“Sunshine,” I breathed, heart pounding harder than it ever had. “I don’t think I ever told you how much you’ve changed me. How being with you—how justlookingat you—makes me feel like I’m finally free. Like I’m not just surviving anymore. I’malive.”
Her lips parted slightly, a fragile smile tugging at their corners. Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears.
“I fell for you the moment I saw you—not the armor, not the mission, not the pain. But the real you. The part of you, you didn’t think anyone could love.”
I reached into my pocket, fingers trembling, and pulled out the small velvet box.
“I don’t have the words to explain how much you mean to me. But I want to spend every day showing you. I want to be the man you deserve—the one who stands by you, fights for you, and loves you without end.”
I knelt on one knee beneath the cascade of blossoms, heart bare and shaking.
“Sunshine, will you marry me?”
Tears spilled freely down her cheeks now, her voice a soft whisper.
“Yes.”
The world seemed to hold its breath as I slipped the ring onto her finger.
In that moment, beneath the delicate cherry blossoms and surrounded by the love that had carried us this far, everything felt possible. She was never heard and I heard her every time and never ignored her, not once.
Because with her, I had found my home.
Elizabeth
The silk of my dress whispered around my legs as I stood still, breathing slow in front of the mirror. My hands, usually so steady in the face of chaos, trembled. Ten months. That’s how long it’s been since Noah asked me to take a walk with him beneath the cherry blossoms. Ten months of learning each other’s scars. Ten months of building a quiet, fierce kind of love. And now, here I was — about to become his wife.
My reflection didn’t look like the girl who used to come back from missions bruised and silent. She looked... radiant. Hopeful. Terrified.
A soft knock tapped at the door, and I already knew the rhythm. My mother.
“Come in,” I whispered, not trusting my voice.
She stepped inside, eyes shining with unshed tears, her hands immediately covering her mouth as she looked at me.
“Oh, Lizzie…”
Her voice broke, and just like that, so did the last layer of calm I was clinging to. I turned to her, blinking fast.
“I’m nervous, Mom. Like, bone-deep nervous. What if I’m not enough? What if I mess it up?”
She crossed the room and cupped my face like she did when I was little.
“Sweetheart, listen to me. You’ve been through warzones and walked through fire for people you love. And now, you’re walking into something softer, something thatwantsto hold you back. That’s what love is. You don’t have to be perfect for it. You just have to bepresent.”
I fell into her arms, holding on a little tighter than I meant to.
“He loves me so much it scares me.”
She kissed my temple.
“And you love him the same. That’s all that matters.”
The music started. My breath caught in my throat.
Each step down the aisle was a heartbeat — steady, sure, pulsing with all the silent prayers I never said out loud. The petals scattered along the grass, and the soft summer light made everything golden. But all I saw was him.
Noah.
