I startle out of my thoughts. “Yeah. Like I told you when we texted, things are kind of strained between us and have been ever since I left Draveth. Actually, if I’m honest, our relationship was rocky for quite a while prior to me leaving. It all got way worse after I left.”
“Because you didn’t fit into their expectations?”
I let out a bitter laugh. “Basically. They put a lot of pressure on me to be someone I’m not. If I hadn’t had the friendship of Kheph and Naj, who knows? I might have caved to their demands. Luckily, my friends supported me from the get-go. That gave me the courage and strength to stand firm against my family’s traditionalist views, no matter how hard it was.”
Gemma uses her free hand to gently stroke my forearm. The sensation is soothing, and a tension I didn’t know had risen up in me lets go.
“You’re super fucking courageous and strong. I can only imagine how difficult that all must have been for you, but I for one am glad that you stayed true to yourself, because you shine as bright as the moon that your name derives its meaning from.”
Talk about a direct love shot to the heart! Or, in my case, hearts.
Thankfully, the image on the screen fades away before I can say or do anything foolish, and we both look on with anticipation as the next one begins to shimmer to life on the tunnel walls. This time, it’s an image of Gemma and me, years from now, cuddled together in bed and looking happy and content. My hair is cut short and there are streaks of silver in the green. Gemma still retains her wild, curly mane of hair, but there’s white around her temples and threaded through her tresses. We’ve aged, but like fine fucking wine. We lookdamngood, wrinklesand all. I sincerely hope this is an accurate prediction of what we’ll look like in a few decades.
And that’s when it hits me, this is a dream about the future, and one that imagines us still together and happy decades from now. It’s something I can’t deny that I want very badly.
Glittering letters begin to emerge above the image I can barely tear my eyes away from. When I do drag my gaze upward, I see that they spell outshared dream.
My hearts start thumping; I whip my head in Gemma’s direction to find her watching me with a similar kind of awe. Neither of us is quite able to speak yet, and I’m trying not to hyperventilate from too much excitement and pass out.
Calm down, Luna, I mentally chide myself.
Then, quite suddenly and when I’m not entirely ready for it, the image fades away and light appears ahead as we come to the tunnel’s exit. The attendant waiting there helps us both out of the hoverboat, and I won’t deny that my legs are a little shaky. My chest swells with so many emotions that have been building inside me ever since I first saw Gemma on that view screen. I feel like a supernova about to explode.
Unable to hold it all back any longer, I blurt out what I’ve been longing to tell Gemma but too scared to say.
“Gemma Taylor, I’m completely head over tentacles in love with you.”
Her eyes go comically wide.
Said tentacles undulate in the air, dancing to music only they can hear. I shake my head and point at them. “These babies only act like this when I’m with you. They’ve been screaming at me for a while now that you’re the one—my celestial soulmate. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
Gemma’s bottom lip trembles. “Fucking hell if you don’t know how to slay my heart with a few words. I love you too, and that includes your tentacles.”
As if prompted by that comment, my tentacles do a full-on Rocky victory dance.
My hearts leap in my chest, and I’m momentarily lightheaded from the euphoria her words bring.
“Truly?” I ask, my voice wavering with a mixture of hope and uncertainty.
She flings herself into my arms and I catch her, inhaling her sweet, familiar scent and counting my lucky stars.
“I’d never lie about loving you,” she whispers fiercely.
My tentacles shimmy and shake. “Good, because no one has ever sent joy comet-tailing through my entire being like you do.”
Gemma peppers soft kisses along my jawline. “You’re such an adorable romantic,” she murmurs. “You make me believe in the power of true love, something I’d kind of given up on until I met you.”
My tentacles do another merry little shimmy around us.
Gemma pulls back slightly to look into my eyes, her mouth curving in a smirk. “You do realize that your love confession was basically a proposal, right?”
It’s my turn for my mouth to drop open. I think back on what I said.
Neptune’s nads, but she’s totally right.
That wasn’t intentional on my part, yet it speaks to the truth of the final image we saw on the walls of the Quantum Tunnel of Love, and that bolsters my self-confidence.
I smirk right back. “Hey, don’t forget, the tunnel showed us a shared dream image at the end. I’m not the only one who fantasizes about a future with us growing old together as a happy, loving couple.”
