"Alice?"

My once steady breath gets caught in my windpipe. I know that voice. It's been so familiar to me for so long, but I haven't heard it outside of my mind for years. My fist closes around Aiden's shirt in utter panic. I look up at my son, who is confused. He has the right to be. Shaking, I let him go and slowly, steadily, turn around.

He looks much skinnier and sicklier pale than the last time I saw him. His soft orange eyes begin to glisten as soon as I meet them. My heart begins to radiate heat, as if my entire being has been shoved into a pot of boiling water. I feel like I could melt into his arms at any moment, but my feet are frozen to the ground.

"Alice… I've finally found you…"

"Mother, is that-?"

"Death!" I begin to sob. Like an innocent child, I run into my love's arms. His knees give out, and we both slowly collapse onto the metal flooring of the Ivory Citadel. "Y-You… b-b-bastard…" I scream unintelligible words into his chest, but all that comes out is choked sobs that don't make much sense aloud. He wraps his arms around me with no signs or intentions of letting me go. I bury my face in his hair, inhaling his scent of dirt and leather. My mind has been able to recreate his image, that no doubt, but not his smell. Not his touch. Not the churning of my stomach when I first knew that I loved him, and the hundreds of times after that. Nothing was comforting me but a torturing image of him, and feeling him once more, I can barely handle my feelings. The sense feels like hot knives pressed against my stone heart which softened to the consistency of butter the second I met his eyes today. I want to say everything to him, like "You don't know what we've been through to find you," or, "I will never let you out of my sights again," but I can't. My tears are hindering me from telling him anything.

Death starts to stand. "N-no!" I yelp, trying to pull him back into my arms. "D-Don't…"

"Alice, I'm right here… It's alright... I won't leave…" Reluctantly, I get to my feet as well, shakily and unsteadily, as he lets me go, walking towards his son. I watch in silence. I've been waiting for this moment ever since Aiden was born. "You're my son.." Death says in exasperation. Aiden is silent. "You're my son… I'm so sorry-"

The younger Nephilim's fist comes in contact with the Horseman's face. "That's for leaving my mother so many damn times!" In Death's weakened condition, that probably hurt like hell. But, I don't protest, because I wanted to do that same thing when I heard his voice. Aiden's gaze turns soft, and he hesitantly hugs his father. "But this is for saving her... and most everything else you've done for her."

Death laughs and pulls me into the embrace. I sob for everything that has gone wrong, or right in my life. All three of my reunions with my love, Aiden meeting his father for the first time, and the family that I lost in the flames of a house fire. Them? I've known forever that I must let them go. Even when Aiden was born, I did let them go about halfway. Now Death has filled the remaining gap, and for the first time in a long, long time… my family is in my arms again. It has completed me.

Aiden steps back and lets me continue to sob into Death's chest as he whispers soothing words into my ears, telling me that this will never happen again, that he is sorry, and that he will always be here for me. I drag my face upward so it is level with his. Completely ignoring the fact that our son is watching us, I gently set my lips into Death's. The gentle factor does not last for long, for the Horseman has no intentions of being very mild. He cups my face in both of his hands, pulling me closer with every second. I can taste both my tears and his as the salty water blends into the kiss.

"I'll give you two a moment." Aiden says. The fact that he is uncomfortable easily portrays in his voice. I break the kiss for a moment, and as soon as I see that he is around the corner and out of sight, I take it up a notch, and so does Death. I wrap my legs around his torso, and he props me up with his arms as mine are around his neck.

"I can't believe it." Death says, holding me to his chest. "I have a child… we have a child."

"Aiden is not much of a child anymore." I say with a laugh through my tears.

"…Aiden? Y…you named him… after me?"

"Of course…"

"Alice." He says, leaning down and pressing his lips to my throat. "I'm sorry…" I repeatedly kiss the top of his head, but eventually just hug him as tightly as I can. After a while, I think I start to accidentally choke him, because he lets me down and unwraps my arms from his neck. I laugh quietly though still sobbing uncontrollably. He slowly sets us onto the ground again, running his hands through my waist length black hair, twirling it around his fingers. The sensation of my stomach churning, after all these years, returns. I don't want it to go away, and now it is so strong that I have to back away from him a little. "What's the matter…?" He asks.

"D-Don't… bloody… leave me… again…" I hiss into his ear. He laughs and buries his face in my hair.

"I won't… I promise. Now, may I suggest that we leave? I'd like to return home." He chuckles. "It's been a while."

"Yes." I smile as he wipes my tears away. 'Of course."

Death stands up, wrapping his right arm around my waist. I have missed feeling his presence. I think, and the tears silently flow again. He holds me close as we approach Aiden, who is staring at Death uneasily.

"It's alright, love." I say to him with fresh tears spilling. "We found him. We finally found him, and we will never let go of him again."