Chapter 20

The End

"...You're leaving?"

Albel avoided her gaze, staring at the castle doors behind her instead. "Wh-...why?" Nel choked out, her heart aching.

Albel finally looked at her, feeling terrible upon seeing how his words had affected her. "The King has requested my presence for another mission back in Airyglyph. I have to go, it's not optional." He spoke slowly and clearly, the message hurting him as much as Nel.

She looked at him for a few long moments. "Well, I could come with you, to help."

Albel liked - no, loved - the idea, but he knew it was wishful thinking, nothing more. "No Nel, you need to stay here. Aquios still needs you."

Nel slowly shook her head, refusing to give in to the inevitable. "I won't let you leave. If you do, things will go back to like before, when we hated one another." She reached out to take his hand, but he backed away, just out of her reach.

-"Don't." He spoke gently. "If you do, I might never be able to do what's right."

Nel felt tears come to her eyes as Albel turned away from her and started walking towards the Aquios gates.

'No.' she thought, a tear escaping her eyes. 'It can't end like this.' She stumbled forward. "Albel, wait!"

He stopped walking and looked over his shoulder at her. "Please, don't cry." he said, and managed a small smile. "I'll come back to visit, promise." He turned again and continued walking further and further away from his very purpose in life.

More tears escaped Nel's eyes. 'Come back Albel. You can't just walk away when you're confused. I am, but I never gave up on us...'

Albel didn't look back as he walked, clenching his fists tightly. 'It's for the best,' he told himself. 'everyone who's ever gotten close to me has been hurt or sacrificed. I won't let that fate befall Nel. I couldn't save my father, and I wouldn't be able to save her either.'

But even as he walked through the gates of Aquios and into the forest, his heart was telling him differently.

X

It's been nearly two months since Nel had seen Albel last, and she was a wreck. Everyday she woke up thinking he would be asleep in her chair or at her bedside, but found that he never was.

She paced the halls of the Aquios Castle, thinking about the precious few days they'd spent together on the mission. Her Queen had been refusing to assign Nel to any missions lately, suspecting that Nel would be unable to focus enough on her task and would get herself seriously injured as a result.

Clair was the only person Nel had trusted enough to tell of her heartache over Albel. Her best friend had merely smiled sadly and brought Nel in for a hug, whispering a gentle "I thought so." in her ear.

Finally, on a cold winter day, Nel was summoned to the Throne Room by the Queen. Nel walked in slowly and kneeled before the Queen. "How may I assist you, your Majesty?"

-"Lady Nel, I require your assistance. I have a letter for the King of Airyglyph regarding product transportation to their kingdom during the harsh winter weather. Could you deliver this to him?"

Nel remained silent.

-"...Nel?"

-"Yes, your Majesty. I shall deliver the letter."

-"Thank you Nel, that is all. May Apris be with you."

Nel got to her feet and approached the throne. The Queen handed her a plain white envelope that was sealed with red wax, the King's name neatly written on the front. Nel bowed silently and turned, walking out of the throne room and down the hall without another word.

-"She seemed rather absent minded, don't you agree?" The Queen said softly. Laselle stepped forward so he stood beside her throne.

-"I think she is upset by the fact she might encounter Sir Albel Nox. We both know how she hates the man." he voiced his opinion. The Queen thought for a second before responding.

-"No, I do not think that is the case. She has been rather out of character ever since coming back from her last mission, in which she was accompanied by Sir Albel Nox...I'm thinking that something happened between the two of them to cause her this grief, and she does not wish to confront him again."

Laselle nodded. "Perhaps you are right, your Majesty."

X

Nel trudged through the deep snow of Airyglyphian mountains, arms tightly wrapped around her upper torso and scarf pulled up over her nose. The wind blew in gusts, picking up snow from the ground and whipping it at her exposed skin. 'If this storm gets any worse, I'll have to find shelter and wait until it passes.' she thought, glancing around for any kind of cover from the harsh winter weather.

Nel had been traveling all day, and was nearly to her destination, but this snowstorm has set her progress back by over two hours.

A violent gust of wind jumped up out of nowhere, nearly blowing Nel right off her feet. She quickly regained her footing and withstood the blast. Snow attacked her from all directions, stinging like needles as it hit exposed flesh. She bit her cold lip and continued onward, even slower then before.

'I need to find shelter, I need to...find...' Her thoughts broke off as she felt her knees give out. Nel fell to the ground, flinching as cold snow surrounded her bare legs. 'I have to get up...' she thought weakly, trying to stand, but to no avail. 'No...' Her whole body collapsed, the side of her face hitting the snow covered ground. "No..."

And everything went black.

X

Nel slowly welcomed consciousness, faintly aware of the cloak she was wrapped in and the sounds of a burning fire nearby. Her eyes fluttered open and she weakly sat up, pulling the warm material closer to her cold body. She seemed to be in a small cave, the open entrance showing her that the blizzard was still at full.

Nel looked around, noticing the brightly burning fire in front of her...and the man sitting behind it.

