Abnormal Little Me (Completed)

Chapter 104: And Two Became One

Hey guys! I can't believe it... This is the end. This is the last chapter I will ever post on this story. I'm sad and proud at the same time. This story has been my baby for almost a year and I'm glad so many people were part of this journey. Thank you all for reading it, loving it and making me believe that this story was worth writing. Thank you for you support, I would not have made it this far without you. Have fun reading the last chapter of Abnormal Little Me. Don't forget to vote, comment and share with your friends :) Love you all <3

I vividly remember a moment in my childhood where I was stuck in the dark. Some children were playing hide and seek. I wanted to play with them so badly. Norel had gone away for a long time now and I didn't have anyone. I asked them if I could play. They talked with each other and said yes. I should have known something was off but I was six years old. I wanted friends. One of them helped me hide in a chest. No one came to find me. They locked me in instead.
Everything's so dark. I can't get out. I don't want to play anymore. Cyrian is going to be angry once he gets me out. Wait, since when do I call him by his name? He's always been Dark-Soul. And why am I so tight in here? I don't recall the chest being this small.
A ray of light hit me in the face. Someone had opened the lid. Please don't be Dark-Soul. I don't want the pain he gives me. Cyrian is dead. He can't hurt you anymore. I couldn't put a face on the person. The sun blinded me.
Do you know how boring hide and seek is when you're playing alone? I liked that man's voice. Good thing I decided to join. Come here. I was pulled out and put on the ground. There was nothing around except the trunk and the man. Light stretched to infinity. The nightmare is over. Now it's your turn to find me. Be quick or you'll lose. How can I find you? Follow your heart's thread, Lyra. I'll always be at the other end. Who are you? You know the answer to that one, sweetheart. Mine. The one I love. You're Rilos. A smile stretched on the man's face. Tell me that again when we're back because I won't remember.
He faded into the light but I could still feel his presence in my heart. I gave the chest one last look before burning it to ashes. I wouldn't be trapped again. I tugged on the white string that stemmed from me. It tugged back and a wave of warmth submerged me. I giggled and ran in the direction it came from.
Forms became more precise and sensations, distinctive. Someone was caressing my cheek. He had the same smile as the one in my dream. Rilos. I was lying down on my side in our bed and he was in the same position, in front of me.
"Welcome back, beautiful. I thought you would be out cold a lot longer than this. You went all out in this fight. I'm proud of you."
"He's really dead, isn't he? It wasn't a dream, right? I killed him."
"The body's still somewhere if you want to make sure later."
"What did I do, Rilos? Nobody could move except if I touched them. What kind of power did I use?"
"You stopped time."
"You're kidding."
"Not at all. It's hard to do and it requires a lot of energy as you must have noticed. I was never able to use it. You must have had intensely strong emotions for it to work."
"Mikyan kept trying to hurt Zyl and wouldn't allow me to pass him through the barrier. I didn't want Zyl to get hurt. I just kept thinking about that and, once I was backed against a wall, I yelled him to stop. That's when everything froze. He saw my wolf, Rilos. He knew before dying that I wasn't broken anymore."
"I know. You gave me his head."
"Oh, no. I must be covered in blood. Did I stain the sheets?"
"I cleaned you, don't worry."
"In the bath or...?"
"Magic of course. I do enjoy seeing you naked, Lyra, but not when you're passed out."
"Oh. What would you do if I undressed right now?"
"Appreciate every second of it and show you how much I love you."
Waking up in his embrace was the best feeling in the whole world. I loved the heat of his skin and the regularity of his breathing under my fingertips. The sun pierced the horizon. I hadn't woken up since last night.
"Rilos." I whispered, shaking him lightly. "Rilos! Wake up!"
"What's going on, sweetheart?" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes.
"Did you stay up all night to protect me from my nightmares again?"
"I didn't. Go back to sleep. It's like 6 in the morning."
"There were no nightmare. Rilos, I didn't have nightmares for the first time since the torture. Do you understand what this means? You didn't protect me but I didn't have nightmares." I shook him harder. "Rilos, Rilos. This is awesome. Don't you get it?"
He opened one eye.
"No nightmare?" I shook my head and he grinned. "The stars, Lyra! It really is amazing!" He rolled on top of me and kissed me passionately. "The channel's not there anymore. You're free, sweetheart."
I looked down. He was right. Only the white and the pale gold ones were left. Red was nowhere to be seen.
"I would hardly say that one night without nightmares means I'm free but it is a step in the right direction."
"Just say it, Lyra."
"I'm free."
"Good girl."
He rewarded me with another kiss. What I was lying on changed, the environment lit and the air warmed up. I made a dress appear on my body. Rilos pouted.
"Why did you get dressed?"
"I am not staying naked outside. If someone stumbles on us, I don't think I could recover from the shame. You should, and will, do the same."
"No one can come here, Lyra."
"Rilos, not up for discussion." He clicked his tongue and had pants on the next second. "No shirt?"
"Want me to wear one?"
I squinted at him, dragged my eyes down his chest and salivated. Stupid conditioned response. Of course, he knew exactly what was going on in my head and was very amused by it. The question was: which option would I choose? A shirtless Rilos or a mildly pissed Rilos? Who was I kidding? I liked shirtless Rilos, even more since he told me no one would come around.
"No, you don't have to wear a shirt."
He drew closer, his breath tickling my ear.
"Nice choice."
He kissed the spot right behind my ear and I shivered in response. My eyes rolled back as I dug my nails in his arm for anchorage. That's when I noticed how strange this place was. The leaves weren't a normal colour. They reminded me of love with their warm pink and the rest of the forest, where light didn't pass, exuded fear and sadness.
