Okay, this takes place after Jon's coronation and Alanna and Jon take up their romance again. (Okay, so the romance part didn't happen in the books, but this is A/J people! – give me a break.) First half is Alanna's POV and second half is Jon's.

Disclaimer: Characters are Tamora Pierce's and the song belongs to Journey.

Open Arms

Lying beside you, here in the dark

It feels so good to be home with him again – even eight months after I've come home I still can't believe how much I missed him! And I never though I would end up agreeing to marry him. Well, after our spat in the desert, it seemed impossible that we would ever end up getting married. But here I am, the night before our wedding, lying next to him, with his arm wrapped around me, holding me close to him…

A watchman calls "The midnight hour and all is well!" in the distance as I start to sink back into slumber…

Feeling your heart beat with mine

But I do not slip back into my dreams just yet. Faithful shifts in such a way that his claws dig lightly into my shin – I kick him off of me. The cat hisses as he falls of the bed. I feel cold, so I snuggle closer to my love. His heart beats in time with mine, and I relax again…

Softly you whisper – you're so sincere

I must have wakened him when I moved closer, for he opens his eyes sleepily and raises his head to kiss my neck as his fingers run through my hair again and again. "I love you so much, Alanna," he whispers softly in my ear before kissing me again.

Before I left Tortall, these words would have petrified me – I was so afraid of love! Now, the same words warm me in a way that nothing else can. Because I know it's true (Why else would he still want me to marry him after everything that's happened?). Thank Mithros I realized that.

"I love you too, Jonathan." Even in the dark I can see his smile.

How could our love be so blind?

Perhaps blind is no the best word to describe our love. "All encompassing" might be a better definition of our feelings. I know that whenever I see him, I cannot help but smile – seeing him could never be a bad thing…

I also drop whatever I'm doing to go to his side. Many of my friends have remarked that I would never had done this before, but then, I did not truly know what it is to love and be loved before, either.

We sailed on together, we drifted apart

We've done so much together – we both fought Ralon of Malven as pages over the insults that offered me constantly, and we went to the Great Southern Desert together as part of the group of squires that visited Persopolis when I was fourteen (he asked that I be allowed to go, though I was a page, and the rest were squires. Well, there was one other page: Geoffrey of Meron – he went because the Great Southern Desert (Fief Meron) is his home). There, we defeated the Ysandir, soul-devouring immortals feared by the Bazhir, and he discovered I was female.

When we got back to Corus, I sat with him as he meditated upon becoming a knight. I was supposed to be meditating on becoming on a squire, but I admit, I was worrying more about him. A couple of summers later, we defended the honor of Tortallan knights against a particularly vulgar Tusaine knight, and fought in the Tusaine War, saving each other's lives. The winter after the war, we were part of the hunting party that killed Demon Grey (the wolf that Roger of Conté conjured to kill me).

We began dating when I was seventeen, and he (and Gareth the Younger of Naxen) taught me that my disguise as a boy was not a life-or-death matter. He instructed in the Code of Chivalry as part of the introduction to my Ordeal of Knighthood. He stood behind me (literally) when I denounced his cousin and (figuratively) when I defeated Roger in a fencing duel.

I was with him when he came to the Bazhir to study their history, laws, and customs. I was with him (despite what some others say) when he became the Voice of the Tribes, the chief priest and judge of the Bazhir, bringing all the tribes (renegade and peaceful) into Tortall without bloodshed.

After that, we fought (coincidentally, over his proposal and my assumed agreement). He went back to Corus, getting himself tied up with a certain now-deceased Copper Islander princess. I went to Port Caynn and stayed with one of my best friends (who I also thought I loved) and then went back to the Bazhir, who sent me to save one of their now-estranged members. The Sorceress of Alois, as she is now known, gave me a map that led me on the adventure of my dreams: retrieving the Dominion Jewel…

And here you are by my side

Yet, against my original plans, I came home finally, and yes, he and I solved our differences. Six months after I came home, he asked me to marry him (well, he asked the day he made me King's Champion, but neither of us were ready to commit ourselves to a promise of that sort), and I couldn't refuse – especially after realizing that no matter how far I travel, I will never love anyone else as much as I love him…

So now I come to you with open arms

After the disaster of Coronation Day, I recognized that I still loved him. So, by the time he proposed again, I was ready to come back to him with open arms, clichéd as that sounds…

Nothing to hide – believe what I say

He knows the whole story (more than the summary I just gave) as I had to report how I "found" the Dominion Jewel. Excuse me if I digress, but I didn't exactly find the Jewel, like everyone says – I almost lost my life to frostbite for it…

Anyway, I don't think he believed me until I actually presented the Jewel to him in front of the Court. Not that I blame him – the stories of the Dominion Jewel are some of the most famous legends…

So here I am with open arms

Hoping you'll see what your love means to me

I love him so much – I don't know how I ever survived without him. Every smile, every laugh, every kiss, every touch… All are recorded permanently in my heart. Now I know that I can't live without him. Perhaps this is repetitive, but I don't know how else to vocalize how much he and his love mean to me…

Open arms

Now that I've come back and finally accepted your love for me, Jonathan, I'm never letting go of it. I'll always be there for you, with open arms – until death and after.

