December 11th, 1925.
Kingdom of Bhutan, South Asia.

  Theseus apparated in Bhutan after he had teleported from Hogwarts. He didn't know here Jacob and Dumbledore were, or Newt, Lally or Bunty. He started walking down the different alleys and crowded streets to get to the temple where the Ceremony would take place. His grip around the suitcase holder intensified when he felt eyes on him. He turned around and there was Newt. They nodded at each other before walking opposite ways.

  Few yards in, he felt more eyes on him, when his eyes moved up, he saw people on the ceilings. He turned right in an alleyway and kept on walking, sudden movement to his left caught his eye and he stopped. His eyes landed on two men, he drew out his wand and turned right. Theseus walked a few more meters until he saw people in front of him, so he started walking backwards.

  Suddenly, his back collided against someone. When he looked over his shoulder, he realised it was Lally the one behind him. He sighed when he saw all the people surrounding them, they were going to fight their way out of this one and it won't be as easy, for the enemies were standing on the ceilings, behind them, on their flanks, everywhere; and there were too many of them. It was a group of what seemed to be twenty people against two. Thankfully, they are a pair of skilled wizards.

  Theseus breathed in, the second a bell rang somewhere, the first spell flew from behind them and hit a man that was going to attack Theseus. He turned around and saw his favourite red haired girl behind him, he smiled to himself as she joined them. Theseus blocked the spells of the ones on the balconies and the ceilings while Lally handled the ones that got too close, as well as Amélie.

  Four fell, then five, three fell when Lally threw crystal balls at them, two when Amélie made a column of cauldrons fall on top of them, one when she threw him backwards and trapped him against the wall, one when Theseus used the very same spell, another one when Lally made a blanket trap a woman in it, the final two when the Aurors knocked them out and they fell from the ceilings. As the three of them took a deep breath, Theseus turned to face Amélie.

"Are you alright?" His hand instinctively cupped her cheek as he saw the bruises and cuts on her face; his eyes reflected worry, he wasn't there to save her from that pain. "What did they do to you?"

"Nothing that won't heal." She said in a monotone voice. Theseus frowned when he acknowledged her voice sounded off. "You replicated the case." She said looking at the cases Theseus and Lally were carrying. "Smart move."

"It's all part of the plan." Amélie nodded at Lally's words.

"And which one has the Qilin?" Theseus' frown deepened.

"How do you know about the Qilin?" He asked.

"What do you mean 'how do you know'? Dumbledore told me."

"You weren't there."

"I'm telling you, Dumbledore told me about it. Now, we gotta hurry."

"But you said you only knew about the letters."

"Theseus, this is ridiculous and we've got to keep moving. I'll distract them, give me the case." Her hand found the suitcase, when she pulled it to take the case with her, Theseus didn't let go. "Thes..." She pulled it again and tightened her grip around her wand, something Scamander did too.

"Let go of the case." She tilted her head and he saw what seemed to be a mist in her eyes, he also noticed how her eyes weren't their usual shade of green, but darker, they seemed almost black. She's being controlled. He thought as his mind rushed to come up with an idea of how to snap her out of it. Nothing came to mind.

If there's one thing a sane Amélie wouldn't do is attack first, Theseus knew that, but this Amélie that served as Vinda's puppet didn't hold back, she was the one to attack.

  With a flick of her wand, Theseus flew backwards, hitting a wall. Lally didn't have much chance to do anything, for Élie disarmed her and made her fly across the open area as Hicks' wand flew towards Rosier's hand and Carrow arrived to hold Lally in place while Abernathy took a hold of the case she was holding. A second later, Rosier was the one to fall, for Theseus stood up and attacked her.

"It's been a while since we found ourselves in a similar situation, am I right?" She said.

