Walking into the house, Aly felt strange, it was the first time they'd really be there alone, together and she was unsure of what to say or do. The train of her dress trailed behind her as she headed straight for the stairs. Stopping mid way, she turned slightly to look over her shoulder at him.

"I had a wonderful time tonight."

She had spoken first, something Wolvinator really hadn?t chosen to do. There was a few times throughout the night where he felt their relationship renewed, the way she looked at him, the way she looked period; and during those times he tried his best to tell her, but the busyness that was Beltane constantly pulled them apart.

Before Wolvie was contacted by Alain to keep investigate a possible Neosapien incursion, and before he was made privy to whom Alystrianna really was, she was in the running for the title of May Queen. It was a title given to a woman chosen for purity and fertility during the Beltane Festival. She had won the majority vote during Wolvinator?s absence, and to initiate the healing process between the two of them, he accompanied her to the event, and was given the title of Green man.

The Green man and May Queen were celebrated during the festival. They spent time with friends, enjoying their company, sharing drinks and laughs during the entire night. But now? they were alone.

She had taken the stairs, but he had moved off to the right, closer to the interior of the house. Slinking out of his jacket he turned to her with a rather solemn look on his face, and acknowledged her.

?I?m glad you did.? he said in his usual low tone. It was usual for public but unusual for her. ?It was your night, I?m glad you enjoyed it.?

"Wolvie..." She turned more fully to look down at him over the railing. " I only had such a wonderful time because you were there with me."

She studied him a moment, they way they had been together at Beltane had given her hope, but now that they were home she felt sad again and worried. She lingered on the stairs not knowing what else to say. "I'm glad you're home."

A sigh escaped his lips and his head dropped forward for a moment. There were a million emotions parsing through his body at the speed of light. There was anger, love, trust, distrust, courage and fear, all wrapped up into one single pulse through him. Holding his jacket in one hand he used his other, and non-dominant, hand to steady himself against the doorframe.

Pursing his lips together he turned back at looked at her over his shoulder.

?Thank you for? bringing me home.?

"It wasn't home without you here." Nodding to him, shrugged. "And you don't owe me a thank you or anything else." She smiled to him and moved up the stairs, she didn't want to change yet; she was in love with her dress, but she didn?t know what else there was to say or do at the moment.

?I owe you that much,? he said as she moved up the stairs, ?if it wasn?t for what you and Dolus did, I might not have made it off that Neosapien ship? alive.?

He still wasn?t completely at one hundred percent, despite his extraordinary healing ability. His body had been through hell over the past couple of days, and his mind had been through even more.

?Maybe?, maybe I was wrong Aly.? The words came out quick, really without him even thinking. And after he spoke them he couldn?t think of what to say to follow up with that except for?

?Eh, forget it.?

With that, he began moving towards the living room, completely unable to even look at her.

"You would have made it." She turned back down to face him. "You had to make it."
She couldn't even think about a world that he wasn't alive in, it would be too painful. His words gave her hope and then he shut back down again. She moved further down the stairs, peering at him.

"You were wrong. You are wrong."

?I wouldn?t have made it outta there without you,? he said again, his back still to her, ?I know that much Alystrianna. I don?t care what you say I?m only as strong as the people I have behind me. There were too many of them, I? I needed you guys.?

He started leaning up against the wall again.

?I was wrong about, I mean maybe I was wrong about?, about us.?

" You're smart. At least you kept yourself alive until we got there." She shook her head, trying to push back her emotions. She was so scared she was going to lose him that day.

"If... if..." Tears streaked down her cheeks and she worked quickly to wipe them away.
"I can't even think about if, it's too painful. Living without you... that hurts, but maybe someway, somehow, some day, I would have been able to bare it. But living in a world where you don't exist?" She shook her head.

?Stop it.? His words were almost whispered as he choked them back. ?I still can?t believe it Aly. You came for me. You were supposed to infiltrate and kill me, leave me there to die. You?re an assassin.?

Assassin.

The word was like poison being dribbled from tainted lips. It pained him to even say the word to her now, and yet he still refused to look at her.

?When you came in through that door, I had my disruptor pointed right at you.? His head dropped down once more. ?You? came for me.?

"What do you want from me?" She cried it out, gripping the railing. "I was an assassin, yes, but I gave up everything, I changed, I saved you and I saved Dolus and neither of you can forgive me. I saved you again and it still isn't good enough! So tell me what is. What do you want me to do?

?I'm sorry, I'm sorry I lied, you have no idea how sorry, but it was the only way to even have a chance with you. You would have never have let me in if I had told you the truth right away." Her fingernails were gouging into the wood now and she sighed, her tears running down her face. " I came for you. I will always come for you.?

?That?s why I said I was wrong!? he shouted, now turning around to face her. His eyes were bloodshot red as he stared at her with the look of anger on his face. Except, he wasn?t mad at her, he was mad at the situation. It was taking everything inside of him to maintain his masculine composure with her.

?I was wrong about you! All the hurt, all the pain, all the bullsh*t that I thought was true about you? wasn?t.? His words would seem like further venom spewing at her, until?

?You gave up so much for me. What you were saying, the whole time, was completely true. You sacrificed your life, your body, your family? for a man you didn?t even know. And when you found him all of these years later, your feelings were stronger despite all the time that had passed. You told me something, showed me something, the best way you knew how.

