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Chapter Text

Niten was standing in front of a mirror wearing a black outer robe with white inner layers. His family crest was embroidered on both sides of his kimono – it was a discreet white crest with two arrows flying beside each other.

It reminded him of her.

Of his fiancée. They, too, had been flying beside one another for so long that he forgot to even hope to have his feelings returned. Until he died and was brought back to life by Tsagaglalal and Prometheus’ aura.

He remembered her strong small body embracing him, calling out to him, getting angry at him. The last one wasn’t surprising. It happened from time to time. But then he had taken the leap he had feared for so long. He had told her how he felt, because then at least, she would know the truth, if nothing else. She teased him, breaking his heart in the process, then she had accepted and kissed him.

Aoife had kissed him.

Niten smiled to himself when he thought about that moment. It was engraved in his mind forever.

He was so in thoughts that he completely missed the dressing room door being opened. Although, he would never admit to such a heinous accusation. He had a reputation to uphold.

“How fares the groom? Having cold feet?” teased Prometheus from the corridor leaning heavily onto the doorpost. When Niten turned around to look at the man, he couldn’t help but smile along. The Elder looked good for his age and the events that had occurred. His reddish hair was somewhat recovered, only a small portion of grey hair peeked through the red. His suit was…acceptable, not Niten’s personal choice, but clothes did not matter to the man. It was already than enough to have the elder man there, even though his orange suit made the groom’s eyes water.

“Never,” promised the swordsman, smiling even wider. How could he ever, when this was everything, he had ever wanted?

Prometheus huffed and straightened himself up. “Alright, alright. The first one out of the two of you, who would break this up, would probably be my niece.” Niten’s eyes betrayed his shock, and his hands trembled. Did Aoife say something? Do something? Was that why the older man was there? Had she changed her mind? Did she not want him anymore?

“Ah, you misunderstood me, my friend, I was merely being hypothetical.” The younger man gave the Elder a warning look. His shoulders slumped as his breathing became regular again. The swordsman had really lost a considerable number of years just from the teasing of this family. The number of times, he had had a heart attack, because one of the redheads or their uncle decided to be playful and lead him astray with their words, was astronomical. He could have grey hair just from those three. Not counting their grandmother, who said would show up for the wedding, making the Japanese swordsman sweat even more.

She had made her threat come true, because Niten had already gotten a glimpse of her when he had checked the garden if everything had gone according to plan. He had contemplated whether to approach the Witch of Endor and risk losing his head for asking Aoife’s hand or just pretend he didn’t see her and bolt. His immaculate upbringing hadn’t allowed him not to greet his fiancée’s family member. But the Witch had decided for him when she turned her back to him and went to greet her brother. Somehow the Japanese had known that she had known he was there. When he turned back to get dressed, he felt a big mirror to his left watching him.

The Elder moved closer to his soon to be son-in-law. He considered the twins to be his daughters so… “She is getting ready for the ceremony just as you are.” Prometheus bowed down to whisper into smaller man’s ear. “And, honestly, being even more nervous than you.” He pulled back. “She is fidgeting around the room like some ancient god is about to attack her. But then again, she would probably be even calmer if that were the case. Aoife can fight with everything…hold a decent conversation and talk about her feelings…not so much. The fact that she is doing both with you, means you are the perfect one for her.” Aoife talked with him about her feelings to a degree, would have the Japanese added, but kept it to himself.

Niten smiled for the hundredth time this day as he thought about his future wife. It was too good to be true, but over time the Japanese had learned to take everything given to him. It would only take a second to be lost, so he intended to make every moment count.

“And your purpose here is to make me even more nervous?” asked the Japanese with a grin as he straightened his kimono and pushed away dust particles that had found a way to his robe.

Prometheus grabbed an apple form the wood cabinet standing near the door and took a huge chunk from it. “Exactly,” crunched the older, making both laugh. “No, actually I am here for the free food and alcohol, messing with you is just a bonus.” Niten heard him laugh in the corridor as he left the Japanese alone again.

The ceremony was about to start in 30 minutes. Niten couldn’t be happier and more rigid at the same time. In an hour he would be Aoife’s husband to take care of her, to be there for her and fight beside her. And she in return, would be there for him.

So why couldn’t he stay calm? His heart was beating like crazy; his hands were all over the place and his controlled breathing, he had worked for so long and maintained throughout his immortal life, was nowhere to be found. What a swordsman he was when he couldn’t handle his own wedding?

Perhaps, it was his biggest challenge yet. And the most rewarding one. Being Aoife’s husband was both terrifying and everything he could ever want. What if he disappointed her?

“Knock, knock,” said an angel or a demon, depended on who to ask, from the doorway. Though, the man was almost a hundred per cent sure, that he was the only one, who would call Aoife of the Shadows an angel. Even her uncle considered the twins to be little rascals.

Niten stood with his back to the door, but he could see the smiling redhead, when he looked at his fiancée from the mirror he was standing in front of. When their eyes met, the man gave her his biggest smile, which reached almost to his ears, and his dimples framed his already happy face.

“You know, in some cultures the groom should not see the bride before the ceremony,” said Niten to his wife-to-be, who had begun to sneak towards him with inaudible steps. His beloved wore a long black cape that covered most of her dress. Some of the green material still peeked through the opening in the front, leaving Niten no doubt that she will look gorgeous in it. The colour matched the green of her eyes perfectly.

Aoife smirked at him: “And there are cultures, where the bride will feast on her husband’s heart after the wedding.”

He chuckled and turned around just in time to catch Aoife securely in his arms, when she jumped at the man without much thought. The redhead put her hands in Niten’s combed hair, making a mess of it within seconds, and wrapped her legs around his body, taking him into her strong embrace. The cape and the dress underneath it, did restrict some of her movements, but both paid it no heed, while smiling to each other.

The Japanese proposed, while supporting his future wife with his hands around her back: “How about we disregard both of these traditions?” He caressed his beloved’s spine with his right hand, making the woman lean in even closer.

“Mm, and I so looked forward to the second one,” said Aoife slily, while sliding her fingers across his husband-to-be’s face making the swordsman’s face flustered, before finding Niten’s lips with her own.

Showing intimacy in public or even in their own home hadn’t come easily for the warriors. Niten could tell that most of the time, she was worried that she had crossed some lines, even if he had stated many times that she had a permission to kiss and hug him whenever she felt like it. Even the man was not sure, how much he could allow himself to do, what she was comfortable with. That required talking and while Niten had no problem talking to others, it seemed that every time he looked at Aoife, his breath caught, and his face started burning. She made him nervous. So, both held back in fear of hurting or insulting the other.

Some days felt like the old days, like nothing had changed, like they hadn’t gotten engaged or expressed their affections. Niten would wake up alone for Aoife needed very little sleep, Niten would make breakfast, they would go hunt demons or other creatures or the couple would practice or watch TV. The night would roll, and the man would go to bed.

Niten didn’t know how to break the cycle until one rainy day, he took a leap, because the last time he allowed himself to chicken out, he became to regret it a little too late.

The Japanese had sat on a couch and read a fairly good book, when he couldn’t take it anymore. He wanted Aoife to know the depth of his adoration for her. After that morning at the bay, when he had poured out his heart, and occasional words, he hadn’t really had a chance or rather given himself a chance to convey his devotion to her.

“Aoife,” started Niten carefully and stared at the woman training with her nunchaku inside their apartment near the pier, where his boat was. He sat in his reading corner as Aoife had once called it, while she destroyed yet another training doll in the living room. She wore black training clothing, not even a strand of hair out of place, when he drew her attention to himself.

She looked back at him with curiosity in her beautiful eyes. “What is it?”

“Would it be agreeable if I expressed my love for you?” asked the swordsman. He wasn’t satisfied with how the question came out, it left out so much, but it would have to do.

As expected, it brought more confusion than clarity. The redhead blushed, brought her weapon to a standstill, and stammered abashed: “Like right now or…?”

Niten stood up and placed the book on the counter. The Japanese offered the warrior a little smile while explaining: “I meant…always.” The woman put the nunchaku silently on the table and came closer her eyes searching for his. Have they always been that green? That beguiling? “Maybe not always, but more often. You accepted my hand in marriage and yet, sometimes I don’t see any difference, while I loved what we had before my death,” Aoife flinched, her lips grimaced at the horrible memory, “now that you know my feelings and aren’t repulsed by them, I don’t want to keep them silent, I would like to say, you mean the world to me, many worlds, I would like to hug you once in a while and…”

Niten stopped abruptly to shake his head. In his enthusiasm, he had completely forgotten that the redhead could decline any time and decide she didn’t want his affections to be expressed every day. To mend his mistake, he switched the theme and offered quickly: “If you don’t want, I, of course, will…”

Aoife wrapped her hands around his neck to put her head against his shoulder. Niten, while freezing for one second, recovered fast and pressed the woman as close as possible with his hands around her slim frame. He lowered his face into her soft spiky hair to breath his love in. While not having spores, Niten could swear she did have unique smell to her that he could recognize anywhere. To him, she smelled like home.

“Niten,” whispered Aoife, her warm breath against his neck making Niten shiver.

“Yes,” he wasn’t sure if he should add that little endearment, but couldn’t hold himself back, when his heart was overflown with love for his fierce warrior, who clutched him so firmly to her, “my love?” The swordsman had called her that also on that fateful day, when he felt, he could do anything.

The redhead blushed furiously against him, but the man didn’t miss the small smile that had crept up her face and refused to go away.

“What is it?” repeated Niten overjoyed with happiness of being that close to the one he loved.

Suddenly, Aoife looked up at him and removed her hands from around him, letting the cold air hit against his neck once more. She stepped a few steps back and began waving with her hands in no direction: “It’s just, I don’t know how to…to do all of this. I’ve never been engaged before; I’ve never had someone I…someone I…someone I love. Romantically at least, that much. You will have to tell me, what I must do and when I do something wrong.” Niten’s face lit up seeing her saying the words once more. He never doubted the sincerity of her feelings, but it was nice to hearing them out loud.

She remembered an error in her earlier words and added: “Well, there was Cuchulain.”

Niten didn’t think there existed anyone he hated more than Cuchulain. The human had lived hundreds, if not thousands, of years before he was even born, but that did nothing to quell his rage for him. Partly because he was the core reason for so much of Aoife’s sadness; this man had separated her from her beloved sister. While not entirely his fault; the twins should have communicated better or, from Niten’s understanding and a few pieces of information from Aoife, at all; the Japanese found himself hating the human.

The second reason was a little bit silly and a lot more personal. Cuchulain had been in love with Aoife, the woman he loved. While Niten was busy pining over Aoife, the unattainable warrior, she had confessed that there were some romantical feelings involved from her part with this Irish warrior. Although Scathach seemed to have been the one that had been falling harder for the man, it had come as a shock to Niten when the object of his affections had said that she had feelings for this ancient fighter.

The night after this discovery was one of the very few nights immortal Niten, the fierce Miyamoto Musashi got absolutely wasted. He didn’t remember half the things he did the next morning, only the ugly emotion of jealousy that had clouded his mind and heart. Aoife made a few comments about his unusual behaviour but didn’t pry further. The man wished she had, maybe then he would have had the courage to state his feelings, but no, he sulked in the shadows and trained harder than ever, so his dreams would not revolve around the happy couple, making him sick and broken-hearted.

Niten really hated the man, this Cuchulain.

It was a few years back, when they heard about the Las Vegas incident with Scathach and Billy the Kid of all people. Cuchulain or Setanta, like he had called himself, had, in fact, survived and tried to kill Scathach, blaming her for his fate. Niten had to physically restrain Aoife from going to Las Vegas and destroying the entire city. The swordsman hadn’t the faintest clue, what that would accomplish, but he felt the urge to do the same. The man he had hated had somehow survived and going after the twins.

Not on his watch.

Their fury was unnecessary, because Scathach had already killed him. Niten didn’t want to know, what Aoife would have done, if the immortal had harmed or, even worse, killed the twin, Aoife’s baby sister.

So now, he took a deep breath and reminded himself, that Aoife loved him and not the dead warrior.

At the same time, he had contemplating bringing back Cuchulain so he would kill him himself, Aoife muttered quietly to herself: “Aoife, you coward, you can fight anyone, but can’t say Niten you love him?” She kicked a cardboard box lying on the ground towards a small ocean view window.

The man watched her adoringly. Niten told Aoife as she finally made an eye contact with him: “I love you, too, very much. I, too, have no previous experience in marriage or that kind of companionship. But…Every romance I have read or heard about is different, unique. I don’t think there is one right way to do things.” The Japanese began to cross the room with steady steps. “It is just us. Do what feels right because our relationship isn’t defined by someone else’s. It’s ours. So, kiss me when you feel like it, hug me when you like it or don’t, and I promise to do the same. If we don’t cross each other’s boundaries and talk about those things, it will be whatever we make of it.” He came to stand in front of red-faced Aoife and held his hand out for her. “So, would you like to learn and explore together?”

Aoife hesitated only for a second before taking his hand and pulling him down to kiss her.

After that, things got easier. Niten allowed himself to hug her from behind when he found her irresistible. Only when she knew it was him because he didn’t wish to end up dead. She kissed him sweetly when he made her a warm drink on a cold winter night.

It was good. Very good.

This was how things got to this point that these two ended up choosing January the 3^rd as their wedding date.

“We are not having sex before our marriage ceremony,” told Niten breathlessly as he slowly and regretfully pulled back from Aoife’s relentless kissing, his lips swollen and his black hair like a bird’s nest.

Niten had stumbled, after the first few kisses, Aoife clinging to his shoulders and feet like vices around his midsection, backwards into an armchair, while losing his common sense and deciding that 30 minutes before the wedding would be the perfect time to have a make-out session.

But how could he deny her anything, when she looked at him like he was her world?

Aoife smirked happily and not flustered at all for she didn’t need to breath: “You want to wait until marriage?”

The man smiled slyly: “A little late for that, I think.” Aoife lowered her lips to his neck to bite there, being careful with her vampire teeth, and Niten would have let her; even when a horrible image of him standing in front of the altar with a visible hickey on his neck, came to his mind; when a shriek filled the room, making the woman hop to her feet in less than a second to fight whatever was coming their way. Niten was not far behind.

“MY EYES! I never want to see this ever again!” came an upset voice from the doorway. It was a pitch higher than Aoife’s. “You have 20 minutes to get ready and you two decide to…Never mind, you will have to come. And soon.” Scathach had covered her face and was grimacing while backing away from the dreadful scene that had unfolded before her very eyes.

“Well, you will have to because I am going to kiss my husband in front of everybody,” declared Aoife victoriously. The groom shook his head at the twins. The vampire laughed at the sulking twin: “Nice dress, by the way.”

Scatty looked at the verge of killing the bride before the wedding in her pink bridesmaid’s dress. Niten didn’t think the dress was that bad, but clearly the Shadow thought something else, if her expression was anything to go by.

“I can’t believe I agreed to this,” muttered Scatty to herself and crossed her arms. Then, still upset from walking in on them, she directed her next saying at the man. “Niten, and I thought you had some sense of property. Clearly, I was wrong! I hate both of you.”

With that she walked away but was back half a second later: “You have 20 minutes, well, 19 now. Hurry up! Or you are not getting married!”

Then she was gone.

“Don’t worry,” murmured Aoife catching her fiancé’s arm, rising to her tiptoes, and whispering into his left ear, “I quite like this adventurous part of you.” She let her lips linger on the swordsman ear.

“Was I not adventurous before?” asked Niten with a sly smile. After all those wonderful trips to various Shadowrealms; fights, encounters with strange species and narrow escapes; he still wasn’t adventurous enough for his darling wife?

Aoife smirked close to his face. He felt her breath on his lips; that reminded him of the sweetness of her kisses. Unknowingly, the swordsman licked his bottom lip and Aoife’s gaze was taken over by lust.

She leaned closer so she could touch his lips with her own: her hand found a way to his hair. Niten drew the warrior closer by putting both his arms around her to flush her against himself. Had she always been this soft?

Aoife whispered: “Scandalous.”

Niten snapped. Their lips finally moved against each other, and their tongues danced together. The Japanese lifted the woman up and curling her into himself, while she threw her both arms around his neck and held onto Niten like she never intended to let go of him. The swordsman reciprocated the action. After all, she was his future, how could he ever let go?

A faraway gong brought the couple back to reality, only to realize that they had exactly ten minutes before the ceremony. And they, in fact, were still very interested in getting married; they had to control themselves. To some, it was easier (not easier per se, but they had more control over their desires), to some, it took a bit of persuasion and promises of making it up to them, to get them finally to let go.

The swordsman suggested quietly, while still holding her between his arms: “We should tidy up lest we make it very clear to everyone out there, what we did in here.”

“And how is that their problem? You are to be my husband, I can do what I want with you behind closed doors,” answered in her usual challenging way.

“The door was not closed, my love, as your sister demonstrated,” brushed Niten her unkept hair out of her eyes, “also, I believe I saw your grandmother. Do you want…”

“Tidying up is an excellent suggestion, husband mine,” said the woman quickly and letting the man slip from her grasp to take up a comb. Niten laughed.

Aoife hesitated for a moment in the doorway with a strange expression. The Japanese looked at her in worry.

“I’ll be the one in green,” stated Aoife a little bit wobbly. It was finally here! Their wedding. It was not happening in his dreams. This was reality.

He smiled blindingly at his one and only, at his love, at the reason he still felt alive after 400 years, at his Aoife. He knew that she was nervous. It was his honour to reassure her.

The swordsman placed the comb on the table to cross the room and take Aoife’s hands in his own. “It’s just me out there. Like I said, it’s for us. This wedding is a way of telling everyone what we already have. Do you plan on running away?”

“No,” came an instant reply.

“Do you think I will abandon you at the altar?”

“No,” came a strong answer, but Niten detected a look of fear behind those gorgeous eyes.

He smiled at his wife and didn’t bother on correcting himself because that’s ultimately what she was – his other half. “Alright then, we have nothing to worry about. The only essential people in the wedding are the bride and the groom. And the last time I checked; they are here.”

“Well, there is the one who conducts the ceremony…”

The swordsman sighed. “You have a way of turning my every romantic declaration into…something else.” He was loss for correct words.

“It’s just my charm,” smiled Aoife, but turned serious quickly. “Also, thank you.” She kissed his cheek sweetly.

The Japanese caught a glimpse of her forest green dress underneath of the black cloak. That reminded him. “Beloved, I don’t need anything to recognize you from the others. Never fear that.”

“You can’t just say things like that!” declared Aoife with reddening face. She pulled her hands free at his scandalous behaviour. Ah, so the make-out sessions are fine, but his darling drew a line at romantic nothings. Too bad.

“It’s my wedding day, I can say whatever I want to my bride,” said grinning Niten turning her earlier words to work in his favour.

Blushing woman grinded her teeth. Aoife said an ultimatum: “I still have a chance to not show up!” Both knew that to be a playful bluff.

Niten couldn’t help but take advantage of this. He sighed with a mournful expression: “Well, then I have to preserve them for someone el…” Before he could finish, he had an armful of furious warrior, who would make sure that every single one of his romantic sayings would be directed at her. She would just have to put up with those, because the thought of not having his love was too much, a reality she didn’t want to live in. As if he would ever have anyone else.

She was his forever.

“Don’t you dare! You are mine, Miyamoto Musashi!”

“I have been yours since the moment I met you, Aoife of the Shadows,” assured Niten to Aoife with all his heart.

Chapter Text

The swordsman reminded himself to take his own advice when he sweated in front of the altar. Everything was going to go fine. He had almost called the whole affair smooth, but then the Japanese remembered, who they had invited to the wedding and if the guests weren’t enough trouble, then it was Aoife’s wedding. Something was bound to go wrong. But he would rather fight off all the Dark Elders by himself than letting anything keep them from marrying.

The chosen place was a high ground that overlooked the quiet Pacific Ocean. Although it was January and the temperature was not the warmest, with the help of magic the whole place was heated up nicely. The altar and the seating area was hidden from the sun and the rain with a strong beautiful white veil.

Niten’s heart was about to explode. He had to calm down. How did the other grooms keep their cool, the Japanese asked himself, when he could barely hold his footing and he was 400 years old.

Niten tried to focus on a different thing. He scanned the place. He didn’t remember the last time so many immortals and Elders had been under the same roof. Niten could name just a few: Billy the Kid, Niccolò Machiavelli, who, the Japanese was surprised to learn, was now his partner, the Flamels, Black Hawk, Joan of Arc, her husband Francis Saint-Germain, Tsagaglalal, Palamedes, Shakespeare, the warrior twins’ grandmother the Witch of Endor, their uncle Prometheus and Scathach.

He had no idea, why some people decided to show up at their wedding, but if they didn’t cause trouble, the Japanese would not kick them out. Prometheus had managed most of the wedding preparations, occasionally consulting with them. Niten had showed more interest in the planning than the woman, whose only want was it to happen and see Scatty wearing that hideous pink dress as she liked to call it. Still, seeing the guests, Niten did admit, he should have kept a vigilant an eye on the list. Who knew that the Elder who claimed to be a useless old man, who had nothing, but his family left, to have such a large social circle? There were few unfamiliar guests amongst the crowd, which alerted the Japanese. Not knowing who had a beef to pick with who at his wedding wasn’t good.

And who had invited the French couple? Maybe Flamels? Or Scathach? Both Aoife and Prometheus hated at least the man, but he guessed the woman also. Niten himself had no quarrel with them, but he was ready for an open confrontation.

This was going to be a long day, sighed the man. And who knew what was going to happen at the reception, when the alcohol was on the table. He had hidden a little knife in his kimono, just in case. The immortal was sure his future wife would not mind.

Niten had out of courtesy suggested that they invite Aoife’s brother and parents to which the woman told him to do as he pleased, but they never answered. Aoife had brushed over the topic like it was nothing, but the swordsman could tell she hurt. It saddened him also, because when she hurt, he hurt. Niten couldn’t make her parents love her.

He could however comfort her with hugs, kisses, and secret trips to fight some monsters. So that’s what he did.

The multilingual chatter ended quite abruptly making the man’s heart almost jump out of his chest.

That was it. The moment he thought would never come. And yet, here they were.

He completely missed a few tears that escaped from his eyes. Hold it together, Niten.

The traditional music from Aoife’s childhood began to play and Niten’s mind emptied. The last thing he knew he thought about was his clothing as Scathach walked down the aisle and threw flowers trying hard not to show that she was crying. If he had brushed of every tiny speck of dust and hair from his clothing…and then there was nothing.

And everything at the same time.

The only thing he saw was his beautiful bride.

His Aoife, he thought selfishly.

She almost floated to him in her gorgeous green dress, which was adorned with spirals and motives long forgotten by human race but remembered by the immortals and Elders. Her red spikes had been toned down a little and her hair was decorated with a few simple golden hairpins.

Niten couldn’t identify the previous hesitation for she looked fierce, wild; like she had a price to claim.

She beamed at him, and he was lost.

Or found.

Both.

If someone was to ask him anything right now, he could not answer. Niten’s only thought was of her.

Was he supposed to do something? He didn’t know. He just stood there and looked at Aoife with all the love he had.

Prometheus walked beside the bride and when they reached to the Japanese, Niten bowed deeply to both to show his respect and honour to be able to stand beside Aoife forever. The Lord of Fire put his niece’s hand into his slightly bigger one. Her, no, their uncle offered him an encouraging wink with a watery eye, patted him on the shoulder, hugged Aoife tightly one last time and retreated, leaving two lovebirds to gaze at each other.

“You look lovely and, if I may, surer of yourself,” commented Niten unable to tear his eyes away from his fiancée, when they had taken their place before the altar. Aoife was smiling so widely; he didn’t want to miss any of it for it happened so rarely. Maybe more often from now on, thought the man smiling back without holding anything back.

