Chapter Twenty-Six: Conclusion

I was on the deck, watching the sunrise. I felt uneasy; how was I going to tell her? All night I had thought about it, and I think I was absolutely sure of it.

“Good morning, Vally,” said a cheerful voice behind me. I turned, knowing it was Akira. She was smiling, happily. “How are you?”

“I'm sick, Akira,” I said, smiling. Her cheerfulness vanished to concern.

“Sick? I can heal you!”

“No, Akira,” I said, shaking my head. “It can't be healed with your magic.”

“Huh?” I took her hands, pulling her closer to me and my face neared hers.

“It can only be healed by one thing,” I whispered. She blushed, staring into my eyes and I stared into hers. “Only if you can answer me, truthfully.” I closed my eyes, smiling.

“What is it?” she asked, expectantly.

“I have a common disease, felt my many elves, human, dragons. None can escape its grip once it takes hold. First, it makes you say and think strange things. Then, you see things that wasn't present before. Last, it attacks the heart, making someone feel light and warm inside.” I opened my eyes. She looked a bit puzzled. “It's called love sickness. My love for you is unexplainable. I want to be with you, through the good and the bad. Akira Kaitaki, I don't have anything to give you at the moment, but um, will you marry me?” She smiled.

“What a dumb question!” she cried, hugging me. “Of course I would! I've been waiting for fifty years for you to say that!” Then she let go. “Under one condition, though.”

“What?”

“I don't have to wear a dress on the wedding day.” I smiled.

“Of course not. You can wear whatever you want.”

“Yea!” She cried, hugging me again. “I'm so happy! I can't wait! Let's get married tomorrow!”

“Tomorrow?!” I cried. “Why can't we wait until we get to shore?”

“But Vally,” she said, quietly tugging at my shirt. “I wanna get married so I can have our village of Elentir's....”

“Um, I don't think so,” I said, smiling nervously. How many does it take to make a village, I thought, nervously. “Let's start with two, then we'll see how we feel after that.” It felt strange, already talking about children when we weren't even married. Then again, if I didn't have children, then the Elentir name would cease to exist. I really didn't want that to happen. No way I could let my name die; I mean, great grandpa only had one child and that child had two. It was my destiny to carry on my name by giving it to a boy or two.

“Okay,” she said, quietly. I could tell by her voice that she had something planned. It didn't matter to me. I was thrilled at the chance to become a husband and have a small family. It almost makes me laugh to think that I wanted a small family then.

In my mind, I wanted two children, a boy and a girl. Instead, I ended up with four boys and one girl. Amazing how the horizon looks so different from when you're looking at it to when you're actually there. Do I have any regrets? Not one. Well, maybe one. If I could do it all over again, I would have done it much sooner.

THE END