Hey everyone! No real news to report, other than I'm sorry I didn't have this done earlier in the week. Got sucked into a book (Ender's Game, if any of you want to know) that I couldn't put down! So I ignored writing for about two days until I finished it. :P And since Wattpad won't let me dedicate to anyone specific (something about 'invalid emails'), I dedicated it to all of you! Anyways... hope you all enjoy this chapter! :D

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            Diana sat on her bed, kicking her legs gently over the edge, trying to pass the time until Artemis returned from his meeting. On top of that, she was still trying to absorb all of the intriguing events Artemis has told her about his life. It was almost surreal- kidnappings, rescue missions, revolutions, conspiracy theories, power-hungry pixies, multiple personality disorders, death. Diana could simply not believe that he had been through so much in his short life. But once he had told her his life story, everything else he had ever said started to make sense, like why he didn't date or have many friends.

            But in the end, would it even matter? If the elf in charge got his way, Diana wouldn't remember any of that information anyways. The girl closed her eyes, trying to make herself forget about Artemis Fowl since in only a few short hours it was likely she wouldn't even know who he was. But her efforts were futile. Just like the night they had met, the boy's eyes stared back at her, reminding her of every reason she couldn't just forget him.

            Diana decided that wasn't going to work. She opened her eyes with a sigh, falling backwards onto the bed. It was at that moment, the girl was truly grateful to no longer be attached to any of the machinery she was only a little while ago. Before she had been left alone, Foaly had been kind enough to take the IV from her arm. Diana shook that thought from her mind; there were more important things to deal with right now. She had to face the facts; soon she wouldn't remember any of this. Chances are, it wouldn't even return to her in dreams, and even if it were to, she would just disregard it like it was a common dream.

            As pathetic as it sounded, Diana was disappointed by this whole stage of events, but mainly only because she would never be able to tell Artemis how she felt. And at this point, even if she were to tell him in the sparing moments before the mind wipe, it wouldn't matter anyways. It was a hopeless situation unless Artemis somehow worked some magic of his own. But until she knew for sure, the girl closed her eyes, allowing herself one last glimpse into Artemis' eyes.

            "Taking a nap, I see?" a voice questioned seemingly out of nowhere.

            Diana shot upright, obviously startled by the question. The girl thought she had been alone, but after opening her eyes and taking a quick glance, she spotted Artemis entering the room, quietly shutting the door behind him. "No," she finally answered him.

            A weak smile formed on Artemis' face, but he said nothing more on the matter. The Irish boy crossed the room, taking a seat next to Diana. He stared at the ground, not speaking for several moments. "I spoke to the commander," he said quietly.

            Diana nodded slowly, not wanting to know what the outcome was. "How did it go?" she asked, hesitantly.

            Artemis shrugged lightly. "In all honesty, I have no idea. The note it ended on was... questionable to say the least. I tried... I really did."

            Diana frowned, noting the sadness in her friend's voice. "I had a feeling, and I appreciate your attempt. I truly do."

            "For your sake, I hope I was able to convince Commander Kelp that wiping your memories is pointless," Artemis continued. "If he does decide to, I'm not quite sure I have enough time to make a trigger, but I'll do my best regardless."

            "A trigger?" Diana inquired. This was the first time the idea had really been brought up to her. If it was inevitable that her memories were to be erased, perhaps all hope wouldn't be lost after all.

            Artemis nodded. "Yes, something that would essentially render their wipe useless. Recall that when they wiped my memories, I entrusted Mulch Diggums with a disc that I had painted gold. On that disc was a video diary on which I explained everything. Hearing myself speak it was enough for me; hypothetically it might be possible for the same to work for you, if necessary."

            Diana mused over the possibility. If needed, she knew Artemis would figure out a way to get her memories back. But something still puzzled her. "But wouldn't I be a bit... delusional afterwards? Like in disbelief?"

            Artemis shrugged lightly. "It's certainly a possibility. Without actually going through the process, I can't make any real predictions to your reactions to a total recall," he explained. "I'm sure you'll handle it fine, seeing as you've handled all of this information I've presented thus far with ease."

            Diana wanted to laugh at him, but held it back. The girl was not handling it as well as Artemis thought she was. Sure, she didn't freak out like most people would, but at the same time it wasn't like she was completely unfazed by it either. Diana shook the feeling, and in a desperate attempt to get the conversation away from her possible future, she changed topics.

            "So... I see why you haven't dated anyone," she said quietly, not sure why she went with that opening line in the first place. Although Diana was curious to know what made the boy tick, part of her didn't want to know either, the part of her that didn't want to be rejected by him.

