The world was black, my head and side were throbbing, pounding as though a company of construction workers had taken up residence inside my body and decided to pound away until I could barely function due to the pain. I could hear a quiet whimpering beside me, and then a howl from a small mutt.

Pooka?

I groaned and lifted one arm slowly to my pounding head. Slowly the events of the evening were coming back to me.

Standing in line for the train ticket. Reaching in to grab some money and pulling out the rose instead. That moment of indecision before deciding I couldn't bear to leave things the way they were. Discovering Anya facing that rotting corpse on the bridge. And the fight with the demonized horse, which stopped me from going to Anya's aid.

Anya!

Groaning and still moving too slowly, I sat up, desperate to make sure that she was alright. I thought I had heard her voice before but-

"OW!" someone had just backhanded me across the face.

"Dimitri!" Anya exclaimed, throwing her arms around me. She was alright! She was ok! But oh! I wasn't!

"Ow ow ow! Lemme go!" I moaned as her momentum and weight brought into focus more parts of me that hurt. I leaned over grabbing my stomach as she released me, gasping.

"Oh! Sorry!" she cried, reaching out tentatively to touch me again before half withdrawing her hand.

"I know, I know," I ground out through clenched teeth, "all men are babies."

She said nothing, just stared at me as I gathered my strength and raised myself to my knees.

Of course, the concerned silence was not to last. But I knew what she was going to ask.

"I though you were going to-"

"I was," I cut in, staring her straight in the eye, willing her to see how I felt. Willing her to see the truth.

"You didn't take the-"

"I- couldn't," I replied haltingly. Her eyes stared into mine, reading me. I saw a faint pink tinge rise in her cheeks and awareness dawn in her eyes as we leaned closer to each other.

"Why?" she almost whispered it. Her hand had come up to rest on my shoulder, and mine had reached out to her waist, pulling her gently towards me.

"Because- I-"

This time she cut in on me, with one long slender finger gently placed against my lips, silencing the words that I was stumbling over anyway. My heart thundered in my chest as she leaned in towards me, closing the short distance between our lips. I closed my eyes in anticipation, my fingers tightening imperceptible around her waist.

Instead of the feel of her lips on mine though, we were interrupted - once again - by Pooka. A cheerful bark pulled our attention down to him, where he held Anya's crown in his mouth, his tail wagging merrily behind him.

I sighed. In the heat and emotion of the moment, I had almost forgotten the life Anya stood to lose if she chose me. I took the crown from Pooka and we stood up. Staring at the beautiful tiara.

I held it out to her, my heart heavy. Princesses didn't marry kitchen boys. I needed to keep reminding myself of that if I was going to remain sane.

She slowly took the tiara, but she didn't put it on her head. She stood there regarding it for a moment before raising her eyes to mine.

I held her gaze for only a moment before dropping mine.

"They'll be waiting for you," I said, turning to walk away.

"Dimitri, wait!" she reached out and grabbed my hand before I could walk too far away.

I stopped but I didn't turn to face her. I couldn't. Defeat sagged my shoulders and bowed my head. Still I waited as she moved around so she was in front of me. She stood right in front of me and looked up at me, forcing me to look her in the eyes.

"We should talk about this," she said.

I frowned down at her.

"What's to talk about? You have a life and a family waiting for you, you've spent your whole life looking for them and dreaming about them, and its all right there!" I gestured in the direction of the palace.

"And you don't have anything to say to that? You've got nothing to say to me going in there and living my life? Without you?" she challenged me, the fire dancing in her eyes.

I closed mine in frustration.

"What could I possibly say?" I ask brokenly, "how can you possibly leave such a life of riches and luxury for me?"

"You did."

It was said so quietly that I nearly missed it. I looked down at her face, which was no longer staring up at me, challenging me, but was looking down, a blush staining her cheeks.

"What?" I ask, genuinely confused. I had lived my entire life in servitude or poverty. There was nothing I had given up for her.

"You didn't take the money. You gave up the possibility of a simple easy life. For me. Because you love me." The challenge was back in her voice and the fire back in her eyes.

I stare at her for a long moment, hardly daring to hope in what she is suggesting.

"Does that mean…" I trail off as she reaches up and traces my jawline ever so softly with her fingers.

"I was never much of a princess anyway,"

She reached up and pressed her lips firmly to mine, one hand around the back of my neck, the other around my waist.

Immediately I draw my arms around her and secure her tight against me, kissing her back like I had only dreamed of doing since I first saw her in the ballroom all those years ago.

I pulled back with a sudden thought.

"What about your grandmother?" I ask, looking down at her.

"I'll leave her a note. I'll have to return the tiara anyway."

"But you just found each other again," I argue.

"Then we'll find a place to live close by."

Her calm exasperates me a little. How can she be making such a huge life decision so easily?

"So that's it then? You are just up and not going to be a princess?" I challenge her.

"Yes." She comes back a little testily. This ground is familiar. I smile a little, knowing that wherever we go, however we manage, we will always have this. We are like to stubborn goats, always butting heads. My smile broadens and I decide to push it a little further.

"You are crazy you know that?"

Anya looks up at me angrily and pulls out of the embrace, stalking a few feet away before turning and firing at me with both barrels.

"I'm crazy? What about you! You cook up an entire, completely flawed con to get some money and then you don't even take it!" she shouts, "you battle an animated stone horse for me, and then, when I tell you that I want to be with you, you argue and make me question my-"

I cut her off with a kiss. She is stiff for a moment before relaxing and sliding her arms around me.

"Anya, I love you," I say as we come apart.

She sighs and rests her head on my chest.

"That was all you needed to say," she replied.

Returning the tiara and leaving a note for her grandmother took only a short time, and in no time at all we were making ourselves comfortable in our quarters on the boat. Our destination? A small village outside the city limits. We were going to start over. Find a small cottage, get jobs, get married, start a family.

I stared down at the fiery redhead beside me. My heart bursting to the brim with love and gratitude – that she chose me, that she loves me back.

I squeezed her gently against my side

"We will argue, you know that," I tell her.

"No we wont," she replied, snuggled into me, eyes closed, a small smile playing on her lips.

"Yes we will."

"Not if you can just get it into your thick skull that you are not right about everything!" she fired back. Sitting up and away from me, shooting fiery darts at me with her eyes.

I smile. I love seeing her fiery. Maybe that's why I always push.

"Maybe not everything, but most things, including this."

"You are NOT right about this!"

"Oh really? What are we doing right now?"

She stops and glares at me. I smile down at her and get up, offering my hand, which she grudgingly accepts.

Despite the bickering, I hold her tight to my side, and she clings to me also. I lead her up to the top deck of the boat. It is a chilly night, so it is empty except for us. Anya shoots me a questioning look.

"We might argue a lot, but I have a solution," I explain as I take her hand and lead her to the front of the deck.

"Ok what is it?" she asks, watching me carefully.

"For every argument we have, we must dance."

I remove my jacket and bow deeply, extending my arm out in invitation.

She laughs in delight, and I decide right then and there, that her delight is even more beautiful than her fire.

She curtseys in response, discarding her own cloak and we spin around the deck, much like we had a few weeks ago, lost in each other's eyes. I spin her into me and she smiles before whispering.

"I think you owe me a LOT of dances!"

I laugh, and scoop her up, spinning us until I am almost too dizzy to stand, before lowering her down in front of me again.

She reaches behind my neck and as our lips meet I realize that I am the happiest I have ever been in my life.

Princesses aren't supposed to marry kitchen boys, but sometimes… sometimes they do anyway.

KC