"Amélie, snap out of it!" In a second, she sent a spell his way, which he blocked. And a rapid fire of spells flew back and forth for two minutes straight. A light coat of sweat covered Theseus' forehead while Amélie attacked him mercilessly, no emotion on her face. "Amélie, this isn't you, knock it off!" She didn't stop. Her face shifted, worry over it. "My Élie wouldn't do this, you don't want to do this! I know it!"

  Suddenly, Amélie groaned in pain and held her head, her body contracted, as if she was trying to hold back but she really couldn't she was forced to keep going, to keep attacking him; this made Élie feel an insane amount of pain. Theseus didn't want to attack, he just stood there. Rosier's face shifted to emotionless again and Theseus blocked right on time when she attacked again, that's when he felt the tip of a wand on the back of his neck, it was Helmut.

"Drop the case, Scamander." Élie said calmly as she approached them. Amélie held the case and pulled it towards her, Theseus was not letting go, so she placed the tip of her wand on his neck. "Drop the case or I will take it from your corpse." Amélie's eyes started filling up with tears as Theseus released the case.

"I know you don't mean that." She walked away with the case in one hand and Theseus' wand in the other one, Scamander noticed how a tear rolled down her cheek. All of Grindelwald's sympathisers started to wake up and stand behind her. Helmut moved to stand amongst them when Kraft replaced his position behind Theseus, Vinda arrived in a second and Theseus noted how she was aiming at Amélie, she was the one controlling her.

"Let her go." He commanded Vinda, who simply smiled wickedly.

"Thank you, Amélie." Said Vinda as one of her sheep took the case from Amélie's hand, placing it before them. Abernathy placed the case he had taken from Lally on the ground too before both men aimed at the cases.

"Wait." Said Helmut. "Open them, make sure it's in there. Idiots." The men in the wall punched the bricks and Amélie released one while Hoffman released the other one. Theseus exchanged looks with Lally when two wizards grabbed the cases, Helmut and Vinda approached the cases and Theseus moved to stand in front of Amélie while her sister wasn't looking. Scamander held Rosier by the arms and shook her gently.

"Amélie, darling, wake up." Her eyes were lost behind him, looking at Vinda, her face showed no emotion at all. "Fight it, you can fight it, I know you can." He looked over his shoulder, they opened the cases. From the one he had, a Golden Snitch flew out while the one Lally had was packed with books. He looked back at Amélie and his hands cupped her cheeks, that's when her eyes finally looked into his. "Élie, fight it. Come back to me."

  Everyone behind them yelped. The books started attacking everyone, for they were monster books, and the pages created a curtain between them and the bad guys. Theseus also heard the characteristic whoosh of the Bludgers and admitted to himself the fact that Dumbledore did have his aces underneath his sleeves.

"Theseus, we've got to go." Said Lally as she grabbed her wand from Amélie's hand and ran away. He nodded and his hand found Amélie's after he had taken his wand back, too; he pulled her with him, but she didn't move.

"Amélie, we've got to go." He pulled again with no use before he picked her up and started running with Élie in his arms. It worried him how she was just like a rag doll, how she couldn't speak, how it felt as if she wasn't even breathing. "C'mon, c'mon, Rosier. Wake up from it." They closed in on the bridge, where they'd be taken to the top of the mountain, where the celebration will take place.

  When they were about to arrive, Theseus spotted dark clouds above them, like streaks of smoke. Dark wizards. One of them got too close to him and he felt the weight of Amélie shifting in his arms, she punched his face and they fell, letting go of her, both rolling over the ground. Lally stopped on her tracks as Theseus and Amélie stood up, and the smoke turned into Vinda.

"Kill him." She whispered and Amélie looked at her.

"What?" Amelie's face reflected worry, sadness, a hint of fear, a part of her was awake, fighting the strong spell. "I-"

"Kill him." Amélie's face went from sad to nothing before looking back at Theseus. Vinda disappeared and Amélie started to throw the green unforgivable curse at Theseus. He defended himself by using everything physical that was around him: bricks, cauldrons, everything he could use to block the curse. Lally stepped in and tried to stunt Amélie, in her logic that would snap her out of the curse, but Amélie blocked the spell, in a second, Lally found herself being held by the ornament in her hair, a brown lace that was braided with her dark black mane held her and she couldn't move. Hicks could hardly breathe.

