brow was furrowed a little. Aside from these small signs, the planes of his face were still formed as the relaxed visage of one in deep thought. Holly pulled his hand into her own, stilling it so it did not tremble.

"Artemis," she said, "I know." And she had, for the longest time. His faults were not obvious to some, but were excruciatingly distinct to Holly. After all, she had suffered at the hands of most of them. He was selfish, and cruel, and above all a consummate criminal. However, that was not all there was to this boy- no, man- that lay before her. He had confidence, bravery, and the burning desire to protect his friends. The good and the bad didn't outweigh each other, but mixed together so you couldn't have one without the other. And that was okay. Without these things Artemis wouldn't be who he was. Holly had learned to like and accept that.

Artemis's eyes opened, brown and blue at revealed at last as he too rolled onto his side to face her. And now it was his hand gripping hers, as if he was afraid to let it go. "I don't understand," he said quietly, and Holly smiled at the idea that the great Artemis Fowl didn't understand everything. With his hair mussed by the wind, and his shirt askew, he didn't look nearly as orderly as he usually did. The leaf-shadows danced, fracturing his face into shards of black and white. He looked unusually conflicted and confused.

Holly raised herself onto one elbow, patches of her hair flaming in the golden light. "Me neither," she said easily, "But I can say this for sure, Artemis; I'm back now."

"But for how long will you stay?" Artemis pleaded, uncertainty written all over his face. "How do I know you won't leave again?" Holly frowned, because beneath his words she could hear something that was darkening his eyes with fear. Everyone leaves. That's what Artemis's face told her, what her eyes told her. Thinking it over, she finds this to be true. His father had gone missing when he was young, his mother had gone insane, and he had been left with only Butler to care for him. Butler had been shot and died, only to be revived by fairy magic. Even she had, once, left him, in an alternate universe she could vaguely remember. Holly could only just imagine what he had felt like as a young boy, with no father and a mother going to pieces. He must have been the loneliest boy in the world.

Holly began to lightly trace his face, thinking. The air caught in his throat as he shuddered, trying to remember how to breathe. Holly looked at him, her eyes sorrowful and said, "Everybody left you." She felt Artemis flinch underneath her fingers. "When you were small," Holly asked, trailing a finger over his sharp cheekbone and hearing his breath get faster, "How did you do it?" Get through the loneliness, I mean."

Holly's eyes gently beseeched an answer from him. He paused, thinking of many ways he could answer, but choosing instead to make a leap of faith. He settled for the truth, answering softly, "I told…I told myself that I did not need anyone." He swallowed heavily. "I said I would never get attached to anyone ever again." Artemis looked at Holly, with her hair dancing in the breeze on a sun-drenched hill. "It's why I came here today. I used to play here, back when I was small. If I returned, I felt I might be able to capture that time better." Artemis at once felt the need to be close to her, to make sure she was here now after all.

Holly, sensing this, moved closer. Something about her leaving had changed Artemis. He seemed brittle, almost like glass. It was like her absence had worn away all the layers and the pretense, stripping it all away until Artemis was left only with his true feelings. They were closer now, only an inch apart as the sound of each other's breathing filled their ears. Holly's was even, but Artemis's was fast and faltered every time Holly's fingers glided over his face. His eyes were wide and just a bit wild as he gazed desperately into Holly's warm ones. Without even knowing it this little elf slowly brushed away his restraint, his trepidation, and with her touching his face like that he was swiftly forgetting why telling her had ever been a bad idea. Even the mighty can fall, and he had fallen pretty hard indeed. Now here she was back with him, lying in the grass under a shaded tree, close enough to touch.

"Holly," he gasped as her hand swept down the arc of his face. It was an involuntary sound, and he flushed with embarrassment. Holly, however, simply smiled and gave a low chuckle. Then her smiled flickered and faded a little.

"The reason that I left, Artemis," she said, "Was I needed to get my priorities straight. I had to decide between what I should do, and what I want. It wasn't an easy choice."

Artemis's heart was going a mile a minute, fear coursing though his veins. She was leaving, for good this time. She must have come back to say goodbye. But she couldn't, because if she left all he had gained, all he had discovered would break into a million pieces. So he moved, pulling her to him so he could wrap his arms around her. Bending his head down, he kissed her like his world was falling apart. She tasted like cherries and sunshine as he trailed his fingers through her hair. Then suddenly she was kissing him back and she moved closer, the heat of her lips burning against his. With no more space between their bodies, Artemis lost track of what was up and what was down because there was fire everywhere. Then it was over and she just lay there in his arms.

Artemis buried his face in her hair, and with a small, broken voice begged, "I love you Holly, so please, stop thinking about leaving."

"Silly mud man," Holly said, turning her cheek so it pressing against his. Light and dark mixed over their bodies, two worlds colliding into one. She smiles up at the sky, lying in an evergreen field. "I never was."

fin

I hope you liked it! Review, if you dare. Dun. Dun. Dun!