Aoife, who had to have the last word even now, whispered: “Surer of us.” Niten felt something sting in his throat as he swallowed with difficulty. “Someone swore I had nothing to be worried about.”

The tables had turned; before the Japanese had looked more put together while they were in the dressing room and the woman had looked rather nervous (not that she would ever admit it), now however, Aoife was the epitome of fortitude while Niten was willing himself not to cry from happiness.

“And if it’s alright with you I’m not going to let you go. Ever,” said Aoife firmly while grasping both of his hands.

How did she do this? She only had to say one sentence and the immortal swordsman was putty in her hands.

The blushing Japanese uttered only one word: “Please.”

Aoife nodded and was about to say something when the Priest conducting the union asked unamused: “Are you two going to get married or am I going to come back next week?”

Niten raised his head to look around and saw many immortals and Elders grinning, non-more so than his future uncle in his horrible orange suit. He blushed when the realisation hit. They had been in their little world and forgotten everyone else.

He was embarrassed, but his wife…not yet…fiancée was about to snap at the Priest, her vampire teeth visible and face grimaced with murderous intention. Niten held her back gently. “If you kill the priest, who is going to marry us?”

The warrior looked sheepishly at him regretting losing her temperament at something so unimportant in her own wedding. She offered quietly still scowling at the man: “Flamel?”

Finding a person, who knew about the immortal world hidden in plain sight in the humani world and who had the power to marry them, was not an easy feat. The first person, who Niten thought of, was the Alchemyst, Nicholas Flamel, who at some point in time had worked as a priest and had some knowledge in that area. However, when he introduced this idea to Aoife, she disagreed strongly. She had no love for the man and had called him a useless bookworm. So, that option was off the table. Niten tried to find another person, but to no avail. Sometimes, Aoife could be completely unreasonable. There was always a possibility to go a humani and get married in their world like he heard Joan and Francis had done, but considering the number of immortals they (read: Prometheus) were planning to invite, it could only lead to a catastrophe.

One day the Japanese visited an age-old shop, where he learned of a certain humani priest, who did occasional favours to the immortal side of the world. He was known only as the Priest. And for a price he agreed to Niten’s plea.

“What was the price?” had Aoife carefully asked. They both were very cautious about the pricing as this was a nicer way of signing your life away if they were not cautious.

But this time, the price, apparently, was the honour of the Aoife of the Shadows. The Priest wanted a drop of a vampire’s tear. Aoife had to cry. The first time she heard this, her reaction was expected by Niten, she wanted to separate the Priest’s head from his body. On the second consideration…the result was pretty much the same, but Aoife had changed her way of killing him. On the third, Niten finally got through to her and the vampire agreed to cry only one tear. No more no less.

Till this day she hated the Priest with a burning passion, but as she had followed through with her side of the deal, she couldn’t let him not follow his. Aoife had admitted to the Japanese immortal that she hated the man more than the Alchemyst at that point.

And so, two people who couldn’t tolerate each other less were forced to be in each other’s presence, both too stubborn to back out. And poor Niten was in the middle of it. But it had been his idea, so maybe he deserved it.

“If you will,” said the swordsman to the Priest.

And so began the rest of their lives, irrevocably bound to each other.

Scathach tried to hold back the red tears but found the adorable scene unfolding before her eyes too much to bear and so, a few red spots appeared on her otherwise flawless pink dress. Everyone, besides the Priest, had tears in their eyes. Prometheus, who sat with his sister and Tsagaglalal or Aunt Agnes as she was known in the humani world, wept more than anyone. He whispered something to Dora, who snapped at him for not letting her concentrate on the ceremony.

As the time for the vows came, both had prepared a little speech.

“The vows always get me. Especially with these two. I knew they were meant to be from the start. I did my best to encourage them, but they were so stubborn. I’m going to cry,” swore Prometheus and pulled out a fifth handkerchief from his suit.

His sister snorted: “You are already crying. And do shut your mouth. I want to hear them to decide if I must turn Niten into a cupboard or not.” She pointed a glass mirror towards the altar.

“That would make Aoife furious,” pointed the younger Elder out.

The Witch of Endor scoffed: “The twins do not scare me, and a little punishment never killed anybody.”

“Unless it’s from you, who changed their physical appearance by moulding them into household items,” finished Prometheus. He knew perfectly well his sister’s temperament.

“Exactly. My letterpress is getting lonely.” Tsagaglalal raised an eyebrow at the woman, who had to clarify. “He used to be a tax officer. The last I heard the city was struggling to find a new one. In my defence he was rather a rude fellow. Had the guts to laugh at me. Hah. What was that humani saying? The one, who laughs later, laughs better.” Almost. Tsagaglalal, who had adapted humani ways a little bit better, didn’t correct the woman. “And I laugh at him all the time.”

Across the aisle, behind the Flamels, who were sitting at the middle of the row, onto an empty seat appeared a caped man. “Am I late?”

It was Nicholas who answered: “They are about to give speeches.”

“Let this awful day end with something beautiful,” commented Marethyu resting his hook on the chair’s armrest. He smirked at the happy couple remembering his little masquerade in Coatlicue’s Shadowrealm.

“The groom first,” instructed the Priest at the front.

“Certainly,” agreed Niten hoping his words didn’t betray how nervous he was.

The swordsman had written and unwritten this vow almost a thousand times. He had read many ancient and not so ancient books trying to perfect his vocabulary on the field of love. Nothing seemed to fit or even began to grasp the feelings for Aoife. Then his own advice popped into his mind: their love wasn’t defined by someone else’s. Niten wasn’t going to find his words from elsewhere.

But how could he put something into words that couldn’t be put into words?

So, the Japanese did a risky move praying it would not fail him.

Niten pulled out three little papers from the inside of his kimono. He began to ramble: “I, um, thought and thought of what I should write and found that a few words could hardly convey my feelings. And if I know anything, then I know that if something works, one should do it again. It’s purely strategical. But not so much that the enemy could use it against us.”

His proposal speech had been spontaneous, so he is doing it again with three pictures.

“My previous speech wasn’t planned. I had fully expected to be dead by that time.” Aoife gave him a warning glance. She didn't like being reminded of that moment. “But I wasn’t, and fortunately, you accepted my proposal. Even if it was “purely for tactical reasons”.” The man added the last bit with a smirk to his wife. Aoife rolled her eyes but gave him a soft smile.

Niten looked down at the very first card. There were two warriors engaged in a heated battle surrounded by low mountaintops.

“Today I am going to partly improvise my vow, but it is guided by three pictures or rather by the three most important moments of my life.” Niten raised the paper higher so the audience and Aoife could somewhat see it. “The first depicts the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600.” The woman in front of him understood immediately why he chose that moment. After the car ride to save Josh from the clutches of Coatlicue and reuniting after his short death, they had shared stories to boost each other’s (read: Aoife’s) memories about their meeting.

Niten began to fear his method was going to let him down as it was hard to find words. However, when the Japanese raised his gaze and looked at his love, he got his courage back. Aoife gazed at him with those beautiful green eyes that had trapped him the very first time he saw those. Her love went straight to his heart that began beating even more rapidly.

He forced himself to start talking lest they never finish the ceremony. He said to the vampire through the stinging in his throat that threatened to make him cry: “It is the most important moment of my life, because I met you.” Niten got choked up when he revealed the last part. His hands were shaking, so he took a deep breath to calm himself.

That sentence made even the people in the audience, who until now had somehow avoided getting too emotional, shed their first tears, not to mentioned those, who already cried before the bride had even set a foot outside. Prometheus and Scatty were the worst. Scathach still tried to convince everybody that she was just checking her make-up that she had on for the hundredth of time and their uncle didn’t hide his feelings when he sniffed audibly.

“I am not going to comment on the fighting because I lost.” Some guests, who weren’t busy blowing their noses, laughed, including Aoife, who blinked away her tears. “How do I say this? You came, you saw, you conquered.” It was a little bit cheesy, but Niten was proud of himself that he could talk at all considering how nervous he was. “The moment you had your sword at my throat I knew I had met one of the best warriors of my time. Oh, how wrong I was. I had fought with one of the best warriors of all time.” Scatty snorted, still sulky because of her defeat. “But you won something else that day. You had taken a piece of my heart. And continued to do so until all of it was with you. There is an untranslatable phrase in Japanese for what I felt when I first gazed into your forest green eyes – Koi No Yokan.”

Those who understood in crowd, which was most of them, gasped. Aoife looked on the verge of crying again but tried holding it together. “I knew instantly you were going to matter to me. That you were going to be a big part of my life. Maybe I even knew I was going to love you. It didn’t matter when or how, but I was positive, we were going to meet again. And I was right.” Niten remembered the feeling he had, when he first caught a glimpse of the young girl or so he thought; he had felt…right. Like wherever this person was, he was also meant to be. Which made the Japanese bewildered as the first time he had fought with her; he didn’t have that feeling. When their swords crossed and it became obvious this was not the same person form the previous fight, the confusion cleared. Only a gut feeling about a total stranger remained. Later, he was almost convinced that was the reason he lost. “I never could have imagined the life I got, the adventures we would share, the memories we would make. And yet as strange as it sounds; I never doubted it.” At the end of the battle and many nights after that, the young warrior couldn’t shake the image of a redheaded warrior who moved like a shadow from his mind.

The Japanese switched the cards to reveal the second picture.

The redheaded woman sat on the edge of a white cliff somewhere in Spain looking at the Atlantic Ocean. It had been a beautiful sunset painting the sky orange, when two travellers arrived from their adventure in one of the Shadowrealms. It was supposed to be a peaceful trip, but Aoife had, of course, found a way to fight some unnatural beings and because of that had been in a good mood. She had hummed an age-old tune despite repeatedly saying she couldn’t sing.

Niten had found himself entranced by the vampire, who seemed so carefree at that moment. Aoife had rocked her feet over the edge and had even smiled to the falling sun. The man had stood quietly a few steps behind her while smiling at her softly. Such had been their relationship from the start – she would rush into dangers without much thought, and he would follow her as a distant, but deadly shadow. Always one step behind.

This was the sweetest agony he could think of. Never beside her, never having her full attention on him. There was always some demon or a monster or a war or a warrior that had fascinated her more than him. Something more…interesting than the quiet immortal. The man could count the times she had shown an interest in him. That only happened when Aoife hadn’t had anything else going on. Niten was only a temporary amusement to the warrior.

It hurt. Of course, it had.

Niten didn’t want much. Just one gaze or a sweet word and he could live off that moment for the next hundred years. He knew that. He almost wished he didn’t. He really was pathetic.

Then the Japanese calculated, how many mortals or immortals Aoife would trust to watch her back. To keep her safe. She trusted some, her family and even the sister who had brought her so much pain. But all this time, she had chosen him. And thus far, he hadn’t failed her. He prayed in the future he would not betray that trust. He would be worthy.

Lately, Niten had sometimes found his heart singing for no apparent reason other than Aoife being happy or satisfied. Like at that moment at the edge of the world with the reddish sun falling behind the horizon.

There was no place he would rather be than behind Aoife of the Shadows. As long as she let him.

Seeing the great warrior swing her legs and hum in a childlike manner was a sight only a few could witness, himself included. Her short hair reflected the sunlight making them seem on fire. Usually, she hid from the sun, but tonight she didn’t mind it. Aoife gazed over her shoulder to catch his eyes with her own and offered the Japanese a smile. It was the most beautiful sight he had seen during his mortal and long immortal life. He couldn’t bear to tear his eyes away as he revelled in her attention. He smiled back and the last part of his heart flew to Aoife.

Oh.

So that’s why he found it hard to control his heart around her these last few years. It didn’t belong to him anymore.

It was hers.

“Niten,” said Aoife beckoning him closer making him jump a little. “Come here.” The vampire noticed that she had caught him off guard and decided to tease him. “Aren’t you the one that says that a warrior should always be aware of their surroundings?”

Niten blushed. Part of him scolded himself for acting selfishly. Because of his incompetence someone or something could have jumped him and took him down. He had no doubt that whatever would come her way, she would easily defeat, but still the thought of failing her was unbearable. So, he quickly checked the surrounding area and only when he was completely sure they were safe, he complied to her request.

The other part of Niten was in total chaos. His feelings for her that he was only partially aware of before and totally inappropriate came to light in him. And oh boy, he was in trouble. These feelings were so much bigger than him. The swordsman had a difficult time containing them, now they had a name. Now that he finally allowed himself to feel.

And suddenly everything made sense.

Why he knew how many times a day she cleaned her knives. Why he knew she had 36 freckles on her lovely face (they were more dominant when she had been in the sun, after which she always, without exception, complained). Why he seemed to hurt so much more than her when she got hurt.

Why he had her every little routine, like, dislike and wish memorized like they were his own. No, even better than his own. Because one notices their beloved more than oneself.

He loved her.

He had loved her for a long time. The reality hit him hard and wanted to drag Niten to his knees. The swordsman was sure Aoife could hear his heart beating rapidly. His heart ached when she smirked at him playfully.

The woman patted the grassy ground beside her: “Come, sit down.”

Aoife grinned at the Japanese when he took a seat next to her on the edge of the cliff. The swordsman was glad to be sitting down lest his knees gave up and he made a compete fool of himself. The two painted a rather unique picture – one mischievous redhead in a brown fighting costume and one all in dark still figure.

“Well, that was fun. One of the best undertakings of the last century or so.” She leaned back and put her hands behind her for support. Aoife radiated happiness at that moment making Niten’s heart clench painfully in his chest.

Did she know he would have done everything for her had she only asked?

The woman gave him a puzzled look and commented: “Is there something on my face?” The swordsman blushed deeply for the second time as he dragged his gaze away to look at the calm blue ocean beneath them. He had a hard time watching anything else, when the one he loved was beside him.

“No,” uttered the man contemplating every little thought running through his head. She hummed at that not really believing, but not prying further. One small part of him that increased every moment wanted desperately to voice his feelings. It knocked on his heart demanding an action. But Niten was nothing if not stubborn and held his tongue behind his teeth for now was not the time. It would shatter their hard found peaceful relationship and the man didn’t think he could survive if Aoife cut him out of her life. He would rather forever remain behind her and watch the vampire take an interest in something or someone new every week and let the poisonous arrow of jealousy pierce him than not knowing she was alive and well. Knowing she hated him.

“For the next trip we should go to France. Heard my sister had some trouble there.” Niten detected longing from Aoife. She always got emotional when talking about the Shadow. The man still didn’t know, what exactly had happened between these two, but one thing was certain – Aoife loved Scathach and kept an eye on her. She huffed: “I don’t see what is keeping her here. I mean the humani are all so selfish, with their constant wars and fighting between themselves for a tiny bit of land they have destroyed entire continents. And my sister continues to reside here and even fight for them. In my opinion, the humani will one day destroy themselves, they have done so before. Maybe it’s for the best.” Aoife scratched the back of her head. “Imagine loving humans,” she spatted the word out, “hah. Nothing good could come from it.” What Niten heard was that nothing good could come from Aoife loving him.

“I loved my family and brothers in arms. Still do,” commented the man simply when his companion forgot who she had beside her. The vampire did that a lot. “There are good things we embody as well. Though, a lot of bad also. Nobody is only good or bad.”

The vampire looked sheepishly at him. “Ah, right, you were a humani.”

When Niten also attempted to lean back pain shot through his body drawing a hiss out of him. Right, he had narrowly avoided an arrow, which instead of killing him, had made a slash across his right arm. At the time, he couldn’t afford to heal it with his aura as he had to rush after Aoife. After the fight he found himself to be too tired to even consider using the aura. Niten decided to heal it after a little break. The blood tripped down his chosen black suit and onto the ground.

Aoife turned herself to properly look at him faster than the speed of light. Her eyes widened as she said: “You are bleeding.” She raised her gaze while revealing sharp vampire teeth and demanded. “When?”

“Ah, it was when we were under attack from the wraiths and their servants,” explained the man trying to ignore the goosebumps caused by Aoife’s hands forcing him to undress so she could examine the wound. The fact that these same hands could kill somebody without difficulty but were now so gentle with him made serious damage to his already vulnerable heart. When her right hand slipped behind his white linen shirt that became visible after removing the top layer of his clothing and touched his bare skin to help the hurt hand out of it, he felt a shock go through his entire body. His breath hitched as he unconsciously followed her every movement. Niten didn’t remember the last time someone had touched him without the intent of killing him.

“You idiot. Why didn’t you say something?” came a furious question when Aoife finally had a full view of the damage. At that moment, Niten could not care less about the wound and more about the way she was watching him. The shadow warrior’s lips trembled, and hands held his forearm in almost careful grip. Her vicious facial expression towards his arm almost indicated that she tried to burn away the wound with it. For once, he was the centre of her attention.

Was she worried for him? This possibility made his heart jump.

He debated whether to mention the possibility of healing it with aura or let the Aoife do her thing. The part of Niten that desired to let her do whatever she decided was best won. The man answered quietly as not to spook the vampire more: “I wasn’t seriously hurt, and you wanted to follow the wraiths. I simply didn’t wish to slow you down. I would have…”

His calculated tone didn’t have a desired effect as Aoife went from anxious to furious. “DO YOU THINK THAT FIGHTING WITH MONSTERS IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR HEALTH?” yelled the woman getting on her knees in front of him to tower over the sitting man. Niten’s only answer was to follow her captivating eyes, which even in rage shone like the brightest stars in the sky. His traitorous gaze flickered downwards to her pink lips. What would they taste like? They looked… “DO YOU?” The question brought it back up.

The time slowed as the two looked at each other under the pink light with blowing wind messing up their hair. Behind Aoife’s raging expression was hiding a hurt one.

“I think that it is my duty to watch your back,” offered the man gently putting his uninjured hand on her shoulder to calm the vampire. Could she not see that one insignificant wound didn’t compare to her safety? “How could I have done that if we had separated just because my arm had a scratch?” He tried to soften it with a shy smile. “Hmm? It’s not like my head was cut off.”

“This is a duty for you?” was the vampire confused before the anger took its place. This was the moment he realized he had made an error. “Are you with…Are you here because you consider it your duty?” She jumped to her feet and began to walk around the edge while saying the most hurtful things. “Are you here because you think you must be? Do you think you have to, I don’t even know, die for me?”

The man stood trying to defend himself, but the hot-blooded woman cut him off with a blazing gaze. “Because I never asked for that. I don’t need anyone to keep me safe. Least of all you.” That statement was like a Spartoi spear through his heart. Aoife was too busy yelling to notice the man’s wretched expression, which he wished away with pure willpower. “I am the Aoife of the Shadows. My long list of titles reminds everyone that picking a fight with me is to mess with Death itself. You shouldn’t worry about me. I’ll be fine on my own.” The woman promised all those things, but in the end, she crossed her arms and stayed only a few steps away from the swordsman. “I’ll release you from your duty, you for some reason think you have to me. You have kept me safe, and you have kept your honour. You can go wherever you like and do whatever you desire. I don’t need you. I am not shackling you to me.” The woman pointed to the darkness as she challenged Niten to leave. She couldn’t be more wrong. Aoife cursed under her breath: “Should have known nobody wants to be with me voluntarily. Nobody ever has, nobody ever will. Even Scathach was forced into it because we are twins. She made that very clear during our last meeting.”

Niten waited calmly for her to finish lashing out, before attempting to talk to her again. And he had dreamed of love. He would be lucky if he could remain in her presence after this. The swordsman asked quietly: “But don’t you want to?” Don’t you want me?

“What?” snapped the angry vampire peeping at him from the corner of her eye still.

“Don’t you want anyone to at least watch your back?” The woman was taken aback by that question. Niten could easily decipher her reaction. He had learned to read the vampire over the years. She really hadn’t considered her wants before, only what her reputation demanded of her. It made him sad. “Aoife, I am not here because I think you can’t defend yourself or because I am bound by duty.” I am here because I though you wanted me to be. “I am here because I enjoy our adventures. With that said, I also want to keep you safe.”

The woman didn’t look convinced. She bit: “Why? Why would you care if I live or die?”

And there it was.

Because I love you and couldn’t bear to see you hurt. I would die thousand times over just to keep you out of harm’s way, he ached to confess.

But who was he to care for her? Why would she want him to care for her?

Who was he compared to Aoife of the Shadows?

Nobody.

A humani. She always spat that word out like a curse. And every time it etched a hole into his heart.

A guard behind her.

In some instances, he would have even been brave and called them friends. Maybe the woman also considered them friends, but he doubted that. Once in a Shadowrealm in a court of an Alwrikkiran king, who had asked about Aoife’s personal life, she had in passing mentioned that Niten was there to guard her. After a while, Aoife also stated she had no friends.

Alwrikkira was a kingdom in a rather large Shadowrealm that had called Aoife of the Shadows for help. Their king sent a message to the warrior that contained a plea to defeat the rest of the kingdoms for him. In return, he would give her a centuries old sword Aoife had been searching for. Both had a feeling something was fishy with this call. But as it was Aoife, she wasn’t one to give up a challenge when delivered to her doorstep. Or rather, his, because they were residing in Niten’s temporary lodgings. The fact that the king knew, where to find her, was the first clue the man was not so helpless he claimed in his letter to be. While in the king’s castle, they had a terrific banquet in her honour and pointless chatter was not missing from there either. Niten, who had rather despised the whole grand affair in a kingdom whose people were suffering, was glued to Aoife’s side searching for potential threats.

The vampire’s fleeting comment to the king had struck Niten deep, because before that day he had assumed that in her eyes they were equals. At first, he assumed the guard statement about him was just a meaningless comment, because he fit the part rather well. Later, the no friends statement began his spiralling thought process. If not friends, then…what was he? Then again, the letter had been addressed to her. Every enemy they encounter flees because of her. Or they see her as the bigger threat. He is just a nobody in comparison to her, to Aoife of the Shadows.

After that Niten adopted this self-destructive duty driven mindset. He didn’t see himself entirely as a guard for she didn’t need one but almost subconsciously assumed that role when they were on an enemy territory or Aoife decided to be unwelcoming with her wordings which was always a quick way to make enemies. He would be useful to the vampire, however she wished. If she wanted a guard, he would be a guard. Why else would she keep him with her? What other uses he had? The Japanese had an unconscious fear to be replaced if he didn’t perform well, but the woman had never made any indication for that to be the case. So, Niten did his best to be a shadow of the shadow.

And now she said she didn’t want anyone to protect her. The woman had been right – she hadn’t asked him anything. The swordsman had just assumed.

Aoife let the bitterness overtake her again. “As far as I understand if you were not with me, you wouldn’t have to suffer meaningless wounds just because you think you need to do your duty…”

“Because I care for you.”

Aoife’s eyes widened as she was rendered speechless. Niten was afraid he had crossed the line. Why did he say that? Because it was the truth, whispered his traitorous mind. But what if that truth would push her away from him? The immortal cursed at himself in Japanese. He should have just admitted that his health was more important and let her tend to his wound. This thought pushed the pain from his arm to the forefront of his mind and the man shifted uncomfortable trying to ease it. Aoife’s softened gaze was drawn to his blood-soaked shirt.

The woman turned to look at his own brown eyes once more. Her expression was not that vicious and suspicious anymore. It was open. “Why?” She truly wanted to know. “Many often say the complete opposite about me. They would pay entire Shadowrealms worth of gold and jewels to see me dead.” He detected a hint of sadness, but then Aoife smirked. “No one has succeeded…yet, they have tried though.” They locked eyes.

“Because I consider you my friend. A dear friend,” concluded the swordsman allowing himself to take one step forward in their confusing relationship. It wasn’t a lie per se. He enjoyed her occasional banter and a companionship as a friend would. Other times she drove him crazy just as a friend would. It’s just that…he also had romantic feelings for Aoife, which he kept to himself.

“Really? Nobody has ever wanted me for a friend before,” said the woman approaching Niten.

The Japanese nodded sadly: “I know.”

