Deception
Conclusion
By Jame's Rose

(AN: The end at last! Everyone breathes a sigh of relief!)

Chapter 17: The Bird Of Protection

James closed his eyes and waited. He heard the shot…but no pain. He opened one eye and saw Jessie with her back to him, facing Giovanni…who was now dead on the floor. He opened his other eye and stared at Giovanni lying still on the floor. James knelt there on the sand, shocked at what had just happened.

The rain subsided and now just a rumble of thunder could be heard in the distance.

He looked up to Jessie, who turned around to him. She dropped the gun and fell to her knees in front of James. She too was crying. She looked deep into his eyes and chocked out a few words.

"I, love you James."

James’s once saddened eyes filled with joy at her words. He started crying even harder, but this time they were tears of joy. He put his hand to her face, and Jessie lent into him and held him tightly.

"I couldn’t do it James," she began, "I couldn’t kill you. What had happened to you is exactly what happened to me. I began this mission thinking that you were only a pretend friend, that I had a job to do. But the more time I spent with you, the closer I felt to you, but I knew I couldn’t show it. When you said to Giovanni that you loved me, my heart just melted. Those were the words I had wanted to hear for so long James, from you. I never knew how precious friends could be."

She looked up at him and smiled

"I know we were only pretending then, but I think that that act has now become who I am now. The way we used to be before, before we met, I hated it. I never knew what love had felt like until I met you."

James smiled sweetly down at her.

"You took the words right out of my mouth," he said, "I think we learned a lot about each other today. We’ve both changed, changed for the better, and believe it or not, we owe it all to Giovanni. If I had never joined up and became the best, he would never have introduced me to you. We would never have met, and we’d still be the same people we were three years ago today. I think the deception was on Giovanni personally, I bet he never expected this to happen." He chuckled.

Jessie chuckled with him and snuggled closer to him. After a pause, James spoke again.

"You know, I’ve had this dream for the past three years now. Every time it was the same thing. You were in danger, and I tried to save you, but every time I failed. The last time I dreamt it, there was Nightingale and a Crow fighting in the sky. I realised then what I really felt about you. The Nightingale represented a part of me that I had never seen before, and the Crow was the one that had always dominated me. There was this, other person, in my dream. He was the exact copy of me three years ago. I told me that if I killed him there, I would destroy the old me. He was taunting me, telling me I wouldn’t shoot because I wanted to go back to being evil."

He looked down at Jessie who was listening intently.

"I shot him. I knew that if I didn’t, that Crow would always dominate my heart. When I killed him, the Crow in the sky fell down dead as well, and I knew then that the song the Nightingale was singing was now free to fill my heart. My heart filled with love at that very moment, and do you know what that love was that changed me?"

Jessie smiled at him.

"It was you."

Jessie blushed and edged slightly closer to James’s lips.

"You know, I learned something about my self today as well."

She looked deep into his sparkling emerald eyes.

"I can trust you more than ever, and I love you."

James’s heart felt like every rose in the world had bloomed at that exact moment. His gentle smile turned into a grin. He rested his forehead against hers and whispered what she wanted to hear.

"I love you too."

Just by saying those few words, any evil that was still left in his heart vanished forever. The Nightingale had chased the Crow away forever, never to return again. The black mattress of evil above them drifted away over the horizon and the sea had calmed to a gentle movement.

Jessie wrapped her arms around James’s neck and gently pressed her lips to his.

For the very first time in James’s life, he felt loved. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. Up in the sky, the first star after the storm sparkled above them, as the Nightingale in James’s heart had never been stronger. It sang it’s beautiful song from that day on, never faltering, never fading.

Never again did the crow return; never again did its harsh cry echo through James’s once empty heart. James’s heart was now filled with love, and everyday that Nightingale protected it.

As Jessie and James’s kissed, the gentle song of a Nightingale could be heard, as a small black silhouette of a bird flew over the horizon, and into the distance.

The end

(AN: Confused? So am I. Still…I’m crying my eyes out! Phew, this has to be the longest Fanfic I have ever written, please send me feedback!)