  Even if Amélie was being controlled, the conscious part of her mind screamed for her to stop. She didn't want to do this, she'd never be able to do it. If her controlled self had a good aim and managed to hit the target and she woke up to Theseus' corpse in her arms, she'd have to die too. Amélie shifted and held her head as she groaned. Theseus breathed in and out with relief, then he ran to her.

"Amélie, fight it. Fight it." He held her face. "Please, love, fight it. You're strong, stronger than anything. You can fight it." Amélie groaned and looked at Theseus, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I know you don't want to do this, I know it!" She sent him backwards, making him groan; regardless of the pain, he stood up. It suddenly felt like this was the end. "You don't mean it." He fell backwards again, grunting when he hit the ground roughly, and Lally held her breath as Theseus stood up once more. "I know you don't want to hurt me." She disarmed him and made him fall and this time he didn't stand. Amélie placed herself on top of him, her wand against his neck, her knees on each side of his hips. He felt the Earth moving and his heart bursting in his ears. This was the end.

"Avada-" She said and he closed his eyes.

"Fuck it! I love you!" There, he said it, and Amélie froze, the unforgivable curse trapped in her throat. Theseus thought that would be the only thing, the only words that could bring her back. The last words that would come out of his mouth. Suddenly, she tensed and she frowned as she blinked. "I do. I've loved you ever since you kissed me at that stupid Yule Ball. I feared to tell you all those years ago, when we were kids, at the Muggle war where the worlds collided and the days were dark, when we made love for the first time and all those years after. But I do love you, more than I could ever love anyone. You're my world, Amélie, and if those will be my last words, then so be it. I'll be gone in peace knowing that I finally told you." She blinked a few times and his hand found her cheek again. "I love you." He whispered and she groaned in pain, willpower is the only thing that snaps you out of the Imperius curse, and Vinda was too out of reach as to make sure the curse doesn't break, but with Theseus' confession and her willing to let him live, Amélie woke up. The fog in her eyes cleared out and that shade of green that drove him crazy looked into her favourite shade of blue. He smiled. "That's my girl."

"Theseus?" She whispered as her body felt weak all of the sudden, she felt like collapsing. Theseus' strong hands held her arms to help her stand her ground above him.

"Hi, hi. I'm here, I'm always here." He brushed her tears away and smiled at her as his hand fell to his side, tired and relieved, he was glad Élie was back and he was glad he'd keep on living. That's when Yusuf arrived, an army behind him. "Bloody great." He whispered. Amélie looked at Yusuf and the people behind him, they smiled at her. "Hey." She looked at Theseus. "How 'bout you kick their asses too?" Amélie smiled. She stood up and made Scamander stand too, then she exchanged looks with Kama and the man smiled for a fraction of second, that's when Kama turned around and threw a spell at the ground while Amélie threw the spell above, both knocked down all the people that had arrived with Yusuf. Then, Amélie's attention shifted towards Lally, she released her from the lace that held her in place.

"It's good to know we have you with us." Lally told Amélie, almost breathless, as she approached the group.

"I'm sorry, I didn't-" Amélie started talking, a shaky hand gripping onto Theseus' coat sleeve.

"We know." Said Theseus holding her hand. "We know." The look in his eyes let her know, that 'we know' mostly means 'I know'. "C'mon." He laced their fingers together as they rushed to get to where the ceremony was being held.

  They arrived at the time when everybody emitted their votes, the air filled with green spells that had Grindelwald's 'alliance' symbol, there were a few yellow votes that represented Santos, and some red that were for Tao.

