"I AGREE WITH RES!" Aric bellowed too and the crowd started laughing and murmuring which made Oli and Fin blush.
"Just remind me to kill both of them later," Oli whispered to Fin with a smile to which she said, "Oh, I'll gladly help you with that."
Oli grinned before clearing his throat. He fidgeted through his cargo pants' pockets which were soaked and sticky from the rain. It took him some seconds to retrieve a shiny thing from his pocket. Fin's eyes widened as it shone brightly, refracting the sun rays on her face and she closed her eyes partially.
It was a ring.
And a beautiful one to be exact.
A beautiful diamond ring, its band made of platinum.
Oh god. It's happening. It's really happening, she screamed in her head with giddiness.
"Dixtril, I'm a guy who has never been in love before. Hell, I didn't even know what love actually was. Until you. Until you happened. And now I understood the true meaning of love. For me love is you. For me, Finiaroli is the second name of love. I can imagine my life without you but I don't want to. I can live my life without you but I swear I don't want to. Trust me when I say this, everything seems meaningless to me when you are not around. I have this urge to be by your side always...because just the way I protect you, you protect me too..in many ways. Wherever I go, I always wish you to be around me. This is love...right? Yes, this is love. I am in love. With you. And so today I confess my love to you just the way you deserve...not inside the four walls but in front of the whole world. Finiaroli Dixtril, I love you with all my heart and soul, and can you please make me the luckiest man alive on this planet by marrying me someday? Please?"
The whole team gasped. They didn't know, they didn't even have the faintest idea that their boss was in love with this new feisty Equipper. Viyiab Bialo spoke to one of the team members, "I told you. Something was going on between these two."
"Okay..here come the waterworks," Bugig said and his eyes watered.
"What?" Dedrok chuckled. "Come on, dude. Why you cryin'?"
"Well, you don't know," Bugig replied in a strained tone. "She has suffered more than anyone can bear. I waited so long to see her happy, to see her life going back to the normal track. And now it's all happening. I just.." Bugig shook his head, trying to not spill the happy tears.
Fin just stood there completely moved by Oli's small speech. How can he love her so much? That was the only thought on her mind at that moment.
She just kept staring and staring at him with red eyes(which was scaring him for he thought she was about to say no) until Pearl yelled, "SAY YES! I HAD ALREADY APPROVED HIM!"
"Oli...there are so many things I want to say. But for now, I would just go with a yes. Yes, I'll marry you one day...I definitely will. And yes I love you. I fell in love with you. I don't know how or when...I just did. I love you." With this, she moved her shaking hand towards him, and with a big smile he firmly yet tenderly held it and slipped the ring on her finger.
"Man, you Wiziann brothers do have a fetish to propose in front of the whole world...in the damn limelight," Shayla teased Aric to which he laughed loudly and hugged her sideways.
There were cheers and howlers and whistlers all over the stadium. Rain was finally on the verge to cease and a rainbow was forming in the sky. It seemed like even the Gods above were happy. It seemed like Fin's parents above were sending their blessing to Finiaroli and her Oliandrin.
As everyone guessed, Roaring Lions won the cash prize because their match was most interesting and they showed a pretty good game. The team couldn't help but take thousands of pictures with the trophy.
Fin's nose was nursed again while Oli's dressing on his shoulder was changed as it was soaked completely.
There was a celebration at the Conludium academy and Oliandrin's parents joined too.
"Oh...so you took his interview ?" Fin asked Pearl while stifling back a laugh.
"Thoroughly," Pearl replied proudly. "I told him-" she pointed her thumb at Oli's chest as she was sitting on his lap, "-to tell me fifty reasons why I should accept him as my soon-to-be papa."
"And what reasons does he give?" Fin asked with a blush.
"Oh...now that's between us two," she said and Oli gave her a high-five. "That's my girl," he said smilingly.
Fin gasped, feigning shock and hurt, "Now you are team Oli?"