"Rilos, what is this place?"
"You really couldn't wait until after we were done, could you?" he chuckled mockingly.
"I can't focus on two things at once. You don't want me to be absent-minded during this, don't you?"
"Alright then. Come on." He took my hand and pulled me up. "This is the place I created when you couldn't see me after I brought you here. You could say it comes from the emotions I had inside me at the time."
"Love, fear and sadness, right?"
"Oh you're good. There's anger lurking around somewhere as well. I came back here a few times since then but I don't think I need it anymore. It was there to palliate what I was missing. I'm hoping it's not necessary now." He let go of my hand and turned his back to me. "Come, I'll show you around."
He needed to hear it. I was ready. I grabbed his wrist, spun him around and captured his lips. He gladly went along with it and pouted when I pulled back. I cupped his face, caressing his cheeks with my thumbs. I opened my mouth and the words I had wanted him to hear for a long time finally flew out, freed for the fear.
"I love you, Rilos."
I liked how the syllables rolled on my tongue. It was the first time I said the word "love" with my actual voice. It felt amazing, especially since it was only for him. Rilos was at a loss for words. He stared at me, his mouth slightly open, his eyes wet with emotions.
"Rilos?"
"Say it again."
I smiled and hugged him.
"I love you."
He twirled me around, the rain flooding from his eyes onto my shoulder. Our laughs mixed and flew up in the sky.
"You can use your voice. The first time you speak is to say that you love me. Do you know how cute that is? Stars, Lyra, this is wonderful."
"I wanted to answer your 'selfish' desire but I also wanted to mean it. You deserved at least that."
"So you mean it? It's not just to make me happy?"
I captured his mouth and poured everything I felt through our link. It hit me back tenfold. Happiness, love, sensations, memories, knowledge. The flow didn't stop. Keeshee ran to Jinary and they jumped at each other, touching, rubbing, pressing, burying, licking, biting. They were together at last. I stared at Rilos through my tears. He was crying as well. We are one. We fell into each other's arms, the ground cushioning our fall.
"I can't believe it. I feel everything you feel. It's weird but it's so..."
"So right? Look at them. They are so happy. I'm so happy. It's so much better than I ever imagined." He kissed me again. It was unlike anything we had ever experienced before. Magical is the word I would use. The forest was suddenly bathed in light and the darkness vanished. "I don't think we will be able to leave this place for a while."
We lay there, in each other's arms, amazed by the strength of our emotions. We felt what the other felt, heard what the other thought, knew what the other knew. It would take me some time to get used to it but it was the same for him.
"So this means our link is completely in place, right? I would have liked to hear you pronounce the vows."
"You know them, Lyra. You have my memories now. But since you are so beautiful and I love you very much, I'll say them anyway. I'll change them a little so it fits us better." He sat me on his crossed legs and laced our fingers, placing our hands on my stomach. "I didn't choose you and you didn't choose me. We were born with that decision already made. We didn't choose how we met and we didn't choose the obstacles that blocked our path. We did choose to cross them together. We chose to accept and embrace what the stars gave us. We chose to dive in this. We chose to support each other in our victories and defeats, successes and failures. I may not have chosen you when our adventure started, but I choose you now and I will continue to choose you again and again for the rest of our lives."
I'm not crying, I'm not crying. Alright, I'm crying. We're crying. Because of me.
"I'm sorry, Rilos. I know how much you love me, now more than any time before, but to hear it like this... Thank you."
"You are." Lips on the neck. "More than." On the shoulder. "Welcome. Do I get vows too or was it a one-sided thing?"
"I thought only you said them and the couple didn't say anything."
"Yes, but these weren't what I say to the couples. It was improvised because I think you deserve more than the usual. You are special to me, unique. I wanted the vows I would tell you to be the same. Just be you, sweetheart, because you're who I fell in love with."
"How can I say nothing now?" I chuckled and contemplated our crossed hands. Be me, uh? "You called me sweetheart when I thought the only thing left inside my chest were ashes. You called me beautiful when I couldn't even face myself. You called my name when I didn't know who I was anymore. You taught me how to fight my demons instead of doing it for me. You never tried to cut my wings. You encouraged me to fly on my own. I thought you were ahead of me when, in fact, you were behind me this whole time. I'm free now, Rilos, and with my own voice I can tell you that I know I love you here," I brought his hand to my forehead, "and here." I placed it over my heart.
"You remembered," he whispered.
"I never forgot. You showed me the way. I don't know if the road is smooth from now on. I don't know where it goes and I don't know how or when it ends. What I do know is that I want to have this journey with you by my side. Rilos, King of werewolves, be with me for as long as Death allows us to run."
"Yes, a thousand times yes." He grinned against my shoulder. "Thank you for this. It was heartwarming to hear this from you. I suspected how you felt about me but to hear it... It was exactly what I needed."
I changed and tugged on his pants playfully.
"I think we have to hunt together now, right? Please? I've always wanted to."
"Alright, red riding hood." He changed as well. "Let's hunt for a while."
"Had you told me when I was little that red riding hood and the big bad wolf would end up together, I would not have believed you."
"Love is powerful enough to change everything, Lyra. Even History."

Hope you liked it :) Although I am technically done with this story, I have already started to re-write it. I'm hoping to be able to make it so someone will want to publish it. If it ever happens, I will tell you but I heard it can take years so we'll see about that.