“My own sister despises me; my grandmother prefers her over me and I will not even talk about the rest of my family. Only one who tolerates me is my uncle. So, it’s on your own responsibility. You can’t take it back after you decide you don’t want me anymore,” warned Aoife, but Niten saw trough her defences. She was afraid of failing or disappointing another person.

“I have followed you this long. I know you, and I still want to be your friend,” assured the Japanese with shy smile.

“Alright. So, you are here because you want to be?” Aoife’s voice still sounded a little bit unsure about it. Clearly, she was unused to people worrying for her.

The swordsman swore without a shadow of doubt: “Yes.”

“Good,” breathed Aoife, “I already thought I had forced you into something.” She bit her fingernails.

“Never.”

Finally satisfied, the woman dragged the swordsman once again to the ground to start cleaning the wound. In the meantime, Aoife demanded: “Where did that idiotic duty thing come from?” Niten desperately tried to ignore the puffs of air coming out of her mouth every time she talked that tickled his right ear due to their proximity. He forced himself to look the ocean rather than turning his head towards the vampire. It was tempting, though. Too tempting. But the Japanese held his ground against the part of him that begged him to take the chance. The fear of the uncertainty helped. They were finally after almost two centuries talking not just hunting different creatures and resting. He was not going to ruin it. No matter how soft Aoife looked at that moment.

“You said it yourself.”

“I did?” exclaimed Aoife while examining the wound. She frowned when something caught her eye.

Niten elaborated: “In the court of that Alwrikkiran king you admired in the 1730s. You said you had no friends and referred to me as your guard. After that you never refuted it. I was at a loss of where I stood.” He hissed when Aoife removed a small piece of the arrowhead stuck in his arm. The vampire soothed the wound with gentle fingertips as an apology and blew on it, and it destroyed his heart. Why is she doing it? Attending to the wound doesn’t require blowing on it.

Does she do it every time she treats somebody’s wounds? A hot jolt of jealousy went through his body when he unknowingly pictured the scene – a helpless man mooning over the vampire as she sooths his pain. His gaze turned dangerous, and posture rigid. Aoife scanned the surroundings as she sensed the sudden change in the Japanese. She didn’t find any dangers.

As quickly as the thought came to him, it left him. Niten wanted to kick himself for imagining nonsense. Aoife of the Shadows and blowing caring onto some stranger’s wound? Unheard-of. And if someone tried to make her, they would end up in even worse shape. The man smiled. That meant…he was special. His crushed and ignored heart leaped in joy. A blush creeped back onto his face.

“Me? I said that?” The man looked into her surprised green eyes and nodded. The swordsman turned back to the sea.

“I don’t remember it,” referred the woman so casually to a moment that had been carved into his heart. It was hard to forget when her sentence repeated itself almost weekly in his dreams that often turned to nightmares. Sometimes she married the king in front of Niten, who was forced to watch. Sometimes the king killed Aoife and sneered into his face that he had failed the vampire warrior, who lay unmoving on the cold marble floor with a sword in her chest. Either way, he would wake up sweaty with a pain in his chest of which he now knew the name of – heart break.

Then suddenly Aoife’s memory about that trip began to come back. She stated: “Oh, it was the king who wore that horrible yellowish dress. I said it because I was sure he was going to use every information he could get against me, including the people I cared about. Not that there were many. As soon as I stated I had no interest in killing masses for him, he clearly tried to force my hand. It would have been very stupid on his part, but then again, he didn’t sound nor look smart. Still, I didn’t want to risk it. I, personally, would target a friend rather than a guard.”

“Oh,” was the only word Niten could get out. She didn’t mean it that night? Aoife didn’t consider him her guard or something similar?

Hope that soothed away all the invisible wounds began to bloom in his heart.

Aoife began carefully wrapping his arm as he followed her every movement with loving eyes. The revelation had shattered every bit of self-control he had not to reveal his secret. As she raised her gaze Niten averted it, not being courageous enough yet to confess. “Did you really take that seriously?”

After failing to deny the accusation she cursed: “I swear that right now I just want to smack some sense into you.” The man chuckled. If she only knew how many times, he had had the same thought about her. “And I didn’t admire him.” She shrugged. “Eh, maybe a little at first. But he wasn’t that admirable, not after I found out what he did to those defenceless children. Luckily, we were able to save the rest of them.” Aoife shook her head when they were reminded of those atrocities. It was one of the first and only times, Niten had completely agreed with her violent suggestions.

The couple remained in silence as the surroundings began to darken and the woman finished wrapping his arm. She put the necessary things for tending to Niten’s wound away before claiming the spot beside him once again to gaze at the last moments of the sun.

Once the sun had settled leaving only red sunrays to light the sky and land, Niten couldn’t help but ask: “What am I to you? Who do you consider me as? You are my friend, but am I yours?” Knowing his companion, a chance like this to talk things out would come around in the next hundred years.

The vampire snapped revealing her two long sharp teeth: “You are not my guard, I’ll tell you that much, you stupid man. You better bury that thought or I will do it for you!”

Maybe, just maybe, his love wasn’t doomed. Aoife cared for him. She had demonstrated this by almost biting his head off for keeping silent about his wound. His judgment on the Japanese being her guard was also completely wrong. He thanked the deities for that. One time, he was fine with being incorrect. Did she consider them friends? Could something more ever develop between them? First time after deciphering and understanding his feelings, he was hopeful.

The warrior snorted. “I still can’t believe you thought you were my guard. I could get better guards than you. And not all of them would be in the human form.” They both knew that while it was not impossible to find someone better than Niten in a fight, it was difficult. Too this day, Niten was the only humani to win Scathach in a duel.

“I don’t doubt that. Their prince seemed quite keen on the idea,” said Niten bitterly remembering an uncomfortable conversation with an overenthusiastic young man, who didn’t leave the man alone.

Aoife burst out laughing: “The prince! Hahaa! That man couldn’t even hold a sword.”

The Japanese was not done yet, not even close. He continued dryly: “And the king’s right-hand man and the main guards from Talissia and the moustache man from Gaullia, not to mention the entire population of Flinna.” Niten wrinkled his nose as he counted many more Shadowrealms. “Most of them also had one other proposal in these seemingly innocent and not so innocent suggestions.”

An unbelievable amount of people wanted to try Aoife of the Shadows. It was a curiosity for them. They would whisper things like how is she in bed, does she scream, which position she prefers and with how many she has been with. Generally, Niten would chase them away with cold stare or with promises of pain.

One of those hundreds of voices had brought out a reaction from the usually calm or at least collected man.

I just want to try her, the man had said, I have tried so many others, but none of them had her reputation. I often think of her when I’m alone. I’m sure you know. When Niten through gritted teeth said he didn’t, the vile man continued. You see, it’s good that she looks so young, gets me going. The Japanese cut him off with a threat to decapitate him if he only breathed one wrong word. The man clearly didn’t take Niten seriously as he purred his next sentence. I usually like them younger; their screams make me… He didn’t finish because the Japanese had made good on his promise. The swordsman trembled from anger as he gazed at the man one last time. Nasty creature.

Niten wished to bash in the head of every single one of them. Aoife was not a thing to be tried and then disregarded of. She was a living (not breathing, though) being, who had feelings. Not that she would admit it. Though, she could be cold and calculating, her thoughtless comments have caused pain, he knew that part of her temper very well, and her often snarky attitude making Aoife repulsive to many they encountered, she was also incredibly brave, kind, when she wished to be, and loyal to a fault. To all those, who desired to bed her just for her fame, she was but a trinket. A thing to be conquered. None of them wanted to get to know her, none were interested in her personality, which, even Niten had to admit, was difficult to say the least, and none were worthy of her. The Japanese had nothing against one-night encounters, but those slimy man and occasional women were different.

“And how many have approached you with these lewd comments exactly?” was the vampire curious, but not offended.

Niten didn’t even try to hide the fact that he had memorised all of them. “To this day 42 individuals wanted to become your guard, 183 suggested…the intimate activity and 129 suggested both.”

“You can say sex, Niten,” scoffed Aoife. “None of it reached to my ears.”

“I would imagine not.” Now it was Niten’s time to give her a smug smirk.

“What did you do, you wicked man?” picked the warrior up his cues, suddenly very interested in what he had to say. Aoife leaned closer to him. Her green eyes seemed even sharper in the darkness that slowly, but surely covered them.

He raised an eyebrow not hiding his satisfaction. “Well, firstly, I described in depth what I would do to them if they tried anything, and then what you would do if there was something left of them by that point.”

“Hahaha. Served them right. I would have liked to see their faces,” she found it hilarious at first, but as Niten made a summary of what he learned from them, the vampire snarled. “Who did they think they are? Buying me or making bets like I was some piece of meat. I am the one who puts others in my list. Not the other way around! And for what, sex, intercourse? Shameless. I have a list for defeated enemies and victories, and they have a sex list? What would they say? Oh, look at me I slept with Aoife of the Shadows. Those weaklings could not handle me in bed.” Niten was at a loss of what to think of that statement. “Should have killed the entire court of Alwrikkira.” The woman jumped up and pulled out her knives with a practiced movement.

Niten continued to sit calmly by the ocean. “Calm down.”

“You will provide me names and locations.” The woman had leaned down to try and intimidate the immortal, but it was futile.

“I will do no such thing, Aoife,” scolded the man softly. “Sit down.” She sulked, spun her knives, and tramped her legs on the grass. The man followed her steps from the corner of his eyes. She always acted like that when she didn’t get her way. The vampire would kick something or just storm around whatever building they were close at. Niten found it rather cute. It didn’t happen often though as she backed down only in some rare instances. After a while she stuck her weapons back to her belt and took a seat still gritting her teeth.

“I do wonder how many of them were assassins. Seduction is not a new strategy,” thought Aoife suddenly.

“If that were the case, they would have approached you directly. But then again, you do look unapproachable.”

The vampire smiled bloodcurdlingly: “All thanks to my charming personality that I have polished during my long life. And if I were approachable everyone would try to murder me.”

“Many assumed we were…intimate. Some even suggested a threesome.” If she knew that one time, he gave the impression that they indeed slept together, she would be disgusted. It hadn’t been his intention, but the Japanese hadn’t denied the rumour either.

“Nobody ever tells me anything. I’m always the last to know. Especially when it’s something about me or my sister. Remember the time when there was a price on my head and I knew only when I accidentally entered the palace of the king, who orchestrated the entire thing?” wondered Aoife.

The man sighed and dropped his head: “You were told three times. You brushed it off or just didn’t listen.”

“No, I didn’t,” was Aoife convinced and didn’t listen to him. Nothing new.

Thinking about the incident Niten had revealed to her, the woman very much looked like she wanted to stab something or someone. “You should have said something to me. But what’s done is done.” Then she glanced at the Japanese slyly. Niten raised an eyebrow. Aoife leaned in as close to Niten’s face as possible without touching him. The man focused on breathing though her lips were one palm away. “My knight in shining armour.”

“Hardly,” breathed the Japanese as she compared him to the long-gone European soldiers.

The woman grinned at his reaction. When she smiled like that and especially at him, it made it difficult to maintain his composure. Niten’s back was straight with his hands in his lap lest they did something stupid like caress her rosy cheeks. The vampire on the other hand didn’t find their closeness a problem and leaned even closer to his right ear, clearly playing with him. “Mm, so it was not your intention to scare off any potential suitors?”

“Suitors? They were not even brave enough to talk to you, but wished I would suggest them to you,” spat Niten suddenly enraged at the possibility. “Any honourable person who had the right intentions would not act that way. If they don’t dare converse with you directly then they hardly deserve your attention. In my opinion.” The Japanese added the last bit because the last thing he wished to do was telling her, what to do. It was not his place.

Aoife looked positively amused by his outburst. “I agree.” The vampire spread her arms to the sky. “What did they hope to accomplish? Bunch of honourless imbeciles. A good beating would benefit all of them. Niten, if I promise not to kill th…Fine,” Aoife spat out clearly not agreeing with the man’s decision after he threw her a look.

After a few cursing rounds she clarified her wants. “I don’t want anyone to become my guard, nor do I want anything sexual from them. Just so you know.” Good, thought the Japanese selfishly. Part of Niten had pondered if he had turned down suggestions, she wanted to accept. None of them would have lasted a minute with her, while he had been with her almost two centuries. He hid a small smile from the woman.

She sighed grievingly letting her gaze stop on the ground. “Anything feelings related, especially romantic ones, is also off the table. I will never let love have any power over me. It’s not worth it. Love can only ruin you. Many great warriors have perished because of it. Familied torn apart, brothers, sisters. The only one I will love is my sister.” Aoife bit her nails as she was flooded with memories, but Niten was flooded with gloom. If he had a chance before, however tiny, it was gone now. She would never reciprocate his love. His fate was sealed.

It hit particularly hard after tonight’s bonding moments when he had celebrated their relationship moving forward. The swordsman had been so happy to learn that Aoife cared. That if he was to fall, the woman would at least be a little affected. That he was special to her.

And he was. Just not romantically.

Niten’s hands balled into fists as he tried unsuspiciously blink away the unwanted tears. Aoife sat down again being oblivious to his torment as their surroundings were lightened only by the lights from a nearby village. “Niten. I am sorry you had to listen to that, it must have made you uncomfortable.” The woman cursed in her mother tongue. Niten understood some words; the vampire didn’t take kindly to those opportunists and promised them faith worse than death. The woman’s rant went mostly past him as he swallowed in self-pity.

That’s what he got for hoping for the impossible. He was an experienced warrior and should have known better. Instead of hoping one should take matters into their own hands, then the dream was more likely to come true. Ha had no such choice as Aoife very clearly stated. A warrior should also know when they have been defeated. When their only moves were to surrender or retreat. Niten recognized his position, and he didn’t like either of the answers.

She sighed. “Of course, you are my friend. I don’t fight beside one person for years when I don’t care for them or don’t like their presence. I enjoy our adventures too.” Aoife grabbed him by the shoulders pulled him towards her with little force. The man let it happen. “Let me make this simple for you. You are not allowed to die and when you are hurt, you don’t act like a mindless hamster, you tell me. If I am not by your side, then you take care of yourself so you could return to me.”

Did she know, what those promises did to his heart? Did she phrase them so that he would feel even more miserable? Return to her? It sounded like a lover demanding a soldier to return to her from the war. But perhaps it sounded like it to him because he was madly in love with her. That had to be it. He had just accepted his defeat. He couldn’t do this. His chest hurt more now than when he got stabbed because that bleeding could be stopped, the injury could be healed. This wound ripped right through his soul making it impossible to be reached with mortal devices. But Aoife’s love wasn’t from this world. It was heavenly to him. And just as unobtainable as a real Heaven was. He would never be blessed by something like this.

Right now, the famous Miyamoto Musashi was out of strategy on how to end his suffering.

“You know very well that we can’t promise such things,” stated Niten with rough voice.

Aoife grimaced and shook her head trying to find a better solution. He let himself bask in her strong grip one last time knowing he would never get closer to the woman he loved. “Then promise me you’ll treat yourself as you treat me. For whatever reason you seem to treat me better than yourself.”

Yes, why, asked Niten sarcastically in his mind. The answer was the age-old reason of unrequited love.

Niten, who couldn’t muster up his usual calm everything is under control tone, answered coarsely: “I promise. I will do my best to stay alive.”

“That didn’t sound very convincing, but I’ll accept it,” said the woman. Then Aoife threatened the Japanese: “If you ever put yourself in danger for me, you won’t like the outcome.”

She let go of him. Please don’t, wanted the man to plead. He didn’t. He kept his mouth shut. Like always.

“I can’t lose my best and only friend,” she stated. It was ironic that a few years before that sentence would have made Niten’s whole century. Now, with this evening’s revelation and letting himself explore only a fraction of his feelings for Aoife, this seemed like a prison sentence. A prison of his own making. One, he would never escape.

To cover up his sour mood, the Japanese murmured: “There really isn’t that much of a competition to that position it seems.”

“Shut up!” shouted Aoife. “And if someone approaches you again tell me, and I will cut their head off. The rest will scatter after that. To let them know that harassing you will only make me angry, not secure their place in my inner circle or in my bed. Pah!”

“You do understand that violence is not the only way to solve problems?” muttered the man giving her a dry look.

“But if it works then why change the tactic? Aren’t you the tactical one here?” Niten shook his head. Why did he love that impossible woman again?

He stated: “I have a better one.” The woman raised her eyebrows in question. “I would wait until they get to know you, then they would quit on their own.”

“Oh, shut up, Niten!” She, annoyed, hit him in the arm but was careful of his injury.

After a while Aoife got up, swept away crumbs that stuck to her clothing, and stretched her body as the moon rose behind them. “We should go…” She caught herself and peeked down at the man. “If you want to join me?”

“I would not be here if I didn’t want to, Aoife. You are not the only stubborn one here, nothing can make me do thing I don’t want to,” smiled the Japanese at his friend.

“Good. Since we, my sister and I, went our different ways, I have been alone. And besides her nobody has wanted to stay with me for longer than a few years. More like tolerated me more than a few years. After a battle, where everyone would kill to have me on their side, they scatter. Few tried following me for couple of years, but all of them were so incompetent. It was like I was their guard and I hate those who slow me down.” Sitting warrior raised his brows. For once, the woman seemed to grasp the contrasting meaning of her words. “Unless it’s you and you have been shot by a deadly arrow, then yes, you will tell me. You can’t compare yourself and those halfwits. You are capable. They were not. End of story.” The vampire looked at Niten as he finally rose elegantly.

She eyed the man as she sighed: “I don’t need a defender, but I could use a friend.”

If she wanted a friend, then a friend he would be.

The smile she gave him warmed his chest.

“Also, was that self-awareness from Aoife of the Shadows?” teased the man and was immediately buried under insults.

With that, Niten promised to seal off any form of romantic gestures or sayings. He would be a good friend, a supportive friend, a best friend. She would not learn the truth about his feelings. As Niten gazed at the immortal warrior, who desperately tried to hide a smile after declaring them friends, he swore he would not make it harder for her. She was so cheerful right now with her new, maybe first ever, friend. And when she was happy, he was happy. The Japanese immortal only had to ignore the feeling of his heart being crushed. If he was to open about his affections, she would be uncomfortable around him.

In the end, there was no choice to be made. There was only one option.

It was enough. It had to be.

It wasn’t.

“It was an eventful night,” declared Niten gazing at his own drawing in their wedding. Considering how he felt departing from the white cliffs, this was literally a dream. Niten had learned about the wounds Aoife had suffered from Cuchulain that had yet to heal by the cliff-talk time causing her to swore off love forever and breaking the Japanese heart in the process.

Niten tried to hide his feelings as best as he could, but quite a few times, he found himself in the verge of confessing. Most of them in dire situations, where they were about to be killed. So, even if Aoife hated him, they wouldn’t live long enough for the man to be affected by it. And he would die without regrets. Similar instant occurred when the Dark Elders tried to take over the Shadowrealm of Earth, but then Aoife had not been by his side.

His love for her only grew as the years passed. Talk like that as he had predicted didn’t happen again for quite a while. They were busy in France, then in countless Shadowrealms and with ancient gods that Aoife had a beef with. Niten as her trusted friend always by her side. He almost wished he could turn it off for sometimes love consumed him and trying to pretend he didn’t love her was impossible. When that happened, he often retreated to his favourite activity – boat painting. Niten would skip a few adventures and take a time out. While he enjoyed travelling, he also occasionally revelled in peace and stability. He had acquired a boathouse in the New World in the 20^th century, which became his number one getaway destination from…well everything. And to focus on his other love, which was painting. He considered himself to be more an artist than a warrior he had been while mortal. And sword fighting itself was also an artform if one was to do it correctly. Once he was rested and collected or she needed his help, they would join their forces as Aoife liked to call it and take on another trip or two.

While his love was a new sensation, it burned like an open fire threatening to spill out or eat him up inside. After a century, Niten’s heart had been burning for so long that he almost became immune to it. As time passed, his unrequited love would settle as an old wound would. Insults to humani didn’t poke a hole through him anymore, her teasings were met with a smirk or a comeback not with an illusion in Niten’s mind that maybe the woman felt something for him, and Aoife’s harsh words in the times of trouble that were directed at everyone including him were taken more as a situational insults rather than personal ones. Love was always there, but it had become a part of him as the Japanese learned to live with it. Hide it better. A curse of his own making. One, he was sure would perish when he did.

But unknowingly to him, Aoife began to heal. Began to feel. Began to reciprocate his affection. Began to love.

In the end, Aoife (and Tsagaglalal) had saved his life, he finally had the guts to ask for her hand and now, they were at the altar.

“It was, yes, the wraiths were quite vicious. They even got you, if I remember correctly,” commented Aoife as she forgot that this was Niten’s time to speak.

Niten sighed: “I am talking about the changes in our relationship, Aoife.”

“Oh.” Quite a few guests smirked at the vampire’s surprised answer.

“The bride should not speak during the groom’s speech,” warned the Priest Aoife.

As expected, the woman snapped: “I will speak when I want to speak, humani. I can still…”

“Aoife, will you let me finish?” asked Niten politely cutting her off.

“Mhm,” murmured the vampire. The crowd found her compliance funny as quite a few bursts of laughter were heard.

While Aoife straight up hated the man, Niten himself wasn’t the biggest fan of the shifty priest. “If my wife wants to speak, she will speak,” warned the swordsman the Priest, and catching Aoife’s eyes added, “not that anyone can stop her.” She smirked but stayed silent.

“I have never felt so many strong emotions in such a short period of time,” began the man.

Scathach smiled as she muttered to herself: “She does that.”

“It was the day I realized I loved you and was in love with you. That I had been for a very long time.”

“Wait, but that was…” exclaimed surprised Aoife trying to remember the date.

“20^th of June 1790 by the old calendar.”

“All this time? You never told me.”

The man raised the second card and turned it to her before lowering it. “My answer lies in this conversation that I was about to describe. If you would let me…well begin.” The Japanese waited for the dramatic effect before dropping the news. “It was also the day we officially became friends.”

“Been there!” shouted someone from the crowd. Then a second later came a quieter continuation. “Still am.”

“I have a feeling we invited too many guests,” sighed Niten.

Aoife said: “I couldn’t agree more. And you and my uncle invited too many, I only invited three.”

“Yes, dear,” practiced Niten the global calming method on Aoife. It worked.

“The boy is learning,” commented Nicholas.

Perenelle turned to look at her husband and demanded: “What is that supposed to mean?” Marethyu leaned back, away from the drama.

“Nothing, my dear.”

Niten finally got a chance to speak: “At that time I did not know where we stood or why were you keeping me with you. You were an ancient warrior that the whole world, every world trembled before, and I was…me. Famous in the human world as a mortal, trivial in the immortal one. I was always in the shadows. I didn’t let myself believe you kept me with you because you enjoyed my company. It didn’t help when you referred to me as you guard.” That brought many questionable looks from the crowd. Especially from Scatty and Prometheus. “You didn’t deny it afterwards and I didn’t ask. I guess we are both guilty.” He cleared his throat.

“I’m supposed to mention we were at the edge of a white cliff in Spain near the town of Getxo,” Niten shyly at the guests, when he remembered he had begun without mentioning the place. “Forgive me.” He made a mini bow to them.

“I drew only you on this card because it was my view of you when I realized I loved you. You were sitting on the edge of the world and hummed a song. For once, you didn’t hide from the sun and let it adorn you. A quick thought of capturing the moment flew to my mind but I buried it when I realized I could never recreate it perfectly. I remember your hair being the colour of a flame as your legs were swinging over the edge. You were happy. That was the moment I found out that my heart belonged to you. It had known that from the first moment we met. I just caught up later.” Aoife cracked as the first tear was quickly swept away. “But who was I? A friend? A guard? Someone else? First two centuries I relied much on you to name myself. A vice that wasn’t exactly healthy.” The woman’s eyes widened. “Don’t worry, I grew out of it. So, there I was, a shadow loving the Shadow. And I don’t mean you, Scathach,” smirked Niten to the woman in the first row.