I wasn't quite alone, perhaps – it's impossible to be alone when you live in the Royal Palace of Tortall – but my life was so empty of importance while she was gone. It was just one long, meaningless affair with the late Princess Josiane of the Copper Isles – at least until my mother dies, and I had to become serious again. Father had stopped caring about his country, and eventually killed himself, so I ruled the nation in his stead.

But to get back to the main point, everyone said I became someone else after we – after our fight. To the point where I shamelessly courted the Islander Princess to make my beloved jealous…

This empty house seems so cold

Like I said, the Palace will never be empty – I swear that the gossip and talk of the many nobles who live here keep the walls from caving in – but it did seem much – well, colder – during the months she was gone. And that includes the time she was gone before we broke up. There was no more flash of her fire-red hair whipping around corners, the practice courts stood cold, but not quite empty, her temper didn't heat rooms to an almost unbearable temperature, and her violet eyes (that usually began to glow with love (whether she admitted it or not) when she saw me) were nowhere to be seen…

Wanting to hold you, wanting you near

I didn't realize how good it felt to have her in my arms until she was gone. Holding Josiane just didn't' feel right after her – especially since Josiane almost forced me to hold her…

I can't tell you how many times I asked Mithros and the Goddess to send her home after I started ruling the country for Father. She might claim that she's a political dunce, but once or twice since she's come home, she's come up with a brilliant solution to a knotty legislative problem. Not only that, but everyone will at least accept her solution, and it solves the problem for good. I wanted her near, not just for her advice, but for her headache cures as well. I think it was when I started asking the gods to send her home to me that I began to push Josiane aside…

How much I wanted you home!

After that, I began to dream of what would've happened if I hadn't acted as a completely arrogant prig to her in the desert…

She would have come home with me, as my betrothed, and I wouldn't have had anything to do with Josiane. Heck, she probably could have kept her twin's pride in check – or at least, it would have been enough that he wouldn't even have thought of trying to raise Roger from the dead. I wouldn't have had headaches that hurt enough to bring out my temper. She probably would have made sure I went to bed at a reasonable hour instead of past midnight every night. We could have made up our differences at least six months earlier…

But now that you've come back, turned night into day

When she came back, everything back to the way they normally were – she and I could joke with each other and went back to being friends (much to everyone else's relief), the practice courts were busy once again, and those who used them were once again in awe of her skill, and though her temper had mellowed out (mostly), she could still make people feel like they were one foot tall…

Someone was making sure I was taking care of myself again (I was anyway, but I would be worried about her if she didn't ask after my health), and I no longer had to worry about killer headaches…

I need you to stay

If she ever left again, somehow, not only would Tortall's defense be severely weakened (it's been said that she makes up for a while two units of knights in battle), but I would be miserable – well, that's quite an understatement, but I don't really know how to say how miserable I'd be. I guess the only way to say it is that my misery would either drive me insane, or it would drive me to do something really drastic…

So now I come to you with open arms

The night after we forgave each other was a bit awkward, but after that, it was as if the past year hadn't happened. Frankly, I'm still shocked we forgave each other so readily – almost as if we had just come back with open arms after realizing how idiotic and immature we'd been acting…

Nothing to hide – believe what I say

She asked me what had happened to me in the past year the day after we made up. I told her everything, not sparing myself. The story was often punctuated with her exclamations that ran along the lines of "I can't believe you were stupid enough to do that." I think she knew it was the truth, though – she's good at picking up that sort of thing. But it was only then that I realized how foolish I had acted…

So here I am with open arms

When she finally came back to me (as more than a friend), it felt like I held heaven in my arms – I'd forgotten how she was just tall enough to tuck her head under my chin, and how soft her hair really was… In short, I was reminded that she's everything the Islander Princess was not, and it was bliss to finally have her back in my arms – where she and no one else belonged…

Hoping you'll see what you're love means to me

Hearing her whisper the words "I love you" – even at midnight – says that she really does love me – she doesn't use those words together lightly. And suddenly, the night is much brighter. The clouds have uncovered the full moon at her words, falling across her face to illumine its beautiful features…

Open arms

I'll always be here for you, Alanna – until the world's end – no matter how many times you wake me up at midnight…

I lean over to whisper "Goodnight, my love" in her ear, but I see that she has already fallen back into her dreams…