Love Can Mend {An Aphmau Fanfiction}

Nana

It was the middle of the night. My eyes were shut and my breathing was deep and regular. From the outside, I looked like the perfect vision of sleep.
But my mind was anything but. I couldn't help but think about all that had occurred within the last seventeen years. I don't know why this was in my mind this late at night, but it was, and I couldn't escape my fantasies.

I had left Tula years ago, wanting to escape from the King and start a new life where no one knew me. I had started a Maid Cafe in so many different places, trying to find the right place to settle down. That had been how Lucinda and I had met in the first place after all. And how I had met Aphmau. My maids had saved her life, along with her dogs. I was forced to move after that, but my life had been thoroughly changed. I now had a friend, someone who I could turn to for help. And I did. Finding nowhere else to go, I asked Aphmau if I could come to her village. When she said yes, I remember being so ecstatic to have found a place I could have actually call home. I grew closer to everyone in Phoenix Drop, finding a family I never knew I had.

But when Aphmau, Garroth, Katelyn, Laurance, and Aaron had all disappeared along with Zane and Lilian, my life had fallen into shambles. I had loved Aphmau, and her disappearance had struck me hard. I had left, going to Scaleswind for a several years. But Phoenix Drop was always calling out to me.

Then I came back. I came back home, and was dismayed to find that Phoenix Drop has been reduced to ruins in a few short years. The only ones still there were Dante and Nicole, and they loved each other. I don't know what happened, but seeing Dante still there after never leaving just opened up something in my heart. It wasn't long before I realized that I loved Dante with all of my heart. Being the person I was, I wasn't able to keep my feelings hidden and told him. But I also said that I would back away for the time being, not interfering with their live life.

When Nicole left, Dante turned to me. His heart had been broken, and he was in need of love. I gladly gave it to him, and it wasn't long until her realized he loved me too. We got engaged, and I became pregnant with Nekoette. Nicole came back after several months, wearing a dress. Dante teased her, but I could tell something was different about her. It wasn't until after Aphmau and everyone else returned that I finally learned the truth. Aphmau came back and continued her travels once more, becoming reunited with old friends she hadn't seen in years.

When she came back from Scaleswind, a young boy surprised her by stowing away on her boat. He had blue hair and bright grey eyes, and when Aphmau said that he was Nicole's son, pieces immediately started to fall in place. When Nicole came to Phoenix Drop and revealed the truth about Dimitri, I was not at all surprised. I had forgiven Nicole and Dimitri, knowing that everything that had happened so long ago was not their faults at all. In fact, I should've apologized to Nicole and thanked her for realizing that her and Dante's time was over and giving the two of us space. She had become one of my closest friends in the space between then and now.

I sighed and turned over, facing Dante and smiling. He looked so peaceful, asleep and dreaming. I blinked slowly, shifting closer so my head rested against his shoulder.

His arm wrapped around me, pulling me close. "What are you doing up this late?" I gasped slightly, not expecting him to wake up.

"Did I wake you?" He chuckled lowly, kissing my forehead and leaning his head on top of mine.

"'A good guard always sleeps with one eye open.'" He quoted, and I giggled tiredly.

"I love you." I murmured, his slow heartbeat vibrating my head resting on his chest. He hummed, settling down back to sleep.

"I love you too." I smiled, slowly drifting off to sleep. My mind was once more at peace.