“You better don’t!”

“While I was under the impression you considered me your guard or not as important, I accidentally stumbled with my wording, and you found out. You were furious because you thought I was with you only because of a duty. I assured you it was because I considered you a friend and cared about you. It was half the truth. While I would help any friend in need, my feelings for you were beyond of what one would feel for a friend.” The man breathed in as the once fiercely hidden truth came to light before the sea of people. “The truth was I protected you because I couldn’t bear it if something happened to you. Especially, if it was in my power to stop it. I told myself many times if someone was to fall first it would probably be me. That didn’t stop me. It didn’t matter who I saw myself as or who I thought you saw me as; I would have always protected you and been by your side. I irrationally feared that if I failed, you would replace me.” The last bit wasn’t intended, but the Japanese immortal began to ramble.

“Replace you?! You absolute idiot of a man!” hissed infuriated Aoife.

Niten smiled as he bowed gently: “Forgive your stupid husband.”

“You are not a dog to be replaced after it dies. I wasn’t with you because of what you could give me, I was and am with you because it’s YOU!”

She clapped her hands over her mouth the second the vampire realized what she had said and where. Niten’s eyebrows raised almost to his hairline, and he wasn’t the only one. Even he had trouble getting Aoife to say anything remotely romantic in private to him not to mention in front of someone else. A few sentences before the start of the ceremony didn’t count as they were more whispering to each other than making loud promises. And while her vow was still coming, his heart still exploded with love as his beloved turned bright red.

The crowd loved it as well. Prometheus clapped his hands with joy, Scatty smiled while she shook her head not believing what was coming out of her cold sister’s mouth and even Dora had to join in with a small smirk.

“You can continue,” ordered the vampire quickly, “I’ll stay quiet.” She tucked her unruly red hair behind her ears which were as red as her face and hair.

“Or you could continue stating why I was so stupid for thinking all those things,” teased the Japanese immortal knowing he played with fire. “Please, do enlighten me, my darling wife.”

“Niten!” cried the woman. “It is not my time yet.”

“Oh, so is this something I can look forward to? During your vow?” He never did know when to stop with her.

Aoife snapped: “You are not going to hear it at all if you don’t finish yours!”

The man laughed audibly but gave up teasing. “Alright.” Niten got back on track with his speech. “Finally, I got an answer out of you that I was indeed your friend not a guard and that you, in fact, cared about me. We became friends. If it were only that, I would have leaped with joy, because maybe my love would someday be reciprocated. I hoped to become as important to you as you were to me.” The Japanese immortal stopped before revealing his most painful memory. “My happiness was short lived. You also mentioned that you would never let love have any power over you. I’m not going to lie, it hurt.” His voice wavered recalling the depressing darkness that overtook him. Aoife tried desperately to remember the conversation, which had shaken him to his core. “Still your friendship was and is one of the greatest things that have ever happened to me. How could I have risked it just because of my feelings?” He snorted, the feeling of unrequited love washing over him once more. How it had burned him. Only soothing had come from Aoife’s constant presence and choosing to return to him. Every time. “I didn’t. I swore to be a good friend. To never put you into an uncomfortable situation because of me. I couldn’t bear you cutting me off. I apologize for keeping it from you.” Niten bowed. “Many times, I tried to put a stop to them to no avail. I couldn’t cease my love for you. It was impossible.” The Japanese stopped speaking for a moment to blink back his own tears. His throat slammed shut by the tightness brewing there. It threatened to end his rather emotional reveal. Niten took a deep breath.

“I didn’t bring it up to criticise your choices and feelings, you have every right to feel how you want, but rather thank you for trusting me with your love. I know it was not easy. For people like us, who constantly live in and for danger,” Niten referred to his wife, “to care about another person, it seems like a burden. Unnecessary feelings that can only cause heartbreak in the end. I know it well, as do you.” The swordsman thought for a second to conclude. It’s a time like this, he regretted not having a concrete speech. He believed himself to be a quite decent spokesperson, but right now he had overestimated himself.

“Considering all, I think it is still worth it. Because the only thing worse than losing the one you love is to not have known them at all. To have walked this long immortal life alone without the one who constantly makes your heart beat and smile for some stupid reason.” Niten smiled when an enraged Aoife trying and failing to use a coffee machine came to his mind. Her goal wasn’t to drink the coffee, but to show she could do it. She even tried to threaten the machine to which it didn’t respond making Niten laugh. “To be completely emotionless. Losing you would be nothing short of losing my heart. An unbearable pain I would rather not think about tonight. But to not have met you at all…is unthinkable. While I would live the rest of my life in mourning, the memories of you would keep me warm. Happy.” He caught Aoife’s eyes, filled with unguarded emotions. “So, thank you for being brave. For letting me into your heart. I now know I have been quite selfish with my sacrifices. Making you worry.”

“Yes, you have! And you are welcome!”

After offering a watery smile to his wife, Niten switched to the last card. A bridge in the fog. The third time his life irrevocably changed. Or the fourth time if he counts his Awakening.

“Well, the third moment is rather obvious, isn’t it?” Aoife frowned. “The Golden Gate Bridge.”

“You died.”

“You accepted my proposal.”

Aoife and Niten spoke at the same time.

“I died, too, indeed,” commented the swordsman dryly. The vampire scowled at him but chose to keep her mouth shut. “Before the attack your uncle asked me if I had any regrets. I said that I should have asked for your hand. I should have done that many times before that, but I was terrified you would have said no. The last thought I had before falling under the constant Spartoi attack was of you. Of course, who else? I should have told you. Even if you had hated me or just rejected me, it would have been better than dying without you knowing. It was ironic that many years it was my desired end – a secret that would be buried with me. But I guess, I began to crack. To hope.” The Japanese smiled sadly. “But it was too late. You were stuck in a Shadowrealm and I was marching to my very possible death.” A breathing pause. “And then I died.” Aoife inhaled loudly, not that she needed the air, but it was a protest against mentioning the incident. She didn’t appreciate the talk about him dying. And it was going on a little too long right now.

“The next thing I saw was your face. I was not sure of where we were, but I knew we were going to be alright. We were together. As you like to say – nobody can stop us two.” The two lovebirds gazed at each other. “I had survived, and I was gifted another chance. One I fortunately did not waste. After your uncle’s encouragement,” Niten looked briefly at the crying Lord of Fire, “I proposed to you without any practiced speech or thought,” he elaborated that, “I was just back from the dead. Or without having done any other proper courtship steps like dates, giving gifts, or making sure you felt the same way. But when have we ever done things the normal way? The moment you accepted my proposal, after scolding me for not taking care of my wounds, which sounded a lot like a rejection in the mind of man, who, like I mentioned, lacked any coherent thought process at the time, was, without any doubt, the happiest moment of my life.”

Niten lowered the cards to improvise the ending of his vow. For one silly moment, he was speechless and trying to conjure up inspiration, when he realized that the only inspiration, he needed, stood right in front of him, ready to be his wife and to take him as her husband.

How had he gotten so lucky?

“It’s hard to name one or even a few things that make me love you. There are so many; the way you smile, the way you laugh, the way you snap, the way you have no patience for anything. It’s the little things, not all of them good, but then I ask myself: who else I know like I know you. And the answer is – not even myself. I have surprised myself countless times because of you.” He gathered his thoughts. “The simplest cause I know to name is – you make me happy. I am the happiest when I’m with you,” stated the immortal simply, because it was. Loving her had brought different feelings to him. Pining, hatred, jealousy, hurt etc. But loving was never difficult. Falling for her was the easiest thing he ever did. It made other things hard. Extremely.

“Really?” asked Aoife unbelievingly and stepping unknowingly closer to the man. The golden hairpins in a pleasant contrast with her fiery hair.

“Yes. I promise to try and make you as happy as you make me. Every day from this day onwards.” This time Aoife didn’t hold back her big smile nor did Niten.

“You are the most arrogant, unthoughtful, and selfish person I have ever met.” His love was a little bit confused of the sudden theme change. Scatty nodded approvingly through tears. Knowing well her sister’s temperament. “So please, keep my heart tightly with you and never give it back.”

“I’ll do that. You will never get it back even if you want to,” vowed the vampire, though her newfound confidence in them seemed to begin to waver again as her tone became defensive. A tone that the Japanese immortal recognized in an instant. Contrastingly, Niten had gained confidence during his vow, turning the tables once again.

Niten broke the unsaid wedding rule of not approaching the intended before the vows were done and was time for the official “you may kiss the bride” kiss and walked confidently to Aoife. He wanted to see who was going to stop him from comforting his wife. The Japanese brought his lips to her forehead and gave her a sweet, comforting kiss.

“I have loved you for over 200 years and been beside you for almost my entire immortal life.” Niten took her hands and looked into the red rimmed green eyes filled with adoration for him, but also vulnerability that he never wanted to see again. The Japanese immortal whispered touching her forehead with his own: “Aoife, I am not going anywhere. You don’t have to wonder if I’m going to be there the next day. I have seen the absolute worst of you, which is not as bad as you yourself think, and I am still here. I will always be here beside you.”

Aoife looked up and for once, Niten found complete honesty in those green eyes. “Promise?”

“I promise. You will always have a home with me.”

Aoife broke down in tears as she reached for him. Niten wrapped her up in his strong, warm embrace hiding her head on his shoulder, not caring that his impeccable kimono was going to be tainted by the red tears.

She had been abandoned by her parents and brother, left by her sister, but still bearing the responsibility for her in the shadows, and overall, had been Aoife of the Shadows. It was too much, even for her. And making friends and good impressions wasn’t her forte. The Japanese had no illusions – she was quite the headache when she wished to be and even unknowingly causing chaos with her words and actions. But being always reminded of how unpleasant and even evil one was; it went to their heads. So much so that Aoife began believing nobody wished to be in her presence without a reason, that usually being a bad one. She began to believe the stories about her and behave accordingly. Always being the meaner twin, the evil one. Always repeating the same sentence that she was not her sister; Aoife was the worse twin. It broke Niten’s heart. There was so much goodness in her also that Aoife didn’t see.

So now, Niten had recognized her vow of never giving his heart back as a poorly hidden fear. He had thought that maybe his earlier talk in the dressing room had faded Aoife’s last doubts away, but no. Threats and promises were a usual companion in the vampire wording, and she didn’t only use them on enemies. The warrior also used them as a defence mechanism. How many times had Niten heard the phrase like it was his decision to become her friend; he was responsible if something bad happened because of it or it was his decision to choose her? Too many. Like she was not to blame, if she took advantage of his and everyone else’s decision to accompany her. Like only bad things could ever come from interacting with her. She began to believe nothing good could ever come from her because if that weren’t the case, then why had she ruined every relationship she ever had.

The man had finally gotten through to her and persuaded the vampire he loved her and didn’t regret anything. And yet, she still unconsciously believed she must remind him of every possible fault she had. Like it was his idiotic decision to offer his heart to her and he couldn’t take it back even if he desired to. Like their relationship was ultimately going to fail because Niten was going realize she wasn’t good enough. But Niten knew everything about her and was still stupidly in love with Aoife.

Niten stroked her hair gently trying not to undo the work of whoever had styled her hair tufts when he heard a quiet sincere murmur against his kimono. “Thank you.”

A dark shadow that had haunted the vampire all her life perished in the words and promises of love.

It had always whispered questions like why would anyone love Aoife, why would the perfect Niten choose her, the one, who only brought pain and death, and for how long that lasted before she managed to ruin it. Before the ceremony, she had managed to tame it with his sweet declarations and actually believe in their love, in them. Believe that just her was enough. For once, the vampire accepted his affection with everything in her and had been so excited to declare it to the Japanese.

But with Niten’s speech she had let the doubt loose once more. When she learned how she had hurt him, the darkness found a crack in her and began to surface. It had whispered to her – you only hurt him; he said so himself. But this time, Aoife wasn’t alone. She had Niten, who recognized it and helped her.

In her mind she answered to the darkness – yes, I hurt him by not loving him or at least not letting him know I loved him; I am not going to make that mistake twice. I have a home now and I will throw you into the abyss if you ever come between me and him again. With that, she kicked its ass if it had one and let herself hope that maybe, this relationship was there to stay. Well, she was going to do everything in her power for it to remain so.

The dark shadow that had only grown within the vampire with every broken relationship had finally been defeated.

That was the moment Aoife truly accepted Niten’s love and believed in it. She hugged him tighter.

After a little while, Aoife composed herself to exclaim victoriously without a shadow of doubt in her mind: “My turn. And you, my dear husband, are not ready.”

Niten had no doubt of that.

Chapter Text

“I doubt I will ever be ready for you, my dear wife.” Aoife’s cold dead heart, that hadn’t been truly beating before teasing the blood-soaked Japanese on a battlefield, did a flip.

She grinned wildly, tears and pain already forgotten, at him before turning to her sister at the front row. “Scatty, you know what to do.”

The redhead nodded and enthusiastically jumped up from her seat to set up the stage. Aoife smiled at her little sister for this reminded her of their time before the fight. Always understanding each other perfectly even without words. When the words and ugly emotions came that’s when it all went downhill.

The guests were also curious as to what was going on and began to whisper amongst themselves trying to figure out Aoife’s plan. She was convinced nobody could guess it. It had taken her such a long time to think of something appropriate to represent her feelings for Niten. He deserved the absolute best.

“And now, I am beginning to worry,” commented her husband behind her back. “Prometheus, did you know about this?”

“I may have,” answered her uncle slyly. “These two can’t use their auras safely without guidance. You know that.”

Niten’s face fell. “Aura?! What?” He demanded from his wife. Aoife rolled her eyes at him. Even she had every intention of ending this ceremony, the vampire wouldn’t organize anything dangerous.

“Is it safe?”

The woman teased the swordsman: “Niten, you just swore you weren’t going anywhere, no matter what I do.”

Scathach, having finished at the back, pushed the annoyed Priest out of the way to make room for the rare artifact. She placed it at the altar just a stone's throw away from the smiling bride and confused groom. The weird looking light blue crystal shined, that was almost as big as Aoife’s entire head, brightly at them.

“You can’t just…” began the Priest protesting but was cut off by Aoife.

“Silence, humani! If you want to leave here alive, you will not interrupt.”

The Priest scowled at the warrior: “And I remind you, you need me to register your marriage.”

Niten stepped between them to block the Priest from her view.

“I am not going anywhere, I’m just wondering whether I should begin evacuating the guests,” explained the groom dryly while putting his hand onto the vampire’s back not really caring about the unwritten rule. Aoife stomped down the full body shudder. If he moved his hand even a little bit higher, he would be touching her skin. It reminded her of a night few days ago. Similarly, Niten had ran his hands across her body whispering things Aoife never thought she’d hear form anyone’s mouth let alone Niten’s. They had left a burning trail only to be soothed by his loving kisses.

The heat in her eyes must have given her thoughts away, because Niten’s gaze darkened and to the vampire’s disappointment he removed his hand completely.

Scatty’s fussiness drew them back to the present. Aoife nodded at the crystal. “It’s not that…bad.”

“Aoife?” wasn’t the Japanese convinced.

“I hope. It’s my vow to you. A moment ago, you wanted to hear it.” The redhead approached the man with a cunning expression.

Niten sighed: “If it ends up killing everyone here, then no.”

“It will not, I promise. I practiced, but I couldn’t finish it as it can be done only once.” Aoife saw how the man tried to figure out, what she had planned. Her love’s dark eyes were desperately trying to come up with an explanation. His gaze switched between her and the crystal.

The need to always be in control, she understood it perfectly. But even if her dear husband had a week to figure it out, he still wouldn’t succeed. That rare was that artifact Aoife had spent most of the preparation time hunting down and calling in favours from almost every Shadowrealm there was. Some gods had turned into dust a long millennium ago, but the vampire had found a way to communicate with them only to be a little closer to the crystal.

If the bluish stone wasn’t kept alive through myths, she doubted any humani here would even begin to comprehend its purpose and value. Even the Elders questioned about its existence and powers. But as it has been featured in many stories, some more misleading than others, it was generally known to be a source of great power. The only reason nobody was making any connection just yet was that its appearance changed in every story. The general theme was the grander the better. Aoife scoffed, stupid humani, they didn’t know that often the most invisible gadgets were the most powerful.

The warrior’s gaze landed on Niten’s robes. The dark spots on his kimono left by her tears seemed to tease her. The vampire wrinkled her nose, when she remembered the embarrassing break down just a few minutes before. In a normal setting she would have died before acting like a damsel in need for comfort, but Niten’s words had an interesting effect on her. She never did have the strength to not be affected by the Japanese. And now, he had sworn he would never leave her.

Oh, how long had she secretly longed to hear those words? Every time they had separated something had stinged in her chest refusing to leave her alone. Before Rika, it did not make sense, after, she ignored it on purpose, even denied it. There was no reason for the vampire to hope, said her head. But the heart never listened, desperately pleading the icy warrior to do something about her feelings she once swore she didn’t have. Was better not to have. Prometheus’ encouragement helped Aoife to open up, not see only the negative outcomes, give her love a chance. What if Niten felt the same way? What if she had a chance? He had spent his entire immortal life by her side. Would she had done it if she didn’t have feelings for someone? What if he died before she built up the courage to express herself? And then a darker thought, what if he fell for someone else?

The same time those good thoughts entered her mind, the bad ones, the ones, she unfortunately actually listened, got hold of her, too. The dark shadow wrapped itself around her most intimate feelings feeding off those unanswered prayers. It whispered: there was a reason Niten was by her side – because she didn’t leave him alone; if he had feelings for her, then why hadn’t he confessed; he will leave her like Scatty, like everyone else. He would be disgusted by her if he knew. After all, why was she alone, if she didn’t deserve it?

And scariest of them all: what if her loving him was the reason for his death?

But the thing was, Aoife wasn’t alone. She never was, after him. Niten was always there. If not by her side, then waiting for her always ready to help. And now, he cleared all her doubts and defeated the shadow inside of her. And in response, she would never question his feelings again. She just needed to learn to let herself feel freely. Now, that was a challenge, but she was Aoife of the Shadows and not one to back down.

So maybe, just maybe, she was allowed to be reassured and held in public just this once and she didn’t have to be ashamed. Ultimately, this was the result of Niten’s vow in which he promised to dedicate his life to be by her side. She’d allow it. Only this time. For Niten.

“Hey, lovebirds, it’s ready!” shouted Scatty trying to seem to be over of their disgustingly sweet whispering but failing.

“Thank you,” said Aoife sincerely to her sister, who just nodded, but couldn't help but tease the bride one last time before the marriage.

“Are you absolutely sure?”

“I have thought about it entire month and haven’t changed my mind,” answered Aoife.

“Oh wow, entire month, huh? Because that’s such a long time, eh?”

“Shut up!”

The bridesmaid looked at Niten analysing before stepping even closer to her sister. Scatty took Aoife’s hands in hers and squeezed. “My brother-in-law could be much worse,” she commented eyeing the man watching them fondly, “but not much better.”

“No, indeed not.” Aoife had no doubt she had the best husband anyone could ever want.

Once Scatty was in her seat, Aoife scanned the restless crowd. They had not heard what was going on for quite a while now and were restlessly conversating amongst themselves.

“SILENCE!” ordered the vampire with the voice she usually used to command soldiers on a battlefield. The younger immortals jumped but battle-hardened warriors like Niten didn’t even flinch.

She began in a quieter tone that still demanded respect: “Now, you all know I am not very good at talking. I prefer actions over meaningless words.” Aoife turned to her man. “So, today I,” she smirked, “have prepared a little spell.”

“A little, really, Aoife?” came from Scatty that earned her a deadly gaze from their uncle, who was once again in the verge of tears, and hung on Aoife’s every word.

“Hush!” scolded the older twin. The bride considered herself to be older, in her mind at least.

The vampire looked at curious Niten. “You said I say many things without thought and I have to agree. I tend to do that…unfortunately…so with my vow I promise to dispel all your doubts about my feelings for you. So, when I say some stupid thing again,” she raised her hands, “a vice I will try to work on,” getting back on her main topic, “you can think back to this moment and never doubt me again.”

“I would never,” vowed smitten Niten trying to control his smile. Aoife’s first reaction was to scold him for making her blush, but then she realized she really didn’t mind the Japanese’s lovely comments. It did, however, remind her the playful teasing in the changing room, when he had mentioned a possibility of him giving his attention to another. The vampire’s blood boiled at the thought of it. She had finally defeated the darkness inside of her that would have fed this train of thought and had no intention of letting him go. Unless he asked of course. She may have been a vampire, but she wasn’t a monster. At least to him. Maybe to everyone else.

The Priest had given up on trying to stop them from interrupting each other. He stood in a place where Scatty had pushed him and waited for his turn with a sullen expression.

Aoife took the centre stage while moving closer to the glowing crystal. “Alright then, I advise you not panic,” she said to the exited guests. Some were wary, some were leaning closer, some were preparing to shield themselves with auras. “It will be…quite shocking to many of you, but I promise you I have everything under control.” Hopefully, she added in her mind. No, not hopefully, certainly. She had a duty to their guests to control the crystal, and she will do it. No mistakes allowed.

Aoife slipped into her army leader mindset to protect her soldiers, in this case, the audience. They will be safe. In the worst-case scenario, she had a plan to destroy the crystal, if something went awry. With this she turned decisively to the crystal. She noticed Niten approaching her worriedly, apparently not convinced.

“Niten, do you trust me?” Not for a second doubted the vampire in his trust for her, but she wanted him to see that she had chosen this.

A pain flickered in his eyes. “Of course, I do. But I don’t need anything but your words for the vow. You don’t have to make the most amazing act. I just want you.”

“Niten,” she said quietly, “I want to.”

The man nodded understandingly: “Then I will accept your vow.”

Aoife smiled at him once more and attempted to begin her surprise, but a voice she hadn’t expected stopped her.

“Child,” said her grandmother, who knew very well, what she was about to do, even if she wasn’t included in the plan. Nobody could hide anything from the Witch of Endor. The vampire looked at her grandmother with wide eyes. Their relationship was not as rosy as hers was with her uncle. Most of the time the Witch gave her quests to complete. Aoife had a feeling that Dora preferred Scatty over her and was proved right many times. The bride was also certain that her grandmother was here so she could see if Niten was up to their family standards or something like that. So, she was quite shocked hear her to ask her this: “Are you sure?”

Her voice sounded almost like caring. The vampire had no other words than: “Yes, grandmother.” Dora nodded and was apparently satisfied with the answer. Aoife waited to confirm there was no follow-up question or comments, but nothing. Dora waited for her to continue. Even Niten was cautiously watching the interaction from the sidelines. Aoife would have teased him about his fear of her grandmother, but she had bigger problems at the moment.

As Aoife was taken aback from the interruption and was still in the same place, her grandmother decided to take the matters into her own hands. “If you are so sure about that man as I suspect you are, then what are you waiting for?” demanded Dora. This brought Aoife to the present. The vampire answered by calling her aura to her.

Aoife’s grey aura she hadn’t used for quite some time apart from practicing for today came to life and got mixed up with the blue light coming from the crystal. With a moment it created a shield of greyish-blue aura around the woman and the altar. Niten, who stood the closest, was also left out from the circle, but just barely. It appeared right in front of his nose making him step back purely from instinct.

And in that same second almost everyone recognized the artifact, only Billy the Kid asked out loud: “What is that?”

It was Niccolò Machiavelli, who answered with an admiring tone: “It is the crystal of the god Zeus according to one myth; it belonged to the god Marduk of Babylon according to another one. No one really knows where it came from, only that it possesses great power. Anyone, whose powers have been awakened, can make three requests from it. The crystal forms a shield around the asker to protect them from outside influences. At least from the direct attacks. That is why it is recognized. No one knew what it looked like. I have searched everywhere for it, but it was lost to history. I wanted to add it to my collection. If I had known to look for a blue crystal, then maybe…”

Lost to mankind, but not to Aoife, smiled the vampire. She had everything under control so far. The crystal had not acted up, but the next part was going to be challenging as she had not practiced that part. She had no way of knowing what to expect.