-"It's about time you woke up."

Nel's heart skipped numerous beats, but her eyes narrowed at the sight of him. "What are you doing here?" she asked rather shortly.

The man smirked. "Is that really the proper way to talk to the person who saved you?" Albel Nox asked, returning her icy glare.

-"I never asked you to pull me out of that blizzard."

-"Ah, so I was supposed to leave you out there? My mistake, leave now if you'd like, the storm is still at full, if not worse now." Nel just glared at him, making no move to leave . Albel smirked. "That's what I thought."

-"You lied to me." Nel blurted suddenly, her emotions breaking through the barrier she'd put up upon seeing him. Albel looked away.

-"I don't know what you're talking about." he said quietly, but forcefully.

-"Don't lie to me. You promised you'd come back, why didn't you?" Albel didn't respond, staring at the ground beside him silently. Nel clenched a handful of the cloak that covered her back in her fist. "I want an answer in the least, Albel. Why didn't you come see me?" She managed to keep her voice calm as she asked him again.

Albel didn't meet her gaze, scared that his eyes might portray more emotion than he wanted her to see. "It's none of your concern..."

-"That's a lie." Nel said coldly. "I have every right to know." She tried catch his eyes, but they were hiding behind his bangs.

Something deep in the back of her mind clicked just then, and her face softened considerably. "That's it, isn't it?"

Albel looked up at her sharply. "What?"

-"You're scared of letting anyone in, that's why you ran away."

Albel growled low. "I am not scared of anyone, and I did not run away, fool!"

Nel merely smiled. "And now you're getting upset because I figured it out."

Albel looked away from her. "You don't have any idea what you're talking about, woman."

Nel stood up, letting Albel's cloak fall from her shoulders. She walked around the fire and kneeled down in front of Albel, who was watching her now.

-"What are you...?" he started to ask, but stopped short when he felt Nel gently pull him up to his knees and wrap her little arms around him in an embrace. His face went hot, realizing how close she was, and his heart went into overdrive.

-"You don't have to keep pushing away. You need to learn to let people in." Nel whispered softly in his ear.

-"...It's not that easy." he said in a small voice, after a moments pause. "Everyone who I've ever let in have gotten hurt or killed..."

-"You can't let the past haunt you forever."

-"I wasn't strong enough to save my father-"

-"You were young, Albel. Stop giving yourself a hard time about things you couldn't control. It's not your fault."

-"But," Albel paused, knowing full-well that his defenses had crashed as soon as he'd seen her out in the blizzard. "what if I'm still not strong enough? I would never be able to live with myself if someone else-"

-"Albel." Nel pulled away just enough so they could look at each other. "You've saved my life more times then I can even remember, you defeated Crosell, you even helped in the saving of the whole universe!" she paused to smile at him. "Believe me, you're strong enough, stronger then anyone else I know."

Albel simply looked at Nel for another moment or two before a small smile graced his lips. "I suppose you're right."

Nel chuckled. "As usual."

Albel raised a mocking eyebrow. "What is that supposed to mean?"

-"That I'm usually right."

Albel rolled his eyes. "I beg to differ."

Nel drew away and lightly slapped his shoulder. "You shouldn't talk, I just saved you from a lifetime of unhappiness."

Albel reached over and drew her back into the embrace. "I'm assuming you're looking for some form of thanks, then?" he said jokingly, running his good hand through her hair. Nel melted in his arms, smiling happily as she rested her head on his chest.

-"Being right here with you is thanks enough." she whispered, shivers running up her spine as Albel brushed his claw up and down her back.

-"I don't know, I think you could do better."Albel said softly and pulled away slightly.

Nel just caught a glimpse of his beautiful red eyes before he dipped his head down low. His lips gently touched hers,...and her world exploded. It was soft and sweet, all his emotion for her becoming apparent as he gently pulled her closer once more. She slowly kissed back, running her hands up his arms to rest behind his neck.

They stayed like that for another minute before pulling away. Nel gently rested her head on his chest once more, listening to his heart beat loudly. "You know I love you, right?" she asked softly, enjoying the heat his body was providing for her.

Albel remained silent, but his heart beats became faster. "I knew, but it still feels amazing when you say it." he whispered, pulling her closer. He felt the redhead smile against his chest, and quickly felt himself smiling too. "And just to set the record straight, I love you as well.."

Nel smiled softly, her heart racing at a brand new speed. "You're right, it does feel amazing when you hear it."

They both pulled away enough to lock lips once more, neither of them noticing that the blizzard had passed by quite a while ago, the sunlight streaming into the cave, showing both Albel and Nel the promise of a bright, happy future together.

The End

MelanieStar

...However! I've already started another AlNel story! It's called The Things We Keep Inside. It's much like this one, so if you enjoyed this, check it out! I've got one chapter already posted, and the others are on the way. It's going to be a lot shorter than this story, however.

Anyway, THANK YOU TO ALL MY REVIEWERS! I love you all very much and hope to hear from you soon!

I'll Be Back!

MelanieStar