𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐖𝐄 𝐌𝐄𝐓 ; ahkmenrah

twenty-four.

"We belong in New York," says Sacagawea calmly.

"What's all this? Are you talking about the tablet?" asks Merenkahre, turning to face them with a frown.

"Yes, we were just saying--" Larry begins, but Merenkahre shakes his head, a rare smile appearing on his face. 

"Ahkmenrah cannot stay here," he says, and the way he says it is oddly joyful. "He's not an exhibit."

"What do you mean?" asks Nicky, frowning confusedly.

"You've forgotten one part of the prophecy, then," says Merenkahre with a twinkle in his eye. "The very beginning."

"'A child, born in absence of light,'" Luna begins slowly, thinking hard. "'Holds the key to'--Oh my god." If she was holding anything, she would've dropped it. Her heart's practically leaping out of her throat.

"'Reborn life,'" gasps Ahkmenrah, wide-eyed.

"Because you chose to relinquish your powers in exchange for the tablet, it returned all back to normal. Back to the way each was created. From wax to wax, plastic to plastic, and...corpse to living body." Merenkahre's grinning slyly, clearly enjoying this. "My son, because this girl selflessly chose, you've been granted life again."

Ahkmenrah shoves the tablet into his father's hands and leaps toward Luna, swinging her up into his arms with a joyous laugh, gleeful and happy for the first time in a very long time. She laughs with him, tears in her eyes. Not only is he here and safe, but he's alive. Not just a reanimated corpse, but a man. A man who can truly sleep at night, who can meet her parents, who can live a life with her--if he wants.

"Oh, and the monkey is alive as well," Merenkahre says nonchalantly. Dexter chitters on Nicky's shoulder, indifferent.

"So Ahk," says Larry, grinning. "What'll it be? Home to New York--or here? You could visit your parents every night. The tablet could stay."

Ahkmenrah glances up at Merenkahre and Shepseheret, a wistful expression on his face, but then he looks back at Luna and the look in his eyes is one of pure rapture. "Mother," he says, looking back at her. "Please forgive me, but--"

"No." Shepseheret holds up a hand firmly. "Don't apologize, my child. I left my family to marry your father and I did not look back. One's parents are there for childhood, but the one you love will be with you for the rest of your life." She smiles wryly. "If you chose us over her, I'd be worried."

Luna bites back a sob as she stares up into his face. "Ahk, come home with me. Meet my family. Stay with me."

Ahkmenrah brings his hands up to her jaw, cupping her face in his hands, and smiles tearfully. "Only if you'll marry me." (OH MY GOD, reader.)

"Someday, I will." Luna can't believe what's happening right now. The most beautiful man she's ever met is proposing to her--in front of his parents and their friends. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

"And even after that." Ahkmenrah stares into her eyes, a single tear making its way down his cheek, and Luna can only imagine the rollercoaster of emotions he's been on the past few hours. From dying to not dying, the possibility of staying with his parents, finding out he's a living man again, and now this. She's struggling with half that.

"And what of the tablet?" asks Merenkahre. "My son, it's your decision."

Ahkmenrah blinks, tearing himself away from Luna's eyes (a very hard challenge, dear reader), and looks at the tablet in his father's hands. For a long moment, he simply stares at it, then nods decisively. "It should stay in New York."