AN:

Your eyes do not deceive you.

The young male sat there, no signs of emotions on his face. The statues surrounding his throne allowed him to blend in perfectly. It would take more than one double take to tell him apart from the porcelain figures.

The door to the room creaked open slightly, allowing a small sliver of light to pour into the dark room. The male slowly craned his head upward to look upon his visitor. A figure in the darkest of robes cautiously approached him and bowed down.

"My lord," the figure spoke in a rather light voice, "I have what you asked me to find."

The male stood up and walked over to the bowing figure, his boots clicking against the cold stone floor. He placed a hand on the others head and closed his eyes. The memory projected through his mind and there he saw them both, embracing in a loving manner. Then he saw the vampire sink his fangs into the blonde and drain the life from her.

The male smiled, leave it to a vampire to suck the essence from a human. No matter what they did, no matter how much emotion they showed, they were all primal creatures.

It was then that the blonde stood up, the peach-like color gone from her skin. It was replaced by a light gray tone, a sign that she had now joined the ranks of the undead. Yet, instead of being angry as she should naturally be, the girl hugged the vampire. They broke apart and uttered something to each other, possibly words that signified their bond, and kissed.

The memory then cut forward to the girl sitting in a large chamber, possibly a room from this very palace. The girl was lying down on a couch, her feet bare and swollen. She was great with child now; the bump she was caressing clearly visible in the white gown she was wearing. She had a smile on her face, but her eyes held a sad meaning behind them. It was then that the vampire floated into the room via the open window, kissed his beloved, and then kissed the bump that was his child. He gently pressed his forehead against it and felt something stir within. He smiled and kissed the bump again, but as he did so, his eyes held the same sad look as his wife did.

The memory cut ahead once more; they were in the king and queen's bedroom where the girl, known as Fionna was in labor. She held onto the vampire, known as Marshall Lee, and let out screams as the contractions became more intense. It was then the head maid, Aranxa, walked in with two other maids to assist. Positioning the girl, they told her the child was ready to be brought into the world. Aranxa then coached Fionna the Vampire Queen through the birthing process. The baby was a tiny male with a darker hue of gray to his skin compared to his parents. He was of vampire and human descent, something that was not spoken of in the vampire community, but it made no difference. When he came of age, this child would take on the title, "Nathaniel Lee the Vampire King".

The memory then grew dark and soon it was gone. Nathaniel retracted his hand and walked back to look at his throne. The head maid stood up and walked to his side, "Is there something one your mind, my lord?"

He turned to face her, the woman who had assisted in his birth, "Tell me Aranxa, do you think they'd be proud of me?"

The female vampire gave him a smile, "Of course my lord, King Marshall would have loved how great a ruler you have been to this kingdom, and Queen Fionna would have been proud to see her son become such wonderful, and considerate man."

His human descent kicking in, the king's eyes began to water. "They knew what they were getting into right?"

Aranxa nodded, "Yes. They knew that if they had a son of both vampire and human descent then they'd give up their immortality. It is but a shame that they left the world sooner than we'd expected."

The tears flowing, Nathaniel had recalled the tragic events of his childhood. About five years after his birth, his mother had become extremely weak. His father had tried his best to save her, but to no avail. After many failed attempts, she passed away in the most peaceful manner her husband could provide for her.

A few years after her death, his father began to feel the effects of being alive for nearly one-thousand years. He grew depressed and began to age, something he was not used to. Within two weeks time, he was an elderly man on the brink of death. Nathaniel never left his side though, he was there for his mortal father, always caring for him. The young vampire remained with his father until Death took Marshall Lee by the hand and reunited him with his beloved on the other side.

It was then, at the age of only eight that Nathaniel Lee found himself an orphan and new ruler of an entire kingdom. He had been scared and alone; the young one kept trying to wake up from such a realistic nightmare by telling himself that his parents were about to walk into his bedroom. That his mom would lay down by his side and hold him close while his father told him stories of their adventures and sang him to sleep. It never came though, and it caused him to sob uncontrollably every night. All he wanted was someone to be there for him, and hatred grew in him for a while when he had convinced himself that they had meant to leave him alone.

The dark feeling continued until Aranxa had come to his aid. Through her kind words he grew to accept his parents deaths and decided, at a young age, to be a righteous king as they would have wanted. With her help, he flew out of that dark state of mind and into a noble one that gained wisdom as he aged.

Nathaniel knew all to well that he would also age for he was not a true vampire. He retained some human traits, which allowed him to visit the land from which his mother hailed. He enjoyed walking out in the sunlight, and to visit the old abandoned tree-house in which both his parents had met for the first time. As he thought that, he snapped his fingers and a long dark cape appeared in his hand.

Wiping off the tears and clipping the cape to his collar, he turned to the maid. "I'm going out Aranxa, send word to me if anything comes up."

Aranxa gave him a warming smile, "Make sure to tell them I said hello."

He nodded, walked over to the window, and flew out. He flew over the land that he ruled, coming to stop at the royal gravesite. He floated down to the spot where their tombs resided, and produced some roses he had hidden within the side of the cape. He placed the roses at the foot of their united tombs, kneeled down, and payed his respects to both of his parents, to two lovers who, despite all obstacles, had found true love and had lived a happy life.

As he finished, Nathaniel knew that, at only the young age of twenty-three, he had done more than they could have ever dreamed. He took off, knowing that he had made them proud. "I love you, mom and dad."

Though they might have been gone from the world, the bond that Marshall Lee and Fionna shared was strong within their son.

AN 2:

I had gotten several messages about an epilogue, but I never really thought of it. I now see, that upon further inspection of my writing, that on was indeed necessary. As sad as it is, this is the official end of "Come What May". I hope to see you all still following me as I continue to write the second part of the trilogy that "Heads or Tail?" and "Empty Hands" are a part of. Until then, peace friends.