?You know what I thought about all that time I was laying on the floor? I was replaying those memories that you force injected into my skull. All of the things that you said happened, all of the things you showed me, and ya know what? They added up! When you walked through that door? it solidified your position. You weren?t an assassin; you weren?t trying to further trick me only to strike at me in the next opportune moment. You loved me? you? you came for me.?

Aly had thought this was going somewhere else entirely but she was thankful that he seemed to be finally getting it. She started crying harder out of joy, happiness, hope that he was going to believe her and forgive her.

"I still love you and I'd still come for you no matter what. Always." Biting her lip she watched him, wishing she could soothe his pain. "I'm so sorry for what I've put us through, I wish it could have been different, I never wanted to be a part of weapon X, but I had to. I did everything I could to help people get away safely, but I had to think about my life, my family. And then you. Damn you. I couldn't let them and I risked it all. I don't regret it Wolvie. I can't. I won't. Regardless of what happens, this has been the happiest year of my life. No regrets. "

?Before I left, I had made up my mind.? He admitted to her. ?I was going to go home. Home-home. Try to clear my head, weigh my options. But I was completely unsure of us, and I was wrong for that. I?m sorry Aly. I?m sorry to put you through so much crap, and I?m sorry that you took the risks you did, all the way back then. A part of me, a heavy part of me, wishes that you never did. I hate those bastards for what they did for me, for what they did to you, us??

Now he was stepping closer to her, nearly within a touching grasp.

?Sure, they made me a weapon, and I?ve been able to do some extraordinary things due to it. But the cost? the cost is just so great.?

"I miss my family and I'm sorry for the way some things turned out, but to meet you, my life mate, there isn't a price for that. I wish you could look at me and think that. Think of what brought us together. I'm sorry for what you went through, but if it was the only for me to have met you, then... I'd do it again. If you hate me for that, then so be it. But I spent too long searching for you, for my true life mate, once I had you, I wasn't letting go. You're my only one. I know this deep down in my heart."

She leaned over the railing, almost reaching for him but stopped. "I don't know where to go from here, what to do, or what else to say. "

?C?mere.? Nearly interrupting her as he spoke. Both of his hands moved to her cheeks, his thumbs wiping away the tears from her face.

?You?re too pretty tonight to worry yourself about crying.? He tried his best to smile now. ?You?re a queen tonight Miss D?Vaustaival, I don?t want to see my queen cry any more. I want to? fix what we broke, start over, get to know the real? you.?

She nodded slowly and then started blubbering at his words. She felt like an idiot. "Thank you, but I can't help it. This is the most important thing to me: us. Nothing else matters without you, nothing. We have to fix it; I want to be us again. I want to get married. I just wish everything could be how it was. It was perfect."

?You made the right moves Aly, and you did the right things. You didn?t give up, even when the situation was grim. I know I sound like a goddamned broken record, but you came for me. You risked life and limb, traveling into space, invading an enemy ship that you know nothing about. I know you were worried, scared, and you felt ignorant for not knowing about any of the stuff you were getting into. I could feel that Aly, I could feel that through our bond. You never gave up, that?s? what saved us.?

"If you know all that then why can't that be my redemption? Why can't you just let it go? Why can't we just be us and everything be okay? Please, forgive me. Trust me again." She moved further down the stairs.

"Don't be afraid to be close to me, hold me. Kiss me" She grabbed for his hand. "Your danger sense doesn't go off with me. Does it? It still doesn't, because I'm not the enemy! I never was."

?I know, I know.? He admitted. ?My mind, my heart, its all playing hell on me.? As she grabbed for his hand, his hand turned over and grabbed hers.

?You?re right, it didn?t. It didn?t in the mansion, it didn?t on the ship, but what would you expect me to do? Want me to just up and say ?Oh it?s okay hun, it?s cool that you were hired to kill me?. I couldn?t just do that Al, you were a part of the deepest and darkest part of my past. It was a natural reaction. I?m? sorry.?

"I know. I know how much the program messed you up, but, you're sensible, you're smart. Look at the facts: You know I'm telling you the truth. Let's just get past this. Please tell me it doesn't matter." She leaned against him, looking into his eyes. "Tell me you still want me."

She was so feminine, so lovely, and smelled so extravagant that it killed him? poetically. When she leaned up against him, looking into her eyes, he couldn?t help but stare right back into her eyes. His blue eyes bounced back and forth between her gorgeous, full, African violet eyes. His one hand gripped hers tighter, while his second hand carefully placed itself around her waist.

It was her, his Alystrianna, standing in front of him. But it felt new, juvenile in fact, as he stared at her. If there was one thing in the universe that would ever be his undoing, it would be for the love of a woman.

Taking in deep, deep breath, mustering up everything he had to answer her.

?I still want you Alystrianna.? She smiled and leaned in closer, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Show me that you want me." She smiled even more, tilting her head and then she reached behind her, pulling the pin from her hair, letting it fall down her back. The pin was dropped to the floor and she wrapped her arm back around him.

"Doesn't this feel right?"

This felt right to him, like a high school sweetheart or his first love. His heart, as corny as it sounded, went pitter-patter in his chest. She had this effect on him from time to time, but right now it was on overload.

His head nodded to her slowly in response to her query. God, did she know how to lay on the sexy vampress routine with him. His eyes darted around her features again, scanning through her eyes and long flowing hair, and his hand pulled tighter around her waist.

?It does feel right.?

Taking her hands to his face, she gently caressed his cheeks, and placed a soft kiss from her lips to his. The Beltane had proved to be a blessing after all.

Now, the healing process would begin.