"Gellert Grindelwald is the new leader of the magical world by acclamation." Vogel announced and Amélie's eyes found Theseus'. Grindelwald stepped forward and smiled for a second, then, he looked at someone in the crowd that had formed before them and nodded. Vinda started walking upstairs and Krafft and Abernathy pulled Jacob with them for him to stand before Gellert.

"Newt's up there too." Said Theseus as his heart started racing in his chest. Amélie observed how Vinda pulled out of Jacob's pocket a wand and handed it over to Grindelwald. The Aurors exchanged looks again and they started moving slowly and steadily. Together.

"This is the man who tried to take my life." Grindelwald started speaking. "This man, who has no magic, who would marry a witch and pollute our blood," He added pointing at Queenie. "create a forbidden union that would make us less, make us weak, like his kind. He's not alone, my friends. There are thousands out there who seek to do the same." Jacob's eyes were pinned to Queenie and he started crying. "There can only be one response to such vermin." Jacob turned around and opened his arms defiantly at Grindelwald, who sent him backwards in the blink of an eye.

"No!" Newt and Queenie called at the same time.

"Crucio!" Amélie tensed and suddenly felt sick as Jacob started screaming on the ground and the crowd cheered. Theseus looked at her and knew that's what they did to her for God knows how long. Scamander's eyes looked up at Grindelwald and Vinda, he glanced at them as if he could reduce them to ashes in seconds.

"No!" Newt yelled again and Queenie whimpered. Amélie and Theseus pressed the walk to reach them sooner.

"Make him stop!" Yelled Goldstein.

"Our war with the Muggles begins today!" Yelled Grindelwald and it made the crowd send more green flashes to the sky. Vicencia made the Cruciatus curse stop and Jacob finally breathed in again, that's when a phoenix flew above them all and Credence, Aurelius, stepped forward to confront Grindelwald.

"He's lying to you." Aurelius said to the crowd. "That creature is dead." He added pointing at the Qilin that stood before the crowd before he fell down, almost collapsing. He seemed so weak.

"He did it to trick you." Said Newt as he released himself from someone's grip. "He killed it and bewitched it so that you might think him worthy to lead." He added as he rushed upstairs. "But he doesn't want to lead you. He just wants you to follow." Grindelwald almost rolled his eyes at Newt, he was exasperated.

"Words." He said. "Words designed to deceive. To make you doubt what you've seen with your own two eyes."

"There were two Qilins born that night. A twin. And I know that- I know that..."

"Because?" Newt remained silent. "Because you have no proof. Because there was no second Qilin. Am I not right?"

"Its mother had been killed, it..."

"Then where is it now, Mister Scamander?" Everyone remained silent and still as a single figure dressed in emerald green robes started to walk upstairs. This person, whoever she was, handed over a case to Newt.

"No one can know everything, Newt. Remember?" She smiled and turned around to walk downstairs.

"Bunty." Said Theseus as Newt bent down and opened the case. Everyone gathered closer to him to have a look inside and saw how the Qilin he was talking about popped her head out of the case, making everyone gasp.

"No! This is the true Qilin!" Said Vogel as he picked up over his head the animal. That creature seemed grey, almost as grey as Aurelius, lacking the colour of life. "Look at it! You can see it with your own eyes! This is the true-" The Qilin he was holding gasped for air and suddenly faded away, causing the crowd to murmur.

"This can't be allowed to stand." Said a woman at the front. "The vote must be taken again. Come on, Anton. Do something." Vogel placed the Qilin gently on the ground and watched how the true Qilin just walked past Gellert without even looking at him, then, the small animal made its way downstairs looking at everyone in the crowd sniffing and following a scent, its eyes pinned on Dumbledore.

  Theseus sighed, he knew that man doesn't have a pure heart and wondered how could the Qilin say he had it, for it bowed before him. The Qilin's skin started glowing as Dumbledore bent down before her.

