Waltz's and my fingers were locked together at my chest with my back pressed against his front. We stood facing the parish's house as he was hauled kicking and screaming to the police car.

Little Waltz and his parents were huddled together as the parish shrieked obscenities and called Waltz's younger self a slew of names. Little Waltz hugged his mother's neck while she soothed his cries.

Waltz was fluctuating between crying with happiness and relief and trying to remain stoic as we stood nearby. I curled my tail around his legs and lifted our hands to kiss his knuckles. Waltz inhaled sharply, then began to sob. He curled down over me and took us to our knees. I pulled him closer and he rested his nose on my shoulder.

Together we'd heard his parents' apologies, seen their genuine tears, and had watched the proof of the change in his family after Little Waltz talked about everything. The police were called, and Little Waltz called his friends to tell them to confess like he had.

Within an hour, all thirteen reports of rape were smacked against the parish's face. And instead of trying to deny the charges that were so blatantly truthful, he tried to run away but was slammed to the floor inside his apartment. There, inside the apartment, were pictures of all the boys' he'd raped. Much to the horror of the police, there were videos stored on the parish's computer that he'd been jacking off to when the police knocked on his door.

And, through it all, Little Waltz clung to his parents and cried tears of relief and happiness, much like how Waltz was clinging to me now and sobbing.

The reason why Little Waltz and his parents were at the scene was because his mother had demanded to watch the parish get taken in. She was determined to put him in prison, which made me smile. That bastard wasn't going to get away that easily this time around. Inmates didn't treat child molesters and child rapists too kindly in prison.

Little Waltz's father was furious, his form trembling. I'm sure Waltz was amazed to see such expressions on his father's face. From what Waltz had told me, his father had always been more apathetic towards everything. So this was a really good change.

I kissed Waltz's knuckles again, his soft breaths stirring warmth on my skin in the cold air. His hot face rested on my right shoulder and he was very relaxed. I believe he's asleep right now, so I went back to watching the house. The men were bringing boxes of "trophies" belonging to the parish to their vehicles while the women were collecting and organizing the evidence that were put into boxes. And the reason why I could see all of this happening from my current spot is thanks to my magic. It was disturbing and sickening how many things the parish had in his room and in his storage closet.

I looked away from those horrible scenes again and caught sight of my Waltz's younger self climbing into his mother's car. Little Waltz glanced over and smiled tearfully as he was settled into his seat in the back of the car. I smiled back and waved my tail at him. He beamed, which was the most genuine smile I had ever seen on him. It brought tears to my eyes. His parents drove away, taking him with them.

One by one, the cops left in their loaded vehicles and the noise faded to nothingness at dusk. Eventually, only Waltz and I were left on the silent, empty sidewalk. My knees were starting to ache, but I held in the urge to use magic and put a pillow underneath them. Waltz slowly exhaled and coiled our arms around my waist since our fingers were still locked together.

"Shall we go home?"

"Do you want to?"

"I still want to spend a day with you, Annie, just not here." he whispered. "This chapter of my life needs to be finished. I received the closure I'd always wanted but never expected to have. Sure, I would love to receive apologies from my actual parents, but what I got today through a different version of my younger self was worth far more to me than anything else. But you, Dee, and our family is excluded. The very fact that Alexandre treats me with so much love and care as a family member is worth his weight in gold. I would never trade the feelings I get from being with our family for anything in the world."

"Our family and the apologies you received today are of equal importance to you, but for different reasons." I summarized, and he silently agreed with my assessment.

Waltz nosed my shoulder and murmured, "Thank you, Anwyll, for giving me a chance to loose the burden of all my regrets, guilt, shame, anger, sadness off my shoulders and let them fall away. I've grieved for my naivety for many years, but it's time to let that go and move on. I have a family who loves me for me, and I have my precious lovers to make me feel even more special."

I nodded and tilted my head forward, exposing his bite mark on my nape. Waltz rubbed his cheek over it.

"You are special, Alt. You are so special that you draw other people to yourself without even realizing it. It makes me very happy to know that you are in the midst of recovering from those wounds that ripped your soul apart and that left jagged scars across your heart. And I am so very proud of you for your bravery because you've faced your past head on and never lost yourself once. And I know you were terribly afraid of that happening because your emotions easily get out of control when dark thoughts and old memories appear in your mind."

"H-how did you—?" he whimpered, hugging my form even tighter. "No, I'd never get a satisfactory answer if I asked how you knew. You're Anwyll DeLuca-Arcane—my precious Annie."

"I love you too, Alt." I replied with a soft laugh. My tone of voice sobered slightly as I continued, "I knew your room was your safe space, but you've filled it up with cute, soft, fluffy, and light-colored items. I know that's not exactly your preference, especially when it comes to clothing and other things. It occurred to me that perhaps you were trying desperately to keep the dark and scary things away by surrounding yourself with super cute items to counteract the effects of your mental state."

"Geez, have you stepped inside my mind?"

"We're technically linked to the past through your memories, so that is sort of the case." I stated with a shrug, then squeaked when he grabbed my tail.

