Holly gently stroked Artemis's hair as his head lay on the pillow. She couldn't sleep. Midnight had passed and it was now entering the early hours of the morning. She didn't want to wake Artemis when he was sleeping so peacefully, so she was thinking to herself.

It was strange how young Artemis seemed when he was asleep. He was thirty now, but at times like this she could see the little boy in him. In fact, it had been harder to see the little boy inside the little boy. When they had first met, his intellect and reasoning had ruled him. Only twice that day had he seemed his true age - when he was asking about the wish, and in the split second between him realising she was going to hit him and her fist actually connecting.

She remembered that expression well. In an instant, it had been stamped upon her memory, to return to her on sleepless nights like this. It was all there: fear, helplesness, humility, sadness. That was the moment she had known Artemis Fowl was human. Looking back, she also knew that was when she had begun to fall in love...

And now here he was, and he had changed both so much and so little. She saw more of that little boy in him - openness, trust. He wasn't a machine, he could feel. He cracked jokes with an amazing regularity. He was the same old Artemis on the inside, but now the outside was more like the in.

Holly looked at the hand still lightly touching Artemis's hair - and the gold band on her ring finger. She had changed a lot too, but mostly only physically.

The Council had managed to come up with a version of the Excommunication Rite that would, rather than just dismissing her as a member of the People, also make her human. She had known it would be the only way for her to be with Artemis, so she had had them perform it.

Since then, she had grown taller, and start aging at a human rate. Now she was only two inches shorter than Artemis. And she looked about the same age as him too. Who would ever guess that she was one hundred years old?

Holly sighed, and moved her arm down to hold the edge of the duvet. Then she rolled onto her back - she had been lying almost on one side - and snuggled down.

"Holly...?" mumbled Artemis. He twisted his head to look at her. Squinting through the cracks in his eyelids, he tried to focus upon her face.

The same blue eyes stared at Holly - older, wiser, more innocent. She smiled. "Nothing, dear, don't worry. Go back to sleep." The eyelids fluttered shut. He'd only been half-awake anyway.

Carefully, Holly reached over and turned out the bedside lamp.