Freya dismounted her alpaca when she arrived, her shoes digging into the ground. She felt accomplished. She felt good about herself, and about how far she'd come. And she felt good about her choices.
Because she knew she had to be right.
The memories came to her like bricks falling off of a tall wall. They flattened her in an instant, deluged with a life she never knew she'd had.. until now.
------
"Don't want to marry me, eh?"
Freya winced when she heard it.
She turned, this time forcing herself to look at him, though her eyes had trouble staying up when they saw his. It hurt to look at him, when he thought things like that. Things that were entirely her fault.
A sharp sigh, and Freya's face turned red with an embarrassed blush. Her words were very quiet, hard to hear whispers. "Of course I wants teh married yeh, Hooter. I just wanted the moment teh be right.. and I think I just ruined it, didn't I."
------
Marry him? Freya sat on the hard ground, and stared up at her alpaca for a minute. Why would she ever have.. she'd even said she'd wanted to.. but how could she be sure he was..
Was she really that stupid? THINK, Freya! Don't you remember what happened the last time you gave your heart away?! What.. what were you thinking..
No man deserved to be trusted. What made this one any different?
------
"I'm not a very good cook. But I learned how just for you. And I am a little bit messy but I'd clean up my mess for you. I cause a lot of mischief, but I'll ask you to join me, too. I'll do it all if you'll say 'I do'."Kettil reached over toward his nightstand, the one place Endy didn't look and produced a small box.
"I like to play a lot fun games, but I'd like to play them all with you." He grinned slightly, "And when you get dressed up, I get bored, but I always will wait for you. I Don't get what that accessory is for. Cause I'm atop of the world with you, but I'll do it all if you please say I do..."
He opened the box in order to show her the ring at this point, "Please say 'I do', there's nothing more that I'll ask of you. Please say 'I do'. After you say it, then I will, too. Please say you do, do, do, do, do~. And it'll be - be just - just us ... three," he gave a sharp peer over at Endzela, "I'll do it all if you'll please say, 'I do'."
"You'll never have to be lost. I'll always help you find your way. And I will be your wings, so that you can always fly. I'll do all that I can, to make things easier for you. I'll do it all if you please say, 'I do'."
"I know I'm not quite the serious type, but I know it's in me to be. And if you say yes, to this question, I'll ask, I'll be all that you need~," He finished softly.
Kettil's voice always had a way of catching Freya's attention, no matter where she was, or what she was doing. But it wasn't his voice that got her this time, it was the slow, and heart gripping realization that he'd already said he was going to propose to her in a song. An unfinished song, and yet..
Every single lyric he sang was just for them. He'd learned how to cook, because she needed him to feed her, to save her, to keep her alive. He'd tolerate her obsession with clothes, just because it meant being with her. And Endy.. When he looked at her, Freya finally broke, letting out a choked sob as all of her emotions welled to the surface. He wanted to keep her from being lost - he wanted to be her wings. He didn't realize.. he already was all of these things.
He'd given her no choice but the right one.
And of course, when she finally looked at the ring, she broke down into a whole new set of tears. It was the exact ring she'd chosen when they'd gone into town, while visiting his family. He'd remembered after all this time..
Freya was going to die of heartache at this rate.
But the song had stopped, and Kettil sat there, holding the little ring in its box out to her, waiting.. waiting.. waiting for the right moment.
It was here.
"Yes." After a hundred no's, it felt so good to finally answer that question the way she'd wanted to from the very beginning. "Yes. Yes. YES!" She flung herself at him, all but forgetting the ring in favor of hugging her boilfriend - no. Her fiancee.
That was the moment.
Freya's body sank down, laying flat on her back. The weight of knowledge settled thick and heavy around her heart. A million memories, tiny ones, came flooding back. Every memory that included Kettil.. the good, the bad, the..
Her eyes fluttered closed and she exhaled, all the air leaving her lungs in a rush of overwhelming emotion. There was a difference. He'd broken through every barrier; softly, patiently, diligently. He'd been there for her in the most disturbing of times, and he never pushed. And he.. and they..
Oh, how he loved her.
------
"Oh.." Freya's whispered giggle slipped out, tugging him forcefully closer. "I needs yeh teh live. I will does anything teh makes sure I never lose yeh. Even if it means kissing yeh forever." She leaned her head in and kissed his chin. "Tell me what yehr starved for, Hooter. I will makes sure teh keeps yeh alive forever."
The answer to her demands was simple and eloquent, "You."
Then he leaned and stole yet another kiss from her lips as if to try and continue to sate his hunger just from the contact.
