Destined to be

TWENTY TWO - LITTLE THIEF

It has been a little over a year since me and Ominis kissed for the first time. More than a year full of happy memories, full of love.

After we finished our sixth year I visited my uncle for the last time. I was seventeen so I didn't have to live with him anymore. The Trace was gone so I was capable of taking care of myself. We found out that I did in fact break the magical contract after all. When my uncle pulled out the paper to extort me with it, it was empty. Just a blank piece of parchment, no sign of ink on it. The contract was cancelled the day Ominis's father forgot about his youngest son.

My uncle had no power over me anymore. Ominis family didn't have any power over him either. We were both free.

I spent the last summer in my parent's house with Leala. I couldn't leave her there. I cared for her too much. The only downside of it was that I was away from Ominis. He stayed with Sebastian and Professor Sharp. But it made me cherish every moment we could spend together even more.

I finally had a quiet school year which I longed for so much. We all focused on our studies and our future. Someone would say it was boring but I was happy. I had enough action for the lifetime.

It was almost the end of the year and we decided to spend our last time in the castle in my grass vivarium. It felt weirdly empty without all my beasts. Me and Poppy were able to find them a new home. All of them but one specific Niffler. The little creature started to be really fixated on Ominis.

We were sitting in our favourite spot, under the big tree. Ominis was leaning on the trunk, me in between his legs, my head resting on his chest. He was playing with my hair with one hand, petting the little creature with the other, deeply in thought.

"Ominis?" I gently patted his shoulder to put him out of his daydream.

"Hmm?" He hummed still a little bit absently.

"You are not listening to me."

"I am sorry, Princess. I'm a little off today," he smiled at me and put a sweet kiss in my hair.

"Should I be worried?"

"Of course not. I just wanted to speak with you about some-, HEY!" He yelped in pain as the little beast bit his finger because he stopped petting him.

I giggled, shaking my head. Who would have thought that Nifflers could be this needy and jealous. I quickly grabbed the little creature as he was trying to climb on top of Ominis. The Niffler was squirming in my hands, trying to escape me. I saw something shiny falling off his pouch, so I put him on the ground.

"What did you steal again you little thief?" I smiled as I watched him stomped away angrily.

Ominis tensed up underneath me, frantically scavenging his pockets.

"Lynette, wait!" He tried to grab me by my arms but his hands only felt the empty space between us since I was already searching through the grass for that stolen object.

My hands brushed against the cold metal. I turned around quickly with my eyes wide open, completely in shock. Tiny little ring in between my two fingers.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I breathed out incredulously. My eyes started to water when I saw him already on one knee, his eyes overflowing with just love and adoration.

"This is not how I imagined it...but, well...I will borrow this for just a second," he smiled at me and took the ring from my shaking hand.

"Lynette, my dearest, I love you with all my heart, with my whole being. When I caught you sneaking out of the Undercroft not even a single thing indicated to me I met the love of my life that day. You are my soulmate, the only person I will ever want, I will ever need. You changed me. I am a better man because of you. You made me stronger and braver. You taught me to be more gentle, more loving, to find good in every situation. And I promise you here and now that I will continue becoming a better man, for you and for our future together. I promise you that I will love you, take care of you, adore and cherish you as long as you let me. I am considering myself lucky to have you in my life. The only thing making it even better is if I could have you for the rest of it. Will you do me the absolute honour and marry me?"

The moment he popped up the question my face was already soaking wet with the tears of happiness which were persistently flowing from my eyes. My legs stopped working in the middle of his beautiful speech and now I was collapsed in the grass, my whole body shaking. I couldn't speak, I was just vigorously nodding in agreement. Both of my hands were covering my mouth in an attempt to silence those loud sobbing sounds which were trying to escape from my trembling lips.

"Sweetheart, you should know by now I can't see if you are nodding or not. Please use your words or I will get insane soon," he smiled at me gently.

"Y-yes, Ominis. Of course I will," I chuckled through my tears and leaped forward to hug him. He apparently did not expect that because he fell to the grass with me on top of him.

He laughed softly, pressing me further into his warm embrace, gently caressing my hair. I could feel tiny little scratches as the furry thief came back and climbed in between my shoulder blades, nestling in my hair. Ominis flinched a bit in the sudden change of texture.

"You little troublemaker!" Ominis spoke to the Niffler. "You almost ruined everything."

"Don't be harsh on him, darling. He didn't ruin anything. It was perfect, couldn't be any better," I purred happily in his chest, enjoying this sweet moment between us.

"We should make it official then," Ominis said with a more serious tone, took the Niffler from my back and shook me off from his torso gently. He then sat up quickly and pulled me back to settle in his lap, letting the Niffler rest on my tights. I was watching him lovingly as he grabbed my left hand and put the delicate ring on my finger, kissing my knuckles affectionately. "No more stealing!" He pointed at the furry thief menacingly but with a caring smile.

"Can I be honest with you?" I asked him, suddenly a little bit embarrassed.

"You have to be," He chuckled.

"I was a little bit angry when I found out that contract was broken," I admitted quietly.

"You were? Why is that?" Ominis asked softly, cupping my cheek with his warm palm.

"Because I already knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life by your side," I leaned into his touch.

"And I already knew I wanted to renew the promise properly myself as soon as possible," he smiled and pulled our faces closer together.

I couldn't help myself but smile in our kiss.

Someone else was writing my destiny from the day my mother got married. But without them knowing, they wrote me the best one there could ever be.