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morefictionlesslife · 1 year ago

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Till death brings us together (part 2)

Aoife/Niten

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 20th 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.

“20th 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 with him 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.