"I'm honoured." He said. "But just as two of you were born that night, there's another here equally worthy. I'm certain of it." The animal seemed to nod, for it understood. "Thank you." The Qilin started to walk away and followed a new scent as Newt picked up his case. The Qilin approached Vicencia Santos and bowed before her. Amélie saw how Grindelwald drew out his wand, he aimed at Newt.

"Theseus." She said and they moved quickly to get upstairs, but Aurelius was already there, standing in front of Newt. He stood before Gellert, who rose his wand just to hold it tightly in a second and aimed at the boy before throwing the killing curse. Dumbledore and his brother, Aberforth threw a counterspell that somehow blocked the curse. Everything happened so fast that Amélie and Theseus doubted it had happened for a second, the echoing of the votes against the sky called their attention, they were yellow. Vicencia Santos was the new Leader of the Confederation.

  Amélie and Theseus were the first ones to approach Grindelwald when the crowd started to dissipate, many following closely behind them. The man stepped near the edge of the wall and, in the blink of an eye, he was standing above it. When Amélie rose her wand to attack and immobilise him, Gellert created a force field that repelled the spells she and others like Theseus, Yusuf, Bunty, Lally and Newt sent his way.

"I was never your enemy." He said as the field burnt away. "Then or now." He looked towards Albus and let himself fall. Theseus was the one to start the rain of spells that would fall on him, but the remains of the shield blocked the attacks. Amélie dropped Theseus' hand to rush towards the railing, with him and the rest of the team following behind her, to watch nothing but the landscape, he had deapparated as he fell.

  Rosier sighed and closed her eyes. When she felt Theseus' touch on her shoulder she opened them again and looked at him, in a second, Amélie found herself in his arms, being hugged ever so tightly. The beating of his heart drummed a relaxing melody in which she got lost, just as she got lost in his amber and woody-like scent.

"I thought you were dead." She said and he let go, his hands rubbing her arms while her hands rested on his chest, playing with the buttons of his coat. "He told me you were dead. That you had died in Berlin." A whimper left her lips. "No pain caused by any curse, no pain caused by any punch could ever compare to the pain I felt at the thought of losing you." Her green waves met his ocean blue, his hand fell over hers and pressed it against his chest, she could feel his heart beating.

"You feel that?" Amélie nodded gently. "It beats for you. As long as you're breathing, I'll be breathing. As long as your heart's beating, mine will be beating." He offered a smile. "Where you go, I go. What you see, I see. Always." She smiled and hugged him again, throwing her arms around his neck. Theseus hid his face in her neck as he wrapped her arms around her torso. In that embrace, the scars that had been ripped open were stitched closed once again. Theseus' eyes landed on Dumbledore, whom was speaking with Newt and he let go of her slowly. "Why don't you wait for me over there downstairs? It'll take a second." She nodded as he kissed the crown of her head. When she had walked away, he walked towards Dumbledore. Amélie looked over her shoulder to watch him approach the men that stood by the stone railing. "Albus." He called and Dumbledore, as well as Newt, turned to face him. "Promise me. You'll find him. And you'll stop him." Albus knew how little his word meant for Theseus, so the fact that he asked him to promise him he'd get Grindelwald was huge. Dumbledore simply nodded at him and Theseus walked away, back to where his woman was.

  Amélie was sitting on the staircase just looking at the clouds that seemed to be so close to her, not talking to anyone, Jacob and Lally were chatting with Queenie in front of her, they were telling her all sorts of stories and they were catching up. Queenie looked at Jacob lovingly and he held her close as to never let her go again. Theseus smiled to himself as he sat beside Élie, Rosier breathed in deeply as her head fell upon Scamander's shoulder and his arm pulled her in. She exhaled a second later.

"Vinda escaped, as well as the rest." She said.

"Mhm, I suspected so. But I don't care about them, we can catch 'em some other day." He kissed her forehead and she looked at him before standing up and walking towards the next staircase landing. "What is it?" He asked as he reached her side, away from everyone else, and held her hand, his thumb tracing circles over her bruised knuckles. Her eyes met their hands and she spotted his knuckles bruised as well.