“I am Aoife of the Shadows, and I have called you out to make a request.”

From inside the crystal a strong tired voice asked taking some of the guests by surprise: “And what is your request?”

Aoife turned to Niten without breaking the continuous flow of aura around her. The man was dumbfounded as he stared back with an open mouth. The vampire grinned at her husband, who she was finally able to render speechless.

To call him hers made Aoife happier than she had ever been.

And with that, she had regrets nor doubts about what she was about to do.

Aoife turned back and stated her wish: “I, Aoife of the Shadows wish to bound myself to an immortal human Miyamoto Musashi also known as Niten.”

There were gasps, and shocked cries. Aoife didn’t know exactly what that wish entailed but knew without a shadow of doubt that she would embrace everything. And if something went wrong, she still had two other wishes. That was her escape route if need be.

It may have been a little extreme even for her standards, but she had always preferred actions over words, and it had of course nothing to do with her lack of skills in that area. Aoife could say the sweetest promises and vows, but all of those paled in comparison to her feelings for Niten. So, as she pondered over, what she should say in her vows, the vampire decided to act instead of talking. And that was how they go to that situation.

“Aoife!” said astonished Niten outside of the shield, his dark eyes wide. “You don’t know what it will do!”

“And a second ago, you accepted my vow,” teased the vampire. “And this is it. My vow.”

The man huffed. “Well, I…” His amazement and confusion were quite adorable. Always in control this husband of hers. Not this time.

According to Aoife’s research, this vow of bounding should make her his companion in every Shadowrealm and every time, if they somehow got thrown back in time like her sister and others had been. This crystal had power in every corner of existence. To Aoife, it wasn’t enough to just make their union official in the humani world. She wished her soul, if she had one, to always be bound to Niten’s. To show she was his person. If that was how the crystal worked, remained to be seen. Her studies had revealed little about the bounding process itself.

To her, it was just declaring things as they already were. Aoife had known her heart and thus herself belonged to him for a long time. She had been his even before she had a name for her feelings. It had been quite the challenge to let herself consider and explore them in a world full of danger. And it took even longer to voice them to Niten.

It was sometime in May 1883, when Aoife found herself chained to the volcanic crater on the island of Krakatoa. While it was an embarrassing thought to be had, she had to admit that she was stuck. Properly. Those half-serpent half-human looking Nagas had captured her quite dishonourably lurking behind her back and striking with poison when she wasn’t aware rather than fight with her face to face.

Aoife grimaced as the memory of her weakness washed over her. The vampire had let her guard down for one moment and the consequences for it were there in an instant. To be fair, she had been preoccupied with helping one humani child escape from an excruciating death. An act directly influenced by a certain Japanese. A year or so ago Niten had told her how he thought that every life had a value and proving it by playing with his own life to save another. It had been right after the incident on Rika; Aoife’s feelings were a mystery even to herself at that time and it stuck with the vampire. A man usually so calm and collected had almost yelled at her. His sharp words cut through Aoife like a blade. Especially as these were last words Niten would say to the vampire for a some time.

“Are you stupid? Why did you go back for a humani girl, who will most likely die anyway in the coming months?” she had screamed, because for a moment, she had relived the horror she had felt in Rika. How could Niten sacrifice his life for some nobody? How could he have left her for some humani?

Niten, face dirty from smoke, coughed, and took a moment to compose himself after having placed the child in her mother’s arms. He rubbed his hands against his eyes making them even more smudgy.

“Because that’s who I am, Aoife, I couldn’t just leave her to die, not when I could have done something,” had the man finally had enough and snapped. He came to stand right in front of the woman and looked at her disapprovingly. That hurt. “And then she will die in the coming months giving her still more time.”

“More time to do what? It’s like hell out here, like some of humani like to call it,” argued Aoife for absolutely no reason. She acknowledged that. Niten was alive. But the cries of the townspeople about an Asian man storming into a burning house and not coming out still rang in her ears.

“Then it is hell, but maybe she will live through it. Something she never would have done if I had just sat there doing nothing!”

“You could have died!”

“I could die every time I enter a new Shadowrealm. I could die every time we encounter a god you had angered. I could die in a million different ways. This one, at least, would have been my choice, and I would not have regretted it!”

This one… had been his choice. Had previous death deifying experienced not been his choices? She thought they had cleared that misunderstanding on the cliff.

“We both have at least a dozen times been very close to death,” said Niten trying and failing to clean his burnt clothing. His garments are always so proper and not a spot on them.

“Oh, I remember,” spat Aoife angrily remembering how the arrow had pierced the man.

“Saving entire Shadowrealms and being in much worse conditions than now. And you even promised me to bury my body in Japan if my death were to occur. I know that in Rika I acted on an impulse and could have solved it so that none of us was harmed. I understood your anger. I don’t…I don’t get what’s do different about this time? Or the time before? Lately, I have a feeling you don’t trust me anymore. There is always something I do wrong in your opinion. And then you lash out without a second thought,” uttered the man spreading his arms in question. “Was it this time because she is a human?”

Unfortunately, Aoife didn’t focus on the important part in Niten’s explanation, which was him experiencing the lack of trust from the warrior, but chose to study her own thoughts instead.

Really, what was so different this time? In all those other times Niten mentioned, she had been right beside the man, knowing if they could fight their way through, she could patch him up. However, thinking about them now, the vampire realized some previously unnoticed stupid acts from the Japanese. For some reason she had behaved totally different then, not caring about his injuries too much. Why?

This evening, when the house almost exploded in flames before the vampire could even try to get close, her heart stopped. Just like it had done on Rika. And just like it had done with Scathach. She didn’t even consider who he had run to save, Aoife only cared about the fact that for a moment she thought he had died. That was the real reason she had been furious today. And the time before that. No matter how tough she was and who she had defeated, even Aoife of the Shadows could not bring her loved one back from death.

When had Niten become so important?

And only then she noticed what she had called him. When had that happened? She was in a big mess.

Being deep in thoughts, she failed to give the Japanese an answer. Aoife was still processing her feelings and Niten looked miserable, but the woman barely noticed his expression fighting ultimately losing battle within herself.

No, she couldn’t have been in lo…she stopped herself from even thinking it. No. It was impossible. She was just confused. That had to be it. Right.

“If you hate us humans so much then you should not have chosen one as your travel companion!”

Wait, what?

“What?” said Aoife stupidly not catching on. She hadn’t listened to him for a while being too busy denying having any romantic feelings for the swordsman. What was he saying?

“I will not stop saving humans just because you hate them. Even if the time earned is just a fleeting moment for you meaning nothing, it means a world to them and to me,” said Niten quietly, trying to keep sadness away from his words, but Aoife heard it anyway. “And if you can’t handle that then I think…I think we should explore next worlds on our own. After all, it’s better when you don’t have an incompetent sidekick you have…” He didn’t have a chance to finish his sentence, before the woman interrupted him. If he had, then maybe things could have gone differently.

Niten was choosing them over her? Aoife froze for a moment. Those ungrateful undeserving thieves did not deserve his sacrifice, much less his life! What had they given him? Aoife had always had his back…well if one were not to count the injury, he got on that green invested Shadowrealm and the one time she had forgotten that he, in fact, needed to breath and couldn’t hold his breath forever, and that other time…But still she had saved his life many times as well! After their talk she been more cautious and paying him more mind than before. The thought about Niten being her bodyguard still cracked her up. It was idiotic.

The declaration was met with typical Aoife treatment for she felt betrayed. “Great, if you want to die for some humani then you are welcome to do so! I will not keep you from your true quest sheltering the nature-killing barbarians. Don’t come for me for help when they eventually show you their true colours, Niten!”

She turned her back to the man and stepped along the mud path raging before coming to a stop. But wait…Niten had been a human. Ah, she had forgotten that little fact. Again! The vampire closed her eyes in rarely felt shame. That was why he was so insistent on saving the girl. Somehow in Aoife’s mind, Niten was good and proud and loyal and competent. Characteristics she associated with humani were the complete opposite. They were greedy and honourless and unfaithful. The vampire was always amazed that they belonged to the same race when she did remember it. Maybe if Niten was human then someone other not a complete scoundrel could be born into the humani race. Maybe, just maybe, some of them deserved a chance.

She contemplated about turning back, and…what? Apologizing? Praising the human race to the skies and back? She had only…she had only been afraid.

This realization was a hard pill to swallow. Aoife was not afraid of anyone or anything, but she had become afraid for someone. The vampire worried for her little sister, but knew that those, who possessed a considerable danger to her, could be counted on one hand. Becoming attached to Niten, to a few hundred-year-old immortal human, unlocked an uncomfortable new series of fears. There were so many beings that could hurt him and use him against her. Perhaps, it was wiser to be separated for a while. Aoife of the Shadows couldn’t afford to be so vulnerable as to throw her life away for some humani. For Niten. Because the first instinct she had, when confronted with the fact he had entered a burning building, was to run after him, even in the face of certain death. And with all those new fee…no. There was nothing there. She had a heart only for Scathach and that was it. No one else was ever going to fit in there.

With a heavy heart, she forced her feet to carry her away from the Japanese. Unbeknownst to her and contrary to his words, Niten had stayed in the same place not able to choose the way. For the last couple hundred years, he had followed her to whatever her next venture was. And now, he was alone. Alone with his thoughts and unrequited feelings. And with regrets and a few tears. Waiting against hope that the vampire would come back. But a part of him that had shouted those words, could not take her mindless anger towards innocent people anymore, towards him these last few years for some reason and knew the separation to be for the best.

After a while he, too, chose to turn the other way, wondering if he ever saw her again.

Niten’s decisive words still ringed in Aoife’s mind a year later. Nothing had cut so deep in the woman since Scathach had screamed her last words to Aoife across the battlefield. The vampire had become accustomed to the man’s soothing presence by her side. He was good with people, a quality Aoife certainly lacked and had no interest in improving. Fighting beside each other had become naturally. They could read each other’s movement and decisions easily in fights, making them even more formidable enemy together than separately. She learned to trust him these past…what, two hundred and eighty something years. His decision to leave her and her accepting it left the vampire on edge. She felt as if he had taken a part of her with him.

An unusual feeling had filled the vampire. Everywhere she went Aoife began to see Niten. Not in the sense that she was going crazy, but in the sense that she knew he would have appreciated some paintings an auction sold, or a well-made sword. Once she even had made a comment to the man no longer with her before realizing her mistake with a miserable feeling she ignored.

That had led Aoife to saving a humani girl from street robbers and allowing her to accompany her to the town a two day walk away. An act Niten would have appreciated. It made her smile.

Where was he now?

No, she shouted to herself, you will not think about him. It’s not your problem to question his whereabouts. Even if he is dead. It’s not your concern. Aoife dismissed the pain when she thought about the man’s dead body. He was the one, who didn’t want to be by your side! He would rather sacrifice himself for humans. Remember that!

“Have you ever been in love?” asked the girl from nowhere in her native language.

Aoife scowled: “I am here to see you to your parents, not to amuse you.” She scanned the area while clearing her head from unwanted memories. Her vampire senses didn’t catch any movement or sounds that would have indicated trouble.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Take it as you will. I care not,” the redhead brushed it off and considered abandoning the loud girl by the road. When had she, Aoife of the Shadows, began escorting humani for no price? She really had become soft.

The girl, Sampa, smiled and continued with the topic: “Assuming it’s a man, he must have been quite a specimen knowing he puts up with you. Or not, seeing you are all alone in the wilderness with me. Unrequited love is a…”

The vampire could barely hold herself back from revealing her vampire teeth, when she snapped at her making the younger take a step back: “And seeing my help is not being appreciated I could just leave you here by yourself. I’m not the one here needing a guard.”

“Alright, I’ll be quiet. For now,” held Sampa her hands up in a peace-offering gesture. Aoife rolled her eyes and went back to leading the way.

Then her curiosity and better judgement got better of the woman. After a few merciful silent moments, she decided to bring up the earlier topic herself: “What, did yours left you?”

“So, there is someone!” exclaimed the girl victoriously while jumping around like a mindless monkey. The redhead already hated herself for it. “I knew it! And yes.”

“Answer the question.”

“You didn’t answer any of mine!” said the girl with more attitude than Aoife had been used to. She needed to give Niten credit for mostly being a silent partner. Her nerves couldn’t handle the fiery child for one day. Imagine handling her for centuries. Aoife shuddered at the scary thought.

Sampa couldn’t contain her need to speak about her love life to a total stranger and so while declaring loudly the unjust situation, she answered Aoife anyway. “Fine. Yes, he did. I mean, thinking back now…I was a piece of work. You know. Never left him alone, I always needed to know, where he was and with who. I was quite controlling. I told myself, I was doing this to be a good partner.” She shook her head. “Actually, it showed him that I didn’t trust him. Of course, that came out only when he couldn’t take it anymore and told me right before breaking up with me.” The girl laughed about the irony, but there was no happy tone from before.

“It’s a funny because it was completely the other way around. I simply cared for him too much but took the wrong way to show it to him. I still love him. I hope he is happier now that I’m not with him.” Sampa finished with a sad face, but Aoife could tell the girl meant it.

Was Niten happier without her?

One part of her, the selfless one, hoped that he was saving humans left and right and doing things he yearned to do. Things, he couldn’t do with her, the dark part added bitterly. The selfish part wished that he missed her as much as she missed him. It wasn’t fair that Aoife imagined his reaction to every single painting and sword she saw, and Niten couldn’t care less about her.

Then the first part of Sampa’s story caught up with the vampire. At that moment, a rare occurrence occurred, and Aoife of the Shadows reflected on her past actions. She also had basically tied him to her after that time the swordsman decided to hide his injury from the vampire. Especially in dangerous situations. At the beginning Aoife didn’t care that much about the young Japanese warrior, but he was useful and a good fighter, so she allowed him to accompany her. Then Aoife got used to him being by her side, thinking he was there as a companion. Aoife couldn’t have imagined he thought something else entirely. After the cliff conversation, the immortal vampire realized his importance to her. And after Rika, she became vaguely aware of his importance to her heart. No matter, how she tried to deny it, the feelings surfaced from time to time. And with that, her reactions to Niten being at harm’s way, also became worse. Aoife snapped at him for every little cut the Japanese got and decision she thought had been stupid (read: life-threatening to him). She first didn’t even (want to) acknowledge, why she was screaming, why had every drop of blood Niten lost was so unacceptable to her. The vampire did everything in her power to convince herself that it was a friendly worry, no matter how her heart tried to fight against the idiotic claims. After Cuchulain she swore never to love anyone romantically again. It never ended well. Aoife of the Shadows did not need someone to love. She did not deserve someone to love. She would just destroy them as well. This mantra had accompanied her for centuries. Protecting her, and others from her. So, she almost unconsciously fought against the feelings she had not expected to feel again, never noticing when Niten had stolen her heart.

Not recognizing or lying to herself about her feelings had been one thing, making him feel unappreciated and untrustworthy was another. The vampire had never explained her recent behaviour to Niten, that it had been out of worry. That she didn’t think him an idiot (most of the time) nor that she didn’t trust his fighting skills. (Niten was still the only human, who had won Scatty in a duel.) Aoife…had been afraid for him. And her deep hatred for humankind certainly didn’t help to make him like her.

Now the vampire began to see, how her action may have appeared to the man. Not letting him out of his sight in a fight. If anyone had done that to Aoife, her first thought would have been that they do not trust her skills. If anyone had yelled at her for some crazy stunts, she would have yelled back at them for trying to control her.

Aoife swore in her mother tongue. When this adventure was over, she needed to find Niten and apologize.

“Now it’s your turn,” said Sampa cheerfully.

The older woman snapped: “I didn’t say there was someone.”

“Hey. That’s not fair. I told you my entire life story and you answer with that,” demanded the girl kicking away yet another tree branch from her way.

“The only thing you did, was to whine about your now non-existent love life.”

“Says the one spending time with me in a jungle and asking about a girl’s relationship,” answered the cheeky native. “And at least I have improved and acknowledged my mistakes, while you are still clearly in denial.”

The woman was this close to leaving Sampa alone in the wilderness as she got angrier by the minute and the strange smell the woman should have paid attention to, got ignored. Aoife turned her head away from the surrounding for one moment to approach the girl in a warning way. “Maybe I just don’t want to spill my heart to a stupid human girl! And if you don’t…”

“So, there is someone!”

“Shut…” Aoife swore as she deflected an arrow flying her way with a knife and pulled Sampa behind her. She quickly counted fourteen enemies emerging from the woods. The vampire put herself between the assailants and the girl. Fortunately, the way to her village remained empty and behind the warrior.

“Go, run as fast as you can! I’ll hold them off,” ordered Aoife pushing her down the muddy street, but the girl, as frightened as she was, was adamant about staying.

“Are you crazy you can’t fight with all of them? Let me help!”

“No! Run!” forbade the woman. “Now, Sampa!” She looked at Nagas one last time, before using her brain for first time in a while and deciding to let the vampire handle it. Sampa made a run for it. The village wasn’t that far, and Aoife was sure, the girl had the endurance to run straight to it without stopping.

“We don’t care about the humani girl. You are the one we want, Aoife of the Shadows,” declared the ugliest of the fourteen Nagas in his own mother tongue. Clearly the leader judging by his extravagant armour and the ornate weapon. His half-serpent appearance didn’t faze the immortal vampire one bit. Some of them were entirely in their human form, but some had chosen to show off their long serpent tail.

The warrior, who had one hand on one of her knives the entire time, pulled out both knives and made sure the Nagas saw that. She prepared to fight calculating which of the Nagas she should attack first. Their tails were dangerous, but the ones in human skin would have the advantage of manoeuvring more easily. “Many want me. It doesn’t make you special.”

“No, but defeating you does.”

And then she smelled it. Poison. The smell that had been subtlety creeping around her for a while. The vampire could have prevented getting poisoned by smelling the leaves in her pouch as soon as she caught it. Now it was too late for that. Her eyesight began waning and the strength leaving her body. She gripped her knives in a stronger grip, but she knew she could at most take down two or three Nagas before the poison would render her completely useless. Bunch of honourless cowards, they were too weak to defeat her in a real battle and instead chose to poison her. But swearing at them didn’t help her.

It was bad. At least Sampa got away. She hadn’t heard the Nagas go after her.

Aoife jumped on the nearest Naga slouching above a tall tree hoping to surprise him with her action. They probably thought poison would work quicker, but it wasn’t the first time, she had been poisoned by this. But she will make sure, it would be the last time. If she survived. Aoife sliced the throat of the Naga without second of thought before he could even comprehend, what was happening, and sprinted for the next nearest one. Her feet felt heavy, and her hands didn’t want to work, but with willpower she made it to the next victim, who pulled out his weapon a second too late. The vampire had already put the knife through his head.

Only then Aoife began heard orders from the leader about restraining her. Good, so they wanted to capture her, not kill. Not yet anyway. The poison was only basically a very efficient sleeping pill. From the smell she knew that this specific poison was harmless to humans so Sampa was not affected by it. This brought her more relief than it should have to an unfeeling vampire.

Her right eye lost the sight before the left one, but with the last of her strength and one good eye she threw one of her knives straight at the leader piercing his heart. The leader was dead before he hit the ground. A panicked shouting ensued, and the vampire smiled widely before her feet gave away and she felt the wet ground below her cheek. That will make them mad.

Her last thought was of Niten, and how he would have noticed the smell.

And that is how she ended up being chained to a live volcano with a very limited possibilities of escaping. She had thought of everything and concluded that without help, this could very well be her last resting place. Aoife had heard prophecies about Scatty’s end being somewhere in a tropical and warm place. Could her own fate be similar? It would be difficult to find somewhere warmer or more exotic than a volcanic crater.

She had been left hanging for a week or so. Maybe they hoped it would weaken her resolve or something like that. Truth be told, Aoife wasn’t in her best form, but Nagas were idiots, if they really thought this would accomplish something. She had gone without food or water or freedom far longer.

Steps and whooshes of tails echoed along the corridor.

Below her there was a stone platform that she could jump onto if she wasn’t chained. It wasn’t exactly under her, more like in front of her. Three Nagas appeared onto that platform. One was in a human form, other two remained half-serpent.

“Finally, I thought I was forgotten about,” commented Aoife, being bored out of her mind, and wanting to show she wasn’t that out of it to be incapable of humour.

The middle one, the leader answered: “We could never forget Aoife of the Shadows. Especially, when she is our guest.” His tail made circles on the stone behind him.

“A guest? But you didn’t even offer me tea,” said Aoife with feigned surprise. Tea reminded her Niten. Oh, how she missed him.

The serpent smiled: “With that you refer to your Japanese friend?” It was half question and half statement. The vampire froze. What did those imbeciles know of Niten? Did something happen between them? To her knowledge, Niten had not come across Nagas, but they had been apart for a long time. All those different thoughts ran through her mind, while she fought with herself. “He was great warrior, almost a shame of what happened to him.”

Do not give them the satisfaction of reacting. They were only bating her. Niten was fine and alive. Do not… “What do you know about him?” Her calmer side raged at herself, but she didn’t care. She had to know, what happened to Niten, her pride be damned.

The leader nodded to his right-hand man…right-hand Naga, and he went back inside the volcano. Could they have captured the man as well?

“You must know that this is your doing. His fate was your fault. The moment you decided to throw the knife at my brother you sealed his fate,” hissed the Naga. She decided to ignore comment about Niten for a moment and instead focus on the fact that the idiotic commander she killed earlier had apparently been his brother.

She said almost lazily not letting them know, how much the news of the man really hit her: “He was quite an incompetent leader. He assumed that the poison would take me down much quicker getting two of his team get killed, and himself. On top of everything, he was the one attacking me, so his fate was his own fault.”

“You dare talk to me about my brother after you murdered him!” yelled the Naga on the edge. The one behind him held him back.

Aoife yelled back and rattled the chains, whishing she could strangle the leader: “Your idiot of a brother chose it himself the moment he decided to challenge me! He was a coward doing so and died as one as well!” After that Aoife threw in some insults from her own language.

“And for that I killed your friend,” said the Naga after gaining back some self-dignity.

Aoife’s heart stopped.

No. That wasn’t possible.

He lied. It was quite a common tactic getting your prisoner to talk or just torture them mentally by feeding them false information.

She would not believe this nonsense. She refused.

The woman sneered at the lying snake: “Oh really. Many have falsely claimed to have killed Aoife of the Shadows or Scathach the Shadow, or Niten, and every single one of them have met with their demise for running their mouth. So, I suggest, you…” Her capability of speech faded away as the third Naga returned and dropped a familiar sword onto the platform with a clank that to Aoife sounded much more like a cannon shot.

It was one of Niten’s swords. It was without a doubt his and not a forgery. Aoife would know it anywhere. The sword was bloody and dirty.

“It’s his, isn’t it?” laughed the Naga. “He took down quite a few of my soldiers, but eventually I cut off his right hand and he had to drop his sword. I had hoped to bring him before you and then kill him here, but it would just not have been beneficial as he could have killed more of my men. So, I ended him then and there.”

Aoife was catatonic; she didn’t see anything besides his sword. Was that all that was left of him? Of the man she loved? Was this the last reminder of his existence that she will ever see? The vampire longed to hold the weapon. To touch something he had touched. She could imagine him holding it, wielding it as if it was part of his body. Niten would never have lost or even dropped it. Had they really killed him? Had he gotten killed because he had tried to rescue her? Was she the reason Niten will never find that right green colour or see Japan again? Aoife had felt guilty before, but that had been nothing compared to this agony.

“There is a saying in the humani world I quite like “an eye for an eye”. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get to your sister, so I had to settle for next best person.”

