A SEA BETWEEN

Epilogue

TWO YEARS LATER

The little boy let out cries of joy when he was thrown into the air. His father shook his head and then walked towards the two.

"Draco, stop manhandling my child and go bother your own" Dante chided as he reached for his son, but the latter quickly turned his head and clung to Draco more tightly.

"But he enjoys being in my company" argued Draco with a grin. "See?" and he pointed at the way the little boy had latched onto him.

"That may be so, but his mother would like him to have something to eat" Draco said as he struggled to pull his son away from Draco, the little boy protested vehemently and started crying but Dante was relentless.

"Theodore James... stop that" he said when the boy kept crying.

"That is what you get for calling him Theo; just like the other one he is a blatant attention seeker " argued Draco with a smirk.

"What did you say?" asked Theo who had heard his name being called from afar.

"Nothing, nothing" grinned Draco.

"Where is your son anyway?".

"Oh... I believe he has now been kidnapped by one of his aunts. Before that he was with our mother and Mara's who almost fought over him just now" Draco said firmly.

Dante gave him an incredulous look.

"Okay, okay they didn't fight but he did go from one grandmother to another all the time. Poor kid" he smirked.

"Well... we'd like to hold him too. Just let me know when it's our turn" Dante said jokingly.

"It was a beautiful christening  I must say; even though your child has the longest names ever.... Alexander Lucius Dante Tristan Theodore Malfoy" Dante continued.

"I know but it felt right" he replied.

"I suppose it did, well, I'll take this little boy to Sophia" Dante said and left.

Draco looked around the room; it was still full of all sorts of international guests who had come to the ceremony but even in the crowd he found her; and when he did... she came walking towards his side and the same realisation hit him; not that it happened often but when it did, he couldn't ignore it.

The realisation that he was happy; that the urge in him to constantly seek something better; the restlessness that had been stirring in him all these years was displaced by stability and calm. And that was what he needed.

Stability and calm but above all... her.

"Hello sweetheart" Mara said to him as she stood before him.

"Hello, my love" replied Draco and he then briefly took her lips to his.

****

As the years went by, Draco and Mara had two more children; a daughter named Juliette Malfoy and a son named Henry. Dante and Sophia were also blessed with another son.

Not much changed for a long time but then suddenly everything did. On both sides of the sea, the most senior members of the royal family thought it had been enough.

Leidal's kingdom was taken over by Tristan and aAstella's by Dante (with Draco as good counsellor).

But no matter how quickly time passed, one thing was clear to everyone. Two countries; separated with a sea in between; would forever be inseparable.