"What happened to your hand?" Theseus looked down and cleared his throat.

"I punched someone." Élie nodded. "What happened to yours?"

"I punched someone, too." They chuckled and Amélie sighed.

"Is everything...what's the matter?" A short pause settled as the cold air embraced them.

"Did you mean it? What you said earlier, did you mean it?"

"Every single word." He breathed in and out, taking her hands into his own even tighter. "I love you, Élie Rosier. More than anything." He smiled wildly and contagiously, causing a smile to make its way through her lips as tears of joy filled her eyes. "I love you." He laughed. "I love you!" She laughed too as Theseus' voice echoed around the sky.

"Shh! You're an idiot."

"You make me an idiot."

"Mm, no. I'm pretty sure you became an idiot permanently when you turned twelve." He chuckled.

"That's true, most likely." His hands landed on her waist and he was surprised when he realised how perfectly Amélie fits in him, his hands, his arms, the way her face fits the hollow of his neck. Élie's arms were placed around his neck. "I love you." She chuckled and she leaned in to kiss him. Her lips tasted salty, like blood and tears, but also sweet like cinnamon and strawberries.

Amélie's hands played with the ends of his hair as Theseus' traveled across her back. Rosier smiled into the kiss before pulling away, right after Theseus left a peck on those rosy lips.

"I love you, too." He smiled.

"You do? You don't hate me anymore?"

"No. I never could, no matter how much I tried to convince myself that I did. My heart always won the fight with my head, and it has your name written over it." He smiled at her so much his eyes narrowed. Theseus kissed Amélie again.

"Let's get you home." She nodded and they said 'goodbye, see you soon' to everybody. Then, he held her hand tightly as they walked downstairs. Eventually, they arrived back at the village and teleported to France. There, they made their way towards her place. "Where's Evan?" He asked once they had walked in. The house was arranged and it felt cold, only that it wasn't unbearable anymore.

"At Hogwarts, he's coming home for the holidays in a week." Theseus nodded as they made their way towards her bedroom. "He was sorted into Slytherin, did you know?" Theseus laughed, remembering the bickering they had as kids. "I've been thinking about moving out, you know?"

"Moving? Where?"

"London." She took off her coat slowly, for her whole body ached. Theseus stayed at the door, reclining his weight on the doorframe as she took off her boots. It was shocking to hear that, but it felt hopeful. "It's closer to Scotland." He nodded.

"Faster, cheaper." She nodded and sighed, relieved of being home.

"Indeed." He smiled at her and took off his coat and blazer, he left them on the coatrack she had stuck behind the door.

"I'll get the water running." He said as he rolled up his sleeves and she smiled, thanking him. When he walked out, Amélie got undressed. When her eyes landed on the mirror and she saw her reflection, she started to cry.

  One thing is feeling the punches someone gives you, the curses and hexes someone throws at you; but seeing them reflected on your body hits different, straight to the gut. She didn't expect to find cuts on her skin, scratches she had made to herself when she tried to release the growing pain inside her skin whenever Vinda said 'crucio' or the bruises and open cuts caused by Krafft's beating. She grabbed her bathrobe and threw it on, the comfort of the silk made her feel somewhat better. She walked out of her room and entered the bathroom, Theseus was sitting on the edge of the bathtub. His eyes met hers and he smiled.

"It's ready." Said Scamander, Élie smiled and nodded.

"Thank you." His turn to nod. Theseus stood up and pretended to wash his hands for her to 'have her privacy', as Amélie let the silk of the robe fall to the ground and stepped into the tub, he saw through the mirror the bruises and cuts on her back. They looked almost as badly as his own scars look. She got into the tub and the water, as well as the soap foam, covered her; the warmth made her release a breath.

"I'll be in the living room." Said Theseus.