“For your sake I hope you didn’t do what you claimed to have done, because if that’s true then whatever end you imagined for me will be nothing compared to what I’m about to do to you,” threatened Aoife with dark, cold voice. Her body was calm, too calm for the Nagas, who had hoped for mindless yelling, maybe even red tears, something more than calculating stagnancy.

The leader Naga laughed at her. “Besides him, there really isn’t anyone to come for you, is there? Even your sister hates you. Quite an accomplishment to not make your enemies despise you, but your loved ones as well.” The leader was smiling proudly as he stated that.

It was hard to describe what was happening inside of her. A dark shadow had taken over her. Niten had died because of her. Because she thought it would be rewarding making the Nagas angry and reminding them who she was.

It hadn’t been her, who paid the price. It had been Niten.

The last thing Aoife had said to him was not to come back. The last thing she had given him was the piece of her mind for something trivial. He had been alive and well in front of her and she cursed at him. And she had been yelling at him for the past few years because she couldn’t handle her feelings and making him feel like she hated him. If he was alive, she didn’t deserve him. Not as a friend and not as a lover, like that was ever going to happen, her mind added bitterly.

It didn’t matter anymore. Miyamoto Musashi was dead. She wouldn’t even be able to fulfil her promise to him because she didn’t know, where his body was. She felt like she had failed him one last time. She was never going to have the chance to tell him that she was just afraid for him. To apologize.

To tell him she loved him. Truly and with everything this old angry heart was capable of. There was no point in denying it now. Somehow had the Japanese taken her heart for himself and he didn’t even know it. And now, he would never know. Niten had died thinking Aoife hated him.

And it was all her fault.

At that moment, she felt raging envy for Sampa, whose lover was alive. She would have a chance to apologize. She had a chance. Aoife didn’t. Her Niten was dead.

Red tears threatened to fall and give Nagas the satisfaction of seeing Aoife of the Shadows break down, but fortunately, before the unthinkable could happen…

Wait. A logical thought came to her through the dark angry shadow that had clouded her mind.

If he had killed Niten and tortured him like he said he did, why hadn’t he shown the Japanese’s body? Surely, this would have erased every counterargument Aoife could have had about him being truly dead.

“Where is his body then? Why show me his sword and not the body?” The Nagas shifted uncomfortably, not having an answer.

Aoife breathed out. It had been a ruse. One, she had fell for. It didn’t mean Niten was out of the danger for they did have his sword, but at least they didn’t have his dead body. The relief poured into her, making her take calming breaths. He was alive, she repeated in her mind.

“It unfortunately got left behind, and my men have not yet been able to retrieve it, but don’t worry, you’ll see it before your death,” exclaimed the leader, but the vampire didn’t buy it for one moment.

“Indeed. But you were fortunate enough to have his sword? Or even if it really is his. It could be forgery for all I know,” Aoife told the Naga. She knew full well it was the real one, but she hoped they would begin to defend it and reveal what had really happened.

But before Nagas could utter a word, the volcano began shaking and the grey storm clouds buried the sunlight from them. The leader demanded to know what was going on and again the third Naga hurried away. When the Naga’s attention was away from the prisoner, Aoife felt a subtle klick around her feet and the chains fell away. The vampire was smart enough to grasp, what was going to happen next. She gripped the chains, and just as she had predicted, the locks around her arms opened.

The volcano shook around them making it harder for Aoife to remain hanging. She put her feet against the rough crater wall and prepared to make the jump to the platform. Luckily, her captors were still trying to figure out, what was going on, to pay too much attention to her. They clearly didn’t see the missing chains around her ankles. Quickly, she did a few motions with her hands to wake them up and be ready to wield a weapon. The chains in hands, she could only do minimal movements, but it was better than nothing.

Aoife was about to make the jump, when the rumbling suddenly stopped and those two beneath her thought that she had something to do with it. Nagas turned to her to start accusing but noticed her freedom. Their eyes went wide, and they began yelling for help. After all, she was Aoife of the Shadows, and they had made her mad. She smiled.

It would have been better if the Nagas had run away and left her with an empty platform to jump onto. Now, if they try and successfully prevent her landing onto it, they could potentially push her down the dark volcanic crater. Unfortunately for the vampire, they saw the flaw in her plan and blocked the nearest part with their big ugly bodies. She could try and punch them out of the way in the air, but it was too risky.

She was just about to consider the possibility of climbing the crater wall, and risk falling, when a dark blue origami landed behind the Nagas and made them turn around.

Niten.

He was alive and had come for her. Even after everything. She felt the biggest smile she was possible of creating on her face and pure joy in her heart.

That was all the distraction Aoife needed for the Nagas to make the jump. The vampire landed gracefully on the platform and on the way to the bewildered Nagas she picked up Niten’s sword. The vampire ignored the pain in her hands for being hung for a week straight and forced them to work. The guard Naga reacted a second quicker and tried to stand against Aoife, but it was all in vain. The woman sliced his throat and stepped in front of the leader. She placed herself sideways, so she could watch the entrance from the corner of her eye.

Part of her knew she should end him quickly and escape, but the momentary blinding pain he had caused to her with his words demanded a longer torture session.

“Are you still vowing you killed Niten, or did you just happened to find his sword from somewhere?” said the vampire holding the sword on the leader’s neck. She also concentrated on the corridor that led to the crater to detect if anyone unfriendly was approaching.

The Naga shook his head. “I didn’t kill him.”

“Did you cut off his arm or tortured him?”

“No. Nothing like that happened. I swear.”

Aoife scoffed and pressed the tip of the sword just a little too close to his neck. Blood trickled down his neck. The vampire got immense satisfaction from that. “That’s what I thought, but you still lied to me. I cannot let that slide.”

“Please.”

“And you poisoned me and held me prisoner. It isn’t something I take lightly,” she reminded him ominously. She really should be going. The third Naga was bound to return soon with the news.

And suddenly the shaking resumed, and it was worse than before. Aoife planted her feet firmly on the platform to prevent any accidents as it shook below their feet. The Naga didn’t seem overly confident on the edge and his gaze jumped from her to the dark abyss below and then back to her.

It was clear she didn’t have the time to have some great revenge, and she needed to leave. Right now.

So, the vampire chose the easier way. She held Niten’s sword on his neck while she stepped closer to the scared Naga and with one precise push kick to his stomach and a smile, she kicked him off the platform. Aoife had to be satisfied with hearing his terrified scream as he fell to his death.

Aoife began sprinting towards the entrance as a group of four Nagas stepped between her and the corridor. She swore. She really should have killed the leader earlier rather than later, now she had to face them off on a limited trembling ground with her back being towards the crater.

Well, there went nothing as she decided to begin with the smallest and nearest Naga on her right, who, to her surprise, was able to block one of her strikes only to fall under the next one. When she turned at lightning speed to the other three assailants, she heard the familiar steps behind the last and biggest of the guards. The Naga wasn’t as perceptive as her and didn’t hear anything. The vampire didn’t need to look to know the person to whom the sword that pierced the Naga belonged to.

Niten took down one Naga as Aoife battled with the last one to the victorious win, of course. She didn’t allow herself to look at the Japanese before taking care of the last remaining threat. For now. Somewhere in this mountain an entire army of Nagas hid from the world, she was sure. And as battle-hardened as she was, even the vampire didn’t want to fight with them at the moment.

“Aoife,” called her the most wonderful voice the vampire had ever heard, and she turned to him. Niten stood there on the edge of the platform holding a sword that matched the one Aoife was holding. He looked a worse for wear; tired, dark circles below his eyes, hair unusually tangled, and a hundred other things, but he was alive.

Aoife’s first instinct was to hold him close, to feel his heartbeat and never let go, but as a big stone from the top crashed into the platform breaking a chunk from it, hugging had to wait. The dark abyss under them wasn’t that dark anymore and slowly began glowing. A thick black fog also appeared. This volcano was about to erupt.

“We need to go,” said Niten in Japanese, while already stepping towards the corridor.

“Agreed.”

The Japanese took the lead as the vampire had, embarrassingly, been unconscious, when she first arrived (was taken) here, and didn’t know which way was the way out. The whole place was breaking apart – corridors were full of pieces of stones, walls had cracks in them, and a few unlucky Nagas had been knocked out and were laying on the cold stone floor. The two didn’t stop for nothing and hurried towards the entrance of the volcano.

As they ran up the stairs Niten shouted: “When Prometheus promised a distraction, I had expected something less dangerous for us.”

“My uncle is here?”

“This whole eruption is his doing.”

“His doing?” yelled Aoife.

Niten, who seemed to agree with her reaction, said with a half-mouthed smile: “My sentiments exactly.”

After the stairs, they reached what seemed to be a big entrance to their secret lair, but thanks to her uncle, everyone had fled. Golden doors that led to outside were open, and one had been damaged by a fallen rock making it impossible to close it again. They ran through the open area but were slowed down as parts of the ceiling were falling all around them. Aoife had no intention of getting crushed by one of them. Niten shared that thought.

Still holding his sword, the vampire finally stepped out of the prison making a surroundings check, but it seemed all the remaining Nagas had run away, not prepared a surprise attack for them. Niten took a place beside her keeping an eye out for a possible danger.

He filled her in: “Your uncle should be waiting down there.” The Japanese pointed at the east coast. “We promised to meet by the boat.”

As they were out of the immediate danger Aoife turned to the man ready to…what? Hug? Yell? Kiss?

Then the loudest explosion she had ever heard came from the volcano along with eruption of ash. Oh, for Ancients sake! She just wanted one moment!

“This way,” said Niten with a sigh of his own and they began running again. Fortunately, the island was quite small for the immortal warriors at least, and they reached the beach fairly quickly. On the way they took down a few Nagas, but left those, who had run to the other side of Krakatau.

When Aoife saw the small fishing boat, she didn’t see a sight of Prometheus, nor any Nagas for that matter. She didn’t worry too much, because with the eruption the Nagas were disorganized not posing a threat to the great Lord of Fire. Aoife almost felt bad for anyone daring to cross her uncle, but then the vampire remembered the awful promises made by the leader. She hoped Prometheus would not be merciful.

“I guess we are here first,” commented Niten the obvious thing. He opened his mouth to say something else, but before that, he got an armful of Aoife, who pressed him tightly against her. Her arms were like vices around his neck when she hugged him, one hand still holding onto the sword that had earlier pierced her heart. Metaphorically.

Niten was shocked as this was one of those rare occasions when their physical contact wasn’t due to a sparring session or a desperate attempt to push the other away from harm’s way, but after a few moments, Aoife felt his arms coming to embrace her back. Strongly. She melted into him. If anyone had dared to touch him, she would have killed their entire bloodline and even race.

“I was afraid I was too late,” whispered Niten to her neck. Aoife started laughing completely inappropriately. He thought he was late? The vampire had to live with the thought of Niten being dead.

The man didn’t understand her bitter comparison. “Aoife?”

She shook her head. “Nothing. You came just at the right time.” Her laughter fell away.

Aoife could have lost this.

The vampire felt rage for the Nagas. How dared they imply they had killed Niten? Niten being gone? Unacceptable. His presence had soothed the raging fire inside her long before she even knew it. Without him, Aoife would be alone again, if she by some miracle didn’t smooth out the broken relationship she had with Scatty.

Aoife buried her nose into his sweaty, ash covered, perfect hair and inhaled his musky scent. Niten hadn’t loosened up his own grip on her one bit. His hands on her back brought her lithe body even closer to his so there was no room between them. They stood on the beach embracing each other for far longer than either of them were brave enough to admit later.

This amazing man deserved the world. Deserved better than her.

“I’m sorry,” slipped out from her mouth.

“For what?” asked Niten sounding genuinely confused. “For getting kidnapped?” Aoife grimaced about that fact. She still contemplated on how to explain her own idiotic moment.

This conversation needed to happen on even grounds, so she let go of him to catch his eyes. “For before.” Ah, that was going to be great. Aoife’s least favourite thing to do was talk about feelings and admit her wrongs, but for Niten, she had to try. He deserved it. And much more. “I had a…realization that I had not explained to you why I was yelling at you for…well pretty much all the time. Not that I should have done it.” She shook her head. “But you…”

What was she saying? That it was his fault, she couldn’t handle her temper? His fault? Nothing was Niten’s fault! Maybe his only fault was choosing to travel with and be known as the companion and friend of Aoife if the Shadows. He had almost been hunted down by Nagas now and been the target for everyone wanting to get back at her. That was, why she had referred to him as her guard that one time. And the idiot had believed her. NO! She hadn’t cleared up that misunderstanding.

She tried to start again. “Before we split up, there was a fire.”

“I remember,” said Niten quietly trying to figure out where this was going.

“And I yelled at you for…”

“…saving a human,” ended the swordsman her thought.

But Aoife said at the same time: “…almost dying.”

The Japanese was confused: “Huh? What?”

Aoife sighed: “That’s just it. I wouldn’t have cared if you had saved gods, immortals, or myself.” Her tongue became heavy. Now came the hardest part. But considering, a little time ago, she thought she would never have this opportunity, this was a blessing. “The only one I cared about was you. I was scared that you had died. It wouldn’t have mattered for who. I thought you were dead.” She hated the voice crack at the end. “Just like at Rika.”

The waves crashing into the sand and loud explosions from the volcano buried the irregular beating of her heart. The vampire looked away from the man to save some of her dignity. This was embarrassing! How did others talk about their innermost feelings on a daily basis? It was torture. No, she corrected herself, thinking Niten had died, was torture. This was her just being unused to being open. To sharing her feelings.

But then she gazed at the man again and the look Niten was giving her was doing something to her heart. She didn’t know what. She had never felt like this. Not with Cuchulain, nor with anybody else. The vampire desperately wished for the Japanese to choose to come with her again. To watch her back. To smile at her. To choose her over anybody else.

This was love, whispered her heart.

But he had chosen her. For so long.

And look, Aoife, she talked to herself, where it got him? When was the last time you asked him what made him happy? When was the last time you asked him anything that wasn’t related to the mission or yourself? And you claim to love him. You don’t know the first thing about love. If you knew it, then Scathach wouldn’t have left. After all, Cuchulain liked her more. She was more…humane, said the dark shadow in her mind. Even the Nagas had cruelly teased her about her lack of people willing to come to her rescue.

Niten had come, whispered the hopeful part of Aoife. The man in question was watching her like she was someone important to him. Someone had come for her. But then the self-hating part of the vampire took over again.

What right you have over this perfect man, it asked.

None.

He was better off without her. That was the ugly truth.

Her whole life Aoife had looked down on those who were too weak to acknowledge the truth. Not matter what it was. Most of those truths were the matter of combat, skills, promises and even loyalty, while some of them were harder to see. Why did the truth hurt so much now?

Unknowing about her inner demons, Niten’s dark gaze became filled with…hope? He stepped closer to her, so their chests were almost touching. Aoife thought he was going to hug her again, but the Japanese just watched her intensely.

Aoife forced herself to look into his brown eyes. Have they always been this gorgeous? This intense? They complemented his thick hair perfectly. The vampire wished she had paid more attention to the warrior in front of her in the past. How had she missed this? She pushed the fleeting thoughts away. “This…fear manifested as me yelling at you. As did many times before that. I don’t think you are a horrible fighter or a reckless hooligan. You won my sister when you were a…human.” Aoife was proud for remembering to change her vocabulary this time. “That speaks for itself. You are…you are a fantastic warrior and even more loyal of a person. And I made you feel like none of those things. I am sorry, Niten.” For the first time in thousands of years, Aoife of the Shadows meant those words with her whole heart. She hoped the man caught her sincerity from her voice. “You have a right to risk and lay down your life for whoever and whatever you want.” No matter how painful it was for her.

Then something magical happened – Niten smiled like he had just found the perfect green shade he had been looking for so long. Like he had singlehandedly saved every human on this Shadowrealm. Or whatever else made him so happy. Why was he doing that? Aoife had only apologized.

“I overreacted too, Aoife. The last time. I shouldn’t have put words in your mouth,” shook the man his head and his gaze turned sad.

“You had every right to assume I yelled at you because of the girl. I did.” She sighed. “I will never like them, but some of them…are not so bad, I guess. If you want to save humans then it’s better to do it together. If those you want to save are important to you then…it is enough for me.” She knew only one human she would run to save, but if Niten asked her…Aoife was tired of pretending she would say no. The Japanese was an excellent judge of character and knew what he was doing and for who. That was something, the vampire had sometimes disregarded thinking she would know better.

“Would you really?” came a surprised, but amazed voice from the Japanese, who without even realizing stepped even closer to her making it difficult for the woman to suppress the full body shiver threatening to take over.

Refocussing her attention to what he was saying, and Aoife realized how much she had let him down. When she had wanted to save a friend, she hadn’t even bothered to ask him if he was willing to lend a hand, but when Niten had done the same for someone he thought was worth saving, Aoife had only screamed at him.

To now see him so happy for something so little, something that should have been natural for a friend, broke her heart. Or for someone, who meant more to her. Another clear example she wasn’t worthy of Niten’s love.

The woman heard a familiar voice teasing her, laughing at her. He did everything you asked, no, he did everything you didn’t even ask, but assumed, and yet, you couldn’t even react supportively after he escaped death, whispered a dark thought. And you think you deserve his love. Pathetic, no wonder Scathach left you. Even Prometheus, your own uncle came only because Niten had asked him to.

Do you think you deserve to be saved? If you are foolish enough to fall for some cheap trick you deserve to rot in that volcano crater for all eternity. You swear Niten is not your guard; you find it ridiculous. But is it really that hard to see, where his thoughts came from when you treat him as your guard?

He will leave you just like your family and sister had. It will be surprising if he makes it out alive. Maybe Niten will die just like Cuchulain had. Because of you. Because of your love. Go on, tell him you love him and destroy the weak friendship he feels for you too. Do you think he wants some unfeeling, impossible, ungrateful bloodsucking creature to love him?

SHUT UP! Yelled Aoife in her mind. She almost voiced her feelings about bloodsucking vocally but remembered it had been in her head.

Suddenly, the vampire stood at the beach again and looking at Niten. Niten, who could have been anywhere else in the thousands of worlds but chose to risk his life to save hers.

It was time to try and salvage their relationship, whatever it may have been. While she was not sure Niten would want to rejoin her, she had to at least make clear his importance to her.

“I will not be a…” what was that humani phrase? ”…guardian angel for the human race like my sister is. Don’t ever think that, Niten. I still think they are greedy, self-absorbed, and all around horrible. But I will not have you lose your life when I could have been there helping you,” promised Aoife heatedly few moments later to the man still standing incredibly close to her. If he knew her feelings, he would not want her so near.

The Japanese’s left hand trembled by his side and began to rise. Before Aoife could even think where it was headed, it reached its destination by tucking a wayward lock behind her ears. His fingertips brushed the shell of her ear making it burn. Niten’s dark gaze wasn’t exactly helping the vampire convince herself to ignore her love for him. Because what if… The hand fell away. “I don’t hold every human in the highest regard, Aoife. I don’t wish to save everyone. I could never do that even if I wanted to. And I would certainly not have you risking your life for someone undeserving of it. While I will always save those in need, including humans, no one is more important to me than you. A human, a god, an immortal or myself.”

What? Huh? Had Niten really said that? Could that mean her feelings were reciprocated?

No, surely not. The Japanese had made his standings very clear by stating he felt friendship for her. But her stupid heart didn’t listen to her reasoning and began hoping.

“Eh?”

Niten began to laugh and with that retreated a few steps. A deep need to hold him to her went through the immortal. Please, don’t go. She had gotten used to his warmth. Her hand that wasn’t hold the sword twitched desiring to grab onto his hand. To brush through his hair, to tuck his lock behind his ear. When Aoife caught that feeling, she pressed her fingernails into her palm to punish herself. The vampire, having finally acknowledged that she loved that man, was in love with Niten, needed to control herself, needed to ignore those needs.

But maybe she didn’t have to. Just the thought of being the one Niten yearned for filled the vampire with an unparalleled joy. An image she hadn’t dared to think about too long before formed in her mind. They had just defeated the last enemies, and after making sure neither had serious injuries, Niten took her head between his hands, brushing through her unruly locks, and pulled her in for a kiss. It wouldn’t last long as they were on a dangerous territory and cavalry could appear any second, but this one moment would be glorious. To be reminded of his love once more.

The crash coming from the volcano broke Aoife out of her little fantasy.

“When I heard you were captured…you have no idea,” uttered Niten out with a pained expression.

Aoife being Aoife chose to make a joke. But also, to mask her own shame from Niten for that failure. The vampire was confident the man would have noticed the scent. “You thought how much of an idiot I was.”

“No. Now, maybe,” teased the Japanese with a small smile that fell quickly to make room for a much deeper sorrow, “but it wasn’t my first thought, far from it.” Not once did his eyes falter from hers. The next sentence held so much grief Aoife’s heart shattered. “I thought you were dead. Or at least would be before I could get to you.”

To be so important to someone, who was meaningful to her, was not a luxury the vampire had ever had. The twins were raised to depend on themselves, to not trust anybody. To never care. Especially about humani. They were tough, fearless monsters – they were warriors. Love and kindness were supposed to be the opposite of that.

And yet…Aoife of the Shadows would kneel for that man.

I will never let love have any power over me. It’s not worth it. Love can only ruin you.

Had she not said those words to Niten? Back then, she had meant them. But did she now?

Will her love for the Japanese be finally the thing that will destroy the mighty immortal warrior? Would it be worth it? Did she let it? Should she let it?

Aoife knew how disastrous this ordeal could turn out to be if anyone found out. Her enemies would use him against her. They already had. She had come to that conclusion even before the Nagas. But oh, how sweet and how difficult it was to think beyond the man owning her heart.

“You decided to come,” she whispered. Two sides were raging war inside of her. One complained the risks it would bring along and the fact that, in the end of the day, he may not feel the same, not that she deserved him anyway. And the other didn’t say anything, only made her feel.

Niten looked betrayed, and Aoife’s heart squeezed painfully. “Did you think I would not? Did you think I would let you die? After everything?”

“But I yelled at you. Repeatedly. And during our last…I wasn’t sure…” she ended raggedly.

At once, all previous sadness was wiped from the Japanese’s expression and replaced with frustration, as he made his way back to her. He stopped one step away, so his breath tickled her nose. “It hurts when you insult humans at every change. Yes, it wasn’t nice hearing how much of an idiot I was every time we fought someone. How much of a deadweight.” Aoife closed her eyes being remembered this absolute crap she threw at him at one point. She had been a horrible person. That yelling had been worse than her usual tantrum. “You are absolutely impossible most of the time. But even when we fight, it does not prevent me from lo…caring for you. I will always come for you.” She caught a hint of anguish in his face. “Would you not?”

“I would burn entire Shadowrealms for you,” she swore without hesitation. “I already have.”

I will always come for you. This wasn’t a promise between friends, and family. Not with that tone, and gaze. Could it actually be true?

“I know.”

Aoife admitted: “I thought you would keep away because the truth is you are better travelling without me. There are so many times you got wounded because I wouldn’t keep my mouth shut. You said it yourself the last time.” It was the man’s turn to close his eyes for a second, while his lip trembled. “I thought you had finally recognized this. And left me like everyone else. I wouldn’t have blamed you.” She felt her eyes getting wet, before quickly blinking them dry again.

Niten grabbed her forearms with a quickness that had won him many victories on battlefields and in duels. The sword, he was still holding, was safely manoeuvred around her arm and lithe body. His grip was strong, but not painfully so. It would be too easy to lean in and capture his lips. Aoife hadn’t noticed, when her gaze had fallen on them. “Aoife, surely you must know…” The stormy sea swallowed his next whispered words or…had he not said them at all?

“Know what?” she breathed. “Niten?”

He dropped his head to whisper to himself in Japanese: “No.” No, what?

Aoife repeated: “Niten?”

