It Is You I Have Loved

Chapter 45

"Okay so um how do you park this thing?" Angel asked as he steered the blimp crashing into another window.

"Oh give me that!" Captain Pentious snapped, taking control of the vehicle. "Honestly, I bet you two have never driven anything in your lives!"

"I've driven a wagon."

Once Captain Pentious landed the blimp, Angel and Vaggie went to greet Alastor and Charlie.

"Oh Vaggie." Charlie said embracing her loyal friend. "I'm so sorry for what I said to you earlier. I really never meant to hurt you, I was just so angry and hurt and-"

"All is forgiven." Vaggie said returning the embrace.

"How can you say that?" Charlie asked in disbelief. "What I said was horrible. Cruel. Heartless. Unforgivable."

"Yes but I'm no sinless saint. We've all done things we're not proud of." She turned to Alastor. "Right stag boy?"

Alastor blushed in shame.

"Right. Angel, Charlie, words cannot begin to describe how rergretful and ashamed I am of how I behaved this morning. People liking me, caring about me, it's very new to me. After I lost my mother, all I ever knew was hate and revulsion. Everyone I ever met treated me like a monster because of my species. It didn't matter to them that I had never harmed anyone or that I was all alone. And living with that for so long, it just seemed impossible for anyone to have any warmth and tenderness toward me."

As he spoke, the crowd begin to feel sympathy and remorse.

"But that's no excuse for what I did to you two. You never did anything to hurt me. I had no right to speak so harshly to you. I don't expect you to forgive me but I hope you can understand the reasons for my actions."

Charlie gave him a forgiving smile.

"Believe me Al, I can understand your reasons perfectly." She said.

That's when Alastor was reminded that Charlie had just revealed to him that she wasn't completely human. That every night she would turn into a lovely white deer humanoid. A creature like the one he had dreamed about the other night. Or was it a dream?

"It was you." He said. "The one who covered me the blanket that night. That was you."

Charlie blushed which confirmed his accusasion.

"So while we're on the subject of confessions." Angel said. "Isn't there something you'd like to say Smiles?"

He started to slowly push Alastor toward the white deer maiden.

"You too your highness." Vaggie said slowly pushing toward the wendigo. "I know there's something that you've been just dying to get off your chest."

Alastor and Charlie shot their friends an annoyed glare, yet they knew that Angel and Vaggie were only doing this because both the wendigo and the white deer maiden had a habit of getting cold feet on subjects like this.

Alastor started first. He stepped toward Charlie and gently turned her to face him. She looked at him hopefully, expectantly.

"Um...Charlie." He said.

"Yes Alastor?" She replied.

As he looked at her beautiful face, he swallowed the fear building up inside him. He wasn;t going to chicken out this time.

"I...I love you." He said to her.

"Really?" She said.

"Really, really." He smiled.

She broke into a matching smile.

"I love you too."

Their eyes locked together, sharing gazes of devoution. He slowly leaned over, took Charlie into his arms, and placed his lips upon hers. He kissed her. He gave her love's first kiss. The one thing that she had spent her entire life yearning for, and it was even more wonderful than she had ever dreamed.