"No. Please, stay." He blinked and, after a couple seconds, he nodded and sat down next to the tub on the ground. Eventually, her hand asked for his and he grabbed it to hold her tightly. They stayed like that until Amélie started washing her body with a sponge trying to remove the dirt and dried blood from her skin. She asked Theseus to help her wash her back. With gentle strokes, he cleaned the wounds and the bruises making sure not to add too much pressure as for her to feel any pain. The wounds were enough reminder of what had happened, she didn't need the pain to remember it. When he was done, he gave her the sponge and leaned down to kiss her shoulder. Amélie closed her eyes when his lips made contact with her skin.

"I won't let anything like this happen to you ever again. I promise you." He whispered against her skin.

"And I believe you." She smiled and turned to face him. "Thank you." He kissed her forehead. "I need a moment alone now, please." She said after a while and he nodded.

"Of course." He stood up and dried his hands with a towel near the sink. "I'll prepare us some food." She nodded and he walked out of the bathroom. Theseus arrived at the kitchen and released a breath he had been holding, letting out the frustration of not being able to avoid the harm from touching her through his tears. After a couple minutes, he got himself together and started cooking.

  Amélie likes pasta and wine, so that's what he cooked. When she walked out of the bathroom, she made her way towards her bedroom after complimenting the scent of the food. She got dressed with a nightgown and her silk robe before making her way towards the kitchen.

Theseus was pouring white wine into the cups when her arms wrapped themselves around his torso, her ear against his back. He smiled, left the glasses and the bottle down before taking her hands into his own, leaning a bit back as to be nearer to her. The pair stayed like that for a while and just enjoyed silence together until Amélie's stomach made a funny noise.

"You're hungry." He said, mockingly.

"Oh, you have no idea." She replied, she didn't tell him she was starving, though.

  They sat down and ate their food and drank their wine next to the Christmas tree she had set alongside Evan and watched snow falling from the sky onto the Parisian streets through the closed window. All of this in comfortable silence, some people say it's overrated, but it's actually not. At least not for them. When the night fell, Rosier asked Scamander to stay, something he didn't refuse to do.

"I have no clothes to sleep in, though." Thes commented as she got under the bedsheets gracefully.

"When has that ever been a problem?" Élie replied and Scamander laughed. It was true, so, he simply got rid of his clothes, placed them aside on the desk's chair, and slithered into her bed.

  They laid down in bed and simply embraced each other enjoying the silence and the comfort and peace of each other's presence, the soft echo of their breaths in synch.

"I've realised something." Élie whispered, sleepily.

"What thing?" Theseus asked gently and quietly.

"That I'd never be me without the security you provide me. Your loving arms, keeping me from harm." She smiled against his neck. "I believe that, with you beside me, the sky could crumble and fall, and yet, we'd stand tall. Facing it together." Theseus smiled.

"I share the feeling." He kissed her forehead. "I'll protect you until my dying breath." She chuckled, her laugher vibrating against his collarbone.

"I love you." He breathed out, knowing she'd be okay, knowing she was here in his arms, breathing with him. Alive. He had nothing to fear now.

"I love you, too." She smiled wildly.

  With that, they fell asleep. Surely, as it was expected, Amélie did have nightmares throughout the night; but Theseus was there to calm her fears or offer a cup of forest berries tea if she really couldn't sleep.

  He also told her she'd be fine, that she was safe, that he'd keep her safe, always. And Élie knew she was safe, for she was finally with him. She was finally home.

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author's note:
hi! happy love day to all those who celebrate! i love you and here's my gift to you before the day's over (where i'm at btw, it's currently 11:06 pm. i know it's over somewhere else, but...happy valentine's anyway)

hope you enjoyed this chapter, gotta say we're nearing the end of this story, but we'll keep on having fun until it happens.

take care, drink water, have a nice day/night/evening or whatever time it is wherever u are.

mare, xx