He let go of her.

It was the opposite of what she wanted.

Niten backed away like every step was hindered by a powerful spell. The man opened his mouth, then closed it while looking at her with a desperate gaze. The sword hand moved making the weapon shiver a little – a movement Aoife hadn’t witnessed since Niten had been a mortal and…unsure?

“That I…”

For a moment, time stopped as the man, who had been in her shadow for so long, finally had her full attention. As she finally saw him. She saw the young warrior, who stood strong at the Battle of Sekigahara defeating one advancing enemy soldier after another with a deadly precision. She saw the often-silent man, whose mind and wisdom were well beyond his years leading him to write several books on martial arts that even Aoife had read. She saw the competent companion, who had supported and saved her more times than she could count. And she saw the man, who she had let down.

“That you…what, Niten?” came out a whisper, half hopeful, half afraid. She snuck closer to him with small quiet steps. The shiver in his hand increased, but he didn’t back down. A burning sensation overwhelmed her, when the Japanese’s dark gaze followed her every movement. Had he done that the entire time? Always keeping her in his sight? Almost a possessive satisfaction ran through the vampire at the thought of being the only thing on his brilliant mind.

The sword in his hand stood still once more as the man broke the eye contact with the vampire ruining the moment. The swordsman explained hastily: “That I, too, fear for you. I care for you.” His words fell flat.

“As a friend,” he added. With that her heart stopped beating.

“I know that and you already said that at the cliff and now,” huffed Aoife while turning away from him angry at herself for expecting something else. She kicked a small rock to the water trying to swallow her disappointment. The splash sounds the rock made when it fell to the ocean echoed the vampire’s non-existing useless heart getting a beating from her brain to stop with wishing she could have something with Niten. She spit out: “Otherwise, you wouldn’t have stayed after the cliff. After the monster called Aoife released you from her service.”

As a friend.

Aoife scanned the area, because both had been preoccupied to pay attention for some time already. Nothing. Nothing that would end this terrible conversation. She swore in her own language and with her left hand reached for the knives to distract herself by cleaning them only to discover her belt empty. Those ugly beasts had taken her best knives or left them at the battle place. She ran her mouth again. The swordsman followed her, like always, and offered quietly: “I found two of your knives, but I left them in the boat.” The vampire didn’t know if she liked the fact, he could read her so easily or not.

As a friend.

Well, at least she didn’t need to concern herself over the beacon their romantic relationship would become for her enemies. Things would continue as usual. She would be his friend and the Japanese hers. The word burned in her mind.

Friend.

Aoife would just ignore her feelings. Niten saw her as a friend. She really thought…his words made it sound like…

You didn’t deserve him anyway, the voice was back to its nagging.

“Aoife?”

“What?” snapped the vampire thoughtlessly before turning to meet Niten’s gaze. Seeing his shoulders slump and eyes portraying sadness reminded Aoife every single time she had yelled at him before. She quickly reprimanded herself and added softer: “What is it?”

“Did I say something wrong?”

“No,” she shook her head. “Never.”

Niten didn’t need to pay for her unrequited feelings. Not again. She would learn to live with them. If that’s what it took to keep being Niten’s friend, then that’s what she would do. Aoife wouldn’t risk their relationship. Losing Niten would not be worth it, especially when he had stated his feelings so clearly.

She would keep him safe. Even from herself. She will not lose him like she had Cuchulain.

“So, what have you been up to?” tried Aoife to correct her earlier ways of only caring about herself.

A stupid grin found its way to the Japanese face: “It’s more interesting to talk about your adventures. When I was searching for you, I found your human friend – Sampa.”

“She got away?” demanded Aoife while having a huge weight lifted from her shoulders.

“Indeed, she swore a redheaded warrior faced a horde of lizard men saving her from dying. Her description of your bravery made it almost seem as you weren’t human,” teased Niten a little too happily.

“She is exaggerating,” stated the vampire drily, while secretly beaming at the fact that the girl was safe.

“She helped me find you.”

Aoife exclaimed: “She did?”

“Yes. She led me to the place where the Nagas attacked you. Which leads me back to the topic of you being drugged,” said Niten with his tone abruptly getting heated. Aoife felt like a little girl again being yelled at by her uncle. “How could you have been that unobservant? Not even you can protect yourself while being unconscious! Why didn’t you have an antidote with you?” While his words definitely were harsh, his face portrayed his worry.

She couldn’t possibly tell him the truth about basically dreaming about the Japanese. As for the antidote… “I didn’t have the necessary components to make a new one. I used the lasts of it some months earlier. You are the one who supply us with the red powder. I don’t know where you get it. So, I couldn’t mix a new one,” defended the vampire herself. “Before humans spread across this Shadowrealm we didn’t have these problems. I have no doubt that Nagas got that damned foul odour from them.”

“It’s called the death by rose, Aoife,” corrected Niten her with a sigh and took a glass container from his clothes. The redhead tried to figure out where that had been hidden, but suddenly the man took her hand and put it in hers. “Take it. I have another one.”

“Why do you have another one?”

“Because if you search someone you only expect to find one.”

“Not me.”

“Not everyone is as experienced as you in this matter. Ancient’s help us if we had another Aoife,” teased the man. “Oh, wait…”

The vampire shook her head. “Hilarious, Niten.”

“Only as a precaution before I teach you to make it on your own. It was a mistake on my part.”

But that implied…Aoife asked hesitantly: “You are coming with me?”

“If you want.”

“Yes.”

Before she could smile, a loud explosion was heard from the volcano Aoife had been held called Perboewatan along with a cloud of steam and ash. The island’s two other cones stood still, but one eruption was enough to cause considerable damage and make it unbearable to stay on the island. They needed to get away from there, and fast. Where was her uncle?

“By the way, how did you lose your sword?” asked Aoife while handing the Japanese his sword back. She headed for the boat, Niten behind her.

“I had a confrontation with the Nagas when I was investigating your disappearance. They managed to knock it from my hands.”

The vampire hmphed. And for that she had suffered unnecessary thinking Niten died. She would have applauded for their genius to use it against her if it weren’t for the fact that she wanted them dead. “Well, don’t lose it again.”

“Alright, as you wish, my lady, I will sit in an impenetrable box for the rest of my immortal life. Not being in any danger and not losing my weapons again.”

“Hmph,” was her only reaction as she jumped onto the fishing boat. The Japanese couldn’t contain his amusement and laughed out loud. Aoife wanted to hear it every day for the rest of her life.

When the swordman had also gotten onto the rocking boat he said in a more serious tone: “Let’s face the facts. We both are going to be facing death rather sooner than later. The least we could do is to not scream at each other.” The vampire, knives in her belt once more, turned to her love. White ash from the cone fell to both of them leaving the couple even dirtier than before, but there was nowhere Aoife of the Shadows would have rather been. He was her home.

“You are right. We will both die one day. But I would rather die fighting than have a long pitiful existence. And you have every right to wish that too.”

“Unless it is not noticing an obvious trap.”

“I already said I’m sorry.”

“I’m just so glad you are alright.”

“Me too. Me and you. We both survived, again,” remarked the vampire.

“That is what we do.”

“Until someone worse comes along.”

“Worse than us together?”

“It’s hard to believe, I know.”

The waves polluted with ash washed ashore near the boat, bringing the first dead sea creatures onto the beach. This was only the beginning. Soon this whole part of the world would be polluted. And the immortals really needed to get moving. Where was her uncle?

An ancient warrior emerged from the trees still holding his sword soaked in blood.

“Uncle,” cried Aoife, and barely held herself form launching herself at him before he reached the boat. Niten stepped back to let Prometheus hop onto the boat. Only then jumped the redhead into his arms.

Prometheus kept saying her name over and over again. The Japanese watched the interaction with a soft smile but kept an eye on the crater and potential Nagas, who despite everything survived and decided that it would be a smart move to try and attack them.

“You don’t realize how worried I have been, my girl. When Niten reached out to me, saying you had been captured, I feared the worst,” the big man placed the younger one onto her feet, but didn’t let go of her arms.

Aoife said bashfully: “You know me, uncle. I don’t die so easily.” She had every intention of playing it off as a minor inconvenience like she usually did. She was Aoife of the Shadows, and no one could kill her and so on, but something stopped her that moment. In the past, besides her uncle and maybe, it was a very big maybe, Scatty, no one would have cared if she had died. Only those who had the “honour” of claiming her life would have been thrilled to show off their achievement. Now…it seemed that a certain Japanese would have been affected. Niten would have been distraught if his earlier words and actions were anything to go by. Her life wasn’t as expendable anymore as it once had been.

A glance to Niten’s direction. “It was a close one, this time. I don’t know if I could have escaped on my own. I would have tried, though,” she couldn’t help but add, lest she looked too dependent on others, which she wasn’t.

“Then it is good that you have finally found someone good for you,” commented Prometheus cheekily and took two big steps to stop in front of Niten. “Thank you for looking out for that little rascal.” Aoife rolled her eyes. “I know how she can be. But we both know she is mostly worth the trouble.” The Japanese gave her a small smile.

“Uncle! I’m right here!”

“Indeed,” ignored the human her. Then Prometheus bowed down to whisper something into his ear. All of their senses were extremely enhanced compared to ordinary humani, and listening on a conversation two meters from her was absolutely no problem. However, Aoife didn’t catch what he was saying to Niten because of some intricate spell her uncle frequently used when he wanted something to stay secret. It took a shape of big cherry placing the conversationalists inside and the vampire outside. She pursed her lips unhappily.

Whatever it was the Japanese’ face went bright red, and he whispered something back which was unfortunately blocked by her uncle’s shoulder, so the vampire wasn’t able to read it off his lips.

“I think we should get going if we don’t want to build another boat,” said Niten diplomatically as he very carefully distanced himself from the Lord of Fire and the radius of his spell. “I’ll get her going.” The man’s dark blue aura sprang to life as he commanded the ocean to carry them away from this wretched place.

The vampire held onto the railing as the tiny vessel took them into deeper waters. As the first target had escaped Prometheus’ clutches, he took on another one. Using the same silencing spell, he leaned himself against the railing beside her. A red aura bubble appeared around them, shutting Niten cleverly out. Her uncle began with a strange sort of amusement: “Aoife, tell me everything.”

“What do you mean?” Aoife brushed it off and tried to feign ignorance.

“Come now, my girl, I may be old, but I have eyes and senile I most certainly am not. How long have you liked him?” The younger redhead cursed. She thought she had left with every feeling related conversation at the beach. Aoife was not in the mood for another discussion about whatever her uncle had in mind.

“Uncle! I do…I have no idea, what you are talking about!” defended the vampire meaninglessly. They both knew the truth. Prometheus laughed wholeheartedly catching Aoife off guard. She demanded: “What?”

“I have often thought, who will eventually win your heart. Because I had no doubt that one day it would happen,” he exclaimed and put a hand over her shoulders pulling her niece to him.

Yes, and what good did it do to her, she thought bitterly. Aoife wished she never fell for the Japanese. It would have been easier.

Despite her acknowledging it in her mind the vampire couldn’t possibly come clean to him. “I didn’t say I am interested in Niten!” defended the vampire loudly, but making no movement to try and distance herself from Prometheus. Aoife had missed Prometheus – it had been a while since she had seen him. He was one family member that still communicated with her and even his endless teasings could not make her enjoy his company less.

“You didn’t have to, Aoife,” laughed the older unaware of how his innocent remark affected his niece. With that sentence a sudden fear struck Aoife and her whole body became rigid. Her hands turned white because of how tight she was holding onto that railing. If her uncle could see this, then her enemies could as well. Strategically it was as bad as it could get. Oh, why did she have to be in love with him? It made everything so complicated! Immortals weren’t meant for love. Aoife should have never let him follow her in the first place.

The younger whispered: “Then I have to do better.” If she loved him – it would be a death sentence for the Japanese. She had to hide it, even better – deny it and hope it would go away. While those wishing her harm would target Aoife’s friends as well, a loved one was still much more valuable. The vampire needed to keep Niten at an acceptable distance. This would keep him safe better than her closeness. If she could fell out of love with Niten – that could work as well. But looking at the man in front of the boat she already knew that was not going to happen. He had just taken her heart and refused to give it back. The less reasonable part of the vampire didn’t wish it back, while the strategic part of her mind begged her to reconsider her attachment. It could only end in a tragedy.

Prometheus, who had no idea of her inner struggles, became confused. “Better?” He let go of Aoife and shifted her by the shoulders to face him.

The vampire avoided the eye contact her uncle was desperately seeking. “Yes, hide them better and later get rid of them.” She swore at herself. “So stupid!” Prometheus frowned, question on his lips when the younger got ahead of her uncle. “Feelings…these have never ended well for immortals. They put you at a disadvantage in our world. I don’t even know why you are so excited about this.” The older’s expression turned sour as he finally grasped his niece’s thought process. “You should reprimand me not encourage or whatever it is you think you’re doing.”

“You do not tell me, what I should do, girl,” came a sharp answer from Prometheus. In a second the redhead shifted from a warrior to a girl under her uncle’s reprimand. Her face dropped. He continued in a softer tone. “Indeed, it is difficult to find love in our world, but that makes it so much more valuable, Aoife, doesn’t it?”

“I am not focusing on finding, but on the inevitable outcome. For the chaos it causes. For the people in the relationships and for their families.” The argument with Scathach was fresh in her mind. “Nothing good can ever come from it.” If she repeated them frequently enough, she might even begin to believe them.

“Yes, it can,” debated her uncle grabbing the younger one by the shoulders.

Aoife gave a bitter laugh. “Well, I haven’t seen nor experienced it. Every love story I hear about ends in some catastrophe. Especially for the immortals. The last and only time I let myself feel anything romantic I lost Scatty and Cuchulain. If I hadn’t, maybe he had lived, and I would still have my sister. I am not losing Niten like I lost Cuchulain. I am not taking that risk.” Not a day went by that Aoife didn’t regret turning her back to her little sister both literally after their fight and metaphorically by falling for the same warrior. She should have known better. That was part of why she was in Earth shadowrealm most of the time. One day, her sister will need her, and she will be there. Dora had promised.

“Niten is not Cuchulain, and you are not competing for Niten’s affections with your sister,” reminded Prometheus trying to reason with the stubborn redhead. “It ended badly with Cuchulain because of many different factors. One of those being you not being able to communicate and jumping to accusations. Not that Scatty reacted any better. My point is that these two situations cannot be compared.”

Aoife looked at the distancing island covered in white dust and dead sea creatures lying on the beach. Eruptions could be heard regularly from the volcano and a huge ash cloud covered most of the island. Her red hair danced in the wind as some water droplets found a way to her ruined clothing. The vampire didn’t care about any of that.

Even if her uncle was right about the situations differing, there was still one concern that couldn’t be underestimated. “They will use him against me. I can’t let that happen.”

She felt Prometheus’ forearm against hers as he too watched the destruction of once beautiful island. “Niten can take care of himself, Aoife. Who was it that needed rescuing a few moments back?”

“That is not the point, uncle. And of course he can.” Aoife peeked at the Japanese steering the fishing boat confidently through the rippling water. The swordsman gave them space by standing with his back to them. His glorious dark blue aura the redhead had come to associate with familiarity and even safety spun around him. Out of instinct she bit her nails.

“You fear of what may happen to Niten,” stated the older with a sigh.

“It already did.”

“What?”

“The Nagas claimed they had killed him. And if I can’t keep my feelings in check then it will surely happen again and that time it may not be a bluff. Even being my friend is putting a target at his back. I cannot deny him that. I don’t want to. But being the one Aoife of the Shadows loves is basically a death sentence.” The warrior already knew that. She had known that her entire life and yet saying it out loud hurt her more than she was ready for. Nobody could ever gain anything from loving her. “I will unnecessarily put him in even more danger than I already have.”

And he doesn’t even want you to love him. Are you not ashamed, Aoife of the Shadows, mocked the voice. It was right.

As a friend, came Niten’s earlier words to haunt her conscience. Aoife doubted she would ever forget them. She sighed at the painful reminder that he didn’t see her anything more than a friend, even if rationally thinking the outcome was ultimately better, safer. If he meant less to her the Nagas wouldn’t have had a trump card over her at the volcano.

Aoife saw her uncle’s eyes widen and then it hit her – it was the first time she had used the word “love” out loud while talking about Niten. She turned her gaze back to the ocean, but it did nothing to erase her words. The vampire cursed in her mother tongue. Admitting that didn’t help her forget or at first just ignore her feelings. Her hands began to tremble.

“Sweetheart, you really love him, don’t you?” whispered her uncle with almost an amazement. She refused to look at him and instead gripped the handrail. Prometheus observed her for a moment. “Aoife, my dear…loving that man may, yes, make him a target, but don’t you think, even if it is for a short while, it’s worth it? There are many good things that come out of this as well. How it ended with Cuchulain was unfortunate and I can see how it distorted your view of love, but I believe being with Niten can change that. Do you not think that even one week, a day with Niten, would not be worth everything?” Not his life. “If you succumb to your fear, you let your enemies control you and that is not Aoife I know. Niten is a wonderful man who has stood with you through many hardships. I know he can make you as happy as you deserve to be and make no mistake, I wouldn’t give my niece to someone not deserving of her.” The Lord of Fire was not in any way done with his speech when Aoife cut him off.

The vampire shook her head. She couldn’t let him go on. “No, you don’t understand. Even if I blow caution to the wind and believe that love is worth it, there is also the fact that he considers me a friend. Niten has said it many times. Including today. There has not been any indication that he feels something romantic for me.” The vampire ignored the voice break. Aoife should have been happy for it kept things as she intended – same – and yet the hurt she experienced when the Japanese had uttered the word “friend” came back with full force. She would just learn to ignore that even if it tore her insides apart. Aoife forced herself to continue: “I care too much for him, care too much for our friendship to let my feelings get in the way. And in the long run of things – it is better. He has more sense that I do, apparently. I don’t know what I was thinking.” The last sentence was directed at herself.

“Considering how he almost begged me to help rescue you, I doubt he has no romantic feelings for you. The poor man was at his wits’ end.” Aoife closed her eyes for a moment. Must Prometheus make it harder for her? Give her hope? The vampire had already decided that nothing could ever occur between them and now there was only the matter of dealing with her love. Her uncle stepped closer to her and looked at his niece with a sharp gaze. “I see him,” he pointed at the Japanese, “caring for you almost as much as me or Scathach. When he reached my door all bloody and ruffled, the first thing he said was your name.” Aoife glanced at Niten with her heart at her throat. When she doubted if he even thought of her, he was busy organizing her rescue. Perhaps…

But a friend could also come to your aid, added the dark voice inside her head. She really hated that the voice was right all the time.

Aoife exclaimed: “Then why didn’t he say anything at the beach? If you say my feelings are so obvious, why doesn’t he see them?” That took Prometheus by surprise and the older man was once in his life speechless. “Exactly. It’s because he doesn’t feel the same. He is only doing this,” she gestured vaguely at the island, “as a friend. And you are just imagining things. I am going to act same as always, with some improvement. It has come to my attention that I had been a possessive idiot.” The last words were muttered quietly under her breath.

After that there were some moments of silence while both assessed the situation. The vampire leaned on the railing with a sour face. On one hand, she was still sure there can never be anything between them, whether it be just logical choice for their lifestyle or because Niten didn’t want to be in a relationship with her. On the other, Prometheus’ reasoning got to her. The Japanese definitely cared for Aoife, and it wouldn’t have been that much of a reach for these feelings to become romantic. And what if it was worth it, like her uncle had said? But that was only if Niten did accept her, she thought bitterly and brought her left hand to her lips.

While Aoife continued to vigorously bite her nails, her uncle tried to make sense of his idiots’ feelings. Both of them. He had been certain that Niten loved Aoife, the Japanese’ every decision had pointed to that. The vampire’s name had been constantly on his lips and on his thoughts during their way to Krakatoa. It took considerable effort to keep the younger one calm when the Lord of Fire himself didn’t feel very confident. Prometheus didn’t see the immortal human sleep once. While the Japanese didn’t state his feelings, his actions did it for him. Prometheus had been certain. At least he was to the moment when Niten had escaped his clutches before mumbling something about being a good friend, when the Lord of Fire had tried to get a confession out of him, only then had his certainty wavered. And then he hears his niece bringing up every reason there was to keep her feelings to herself. Perhaps this could apply to the man relentlessly steering the boat. That also reminded him that they should probably end this conversation rather sooner than later lest the Japanese think they were talking about him behind his back (which they were).

“What if he does but also keeps his feelings to himself for some reason like you?” questioned Prometheus suddenly making the younger’s heart stop. Aoife didn’t move. The moment on the beach came to her mind for the nth time. How had she wished that Niten would have confessed? If he had, Aoife could not have denied him anything. Did he know how much power he held over her? No, she scolded herself, it is better he doesn’t. “In that case, you confessing will be a positive thing. He deserves to know how you feel.”

“Uncle…”

“Maybe before you think about what hypothetically could happen, you should consider telling him. If he truly does not see you that way, which I don’t believe, at least you know for certain. And if he does – you both will be the happiest you have ever been. And you would make your old man delighted to know you are loved,” told Prometheus to her in a joyful manner. The vampire shook her head to get rid of the hopeful images her brain was coming up.

Do you really think Niten would want to know your disgusting feelings, said the dark voice.

Prometheus’ advice was sound. She would know for certain that he was absolutely revolted by her. Aoife whispered: “If he knew he would leave me.” And there was the ugly truth. And rightly so, she added silently. “We would not be friends anymore. And that is unacceptable to me.”

“He would not leave you,” answered Prometheus with a head shake. “I promise you. Being friends doesn’t mean it couldn’t grow into something more. You call him a friend and yet here you are feeling much more for Niten than mere friendship. It can evolve and probably has for both of you.” That was what had come to her mind before, but dark thoughts cut the hope rising in her chest to pieces.

Lies, you know he would never feel anything for you. Just like Cuchulain – Niten would never choose you. And then he would get killed, because of you. How many times has he already gotten hurt because of you?

No one could ever love you.

“But why take the risk?” asked the vampire with a shrug because her inner voice got to her making the Lord of Fire grit his teeth. “Things are fine now. There are too many reasons for me to be silent about this anyway. Too many reasons for it to go awry. It is safer for both of us.” Aoife will respect and support Niten’s decisions regarding his own life and sacrifices, but she will be damned if she puts him in a tight spot because her love no matter whether the reason is his feelings or some else’s decision about using him.

“You take the risk because it’s worth it!” The older man tried his best to stay calm when he just wanted to shake his niece to reason. “There is so much that love can give I dearly wish for you to experience. Niten also hasn’t denied having romantic affections for you.”

“Oh yes, because everything that hasn’t been denied is true,” snapped the younger. “I refuse to gamble with our relationship!” The redhead didn’t even know why she was arguing at this point bringing up the same point again. Perhaps the thought of going to Niten and admitting her feelings was too much to bear and she hid behind excuses which she was running out of. Aoife of the Shadows and hiding? It made her scowl.

When the pair had returned to the boat, the vampire had already decided to never reveal her innermost thoughts to Niten. Now, Aoife’s ironclad belief had begun to crumble against her uncle’s fiery words. What if it was worth it? What if he had been wanting to confess at the beach, but changed his mind at the last second? What if her uncle was right?

But what if Niten watched her with disbelief and barely disguised revolt?

Lord of Fire’s hit the railing a little too hard making the Japanese glance at their direction because the boat rocked suddenly at their side. Seeing there was no immediate danger he turned back.

Prometheus stated almost to himself: “I will get nowhere with this.” Then continued louder. “Well, at least you accepted your feelings. I guess that’s a start.”

“It’s not a start, but things to get rid of!“ spit the vampire out setting them back to square one.

“So, by your logic, Niten is better of being your friend.”

“Without a doubt.”

“Mhm, so if he falls in love with someone else, he would be…”

Crack!

