Chapter 10
"Aradia...Aradia...come on...wake up...open your eyes!! Aradia!" AJ screamed, pulling her body close to his. So still now, so cold. He pulled away again and looked at her. She was way paler than normal, even for her. Her body limp and heavy, lifeless.
"Please...you can't do this to me. You can't just leave me alone now, not after you've told me that you love me." AJ lifted his head, pulling her back against him and shut his eyes. The sun was up, the rays hitting his face and hitting the tears now streaming down his cheeks.
That connection he felt to her was barely there now, just a faint humming throughout his body.
"Please, please, just..." He stopped. And all this time she told him she was strong enough. He held her closer to him again. There was nothing he could do, she was gone. Leaning in close, he whispered to her.
"Aradia...I love you." He buried his face in her neck. After everything they'd been through, it'd come down to this. She'd saved his life and he couldn't even save hers.
They hadn't even had the chance to explore what could've been, granted she was a vampire, but he loved her, he'd deal. All he wanted was her back, he could live with her dietary needs, he could.
He wasn't quite sure when he'd started actually crying, but he couldn't stop. He didn't know at what point it'd happened but, he needed her. He needed her so badly, he'd give anything to have her back.
"Alex?"
Great, now he was hearing things, he held her tighter.
"Alex...please..."
He felt the once lifeless body in his arms shift and he stilled.
She pulled away and slowly her eyes opened. He stared down at her in shock. Her eyes where no longer catlike. Deep, dark pools of brown stared up at him in shock as well.
"What, what happened?" She whispered.
He couldn't speak, he just continued to stare at her.
"Is he dead? Is Jareth dead?" She was quick to ask, looking into his eyes, pleading with him to answer her.
"Y-you're a-alive." He murmured.
She stared at him and then looked around. "What in the hell is going on here? He, he stabbed me with a..." Her voice trailed off as she looked down at her shirt, the wound was gone.
AJ shook his head, it all made sense to him now. He hadn't even thought of it before.
"Aradia, Jareth was the one who created you. You said if you killed him before sunrise, anyone that he'd created that wasn't a zombie, would become mortal again, and that includes you." It was almost too much for him to hope for.
She stared up at him, her eyes welling up. "Y-you mean..."
"You're free baby." He whispered. "You're free and you're alive."
"Oh...oh god." She reached out then, wrapping her arms around him.
"It's over baby, it's over."
She held him tightly, she couldn't believe it. She never figured the rule would apply to her, but it had and now here she was. It'd been so long and she never imagined she'd get a second chance. Slowly she started to stand with AJ's help.
"I can't believe this, it's like a dream." She looked around, taking everything in.
That emptiness was gone, the coldness that always seemed to surround her, was no longer. She lifted her face to the sun, letting the warmth beat down over her.
"It's been so long."
"What's it like?"
"It's like waking from a nightmare, a nightmare of darkness."
AJ smiled, walking up behind her and wrapping his arms around her from behind. She turned quickly and looked into his eyes. "Do you really love me Alex?"
He pulled away and looked at her. "You heard that?"
"Did you mean it?"
AJ looked deep into her eyes, filled with hope and promise. "Every single word."
She smiled in relief. When she'd heard him say that, she was sure she'd been dreaming and everything that followed, she was sure she'd died because she could never imagine any one ever saying such things to her.
"I love you too Alex, and I never though I could again."
AJ smiled, bringing his hand up to caress her cheek. She looked at him and frowned in confusion.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm...hungry."
His face paled. "Yeah?"
"I've got the oddest craving for, hamburger." She looked up at him.
"You're my kinda girl you know that?" He grinned.
"I am?"
AJ just looked at her. She was so different now, gone was that coldness in her eyes, that air of loneliness, she was a new person, she was the woman he loved. He laughed, wrapping an arm around her.
"It's time to reintroduce you to the wonderful world of McDonalds."
"Wow, it's been so long."
"Just how old are you anyway?"
She raised an eyebrow.
"Oh come on." AJ pouted.
She laughed. "Before I became a vampire, I'd just turned twenty-three"
AJ grinned, suddenly pulling her into his arms. "Do you remember the last time I kissed you?"
She blushed. "Two years ago."
"Way too long."
Slowly he lowered his lips to hers and kissed her deeply. It was as if no time had past and now they had forever to catch up.
The-End