Waltz smirked. "You're such a smart-ass now, Annie."

I giggled and my tail wriggled in his firm grasp. Waltz finally released my hand and tail then turned me around, letting me snuggle into his arms.

"I was just speaking the truth," I mumbled, nosing his jawline. "But you're so warm, Alt."

"Am I? You feel awfully cold, Annie. Shall we head home for now and head out tomorrow?"

I nodded, then slowly got up. Waltz raised an eyebrow because I hadn't teleported yet.

"Let's just walk back to the church, Alt. I don't want to risk screwing up our destination again, even though the mistake I made turned out to be very beneficial." I said, then giggled when Waltz curled down, hugged my shoulders, and firmly kissed my lips.

"Yes, very beneficial. Thank you so much, Annie. I really can't thank you enough." he whispered fiercely, then took my left hand in his right one. "And I want to sleepover in your room."

"Are you sure, Alt? You had nightmares last time."

Waltz grinned down at me. "With my precious wolf-dragon protecting me, I highly doubt any nightmares would come knocking. Besides, I've faced and conquered the monsters in my head. You've given me weapons to fight the beasts in my nightmares, too."

"Have I?" I asked, hurrying to catch up with his longer stride.

"Yep!" he exclaimed, laughter on his lips.

His walking pace changed to a dance, so he waltzed us to the churchyard. I glanced at the building and then at Waltz as we returned to our spots from the initial arrival. Waltz inhaled deeply and slowly exhaled.

"Fuck you, you piece of shit!" he screeched, making me flinch and squeak. My tail puffed out from fright.

Waltz burst into laughter, but continued shouting his feelings despite the chuckles.

"You fucked up my life, fucked up me, and guess what? You're gonna get yourself and your life fucked up in prison!"

My tail wiggled from happiness, but I gathered it up into my arms to warm myself up.

"I hope you get shanked to death, you fucking piece of shit! For all the shit you put me and my friends through, I hope people in prison give you ten times what we paid in mental, emotional, and physical suffering because of you! I hate you! I'll always hate you!" he shouted, tears rolling down his cheeks. "I hate you!"

I reached over and touched his lower back. Waltz wrapped his right arm around my shoulders and curled down to kiss my head.

"I hate you," he whispered to the parish in his mind, "But I'll forgive you because I don't want to spend my life hating someone and ruining my life further with cracked bottles of rage surrounding me. I have a life to live, and healing through love and care is part of my life now. You won't be a part of it any longer."

Waltz was finished because he gripped my face and kissed me smack dab on the lips, then his tongue swirled around mine. I mewled when his tongue rubbed the roof of my mouth at the same time he rubbed behind my ears. I went weak in the knees and sagged, but Waltz held me up and close to his form. I hugged his neck with a happy smile, my tail wagging furiously behind me.

"I'm so proud of you, Waltz Graham."

Waltz blushed when I said his middle name. "I feel overjoyed right now, Annie. And I think I'm in love with hearing you say my middle name."

A blush spread across my cheeks. "O-oh, okay. Well, Graham," I teased, mewling when he grabbed my rear end and pulled my lower half closer. "Let's go home."

Waltz nodded and in an instant we were back in the living room. Waltz looked a bit seasick from the jump, but I felt fine. It was dark in the living room. Using my wonderful night vision, I was able to see that the clock on the wall read close to three in the morning. I yawned suddenly, still holding Waltz's hand to tug him to my room.

Waltz walked in my short strides. I could feel him staring at me, but I was very sleepy all of a sudden. I opened the door to my room and immediately rushed into the bathroom. I came out a short while later and ushered Waltz inside it while I retrieved a nightshirt for myself from the closer, then procured a shirt that would fit my precious faerie with the help of magic.

I laid it on the bed and removed all of my clothes except my underwear, then pulled on my baggy shirt. While waiting for Waltz to finish up in the bathroom, I put all my clothes away and climbed under the covers with Viola.

"Annie?" softly called Waltz. "Are you still awake?"

"Yup," I replied with a yawn. "What do you need?"

"Clothes?"

"I have a nightshirt for you."

"That fits?" he asked. I groaned aloud, and he giggled mischievously. "I'm kidding, Annie!"

"Good. I'm already snuggled in under the covers. Just waiting for you, Alt."

The light flicked off and Waltz came waltzing out of the bathroom with no clothes on at all. I blushed and hid my face while Waltz snickered. He put on the shirt and climbed onto the bed, then slipped himself under the covers next to me. He rested on his right side and snuggled in, but held out his arms. I wriggled directly into his embrace and tucked my nose against his chest. Waltz's arms curled around me and he pulled my lower half flush against his own. My face was hot as he slid his right knee between my thighs.

"Comfy?" he asked tiredly.

I nodded. "Yes, Alt. Goodnight, and I love you."

"Goodnight, Annie. I love you, too." he replied, then kissed my forehead.

I cuddled closer and took a deep breath in of his unique scent, then slowly exhaled and sank into the soft bed, his warmth, and his embrace. Waltz did the same, then we were asleep in minutes.