A hot white jealousy cut through Aoife’s body at the thought of someone else catching the Japanese’s attention. Who would dare? She would tear them limb by limb. Image of Niten smiling widely at some faceless woman and caressing her cheek made her want to throw up. It didn’t help that they were on a rocking boat.

When Aoife looked down at her hands, she was holding a piece of a railing. With the aura bubble the Japanese hadn’t heard her breaking it. She shut her eyes for a moment. How was she going to explain it to him? Prometheus sighed for nth time: “Aoife, you can’t only claim to be his friend and then not let anyone else get close to him. He is your equal, is he not?”

She answered absentmindedly still thinking about that woman she just conjured up: “Of course he is.”

Prometheus waited for Aoife to look at him before asking: “Then why don’t you treat him as such?” The vampire opened her mouth to refute the claim, but something heavy in her heart silenced her. Seeing the older’s severe look in his eyes, Aoife took a step back as it would make accusation go away. The Lord of Fire didn’t relent and gave her a piece of his mind. “You decide he doesn’t need to know your feelings. You decide his life is more important than the years you could have together, if he feels the same. You decide it is better; you aren’t together.” Aoife wanted to cover her ears as every word tore her soul open a bit more. She opted for staring at the water that went by her slower and slower indicating Niten’s strength running out. “You have already decided everything without even giving him a chance to voice his opinions. Niten is not your subordinate you need to protect. He is your friend. The man you love. If he decided everything, I just mentioned, himself, without consulting you, how would you feel?”

Honest answer to the question would be that she would call him an idiot, among other things. She would feel betrayed.

These questions and accusations were similar to the ones she had been faced with about being Niten’s friend. Smothering him, making decisions about his life for him, thinking she knows, what’s best for him. Aoife hadn’t learned like she believed she had. She had done the exact same thing, what she swore she would not do.

Aoife felt her feet give up under the weight of everything finally making sense and understanding that she never really treated him as an equal. Even the guard thing that had brought so much frustration to Niten had come to be because it had been easier for her to protect him that way not giving it much thought after. Which had been a grave mistake. She should have said that this was her friend and anyone she called a friend was a force to be reckoned with and let those idiots deal with it and believe that Niten could take them on. Like she expected him to have faith in her.

And now Aoife was giving him no chance at all by hiding her affections from the swordsman. Because it was safer for her to hide them and be his friend than to risk losing Niten and taking the leap. It wasn’t fair to him.

It was Niten’s life, not hers. No matter how important it was to her. Her feelings were hers and his feelings were his. And part of that was letting him live and die as he wanted. Giving him a chance to answer to her feelings. No matter what that answer may be. It was his choice.

Prometheus caught her by the arm quickly enough for her to not completely embarrass herself and gain her footing. “I’ve been a coward,” whispered the redhead words she has never said before. It was a hard pill to swallow, but it was the truth.

“No, just afraid. For him, for yourself.” Her uncle brushed the unruly lock out of her face. After that he rested his hands on the vampire’s forearms. “It’s normal to care for you loved ones, but we also have to realize that we cannot protect them infinitely.”

“I know that I just…have been so afraid of losing him. Not just as a woman, who loves him, but as a friend also. Never realized that it was that exact behaviour that pushed him away the most,” whispered the vampire finally wrapping her head around her behaviour towards the Japanese. All of it. “I thought I came to terms with them at the beach, but that had been only one part of it. I still…” She couldn’t finish her throat suddenly closing.

“Here, here,” comforted Prometheus Aoife by pulling her into an embrace. The redhead hid her face in his chest, hands gripping his clothing. “In our world, it takes more courage to let yourself love than to fight on a battlefield.”

“I don’t know how to stop myself from trying to protect him. I am Aoife. I am always the one who protects others. Well at least those who deserve it,” muttered the woman as Prometheus stroked her hair.

“It’s not about not protecting him but letting Niten in and believing he can hold on his own. Treating him as you expect him to treat you. Truly. Let him be your equal,” taught her uncle gently. “He is feared on his own and has a fearsome reputation almost challenging your own. Not quite, but for a human, that’s quite an achievement. He defeated your sister. You don’t question Scatty’s skills in battle, now do you?“ Prometheus gave her a playful smirk.

“Alright, aright. I get it.” Aoife pulled away and looked Niten’s back as the Japanese’s blue aura dissolved and the man leaned heavily on the railing. The sunlight making him almost ethereal in Aoife’s eyes. “I should tell him, shouldn’t I? No matter what may come?”

Perhaps it would have been more reasonable for Aoife of the Shadows to try and get rid herself of every distracting feeling, them being friendly or romantic. Perhaps it would have been strategically a more logical choice. Being the unfeeling vampire everyone sees her as. It certainly wouldn’t have given Nagas a leverage over her. But it also would have meant no one would have come for her. There would have been no Niten with his ridiculous blue origami that made her smile like a stupid girl. Without him she would have hung inside the volcano still. There were positive things to come out of their companionship as well. Not that she didn’t know it, but she hadn’t really concentrated on them before, choosing to only see the negatives.

The redhead was tired. Tired of denying how important Niten had become to her. Tired of ignoring her heart every time he looked at her. Tired of pretending she did not want him in her life.

And Aoife had finally found her equal after nine thousand years. If there was even a slight chance that Niten would accept her, everything that would come was worth it.

“Yes, however I will not force you, if you are not ready yet,” said Prometheus behind her back. He walked in front of her and partially blocked her view of Niten, which she did not appreciate. “Equality doesn’t mean you have to spill your every secret right this second. You have the right to speak with him when you are ready. You have a right to your own decisions, just don’t decide Niten’s choices yourself.”

With that it seemed their conversation was finally ending, but Prometheus just had to get one last confirmation. “Just tell me one thing,” began her uncle before she could exit his little aura bubble suddenly having overcome with want to be at the swordsman’s side. “If Niten said the words you desire to hear. If it came to that, will you say yes to him? Or would you even then concern yourself with might happen and ruin both of your chances at happiness?”

So, on a small fishing boat in the middle of nowhere Aoife said words that she never would have believed she’d say and mean them wholeheartedly: “Out of all my accomplishments, it would be my greatest honour to be Niten’s wife.”

No matter how long it may last, if the Japanese proposed Aoife would not be strong enough to deny him. Despite all of her past experiences and excuses why it was better to not have a romantic partner in their world Aoife’s heart would always beat only for Niten.

But he deserves better than you. Aoife agreed silently.

“Promise me that if you still have feelings then and want to be with him when he proposes you say, you’ll yes to him.”

“I promise.”

“Alright, now I just have to convince Niten.”

“Uncle!”

Unfortunately, Prometheus’ encouragement didn’t last long enough. Through the years quite a few times had the confession been at the tip of her tongue, but old fears held her back. What if Niten rejected her and cut off their friendship because of her feelings? What if it only sealed his fate? What if he accepted her and then realized she wasn’t worth it?

Sometimes there was a specific look in the man’s eyes that almost confirmed his own feelings, but later, when the vampire thought back at the moment, she convinced herself she had to have imagined it. The dark voice inside of her didn’t help the matter. Always discouraging and mocking her, telling Niten would be disgusted by her. Aoife swore to herself that she would tell Niten, when the opportunity arose. It never came and then she saw him bleeding out on the Golden Gate Bridge making all of her previous fears nonimportant.

The present-day Aoife of the Shadows stood at the altar on a sunny day near the ocean with her soon to be husband and she couldn’t believe how foolish she had been. This moment was everything. Even if they died right at this moment, which she sincerely hoped didn’t happen, she would have been content to have experienced this. Maybe Prometheus had been right about this.

The bride felt the memory bring up previous thoughts that she’d never revealed to Niten. The black cloud of doubt that had finally been expelled by the end of the swordsman’s vow had held her back so many times throughout the century. Now, Aoife felt free to express her thoughts and love. She felt light and not haunted by endless “what if” questions. Of course, they were going to argue and fight, but at the end of the day, she knew that Niten wished her to be by his side.

The vampire maneuvered carefully not breaking her aura flow to face him. She said while holding Niten’s teary gaze: “I thought so much about what could go wrong that I rarely considered the positives. Love, romantic love, had always been a weakness in my opinion. It has only ended in loss. So, I fought with tooth and nails to keep you and myself from the same faith. Until you laid dead in front of me and I realized that I had let others, my fears and even your imaginary refusal dictate my choices. And it had cost me everything. I should have told from the moment I knew it myself that I loved you. But…I have never been good with feelings. Especially expressing them.”

Aoife didn’t even know in which language she had spoken, but Niten had understood her perfectly. The greyish-blue aura cocoon didn’t diminish his handsome features in the vampire’s eyes, so she saw the few tears drop from his chin at the podium.

When she continued her voice sounded awfully watery, but confident. “Now I am finally ready to proudly say that I love you, Niten. Come what may because of it I believe you can handle it. And if not, I will be happy for every moment I have had with you.”

The blue crystal and its protective cocoon began to pulsate bringing the vampire’s attention to the front of the altar. Her green dress fluttered because of the light wind caused by the crystal’s power. “Your wish will be done,” declared the same tired voice but now there was an age-old power behind these words. This was said in response to Aoife’s wish to be bound to Niten.

The redhead turned back to the crystal, which prepared to fulfil her wish. She spread out her hands and closed her eyes getting ready for whatever it took for her to be bound to Niten in a way no humani could comprehend.

The vampire opened her eyes in a surprise, when she felt someone reach for her hand. She met with the dark gaze of her husband who had somehow gotten inside the circle. Niten brought her right hand to his mouth and whispered before kissing it: “Together.” Love was evident in his eyes and Aoife thought how had she missed it for so long. She had been so blind by her own self-hatred.

The aura field added dark blue colour to its colour scheme. The flow began from his right hand. “I also wish to be bound to Aoife of the Shadows,” said the swordsman to the crystal.

“Niten, are you sure?” was the vampire taken aback squeezing his hand. When organizing her vow, she had not once considered that the Japanese might want to be bound to her as well.

The swordsman stepped closer to the vampire. He put his right hand onto her back, still unfortunately avoiding her revealed skin, and using his hold to pull her flush against him. Cutting off his aura flow didn’t seem to have any effect on the field and Aoife’s left hand found a place on Niten’s shoulder after stopping hers as well, while the other one was held in the man’s hand. Their joint hands rested above his heart. The redhead could feel his heath radiating through their clothes and the moment in the dressing room came to her mind. “Aoife, I want everything with you.”

She believed him.

Niten’s gaze held hers and his lips mirrored her own smile. “Well then, husband, don’t let me keep you.”

“Oh, I’ll plan on letting you,” answered the Japanese deliberately literally. For the displeasure of the Priest, who was sitting beside the altar with a sullen face, Niten leaned forward and stole a quick kiss from Aoife before stepping away to let the crystal do its work. The vampire took her previous position beside Niten and on an impulse grabbed his left hand with her right one. The Japanese had no protests.

The crystal’s light began shining lighter and lighter until Aoife had to shut her eyes but did not let go of her husband’s hand. It was good, because when her feet didn’t touch the ground anymore, she could feel that Niten began suddenly floating too.

The vampire struggled to open her eyes because being helplessly stranded in the air did not bode well with her. Before she could overcome the heaviness in her eyelids Aoife’s chest was being ripped open. Or at least, it felt like it. The vampire gasped audibly, but was proud to say, she did not scream. She didn’t know if Niten beside her did. Her ears were filled with rumble caused by the bonding making it impossible to hear anything else.

In a few moments the feeling in her chest was replaced by a warmer, a more pleasant one. Her chest was put back together, and she could finally open her eyes. Aoife had to do a double take because there was a glowing yellow (Niten could probably name its exact colour) string connecting her and the Japanese hearts. The glow spread all across her body basking her in a very comforting and familiar feeling. It took a few seconds till it hit her. It was Niten. That’s what it was. His aura, his scent – Niten. The glow turned to dark blue on her end and grey on his.

The altar beneath Aoife’s feet appeared almost too quickly for her to not fall flat on the ground, still in shock because of the bonding. She managed to catch herself just in time. The redhead put her hand on her chest to confirm it was still there. The glowing string had disappeared, but the feeling of Niten had stayed. However, it was diminished a bit.

Niten was just as disoriented as she was and had fallen to his knees gasping for breath. “Do you…” began the Japanese his question, but had no idea, how to phrase it.

“Yeah,” answered Aoife and stepped in front of the man to help him to his feet.

The crystal’s protective aura circle faded away to reveal shocked faces of the guests. Nearest were Prometheus and Scatty who seemed to have tried to enter the bubble by force. Prometheus had his red aura and a part of his armour visible, and her sister had grabbed a chair. One part of it laid on the altar and another part was in her hand.

“Are you alright? We saw you two float!” ran Scathach to them followed by their uncle. She looked them up and down for injuries and then give a deadly glance to the crystal as it could see it.

“Their souls are now connected,” explained the crystal, “as they wished. And both of you have now two wishes left.”

Aoife could not not point out one important thing. “Technically it was one wish just said by two different people. So, it should only count as one.”

“It will count as two, mortal,” rumbled the voice in answer.

“Mortal?!” felt the vampire extremely insulted along with Scatty. Niten put his hand on Aoife’s back to try and calm her.

“For me, all of you are mortals.”

“Did you hear this thing?” turned Aoife to her three companions. Some laughter could be heard from the audience. The redhead remembered each and every one of those who had the gall to laugh to later kick them out.

The crystal pulsed angrily and warned the reckless bride: “Refer to me as “a thing” again and I will have you begging, Aoife of the Shadows.”

“Well, it is thanks to me you are even here and talking. Without me you would still serve that old antique dealer in Shanghai.”

“Aoife,” cautioned Niten raising his hand to her upper back touching her bare skin.

The Japanese’s tone and something new in her chest that felt a lot like the man’s calming aura brought her fiery mood down. “One and a half wishes?”

“Two.”

“That old goat,” snarled Aoife under her breath not really mad. However, it didn’t happen every day that the vampire lost an argument. After a moment she said to her husband: “I feel you…No I felt you just now.” The redhead had felt Niten’s growing restlessness and the need for her to calm down just a moment ago, but now the feelings had subsided leaving only a pleasant humm.

Niten asked addressing the crystal in a respectful voice: “You said our auras were connected. What does it exactly entail, besides the obvious?”

“For every being in every world to recognise your union it needed to be something more profound than a piece of paper or rings. Something that is with you always and cannot be erased by lesser beings.”

“Lesser as in…” began Scatty in a suspicious tone.

“Everyone is a lesser being to me.”

“And I thought I was the humble one,” commented Aoife drily. To Niten: “The crystal called us lesser beings.”

The swordsman whispered: “Aoife, this…being called everyone a lesser being. And we are not at the top of the food chain.” He had yet to drop his hand from her back seemingly forgotten about it, but the vampire would rather pretend to be a bloodsucking vampire than remind him.

“So, we feel each other’s emotions, right?” clarified the redhead.

The crystal answered: “Only strong ones and in time you can learn how to shield them if you wish. Right now, the bond is still being developed and harder to bend to your will.”

“That is an advantage in a fight,” was Aoife’s first thought about their newly developed connection. Niten seemed to agree with a nod his brain going to warrior mode.

“That is true.”

“Communicating without words? If we had that when we fought with that water nymph, we could have easily defeated her,” remembered the vampire one extremely vicious nymph who had a thing for Niten and after his rejection went mad. It had been close call for them both.

Her husband shook his head smiling before continuing with inquiry. “Any other effects we should know about?”

“I predict plenty, but those you have to discover for yourself.”

“And why can you not tell us?” snapped the redhead.

“No one pair has survived the bonding long enough to tell me.”

The audacity of this crystal! While Aoife had expected the process not exactly to be smooth sailing, she thought that if surviving was a gamble, the immortal crystal or whatever it called itself would tell her first. “And you didn’t tell us that before because…”

“You didn’t ask.”

The Japanese cut her ensuing insult off by remining her: “We didn’t.” Aoife wondered if that had been caused by the bond and the emotions he could feel, or did he just know her that well to assume she was going to yell. Probably both.

“But to reassure you, the others were in a worse condition by that time,” said the crystal a little too happily. “So, do keep me posted on your developments so I can warn the others, who ask, next time.”

“Posted?”

Scathach asked with her eyebrows raised: “You have an e-mail?”

“Don’t be stupid. Every cultured being uses mirrors.”

“Here we go again,” groaned Aoife and Scatty at the same time.

“Thank you,” said Dora her firsts words in a while.

“If the crystal calls me stupid one more time…”

“You’ll do nothing, because it will turn us into dust if you do.”

The crystals aura went down almost as if it had been powered down like one computer Niten had showed her a few months prior. The Japanese gave the guests, who had almost lost hope that the ceremony was going to continue, an apologetic smile and said: “I think the vows are finished.” He called the grumpy Priest at the front again.

A few seconds went by as the altar was being cleared from Aoife’s vow. In the background ocean voices could be heard and even the vampire had to admit the weather was close to perfect considering it was January. Scatty and Prometheus had taken the crystal somewhere safe and were now at their seats again. The unfortunate chair Scathach had broken was nowhere to be seen.

“Now it is time for the ring exchange.”

The Lord of Fire stepped forward again and held the ring box in front of Niten who took out a blue-silver coloured ring.

Choosing the rings had proved to be a challenge at first because they had to make sure rings didn’t contain iron for Aoife couldn’t touch it and they needed to be practical for fighting. They couldn’t have rings that were either too bulky or had tendency to fall off. The man suggested they didn’t have to have rings. Many cultures wore different pieces of jewellery or clothing indicating their marriage status. Aoife considered it quite a while, because finding perfect rings had been a hassle, until one human woman had tried flirting with her man. After that the vampire decided to have wedding rings if they were to stay at Earth’s shadowrealm for some time.

The rings the couple finally went with were much more than simple wedding rings. Aoife had been adamant that hers transformed into some kind of weapon. Her last line of defence if all else fails, so to speak. The ring hid a small needle. It was infused with a fast-acting poison.

The Japanese stepped in front of Aoife and suddenly their union felt realer than ever before. Seeing Niten holding the ring that would not leave her finger for the rest of her life took her breath away.

For a moment the swordsman appeared as Aoife had seen him when they first locked eyes. Battle-scarred youth with skills well beyond his years challenging one of the best fighters of all time. The redhead had scoffed thinking she would defeat a humani child with ease. She had to eat her thoughts when he blocked more than one of her strikes and his counterattacks would have killed a slightly lesser warrior. This was the first time a human had caught Aoife of the Shadows’ eye. Who would have thought that the young sixteen-year-old warrior Aoife met in the Battle of Sekigahara would earnestly hold out his hand for the vampire to place hers in his four hundred years later?

The redhead came back to the present when Niten gave her left hand a little squeeze as if asking her one last time. Aoife gave him a soft smile. He brought her hand even closer to him.

“With this ring I promise to love and hold you. I promise to fight by your side and remind you how important you are to me even if you anger another god, who you definitely shouldn’t be angering. Especially when you are angering a god, I’ll remind you,“ kept Niten his promise short and slipped the ring on her ring finger. That earned him some chuckles from the audience, but some sniffles could also be heard. “I will never again make you doubt how much I love you.”

It was done.

She was his.

Aoife watched the ring on her finger. It was almost a surreal experience. The light weight on her ring finger, the gleam of it when the light touched it, and most of all Niten’s shivering thumb caressing over it as if he couldn’t believe it either. A slow gust of wind on her face brought her attention back up. It hadn’t done the same for the Japanese, whose eyes still lingered on her finger. Feeling of happiness, different from her own, spread across her chest. Then it hit her – these were Niten’s feelings, she’d better get used to it.

But there was something else beyond the happiness, something even more profound coming from the man. It was loud, all-consuming, drowning. And directed at her. This was Niten’s love for her. Every little bit of his love poured into her. Years of longing, suffering from afar, fears, acceptance and, in the end, requited love. When did the silent tears start Aoife didn’t know, but the flow of feelings threatened to overwhelm her. Feeling it was so distinct from hearing it spoken. It left no room for doubt, who the swordsman’s heart belonged to.

Unknowingly, or rather, unthinkingly her love reached Niten, who raised his eyes to catch her green ones. He seemed to have experienced the same revelation as his breath caught, and trembling hand, the one not clutching hers, rose to Aoife’s cheek to wipe away some red tears.

Prometheus ruined their silent communication as he walked to the woman to give her his wedding ring. It was the same colour as hers – blue-silver. His ring transformed into a different kind of a tool. In the heart, Niten had always been an artist, and his choice of tool reflected that. When Niten inserted his aura into the ring it transformed into a miniscule paintbrush. Aoife had questioned his idea almost as soon as she heard it. The Japanese had smirked at her and explained that it was far from an ordinary brush. It allowed him to paint and call into existence any tool he wished – a sword, a shield, a key and so on. The tool had restricted time limit and would vanish in an hour. Prometheus had called in some favours for it was quite an advanced spell to that was casted onto the ring. He also had advised his future son-in-law to keep its use to a minimum as the swordsman had to carry the price with his aura. Using it was going to be taxing on him. In the end, Aoife found it rather useful but still stuck with her original choice as she didn’t use her aura in a fight as often as Niten and preferred a simpler solution.

The sun had lowered enough for its rays to touch her shoes as Aoife stepped even closer to Niten. She looked at him for confirmation for the last time. His enthusiastic nod encouraged the redhead to switch from his right hand to left and put the ring on his finger while saying: “With this ring I promise to love and hold you. I promise to consult and trust you. To believe in you. I will probably never grow out of trying to protect you, you’ll have to live with that, but I swear I will not make you think that I think little of you because of it. On the contrary. And most of all, I promise to keep a smile on your face as much as I can.” His feelings of love reached her stronger and stronger throughout her promise.

He was hers.

Both their fingers carried the rings with the same colours and patterns. Aoife crossed her fingers with Niten’s, and the blue-silver coloured rings stood proudly side by side as equals. Suddenly the man pulling her body flush against his own as if he had had enough of waiting. His eyes were even darker than usual; one hand found a way to the back of her neck and the other one her lower back. His lips were parted. She felt his ring on the hand cupping her neck and this time she didn’t force down the shiver it triggered. It fed the possessive part of her she had tried to tame. Niten was hers. His thumb brushed her nape making her desperately wish they were in their apartment. Her lower body began to tingle. Aoife knew well how his hands could play with her body. The years of swordplay and painting perfected his movements. If they were alone, he would move his hand to her short hair and kiss her deeply. Suddenly, a streak of possessiveness ran through her. She came to an understanding that the Japanese was just as much possessive over her than she was over him. And she didn’t mind it one bit. The vampire let him guide her face upwards so he could…

The Priest coughed and told them to hold hands and be more respectful as the declaration of intent was about to commence. Aoife could tell this was one of those rare occasions Niten wanted to kill the Priest more than she. It amused her. The humani made a comment about it being the end of the ceremony and they could wait a bit more before jumping each other. Niten released her against his (and her) wishes.

The Priest began: "Do you, Miyamoto Musashi, also known as Niten, take Aoife, also known as Aoife of the Shadows to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

Niten vowed: "I do."

The officiant continued: "Do you promise to love, honor, and cherish them, in sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?"

Niten said again: "I do."

The Priest then turned to Aoife to repeat the question: "Do you, Aoife, also known as Aoife of the Shadows, take Miyamoto Musashi, also known as Niten to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

Aoife vowed: "I do."

Officiant asked: "Do you promise to love, honor, and cherish them, in sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?"

Aoife promised: "I do."

“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

Aoife didn’t wait till the end of the sentence to reach for her husband, wrap her hands around his neck and kiss him. Niten held her just as strongly, his arms supporting her back. The teary-eyed public began to clap, but the two didn’t even hear them. They were finally united not only in the Earth shadowrealm, but their souls had been connected. Both felt each other’s love and happiness but didn’t care to figure out which is whose because it didn’t matter.