The clearing appears ahead, and I slow, not quite believing what I'm seeing.
Rainbow light dances across the space in overlapping arcs. Dozens of them, created by carefully positioned crystals catching sunlight and reflecting it through hanging water droplets. The effect is stunning—like walking into a living aurora of color.
And in the center of it all stands Ressa.
She hasn't noticed me yet. She's adjusting one of the crystals, her red hair catching the light in shades of copper and gold. She's wearing green—a simple dress I know and love, the color vibrant against her pale skin. And on her wrist...
My breath catches. The bracelet I made her. The silver chain with its careful charms catching rainbow light.
She's wearing it.
I must make some sound because she turns, her brown eyes going wide when she sees me. For a moment we just stare at each other across the rainbow-lit clearing, and I can see the exact moment she decides not to run.
Her chin lifts. Shoulders straighten. Like she's bracing for something difficult but necessary.
"You came," she says, her voice carrying across the space between us.
"Shae said I'd find you here." I move closer slowly, not wanting to spook her. "What is all this?"
"A grand gesture, apparently." Her laugh sounds nervous. "Saela said I needed one. That hiding in my cabin and hoping you'd read my mind wasn't going to fix anything."
The rainbows shift as I walk through them, color painting my skin in moving patterns. Ressa's done this—recreated what we built together during the Rainbow Vigil, but bigger. More elaborate. A visible representation of cooperation and partnership that must have taken hours to set up.
I have to assume Shae and Saela helped her set this all up and find the surprise. It touches me to know she went to all this effort.
"It's beautiful."
"It's terrifying." She wraps her arms around herself, and I notice she's trembling slightly. "I almost took it all down three times. Convinced myself you wouldn't come, or you'd come and tell me to leave you alone, or?—"
"Ressa." I stop a few feet away, giving her space despite every instinct screaming to close the distance. "Why am I here?"
She takes a shaky breath. "Because I owe you an explanation. And an apology. And—" Her voice cracks. "And the truth."
"I know the truth. You panicked. It's okay?—"
"No. It's not okay." Her hands clench into fists. "What I did to you wasn't okay. What I said wasn't okay. And I need you to let me say this before I lose my nerve."
I nod, my throat tight.
"I fell in love with you." The words come out in a rush, like she's afraid of losing courage. "Somewhere between you refusing to leave me alone and teaching me to make rainbows and being so patient with every panic attack, I fell completely in love with you. And that scared me more than anything the Stonevein did."
My heart stops. Restarts. Trips over itself trying to process what she just said.
"I woke up that morning feeling safe," she continues, her voice gaining strength. "Feeling happy. And my brain couldn't handle it because the last time I felt safe, everything was stolen from me. So I panicked. Convinced myself that loving you meantgiving you power to destroy me. That being vulnerable was the same as being weak. And I swore to myself I'd never be vulnerable with anyone again."
"Ressa—"
"I pushed you away because I was a coward." Tears shine in her brown eyes but she doesn't let them fall. "Because running felt safer than trusting. And I hurt you in the process, which is the opposite of what I wanted because you're—" Her voice breaks. "You're the best thing that's happened to me since this nightmare started and I nearly destroyed it because I was too scared to believe I could have something good."
She's shaking now, her arms wrapped tight around herself like she's holding herself together through sheer force of will. The rainbow light plays across her face, painting her in shifting color that makes her look ethereal and heartbreakingly real all at once.
"So I'm here," she says quietly. "In this clearing I spent all morning setting up, wearing green like the festival taught me, with rainbows we learned to make together, because you deserve a grand gesture. Deserve someone willing to fight for you even when they're terrified. And I'm choosing to be that person if you'll let me."
The words settle between us, raw and honest and more than I ever expected to hear. My chest feels too tight, my throat closed around everything I want to say in response.
But Ressa's not done. She takes a step forward, then another, until she's close enough that I could reach out and touch her if I wanted.
"I love you," she says again, stronger this time. "And I'm sorry I ran. Sorry I hurt you. Sorry I let fear win when you've been nothing but patient and kind and safe." Another step. "And if you're willing to give me another chance, I promise I'll try to be brave enough to deserve you."