            "You do?" Artemis raised an eyebrow. Diana could tell the boy wasn't sure as to where she was going with this, so she kept talking.

            "Well yea," she answered. "I mean... with all those seat of the pants adventures, you wouldn't have had time to deal with a girlfriend. Let alone the fact you would've had to hide a good majority of them from her in the first place. It all makes sense now."

            Artemis smirked. "I'm glad you figured it out. Most people just assume that it's because I don't want one- a girlfriend, that is."

            "So you do want one?" Diana inquired, finding it bit hard to believe Artemis of all people would just admit something like that.

            The boy sighed. "It's not that I don't want one. What most people fail to realize is that I devote a lot of my time to my studies, so I would need to be with someone who understands that. Unfortunately that narrows down the possible matches tremendously, but I'm okay with that. Plus, like you said, not everyone knows what I've been through, and any girl I'm with would have to be able to know my past to understand me. So far... there certainly hasn't been many of those- just Minerva and yourself."

            Diana nodded, recalling the conversation she had with Artemis not too long ago. He mentioned a Minerva, but comparatively, she hadn't seemed like she had been that important to him. Minerva had been a closer friend to Artemis' bodyguard, Butler, than him. Diana figured now was her chance to try to get information out of Artemis. "So why don't you date Minerva?" she asked.

            Artemis must have found this humorous as he laughed out loud. "Oh no... certainly not. She is far more like my sister than anything else. She and I are too alike to ever be in a romantic relationship," he explained. "Whoever I am to date, well... they would certainly know who they are."

            A small smile crept across his face, and placed his hand gently on top of hers. His gaze met Diana's, and the girl found herself staring back into his sapphire blue eyes for a moment before blushing and looking away. She was smiling from ear to ear for no reason in particular. Surely Artemis wasn't suggesting anything by that last remark. The two sat in silence for a few moments before Artemis spoke again.

            "You went to say something to me on the phone," he recalled. "You started to say something, and after saying 'I,' you flipped the sentence entirely." Artemis paused for a moment, debating what he was going to say next. "What was it you wanted to say?"

            Diana bit her tongue. She was afraid he was going to catch her mess up. There was no way she could tell him she loved him now, not with the circumstances the way they were. She looked at the ground, trying to come up with something, anything to tell him other than the truth. "It's nothing," she muttered, hoping Artemis would just accept it, and move on.

            Diana felt a hand lift her chin up, gently turning her face in the process. She found herself looking at Artemis again; it was his hand on her chin. "It's not 'nothing,' otherwise you wouldn't have changed your mind about saying it," Artemis contradicted. "Whatever it is, you're worried about saying it; that much I can tell." He took a deep breath before saying, "You can tell me the truth, Diana."

            "You'd think I was crazy," she said, feeling a lump in her throat. There was no denying it; she was incredibly nervous about saying what was on her mind. If Artemis didn't think she was crazy after hearing it, she didn't know what would.

            "Diana, for all intents and purposes, I'm already legally insane; I'm sure whatever you have to say can't make it any worse," Artemis retorted, trying to push her into saying it. "That much I promise you."

            A promise. It had been a while since anyone had promised anything to Diana; in fact the last person to make a promise to her was Artemis himself. He had rescued her, just like he said he would; surely he wouldn't break this promise either. Diana took a deep breath, readying herself to speak the words that she so longed to say. "Artemis," she began, "I lo-"

            Half way through her sentence, the room's door opened, causing her to glance away from Artemis to see who entered the room. A perfect distraction, she thought, noticing Holly approaching them. Artemis lowered his hand off her chin finally, although he gave her a look that said they would be continuing the conversation later. As Holly finally came to a stop in front of them, Artemis greeted his elfin friend.

            "Yes, Holly? How may we help you?" he inquired.

            "I've got good news for you, Mud Boy," the elf stated before turning to look at Diana. "You, my friend, get to keep your memories. I may or may not have called Kelp stupid a few times, but I convinced him at any rate." She smiled. "No worries now. Whenever you guys are ready, I'll fetch Butler and I'll have you on a shuttle back to the surface in no time."

            Diana let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. She got to keep her memories after all. The girl hadn't anticipated coming out of the fairy city with them. As she thanked Holly, Diana couldn't help but think that this was only the beginning for her. After all, Artemis still would be in her life, and he wanted to know what she had wanted to say. Things were either going to go extremely well, or terribly. At that moment, however, Diana honestly didn't care which it was; the girl was just happy she had an experience she would never forget.