"I always was team Oli," Pearl said and Fin started tickling her.
*
The next week came and went. Everybody was in celebration mode, after all everything was finally alright after a long time. It was already mid-October and sweaters were out of the cupboards. Winter arrived late in Sourovitas this year.
Now came the hearing day. The judgment day. Johbin and Yiliak were to be presented in the court and their punishment was to be announced. Fin's nightmares were not completely gone but she was getting better and better. For her, it was closure day. She thought that once Johbin and Yiliak would get punished, her heart would find peace.
Fin was feeling mixed emotions during the entire ride to court. Justice was to be served today. A painful chapter of her life was about to be closed today, forever. Her most dreadful phase was about to end. She felt both content and restless.
Johbin and Yiliak were surrounded by the police officers as they walked towards the prisoners' van, their hands tied. Johbin looked scary. His sunken white skin looked ghostly. Yiliak looked much better than him but his eyes held fear as he looked despondent.
Johbin was continuously mumbling some faint words and officers were sure he was losing his mind. Yiliak, although, knew what he was muttering for days. He was cursing Finiaroli every single second for his current state.
Just when Johbin was about to climb inside the van, he felt a sharp, stinging pain in the middle of his chest and he could feel his shirt growing wet from something.
Blood.
He saw blood as he clutched his chest.
Yiliak's eyes widened and he stumbled on his feet. Everything happened so suddenly that it shocked everyone to the core.
Johbin started coughing blood as his vision grew blurry. He was shot right through his merciless and tainted heart.
His mind was pulsing with the question that who shot him. But he never got to know the answer as he succumbed to darkness and his body fell to the ground.
"WHAT!" Oli bellowed bafflingly and his car screeched to a halt, his leg on the brakes.
He was driving the car with Fin beside him and Bugig-Riverale in the back seat.
"What?" Fin asked instantly as she looked at Oli's pale face.
"They tried to save him..took him to the hospital..but he couldn't make it.." Oli started rambling as he raked his hand through his hair.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Bugig asked with a confused face.
Oli held the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles going white, as he spoke with no emotion in his voice, "Johbin is dead. He was shot"
Fin felt as if the world around her was spinning. She felt nauseous and the car suddenly made her suffocate so she quickly opened the door and gasped for air as he climbed out of the car.
The three boys followed her but didn't approach her as she sat on the roadside with her head clutched in her hands. They exchanged sad looks before Oli finally walked towards her and sat beside her.
"He wasn't supposed to die like that," she spoke to Oli in a strangely calm tone. "Today was supposed to be his judgment day. He was supposed to get what he deserved. He deserved a good punishment and not a quick, painless death."
Oli slid down on the ground and kneeled in front of her, holding her head and tilting it upwards. Her eyes were still fixed on the ground.
"Dixtril, look at me," he said coaxingly but it seemed like her mind didn't register his words. She was lost in her own head.
He shook her slowly and spoke again, "Dixtril, please just look at me."
Her eyes finally looked at him and Oli's heart shattered by looking at the amount of pain her brown eyes held.
"A person's death is fated way before his birth. We can't change someone's destiny. I know he couldn't make it to the courtroom today..but remember there's a bigger and mightier court up above--" he pointed his finger at the sky, "--there."
"He was supposed to suffer just the way my parents suffered," Fin cried silently as she said so.
"He already suffered, Dixtril. He got murdered. The murderer who took so many innocent lives got murdered himself at the end," Oli said softly as he held her face and rubbed his thumb over her tear-stained cheeks.
"It will take me some time to come to terms with that," Fin said in a small voice after wiping away her tears.
"I know it will take time. Healing takes time, Dixtril. Moving on takes time," he said in response.
Fin nodded slowly as she got up and hugged Oli. They stood like this, in each other's embrace, for minutes until she spoke with her face buried in his neck, "I want to go to Hykins."
___________
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