A/N: yea so…I finally did get around to finishing this. I'm sorry it took a tad longer than ya'll are used to with me, but….some stuff went down, I'll spare you my mental and depression diagnostics in favor of wrapping this fic up nicely. I hope. THIS IS THE END NO MORE AFTER THIS AND NO SEQUEL!

Flash From the Past

Her eyes shot open, to find Artemis, with his lips pressed firmly to hers, his hands clutching her shoulders. Holly struggled only the slightest bit out of shock, before relaxing and kissing him back, her hands on his chest.

They stood like that for several minutes, blue sparks emitting from Holly's fingers and dancing around their connected bodies. The tears that had been welling up in her eyes retreated. 'His kiss is magical.'

(A/N: say it with me…AWWWWWW!)

End Flash from the Past

Artemis opened his eyes hesitantly and gazed at the woman linked to him… 'How long have we been like this?' His brow knitted together in thought, which in turn caused the kiss to come to a screeching halt. One track mind you know, at least when it came to Holly. But his thoughts were in vain, it seemed like an eternity since their lips had met. 'It couldn't possibly have been more than a few minutes.' Artemis pondered as Holly slowly came to realize that her bubble of bouncy, floating cotton candy happiness had burst.

She opened her eyes and saw the look of intense concentration on Artemis' face. 'What's he thinking about….?' She wondered, her hands returning to her sides. The sudden cold spots on his chest made Artemis look over at her, and smack himself in the forehead. 'STUPID!'

"Sorry…" he burst out quickly, seeing her head tilt to one side, questioning why he'd broken the kiss.

Holly smiled softly, her hand coming up and touching his cheek. She stood up on her tip-toes, her lips heading for his, and with an inch to spare…Artemis backed away.

"…I…I've got to go check on something." Artemis ran quickly from the room, the spot on his cheek where her hand had been, was burning from her touch. Holly was left, biting her lip, on her toes, one hand raised in the air, the same searing heat coursing through her entire body.

'What's gotten into him?'

Fowl Manor, 8:00 pm

The rest of that day, Holly had left Artemis to his own devises, thinking it better to let him cool down. He looked so panic-y every time they passed in the hall. They ate dinner in silence, and then Artemis disappeared again; back to his room, deep in thought.

Holly amused herself by watching Moulin Rouge with Juliet, singing all the songs and guiltily drooling over Ewin McGreggor. He was such a cutie…with a voice to boot! As the movie ended, Juliet and Holly did all the normal girly things, only…not quite so girlie. They played a little dress up (always fun), experimented with different make-up on Holly (fun for Juliet) and then played truth or dare.

Honestly, truth or dare has become a lost cause, hardly anyone EVER picks dare, and when they do, they say they won't do the dare they're assigned. Cheaters. So after about ten truths, Juliet gave up and changed the game to twenty questions.

"Alright Juliet your turn." Holly sat Indian style on Juliet's bed, dressed in loose fitting, crimson red, silk pjs; her hands slowly undoing the braids Juliet had put in her hair an hour ago.

Juliet put a finger to her lips thinking. "Hmmm…oh I got it! Do you liiiiike Artemis?" Her face broke into a wide grin and she leaned close to Holly.

The elf blushed and coughed, looking around Juliet's room as she stalled. "Well…we're friends, so yea I like him."

"No. I mean, do you likelike him?"

"Uhh…" A knock at the door from Butler, told them that three in the morning was plenty late enough for girlie bonding. 'Saved by the bell! Thank you Butler!' Holly's mind screamed as Juliet groaned and shooed her brother away. The two girls set up sleeping bags on the floor of Juliet's room, having already decided to make this a real sleepover, even if Holly's room was only a few doors down. Juliet poked Holly in the side after the lights went out and leaned in toward her.

"Just one more." Even in the dark, Holly could see the puppy pout Juliet was giving her and sighed in defeat.

Juliet smiled, and with an air that didn't match her happy smile she asked, "Do you miss your home Holly?"

In the hall, crouched by Juliet's door, sat 19 year old Artemis Fowl the second. Yes he knew he was acting like a three year old spying on his older sister and the girl he had a crush on, but he wanted to know the answer to this particular question. He pressed his ear to the door and listened as Holly answered.

Back in Juliet's room, (a few seconds after Artemis left for his room, thinking he heard all of Holly's answer)

Holly paused, she'd already begun to answer Juliet, but she felt she needed to make something clear. "…but…this is my home now. I'm happy here…with you and Butler…and Artemis."

