I look toward the constellations. The two moons still hover—one amber, one pale violet—casting twin lights over the sea. The waves shimmer like shards of glass.
“Do you ever miss it?” I ask. My voice low. Curious, dangerous.
Vael’s hand stills on my shoulder. He shifts his gaze from the sky to me. “What, the fire? The running?”
“Yeah.” I let the word stretch out. “The chase. The fear. The… everything.”
He shakes his head, slow. “No.” His voice is firm. And lighter than I expected.
“Why?” I press. “Because you were built for it.”
He gives a quiet laugh. “Maybe once.” His thumb brushes the back of my hand. “But I’ve got everything I fought for.”
I swallow, the words heavy. “You have me.”
“And our daughter.” He nods toward the house where Nessa sleeps. “And this. This—the stillness, the nights like this—worth more than any medal, any kill-count, any survival.”
I lean into him. My head rests against his chest. The ocean wind slips under my hair. I close my eyes and feel each breath, each heartbeat, each quiet second of a peace I once thought impossible.
“You ever think we’d sit here like this?” I whisper.
He chuckles. The sound rumbles deep in his chest. “Not a day I didn’t doubt it.”
I lift my head, look at his face. The amber moonlight casts soft shadows across his scar-lines. For the first time I don’t see them as reminders of what we went through. I see them as markers of what we survived. What we built.
I reach for his hand and lace our fingers together. “I’m glad we did it together.”
He kisses my forehead. “Me too.”
We sit in silence then, but not the kind of silence filled with waiting. It’s quietbecauseeverything has settled. Because we don’t hear alarms. Because we don’t check exits. Because we don’t expect someone to burst through the door.
The sea plays its slow rhythm. The wind hums against the eaves. The stars – they keep their watch.
And I feel it: the weight of every step, every fight, every fear. And how it all led here. Not to escape. Not to survive. But tobe.
My eyes drift upward, to the patch of sky where the moons overlap. I trace the constellations. The shapes I once memorizedin dark corridors. The symbols of wolves and eagles from Vakutan lore. I smile softly.
“You ready for tomorrow?”
Vael squeezes my hand. “With you? Always.”
