Artemis Fowl was a free man.

He finally had his daughter in his arms.

What more could he want?

He kissed every inch of her face, inhaled her sweet smell, stoked her hair, and whispered millions of times how much he loved her. 

Minutes later, Artemis gently put Emery on the ground, stroking her blonde hair and kissing her cheeks, tears pouring down both their eyes.

"Emery," Artemis murmured. "Is is really you?"

She smiled, her eyes watering. "Yes, Papa," she said, "It's me."

"You figured it out, Little Fox," he said, using the nickname he gave her. "I'm so proud of you."

Emery nodded. "I did," she said, looking at Sirius who was standing on the marble steps of the building. "But my best friend helped me. Without him, I wouldn't have been able to do it."

Artemis kissed her forehead. "Him?"

Emery nodded. "There he is," she said, pointing to Sirius.

 Artemis kissed her hands, crying at how much of his daughter's life he missed out on.

Emery walked over to the Black, dragging her father with her. On reaching Sirius, she introduced them both.

"Papa, this is Sirius Black, my best friend. Sirius, this is my dad," she said, smiling hard, even though her cheeks were tired.

Sirius felt a pang of hurt when Emery said my best friend. Nonetheless, he still shook her father's hand, in an attempt not to seem impolite. 

He didn't want to ruin their moment, especially since it made Emery happy. 

His Emery.

 He loved how happy she was, he loved how her eyes were sparkling, he loved the way his heart trembled whenever she sent that irresistible smile... He wanted to hold her, to kiss her, to keep her in his heart forever. 

She was his sun, and he was the moon, only radiant in her light.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Fowl," greeted Sirius, smiling, "I've heard so much about you, and I'm so glad to finally meet you."

Mr. Fowl looked down at Emery's face, then at Sirius' hand. He chuckled, and moved Sirius' hand out of the way, reaching forward to hug him.

"You're a fine, young lad," replied Mr. Fowl. "But one wrong move towards my daughter..."

"Papa," Emery interjected.

"Right," he chuckled, catching sight of Sirius' scared expression. "I'm only joking," he said. "It's nice to meet you."

Sirius grinned.

Emery hugged her father once more, kissing his cheek. "Papa," she began. "I never told Mama about anything."

Mr. Fowl's eyes widened. "You mean.." he began. "She doesn't know?"

Emery shook her head. "Not one bit."

Artemis burst out laughing. "Wait.." he choked. "Wait- just wait till she sees me walk up to her," he laughed. "She'll.. she'll.."

Emery giggled. "It's great to have you back, Papa, but Sirius and I need to go back to Hogwarts," she said, looking at her watch. 

Artemis groaned. "You came from Hogwarts? How did you get permission?"

She nodded. "I explained the situation to Dumbledore," she assured. 

Artemis suddenly had a wild idea.

"We'll go to the Manor," he told them.

Sirius protested, "Mr. Fowl, I need to go back to Hogwarts.."

"Nonsense," Mr. Fowl interjected. "I'll write a letter to Dumbledore. You can take a couple of days off school. Spend your time giving Emery company," he twinkled.

A blush spread through Sirius' face, and Emery was grinning.

"Really?" She cheered. "Yes!"

With that, Mr. Fowl held on to the two, and apparated, disappearing into thin air.

They found themselves at the gates of Fowl Manor almost instantaneously.

Artemis held Emery's hand, and put his arm around Sirius' shoulder, smiling at him.

"Ready?" he asked the two, who both nodded in affirmative.

Then, they stepped in, walking along the path in between the gardens.

"I've missed this place," chuckled Artemis fondly.

He walked up to the door, then held the heavy bronze knocker and knocked.

The door opened, and a head popped out. "Fowl Manor, how may I help you-AAAAARGHHH!"

Emery giggled and stepped in.

"Hello Linda," she greeted, "Aren't you glad to see me?"

The maid stopped dead. Out of all the twenty years she'd worked at Fowl Manor, this was the last thing she expected. She raised a bony finger at Mr. Fowl.

"He.. he.. Lord Fowl?" she gasped, then she fainted.

Emery heard the clip clopping of heels coming down the stairs of the foyer. 

"Linda?" came a voice. "Linda, are you alright? I heard you scream," called Mrs. Fowl.

Artemis held his breath.

Mrs. Fowl walked down the stairs, coming into her husband's view. On seeing him, she froze. She stood at the bottom of the last step, staring at his figure unbelievably.

"Artemis?" she whispered.

Mr. Fowl smirked. "Primrose," he breathed. "You look like you've seen a ghost," he said jokingly, then took two steps forward and crashed his lips onto hers.

Mrs. Fowl slowly wrapped his arms around his neck, pulling him closer, and Artemis growled. "I've missed you, darling. I missed you so much," he said, tears in his eyes.

Primrose was crying too. "Arty," she murmured, burying her head onto his chest and sobbing with happiness.

Emery stared at her parents with happiness, feeling complete; they were a family once more.

Artemis held his wife's face in his hands. Then, wiping her tears, he pushed his lips to meet hers, kissing her with all the intense emotion he felt.

His heart was alive.

Emery glanced at Sirius, whos was trying not to look at her parents.

She walked over to him, taking his hand and holding it. "This is all because of you," she told him. "I owe it all to you. My family is complete, and it's all thanks to you. I'll do anything to pay you back," she whispered.

Sirius pulled her closer by the waist. "They're kissing," he stated.

Emery blushed, and nodded. "They don't usually do it in front of me, but I'll excuse them this time. It's been six years since they last kissed," she said uncomfortably, still holding his hand.

Sirius placed his hands on her waist, then tugged her closer to him. "They seem.. busy," he murmured.

Emery smiled, as her father was still locked in an embrace with her mother.

"Yeah.."

"So how about his, darling," Sirius suggested. "Why don't we kiss too?"

Emery blushed, and choked on her spit. "What?"

"I'm joking, love," he hummed. "But it does make sense for us to kiss too, doesn't it?"

Emery blushed harder, her cheeks flushed. "Erm," she mumbled. "I.."

Sirius tilted her chin up. "Yes, love?"

"Well," she murmured. "Just this once."

Emery then did the unthinkable. 

She took his face in her palms, then pressed the tiniest of kisses in the far end of the corner of his lips, barely a peck.

She quickly turned away and blushed furiously, tucking her hair behind her ear, her back towards Sirius.

  What did I just do?

Sirius's cheeks were flushed, the corner of his mouth furiously burning with the ghost of Emery's lips.

It wasn't a kiss, but it was still something.

He reached his fingers to the tingling spot.

Holy Crap.