Juliet smiled more and hugged her friend. "Goodnight Holly."

"Goodnight Juliet…" Holly turned over content with her answer. 'This really is my home now.'

The Next Day

An alarm rang out, stirring Artemis from his restless slumber. His head was down on his arm, he was sitting at his desk, vials and beakers and different chemicals strewn over the wooden surface. He blinked the sleep from his eyes and leaned back in the chair stretching. Unfortunately he leaned a bit too far and the chair toppled over, sending Artemis flailing backwards onto the ground, kicking his desk and sending acids spilling to the floor where they left dark black burn marks. "Brilliant."

Artemis picked himself up off the floor and cleaned up the spilled chemicals, pocketing one small vial after checking to make sure it was undamaged. 'I'm such an idiot.' He thought with a heavy sigh.

Kitchen, 9:34am

Holly sat at the kitchen island, drinking the remaining milk in the bottom of her cereal bowl. She looked up when Artemis walked in and watched him sit down opposite her. His eyes seemed glazed over…grayer then normal. That beautiful sapphire blue seemed dulled.

"…downtown today. Holly?" Holly snapped back to harsh reality, Artemis snapping his fingers in her face.

"Huh?"

"I said I was going to go get something downtown today." Artemis stood as he spoke. "Butler…I'll go on my own, if that's alright."

Butler looked uneasy, but seeing the flame burning in Artemis' grayish blue eyes he nodded once.

Holly's gaze followed Artemis out of the kitchen and her ears listened for the door closing and the Bentley pulling away. Juliet watched Holly, watch Artemis, shaking her head lightly. 'They're so close…but so far. I wonder what he's doing. Maybe it wasn't meant to be after all.'

Holly sighed and excused herself, dragging her feet as she walked up to Artemis' third floor study. She collapsed into his favorite chair, his scent tickling her nose. She curled her legs up under her and rested her head on the arm of the chair, slipping into a light sleep. Lulled by Artemis' pleasant cinnamon-y scent, and the soft hum of the computers.

1 Hour Later

Artemis snuck in the door, a single long stem red rose clutched in his pale hands. He walked, with clenched jaw up to his presumably empty study. He opened the door slowly, mumbling to himself as he began to pace.

Over on the chair, Holly stirred and opened a large hazel eye. "Artemis?" She called out softly.

Artemis nearly jumped out of his skin; he hadn't even noticed her sleeping there. "Holly." He said in return.

Holly stood, and walked over to him. Her hazel orbs locked with his sapphire ones. She opened her mouth but he shhhed her. "Holly…I…" He began, but decided better of it and held out the rose to her. His hands were trembling and his grip was so tight that a small bit of crimson blood to match Holly's pajamas was slipping down the long stem. Holly stared at the rose with obvious confusion and reached out to take it, but Artemis pulled it back. "No…watch." He waved his free hand over the rose and it immediately bloomed, revealing a small vial of purplish, black, swirling liquid.

Holly was now even more confused as she reached out and took the rose, carefully removing the vial from the center. "What is it Artemis?"

He sighed and brushed a lock of auburn hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear. "It's a special mix of chemicals…it'll counteract the effects of the radiation…. You'll be returned to your original height…you can go home." He finished with his eyes downcast.

Holly lifted the vial to eye level, tapping it softly with her finger. "But Artemis…what gave you" He cut across her, looking up into her eyes.

"I heard you…last night with Juliet. You said you missed home…now you can go back…."

Holly tilted her head, and then smiled. "Oh Artemis…you must not have heard…." Though she was slightly angry that he'd been spying on her, Holly couldn't help but feel bad that he'd heard her saying she missed home. She pushed the vial into his chest, stepping closer to him. "Artemis…this is my home now." His eyes bore into hers as she spoke, the brightness slowly returning to them. She opened her mouth again to speak, her heart pounding. "Artemis, I want to stay here…I lo…"

Artemis' finger on her lips stopped her from completing her sentence. He leaned down, his breath tickling her pointed ears. "Don't jinx it." He whispered, kissing the tender area below her ear. Holly shivered and moved into his embrace. As their lips met in a passionate, but gentle kiss they both thought at once.

'This is real…magic.'

A/N: That is The End. Fin. Done. Over. I hope you liked it.